What really matters...

What are you afraid of?  Me, I'm a people pleaser.  I want people to like me. I posted this link  on Facebook last week to a blog about the necessity of saying no sometimes - something I very much need to learn.  But my people pleasing doesn't stop at just not wanting to say no to people.  It's an overall need to be liked.  I think far too much about what other people will think of me if I do this or wear that.  I want to be noticed, but in a positive way. This morning in my devotions the scripture was Psalm 46, and verses 1-2 were the most impactful: God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble.  Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth give away and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea.   Now maybe it's because we have a better understanding of science than the psalmist did, but I don't really connect with the fear of the earth giving way or the mountains falling into the sea.  Or maybe it's simply because I've lived

I am in love with the new Tenth Avenue North single, "Losing."  If you haven't heard it yet, I highly recommend checking it out. This part particularly sticks out to me:  "Why do we think that hate's gonna change their heart? We're up in arms over wars that don't need to be fought But pride won't let us lay our weapons on the ground We build our bridges up, but just to burn them down We think pain is owed apologies and then it'll stop But truth be told it doesn't matter if they're sorry or not Freedom comes when we surrender to the sound Of Mercy and Your Grace, Father, send Your angels down (singin') Oh, Father, won't you forgive them? They don't know what they've been doing (oh, no) Oh, Father, give me grace to forgive them Cause I feel like the one losing I feel like I've been losing" (Emphasis mine) After my blog post the other day, I was thinking about what we, as the church, are doing.

In the past few days, I have seen more about Chick-Fil-A then I maybe ever have - and I went to college on campus with one. And much of what I have seen disturbs me in many ways. I first want to clarify that there are a variety of perspectives among my Facebook friends, and there are many people that I respect, even when I don't agree with them, on the issue of gay marriage. But to me, the scary thing about this "debate," if we can even call it that, has nothing to do with homosexuality. Here are some thoughts that I have (and also some I have read) about this debate, and others like it: 1. I keep hearing that this is a matter of Christians standing up against an government that is trying to force something on them. Now whether that is actually true is another matter of debate, but I would just like to point out that Jesus did not tell the Jews to stand up when the Roman government was oppressing them. In fact, he told them to turn the other cheek and to walk a