You Cannot Serve Two Masters

Psalm 16:11 - You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at you right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Matthew 6:24 - "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money."

Ephesians 3:14-17 - For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 

Revelation 2:4 - "But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first."

Dear God, as I reflect upon Ypur message through these passages, I have to thank You for opening my eyes to the fact that I was being brainwashed when I was a republican. No one can serve two masters. The GOP class this year claims to be Christian, but they are setting about right now to take away from the disabled, take away from the veterans, take away from the elderly, and take away from the poor in general so they can get their rewards from the greedy CEOs that don't pay what they should be paying. They despise the poor (something You make clear is very wrong to do) and they love money. They have forgotten their first love. God, I ask forgiveness for the fact that I was a republican supporter. My life turned upside down when I couldn't complete grad school because I just kept getting sick. It was a fatal blow to my dreams. I have spent the greater part of the last 7-10 years in the hospitals, doctors' offices, and therapies just to try to get to where I am today only to have the GOP threaten my life with their constant attacks on the ACA, the Social Security, the Medicaid, the SNAP, etc. Why? How can these people claim to be Christians yet so willing to throw the poor under the bus? When will they understand that not everyone is poor by choice or by simple laziness? As I prayed the other day, it is not right for me to wish ill will on others, but right now, I honestly wish these lawmakers would have to suffer the agony that so many of us individuals with special needs and our families have had to go through prior to the ACA. At one point, we were worried that my next illness would cause me to be dropped from my insurance or cause us to be homeless. Even just seeing the amounts submitted to the insurance company are still scary. I have been blessed by You God to be allowed the opportunity to finally have real insurance that works for me. I want to strongly believe that You will work things together for my good, but it is hard because the GOP is so loud with their hate lately. They are so determined to ruin people's lives. And they are doing it in Your name! They not only make You look bad, but they make Christians who genuinely love You and do Your work look bad. I thought I had seen it all until this year when the new GOP came right out of the gate determined to destroy the people most in need. Even Wisconsin makes things evil as they basically want to tell food stamp recipients they cannot buy any food or flavoring for food. God, we are not ready for Jesus to come back yet. There is no way. I can either serve You or I can serve others, but I cannot serve both. I will choose to serve You even if it means my life. Thank You. In Jesus' Name, Amen!

Autism, Down Syndrome, Disabilities, and Hobby Lobby

Follow me please.

Most of you already know that Hobby Lobby is trying to assert itself as having religious beliefs and is opposed to birth control or contraceptives now. They were not opposed before the Affordable Care Act and now they are. Oh, and how can a for profit company be allowed to violate any part of any law it dislikes? And for that matter, although the CEO and founder can have religious beliefs because they are people, how can a corporation hold religious beliefs? It is not a person. Only people can hold beliefs. 

Well, their approach is a slippery slope that is too dangerous to go down. Why? Because if Wal-mart decides they don't want to cover women's care, they might suddenly cry it goes against their religion? Where in the Bible is birth control wrong? It is not in there. It is a grey area and it is legalism. 

Hobby Lobby would have a better chance if it clarified what it means by contraception as being just those forms that they think cause abortion instead of the broad term of contraception they are using. 

Contraception:

Shots

Birth control pills taken on a daily basis for a variety of reasons - don't want babies, have iron anemia, acne, hormone imbalance, heavy bleeding, irregularities 

Plan B - a three day dose of birth control to be taken within 72 hours after failed contraceptives or rape - prevents implantation - does not cause abortion

IUD

Patches

These are contraceptions used to prevent pregnancy.

I gave a scenario though:

Hobby Lobby historically has been one of the few places known to hire people with autism and other special needs. Now here is the deal. The girl with cognitive dysfunction gets a job at Hobby Lobby. Hobby Lobby gives her insurance. The doctor says she needs birth control because she does not understand sex yet. It is for her safety and protection. Also because she cannot handle having menstrual cycles. They can be very stressful. Suddenly Hobby Lobby says no because it violates our religious beliefs. Now they have done something illegal. They have denied a disabled person something she needs in order to have that job. They have now discriminated against her. It is a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act and subject to lawsuit. 

If they are going to cover Viagra, they have to cover birth control. And because no single birth control is necessarily right for all women, they have to cover all of it. Otherwise, it is gender discrimination. 

If Hobby Lobby gets out of this portion of law, what will be next? No hiring special needs? No hiring women? No hiring someone of a different faith? No hiring a red head? No hiring a person who is not white? No paying what they are supposed to? Where does it end? Give an inch and they will take a mile.

Supposedly they are threatening a tantrum if they lose--close the stores. Fine. They chose to commit business suicide over the fact they are legalistic anyway.

Now I want to say something.

I called out someone who inappropriately commented about someone's size by saying she looked like she had swallowed her last two children. It was rude and inappropriate. And I also pointed out that it was a milestone that I recognized it as a person with autism. Well, he then turned around and in response to the scenario said people with autism and special needs are pathetic.

Let me say this now:

It is autism awareness month and what we need now is autism acceptance. But when people hold that attitude, it is clear that people like me will never be accepted at church, school, work, or in the community. It is hateful. And this is the attitude of someone who probably calls himself a Christian. The Paul Ryan budget was just passed by the republicans. Yeah, the party of Christianity. Well, guess what? It is not reflective of Christian values. It is a violation of Matthew 25:31-46 and it makes the republicans goats. Those are the words Jesus used. 

Paul Ryan hit veterans by cutting healthcare and SNAP. Paul Ryan hit the elderly by cutting SNAP. Paul Ryan killed the disabled by cutting SNAP, SSI, SSDI, the Affordable Care Act, and Medicaid. Paul Ryan hit women by cutting WIC. He wants to force a woman to carry a baby she didn't plan on or want for a variety of reason and in the meantime he takes food and medicine away from her and the baby. So now we have a bunch of unwanted babies because they don't want us to be on birth control and refuse to give us healthcare and the babies are all starving because they don't want us to eat either. It is the Mitt Romney rhetoric of hate toward everyone less fortunate than them all over again, the rhetoric that caused them to lose and caused even the most evangelical pastors to cringe and say that if Christians held that attitude they needed to repent! The Paul Ryan budget is unethical, illegal, and is definitely against what Jesus stood for, the republicans just crucified Jesus all over again. And here's the thing, we are approaching Easter. A time to remember Jesus' life and ministry on earth and what he did for us on the cross. 

Autism awareness should lead to autism acceptance. And in some ways, although we have come a long way with regard to race, we have not moved forward with regard to disabilities. Dear church, what are you doing to effect a POSITIVE change?