Tuesday, July 10, 2012

hell: part 2


hell.
this is the message 
one corner of the church 
pounds away.

"you!"
they say
are going to hell.

along the way they offer other hideous 
adjectives, nouns and verbs
all tied up in masquerade of 
compassion they call love.

"i love you homosexuals so much!"
one woman recently spoke during the 
general assembly of the presbyterian church (u.s.a.)

adding to her spoken words of love came threats 
that if indeed the church dare love a homosexual 
then the church would automatically 
be willing to embrace bestiality.

she ended her words of love
with "death".

"the bible calls for your death".

hell has little to do with love.
furthermore...
the woman's words of love aren't love 
but merely a kissing cousin relative of hell.  

hell
in my understanding of the good news of jesus christ
does not have the last word.

hell 
in my affirmation of faith cannot and will not 
trump GOD'S sovereign power to love.

hell 
in my celebration of GOD'S unconditional love
will not persevere...
cannot outlast
GOD'S willingness to redeem,
make whole, or establish peace. 

hell 
is a temporary reality in the realm of GOD'S kingdom
that comes with the power to bring us 
(all of us) 
to our knees 
that we might recognize 
our inability to love ourselves...
our inability to love our neighbors.

hell 
has not the power to thwart GOD'S 
breathing, creating, loving.

hell.
i've been there.
i've experienced that moment when i thought 
i had lost it all....
when i finally came to terms with the fact 
that i cannot live this journey on my own 
abilities, and definitions.

in hell
there came that moment when i looked up
turned around, lifted my hands
and said,
"GOD, the only way to the next day,
the next month, the next year, 
the next season of life
is YOU.  

i finally trust YOU
O GOD with all i am.

and with that
hell
became insignificant 
in the presence and power of GOD'S grace.

hell.
i've been there and have no need to return.
it was there that i discovered 
the lies i had been feeding myself
and the lies others had been cramming down my throat.

the sin i lived 
was NOT my homosexual identity
but rather my REJECTION of GOD'S 
wisdom and love 
to create me
with beauty, color, personality,
and gifts.

in hell...
GOD yelled loud enough for me to hear...
"stop 
rejecting
what I created!"

i stopped rejecting.
i repented.

and hell
no longer has power over me.

love 
in the name of hell...
is a 
lie.

hell no longer has power over me!


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