If only personality mattered more in today's society....

I'm itching for summer.

For green.

For color.

For warmth.

For more photographic opportunities than winter offers.

Sure, ice and snow are beautiful.

Especially when the sunshine hits it just right.

But the sun doesn't always shine- it's overcast a lot.

And i can only take so many pictures of it before it all looks the same.

And the dreary weather lasts for so long...

I cant wait until the trees are full and green with the sun shining through the leaves- creating beautiful bokeh.

I can't wait for the lawn to be full and dry.

I can't wait for the birds to come back.

And i will regret saying it - but i miss the bugs.

I miss their sounds as they fly around in the trees.

I miss sleeping with the fan on and the window open.

I miss hearing night sounds- like cicadas, traffic and sometimes frogs.

I can't wait for the flowers to be in bloom and to go places without bundling in fifty layers.

I get impatient with winter after January.

I just want the color back.

I believe non-Christians can tell there's a difference. They might not get it at first, but they'll know. I want them to see Jesus in me. So that they see that it's not all just talk. It's not just rules being shoved down your throat. (Act like this. Talk like this. Wear this. Smile like this. Show up to church on time and sing like you mean it. )

But that it's LOVE. And that being a Christian actually affects your life for the better. You sing like you mean it because you DO mean it. You smile because you're HAPPY because God has done so much for you.

I do my best to live out love and not look down on them. So they can see the difference in my life. I try my best to "practice what i preach". If all i ever do is tell them everything they've already heard, or preach at them or pray at them. What does that do but make them believe that i won't love them unless they are the same as me? I don't want that. Because it's not true. Love the sinner hate the sin.

“When my daughter was a toddler, I used to take her to a park not far from our apartment. One day as she was playing in a sandbox, an ice-cream salesman approached us. I purchased her a treat, and when I turned to give it to her, I saw her mouth was full of sand. Where I had intended to put a delicacy, she had put dirt.

Did I love her with dirt in her mouth? Absolutely. Was she any less of my daughter with dirt in her mouth? Of course not. Was I going to allow her to keep the dirt in her mouth? No way. I loved her right where she was, but I refused to leave her there. I carried her over to the water fountain and washed out her mouth. Why? Because I love her.

God does the same for us. He holds us over the fountain. “Spit out the dirt, honey,” our Father urges. “I’ve got something better for you.” And so he cleanses us of filth; immorality, dishonesty, prejudice, bitterness, greed. We don’t enjoy the cleansing; sometimes we even opt for the dirt over the ice cream. “I can eat dirt if I want to!” we pout and proclaim. Which is true—we can. But if we do, the loss is ours. God has a better offer.”

—	Max Lucado (Just Like Jesus)

Thoughts that enter my brain when i should be going to bed. Part two.

Homosexuals

^ That got your attention. Whatever the reason. Whether you support gays, are gay, think being gay is okay, think they're the devils spawn, whatever your thoughts on the subject, you paused.

Homosexuality is a raging debate pretty much anywhere you go.

I feel bad for all the homosexuals who feel that Christians hate them.

Im a Christian. I don't hate gay people.

Now, i don't think gay is okay. I think it's a sin. I think you can be healed of it.

But the term "hate the sin, love the sinner" is often not thought of.

Granted, the Christian population that hates gays, is a small minority.

They just happen to be a very LOUD minority.

A friend of mine worked in H&M a few years back and one of her co-workers was gay. He was shocked to realize that she, being a Christian, DIDN'T hate him.

I do not like that stereo type. I refuse to be labeled like that. I believe we should love people where they are, on the way to where they're going.

LOVE THE SINNER, HATE THE SIN.

How on earth do we plan to do what we we're supposed to do (win souls to heaven) if we hate people who sin? HOW DOES THAT WORK?

Jesus hung out with hypocrites, hookers, druggies, thieves, etc etc.

Now i'm not saying become best friends and soul mates with every sinner you know (you become like those you hang out with-- you know the whole bad company corrupts thing,) but don't avoid them. Befriend them. Hangout every now and then. SHOW THEM GOD'S LOVE. After all, you aren't perfect either.

Now that does not mean i support gay marriage or want to see a gay or lesbian kiss on my computer or television screen. It simply means i will love that person, no matter their sin, and pray for them. I think they should have basic human rights, like everyone else in this country. Just because their sin is the obvious one does not mean that they can get turned down for a job due to their sexuality. You don't turn a man down for a job because he cheated on his wife or because he lied to his wife about working late so he could watch the game.

Why is it that the most obvious sins are the ones we choose to punish so unfairly when all sin is the same. It is very simply SIN.

God HATES sin. But he loves US fiercely.

If we ask. He will forgive us. He will change us. He will make us a new creation in Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

So stop the hate. Stop the abuse. Stop the sneers, looks and bullying.

No matter their sin, you will still be responsible to GOD for hitting them, bullying them, or whatever else you may have done.

If you hate someone because they're gay, God will be disappointed. He will be saddened. We are supposed to HELP people come to Jesus. Not push them in the opposite direction.

Side note:

Even ignoring the typical Leviticus 18:22 argument - "Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable." (which usually leads to protest , based on the fact that some of the Leviticus rules we don't use anymore- such as stoning an adulteress)

- let's get very basic. It's not natural to be gay. Think about it. In Genesis 1 verse 28, God said “Be fruitful and increase in number". He says it AGAIN in Genesis 8 verse 17 when he tells Noah, his family and the animals to "multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number on it." In my opinion, if being gay was natural and OK, there would be a way for men to have babies with men, and women to have babies with women. Without need of adoption, surgery, surrogate mothers or some strange science experiment. There would be a way for them to be fruitful and fill the earth NATURALLY.

Thoughts that enter my brain when i should be going to bed. Part one.

I find it interesting how two people from the same religion can have two different thoughts.

I mean, two Christians, one thinking healing is a thing of the past, only for Bible times, and the other thinking it's for today, for our generation and God can heal people whenever ever he likes, whenever they ask him for it.

Even a topic as thought provoking and sometimes controversial as being slain in the spirit. Some think it's of the devil. Some think it is what it is - falling into the Holy Spirit. (The Slain in the Spirit thought is a whole other topic that i'll probably talk about later.)

It's a sad thing, because these thoughts often lead to a religious debate on who's right and who's wrong. But isn't the fact that they're both going to heaven enough? If you're born again, you're going to heaven when you die. No matter what you think here on earth. Yes, thoughts like healing being a thing of the past can hinder you. It can stop you from completing your purpose here on earth and can lead to a lot of learning when you get to heaven (although there will be a lot of learning either way). But we're a family. God's family. Why argue amongst ourselves over what God wants? (although, if you're going to, say, get married and raise a family, you should have similar thoughts as not to cause friction between you two and confusion in your children)

We should be loving one another, and preaching the TRUTH (based on the Bible) in love. So if i thought a fellow Christian was wrong and the topic came up, i would kindly say what i think, and why i think it. Same as i would with anyone else- Christian, Atheist, Buddhist, Agnostic, etc. etc. etc.

My question is, though, when did the world get so messed up, that the basic promises from God are being questioned or doubted by his own people?

God CLEARLY says, in Psalm 91, that he will protect us NO MATTER WHAT.

He said in Isaiah 53 that he DIED so that we could be HEALED.

He promised JOY

He promised HEALING

He promised PROTECTION

He's made so many promises. He never ONCE said "i will heal you... until i don't want to anymore."

Of course with that you get the subject of God's will.

He WANTS to heal us. To save us. To be with us. If he didn't love us and want to do these nice things for us and be with us, he wouldn't have bothered to create us in the first place. Because he is God. He saw everything that would happen, everything that WILL happen. All before he even STARTED to create earth and everything and everyone in it. He KNEW we would screw up, but he gave us free choice. He KNEW we would reject him, and kill his ONLY son, but he sent him anyway. If he was going to punish us by making us sick or killing us or something like that, he wouldn't have bothered. And he wouldn't have bothered saving Noah and his family on the ark. He would have wiped us all out and left it at that.

Thats my opinion anyway.

WE are the ones that messed everything up, but that doesn't mean God won't save us if we ask. He won't punish us or ignore us.

He doesn't make bad things happen, he doesn't make you sick or kill you as punishment for something.

Humans are the problem. God is the solution.

We ASK and we shall receive.

So let's stop arguing God's will amongst ourselves, and ask GOD what he wants us to do, think, believe and be.