Lover covers a multitude of sins..

How do you explain your religion?
Your "relationship" if you will.
Your spiritual viewpoint?

If love isn't at the basis of that you need to change your perspective.
Jesus explained true religion as taking care of widows and orphans.
That being said, how much more do we turn our religion into politics?
Gone is the love and concern for the people around us that have different view points, and judgmental attitudes overcome us.
I fail to see where Jesus worked politics into his religion that he came to bring.
You didn't see Jesus leading marches against his government because they made a decision that he didn't agree with and he lived under a cruel, oppressive government.
We have it much more cushy.
I'm not saying we shouldn't have a voice in our world- i'm just wondering how much more we could do if we stopped legislating morality and just starting loving.

I'm so sick of other Christians expecting a lost and dying world to be living in the light.
Us imposing our beliefs on them isn't going to change them.
Ever.
I tried that for a long time.
How about us loving people?
Being a non-evasive example of our beliefs.
Being consistent and considerate and allowing people time to work through their own beliefs.

I'm not sure where i'm going with this to be completely honest.
I've just been a state of sheer frustration for the past three days with Christians around us and their response to our local governments.
I understand voicing your opposition, but at the same time shouldn't we as Christians be the ones who love people through their mistakes, different viewpoints, and stop imposing our beliefs on them until they come to a God-led conclusion on their own?

Jesus never once forced someone into following him.
He simply provided them with an opportunity and let them make the decision for themselves.
He never judged them because of their prior life after they came to him not matter what it was.
Shouldn't we be that forgiving?
Shouldn't we stop judging people based on their current religious hangups, sexual preferences, political decisions and just love them as Jesus loves us?

Just my 2 cents...

"What the world needs now is love- sweet love.."

Oh Bullhorn Guy...

"Any movement that doesn't have love at the basis of it could not be about God."

It amazes me how severe the church as a whole is today.
I know that this is my same ramble, somewhat different topic,
but I've been doing a lot of thinking lately.
There's churches that I went to when I was younger and even into my early college years that there was no love in.
Everything was a strict list of rules and certain portraits we had to personify in order to be considered a "Christian".
There were business meetings full of yelling, and church suppers full of arguing.
Not noticeably a place of love.
Doesn't that disappoint the gospel?
Aren't we taking the greatest proof of the changing power of Jesus when we take the love out of our churches and let anger seep into them?
Do you think Jesus is looking down at us and shaking his head wondering why we just don't get it?
Maybe i'm beating a dead horse, but my heart feels so desperate when it looks at the church lately.
There's such an emptiness there that needs to be filled with love, and not another list of rules that are no where found in the scripture.
One thing I have really been convicted about lately is my lack of love.
The first commandment God gave us in the New Testament is to love him with everything we have-
but only second to that is to love everyone we find ourselves in contact with as we would love Jesus.
The two go hand in hand.
If we are going to have an absolute love for our Saviour, we will have an absolute love for the people that we come into contact with.
Perfect love casts out fear, holier than thou attitudes, and judgemental spirits.
If we are immersed in God's love, that's going to show in our churches, in our own lives, and in the people we impact positively with Jesus' message of love.

Those are my thoughts for the day...

Moving.

We're moving next Saturday if anyone wants to help.
We're picking up a U-Haul on Saturday morning so we can get it all in one load.
Let us know if you can lend a hand or not.
We'll provide pizza and drinks for everyone!
Thanks much!

:)

Rant #1,000,004

I haven't ranted in a long time.
It's definitely time.
We've been going through the Nooma Videos in our life-group.
It has brought up a lot of thoughts lately.
We watched "Sunday" last week and somehow got talking about how Jesus tells us to "come as we are" to the Gospel.

How have so many churches and so many Christians lost this??
We want the unsaved in our church, but we want the "moral unsaved".
They're safe.
We don't want someone in ragged clothes, withdrawing from drugs, and knocked up walking in.
And we certainly don't want to be seen talking to them.
How did we get this way?
Jesus said "COME AS YOU ARE".
Not as you will be after your saved and your whole life is changed.
But as you are now.
Bring all your crap.
Bring all your sins.
Bring all your failures.
Don't be afraid of what all the self-righteous bigoted people around you are thinking- Just come.
It breaks my heart when people expect non Christ followers to clean up before they can come to Jesus.
Isn't it supposed to be the other way?
Aren't we supposed to bring all of our baggage to lay at Jesus' feet?

I know I'm ranting.

It just annoys me to no end to see Christians take such "conservative" stands on things just because they're scared to step out and open their minds that maybe Jesus wasn't as conservative as they deem him be. He was friends with the whores and the crooks. Did he condone this? Absolutely not. But he had the balance figured out to love them, show his disapproval to their current actions, and by His grace help them change. I know that we're finite and it is a whole lot more difficult for us to do that than it was for Jesus- but should we hide away from these people with false superiority just because they're not who we think they should be? Maybe we're not who we're supposed to be- and we know Jesus.

How are the unsaved supposed to walk in the light when they have never seen the light?

It would be like giving someone in the dark a candle and not giving them anything to light it with.

We become utterly useless to a lost and dark world when we're too self-righteous to humble ourselves and go into the dark a little bit to help them see the light that Jesus gave us...

I'm done.

"I am a whore...I do confess..
I put you on just like a wedding dress
and run down the aisle..."
-Derek Webb

Domesticity at it's finest.

We're watching Oklahoma.
It cracks me up.
People just don't how hysterically racy old musicals are.
Such rascals.
I'm submitting Jess to "culture".
It's been lots of fun.

I love my new house.
I'm counting down the days until we can move.
The apartment is getting smaller by the day.
Maybe it's the amount of stuff we're amassing.
Or just the anticipation of living somewhere that's not 400 sq ft.

I'm going to Mexico next month on another missions trip with work.
I'm so excited.
I fell completely in love with the kids there last year and can not wait to go back.
It was sudden and unplanned, but i'm completely thankful to go back.
I'm just hoping that this time I don't get stuck in Mexico...
And that the air sickness goes away.


I attempt domesticity.
It's a whole lot of fun.
I didn't think I would enjoy it as much as I do.
I have had some bismal failures- such as first attempt at sushi.
But for the most part we have fun.
I'm turning slightly back into a health freak.
It's good for us though.
I'm so thoroughly looking forward to having a back yard.
I'm going to turn into a little farmer yet. :)
When we move into the house i'm going to start a photo blog of everything we cook.

This economy confuses me.
I'm not quite sure what my take on it is.
I guess I don't feel like we're struggling too much.
God really does bless us.
We both have jobs.
And not just jobs, jobs that we love.
I absolutely love my job.
I used to struggle with it quite a bit.
I really felt like we were materializing and merchandising God.
Sometimes I still do, but now I see the deeper meaning behind it.

I'm rambling- I know that.
But lately I really suck at keeping in touch so this is my update for everyone.
:)

Tales Of Yoga, Allergies, and Movie Theatre Church.

I'm not athletic.
Not even a little bit.
I've never claimed to be.
I avoid it all costs.
But I'm loving this Yoga stuff.
I think all the breathing they make you do is bad.
I definitely fell asleep the other day on my Yoga mat.
It reminded me of the nap mats we had in kindergarten.
Plus- the guy that does our videos makes me laugh with how odd he is.
(What are "soft eyes"??? He always says that, and I just don't get it at all...)

Every year I think I've conquered my allergies..
They like to throw me for a loop and not bother me when it seems like everyone else is dying.
*BAM*
Surprise- you can no longer breathe and Vicks is your best friend.
I swear I could sleep for 12 hours and my eyes would still be burning and tired.
I need a sterilized cage where nothing from the outside can get in.
That would be fantastic...

We started going to a new church a couple weeks ago.
www.jordancreek.org.
I don't want to be biased- but holy awesome church!
I already feel more at home there in just a couple weeks than I did in two years somewhere else.
Maybe it was my fault before, but this just feels like home.
They're doing a series on marriage which has just been awesome.
www.mymarriageisdead.com.
Everything there just seems so relevant- down to the settings and their ambitions.
Plus, it's in a movie theater so the chairs and ridiculously comfortable. :)
We're really excited about getting involved in some practical ministry.

I wish I had some profound thoughts tonight, but all I can really think of right now is how much Benadryl makes me happy- and how I probably shouldn't be mixing as many meds as I am right now.

I apologize for the next drug induced post.. .:)

I love days off:
Sleep,
sleep,
sushi,
sleep,
video games with my hubby,
gateway (probably more sushi...),
sleep.


So, we found my absolute favorite computer game on Amazon and ordered it. I went to install it on my husband's computer today and it says that it'll only run on Windows 95, does something funky and shuts down. Talk about a sad day....when you're dependent on an even more crappy product from the Bill Gates foundation.


Maybe i'm happier now. I find myself going on much fewer philosophical rants than I used to. Or maybe I don't have as many convictions as I used to- so I settle easier. I'm hoping that the latter is not the case.


I'm relearning freedom through Christ lately. We put ourselves into this stereotype of what we think a Christian is supposed to be like. Essentially, we force chains and bonds on ourselves that don't even need to be there just so we can achieve some sort of weird Christian spiritual nirvana-if you will. I started going to church in a movie theater. Absolutely love it. It's awesome to get to become part of a group of believers that don't have the traditional inhibitions about worshiping Christ. They do it because of their love- not to impress anyone with how "non-traditional" they are. It's refreshing. (Maybe I do have little rants left in me..)


I just finished Reckless Faith by Beth Gukkenberger. Read it. No Seriously. Read it. Beth is the director's wife of the mission I was at in Mexico. She is an incredible woman- and the stories she writes about in the book are incredibly challenging. It's a privilege to have met some of the people that she is so passionate about.



Lessons of the day...be angry at Bill Gates, and spider rolls are incredibly satisfying.