Just For The Record

What I Believe

God the Father, God, the Son, God the Holy Spirit.

Miracles happen, even as I wait for them to show up more often in my life.

Toilets and closets should be closed when not it use.

Animal heads do not belong on walls; nor should one have a picture taken with an animal you've killed. It shows a lack of respect for the life you've just taken. Anyone who kills any animal for sport simply can't be my friend.

Real fur looks better on animals than people.

Cats are amazing; dogs are tolerable; elephants are incredible.

Chocolate is a gift from heaven.

Earbuds are of the devil.

Sauer Kraut came straight from the bowels of hell.

Vaccinations are safe for most people; the medical community isn't in a conspiracy to kill us.

GMOs are not frankenfood.

Organic is overrated.

Essential oils are not miracle cures.

Massaging your feet will not cure all your body's ills.

A "cleanse" to remove toxins is unnecessary; that's why you have a liver.

The Republican party has become the new Pharisees with a side order of neo-naziism.

Patriotism is not a Biblical concept and should never be twisted up with Christianity.

The flag and the National Anthem are not sacred. If you consider them sacred, you have two idols.

Evolution was God's means of creation, and no, that doesn't disagree with the Bible.

Abortion is a tragedy, but I have no right to tell a woman wanting an abortion not to, since I do not have the resources to help pay for that baby to be born, let alone help her raise that child to school age.

No one should be both anti-choice and anti-contraceptives.

There are as many lazy rich folks as poor folks.

Our government's system for providing for those with chronic illness is a complete joke.

The Bible is "God inspired," not God dictated. Not every word came straight from God's mouth. Paul said scripture was "useful for instruction," not absolutely essential for instruction. If it were straight from the mouth of God, I'm pretty sure it would be described as more than "useful." And Paul wasn't talking about his own letters; he was talking about the Law and the Prophets.

The baker should have baked the cake for the gay couple -- Mercy triumphs over judgment.

You can't understand the creation account in Genesis without looking at ancient Egyptian beliefs--that's where Moses grew up.

Faith shouldn't be opposed to intelligence and vice versa.

America has a triune God: sports, guns, and money.

When someone asks me to give, I give. I don't judge them. I hand them some cash. Unless they're smoking... I can't support that.

John Calvin will have some splaining to do in heaven.

One person, and one person only goes through a yellow light.

Christians who support Trump have made a pact with the devil--an unholy alliance that will bite them in the butt.

Obama was a Christian and somehow the Church couldn't see it; Trump is of the devil, and somehow, the Church can't see it. One might conclude some blindness is an issue. And racism.

There's nothing quite as soothing as a cat's purr.

That baby in your arms will never love you as much as you love them. That's just life.

Israel is no more special to God than any other country on the planet; Christians became the new Israel clear back in 33 A.D.

More guns doesn't equal safety.

Separating the sheep from the goats is all about "did you care for the poor, the hungry, the sick, and the imprisoned?" Funny how all the "big sins" are missing from the list.

I've owned both sheep and goats; they are goofy creatures.

Logic, the scientific method, and debate should be mandatory learning in schools. So should art.

"His ways are higher than our ways" is all about mercy, not mystery.

I don't care who you are--everyone deserves steak and shrimp now and then.

Selfishness is why marriages fail.

Clutter makes me crazy.

Art and sewing are about the destination; writing, about the journey.

Trees are evidence that God loves us.

Jesus said, "The love of money is the root of all evil," and "it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into heaven," but most don't believe him.

There's no such thing as a self-made man; no man is an island.

Pot is not worse than alcohol.

If you are not a native American, and you are anti-immigration, I assume you'll be taking yourself back to the country of your ancestors asap.

There is a reason that Jesus often warned about hypocrisy; it destroys the Church's credibility.

Becoming another character on stage is a rush like no other.

I've never felt more accepted than in the Theatre Dept. at Sterling College.

The love of a good man makes life a pleasure; his kiss is on my list.

I never dreamed that 57 years could go so fast. We truly are just dust in the wind. Make the most of your time. Create, hope, love.

Get in it.

Last year, there was a women's march of historic proportions, but most of my Christian friends were not there. You viewed it as of "the Jezebel Spirit" and therefore, wouldn't be caught dead there. You looked down your noses at what you saw as a "gathering of the darkness" and looked forward to a time when "the light" would have their own march on Washington that would surely change everything.

While you were shaking your head over "women going down a wrong path," you shook out your knowledge of Jesus spending his time with "sinners and tax collectors" --Jesus spending time with "women gone wrong." You forgot how he derided the religious leaders of the day for thinking themselves above it all.

And what you refused to recognize was that the march was a joining of humanity against hate, against division, against the destruction of the planet. It was a joining together with "the least of these" who were terrified of losing their insurance, terrified by the nods to white supremacy, misogyny, and homophobia. You should have been there as Christ's representative to bring hope and peace to the terrified. Instead, you were content with Fox News commentary spinning it into something you could cheerfully condemn.

Yes, there were loud-mouths who were just as full of hate as what they were standing against, but that was just a small part of the march. If you had been there, you would have seen that.

So I'm challenging my Christian sisters to a new view this year--to look at the marchers not as "Jezebels" but as a mixture of people--men and women--who are hoping for peace, the same as you. They are not people to deride or shake your head at. They are not people to even pray for or try to save.

They are people to love.

Christians are called to be "in the world, but not of it." You've got the "not of it" down. Now, get in it.