God loves me regardless of all my garbage that He has to put up with.

Thanks for the vid, Justin...you made my evening! Did I see Robocop in there too?

This is amazing Justin, thank you for posting this. I think I've watche dit like 10 ten times since. It reminded me of the great rationality and even simpleness of God and His character of love.

easily, the most dangerous thing happening in America vis-a-vis the breakdown of the nuclear family (whatever that means) is NOT gay marriage, but heterosexual divorce..... gays and lesbians just make a better scapegoat than looking in the mirror...

Amen Sara. It's so much easier to fuss over other people's stuff than to deal with our own.

Justin, I love this! Thanks for sharing it. I have to admit though, I'm confused about the part with the hamster and the toaster and then the guy is riding on the flying hamster. Reminds me of my bizarre pregnancy dreams...boy I had some doozies!

uh duh. The false assumption made is that those who don't endorse and accept every type of lifestyle are not loving in a way pleasing to God. That mindset, however, is completely contrary to Christian tradition and scripture itself.

This mentality is unbelievably shallow. The question is how best do we love? Am I loving my son if I let him stick his finger in an electric socket? Am I loving our society when I endorse "gay marriage" even though it spurs on the breakdown of society's building block the family. If you disagree with that statement at least address it instead of continuing to misframe the debate at hand.

http://www.benanderson.us/2009/04/jimmy-akin-on-t...

perhaps part of the problem is the posture we are taking. you mention, "am i loving my son if i let him stick his finger in an electric socket?" the people who need love are not our "sons" or "daughters" but rather fellow broken people who make mistakes just like us. instead of talking to "sons" perhaps we should talk to them like "people who just got zapped by sticking our own finger in a light socket", let God talk to them as a "son".

You seem riled up about this. That's good.

Unfortunately, I'm afraid you totally missed the point of the video. Would I let my son stick his finger in a light socket? Absolutely not, but I wouldn't berate him if he did.

Interestingly, I have been clear since day one on my personal convictions towards gay marriage, but I'm afraid you've chosen to disregard them.

Ben, let me put it straight: Do you think you can take a strong position on an issue and not sound like a jerk? Do you believe that's possible?

who is berating anyone? Perhaps I'm missing who you are aiming your message towards. If you mean to aim it at people who bash gays, then I would agree. Those people should bolster their compassion. I certainly agree with loving everyone.

I was just assuming (perhaps incorrectly) you stood for the usual position of people who scold Christians for not loving outsiders enough - and that's they don't balance their talk of love with a real sense of Christian morality. Perhaps you're not one of these folks?

Sounding like a jerk? Well, unfortunately people's ears are gonna hear what they hear. I certainly strive to be as charitable as I can be when dealing with people not like me. But we can't hold back the truth at all expenses. Certainly I don't walk up to people who don't live Christian lifestyles and start berating them. However, at some point these people do need to hear the gospel message which Jesus often began with the word "repent".

My comments were intended to deal with the public square and the fact that many Christians are saying the proper response to the cultural challenges we face is just to bow out. I obviously disagree with that position.

And yes, the breakdown of the heterosexual marriage is of a great concern. However, that doesn't mean we shouldn't defend marriage on other levels.

Ben, I appreciate your angle on this.

I think of Christ's life. People were drawn to him... people who were broken and needed healing physically and emotionally. There were those who recognized they needed his salvation right then.

On the other hand, there were those so immersed in the world that they completely rejected him and had him killed on the cross.

I think we try to forget all the details in the later. While Christ died for our salvation (we remember this), he was also killed at the hands of people (people who thought he was a jerk? maybe). Christians have painted a picture of a "nice" Jesus, a hippie-love Jesus. That kind of love is a lie. Jesus loved in a way that for some people it united them to him for eternity and for others it pushed them away. Not because of Jesus' doing but because their worldview was so separate and blind to God's view.

So I ask why are we scared of sounding like a jerk? Anyone who doesn't agree with something you say on a strong level is going to think you're a jerk if you believe the opposite. That's just the laws of the world.

If we speak truth!... then some will be drawn to it and recognize they need Christ's salvation. At the same time some will feel pushed away because they are immersed in their worldview and can't decipher or recognize absolute truth (to them it doesn't exist). Doesn't mean we shouldn't share it, at the risk of sounding like a jerk.