On my heart... (Take a moment to listen to the song by Casting Crowns)

It is all over the news.  Everywhere I look.  No, it is not the crime rate, or the horrible attacks that kill scores of people.  It is not the political agenda, or the division that is severing our country.  It is the humongous footprint of hate.  And the part that is hurting my heart, is the hate that is spewing from those who call themselves by the name of Christ.  

There is the church from Kansas, who spend their time going around the country to protest the gay agenda and at soldiers funerals.  Where is their love?  Their website is an agenda of hate, and it even uses the word hate right there on the first page.  Their current teaching is that God hates .. lots of things.   

And this is true. God hates that which destroys us.  Just as a mother hates to see her child get involved in things that will harm that child, God hates to see us get involved in things that will destroy us.  But He does not hate US.  Or for that matter, He does not hate anyone.  He loves everyone, which is why He sent Jesus to pay the price for the things we do wrong.  No greater love exists.  And yet... 

I read an article today from my local AOL, with the heading " Why do Christians express joy in knowing that their friends are going to be tortured in Hell?"    It made me sad.  Because I know there are those out there, professing to be Christians who are like this. 

I attempted with all my might to respond to Atheist.  I am inept enough on the computer to never have gotten the message posted.  But I can post my reply to him here, hoping somehow he will see it, and know that he is not hated.  

And here we go...

Dear Atheist, I am sorry that your perception has been that Christians enjoy expressing the fact that God would send people to Hell. This is so far from the truth, well, it is a blatant lie.  And it is not representative of who Christians are supposed to be. Although I am aware that there are those out there of this bent, it can be said of them that they are either only professing to be Christians, or that they have fallen out of relationship with Christ.  The message that He brought was that of love, and that is the true mark of a Christian. He loved everyone, regardless of their tenets of belief, regardless of whether they accepted Him or rejected Him. 

The truth has obviously not been told to you, that Hell was created not for humans, but for fallen angels.  The truth is that those who do not accept Christ, will be going there. And the truth is that a way was made for them NOT to go there.  Its all in the acceptance of Christ as your redeemer, savior and friend. 
A simple example of how this works is this:  You are offered a ticket, paid for in full to get out of Hell when the big one hits.  You can either accept the ticket, or decide to go to Hell and be destroyed.  But YOU are the one who is in control of that, not God.  He is the one who paid for the ticket. 

It is true that there are those unloving, hell fire preaching, damnation people who yell, with a gleam in their eye, that YOU ARE GOING TO HELL. Do not let yourself be deceived.  Just because they look like they are enjoying it, doesn't mean what they are saying is not true.   However, a true Christian would love you, no matter what, and CRY because you are going to Hell.  I no more understand the hell fire and damnation people than I do those who would reject the chance for a free ticket to Heaven.  But I know this much. My Savior would have me love them both, just as He does.  No matter what. 

I do not know you.  But He does.  And He knows the hurt that is in your heart, the things that drive you, and the path you are on.  He wants to walk with you, loving you, and leading you to a life that exhibits love. Personally, I cannot imagine my life without Him, nor would I want to.  

I hope someday you will finally understand.  I will pray for you.  

Romans 5:7-9

New King James Version (NKJV)

⁷ For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. ⁸ But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹ Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.

Putting The Doctors on Notice...

Yes, I am venting today.  Or maybe, I am just stating the obvious, and putting any doctors I see on notice from here on out.
So you know how you get notice from the Doctors office via telephone, text, in writing and in person, that if you miss an appointment and do not give 48 hours notice, you will be charged a missed appointment fee equal to half your yearly wages, plus interest and fees?
Why does that not apply both ways?  Let me explain.  It took and act of God to get my dad an appointment for a surgical consultation.  He resides in a nursing home, and in order for that appointment to get scheduled, it had to go through approval by the Nurse practitioner, the Nurse, the Transportation person and the Appointment scheduler.  Now although it was considered an "urgent" matter" it took a month to schedule this.  To top it off, I had to request time off for part of the week, rearrange my work schedule, and  rearrange my own doctors appointments, so I would not get charged a missed appointment fee.

We were supposed to meet at the Doctors office at 12:00 noon.  At 11:15, they called the nurses desk at the nursing home, and cancelled the appointment.  They didn't bother to call me, my dad had to do that. 
So Here is the notice the Doctor will be receiving, and any others who dare do the same thing...

Missed appointment cancellation policy.  8/11/12

Be advised that you missed your appointment that was scheduled for 08/07/12 without prior notice.  It is our policy that a missed appointment fee will be applied to the charges for this appointment.  The detailed bill follows.

1. Shock and Awe fee.  This is charged because it took the Army of God to make the appointment, two months to book it, and 2 seconds to say you were not showing up.  Base fee $10.00.  Other charges may apply.
2. Aggravation fee.   This fee is charged when the appointee had to make special arrangements to attend the appointment, such as rescheduling work, re-booking other appointments, tending to hurt feelings, and taking high blood pressure medication when you called and so rudely said. “Your appointment is cancelled” without giving a reason.   $35.00
3. Putting up with you fee.  This is charged simply because you think you can cancel any appointment because you are the doctor.  (See good cause for missed appointment reasons following.  This fee will not be charged if you have any evidence of some reason you could not show up.)  $55.00. 
4. Total of your missed appointment fee.  $100.00. 

Good Cause for missed appointment. 

A fee will not be charged for putting up with you, if you can provide evidence that any of the following incidents prevented you from keeping your appointment, or canceling with out 48 hours notice. 

1. Your death.   Please provide a notarized copy of certificate of death. 
2. Death in your family.  Ditto the above.
3. Stupidity.  You do not treat these type of diseases.  Please provide your Medical license and proof that you are a Doctor.
4. Car trouble.  Provide proof that you do not have adequate transportation and that you live out in the boonies somewhere a taxi could not pick you up or you could not take public transportation. 

Good cause for a missed appointment will not be accepted for any of the following reasons:

1. Your golf game is off and your feelings were hurt because you are under par.  We already know that by your previous actions. 
2. Your wife did not make coffee and you did not wake up in time. Grow up, make your own.
3. You forgot your bag.  Your brain was in it. Too bad.
4. Your partner (who we assume is also a Doctor) did not show up for work, and you had to take his appointments for him.  He is being charged also if this applies.  Too bad, so sad.

Please note: we accept only cash or cashiers checks.  Interest and fees will accumulate if you fail to pay and you may be turned over to collections.  Note also that unless we receive notice of good cause for the missed appointment, we will tell all our friends, our friend's friends, and post on Facebook, My Space and in the local paper that you are not trustworthy enough to keep an appointment..  The Management.  
Note: We use a private collection agency. We advise that if you are visited by two burly guys who say they were sent by Michael Scalponini, (Bookmakers and Protection, LLC),that you pay up quick.