“We proposed legislation that would, in effect, disapprove of a sex-change operation and would affirm biological gender as a divine gift.”
Are your tonsils a divine gift? Your gall bladder? If a Methodist’s uterus isn’t working for her probably she has it removed, why not some similarly placed organs?
While a prayer for Iraq can’t hurt I predict a pullout would do everyone but those who hate us a lot more good.

“We proposed legislation that would, in effect, disapprove of a sex-change operation and would affirm biological gender as a divine gift.”
Way Conservatives and Liberals Think Differently #4,701: The idea that gender is just about genitals.
God bless.

The Bible clearly states that it was the straight couple that was cursed and thrown out of Eden. Wake up, people — God diaapproves of heterosexuality!

Bishop Janice Riggle Huie, president of the Church Council of Bishops said she hopes delegates can move beyond the transgender discussion and direct their attention to a broader agenda addressing issues such as global health and church leadership.
This is a cope out. Transgender people are already in Church Leadership, she knows that she’s trying to get rid of them. Nothing….nothing is more importanat than deciding how to give Jesus’s justice to his people that are Homosexual or Transgendered. They are members of your Church Methodists. If they don’t do it soon they will lose more members.

Good one, sinsonte!
As a former Methodist, I hope they wake up and smell the roses and don’t get bogged down with the “biological gender is a divine gift” thing. (My sister is still a Methodist, I’ll have to ask her what she thinks about this..but she tends to be liberal).
I’d hate to see the conservatives have one church and the liberals (those who live in today) have another, but if it happens, so be it. Other denominations have split and are doing just fine.

cknuck, if you show up here there’s some action on the sewage sludge “experiment” you brought up elsewhere. Article in Salon.

Way Conservatives and Liberals Think Differently #4,701: The idea that gender is just about genitals.
Wow! So simply said, yet so deep and so good at explaining the point. So much of what we perceive as appropriate for a given gender is based on environment, upbringing, preconceived notions. It wasn’t that long ago, for example, that women in sports were perceived as an oddity and something that had to be legislated – can anyone say “Title IX”? Now, thank goodness, it’s pretty much accepted as the norm (Go Lady Knights and UCONN!).

Nnmns, if you have the patience, please either give me step by step directions, or point me to directions, on how to post links such as the one you did above.
Thank you.

Lord Jesus I pray you would give those attending the conference the wisdom and discernment to do what is RIGHT in the eyes of God. His will be done always.
John Wesley is probably turning in his grave over the issues plaguing the church today. Praise God that He led us to a church that is BIBLICALLY based and doesn’t subscribe to the “if it feels good, do it” rhetoric.

ecl, I’d be happy to. There is a problem in that if I show you the string to use I expect the interpreter could go nuts. I hope this will work:
For a link like you asked about I use:
<a href=”**put-URL-here**” target=”_blank”>**put-link-text-here**</a>
In that, the **put-URL-here** is replaced by the URL of the page you want us to jump to and the **put-link-text-here** is replaced by the text you want for the link. All the other stuff needs to stay the same as you see there.
I have that string I hope you saw in a little text document that I keep open and can quickly go to to copy it onto the clipboard and paste it into my comments window where I want a link, then go to the page I want to show people and highlight the URL and copy it onto the clipboard and go back to the comments window, highlight **put-URL-here** and paste the URL where that was, then highlight **put-link-text-here** and type in whatever text I want. Maybe you can just remember the HTML code and type it in at need.
Most of the HTML that gets used here is simpler. It seems to me you may have used italics or bold but I’m not sure.
Well let’s see if that worked.

Well that seems to have worked as I hoped. I must emphasize there’s very little if any leeway. The quotation marks and angle brackets and = sign all need to be where they are above. If I were you I’d just make a little text document and copy that string of symbols into it and keep it for future use rather than typing it in each time, but maybe you have a better memory and typing than I do. Good luck and don’t worry if you mess up a little; I do .

PC, if “God” didn’t want transgendered people preaching in “His” church, why didn’t “He” mention it when “He” was dictating the Bible? An oversight?

The fact that John Westley is dead is just the point, Proud C.
Fortunately things have changed ALOT since the founder’s time, and things should continue to keep up with the times. People are people, and should be accepted for who they are.
So if there is a God, let’s hope She/He is as understanding as folks think She/He is and if there is guidance to be done…in favor of those who can serve the church…no matter if they are heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual or transgendered. JC was accepting of all, right? So why can’t his followers be also?

I’m glad I left the Methodist Church 48 years ago. Even then the church seemed more concerned about pleasing people than pleasing God.
The real Jesus, the one presented in the pages of the New Testament, certainly did not accept everyone. He said the Pharisees were of their father the devil (John 8:44). He told Nicodemus that if he wanted to see God he had to be “born again” (John 3:3). He exposed the sin of the woman at the well who had had seven husbands and was living with a man who was not her husband (John 4:17). In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, Jesus depicted Lazarus in Heaven and the rich man in Hades (Luke 16:19-31).
Jesus did not accept anyone the way they were. Those who trusted Him He changed. Peter was a man who had a habit of putting his foot in his mouth. Jesus made him a man who preached the gospel to thousands of people. Paul was a man who persecuted Christians condemning them to execution. Jesus made him into the greatest preacher of all time, a man who started many local churches in the ancient world and wrote a major portion of the New Testament. The all accepting Jesus depicted here in some of these posts is unknown in the Scriptures., and apparently in the modern Methodist Church as well.

n…s, thank you, I will give this a try sometime. It’ll be frustrating, though, and apologies in advance, for when I mess up (guess I should try to be an optimist, shouldn’t I?).
I like the text idea to cut and paste and just replace the actual link and link name.
I can’t remember – did you say something about memory?
Beliefnet home
Here’s a try; we’ll see if it works.

Holy cow – it worked! Thank you!

If indeed the Methodist church was concerned about pleasing people 48 years ago (I was around then, but not a Methodist anymore) perhaps they will continue to be and accept GBLT people.
It seems that JC, according to WC, did not accept anyone the way they were. Then what was the point? Was JC saying that his father made some mistakes in His creations?
The woman at the well had had 7 husbands? She must have been a good looking lady! Living with a man who wasn’t one of her husbands? Maybe she decided not to have to go through yet another legal split…easier to leave without all the paperwork!

ecl, my pleasure. Happy linking.

PC, if “God” didn’t want transgendered people preaching in “His” church, why didn’t “He” mention it when “He” was dictating the Bible? An oversight?
The Bible also doesn’t mention not beating your wife as well—-should we approve of that then? . .
Bad logic . . .

“Bad logic . . .”
No, good logic if you think there’s a god that inspired the Bible and cares about transgendered preaching. It would surely have said something. It didn’t and I presume didn’t say anything about beating one’s wife either. One can conclude, logically, that such a god exists and doesn’t care about those things or that the Bible is not inspired by such a god, perhaps because no such god exists (that’s the best choice).

“I’m glad I left the Methodist Church 48 years ago. Even then the church seemed more concerned about pleasing people than pleasing God.”, so wrote Windsors Child.
What does God require of you Mortal? To love justice, do kindness and walk humbly with your God.
Justice is not about laws, but about expanding the margins to include people who would otherwise be outside and in the fringe. So, it is just opening the doors and inviting the outcasts in.
Doing kindness is simply playing nice and being considerate of other people – ALL other people, not only the ones you like or even simply find palatable
Walking humbly seems to be the hardest part of this prophesy. That is putting the needs of others ahead of your own. There is a group of people that feels they need to be part of the Methodist church. Yet some of the congregations cannot seem to humble themselves enough to allow them to join.
Faith is not an easy path with only your friends and people like you. Faith can be a bouncy, twisted, confusing route. But the trip is so much more exciting and enjoyable, so it is worthwhile. I hope the Methodists throw open their doors. And if they don’t I know a whole bunch of churches that will, though we are not very methodical.

What does God require of you Mortal? To love justice, do kindness and walk humbly with your God.
Justice is not about laws, but about expanding the margins to include people who would otherwise be outside and in the fringe. So, it is just opening the doors and inviting the outcasts in.
Doing kindness is simply playing nice and being considerate of other people – ALL other people, not only the ones you like or even simply find palatable.
Walking humbly seems to be the hardest part of this prophesy. That is putting the needs of others ahead of your own.
Wow. I know someone who thinks he’s very, very “Christian” who actually needs to pay close attention to this.

The issue here seems to be does God accept people the way they are, or does He try to make them better than they were when He found them? And if people need changing does that mean God goofed when He made them?
First, I don’t believe God makes mistakes. But we do. He did not create robots but people with minds and hearts to make choices. We don’t always make the best choices.
There is ample support from the Scriptures that God wants to make us better than we are. Some of you do not believe there is a God, and that’s fine, that’s your choice. Of course, you should realize that if there is a God, then your choice not to believe in Him does not change the fact that He exists.
Some of you choose to think of God as a benevolent, kind old man who does not see our blemishes and so just accepts us as we are and lets us make our bad choices. You can believe in that kind of God if you choose, but that is not the God of the Bible.
Jesus told the woman with seven former husbands who was living with a man who was not her husband to “go, and sin no more.” He forgave her and He gave her the opportunity to change, but He did not accept her the way she was.
As far as instructions in the Bible about beating your wife, I go to Paul’s statement in Ephesians 5: “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it.” If I love my wife the way Christ loved me, I won’t be beating her up any time soon. I won’t be beating her at all.
There are many statements in these posts about what the Bible says or does not say, but it does not seem that many who write these posts actually know what the Bible does or does not say.

WC I’m glad wife beating is discouraged in the Bible; I took the word of someone who seemed to think he knew the Bible. I make no such claims.
Believing in any one of a multitude of possible gods does not change the fact there is essentially no chance it exists.

WC-
“Jesus told the woman with seven former husbands who was living with a man who was not her husband to “go, and sin no more.” He forgave her and He gave her the opportunity to change, but He did not accept her the way she was.”
First, it appears that you believe you know what the woman’s sin was.
Second, where did Christ say….I will forgive you only if you change…and/or that he did not love and accept her the way she was?
Peace!

Pagansister ~ I do not have energy or time to address your entire inane comment. I will address the “he/she”, however.
“Our FATHER, who art in Heaven….”
“No one get’s to the FATHER but through me…”
Adam was made in the image and likeness of God…..Eve was made from Adam. Adam was A MAN. In my world FATHERS are MEN. There is no he/she. There is only He. My God, My Father, Abba.
Some of you making comments are making statements based on your OWN feelings, thoughts, and conclusions. I implore you to dig deep, study the Word, pray God will reveal His will and truth to you. Set out to disprove (through the WORD) those of us who are “conservative” and you may just surprise yourself with the answers you find. I truly pray I see you all in paradise.

Yes, I know what the woman’s sin was. It’s not rocket science to figure it out.
In the culture of that day, living with a man to whom you were not married, indeed, having had a series of husbands, was a sin. The law, which was accepted by both Jews and Samaritans (this woman was a Samaritan) said that adultery was a sin. By the way, it still is.
Loving someone and accepting them the way they are are two different things. When my wife and I were raising our daughters we loved them unconditionally. We did not always accept them the way they were. We tried to change them, just as they are now doing with their children.
And the statement that there is no chance any god exists is true. Unless, of course, you are talking about the only God Who really does exist. I believe there is no chance that multiple gods exist. I am convinced that the One True God does exist. If there is a God, then there can only be one God by virtue of definition. And that God is real, as far as I and many others are concerned.

PROUD conservative-
“No one get’s to the FATHER but through me…”
Are you suggesting that those born prior to Christ are not with the Father? What about those born in China pre-1800′s? Or, in Southern Africa and/or South America pre-1600′s? Or, native Americans born prior to the European invasion pre-1600′s?
Peace!

WC-
I think you may be conflating John 4 and John 8…in John 4, the Samaritan woman had 5 husbands….and, in John 8 the Pharisees are accusing the woman of adultery.
If you re-read both chapters, I think you will find that the point was not to judge….the point was that we are all equally children of God whether we are Samaritan….adulterers…..or, women.
Peace!

If memory serves me right, Adam was made from Adama (original language, whatever it was) which is a feminine term for Earth.
But it doesn’t really matter, because it’s just a story written by humans.

And the statement that there is no chance any god exists is true. Unless, of course, you are talking about the only God Who really does exist. I believe there is no chance that multiple gods exist. I am convinced that the One True God does exist. If there is a God, then there can only be one God by virtue of definition. And that God is real, as far as I and many others are concerned.

I said there is essentially no chance. Not much practical difference but a big difference in philosophy. I allow for the minute possibly a god, even your god, exists. You make the absolute claim that not only does a god exist but it’s the one you worship and furthermore there aren’t any more. That’s an exceedingly strong claim given the total lack of evidence you have for it. Faith only works inside your head, but you are making the claim out here where we can point out the fallacies.

It is Spring and the sap starts to rise again, even for denominations. It seems like every year one denomination or another has some sexual crisis to deal with in the Spring or Summer meetings. Perhaps Protestantism in America is simply going through its own adolescence. It must be fun because it keeps happening. O’ well, the hormonal surge tide happens just as hurricane season begins.

P.Conservative:
Thanks for trying to answer the She/He situation. I know it took some of your time and energy. Quoting me the Lord’s prayer proves nothing. I learned that as a child, in the Methodist church (and got to repeat it a lot when I taught in a Catholic school for 10 years…there it is known as the “Our Father.”.) However after all that repetition hasn’t convinced me that there is a god. Not proof.
I sincerely hope that my former denomination comes to it’s senses, and realizes that this isn’t 2000 years ago. Equality for all, not just for some. There has been a vast improvement in life since JC’s time..and the Bible if chosen as a life guide, needs some updating…to 2008. What’s wrong with yet another version…there have been so many already, what’s one more?

The Bible is the inspired word of God. I beleive that every word translates to today jsut as it did 2000 years ago. It is living, breathing, and ALIVE just as Jesus is.
As far as those people who lived before Jesus’ time. There was a new covenant poured out to those who believed when Jesus died on that cross.
I just know that I know that I know that if I were the only human left on Earth, He would have done it again. He loves us THAT much.
I am not against homosexuals, persay, just their lifestyle. I have a sister who is gay…she chooses to remain celebate because to act on her fleshly desires would be sinful. We all have crosses to bear…hers is homosexuality.
I sincerely pray that we all get to find out the answers when Jesus comes again….but I can only hold fast to the Truth as I believe God has revealed it to my heart. There is ONE way to the FATHER and I am going to try my best to get there and live eternally worshipping Him.

“The Bible is the inspired word of God.”
Then why all the bloopers? Was “God” too busy to pay attention?
“It is living, breathing, and ALIVE just as Jesus is.”
If you’d said “just as alive as Jesus” you’d have hit the mark. “Jesus” is only alive in your head and some other peoples’ heads. But there are a lot more heads in the world with no “Jesus” than with one. For a “Jesus” like you imagine out in the world there is zero evidence. For a “God” like you imagine actually existing there is zero evidence.
You are just wrong on that, sorry.

Inspired word of God, P. C.? That would be your interpretation, not everyones. Every religion has a book inspired by their divine leader, and there are many, many leaders. Your book isn’t any better than the books used by other faiths. The value of a faith is in the minds of the people who follow it…that’s all and different faiths appeal to different people. As to the book being alive for today…again, your belief.
Homosexual “life style”? Inaccurate. Just like a person saying that heterosexuality is a “life style”. Considering homosexuality as a “cross to bear”? IMO, that is also your belief. Your sister’s decision to be celibate is her decision. Anyone’s decision to be celibate, no matter what gender or sexual orientation is just that…their decision. It is neither right or wrong.
As for JC’s return. I’m not holding my breath.(since I don’t think any dead person returns). That has been predicted for years…and somehow when it doesn’t happen on the predicted date, the people making that prediction have no reason. Funny about that.

We were members of the Methodist Church for a lot of years, until the far right influence entered. In Long Island, the same thing was tried in my Cousins Methodist Church a year before ours. The Pastor talked to them and explained that their Church wasn’t going to change to please them. They left little by little. Because of the bible belt where we are that didn’t happen. So we left. We refuse to watch Gay people be slighted and put down, we find it hard to worship in this atmosphere, and we won’t. We stand for Christ and justice and all our brothers and sisters in this world.
We feel that Churches are influencing sick-minded people who hurt the GLBT mentally and physically by their preaching against them. I sincerely hope that the United Methodist Church eventually will change their doctrine.

I was hoping when I initially starting reading these comments that the majority would be from Methodists who are appalled at the direction the Church is taking. The comments I am reading, however, are the very reason my husband and I have chosen to leave the Methodist church and move on to an evangelical church. Assemblies of God.
I wish you all well and will pray for your hearts and minds to be open to the TRUTH. Jesus is ALIVE. And He will come again. And by His infinate Grace I will get to spend an eternity worshipping Him and praising His holy name for all He has done!

“And by His infinate Grace I will get to spend an eternity worshipping Him and praising His holy name for all He has done!”
Big whoop. If that’s heaven no wonder they made hell sound as bad as they could.
Just keep in mind, every time you pull out your checkbook again, this is indeed all in your mind.

My My nnmns, what’s a fellow conservative to do around here to have a voice.
There is no such thing as a transgender in the first place let alone it be divine, that’s a laugh. It’s no more than a couple of well placed cuts and hormone cocktails and still the same gender the poor mutilated soul started out with minus, (never really added) some parts.
The whole country has gone insane to think such a person could lead worship or even come before proud of what they did to their bodies.

Please let me explain sin and its expediential nature. Many sins today are not recognized as sin as sin grows in power many are simply ignored or considered acceptable.
First homosexuality overtook the church, the church accepted it and soon behind homosexuality the natural progression of so-called transsexual followed. It has to be given validity because of the door homosexuality left open. What a pickle the church finds itself in and all self respecting true Christians can no longer sit under this type of authority leave the church. Now the church is under siege by homosexuals, transsexuals and other types of sexuals; who can go before God as the book of Revelations unfold. Sin does indeed begat sin. It’s enough to give an atheist a real thrill.

It’s tough when you’ve got this idea of sin and the world shows signs of passing you up and you’ve got to get out there and tell people this and that is a sin. And when you think your ideas come from the Bible but some of your main sins, homosexuality and especially changing sex, aren’t mentioned in the Bible you’ve got to really stretch to make your arguments.
Then there’s divorce, which I understand was a biggie with Jesus in the Bible, but which the Protestant churches all give a pass. Would your church allow a divorced church member? A divorced clergy person? Bet it would. And what about rich people? Eye of a needle and all that but how many rich people have you kicked out of your congregation? How many rich people are in the clergy? Certainly a lot of the ones we all hear about are plenty rich.
So you pick and choose who you don’t like and then choose those parts of the Bible to try to support your biases, some times with not much success.

If a person has had the “calling” to be a minister in any church, be it Methodist or another branch of Christianity (since this article is about the Methodists), how can being a transgendered person (or gay, lesbian, bisexual) have anything to do with how they deliever a sermon or give comfort to people, or pray or hand out communion and all the other “jobs” a minister has? They are human beings doing a job that many who are heterosexual can’t, no matter how hard they try. So I hope my former religion comes to it’s senses and sees that change can be a large advantage in their spiritual lives.
Life is forever changing, no matter how it scares some folks. Some get so scared they think that the world might come to end. If it does, that will have nothing to do with divne intervention…that will be because of humans continuing to treat Mother Earth as though She has limitless resources, not because some people are gay, lesbian, transgender, or bisexual.
Life is GOOD!

Life (people) may change but God is the same.

So you, mystery poster, are saying that your God isn’t open to new things for His/Her people to know and accept? He/She is unwavering and constant, no matter whether people grow and mature or not? Interesting. How in the world did humans get to the places they have gotten to in science,medicine,biology,exploration etc. if they didn’t evolve and learn and accept advances?

“Proud Conservative”,
“John Wesley is probably turning in his grave over the issues plaguing the church today.”
You mean the PEOPLE “plaguing” the church, shurely.
“Praise God that He led us to a church that is BIBLICALLY based and doesn’t subscribe to the “if it feels good, do it” rhetoric.”
Please point us to even ONE example of ANYONE proposing “if it feels good, do it”. Just ONE. PLEASE.

“Proud Conservative”,
“I will address the “he/she”, however.
“Our FATHER, who art in Heaven….”
“No one get’s to the FATHER but through me…”
Adam was made in the image and likeness of God…..Eve was made from Adam. Adam was A MAN. In my world FATHERS are MEN. There is no he/she. There is only He. My God, My Father, Abba.”
You obviously choose to ignore the more than dozen and a half references to God in the female that are found throughout the Bible. Selective fundamentalism will get you nowhere and deservedly scorned.

“P. Conservative”,
“I beleive that every word translates to today jsut as it did 2000 years ago.”
Then you would be wrong in your “belief”. There are more than a hundred translations – in English alone! – of the Bible. And they do NOT (obviously) say the same thing. They have been edited, translated, interpreted to suit the agenda of the one(s) doing the translating. For a real laugh, try reading the “Living Bible” sometime.
“I am not against homosexuals, persay, just their lifestyle.”
Would you care to describe that “lifestyle” for us??? I have 3 heterosexual sisters, 2 of whom are divorced and re-married. Is that “the heterosexual lifestyle”? I have str8 friends who go to the disco every Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights, and do drugs an dhave promiscuous sex. Is THAT “the heterosexual lifestyle”? I have heterosexual friends who are shopaholics and who do not recycle. Is THAT “the heterosexual lifestyle”?
(Hint: a lifestyle is unique to ONE PERSON and the way he/she lives his/her LIFE. MY “lifestyle” involves Church, tithing, volunteering, cooking, babysitting, prayer, recycling, walking, caring for my husband, visiting friends and relatives, visiting hospitalized people and shut ines, clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, prayer, fasting (at times), and myriad other things. Using the word “lifestyle” to describe an entire community is absurd, not to mention inaccurate and dismissive of real live human beings, God’s gay and lesbian children.)
“I have a sister who is gay…she chooses to remain celebate because to act on her fleshly desires would be sinful.”
In YOUR opinion. I don’t think loving, committed relationships are sinful at all.
“We all have crosses to bear…hers is homosexuality.”
Who taught her/you that lie? My sexuality is a gift from God. It is certainly no “cross to bear”. What a load of hokum. Is your heterosexuality a cross to bear too? If not, why not?

cknuck said,
“First homosexuality overtook the church”
DIS-MISSED for bearing false witness!

recovering ex-Pentecostal, very good explanations of lifestyle.

A mystery poster added this to the discussion: “Life (people) may change but God is the same.”
This amusing bit of theology is also the definition of ironic. That is because what is so annoying about people is they never seem to change or even embrace change. God, however God is known, seems to change constantly. One of my professors said she found appeal in the description of God as omni-competant, able to deal with whatever happens. So Gos is the same because God is always changing and people refuse to change so they try to remain constant, and balanced.
Expecting to God to remain as we are, or see ourselves to be is limiting (contradictory to the essence of God) and static (as in either still or dead, or undecipherable noise, also contradictory to the essence of God)
The very definition of conversion is to turn with, as in to turn with God. I beleive religious conversion is to turn with God in a new, untried direction, so that it is a partnership on a new adventure.

At this point, it is very apparent to me which of you are Christ followers and which are not. Christ followers are not angry, bitter, and scornful. We know to whom we belong and who we follow. I have a peace that surpasses all understanding. It is my sincere prayer that ALL of you could experience this unconditional love Jesus gives each of us…FREELY, all we have to do is believe and follow Him. Yes, my idea of heaven is worshipping Him for eternity. Do I know what it will look like, feel like, smell like? No. I just know that God promises me that it will be beyond wonderful.

P. Conservative, you have no clue just how much I wish you’d stop praying for me to find Jesus’s love.

PC:
My idea of heaven is the love I have from a husband of 43 1/2 years and my children, sisters and nieces and nephews, cousins and friends. That’s heaven, not a make believe spot in the sky with an old man sitting in a chair running things. So everyone’s idea of heaven is different. To each his own. Enjoy. I know I am enjoying life, and earthly heaven.

“very good explanations of lifestyle.”
Thanks, Henrietta. I wonder how many heterosexuals would take offense if someone suggested that ALL of them lived the same “lifestyle” as swingers/wifeswappers/users of prostitutes, etc. (when clearly SOME heterosexuals live those lifestyles) and people started saying, “Oh, you live THE heterosexual lifestyle and I disapprove!”
such nonsense. Such harmful reduction of actual, real, live human beings to a mere “lifestyle”.

“At this point, it is very apparent to me which of you are Christ followers and which are not. Christ followers are not angry, bitter, and scornful. We know to whom we belong and who we follow. I have a peace that surpasses all understanding. It is my sincere prayer that ALL of you could experience this unconditional love Jesus gives each of us…FREELY, all we have to do is believe and follow Him. Yes, my idea of heaven is worshipping Him for eternity. Do I know what it will look like, feel like, smell like? No. I just know that God promises me that it will be beyond wonderful.
Posted by: P. Conservative | April 22, 2008 10:01 PM”
Actually, at this point, it is very apparent to me which of you are ignorers of Christ’s commandment to love one another, to do to others as we would have done to ourselves, and not to judge others (because only the ones without sin are to cast stones). I wonder who put the “Proud” “Conservatives” in charge of the stones?
Christ followers do not bear false witness against God’s gay and lesbian children. This “peace that passeth all understanding” somehow leads some people to scorn others by assuming others do not know (or follow) the Christ and accept His unconditional love. Seems some “Christ followers” actually DO want to put “conditions” on Christ’s love. Odd, huh?
MY “idea of Heaven” is to be spared from the hollow, sanctimonious spewings of some of His followers, and from their empty judgements (as if they were qualified to do the judging anyway).

MY “idea of Heaven” is to be spared from the hollow, sanctimonious spewings of some of His followers, and from their empty judgments (as if they were qualified to do the judging anyway).
I like this…. (for some heaven on earth)