"You don't have to love the sin, to love the sinner"

Ive been wanting to write on this for a while. I feel strongly that, even though my side of the issue is possibly an unpopular point of view among Christians, that such has no barring on whether it is the right, or the christian thing to do.

In the year 2004, the State of Oregon proposed a ballot measure, that was created in order to stop same-sex unions in Oregon. Many measures like it had popped up all over the United States. While not a christian at this point, I felt that the measure was wrong. I couldn't help but think that it was not our place to decide whether or not others should be allowed to enter into a same sex union. What confused me a lot on the issue, was the reaction I received when I brought up around some of my friends that had been christian all their lives. I thought for certain that they would be against it, but they weren't. I usually received responses like “god defines marriage as between a man and a woman”. However, that sentence didn't seem to satisfy the issue.

Seven years later, I am a Christian, I've been saved, and yet my views on the matter haven't changed. I still find the thought of regulating who a person can marry as a disgusting thought. I have noticed however, that there is a sheer lack of responses often mentioned against measure 36, that are based on the bible itself. Here is mine.

To start into my belief on the matter, I would like to first talk a bit about C.S. Lewis's, “The Problem of Pain”. This book had been recommended to me by a college professor, after I had asked him a question that was preventing me from believing in god. The question was essentially “How can there be a loving god in a world with so much pain.

After reading the book, I noticed one main common theme. If we asked god to prevent us from taking actions that would harm us or others in some way, would we be asking for more love? The answer was repeated throughout the book. No, we would be asking for less love. God so loved us, that he gave us the ability to choose. We don’t have to follow him, but if we decide to, he is there with open arms.

God so loved us, that he gave us the freedom of choice.

This brings me to my main point. God loves us so much that he gives us the right to choose whether or not to follow him. He sent his only son to die on the cross so that we would have the ability to choose to have a relationship with him, and to inherit eternal life. However, now-a-days we seem to have taken it upon ourselves to force others to live what we would define as a good christian life.

Please don't miss understand what i'm saying. I am not debating whether or not same-sex marriage is wrong for a christian life of following god. The scripture seems clear enough to me.

What I am debating, is whether or not we as Christians have the right to, or even if we had the right to, if by preventing others from have same sex unions, we are acting in a way that Jesus would be proud of us. I don't think so, and think that he is saddened by the actions that the people who call themselves his disciples, have decided to take upon others.

In John 13:34-35 “34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” God commanded us to love one another, as he had loved us. That was his last command to his disciples before he was arrested and crucified.

And yet, the christian mainstream community has taken it upon themselves to not love others, but to attempt to force others to follow a christian life style. This is not love! As a friend of mine once reminded me “You don't have to love the sin, to love the sinner”. Tony Campolo, evangelical pastor, public speaker and author was quoted for saying the following.

“You don't have to legitimate someones lifestyle, to love that person, to be a brother or a sister to that person, and to stand up for that person.”

If your still curious, speak with me, or check out the movie "Lord, Save Us From Your Followers". It was on netflix last I checked.

Also if you have a different opinion, and find my logic flawed in some way, post a response or come talk to me. I really do want to know.

God Came for the Sinners

My pastor at Grace City presented a sermon a few Sunday's ago that had a rather personal meaning for me. He, Seth, talked about how we Christians sometimes like to think of ourselves as orphans in this world. He mentioned that there are a lot of broken people at Grace City, being healed. That while we believe in god, we feel that he is the only one that we can connect to. John 15:19 comes to mind.

He talked about how, when we chose to give our life to Christ, God made us part of his family! We have more brothers and sisters and cousins than we could possibly imagine! 

Fast-forwarding a bit, I was walking down Monroe Ave earlier, and I couldn't help but notice all the people who have lost their way, or are broken.

I cant help but think, how could god reach out to all these people. So many people here are hurting for affection and the feeling of being loved truly by someone. All the guys that are out there, desperate for attention. All the woman, scantily dressed, believing that they must be in order to attract the attention of someone so as to have a mutilated feeling of the love and caring that God has for us all.

And it think, how can God possibly reach out to all these people?

Then I remember everything that God can and has done.

John 15:13
Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. (NIV)

New International Version (NIV)

 ¹⁶ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners--of whom I am the worst. 1 Timothy 1:15

Thousand, millions, BILLIONS.....these numbers may be huge for us, but they are tiny compared to the power of our god! In him, all these things are possible :D 

 

Skillet- "Looking for Angels"- Poweful lyrics, definately worth a blog post

Normally i don't do this, but the song is so powerful. These are the lyrics for Skillet's song "Looking for Angels"


"Looking For Angels"

Going through this life looking for Angels
People passing by, looking for Angels.

Walk this world alone try to stay on my feet

Sometimes crawl, fall, but I stand up cause I'm afraid to sleep
And open my eyes to a new day, with all new problems and all new pain
All the faces are filled with so much anger
Losing our dignity and hope from fear of danger
After all the wars, after settling the scores, at the break of dawn we will be deaf to the answers

There's so much bigotry, misunderstanding and fear
With eyes squinted and fists clinched we reach out for what is dear
We want it we want
We want a reason to live
We're on a pilgrimage
A crusade for hope
Cause in our hearts and minds and souls we know

We need it we need
We need more than this

[Chorus:]
Going through this life looking for angels
People passing by looking for angels
Walking down the streets looking for angels
Everyone I meet looking for angels

So many nations with so many hungry people
So many homeless scrounging around for dirty needles
On the rise, teen suicide, when we will realize
we've been desensitized by the lies of the world
We're oppressed and impressed by the greedy
Whose hands squeeze the life out of the needy
When will we learn that wars, threats, and regrets are the cause and effect of living in fear

Who can help protect the innocence of our children
Stolen on the internet with images they can't forget
We want it we want
We want a reason to live
We represent a generation that wants to turn back a nation
To let love be our light and salvation

We need it we need
We need more than this

[Chorus]

I became a savior to some kids I'll never meet
Sent a check in the mail to buy them something to eat
What will you do to make a difference, to make a change?

What will you do to help someone along the way?
Just a touch, a smile as you turn the other cheek
Pray for your enemies, humble yourself, love's staring back at me
In the midst of the most painful faces
Angels show up in the strangest of places

[Chorus]

[4x]
Walking down the streets looking for angels
Everyone I meet looking for angels

Well, That was odd.....

So, im walking back from the UCC late tonight and i run across a group of 4 girls looking for directions. (Which shall henceforth be known as A, B, C, and D)

A asks me for directions, and me being my nice self obliges. They are looking for Kings and Vanburen.

I point them in the direction of vanburen(we were on jackson). Right off the bat, B starts disagreeing with me, while C agrees with me and D, is  very obviously intoxicated (also probably high on something), and stays quiet.

As we start towards vanburen (i was headed from harrison), D decides to ask me if she can shoulder walk with me, and without waiting for an answer, grabs ahold of my shoulder and starts using me as a leaning support. Confused and not sure how to respond, she starts going off about how the drugs are calling to her, and how she is a terrible person, while C reprimands her, telling her she chooses how to act. a few seconds later, D comments on how my sweater is warm, and starts leaning even more, if possible, against my shoulder.

Completely unsure of how to respond, and feeling very awkward,
(wishing that she would stop trying to shove her right boob against my elbow) i accept that we are only about 100' from vanburen, and decide to just go with it.

We get the street, and me, very happy that i could now escape from D, gives further directions, and after a hug from C, starts across the street. D then follows me across, and only comes back after her friends call her back telling her to leave me alone.

All in all, a very odd experience.

A Dream of Unity

On August 28th 1963 (consequently 27 years exactly before i was born) a speech titled "I Have a Dream" was given to crowd of over 200k people at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. This was a landmark moment in the Civil Rights Movement, in which Martin Luther King Jr spent all of his adult life attempting to gain the freedom that was part of regular life for Americans of European Dissent.

I have a dream also, though it has to do with a completely different area of society. Mine is a dream of the unity of Christianity.

My campus minister told me that almost all denominations have the same basic beliefs, and after that, they really branch out. I disagree. Throughout my life, i have attended two particular denominational church's. Those of the Roman Catholism Denomination, and those of the Church of Christ view. It has been my view that they are incredibly similar. Sure, they may have some different traditions, but when it comes down to it, is that what really matters?

I have a friend who is a very strong believer in the Church of Christ Ministry. He has an unshaking belief in Christ, that has come from many years of being a Christian. Though he often can come off as stubborn, i pray to god that one day, my relationship with god will be as strong as his.

I have another friend, you has spent, to my knowledge, her entire life in the Roman Catholic Ministry. While she might not talk about it as much as the first, it has been my experience that she has just as strong a relationship with god as any.

What is the difference between the beliefs of these two people? Besides the titles of their churches, not much. They both love god with all their heart, and strive daily to be more like him.

A good example of what i have found to be the core of almost all christian denominations (one or two exceptions), is the Nicene Creed. (http://www.creeds.net/ancient/nicene.htm If your interested)

What confuses me so much is why all these denominations feel the need to disagree with one another on the smallest of things. It has lead my attendance at my current church to fall noticably. I truly want to be around other christians, but when all i seem to hear is discussion about how this denomination is wrong, or how this translation of the bible is wrong, it gets rather draining at times.

Which brings me to this question. What truly matters?

To me this is simple.

Jesus Christ was born of the virgin Mary, and became a human. Throughout his adult life, he strived through ridicule and torture so that i might not die, but that i will be able to go live eternally with god that created me. Jesus lived a life that i should have lived, and died a death that i should die......for me. God wants to have a relationship with us. An analogy that i always agreed with is that we just need to take one step, and god will take the remaining 99 steps.

A song that i think represents what i have written is linked below. It is truly amazing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IIRxdSFxwY

Thank you for reading this. God Loves You!

David Bade

My Meanings in Song Lyrics - 'All Things New' Sidewalk Prophets

This song really stuck out to me as i was listening on youtube and KLove (AMAZING RADIO STATION, by the way). It really made me think of my life. So without further ado-

'There’s a place deep inside of me
No one else has ever seen
And I fight to keep the light
From reaching the darkness within me
I’ve been holding onto secrets
That I can never tell
Cause if I did, then you’d know
That I was really someone else'

We all have things that we like to keep to ourselves. I definitely do. This blog is actually part of an attempt for me to let more people in to my thought (in a non scientific way, for any science majors reading this). Even though we may hide them from others, god always knows. And it hurts him to see us try to hide them.

'Can you forgive, will you forget
All these wrongs and make me whole again
You restore the broken, You heal the sinner’s heart
You make all things new, all things new'

A lot of people that haven't come to see god, as well as some that have, worry that they have done so much wrong in their lives, and that they have no chance to be reconciled. However, God always loves us. I seem to remember a story in church about a guy that sent 3 lieutenants, one after another to capture Elijah. He still loved him. Hebrews 13:5-6 "Let your conduct be without covetousness, and be content with such things that you have, for he has said, 'I will never leave you, nor forsake you,' so that we may boldly say, 'The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do to me.'"

'On the cross Your love was spoken, You even wore the scars'

Even when we were nailing his hands into a cross, to crucify him, he still loved us.


'You have carried all the pain
So heavy on my soul
Lift me up, and hold me close
You will never let me go'

God wants us to give him our troubles. He works unspeakable good out of the evil in this world. For he wants us so much.

'I should have know the walls I built
Were never strong enough
To keep You, from reaching me
Nothing’s greater than Your love
Can you forgive, will You forget'

No matter how strong the walls we build, he is always there. Always ready to come closer to us. All we have to do is ask.

'All these wrongs and make me whole again
You restore the broken, You heal the sinner’s heart
You make all things new, all things new'

God can do anything when we believe in him. In Jesus, nothing is impossible.

'You release the chains
Of all my yesterdays
And I am not the same, Lord
I am not the same'

If we believe in him, and honesty move all our attention on to him, we will never be the same.

'From the beginning till the end of time
You love will never change
You make all things new, all things new
From the sand upon the shoreline
To the stars up in the sky'

'¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”' Matthew 28:18-20

 I skipped some of the repeated parts

These are my thoughts on the song, i would love to hear yours! 

My Meanings in Song Lyrics

The next section of posts will be part of a string that I'm starting about what a lot of christian songs mean to me. Most of them have great messages, and i like thinking about how they apply in real life. Specifically in my life, as i am the one writing.