| Woo Your Lord! |

A love story!

Boy meets girl...

Boy likes girl. Boy tries different ways to get girl's attention.

Boy:

•Slicks back his hair

•Washes clothes

•Pays attention to what he's wearing

•Finds ways to put himself in the path of girl

•Strikes up conversation with girl.

Boy wins girl over, they start dating. Girl becomes focus of the boy's daily life. He spends time talking to her, hanging out with her, and thinking about her often. Boy makes a great effort to do things that would make girl smile. He made jokes for her, he brought her flowers, and he listened to her problems when she needed. *GASP* Boy devotes himself to girl, boy finally gets married to girl.

One of my favorite talk radio hosts: Dr. Laura Schlessinger, speaks very fondly of marriage. She describes it as a series of decisions which are supposed to serve to make the other person happy. She tells listeners that 2 people in a marriage should be most focused on the other person. Some of the most healthy marriages are the results of the husband and wife working their hardest to make their spouse happy.

I've seen some of the lengths that people go to woo other people. Win trying to win over some girls, I have friends who pull out all the stops. I have known girls who get all dolled up, and excited to chat with their boyfriends or gentlemen who they want to gain attention from. When you care about someone, the idea is generally that you think about them and want to make them feel good.

WHAT ABOUT JESUS?!?

We say we care about Him. We love Him. We profess our deep feelings to Him. How are we wooing Him?

In general terms, if you pray a couple of times a day, and you go to church on sundays, you're good right? That should be enough to solidify your relationship with God, and all parties involved are happy.

WRONG!!!

Why do we not try to make Jesus fall in love with us? hrmm? Some may say, we already have His love. (this is true) but! As we can all attest to. ANY kind of love relationship needs some work. How are you showing God that you care for Him? Are you keeping in constant conversation with Him? How often do you whisper sweet nothings to your savior?

(He likes to hear nice things)

Do you hear what He has to say? One of the most important aspects of any relationship is communication/listening. Do you actually listen to what He has to say to you? Are you the type of partner that's always nagging and demanding stuff to be done.

You should take care to flirt with Jesus!

*What does that look like?!? Crazy talker...*

Lemme tell you!

Give Him the Game... (Chat it up with God. He would love to hear from you. REALLY hear from you. "How come you don't call me?")

Doll yourself up! (present yourself as someone who wants to really work for the relationship. Practice a couple of the things that He suggests. Be patient with people, show kindness, learn from His example of love)

Go on a couple of Dates! (Quiet times, Bible readings.) These are important to get to know Him...

Put some work in!!! (try out some of the things that He challenges you to do. Oh. don't know what He's challenging you to do?...)

TAKE TIME TO LISTEN!!!! (that's right. He loves that you talk to Him, but He would like to get a couple words in edgewise!)

SPICE IT UP! (don't get all boring on Him. Journal, dance, write! Interact with Him in different ways. Don't let things get all stagnant!)

You spent all this time and effort finding Jesus. Don't let Him get away from you! Invest a little bit into your relationship with Him too... You know, most perks in life come from not what you know, but who you know. He's a great ally to have in your corner. He's got the hook up on pretty much everything!

Perhaps you should try to date Jesus. Instead of just following Him.

what do you have to lose?

| why Christians hate Gays |

Last week, my staff partner and I hosted a forum with our students. The point of this forum was to be able to get Christians and Non-Christians together to discuss some things. We wanted to have our students interact with non-believers and really explain their faith to people. One of the hardest things to do sometimes, is really explain what we believe and why we believe it. Lots of us have just been doing it for so long, that it just becomes a natural thing for us. Some of us could really use a chance to explore our faith, and ask some hard questions. To get back to point, one question really struck me, and I wanted to try and offer an answer to it. 

"Why do Christians hate Gay people so much? Why is it such a big deal to them?"

So, as a Christian I believe we're not supposed to hate anyone. I'm one of those "Hate the sin, don't hate the man" thinkers. I would hope that most Christians don't hate people who are homosexual. Why should we? Some of the nicest, and greatest contributers to society, are homosexual. The problem is that we take issue with their lifestyle. That's the safe answer. 

Here's the other part of that answer for me. (not the safe one)

As humans, we are quick to judge! We like to make ourselves feel better by pointing out faults that are in others, faults that we don't have to deal with. When we can see something that's wrong and know that we're not doing that thing, we have a sense of betterment. It's always a good feeling to know that: "I have some issues, but at least I'm not doing ". It is a confidence builder, it helps us justify our existences, and it really helps us downplay what we're actually doing that is wrong. 

I think that what happens is that most Christians have the luxury of not having homosexual ideas, tendencies, or desires. Seeing as that's something that we don't experience or "struggle with" (I say struggle, because if you were Christian and gay, there'd be a lot of things brought up to you that would cause you to constantly second guess yourself.) we find it easier to point that thing out in other people. It is MUCH easier to find fault in someone who's doing something that you have no problems with. If I were an alcoholic, I would never go out on the streets and protest against people frequenting bars. I wouldn't do it because it would speak too deeply to me! I would have to expose the fact that it's something that I am having problems with. I'd be afraid that any one of these people that I'm pointing my finger at, might have seen me at the bar last night, nursing my problems with the sauce. However, because I'm not a heavy drinker, I'd be ok with calling someone out for being at the bar everyday. 

I remember being a little kid, sitting in church, and being most uncomfortable when there was something talked about that pertained directly to me. The pastor would speak about how bad it was to skip church to watch football. Lots of people who were at church would agree with the pastor, except there'd be a few guys there that would squirm uncomfortably, because last week they were at home watching their favorite team notch that amazing victory. I would shift around in my seat, lightly sweating, waiting for the chance that he would start talking about a different set of church goers so that I would be able to partake in calling them out. 

Jesus preached a message of truth. We are called as Christians to be able to call someone out when we see them doing things that they have no business doing. Why aren't we caught out protesting infidels? Why aren't we rising up against those who are cheating the poor, those who are spreading lies in the world? 

The reason we aren't doing those things in such grand displays is because those people ARE US. Yup. Christians. We gripe about how we should keep the institution of marriage sacred. We make up A LARGE amount of the people who are getting divorces in this country. We don't step up against divorceés because we are the ones getting divorced. We give up on the same institution that we're trying to protect. We are the ones who are addicts. We can't give up the pornography, we can't stop drinking, because we want to have a good time too. We are the ones who cut corners and cheat in small ways to get ahead in this crazy day and age. Christians are the ones putting out judgement and running from the same treatment when it can come our way. 

The one thing that most of us have though, is our sexuality. We can rally around the fact that most of us have never felt romantic feelings for someone of the same gender as us. So in that, we feel that we are most qualified to tell them that they're living in sin! Who better to call someone out, than someone who is on the other side.

I hope most Christians don't hate Homosexuals. I know that most Christians hate being seen for what we all really are. LIARS, HYPOCRITES, and people who need HELP! 

I need help everyday. I can guarantee you that every Christian that I know, and EVERY Christian that I don't know needs some kind of help too. I'm sorry that it's always safer to point out someone else's evil than to pay attention to our own.

Think about it...