lora

The President posted racist idiocy on the same day he made a mockery of the National Prayer Breakfast while also being mentioned 38,000 times (and counting) in the correspondence of a sex trafficking ring. Stop excusing him.

Racism is anti-neighbor and anti-Christ. Where it is dismissed, it breeds. Where it is downplayed, it flourishes.

One of the common justifications I hear for the President’s deplorable behavior is that he’s just trolling his opponents. He doesn’t really mean it, and we shouldn’t take him so seriously. What those who make such claims don’t realize is that they’re essentially describing this guy: “Like a madman who throws firebrands, arrows, and death is the man who deceives his neighbor and says, ‘I am only joking!’” (Proverbs 26:18–19) Even if it's true about Trump, it doesn’t strike me as much of a consolation.

@HCYA21 @TheMuppetPastor @BethMooreLPM You’re a…pastor? Wow.

@TheMuppetPastor @itslorab @BethMooreLPM You don't love the same Jesus. Hers is actually a demon.

I share this post in earnest and (what may prove a naive) hope that a few people caught in the situation I’m about to describe will hear instead of rushing to the usual tropes, criticisms and caricatures. For what it’s worth, I offer this in good faith. Between 2016 and 2022, I faced a test of the genuineness of my faith so large and consequential, I’m almost at a loss to think of the right adjectives to describe it. It might not have been so big to someone else but it involved so much of my Christian identity, it was all but existential. Well more than that. It was a dying. It is this test that helps me understand why people who seem deeply devoted to the Lord Jesus and hold the scriptures in highest esteem also hold to a system, institution or leader no matter what they do and defend a side or individual to a degree that is baffling. I can tell you why because I had to face every bit of it. Identity, community, camaraderie, what we’ve known and loved, what part of it we still love, the people we loved, the people we still love, reputation, what people will think, how you will be judged and condemned and thrown over to the other side who doesn’t want you either. And to whom you also do not align and would not belong. Friendships. How you will be misunderstood and misrepresented. How adrift and alone you will feel. How disliked. And then there’s this and it would be a mistake to minimize it: your JOB. Your source of income. Your vocation. This is the part of the crisis I most write these words to convey because I think they are most in play for many right now, whether in media, ministry or politics. Let me try to put this in the words that were constantly resonant in my spirit in those years. And to this day. Though you have no other place to go, Beth, and no place to fit and it not only MAY have financial repercussions but WILL have financial repercussions to the ministry and to your family and will also make them targets and none of it will ever look the same or be the same, will you choose what you believe to be right and put everything else in your vocational life at risk? This is what is at risk for many people whose professional reputations and positions are tied up with leaders, institutions and political parties. Mine was, too. The cost is enormous and the options are often untenable. And so there we are. Having to cast ourselves on the mercy of God. Not for a third way. But as THE ONLY WAY. The only truth. The only life. I’ve made multiple errors in judgment. Jumped too quickly to condemn. Spoken wrongly. Remained silent wrongly and confusingly. I never get it completely together. But what I will tell you is that I believe we are meant first and foremost to call out our own house, our own side, and our own identity group for its mind-boggling hypocrisy. These were my people. Evangelicals. Conservatives. Claim what you will but I know who I am: I am pro life from conception to casket. I am pro small government. I am pro godliness and the pursuit of a holy life. I am pro marriage and family and pro-those God calls to remain single and sanctified and I’m deeply thankful for them. I am pro traditional sexual ethics. I am pro love of God and love of neighbor and the dignity of every person as an image bearer of Christ. I am pro love all. I am pro church. I believe in the community of the saints. I am pro Bible study to the death and believe the aim of all discipleship is to know and love and follow and emulate Jesus Christ. I am pro gospel. Dear God in heaven, I am pro gospel. I believe there is one name by whom we must be saved. Jesus. What I am not is pro Trump. Wasn’t pro Clinton. Wasn’t pro Biden. But those were not the candidates many in the world that I loved so much were cheering on. I accept that Donald Trump is my president. I pray for him on a regular basis. I’m a law abiding citizen and pay my taxes. But I believe Trump fosters something in people that makes them lose their way.

@EthelflaedAegis @TheMuppetPastor @BethMooreLPM Ok, we’ve clearly had as much fun as we can tonight…to be very clear I believe that Black Lives Matter and I believe in BLM. Not conflating. Just think both are true. Your insults aren’t going to change my mind and I’m clearly not changing yours. Peace ✌🏼

Lady, you are purposefully conflating the Black Lives Matter organization with the fact that black lives matter. No one is fooled by you. Either you are incredibly thick and truly think that's what Skeletor meant, or you are dishonest and using it as a pharisaical cudgel because you are incapable of or uninterested in actually engaging what he said with honesty. It's spiritual abuse. Move on.

@EthelflaedAegis @TheMuppetPastor @BethMooreLPM Black lives ABSOLUTELY matter. Your condescension is cute. If you disagree with the FACT that God calls us to love Him first and others second, that’s on you. Thats biblical. I’ll task you to look that one up if you need to, but it’s pretty commonly known.

@itslorab @TheMuppetPastor @BethMooreLPM No, the last thing you said in particular is a strawman argument and yes, they are inherently dishonest. Look it up if you do not understand this and are capable.

@TheMuppetPastor @BethMooreLPM It’s ok, I feel the same. Hey, common ground already. Cheers.

@itslorab @BethMooreLPM I have no idea how we live in the same planet.

@EthelflaedAegis @TheMuppetPastor @BethMooreLPM Nice try, but I’m just responding to a post attacking Beth in ridiculous ways. But thank God I am a teacher! Here’s hoping you are not, if you think the last thing I said in particular is “dishonest”. Cheers.

@itslorab @TheMuppetPastor @BethMooreLPM This is peak dishonesty and manipulation/strawmanning. I'm not surprised you're a teacher.

@TheMuppetPastor @BethMooreLPM MAGA talking points. There’s no force feeding anything in our schools. If there was my students would bring pencils. Everyone asked questions during Covid. You just don’t like that they weren’t all the same ones. Black Lives absolutely Matter — to Christ, and to His followers.

Beth, you are one of the many evangelical leaders who shirked your duty while the young people of this world were force fed trans propaganda in school. You asked no questions regarding COVID. You sided with BLM. To millennials and Gen Z, you have run cover for the enemy their entire lives. Your dislike of Trump is so strong that you’ve gone absolutely insane and supported things which contradict all beliefs you’ve listed here.

@FOXNashville They had them at the GA school.

CRISIS IN THE CLASSROOM: School districts in Tennessee are now being told to "consider" implementing a mobile alert system that connects staff to law enforcement. Panic buttons are not required, but school officials must look into them. bit.ly/3MCrh9u (AP photos)

@RepMTG Lol @ “Christian” being the first descriptor in your profile.

The fix is in. They would love to replace him or demand him take Nikki Haley as VP or they will tell him he has to rot in jail. How about go fuck yourself John Bolton and the rest of the Deep State cabal. Trump is the ONLY ONE!!!!

I know we are all distracted by the fact that we were supposed to be driving flying cars by now, but how is it 2024 and I don’t have a dishwasher that automatically unloads itself?

@themetaphorgirl 2 because you don’t have a dog!

two truths and a lie! 1: D*sney Imagineering had to design a booster seat for me 2: I have a dog named Hiccup Horrendous Haddock IV 3: I’ve played Cheryl in Evil Dead: the Musical twice #SaveLockwoodandCo #WhoTFMadeThatUp

@Franklin_Graham @realDonaldTrump Trump also hurt your witness but 🤷🏻‍♀️

The first presidential debate is tonight. A lot of people didn’t vote for @realDonaldTrump because he hurt people’s feelings. Really? I wonder what they think about what’s going on in the White House now…

My 4 year old, staring lovingly at a Dorito: you’re so good to me. #relateable #conversationswithlittles

Me: orders M an ice water at @Starbucks . She: mommy? You didn’t order my ice water I wanted. Me: I did, sweetie! She: but you ordered a TALL cup. I want it in a SHORT cup. Me: the confusing thing is that the tall cup IS the short cup. She: …I don’t get it. Me: exactly.

@MichaelTalJ @mtn_dsrt_pastor @BethMooreLPM @treveccachurch @Trevecca is the first place I was exposed to creeds and gained an appreciation for them. We attend a non-denom charismatic leaning church now…no creeds. But over the last year find ourselves often at Mass where things like this draw us deeper in. Beautiful sacred traditions.

@mtn_dsrt_pastor @BethMooreLPM At @treveccachurch (also Nazarene) we have been reciting the Apostle’s Creed, Lord’s Prayer, and taking Holy Communion every Sunday for several years. I’ve been amazes at how meaningful it had become. It is truly a faith forming and affirming part of worship!

I’m studying a rich segment of Scripture that has me doing a little research into some of the confessions & creeds of the church in the early centuries. ?: Church goers, does your church say any creed or confession as part of the weekly service? If so, what’s your denomination?

@CptnMayhem Um, ok!

@ITSLORAB WE’RE HEADING TO NYC BABE.

Field day mode: activated! ⁦@AntiochMSBears⁩ instagram.com/tv/CdyL8vdjBEy/

At a stoplight my three year old checked out the vehicles around us and when the light turned green said “let’s have a race!” and I don’t know if I’ve ever related more.