Stealing Freedom

Another...how long?...almost a month!?...has gone by without a real post. It's more of the same going on (see previous post). Things won't slow down significantly for me until after September 9th, when the kids go back to school. So if you've been missing me here or on your blog, please know I still love you and will get back to a more regular posting and reading schedule soon.

I did read something today that sparked my interest. On the Lifestream blog, Wayne says this:

"Even Jesus said, “Don’t bicker among yourselves over me. You’re not in charge here. The Father who sent me is in charge. He draws people to me—that’s the only way you’ll ever come.

"I love that. Anyone who seeks to crawl between you and your freedom to follow Jesus, doesn’t have a clue who Jesus is.

I think he really nails something here. Anyone, ANYONE, who seeks to prevent you from having real freedom in Christ doesn't get who Jesus is.

Why is it that some other Christians seem bent on preventing others from finding freedom, whatever it may look like? If I told you that my freedom meant I could support gay marriage, you would have two choices: a) try to convince me this isn't a biblical position and you will pray for me or b) know that what I believe doesn't mean you have to believe it.

No one can deny that we have a full spectrum of people who call themselves Christians. If you want to stick your head in a hole, you could pretend that the only "real" Christians are people just like you. However, denial doesn't change anything. There are people who possess a perfectly vibrant faith and relationship with Jesus who do not believe what you believe. It's just the way it is. You can make war with them or love them.

Sometimes I'm angry at those who tell me I am wrong because I don't believe what they believe. Whatever the apparent mandate is, it seems to be a dealbreaker for my faith. As in, if I believe abc, then I must NOT be a Christian.

For instance, listening to people close to me bash the President I voted for because of this or that Christian agenda that he apparently doesn't adhere to is challenging for me. It's usually best to just walk away, knowing these people judge my faith because of who I voted for.

But...and here's the thing. I am learning grace for these things.

You see, if I am angry with people who try to steal my freedom, I'm still letting them steal my freedom. If I know Jesus is OK with me, I don't need to waste my time being angry. Anger is a defensive feeling, and I don't need to defend my freedom.

This doesn't mean it's not still a challenge, but why spend one moment being chained by other people's opinions? If, truly, where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom, I must embrace that and know that God is with me, and no one can steal that from me. I answer to no one above Jesus.

Quantum God

An excerpt from my most recent post at Communitas Collective:

"I’ve seen the movie Angels and Demons, starring Tom Hanks, twice in recent weeks. Written by Dan Brown, the author of The Da Vinci Code, it continues the theme of the tension between religion and science. It begins with explaining some research taking place at CERN, the location of the Large Hadron Collider. If you have heard anything at all about it, you know scientists are, among many other things, seeking proof of the theoretical Higgs boson particle, sometimes known as the God Particle. The theory is that this particle is what enables matter to have mass, in other words, to exist at all. It’s a very scientific explanation for the existence of the universe, and religion might refute it as lacking any spiritual quality at all. In the film, some crucial research from CERN has been tampered with and stolen, presumably by someone wishing to use it to destroy the Vatican because of the Vatican's age old war against the progression of science."

Read more HERE.