Wow, That Last Answer I Wrote Was MASSIVE. I'm Sorry Anon, I Just Got Really Passionate About Your Question!

Aww thanks bb! :) 

Self Respect and Slut Shaming Another one of my rants, because you know I can’t resist giving my opinion on a sensitive topic. This one is on video! Yay! *Pixelated some stuff because I’m conservative **Song in the background is Revo by Walk Off The Earth

A PSA for all the white, straight, cisgendered, able-bodied, neurotypical peeps.

You are privileged. 

If you are all of the things listed in that title, then you are VERY privileged. 

If you are not aware of your privilege, it’s because that’s how privilege works. You don’t see the disadvantages other people face because those disadvantages don’t exist for you. You don’t see social inequalities because society was designed for you to move through it with ease. Society was built by people like you for people like you. That’s privilege. 

But also, if you’re not aware of your privilege, or - even worse - if you willfully deny the existence of said privilege, you’re either blind or selfish or some arrogant, ignorant combination of the two. 

FURTHERMORE. When someone tells you that you are privileged, that is not a personal affront?? Nobody is attacking you by telling you that you’re privileged. They’re just stating a fact. E.g. Me saying “you are privileged.” is not an attack. Me saying “you’re either blind or selfish or some arrogant, ignorant combination of the two.” is an attack. You see the difference? Good. I regret nothing. Moving on. 

I understand that being privileged can feel uncomfortable because it’s like daily, societal survivor’s guilt. I understand that you don’t want to talk about how life is easier for you than for your friend/coworker/family member because of the colour of your skin, or your gender identity, or your sexual orientation, or your genetics. Nobody has any control over that. And yeah, I get it. You’re a good person. You would never oppress anybody because of any of those things. 

STOP BEING AN OVERLY SENSITIVE BABY. This. Is. Not. About. You. Suck it up and face the facts: we live in a deeply unjust society, and you’re on the benefitting side of that injustice. Getting offended about it when someone points out your privilege doesn’t help. Denying your privilege doesn’t help. Making up some stupid reverse kind of discrimination doesn’t help. Claiming that you can’t be privileged because your life sucks doesn’t help. Feeling guilty about it doesn’t help. 

Literally the only appropriate response to your own privilege is to acknowledge it, acknowledge that other people are not so privileged, use your privilege to draw attention to the fact that not everyone is privileged, and work to correct social inequalities. That’s it. Do that. Instead of getting blustery and defensive when someone tells you that you’re privileged, just go do that. ffs. 

Prayer - July 17

I'm a broken record. I spit the same words out at you. Over and over and over. By now they've lost all meaning, even to me. I'm stuck on the same part of the song. I'm singing you the same refrain again and again, but it's getting tired. "I'm sorry for letting myself grow cold. I'm gonna make a commitment to do better." How many times have I been "saved"? How many times have I prayed the prayer of repentance? How many times have I recommitted my life to you? Did I ever really mean it? I'm lukewarm water. Unfit for drinking, unfit for cooking, unfit for anything. I'm stagnant and disgusting. There are dust particles and all sorts of nasty bacteria collecting in this water. No wonder it make you gag. Maybe the worst possible fate I could think of - making Jesus gag. God, I don't want to make you gag. I know that I'm lukewarm because my life has become all about doing everything "right" and being "perfect" and "having it all together". My all-consuming passion is keeping that pathetic insecurity at bay by trying to fit all the roles I think I'm supposed to fit. But you've called me to something so much more. You've called me to break the mold. I know that your plans for me are so much above and beyond anything I could imagine. I know that you can take my life and turn it upside down and inside out and make something crazy amazing with it. So why am I so happy with my average, nice, white-picket-fence existence right now? Here's my life, jesus. Maybe this is the first time I've ever given it to you. Here are my fears and insecurities. Here are my dreams. Here are my plans. Here's my time. Here's my money. Here are my talents. Here are my passions. Here are my skills. Here's my past. Here's my present. Here's my future. Take it all. Love, me.

I really love your answers to the questions you get, because they're very well thought out and it's like you actually care and put the effort in to thoroughly answer them instead of a few nonchalant lines that aren't very bible based. Plus you don't get all self righteous and judgemental when someone disagrees with you which is what a lot of these other Christian bloggers do. God bless you and I will most probably be asking you something in the future! :)

Awwww!!! I am SO, SO glad that you took the time to tell me that. Thank you very much; I really appreciate it :) Your blog is gorgeous, btw! :) 

Father`s Day Devo (My senior pastor asked me to write it for our church newsletter)

When I consider that God is spirit and has no biological relationships like humans do, I realize that the only reason God calls Himself “The Father” is for our benefit, to help us understand the relationship between God and people. God is described as many things: as our healer, provider, savior, and king; as a potter, a warrior, and a shepherd. However, our primary understanding of the identity of God is “God the Father”. So why is “Father” His preferred label? 

I came to the conclusion that if we were looking for something on earth that most closely resembled our relationship with God, It would be our relationship with our fathers. So I looked at my relationship with my dad. My dad’s the type of person who would move heaven and earth to help someone out. For example... 

-Last week he drove to Corner Brook to build a deck for the mother of one of his employees.  -Last summer I got a flat tire on my car while I was at work and he had it changed before I even finished my shift.  -When I was in grade 11, I had a public speaking competition the same weekend as the church youth retreat. He picked me up at Burry Heights, brought me to the competition in St. John’s, and then brought me back to Burry Heights after the competition. 

Truthfully, I will probably never know how much time and energy he puts into taking care of me when I’m not looking. That selfless devotion to taking care of our family and of the people around him is the essence of a father’s love. Fathers are spiritual models for how God loves us. The identity of a Christian father is imitating the character of God. The love that they demonstrate towards their children is a self-sacrificing love. That love puts their children before them. It’s the very same love that Jesus demonstrated when He died on the cross. 

In Matthew 7:11, Jesus says, “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” This is a father who literally can move heaven and earth to help us out. Like in Isaiah 38, when He made the sun go backwards, or Joshua 10, when the sun and moon stood still. Just picture God pinching the earth between His thumb and pointer finger to make it stop spinning. He interferes in the solar system for us! More importantly, He died for us. We will never grasp the vast and overwhelming love of God, but if we want a tiny glimpse, we’ll find it in our fathers.

Remembering 9/11

Well...there's nothing like a tragedy to bring a nation together, is there? I mean, I live in Canada, and we were rocked by 9/11. The whole world was rocked by 9/11. With good reason. It was a truly horrific event. The sheer symbolism is enough to appall us, and the numbers are truly devastating. There are a couple things that stand out to me when contemplating the memory of the attacks. 

It is not our tragedies that define us, but how we respond to them. America, you're beautiful. The stories of love, selflessness and compassion that have emerged as a result of this tragedy are testaments to the quality of your people. Since then, you have rallied brilliantly, and the construction of the freedom tower in passive defiance to terrorism is admirable. 

Tragedies reveal our character.  Like I said, you're beautiful. And so I know that your country has a beautiful soul, made of raw humanity, love for one another, and resilience. I pray that you won't let petty differences mask that soul. In the light of such an all-consuming and overwhelming tragedy, you can see your fellow human better. And the differences that cloud your view most of the time seem to fade away. You know what I'm talking about. Age, gender, race, and sexual orientation are all secondary to humanity. I pray that you try to remember the love you have for humanity in times of crisis and preserve it in times of peace and prosperity. 

We cannot forget these tragedies.  I know that the news seems saturated with bloodshed. That's because it is. Because the whole entire freaking world is saturated with bloodshed. But we can't turn a blind eye. We can't cover it up. We can't pretend it doesn't happen. And we can't forget it. This violence, this hatred, it's a part of us as a race. The world is ours to own, and look at what we've done with it. We've soaked the soil and watered the trees with our own blood. We've filled the skies with the cries of the innocent being slaughtered. We've written the history of the planet in death tolls. And if we ever hope to change, we cannot forget. We must know where we've been if we want any hope of knowing where we're going. For those who do not know their past are doomed to repeat it. So remember the world's tragedies with reverence and respect, and let that motivate you to strive for a better tomorrow. 

9/11 is no more representative of Islam than the crusades, the Spanish Inquisition or the Holocaust are symbolic of Christianity.  Just because Christianity is the religion of the white majority means that the crimes against humanity committed in the name of our God are forgotten. Of course, these crimes are not truly crimes of Christianity, because as I've said before, my God is a God of love, and not of hate. So as I'm sure you know, the above-mentioned crimes against humanity are not sanctioned or tolerated by the Christian all-loving creator. So why would one believe that 9/11 was sanctioned or tolerated by the Muslim all-loving creator. One of my best friends is Muslim, and all of our conversations about religion reveal that we believe fundamentally the exact same thing. If there is still confusion, one need simply look at the terrorists who committed 9/11 as the Muslim equivalent of the Westboro Baptist Church. Make sense? 

Please let today be a day of remembrance, a day of tolerance, a day of acceptance and compassion, and most of all, a day of hope.  Peace and love :) -Katherine

It is time for Christians to stop ranking sins.

Frank Powell (via savedbymercyandgrace)

welp

(via poeticdarkbeauty)

If words were wounds

and you could see flesh tearing —

would we still speak the same way

or find new ways to destroy ..?

If words were healing

and you could see wounds sealing —

would we still speak the same way

or withhold words to destroy ..?

But this is what it is, every day.

Words rip, words mend —

deeper than flesh, more than metal.

Flesh is fragile,

but a soul, eternal. 

Will we still speak the same way?

  —J.S.

How do you feel about the scandals that revolved around the Christian brothers (sexual assault towards youth) in Newfoundland and other similar scandals? Things like this have caused many to loose confidence with their faith, what are your thoughts on that?

Hey baby! (Don’t be weirded out, I use a various terms of endearment with all my friends and acquaintances) 

And ugh. I have a bunch of different thoughts on this topic. I’ve heard soooo many different opinions on this. I’ve heard of churches going door to door to collect donations to bail priests out of jail, priests who were incarcerated for sexual assault on a minor. Now, the reliability of these reports is dubious, at best. I honestly cannot formulate an opinion on that idea, or its truth. Now, in my own church, we had a scandal a couple years back. One of the pastors at my church was convicted of sexual deviancy, the likes of which is apparently a crime. Man, I dunno what happened. It was kind of a mess, tbh. Obviously, he lost his job at my church and I’m pretty sure with the PAONL in general. I also think they told him he could be re-ordinated if he took counselling and stuff. 

First up. Obviously, pastors/priests/reverends/whatever are people just like the rest of us. They’re gonna screw up. That’s a-given. But when they screw up in such a way that it hurts other people, we absolutely must acknowledge it. We must acknowledge the damage done, and we must take steps to show that we acknowledge it and to attempt to rectify it. I am sorry, but child pornography, and sexually assaulting young boys, or whatever, that’s straight-up awful. And I would be in 100% agreement with the church if they fired the people who committed these crimes. Any other company would. We don’t have to pretend like we’re perfect. It’s no secret that we’re really not. To preach sexual purity and selflessness and love for others and a straight moral path and then to defend those who CLEARLY violate these teachings is hypocritical, it’s not grace. Hate the sin. Love the sinner. But really, really hate the sin. Don’t defend it. Don’t excuse it. Don’t justify it. Hate it. 

On the other side of that, grace is a part of this too. Churches are full of hypocrites. That’s why we’re there. We as Christians do not think we’re perfect, rather we are acutely aware of our imperfection. We strive everyday to become more Christlike but it is a battle against our very nature and by default is possible only by the grace of God. We absolutely must forgive and accept the people who commit these heinous crimes, because that’s what God does.

I know it’s really hard for us to wrap our brains around, but all sin is equal to God. Lying is the same as murdering. Envy is the same as rape. It sounds ludicrous to us, because human morals have a measurement of severity, based on the effects the transgressions have on the people around us. God’s only measurement is “perfect” or “not perfect” and any sin, no matter how awful, or how trivial, is in the “not perfect” category. Romans 3:23 says “for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” …”fallen short of the glory of God”. That’s what sin is. It literally means not being divine. Well if that’s the definition, then heck yeah everybody has sinned! 

So my point in saying that is that we need to forgive even the worst of humans, because we are just like them. I listened to this talk by Judah Smith about how we hate Barrabbas so much, the guy the jews told Pontias Pilate to free instead of Jesus. He was a murderer and they let him go free instead of Jesus! Like what the heck? Oh wait a minute…he’s me. Jesus bought his freedom just like he bought mine. We are all the same. We sin the same and God loves us the same. 

HOWEVER. All our actions have consequences. Forgiving someone and extending grace to them does not always mean that they will be exempt from the consequences of their actions. Losing your job and going to jail may be the consequences of your actions. So be it. That’s only fair, as far as fair goes on earth. 

And finally, people are gonna let you down. They’re going to shock, dismay, disappoint and hurt you. We are an imperfect being, plagued by mortality. But don’t give up on God. He’s the only one who will not disappoint you. I know His church screws up. I know some of His so-called “followers” are batcrap crazy. I know He gets a bad rep cause people misuse His label and they say one thing but do another. I know, I know, I know. I heard a comedian put it this way: “I like Elvis but I don’t like all his crazy fans.” This is why I think it’s so important for the church to be very careful about their reaction to scandals like this so that we demonstrate that we acknowledge the pain and the damage, we do not condone the behaviour, we apologize for it while still being gracious. It’s a very tricky situation. But at the end of the day, everyone’s relationship with God is their own business and their own responsibility. No one’s gonna take the credit or the blame for your eternity. My advice is to look past the stupid manmade institution called Religion. [Sidenote: I am a strong advocate of the church. I love the church. I think serving and being a part of a body of believers who will edify you in your faith is awesome.] Because God cannot be contained by a building or a group of people or a list of rules or even an idea in your head. 

God is bigger and greater than anything we’ve ever known or ever will know. He is the first, the last, the everything. He is in all and through all and nothing can be apart from Him. So don’t diminish Him to the church. Find out for yourself who He is. Read the Bible, spend time in prayer, don’t rely on secondhand information. Be a critical thinker and find out about God yourself. And find a church that you think exemplifies biblical values well and that you feel is good for you at this point in your life. 

That’s all I have to say :P 

Thanks for the question! Peace and love!-Katherine 

My Testimony

My testimony is, simply put, the story of how I became a Christian and what God has done in my life. When I was five years old, I decided that I wanted to have a relationship with Christ so I prayed with my mom and invited God to become a part of my life. Ever since then I’ve had a relationship with God, and I’ve tried to live every day as He would want me to live. That was 12 years ago and I’m so thankful that 5-year-old me made that choice. God has taught me some amazing truths over the years.

No matter what I’m going through, He is always there for me. Whether it’s conflicts with my friends or worries about the future, I can talk about it to him and I’m not worried about it anymore. As a result, I’m a pretty happy person most of the time because I don’t have all these trivial little cares weighing me down.

One of the most amazing things I’ve learned sounds very simple but is actually mind-blowing: God loves me. The creator of the universe…loves me. The one who made the sun and the stars loves me! He knows me. He knows everything about me, and He still loves me! I feel so special, so important, so loved.

I know that God has a plan for my life and that He is going to use me to do amazing things. I am living every day according to the purpose He has given me. I don’t have to live to please people, I don’t have to be popular, I don’t have to fit in because my significance is in Christ.

I can tell you that I am a teenager who is happy, secure, confident, and I have significance and purpose. I don’t need drugs or alcohol or sex to make me feel alive or fulfilled. A teenager who can say that is so rare in today’s society. And it’s all because I have God!

I am so thankful that God has given me people in my life who have taught me these wonderful truths, and now I want to tell others about them because they’ve made such a great difference in my life.