Monday, October 11, 2010

Soap Box



I don't like to get on soap boxes.... ya know rant and rave and yell and scream my point of view, my opinions, my ideals. I don't like to nail people with how I feel but lately I have been stewing over some things. Facebook statuses are tools from Satan sometimes. I'm a firm believer of that. When friends post their rants and raves as their statuses I have a hard time letting it go and not telling them how I feel, but I breathe a prayer and God says, "Pray instead Jen. Their eyes are not open."

Please excuse me for a minute as I step onto my soap box....

I refuse to believe in tolerance and relativism!!!

OK getting down now...

But what are those things??? What does it mean to be tolerant??? Good ole dictionary.com puts it this way: "Tolerate- to allow the existence, presence, practice, or act of without prohibition or hindrance; permit." And the thesaurus: "accept, bear, condone, consent to, endure, go along with, live with, sit and take it, stand for, submit to" These are just a few. 

Does God call us to be tolerant? Tolerant of sin? Tolerant of other religions? Consider these verses:


Exodus 23:1-3 “You must not pass along false rumors. You must not cooperate with evil people by lying on the witness stand.  2You must not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you are called to testify in a dispute, do not be swayed by the crowd to twist justice. 3And do not slant your testimony in favor of a person just because that person is poor."

And what's relativism??? Dictionary.com says "any theory holding that criteria of judgment are relative, varying with individuals and their environments." HUH?!? Basically it means faith and religion is different for everyone based on where they are in life. So whatever you WANT to believe and FEEL is right is right for you. And whatever I WANT to believe and FEEL is right is right for me. But God definitely DOES NOT say that in the Bible:


John 14:6 "Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me."

That's pretty clear. There is no other way to heaven. There are no other gods. There are no other things you can believe and do that will lead you to God except through Jesus!!

Girls DO NOT BE LEAD ASTRAY!!!! Don't let other people convince you that because you are a follower of Christ that you are "narrow-minded" and "judgmental"... No no no.... you are grounded on the solid rock and that means that no, you won't tolerate sin and evil. You will love others no matter what but you won't ever give them the idea that what they are doing is ok with you! AND THAT'S NOT BEING NARROW-MINDED OR JUDGMENTAL! It's standing for righteousness and believing in the RIGHT way not the WRONG! 


Girls, know that in today's world the common belief is "You believe what you want to believe and I'll believe what I want to believe and it's all ok!!" That is not ok and will not lead them to heaven or to God. John 14:6 is clear and not up for debate! 


BE STRONG! STAND FIRM! LOVE OTHERS! DON'T BELIEVE EVIL! 


OK.... really I am getting off the box now. I just get tired of hearing people say that I'm being insensitive and judgmental of people. Go with this last phrase girls...


LOVE the sinner.... HATE the sin!


Living it out (sometimes louder than other times),
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Monday, October 4, 2010

I went back...

This past Friday I reluctantly went to the Otsego Homecoming game. Now why reluctantly??? Because I've already been through high school and don't really like putting myself in places that bring all of that back. Well sure enough, had a lot of fun BUT it brought up all kinds of memories, thoughts, emotions, reflections, prayers... so on and on.

First, when I was actually at the game a few thoughts occured. One for the players on the field my thoughts were, "How does it feel to win?" "Do they really connect as a team?" "I wish I had this much fun watching the team when I was in school!" (Otsego lost a LOT before the past few years!! :) )

Then, my thoughts went to the band. I was in band... I was a band nerd, geek, dork whatever you call it nowadays I was one of 'em. But hey we were good and won trophies and that's what mattered! :) I was the drum major for 3 years (the one that leads the whole shebang) and this brought back SO MANY GOOD memories of victories and fun and friendships and I teared up a little. I loved marching band. Everything about it and to see it go on without me was a little sad.

Next, my thoughts went to the students in the stands. Actually they went to Vicksburg's students first because I could see them and HEAR them better than Otsego's (and yes I was sitting on Otsego's side!!!). I thought "Wow, what a crowd!" "That's pathetic that they are louder than our students." and then "Hmmm.... they actually watch and cheer as the game is going on... unlike our students who aren't really cheering their classmates on, on the field." Now ladies, I'm not knocking on Otsego's student fans... just observing! I had to laugh at the group of boys that paraded down the track without their shirts and OHS painted in blue and yellow on their chests.... good to know that that group of boys never leaves the stands!!

All night I couldn't help but notice how many teenage kids were simply EVERYWHERE!! Goofing around, making out, doing whatever they wanted.

After the game, on the drive home I had time to reflect on a few things. I couldn't help but think, which kids are going to a party tonight and getting drunk? Which kids are going home with friends to get high? Which couples are going to have sex tonight? My heart broke. If I could have anything to do with it.... NONE! But as hard as I try to fit into those tights, I just can't make myself SuperWoman. I thought to myself, "Man I would love to sit with all of those kids and tell them how NOT worth it it is to do that stuff. How much it will mess you up and how long the road is back to erase it all. I wish I could make them understand." It was a very somber and sad drive home.

Once my husband and I were both home (he gets to live vicariously by instructing the drumline-I'm jealous.) we talked about when we were in high school. I started the conversation with "There is no way I would go back and re-live those 4 years. Those were hard years and they're even harder now." Matt began to ask what I would change about high school... oh sheesh... what would I change..... these are just a few things:

my grades in a few classes
some of my friendships
a lot of my attitudes
the majority of my focus
my relationship with my boyfriend (who did become my husband)
so so so many of my decisions
and especially my relationship with the Lord

He was curious about a lot of that so after explaining a few he agreed that those were mostly his too. But I did tell him that I wish I could have the simplicity of my teen years back. Now that we have bills to pay, life decisions to make, a child on the way, financial issues, marriage issues and all of that grown up junk, I sometimes wish I could go back to getting up for school, driving my '92 Buick into Otsego, having an easy day, hitting band rehearsal or soccer practice and then coming home to sit in front of the TV until about 10:00 came around. But after reminiscing, Matt and I both agreed that we are glad to be where we are and that those 4 years went the way they did. We learned a lot during high school!!

So girls, be content where you are. God has you there for a reason. DON'T go to those parties, drink, get high, have sex, but enjoy your teen years in the Lord because life gets tougher after 18. Oh yeah and GO BULLDOGS!!!! :)

Living it out,
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