Celebrate death!

   Four more days to Halloween. Wow. Can't wait! Truthfully, I can. Halloween is almost like any other day to me. I say "almost" because you have to watch for idiots throwing pumpkins or pulling some other juvenile and dangerous stunt. I don't do Halloween. I leave my porch light off, and don't decorate for it.

   When I was a kid, my parents let us kids dress up and go door to door in our small neighborhood, and then they'd take us by car to some of our relatives, and that was fun. Times have changed though and it isn't safe to let your kids go door to door. Besides, I think Halloween teaches kids wrong. It teaches them to be little beggars and that you can get something for nothing. (Sounds like Obama's followers..... Halloween must have been a Democrat idea!)

    I am not going to go out and try to do away with Halloween. What people want to do with it is their business, but I don't get the appeal. There is so much about Halloween that is associated with death, the devil, witches, ghosts.... none of the things Christians should have anything to do with anyway, but when did we start glorifying death and these creatures that are associated with evil. Take the house pictured below:

 

    What is so great about having fake tombstones in your yard?! There isn't a person on this earth that hasn't been touched by death. Death isn't funny or fun. It hurts those left behind, so why would anyone want symbols of death in their yards? When I see a house heavily decorated with that kind of stuff like the one above, I just shake my head. I've seen coffins, fake bodies... you name it. I'm serious - why celebrate death? Why put out symbols of death and evil? And you know what I've noticed..... in a lot of cases, the people who decorate heavily for Halloween don't do much, if anything, for Christmas. And no, I'm not saying you have to decorate for Christmas, but still.... its kind of weird to make so much over Halloween, a holiday associated with death and evil, and not do much for Christmas, a holiday all about life and God sending His Son into the world...... we Christians have the best holidays.

 

    I'm not going to knock people who decorate some for Halloween and send their kids out trick or treating, but I do have serious reservations about getting too much into the holiday. Death and evil aren't funny, nor are they anything to be trifled with. I believe if we could get a glimpse into the demonic world and the occult world..... if we could see what witches, goblins, ghosts, and devils really are and what they are all about - I believe we'd burn our Halloween decorations that portray them.

 

   Don't celebrate death this October 31. Celebrate life!

The best thing I ever did

     The Big Brothers/Big Sisters program is a wonderful program/organization. Some years back.....13 I think, I found out about it and decided it would be a cool and decent thing to do. I went and got interviewed, had to give references, and be submitted to a background check. Then the scary part: I met the mother. She was super nice and a Christian, which was a relief. I hadn't been sure what I was getting into.

   If you're not familiar with the program, it is for kids who don't have a positive role model in their lives. In this case, the boy, Jason, had no father. He had a "sperm donor" who walked out of the marriage when Jason's mom got pregnant and refused to get an abortion. Jason had no contact with his father or his father's family. He had been close to his grandfather on his mom's side until the grandfather's death a year or so before. The kid had no adult male in his life, other than his boy scout coach. So I signed on.

   I'll never forget the first time I met Jason. He was a quiet and shy 12 year old. Or so I thought. As I told him and his mom later, he was so quiet at the beginning, but then once he started talking to me, he never shut up.

   In the next 4 years, I grew to love the kid as if he were my brother. I took him shopping, to eat out, to see plays, play mini golf, and many other activities. I went to some of his basketball games, school concerts, boy scout events. The program is to help kids, but it helped me also. I believe one of the best things we can do is when we do something for others without expecting something in return. And I believe being a "big brother" was one of the most unselfish things I did, and was definitely the best long term thing I ever did.

    I was Jason's big brother for 4 years, and I took it hard when it ended. It was worth it, but it is also painful to have any relationship end. Jason's mom just recently told me that he has turned out to be a great man - he is 25 now. He doesn't smoke, drink, or do drugs, and she said I had a lot to do with the kind of man he turned out to be. I can't put into words how that made me feel, and it made me all the more glad I that I went through with being a "big brother."

   I'm only one person, but can you imagine what this world would be like if we all did something along these lines? If we got more involved in others lives. If we did something just for the reward of helping someone without entering into it wondering what we were going to get out of it.

   I did that for 4 years, but I'm not holding myself up as a paragon of virtue along these lines. It has been a while since I actively helped someone else just for the sake of doing something good. Partly because opportunities haven't crossed my path, but neither did I go looking for opportunity. There is an old song that comes to mind:

If I can help somebody, as I pass along- If I can cheer somebody-
with a word, or a song-If I can show somebody, that is travelin' wrong-
Then my living shall not be in vain.
Then my living shall not be in vain!
If I can help somebody as I pass along, then my living shall not be in vain!
If I can do my duty, as a good man ought-If I can bring back beauty, to a world
that is so lost-If I can spread love's message as the Master taught,
then my living shall not be in vain.
Then my living shall not be in vain-then my living shall not be in vain.
Then my living shall not be in vain!
If I can help somebody as I pass along- then my living shall not be in vain!
Then my living shall not be in vain!
Then my living shall not be in vain!

      Too many of us, even Christians...... especially Christians, are too involved with life. We're too busy, and often that busy is good and necessary, but we lose sight of what is important: people. That is what God is all about, what the Gospel is all about, and what the church and Christians should be about. But sadly, all too often we aren't all about people, being Jesus to people, helping those who need it.

   My self confidence levels are usually pretty low, and I find myself wondering what on earth I could do to help anyone, but then I think back to that four year period that I was a "big brother" to a great kid who needed an adult male in his life, and I realize that I can do something. I'm sure I wasn't the perfect guy for that, and many others could have done better. Guys that loved sports instead of me, who barely tolerate them...... but I was able to give love, time, and support. And yes, it cost me a little. I spent time and some money, but having his mom say that I made a difference - that makes it more than worth it.

    We can't take much to Heaven with us. In fact, there is only one thing we CAN take with us: People. So why do we waste so much time on stuff that is going to stay here and either rot away or be passed on to someone else, or be put in a garage sale? Why not spend more time on people.... and not just telling them about Jesus - that is a given, but giving them love and time. We can spend hours telling people about Jesus and even inviting them to church, but if we don't love people and just be willing to spend time with them, being their friend, paying attention to them - then why would they want our Jesus?

   Our neighborhoods and even our churches are filled with hurting and lonely people. Isn't it time we started caring?

If We Are the Body by Casting Crowns

It's crowded in worship today
As she slips in trying to fade into the faces
The girls teasing laughter is carrying farther than they know
Farther than they know

But if we are the body
Why aren't His arms reaching?
Why aren't His hands healing?
Why aren't His words teaching?
And if we are the body
Why aren't His feet going?
Why is His love not showing them there is a way?
There is a way

A traveler is far away from home
He sheds his coat and quietly sinks into the back row
The weight of their judgmental glances
Tells him that his chances are better out on the road

But if we are the body
Why aren't His arms reaching?
Why aren't His hands healing?
Why aren't His words teaching?
And if we are the body
Why aren't His feet going?
Why is His love not showing them there is a way?
There is a way

Jesus paid much too high a price
For us to pick and choose who should come
And we are the body of Christ

But if we are the body
Why aren't His arms reaching?
Why aren't His hands healing?
Why aren't His words teaching?
And if we are the body
Why aren't His feet going?
Why is His love not showing them there is away?
There is a way

But if we are the body
Why aren't His arms reaching?
Why aren't His hands healing?
Why aren't His words teaching?
And if we are the body
Why aren't His feet going?
Why is His love not showing them there is a way
Jesus is the way

Being like Jesus: being real, a guest post

Another guest blog post by one of my friends, this one on being like Jesus by being real. Written by my friend Kimmy. Check out her blog, the Smug Cloud.

 

The first thing that comes to mind when I think about Jesus in terms of being "real" is a quote that I recently heard during a study that I've been attending weekly for the past several months. It goes like this:

“Do you believe that what you believe is really real? Because if you really
believe that what you believe is real, then Christians will change the world.” Del
Tackett, the Truth Project

Do I really believe that what I believe is really real? Do I?

Because if we believe that the God of the universe really created all and really sent his son, Jesus to die on the cross for us, then wow! What a difference that should make in our lives!

If we really believe that like the song says, "Jesus loves me, this I know" how would that impact our very lives?

"For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created things, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Rom. 8:38-39

Do you really believe that Jesus came to this earth, died on a cross, suffered anguish, all because he loves you? It's true! And, if we believe that, if we are sure that what we believe is really real, then what are we doing with it? How is it impacting our lives? How is it affecting our attitude? How is it causing us to treat others? How is it affecting how we feel about ourselves?

There are times in life that we all feel lost and alone. There are moments when we feel sorry for ourselves, get angry and feel like life is unfair. We all struggle with various things. We all have temptations, trials and sins that we have to continually give over to God. We might try to pretend that life is peachy, and that our lives are perfect. We might try to make things look squeaky clean on the outside, afraid to show the world that brokenness that exists in us, that exists in all of us, but wouldn't we do better to acknowledge it? To share our struggles and our trials and our hurts with our brothers and sisters in Christ? It's not like it should come as a surprise to anyone that we have them! After all, Jesus died for a reason.

And, if we really, truly believe that he came, that he died, that he became sin for us, that he loved us that much, wouldn't we be the first ones to acknowledge and confess and share our brokenness with those around us? Instead of pretending that we are doing A-okay on our own? Isn't that in a way saying "I don't need the sacrifice on the cross. I've got it covered."

If we really believed that what we believe is really real, how would our lives reflect it?

Would we be quicker to share God's love with those who don't know him?

Would we have a smile on our face more often than not?

Would our attitude towards our lives and our circumstances be a more positive one?

His love for us is real. His death on the cross was real. Our need for a savior is real.

Our gratitude, our thankfulness, our love for him and for others should be just as real! Our lives should reflect that belief that God is real. That he really loves us and that we truly believe it. We can't do it on our own, no matter how hard we try, we need his grace. We need his sacrifice. And, we need to believe that what we believe is really real.

If I got married........

I was thinking about weddings today - no, I am not planning on getting married, but what if I did....... I'd want to change a few things.

First off: what is this deal about it all being about the bride? It seems the day revolves around her. She picks the colors, she picks the songs, she picks who is in the wedding.... usually allowing the groom to pick at least some of the groomsmen, she picks the food for the reception, she picks the cake.....

Wait a minute!!!!!!! What about the other person? The groom? The day is about him just as much as it is about her, isn't it? If it weren't for him, there would be no wedding, no processional, so shouldn't he have equal time and equal say? I think so.

In my experiences of being in weddings and wedding rehearsals, it seems most women suddenly become spoiled brats on their wedding day, wanting everything to be their way. Now I didn't say all women... most women....... :)

And what's this about a bridal shower? First off, is it necessary? She is going to get gifts at the wedding...... oh wait, this is all about HER, so of course she needs her separate little party. Baloney..... I want in on the party if I am getting married, or I want my own. Fair is fair baby cakes!  So this is how it will go:

Ask the girl to marry you, then mutually decide on a date. Now the fun part starts. Oh, you will need a hat of some kind.

1) Decide who to invite. This can get tricky. I say immediate family only, but that would never fly, so maybe throw every one's names in a hat, his side, her side, and both sides, and pull equal amounts out of each hat.

2) Who to have in the wedding. Simple. She picks the chicks, and the dude picks the dudes.

3) Music. Both list the songs they want played and sung, decide on how many for each, and they both get to pick an even amount on each one.

4) Colors. Another easy one. They usually go with 2 colors. He picks one, and she picks one. She gets to pick the color of her dress, and he picks the color of his suit or tux...... oh, and since he is wearing it, he gets to decide tux or suit, tails or no tails.

5) Preacher. If they go to different churches, this could be tricky..... I say throw the choices in a hat and pick one.

6) Church. Same as #5

7) Singers, players. This could get messy, but not necessarily. If the bride and groom are in agreement of who will sing and who will play.... awesome. If not, grab that hat again.

8) Cake. This could be an easy one. Most guys don't care what the cake looks like, but may care the flavor. I say go with half chocolate and half white. Easy.

9) Food. This could be an easy one too, there is such a wide variety of foods available that both should be happy and be able to incorporate both of their tastes and wishes

10) Photos. OK, a pet peeve of mine. The wedding is over, and all the guests go to the hall and sit and wait. And wait. And eat peanuts and those disgusting little mints (oh wait - no mints at my wedding! Peanuts and M&MS) - and wait. For what?! So the bride and groom can ride around town, then get their pictures taken. Wait a minute..... a solution. Actually two ideas:
    Have everyone dress up for the rehearsal and take pictures the night before. Hogwash on the groom not seeing the bride before the wedding in her gown. He knows what she looks like, so what!

or

    Take the pictures before the wedding. Its rude to make people wait!

11) No bride ransom or whatever other method to wrangle extra money out of people. This is a BIG, BIG, pet peeve. The reception finally starts, all is going well, then the groomsmen "kidnap" the bride and a collection is taken up to get her back - this is a poorly disguised effort to get more $$ out of the guests. I think its rude. Everyone already got a gift for the couple, and half of them also gave at the bridal shower (and the groom shower they had since this would be my wedding). Its rude and stupid. Not happening at my wedding. Nope. The wedding party and relatives will be warned ahead of time. And if I were getting married, I'd just handcuff the bride to me. Fix that dumb idea.

12) Cutting the cake. Where did the dumb idea come from of feeding each other cake, then smearing it in their face? I can feed myself, and if I were going to shove it in someones face, how about my new mother-in-law? There's an idea.

13) The gifts. I hate opening stuff in front of people. I say open them in private. People don't need to know what you got, and most probably don't care. Besides, it will clear out the place quicker.

14) The honeymoon. OK, fair is fair. The bride should get an equal say in where, instead of being surprised. What if she doesn't want to go where the guy picked? They should pick a place together, and if they can't decide, I am sure there is a hat lying around somewhere......

You know, after this, I think I have uncovered a buried talent: I could be a wedding planner/co-ordinator. I think I show promise. Coming to a wedding near you soon........

Friends

    I grew up thinking no one liked me. The kids at school picked on me and bullied me. I went to church with a lot of the same kids that I went to school with, so I never had any friends there. Some years were worse in school than other years. By the time I graduated from high school, I was convinced that no one liked me. I would literally walk in stores and feel like people disliked me on sight.

   I wish I could say it went away soon after that.....but it didn't. I struggled with that on some level for most of my adult life. I don't know when it started lessening, and it still hangs on sometimes. I still am surprised when I find out someone actually likes me and wants to be my friend. I was talking to a friend last week I hadn't seen for a while and was talking about some friends in my life and had made the statement a few times "not sure why they like me" and she called me on it and said "why do you say that?" Thinking about that conversation, I have to admit, I still carry those ideas from my teen years that I am not likable. Wow. How does one entirely get rid of those ideas, without going to the extreme that you think you're God's gift to the world?

    Another friend of mine recently had a similar conversation with me. I was putting myself down for some reason or reasons, and he said "I doubt anyone else sees you that way. You are a pretty cool guy, and I am sure I'm not the only one that thinks that." Wow. Me cool?

    God is helping me some in that area. It helps that I have some great people in my life. I have had old college friends come back into my life, and made some new friends. Some of these friends go to my church, others have different beliefs than I am accustomed to, while others don't go to church at all. Some of them know the worst about me, and let me talk about my struggles, something that I am sure isn't always comfortable for me. Some of them I haven't seen in years, some I have never met physically. Yet, they care. They like and love me. Yeah, me. The kid everyone picked on. The kid no one wanted on their team.....

    The thing is, what do I have to offer? It doesn't seem like much. I can pray when I know there is a need. I can listen, and I am trying to do that more. I can love and not judge. I want to be a better friend, and I can always use more. I hope and pray God helps me to be a friend to someone who doesn't have any.

    So, thanks to all of my friends. You have encouraged me, many have prayed, and you all have made my life richer and better.

Being Like Jesus: Being Merciful, a guest post

This is the first in a series of guest posts on my blog about being like Jesus, focusing on some of His traits. First up, is being merciful, written by my great friend, Rachel Yoder Shetterly:

Your mercies are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness, O God. – David

When I hear this verse read I am immediately picturing a sunrise of glorious proportions. The soft colors of pink, yellow, orange, and purple are simply splashed across the sky heralding the beginning of another day. With these colors comes a promise from our ABBA, our Daddy, Father that this day comes with a clean slate, a new beginning.

Even at the ripe age of 41, I’m not sure I ‘get this’ in its fullest measure.

Recently my husband, Steve, and I had the privilege of attending a Love Won Out conference with a friend who struggles with same sex attraction. God has been bringing men into our lives who are struggling with this temptation, and we were more than ready to listen to and learn more about homosexuality. I was not prepared for the depth of truth and mercy I heard about that day.

You see, the truth is we all struggle with something. The sin of gossip, lying, adultery, or whatever other sin you think of is not worse than the sin of homosexuality. Stop right here and know I am not referring to the person who is homosexual, but the act of homosexuality. This is not something these individuals are born with or choose to become. The doctor doesn’t know when a baby is born if it’s going to be a homosexual or a heterosexual. We are born male and female.

I used to think homosexuals were pedophiles, sex addicts, among other things, and for sure damned to hell. I no longer believe this lie. Homosexuals are normal people: doctors, lawyers, nurses, secretaries, teachers, administrators, who, for whatever life situation, are more attracted to the same sex than the opposite sex.

By now you’re wondering what on earth the mercies of God being new every morning have to do with this topic, right?! The truth I learned at that one day conference is this: every morning, we have a new slate. We have a new slate for making right and wrong choices. Whatever our temptation, to have sex with the same sex or have an adulterous affair, we have the power through Jesus Christ to rise above all of that and live a holy life. When we are tempted to gossip, cheat, lie, steal…or whatever your addiction or temptation happens to be…EVERY DAY we are given a new slate, a new opportunity to start fresh!

We have a merciful, loving ABBA Father who “is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9) This does not mean we will no longer be tempted to sin. We have the choice, however, to walk away from the temptation and live a life not controlled by our temptations and harmful addictions. We ALL have “stuff” we deal with every day. We all have a choice to make.

Today is a new day! Today is a new sunrise of mercy and faithfulness poured out on us, His beloved creation, to enjoy! Seize it! Live in it!

-Rachel Shetterly

September 24, 2012

Being too hard on sin

Sometimes I think we are too hard on sin. Yeah, I really mean that. But, we are only too hard on SOME sins. Some sins just don't seem as bad. How long has it been since you heard a sermon on:

Pride
Lust
Gossip
Envy
Coveting
Judging (not necessarily a sin, but it can be)

Yet there are some sins that we hammer on, scream out about and fight with all our might:

Adultery
Homosexuality
Pornography

Are we too hard on these sins, and similar ones? Can you be too hard on them? Maybe not. Don't read too much into my words........ but I think we can treat them in such a way, and act so un-Christ-like about them and toward people dealing with them, that yes.... we can be too hard on them. Stick with me if you're reading this.

Imagine that you are having a battle with worry, pride, or even lying. What would you do? Depending on your personality, you might stand up in church and admit your problem and ask for prayer. You may not want to go THAT public, and may talk to some friends and ask for prayer. There are quite a few "small/nice" sins that we don't mind admitting a struggle with, and seeking help. (And I am not minimizing prayer and God's help)

Now imagine you struggle with pornography and/or same-sex attractions. Since we are imagining, take it one step further. You are a teenager, say 16 or 17. What would you do? Sadly, with the way most Christians and churches react toward these sins, especially homosexuality, the majority of young people in the church who are dealing with it, talk to no one. Some may somewhat successfully battle it on their own and marry, and some of those may rise above it enough that it is a minor struggle. Others that marry, may struggle a lot, and may even act out on those desires. Others that don't marry, particularly in reference to the same-sex attractions, never marry, either battling the sin for the rest of their lives and remaining celibate, or giving in to their desires and living in and sometimes in and out of, that sinful lifestyle.

Let's put the shoe on the other foot. Now imagine someone from your church comes to you. They tell you they are really struggling with pornography, or same-sex attractions, or they are cheating on their spouse...... imagine if it was your teenager that came to you and told you that they were struggling with same-sex attractions, or porn, or that they were pregnant.......

If we are Christians, we are to be like Jesus, and He does condemn sin, but loves the sinner. Totally, without reservation. I've been thinking about this, and have to wonder: how many people in our churches across America - and even in your church - are struggling with one of these not-so-nice sins, but we have made them so horrible, are so outspoken against them without love for those dealing with them..... that they who go to church with us, and even live with us - are afraid to admit to anyone what they are dealing with. They need and want help desperately, but are afraid to seek it from the very people who should lovingly help them....because they fear being kicked out of their homes, their churches, of being condemned and ostracized.

I heard a sad story related on a live concert CD of a Christian singer, Kirk Talley:
A young man had attended this church and played his guitar in the praise band. One Wednesday night, he confided in the pastor about his struggle with homosexual desires. The pastor promised to pray for him. Sunday morning came. The young man was on the platform with the rest of the band. The pastor stepped up to the pulpit and told what the young man had told him, then turned to the young man and told him to get out of his church, that they didn't need his kind around there. That young man took his guitar, walked out and never returned.

What a sad and pathetic excuse of a pastor, and what a terrible lack of Christ-like love. Whatever your stance on homosexuality is, I hope, like me, that your heart broke for that young man. Can you imagine how he felt? And is it no wonder we have hurting people in our churches who are afraid to come forward and ask for help? To admit that their struggle isn't lying or gossip, but a moral struggle, a sex addiction, pornography, same-sex attractions.

We are missing it as a church, and as Christians. Yes, we need to fight abortion, gay marriage, and other such issues, but we MUST love the sinner. I wish people that are openly gay would feel welcomed in our churches - not that we make them members and pat them on the back and tell them their sin is ok, but that they are welcome and loved, and that we want them to come back.

I've made no secret of the fact that I have struggled with believing God loves me for most of my life. One thing I have been trying to focus on lately, is that God doesn't just love me, but God IS love. It isn't second nature for Him to love - it IS His nature to love. Everyone. The liar, the gossip, the thief, the murderer, the homosexual..... and even the child molester. Wouldn't it be amazing if we could love like that? And we should. The Bible even says that is how we know we love God, if we love others. It also says that he who does not love, doesn't love God. (1 John 4)

It isn't always easy. I admit it. One big problem area for me is these guys who walk off and leave their wives and sometimes children. I really have a hard time loving them and feeling charitable. Part of that reason may be that I wish so badly to be married and have a family, and so far in my life, that has not been possible..... but even child molesters...... love them? Is there any worse sin than hurting a child in that way? Yet, God loves them. He died for them just as much as He died for you and I, and is waiting just as eagerly to forgive them as He is you and I. Hard to swallow? Hard to imagine a child molester finding God and going to Heaven?

We need to wake up and realize Jesus didn't die for nice people. He died for sinners. If we don't seek forgiveness for our "nice' sins, we will go to the same hell that the murderer and child molester will go to. And if they repent, they can go to the same Heaven that we all can go to if we repent and serve God.

The answer does not lie in accepting sin. There are churches that say it is ok to live a gay lifestyle and be a Christian. That the Bible really doesn't condemn that sin. No, we can never excuse sin and say it is ok, but we do need to change something. The church isn't a place for godly people to gather and isolate themselves from sinners. It is a place for sinners to come and be helped, loved, and pointed to God as the only solution for whatever sin they are battling.

And I hope that if you're reading this and someone comes to you and admits a struggle that is out of your idea of "nice" sins, that they fare a lot better than the young man in the story I related above. I don't know what happened to that young man after that incident. I hope he found another church where people would love him, and not tell him "gay is ok", but that would encourage him, help him, carry him if he needed carried.... isn't that what the church should be all about? It is more than getting dressed up, going to church, singing, putting our offering in the offering plate, listening to the sermon, then going home and relaxing until next Sunday. If that is all church is about, then I want out. I want something better. And we can make it better.

In closing, I'd like to say a couple of things. First off, I know in God's eyes, sin is sin, and no sin is nice. Hence the quotes around nice sins. Secondly, this blog post is near and dear to my heart. I was a young man dealing with a not-so-nice sin. I was scared to tell anyone, and unfortunately it got a good hold on me before I sought help. I can still remember the day I sat in my pastor's study and told him what I was struggling and dealing with. I expected and feared revulsion, and didn't get it. I wish that had ended it, but it didn't. Some of us are not good students in this course of life, and over the years it seems I have failed more than I succeeded. Fallen more than I stood, but this same Jesus who said to the adulterous woman "Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more", also has stood before me, with no stones in His hand to throw, but with arms open wide to love me and take me back.

I've gotten a bit more open over the years. I used to fear people finding out what I worked so hard to hide, but there came a point that I started admitting to people, and you know what...... no one has ever reacted badly. For the most part, most people who know don't ever bring it up, and some are completely willing to talk about it, and love me in spite of it. I still wonder sometimes what would happen if I admitted it to the world. Would I lose some friends? Would some people condemn and avoid me? Most likely. As a whole, the church still needs to love more, to be more like Jesus who was willing to die for the same people too many Christians want to toss aside and avoid.

I have felt this pull, almost a call, at times in my life that God wants to use me to help others who have the same struggles that I do. I used to fight the idea, feared it. Now.... not so much. I have come to realize it is God's opinion of me that matters, not people's, and that people who are my true friends are going to stick with me and love me no matter what it is I am dealing with.

My hope and prayer is that God helps me to love more. That is what its all about.

And one last thing, just to stave off comments I may get: I am in no way putting child molesters in the same category as gossips. Some sins ARE worse to us, and crimes need to be punished, but God does love even those who sin in that way.