welcome to facebook high...

People know things about you before you do. People know where you are, where you've been, what you're thinking. People know who you're with, who you're not with... they know who you're talking to and who you're not. They know who all your friends are, all your family.. anyone can post a picture of you from last weekend when you may have been dressed in drag!

Yes... it's like high school never has to end! Welcome to facebook high!

I don't have to go into too much detail about what kind of problems facebook has created in our society. I'm pretty sure I already wrote a blog about that... you can read it here...

So with all that said... I'm not sure about everyone else, but I'm tired of being in high school. I left that place 10 years ago and promised to never go back unless I was teaching.

I need to hold to that promise, and so I'm letting go of facebook high. I'm closing down my wall. I'm hiding all my info. The only thing available from now on will be my chat, messaging, and my photos...

If the only link you have to view this blog is from facebook and you wish you still read it, there is a place on the side where you can subscribe via email. 

let me tickle your ears about judging others...

 "Whatever measure you use in judging others, it will be used to measure how you are judged." ~ J. Steven Lang


This is something I get accused of often. I'm told all the time about the judgement I lay on others. I'm also always reminded about when Jesus said: "Judge not, that you be not judged." I think it's time I admit something to the world... I DO judge others and don't feel the least bit bad about it. 


I judge other people all the time. Making judgments is part of making decisions. 

“Do not judge so that you will not be judged” Matthew 7:1

It may be the most often quoted and yet most misunderstood verse in the whole Bible. Usually that verse is used like a hammer to immediately stop any discussion about the rightness or wrongness of a person's behavior. It's the verse used anytime someone tries to claim that someone's behavior is wrong. 

"You can't judge me! Jesus said we can't judge!" 

Right... here's the thing though, when Jesus said that we should not judge unless we be judged also, he was not saying that we are to never judge if behavior is sin or not. What he was doing was giving us a caution to make sure that we are willing to be judged by the same standard of judgment. This verse is not a warning against judging an action. It is a warning against self deception and hypocrisy.  People who are uncomfortable with sitting in judgment of others or who fear to judge because their own lives are so imperfect (and whose isn't?) use Matthew 7:1 as a reason for why we don’t have the right or the power to judge.

It IS ok to judge others. The catch is that when you do, be prepared to be judged at the same standard. It IS ok to show others that they are doing wrong. It IS ok to say "hey, you know the bad guys in the Bible use to brag about God time too... maybe you should stop??"

Bursting forth with the words, “judge not”, should in no way intimidate anyone from deciding if something is sinful or not. If anything slows us down it should be the warning from Jesus that we not be hypocrites who are unable or unwilling to live according to that same standard.

So yes... I DO judge others. It's how I decide weather or not I can trust a person. I will judge your morals, your character, your actions, and anything else that I feel the need to judge. (except for you're heart. That's left for God) You can also feel free to judge me too. I'm usually pretty good about being given guidance and being corrected by people who deserve to do so. 

Dear Pastor Ben,

I hope this little note finds you well. I hope you also do not take this the wrong way or as a negative remark coming from me.  I understand that there has been some interesting drama on facebook that you assume to be the center of. I'd like to point out that up until now I've had nothing to say to you on facebook or any other book of communication, and yet you still found it necessary to block me from viewing your facebook.

I understand that your reason for blocking me on facebook was because I associate with people that you claim are not a positive impact on your life. Now in my opinion, Pastor Ben, that is really no reason to block a person at all.

The truth is, Pastor Ben, the supposed remarks that you assumed were directed at you by those I associate with were actually directed at anyone and everyone that they may relate to. That status was really only elaborating on the verse in the Bible where Jesus says  “When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you." in the book of  Matthew. Since this person that I associate with never mentioned your name or anyone's name, the fact that you assume that you are the reason she created that status speaks for itself. 

Next I'd like to add something in regards to you blocking me for merely associating with the person who wrote that status that so offended you. In Mark Chapter two starting in verse 15 it says " ¹⁵ And it happened that He was reclining at the table in his house, and many tax collectors and sinners were dining with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many of them, and they were following Him. ¹⁶ When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that He was eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they said to His disciples, “Why is He eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners?” ¹⁷ And hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Not that I'm calling my friends sinners or anyone for that matter, but I do want to stress that who I associate with does not define me as a person, christian or not, and therefore, it shouldn't matter who it is that I associate myself with that defines my friendship with you, Pastor Ben. I'm terribly sorry that you seem to feel differently about this than I do. I'm also terribly sorry that you have let the things my friends have said cause this divide between us.

Because I've had nothing to say until now, and because your blocking me was for some false accusation and based on my association, I've decided to publicly write you this letter for the world to see. This is not my way of publicly bashing you, Pastor Ben, but I am simply publicly stating my thoughts about this whole situation.

Now, Pastor Ben... Now, you have your reason to have blocked me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To all those reading this who are not Pastor Ben. I know that this post is out of character for me and I'm not the type to ever publicly speak to a person in this way. However, due to some recent events I've felt the need to make this letter public and I do give my biggest apologies for any of my regular readers that I might have offended or possibly confused. With all of that said I'd like to leave you with this: 

Matthew 7:21-23

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

   ²¹ “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. ²² Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many ^[a]miracles?’ ²³ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’




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