~What Turns People Off About Church pt.2

Christian celebrities are always put under the spot light whenever the public anticipates a "mess up" brewing...Most of the time I have noticed that they would use the most "unattractive" celebrity,based on the media's standard of beauty,to be the "spokesperson" for Christians.The media makes Christianity appear unappealing. Or they manipulate seemingly "ditzy" Christian females to make everything seem airy and insignificant.These were the types of things I saw as a non Christian.

Most non Christians either have been or feel shunned by the church because they don't fit in the mold of what they have been told/witnessed how a "Christian" should be.The goth girl in middle school is not going to feel accepted by the church when she is already an outcast to her peers and don't look like the kind of girls that go to church.Instead she will lean towards what feels familiar and makes her feel like she is apart of a unit that accepts her and looks like her...The nerd in high school is not going to seek the church because he has been "enlightened" through text books that make him feel more knowledgeable about the world and society in general.Why not dig deeper into knowledge about things rather than dealing with the fact that they don't exactly "fit" in society, let alone anything else?......We have to approach these kind of situations with sensitivity and understand that these people aren't weaklings,these are people who are just simply lost and have been misguided due to past issues....

to be continued......

~What's REALity?

We live in a world that functions of off what the media feeds them.Every television channel airs some sort of reality show-whether it's raunchy or informing.We assume that reality shows only count ridiculous shows on Mtv or Bravo like "Jersey Shore" or "Real Housewives",but shows like "Vanguard" on the Current channel and "Big Brother" are also reality television shows.We can't go around and say "I don't like reality tv.People shouldn't be watching reality tv." When we can't wait to get home to watch "American Idol"...

Recently, you may have heard about the controversy surrounding Taylor from the "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" whose husband, Russel Armstrong has recently committed suicide.Now people who loved the television series are outraged by the fact that the television series "could" have been a major contributor to reason why Russel committed suicide.Now all of a sudden former fans of the show feel like what the television network has done since the beginning of the series was wrong....yet they still watched and encouraged the continuation of filming since the beginning by increasing the ratings...

All the headlines in the news and so forth have been clouding the minds of the people,both Christian and non Christian.We get absorbed in these issues so we can't see Satan's trap to get us preoccupied with others' lives,judging them and loosing touch with reality. This suicide could have been prevented-not by the television show network-they were just as helpless as Russel.Clearly, Russel as well as his wife Taylor have opened many "doors" for demons to come in and make themselves comfortable...This is what had to be addressed first...it's not as complicated as the media makes it seem.Psychologist are commenting,after the fact, that they saw the "signs" earlier on in the show before his death....yet they didn't take action based on what knowledge they had...Maybe because it's always more interesting to watch someone else spiral into a deep deep depression rather than focusing on what "doors" we have opened....If any of the people on or near the people on the show were Christians,they would've/should've intervened...

To Be Continued..............................

~BANNED

   I don't know if many of you are aware of some of the new changes in the way live in relation to this new "NO CHILDREN" restriction that some restaurants have in place.I first became aware of this topic a few months ago in a comedic late night talk show.This time the topic of restaurants banning children has come up in the media again via Dr.Phil...It's interesting how heated this issue has become and how the media keeps fanning the fire and furthering the disconnect between families and various businesses.Most of the owners of these various restaurants and even airline attendants have been individuals whom do not have children and or do not have any tolerance for children.

It has come to a point were people have become "bold" and are kicking parents off flights, out of libraries and even out of restaurants in order for certain people to "feel" better about the noise level.

Having children is a blessing,many married couples can not even conceive children.Since when is it okay to "hate" children and be disrespectful to others,but expect respect and accommodations be made for them.

This instead would instead give us the opportunity to exercise patience.

We forget that we are in fact children ourselves...the Lord our God is our heavenly father whom we acting unruly towards,ask ignorant questions repeatedly,nag,cry,shout and throw tantrums when things don't come out the way we want it to or in the manner we expected...........

............................should we be banned from entering the gates of heaven?...........

~ReGifting The Gift Of Grace

After working on our bible study lesson from our "Seeking Him" book, I gained ALOT of insight on what grace really is.

No matter how I look at it,grace is one of the only things that is hardest to give to others as humans.Grace,according to "Seeking Him"(paraphrasing here) is like a father adopting his son's murderer and showing love and mercy in attempt to create a change in the person...Now THAT is grace!

I honestly can't say that I could do the same as of today.It's interesting how we can so easily accept grace,but struggle to give it back to others around us.When ever grace is given an opportunity to be used, we usually choose revenge or justice...In both scenarios we personally receive a certain gratification,but we don't necessarily get what we want.

With 'revenge' we personally commit an act of will to inflict the same amount of pain/frustration on somebody in hopes that they 'suffer' as much as we felt.With revenge,we just perpetuate a cycle of pain and suffering and never feeling satisfied.

'Justice'....this is what society is "all about". Our world loves to see the "bad guys" get what's coming to them by the way of the law...We want to right the wrong,but not in a ruthless way as 'revenge'.

What I have noticed is anything that's hard to do that's positive-is worth ALOT and will make you a better person and influence others....

to be continued.......................

-Lauren

~What Turns People Off About Church~ pt.1

I always hear Christians talk about how they want to reach the youth and everyone else,but they don't seem to realize that it wouldn't take much to reach them if they would just stop placing pressure on people.Their intentions are usually good,but they can not approach someone my age (22 years old) and immediately start talking to them about scripture or Jesus in general.Because we (my generation) have grown up with computers and social networking, we have been exposed to soo many ideas,ways of thinking and other religions,all with out having to travel very far.We tend to have a more "know it all" mentality which shields us from the truth.All it takes is for Christians to just talk to them like "normal" as if you were talking to a girlfriend or guy friend.In other words,don't make it complicated.

Another turn off is how they are approached.We have seen so many people who claim to be Christian going out and protesting outside gay weddings-parades,outside abortion clinics and at military funerals.Christians have to understand that they aren't going to win souls for Christ that way instead they are pushing them even further away...

I was originally turned off from the church because it seemed like I would have to change myself into something I wouldn't be happy with,that I would have to follow rules that would limit me from being able to "live life". Of course it didn't help that at one point it seemed that every other week a new preacher-televangelist was coming "out of the closet" or admitting to having an affair with another woman and so on.These are the images that MOST non Christians have,therefore we have to show them that it isn't that way and that of course people make mistakes,but it doesn't mean that we aren't "good" Christians.

Approach non Christians with LOVE and KINDNESS because those are the biggest factors that are missing in my generation.There are WAY to many people out there that don't know what it means to be loved and how to tell if you are looking in the right places.It also takes patience...you can't assume that every non Christian are going to immediately give their life to God just because you shared some scripture with them and/or told them what they are doing is wrong...Instead you just have to make yourself available to them,allow them to ask questions, and most importantly make sure to tell them that Jesus loves them and is long suffering...

-Lauren

~Society Lowering Standards~ Part 2

There are some exceptions to rules changing in society,such as segregation.But this is not enough to use as a excuse that there isn't anything wrong with legalizing marijuana,gay marriage,prostitution,as well as making it acceptable to show explicit content on television and making it "cool" to be sexually active outside of marriage.

I could go and on about the way this country,let alone the world,has changed it's standards....

I have noticed that all these major changes have been slowly introduced little by little as to not throw people off and create a disturbance.I have to admit,Satan is very cunning-making it easy for you to just go with the flow while wearing blinders.Instead of paying attention to what is really going on all around us, we get caught up in attractive traps, like moths to a flame.Non of us are exempt from being lured into those traps.It takes some training to be able to automatically identify a trap and avoid it.

Because we like to do what ever makes us feel good,Satan will capitalize on it and make certain objects,shows,types of people,activities and ways of thinking makes us feel good on the outside,but leads us further into darkness until we can not differentiate what's right or wrong.

-Lauren

~Side Effects of Divorce~ pt.2

In an effort to avoid "traumatizing" the children,parents need to sit their children down individually in private and explain to them the reason why they are getting a divorce,with out getting into to much detail and with out "bashing" the other spouse.When parents don't explain the divorce or are very vague about the reasons it allows the children to make up their own conclusions as to why this is all happening...which is usually based on any events leading up to the divorce and/or how both spouses act during the course of the proceedings.

Even when parents think they are protecting their children from the ugliness of whatever is going on,they're really not,instead they are harming them by making them think it's okay to live in dysfunction in any form or that it's okay to keep secrets and hide their true feelings or situation from others.All of this just causes confusion overall.I believe that parents don't want their children to exposed to anything negative so they feel that it's best to keep marital issues completely private.The intentions are good on the parent's behalf,but it's not necessarily benefiting the children involved.

_______________

A common issue in most all divorces,is both parties bad mouthing the other behind each others back-to the children or around the children.In some cases it's just one party that's doing the "talking".....

more to come.........

-Lauren