Tag: God Loves Everyone

One of My Favorite Political Subjects: Part 3 in the “Reach Out of Your Darkness” series

Immigration remains a hot topic today. It is one of my favorite subjects to tackle and my Examiner.com series this week really encompasses all my favorites.  This one tends to draw the most criticism (nationally and even within my family). The issue of those that immigrated here legally versus those who come illegally seems to be the tipping point for most critics of my position on immigration. I think this article addresses the points of that very well here.

The point of the article isn’t to argue what the reform should be or who should be here or not. It is more about showing tolerance for those who come here seeking a better life and suffer discrimination similar to the discrimination your ancestors likely endured as well. 

 Click here to read \”Immigration Tolerance: Reach Out of Your Darkness (Part 3)\” 

In the article, I also attached this video from School House Rock of the 1970s. I think it best simplifies the immigration culture of America’s history (although it leaves out slavery entirely). It was also my first introduction to the importance immigrants played in our nation’s growth that included my ancestors as well. 

0

Part 2 of “Reach Out of Your Darkness”: No Divine Denomination

I was first baptized into the Catholic faith as an infant but later my parents converted to a protestant belief system as I was growing up. One thing that has stayed with me as an adult is the fact that so much of what the church we attended believed in was about the church leaders’ personal interpretations of  scriptures. In the church we attended, the use of instrumental music was strictly restricted. A Capella was said to be God’s preferred method of worship. This belief was linked to a specific scripture (one I do not recall) that obviously ignored the countless times in the Bible where musical instruments were used in worship to the Lord.

In addition to what this church believed, it also professed to know what other faiths believed. As an adult, most of what I was told about other faiths and beliefs has turned out not to be true. For this reason, I have always been skeptical of one faith professing to know what the intent and beliefs of another religion is. In particular, I have written several cautionary articles about Christian condemnation of Muslims. While I do not claim to understand the Muslim faith completely, I am always concerned when others villianize Muslims based on what they have heard from non-Muslims. None of us knows the depth of God’s divine grace and justification. Who is to say the Muslim, Mormon or Jew aren’t entitled to the same heaven Christians believe in? Only God makes that determination. 

In part 2 on my Examiner.com series of “Reach Out of Your Darkness”, I encourage every believer to practice the very Christian value of love toward others no matter what their beliefs are. No matter who we are – God loves everyone.  Click the link below to read my article on the subject. The article also has a link to a survey where you answer a series of questions that determinewhat Christian denomination you are most aligned with. You may be surprises at your results.

Click here to read \”No Divine Denomination: Reach Out of Your Darkness (Part 2)

0

Reach Out of the Darkness: New Examiner Series

With this week being the start of the Holy Week of Easter, I am relaunching a popular article series that ran locally on Examiner.com last year. This year the series is entitled “Reach Out of Your Darkness” and is about appreciating differences. The series first ran this time last year as “No Matter Our Differences: God Loves Us All” and was hugely popular. 

This year, I am using the old Friend & Lover song, “Reach Out of the Darkness” as my inspiration. It’s a great song about peace and learning to appreciate our differences. So much of what we focus on these days is what divides us (our religious differences, our political differences, our sexual orientation, our citizenship status, etc…). What the bible reminds us time and time again is that we are all God’s creation. All created for good. This needs to be our theme for this Easter season.

Who did Christ die for this Easter season? A select group? He died for the salvation of everyone. In the spirit of this, I launch this series this week.

Click here to read \”Reach Out of the Darkness: God Loves Everyone!\”

0

Hope for All in Loving Your Enemies!

I just had to share this verse and commentary today. I receive daily scripture emails and this one really struck me this morning. I like what Whitehead says in his commentary about how loving your enemies creates hope that God loves everyone. No matter what wrong we do, what we believe or don’t believe, God is still there for us.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. – Matthew 5:43-45

Jesus was stretching the imagination of the Jewish listeners. To love your enemies is to acknowledge that God loves them too. This is another way of saying that there is hope for anyone. No matter how evil or unrighteous someone may seem, the sun still shines upon them. We are challenged to live in the love of our heavenly Father, who wishes for none to perish and all to come to repentance. 

by: Dave Whitehead, Senior Pastor, GraceNYC.org
0

Quote: “Nature is my manifestation of God. I go to nature every day for inspiration in the day’s work.” Frank Lloyd Wright

I love this quote. Wright was a creator in his own right but respected nature enough to design his creations in a way that they paid respect and blended with their natural surroundings and  were designed to bring nature in. Wright (like all of us) was a deeply flawed man. While religion was not always the center stone of his life, he was still a believer. This quote is a reminder for us that if we want to see proof in God’s providence we need to only go outside and look at the wonders of nature.

I think all of us can picture that perfect natural place on earth that takes our breath away. I’ve always been a beach lover but for me the most beautiful cathedral on this planet is the Yosemite Valley. No perfect a church then the one God created himself. You don’t go there and marvel at the countless wonders of God’s perfect place of worship and say, “Wow, can you believe all this happened by chance. What a wonderful world.”

I find it hard for anyone to look at the many monuments of the Yosemite Valley and not be inspired by a creator greater than ourselves. Being there is a soulful experience. You feel it deep inside your chest. You see it all before you and yet you still don’t fully believe what you see is real. How could it be? It’s impossible. It’s improvable. You want proof that God exists? Go to Yosemite and talk to me exclusively about erosion and the way the landscape was formed by its own makings without a guiding hand. I dare you!

0

Inspiration from “Free to Be…You & Me”

For the past two-weeks, my Examiner articles have focused on one issue – Muslim-Americans. I’ve pretty much exhausted the topic from every angle. I did it because the subject manner has been extremely hot and some of the articles became my most read in months.

Today, I posted (after Examiner encouraged us to post more articles) a recap of what I am now calling a series of articles on the subject. The title is “Muslims & Christians, Christians & Muslims, Ain’t We, Everyone” and was inspired by the song “Brothers and Sisters” from the “Free To Be…You and Me” children’s album and special from  the 1970s (when I was a kid).  I found the album’s message of unity, peace and acceptance a perfect tie in to the series in which I was encouraging Christian acceptance of Muslim’s being allowed to build places of worship in this free country.

While today’s article is lacking in true content (lazy I know), it is a nice hub for the articles in the series and includes some fun nostalgic memories from my own childhood. Certainly some will think the series is nothing more than a Kumbaya,  “Can’t we all just get a long,” naive approach but I find  the best ideas are often the simplest. They are also usually the ones no one every tries.

Examiner Article \”Muslims & Christians, Christians & Muslims, Ain\’t We, Everyone\”

0

A WordPress.com Website.

Up ↑