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Let the gay marriage games begin!

By Jeremy Myers
28 Comments

Let the gay marriage games begin!

In light of the ruling from the Supreme Court about Gay Marriage, I knew it wouldn’t be long before:

  1. The name-calling and back-stabbing among Christians got worse (not better),
  2. Lawsuits began to fly between the right of gay people to get married and the right of certain religious people to not marry them
  3. A continued attempt by some to redefine (further) what constitutes a “marriage.”

gay marriageI just didn’t think it would all happen so quickly… But I was wrong.

Christian name-calling over Gay Marriage

Calvinistic Pastor Kevin DeYoung wrote a post that went viral which used the “When did you stop beating your wife?” approach to ask 40 questions to Christians who support gay marriage.

In response, John Shore wrote a post of his own, showing that when it comes to asking loaded questions that imply guilt before they are even asked, two can play that game.

I laughed more when I read John Shore’s post, so … he wins.

Edit: At the recommendation from one of the comments, I read Susan Cottrell’s 40 answers to the 40 questions. She makes excellent points.ย Go read it.

Both bloggers were pretty tame when it came to name-calling, but expect this sort of back-and-forth rhetoric to continue by all sides of this debate, with the name-calling and finger-pointing only getting more and more angry and ugly.

This shows once again how well we Christians have learned to “Be one” (John 17:21).

Lawsuits: Gay Marriage vs. Religious Freedom

A Christian county clerk in Kentucky has refused to issue marriage licenses to gay couples. She cited her religious beliefs as the motivating reason for her actions. Two gay couples have filed a lawsuit. I suspect she will lose that lawsuit, because issuing a license in her capacity as a county clerk is quite different from whether she herself believes that gay people should be able to get married.

If she feels it is wrong for gay people to get married, she has the religious freedom to believe this. But as a person who holds a public office, she needs to follow the law and issue the marriage licenses. If she is unable to do this in good conscience, that is fine also, but in that case, she should quit her job because she is unable to carry it out.

The REAL issue is going to happen when a gay couple, who has been issued a marriage license, approaches a prominent pastor and asks him to perform the wedding, and he refuses. Will the gay couple sue? Maybe. Maybe not. If they do, will religious freedom win out, or will the right of gay couples to get married win the day? I suspect that in this case, religious freedom will win, but it all pretty much depends on how the pastor handles himself.

Remember, many pastors during the Civil Rights movement refused to let black people into their churches on the basis of the “religious belief” that black people were inferior. In such cases, the laws of the land won out over religious freedom (and rightly so, in my opinion).

It will be interesting to see how these court cases play out… but no matter what happens, we expect to see more vitriol from all sides of the debate…

What exactly is a “marriage”?

Nathan Collier 2 wivesIn the wake of the Supreme Court basically saying that two people can get married if they love each other, even if they are of the same sex, a Montana man and his two wives have requested to get legally married. He plans to sue the state if he is denied. And if he loses there, he might even end up in the Supreme Court.

It will be interesting to see if all those in favor of Gay marriage will use the same arguments to support a marriage between three people. Or four? Or twenty?

Hmmm … I wonder what sort of tax-break a “marriage” would get from the IRS if the marriage consisted of 100 people? It wouldn’t be “filing jointly” anymore … but “filing grouply” or “filing crowdly.” And imagine how many kids that family would have! There could be hundreds! The IRS would be paying them tens of thousands of dollars a year in “Earned Income Credit.” This could be a really good job.

I have heard some Christians argue that this “redefinition” of marriage will result in further redefinition (as with Nathan Collier). They could be right. The more alarmist groups say that it won’t be long before marriage is allowed between a man and an underage daughter, or a man and his dog. This is ridiculous, of course. Neither animals nor underage children are considered consensual adults.

But, I see no logical reason at this point for the courts to deny Nathan Collier to get legally married to two wives…

So … am I FOR or AGAINST Gay Marriage?

Some readers of this blog have criticized me in the past for appearing to support gay marriage. I have never come out in actual support of it. At the same time, I have never spoken against it. And I am not doing so here either. If you are curious what Jesus said about homosexuality, you can read that here…

I also really liked Chuck McKnight’s stance on the gay marriage ruling. Go read his post and let me know what you think.

So what exactly am I saying?

The only thing I am really saying in this post is this: “I knew all this was coming, but WOW that was fast!”

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God is Redeeming Life Bible & Theology Topics: gay marriage, homosexuality, lgbt, marriage

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The Sermon on the Mount according to Congressional Jesus

By Jeremy Myers
17 Comments

The Sermon on the Mount according to Congressional Jesus

Jesus sermon on the mount

Blessed are the poor in spirit,
For they can get a job at minimum wage.
Blessed are those who mourn,
For they made their bad decisions andย must sufferย the consequences.
Blessed are the meek,
For we can take advantage of them.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
For we can promise them free food to get them to vote for us.
Blessed are the merciful,
For we will remove them from their positions for not being โ€œtough on crime.โ€
Blessed are the pure in heart,
For they are the most gullible.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
For they know how to make peace through war.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake,
For they will turn over secrets about their terrorist activities.

Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for this proves that you are standing up for the right things in the right way.

You are the salt of the earth. That is why old white guys must rule you. We must preserve our society and culture the way it has always been. If we allow the pepper to rule, they will only trample us underfoot.

You are the light of the world. That is why we need incandescent lightbulbs instead of those energy-saving fluorescents. We donโ€™t want our light to be hidden. We like using a lot more electricity to light a room. This is what glorifies the freedom our Father in heaven gave us.

Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy, but to uphold the sanctity of the Constitution. It is the most perfect document ever written, and our interpretation of it is the only right one. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or tittle (that word always makes me laugh) will by no means pass from the Law until the whole world follows it.

Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be stripped of his freedoms and liberties and given a life sentence in prison. But whoever does and teaches them, he shall be given special privileges and favors in my Kingdom. For I say to you do exactly what I tell you all the time, you wonโ€™t ever get a seat at the table.

You have heard that it was said to those of old, โ€œYou shall not murder,โ€ and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment. But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother has just cause to do so if that brother is a liberal, a gay, or a Muslim. And whoever says to his brother, โ€œRaca!โ€ will not be understood, because nobody says that anymore. But whoever says, โ€œYou fool!โ€ shall be called a sissy-ninny for not using stronger language.

Therefore if you are bringing your gift as a donation to my re-election campaign, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift with my campaign manager, and then go away to your brother, and blackmail him into also donating to my campaign. This way, you will shut him up, and if your gifts are large enough, both of you will receive favors from me later on.

But if he takes you to court, get your own lawyer quickly, and counter-sue the pants off him. Otherwise, he will deliver you over a judge who has probably been bribed, and you could end up in prison. Then all that you worked so hard for will go to your enemy who put you in prison. It is much better to sue him and take his money first. This way, you can give it to me.

You have heard that it was said to those of old, โ€œYou shall not commit adultery.โ€ But I say to you that it is perfectly normal for a man to look at pretty young women who are on their staff, and that what your wife doesnโ€™t know wonโ€™t hurt her. So go to the strip clubs and have fun. Hire the prostitutes on your trips to Europe. Take your girlfriend with you South America. After all, adultery for real is much more fun than adultery in the heart.

If your right eye starts to look at a beautiful woman as she walks by, let your left look also. You get better depth perception that way. It is more profitable to take a good look, and then later to ask her out for drinks, than to let your member burn with passion. And if your right hand causes you to sin, make sure you use lotion.

Jesus politicsFurthermore, it has been said, โ€œWhoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.โ€ But I say to you that it looks bad to divorce your wife, so stay married for appearance sake, while you sleep around as much as you want. If you can get your wife to agree to this, even better, for itโ€™s not adultery if your wife knows what youโ€™re doing.

Again, you have heard that it was said to those of old, โ€œYou shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.โ€ But I say to you, say whatever it is you need to say to get the deal done, and then feel free to do exactly the opposite later on. Let your โ€œYesโ€ be โ€œYesโ€ and your โ€œNo,โ€ โ€œNoโ€ when the person is in front of you, but after they leave, go ahead and renege on everything you said.

You have heard that it was said, โ€œAn eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.โ€ But I tell you to not resist an evil person; just kill him. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, pull out your .357 and let the bullets fly. If anyone wants to sue you and take your tunic, sue him first and take his tunic and his shoes. And whoever compels you to go one mile, drag your feet and go as slow as possible so it wastes their time. Give to him who asks you, but at a decent return, and from him who wants to borrow from you, make sure you charge a high percentage rate.

You have heard that it was said, โ€œYou shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.โ€ But I say to you to walk softly and carry a big stick. Strike hard and strike fast before your enemy can strike you. Remove the threat before you yourself are threatened. Bomb your enemies, sue those who curse you, do harm to those who hate you, and picket those who spitefully use you or persecute you. This is how you will be sons of your Father, for He sends AIDS on gays, tsunamis on Indonesian Muslims, hurricanes on New Orleans, and famine on lazy Africans.

For if you love those who love you, you will be able to reward each otherโ€™s good health and prosperity. Thatโ€™s how tax collectors get so rich. Therefore, you shall be perfect, and everybody else in the world can be despised as ignorant scum.

Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them, unless there is a camera crew nearby who can print their pictures in the newspaper and post them online. Otherwise, your good deed is wasted. Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound the trumpet before you, because everyone will just thank youโ€™re strange. Instead, send out a press release to the local newspaper, or allow a staff member to leak your plans to the local press. This will get you the glory before men that you need.

But when you do your charitable deed, do not try to type your Tweets and Facebook updates into your iPhone with your left hand, for this is how many unfortunate typos have brought scorn upon others. A good deed with an embarrassing typo ruins the good deed. This way, your charitable deeds will look unplanned and ordinary, but everybody will see you do them and will think youโ€™re a great guy, and you will receive your reward openly from all.

And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. They love to pray standing in front of churches and religious people that they may be seen. But nobody in church takes pictures. So you, when you pray, go onto the floor of the Senate, or stand before the National Prayer Breakfast, and say your prayers there. People will take pictures and write down your prayers for publication in the newspaper, and everybody will see what a devout person you really are.

When you pray, do not try to pray off the cuff. This will only cause you to repeat yourself and babble like an incoherent idiot. Instead, have a team of professional writers draft your prayers. Make theme eloquent and poetic, so that everybody will praise you for how in touch with God you must be to utter such beautiful prayers.
In this manner, therefore, pray:

Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your Kingdom come through me and my political platform,
Your will be done through the bills I want to pass,
Since our plans for this earth match your plans from heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread, along with prime rib and fancy French wine,
And forgive us our debts, because you know weโ€™re never paying off $14 Trillion.
But we wonโ€™t forgive our debtors, because they owe us money.
And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil gays, Muslims, and Liberals.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, and we want some of it for ourselves.
Amen.

For if you forgive men their trespasses, you are letting them take advantage of you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, you will have the power to control and manipulate their lives.

Moreover, when you fast โ€ฆ on second thought, just donโ€™t fast. Why would you do that to yourself? If you are overweight, you might want to go on a diet, but who can diet when there is fried chicken to eat, and 64-oz Cokes to drink? I canโ€™t believe Bloomberg outlawed large sodas in New York and Hillary is trying to make school lunches healthy! What happened to our Constitutional freedom to slowly kill ourselves and our children by eating too much unhealthy food? But you should wash your hands before you eat. If you donโ€™t, that just gross.

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. Instead, put your treasures in a bank or a 401(k) where your money is FDIC insured and you can invest it. This will allow you to lay up even more treasure for yourself, and best of all, the government only taxes investment income at 15%, which is less than they tax the poor schmuck who works at McDonalds. Best of all, if you get rich enough, you can make horrible decisions with your money, and the government will bail you out because you are too big to fail. In this way, moths and rust will never destroy what you have and thieves can never steal it. For where your treasure is, there is your future security.

The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore you eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, go get Lasik surgery. Itโ€™s come a long way and wearing glasses makes you look old and weak.

sermon on the mount Jesus politiican

No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despite the other. You cannot serve both God and mammon. The best route is to act like you are serving God so that everybody who does serve Him will give you money.

Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, not about your body, what you will put on. If you become rich enough, restaurants will let you eat for free and clothing chains will give you clothes to wear if only you announce that they are your clothing line of choice. Look of the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns. Instead, they steal seed from farmerโ€™s fields and kill worms for their breakfast. Are you not more important than birds? So donโ€™t worry about where your food and clothing will come from; just take it from others.

So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow, they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Thatโ€™s because Solomon had silks and jewels, which is better by far than any flower Iโ€™ve ever seen. Besides, those flowers wither away and get burned up in the sun. Solomonโ€™s reign, with his nice clothes and good food, lasted quite a bit longer than that.

For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness by donating to my campaign, and I will see what you have done, and will make sure to reward you later on.

Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow. Give me your money, and let me take care of tomorrow for you. Each day has enough trouble of its own, so come to me and let me provide for your future.

Judge not, that you not be judged. Unless you have the legal standing to make your judgment, and can defend your case before a court of law. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged, unless the judge is a friend of yours and owes you a favor. For with whatever measure you paid him off, he will measure back to you with an important court decision.

And why do you look at the speck in your brotherโ€™s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? The reason is because we must never admit we are wrong, even when it is obvious to everyone else. Deflect the blame by pointing out the speck in your brotherโ€™s eye. Donโ€™t say to your brother, โ€œLet me remove the speck from your eye,โ€ because then there wonโ€™t be anything you can blame him for. You can get people to stop focusing on the plank in your own eye by pointing out the speck in your brotherโ€™s eye. The people will believe this, because they are like dogs and swine. Their attention simply needs to be diverted to someone else before they trample you under their feet and turn and tear you to pieces.

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him to knocks the door will be opened, so that whatever favor I give to you will be returned to me when I call upon you later on. What man among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? Give people “bread and circus,” and you can do anything you want. If you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to those who back you, how much more can you expect good gifts from those who need your support? Therefore, whatever you want men to do for you, do also for them, but in a way that puts them at your mercy and in your debt.

Enter by the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that everyone else enters by, and I donโ€™t want them to see you visit me late at night. The narrow gate is out behind the house. Iโ€™ll give you the passcode for the keyless entry lock on the door. This gate is narrow and it is difficult to find, but this way we can do our business without prying eyes.

Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheepโ€™s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Even so every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. It is essential you teach your immigrant workers the difference between the good fruit and bad fruit, or you will never get any profits from your vineyard. Tell them that a good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. They might be able to understand that.

Not everyone who says to Me, โ€œLord, Lord,โ€ shall be able to work for me. Itโ€™s not what they say that matters, but what they are willing to do for me. Many come to me and promise to bring me large profits, to cast out the illegal immigrant demons from our country, and create many jobs in my name, but when they fail to do what was promised, I cast them away from me, and get them fired from their jobs or sent to prison for lawlessness.

Therefore, whoever hears these sayings of mine, and does them I will liken him to a wise man who built his house upon the rock. It was high up on a hill and very beautiful. We had many great parties there where he introduced me to many large donors. When the economy descended and the political flood rose, and the media winds blew and beat against his house, I was able to pull some strings and protect him. He did not fall from his position, for he was founded on the rock.

But everyone who hears these sayings of mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand. He had an oceanfront home near Santa Barbara. It also was very nice, but did not do what I asked him and so when the economy fell and the political flood rose, and the media winds blew and beat against his house, I stood back and watched is fall with a grin on my face. It was a great fall and the man is now in prison.

Affiliate Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you for supporting my work in this way!

God is Redeeming Life Bible & Theology Topics: Jesus, politics, sermon on the mount

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I’m the Ice Queen now, and you’ll never see me again

By Sam Riviera
4 Comments

I’m the Ice Queen now, and you’ll never see me again

Below is the second letter in the series, โ€œLetters To Dad.โ€ They are written by Sam Riviera, and are based on the true stories of people he actually knows in real life. This letter is from a woman named Amy, who is now an adult (Amy is not her real name).

In case you do not know, โ€œBoostingโ€ means stealing. โ€œDoing meโ€ means molesting her. โ€œIceโ€ is meth. โ€œIce Queenโ€ means she is sexually frigid and can never have a sexual relationship with a man. She is not a lesbian. โ€œIce Queenโ€ also means she is doing well enough stealing to buy all the ice she wants.

meth for the ice queen

Dad,

You are probably hoping Iโ€™m dead, but Iโ€™m not. Ignore the postmark on the envelope. Wherever it says, itโ€™s not where I am. A friend on a cross-country trip promised to mail this letter several states away from me. The most Iโ€™ll tell you is that Iโ€™m nowhere close to you and itโ€™s going to stay that way. Permanently.

Oh yeah, I have a new name and identity. Once I got a birth certificate with a new name, the rest was easy. So donโ€™t bother looking for me. I donโ€™t exist anymore, at least not by the name you know. Even if you could somehow find me, you wonโ€™t do it before I turn eighteen. Then you canโ€™t ever make me do anything I donโ€™t want to. Never again.

The money I had saved ran out a few weeks after I took off. Then I hooked up with a couple of people on the road. Theyโ€™ve taught me how to survive. Weโ€™re luckier than most. We donโ€™t have to sell ourselves to dirty, perverted old men. We rip โ€˜em off. Boosting is the name of the game.

You gave me an education too. Thatโ€™s what you called it, right? How stupid did you think I was even when I was little? I didnโ€™t need your brand of education.

โ€œReadinโ€™, writinโ€™, and โ€˜rithmatic.
Taught to the tune of a hickory stick.โ€

You thought I wouldnโ€™t remember what you sang when you were doing me when I was eight? I remember. Every stinking detail.

Are you doing the same stuff to my sisters? Maybe your sheriff will be getting an anonymous letter one of these days tipping him off. Maybe the neighbors and the church people will be getting some anonymous letters too. It would serve you right.

Iโ€™m not asking for an apology. Never will. Youโ€™re not capable. I wouldnโ€™t believe you if you apologized. You wouldnโ€™t mean it. No matter how many times you said youโ€™re sorry it wouldnโ€™t make any difference.

But youโ€™re not sorry, are you?

I still wonder though … Why did mom think you took me out to your workshop in the garage several times a week? How could she not know what was going on? She was afraid of you, wasnโ€™t she? Thatโ€™s why she never came out to the garage.

runaway daughterWhatever. Youโ€™ll never see me again. Youโ€™ll never know my name. Youโ€™ll never know where I am or what Iโ€™m doing. But you should always be looking over your shoulder. Maybe that car door closing out front is the sheriff getting out of his car to come get you because Iโ€™ve decided to testify against you.

Maybe, just maybe, I keep in touch with someone whoโ€™s keeping an eye on you. If I ever, ever hear youโ€™ve been touching my sisters or any other kid you can bet your ass youโ€™ll see me again. On the witness stand at your trial.

In the meantime Iโ€™ve moved on. Iโ€™m doing just fine, thank you. Iโ€™d be doing just fine living under a bridge so long as it was nowhere close to you.

Keep yourself out of prison, old man.

The Ice Queen, formerly known as Amy

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God is Redeeming Life Bible & Theology Topics: homeless, Letters to Dad, Sam Riviera

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Why I Let a “Murderer” Live in My House

By Jeremy Myers
6 Comments

Why I Let a “Murderer” Live in My House

James (not his real name) and his brother had been convicted of murder. Both were given life sentences and had begun doing their time. But then (for reasons I wonโ€™t go into here) the courts decided to give James a retrial. And while he was awaiting retrial, they allowed him to post bail and live under house arrest.

There was only one problem: James had no house in which to live while under house arrest.

So my wife and I offered to have James live with us in our house. We had a one-year old daughter at the time.

Nearly everyone in the church I was pastoring counseled us against such an action. They told us we were putting ourselves and our new daughter at risk. They told us his presence in our home would create stress on our marriage, from which we would never recover. Some of the people wanted to know if he would be attending our church. They were not sure they wanted a convicted murderer to be attending our church while he awaited trial.

But we took him in anyway. He lived with us for about 6 months. Eventually, James was found innocent, and has been living as a free man ever since. I even had the privilege of performing his wedding several years back.

And let me tell you … those six months that James lived with us were some of the best months my wife and I experienced in our young family, and were some of the best months I had as a pastor in the church where I worked. His presence in our house was a blessing to all of us.

I am not recommending that anyone do this. It is true what the people in my church said: Taking in a convicted murderer could be dangerous. So I do not share this story to say that everybody should follow my example. I myself might not follow my example if a similar situation arose today.

But at the time, based on where we were at in life, and based on what we knew of James and his situation, it was the right thing to do, and we never felt the least bit of fear or concern. We hope that we also were able to give James a sense of love, acceptance, safety, and comfort as he faced an uncertain future.

I think this is how the Christian concept of โ€œhospitalityโ€ works.

Christian Hospitality

The way Christian hospitality often functions in most churches today is that every once in a while, some people in the church invite other members of the church over to dinner. They eat a meal, share some stories, and then the guests go back to their own home.

But this is not really hospitality. This is entertaining. Most Christian hospitality is little more than Christian entertaining.

There is nothing wrong with entertaining. Entertaining is a form of fellowship, and is a great way to get to know other people. My wife and I โ€œentertainโ€ all the time, and we thoroughly enjoy it.

Christian hospitality, however, is quite different.

gospel hospitality

True Biblical Hospitality

In biblical times, hospitality involved allowing newcomers in town to stay in your house while they were there. It involved giving itinerant prophets a place to live. It included taking people in from the street where they were likely to get hurt. It may even include giving food and lodging to those who were too poor or too sick to care for themselves.

The common theme to hospitality, it seems, involves meeting a physical need of someone else, especially in regard to food, lodging, and safety.

It meant taking those who were in some sort of need or danger, and providing them with food, lodging, safety, and security. It meant making your home their home.

How might hospitality look today?

hospitalityIt might look like my friend Sam Riviera, when he takes food, clothing, and a kind word to the homeless people on the streets of San Diego.

It might look like my friend Dan Mayhew, who lets people live in his home in Portland.

It might look like the people all over the world who allow teachers like Wayne Jacobsen to stay in their homes while he is traveling or speaking.

It might look like my parents, who let a homeless man (and his dog) live with them for about a year while he was working to get his feet back under him.

It might look like my friends, Pam and Dona, who are allowing a woman to live with them while she faces numerous physical problems and has nobody else to take care of her.

It might look like my wife and daughters, who regularly helped an elderly neighbor with his yard work and grocery shopping after he had heart surgery.

As you can see, the forms of hospitality are as diverse as the people to whom hospitality is shown.

Hospitality begins with a willingness and desire to share what you have with people in need. Maybe it is your food. Maybe it is a spare room. Maybe it is clothing.

And then hospitality takes place when God brings people to our attention that have needs, and we seek to meet those needs with what God has given us.

Hospitality, as someone has defined it, is making someone else โ€œfeel at home.โ€ How can we, as followers of Jesus, help others โ€œfeel at homeโ€ when they are in our presence? How can we put them at ease, serve their needs, give them comfort, safety, healing, and rest?

Hospitality is not true hospitality unless it makes us less comfortable and someone else more.

Do you have examples of how you or a friend showed hospitality to someone else? Do you have suggestions or tips on how people can develop hospitality? Share your stories and ideas in the comment section below.

Note: This post was part of the June 2015 Synchroblog. Here is a list of posts from the other contributors:

  • A Sacred Rebel โ€“ Hospitality
  • Carol Kuniholme โ€“ Violent Unwelcome. Holy Embrace.
  • Glen Hager โ€“ Aunt Berthie
  • Leah Sophia โ€“ welcoming one another
  • Mary โ€“ The Space of Hospitality
  • Loveday Anyim โ€“ Is Christian Hospitality a Dead Way of Life?
  • Tony Ijeh โ€“ Is Hospitality Still a Vital Part of Christianity Today?
  • Clara Ogwuazor Mbamalu โ€“ Have we replaced Hospitality with Hostility?
  • Liz Dyer โ€“ Prayer For The Week โ€“ Let us be Godโ€™s hospitality in the world
  • K.W. Leslie โ€“ Christian Hospitality

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God is Redeeming Life Bible & Theology Topics: Discipleship, fellowship, hospitality, synchroblog

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The guy puking after Malcolm Guite mentions Contemporary Christian music made me laugh … but the rest made me cry.

By Jeremy Myers
8 Comments

The guy puking after Malcolm Guite mentions Contemporary Christian music made me laugh … but the rest made me cry.

I had never heard of Malcolm Guite before I saw this video, but when I heard what he says about art and people and the Gospel and everyone living in the light of Jesus, I discovered that I love him. Malcolm says what I tried to say in my post, Everyone is Following Jesus.

Watch this video. Enjoy it. Watch it again. Then invite others to watch it also.

Oh… and as I mention in the title, don’t miss the guy puking right after Malcolm mentions contemporary Christian music. It flashes on the screen for less than a second. I wonder if that was intentional?

Affiliate Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you for supporting my work in this way!

God is Redeeming Church, Redeeming Life, Redeeming Theology Bible & Theology Topics: gospel, Jesus, kingdom of god, love

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