Elastic Basket for my Peaches

I also have a website: www.lizhightower.com

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Stuff I Hate

I try to keep my blog entries fairly upbeat, informative, heartfelt and funny. I try not to rant too much but today I am going for it. My last blog entry was about my thankfulness to my supporters but this one won't be quite so upbeat. Lately I have felt the Lord convicting me more to love what He loves and hate what He hates. I think there is a song with these lyrics but I couldn't find it despite scouring the internet. This process can be a bit painful as some of the stuff I love, I am pretty sure the Lord doesn't like.

The main thing I have been convicted of lately is the trashy TV I watch and the trashy magazines I read. I used to  be really into those trashy reality shows like "Keeping Up With the Kardashians," "Jersey Shore," etc. There aren't really a lot of redeeming qualities to those shows and they definitely don't portray a Godly lifestyle. Trashy magazines present a lot of the same problems. In addition to the wonderful pictures of celebrity babies, many trashy magazines simply attack famous people in petty, unfounded ways. These also don't have a lot of redeeming value. I haven't given up People magazine yet since it tends to be mostly informative and entertaining with a little bit of trash while the others are primarily trashy.

In a good way, the Lord has given me a much stronger heart for orphans. I think about the ones we spent time with in Asia just about everyday and I long to adopt children myself someday. The Bible is full of references to taking care of the widows and orphans and I know it is something God longs for. I am thankful for this heart I have for them now.

On a less personal note, I have felt more anger towards things I believe God also hates. One of these things I hate, though it will certainly sound intolerant, is the new Mormon church website. There are many awesome people who are Mormons but their religious doctrine does not line up with Biblical Christianity and is therefore false. I don't want people to believe in a false religion, especially one that unashamedly piggybacks Christianity. Even their logo is designed to feature the words "Jesus Christ" as the biggest and most prominent part despite the fact that they believe he was brothers with Satan and not at all God (as He himself claimed). I've always been interested in Mormons and Mormonism but their website makes me mad. It's very slick and well-done. It's visually appealing and its main feature is testimonies, both written and videoed of real-life Mormons. There are people who work on Capital Hill, a man with severe Cerebral Palsy, mothers, fathers, athletes, etc. Whoever designed this website did a great job and this is why I am mad. This slick advertising campaign may very well bring new converts to a church that has changed their holy book over 4000 times since its inception. They once praised polygamy and now condemn it. They once said no black people could be elders in their church because they were cursed but now it's okay. Wishy-washy theology like this is just one of the reasons Mormonism can't be trusted. I just pray people learn the truth of Mormonism before being sucked into their slick ad campaign.

Now for the issue I have been the most fired up about lately. It's the Westboro Baptist Church. You may have seen them in the news lately for the lawsuit against them picketing soldier's funerals. Here's their disturbing website: http://www.godhatesfags.com/ I recently watched a short news special on them and was brought to tears of anger. These people believe they are serving the Lord through their hatred. I am thankful that I don't think there is anyone but the members themselves who would consider these people Christian. It's hard to believe that they are reading the same Bible as I am. Their main "ministry" is picketing soldiers' funerals. Now, my brother is in the military so I know the feeling of having a loved one in harm's way fighting for our country. I can't imagine the pain these families must feel at the loss of their children. The idea that this church pickets these heroes' funerals saying that God creates war because he is so mad about homosexuality makes me want to punch them in the face. These soldiers aren't even gay, as if that makes any difference. I know there is talk that stopping this is some sort of slap to their first amendment rights. I fully support the first amendment but I don't believe there should be any picketing of any funeral, ever. I don't care if someone is a serial killer, every family deserves to bury their loved one in peace. It should be a basic human right. Their signs make me want to get violent, though I know it's not the answer. They have signs that read, "God loves dead soldiers" and one I hadn't seen that depicts a breast cancer ribbon and says curse. Having a brother who's served in Iraq and a best friend who battled breast cancer makes these unbelievably offensive to me. I think almost everything they do is offense but these two campaigns make me especially angry. I know it makes the Lord angry too! These people claim to know the Lord but it reminds me of the following passage in Matthew 7:18-24:

 8A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
 21"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?'23Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'

Please pray for these people to realize God's love for all his people and stop hurting people.

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