thursday's ten: on love and hate, boycotting and bashing

you guys, i really really don't like to preach on this blog. i know my normal readers will know that (at least i hope so!). but i really feel passionately about this, and needed to get it out there.  forgive my grammatical and late-night-writing errors, and please read it with a measure of grace. i certainly haven't arrived and i make oh-so-many mistakes, but my prayer truly is that i make more mistakes of loving too deeply than of wounding those who so need Papa's Love.


i really don't talk about controversy MUCH here on the blog.  and really, this isn't going to delve too deeply into one.  but with recent events coming to light that have sparked a tremendous battle of words among facets of the population i really just have a few things i feel i must say.




1. i find it slightly amusing and very hypocritical for people who have opposed conservative Christians and bashed them for boycotting companies that supported gay rights to turn around and boycott a widely-known conservative Christian company for the opposite thing.


2. on the other hand, i am incredibly disappointed at the folks who are creating banners touting their support of said company SIMPLY because they now view them as a company who OPPOSES gay rights.



*slight pause for clarification. i am unashamedly a Christian, a lover of Jesus and an extreme God-follower.
but i'm not sure anyone would ever describe me as "conservative"
:-)



3. i'm not entirely sure that either side has their facts completely straight. (um. no pun intended there)


4. i'm not sure when it became an "us versus them" issue. but that.needs.to.stop.


i've read several people who say "if *they* would just stop hating"..."if *they* would just let us have our viewpoint and opinion"..."if *they*"...


i will say it as concisely as i possibly can:


we are all children of God.
there is no us. there is no them.
we are one people
even those who aren't walking in the fullness of their identity as His Kids...
(and to be honest, that's probably most of us)
we are one.


and the longer this "us and them" mentality stays around the more people we are losing because we are hung up on things that don't matter.


(and that thing that you just thought of that you think matters, if it's keeping people from knowing Jesus because His "followers" are too busy harping on it, it probably matters less than you think)


5. if one more person tells me that they wish people would "stop hating on Christians" i may just unleash a dissertation on why that is a very valid viewpoint for many people.


and that's what makes me saddest.  i've said it before: i choose love. i will always choose love, even though it's not the easiest thing to do. it is my greatest calling, and therefore i must choose it.


6. however, my most concise response to the above would be this: why on earth are you expecting "THEM" to make the first move? Christians are commanded to love. the world isn't commanded to love Christians. and the fact that many communities have experienced anything BUT love from the Christian community means that we are really REALLY failing them.


7. people need to live and let live.  or as i often tell the kids i work with: just chill for a minute, ok?


8. chick-fila makes a damn good spicy chicken deluxe sandwich.


9. some people are going to be more offended about the fact that i just used the word "damn" (twice now) than the fact that people often experience only bitterness and hatred from the Christian community.


10. it really.really.really is all about love


i've said it before.
i'll surely say it again.


this post from Jon Acuff's blog yesterday prompted me to forward it to several of my friends. THIS is what the church should look like. and until more of us get that picture, i guess you'll keep reading posts like this. :-)


as my amazing friend natasha posted yesterday: i'm going to boycott hate.


and now if you'll excuse me, i think i'll go buy a chick-fila sandwich and eat it while watching a disney blu-ray. 


(thank you for reading if you made it this far. oh, and thank you for not unfollowing me if you haven't yet. :-)

about that "anti-Christian" sentiment that's going around

i've seen a lot of concern lately
some from friends of mine, some from acquaintances
that there is a lot of "anti-Christian" sentiment going around


some are concerned about shows calling Christians "bitches"
some think that there are definite slants against Christianity in the media or on mainstream shows


and while that may be (somewhat) true
i just have one simple question to ask:


have we given anyone (outside our faith) a reason to be pro-Christian?


you see, i see a lot of anti-gay sentiment on those same facebook pages
or anti-anything that isn't Christian in some Christian's opinion
or anti-whatever political party you think isn't right
or anti-...you name it


i don't see a lot of Christians being "pro" anything 
(except pro-life, but i won't get into the linguistics of that one)


so why
why in the world, if we aren't standing up for social injustices
if we aren't loving on people the way we are commanded to 
if we are speaking ill of anything and everything on the planet that we think is "wrong" or "unnatural"
why on EARTH would we expect anyone to be "pro" us?!


i've been accused of being "too soft" in the past
of showing too much compassion or too much tolerance for others.
i'm sorry (actually i'm not), but i'd MUCH rather err on the side of too much mercy and grace
than be a part of the "anti-everything" movement that pervades our faith community.


i'm here to tell you, that i'll be pro whatever helps me reach the ones who are longing for hope
i'm pro-LIFE, pro abundant God-filled amazing life
i'm pro mercy


i'm pro-love


and no, i don't always get it right
but my errors (like everyone else's) are covered in grace
and if i love too much for your taste?
get used to it :-).  i'll be loving on people until i draw my last breath


because that is my calling

thursday's ten: national day of prayer edition

in honor of today's national day of prayeri thought i would showcase a few written-down prayers
that have sustained time and denomination
speaking a heart's cry to our God for generations

isn't it amazing?  while the words of some are much more flowery than i've ever used...it's amazing how in tune they are with where i find myself at times.




Lord, I believe in you: increase my faith.
I trust in you: strengthen my trust.
I love you: let me love you more and more.
I am sorry for my sins: deepen my sorrow.
I worship you as my first beginning.
I long for you as my last end.
I praise you as my constant helper,

 - Clement XI

- Mother Teresa

I am no longer my own, but thine.

Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.

Put me to doing, put me to suffering.

Let me be employed for thee or laid aside for thee,

exalted for thee or brought low for thee.

Let me be full, let me be empty.

Let me have all things, let me have nothing.

I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal.

And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,

thou art mine, and I am thine.

So be it.

And the covenant which I have made on earth,

let it be ratified in heaven.

Amen.

- John Wesley

Hallowed by Your name, Lord. Do whatever it takes to be holy in my life. Take your rightful place on the throne. Exalt yourself. Magnify yourself. Glorify yourself. You be Lord, and I'll be quiet.

- Max Lucado

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me,
Christ in the eye that sees me,
Christ in the ear that hears me.

-  St Patrick

Come, Lord Jesus, and abide in my heart. How grateful I am to realize that the answer to my prayer does not depend on me at all. As I quietly abide in You and let Your life flow into me, what freedom it is to know that the Father does not see my threadbare patience or insufficient trust, rather only Your patience, Lord, and Your confidence that the Father has everything in hand. In Your faith I thank You right now for a more glorious answer to my prayer than I can imagine. Amen.

 - Catherine Marshall

Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in thee.

 - St Augustine

May the power of your love, Lord Christ, fiery and sweet as honey, so absorb our hearts as to withdraw them from all that is under heaven. Grant that we may be ready to die for love of your love, as you died for love of our love.

- St Francis

Holy Spirit, Spirit of the Living God,
you breathe in us
on all that is inadequate and fragile,
You make living water spring even
from our hurts themselves.
And through you, the valley of tears
becomes a place of wellsprings.
So, in an inner life
with neither beginning nor end,
your continual presence
makes new freshness break through. Amen.

- Brother Roger of Taize

O God of Second Chances and new Beginnings, here I am again.

- Nancy Spiegelberg