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From this Bible-loving Grandma’s heart <3

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I am careful and cautious to not let this site ever be a rant….we have enough rants out there and the world does not need my opinion on current events…my family can attest to the gift of me NOT sharing one of my rants…so as I put out this post this morning, please hear it as an ENCOURAGEMENT and EXHORTATION to the Body of Christ…

As Russ and I watched the basketball tournaments and then the final game last night, I was sickened in my heart by a commercial that aired for a club in Las Vegas.

The pictures were edgy and provocative in a subtle way…they caught my attention, were beautifully photographed and staged…nothing overtly wrong and yet so very wrong…and if I wondered why I felt unsettled with what I was discerning the tag line at the end sealed the deal….”Just the right amount of wrong”

And my heart breaks when I think of all the young people …. and old people…and all the people in between who are subjected to the lies of the world in such pretty packages.

Then last night, as Russ and I watched the final game, I was assaulted with a brief commercial for an upcoming comedy show…comedy….so please cue the laugh track…(sarcasm intended…rant alert engaged and brought under the authority of Christ)

Here is what I saw and heard in the brief run of the promotion for this show:

Words to the effect that someone’s “Bible thumping grandma” shows up…

and flashes of a clip of a very stereotypical severe looking, gray haired Mrs. Doubtfire-in-polyester pants and a bow-tied blouse is stomping up a sidewalk; and then a zoom in on her big huge black bible, with the words “HOLY BIBLE” embellished in super large letters, firmly tucked under her arm.

This is followed by flashes of a teenage boy opening a box with a cake that is decorated with the words “I AM GAY”…and then more images of the hilarity that ensues including the grandma in a hospital bed moaning…”You have ruined cake for me.”

And here is why I am writing today about this.

I don’t want to protest or write a letter to the producers or boycott any products that are endorsed by the show.

I don’t want to stand in debate with people about why something precious to my faith and my beliefs is allowed to be dishonored and misrepresented.

Instead I am brought to my knees for several reasons.

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The first is confession.

Because I have used the term “Bible thumper”.

I used it in college for the girls who went to Bible study when my friends and I were heading to the bars.

Even though I loved Jesus and prayed every night no matter what my condition, I had distanced myself from walking with Him in the ways I had been raised to know.

Therefore,  I can not shake an angry fist at those who do not even know Him at all and view the Bible this way, when I who DID know Him behaved in such a way.

It is by His grace, and His grace alone that allowed me a second chance to live out the life I dedicated to Him when I received Him as my Savior some 45 years ago.

The second reason I am brought to my knees is because the image of that actress holding her fake, exaggerated Bible reminded me of quite a contrasting picture…

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and I pray for God to protect our children and grandchildren in the face of the ridicule and mockery they will encounter if they continue to hold fast to the Word of Life out there in the years to come.

And I weep because of the lie that God gave us the Bible to beat us up. I weep because it is the beautiful story of our sinfulness and His GRACE.

Yes, He is a God of Justice.

He outlines in His Word how we are to live.

He hates sin and He is clear about what sin is.

But line after line, word after word is His story of love and redemption and forgiveness.

Of healing and wholeness and purpose and meaning.

Of rest and peace and love.

So instead of venting, I am asking you who love the LORD and know what He has done for you, to open your Bibles and read His Words.

Let them fill you and encourage you and then go out and just live them.

With integrity and honesty and gratitude.

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I pray these words fall gently on your spirit and I pray they do not rile you up…but instead remind you of how much you are loved by your Father.

God bless you today as you hold fast to the Word of Life <3

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