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Busting Religion: Why I Let My Kids Play with Ninjago, Elsa, Anna, Batman…

In February I got an email from my kids’ school to be alert for “trends and hypes.” All parents were encouraged to give extra thought to the cartoon figures we let our children wear or bring to school, via bags and lunch boxes. My kids attend a school that identifies as Christian, so we knew, in addition to extra singing/music, bible stories and praying, there would be attention to avoiding really frightening stories, or stories of witchcraft, zombies, etc. But this email called out Elsa, Anna, and even Superman. Uh, What??

Continue reading “Busting Religion: Why I Let My Kids Play with Ninjago, Elsa, Anna, Batman…”

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Playing ‘Hard to Get’ with God, or the Other Way Around?

Was ‘The Bachelor’ a jump start for ‘Secret Princes’ where royalty go undercover to find true love? These shows expose our longing to be loved for who we are, not what we have, do, or who we’re friends and family with.

Might it be the same with God?

 

 

Did Superman always walk around with the cape..?

Continue reading “Playing ‘Hard to Get’ with God, or the Other Way Around?”

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Maybe that Mess was People, Not God?

Did you ever visit a church and something rubbed your heart wrong? Or maybe you experienced something from someone identifying as a Christian–maybe it was gossip, deceit, or some form of oppression, or maybe flat-out hate, or abuse? Worst of all, it may have been done with the support of bible texts.

If you thought: This cant be God—and if it is I want nothing to do with *Him– you may have been right. Maybe it was People, not God.

Continue reading “Maybe that Mess was People, Not God?”

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Social Justice or Sodomy? The Real Reason Sodom Burned

When did two people getting married become a bad thing?
When did consenting adults committing to a life of love and faithfulness together become something to mobilize against– by people professing a doctrine founded on unconditional love??!

There’s much judgement and hate directed towards those with a homosexual or bisexual lifestyle, and those identifying as transgender have recently been called out of Armed Service, cruelly (e.g. via twitter), and without genuine cause, despite each of these people writing blank checks to Uncle Sam payable up and unto their very lives.

Secretary of Defense Matthis urging Soldiers across all Branches to “Hold the Line” as America gets it’s act together…

 Continue reading “Social Justice or Sodomy? The Real Reason Sodom Burned”

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50 First Dates with God: Love, Faithfulness and Our Forgetful Nature

Remember “50 First Dates,” where Henry (Adam Sandler) meets Lucy (Drew Barrymore) who suffers from a rare form of amnesia? It’s a funny love story that shows how a devoted heart will go to all lengths, even self-sacrifice, to prove itself.

Henry and Lucy-50 First Dates

When watching we may consider our own relationship with God–atleast I did. Every day looking for *Him in Every. Thing. Hoping for an encounter in anything from a flash in nature, or a song, or moment with the kids, fill in the blank. The stuff where your heart flutters and you catch a glimpse.

But sometimes it’s like *He’s not there.

earth_shadow_-Kennedy Space Center
Intense brightness, but soo0 much dark…

Sometimes, some days, some seasons, I feel nothing, sense nothing. I’m surrounded by Void. I hate these moments that unite against my heart’s grip on memories of when God showed up…

I, like Lucy, can use a reminder.

Continue reading “50 First Dates with God: Love, Faithfulness and Our Forgetful Nature”

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“I Just Wanna See the Light” – San Holo and The Hope of Heaven

If you read #GodSingsBieber  or God Loves Drum & Bass, you know I think it’s possible to hear/meet God in places other than “Christian” songs and circles. Since my own religious lid has been lifted, I’m free to hear *Him everywhere…

Bumblebee and Samwitwicky
Transformers – Bumblebee spoke to Sam through a radio– why couldn’t God do the same or even more?

One morning my son requested San Holo’s, “Light.”  We knew the artist from a passionate track, “Victory,” so were eager to play our son’s request. Thanks to  #SoundCloud our car filled up with the catchy melody and tender lyrics–ringing like a longing in my own heart: “I just want to see the Light”

I guess I’m not the only one.

Continue reading ““I Just Wanna See the Light” – San Holo and The Hope of Heaven”

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God like Lightning: Are You Doing the Zig Zag Too?

Why doesn’t Lightning come down straight? It’s ferocious and 5x hotter than the surface of the sun, so shouldn’t it just, literally, charge down?

I never gave lightning much thought until I heard a Capital Kings track, Forever. One lyric line, “I feel Your Lightning in my veins,” touched something in my heart and I was inspired to find lightning wallpaper for my phone. As I admired it, I realized how much lightening looks like our veins…

Continue reading “God like Lightning: Are You Doing the Zig Zag Too?”

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#GodSingsBieber? Hearing God’s Heart on the Radio Aint Crazy

How can music banish a bad mood and transport us to a place where problems, cares, fear, sometimes even pain (and certainly time) don’t exist? For a moment there’s just that beat, or lyric line, or bass, or …plug in your own thing– it’s magic.  I’ll be feeling down but if a song comes on that rocks, something changes–and even babies know the feeling:

Melodies can spark our spirits, balm our hearts, mirror something of our soul, and sometimes floor us. Who needs Ecstasy when some tracks are flat-out orgasmic?

And Music also heals Socially…

Just think: when we rock to the same jam, things like Race, Gender, ‘Status,’ etc., disappear. Love takes shape in a sea of people grooving. Unity, peace, joy, no fear, no shame, No Problem.

Are these Holy Moments?

Continue reading “#GodSingsBieber? Hearing God’s Heart on the Radio Aint Crazy”

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When Hate is Acceptable and Love becomes Laughable– Do We Know God? [Biblical Danger Zone]

Remember Claude Frollo? That gypsy (foreigner)-hating, child-manipulating and emotionally-abusing, lust-possessed, uber-religious Judge from Disney’s Hunchback of Notre Dame? That man prayed. A Lot. Remember him pouring out his heart in the dark song “hell fire–desire”? (Yes, not all kids movies are for kids).

How many Frollo’s, to varying degrees, do you know? How many have we caught glimpse of since the US election?

Going to church doesnt make you a christian like being in a garage makes you a car

If this election has done anything for us, it’s certainly put a magnifying glass on the blinding hate that can reside in hearts of those who wear crosses or call themselves Christian.

Maybe that’s why Jesus Himself is getting a new name (Revelation 3:12), and why he was the angriest in a Church, NOT some city square (Matthew 21:12).

Before the US election, I heard many Christian-identifying Americans say: “this is a difficult decision…”

Difficult?  Do we know God?

Continue reading “When Hate is Acceptable and Love becomes Laughable– Do We Know God? [Biblical Danger Zone]”

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Submissive God? 3 Bible Verses Exposing Mankind’s Freedom that May Blow Your Mind

If God really existed, why is the world so wrecked? And if *He is so “good,” how could He let those things happen to me…?
(note: I use He/His as pronouns for God but fully recognize God with male and female ‘identity,’ for lack of a better word, as evidenced throughout the Bible and the human race. 2-pt post here if you like).

Just one look at the suffering and oppression in this world –not just against people, but all creation– and it’s hard not to stumble on belief in a good God. But blaming (or denying) Heaven for all the woe ignores our God-Given freedom to destroy everything just fine on our own.

God is waiting for the miracle-save the world-justice-love-JasNotes-authorunknown

Hands can hurt flesh, and mouths can speak death, yet we rarely see God grab someone mid sentence, or mid swing. And if He did intervene every time we exercised our freedom, would we really be free?

Continue reading “Submissive God? 3 Bible Verses Exposing Mankind’s Freedom that May Blow Your Mind”

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Racer X like Jesus [Part 1]: Love, Sacrifice and Justice, Speed Racer Style

I believe God can be found anywhere, from the breeze on your skin, to the wisdom of your kids. Sometimes He* makes surprise appearances in a theater or a Justin Bieber track (post coming!) and my latest encounter was during the Speed Racer film.

The more I watched Racer X, the more I thought of Jesus, and the more I watched Speed, the more I thought of myself. Racing is a great metaphor for life–tension, time,  passion, power— and every ‘Speed Racer’ can use a ‘Racer X’ in his corner…
[warning, spoilers!]

Continue reading “Racer X like Jesus [Part 1]: Love, Sacrifice and Justice, Speed Racer Style”

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Save a Planet or Save a Party? What Jesus’s First Miracle Reveals about God’s Heart [#GodsOneLines]

Imagine with me. You have all the power in the world and want to showcase it. What would you do first? I asked this to a group of kids and their answers ranged from world peace and feeding everyone, to jumping out of a plane with no parachute, or bringing a loved one back from the dead. 

How about you? Would you rescue someone? Is there a moment in time you would change?

Jesus, the reported “son of God” faced the same question. He also faced the hatred of God-fearing/revering religious leaders (Pharisees) who considered the “son of God” stuff blasphemy. After all, if you’re the son of God, you yourself must be “God” and thus all powerful (amongst other things). (And now we can all call ourselves sons and daughters of God..).

Continue reading “Save a Planet or Save a Party? What Jesus’s First Miracle Reveals about God’s Heart [#GodsOneLines]”

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3 Examples of God’s Gentleness to Help Break Our God Hate

Some people associate God with Might and limitless Power. I heard one Pastor say, ‘we don’t need a God of Love, we need a God to be feared.’ #Wt?

But God’s gentleness is easy to miss if you only experience angry voices hating with a bible in the hand. You can catch this in some politics, at some funerals, and even in some churches.

The world can easily question God’s Heart, and rightly so.

But glimpse these 3 examples of *His #Gentleness and repair the breach: Continue reading “3 Examples of God’s Gentleness to Help Break Our God Hate”

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Watch: Colorblind man sees Purple for the First Time #HeavenGlimpse

It’s so easy to take vision and the beauty of color for granted. Watch the video when someone who is colorblind sees purple for the first time. Get a glimpse of how beautiful the world around us actually is. His response to grass broke my blind heart.  Continue reading “Watch: Colorblind man sees Purple for the First Time #HeavenGlimpse”