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what it says on the tin

@churchsideblog / churchsideblog.tumblr.com

It's, you know, a church sideblog. I'm a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints; you can call me Oncilla. I run a very inconsistent daily scripture thing and occasionally reblog long strings of memes in the middle of the night. Likes and follows come from @oncillaphoenix. Header/pfp attributions in pinned

random thought: "stand ye in holy places, and be not moved" includes not going out of our holy places (metaphorical places i guess? holy behaviors and ways of being?) to attack others, even when we're certain we're right, even when we were attacked first. being unshaken from the holiness we've found has to be our first priority.

One of the most freeing things you can do as a Christian is start praying over EVERYTHING. And I don't mean "actually remember to pray over the important things that deserve divine attention" or something I mean the stupid stuff

"my videogame controller isn't working properly and it's messing up my game and it's really frustrating me, but I really wanted to play this right now" you have NO idea how often this actually works

"God I can't find my other shoe and I'm in a hurry, please help me find it" BOOM, found.

"I can't sleep because I'm getting myself worked up, give me peace." And it works. Consistently!

Yes we should treat God with reverence, but you misunderstand; he is our father, and our friend. Talk to him. Talk to him about anything and everything. He'll always hear it.

and if i may add, training yourself to pray for other people just in passing is good too. if i’m on the road and i see someone on a motorcycle, i pray that they’ll get home safe. if i’m at work and notice a customer seems a bit annoyed or down on themselves, i pray that they’ll be given peace. if i see someone having a good day, i thank Him for that gift for them, even if i myself am not having the best time.

praying for yourself and your friends is beautiful, and praying for strangers is just as much so

All bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, and reviling must be removed from you, along with all malice. And be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ.

Ephesians 4:31‭-‬32

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People are sometimes surprised to know there are active LGBT church members. How can we sustain church leaders? How can we pay tithing to a church that has done much good, but also much harm?

Speaking only for my self, I sustain the church as it seeks to move into harmony with the perfect light of Christ. I pay tithing to God and expect the Church to be a wise steward and use those monies for ends God approves of.

If our human church leaders fail, by word or action, to achieve these goals in their daily walk, then I try to extend to them the same grace I hope they will learn to extend to me. When I am hurt by their words or actions along the way, I remember this:

“…Whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain… I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.” (Matthew 5:39-44)

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How I would like to engrave this great idea on each one’s heart: Christianity is not a collection of truths to be believed, of laws to be obeyed, of prohibitions. That makes it very distasteful. Christianity is a person, one who loved us so much, one who calls for our love. Christianity is Christ.

St. Óscar Romero, The Violence of Love