Black or White?

 
     You're probably thinking that this is going to be another long boring blog post you don't want to read, but I've had a lot of time for my brain to process these different views as I wrote this awhile ago and have been waiting to publish it. But I encourage you to make it to the end and seriously consider what I've said.
      I've been thinking about different views on whether or not gay people can go to heaven.  A few months ago we were debating this topic with some friends of ours which led me to find out what God thought on the subject...

We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.

1 John 2:3-6

I'm pretty sure God doesn't mean that if we sin we all go to Hell, because if that's true heaven would be empty. No, it means that if you truly love God with everything you are, you will do anything in your power to please and obey Him. God created ONE male and ONE female for a reason- the obvious being reproduction- but there are so many other reasons that are clearly written in the Bible. God gives us rules because he loves us. Think of a world without any! We watched a movie recently called The Purge, and it's about how the government gave the people one day out of the year where absolutely nothing was illegal, and as you can imagine, it was total chaos. That's what happens when we don't obey God.

You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.  Leviticus 18:22

For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their woman exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with woman and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to debased mind to do what ought not to be done.  Romans 1:26-28

 When someone says they're a Christian but they continue to live a life of sin without feeling the tiniest bit of guilt, I would assume they are not on the heavenward track. I'm not saying gay people are bad, nor am I saying that I'm any better than them. All sin is equal, but as my dad puts it some sins have much bigger consequences than others. God hates sin. You're probably thinking that God can't hate anything, but God hates it when we sin, but even when we sin, over and over again he will always love you and forgive you as many times as it takes. It's our job as ambassadors of Christ to gently steer them in the right direction and leave the rest up to Him. How can you sit there while the person next to you is ruining his life? It's like the bus. If a bus was about to hit a person, would you just stand there and watch knowing that you could have saved them from tremendous pain or even death? I just think that it's time to do the math and figure out where you stand. I don't believe in grey area. It's either black or white. Sin vs praise. Good vs evil. Light vs darkness. So do you stand on God's word... or the world's?

And on a less serious note... I had to post these.

I LOVE taking pictures of this little girl!

These last few days have been pretty bumpy. I feel like we've hopped onto a roller-coaster all of a sudden, so this was a very needed distraction! Thanks for reading!

Woe to those who call  evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.

Isaiah 5:20

Yard Work

Wednesday it was yard work! It was probably the least fun thing on the list, which is why I opted to put the deck back together with the help of Jonah and "Jenna".

They stained the stairs after they finished with the yard work, and I cleaned the kitchen.

They kept dripping stain onto the concrete, so Mom decided to stain it. Everyone think it looks better that way anyway!

The kitchen was a DISASTER!

It's a good thing I've been training for disasters like this since I was eight! It only took an hour.

We haven't quite gotten to the Goodwill stuff yet, so we've rescheduled it for tomorrow.

I think Jonah was happy to have everything (almost) all done... me too, buddy!

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. What do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a whip, or in love and with a gentle spirit?

1 Corinthians 4:20-21

Crazy Goodness!

Our Spring Break so far has been pretty amazing considering Mom made out a work schedule for this week, which consists of cleaning the garage, making a big Goodwill drop-off, getting lots of stuff done for the wedding, and yard work, which we do tomorrow.

Recently I have been looking for fabric for a quilt that my amazing grandma is making for my new room- I get to move to Glynne's room after the wedding!- and I found this dress-thing at Goodwill and thought it would be really cool to add some texture!

A few days ago, the kids were bored so Mom decided to play hot potato...

With an actual potato...

A hot potato.

Jonah thought it was awesome.

At first Dad wasn't sure how he felt about a sweet potato being thrown around in the house.

Until he was the one throwing it.

You just wait, Jenna...

Yep, things just got way more fun.

I remember when Mom and Dad used to swing us girls. I can't believe we were ever that little.

Earlier today, Jonah came upstairs yelling, "Date, date, (Kate, Kate) skurt, skurt!" 

I can't wait to see his face when he sees this fifteen years from now...

While this is going on, Mom and I are in the kitchen cleaning and making dinner, Jenna is being adorable, and the boys are riding their dirt-bikes outside.  

Landon has been working on his wheelies for awhile now and he's getting pretty good at it. Even Isaac can do a small one. My little bros are grow'n up.:( 

Don't worry, he drives wheelie free with Jonah!

I remind him to be careful every chance I get.

To make the day even better, God blessed it with a (double) rainbow!

He is sooo amazing!

I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.

Genesis 9:13