First post

Let what leads you lead you to happyness. But do not forget that you lead yourself in following the leader.

ok I've been having a promblem with modern theology, stuff I've been reading. it's just a broad topic that's been bugging me for a while and i feel i really need to tackle it and say something about it before its too late... for someone maybe.
some things I've been reading come across the topic of God's love and all that stuff in a rather negative way. Guilt. Shame. Man! what is wrong with you! That is not a way to get people to live better. That's the kind of stuff that drives people deeper and darker down into a pit of solitude and self hate.
Think of a real loving parent. maybe your parents didn't approach it this way, which doens't mean they're not loving, just like a lot of the world, a little bit wrong. If you did something horrible and you were really ashamed, and you came and told your parents, i think they could approach it two ways. well many, but two i want to talk about. say you did something terrible... drunked and dlunked out of college that they were paying for. something really awful! think hard if you have to. but you came to your parents to tell them what you've done and that you're truly sorry and you want their forgiveness. would the parents in question yell at you and tell you how rotten it was what you did? and after minutes or hours or hopefully not MORE get around to maybe that they'll be able to cope with it... or would they do something otherise. would your parent invite you into their arms to hug you and would they tell you they love you and that it's going to be alright and that you'll make it past this hard time together. well, if the parent we're talking about is God, your one true father, your heavently father, he would do something like the second one. only expect it to be a whole lot more perfect. well, brothers and sisters, some people are having a good time trying to sell to you the other version of the story. it goes something like... can you imagine how ashamed the lord is of you already? just think of everything you've ever done wrong. its way too much to remember, but he hasn't forgotten and he's so sad about it every day because of all the pain you've brought on him, not to mention all the other people you've come in contact with. and don't even think about messing up again. you'd better be perfect becuase you've already screwed up an awful lot already and it's just gonna be BAD news if you don't do better.
agh!!!! that's what God must me saying when he reads that. Don't sell that to my children!!! tell them about my love! that, my siblings, is an easy lie to sell to people today becuase we already feel so guilty about everything we've ever done. The hater is whispering to you, this is maybe what's right. this is as good as it gets for me. he's secretly telling you as well that you don't deserve the love, the "love" he illustrates like the father unhappily paying off the bills when his princess has gone shop-happy with the credit card. ok, not the best example but i think it gets the point across.
God never intended to bring his children back to him by telling people how bad they are. true sometimes its helpful to have a creative mind illustrate just the severity of our awfulness, that is not the end word. becuase at the time of writing this, about 2004 years ago God made the trade. you know what I'm talking about.
Your God is a God of LOVE. That's his biggest personality trait. :)
Don't let it be forgotten!
more later if by grace.
I love you because he loved you first.
~abigail james