Skip to main content

Freedom!

Thoughts of Freedom… I grew up “Free”. Freedom has always been a part of my life. Like other things, I grew accustomed to being free. It’s easy, at least to me. I am now a missionary in a “Free country”. I can freely preach, teach, and share the Gospel of Jesus Christ without thoughts of harassment.

Last night as we shared in a preaching service where over 80 heard the message, never once did I think about being arrested, persecuted, or harmed in any way. Freedom is a tremendous blessing that brings great responsibility. Freedom allows me to make my own way in life, it allows me to make my own mistakes and win my own battles; thus the conflict with Christianity. I as a Christian am, in reality, a slave of Jesus Christ. Paul summed it up in Galatians 1:10 For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.

Pleasing self or pleasing Christ, the fight for freedom starts and ends here. My freedom comes as I submit myself in slavery to Christ. Paradox? Yes. Reality? Again yes! Try teaching this concept to a new believer! It is not easy. Jesus realized this, after His hard sayings in John 6 when the multitudes abandoned Him. He turned to the twelve and said “…Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life” (6.67-68). With that statement Peter and the disciples abandoned their freedom, but became truly free.

Our people are slaves to various background difficulties, vices, habits. Working to help them realize true freedom in Christ is a great challenge, but one for which God is equipping us. Pray as we continue the Freedom Fight.

Happy Independence Day 2005 From all of us here in Sorocaba!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What Are You Worth?

What are you Worth?  Have you ever thought about what you are worth? In investing circles there is a term used to gauge this exact question, it's called Net Worth. You take all of your assets, like property owned, funds in your bank account, clothes, jewelry, car, etc.. You total all of these things. You then take everything you owe, like mortgage, car loan, and credit card debt, and you subtract these items from the first total. This gives you your net worth. That number represents where you are financially. Most people never stop to think about this number because they don't understand anything about it. They never have two nickels to rub together. They live from hand to mouth and know (or at least believe) nothing will ever change so, they fall into the "daily grind" mentality. Psalm 49 should be a great encouragement to such as these. The sons of Korah write about them. These sons write about all of us. They call all people everywhere to listen to their wisdom. Bo...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Circumcision Advantage

 What a title right? I'm thinking of Romans 3:1 where Paul asks, "What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision?"  This was always an avoided subject in Sunday school, especially in a mixed class. We didn't use the "C" word. Too wierd.  Paul is bringing up this topic for good reasons. He wants to show that the Jews definitely have had a great advantage during their history. In the next verse he tells one of them when he says, ... "First of all, the Jews have been entrusted with the very words of God." The first jew talked to God in person. God chose Abram to be the father of many nations and to bring the blessing of the Messiah to the world. The Old Testament is the story of the Jewish nation. God dealt with the Jews throughout the ages of the time before Christ. They were the chosen. But in all that blessing they ended up crucifying the Messiah.  With all of their advantages the Jews came short of the ideal....
Post a Comment
Read more

Abs of Steel with Glasses

Have you ever wondered why Clark Kent always took his glasses off before he turned into Superman? I hadn’t ever thought about it either until this last Saturday when I almost got sucker-punched. Wellington, one of my spunky Juniors, wanted to wrestle. He feigned a punch to my gut and I said, “Go ahead. I have abs of steel!” I think that my gym visits might be going to my head because my abs of steel are buried under a healthy layer of blubber. I have improved my six-pack but it is far from chiseled. It looks more like a quarter of a keg. Anyway, quick as a wink and with near lightening speed Wellington said, “Yeah but up here is made of glass!” as his poke went within a hair’s breadth of my glasses! I belly-laughed. His rapid reflexes and wit had caught me by surprise. And what he said was so true and funny. It was an excellent though brief lesson. I often prepare for an oncoming fray. I get ready, set and then “BLAM”! The proverbial punch comes from a totally different direction. ...
Post a Comment
Read more