The Lord is close to the brokenhearted;
      he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.
                              -Psalm 34:18-

he is close to the brokenhearted, because his heart breaks too....

as you probably can tell, i've been doing a lot of thinking. specifically about the past year. what it's held. how crazy some things that happened seem. how amazing other things still are. i guess that's what you get from coming home from work at 1:30 in the morning.

but as i was thinking i realized that almost a year ago i prayed a prayer that i meant with all my heart but soon forgot. it went something simply like this: "Lord, let my heart break for the things that break yours." and even though i had good intentions, i soon forgot just want i'd prayed. sure i remembered from time to time in the beginning, but eventually when i began to lose things and people i loved, i forgot. but God still honored my prayer. for some reason. he began to show my heart what it was like to break the way his did.

the more i think about it, the more i realize just how he did it. and just what his heart breaks for. let me show you what i mean:

i was misunderstood, when i was trying to love, to show someone how much i cared, and i lost a friendship that i held dear and never gained it back - and my heart was broken.
how many times does God try to show his love, and he is misunderstood because of us, christians?

i had someone who is beautiful tell me they never felt they could be good enough, i watched her struggle to love herself as she was, as he created her - and my heart was broken.
how many times does God watch his children struggle to love and be satisfied with the way he created them?

i was laughed at, made fun of, and told my beliefs where stupid, that there was no God - and my heart was broken.
how many times does God watch people refuse to believe in him because they say have no proof?

i was manipulated, all because someone i love craves attention, and i watched them do anything to get it - and my heart was broken.
how many times does God watch as his children try to manipulate him, because they crave the attention of the world?

i watched as the one person i thought would always be there, refused to forgive herself, and i slowly had to let her go, so that God could use me and help me embrase forgiveness myself. but i lost a best friend - and my heart was broken.
but how many times does God watch as those he loves refuse to accept his forgiveness because they think they just can't be forgiven? was his son's blood not enough to save you?

i lost an inocent life that i'd invested in, that i was a part of, and then lost 2 more shortly after. they were gone, two so small who hadn't lived long at all, and one that had lived, but had not learned to die to themself -and my heart was broken.
how many times does God's heart grieve as his children grieve the lost of the ones they love, especially those who are so young?

-by: Sean marie Hart

Who is Church for anyway????

Church is for the liers, the cheaters, the adulturors, those who cuss, those whose lives are falling apart at the seams.  Church is for the 16-year-old unwed, single mother, for the people who are crushed and broken "beyond repair," for those whose marriages have failed or whose marriages are struggling.  Church is for the dysfunctional families, the addicts and alcoholics, for those that have done jail time... and yes, even for the murderers. 
Church isn't for the perfect people... It's for the imperfect, the broken, the bruised, beaten and abused, the soiled... and the sinner... because if the people in Church were perfect, they wouldn't need to be there.  Church is about coming to God, getting to know Him, and being made new again (you know, like a "do-over" or a clean slate).  It's about acknowledging that you aren't perfect and you need the gift of grace and forgiveness for your sins and mistakes which is only available through God's son, Jesus Christ.

For those of you who may be afraid to set foot in a Church, let me clarify for you, no matter what you have done in the past, God still loves you!  He'll forgive you if you just ask!  And don't you worry about the other people in church... they need God's grace just as much as you do.  There isn't even one in the room at any church you go to who doesn't struggle with temptation or give in to sin every once and a while (unless you go to a funeral, in which case the dead guy up front's struggle with temptation and sin is now over).

 To be honest with you, I don't have the words to make you feel better, but I do have the arms to give you a hug, ears to listen to whatever you want to talk about, and I have a heart; a heart that's aching to see you smile again

“It’s not your job to appease the will of man. It is your job to do the will of God.... It is not your job to have a minimalist Christianity. It is our job, wherever we go, whether in the United States or across the seas, to stand up for the name of Jesus Christ no matter the cost- Emir Caner

"Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important."-C.S. Lewis

"i think I need a sunrise i'm tired of sunsets.." -augustana

"Perhaps it's impossible to wear an identity without becoming what you pretend to be." Ender's Game

"In the beginning of life, when we are infants, we need others to survive, right? And at the end of life, when you get like me, you need others to survive, right? But here's the secret: in between, we need others as well"
Tuesdays with Morrie

"Every man dies, but not every man truley lives" (Brave Heart)

"What we do in this life time echos an eternity" (Gladiator)