I had a bad interview. Then I had a good one.
I got hated on by a gay organization. Then I got hated on by a Christian one.
I received a couple offensive emails calling me names. Then I received a couple encouraging emails giving me hope.
I had a moving Living in the Tension gathering. Then I went home and cried.
I got hated on once again by the same gay organization and the same Christian organization.
I talked to some people who I trust my life with (Brenda, Dad, Richard and Wendy). Then I felt better.
I woke up this morning with a double ear infection. And also woke up to a few more hateful emails.
And then a few more encouraging ones.
Here’s one from someone I don’t know who just finished reading my book:
“You do not do this in vain. Know when the times get tough you have touched lives.”
Then I had a great talk with an editor at a magazine doing an article on my book, and then I prayed.
And I feel comforted in the FACT that I’m doing exactly what I am supposed to be doing.
No matter what haters try to lie, cheat, complain or tear me down.
No matter what friends are too “worn out” by this difficult bridge building work and want to give up—because “it’s too hard” and now think “it can never happen” because it hasn’t happened quick enough for their satisfaction.
Give up then.
Because I won’t. And neither will God.
Because I’m trying to learn how to live and love in real time.
Not perfect.
Don’t have answers for everything.
And the sad part is that too many “intelligent” people from both ends won’t ever admit that as truth.
I am loved. I am me.
I am satisfied with who I represent and how I daily strive to represent Him.
The rest of them can keep on trying to dissect every word I say and use it against me.
But it doesn’t matter anymore.
Because He was a Jewish carpenter and therefore I build bridges. Period.
I don't care who in this world is satisfied with that answer or not; as there is One who is.
So keep on hatin’ me haters.
Because thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.
And you all can’t dictate not even one ounce of that, no matter what you think you own.
Cause I’ll keep on lovin’ anyway.
Much love.
Andrew
http://www.themarinfoundation.org/
Showing posts with label Haters. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Haters. Show all posts
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Friday, July 10, 2009
2009 Gay Pride Parade Video 10 of 11
Short and to the point—this is officially the worst evangelism tool ever found on the face of the earth.
Sadness strikes me in great amounts hearing this gay man’s response.
Much love.www.themarinfoundation.org
Thursday, July 9, 2009
2009 Gay Pride Parade Video 9 of 11
In this video I get yelled at and told I’m going to hell. The protestors thought I was gay. When I told them I wasn’t gay and went to a conservative seminary, I was still told I’m going to hell.
One thing to notice about half way through the video, the guy with the megaphone kept yelling:
“Sick, Sick, Sick”
Does that really work? Maybe it’s just me, but that does absolutely no good—for anyone.
Much love.
http://www.themarinfoundation.org/
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Lord Judge Me According to My Integrity
I was reading Psalm 7 the other day and I noticed something that I had never noticed before:
Awake, my God; decree justice.
Let the assembled people gather
around you.
Rule over them from on high;
let the LORD judge the peoples.
Judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness,
according to my integrity, O Most High.
O righteous God,
who searches minds and hearts,
bring to an end the violence of the wicked
and make the righteous secure.
Wow. What a word by David concerning those that perpetuated Saul’s paranoia to keep the kingdom he rightfully thinks is his, and not the Lord’s that was given to David. The words:
“Judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness,
according to my integrity, O Most High”
have stuck with me the last few days since I read them. David is pleading with God to judge him. Who actually asks God to judge them? And not only so, but David puts his inner most faith and faults in God’s hands by asking Him to judge David according to his righteousness and integrity!
Let us all have enough faith that we too cry out and be so bold as to want God to judge each of us according to our integrity. It’s a very scary thought if you actually think about it…but David’s heart at that moment intrigues me, and challenges me as I strive to be a man full of Godly integrity. That when I am judged by the Almighty, I might kneel before God and say with 100% sincere conviction,
“Judge me O LORD, by my integrity, and see that what I have done is pleasing in Your eyes.”
We can say that all we want, but if we’re being honest with ourselves, who knows what the outcome will be? This is just another reminder of the power and faith that it is to live a distinct life as a follower of the Way. Life giving? Yes. Scary? Without a doubt!
I recently (and unfortunately) saw a blog post written about me by someone I don’t know (I’m guessing he is gay), nor has this person ever tried to contact me to talk. They said:
“This guy is a FundaGelical. He says he's a conservative Christian. He admits it in the video [the promo video from Love is an Orientation]. He contrasts his "conservative/traditional" view with the "pro-gay" view. Well, if that doesn't show what he is, I don't know what would. Thus, although he is not open enough to come right out and say it, he believes homosexuals are sinners.He's very crafty in talking around the issue.......but he admits to the conservative/traditional Christian view on gays. So he's no different than any of the gay bashers.......except he's hiding it better. Unless he can come out and say that it is NOT sin for a gay couple to have a marriage relationship just like a heterosexual couple.
He's just another guy making a living by slandering gays. And he never says anything even remotely resembling that.....he is strangely silent about it.
I cannot even begin to express my contempt for such people, and especially those who make their living through such behavior.”
I would love to sit here and publicly tear apart off of his false assumptions, but as David said, LORD, please judge me by my integrity. I know this is a volatile place that I have been led to, and all I can do is claim The I Am as The I Am and continue praying
“O righteous God,
who searches minds and hearts,
bring to an end the violence of the wicked
and make the righteous secure”
For we are all children of the Holy God, and all deserve to be treated as such - the man who posted those words as well as me. Let us all continue to work towards putting an end to the violence: rhetorical and physical.
Much love.
www.themarinfoundation.org
Awake, my God; decree justice.
Let the assembled people gather
around you.
Rule over them from on high;
let the LORD judge the peoples.
Judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness,
according to my integrity, O Most High.
O righteous God,
who searches minds and hearts,
bring to an end the violence of the wicked
and make the righteous secure.
Wow. What a word by David concerning those that perpetuated Saul’s paranoia to keep the kingdom he rightfully thinks is his, and not the Lord’s that was given to David. The words:
“Judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness,
according to my integrity, O Most High”
have stuck with me the last few days since I read them. David is pleading with God to judge him. Who actually asks God to judge them? And not only so, but David puts his inner most faith and faults in God’s hands by asking Him to judge David according to his righteousness and integrity!
Let us all have enough faith that we too cry out and be so bold as to want God to judge each of us according to our integrity. It’s a very scary thought if you actually think about it…but David’s heart at that moment intrigues me, and challenges me as I strive to be a man full of Godly integrity. That when I am judged by the Almighty, I might kneel before God and say with 100% sincere conviction,
“Judge me O LORD, by my integrity, and see that what I have done is pleasing in Your eyes.”
We can say that all we want, but if we’re being honest with ourselves, who knows what the outcome will be? This is just another reminder of the power and faith that it is to live a distinct life as a follower of the Way. Life giving? Yes. Scary? Without a doubt!
I recently (and unfortunately) saw a blog post written about me by someone I don’t know (I’m guessing he is gay), nor has this person ever tried to contact me to talk. They said:
“This guy is a FundaGelical. He says he's a conservative Christian. He admits it in the video [the promo video from Love is an Orientation]. He contrasts his "conservative/traditional" view with the "pro-gay" view. Well, if that doesn't show what he is, I don't know what would. Thus, although he is not open enough to come right out and say it, he believes homosexuals are sinners.He's very crafty in talking around the issue.......but he admits to the conservative/traditional Christian view on gays. So he's no different than any of the gay bashers.......except he's hiding it better. Unless he can come out and say that it is NOT sin for a gay couple to have a marriage relationship just like a heterosexual couple.
He's just another guy making a living by slandering gays. And he never says anything even remotely resembling that.....he is strangely silent about it.
I cannot even begin to express my contempt for such people, and especially those who make their living through such behavior.”
I would love to sit here and publicly tear apart off of his false assumptions, but as David said, LORD, please judge me by my integrity. I know this is a volatile place that I have been led to, and all I can do is claim The I Am as The I Am and continue praying
“O righteous God,
who searches minds and hearts,
bring to an end the violence of the wicked
and make the righteous secure”
For we are all children of the Holy God, and all deserve to be treated as such - the man who posted those words as well as me. Let us all continue to work towards putting an end to the violence: rhetorical and physical.
Much love.
www.themarinfoundation.org
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
The Best Advice I Have Ever Been Given
I love reading interviews, especially when the person being interviewed is asked, “What is the best advice you’ve ever been given?” because I’m fascinated by the words that stick with a person for a lifetime. Unfortunately for me, I’ve never been able to answer that question because no clever words of wisdom have ever really indwelt themselves within me (except of course for certain Scripture, but that was not told to me—I read it).
That is until today my friends!!!
I was talking on the phone with my Dad this morning, and he gave me the following advice:
“Haters are like kidneys—it’s all about filtering through the junk to release the good.”
Let us all then be like kidneys:
Filtering through the haters, doubters, naysayers and skeptics by continuing to pursue the miraculous works that our Holy Father has placed upon our lives—a vision that is only grand enough for the Lord Himself to believe in. “This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength." Nehemiah 8:10b
Much love.
http://www.themarinfoundation.org/
That is until today my friends!!!
I was talking on the phone with my Dad this morning, and he gave me the following advice:
“Haters are like kidneys—it’s all about filtering through the junk to release the good.”
Let us all then be like kidneys:
Filtering through the haters, doubters, naysayers and skeptics by continuing to pursue the miraculous works that our Holy Father has placed upon our lives—a vision that is only grand enough for the Lord Himself to believe in. “This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength." Nehemiah 8:10b
Much love.
http://www.themarinfoundation.org/
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
I Heart Haters (Or at least I try)
So I guess I couldn’t just go off quietly into the holidays now that I actually have some free time post-book editing. I’ll post about that in the upcoming days, but let me just tell you I went on a couple 60 hour stretches where I only got anywhere from 2-4 hours per sleep per 60 hour stretch … total! Ouch.
Anyway, something I want to talk about during this time of Thanksgiving is my ‘haters.’ I don’t understand haters. I don’t get them or why they’re so vicious. I don’t know why they think they have the right to say whatever they want, however malicious and/or false. In fact what I’ve learned is that about 99% of the people who talk trash about me have:
1. Never met me
2. Never heard me speak
3. Don’t care to try to do either #1 or #2
I had one such person at my last workshop in Nashville. He came in 40 minutes late, sat in the very last seat in the very last row in the furthest possible corner in the ballroom I was conducting my workshop in, and then he decided it would be a good idea to start yelling at me from the back of the ballroom. Who does that? Obviously this inconsiderate guy who didn’t care enough to show up on time, nor did he care enough to stay after for the 3 hour impromptu Q&A I had. In fact, we ended up getting kicked out of our ballroom because it went on to long … so we just found another room and kept it going! All of which that guy was no where to be found.
Shocker! (and I’m saying “shocker” in the absolute most sarcastic tone I possibly can!) Here’s the point: He didn’t want to stay around. He just wanted to yell. He didn’t want to dialogue. He didn’t want to listen, learn or understand anything but his nasty close-minded point of view on a topic that he probably doesn’t know a darn thing about. And I’m sure he got every ounce of satisfaction he was looking for. Good for him as he then, like a snake, slithered out of the back of the ballroom like the coward he entered, and the coward he left.
But that’s how haters operate.
And slowly but surely am I getting to realize that first hand. I take everything p
ersonally, I always have. But where the Lord is really working on me these days is to understand that those attacks are not against me, but rather against his work through me. Either way it’s still totally foreign to me. Though in this Thanksgiving time I must say that I am prayerfully trying with all I am to be thankful for my haters and for those who totally and utterly disagree and don’t understand (or want to understand) anything I’m about.
A good friend of mine and I were sitting in a restaurant in Miami in between workshops I was conducting when one such hater scenario played itself out in real time as we ate our sandwiches. Because of that situation he wrote a blog post on his feelings on the differences between a hater and a critic. It’s brilliant; and it’s something that I have truly been taking to heart. I hope you enjoy it as well. Thanks for your insight Dave!
So as I am thankful for many beautiful things this season – my new wife of just over 1 year, my family, friends, those in The Marin Foundation, and those all across the country who are reaching out to do significant things for the kingdom between the GLBT and religious communities. Just the same I also have to be thankful for my haters as the Lord literally loves them just as much as he loves me.
Much love.
http://www.themarinfoundation.org/
Anyway, something I want to talk about during this time of Thanksgiving is my ‘haters.’ I don’t understand haters. I don’t get them or why they’re so vicious. I don’t know why they think they have the right to say whatever they want, however malicious and/or false. In fact what I’ve learned is that about 99% of the people who talk trash about me have:
1. Never met me
2. Never heard me speak
3. Don’t care to try to do either #1 or #2
I had one such person at my last workshop in Nashville. He came in 40 minutes late, sat in the very last seat in the very last row in the furthest possible corner in the ballroom I was conducting my workshop in, and then he decided it would be a good idea to start yelling at me from the back of the ballroom. Who does that? Obviously this inconsiderate guy who didn’t care enough to show up on time, nor did he care enough to stay after for the 3 hour impromptu Q&A I had. In fact, we ended up getting kicked out of our ballroom because it went on to long … so we just found another room and kept it going! All of which that guy was no where to be found.
Shocker! (and I’m saying “shocker” in the absolute most sarcastic tone I possibly can!) Here’s the point: He didn’t want to stay around. He just wanted to yell. He didn’t want to dialogue. He didn’t want to listen, learn or understand anything but his nasty close-minded point of view on a topic that he probably doesn’t know a darn thing about. And I’m sure he got every ounce of satisfaction he was looking for. Good for him as he then, like a snake, slithered out of the back of the ballroom like the coward he entered, and the coward he left.
But that’s how haters operate.
And slowly but surely am I getting to realize that first hand. I take everything p
ersonally, I always have. But where the Lord is really working on me these days is to understand that those attacks are not against me, but rather against his work through me. Either way it’s still totally foreign to me. Though in this Thanksgiving time I must say that I am prayerfully trying with all I am to be thankful for my haters and for those who totally and utterly disagree and don’t understand (or want to understand) anything I’m about.A good friend of mine and I were sitting in a restaurant in Miami in between workshops I was conducting when one such hater scenario played itself out in real time as we ate our sandwiches. Because of that situation he wrote a blog post on his feelings on the differences between a hater and a critic. It’s brilliant; and it’s something that I have truly been taking to heart. I hope you enjoy it as well. Thanks for your insight Dave!
So as I am thankful for many beautiful things this season – my new wife of just over 1 year, my family, friends, those in The Marin Foundation, and those all across the country who are reaching out to do significant things for the kingdom between the GLBT and religious communities. Just the same I also have to be thankful for my haters as the Lord literally loves them just as much as he loves me.
Much love.
http://www.themarinfoundation.org/
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