Protect all precious cinnamon rolls

Last month, Christian businessman Lai Jinqiang appeared in court in China, on charges of selling audio Bibles.

China continues to crack down on Christians and acts of Christianity, as their gaze seems to now be focusing on distributors of audio Bibles.

The electronic devices are popular among Christians because they are easy to use and, unlike printed Bibles, are widely available for purchase on the internet. In 2018, the government implemented a ban on online Bible sales with only the state-approved churches allowed to sell the in their bookshops.

Two days after Lai’s trial, four other Christians who worked for another business selling audio Bible players, appeared before the same court on charges of “illegal business operations.”

Please pray for our brother, Nabil Habashy Salama. He’s a Christian from Egypt abducted November 8th. He owns a jewelry shop and has funded the building of the only church in his city.

Nabil went out at 8 pm to a shop, when three armed men forcibly grabbed him. A passing truck was stopped and the driver forced out at gunpoint. Nabil was shoved into the truck and driven away.

Local Christians see it as an act of intimidation towards them all. Three families have fled the city.

It is the second abduction in the city this year. In August, Bakhit, a 65-year-old man was abducted and is still missing. Bakhit’s son, abducted in 2016, is missing.

Having a guilt-based personality, when I see a “Reblog this or you are a horrible person.” or “If you don’t reblog this then just unfollow me.” kind of comment I get that guilty pang and start to think “Oh no, I have to reblog this or…..), BUT I am able to say “Wait, that’s not how it works”.

I get why you don’t want to believe in God. I get it. You’ve seen the Christians on street corners who are screaming about going to hell.  You’ve seen Christians turn a blind eye. You’ve seen Christians give really crappy answers when you’re hurting. You’ve seen Christians in church ignore the new people. You’ve seen Christians avoid you in the store. You’ve seen Christians be downright hurtful. You’ve seen Christians be just plain mean.

Here’s the thing.

Christians aren’t Christ. I get it. Christians give Christ a bad reputation. I do it. I swear and listen to music and mutter words that would make my grandma and my Jesus blush. I’m mean. I avoid people. I get it. 

I get it. We base our beliefs on what we see. We build our perceptions on our experiences. We base our opinions on what we’ve learned.

If you’ve had a bad experience or 47 bad experiences with Christians, I’m sorry.

This isn’t one of those posts that is going to end with the typical, “we’re all sinners and that’s why Jesus died for us”. although that is true - that’s not the point of this. What I’m saying is that Christians are going to disappoint you. Christians are not always going to represent Christ. Christians are going to hurt you. Christians are going to not look like Christians all of the time.  But are you following a Christian or are you longing to follow Christ?

Are you getting to know Christians and doing things how they do them or are you getting to know who God is and why exactly He sent Jesus? Are you spending your time pouring over Instagram and trying to match your journaling bible designs to the ones you see there? Or are you spending your time pouring over the Bible and trying to match your life to the ones detailed in the stories told there?

What I’m trying to get at is this: Christians will misrepresent God. Christians will mess up, we’ll make mistakes. We’ll say the wrong things. Because we’re not God. We’re not good at being God. We’re good at being humans. We were created as humans, and God is God. God is good at being God. God won’t misrepresent himself. God doesn’t mess up. He doesn’t make mistakes. He doesn’t say the wrong thing. He doesn’t leave. He doesn’t break his promises. He doesn’t let you down. Christians are meant to follow God. Christians are meant to become more like Jesus, not other Christians. 

If you’re skeptical about this whole thing, I get it. But if you’re willing, please seek to learn who God is and not who Christians can make him out to be.

Pregnancy centers are more vital than ever, and the demand for their support has never been higher!

If you are able, PLEASE donate to your local pregnancy center. If you don’t know your oval pregnancy center, message me or go to:

OptionLine.org (Heartbeat International pregnancy centers)

You can donate to the official Black Lives Matter movement on their website.

Their donate page is ran by ActBlue "charities."

ActBlue's primary expenditures are donations to democratic candidates... As in their TOP 10 2020 expenditures, far exceeding anything else they use donation money for.