hope | Heartstone Journey

Psalm 73 (My Version)

God is so good, but I allowed the culture and the lies of the world to dull my senses and blind me over time so I almost missed seeing His goodness. I foolishly took my eyes off Him and became intoxicated by people in high places, envying the success of those who have made it to the top and desperately seeking this to define my own identity. I believed that these people worried about nothing, and their status and wealth provided them with the comfort of not having a care in the world.

What I couldn’t see beneath the veil was their conceit and arrogance, how selfish they were at the core, their uncaring hearts, their aggressively doing whatever it took for them to get what they wanted with no regard for others, their evil conceit that knew no limits, their being friendly to your face and mocking you to others behind your back. In their arrogance, they would threaten oppression and destroy the peace. People actually listened to them — I actually listened to them — can you believe it?

What’s going on? God, where are You? Can’t You see what’s going on down here? God, why do I suffer though I live for You? Why do those who deny You have it better than I do? Everywhere I looked I felt the sorrow and the pain of empty living. This is giving me a headache…

Getting Rid Of Fear Once And For All

Asked to leave the familiar security of my house, I would cry myself to sleep in a sleeping bag on the hard basement floor of my friend’s house. With my fragile, battered soul and any remaining hope ripped from me, I would simply collapse from the weight of my life. Images pounded me like the relentless, battering waves against a rocky sea shore as I replayed events in my mind. Chaos entered my life as my entire world eroded and washed away all around me. I became so completely crushed and broken that a part of me wanted to die because I couldn’t stand the torment of this deep, gut-wrenching pain. Broken and alone, I would silently drown within a puddle of my tears fading into this scene of sorrow.

My spirit ached!

The greatest blessing spiritually is the knowledge that we are destitute; until we get there Our Lord is powerless.

—Oswald Chambers

I found myself standing between fear of the unknown and the weight of my circumstances bearing down on me, which felt like the death of any remaining hope.

One Thing Social Media Got Right About The Decision On Gay Marriage, #LoveWins!

On June 26, 2015 a deeply divided Supreme Court of the United States handed down a ruling that redefined marriage on a national level, effecting every state. I will admit that I do not agree with this decision, I question it’s Constitutionality and its a sober moment for me. We can debate this all day long, but I believe that Supreme Court disregarded thousands of years of definition of the most foundational unit of society to answer what many are calling a shift in culture.

Notwithstanding which side of this you land on, the popularity of this event has taken front stage on social media, traditional media and the world stage. The White House and many other building around the world have been lit up in rainbow colors in celebration of this decisions around gay rights.

Making something popular doesn’t make it true!

—Bill Johnson

The reactions I’ve seen on social media ranged from expected, surprising, passionate, energetic, disappointing and just downright nasty. Some are rejoicing, some are confused, some are losing hope and some are lashing out with a narrative of decline and hate. Many who call themselves followers of Jesus Christ feel like they just got punched in the gut and are wondering how they should respond to this decision and how they should engage in the broader conversation.

My intent of writing this article is to think through how to respond as the Church when the law of the land and culture fundamentally changes the perspective of marriage and many other issues. Spending some time listening to conversations, reading headlines, doing some research and some soul searching…I started asking myself some questions that many of us might be asking whether we know it or not. Does this decision mean that the sky is falling? Does this decision mean that God abdicated His throne? Does this decision rewrite the Bible? Does this decision mean that a shift in culture trivializes God’s word? What does this mean for churches? Does this decision mean that we should lose hope?

To begin to answer these, let’s dial things back a bit.

Why Gender Reassignment And Altering Pronouns Won’t Change Who Bruce Jenner Is

By now most people on the planet have seen the picture of the “new” Bruce Jenner on the upcoming cover of Vanity Fair. As a Dad who is raising a son to be man, the very idea that culture is praising Bruce Jenner for his so-called “brave” and “courageous” decision is such a foreign idea to me.

I remember Bruce Jenner winning the decathlon in Montreal Canada in 1976 making him the male athlete of the year — the guy got on the Wheaties box! When I look at the upcoming cover of vanity fair I see a man plastered with makeup, hair extensions and wearing who-knows-what-that-is. His entire persona has been artificially altered by hormone pills, Photoshop, and plastic surgery.

What happened?

There’s a tremendous amount of buzz in the mainstream media and social media spaces, but here are some items that caught my attention. The White House said that President Obama believes Bruce Jenner’s transition into Caitlyn shows “tremendous courage.” Bruce Jenner’s “female” alter ego Caitlyn got over a million Twitter followers in four hours. Wikipedia has already gender altered the history and lifestyle of Bruce Jenner. Caitlyn Jenner will receive the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the ESPN Espy’s this year.

Really?

There are so many thoughts swirling around in my head right now, but I want unpack some of them as I feel they are very important in the conversation of today’s culture.

Why The Story Of Louie Zamperini Should Have Been Titled ‘Broken’

Went to see Unbroken with some of my band of brothers and wow what an inspiring movie. If you really want the full impact of what this man went through, I highly recommend the book by Laura Hillenbrand.

I want to start by acknowledging that the movie ‘Unbroken’ based on Laura Hillenbrand’s bestselling biography Unbroken is incredibly inspiring. What pops off the screen is Louie’s grit and courage. His sheer grit alone was awe inspiring — the likes of which not many men could ever hope to exhibit. Jesus tells us to love our enemies and Louie shows us through his brave example of true belief and courage that forgiving your enemies is possible.

Here is a quick summary of the movie before I take a deeper dive with my thoughts.

Psalm 73 (My Version)

Getting Rid Of Fear Once And For All

One Thing Social Media Got Right About The Decision On Gay Marriage, #LoveWins!

Why Gender Reassignment And Altering Pronouns Won’t Change Who Bruce Jenner Is

Why The Story Of Louie Zamperini Should Have Been Titled ‘Broken’

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