Freedom to Speak

Yesterday my wife called to let me know we had a water leak at our house. After calling a plumbing friend, we discovered our hot water heater was leaking which was causing a number of different issues underneath the house. We didn't figure this out on our own, but were helped by a friendly meter reader from the water department. When he was checking the meter for our monthly bill he noticed our usage was much higher than normal and came to the door to let us know. Without this assistance there would have been more damage and greater potential problems.

We don't always notice when things are going wrong in our lives. Sometimes we are too close to the problem to notice and fail to look in places where there are issues. Giving someone the freedom to speak truth into our lives can help us identify these troubles and hopefully bring about correction before they get too big.

Who do you trust to gently approach you when there's trouble you may not see? Giving someone this freedom can help head off potential pitfalls before they derail us completely.

Open to All

The Statue of Liberty stands as an icon of freedom and represents the ideal of the open doors of America as we offer refuge and safety to those in need. A poem by Emma Lazarus is located there as well and contains the well known words, "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" Those words are powerfully inviting as they offer hope for new beginnings and a place to make a home.

As I meditated on that poem this past week, I felt those words should be used to describe the Church as well. We should be a people offering refuge, safety, rest, and the grace of Christ to those in need regardless of their social background, ethnicity, gender, sexual identity, skin color, and past life choices. Perhaps this poem by Emma Lazarus could be modified to more accurately define the church's welcoming mentality:

Give me your tired, your poor, 

Your captive masses straining to be free from the heavy weight of sin, 

The rejected, recovering, confused, skeptical, and sinful. 

Send me your depressed, addicted, disadvantaged, neglected, and forgotten.  

Send those who are wandering looking for a home, tossed back and forth by the misguided intent of those who should be speaking love instead of hate. 

Send those searching for acceptance, genuine compassion, a life filled with purpose, and a safe haven from lies, abuse, discrimination, and legalism. 

We are Christ’s church and we lift His lamp as a comforting light to all who choose to enter. 

Honor and Sacrifice

Today I led a memorial service for the father of a good friend of mine. I was able to share some memories and hopefully bring some comfort and hope in a difficult time. Personally, I felt the most powerful part of the service happened after I was done speaking. The gentleman we were honoring was an Air Force veteran and had been a POW. Three members of the Air Force were in attendance and played “Taps” before presenting the flag to his widow. The words spoken to her were, "On behalf of the President of the United States, the Department of the Air Force, and a grateful nation, we offer this flag for faithful and dedicated service."

I was moved deeply by the honor and tradition of this act. It may have been a simple gesture to some, but I appreciated the recognition of years of sacrifice and service in allegiance to one’s country. The ceremony spoke of solemn gratitude for a soldier’s willingness to fight for freedom even if it was many years ago. It reminded me of the incredible commitment of so many men and women and the bond they share of having been in our military. This said to me, “We have not forgotten what you have done for all of us.”

There is great honor in genuine sacrifice and it should be recognized. Failure to appreciate these acts doesn’t negate what has been done, but diminishes our understanding of courage in action.

Do What You Want

Everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial.  1 Corinthians 10:23

This is a verse I think about and quote often. It's a great reminder of the freedom we have to act, think, and speak as we wish, but also of the consequences of our choices. What we choose to do and say will affect people around us and may create a rift in our relationships if we aren't careful. 

While we may be comfortable with our lifestyle and faith decisions, others may not recognize the balance we maintain. I don't believe we need to over-think or fret about every decision we make, but we should at least be respectfully cognizant of other people. A healthy respect for the choices of others reveals our maturity and our willingness to engage in dialogue without immediately alienating people. It's not a responsibility to take lightly if we truly value our potential to generate positive influence.

Just because we can doesn't mean we should. 

Something for Nothing

We have witnessed far too many scams to believe you can receive great benefits without a catch. We've either seen people who have been ripped off or have experienced it on a personal level. The old expression has proven correct, "If sounds too good to be true, it probably is."

I think this is why we struggle with the idea of grace. God's willingness to give us a gift we do not deserve leaves us doubtful of His motives. Even as a Christ follower, I think there is a struggle to continue attempting to earn what God is giving away. We are programmed to believe nothing of value is given away for free and keep waiting for the fine print to catch up to us at some point. That's why God's grace has been described as scandalous and wasteful. It defies all our worldly systems to think about a magnificent gift given abundantly to anyone who asks for it.

In Memory

I am proud of my many relatives that served faithfully in our armed forces and I am grateful they all returned home safely from their tours of duty. Not all families are as fortunate however and will forever be marked by the ultimate sacrifice of their loved ones. I cannot fully express my gratitude nor can I completely comprehend the depth of their sorrow. The freedoms I live in each day are a result of these faithful men and women and their willingness to battle to the death for their country. May we choose to live in a way that honors them and the freedoms they fought so valiantly to protect. Today is a day to set aside differing agendas, oppositional political views, and controversial statements. It is a day to rest in the comforts we have and to express our loyal gratitude to the families left behind. As painful as this day may be for some, I want to say thank you on behalf of my family for your willingness to give your life for all of us.

National Pride

As a celebration of July 4th and our Independence Day, I thought I would share one of the most beautiful versions of our national anthem that I have had the pleasure of hearing. Happy July 4th, my friends.

Imprisoned

I just finished reading a book called Papillon-the autobiography of a French prisoner from the 1930's who spent over a decade trying to escape horrible conditions before succeeding. He saw several friend die and almost lost his own life several times in the process. At the end of the book he had found freedom in Venezuela and talked about the difficulty of being trusted. He said, "it's not all that easy to step out of the chains you've been dragging around for fourteen years." When you've been a prisoner for so long i imagine it's extremely difficult to act like you're free.

I suppose that's not so different for each of us. When we have become accustomed to a certain lifestyle it is not a simple thing to change it. Our communication style, coping mechanisms, and habits are so well formed and ingrained in who we are that we don't know how to change them. Even as we take the life-changing step of committing our lives to Christ, we can still struggle to fully accept the freedom of life He gives to us.

This change won't happen in a short period of time-after all, we didn't develop it in a day, but over a lifetime.

I'm Free

I am a patriot. I love our country and have immense respect for those that have paved the way for us to take part in the liberties we have. I don't regard this freedom lightly, but appreciate the boldness of men and

women who were willing to do what was right even when it was difficult. My value of freedom is a key part of my family's life in a national and in a spiritual sense. This value is only perfected when we also submit to Christ's authority and allow Him to release us from the power of sin. While we pause to celebrate the beginning of a blessed nation today I also want to be reminded of the freedom that God offers for His children. One gives us the opportunity to live differently in the short term while the other provides the impetus for life change & influence for eternity. The good news is that both of them are worth celebrating--even more than once a year.

Deep Longing

There is a deep longing in each of us for the freedom that only God can bring.We settle for filling that desire with a poor substitutes that leave us less than satisfied and frantically searching for something more. When we gain a glimpse of the purity of God's way, it stirs our soul and touches us spiritually in ways that outshine all our other efforts. It gives us a taste of something that we have been striving to find. The packaging may be in a quiet moment, the unexpected kindness of a stranger, genuine compassion in the face of tragedy, or in the power of a song.

I saw some of that in a video clip from American Idol today. There is no doubt this young lady is talented, but there is something even more engaging about the song that she has written & performed. I can see the impact of the words on the faces of the judges and know that it stirs in them the same thing it does in me--the cry of redemption and restoration as we are set free.


You Set Me Free by caseycarlsonx1

Who Owns You?

We don't like to think about anyone owning us. We would rather focus on our freedom of choice and our ever-increasing desire for independence. Starting from when we are children, we want to say what we want to say, wear what we want to wear, go where we want to go and do what we want to do. We even convince ourselves that we have no master and that our self-ambition, personality, intelligence and abilities will bring success and happiness.

The truth is that we are all slaves in one way or another. We may believe that we are fully independent, but instead we are serving one of two masters.

In Romans 6, Paul presents the parallel paths. You are either a slave to sin which leads to death, or a slave to God which leads to righteousness. You might disagree with something so absolute and insist that you are a slave to nothing, but your verbal/mental denial doesn't change your status.

One type of slavery is true imprisonment-trapped in addictions, expectations, shameful sin and ignorance. One type of slavery is ironically one of the most freeing ways to live and brings hope, mercy, grace, goodness and love.

Unlike slavery in the physical world, we get to choose who will own us and in fact already have.

Freedom

As I continue to read through Exodus, I see where the Israelites did not understand what God was coming to do for them by freeing them. They were convinced that where they were was the best place, and were unable to gain a glimpse of the better plan that God had for them.

Isn't the same true for us? It is easy to become wrapped up in our moment and the comfortable nature of what we know and become too timid to trust God and follow Him into the unknown. We think that there is no way that we could leave where we are now and might even be afraid of where this "new place" might be.

Thank God that His plan is always better and that what seems frightening can actually bring about a freedom that is greater than we imagined. When we choose to let Him bring us out of our own Egypt we can finally develop into the people that He has called us to be. Hopefully I won't be as whiny as the Israelites along the way.