Just a follow up to my previous post regarding the incorrect translations of the Bible as it relates to homosexuality. I did some more research on biblegateway and found a few more verses where that word is used in different translations. AGAIN I go to Codex Sinaiticus, search for the same verses and the text is very different. So I post this on Facebook on every single picture I see of Phil now:
Phil, I love your faithfulness and the fact that you speak your mind regarding the same, but what you have been told about homosexuality actually does not even exist in the bible at all. Do some research. You can start here http://www.codexsinaiticus.org/en/ which is the oldest complete copy of the New Testament. Search for the word. You won't find it. Go to http://www.biblegateway.com/ and search all the translations of the bible for the word, then go to http://www.codexsinaiticus.org/en/ and search for the same verse. You will find that they are VASTLY different and many of the translations have already been criticized for their incorrect interpretations of the text, not just this verse. Before you go on national tv quoting bible verses maybe you should research what you are saying. Just a thought....
Then I go for a jog. And while I'm jogging I think about something else. It seems to me that the word sodomy has been replaced with homosexuality. But lesbians are technically homosexuals and unless they get creative I don't think they have the right parts for anal sex (i.e. sodomy) so because lesbians don't have anal sex they get to go to heaven? And what about couples who are straight and DO have anal sex? Are they now all going to hell?
Do you see where I'm going with this? If not please close your browser window immediately and never come back to my blog because you just don't get it. The problem is this; if this verse is a lie you have been told perhaps ALL YOUR LIFE, what else is a lie?
Seek The Truth!
Friday, December 27, 2013
Monday, December 23, 2013
Seek The Truth
Recently there has been a lot of debate about a comment the Duck Dynasty Dude said about homosexuals. First of all let me say that he has a right to his opinion. I seem to recall a debate not so different than this with the Cathy family and hearing people calling them hate mongers. Just because they believe something doesn't make them a hate monger. They too have a right to their opinion. We all do.
After reading an article about a pastor who was "defrocked" (seriously never heard that word until now) for marrying his gay son in a state where it was legal, I began reading the comments on that article on Yahoo. Someone literally said "God call's homosexuality an abomination". That really pissed me off, because what right does anyone have to say what God thinks or says or does. So I started to do some research. Thank God for biblegateway.com. It allowed me to search many translations for the word homosexual. I found it in only one translation (the NIV), so I did some research on the accuracy of that translation and found it had already been criticized in other instances for translating the text incorrectly.
This is what bugs me about the whole debate. People are fed a bunch of nonsense from Pastors who are only in the "business" of church, not in the business of saving people. That text was clearly altered to put in a word that doesn't fit the actual text of that passage and people are just blindly following everyone else thinking that's ok. Its not ok. And I suspect that Jesus wouldn't think so either. Why did He die for us? Not so we could take these passages and twist them all around to fit our own agendas!
After stewing for a bit with all that information I decided I would comment on the post about the defrocked pastor and this is what I said since Yahoo censored my comment and I can't actually link straight to it...
God call's homosexuality an abomination????? Really? When did God say that? Because the only place in the bible that word is used is in 1 Timothy, but its only used in the NIV translation which has been criticized for its improper translation of the text.
Go to http://www.codexsinaiticus.org/en/manuscript.aspx?=Submit Query&book=47&lid=en&side=r&zoomSlider=0 which is a website dedicated to the World's Oldest Bible and look for that same passage. The text is very different from NIV and it goes something like this "for lewd persons, for sodomites, men-stealers, liars, false swearers, and if any other thing is opposed to healthful teaching," 1 Timothy 1:10
So you are clinging to a passage in a bible that is not even translated properly. You are taking that passage completely out of context AS USUAL and you are trying to say what God thinks which is impossible. You are not God. Nor do you know what He thinks. So shut up and do some research just like I did and you will find the truth and the truth is that there is no mention in the Bible of homosexuality and if you just look at the verse from Timothy alone half of you idiots on here quoting the Bible and claiming to be Christians are going to hell along with the sodomites. Sodomite DOES NOT EQUAL homosexual.
God loves us all. And that is all that matters. Even the hypocrites who think they are better than everyone else just because they go to church every Sunday. We are all sinners. The minute you realize that and try to work on your own heart and your own devious actions, you might actually have a clue about what God is really saying.
In closing let me just add that I don't think anyone is going to hell for sodomy. I was simply trying to make a point that if you are looking at that text and saying a sodomite (not a homosexual) is going to hell then what about the liars, lewd persons and men-stealers? We all sin. Christians sin, homosexuals sin, and people who go to church every single Sunday sin. But God loves us in spite of our sins and wants only the very best for us and what do we do? We mock Him and His word every single time we twist the Bible around like so many do when it comes to the topic of homosexuality or other things of controversy!
I beg you to do some research about the Bible and the passages you quote before you go claiming that anything is an abomination!! Don't just blindly trust what you hear or have learned from someone who is as flawed as you are. Instead seek the truth. And more importantly look inward at your own heart and do some work there. Its not up to us to judge one another. God's got that covered!
After reading an article about a pastor who was "defrocked" (seriously never heard that word until now) for marrying his gay son in a state where it was legal, I began reading the comments on that article on Yahoo. Someone literally said "God call's homosexuality an abomination". That really pissed me off, because what right does anyone have to say what God thinks or says or does. So I started to do some research. Thank God for biblegateway.com. It allowed me to search many translations for the word homosexual. I found it in only one translation (the NIV), so I did some research on the accuracy of that translation and found it had already been criticized in other instances for translating the text incorrectly.
This is what bugs me about the whole debate. People are fed a bunch of nonsense from Pastors who are only in the "business" of church, not in the business of saving people. That text was clearly altered to put in a word that doesn't fit the actual text of that passage and people are just blindly following everyone else thinking that's ok. Its not ok. And I suspect that Jesus wouldn't think so either. Why did He die for us? Not so we could take these passages and twist them all around to fit our own agendas!
After stewing for a bit with all that information I decided I would comment on the post about the defrocked pastor and this is what I said since Yahoo censored my comment and I can't actually link straight to it...
God call's homosexuality an abomination????? Really? When did God say that? Because the only place in the bible that word is used is in 1 Timothy, but its only used in the NIV translation which has been criticized for its improper translation of the text.
Go to http://www.codexsinaiticus.org/en/manuscript.aspx?=Submit Query&book=47&lid=en&side=r&zoomSlider=0 which is a website dedicated to the World's Oldest Bible and look for that same passage. The text is very different from NIV and it goes something like this "for lewd persons, for sodomites, men-stealers, liars, false swearers, and if any other thing is opposed to healthful teaching," 1 Timothy 1:10
So you are clinging to a passage in a bible that is not even translated properly. You are taking that passage completely out of context AS USUAL and you are trying to say what God thinks which is impossible. You are not God. Nor do you know what He thinks. So shut up and do some research just like I did and you will find the truth and the truth is that there is no mention in the Bible of homosexuality and if you just look at the verse from Timothy alone half of you idiots on here quoting the Bible and claiming to be Christians are going to hell along with the sodomites. Sodomite DOES NOT EQUAL homosexual.
God loves us all. And that is all that matters. Even the hypocrites who think they are better than everyone else just because they go to church every Sunday. We are all sinners. The minute you realize that and try to work on your own heart and your own devious actions, you might actually have a clue about what God is really saying.
In closing let me just add that I don't think anyone is going to hell for sodomy. I was simply trying to make a point that if you are looking at that text and saying a sodomite (not a homosexual) is going to hell then what about the liars, lewd persons and men-stealers? We all sin. Christians sin, homosexuals sin, and people who go to church every single Sunday sin. But God loves us in spite of our sins and wants only the very best for us and what do we do? We mock Him and His word every single time we twist the Bible around like so many do when it comes to the topic of homosexuality or other things of controversy!
I beg you to do some research about the Bible and the passages you quote before you go claiming that anything is an abomination!! Don't just blindly trust what you hear or have learned from someone who is as flawed as you are. Instead seek the truth. And more importantly look inward at your own heart and do some work there. Its not up to us to judge one another. God's got that covered!
Friday, December 6, 2013
Just Save Me Lord
Today I'm thankful to have a God that is accessible to me no matter where I am. I can worship in my truck or at my desk or anywhere I want to really and I try to do so daily. I take a moment or two to thank God for loving me so much even though I know I don't deserve it. I worship through the songs I hear or the feelings I get and I just want to share with everyone how simple it is to just be still and worship.... right now.....where ever you are.
It took me a long time to get here to be quite honest. For years I thought my sins were just too big and I lacked the character necessary to come to the Lord and just be. I was too ashamed to have a real relationship with Christ. I felt unworthy and so far from grace even though I went to church every sunday and tried to live my life the right way. I felt the sins of my past were just unforgivable. But then God showed up big time for me at a time when I was being pummeled by my enemies. He rescued me from that and it suddenly hit me, YOU ARE FORGIVEN. I realized that God would not save someone He didn't love and I accepted that my sins were forgiven and maybe that's the day I was truly saved because all I know is that I felt a different kind of freedom after that day. Freedom from the sins and the chains that bound me to them. I guess that's why I love the song "Redeemed" so much by Big Daddy Weave.
After that day I found a God that was so much bigger than I had ever imagined who loved me so much deeper than I ever realized. I guess that's why I get so upset when I think that people are being exploited in Church sometimes. I think a lot of churches manipulate instead of save and that just seems wrong to me and that's why I started this blog. I want to write about my experiences and how the Lord touches me every single day whether I'm in church or not. I want people to understand that its not about the Church, its about Jesus and coming to Him with a humble heart and saying ... just save me Lord. Save me from this prison I am living in because of my own foolish actions and then accepting that you are forgiven. I promise you will see the world so much more differently when you let go of those old sins like I did!
Let me just say in closing that I'm not against church or going to church. I just think you need to work on your relationship with Christ a lot more than your relationship with your church and then you can see the truth and you can really revel in the magnificense of God....independent from the church. I think if you do that you will be a better person for yourself, your family AND your church. Salvation isn't just about going to church on Sunday and then walking out and forgetting who your savior is the rest of the week. I'm sorry if you think that and I'm truly sorry if you go to church every Sunday and don't know that. Because your Church is manipulating you into thinking that is ok and its not. Seek the Lord out. Have a conversation with Him. Tell Him you are sorry for your sins and allow Him to walk through your life with you and I promise it might be a little scary at first, but then and ONLY then will you be saved.
It took me a long time to get here to be quite honest. For years I thought my sins were just too big and I lacked the character necessary to come to the Lord and just be. I was too ashamed to have a real relationship with Christ. I felt unworthy and so far from grace even though I went to church every sunday and tried to live my life the right way. I felt the sins of my past were just unforgivable. But then God showed up big time for me at a time when I was being pummeled by my enemies. He rescued me from that and it suddenly hit me, YOU ARE FORGIVEN. I realized that God would not save someone He didn't love and I accepted that my sins were forgiven and maybe that's the day I was truly saved because all I know is that I felt a different kind of freedom after that day. Freedom from the sins and the chains that bound me to them. I guess that's why I love the song "Redeemed" so much by Big Daddy Weave.
After that day I found a God that was so much bigger than I had ever imagined who loved me so much deeper than I ever realized. I guess that's why I get so upset when I think that people are being exploited in Church sometimes. I think a lot of churches manipulate instead of save and that just seems wrong to me and that's why I started this blog. I want to write about my experiences and how the Lord touches me every single day whether I'm in church or not. I want people to understand that its not about the Church, its about Jesus and coming to Him with a humble heart and saying ... just save me Lord. Save me from this prison I am living in because of my own foolish actions and then accepting that you are forgiven. I promise you will see the world so much more differently when you let go of those old sins like I did!
Let me just say in closing that I'm not against church or going to church. I just think you need to work on your relationship with Christ a lot more than your relationship with your church and then you can see the truth and you can really revel in the magnificense of God....independent from the church. I think if you do that you will be a better person for yourself, your family AND your church. Salvation isn't just about going to church on Sunday and then walking out and forgetting who your savior is the rest of the week. I'm sorry if you think that and I'm truly sorry if you go to church every Sunday and don't know that. Because your Church is manipulating you into thinking that is ok and its not. Seek the Lord out. Have a conversation with Him. Tell Him you are sorry for your sins and allow Him to walk through your life with you and I promise it might be a little scary at first, but then and ONLY then will you be saved.
Saturday, November 30, 2013
Is Christianity A Dirty Word?
When did Christianity become a dirty word? Last night while watching "Walk The Line" with Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon, Joaquin who is playing Johnny Cash comments that his fans must not be good Christians if they wouldn't want to hear him sing to a bunch of prisoners in prison.
Recently I hear the song "What If I Stumble" and at the beginning these Brennan Manning words are spoken; "The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips then walk out the door and deny him by their lifestyle."
It makes me think that what we are doing today is not working anymore. Church has become a business. You can see examples of that on Bravo's new show "Thicker Than Water" where the preacher says in one of their promos, "God wants everyone to be rich." Sure, that is probably taken out of context like most things at Bravo, but the reality is that there is truth in that, which you see clearly by watching commercials for the show. I don't watch it, but I see plenty of commercials where his children speak about "the most judgmental people she's ever known" and that reminds me of the Casting Crowns song "If We Are The Body" that talks about people who seek refuge in Church only to be looked down upon and whispered about.
How did we get here? When did Churches become so big that instead of healing and ministering they are buying private jets and then lying about having them altogether? Do you know how many homeless people you could feed for what it costs to fuel those jets?
It just makes me really sad for Christ who came here and died for us, not so people could create huge mega churches that pay their pastors millions of dollars, but to simply minister to the broken. I would love to walk into a church and never hear a single message about tithing. I would love to be in fellowship with other believers and not feel like I was being judged. I would love to see people in church spending less time going on mission trips to exotic locales and more time ministering to the people in their very own neighborhoods who don't know Christ. There is so much work to do within a 100 mile radius of your own home, but instead you have to fly to Africa to help a non-believer? It is just me or does all of this seem absolutely ludicrous?
I have a picture of Jesus sitting on my desk at work and at home. He watches over everything I do. He is here with me when I'm happy and when I'm sad and He is my rock. He loves me whether I give money to the church or whether I don't. He cares more about my heart than my wallet and He convicts me to love my neighbor and to step out of my comfort zone and just pray. He teaches me something about myself every single day of my life and all I have to do in return is just love Him and worship Him. NOTHING ELSE! NOTHING ELSE..... His love is not conditional on whether or not I go to a church or whether or not I sin. He loves me through it.
Let's take responsibility for our own salvation and not depend on the church, but on Christ and let's make Christianity pure again. Since this post is all about quoting people, I'll quote Jerry Maguire in closing....
"Who's Coming With Me?"
Sunday, November 17, 2013
Welcome!!
First and foremost let me just say that this blog is not for church going Christian's. I don't mind if you read it, but you won't like what I have to say. This blog is for the broken and the sinner. The ones who THINK they could never be close to Jesus because they are beyond being saved. The ones who are afraid if they go to church God might just strike them dead in their seat.
But, let me start at the beginning....
Sitting at home one day I heard the words iworshipdaily whispered into my consciousness. I hear it again and I decide to go see if that domain is available. It is. So I buy it. At first I had these grand notions of a website that served the people and brought together all kinds of different ideas, but that was not what iworshipdaily was meant to be. After writing a Note on my Facebook at the end of last year and hearing from so many people how it inspired them, I believe that God began to work on pushing me to make iworshipdaily a blog. A place for me to simply write about how He touches my life on a daily basis.
Over the past several months I have struggled a lot, but its always in my struggles that I become closer to God. So I wrote a lot throughout this year about a bunch of different things and I was hesitant to start my blog because I didn't think my heart was in the right place and again God spoke to me. His message was...that is EXACTLY where I need you to be to begin writing, because your words are not meant for someone who has spent their life in church in a guilt induced fog trying to win the Christian-of-the-year award. Your words are for the ones whose hearts are also not in the right place. I need you to help me save them because no one else is doing it!
So, I will begin this journey today with this; my first blog entry. Lord give me the courage to do this and to stare all the haters in the eyes until they look away! I love you Lord with all my heart and soul and THIS is all for YOU!!!!!!!!!
But, let me start at the beginning....
Sitting at home one day I heard the words iworshipdaily whispered into my consciousness. I hear it again and I decide to go see if that domain is available. It is. So I buy it. At first I had these grand notions of a website that served the people and brought together all kinds of different ideas, but that was not what iworshipdaily was meant to be. After writing a Note on my Facebook at the end of last year and hearing from so many people how it inspired them, I believe that God began to work on pushing me to make iworshipdaily a blog. A place for me to simply write about how He touches my life on a daily basis.
Over the past several months I have struggled a lot, but its always in my struggles that I become closer to God. So I wrote a lot throughout this year about a bunch of different things and I was hesitant to start my blog because I didn't think my heart was in the right place and again God spoke to me. His message was...that is EXACTLY where I need you to be to begin writing, because your words are not meant for someone who has spent their life in church in a guilt induced fog trying to win the Christian-of-the-year award. Your words are for the ones whose hearts are also not in the right place. I need you to help me save them because no one else is doing it!
So, I will begin this journey today with this; my first blog entry. Lord give me the courage to do this and to stare all the haters in the eyes until they look away! I love you Lord with all my heart and soul and THIS is all for YOU!!!!!!!!!
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