Watch out for Whack-a-doodles

I hope you'll bear with me in this blog post. It's a bit different than the usual but it's something I've felt the need to write for a long time.

Back in high school we had a Lay Witness Mission at our church. That's where people from other churches come and share over the course of a weekend. They share about what God is doing in their lives and how to make Him a real part of your life. My favorite quote from that time is from Bill Sunday (a preacher from the early 20th century) "Going to church doesn't make you a christian any more than going in a garage makes you a car." At this weekend I figured out that was my problem- I was going to church but had never made a decision. Being a christian involved a decision to give your life over completely to God and accept that Jesus is the only way to heaven - you can't be good enough, you have to accept the gift. (I'll stop the preaching part here.)

So, that weekend I did just that. gave my life to Christ and became born again. Friends saw a change in me. I knew there had been a change and since then I've tried to live as God would have it. Not always successfully but always God's kid.

As God's kid I see the world differently than others. I also see what appears to be "users and abusers". People who use the Bible as their own justification for doing what they want and people who abuse the term christian. God NEVER said verbally or physically attack people who don't believe what you believe. People who do this are not following The Word.

God's Word is based on pure love. When I see people on the far right saying theirs is the only true way to believe in God or if you vote against their beliefs you aren't christian it hurts my soul. What's more it hurts Christianity. There are people in the world who are not christian who see what these whack-a-doodles are doing and saying and think to themselves - if this is Christianity keep me away!

Trust me and believe me when I say the whack-a-doodles are not what God is. They are using religion not faith. They are not speaking/acting for God but for themselves. People of the faith are republicans and democrats. They are rich and poor. They are outgoing and shy. They are people who love other people and don't want to destroy other people.

People of faith listen and pray for God's instructions - whack-a-doodles tell you what to think
People of faith show love through action - whack-a-doodles tell you what you have to do or you're a bad person
People of faith follow the Bible - whack-a-doodles tell you to follow them

I haven't said this as well as it could have been said but I hope you have read this and consider - just because someone says they are a certain religion and do something mean or crazy, doesn't mean everyone of that religion is mean or crazy.