Boston

^"21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” ²² On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, ²³ and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, ²⁴ while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, ²⁵ so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. ²⁶ If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
²⁷ Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it."
- 1 Corinthians 12: 21-27


What can I say that hasn't already been said about the Boston tragedy?

Not a lot.

I can say that the Boston marathon is one of the largest marathons in the world and you don't need to be a runner to have known someone affected by the events today. I had friends and acquaintances and fellow Flagstaffians running and cheering and my heart goes out to them. They are all safe, but to experience such a terrible tragedy will stick with them the rest of their lives.

We are the body of Christ and when one part suffers, every part suffers with it. We are all suffering together and it is these times when we are truly one body. 

I pray for the families, runners, friends, children, medical workers, and anyone else in Boston who are now on the path of recovery, whether physical, mental, emotional or spiritual. I pray for the individual(s) who committed this chaos. I pray that they find peace and judgement. I pray for healing. Amen.

Just Love

"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." - 1 Corinthians 13:13

As I said yesterday, my prayer was that God would guide the discussions that get posted to this blog. And once again, despite working for 11 hours today, God placed another topic on my heart.

I have discussed Christianity a lot lately. I don't mean the Christianity of who Jesus was or what denomination I am. I mean the Christianity of Christians. You know, the people who are Christian. Too often do we get caught up in things so unworthy of our calling, that we lose sight of why we are Christians in the first place.

The beginning of this topic stems from a lot of conversations lately about what makes a Christian. Is it their tithing? Is it how many souls are saved? Is it believing gay marriage or abortion is bad? Probably not. In fact, definitely not. Too often do people judge me when I tell them I am a follower of Christ. Assumptions of conservatism, craziness, and, ironically, judgmentalism pop into their minds. Who is really being judgmental here?

I am not who you think I am. I have tattoos. I have piercings. I like saving the environment and don't mind sitting in church next to someone openly gay. The point is, I don't care what decisions you have made in your life. God created us ALL in His image. Not just me and my family or those at my church or those at the church next door even though we don't worship together. Not even just Christians around the world or only those persecuted. He created Muslims, Buddhists, gays, black, white, Latinos, disabled, athletic, overweight, blind, and all the others In. His. Image. Period. 

So, if you are a human. I don't mind you. I will pray for you. If you are a God fearing, bible reading, knee praying, Christ follower, I will pray with you. And if you haven't found Jesus yet, that's ok, cause I still love and pray for you. 

Don't judge me. And don't judge others for their differences. When did we lose sight of the greatest commandment? Love. That's all He wants. He wants us to love Him and love one another. It's not our right or our place to judge others for their appearance, baggage, or present circumstances. Life has a way of sorting these kinds of things out and I don't want to be at the front claiming to know how.