We still love you Alray!

No doubt most of you are very aware of all that has been happening on our campus the past few weeks. Student Body President Nelson Alray had apparently received threats and hate messages and in response the students of FLC responded with support (read the original story here). This was the right response; none of us should ever tolerate hate. During the whole ordeal I heard from 2 professors and other students that the rumor on campus was that the Christians were spreading these hateful messages. I also received multiple hateful messages during this time but have no idea if they were a response to these rumors (I talked a little about this back on Oct.31st). Regardless, hate is always wrong. That is why we marched together with the students of FLC to share the message that God is love and hates hate.

Most of you received the e-mail from the college or read in the paper today that the hate messages President Alray reported were false (you can see the story here). On the one hand I am glad these messages weren't authentic because I don't think anyone should ever receive those types of threats. On the other hand I am saddened that this whole issue was a lie and that the rumor that Christians were responsible for it started spreading around campus. Jesus told you to expect this in Mt.5:11-12, saying, "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." As long as we keep our eyes on Him and continue following Him, obeying Him and loving Him and everyone around us (Mk.12:30-31) the truth will always win out. Ps.37:4-6 says, "Delight yourself in the LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD ; trust in Him and He will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun."

I am definitely glad that people won't incorrectly think Christians are spreading hate. I am also so proud of all of you Christian students! Jesus tells us in Mt.5:39, "If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also." That is truly the attitude I saw in each of you. You were quick to forgive, quick to love and quick to point others to Jesus. You guys are AWESOME!!!

That all being said, I want to ask you to reach out to our former student body president with love today! Please e-mail, call or facebook Mr. Alray and tell him that we and Jesus still love him. If you are mad about being lied to I want to remind you to love and forgive. Please reach out to your gay and lesbian friends and reaffirm your and Jesus' love for them. If you haven't checked it out yet, please read this post on how to share your faith with gay and lesbian friends.

If you're reading this president Alray, I want you to know that Jesus and each of the students involved in Connect love you and forgive you and we are still here for you. I hope you'll have some time to debrief over break and hope and trust you'll be able to visit us again after break. Please check out a short message straight from Jesus' mouth by clicking here. We are praying for you, we love you and so does Jesus.

Finally, whoever you are and wherever you are remember you're not alone; remember, pray for and support the persecuted church worldwide and boldly stand for Jesus today and point to Him no matter what situation you find yourself in. He will always be your strength, rock, fortress, deliverer, refuge, shield, salvation and stronghold! Ps.18:1-3

God Hates Hate!

Update: read all about what happened with the WBC protest here.

Also, get resources for sharing your faith with gay and lesbian friends here.

You've all heard of the Westboro Baptist Church. They aren't a baptist church at all and aren't affiliated with any denomination. They definitely aren't true Christians but are compelled by their narcissism to make a scene. The Bible tells us, in 1 Jn.4:20 that "if anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen." That makes things pretty clear. These people don't love or represent God. Check out more info on them here. I say all of this because, as many of you know, they will be protesting on our campus today. As the Christian group at FLC I feel a duty to take a stand to show the campus that God loves them and to publicly contradict what these people say about God. Everyone of us is a sinner and Jesus loved each of us enough to die for us so we could know Him. Rom.5:8 - "God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." We need to share that Good News with our campus. Jn.3:16 - "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." If Jesus were physically on this campus today He would be reaching out, arms wide open, to every person WBC hates! We need to follow our Savior's example and get out there sharing His love with this campus.

If you're in the area, meet up with us at 4:30 pm at the chapel at FLC. There will be a lot of other people and groups there. I will bring some poster boards to make signs that tell of God's love, if you want to bring your own feel free to do so. Special note: do not engage the WBC people in any way as they are trained to try to get a brawl going. Just peacefully share the truth of God's love with the campus! I feel like Paul in Ephesus (Acts 19) where the whole city was in an uproar and all He wanted to do was point people to Jesus. Let's follow that example today.

Finally, while we're talking about how much God hates hate and loves us, I want to encourage you to pray for these WBC people that God would get a hold of them, change their hearts and lead them to leave their hateful ways.

I hope this short message about true, selfless, unconditional, Christian love encourages you a ton!