he > i
because your love is better than life, my lips will praise you.
(Source: typewrittenverse, via runnin-onfaith)
My personal writing blog - This is a blog where I post things that I write… Mostly my own poetry and drabble. I also reblog writers’ references and stuff written by other people onto this blog.
My Divergent blog - This is exactly how it sounds. This is where I blog about things to do with Divergent. When I have photoshop back on my computer, I’ll be posting more graphics and things that I’ve made. Until then, it’s just reblogging pretty things.
My Jesus blog - This is my blog that I co-own with Eli where we write about faith related things, answer questions, have discussions, and respond to prayer requests. We also both make graphics/art of Bible verses and faith related quotes. So if you’re looking for more faith related things on your dash, this is a great blog to follow!
My Hunger Games blog - This is my blog that I co-own with Jay where we post/reblog anything to do with THG. We had a system going with themed days where we reblogged certain things on certain days, but we’ve both gotten so busy, that we just try to post what we can when we can! But you can look forward to more graphics and stuff as we get more content from Catching Fire! Jay is an incredible graphic artist.
My Book Club blog - This is where I’ll be blogging about what I’ve been reading! My goal was to read 100 books by the end of the summer, but I think I’m going to try to just read 100 books this year! Feel free to follow and join me on my quest. I’ll always be available for book discussions, or reccomendations in the ask!
THGDiscussion - This is a blog collective that I am a part of that posts/reblogs THG meta/discussion. It’s been kinda dead for a while because a lot of us have been super busy with life, and have become somewhat disenchanted with the fandom, but I’m going to be doing my best to get the old crew together and get some content posted!
My Game of Thrones blog - This blog is where I post Game of Thrones stuff. It’s a blog that I’ve been neglecting, but I’m going to be posting more often as I begin to read ASoIaF! Again, when I get Photoshop back on my computer, there will be graphics and art posted!
Please feel free to follow any/all of these blogs if any of them tickle your fancy!
Just reblogging here in case you’d like to find me elsewhere on Tumblr!
— Emma
Hey there friend!!
I just wanna start off by saying that YOU HAVE NOTHING TO BE ASHAMED OF! People make mistakes. People do things that aren’t always the best choice at the time. You are not your mistakes. You are bigger than your mistakes… And there is a God who loves you, and can free you from whatever kind of guilt or despair that you could ever feel.
Issues about sex are always tough to talk about, and to reason through. Our society/media preaches conflicting messages; they talk about sex and sexual things and present viewers with sexually evocative images and ideas, and then turn around and get all hush-hush when it comes time to talk about what sex is really like, and how you can do it safely, etc.
These same issues come up in Christian sub-culture as well. We are expected to guard ourselves against sexual immortality, and yet, we are not really “allowed” to talk about it because some people are afraid that if it becomes a common topic of discussion, that young Christian people will be encouraged to have sex before they’re ready [or before they’re married].
This is possibly where the shame that you’re feeling is coming from. Often times, Christians have this idea that if you have had a sexual experience outside of the deemed acceptable environment [i.e. marriage] that you are tarnished and ruined for all time. This is especially true of women [for men as well, just not as common; we receive these teachings that if we have sex with anyone other than the person that we end up marrying, that we as women are dirty, or worthless, and that no man [or woman] will ever want us if we are “damaged goods”.
THIS IS UNTRUE. Jesus did not come down from His place in eternity to condemn us for falling short… He came to cover our sins and redeem us to the Father.
So long story short here is that you can move on from this! You are so young. You have such an incredible and fulfilling life ahead of you! The fact that you are feeling repentant is great: like I have said before, the Holy Spirit gives us feelings of conviction and not of guilt. You feeling sorry about what happened is your first step towards being free from it.
We will be praying for you, and we love you!
— Emma
We would love to have messages tonight! So if you have something on your mind for discussion, or a question you would like to ask or need some kind of advice, let us have it!
Well when I do faith posts on my normal blog I tag it 1) so others can blacklist but 2) to also be able to look back on the tag as a reference, it’s not all for nothing haha.
Also you don’t have to, if people don’t like it, they can unfollow you. You shouldn’t be judged for your beliefs.
——————————————————————————————————————-
That’s a tough one! Being a Christ Follower here on Tumblr is pretty rough sometimes. People have preconceived notions about who/what Christians are, that aren’t always true. People have been hurt by other people who claim to follow Jesus, who are really not showing the love of Christ at all in their actions and words. People are angry about some of the things that people who say that they are Christians have done, in the name of Our God. And it is our job to love these people regardless of how they feel about Christianity.
My advice would be to continue tagging, even if you just do it to organize your blog so that you can find posts later. This is what I do, just so that I can find things I’ve written later on! And I have had awesome opportunities to talk with my online friends about my faith as a result.
If people are following you, they probably think you’re pretty rad! Which also means that you have probably debunked their possible prejudices about your faith. And if they follow you but don’t want to read your posts about your faith, they can blacklist it. If they have no preference, then you may be able to witness to them through your blog!
You don’t have to hide your faith!
Keep bloggin’. We love you!!
— Emma
For as long as I can remember, hip hop has had an obsession with God and religion. I don’t mean to suggest that all rappers are religious devotees. But few rappers – or any artists for that matter – can shake the urge to include God somewhere in their art. It’s natural and good for us to speak about God, but the question is, what are we saying? Some will say, “It’s just music. Don’t take it so seriously!” But what a rapper says on the mic is more serious than you may think.
Some have used hip hop to express their sincere religious belief or lack thereof. Islam, The Five Percenters, Christianity, Agnosticism, Atheism, and other religions have all been promoted through the art form. I think hip hop is uniquely suited to express loyalty and devotion to anything we’re passionate about. Partly because of the culture’s compelling rawness and partly because hip hop allows for more words, thus you can actually “teach.”
But most of the time hip hop is more like a barbershop than a Sunday School class. Rappers recklessly run off at the mouth, whether they know what they’re talking about or not.
Sincerity vs. Recklessness
There are some whose rhymes reflect a sincere – though sometimes misguided – search for and struggle with truth. I respect that. One thinks of The Roots’ “Dear God 2.0,” or Kendrick Lamar’s “Dying of Thirst”.” *Even when I disagree with their assumptions or conclusions, I enjoy listening to sincere wanderings. And it often moves me to pray for my fellow emcees.
Hip hop has always had a darker side though, where artists treat God and religion with disrespect and irreverence. Rappers seem to say whatever words feel right in the moment – whether they actually believe them or not. And in a “post-Christian” nation like ours, these reckless assaults are usually aimed at Jesus and His church.
Of course, there are some things – like hypocrisy and money hungry “preachers” – that deserve to be mocked. But sadly, the Bible, the church, and God Himself are often treated like insignificant characters in a fiction story. I admit, hearing rappers talk about “freaky” girls in the church choir makes me cringe, but nothing grieves me more than mocking Jesus Himself.
Many rappers have called themselves God, put themselves on a level with Jesus, and have boastfully taken the Lord’s name in vain. They’ve built whole albums around irreverent religious themes. They’ve used their God-given creativity to insult their Creator. How ironic.
As a follower of Jesus, I am personally offended by what I hear, but more than that I’m afraid for the ones who spew these blasphemous words. We would all be afraid for a man who’d spit in the face of the President, but we should be even more afraid for a man who spits in the face of Almighty God.
Responding With Grace
So how should I respond? I could begin a campaign to boycott their music. Or, as a rapper myself, I could write a scathing diss record for the ages. I’ll let you decide whether either of those approaches are right or wrong. But honestly, I don’t think they would do much to address the real problem.
The music these rappers release is a reflection of their hearts. Our words are always a perfect picture of what’s going on inside of us. Have you ever tripped while holding a glass of water or juice? Whatever you have in the glass spills out onto the ground. As we all know, our clumsiness doesn’t produce the liquid, it just shows us what’s in the glass. It’s the same thing with our words. When we speak, or rap, the content of our hearts is spilling out. Speech and music doesn’t make us sinful, but it does expose what’s in our hearts and minds (Matthew 12:34).
In light of that, listening to some of the rappers who take up religious themes tells me two things.
First, they don’t understand who Jesus is. If they did, they would never speak of Him this way. Of course, they know Jesus was a Jewish man who was crucified two thousand years ago. But, they don’t truly understand Him.
No man or woman in their right mind would try to put themselves on a level with the absolute Ruler if they truly understood Him to be such. Nobody would disrespect Him by associating Him with lewd sexual acts or violence if they understood that He was the eternal Judge of their souls. They wouldn’t toss his name around like He’s a nobody and treat His name with such levity and disrespect.
When you’ve truly seen Jesus, you understand that He’s incomparable. When you truly know the King, you submit to His authority, you don’t challenge it. So the only conclusion I can draw is that they haven’t seen Him for who He is.
Second, we need the people who do know Jesus to speak up. Not just in songs and blog posts, but at the dinner table, in the boardroom, and in the classroom. Why? Because this ignorance and irreverence isn’t unique to rappers. Reckless art is just one expression of it. We live in a culture blinded to the truth (2 Corinthians 4:4).
Opening Blind Eyes
So if you know Jesus, tell your friends and family the truth. God is not to be toyed with. He’s to be worshipped, loved, obeyed, and enjoyed. He’s real. He hates sin and sent His Son to do away with it. In fact, His Son died and took the punishment for sin so we wouldn’t have to. And God raised Him from the grave so that we could live with Him forever.
Pass this Good News on to others! But please, do so with grace. Stop yelling at people, and start loving them. If you’ve seen Jesus for who He is, it’s not because you’re better than anybody. It’s because God opened your blind eyes. Pray He would do the same for your friends and family.
And if you don’t know Jesus, you should get to know Him. He’s indescribably good, and more than worthy of our devotion. There’s not a single one of us that can afford to ignore God or treat His Son like just another dude. Our eternity hinges on what we believe about Jesus. And the truth is, whether we believe in Him or not, we will be judged by Him.
So what’s God to a nonbeliever you ask? Creator, Sustainer, and Judge. And if we’ll turn and believe – Savior.
*Disclaimer: I’m not recommending that you listen to the songs mentioned above. One of them contains foul language that won’t be appropriate or helpful for many.
(Source: kidwiththebulletsoul, via clothedingrace)
(Source: glitterandrecovery, via talisas)
