It's That Time of Year...

When consumers max out their credit cards, empty their wallets, and spoil their minors.

At least, that is what this time of year really is anymore. Sure we still hear the same stories, sermons, and watch the same Christmas specials on TV... But when we are out and actually living life and setting examples, what do we look like?

I have some confessions to make. I want you to read my story. I want you to ask yourself honestly, what do I look like at this time of Year? What message do I send?

My Confession...

I used to love Christmas time. Then I grew up. It has only gotten worse since I became an adult. 

 My story...

When I first entered the workforce, I went into retail, just weeks before the Holiday season. Back then, most stores had the common courtesy to let Halloween and Thanksgiving have a month of commercial time. 

I started a week before Halloween, and got to see the mad dash for last minute costume shoppers, and I thought that was insane. There was nothing that could prepare me for Black Friday. As it stood, none of us were prepared, there was only a couple of seasoned Black Friday veterans in the store at the time, because "Black Friday-Door-Buster" sales had only popular within the previous year or so. We thought it was crazy that we were opening at 5am... Now the same store opens at midnight on the accursed day.

Yet, like I said... There was nothing that could prepare me for it then. We went into the store at 3am to help finish setting the Christmas decorations that the visual department had sacrificed their Thanksgiving to start. We filled baskets of goodies to hand out to customers as they came through the door. We actually had a pretty good time, coming into the store in those wee hours of the morning, talking and getting excited for the holidays fast approaching us. 

We started to get concerned when we saw the parking lot was full at 4:30, and there was a line at all of our entrances. People were actually knocking on the glass like they wanted to get in!

At 5, there was a stampede, people got knocked down, racks turned over. We ran out hand-outs in half an hour resulting in people throwing fits because they didn't get chocolate, a sample of hand-lotion, and a coupon. The rest of the morning would progress into actual fist fights, and cursing matches, and tug-of-wars over merchandise. The same people that wore pins proclaiming "Jesus is the Reason for the Season" were accusing each other of stealing items from them, none of those items yet being purchased to belong to anyone but the store.

I went home with a new understanding of the season that day.

The next 2 years were only worse. I saw children and elderly get knocked down and trampled, some broken bones were results of a few of those. 

A woman left her lost child to cry in fright for 2 hours as we paged her to come to customer service to collect her child. After an hour we were obligated to call police, but we still paged for her. Eventually she came to customer service with 2 full shopping carts in tow. Her excuse to the police was that as long as we were paging her, she knew her child was alright, and it was easier to go Christmas shopping without curious eyes there to watch.

By my third year of Black Fridays, I didn't want to work retail anymore. I liked the retail environment any other time of the year, but the end of the year brings out the very worst in otherwise good people.

More confessions...

I, myself, boycott Black Fridays. Mostly because of my retail experiences, to be honest, but also because I see how the focus of the season has really and severely veered towards materialistic competition.

It might be judgmental of me, but it really galls me when I listen to the people around me talk about how they 'scored' on Black Friday. It angers me when I listen to some people brag about how they told other shoppers off, or how they swiped the last of something out from another shoppers nose, or how they didn't let someone get away with something, etc. 

Then, to make matters worse, they show off the Christmas cards with a picturesque scene of the Nativity, or talk about the wonderful Love of God and how He sent the most perfect gift of all to us, or even just handing a gift to someone with the statement, "I went through a lot to get this for you." Like that obligates you to be more appreciative for their hard work.

It seems to me that the world goes into an even more exaggerated state of contradiction during this time of year....

Now you can start asking...

I don't necessarily mean that everyone should boycott Black Friday like I do. I wouldn't complain, but I know it won't happen, so eh, whatever. Besides, It is a little late to do so this year anyways... I actually posted after Black Friday, because I wanted you to be able to look back and see what example you might have set last week. Are you proud of yourself? Did you set an example of Love for those who were shopping around you? Did you sacrifice someone elses wants to satisfy your own selfish ego?

It isn't wrong that you do participate.If you do participate in shopping events during this time of year, you are in a wonderful position to really demonstrate what the season is truly about. 

If you don't get that perfect present that you kids are wanting, and it is going to destroy their hopes and dreams in humanity, then maybe you need to reevaluate how you have presented the season to your children.

... And if you have asked yourself the presented questions, and you don't like what you see in yourself, let me offer some solutions that might help you next year...

The Saturday after Black Friday, is Small Business Saturday... Small, locally owned businesses usually participate in SBS. There are so many reasons to support your locally owned non-franchise stores. You help actual families, instead of Corporations, you support the actual town it is located, and the atmosphere is much more Seasonal. Plus, you find more unique items, usually better quality items, and more personalized items many times when you shop your local down-town shops, and mom-and-pops.

Cyber Monday starts the Monday following Thanksgiving. The awesomeness of Cyber Monday is that most deals last all week. You can shop in your pajamas with a cup of cocoa (or wine), and you don't have to wait in lines behind coupon cutters, and wailing children, and people with tagless items. The items are still the same quality as the ones you get in June (this is not the case with Black Friday Door Buster items you get at Wal-mart... I know). 

The items come to you, so you don't have to make countless trips from you car trunk to your bedroom with bags overflowing... Plus, many online stores offer to wrap the gifts before they ship them, so you don't have to worry about waiting for the kids to be scarce to do your wrapping, or worry they might find them before they are wrapped.

...But...

...If you MUST...

...Shop on Black Friday... 

I urge you to be one who presents the Season in a way that shows an example of the Reason.

By Whose Authority?

By whose authority does any Christian condemn anyone else?

I see and hear condemnation every time I turn on talk radio, I read a Christian forum, I watch Christians on TV, I listen to right-wing politics... It is every-frickin'-where!

Yet, when these people are confronted about their force of personal views upon everyone around them, they deny it...

They attack individuals views that do not line up with their own, "If you live/do/think this way, you aren't of Jesus, and if you aren't of Jesus, you go to Hell..." They argue that they say these things out of love.... Yet they speak in a tone of judgmental authority... They condemn people to hell before they even try to understand why people live/do/think the way they do!

Everyone believes they have the right interpretation of the Scriptures, everyone believes that they are right... No one believes that they might have the wrong understanding... No one is willing to admit that the interpretation they have of Scripture is Holy Spirit inspired...

What makes your Spiritually inspired interpretation better than mine, because I know as well that the Holy Spirit has inspired my understanding... And if I listen to you then I am going against what the Holy Spirit has revealed to me... How can you tell me I am inspired by something other than the Spirit?

Here's the thing though, that Christians get tangled in...

Personal interpretation...

Every interpretation started somewhere. The idea of spiritual adversaries evolving into the belief of the devil... the Trinity... Prosperity Teaching... Catechism... Baptism... Grace Salvation... and many others... All of these are a doctrines that someone came up with and others have identified with them... People have argued for and against all of these doctrines, and the people arguing believe they are lead by the Holy Spirit in their belief...

Most people read that read the Bible are already indoctrinated with a set of beliefs that flavor the words they read... Most people have some familiarity with a certain denomination of Christianity, and are already familiar with terms and ideas that are not specifically named in the Bible...

There are ideas that are simple, and almost all Christians can arrive at the same conclusion about, but then there are other ideas that take teachers teaching to arrive at... In the end, I have to wonder if we are taking too much time being taught what to believe than we should... It seems that the direction of the Holy Spirit has taken a back seat to subscribing to a denominational belief.

I am convicted... and YES... I said CONVICTED... by the Holy Spirit to step back and re-evaluate the Word.... And I believe that others are having the same conviction... but maybe most people are still too scared to stand up to their long history of being told what to believe.

I want to explain a realization that I came to awhile back... We are all given a PERSONAL interpretation of the Word... That is the AWESOMENESS of our spirituality... We each have the opportunity to read a Word that is written for us personally... We can arrive at this interpretation through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, if we allow it... That is how, each time you open the Bible, you see something new, even though it might be in a Scripture you had memorized when you were 4 years old in Sunday School...

Two people can have different understandings of the Word, because the Spirit will counsel each person according to their needs... Someone may have a revelation that you have not had yet, and likewise you might have a revelation that others have not had yet...

So... Who is anyone to tell someone else that they are going to Hell?

A personal interpretation is just that, PERSONAL... Because you have a PERSONAL relationship with God...

Every time you refute someone with Scripture, you are quoting an interpretation of that Scripture's meaning... Someone had to translate that verse for you... You had to accept someone's explanation of meaning for that verse... You had to accept a doctrine to frame the context of that verse...

So did the person you are refuting...

What makes your version right? Is it just because it's what YOU believe?

Every time you quote a Bible scripture, you are quoting an interpretation... not all interpretations are created equal. The difference is one of love versus judgment.

If you really want to minister through the Word, you should direct people to find what the Bible says by not speaking. Use your actions to reach others. Make them ask. Don't speak what you think the Bible says... The Holy Spirit is much more effective in bringing personal conviction than any person ever will be...

What Exactly Is The Bible?

As Christians, we are told from the start that the Bible is the inspired Word of God. We are told to read it, to memorize it, to quote it, to venerate it, to love and cherish it, to defend it, and so forth...

... But really...

The church puts more emphasis on the Book than it does on God!

The Bible has become no more than an idol to so many Christians. They have replaced God with a Book that they believe tells them what to do...

To top that off, many Christians believe the Bible without knowing anything about its history and how it came to exist in the MANY forms it exists in today. Yet they believe all they need to know to be a fully mature Christian exists within the bindings of their Book.

Many people believe that all translations of the Bible say the same thing. Many people never realize that some words were substituted, dumbed down, smarted up, created, or just straight-up changed for the purposes of ideas that have lost expression as time has passed.

Some people don't allow for changes in culture or tradition, and want to believe the Bible never changes. Well, we all know there is really only One thing that never changes, but I would like to state for the record that it isn't the Bible...


Let's examine my line of thought, shall we?

The Bible is said to be "The INSPIRED Word of God"... Think about it a minute...

What does "Inspired" mean? Well, it doesn't mean that God Himself wrote it... It means that someone, some HUMAN, was inspired to pen something down on behalf of God.

So, some guys, thousands of years ago, wrote down what they understood to be God's Will to share with others, and those books or letters have underwent a few hundred translations, transliterations, compilations, and rearrangements to reach you in the forms it has in this day and age.


So. What's my hangup?

I think allot of Christians have taken for granted just what the Bible has went through to become what it has in our time. Many Christians seem to think that English was the original language of most of it. It bothers me that many Christians pick a particular translation to claim as the "ONLY TRUE" translation (much like they talk about their denomination) without knowing just how recent that translation is!

It also blows my mind that some people will tell you that if God wanted us to read something, He would have put it in the Bible.

The fact is, men compiled the Bible. Plain and simple. Men are prone to have an agenda. A group of men wanted to create an organized structure to lead and heard peoples' minds into a collective awareness, that is what religion does... 

There are other books and letters that early Christians study. They hold meaning and give insight into our early roots. They explain some of the contradictions that many Christians have convinced themselves don't exist in the Bible (guess what, they do)...

The argument that they would be in the Bible if God wanted us to pay attention doesn't hold water with me... I think it is clear that we are supposes to check them out since they have resurfaced after being thought to have been completely eliminated... I think God protected those writings because he wants us to question our long held beliefs.

Besides, people check out modern Christian inspiration writings, how are they better than books that were meant to inspire Christians a couple thousand years ago? Max Lucado isn't in the Bible, does that mean you shouldn't read what he writes?

Is it wrong to read books that might have actually been inspiration for writings we have in the Bible today? Jesus and Paul both quote from books that aren't in the Bible, but they are books that we have access to now. Why would it be wrong to read what Jesus and Paul studied? Remember, the Bible as we know it didn't exist yet for them. Some of the books that they studied were renounced by the men who had real influence on what Christians today read.


You might think of it this way....

Imagine that your best friend went away on a mission trip across several countries, and you were so eagerly awaiting word on how they were doing and what they had going on...

While your friend is abroad, they inspire the locals to write about their exploits. Your friend is doing wonderful things and the people they are in contact with notice.

While your friend is doing their thing, a journalist, who has been to a couple of places your friend has been has realized the people who he has ran into are talking about the same person. That journalist is intrigued by what he hears, and even more impressed when he realizes that the peoples have been writing down everything your friend has done...

So the journalist makes copies of all the writings he has come across in regards to your friend, it will make a fantastic article! The problem? The writings are all in different languages. He is going to have to translate all of the information from the different countries (and different languages) your friend has visited, and then write them into one language for his articles.

In the meantime, he realizes there are so many writings, and a few he even questions whether they are about our friend or not, that he leaves some out because he doesn't find them as important as the ones he wants to feature. Some are just to hard to explain in a way his readers will relate. Either way, much of the inspired writing doesn't make the cut.

Well, you just so happen to get this magazine that this particular journalist writes for, and imagine how excited you are when you open your newest issue, and find a nice long article inspired by your friend. You are so excited you clip the article... and next month there is more... and this goes on for awhile.

Sooner or later, your friend returns. They call you on the phone, you can hear their voice, it's really awesome... But you went through all the trouble of clipping those articles and putting them altogether in that scrapbook over there... Your friend is pleased that you took the time, but tries to tell you that some of that stuff might be exaggerated, that you are missing the point of others because some info got left out, and the journalist didn't quite get some of the ideas right when he translated the writings... But you won't hear it. You read and re-read those articles so many times, that it has become more real to you than your friend.

At parties, when people ask you about that scrapbook you display on your coffee table, you tell them you "...Actually know the person that is in those articles!" ... But even though, your friend just lives down the block, you never introduce them at said parties... You would rather show off how well you know what is in the book you put together...

There it is in a nutshell... Our Bible... A conversation piece for our coffee table turned into a substitute for a real relationship.

How many Christians cling to Bible verses over a relationship with God? How many people take more pride in their ability to quote than their ability to practice? How many people have forgotten God because God is less tangible than their Book?

I have seen people misquote Scripture to state that The Word (they mean the Bible when they say it) IS God... That's about the time I started questioning whether the Bible is really as important as they say it is.


The Bible doesn't change? Think again!

Over the years, with each new translation, minor changes have been made to the message of the Bible. It's like the game 'Telephone' that you might have played as a kid, where one person whispers a message in someones' ear and then that person passes that message on down to the next person, and so forth... The message never came out the same at the end of the line. Each change was minor, but by the end there was enough minor changes, that it made a major difference in the overall message.

 There were additions to some passages, there are different reasons for those additions, but the fact still remains, it wasn't how it was originally written...

We also have to account for the way meanings of words change over time... Such as how just half a century ago, 'gay' just meant 'happy'. 

Examples:
*The English word "love" is used to convey 4 separate Greek ideas in the NT. It doesn't quite convey the strength that was originally intended in some passages.

*Junia- an woman's name and an apostle- was changed to Junius in some Bible translations because it was argued that women were not allowed to be officials in the church.

*"Sorcerer" in the OT was a term used to indicate people who mixed poisons for the purpose of murder. Now people think it means that people who practice magick, or read Harry Potter books are in line for God's merciless wrath.

*One word- ArsenoKoites... Which is actually 2 words... and they don't necessarily relate to homosexuality... but we may never really know, because only Paul ever put those words together and he isn't around anymore to explain...

*The end of 'The Lord's Prayer' wasn't in the original texts. It was added later.

*Another example that might be of note to any feminists reading this... It is believed and even demonstrated by some scholars that 1Cor 14:33b-36 were added later.

I could go on, but I think I have made my point. There are many other instances of additions, changes, and so forth... Maybe you should start looking for them yourself.

What If?

What if all you know is wrong?
What if you found out that everything you consider evil is not?
What if sin isn't defined by law, but by attitude?
What if you learned all the bad things that happen are not bad in God's eyes?

I am sure these are "what if's" you have considered at some point or another, but why have you drawn the conclusions you have...

I am sure some people think like me and have decided that everything that tradition has hammered into our heads is more wrong than right. Some people may have never had so much tradition stunt them for very long...

... But I am ready to address the "What If's"...

What if all you know is wrong? 
What if the interpretations you learned in church were never taught in the Spirit they were meant to be taught in?

I have already addressed in an earlier post how the church has taught more fear than love, all the while telling us fear comes form the devil...

Does that make the teachers bad people? I don't think it does, they are only teaching what they have been taught.... But how many people have seriously questioned what they have been taught since before they can even remember... Most people are afraid to seriously question what their church leaders have taught, and most leaders are afraid to question what they have taught...

Why would the leaders of the church be afraid of questions? Most of our church leaders have the best interest of their congregations at heart... This is a fact... Because they love the people in their congregations, how would it feel to realize that you have been teaching incorrectly for so long?

What if you teach the tradition and find it wrong? Or worse, what if you decide to teach against the tradition, and find that tradition is the way it should have been?

Why ask serious questions that there are already answers for, if there is a possibility that you will find a new answer? If you find a new answer, will you be held accountable for the many years you spoke the old and incorrect answer as the truth?

There are so many reasons our leaders who have our best interests in heart might not have the right answers... It isn't a sign of a bad person to be wrong... But refusing to  consider whether a belief is correct or incorrect can do allot of damage... EVEN when the believer has the best intentions at heart.

What if your definition of evil and God's definition differ?
What is evil... Really?

Everyone's definition of evil somewhat differs... Some people think that to disobey the 10 commandments is evil... Some people  think that to disobey the OT law is evil... Some people think evil is coming against them when their car breaks down... and some people think that death and disease is a signature of the forces of hell...

... But what if all of that is wrong?
...What if it's right?
...What do we have to gain by thinking about it?

Well, I think we have allot to gain by reconsidering evil. What do you say evil is...

Do you give the easy answer and say that anything that is outside of God's will is evil? ... But then... You still haven't said anything, because God says that no one knows what is in his heart, just as no man knows what is in your heart... What He chooses to reveal is what we know, but no man has the entire picture...

Yet so many people believe they are qualified to reveal God's will for everyone else...

What if sin isn't defined by law, but by attitude?

What if the OT law was more than just a law... What if obeying the 10 Commandments isn't really about doing the Commands, but in what way to do so?
What if evil is not about what happens... What if it is about attitude?

Is death evil? I would say no, I think most people would... Is murder evil? I think everyone would say yes... The Bible doesn't seem to frown on wars, in fact, there are several wars in the OT that are commanded by God... Did God command something evil? If you believe in what I believe, then the answer is no... Are soldiers evil for killing? You are a bit misguided if you say soldiers are evil for fighting wars...

The point is.... Death... in and of itself is not evil... It makes people sad, but sadness is not evil...

What turns death into an evil thing is the intention behind it... If someone dies when they are sick, or old, it isn't evil. It is nature. If someone dies in a car crash, through no one elses fault, it is an accident... Heartbreaking, but not evil...

If someone has the intention of hurting or killing someone for selfish gain or because they pleasure in it, then it becomes evil.

What if God's definition of evil doesn't rest in the Law and the doing of such, but all along it has always been about the intentions of the people AS THEY ARE ACTING upon the Law?... Notice the bold and capitalized letters... Good intentions without actions aren't worth mentioning, because without action there is never the opportunity for correct attitude...

As a Christian, I believe that the heart behind every action is what God looks at... If I am giving money to charity for my own selfish reasons... I believe that act becomes evil. In this scenario, I could care less for the people I am giving to...

What if the definition of evil is about attitude? If it is, and we want to measure by degrees (as Christians tend to do) ... Who would be more evil... Homosexuals, or the Christians condemning them? On the one hand we have people who are not wanting to hurt anyone and succeeding.

On the other hand, we have people who Jesus taught the Way of Love, but people use that message to justify hurting and ostracizing those who they condemn as sinners... All for the pride of being righteously right... It isn't about love for most Christians, it is about doing things the right way.

That pride, to me, shows that the intentions of those actions is done wrong, and to me, this is evil.

When you are truly operating in a Spirit of Love, you don't hurt anyone... You go about doing as you are supposed to do, and you allow your actions to be your voice... You are humble enough to lay down your pride, and not need to say a word to those you help, until the Spirit moves the person you help to ask for your voice... 

What if you learned all the bad things that happen are not bad in God's eyes?

What if the fact that you are devastated about some situation you consider bad isn't percieved as bad to God? What if He was the One who decided you need to suffer? Would that change how you feel about God?

So many times, life inconveniences are written off to the devil coming against us. We are told basically to pray it away... Lord willing, of course... But the truth of it is, we live in an impermanent world... And as such, all situations within it are temporary... They may not seem like it, but they are...

You, as you are now, are temporary... Just a reminder for anyone who wants to argue the fact that some situations are permanent...

So, pain, death, disease, poverty... suffering in general... To God, it isn't 'bad'...

He instructs us to help people in these situations of suffering, but He doesn't say it is 'bad' that these situations exist...

Remember the blind man, John 9, I think... He was born blind, the disciples asked whose fault it was, and Jesus pretty much says, "It's God's, this isn't because of sin... It's because God has a purpose for the man being blind." Then Jesus proceeds to heal the guy... Mommy kisses have nothing on Jesus' spit... LOL

Anyways... The man suffered since he was born... He was made to beg for what he could, because he wasn't considered fit to do anything else... But through his suffering God's work was manifested...

Again, in an earlier post about my thoughts on the devil, I tried to show that suffering isn't necessarily brought on by demons... Allot of things we think are terrible are really what God wants...

If death and suffering are a punishment from God because we went against Him, then why would He want to eliminate the punishment before we have learned the lesson?

When I punish my kids for doing something that would hurt them, I don't stop the punishment until I know my point is made... Is that bad? I think not...

SO....

You might need to rethink evil, bad, and God's will...

You might want to refrain from telling others what God's will is until you can tell them without speaking...

... And you might want to apply what you know of God's will to yourself so that He can be made manifest through your suffering...

Sex, Marriage, and... Christianity?

WHY are Christians SO fascinated by SEX!?

If a topic has the demonized 3 letter word or anything that might be associated with it presented to them, most Christians will stick to it like rubber cement. There are more official church stances on sexual topics than Penthouse has yet had the opportunity to explore...

Sex is not the most covered topic of the Bible by any means, but Christians sure do devote allot of time to it. There is more time devoted on what is acceptable and not acceptable sexually than there is time devoted on how to show true Agape to the people around us.

The Old Law has many requirements correlating between sex and marriage... In the Old Testament, sex was pretty much the equal of marriage. Even today, the views of marriage have strong sexual overtones within the church.

... The sad thing is that I feel Christianity has truly misrepresented marriage and what it should be in favor of the idea that a penis belongs in a vagina... The church esteems the commandment to "Go forth and procreate" higher than the Golden Rule.

Well, I'm just going to say right now that I think Christians have the wrong idea about  marriage in the first place. Marriage and homosexuality are 2 things that I really feel Christians need to re-educate themselves about.

So, for anyone reading this who might have a "Marriage=1Man+1Woman" bumper-sticker adorning their rear cargo hold... Why do you think marriage must be defined this way? Is it because you see two interlocking assemblies in the crotches of the opposite sexes? That is usually the first argument I hear against homosexuality... A woman has the appropriate coupler for a man's fitting...

So many of us grow up in church and hear for as long as we can remember, the lesson of the "Bride of Christ", and how as part of the church, that is what we as a congregation are. Sometimes, when we would hear arguments against homosexuality, the subject of "Christ's Bride" is reiterated in a way such as to try to prove that a homosexual couple is not a valid pairing.

Some people use the argument saying a bride is a woman, and a groom is a man; totally logical when we think of one entity entering into the bonds of marriage with a few million men and women as a group ... Or that a couple is supposed to mirror Christ's example... Which still doesn't invalidate the love a homosexual couple can feel for each other...

I have even heard it argued that it is the purpose of the Bride of Christ to procreate and to develop the children of Christ. To this camp of debaters, the idea is that the "Bride of Christ" is the model of what Christian marriages should be. Two people of the same sex cannot procreate, thus they cannot be truly married in the spirit of Christ....

These arguments make my brain hurt...

Other arguments against homosexuality, not to mention gay marriage, pretty much are exclusively debated by Old Testament Law...
The same Law that forbids people mixing milk with meat - Anyone have a cheeseburger recently? ...
The same Law that forbids women who are menstruating from associating with men- What do you think would happen if all of the women in the workplace had a week off every month? Well, life WOULD probably be happier. LOL- But it's not gonna happen.
The same Law that commands a woman must marry her rapist- We don't force that on anyone, WITH GOOD REASON...
The same Law that would see those who cheat on their spouses be punished with death...

Anyways, when you read the Law of the OT, you see that marriage was pretty much defined by the act of sex. A woman would be legally bound to a man if she had sex with him, even if it was against her will.

There are so many Laws we wouldn't dream of arguing in favor for in this day and age. So what is up with the cherry picking in regards to laws dealing with homosexuality? Why do Christians try and force a lifestyle in which some people cannot possibly be happy on those very people?

In the OT, marriage was defined by the act of sex. Most of the time, what was considered a legal marriage was completely void of any feeling or choice... Pastors will dress it up and romanticize the families written of in the Bible... Every single family in the OT had some great flaw, that is considered condemnable in today's society as well... but God blessed and prospered those families... even though they continued in their vices... 


Well, what about those infamous passages in the New Testament that specifically call out homosexuals? 

If you really want to refer to 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 or 1Timothy 1:10.... Then you really need to know how to go back and compare the original Greek...

Those verses used, in their original form, a word that is not found anywhere else in Greek literature existing today..."Arsenokoites"... It is a word formed of 2 words... Two words that are not among the common definition of homosexuality, but were commonly used in reference to acts associated with temple prostitution and idolatry... 

...I won't go into it. If you are really curious I have given you enough information to learn about it yourself... But continuing on....

It is my challenge to Christians to reexamine what Christ really meant when He compared the Church to being His Bride...

Marriage should is not about sex anymore, it is about love...  I did not marry to have sex, but I married my spouse makes me complete. Our oneness does not happen when the lights go out, our unity has NOTHING to do with sex... It is a unity of mind and spirit that happens every moment of the day... Our most intimate moments happen, not in the bedroom, but when we are working together to accomplish something of mutual purpose.

We need to think like Christ and be able to fulfill a purpose WITH Him... Believing in Him gives Him and what He did for us real purpose, and adopting His lessons of love and acceptance unify us with Him...This is the vision He presented when He spoke of His Bride.

Gay couples can and do experience this oneness with each other... They complete each other, even without children... It isn't about where a dick is supposed to fit... it is a unity of purpose and minds... The next time you are brought to consider the unity of Christ and the church, don't think of it in sexual terms... Total strangers can consent to one night stands, that mean nothing but instant gratification, but real intimacy comes from two people of the same purpose who love each other... and that is what the Church is meant for... True intimacy of purpose with Christ.   So, here is my concluding thoughts for this post....

Marriage isn't defined by sex anymore, but love and oneness...
Marriage is not even a religious institution... 

It is a governmental institution... If the church would continue to define marriage by sex, then homosexual couples who have had sex with each other are already married...

We, as a society, now define marriage by love... so why is it so bad that two people who love each other should be able to marry?


I would like to know why Christians feel so threatened by the fact that 2 people of the same sex who find completeness in each other should be denied the chance to file tax returns jointly, or be denied the right to have the person they trust most in the position of support when they might need it most.

How does legalizing Gay marriage undermine the moral fabric of the nation? Are Christians scared that gay couples might be the sole reason marriage in the US became a better statistic over divorce if allowed to legalize?

How does two people of the same sex marrying and adopting undermine the fabric of a hetero household? How is it bad that children with no stable home could find a stable atmosphere if homosexual couples were allowed to adopt? 

Why is Homosexual marriage more horrible to some people than adultery that destroys families? Why  is Christianity getting so distracted by this issue?

Are You Offended?

Everybody is getting offended these days!

If I don't share someone's interpretation of the Bible, most of the time I have offended them by admitting so... If I tell them that I cannot agree with what their pastor says, they get offended... If I say that I believe the Bible is a religious text with hints of history, and not a historical text with strong overtones of religion, well, yeah... They get offended.

You know what? As a human, you have the right to be offended. You are entitled to your feelings...

... But you know what else? Feelings are one of the leading causes of spiritual blindness. True story.

Think about it... When people allow their emotions to take over, they act on them with less thought than when they keep their feelings in check. The stronger the emotion, the weaker the impulse to curb the emotion.

When someone is violent in eros (lustful, emotional love) then they are more apt to give in to lustful urges. When someone is scared, they are less likely to think rationally about the reason they are scared and more likely to lash out irrationally. The more angry someone is, the harder it gets for them to control their desire for retribution...

...When someone allows offense to take over, they close their ears. They allow their pride to swell, and they shut down in regards to their offense until their pride is satisfied...

As a person, you are definitely entitled to your right of being offended... As a Christian, it is probably in your better interest to lay down that right....

Our adversaries, when they do come against find their greatest ally to be ourselves, especially when we allow our pride to take over. When we feel hurt, belittled, humiliated, or threatened, many times our emotions rise up as a defense, but our defense can very well be a downfall when we allow it to blind us.

If you don't believe me, just look at the media these days. You cannot speak the truth, because you might offend someone. When someone gets offended, you don't hear the end of it, until somebody else gets offended by something totally different. When someone's ideas are called into question, sides are so immediately taken, that neither side ever really understands why the other side is even upset, thus both sides each demand the other side stand down and admit they are the worse kind of wrong...

Political Correctness has become the best means of distraction from real issues for those who have something to hide... Many people who have been hurt, spurned, belittled, and persecuted by Christians hide behind PC and use it as a defense against further attack.

Pride in personal interpretation has been a particular undoing of the reputation of the Christian Church... Each denomination, each pastor/priest, and each individual feels that they have a special insight as to what particular passages in the Bible mean, and to challenge their ideas about them normally becomes an offense at some point after a challenge has been issued....

So, who is right to be offended in this war of who is right, and who is wrong? Well, if a Christian is challenging someone that is not Christian, I would say they are doing a very unChristian act by allowing their right to pride stand in the way of ministering to a non-Christian.

At the same time, when 2 Christians are in disagreement, sometimes it is better to agree to disagree, continue in love, and let the Holy Spirit do Its work. Offense in the ranks of Christendom has done more damage, severed more congregations, damaged more reputations, and cause more regression from the faith than anything else put together.

It is better to shut up and listen to another person's ideas and thoughts, before a Christian says anything to refute... If you feel a person is wrong in what they say or do, just because you tell them so does not mean they will suddenly agree with you.  If you feel someone is wrong, talking will not change a persons actions... Living and abiding in the Spirit is the only thing you can do to be a true witness for them. If they are meant to feel the conviction of the Holy Spirit in regards to your concern, I think that God is perfectly capable in sending that conviction....

On the plus side, if you have effectively proven your witness by reaffirming your relationship through your actions, and not words, then if it is meant for you to be the voice of the Holy Spirit, the conviction of the Holy Spirit upon that person will eventually bring that person to ask you for your belief, when the Spirit has done Its work and prepared them sufficiently to open their ears to listen to you.

Until then, it is your duty as a Christian to accept individuals as they are, minister to them (not preach at them), and to love them unconditionally as Christ would do. You should follow the example of Christ, and allow those who need your advice to come to you of their own free will....

... And when you are called to stand up and be a voice, be sure that it is truly a calling of the Holy Spirit, and not the call of your pride of your opinion in what you believe the Word says... Because really, it has been demonstrated that the Word is reveled to us on a personal level, and we do not all get the same message from the same passages, at the same time... Allow that other people may have more understanding in some areas where the Spirit has given them a special understanding, and have faith in the understanding that the Spirit has revealed to you...

... And finally... I would call upon you to humility in regards to what you have been convicted in, and what is just your honest opinion... Many Christians have never had the conviction of the Holy Spirit in regards to some matter that the Church takes up battle with, but they would force the views they learn or the opinions they have formed upon people who the Spirit is truly dealing with in such matters...

Whether the Church's views as a whole are right or wrong, or whether the strong opinions of the individual is right or wrong, it doesn't matter in regards to a person who is being handled by the Spirit...

...But many times, in hearing the arguments by those who are not meant to argue, the one being dealt with becomes deafened by the roar of the crowd who is condemning them instead of loving them... and so their emotions take over and they rail against the Spirit that is trying to lead them in the direction they are meant to go.

... And as I wrap up this post, I want to challenge anyone who reads it to keep it in mind for myself included in the future... Because the goal of this blog is to challenge the long held traditions that I feel need to be reexamined.... and some of what I say is going to be offensive to allot of people... But I really feel convicted to challenge people, and so it's what I am going to do...

The Devil?

Who is he?

I think it ironic that the devil gets so much attention by Christians.

Christians have not just one, but many adversaries.  Many Christians believe that there is a being of ultimate evil that has legions upon legions of demons doing his every whim...

Christians believing this have been deceived by faulted tradition... A not so uncommon circumstance in our religion.

Christianity give too much power to a singular, non-Biblical entity. People claim all of the time that the devil is coming against them and their families, or that a demon has oppressed them, or that all of hell is coming against them. They feel that just because they are facing hardship, they have fallen under the devil's gaze...

Many times a true understanding of what is happening would completely alter their attitude, and the outcome of the situation.

I would like to call to attention the fact that the Bible has very little to say about angels, demons, and the nature of Heaven and Hell... What we are taught by tradition is very corrupted, and erroneous. This is mostly because much of the information that early Christians had access to has been removed from standard Christian tradition today... It is also partly because of the widespread illiteracy of  Christians through the ages, and the fact that the Organization felt that the same doctrine must be taught across the world... When not all of a council could agree in what meant what, they decided it didn't belong, and it was not included in the Canon...

One of the most heated topics debated in early Church history was the nature of angels/demons, and Heaven/Hell.

 When the Old Testament speaks of Satan, it is merely speaking of an adversary. Not always of evil origin, but sometimes sent of God. It boils down to the original Aramaic or Hebrew word that would be in the original Aramic or Hebrew text... Sometimes ideas get lost in translation...

The short of it... A satan could be angel or demon.

Now, before you shut me down because you think I am trying to tell you there are no demons, hear me out. That is not what I am saying. I do believe in demons, but I feel it is important to know the facts.

The tradition of Lucifer, aka Satan, started very early on in Christian history. We have a collaboration of early Church personalities to thank for that. 
      
Two men who are probably the earliest known to claim Isaiah 14:12-15 was a reference to God's evil arch-nemesis were Tertullian (Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus), and Origen Adamantius. The in-depth mythos of Lucifer as we know him today can almost be completely outline by Tertullian himself...

Saint Jerome (Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus) ,who compiled and translated the Latin Bible, aka The Vulgate, followed Origen's and Tertullian's conclusions of Lucifer, and thus propagated the ideology that would become tradition in the Church.

Why is it important to understand that Lucifer is a false persona? Well, one of the biggest issues I see is that, because Christians have believed so full-heartedly in such a mythos, it has given rise to a focus away from God.

Satan aka Lucifer has become to a large part of the world an anti-God that has more sway in the world than God... There are many people in the world that think Lucifer is a force that is nearly equal to God. Christians have given power to the spiritually evil by their belief in the Satanic Lucifer.

Christians have used Lucifer/Satan as an excuse for everything that doesn't line up with how they feel the world should be... From problems in the Church, to problems with their country, to problems with their families, etc. They use the belief that Satan has come against them to stop doing what they should and allow God to take over....

... But in reality, when a satan/adversary comes against a Christian, it usually means it's time for them to take action... 

Christians use the idea of Satan/Lucifer as an excuse of lost free will... They will claim that Satan was just too strong for them, and that they acted under demonic oppression... 

When something happens that makes someone sad, it is claimed that Satan had a hand in it. The fact usually is that whatever makes us upset is a result of us living, or making mistakes, or the result of someone else exercising their free will...

People can do bad things without a demon coercing them to do it... We have an imperfect nature, and with such a nature, we are capable of acting wrongly without help... Such is the way of the selfish. We don't need a demon whispering in our ear...

If we keep believing that demons are laying in wait for us at every turn, we will continue to make excuses and passing the blame for actions we willingly take. Can we be tempted by demons? I am sure we can, but as long as we continue to give them credit for succeeding, then we give them more power than they deserve.

Just because people do bad things, or people get hurt, get sick, or die; just because you hit a financial hardship, or you lose your possessions; just because people you know do drugs, or have lots of sex; It doesn't mean it's all the work of demons... If people succumb to weaknesses of their selfish nature, they may be leaving an opening for demon activity, but it doesn't demons are to blame... 

Death is a part of life, and so is pain and sadness... These bodies we inhabit now are susceptible to such things...
Financial hardship is also a part of life... Demonic intervention isn't needed for you to lose a job, a house, or a car... 
Humans are curious by nature, and prone to enjoying experiences that give them elevated feelings and emotions; it doesn't take a demon to know that drugs and sex can give these coveted sensations to a body.

For those of you that are not convinced... Think of it this way...  If you want to believe in a Christian tradition, believe in this one.

We are told that when the angels chose to turn their backs on God, a third of their ranks turned. That leaves two thirds left with God... That means for every demon that accosts you, two angels are there to intercede for you... I'll take those odds, and as far as I am concerned as long as I have 2 angels and God on my side, a demon can't touch me...

Yet I still have to contend with my free will and selfish nature. God isn't going to touch my free will, it is part of what makes me in His image... So sometimes when I have not turned my self over, my free will can still succumb to those things which my self is weak against... Most of the time I fail, a demon has nothing to do with it...

Christians need to stop giving power to demons that those evil spirits do not deserve. They cannot take your free will unless you give it to them. 

I think it way past time for Christians to take responsibility for their own Fails, and man up to the Standard they claim to follow and/or force on others.