Jesus - God of Love?

There have been several things that have happened in the last few months that have contributed to my writing this blog post. It started with the comment that I have quoted below and while I was working out how to gracefully respond, Mr. Dan Cathy’s statement rocked the world, and then as that was dying away, my own City Council brought a bill to the table that would offer special protection to the LGBT Community. Over and over through all of this I have seen Christians being told that Jesus taught us to love and accept others and therefore we shouldn’t take a stand against homosexuals or call their lifestyle a sin. This blog post is my rebuttal to that idea.

This letter to the editor appeared in my hometown newspaper a few months ago and resulted in a friend of mine posting the following as her Facebook status. 

“Once again, I am mortified by the narrow minded views and hatred held by prominent members of this town. Again, all in the name of Christianity. How can people claim to follow Jesus' teachings and leave out the parts about loving and social justice? How do they miss that he loved unconditionally and while he showed the way - often in a strong manner - he did so in a non-judgmental way? He was about the way showing and the learning, not the condemnation for condemnation's sake.”

Now first of all I would like to point out that the letter is not one of condemnation of anyone and is actually a letter of support for Mitt Romney. If you read the whole thing you realize that it was written in response to another article/letter questioning whether a Christian should support Mr. Romney because he is Mormon.  It is written politely, there is no name calling, or anything hateful at all in the tone of the whole letter. In fact had I not been aware, through other Facebook posts, of my friend’s beliefs, I would have been hard pressed to see what all the fuss was about. And even now I have to make the assumption that this is was in reference to her pointing out that Mr. Romney is against gay marriage, among other things, and therefore should have the support of the Christian Community regardless of whether we agree with the religion he happens to practice. I think this is a perfect example of how the other side of this issue takes a simple statement of a person’s personal belief to be HATEFUL and UNLOVING.  Which is absolutely not the case, Mrs. Pitt does not incite hatred of homosexuals, rather she says if you, as a Christian, believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman as the Bible teaches, then Mr. Romney, unlike Mr.  Obama, shares your belief and the fact that he is a Mormon should not deter you from voting for him. 

In fact it is my belief that the person writing this Facebook status was far more hateful and unloving in both her tone and accusations than Mrs. Pitt was. I find it absolutely ironic that it is perfectly ok for people in support of gay marriage to be narrow-minded and hateful towards those of us who oppose them, simply because we voice a different view than theirs.  Apparently you have to be tolerant of everyone’s beliefs unless they happen to be a Christian and hold the belief that marriage should be defined according to the Bible as between a man and a woman.  While this is an ongoing irritation and one that according to Jesus should not come as a surprise. It is actually not the reason for my blog post today. The main part of my friend’s post that disturbed me the most was her misunderstanding of Jesus and His teachings.

This idea that Jesus taught a message of love, acceptance, and social justice, and therefore Christians have no right to call anyone out on their sin, is one that I have encountered over and over again since I started college a few years ago. And to be honest it is a concept that I have struggled with, because on the one hand I agree with them. There are many Christians in today’s world that are no different than they Pharisees of Jesus’ day; looking down their noses and having nothing to do with ‘sinners’; focusing more on the outward appearance of good than actual goodness of the heart. That being said, Jesus did however command us to preach the gospel and call sinners to repentance. And He did not promote social justice, nor did He embrace acceptance. That is not to say He didn’t love and offer forgiveness, but love and forgiveness is not the same as acceptance.

John 3:16 the most popular Bible verse in the world says “For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.”  The thing that many people forget is that while Jesus taught a message of love and forgiveness, he did not teach acceptance for the sake of acceptance. The next few verses of John chapter 3 bring this out explicitly, Jesus states in verse 17 “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.” Here once again I can hear many of my friends say “See, see Jesus didn’t come to condemn anyone.” However they fail to continue reading for in verse 18 Jesus continues speaking and says “He that believeth on Him (that is the Son) is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” It’s not what you do or don’t do, it’s a matter of faith, not believing in Jesus is the thing that condemns you. Jesus is willing to offer forgiveness and redemption to anyone who asks for it, however, we have to be willing to admit that we were wrong and believe that Jesus is the Son of God sent to be our Savior. 

 And while Jesus loved and lived with sinners this does not mean that he was content to let them continue in their sin, His message was one of repentance and change.  Every person that came in contact with Jesus left differently than he (or she) arrived. Sometimes the change was evident in an outward healing of a physical ailment, but often it was just an inward change. Zacchaeus was a rich man who had no outward change, but his encounter with Jesus resulted in the change of his heart. The woman at the well, is another example, Jesus didn’t hesitate to tell her that she was living in sin, and when her heart was changed she told others that he told her everything she ever did. When the woman caught in adultery was brought to Jesus to be stoned, while he saved her life he didn’t condone her lifestyle, in fact his final words to her were ”Go and sin no more!” 

             God is a God of Justice and as such He can not allow sin to go unpunished, that is the whole reason Jesus came to this world in the first place, to live a sinless life and take the punishment of sin onto Himself so that we can be free and forgiven.  

So if I am to love the homosexual as God loves him/her I must confront them with the fact that they are sinners in need of a Savior, just like everyone else in this sinful world, and point them to the sacrifice that Jesus made for them and that he loves them and will forgive them if they are willing to repent and ask him for forgiveness. Their sin is no worse than mine it just takes a different form.  I would like to point out that I do not believe they are sinners because they are homosexual, but rather they are homosexual because they are sinners.

As I close I would like to leave you with two thoughts: one, to say you are wrong does not mean I hate you, and two, to love you does not mean I will condone your sin.  

And of Some Having Compassion...

“Just saw a street corner begger go "off-shift", grab his duffle bag, and check into a hotel. Free cable.”

This post, made by a former Sunday School teacher of mine on Facebook, really irritated me and prompted me to, not only respond, but to do a little bit of soul searching as to the reason for my irritation. Especially since I know a few months ago my reaction would have probably been very similar.

I've always viewed those that are homeless as dirty, lazy, drunk(at best) drug addicts mooching off of the taxpayers hard earned dollars, trying to get a hand-out from anyone they could swindle out of a few dollars. I had never said it in so many words and therefore never realized how absurd and foolish that statement was.

It all started a few months ago, right before Christmas, we had a light snow, and Mysia and I had gone to Wal-mart for something, I can't remember now what it was, but on our way out of the parking lot, Mysia noticed a man sitting on an overturned shopping cart holding a cardboard sign. Since she has been learning to read she is curious whenever she sees anything with writing on it, so she asked me what it said, when I told her, trying to down play it and just keep going, she was devastated and wanted me to stop and give him some money I tried to explain that I didn't have any cash on me and that we don't just give out money to people on the street because we don't know what they might spend it on. Even as I said the words I realized how un-Christian it sounded, and James 2:14-17 popped into my head, but I wasn't ready to admit I was wrong. And in spite of my little girl seeing right through my hypocrisy and trying to point out that Jesus would want us to help him, I kept going. Hoping that once she was away from it she would forget all about it and we could go on with our lives. However, my little girl did not forget, she kept talking and planning how she was going to save her allowance and give it to this poor man who must have lost his job. As soon as daddy came home she told him all about it begging to be allowed to go back and help him, but I knew he was gone and finally convinced her to forget about him, for the time being. I felt guilty, I knew I shouldn't be squelching her generous spirit and should be using this opportunity to help her grow. But I didn't want to inconvenience myself and I most certainly didn't want my little girl anywhere near that creepy, dirty, old man. In spite of my foolishness God gave me another chance to right the wrong that I was doing. For that night right after I put dinner in the oven our power went out and because it was Wednesday night and we needed to eat so we could go to church. So we ran to McDonald's and who should we see but what appeared to be the same man Mysia and I had seen outside of Wal-mart. I'm ashamed to say that I did not take advantage of the opportunity that God had placed in my lap but only prayed that my daughter wouldn't recognize him and insist that we do something for him, she didn't, and we ate our meal and left.

A few other things stirred my conscience over the next few weeks, about how selfish and self absorbed I was being; a simple conversation about Christmas gifts with my sister-in-law, a book I was reading, and a volunteer opportunity I grudgingly participated in all spoke to me of my selfishness.

With all this on my mind I walked into my first class on Wednesday morning, Sophomore Seminar - Service Learning, I don't know what I was expecting but finding out that I was going to have to find 4 more hours in my week so that I could volunteer at one of the organizations on the teacher's list was not it. I was not happy! As the various organizations came to our class and told us about what they were doing I began to open my mind a little bit to the possibilities.

At first, due to the time constraints placed on me through my job I thought that I was going to have to volunteer at Rare Breed - an outreach program that works with our city's homeless or at risk youth. I even finished the orientation and spent one night observing, it was really hard. These kids were kids like any other kids, several of them reminded me of my little brother, but the difference was they didn't have anywhere to go at the end of the night. As I walked to my car that night, nervous about being down town so late at night trying not to slip on the ice and feeling the bite of the wind I was reminded that some of those young people would be out all night in this horrid weather and it broke my heart. Over the next several days every time I had to go out in the biting cold as I hurried from one building to another or shivered as I waited for the heater in my car to warm up I thought of those kids and prayed that they would find shelter somewhere warm.

Some how that one encounter made it personal to me, homelessness wasn't an issue that happened to other people in big cities, it happened right here in my home town. Were some of those kids on the street due to poor decision making? Probably. Were some of them there through no fault of their own? Absolutely! Did the ones who made mistakes not deserve help simply because they had made poor choices? NO! And then the thought struck me it was the same for the homeless adults there were those that were there because of some really bad choices and there were those that were there because life had happened and they weren't prepared.

At the same time I knew several good people who, due to the economy and maybe even some bad choices, were with out work and wondering where they were going to get the money to pay the bills. These were people who were close to me, friends and family, who had lost their job, gotten divorced, had an illness or injury strike their family. I suddenly saw how hypocritical I was being, if it was my friend or family member I would want someone to help them and not turn them away simply because they may have made a poor choice (or two or three) along the way.And when later that week I suddenly got let go from my job, and realized how easy it was to slip from a comfortable living to a very tight and uncomfortable living. At least I had a husband who, though he wasn't happy with his job at least still had one and though my paycheck would be missed it wasn't like we would lose our house or go hungry because of it. Finally God had my attention I was listening now.

So when I saw this post on Facebook it was like a slap in the face. I was angry and ashamed, as much at myself and my own attitude, as my friend's. All of those missed opportunities and sarcastic remarks were staring me in the face, and I saw my own selfish attitude staring up at me from the page. I began to think about Jesus and the people he ministered to, they weren't rich, they weren't clean, and they certainly weren't religious. Jesus was a friend of the sinners and outcasts from society. He had compassion on them for they were as sheep with out a shepherd were some of those people there simply to get more free bread from Him? Yep. Did that stop him from reaching out to people? Nope. Somehow we Christians manage to forget that aspect of Jesus ministry. We have become just like the Pharisees, making sure we look just right when we go to church, attending church every time the door is open, giving our tithe and missions, and judging others because they aren't like us, because they have made mistakes and looking down our noses at them and thanking God that we aren't like them! For shame Christian!!! Just because someone makes poor choices that does not excuse us from reaching out and helping them and sharing the Love of Christ with them. The whole second Chapter in James tells us that we are not to treat the poor any differently from the rich when they come into the house of God and that we live out our faith through our works (2:14-17) and those works include taking care of the poor and needy, those who are naked and without food. What does Jesus tell us about the poor and how we are to treat them. Matthew 25 tells us exactly what he said "in as much as ye a have done it unto the lest of these my Brethren ye have done it unto me"! That thought made me want to cry as I have treated them so I have treated my LORD! That man that I ignored was an opportunity not only to help him and meet a need that he had but it was also an opportunity for me to pour love out on my Savior and I ignored it and by ignoring him it was the very same as ignoring Jesus. I still have 9 weeks left of this course and I will be finishing my community work in The Kitchen - Annex, I hope that I can keep that thought in mind as I work with these homeless men and women, how I treat them is how I treat my LORD, as well as this verse from the book of Jude "and some having compassion, making a difference." Who's life will you make a difference in today?

Your Name Means....

Ok, I have horribly neglected my blog and I have never fallen through with the 30 days... might get back to that when I have more time, when ever that will be.

But I was catching up on my SIL- Kristi's blog and I saw this post. So I was curious and went to the website to see what it said about my name... and when I got the results I nearly peed myself laughing!!!! It is sooooooo ACCURATE its not even funny!

Well, I'll just post it and let those of you who know me best be the judge. To my siblings, read the last one very carefully ... the bold part not everything else.:)

* The first name of Lydia leads you to assume considerable responsibility and to prefer to work independently, without direction or interference from others because you have very definite ideas of your own.

* Your mind is quick to comprehend and you can be depended upon to do any job well.

* Because you tend to be somewhat of a perfectionist, you might insist on doing too many things yourself instead of delegating jobs to others who might do less satisfactory work.

* This name does make you quite direct and straight-to-the-point.

* The name Lydia creates the urge to be creative and original, but we draw to your attention that the name causes a superior, interfering quality that tends to resent the opinions of others.

* This name, when combined with the last name, can frustrate happiness, contentment, and success, as well as cause health weaknesses or accidents to the head,(See its not my fault! My name made me do it!) worry and mental tension.

I also tried Matt's name...

* Your name of Matthew has created a most expressive nature, idealistic and inspirational, driven with a strong inner urge to be of service in some way that would uplift humanity as a whole.

* However, there is a tendency to assume too heavy a burden of responsibility for others, which leads to worry and undue concern.

* People with problems are drawn to you as they recognize you as one who has understanding and gives not only sympathy and comfort but provides also some constructive advice or assistance.

* You have a generous quality to your nature, but you must guard carefully against giving more than you receive or you will find yourself doing without because you have helped someone else.

* Although the name Matthew creates the urge to be reliable and responsible, we emphasize that it causes an emotional intensity that is hard to control.


Is this him or what? :)

Letter from Jesus about Christmas --

I received this from a friend last year and thought it was agood reminder about what we as Christians should focus on at Christmas

Letter from Jesus about Christmas --


It has come to my attention that many of you are upset that folks are taking My name out of the season. Maybe you've forgotten that I wasn't actually born during this time of the year and that it was some of your predecessors who decided to celebrate My birthday on what was actually a time of pagan festival. Although I do appreciate being remembered anytime.

How I personally feel about this celebration can probably be most easily understood by those of you who have been blessed with children of your own. I don't care what you call the day. If you want to celebrate My birth, just GET ALONG AND LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

Now, having said that let Me go on. If it bothers you that the town in which you live doesn't allow a scene depicting My birth, then just get rid of a couple of Santas and snowmen and put in a small Nativity scene on your own front lawn If all My followers did that there wouldn't be any need for such a scene on the town square because there would be many of them all around town.

Stop worrying about the fact that people are calling the tree a holiday tree, instead of a Christmas tree. It was I who made all trees. You can remember Me anytime you see any tree. Decorate a grape vine if you wish: I actually spoke of that one in a teaching, explaining who I am in relation to you and what each of our tasks were. If you have forgotten that one, look up John 15: 1 - 8.

If you want to give Me a present in remembrance of My birth here is my wish list. Choose something from it:

1. Instead of writing protest letters objecting to the way My birthday is being celebrated, write letters of love and hope to soldiers away from home. They are terribly afraid and lonely this time of year. I know, they tell Me all the time.

2. Visit someone in a nursing home. You don't have to know them personally. They just need to know that someone cares about them.

3. Instead of writing the President complaining about the wording on the cards his staff sent out this year, why don't you write and tell him that you'll be praying for him and his family this year. Then follow up. It will be nice hearing from you again.

4. Instead of giving your children a lot of gifts you can't afford and they don't need, spend time with them. Tell them the story of My birth, and why I came to live with you down here. Hold them in your arms and remind them that I love them.

5. Pick someone that has hurt you in the past and forgive him or her.

6. Did you know that someone in your town will attempt to take their own life this season because they feel so alone and hopeless? Since you don't know who that person is, try giving everyone you meet a warm smile; it could make the difference.

7. Instead of nit picking about what the retailer in your town calls the holiday, be patient with the people who work there. Give them a warm smile and a kind word. Even if they aren't allowed to wish you a "Merry Christmas" that doesn't keep you from wishing them one. Then stop shopping there on Sunday. If the store didn't make so much money on that day they'd close and let their employees spend the day at home with their families

8. If you really want to make a difference, support a missionary-- especially one who takes My love and Good News to those who have never heard My name.

9. Here's a good one. There are individuals and whole families in your town who not only will have no "Christmas" tree, but neither will they have any presents to give or receive. If you don't know them, buy some food and a few gifts and give them to the Salvation Army or some other charity which believes in Me and they will make the delivery for you.

10. Finally, if you want to make a statement about your belief in and loyalty to Me, then behave like a Christian. Don't do things in secret that you wouldn't do in My presence. Let people know by your actions that you are one of mine.

Don't forget; I am God and can take care of Myself. Just love Me and do what I have told you to do. I'll take care of all the rest. Check out the list above and get to work; time is short. I'll help you, but the ball is now in your court. And do have a most blessed Christmas with all those whom you love and remember :
I LOVE YOU,
JESUS

Ha'Derek Yeshua - the Way Of Jesus

Today I visited the synagogue of Ha’Derek Yeshua ( in English The Way Of Jesus) It is a local synagogue of Jews who follow the Commands of Moses but believe that Jesus was the Messiah promised of God. I learned a lot from this experience. The service started by reading out of the prayer book; Prayers , Blessings, and Psalms are read both in Hebrew and in English. The men all wore the Talithand the women also wore a head covering during the service. When I asked the Rabista ( the Rabi’s wife) after the service what the significance of the Talith was , I was told that mainly it is simply Tradition to wear them that they do not require it and I also found out the meaning behind the verses in 1 Corinthians 11 where Paul addresses the women’s need for a head covering versus the man not being required to wear one, she explained that Paul is actually referring to closing the Talith in front of their face when praying publicly, and that women were required to cover their faces because their faces were seen as distracting and that now it is not a requirement , because the cultural view of a woman’s face has changed. And that only the men are required to wear it signifying their position as head of the household.
They are a progressive synagogue and allow women to participate in the reading of the scripture and families sit together. After several blessings were recited, the Torah scroll was retrieved from the Ark and carried through the congregation, pausing long enough so each person can reach out and reverently touch the scroll and reverently lift their fingers to their lips, again when I inquired after the service, I was told that this signified their love of the Torah (the Law of the Lord)and for their Messiah Yeshua, who is the Torah made flesh. A blessing is recited and the Torah laid open on the table, then the Torah potion is read, another blessing is recited , before the Haftarah (the Prophets) is read another blessing is recited and then the Prophets portions is read, this portion was read today by the Rabista, and then another closing blessing is said and here is where the first difference is seen between a traditional Jewish service another blessing is said and the Gospel portion is read, followed by the closing blessing, then the Torah is returned to the Ark. The Rabbi leads the congregation in a few more prayers then he plays some Praise music and everyone sits in a few moments of silent contemplation either softly singing the tunes of praise or simply praying to themselves. At the end of this time of quiet reflection The Rabbi returns to the Bemma (pulpit) and expounds a bit on the reading of the day, He talks of the Creation and how the Hebrew words are so significant and filled with meaning he talks of how the word “The day” is used and how it signifies that the meaning is that the world was created in 6 literal days. Beyond that he talked of the reference of az that is often found notated in the place of “the“ in front of a word, which is, he explains, what Jesus was referring to when He said “I am the Alpha and Omege (Greek for A and Z )” so every time that notation is seen it is a reference to the Messiah Jesus.
At the end of the short message, the Rabbi pronounced the ending blessing over us , explaining before he did that this was where Spock’s greeting came from. Lifting both hands he placed his thumbs together and then separated the other four fingers in the middle, this he said represents the ark of the covenant, the fingers representing the wings and the bridge of the thumbs, the mercy seat. The congregation raises their left hand, for that is the hand through which a blessing can be received. And the Rabbi blesses the congregation says “May the Lord bless you and keep you, The lord make his face to shine upon thee and be gracious to thee: the Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. “
There were many more things I learned in the service this afternoon , but I cannot go into them now perhaps later when I have had time to process them and understand better what they mean .
I am definitely looking forward to the next time I can join this small community of believers and learn more about the Hebrew Bible and how it shows the truth about the Messiah.
Until that time,
Shabbat Shalome
Lydia

Of Religion and Spirituallity

Since I started going to college last year I have had my eyes opened to a lot of things, one in particular is the way most people view Christianity, or religion in general.

Yesterday was one of those days, I was sitting around with some friends, most of whom are in my world religions class and one who is a Religious Studies major at MSU, and the topic turned to the personal religious beliefs of those present, most of what I heard was not surprising, but there was one thing that stuck out to me and that was that these women were all tired of organized religion and were searching for something deeper more personal. I was at a loss for what to say, on so many levels I agreed with them, our churches have lost sight of what it means to have a personal relationship with Christ and have focused so heavily on rituals/tradition and appearance that these women equated church and the Bible with a bunch of rules that you have to follow. They didn't realize that the Bible is not about works, but Grace. Its about the fact that we can never know what is good enough, and even if we could know how good is enough, we can never be good enough. That's why Jesus had to come and die; because he was the only one who could be good enough. I am ashamed to say that I did not have the presence of mind to present this to them. I continued listening, unsure of how to voice my own thoughts and beliefs.
If I could do it over, I would say that I agree with them that many of our churches have the wrong focus, that they are focused too much on whether someone has a Tattoo, a nose piercing or wears pants and not focused on the real issue loving one another. I also agree that most religions have similarities, I was amazed myself to find many similarities between Christianity and Hinduism, they were small but they were there. However, I do not believe that all religions are equal, I believe that there is one that is the truth and all others are forgeries. I believe that there is a God who though loving is also just, and righteous. That he gave us his truth first in the Hebrew Scriptures and the Jewish people,and later through the writings of the New Testament. I believe also that there is a Devil, who was once a holy angel was not satisfied with his place and sought to over throw God and become God himself. And since he could not do that he twists what God has said and turns them into half-truths to confuse and mislead people. I believe that there is a literal Heaven and a literal Hell and that those that do not except Jesus as the Son of God will one day die and spend eternity in Hell.
What I don't know is how to convince my friends of this truth, how I can show them that this is real? To be honest Christianity is all I've ever known, and while I am sure in my own heart that it is not "just the way I was raised" I don't know how to show that to others. I pray that I can show them Jesus Love working through my life and making me a better person than I was yesterday and I pray that God will be able to use even my failures to bring them to Himself.

Is your email being monitered?

I received an email this evening from a news site stating that the White House admitted on it's own website to monitoring the web and emails for negative comments regarding Obamacare, as the president's health care plan has become "affectionately" known.This intrigued me and I went in search of the original statement on The White House Web site. Now first of all I have to question the intelligence of a government who's search engine can not differentiate between care and car, as all the results I got when searching Obamacare and Obama health care were related to cars. Eventually, my husband, the master searcher, found the link. The only thing the site said was this.
"There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care. These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation. Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov." (emphasis mine)
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/Facts-Are-Stubborn-Things/

Now I am very concerned on all sorts of levels about this, "since we cant keep track of all of them" to me means "we are tracking as much as we can" so there is a good possibility that the things you and I write to each other are being monitored. The other thing that concerns me is that we are being encouraged to be "good citizens" and rat out our fellow citizens who are causing distention, by sending it to the government so they can better monitor these things. Sounds an awful lot like Natzi Germany if you ask me! What will be next... will we be asked to monitor those who are "politically incorrect"

As to ObamaCare ....well lets just say we've seen how well the government has handled our retirement (Social Security) and our current health programs (Medicare and Medicaid) why would we want to let them handle the rest of it? And I don't like the idea that my tax dollars would potentially be used to fund abortion and/or euthanasia. Also if it's not good enough for Congress then it is not good enough for the American people.

I have seen the effects a socialist state has on a country and I do not want that for my country... but I feel powerless to stop the winds of change...I wonder if this is how many German Christians felt as they watched Hitler destroy their nation from the inside out.