Sunday, November 23, 2008

You Deserve Love.

Every once in awhile I go through this lull where I forget what it's like to be blown away by who Christ is. And then, shortly after, I'll get rocked to the core with the reality of his existence and I'll wonder how I went so long without being overwhelmed by Him.

But the truth is, I am overwhelmed by Him. Everything about who He is blows me away. He breaks and ruins who I am, yet simultaneously he mends and completes. It's bizarre, and incredible and for 6 years I've tried to put words to it and have been unable to do so. Some would call this a frivolous devotion. In fact, some of the people I love even most in this world think I'm crazy, or misguided, or fill in the blank. And that's hard and its painful, but it's who I am. And whether it makes sense or not, nothing will change the fact that Jesus Christ is what I live and breathe for. In a world that's crazy and unpredictable, he remains the truest reality I've ever known. And I'll never apologize for that, but I promise...I will try my hardest to love the way He loves.

And when I inevitably fail at this from time to time, know that it's not because of who God is that I, or other Christians, act like that. It's because sometimes, like everyone else, we simply forget what it means to love. And sometimes, we spend more time being consumed with ourselves than being overwhelmed by who Christ is. This results in a lot of unfortunate mistakes. However, fail or forget as I may, please know that I will never stop trying to love you the way you deserve to be loved. That, you have my word on.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

A Note to Christians

So Obama was elected president, and I'm pretty upset and dissapointed right now, but before you go all "well you should be this is horrible!" on me, I'm not dissapointed for the reason you think I am. I'm dissapointed because I don't think I have ever witnessed such overwhelming hatred in my life as I have today, or the past few months for that matter. I'm not talking about the candidates, I'm talking about the American people. And what kills me even more is that the bulk of this rage is coming from christians. There's a difference between defending your beliefs, and spewing hatred. It's one thing to disagree with a candidate, or a policy; it's an entirely different thing to turn on your fellow believers over something like politics. And to do it in the name of God is...heartbreaking. In the past month I've watched as enraged christians do unspeakable things in the name of godliness, all the while their demeanor, words, and actions show anything but. I've seen devoted followers of Christ be told by fellow believers that they're not really a christian because of their polictical preference. Do you understand the seriousness of that? To speak judgement on someones soul because they happen to feel differently than you on issues of government, most of which, if not all, are not even outlined in the bible??? You know what is outlined in the bible? The seriousness of judging someones heart. Someone can claim godliness on their actions all day long, but when those godly actions oppose the word they so "confidently" speak on...something is wrong with that picture. This isn't a fight, this is a plea to end the fight before the dissention grows wider. Today I honestly felt like a part of America took a large step back, and not because Barack Obama was elected president, but because I watched the light of this nation cloud over with division and hatred. I've spent many nights(previous to this election) in tears over the increasing lack of God's love and grace in the American church, and after today all I can say is..the only way the enemy is winning anything in this election is if we allow this hatred to consume us and ultimately...to divide.