We found a church to attend this morning, Westside Calvary Chapel. Miraculously, their building was spared from the fire last year. However, officials say the area is far too toxic for them to meet, so they gather for worship at the beach.
I'm more of a mountain girl, but I must admit, church on the beach was magical.
However, it was also distracting with its incredible views and "local visitors."
Chickens were free-ranging between the rows of beach chairs, which my younger children loved. Just saying, but chickens should be a part of all church services across America.
The ushers were North American Ghetto Chickens, as my family calls them. They didn't "usher" per se. They acted more closely to bouncers or security. But, again, it was another hit among our younger crowd.
For me, the biggest distraction was the dozen or so turtles swimming at the shoreline for the entire 1.5 hours we were there. You've heard of "squirrel" moments..."turtle" moments are far more addicting and pleasurable. So cute.
My whole family almost jumped in the water to swim with them after service.
They refrained...barely.
I'm not a fan of church hunting; we've done it for many years in the military. It's exhausting. But the Lord gave us favor today. We just wanted a Bible-believing and preaching church that doesn't water down the Word of God because everyone is so easily offended these days. Today's message was good. He hit hard, preaching directly from the Bible, and did not mince words or care if the Word of God offended anyone.
News flash: the Bible is offensive to those living in sin. So, if you can read it, believe it, and not be offended, you're doing fabulous. Go you! You're probably walking intimately with your Savior.
The pastor ( I feel bad; I can't even remember his name) talked about 1 Corinthians and sexual immorality. I never watch the news, but he spoke out against the two biological men who won gold medals in the women's division of boxing. I've been living under a rock and didn't even know the Olympics were happening. Whoops. But I'm glad he was brave enough to speak out against it.
Now, the world is celebrating and awarding medals to men abusing women.
Awesome. <---sarcasm
Nothing good ever comes from pandering to someone's mental illness. For decades, there have been large underground movements helping people overcome things like gender dysphoria, homosexuality, basically the entire LGBTQ+ movement. You will never hear this side talked about in the media; they are hell-bent on gaslighting you into believing you are the problem for not buying into their bullshit. Oh, but if you could only spend a few minutes reading the testimonies of people set free from that bondage.
If this movement was so amazing, why does no one ever return once they are set free?
It reminds me of when I was set free of the vaccine brainwashing. It will be over my dead body before I ever allow anyone to stab my children with poison again. And the men, women, and children set free from the LGBTQ+ community feel the same. They'll return or allow their children to enter...over their cold dead body.
The truth sets you free.
It is possible to show people the truth in love. My oldest son frequently falls for lies of all kinds. As you know, he is autistic/ADHD. To put things into perspective, he used to believe he won a car when junk mail arrived and said, "Come on down to Toyota Tucson to see if your key is the lucky winner." It took me days to convince him that the key in the envelope would not be a "lucky winner."
And just recently, an entire community tried to convince him he was a gay "furry." (Men who like men and believe they are animals.) For several weeks, their convincing worked, and he spent that time planning a trip to their annual conference to meet up with "his new friends who would help him find his own truth."
Bill and I said nothing in the form of condemnation. We didn't kick him out of the home and belittle him for his views. We told him we loved him repeatedly, never once agreeing with his decision. When he would ask, "You're not happy I'm a furry now, are you?" We would embrace him in a giant bear hug and say only, "I love you so much." Once he let go of the embrace, we parted and went our separate ways without another word.
My autistic/ADHD son probably forgot he even asked a question, which was perfect for us because it meant we got the opportunity to love on him and, every once in a while, ask non-inflammatory questions for him to think through.
Eventually, that same community that lied to him turned on him and began cyberbullying him. He dropped them and their ideology like a hot potato. We got lucky. Many friends had to do this for years before their children saw it for what it really was and turned away.
To date, all of my friends (so many) who have had to go through this with their children have done it in love and gotten them all back. One friend endured years of their daughter actively participating in all activities in this community, openly and intentionally trying to humiliate herself, her family, and her friends. The Lord delivered her moments before going through their mutilation "ceremony," and she is now a bright, shining light for Jesus, sharing her story on TicTok with millions looking for hope.
As I said, we were lucky it was over so quickly for our family, and I am certainly not an expert in navigating this at all. However, it's pretty obvious what not to do: guilt, shame, disown. For what to do, look to Jesus. He loved them and never condoned their behavior. He called it what it was: sin. And He showed them love and what a glorious life with Him would be like. Do that. Be like Jesus.
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