Scream

You know, the one thing that gets under my skin the most is when people take their opinions, and put words in God's mouth. It makes my blood boil. Things like when I'm listening to my music, "Oh, I bet God hates that music". Yes, it is metal, yes, they do scream, yes, THEY ARE A CHRISTIAN BAND!!! They are talking about God defeating hell, about loving the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind, they are just doing it in a way that reaches kids who don't get the word of God in any other way. Apparently, if you don't like screaming, that's not a good thing. I listen to bands like Hawk Nelson, Amanda Falk, For Today, Flyleaf, The Letter Black, Seventh Day Slumber, Group 1 Crew, David Crowder Band, Breaking Benjamin, TobyMac, Bluetree, Rapture Ruckus, Manafest, Thousand Foot Krutch, Skillet, Carrie Underwood, Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus, for crying out loud! I listen to pretty much everything. Except opera. Or the Beach Boys. Ick. You could not pay me enough money to listen to either of those. Check some of those bands out. Even if you only listen to the first 30 seconds of their songs and then turn it off. I'm not telling you to like this music or just get off the face of the earth. I'm asking you to listen to the music, decide for yourself if you like it, and listen to the lyrics. If nothing else, listen to the lyrics. (Or look them up, if you can't understand them :) ) They are all very different groups. Metal, rock, praise and worship, alternative, country, whatever! I love it. Diversity, in anything, makes us beautiful.
Another thing, "Who ever said that Jesus was fun?" (By the way, I am not saying names in this because I don't want these people to get hurt. I am angry. I am venting. But I am not bringing you into it. Please don't make this a big deal.) Who ever said Jesus wasn't fun?!?!?! Agh!!!! First off, if people didn't have fun with Jesus, do you think anyone would follow him? No! Would people listen to him talk for hours on end? No! Would people try to get other people to follow him? No! How would people get to follow Jesus if he was boring? "Oh yeah, there's this guy...in heaven...who loves you...nothing exciting really happens in your life...you just kinda believe in him...even though you can't see him...but you know...he loves you...so you should follow him." NO!!! Guys, I have seen proof of God. That is so exciting! When God works in your life. When he shows himself, when he works in others lives. It makes you want to jump and scream and dance all around the room! It's fun. It's exciting. Working at camp, serving God, it's fun. If I didn't have fun at camp, I would not work there. It's as simple as that. Yes, God has some serious work for us to do. But I think he wants us to have fun with it. He doesn't want us to suffer. He won't give you anything that you can't handle.
Here's the thing. I try to speak the truth all the time. If I've offended you, get over it. This is what is true. I hope that I haven't butchered any of this. If I have, I'm sorry, please correct me. But, if you say "You've offended me" to anything that I've said that is true, this is my reply: "I don't care." I'm not being mean. I'm being truthful. I really do love you all. And I will show you love, but I'm also an incredibly sarcastic and irritating individual, as some of you will and have found out. I am me. Take it or leave it. I'm not changing for anybody, and I've learned that you can't please everyone, so please God, and no one else matters after that.
God bless,
Ariel