Restoring Rapport

Dear male-supremacist, I have some things that I want you to consider. Forgive me if I seem too harsh in this letter to you, whoever you are. Forgive me if I seem hateful or unforgiving to my own sex. But you see, I have a sister, and a Mother, and a future wife and daughter, so this issue concerns me closely and dearly. I will not see them trampled, purposefully or inadvertently, by your belief. And because you would see them as uncompliant and rebellious if they spoke up for themselves, I will do it for them. You see, I've seen a mindset, a sickness, that has crept into your beliefs and it occasionally rises to the surface in your conversations and actions. Whether you intentionally or unintentionally allowed this to happen matters not. All that matters is that this sickness is harming you, and more importantly, the women in your life. What is the sickness you ask? What is this half-invisible belief that hides within the walls of your heart, only making itself known in subtle, ...

Something that's really puzzling me right now is how love can be determined and relentless, yet also be gentle and un-forceful. Those things seem to counter each other, but God somehow loves in both of those ways at the same time! So it is possible! Think about it. God relentlessly pursues, He chases us to the ends of the earth. He never stops loving and pursuing us. We sing songs about His "Reckless Love" for us and how He "won't relent" until he has our whole heart. He's completely unconditional in his pursuit of us. Yet He also never, ever forces us to accept Him. Nor does He make us feel pressure to do so! He never demands affection in return for the affection He gives. No matter how badly He wants connection with us, He never forces us to connect with Him, because forcefulness is not in His nature. How does He do it? And how do we, as His children do it? How does God find that balance of being totally relentless (reckless even) in His pursuit of hum...

In this post I'm going to do something new. I had an idea to simply list tons of questions that can help us determine what we believe yes, but more importantly, WHY we believe it. There won't be any paragraphs in this post. It'll just be 21 questions that will hopefully tear down some tradition and cause your mind to stop and think about why you believe what you do. It is vitally important to know WHY you believe things, instead of just knowing WHAT you believe. It's also very important to question ideas and traditions that have been handed to you instead of blindly accepting them as Truth. God loves it when you question things, no matter how unorthodox it seems. So here we go! I hope these questions help you ask yourself WHY you believe what you do. What do you believe worship is? Do you believe God is always kind towards His children? Do you believe you are under the ten commandments? Do you believe Jesus' Blood has taken away the sin of the world, or do yo...

You've probably heard the phrase "God is in control." In fact, after "Jesus loves you", it's one of the most used phrases in christian circles. Today, I want to submit to you the idea that "God is in control" can actually be a harmful statement, depending on how you define "control" and the context you use it in. I believe it's always really important that we understand the character of God and how he operates in the lives of His children. God is never forceful, and He never takes the free will of mankind. So, to say and/or believe that "God is in control" when it comes to the harmful decisions of mankind (murder, rape, violence, etc.) is a problem in your thinking. Even if your intention in saying "God is in control" is to comfort a family who lost a loved one, it's still a very harmful statement. Why? Because it implies that part of God's "plan" involved the death of their loved one. Let me spea...