Outside the Pigeon Holes

There is too much negativity in life, and I often contribute to it...There is too much negativity in the church and I contribute to it. I have been processing some stuff since I got smacked in the face with some church-related ugliness a few weeks ago and Papa has been working on me. I have been reminded that I can only control myself and what I focus on. Life is too short to do anything but learn how to love the way that Jesus did. 'Love except," 'love, but...." are not acceptable. Jesus does not teach that way. There are never any qualifiers in the extravagant love of God. Humans are always the ones who attach limits based on our fears and prejudices. Because we have to deal with human and spiritual darkness we do have to provide safeguards, but those should be minimal and address issues that would cause harm to other people - and please, your gay neighbors  are not  going to destroy your family. Seriously, that's just goofy to even worry about. I'm b...

Summer reading fun!   (all synopses are from Amazon.com) Currently I am reading: My Mother Was Nuts by Penny Marshall Most people know Penny Marshall as the director of Big and A League of Their Own. What they don’t know is her trailblazing career was a happy accident. In this funny and intimate memoir, Penny takes us from the stage of The Jackie Gleason Show in 1955 to Hollywood’s star-studded sets, offering up some hilarious detours along the way.....With humor and heart, My Mother Was Nuts reveals there’s no one else quite like Penny Marshall. Here is what's on deck:  The Phoenix Affirmations by Eric Elnes The Phoenix Affirmations , named for the town in which the principles were created and the mythological bird adopted by ancient Christians as a symbol of resurrection, offers disillusioned and spiritually homeless Christians and others a sense of hope and a more tolerant, joyful, and compassionate message than those we often hear from the...

Don't let the spirit of religion dictate your 'fear of God'...Let your fear - the awe, the reverence for God's hugeness as the Creator - come naturally through a growing understanding of Who He is and how much he loves you. This is in great contrast to the obl igatory fear that religion teaches about a God who throws people into the pit of hell with no mercy or grace.. Religion's goal is control and slavery to rules. God's goal is relationship, restoration and reconciliation.  At least that's what Jesus teaches... :)

  Photo art credit: Holli Lynn Stevenson I am convinced that the question that God will ask when I stand before him is 'Did you learn how to love?'.  If I am to follow Christ, I am to love. Period. Jesus says that people will know his followers by their love . Kudos if you get your theology right. But it is your love that will identify you. Jesus said that anyone who loves knows God. He didn't say 'anyone who prayed the sinner's prayer and reads their Bible with the right hermeneutics and proves that they are the holiest of all knows God.' He said anyone who loves knows God . A Muslim who loves, knows God. A Christian who loves, knows God. A homosexual who loves, knows God. An atheist who loves, knows God. In my old age, I have found that it is better to err on the side of love over judgement. And that is hard. Judgment is easy. Hatred flows naturally through human veins. Some think that loving others means being soft and gushy. But that...

Just Because He Breathes  This story breaks my heart. It is stories like this that have helped to refine my perspective on this issue.