Sweet Lie #2

"Why can't we all just get along?"
Just accept me as I am and everything will be alright.


I am a bigot. I freely admit my bigotry here for all to read. Now, quickly, let me define the term bigot as I use it so not to confuse. I have preferences in my life. I hold on to these preferences quite stubbornly. Those stubborn preferences make some people I come in contact with uncomfortable; uncomfortable to the point that they may not enjoy my company or friendship. That rejection of association used to distress me, but age has brought me to a point where I am less concerned about approval and more interested in genuine and beneficial relationships.

My bigotry begins to flare when discussions move toward standards for life, good opinions vs bad opinions, acceptance and tolerance. As a man of Christian faith, I do not beleive truth is relative, I beleive truth is a living being and King of the universe, His name is Jesus. I do not beleive I must accept all lifestyles, nor must I "get along" with everyone on my street or on this planet. Now, all that does not give me an excuse to be mean, nasty or hateful in the name of my faith. The life and words of Jesus expressed in Matthew,Mark,Luke &John cleary show a man who loved those around Him, but He did not pat bad behavior on the head and say..."Good Boy." He wanted people to experience life with Yaweh God and condemned anyone from placing road blocks on that simple path.


From my perspective it is simple. No, we cannot all just get along. There are mean and evil people out there, I will not just get along with them. I will attempt to show them a better way of living, or being, or doing. They may accept it or reject it. If they reject it, I will avoid them for the safety of myself and my family. If they continue in evil, then we better remove them for the safety of our communities.

The Big-Bad-Stuff is easy. It is the stuff that hurts people on the inside that is tough to deal with. Can I get along with the man who is unfaithful to his wife? Can I continue to care for the mother that abandons her children? What about the business man who drinks to much wine each night? What about my neighbor who is a far-left leaning, socialist, tree hugging environmentalist? How do I treat the homosexual men who run a business in town? How do I help the welfare mother who is trying her best?
I do not believe we can all get along, as in be fast friends. I do beleive we can treat one another with respect and honor, regardless of whether you ever know Jesus or not. But if you want to know about truth, you should get to know Jesus.

..."I am the way, the truth and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me."
~Jesus Christ~

Sweet Lie #1

"All you need is love."
1 needy person + 1 needy person = 1 complete person


Humans are created to love and be loved. God intended for His creation to live in family and be loved by Him and each other. The creation story tells of a time when God would have an evening walk with Adam and Eve. Just walking together, sharing the day, noticing the plants and animals and beauty as they shared their lives together. We all know where that ended. Human beings were removed from walking with God and the First Testament and New Testament are the stories of God fixing our mess to walk with us again.

Now, all the love God created to be shared is screened through human brokeness; self centeredness became a hallmark of the human experience and self centeredness influences the human need for love and the human desire to love.

My daughters taught me this simple equation that really got my attention.

1 needy person + 1 needy person = two needy people

We all need and desire human love, but when do we get enough? There seems to be a huge hole in the heart of humans. If humans need love and need to be filled with love, yet we leak all the love given away, how can we ever have enough? There is no way any human can fill the heart of the typical human with enough love to get them through life. Why? They need loving in the midst of giving love and they can never be full of love themselves. The human condition makes it impossible to get and give enough love.

RLP struggles not only with his faith, but with love.

RLP is honest with himself and with others. Even as a man of faith he struggles with this idea that human love can fill the need and fix our condition. How many of us as people of faith still look to the love of others to meet a need in our life? I do. I am disappointed many times as people do not love me the way I want or need. But I fail in loving these very same people. I am a son, but my love has failed. I am a brother, but my love has failed. I am a husband, but my love has failed. I am a father, but my love has failed. I am a whatever, but my love has failed.
The very thing I want and need from others is the very thing I cannot provide for them. Why? My human love flows through a man who is human, therefore; it is permeated with failure, that failure is what the old time preachers called sin and it still is.

My experiemce tells me that all humans in my life will fail me in the very thing I want and need from them...LOVE. As a man of faith, I have found the only thing that has not failed me is the nagging, annoying, ever present love of God and that love is expressed to me in the life and story of Jesus Christ. Take it of leave, the only love that has never failed me is the love of a man who lived, loved, died and defeated death two thousand years ago.

Human love may have been the answer to all human problems in the simple mind of John Lennon, but in the real world, human love DOES NOT fix all the problems with human hearts nor the world at large.


(HT: Katy, WVA)

Sweet Lies

As a person of faith, I want everyone to have an opportunity to know the God and Jesus of the bible. Yes, the God/Jesus of the bible, not the caricatures created by religion or denomination.

As a parent, I want my children to know the God/Jesus of the bible. I am not arrogant enough to think my girls should know my God/Jesus, because I want more for them than the God/Jesus I have lived. I'm sure I have a caricature of God/Jesus that I have created in my mind and heart through the years. I know I exaggerate certain parts of God's/Jesus' character that I need or am dependent on, while I diminish the parts that make me uncomfortable.
Some of you are saying, "But Jimmy, you are to be the spiritual leader, the spiritual guide for your family and church."
I know, but I must admit, "If you are going to follow me, you had better stay back a few feet, I may step off a cliff!"

My wife and I have prayed for our girls, from conception until now. We have pointed them toward God/Jesus, from conception until now. We have lived a stumbling-bumbling life of faith for them, from conception until now. We have taught them the greatness of the bible, from conception until now. We have taken advantage of each and every "teachable moment", from conception until now. All of these we will continue until we exit this planet.

We need help! We cannot, nor should not, be the only reflection of faith our daughters see and experience. They need to see the faith of their grandparents, aunts and uncles, community members and our spiritual family(church) and members of other spiritual families.

All that long introduction to say this: the past few years our daughters have attended World View Academy each summer. The leaders are great men, but are not perfect. They have caricatures of God/Jesus just like me. Still, they cling to God/Jesus and the bible with a passion.
I can and will highly recommend this organization as another tool for "teachable moments" of faith. Our girls learned lots this year and this past Sunday, they lead our conversation at "church". The springboard for there "sharing" was a lecture they heard by Brandon Booth.
It was titled, "Seven Sweet Lies You Already Believe". I have been thinking on this conversation since Sunday and want to spend a few posts discussing what my daughters learned and in turn, taught me. So, come back and read about the sweet lies.

Follow-up: My daughter Katy posted this morning about "her" faith and "her" walk.