My desire is to be real with you, my friends.

"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy." 1Peter 2:9&10

As I reflect on this, it pains me to realize how I have fallen so miserably short of being the priest of my home, a holy servant, a Godly man, who ever declares the Lord's praises. So many times I forget to remember the the darkness He has called me out of into His wonderful light. This causes me to lose sight of Him and start to focus on the world, and "sinners" around me. So many times in the past, instead of addressing my own heart, I have focused my attention on what I thought was the problem: the government, abortion, homosexuals, etc. Yes, even though I have close friends and family who are gay, I still have played the us vs. them thing in my own mind. Yet, in my life I have struggled with personal addiction, with pornography, with lying, with deception, theft, hypocrisy, covetousness, lust and maybe more. "Ye who is without sin, let him cast the first stone."(Jn 8:7)

Now that God has delivered me out this bondage this scripture becomes so much clearer. I cannot have the first without the second. I must always reflect the depths of which my Lord delivered me, so like my Lord, I have compassion for others, and only then can I become Christlike, holy, a chosen person, a royal priest, belonging to God and able to show the mercy I've been shown.

My friends, please forgive me if I have not been gracious to you, or if I hurt you because my views were different from yours. My Jesus has called me to love you because you are worth loving, that's why he first loved me...certainly not because of me.

HISSHEP