Communion

A lot of people in my life seem to be struggling with the idea of communion and have been making it this problem more vocal lately. They are struggling for various reasons but mainly it is because they are made to feel that they are not welcome to take communion. Some are even told that they are drinking their damnation. I don't know about you but liquid hell does not sound appetizing to me. This angers and saddens me especially because they are being denied and discouraged to take communion in the name of Jesus Christ. I was sent this from my pastor and I wanted to share it.
"The first time Jesus sat down to this meal, among those gathered there were one who would doubt him, one who would deny him, one who would betray him, and they would all leave him alone before that night was over—and he knew it. Still he sat down and ate with them. If he ate with them, surely he's ready to eat with us—baptized or not, confessed or not, Christian or not, sure or not, believer or not, saint or sinner or a little of both. All you have to be to eat at this table is hungry."
Communion is for the hungry. Period. It reminds me of Mark 2:17-On hearing this, Jesus said to them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
Again communion is for the hungry, not the full. So if you are hungry you are welcome to the table no matter what anyone else says.

Exodus Ministries and Such

I have just recently watched the movie/documentary For The Bible Tells Me So. This movie follows four families that are conservative Christians and have a gay child. This movie does a great job of showing all sides of the argument and it got me to start searching into some of the groups and practices they were talking about; mainly repairitive therapy and ex-gay ministries.
If you Google search ex-gay ministries the first thing that pops up is Exodus Ministries. Exodus Ministries claims to be "the largest information and referral ministry in the world addressing homosexual issues." This is a major claim and I wanted to look more into what their beliefs and practices were if they are educating people globally about homosexuality.
The information I found is SCARY! Despite having no evidence to back it up, they were linking homosexuality to pedophilia, ruined families, messed up children, and even the fall of America. They even claimed that AIDS is "a reaping of consequences of God's wrath." So basically AIDS is the "gay disease." How 1980's can you get?
I can't believe that this website/foundation/whatever it is, is considered to be legitimate. I feel physically ill everytime I visit the website and my heart hurts for those people that buy into this stuff.
They need to be told that God made them that way and loves them for exactly who they are. Not that they need to try to change something, that can't be changed, in order to earn God's love and be happy in life.
It reminds me of 1 Corinthians 15:10a- But by the grace of God I am what I am.

RMN and Amendment 1

If you are a United Methodist you probably know about Annual Conference and the passing of laws. At this Annual Conference Amendment 1 is being voted on. Amendment 1 would make church membership all inclusive. Unfortunately most people think that this is just the gay/lesbian amendment. While this amendment will affect mainly the gay community it really is just to state that no matter what race/sex/gender/ or sexuality you are you can still be a member of the United Methodist church. As of now the voting stands 50.08% no and 49.92% yes. Unfortunately this is not nearly enough to pass the amendment. This is extremely depressing. I found a great poem on Reconciling Ministries Network that I thought I would share:

pink hair, ponytails
outrageous make-up
silicone breasts popping
the buttons of a polyester shirt
rainbow scarf waving in the air
a neon-green mini-skirt
revealing muscled legs
in tattered fishnets
with size 11 feet
in 6 inch heels
made in the image of God

brown hair, styled
like Clark Gable
lightly speckled face
from a long-ago shave
baggy Fitch shirt over a
naturally expanding chest
faded jeans worn at the hips
and a rainbow belt
with size 7 feet
in brown loafers
beloved child of God

the bread of life
given for you
to live a life as you were
made and created
loving as you were made to love
the cup of a new covenant
given for you
to create a space
to meet the one
who loves you
communion with God
--Terri Stewart

Pipes and Codependence

I'm really excited! The other day I bought a pipe and hopefully I will be able to start smoking it soon. Don't worry it's just tobacco :) I just thought it fit my personality. What could be better than reading and writing? Reading and writing while smoking a pipe!
Also the other day I was talking to my friend and she told me about her brother who realized he was codependent and how she was realizing that she is too. We are really similar and so she told me to check out Codependents Anonymous. Of course I did and I realized, holy hell batman, I am codependent too. Unfortunately there aren't any meetings where I'm from. To explain codependency in a simple nutshell form: it basically means that you have a hard time developing healthy relationships because of certain behaviors. So I decided to buy a bunch of books and I guess I'll see how it goes. The reason I'm telling you this is because I'll probably blog about what I read!
Tootles!

New Blog

Hi there!
This is my new blog where I will try to rant and rave more frequently than the last. I hope you will share your opinions. Even if I don't agree with or like what you have to say, I'm definitely interested in your opinion so please feel free to comment on anything. Please be respectful.
Thanks,
Emily