For Every Reaction...

Okay, I finally found something that I can write about. Yes!

You see, I think that some people are a little confused. To me, there is nothing more inspiring, or more frustrating, than a person who is passionate about their faith.

Now you might be saying "Woah, woah, woah, Spenc! How can being passionate about your faith be frustrating to someone like you?"

Well, I plan on enlightening you.

I love seeing people eager to spread the Word. I love seeing people who want to share the love of Christ. I love seeing people eager to bring another soul home.

Butttt

I hate! And I mean HATE- seeing Christians look down upon others who are not saved. I hate seeing people bash non-believers over the head with verses and pamphlets scaring them into salvation.

Who has ever been truly won to Christ by being told that they are a terrible person doomed to burn in Hell for eternity?

We are supposed to act with love, and if you ask me, (which I suppose you sort of are since you're reading my blog)scaring or guilting someone into salvation is going about it all the wrong way.

If you know me, you know I am adamantly against Abortion.
But you'll never see my car sporting a bumper sticker that says "Abortion is Murder" or any other similar 'catchy' phrase.

In doing so, I could likely turn away people who otherwise might come to Christ through a relationship or influence with me.


My favorite comedian, Demetri Martin, put it most eloquently:

“A lot of people don’t like bumper stickers. I don’t mind bumper stickers. To me a bumper sticker is a shortcut. It’s like a little sign that says ‘Hey, let’s never hang out.’”

That's exactly the way I see those bumper stickers. By placing such a blatant (although true) message, you are potentially ruining any influence you could ever have had on that person.



For every action, there is an equal and opposite same reaction.


"Woah now Spenc! Not again! That's not how Sir Newton put it!"

But that's because Newton wasn't speaking of how people react...


People react in kind. If you show love towards someone, they will return it. If you show (or they perceive) hatred, or any sort of malice, towards them or their actions, they will react in much the same manner.


Simply put- If you give love, you get it. And vice-versa


So think about it. What kind of a message are you sending to potential future Christians, directly or indirectly? Is it love, or hate?







P.S. And about that 'Prosperity Doctrine"... WHAT?!

Dear Facebook Users,

I do not want to know every second of your day.
Just because you have a cool phone and can update your status every 5 minutes, please refrain.
I do not care if you think Valentine's Day is lame. Write a blog about it, don't clutter my home page... sheesh.
I do not care if you have the hardest test tomorrow. Study retard, don't be on facebook.
I do not care what hours you are working today.
I do not care if you are getting a haircut.

However, if you have to update your status, make it something witty that might make someone smile.

Oh and P.S. The 25 random facts about you- I DON'T CARE!
I'm not going to thank you for tagging me in a pointless note, thereby cluttering my already hectic home page further.

haha i sound pretty upset in this... honestly, i don't care about it that much, it's just frustrating sometimes. i just felt i needed to rant and rave a bit.

If you're not in a relationship then nobody loves you. Sorry.

We're called to be in the world but not of it, but that unfortunately means that we are still subjected to all the skewed views and ideals this world has to offer. It frustrates me a lot of the time. Once I thought that it would be much easier if we could, as Christians, go live in a remote mountain area away from the world, but then I realized that people already do that, and they're called cults... So I pretty abruptly stopped that train of thought.

Lately I've had one particular topic on my mind a lot- relationships.

Here's how it seems to me.

WORLD: Hey kids! It's your old pal World here! Today we're going to be talking about a very important, very fun thing, relationships. The purpose of a relationship is to have fun. You should try to have as many girlfriends or boyfriends as you can. If you're not in a relationship, then there is likely something wrong with you... reject.

Okay, that wasn't quite serious. But I am serious about this stuff.

The worst part is, so many believe that, or at least something similar to that. Today's society has created a new generation of people that are so needy. They are practically depressed when they're not in a relationship, which ironically happens a lot since they jump at every poor opportunity to have a significant other. I look around, and I see all these people that either are in terrible relationships just for the sake of being in one, or I see the people who don't get it, the people who just can't seem to figure out this whole dating thing.

It's the people who don't get it that worry me. They are told, day in and day out, that unless they have a girlfriend or boyfriend, they aren't loved or cared for. Eventually, they begin to believe this. What could be further from the truth!?

Don't get me wrong, relationships are amazing!
...if you do them right.

They're not something that should be rushed or jumped into. They need to take time to develop. Don't date someone to get to know them. Get to know them, then if you're still intrigued by something other than those teenage hormones, contemplate dating them. Make sure it's somebody you can mature with, somebody who won't drag you down.

Create standards. Stick to them.

And so to my generation I say:
Have more self-worth! You are loved, no matter what your relationship status on facebook says! I'm pretty sure I know of a guy that is pretty good at loving, and filling all types and sizes of holes, you should talk to him.

You might wanna think about this. In the world, there are over 6 billion people. Out of those 6 billion, there is likely one person that will meet your criteria, so DON'T COMPROMISE!

Time.

Time.

What are you?

Sometimes you drip, slowly like the broken toilet in my downstairs bathroom.
Other times you seem to pass with a flash.

Why is it that when I want you to pass, you linger?
Or when I wish you would stand still, you run away?

Because of you, the sad are doomed to live long and sorrow-filled lives.
The happy never quite have time to enjoy what they have.

If time is money, then the happiest are poor.

If the happiest are poor, then why do we seek riches?

You're a cruel thing, Time, but when it comes down to it, I'd rather live an hour in an instant than a lifetime in a year.

Here's to short lives and happy people.
Here's to the instants.