I just started writing below, when I stopped I realized that I was crying, praying, and fussing all at the same time… I’m sorry that this is so out of sorts, but I would love to see the world fixed…  The hateful You Tube is below, pray for those folks… especially for the children who don’t know any better.

Dear God, help us to love one another, but better yet help us to believe that YOU are LOVE and that You love us.  I believe that You love everyone, including the religious people who believe that they are right because they think that they hate all the people who they think You hate.

God is not willing that any should perish… is that still true?  God I hope it is… I sure hope that You are not willing that any should perish. Because I’m not willing that any should perish.  I think I’m getting to know and live Your heart.  Help me to love like You love.

If You, God don’t want anyone to perish, and You, God are the Victor… then why are people who claim to follow You still preaching that You hate, destroy, and damn.

God, I’m sick at my stomach now… I heard the video today of a child singing about homosexuals and I heard a congregation applaud…  As I look at that child I know that he doesn’t know what he is saying, I doubt he even understands what a homosexual is.  I know that he is just another brain-washed human, brainwashed by religion, but why is that happening to kids?  God I also read an atheist say things today that sound so much like the words of Your Only Begotten Son Jesus Christ, but she said these good things and credited them to atheists.

The quote was “An Atheist believes that a hospital should be built instead of a church. An atheist believes that deed must be done instead of prayer said. An atheist strives for involvement in life and not escape into death. He wants disease conquered, poverty vanished, war eliminated.” -  Madalyn Murray O’Hair posted by Courtney Sajben

I PRAY THAT SOMEDAY THE PEOPLE WHO CARRY THE NAME CHRISTIAN WILL BELIEVE THAT DISEASE CONQUERED, POVERTY VANISHED, AND WAR ELIMINATED IS POSSIBLE AND A WORTHY GOAL!  UNTIL THEN, I’LL DO WHAT I CAN, REPENT OF MY FAULTS DAILY, AND PRAY.

Jeremiah and I did a podcast in response to this the podcast is titled Ain’t gonna make it… I pray that people listen long enough to hear our hearts.

You Tube video…

Love God and Neighbor, NO FENCES

I took a 4 day break from Facebook because I wanted to back away and think through the Maiden pastor atrocity… I’ve heard the “touch not the Lord’s anointed” phrase thrown around a lot as a warning when someone says anything negative about a “man of god”… CRITICIZING A PASTOR WHO IS wrong IS NOT WRONG, IT IS RIGHT and GODLY and if the people in the pews would do it more we would not be in the mess in American churches that we are in.  Criticizing the maiden pastor’s words is the only right response to what he said.  The passages in scripture about not touching the Lord’s anointed was about NOT killing them or using violence.  Not about not criticizing them!  If it were about not criticizing them Nathan would’ve been all kinds of wrong when he said “YOU ARE THE MAN!” If the people of God would quit cowering and bowing to “pastors” we might see the people of God doing the work of God in America.  Stand up people of God and when your pastor teaches something that is off, wrong, or hateful literally stand up and call him out right then.  Do it in love, maybe you could stand up and give a well timed illustration like Nathan did with David, but if your pastor is teaching hate – REBUKE HIM – SAY “YOU ARE THE MAN!”.

The church is supposed to be the people of God gathered in a public place for the purpose of deliberation not an audience gathered to hear from God via a mouthpiece like we have in churches today.  Preaching is good, but it isn’t for the church it is for the world.  The church needs to think, talk, and brainstorm ways to live as Jesus would in the world.  We are the body of Christ on the earth today.

Now, I also wanted to say one more thing about the Maiden pastor… just because this guys said something so hateful and ugly about homosexuals doesn’t mean that he is a bad evil guy, it doesn’t mean that he doesn’t know Jesus, it doesn’t mean that he is going to rot in hell…. it means that he needs mercy and the grace of God just like I do!  It means that he is like you and I… While I believe that I am a saint now, and not a sinner (I still sin, even though God now sees me as sinless) – I also recognize that I still carry with me a body of death… an old brain with old sin habits and patterns.  This “body of death” still has bad thoughts, and sometimes I type them sometimes and other times I speak them…

From being at Providence Road 3-4 times I also know that that pastor is a very loving and kind man, most of the time.  I saw one interaction between him and a very young child one time where that same pastor actually allowed some child to spit in his hand and he didn’t flinch… I can’t give you the details because I don’t remember clearly enough, but I remember as a young man watching that interaction and realizing that he was very kind and compassionate in that instance.  I wanted to be like that, and I believe it was a Godly trait of that pastor that I wanted to imitate. So – I’m just saying everybody still makes mistakes, don’t judge that pastor by one very bad, very wrong sermon… rebuke him – yes, but remember to season your rebuke with love, grace, and mercy.

Let me sum up my rambling with a few bullet points…

• Touch not the Lord’s anointed is a good verse to discourage people from killing the pastor in Maiden, but a terrible verse to discourage criticizing him and telling him that he was wrong.
• If the argument is that we should confront God’s anointed privately and in love, I agree… but I would also argue that all believers in the New Covenant are God’s anointed!
• We should rebuke hate speech; As lovers of God… that is in our nature.  If you didn’t want to rebuke the electric fence words, and you know God… it was probably only because your brain has been filled with ideas like “touch not the Lord’s anointed” twisted out of proper context.
• Rebuke can be done in love, grace, and mercy… but it has to be done by the CLOSE family and CLOSE friends who have already made it clear that they love and offer grace to the person being rebuked.  If you aren’t already close, get close and show love before trying to offer rebuke.
• I go on record as saying that I believe the pastor in question isn’t as bad of a guy as the quote sounded… I believe he probably knows Jesus, but has been so filled with dogma and religion that he can’t see how he is wrong here.  I remember years ago, realizing that he does love.
• If you are struggling to forgive this man, take a personal inventory of your personal flaws or sins and realize that you too need grace.

I’m typing a blog right now that I am afraid to let the world see. My eyes are filling with moisture as I write, I’m emotional because I’m afraid of what others will think. I bet that is a shock to many, because I usually speak my mind so freely…

By the way, my fear is only about the ridicule that I will receive from people who call themselves “Christian”. It seems that my atheist friends / acquaintances always treat me fairly and with respect, it is only religious folks I know who yell, ignore, defriend, and mock my faith. It is religious people who say there is no hope for me… amazing – a pastor actually said that to me recently, “There is no hope for you, Josh” even when I pointed out that we were supposed to be giving hope, not taking it… he never said a single word of apology. He never took back those words. I was amazed then, and still am obviously today.

I received an email from a Pastor yesterday asking about my opinion, he actually said “I write to you because I value your opinion on such matters. I see you as a critical thinker and a biblical thinker.” That was humbling… and shocking considering the treatment I’ve been getting from religious leaders.

A friend of mine wrote this on facebook today and it was her words that made me embarrassed that I hadn’t been more open with my words. Here is what she wrote: “I hope you Evangelical’s are happy……I am on a rant , so bear with me. So angry, to the point I could cry for the way we as the church are looked at by the world. I work with all Evangelical’s who are gloating over the fact that Amendment One (defining marriage between one man & one women) passed. I could take it no longer, I piped up that I voted against it….a look of shock…I explained that I don’t want the government intruding in our lives. That although I don’t approve of a gay lifestyle, I don’t think it’s our business. I got the argument “well, the Bible clearly says…” I said: Where does it stop, do we outlaw divorce too, the bible is clearly against divorce too, how about heterosexual couples living together, do we outlaw that? Silence…I proceeded to tell them about a Barna poll that asked young non-christians what Christian’s stood for, and their answer: They hate gay’s…..I said that Jesus only had harsh words for the religious, not the sinners, He was known for hanging with sinners, but we don’t want to get dirty, so we pass laws……..Silence…..My heart breaks!!! We are known for the very opposite of what we should be known for!!!! How has your church gotten so far from your heart, forgive us….”

Another friend of my admitted to a pastor that she would be voting against the amendment, he told her that he never wanted to see or talk to her again. He said that she was disowned… if she would vote for the fags, (his words not mine) then she was no better than them!” Novel idea, pastor… I believe we are no better than anyone else. My mom (I’m so thankful for her teaching in my life – even though we probably voted differently on every point yesterday) used to tell me when I was too young to understand, “Josh, no one is better than you, but you better never forget that you are no better than anyone else!” Great words to live by. I pray my kids hear that enough from me that they never forget it.

Here’s my response to the pastor who asked me for advice yesterday about the Marriage Amendment…

I did a podcast about this, so I’m not afraid to speak about my opinion to this. (Well I wasn’t to him, but I was afraid today… Religious people go ahead and write me off, I can’t worry about what you think.) You can listen to that, or I’ll give you my short answer here… I’ve been back and forth on this. At first it was obvious – FOR, then I heard the fears of domestic violence – AGAINST, then I realized that was a lie, FOR… then I thought about why are we doing this, AGAINST, then I realized that we are killing Muslims as a country and war hasn’t even been legally declared – so why on earth are we wasting our time with this garbage, AGAINST… then I prayed… “God, does this really matter…?” I think His answer to me… this isn’t for everyone and I wouldn’t tell you, except you asked… (Now, I’m sharing it with everyone… things can change overnight.) PLEASE DON’T ASSUME I’M WRITING THIS LIKE IT IS PROPHECY OR A WORD FROM GOD, I DIDN’T HEAR AN AUDIBLE VOICE AND I KNOW THAT THIS WAS SOMEWHAT MY MIND, BUT I HEARD IT AS IF IT WAS ALSO SOMEHOW THE MIND OF CHRIST… “Josh, the results of this vote are less important than the fight and you can’t vote against the fight… the fight itself says that My people are more concerned still with sin and standing in anger against other people than they are about healing people and helping them know that I love them. One time the people demanded the right to divorce, and I’ve always tried to protect them from the danger of divorce (or degrading marriage in anyway), it was never My plan, but they wanted it, begged for it, and were going to live in hatred toward each other whether I allowed divorce or not… so I allowed it under some circumstances. It wasn’t My will, but the people needed to stop focusing on rights, and sin, and fighting and just believe that I love them. Josh, they are going to live however they want, I already gave that freedom… now We, you and I have to keep loving them… So vote how you want, just be sure that you don’t use this issue as another opportunity for believers to show disdain for unbelievers… I love them, and their sin doesn’t repel me… I WILL overlook and forgive their sin, just like I do yours.”

I’ve never done that before… shared so detailed what I feel like I heard from God. Some would get angry about that… as if I could speak for God. That wasn’t my heart, I’m just sharing what I felt like He was saying to my heart… We have the mind of Christ, 1 Cor 2:16.

Well there it was… I’m sure some are ticked, and some wrote me off before I posted this… I love them anyway, and I pray that someday we can make loving God and loving one-another primary, not our fight against and focus on sin.

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