I am not sure if I'm ready for this. My children are growing up and reaching milestones that will require me to act like a grown up. When did I sign up for this?
We have been raising our children with the idea of courtship rather than dating. The plan is to get to know another person with the guidance of family. No going out on dates and "playing grown-up" with nothing to rein in the raging hormones but self control, which hasn't been proven to exist yet. This has all been fine in theory, but now we need to put our theory to the test. This has to do with our oldest son, who is nearly 18. At this point it is really his decision to make. This is only the second time he has expressed an interest in a girl. Both times he has wanted to introduce the girls to me immediately. Each time I get butterflies. What, exactly, is my role in this? I am happy that he wants to include me in this, or any, part of his life. However, I wonder if we have taught him all we could, or should, about pursuing a relationship with a young woman.
Have we impressed upon him the importance of respect? Respect for himself and for all other people. Have we taught him about responsibility? He doesn't have a job yet. He has dreams and ambitions but he has yet to channel these into a paying job. Have we given him a sufficient understanding of his need to be able to provide for himself and someone else before asking her to invest in him?
We are not experts in these areas. Mostly, we serve as a cautionary tale. I can tell him about the heartbreak of giving up a child I was not prepared for. We can offer our past lives as an example of the damage drugs and alcohol can do to a person-physically, emotionally, spiritually. Our financial struggles point to a path of living on credit instead of living within our means. What we are doing now, making better choices for ourselves and our children, stand as a testimony to God's healing power and forgiveness.
I guess we just have to trust that we have gotten through to him. We must pray that God will help us to be good role models from this day forward. We have done our best to protect him while still teaching him about the world in which we live. We will be here to support him as he navigates his way through the world of male/female relationships. He knows what we believe and what we want for him. He has specific plans for his life and I hope he will continue to pursue those plans. We cannot make his decisions for him but we will listen to him and pray for and with him.
Tonight, our eldest son called a girl and invited her and her family to dine with us. They have found they have common interests. Does this mean we are headed down the road of courtship? Only God knows. I pray we will have our hearts and eyes open to read all the signs He will place before us.
Growing up is scary!
Sunday, April 20, 2014
Monday, March 24, 2014
Spring
I love the fall, especially here in the Pacific Northwest. There is no better season, but spring has its good points.
My birthday is right smack dab in the middle of spring. The skies are clear and blue and this lends itself to long days of hiking. The children can play outside without getting chilled, and the computers get a much-needed rest.
I also spend much less time on the internet. This translates to fewer blogs. Right now, I am sitting on my couch telling my children to get outside into the sunshine. Ridiculous! Just so I can have something posted this week. Preposterous! I am going to get off my derriere and do something offline. I'll be back to post again when the sun goes down, or when I have something worthwhile (in my mind) to say.
Now step away from your computer, and go soak up some sunshine before it goes into hiding.*
*This is specifically aimed at people located in Portland, Oregon.
My birthday is right smack dab in the middle of spring. The skies are clear and blue and this lends itself to long days of hiking. The children can play outside without getting chilled, and the computers get a much-needed rest.
I also spend much less time on the internet. This translates to fewer blogs. Right now, I am sitting on my couch telling my children to get outside into the sunshine. Ridiculous! Just so I can have something posted this week. Preposterous! I am going to get off my derriere and do something offline. I'll be back to post again when the sun goes down, or when I have something worthwhile (in my mind) to say.
Now step away from your computer, and go soak up some sunshine before it goes into hiding.*
*This is specifically aimed at people located in Portland, Oregon.
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Words......
At church, we have been having a message series on words for the past few weeks. Their ability to build up or tear down. Their ability to speak truth or lies. Their ability to hurt or to heal.
We all have experience with the power of words. My mother related a story from her childhood about how the careless use of words can leave scars that never go away. I teach this to my children and I ask them to be honest with me if my words hurt them. I was bullied with words for the better part of my childhood so I am grateful to have had parents who used their words to build me up. I have used words to make someone else feel as bad as I did, and I carried that guilt around for years, until I chose to apologize.
The words we choose not to say can be just as powerful as the ones we do speak. When we choose not to say something hurtful, we choose not to plant weeds in our hearts or the hearts of others. But wouldn't it be better to say something kind rather than nothing at all? Tell people you are proud of them, or that you love them. Tell someone how much you appreciate them in your life. You might think they know, but hearing it could be the one thing that gets them through the day with a smile instead of anger.
Words of condolence can be very difficult. We all want to dispense words of wisdom that will help the bereaved through his time of grief, but we don't want to sound cliché. The perfect words that will offer comfort but not come off sounding like we know what he is going through. Profound words. Meaningful words. When we can't find the perfect words, we often say nothing. All we need to say is "I love you."
Kind and loving words are meant to be shared. Left unspoken, they can be the bitterest words of all.
We all have experience with the power of words. My mother related a story from her childhood about how the careless use of words can leave scars that never go away. I teach this to my children and I ask them to be honest with me if my words hurt them. I was bullied with words for the better part of my childhood so I am grateful to have had parents who used their words to build me up. I have used words to make someone else feel as bad as I did, and I carried that guilt around for years, until I chose to apologize.
The words we choose not to say can be just as powerful as the ones we do speak. When we choose not to say something hurtful, we choose not to plant weeds in our hearts or the hearts of others. But wouldn't it be better to say something kind rather than nothing at all? Tell people you are proud of them, or that you love them. Tell someone how much you appreciate them in your life. You might think they know, but hearing it could be the one thing that gets them through the day with a smile instead of anger.
Words of condolence can be very difficult. We all want to dispense words of wisdom that will help the bereaved through his time of grief, but we don't want to sound cliché. The perfect words that will offer comfort but not come off sounding like we know what he is going through. Profound words. Meaningful words. When we can't find the perfect words, we often say nothing. All we need to say is "I love you."
Kind and loving words are meant to be shared. Left unspoken, they can be the bitterest words of all.
Monday, March 10, 2014
Compare before you share.
At the start of this year, my husband began unfriending people on Facebook for posting/sharing "I Hate so-and-so" statuses or memes. He gave very little warning and I thought that was unfair. But today, I have decided to do something similar except that I am giving one week's notice.
My unfriending will be of people who blindly post shocking "facts" without first checking their validity. Here is the propaganda being spread as fact that sparked this housecleaning.
What are some past offenses that would now have you dropped from my list of friends? Just by way of example:
The waitress who was stiffed for being a lesbian. Not true, yet that one spread like wildfire. The retraction was not nearly as widespread as the lie. If you want to find it, read down to the 7th paragraph.
ANYTHING about a major change on Facebook. If it didn't come to you in an email or wasn't posted by the appropriate administrative section of Facebook, question it.
We are all, supposedly, intelligent human beings with the power of discernment. If not, then we know you at least have the internet and the ability to cut and paste. So cut and paste that frighteningly shocking revelation into Snopes or Google and do some research.
Believe it or not, tone is apparent. All capital letters, exclamation points, winking emoticons all get the mood across. I don't need a crystal ball to know why you are sharing this propaganda.
Some of you truly want to inform/warn people and are genuinely concerned about their well being. These will be given the benefit of the doubt and reminded to check their facts. A second infraction will be cause for removal.
Some people post these things maliciously with the intent to rile people up. Those will be unfriended immediately. Likewise for the sheep who share it because, if it is on the internet it must be true. I have no time for such ignorance.
The more unbelievable the headline, the more likely it is to not be true. I know this is not always the case. There are atrocities happening in the world every day, so it is easy to accept everything you read as fact. Do not! Be informed. Be proactive. Be a thinking person.
I know I am not faultless in this arena. I want to be told if I have jerked my knee. Don't stand on ceremony. Show me where I have erred. Then unfriend me.
My unfriending will be of people who blindly post shocking "facts" without first checking their validity. Here is the propaganda being spread as fact that sparked this housecleaning.
What are some past offenses that would now have you dropped from my list of friends? Just by way of example:
The waitress who was stiffed for being a lesbian. Not true, yet that one spread like wildfire. The retraction was not nearly as widespread as the lie. If you want to find it, read down to the 7th paragraph.
ANYTHING about a major change on Facebook. If it didn't come to you in an email or wasn't posted by the appropriate administrative section of Facebook, question it.
We are all, supposedly, intelligent human beings with the power of discernment. If not, then we know you at least have the internet and the ability to cut and paste. So cut and paste that frighteningly shocking revelation into Snopes or Google and do some research.
Believe it or not, tone is apparent. All capital letters, exclamation points, winking emoticons all get the mood across. I don't need a crystal ball to know why you are sharing this propaganda.
Some of you truly want to inform/warn people and are genuinely concerned about their well being. These will be given the benefit of the doubt and reminded to check their facts. A second infraction will be cause for removal.
Some people post these things maliciously with the intent to rile people up. Those will be unfriended immediately. Likewise for the sheep who share it because, if it is on the internet it must be true. I have no time for such ignorance.
The more unbelievable the headline, the more likely it is to not be true. I know this is not always the case. There are atrocities happening in the world every day, so it is easy to accept everything you read as fact. Do not! Be informed. Be proactive. Be a thinking person.
I know I am not faultless in this arena. I want to be told if I have jerked my knee. Don't stand on ceremony. Show me where I have erred. Then unfriend me.
Monday, March 3, 2014
I'm Kathleen and I am a baking snob
Group: "Hi, Kathleen!"
The topic of this blog may seem kind of light compared to my other posts, but I feel that it is serious and needs to be addressed. You see, aside from being very opinionated about many controversial subjects, I also happen to be an avid baker. Where I was once frightened to try anything that is not printed in my Cooking Bible According to Betty Crocker, I now seek out new ways to challenge myself in the culinary arts.
Some may say it is just me getting on my it's-only-homemade-if-it's-from-scratch high horse, but looking up recipes for cake pops is making me feel like singing a particular Patsy Cline song over and over and over and over....
Yes, I said cake pops. I told you it was serious.
Boxed cake mix is NOT, in and of itself, an ingredient. It is a handy short-cut if you are in a hurry or have no patience or skills in the baking arena. But I was specifically searching for a scratch cake pop recipe for use with my cake pop maker (C.P.M.). It is a gift from a couple of Christmases ago and I am finally ready to try it out.
I've never really trusted cake pops and have never eaten one. After a little research, I now know how they are traditionally made and I am glad that I have chosen to refrain. The idea of baking a cake with the intention of crumbing it up and mashing it together with canned frosting (EEW!) and presenting it to people as something to be ingested leaves me feeling a bit queasy. Kind of like taking the efforts of a child at his first birthday party and serving it up to your guests. I guess the only good thing you can say about these treats is that they are truly handmade.
My C.P.M. did come with an instruction book that also contains some "recipes," if you consider throwing a box of mix into a bowl with some oil and water a recipe. Pardon me. Is that my snobbery showing?
I really find something satisfying about taking a bunch of ingredients and combining them to create something delicious, and then decorating it so that people think it is too pretty to eat. But the taste is the most important part. If it tastes like cardboard, or worse, then all the frills and furbelows won't save it. To me, baking is a work of love. I do not do a lot of things exceptionally well but this is one area where I shine. So it feeds my soul to feed others. The best way for me to do this is from scratch.
Although I love to bake, I have no background in chemistry. I did not take it in high school and I don't necessarily understand how the ingredients I mix together become a cake instead of a lump of goo. Once, I forgot to add baking soda to my chocolate chip cookie dough. When I opened the oven door, I found a soupy lake in the middle of the baking sheet. I learned that baking soda is needed to make the cookies hold together and rise, but my knowledge ends there. Maybe someday I will take the time to study and understand the importance of ratios of salt and baking powder to flour, but for now I need a recipe to follow.
So I continue my search for the perfect cake pop batter recipe, from scratch. I may have hit upon a couple of ideas and now it is time to test them out. My poor family must suffer as my tasting guinea pigs. They don't mind. It's all in the name if deliciousness!
The topic of this blog may seem kind of light compared to my other posts, but I feel that it is serious and needs to be addressed. You see, aside from being very opinionated about many controversial subjects, I also happen to be an avid baker. Where I was once frightened to try anything that is not printed in my Cooking Bible According to Betty Crocker, I now seek out new ways to challenge myself in the culinary arts.
Some may say it is just me getting on my it's-only-homemade-if-it's-from-scratch high horse, but looking up recipes for cake pops is making me feel like singing a particular Patsy Cline song over and over and over and over....
Yes, I said cake pops. I told you it was serious.
Boxed cake mix is NOT, in and of itself, an ingredient. It is a handy short-cut if you are in a hurry or have no patience or skills in the baking arena. But I was specifically searching for a scratch cake pop recipe for use with my cake pop maker (C.P.M.). It is a gift from a couple of Christmases ago and I am finally ready to try it out.
I've never really trusted cake pops and have never eaten one. After a little research, I now know how they are traditionally made and I am glad that I have chosen to refrain. The idea of baking a cake with the intention of crumbing it up and mashing it together with canned frosting (EEW!) and presenting it to people as something to be ingested leaves me feeling a bit queasy. Kind of like taking the efforts of a child at his first birthday party and serving it up to your guests. I guess the only good thing you can say about these treats is that they are truly handmade.
My C.P.M. did come with an instruction book that also contains some "recipes," if you consider throwing a box of mix into a bowl with some oil and water a recipe. Pardon me. Is that my snobbery showing?
I really find something satisfying about taking a bunch of ingredients and combining them to create something delicious, and then decorating it so that people think it is too pretty to eat. But the taste is the most important part. If it tastes like cardboard, or worse, then all the frills and furbelows won't save it. To me, baking is a work of love. I do not do a lot of things exceptionally well but this is one area where I shine. So it feeds my soul to feed others. The best way for me to do this is from scratch.
Although I love to bake, I have no background in chemistry. I did not take it in high school and I don't necessarily understand how the ingredients I mix together become a cake instead of a lump of goo. Once, I forgot to add baking soda to my chocolate chip cookie dough. When I opened the oven door, I found a soupy lake in the middle of the baking sheet. I learned that baking soda is needed to make the cookies hold together and rise, but my knowledge ends there. Maybe someday I will take the time to study and understand the importance of ratios of salt and baking powder to flour, but for now I need a recipe to follow.
So I continue my search for the perfect cake pop batter recipe, from scratch. I may have hit upon a couple of ideas and now it is time to test them out. My poor family must suffer as my tasting guinea pigs. They don't mind. It's all in the name if deliciousness!
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
An honest day's work
You should never be ashamed of a job well done.
Is this true of every job?
I believe there is no shame in scrubbing toilets or scraping gum out from under tables. Working in a fast food restaurant is honest, if not well paying, work.
But what about a job that you don't tell your friends or family about? A job you are so proud of that you use a pseudonym. I am talking about the sex industry. Pornography and prostitution. Is this a field you want your children to aspire to?
I believe if everyone was completely honest, they would answer, "No." I remember hearing a bit by Chris Rock where he said, "I mean, they don't grade fathers. But if your daughter's a stripper, you f%*&#d up."
Even people who work in the industry and claim it is legitimate work, well, I cannot imagine it is truly fulfilling a lifelong dream. And if that is your lifelong dream, I would implore you to seek professional help.
Last week I read an article by a young woman who is a student at Duke University in North Carolina. She was coming out as a porn "star" because she had been recognized by a fellow student who began harassing her and revealing her secret.
She went on about how sex workers are disrespected because of what they do for a living. I think the fact that one has chosen to become a sex worker is a sign that he or she has no self respect. We teach our daughters that no one will love and respect them if they don't first love and respect themselves. She claimed that this is puritanical thinking; sexual purity is not important and sex is nothing more than a physical act.
Then why should a rape victim feel violated? It's only sex. It's not as though it means anything. While she claims that she does not participate in rape fantasy porn, she does not see a problem with feeding this fetish.
In this follow-up article, she claims that sex workers are shamed and the consumers are celebrated. Actually, I don't see this happening. In my circle of the world, pornography is as shameful for the consumer as the performer. Porn addiction is a serious problem that is tearing apart marriages. If she is right, and consumers are being lauded, then that is what needs to change and not the other way around. Don't try to tell me that the sex industry isn't revered. Mainstream movies seek to push the envelope, getting as close to porn as they can without actually getting that rating that would keep them out of the major theaters. Magazines feature models and actresses in many manners of undress, being sure to conceal just enough to keep them in the checkout lines, barely. Sex work isn't nearly as looked down upon as she'd like us to believe. Here's a thought. If people would stop supplying, the consumers wouldn't have anything to consume. But we all know that isn't going to happen. It has absolutely NOTHING to do with female sexual liberation and everything to do with playing on the sin nature of mankind-lust and greed take center stage here.
This young woman said she chose to go into porn to afford her $60,000 a year tuition. She doesn't want to graduate in debt. Well, I applaud her for this. It makes sense. I do not recall her saying what her major is, but it is obviously important enough that she is willing to sell her body to get a degree. And if she can't get a job because of her background in the sex industry, at least she won't have to worry about paying any pesky student loans. She did say that anyone who wouldn't hire her because of her previous "experience" is just discriminating.
Think about the meaning of that word. It is good to have discriminating taste, so why is it bad to discriminate when choosing who will represent your business or group? The Humane Society is not going to choose Michael Vick to be their spokesperson any more than The Right to Life League would ask the president of Planned Parenthood to represent them.
I don't know what is more upsetting: that this young lady might believe these lies she spouts or that she doesn't, and continues to do porn anyway.
Is this true of every job?
I believe there is no shame in scrubbing toilets or scraping gum out from under tables. Working in a fast food restaurant is honest, if not well paying, work.
But what about a job that you don't tell your friends or family about? A job you are so proud of that you use a pseudonym. I am talking about the sex industry. Pornography and prostitution. Is this a field you want your children to aspire to?
I believe if everyone was completely honest, they would answer, "No." I remember hearing a bit by Chris Rock where he said, "I mean, they don't grade fathers. But if your daughter's a stripper, you f%*&#d up."
Even people who work in the industry and claim it is legitimate work, well, I cannot imagine it is truly fulfilling a lifelong dream. And if that is your lifelong dream, I would implore you to seek professional help.
Last week I read an article by a young woman who is a student at Duke University in North Carolina. She was coming out as a porn "star" because she had been recognized by a fellow student who began harassing her and revealing her secret.
She went on about how sex workers are disrespected because of what they do for a living. I think the fact that one has chosen to become a sex worker is a sign that he or she has no self respect. We teach our daughters that no one will love and respect them if they don't first love and respect themselves. She claimed that this is puritanical thinking; sexual purity is not important and sex is nothing more than a physical act.
Then why should a rape victim feel violated? It's only sex. It's not as though it means anything. While she claims that she does not participate in rape fantasy porn, she does not see a problem with feeding this fetish.
In this follow-up article, she claims that sex workers are shamed and the consumers are celebrated. Actually, I don't see this happening. In my circle of the world, pornography is as shameful for the consumer as the performer. Porn addiction is a serious problem that is tearing apart marriages. If she is right, and consumers are being lauded, then that is what needs to change and not the other way around. Don't try to tell me that the sex industry isn't revered. Mainstream movies seek to push the envelope, getting as close to porn as they can without actually getting that rating that would keep them out of the major theaters. Magazines feature models and actresses in many manners of undress, being sure to conceal just enough to keep them in the checkout lines, barely. Sex work isn't nearly as looked down upon as she'd like us to believe. Here's a thought. If people would stop supplying, the consumers wouldn't have anything to consume. But we all know that isn't going to happen. It has absolutely NOTHING to do with female sexual liberation and everything to do with playing on the sin nature of mankind-lust and greed take center stage here.
This young woman said she chose to go into porn to afford her $60,000 a year tuition. She doesn't want to graduate in debt. Well, I applaud her for this. It makes sense. I do not recall her saying what her major is, but it is obviously important enough that she is willing to sell her body to get a degree. And if she can't get a job because of her background in the sex industry, at least she won't have to worry about paying any pesky student loans. She did say that anyone who wouldn't hire her because of her previous "experience" is just discriminating.
Think about the meaning of that word. It is good to have discriminating taste, so why is it bad to discriminate when choosing who will represent your business or group? The Humane Society is not going to choose Michael Vick to be their spokesperson any more than The Right to Life League would ask the president of Planned Parenthood to represent them.
I don't know what is more upsetting: that this young lady might believe these lies she spouts or that she doesn't, and continues to do porn anyway.
Monday, February 24, 2014
Complicity of Sin
This is my follow up to Now Serving Sinners.
I am a proponent of human rights. Not gay rights or women's rights but human rights, and that includes the right to not take part in activities we are morally opposed to. You probably figured I'd get around to this eventually. Yes, I'm going to talk about cake baking and gay weddings. How can I take the position I have in the above mentioned blog and still think it is okay for a baker to refuse to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding? I will try to explain, although I am sure to not satisfy everyone.
If your business is selling cars then you do not need to know what the buyer plans to use the car for. For all you know, she will drive off of your lot and straight to a hotel to meet her married lover. What if a customer walks into your dealership and says, "I want a car with enough trunk space to hold two dead bodies"? Would you feel a moral obligation to turn said person away-and to call the police, or would that be discriminating? If you own a hardware store and a man walks in off the street and says he needs 100 feet of rope and some kerosene to perform a ritual animal sacrifice, would you feel comfortable selling to him or would doing so give you a sense of complicity?
A couple owns a bakery. They have a passion for creating edible works of art. When they are hired to bake a cake for an occasion, they realize that they have been chosen to be a part of someone's special day.
Not all businesses have such a level of involvement in the lives of the people they work with. I do not expect the same level of care from the short-order cook at the local diner who makes my BLT as I would from the person making my wedding cake. I do not meet with the cook and ask for tastings and references from other people who have eaten his cooking. I do not pay hundreds of dollars for my BLT. It is lunch, not an occasion for celebrating a major life event.
When the couple is asked to make a cake for a gay wedding, they might feel like doing so would make them compliant in something they are morally opposed to. The same would be true for a florist or photographer or event planner asked to perform services for events that go against their beliefs. These people are all sinners by nature, but that does not mean they should feel compelled by the nature of their businesses to deliberately defy their beliefs.
Being a Christian means that we are sinners who have chosen to do the best we can to pattern our lives after Christ's. As I stated in my previous blog, Jesus did not turn away sinners. He embraced them. He dined with them. He stayed in their homes. But one thing I am also certain of is this.
Jesus did not partake in their sin.
He loved them, accepted them as God's children, and told them to turn from their sin. Jesus still loves us and accepts us, and He STILL implores us to turn away from our sin to be in relationship with Him. That is all any of us is trying to do. Love our neighbors as we want to be loved and build a relationship with Christ. I do not want anyone to turn a blind eye to my sin because he loves me. Love is not patting me on the back and telling me how you accept me as I walk into the fires of hell.
Instead of spouting the tired old cliché of "hate the sin, not the sinner," I say we love the sinner (meaning EVERYONE) and do our best to not be stumbling blocks to one another. Lead me not into temptation.
I am a proponent of human rights. Not gay rights or women's rights but human rights, and that includes the right to not take part in activities we are morally opposed to. You probably figured I'd get around to this eventually. Yes, I'm going to talk about cake baking and gay weddings. How can I take the position I have in the above mentioned blog and still think it is okay for a baker to refuse to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding? I will try to explain, although I am sure to not satisfy everyone.
If your business is selling cars then you do not need to know what the buyer plans to use the car for. For all you know, she will drive off of your lot and straight to a hotel to meet her married lover. What if a customer walks into your dealership and says, "I want a car with enough trunk space to hold two dead bodies"? Would you feel a moral obligation to turn said person away-and to call the police, or would that be discriminating? If you own a hardware store and a man walks in off the street and says he needs 100 feet of rope and some kerosene to perform a ritual animal sacrifice, would you feel comfortable selling to him or would doing so give you a sense of complicity?
A couple owns a bakery. They have a passion for creating edible works of art. When they are hired to bake a cake for an occasion, they realize that they have been chosen to be a part of someone's special day.
Not all businesses have such a level of involvement in the lives of the people they work with. I do not expect the same level of care from the short-order cook at the local diner who makes my BLT as I would from the person making my wedding cake. I do not meet with the cook and ask for tastings and references from other people who have eaten his cooking. I do not pay hundreds of dollars for my BLT. It is lunch, not an occasion for celebrating a major life event.
When the couple is asked to make a cake for a gay wedding, they might feel like doing so would make them compliant in something they are morally opposed to. The same would be true for a florist or photographer or event planner asked to perform services for events that go against their beliefs. These people are all sinners by nature, but that does not mean they should feel compelled by the nature of their businesses to deliberately defy their beliefs.
Being a Christian means that we are sinners who have chosen to do the best we can to pattern our lives after Christ's. As I stated in my previous blog, Jesus did not turn away sinners. He embraced them. He dined with them. He stayed in their homes. But one thing I am also certain of is this.
Jesus did not partake in their sin.
He loved them, accepted them as God's children, and told them to turn from their sin. Jesus still loves us and accepts us, and He STILL implores us to turn away from our sin to be in relationship with Him. That is all any of us is trying to do. Love our neighbors as we want to be loved and build a relationship with Christ. I do not want anyone to turn a blind eye to my sin because he loves me. Love is not patting me on the back and telling me how you accept me as I walk into the fires of hell.
Instead of spouting the tired old cliché of "hate the sin, not the sinner," I say we love the sinner (meaning EVERYONE) and do our best to not be stumbling blocks to one another. Lead me not into temptation.
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