Remember Galatians 3:28

If you think your church is "progressive," "welcoming," or "open and affirming," I ask you: Would your church welcome leather-folk in full gear? Gender variant people who you may not be able to tell what pronouns to use with them? Polyamorous families (more than two partners in relationship)? These are all beautiful expressions of what God has called "good." Can you truly follow the judgment-free teachings of Jesus or do you choose to only welcome those you feel comfortable putting in a token box? Accepting gay and lesbian people in the church is great- but it's not radical anymore. The radical Gospel of Jesus Christ is this: In Christ you are no longer man or woman, straight or gay, monogamous or polyamorous, vanilla or kinky... No: you are One.

Sticks and Stones

A colleague in ministry posed the question: "We’ve all heard the children’s rhyme, “Sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me.” but... is it true? Really?"

My response:
If we don't have a good sense of self-love, we are left vulnerable to the damage of words. The more we realize and teach others that people only hurt others out of their own pain and that we should never take anything personally, we will gain inner damage. Let's not forget how people's comments may remind us negatively of those who raised us. So no, it's not true; words can hurt us-- that is as long as we accept their poison. The many who have taken their own lives as a result of bullying probably didn't have the people in their lives to affirm their sacred value, or the negative inner voices were just too loud and too engrained. If we do recite the "sticks and stones" rhyme and teach it to our children, it should be framed as an affirmation that we choose for the words to not hurt us. That is the meaning of salvation after all- we are saved from these messages that have the potential of putting us in a living hell.

Thought of the day

Good works do get you into heaven after all. Don't get me wrong- I don't believe in "works righteousness"- that a Santa Clause-like god sits on a cloud keeping track of our deeds. Rather, if Heaven is right where we are, we live into it more and more by the good works we give wholeheartedly. Heaven is yours today as you continue the flow of divine supply through your life. Give with abandon (and of course with self-respect) and see what possibilities are opened to you!