Jesus Wanted To Separate Church And State?

Why Understanding What Is Sin Doesn’t Matter

Society is trained to follow rules and guidelines that it simply amazes me sometimes. One question I get a lot perfectly illustrates this: “Is (insert questionable action here) a sin?” Here’s my question — does it matter? Who really cares? Allow me to clarify. What difference is made in your life by knowing if a particular action is or isn’t a sin? How does that further your walk with Christ? read more

An Open Letter To The Church

The following is an open letter to the Church in general and those who call themselves Christians, not one specific body, congregation, person, or pastor. While the following statements and critiques may not be true for everyone, I’ve seen (or heard) them hold true for enough people that I feel it necessary to address. There are times I fall into some of these categories. read more

My Burden and Issue With the Church (vlog)

Twitter Church — April 10

The other night, after having a great brunch with a friend, and doing some homework, I got a little overwhelmed with life, even to the point of becoming a tad depressed. Then I talked to my dad. Both of them. My dad called me on the phone and we had a wonderful conversation just about all that’s going on in both our lives. It was nice to know that we were struggling with some of the same things. We were open, honest, and vulnerable about our lives. And it felt great.

Then we prayed and talked to our Heavenly Father. It was just what we both needed. I don’t know about him, but I was crying so hard by the time we finished — I mean that ugly cry too — that I couldn’t even breathe out of my nose. But I felt so much better. Like a weight had been lifted off my shoulder. There was little doubt in my mind that my Twitter family needed to hear what I had just received. Below is what I shared. (If you’d like the high-res photo, click here)

And because this is Twitter, you’ll have to read from the bottom up, unless someone would like to take the time to reverse all the tweets.

Your Guide to Dating Christians

So you’ve heard that one of the best places to find a nice guy or girl for you to spend the rest of your life with is in the church, huh? Or perhaps you’ve heard that’s where you find the biggest freaks. Either way, you want to date a Christian, but you’re just not sure how to go about it. After all, Christian culture can be a bit strange sometimes. But you’re right to think that most Christians are great people. They’re very accepting, welcoming, and open to exploring new things. For the most part, they’re good people to be in a relationship with, given that you don’t mind adhering to a few (mostly unspoken) “rules.” In order to help you out, I’ve listed a few of those rules and the best ways to navigate them. Enjoy.

Act saved. Being a Christian is all about maintaining appearances. Try not to yell at people in public or listen to any non-worship music (when other people are around) or dress to scantily because people won’t think that you know Jesus. Please make sure you remember your manners. And the more ways you can find to use Scripture in your daily life, the better. read more

Should Singles Date Outside Their Local Church?

I was having a conversation with a friend of mine the other day, and as singles tend to do, we inevitably came to talk about where single people can meet potential spouses. She asked me, “Why does it seem like every man that goes to [our church] is going outside of [our church] to find themselves a girlfriend?” (While we were talking specifically about the church we attended, the same conversation could have been had about any church across America.)

Good question. Why does it seem that so many men go outside of their local church when there may be plenty of “options” inside their church?

First, I wonder if it just seems that way because we tend to more easily notice “outsiders” who come in with a person we know in our church? For example, if I’m dating a new girl, who I met outside of my church, to a Sunday service, people would be more likely to recognize that than if I came to a service with someone who is a member of my church, wouldn’t you think? read more

Five Reasons I Hate Dating Christians

Generally speaking, Christians are great people in a lot of ways. But sometimes, for some reason, they end up being less Christ-like and more crazy-like. The realm of dating and male-female relationships is one of these areas. It seems that when conversations concerning the opposite sex come into the picture, Christians immediately make things more complicated than they should be and thus bring undue tension, drama, and stress into the picture.

I have devised a list of the five reasons that I hate dating Christians, or more accurately, the five things that annoying me most when dating Christians. And for all those super saved folks that think this is blasphemous, and will comment about how Christians should only date Christians (which I’ll agree with) please know that I’ll come back with another list next week, just to even things out, so go ahead relax. It’s ok. So, here we go… in no particular order: read more

Secular Songs In A Sermon?

There are a lot of people who believe that you should, under no circumstances, bring secular music into the church. But some would vehemently disagree. Secular music can be used to glorify Christ just as much as the music we label as “praise and worship” or “Christian.” That may sound very opposite of what you’d expect, but what is it that makes music secular? What makes it “Christian” or sacred? Certainly it’s not the music itself; how can certain chords or keys be construed as glorifying God more than others? If it’s not the music, than it has to be the words. Take a love song — one that you might sing to your spouse at your wedding — sung to God, is that not worship? Don’t plenty of “Christian” songs sing about our love of and for Jesus? Where does the difference lie? read more

Thoughts on Tonex

Recently gospel, or secular, or whatever you want to classify him as, artist Tonex gave an interesting interview on “The Lexi Show” about his life and a the controversy surrounding his life and the allegations of homosexuality. I feel like the interview left a lot to be desired, but I’ve included the clips below so you can judge for yourself. It’s about 25 minutes of video, but it’s very intriguing to watch. Take a look.

PART ONE

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=970nMJ_nhIg]

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