Your Feelings are Stupid and Irrelevant.

While lurking on a post between several strangers discussing whether or not homosexuality is a sin (I don't honestly know why that's even a question, but that's a whole other can of worms...), I came across this little gem:

"Ok, I like that even better than what I was taught. He(God) loves her no matter who she is, and I hope she didn't change herself to fit someone else's views on what is correct."


I'll just give you a minute to let that sink in. Go back and read it a second time. Go ahead. I'll wait.


First off - REALLY? You did not just say "I like that better than what I was taught". No way you just said that.

That is NOT how this works! We don't get to pick and choose, or make up our own version of "truth" just because we like it and it makes us feel good. God is who He is and your feelings have ABSOLUTELY NO BEARING ON THAT.

We are broken, sinful, imperfect human beings and He is a holy God. His truth is the ONLY truth, whether or not if offends you.

Your feelings are stupid and irreverent in the face of God's perfect holiness, and to call yourself "Christian", and then just ignore the parts of the Bible you don't agree with is a blatant lie.


You are lying to yourself, and everyone around you. I firmly believe there is no room in heaven for those who claim to follow Christ, and then turn a blind eye to the parts of his teaching that offend them. Either you are for Christ, or you are against Him, and all these self-proclaimed "Christians" need to make up their minds. 


Revelation 3:15-16 says that, “I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth."


And secondly, what facts do you have to back up this new "belief" of yours? 
Did you research any of that? Did you look at the text? Did you question it? Do you even Bible?!
And for that matter, what exactly were you taught? Did you question that? Did you think about it, study it? Or did you just accept it just because it sounded good?

I see so many people today who want to call themselves "Christian", and believe whatever they want about God, sin, forgiveness, and hell. 
They want the love of God without the wrath. They want the Jesus who says "love your enemies" and not the one who said, "I have not come to bring peace, but a sword."

They want the "do not judge" part of the Bible, while they completely ignore that nasty "the wages of sin is death" bit. 

You can't have one without the other. It's simply not possible


So be a Christian or don't, but please - please - stop claiming to be a follower of Christ and then living half-heartedly. You're giving those of us who are truly trying to live lives devoted to Him a bad name.

Faith and Works

I've had several people thank me recently for my brutally honest and probably offensive Facebook posts, shared articles, and bold truth claims, regardless of what society says is acceptable. 
I've been praised for my "bravery" and willingness to "stand up for what I believe", and encouraged to continue preaching the truth, no matter how unpopular that truth may be.

And I appreciate that. I appreciate people letting me know that they support me. I'm glad to know that someone approves of my shameless disregard for political correctness on social media.

We're called to be ambassadors for Christ, and if that means "preaching" the offensive truth on Facebook, then that's what I'll continue to do.


But please, don't thank me for what I post online. If you must thank me for something, thank me for how I live. 
What good are my words if that's all they are? I can say whatever I want online, but if - when faced with opposition face-to-face - my resolve crumbles, then not only is my Facebook status pronounced null and void, but it proves me to be a hypocrite and a liar, and worse than if I'd said nothing at all.

It's easy to be brave and bold from behind a keyboard, to promote beliefs you have no base for (and sound very confident while doing so), or to make potentially offensive statements fearlessly, knowing that a digital medium lets you avoid all that messy, face-to-face conflict. 

Anyone can post truth statements on social media. But to live the words, to get behind your beliefs and defend them in the real world, is something else entirely. 


So please, continue liking my posts and appreciating what I say on Facebook. But before you praise my words, make sure I'm backing them up with my life. Make sure I'm living what I'm preaching, and call me out when I'm not. 

I don't promise to be perfect, or anything close to it. But I do promise to try and not only preach God's word with my words, but with my life as well. 


---
James 2:14-15, 20 - "What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?..... Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?"

A realization

As I have spent the last few days thinking about this blog, and what I'd like to write about herein, I've come to realize that I'm not the writer that I thought I was.

I write fantasy, sci-fi, historical fiction, and free verse poetry. But I realized today that I don't write anything... real. 

I had a blog for several years. I think I wrote a total of twenty-one posts, but only actually published maybe fifteen. Of those fifteen, I am actually happy with no more than two.

I love to write. Anything and everything, I want to write about it all. What I see, hear, taste, feel, think. I would love to be able to put all my everyday experiences into words on a page.

The only problem is, I'm not good at writing about real things.

With fiction prose, the focus isn't on me. The focus is on the characters, the story, the setting, the mood. On fictional things.

But I don't know how to write my own story. When it comes to writing something 'real', I simply don't know what to say. I suppose I just don't know how to express myself.

I know on an intellectual level what to say. I know all the right things to say.
The formula is there, all the equations calculated correctly. All the pieces are in place.
I should talk about what I saw, what I heard, what I tasted. Talk about how it all made me feel.

This is where I get tripped up. 

I have all the right answers, but it still comes out flat and empty. I don't know how to put myself into my work.

Talking or writing about the way I feel has never been something I've been very good at. 
After all, how am I supposed to express to you what I'm feeling, when I haven't even figured it out for myself yet?

A friend once told me that I am simultaneously one of the most open, and most reserved people he's ever met. It seemed a very odd thing to say, but after considering it a while, I realized that it was completely true. 

I am very open about what I think. I know what I believe, I know why I believe it, and I have facts and evidence to back it up. I enjoy thinking, discussing, debating. I love a mental workout. I love having my beliefs and principles challenged. Picking apart opinions and ideas with logic and reasoning is my idea of fun. I question everything, and then I question my questions. 
I could talk about what I think, know, and believe all day long.

The opposite is true when you ask me how I feel. It's not that I don't want to tell you. Most of the time I simply don't know how I feel.
Perhaps it's that I haven't had time to think about it yet. Maybe I have, and I don't yet know what to make of all the information I've gathered. Or maybe I know what I feel, I just don't know how to say it.

So I'm going to apologize now, reader.

I'm sorry that what I write here may lack the... for want of a better word - impact, that the rest of my prose might have. Fiction is where I'm comfortable. Fiction is where I know what works.

But here? Here, I... I'm a bit out of my element. 

My hope is that, with time and practice, I'll be able to adapt to this new style, and present you with something that's - if not eloquent - at least intelligible.   

An introduction... kind of...

I've never been very good at introducing myself, so I'm not even going to bother doing so here.

Besides, chances are that if you're reading this, you're probably related to me. I don't expect this blog to reach internet fame much beyond my rather small circle of family and friends.

So forget the introduction. 


What can you expect to see here? The title should have told you. This blog will have several functions.

- First, simply as a place for me to jot down my thoughts; a catalog of musings, observations, and opinions from yours truly.

- Second, it will act as a sort of literary scrapbook. A record of my life's adventures - whether those be simple day-to-day activities, or more ambitious outings like the month long road trip I'm planning for this summer (more on that sometime later).

- And lastly, this blog is my journal: a battered and water stained notebook with wrinkled and dogeared pages yellowed with age. At least, that's what I imagine it would look like were it a physical thing. It would also likely be filled with illegible chicken scratch. As such, let us all take a moment to be thankful for the wonder of digital media and it's blessed uniformity. 


So welcome. Welcome to a collection of scattered writings on a variety of topics so broad, I don't dare try and list or define them all here. I guess we'll just have to discover them as they come.