A proper reaction to homosexual marriage, after the fact.

Hello Hippies!!!

Friends and Family as well, I know it has been a long time since I have blogged, but I think now is the time to fire this old literary disaster back up. The passed few months have been a pretty exciting and wild ride with some ups and downs, the most of which have been ups. I’m thankful to everyone who puts up with me and my crap and am thankful for everyone in my life. By taking the time to read this, I hope you are willing to listen to a bit more. So, lets just do it. Lets get right to what I want to say. The reason why I’m reviving this blog;

            As many of you know, our President, Barak Obama, has said some things in support of homosexual marriage that have created quite the discussion on facebook, blogs, news and any other public forum imaginable. The Christian reaction to this matter is what Im going to talk about. Im going to piss some of you off. Some of you may unfriend me, or stop talking to me. I do not care. You are probably the one I’m talking to anyways. Some dear friends of mine, Christian leaders I look up to, and Christian peers I have studied and taught with, you are the ones I’m taking to.  Are you ready?

             The Jackassery has to stop.  You pharisaical fools need to shut your mouths before you destroy your witness entirely, and the witness of those around you who call themselves “Christians” and are actually try to reach the lost of the world.

            Before we go any further, allow me to preface this as so; I do NOT condone homosexuality, or homosexual marriage. As a FOLLOWER of JESUS I know those things to be biblically wrong. But, also as a FOLLOW of JESUS, I know that how “CHRISTIANS” have approached the subject is wrong as well. Some of you, you hypocrites need to remove the plank from you’re eye!

            We are a nation of freedom for EVERYONE. Freedom, Liberty and equal opportunity in the USA are free for everyone to who wants them and are the very things our soldiers die to protect. In the United States, we have a separation of Church and state. We have no “State Religion.” Those of you that believe we are a “Christian” nation are wrong.  We are a nation where anyone is free to practice whatever religion they want. A lot of you are conservatives and want to take all control away from the government and give it solely to the people, but at the same time, you want the government to control what people do that you don’t like. You are hypocrites.  As a country of “separation of church and state” it is in our government and presidents best interest to support free and equal rights for everyone; gay, straight, black, white, Mexican and everyone in between. The Governments jobs and the president’s job are not to cater to Christianity. If your upset that they are not leading the way you want them too, then shut your mouth, and vote for someone else, that is YOURE right.  I had a good conversation with a guy who said, “As a Christian, I feel like it is my duty to try and elect people that have the same moral (or Christian) beliefs as I do.” I couldn’t agree with him more. That is certainly, his (and yours!) free American right. We went on to agree that how some of you “leaders” in the church are approaching this situation and are going to kill any hopes we have of reaching anyone.

            In total agreement that homosexuality is a sin, and homosexual marriage is not what biblical marriage is supposed to be (and biblical marriage and legal binding state recognized marriage are two entirely different things) lets consider this; what would Jesus say or do? Some of you still rock a WWJD bracelet every day and you didn’t stop to think, “What would Jesus say?” Do you think Jesus would stand in the streets and preach? Do you think he would make a homophobic homo-bashing blog or web post? Do you think he would tweet or status update and bash our president or his ideas? I THINK NOT! Jesus is God, and knowing that GOD IS LOVE, we must know that he would just simply open his doors and invite gay people and their spouses and friends into his house. He would be a polite and respectful guest in their house and show them nothing but love. Have you forgot that IT IS NOT YOU THAT saves anyone, but Jesus is the one who saves him or her? Those of you that have taken the time to make some boisterous post about homosexual marriage; when was the last time you had something to say to the guys that have files full of porn on their computers, or guys that are cheating on or abusing their wives and children? When was the last time you had something to say about the couples in your church living together out of wedlock? When was the last time you had something to say about adolescent guys living in their mom’s basement playing video games all hours of the day refusing to grow up? When was the last time you confessed the sin in your own life in front of your church to show them as sinners go, you are the worst?

            Vocally standing up against homosexuality, homosexual marriage isn’t having the effect you might think. You are just convincing your pharisaical crony friends that they should be the same way as you and give gay people even more of a reason to hate Christianity and the Christian church. You know about gay pride parades and marches and protests, right? Why do you think gay people stand up for those things??? Because Christians condemn them for their beliefs. You “Christians” are enablers, not loving followers of Christ like you should be. Maybe you need to take the time to reread the story of Zacchaeus.

            Ill tell you what I’m going to do, sometime in the next 2 years (is my plan) we are gong to start having church in Cincinnati, and in this church, gay, straight, white black or whoever will be welcomed with love. We wont preform homosexual marriages, but we will not cast homosexuals out, or people that support homosexuality or homosexual marriage. We will love them and tell them about Jesus and let the spirit do its work on them. We will defend the word, but also follow the first two commandments as best as we can. Sin is sin and it is not my place to judge sinners. Its my job as a Christian to share the message of the Gospel and let the love of Jesus, and the power of the spirit transform the lost.

If you are a gay friend of mine and are reading this, please accept my apologies for Christians that have turned you off, pissed you off or made you feel unwelcomed or unloved. You know I love you and you are always welcomed to hang out with me and my peeps. You are always welcome into my house. We will NEVER judge you here, because we are probably way worse people than you are.

Please, leaders and dear friends, I hope you find this in stern corrective love. Please stop talking. Please stop being so foolish. Stop making it harder for Christians to reach the lost and broken. Stop trying to change or save people when that is not your job. Just follow the first two commandments, teach the bible to those who give you an ear to listen, and love everyone as Jesus would love them. Let our government be our government that treats and supports EVERYONE EQUALLY and vote for whoever you want, but keep your propaganda to yourself. Find a gay couple and get to know them. Don’t tell them who you are or what you do unless they ask. Invite them into your house, let them eat at your table and watch your TV and play your games. Love them and cherish them as lost people and let the love of Jesus and the power of the Spirit work on their lives. I love you all; gay, straight, leader, follower, Christian or not, Pharisee or follower of Jesus. I hope you can open your eyes to the real message and take the time to love somebody.

Much Love Hippies!

Levi

            

I saw a family of ducks that moved me!

HEY HIPPIES!!!

I know its been a while since my last update, I am sorry. Here is an update on what has been going on here in Reno and the latest adventures of Levi. The last time we spoke (or you read, rather) I was hiking the hills, couch surfing at Heather's and looking for a job. SO... with that said.... I have found and stopped working one TERRIBLE job, found another... and am interviewing for a second job tomorrow... I'll update this tomorrow to let you know for sure (UPDATE: The interview went really well I think. I met two supervisors named Gary and Chia as well as interviewed with Elizabeth C. again. It was a good, fun interview and Im excited to hear back from them!). Today I started rafting again, and tomorrow I interview at Patagonia. I hope it goes well! I also moved from Heather's couch into a VERY SMALL loft/room. Nothing special, but I got a great deal I couldn't pass up! I do really appreciate Heather letting me crash on her couch for a few weeks while I got settled in to Reno life. After a lot of prayer and a lot of work, things are working out just fine with a few pluses and minuses.

Here's a Video from the river today

 Todays crew... 2 guests and Hollis, another guide

 The trainee boat

 Peter and Betsy from Maryland

 Great day to be Raftin

The lowhead WE RUN! CRAZY!... The early dam we run is about 14' tall. What a strange feeling to run a dam.

One of my favorite aspects of scripture is the wilderness. Jesus was the ultimate hiker. He also would go be alone when he was having a hard time. When my life is in a corner or I am having trouble making a decision, when I'm angry or frustrated or confused, I like to hike it out. Since I landed in Reno I have been scoping the local mountains for hiking. The mountains closest to Heather's house that still had some snow on them had been tempting me for some time, and finally after a couple hard days that had begun to tax on me, it was time to head UP! It took me 5 hours round trip and probably covered between 15-20 miles with an elevation climb of about 3000-3500 feet. I grabbed some water and sunflower seeds and hit the trail with a purpose. I hiked with a speed and intensity I haven't hiked with in years. It was a beautiful day and a great hike with lots of time to pray, think and focus on the things I need to do.  Here is the pics from the hike!

 Looking at the city of Stead

 Reno from the trails... getting smaller!

 SNOW! 7600 feet... dirty Chaco feet. I topped out around 8000 feet ASL.

 Looking at California

 Reno from the top!

7,700 ft ASL... i went a bit higher after this but didn't stop for a picture.

For those that don't know, I'm a HUGE baseball fan. (Reds east and Giants west) I've been to a couple of Reno Aces games which are a blast.

 Reno Aces

 Hammocking in the Arboretum 

The view of downtown Reno at night from my loft/room! Its a super close walk to downtown or UNR.

I have been writing a lot more lately, and reading is starting to get right back on par. I also have been really enjoying Living Stones Church and have been searching for the right community group as well as trying to get involved in the church. Its been fun and rewarding to my faith and personal walk with Christ. I couldn't be more happy with a church. Here is a link to Living Stones. Well, that's about it guys!

TTYL HIPPIES.

Levi

Ode to Reno

Just a quickie post here. Want to share some pictures and a video from my hike the other day and last night. The video is pretty silly, so enjoy!

Sierra Nevada's

Reno In the day time from the trail!

 

 Redick the cow dog rigged to a big rock.

 Taking a break

 The sun was shining... but it was still a bit chilly. We had fun none the less.

 Reno at night!

Downtown in the dark! CASINOS!

Heres a Silly video of me walking in the cold night talking to the camera with a light in my face looking like I am filming a sequel to The Blair Witch Project.

I love to hike in the dark. It's a great feeling to leave in the light of day and return under the light of the stars. Evening/Night hiking is a double wammy hiking experience. On my night hike, I hiked about 3-5 miles past where Heather and I stopped just a couple days before on the same trail. I hiked for a total of just over 3 hours with a short stop before I turned back. All in all, its a pretty easy hike with a pretty steep first mile or so, then it is a fairly lazy rolling hill hike. The distance is a little difficult to judge since I don't have any ranger beads any more to count my miles, and it was pretty dark. it was a great hike though. It was a great time to walk and talk with GOD and listen and worship and enjoy creation. These mini adventures are often more beneficial to my mind and heart than the big trips. Never forget to take a minute to get out, friends... even if its only for an hour or two.

Until next time Hippies!
Levi

Wicky-Wicky Wild Wild West!

AHHH!!!! Hippies!!!! I have missed you so much!!!
I have so much to tell you guys, Im not really sure where to start! Okay... Lets start from the beginning! Almost 2 weeks ago now, on the 14th, I flew into Reno. It was a VERY early flight with a connection in Houston TX. I wont bore you with flight details, other than, all in all, it was a fine flight, and I had the great pleasure of using the bathroom in the great nation of Texas.

When I landed in Reno, I was greeted by Heathers smile and COLD weather. It was so strange to me to take off in 70 degree weather, fly into 80+ in Houston and land in the high desert, in the 40's. After getting my bags, Heather took me on a quickie tour of Reno then to Michaels Deli in Reno for a sandwich and chips, then off to the the house she was house sitting. It was a good day until I started to feel a bit sick. My stomach was upset for about 24 hours or so, then all was well.  Not sure why I wasn't feeling well... probably airport and airplane germs... 

Over the course of the couple days after I landed, we planned and prepared for a tip to the coast. The plan was to head west to the Kings Range Nation Conservatory Area, and hike the Black Sands of the Lost Coast Trail, then head north and back home... over the course of about a week. Easy Enough! The Kings Range area requires Bear Cannisters for backcountry backpacking so, we headed to REI, rented a cannister and hit the road the following morning! Heres some photos from our prep and our drive!

Prepping Food

The Bear Vault Bear Cannister... all in all, pretty tough, Hard to open and WAY to heavy.

anyone who says you cant backpack under 20 lbs... here you go... GO CUT YOUR WEIGHT NOW, THANK ME LATER!

The Sutter Buttes near Yuba City. Fammed for being the Smallest Mountain Range in the World.

Here is one of the several orchards we passed along the way west. We also passed several cranberry marshes as well as a few vineyards! I wish we could have been able to stop and sample wines!... next time for sure!

Before I proceed any further and lead to to believe this trip was all fish and chips (which it was at 1 point!.. you'll see.) I should tell you about the rain. As soon as we cleared the valley between the Sierra Nevadas and the coast, we hit some rain...okay it was A LOT of rain... and it didn't let up for a couple days. So here are some pics closer to the coast, with the beginning of clouds and rain... not to worry, it didn't slow us down one bit!

What you talking about Willits! We got shafted on gas here... dont stop at the first gas station in town... its about 10 cents more expensive there than every where else in Willits.

Famous Highways 1 and 101

Heather Standing in a Redwood

Adding my initials to the TAR in the redwood. Dont worry... I didnt cut into the woods at all... the whole entire tunnel was covered in black tar.

The Bear totem pole on Confusion Hill of 101... what an odd place... spot the tiny bear cannister!

Rain

Rain... and clouds/fog

One of the Many Bigfoot supported areas of northern Cal.

After getting off the 101 in Redway/Briceland, we headed down some pretty narrow, windy mountain roads... just the way I like them... just like WV. Here is a temporary repair done to a washed out section of road.

And finally we made it!!

Some nice folks we met at the trail head. For Heather and I, the people we meet along the way is just as fun and as important as the places we go and the things we see. I didn't get any pictures with the other to couples we met, but one couple (from Reno) Doug and Sandy where really great people and chatted with us for some time after we bumped into them on the cove as well as a nice couple from Denmark named Marianne and Erik. They are a retired couple traveling the world in there Mercedes Sprinter. SUPER COOL. They had some very cool stories for us as well as suggestions. Heres a LINK! to there website.

Marianne and Erik

After getting to Shelter Cover in the dark, we set up camp. Id also like to take a minute to add, neither of us slept well that first night. The immanent threat of bears and wet gear kept us up most of the night. Here are some of the things we woke up too, and saw over the next couple days of hiking and camping on the beach.

Clouds or Ocean?... You decide what it is.

So after a failed attempt to hike a SUPER STEEP, rainy, very cold trail without enough water and me feeling like hammered dog crap after running back to the trail head to double check the poorly marked route, we decided to just camp and enjoy the beach... in perfect time because the next day the sun was out!

Building a fire in the rain.

Maybe sun on the horizon?!

I opened the tent the next day to THIS!! SUN! (Actually, Heather may have been the one that opened it)

Drying out wet gear!

Heather Writing in here journal, while I walked around for my photo journal.

The beach was drying out too!

Because you HAVE to write in the sand on the beach! It's in the rules.

From here we packed up camp and headed to Shelter Cover for the morning, then planned to head north to Redwood. Shelter cover is a nice, small town with an airfield in the middle that planes buzzed in and out of most of the day, taking full advantage of the fine weather. Aside from being close to absolutely nothing, it would be a fine place to live. For example... we stopped at a place called Vern's in SC that is obviously, based on the prices of everything, the only place to pick up odds and ends as well as some random groceries, to ask about a map... his instructions where, "Just head back over the hill to the ranger station, just before the Post Office"... Folks... let me tell you, the next day we went "over the hill" for a map... and it was about a 30 mile round trip through the mountains. At any rate, here are some pics of the sea around Shelter Cover in NORCAL.

Pretty girl on the rocks! Watch out!

USGS Survey Marker... I LOVE finding these... if you look through some of my older photos on facebook, you'll see that I have Photo'd several of them.

Sea Lions

Baby Sea Lion

This is a Coast Guard Plaque at the Shelter Cover Lighthouse. I took this pic for my good friend Glenn Sutton, back in WV.

Tide Pool Hermit Crab

SO!!! thats not even half of the pictures! haha. After leaving shelter cover, we headed north to find The Lost Coast Brewery in Eureka.

Lost Coast Brewery (Resteraunt, the actual Brewery is up the road) This place was a funny experience and pretty cool. When Heather and I first walked in, we where blown away by how loud it was... let me add, it is no louder than any other pub... its just that when you have been in the wilderness for a few days, the sounds of people and busyness are almost all new. We shared some FISH AND CHIPS (told you I would come back to it) and had a couple local beers, bought some pint glasses and got back on the road. We stopped at a gas station up the road where I met a nice guy picking through some trash cans... all through our travels in northern California we saw dozens of homeless people and hitchhiking hippies. It was sad to see how many people where homeless and just looking for food. Humbodlt Country California was so bitter sweet. Beautiful country with such a poor people inhabiting its lands.

WE MADE IT!!! REDWOODS!!

Redwood Campgrounds entrance (the effect was intentional)

Redwood Camp

FIRE! in a Fire Ring! I Decided, any backpacking trip I go on, from now on... I will spend the last day or two in a campground. Its a great opportunity to let things air out, dry out and to relax, regroup and reflect. It was beautiful. Heather did a Great job this entire trip backpacking and living out of here backpack! I was impressed since this was her first time living this way.

Exploring

Bouldering on wood? Yes we where.

The road signs in Redwood are very entertaining.

The Massive Redwoods... I cant begin to explain how huge they are. One of the most amazing trees I have ever seen in my life.

After a bit of wondering around Redwood, we decided to find a beach... all I can say is TIGER BLOOD WINNING! We couldn't have stumbled on to a more perfect beach if we tried. This beach near Klammath California was located on a tiny Indian Reservation and went for miles in both directions without a soul in sight. We really saw maybe 3 people the entire time we where there and when we left there was just a handful of people down the beach barely visible. I would love to go back again someday and take my own family there to visit the sea.

Heather running from the sea.... it was very scary... haha. Actually the breakers where around 10-15 feet and VERY unpredictable.... and the water is COLD!!!!

This next set of pics is a series... of me almost being washed out to sea... check it out. Good work getting these pics Heather.

Here you can see me applauding the oceans attempts to take me from my well chosen perch among the rock outcroppings that skirts its edges. 

Stacking Rocks for the Hippes!

Here is the Seas Crashing into the a rock... I spent several days trying to think of a way to describe the sound this almost biblical event made. The only thing I can liken it too would be, to have you imagine your self on a beach paradise, with the sun shining and the waves crashing just to hear the battle of gods in the distance as the thunderous crack of Thor's hammer strikes his enemy dead where he stands and the sounds of the impact pierce your soul like a ray of bright light that reminds you of the power of the sea and of the beauty of Gods creation.

The drive home was relatively uneventful. Heather and I just chatted and enjoyed the sites and each others company. We stopped for Mexican food in Reading and drove through the beautiful highland forests surround Mt. Shasta. It was so nice to drive in the warm sun with the windows down and with great company.

Shasta in the distance

Mexican in Reading

Speaks for itself.

Pshew! Long post eh? And thats not even all of it. Some things I have to keep for myself. A ton has happened since our trip even, so I have a lot of catching up to do! Id just like to close with this: Every day you wake up, remember that there is beauty in th world somewhere. Though you might not always be able to see it, it is there. Your life is a journey, and which ever direction you choose to travel, remember the simple truths; God loves you, creation is beautiful and the people you share your memories with will be the most important people in your life. I have to tell you, I couldn't have had a better person to travel and see all these things with than Heather,.. definitely a real blessing. I had a great time on this trip and cant wait for the next adventure to begin. 

Miss you Hippies!

Levi