Christian Extremism...Unfortunately It Exists

“If we lived in a righteous government, they should round them all up and put them up against a firing wall, and blow their brains out,” 

A quote from Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Idi Amin? No, this quote is directly from a sermon. Yes, you heard me correctly, a sermon given by Pastor Roger Jimenez of Verity Baptist Church in Sacramento. I have looked at the website for this church, and it looks normal enough until you begin to read. On the home page, they stay pretty tame even ending with this phrase, “We hope this website will allow you to get to know us better, and we would love to get to know you personally at one of our services.” Now, let me add something to that last sentence, these 3 words, UNLESS YOU’RE GAY! Because, ladies and gentlemen, the quote above is from a sermon delivered in response to the horrific attack in Orlando. Make no mistake! Pastor Jimenez is not calling for the murder of terrorists, not that that would be Christian either, but he is calling for the murder of all homosexuals. He goes on to “praise” the actions of Sunday’s shooter, saying that he is “glad” that “50 pedophiles” were killed. That because of the mass shooting, Orlando, Florida is safer. You can’t make this stuff up, people. I wish I was! Here’s the really scary thing, as far as I know, Verity Baptist Church is still functioning. It still has a congregation. People, Families are attending there. Children are being taught this crap as “truth!” To my knowledge, no one challenged him, no one ran from the church screaming. They all sat there and listened. At least nothing was reported to the contrary. I have said this before, and I mean it. If this is the way I have to be to call myself a Christian, then I don’t want to be a Christian! I love God! I believe God loves me and cares for me. I have seen too many things in my life that I know God brought me through. I believe Jesus died for my sins, but I refuse to believe, no matter what part of the Bible you cherry pick from that God wants to kill all homosexuals. This, my friends, is more dangerous than any gun, because this church is raising a generation of children (read more about their family integrated church) to believe that hate and killing is not only right but something God wants them to do. Hmmmmm what does that sound like? Islamist Extremism, you know the Taliban, or ISIS. The really frightening thing? No one is trying to stop this school of hate, freedom of speech and all that. Don’t get me wrong, I am happy that I live in the country that I do, and I enjoy the freedoms that I do, but when I come across someone like Pastor Jimenez whose exercise of that freedom breeds hate and contempt, it scares the hell out of me. 

Listen to Your Heart

On July 28th I wrote a post about a little heart scare that I had, and my preliminary diagnoses from the doctor. Yesterday, FINALLY, I went in for my stress test. I have to say I was a little nervous. I'm in fair shape, but I've never had one of these before. I had visions of passing out or not being able to do it at all, or, the worst of all, what if I had to run? YIKES!!! I jokingly tell people I don't run unless some one's chasing me. But early yesterday morning I made my way to the Cardio Vascular Specialists and got all hooked up and started on the treadmill. If you've never had a stress test, a little explanation. You are exercising so that your heart rate will elevate. I was told that they needed to get my heart rate over 145. A normal resting heart rate is somewhere between 60 and 100. The reason they need to raise your heart rate is to see how your heart tolerates exercise. You start out easy at a slow rate and gradually they raise the incline and increase the speed. As soon as you reach your target rate you have to quickly lie down on a bed and they take ultrasound pictures of your heart. The first two stages, not too bad. The third was close to jogging, and it was becoming a little harder to breath normally. Luckily I reached my target pretty close into Phase 3, and I got to stop. The doctor looked at the pictures, and I was told that everything looked good. My heart tolerates exercise well, and that there was no sign of heart attack or any active blockage. Excellent news! So what was the jaw pain back in July? Not sure. The good news is it wasn't a heart attack or a warning sign of anything else heart related. Maybe it was just the aches and pains of getting older. The important thing is that I got it checked out. We have to listen and pay attention to our own bodies, and, unfortunately, sometimes we have to push to make sure the doctors are doing everything they are supposed to be doing, and they are not becoming the DISMISSERS. In the past few years, I have had 2 friends who were diagnosed with cancer, but both had to push further for treatment because they knew something was wrong, something wasn't normal. My generation tends to just accept whatever we are told about our medical condition. I think, well he's the doctor. He should know. But there are incompetent doctors just like there are incompetent teachers, plumbers, lawyers, and the list goes on and on. Think Frank Burns from M*A*S*H. So, listen to your heart or your stomach or your breast or your brain. Because nobody knows your body better than you do.