Being Gay and the bible

Oh how I hate this opinion, mostly because it is against what the bible actually teaches us!

Most of the homosexual comments in the bible are always misused.

People of HATE freely use something that I cherish dearly as a weapon to abuse others and it is something that just makes us all look like complete ignorant idiots!

There are only 6 verses about homosexuality. 6  amongst the 31, 102 in the entire bible; 3 out of the 23, 145 verses of the Old Testament and 3 out of the 7, 957 of the New Testament. Let’s just take a second to consider the giant amount of other verses that teach us so much good and yet you live your life committing judgement on others over 6.

There are 614 laws and rules to live by in the bible, what to wear (Hope it has frayed edges) what to eat (Don’t you find flamingo so hard to find at Tesco’s nowadays!) Who or what to have sex with (Interestingly there are two distinctions 1: don’t have sex with animals 2: make sure they aren’t hoofed (I will be sad to get rid of my dear goat)) and yet, you are bashing abuse at people concerning 1 of them?

I will, however, humour you for a minute and go through with your view point and show you how totally misinformed you are.

Genisis 19 is the first mention of homosexuality. It is mentioned when Lot has housed 2 angels and a mob of young and old men come, forcibly, to have sex with the male angels. Now, I’m not too sure what you may think but this doesn’t sound like condemnation to homosexuality but more rape! If an angry mob turned up at my door wanting to have sex with me and I don’t want to then that is definitely rape, gender or not. 

Lot, in fact, tries to appease the mob and offers his daughters to be raped! Ridiculous when you think of it. He actually says “Let me bring them out to you for you to do whatever seems good to you”. His daughters, we find out later in the chapter are engaged to 2 other men so this clearly isn’t planned or consensual and therefore is rape! The angels are appalled at this and deem that Sodom and Gomorrah should be destroyed.

Later in that Chapter Lot is forced out of the town because he is a good man and he takes his family with him. They are told not to look back at the town, in essence being told not to look back at that behaviour and to move forward with your life. Then, finally, we see at the end of the chapter that Lot’s daughters drug him with wine until he is so drunk that they then rape him!

Now, this whole chapter screams rape. Rape, rape and more rape. Yet, you seem to be focused on the homosexuality aspect rather than the rape. Is rape acceptable for you? As you seem not to be listing that part? Or are you just picking verses from the bible to pick on people and cast your own judgements?

Am I sure though? I may be mistaken?

Well Paul mentions homosexuality in Romans 1v27 and again it is pretty clear. He makes it clear by saying “Likewise, also the males left the natural use of the female and became violently inflamed in their lust toward one another, males with males working what is obscene and receiving in themselves the full penalty, which was due for their error”. Now I would really like to highlight a few words; “violently, inflamed in their lust”. I’m not too sure here but the only violent sexual act that is deemed wrong is rape, isn’t it? Isn’t Paul saying this?

Well 1 Cor 6v 9 – 11 seems to make it pretty clear. He mentions the unrighteous people “those who are sexually immoral” (In my mind sexually immoral are Rapists, Paedophiles, Incest and people who act upon Bestiality) but let’s see what he says “Adulters” (People who TAKE someone else non consensually (or at least I would assume most partners wouldn’t consent on their loved one committing adultery!) through lust) “Men who submit to homosexual acts, men who practice homosexuality” (interesting that it is written twice. Is he repeating himself or, could it be that there are 2 meanings?) “Thieves” (People who TAKE things non consensually) “Greedy people” (People who want what isn’t theirs to have) “Revilers” (People who are verbally abusive (Ooo abuse again, who knew? I equally don’t know many people who welcome consensually abuse)

Now, it could just be me but there seems to be a lot of people mentioned here who TAKE something from someone without consent. Why random sex would be fitted in the middle when it’s consensual, unless, of course, that it isn’t. That is why it is listed twice! Now read it as “Men who submit to Rape upon men, who practice rape freely”. Would make the context of all the other things listed fit better!

 1 Timothy 1v 8 – 10 says exactly the same. It lists Homosexuality with people who are abusive to others, rebellious, disloyal, profane, kidnappers and liars. It would only fit if you recognise the context that is being presented; Rape, abuse, without consent and against someone else’s good nature.

Now it would be wrong of me not to mention of course Leviticus 18 and 20 where it is made pretty clear that men who lie with other men is against God’s will. Yet, again, please look at the context of each chapter. There are lists in both of who you can’t have sex with; Mothers, daughters, daughter in laws, fathers, aunts, cousins the lot. Now, I could be in the minority here but I don’t want to willingly have sex with my aunt, do you? I think most people would agree unless, of course, you are filled with ““violently, inflamed  lust” and then, I would hope, you would agree that is just rape of everyone on that list.

The bible is really against rape. It is clearly written what would happen to those who violate someone else and are sexually immoral.

But, if that doesn’t convince you then I would need to point out that you are, in fact, the people who need saving the most.

One of the most famous verses in the bible is John 3v16. “For God loved the world, apart from gay people, so much that he gave his only begotten son” sorry, had to take that middle bit out, think I misquoted the bible for a second there. Don't you hate it when people misquote the bible?

God loves us all. All of us.  He wanted to save us all. Because of His love we are all saved and as 1 Corinthians 13 v 8 says “Love never fails”.

But, dearest Plank, I still haven’t finished because you have committed massive sins yourself against the son of God as well as God Himself!

Jesus, in Matthew 22v 36 – 40, says, after being asked what the greatest commandment is, “Love your neighbour as yourself”. You really, at this very moment in time, are not treating your neighbour anything like love.

I also employ you to read Matthew 7. The whole chapter. It is about Judging. Jesus hated it when people judged one another. In fact, dear plank, this is why I call you my dearest plank because he says “You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brothers!”

It is listed very clearly throughout the bible that only God is the judge of all. Are you God? Genesis 18v25 “It is unthinkable that you would act in this manner by putting the righteous man to death with the wicked one so that the outcome for the righteous man and the wicked is the same! It is unthinkable of you. Will the judge of all the earth not do what is right!”

Stop judging others, look at the heart of the bible. The story of love, forgiveness, kindness, good treatment of others whatever and whoever they are; God created all, God wants to save all of us because we are all sinners.

Something that should be a comfort to us all considering how many laws we are all breaking!

Yours Sincerely,

The Guy sanding down his own plank to a speck.

Christingle

This is the third Sunday in Advent, so thought, as I mentioned before, to share a church related post as we lead up to Christmas.

For those who don't know what a christingle is, I've listed it's parts below.

 A Christingle consists of:

An orange, which represents the earth;
A red ribbon around it representing
 the blood of Christ
Dried fruits skewered on cocktail sticks pushed into the orange, representing the fruits of the earth and the four seasons; A lit candle pushed into the centre of the orange, representing Jesus Christ as the light of the world.

This is one of my favourite things leading up to Christmas and was one of the first years that the boys were both old enough to truly join in.

The story of the Christingle is that there were three children, who were very poor, but wanted to give a gift to Jesus, like the other families at church were doing. The only nice thing they had was an orange, so they decided to give him that. The top was going slightly green, so the eldest cut it out and put a candle in the hole. They thought it looked dull, so the youngest girl took her best red ribbon from her hair and attached it round the middle with toothpicks. The middle child had the idea to put a few pieces of dried fruit on the ends of the sticks. They took it to the church for the Christmas mass, and whereas the other children sneered at their meagre gift, the priest took their gift and showed it as an example of true understanding of the meaning of Christmas. Subsequently this is now the symbol for the Children's charity: The Children's Society. Such a great cause check them out here.

http://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/

Otherwise enjoy our photos from this morning.

Christmas Begins

In my last Christmas post I shared the things that I am looking forward to. Number 1 was Decorating the tree and Number 2 was painting the window.

We achieved both yesterday. :-)

The decorating the tree was far harder this year because of the boys ages. But we managed to do it.

And our window painting.

I'm very artistic so every year I paint the inside of our windows in a Christmas design. The only problem this year is the boys wanted to help.So it isn't to my normal level but it was fun doing it.

oh and if you're wondering how I do it, I use water colours so it's easy to wash off after Christmas.

So it's official in our household Christmas run up has begun.

Advent

As some of you know I attend Church every Sunday.

Church is very important for me, and the boys, for lots of reasons as well as finding, in-depth, about Christianity.

I have decided then that for the next few weeks, especially on a Sunday, I will dedicate a post specifically for Church, Christianity and it's relation to Christmas. As for me I believe we wouldn't be celebrating Christmas without a fundamental understanding, even if it has been lost a little over time due to commercialism, of the truth behind Christmas.

So my first post is about Advent.

For those who don't know Advent actually starts today; Not tomorrow, although we are so use to it starting on the 1st of December because of the lots of commercial calendars that are available.

Advent starts on the Sunday which signifies four weeks until Christmas. (Four weeks? Scary that it is creeping up so quickly)

Every Sunday in Churches around the world a candle will be lit for the next four weeks, with the final, fifth, candle being lit on or close to Christmas day. (Usually to represent the light of the world being born)

What I only learnt today though is Advent actually translates from the original Latin in to "Coming". The coming of Jesus and subsequently the coming of the day of his birth as well as the holidays.

So it's official today is the day when the Coca-Cola advert is actually right and "The holidays are coming"

The boys and I do different things over Advent. We all have one Chocolate Calendar each, this year I have also purchased a toy Calendar (I didn't know they existed until this week!) In each type of Calendar we open a door counting down each day and get a treat inside (with the toy one we chose Playmobil where we get a character or a piece of scenery to create an over scene over Christmas.)

We will also have an Advent candle that we light everyday and burn down the wax for the following day. This for us is our Christian tradition to help us remember that Christmas is centralised around Jesus.



So what are you doing to count down to Christmas and 'celebrate' Advent? Do you have any traditions?

Fish and Chips Friday

Today's post from my post a day is based on my weekly activity on a Friday.

My mum and I had an amazing relationship,  we might not always have agreed, you could definitely call me a mummies boy!

When she passed away a couple of years ago I was truly heartbroken. But I had the memories and the love to keep me going. Sadly, this was not the case for my brother. Their relationship was hard and non communicative.  There was love there but it was one from a strained relationship this was mainly considered to the fact that they just were not a like. Mum and I had things in common so subsequently had a stronger relationship.

Before passed though my dad was ill, and had been for a couple of years,  because of this mum had been discussing his funeral and what we would do. The shock then of mum passing rocked my world.

Like my brother and my mum, my relationship with dad, was strained.  We are just different people, with different interests. The idea that he could have died and I was holding regret, like my brother, seriously upset and worried me.

From that point I decided to improve our relationship. I moved in shortly after mums funeral, for many reasons, importantly with the idea to build upon what we have.

The last few years have been strained but we are still working towards it. We have two manly date nights. Our first is a film night where we take it in turns to choose a film and watch it together.  Our second, as the blog title displays, is a takeaway night on a Friday. Down to dads old fashioned views it ends most weeks to be Fish and Chips. I don't mind the frequency of it, as it is one night a week that him and I actually sit down together, alone without kids, and eat.

This is working brilliantly because films and food is something that unites a lot of people, even those, like my father and I,  have very little in common.

I try my hardest to build a relationship with out it being forced to change each others personality and subsequently has given us a chance to grow together and build memories. It has also given me chance to learn interesting facts about my dad, like the fact that he use to be a ten pin bowling champion who once played for the GB team.

Something as little as Fish and Chips has built upon who we are. I suggest that people, whatever their relationships are to take time to find common interests through social activities that please everybody. We have so many different fractured families that living in regret that its time to push towards a better future.

It's time to

Remembrance Day

Yesterday we saw and remembered the 100 years since the start of World War 1.

The boys and I visited our regular church on Sunday to take part in the remembrance. Three different bits took place that I wanted to cover briefly on here.

The first part was that we remembered not only as a church but also as a community, this was a lovely experience and although we usually have the occasional community group joining us we had a lot of them together. We remembered with Our Local Primary School, Who brought their choir to sing three songs or which showed a range of remembrance from a old song (White Cliffs of Dover), a tribal song to show our allies within the war) and A mournful short piece for all service men and women who have died since. We had a coach full of people from the local age concern centre, who found the service thoughtful. We were joined by our local councilman who laid a reef on our behalf as well as the relevant bible reading. We were joined by our local Beavers, Cubs, Scouts, Brownies and Guides who not only brought and lowered their flags in tribute but the guides also read home a letter from a solider within the war, prompting a very thought provoking message about what life on the front line was like. Finally, We were also joined by the local WI, whose time and patience were fully appreciated after the service, which I will explain about later on in the post.

The service itself, led by, our Curate there, Sue was short but it definitely left considering faith, our own relationship with God, as well as what the service men would have felt.

It was based on a small book, the Gospel of John that was passed out to all soldiers before they crossed the channel and subsequently one soldiers letter to the Gospel book producers (Which is now place at the back of the republished copy) the letter reads:

“When your small Testaments were distributed on the Common at Southampton, I, among others, accepted one in a more derisive than a complimentary manner.” So begins one of the

any letters from soldiers that SGM received during the First World War. “I little dreamed

that I should use it and find in it great consolation in lonely hours” it goes on. “I have learned to realise the great personality of the Saviour. When at night I have been on duty alone with Him by my side, and the Germans but thirty yards away, I realised that I needed more than my own courage to stand the strain. When the shells of the enemy have burst periodically at my feet I have marvelled at the fact of still being alive. Just a few lines to let you know that I have filled in the decision form at the end of the Gospel of John that was given to me at the station I accept Christ as my saviour. I wish you would pray for me in the hour of trial.”

The reading of this just made you realise that the search for something to give you hope in that time brought comfort to many in their hour of need.

The third part of the service was actually after it. We booked the hall opposite to the church where we held a WWI themed bring and share gathering. Where it was decorated and had themed music on in the background. The WI were amazing, as were other members of the community, to organise food and drinks here. The boys and I contributed as well with myself making a traditional themed Pork and Cider Terrine served with toast and William making a WW1 recipe for a pumpkin cake, both of which went down well.

Overalls it was a fitting remembrance service that brought our community of Sittingboure and Bobbing together, with a thoughtful message and reminder of what is won and lost in all wars. But ultimately it showed that we as a community gathered to for one thing that we not forget the past and sacrifcies made that have brought us here today.

As for least we forget the fallen soilders of yesterday, there are pople who have faught and died for us without even knowing who we are and we always need to remember and try our best to do anything so what they did is not in vain. Lest we forget.

Below I have also uploaded a few photos of the day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Usies

I have just spent the afternoon with the boys playing with lego. We spent a few hours building, destroying and then remaking. Loved every second of it. This, however, is a normal afternoon/playing session for us. I am quite against filling my children's time by the use of technology for fun.

Over the years I have invested in imaginative toys; whether it be action figure, a kitchen set, home making corner,  books or lego. Something that we can all participate in and use our imagination for. I'm not completely against them using technology,  as I am fully aware of how important it is for them to keep up with technology and it's use, it does play an important role in not only their own understanding but also within their education. However, that being said, I am aware that at their mums house they are embraced with technology. They have an x box, wii,  iPad and have access to iPhones and laptops. For me this is too much, especially if it is then duplicated with me.

At church this more, following the theme of being generous, we were reminded that Jesus took the time to be with others,  his generosity was seen through his love for people through their relationships, which is only formed through the time spent with other. I understand that for people who are not church goers that they may see this as irrelevant,  but after the afternoon I have had, following the morning, I think it's completely relevant.

We are living in an 'I' world. With iPhones, iPads, ilaptops (macbooks) iPads,  iwatch and the list goes on. Does anyone else see the common point? It's the i.  I'm aware that this goes for all apple products but my concern is how much we centre around I now rather than us or we. Social media supports it; Facebook ability to write a status is "whats on your mind? " Twitter is slightly more approachable with "what's happening? " but again it's centred around 1 person. But is this really surprising when you consider the world and techno world we live in? A world with selfies, instagram sharing our selfies.



Have you ever seen that person at a party, or even in a crowd, that when they are there, it is a "HERE I AM" type of person? or How often do you start telling the person in front of you a story about something that has happened to you, to then hear the person to jump in the middle of your conversation and go " Yes, I know exactly what you are talking about, this one time with me" Your friend has a story that relates to yours and the topic of your event suddenly gets dropped and is now focused on the event of your friends! We have all been in that scenario, we have all probably been that friend. Does it bother you as much as it bothers me? Of course it does, we are a society where we are now finding it more and more uncomfortable to talk to others and to relate to them. We are brought up to find mutual ground, to find some connective with the person in front of us to put us to ease in this on going distant techno - relationships world. So, instead of being a person who keeps the conversation on to themselves, try to be a "There you are" person and ask a simple question when talking with a friend....."Tell me more!" These three words could change the world.

How often have you allowed someone to talk about something you have enquired about, they often feel happy and will have a smile on there face. Tell me more.

God is interested in all of us, all of us on an individual level, we too should be this interested in others, be open to all because God is in all of us and He loves us all. Show the world this and ask the question and make a statement. Tell me more.

Tell me more is a simple practice,  when someone is talking ask for more, take a valuable interest in that person. It can't do any harm can it?

Taking less time with the I in ourselves, put down the technology and look about, spend time with people, your family, play and talk. And remember tell me more the power of an attentive listener is a massive thing. 

I've witnessed it with my children, their imagination is fantastic with In depth details and subplots and more importantly they know I'm interested and not just agreeing with them from  above my phone etc.

So I'm creating something new. A 'USie' gone are the days with just me in a picture. It will now be with people I love and have a vested interest in. 

So follow our lead. Drop the tech when you can use tell me more. And when you get the opportunity take a USie.  

C.S Lewis once said "Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less"