'Tis The Season

Just a few fun videos to put you all in the Christmas spirit! :-)

SlutWalk

SlutWalk. Yes, that’s right. It’s a real thing.

You see, back in January, Toronto Police Const. Michael Sanguinetti told a personal security class at York University that "women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized" and since then the man has been crucified. That one statement set off a tidal wave of angry responses and in turn began a movement called SlutWalk, in which women gathered together in the streets of Toronto, some (though not all) purposely dressed in slutty clothes, some even going as far as scrawling the word “slut” across their bellies, and marched against what they deem to be the misogynistic and archaic mentality of slut-shaming and victim-blaming that the officer had apparently displayed.

Now first of all, call me crazy, but I’m pretty sure that dressing like a slut and putting your goods on display for all to see while carrying around signs that declare “No Means No!” isn’t actually going to send the message “No Means No!” Because what you’re wearing is screaming “Yes!” and that’s EXACTLY what the officer was trying to say. You see, the thing is, though the police officer certainly made a bad decision in using the word “slut,” his advice was still sound, because the way you dress as a woman MATTERS, and it will play a large role in whether or not men actually respect you. What he is quoted as saying was in fact a tip in a long slew of statements he was giving to help women make safe decisions and lower their risk of being raped. He did not by any means say, “If you dress like a slut, you deserve rape.” Nor did he say, “Dressing like a slut causes rape.” He really just made the suggestion, though certainly not very tactfully, to dress modestly because it does factor in to the situation. He wasn’t excusing rape, as these women seem to be portraying him as doing. The fact is that no matter what you wear or what situation you’re in, rape is indeed an inexcusable crime and a violation against humanity that nobody deserves. But the truth is---whether or not you want to admit it---there are many instances (though certainly not all) in which the events leading up to a rape were a string of unwise decisions carried out by a woman, and had she made safe and wise decisions---instead of wild ones---the whole instance could have been avoided. This police officer was honestly trying to help women, and now women everywhere are crucifying him for it.

Yup, EVERYWHERE. That’s right, folks. SlutWalk has gone international. Boston, St. Louis, New Delhi, London, Seoul, and just recently, right here in our own backyard…Kansas City. Here are some fun pics from the event... (Taken from the SlutWalkKC website)

A large task many are taking on is that of taking back the word "slut" and no longer allowing it to have a negative connotation. Why? Because according to this frame of mind, women have suffered from slut-shaming for far too long and should be given the same sexual freedom that men have without any societal consequences...Including the consequence of shame. They demand society to accept immodest and promiscuous behavior as good.

Sorry for the language. I just want you to grasp the extent of the protest. Just imagine how much fun parents had explaining all of these signs and inappropriately dressed women to their kids on September 17th.

Now here's the thing. I get the "no means no" tagline. I understand the point that they're trying to get across. But here's the problem: Over 90% of communication is nonverbal. Only about 7% of communication is done through actual words...the rest is determined by tone, facial expressions, appearance, body language, etc. Don't you think it's a little idiotic, then, for us women to think that the way we behave and dress DOESN'T MATTER? Do you REALLY think that your appearance, your behavior, and even the tone of voice you're speaking to someone in can't possibly play a role in leading up to a scenario even as heinous as rape? Should women not have to be accountable for anything anymore? For example, if you're present at a bar or party or rager or whatever you wanna call it where drinking and drugs and sex are a regular and expected occurrence, should you not take responsibility for the fact that you went there? If you're there, you're already giving the people around you the indication that you are there to do those exact same things. You may not want to do those things, but they don't know that. Though “no means no,” the environment in which you have placed yourself already says “yes.” The same goes for the way you are dressed. If you’re wearing a short, tight dress and fishnet stockings, or perhaps you’ve just got all your goods hangin’ out, what you are wearing also says “yes.” It is ridiculous for you to take on the mentality of “I’m going to dress like a slut, but how DARE men notice that I’m dressed like a slut. I’m going to make the areas of my body that I know men are sexually attracted to clearly visible to them and then get upset when men make it known that they're sexually attracted to me.” The same goes for men’s grabby hands. If you’re on the dance floor rubbing up against a guy, dancing provocatively, then again…your body language is saying “yes.” Don’t be surprised if his hands begin to wander, because as far as he can tell, you’ve given him free reign of your body. No guy in that environment is going to wait for you to say “Okay, you can put your hands here, but not here. And over here, but not there,” because as is the case, no woman ever actually says that. He is going to determine what your boundaries are by the boundaries that you are demonstrating to him.

And if you start touching and making out with a guy, then go to a private place with him, I can guarantee you that you are screaming “yes.” You’re not in the kind of place where guys and girls go off to a closet to discuss the latest in politics or how much you both love Star Wars. No, you’re going there because that’s where people go to have sex. He is expecting and hoping for sex, and you are signaling just by going there with him that you’re going to give it to him.

This isn't to say that men shouldn't be held accountable for THEIR actions, because yes, they absolutely should. They know better than to ogle, grab, make lude comments, push a woman for sex, and especially rape a woman. They shouldn't pursue those situations and they should definitely be punished when they do. But seriously, this feminist crap is getting out of hand. Teaching women to do whatever they want sexually, to dress provocatively, and to send men mixed messages and expect no negative consequences isn't helping women, it is hurting us. There is a reason instances of rape have tripled since the feminist and sexual revolutions of the 1960s...and it's certainly not because society was pushing moral standards upon us women---it's because women rebelled against those moral standards that were already in place and men didn't hesitate to take advantage of it. After all, how many men AREN'T going to support a cause that gets them free sex? And now, after having peaked in the 90s, we're seeing a decrease in rape instances again. But let's not deceive ourselves into thinking it's because rape education is a raving success. It's most likely because younger generations of girls are being taught that it's healthy for them to sleep with whoever they want. We're teaching young boys that "no means no" while teaching young girls that it's good to say "yes," and hey, a greater number of willing women means less instances of rape. And let's not even think about the number of girls who don't even report rape because the lines are so blurred these days. But hey, as long as it looks good on the charts, I guess...

I am so tired of women teaching young girls that it's healthy to give their bodies away as if they have no worth. That it's healthy to behave or dress in a way that demeans them. That it's healthy to stomp on men and strip them of their manhood. That it's healthy to hate and distrust all men because of bad experiences in the past. Really, it's healthy? Eating is healthy. But eating too much isn't. Nor is eating the wrong kind of food. Blowfish is a food that's healthy, but if you eat the wrong part of it you die because it's poisonous. Sex is good...within the boundaries God has given us. Outside of those boundaries, it's poisonous...to our hearts, souls, minds, relationships, and yes, bodies. So no, giving into every sexual desire you have is NOT healthy. What is healthy is healing the scars that are leading you to behave as you are, and giving your body away doesn't bring healing. Sex does not heal. Beauty does not heal. Attention from men does not heal. Hatred and bitterness does not heal. Profanity does not heal. Inappropriate protests do not heal. And trying to change the definition and perception of what is bad to good does not and will not heal.

I wish I would have known this was taking place in Kansas City. I would have loved to create signs that said "God loves sluts...AND rapists" or "God redeems sluts AND rapists. Who are you redeeming today?" I know they're claiming to try to redeem rape victims. To point out that they are in fact victims. But honestly, the way in which they did so only made things worse. It's sad that they took such a good cause and turned it into such a filthy display. But hey, if anything, I hope this whole SlutWalk thing opens our eyes and reveals to us the immense need for us to teach young women that God loves them, has redeemed them with the blood of Christ, and that because He loves them he really does care what they do with their bodies. He created them with worth, and has proven their worth to them on the cross. He gave us boundaries because they're what's best for us. Yes, it's true. Not even science has been able to disprove those boundaries in terms of what is considered physically and emotionally healthy. So if you're a "slut" and proud to be one, know that Christ became a slut in the eyes of God and took on the punishment of being one so that you would no longer be called a slut, but a child of God. Christ's refusal to protest on the cross has accomplished far more than any SlutWalk protest ever could to redeem women. His lack of words puts their plethora of empty words to shame.

So let us learn from 1 Corinthians that just because the world and the law allows such behavior, and just because some twist it and deem it "healthy," does not mean it's BENEFICIAL.

And now I'll just leave you with these three videos. One is coverage from the Toronto SlutWalk and the other two help shed light on the history of feminism and its effects on our culture. I hope the eyes of those who watch it will be opened:

“Everything is permissible for me”—but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible for me”—but I will not be mastered by anything. 13“Food for the stomach and the stomach for food”—but God will destroy them both. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. 15Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! 16Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.”b 17But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit.

18Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. 19Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

---1 Corinthians 6:12-20

Bad Decision Thursday

In case any of you didn't know this, because I'm sure it's incredibly hard to tell in real life due to my teenaged good looks, but I'm not as young as I appear. I am in fact a ripe---and, ah hem, mature---25 years old. Yup, that's right---a whooooole quarter of a century. And do you know what that means? It means this girl has 25 years of pictorial evidence of really BAD decisions. Yes, it's true. The evidence abounds---bad haircuts, braces, awkward smiles, and fashion that appears to have been inspired by an explosion at the local Goodwill. And on top of that, did I mention that when God was handing out gifts to me, he somehow forgot to bless me with the gift of being photogenic? No angry fists here, though. I'm already too blessed to be upset about not photographing like Tyra Banks, and really, I suppose I can only thank my parents for my misfortune...and be aboundingly thankful that I don't photograph like them. Someday I'll have to share how well THAT goes. So, as it turns out, due to my sad photographic misfortune, the bad decisions continue to be captured even to this very day. But for today, I'll start you off with this gem. Yes, it's true, from the very day of my birth, the world was against me.

It's not that this is a particularly bad picture of me. I'm really a quite adorable newborn, if I do say so myself. But does anyone happen to notice a problem with this picture? Like, oh say, the fact that all my bedding is blue!? Yes, BLUE. You know, the color they swaddled little newborn BOYS in. Not only did I think that MY baby picture was actually my brother's for half my life (because oddly enough, he was swaddled in pink), but on top of that...and here's the clencher...my parents actually got a bill from the hospital for my CIRCUMCISION. Yes, that's right. A circumcision. My dad promptly called the hospital to sort that fiasco out and all was of course made well, but boy is that a story you don't want to hear about. Ever. You can just imagine the thoughts that ran through my crazy, imaginitive mind: "Did they just run out of pink blankets? Was I somehow switched at birth? Do I have a secret twin brother? Was I born a hermaphrodyte?!?" I don't to this day actually know why the hospital staff swaddled me in blue, but I'm just going to assume they ran out of pink blankets, or perhaps blame it on incompetence. Please, though, rest assured that I was, in fact, born a girl and do indeed remain a girl to this very day. Please disregard the picture as evidence to the contrary...and consider me to be but the innocent victim of someone else's bad decision in this case. But oh, trust me, there's plenty more of my own bad decisions to be seen...in time. Enjoy, my friends. Enjoy.

There's No Such Thing As A Good Person

“But I’m a good person.”

I’ve heard it plenty, and thought it myself often enough. Yet here’s the cold, hard truth folks:

There’s no such thing as a good person.

There, I said it. It’s out in the open. Let the hoards of angry comments abound. But let it sink in, and really think about it…because it really is true. There's far more evidence on earth for the existence of bigfoot than there is for the notion that any human being is actually a good person.

One of the most difficult things to convince this generation of is the reality of sin, of just plain human nature in general. You would think it would be fairly easy to prove. After all, what the Bible says about human nature much of philosophy, the sciences, and history agree on. Yet so many have been raised in the church on Biblical morals, and so many who weren’t raised in the church have at least been raised on solid Bible-based moral values, so that they tend to believe they’re good enough to be in a position where they don’t actually need a savior. Apparently we can somehow reach God by being like God (even though we're actually nothing like Him) without the actual help of God. Or perhaps we’ve been taught God doesn’t exist, and that we’re pretty much our own gods, but we should still live moral lives for the sake of the survival of our species, because as it turns out, if we all give in to our nature, we’ll all die. That’s how bad we are.

We are such an “advanced” society, and yet in reality, many of us haven’t even remotely exceeded the ancient Egyptians in our thinking that our entrance into God’s presence depends on some sort of scale in which God measures our hearts by weighing out the good against the bad, where the best you can do is stand there thinking to yourself “Come on, come on. No whammies. No whammies!” and hope that you can come out okay. Still more think that God has some sort of criteria based on the person of someone like Hitler, where if a person’s heart exceeds the goodness of Hitler’s they have somehow merited eternal life. And then there are those who think that God will let them off the hook if they just point out that He never gave them enough evidence that He even existed, or that He was the one, true God among all the others.

When you really put it into perspective, what foolishness this is. God is a good and holy judge, and yet we have made him out as if He is a fool and a crook with little or no expectations of His creation. As if He's too much of an idiot to know the real motives of our hearts. The low expectations we have of him concerning the account of our own lives we would never stand for in the court of law. If a man came on trial for murder in our court system and used the excuses we use before God, the jury wouldn’t even hesitate to convict him, and we would all cry out “Injustice! Corruption!” if they failed to. Just imagine our excuses in a courtroom setting:

“Yes your honor, I did commit murder, but look at all the good things I’ve done.”

“Yes your honor, I killed a man. But that’s nothing in comparison to someone like Hitler.”

“Yes, I did it. But did you SEE what that guy over there did? He killed TWO people. Shouldn’t you let me off and convict him instead?”

“Your honor, you must excuse this offence. After all, I was under the impression that I was getting a different judge. I was hoping for someone a little less…just.”

“Sure I did it. Clearly there’s no hiding it. But surely you can’t hold me accountable for it. After all, you never even gave me enough evidence that you existed. I had no idea there’d be a judge proceeding over the trial! If I knew there was a judge, then I'm sure I would have been completely different from the rest of mankind and wouldn't have done it out of disobedience. So this is all really kind of your fault.”

What lousy excuses. If our defense would never hold up in a court of law, what makes us think it would stand up to the one and only Lawgiver, the one whose very character is the standard by which we are judged? If even Nietszhe and Twain can not deny the sinful nature of man, how is it that we’ve blinded ourselves from it? Twain says, "[M]an is what he is--loving, toward his own, lovable, to his own,--his family, his friends--and, otherwise the buzzing, busy, trivial, enemy of his race--who tarries his little day, does his little dirt, commends himself to God, and then goes out into the darkness, to return no more, and send no messages back--selfish even in death." There is no escape from our selfishness. When we give, it is only so that we will receive---whether it be accolades, a gift in return, or a pat on the back…anything to feed our pride in the humility we have demonstrated. When we love, it is only on the basis that we will in turn be loved. When we forgive, it is only to free ourselves of the burden of a bitter and resentful heart, for a spirit of unforgiveness harms ourselves far more than it harms the one who has offended us. Everything we do and say is motivated by selfishness. Any instances of true selfless love we display are certainly too few and far between for God to ever consider them to be of any merit, and if those instances even do exist, they were most likely the work of God, not us.

It’s easy to fool myself into believing I’m a good person. It’s easy to think I could somehow, someday actually merit God’s love or mercy. After all, I go to church every Sunday, I say my prayers, I serve students, I give to the poor, I’m just an all around nice, moral person by the world’s standards. And yet, if I were to sit down and write every instance of sin in my life from birth till now, the weight of it all would be too great to bear. I would be crushed. When we take account of every lie, every ounce of pride, every hateful and murderous thought, every instance of lust and laziness and gluttony, and every motive that has driven even our “good” deeds, our good deeds become nothing more than filthy rags in the midst of a pile of refuse. I hope you still don’t think you’re a good person…because no matter how moral you are, in the grand scheme of things, and particularly in the presence of a good and holy God, you’re filthy.

I’ve heard far too many people shake their fist at God and ask, “How can a good God allow anyone to go to hell?” It’s a question that is often asked out of a compassionate heart, yet it’s also a question that falsely thinks very highly of humanity. If you take humanity for what it really is, then the question we should all be asking isn’t “How can a good God allow anyone to go to hell?” but instead “How can a good God allow anyone who is less than good into heaven? How can he allow anyone at all? How could He possibly allow ME?”

And that is where the beauty of the God of this universe simply astounds me, for He is so vastly different from any of us. Thank God the fate of the universe is not in our hands. Unlike us, He loves those who do not love Him in return. Unlike us, He gives and asks nothing in return. Everything He has done for us has been done out of a selfess love, and every command He has given us is for our own protection. He shed His own innocent blood to pay for the sins of an undeserving human race, all so that we might be reconciled to Him and know firsthand not just what true, selfless, abiding love is…but WHO it is. We were made to know Him and to live with Him eternally, and He's done everything in His power to pursue us and see that it happens, even if we don't want Him in return. If he were simply just, He would have destroyed us all a long time ago. If He were no more than merciful, He would have never created us at all. Yet because He is also loving, He carried out His mercy by pouring out His justice and wrath upon Himself, so that by believing in Him, our debt would be paid in full. There is no more tarrying for God’s approval when the cross is before us, for it has been given to us through the blood of Jesus Christ. He alone is the evidence of the good and loving God that we all long to know. He is the evidence that we demand of a personal God who cares. He is God’s promises revealed, His faithfulness proven, His character observed, and the hope of eternal life and no condemnation because of what HE has done, not us. Truly there is no one good but God.

If you turn to the natural world to discover truth, you will certainly find truth, but it will be the truth of humanity---a hopeless truth. You will come face to face with your own inescapable selfish nature and the meaninglessness of life without a God. Your origin will be determined by nothing more than an educated guess, your morality will have no solid foundation on which to stand, and unless the dead themselves have spoken to you, your fate lies in the dark abyss of the unknown. The only thing you will ever know with certainty is that you will die, and that you will die a selfish person. There is no hope for anyone apart from God.

But if you turn to the Word of God to discover truth, you are faced with a truth that sets you free. Yes, you are faced with the same selfish nature of man that not even the sciences can overcome, but you are also given hope, worth, love, grace, and eternal life in the midst of it. The filthy, stained, battered and bruised heart that no man, machine, nor religion can repair, God can make anew. He changes us. He declares us good in His sight and it is His love that in turn makes us good. I’ve studied many a religion and irreligion, and I have yet to hear anything better than the Gospel, nor see anything proven more true, and I certainly have yet to have experienced anything greater or more powerful than the love of Christ. Trust me. After all, why shouldn’t you? I’m a filthy, dirty sinner with little credibility to my name...

But I’ve been made new, and have found true freedom in Christ. If you envy me for anything let it be for that, and I beg of you to grasp a hold of it for yourself. Please, take all the grace that you can. I can promise you He’ll lavish you in it. What the world would never forgive, He has forgiven in full.

Nyan Cat Mania

Is it weird that I find Nyan Cat more hilarious than annoying? Yeah, didn't think so. Enjoy!









Even though I've pretty much already decided what I'm gonna be for Halloween this year, I still can't stop considering this costume. Ah-ma-zing.

Exposed.

Last night I spent some time reading Psalm 119 and found myself taken aback by the heart of this unknown and mysterious author. His passion and love for God is demonstrated by his hunger and thirst for His law. He says things like “I open my mouth and pant, longing for your commands” (v. 131) and “Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long.” “My soul is consumed with longing for your laws at all times.” "I will speak of your statutes before kings and will not be put to shame, for I delight in your commands because I love them." This man loved the law, and here I am after reading this, the darkness of my own heart exposed to the world, realizing that what this man loves I often despise. I am not panting for the Lord’s commands. If anything, I often resent them, and having had to suffer through reading Leviticus, I especially can’t imagine myself having an attitude of delight towards the laws abounding within it. Oh yes, I do my best to follow the Lord’s commands, but my heart does not always delight in them like this man’s does, especially not to the same extent of his. The words of this Psalmist have laid my heart bare. What good is my obedience if my heart does not delight in it? What good are my works if they’re done only in vain?

This Psalmist prays a prayer that has been mine for months. In verse 34 he pleads a simple request: “Give me understanding.” I’ve been praying this over and over and truly God has given me far more understanding than I had ever anticipated. Understanding of God’s character and faithfulness. Understanding of His love and His constant desire for what is best for me. Understanding of the world around me through study of philosophy, science, history, and religion, and in the end He has given me an intense clarity and the blessed assurance that Jesus Christ truly is the way, the truth, and the life. I know that both in my head and my heart without a shadow of a doubt. And yet I can’t help but think that though God answered my prayer, He has also revealed to me that much of it was in vain. Sure, I prayed for understanding, but look at the rest of this Psalmist’s earnest prayer. Mine was nothing of the sort.

“Give me understanding and I will keep your law and obey it with all my heart. Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight. Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain. Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word. Fulfill your promise to your servant, so that you may be feared. Take away the disgrace I dread, for your laws are good. How I long for your precepts! Preserve my life in your righteousness.” (34-40)

Trust me, because I’m speaking from a vast amount of experience here---understanding with your mind is completely worthless unless you also understand with your heart, and it is made even more worthless if in your understanding you don’t even seek to obey what God Himself has revealed to you. What good is hearing if you will not listen? What good is knowing if you will not act? Knowing ABOUT God is absolutely worthless in comparison to knowing God, and being able to know God and have a relationship with Him through faith in Christ is what makes Christianity truly unique among all of the other world religions. I’ve met far too many people on a quest for knowledge who have studied anything and everything and yet never realized that if they call upon the name of the Lord, He will reveal Himself to them. They could not fathom that in their search for evidence for God, God has offered them the best evidence of all---Himself. He is always waiting, always pursuing. And yet so many of us use our studies of even Scripture itself as a way to avoid God. And yet truly, I've learned time and time again through my own failings that the character and presence of God is far greater than any amount of head knowledge you could ever possibly possess. The Psalmist understood this, and though I understood this in my head, I did not believe it in my heart. I deceived myself, as I often do, into believing that something other than God Himself would bring me fulfillment.

Hebrews 4:12-13 is absolutely true. “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”

God saw the motives of my heart, and yet He answered my prayer anyway, knowing that I too would eventually realize my motives. The power of God’s word never ceases to amaze me. It penetrates my soul, convicts me, and changes me. It is the only literature I have ever read that has such an effect on me, and is evidence of the goodness, power, and active work of God in its ability to do so.

I Am Second

We watched this last night at youth group and I was absolutely astounded. I LOVE hearing others' testimonies. To me, that's the most convincing evidence God could possibly give any of us for the truth of the Gospel. A changed heart and a changed life...the transforming power of Christ within us. If that's not something to shout for joy about then I don't know what is! If you get a chance, go to the I Am Second website and watch some more testimonies. In the meantime I hope you're blown away by ex-Korn band member Brian Welch's story.