Social media sadness

I grow weary of social media. Scrolling through my Facebook feed in the morning to see people sad about the election results, disappointed with the candidates and a lot of hatred. I see people share their close minded general life opinions they don’t have the ability to listen to others or gain knowledge from other people. I see parenting tips from close minded people who only have their thoughts on the way kids need to be raised and anything else is wrong. Sometimes the bad can overtake the good.

Even with this I am a fan of social media. Social media is the only way I can connect with friends and family I don’t get to see that often. I get to see the good news of people getting married, advancing in life, awesome family pictures and the occasional throwback where I get to see what life looks like at a younger age. There is so much hate and love on social media. What if we focused on the good?

Philippians 1:9-10…

“And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ.”

Life is full of disappointments, but it doesn’t have to be. I was a stringer writing for the Lansing State Journal when one of our editors had a great idea of covering a full day of sports on the first day of Fall practice with a timeline and stories based on the timeline. I was assigned to go cover the Holt Ram girls swim team as they opened practice and write about what happens during that time of the day.

Holt at the time had won something amazing like 10 conference championships in a row (I don’t remember the exact number but it was impressive). Rather then getting in the pool and to work, coach Brent Pohlonski spent time addressing their attitudes. He explained how swimming is tough and sometimes we have a bad day as we head to practice. He told the team no matter what, to have fun and be happy. He said even if you have the worst day in the world, fake being happy. Soon enough you won’t have to fake being happy and truly enjoy being happy. This was amazing and you could see the team buy into this philosophy and it led to a great experience for the team. It was nice to be able to witness this communication between a coach, a winning team and most important a happy team.

Why does Paul talk so much about love, because we miss the point. What if we focused on love instead of hate and being judgmental? What if we showed this love through life and social media? How would life be different? We have a chance to lift people up or tear people down with what we say and how we act. We are supposed to lift people up. How can life change if you chose to be happy with your outlook on life rather then sad? We are called to be blameless for the day of Christ. Today, I am going to try focusing on love.

Have a great day.

You think you’re right but you have been wrong plenty of times

Politics and I do not go in the same sentence.

It gives me a migraine looking at Facebook and everyone throwing your two cents into the political conversation.  Neither candidate is a saint nor are they the devil in human skin.  Yet I have seen everything in-between on Facebook and Twitter from both sides of the situation. When we think we have all the answers we can have none of the answers.

I pray Christians care more about keeping people from hell then this election.  We as humans do not have all the answers, nor will we ever.  Sometimes we can get stuck in-between a rock and a hard place.  Yet it’s still not as bad as Paul had it.

He was standing up for what he believed in and that was Jesus.  He believed in a resurrected Christ and lived his life for him.  You don’t read in the Bible about Christians voting in an election but you hear how they are put on trial for that faith.  Paul was on trial for a great chunk of time.

He was sent to Festus with his accusers.  His accusers were lying about him and saying he did stuff that wasn’t true.  Yet he faced politics.  Festus felt he owed the Jews a favor and tried to move the trial to Jerusalem. This could have been a death sentence to Paul.

Paul answered with this in Acts 25:10-11…

“I am now standing before Caesar’s court, where I ought to be tried.  I have not done any wrong to the Jews, as you yourself know very well. If, however, I am guilty of doing anything deserving death, I do not refuse to die.  But if the Jews are not true, no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar!”

As a Roman citizen he had the right to appeal to Caesar with his case.  He knew the bad things that could happen in Jerusalem and went the other way.  Sometimes you have to fight for what you believe in.  Paul believed in Jesus and was willing to stand trial for him.

Would you be willing to do the same for your faith?  Faith goes beyond who you vote for, it’s so much more.  If you are a Christian please think about someone who might be going to hell and try to show them the eternal life that Jesus offers. 

Have a great day.