- Wise Words -

To get something you never had, you have to do something you never did.

When God takes something from your grasp, He's not punishing you, but merely opening your hands to receive something better.

The will of God will never take you, where the Grace of God will not protect you.

There comes a point in your life when you realize,
Who matters,
Who never did,
Who won't anymore,
And who always will.

So, don't worry about people from your past, there's a reason why they didn't make it to your future.

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Thanks RevMJ58 for this email forward. If you have some holy humor or an inspirational email, please feel free to forward it along to AriesPrime (at) gmail.com.

Be blessed and be a blessing!

- Gay Pride Parade in Spartanburg, SC -

I had to post this email as it came from a dear straight girlfriend in South Carolina. If you knew her and could only hear her tone as I do while reading her email, it might mean more to you.

SCGF wrote:

HI! Guess what happened in Spartanburg yesterday for the first time ever... gay pride parade! News said that there were about 4500 marchers, they were not rowdy but held their signs and sang, and only 300 protesters. Protesters had to stay on the sidewalk and were not allowed on the street. For the most part they were okay, few shouted that they were Sodomites and going to hell, let Jesus change their way, but other than that it went well... One big step here in the Upstate!

= = = = =

NBC Affiliate Channel 4 (WYFF4.com) in Greenville, SC reported: Spartanburg Gay Pride March Met with Protesters

- Gay Friendly/ Oriented Churches -

Are you looking for a local GLBT friendly/ oriented church that is focused on the teachings of Jesus Christ to attend? Click here to look within this World Wide Directory.

On the AP MySpace profile, which I recently terminated, one thing I tried to do with the profile was to become virtual-friends with GLBT friendly/ oriented churches in hopes of helping to promote them via the profile. Today, after going to church, I thought I would again try to promote GLBT friendly/ oriented churches via the AP blog.

If you or your church would like to be added to the list below, please email me with a hyperlink to your church website. If the church does not currently have a website, then send me a hyperlink to the church’s profile on a social networking site, such as: FaceBook, MySpace, etc.

Christ First* – Gainesville, GA
First MCC of Atlanta* – Atlanta, GA
God's Chosen Ones Ministry* – Atlanta, GA
MCC Good Shepherd – Granville, Western Sydney, NSW, Australia (thanks AussieXLGuy)
MCC Sydney – Petersham, Sydney, NSW, Australia (thanks AussieXLGuy)
New Day Worship Center* – Toccoa, GA

* I have attended at least once.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Mark 3:24-28 (NIV):

If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. In fact, no one can enter a strong man's house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can rob his house. I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (NIV):

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I quoted the above Biblical passages, as no church is perfect, just as no individual is perfect. As we grow in Christ, so does a church body. So if you have ever been hurt by any church or an individual for any reason, forgive them and give the issue/ you’re hurt to God. The act of forgiveness is not a gift to the church or individual who wronged you. Forgiveness is a gift for yourself, so that you may not hold any bitterness within you. Doing so only hurts you going forward.

If you are considering membership at a church or if you are leaving one church for another, I say that you better know that you know, that God has placed or is removing you from said church. If you are leaving for your own reasons, chances are the problems at one church will be at another. For me, this is a sign that God is working on me, or you, in a particular area. Or you may be a finger of God’s hand in bringing change in that church. If you leave, the other fingers of the figurative hand will unknowingly miss you when the time comes.

Be blessed and be a blessing!

This work by AriesPrime is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at mailto:AriesPrime (at) gmail.com.

- Wanting to go to Church -

As I soundly sleep in a roadside motel twin-bed, from the other room I hear the whisper of an overweight dark headed woman full of curlers,. One side falling down. She is wearing a thin snap-up flowery summertime house coat and walking around barefoot with a turkey leg clinched in hand. The leg clearly has two huge bights taken from it. And remnants of the meat show on her greasy covered chubby cheeks.

She whispers, “Don’t you go waken him up!” to her loud-mouth, back-talking, teenage, hillbilly daughter. The daughter comes stomping through the door from their trailer park décor room with a disheveled king-sized bed. Clearly the two slept in the bed, but the purpose is unclear to me.

The daughter, who is in my motel room where I sleep, turns and yells, “I ain’t goin’ to wake him Momma! My Gawd!” Unclear as to why she was in my room in the first place, she turns and stomps back into their room.

I rollover in bed, enjoying my sleep and oblivious as to what just happened, when my cell phone rings. It is you on the other end talking a mile minute to someone else on your other cell phone, as you are driving your black Nissan Pathfinder, “…and the plan is that I will pick him up and we will all meet a the church.”

I say, “While you two are talking, I’m jumping in the shower to get ready.” You bust out laughing, surprised to have heard me, or that I heard you. Then before I hang up the phone, I hear you say, “No, that was just my buddy on the other line who overheard me talking with you…”

As I snooze, face down in my bed, I consider what I will wear and I eagerly look forward to going to the church. I think to myself, I have the long sleeve blue shirt and black tie with cartoon characters on it.

As I say, “I can’t wait to go to church”, my alarm goes off to wake me. I realize it is Wednesday, I’m at home in my own bed and I say aloud, “And I guess I’m not going to church this morning!”

Unfortunately, it was all a dream.

This work by AriesPrime is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at mailto:AriesPrime (at) gmail.com.