Being Human Video

OK; it's the same video as yesterday.  There was just so much in one little 4 minute and 55 second video that I could not pass up!

The baby born in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp did not cry for 6 months.  Born as a tiny, feeble little thing, perhaps lung capacity was stifled.  I'm sure the baby suffered from malnutrition.  It was born in a setting that did nothing to encourage life.  Death was the theme.  Perhaps the baby could detect the atmosphere and acted accordingly.

In April, 1945, when the camp was liberated by American soldiers, the baby cried.  For the first time in 6 months, lungs belted out chords that had never been used.  Freedom had come to the camp but also to the inner being of this small human.  At it's core, liberation had come.  This little body acted accordingly.

Christian, your liberator has come!  If you call on the name of Jesus, you are set free!  Know what is yours.  Know your identity.  Know the One that saves you - and has authority over everything!  Do not continue to live as one who has never exercised their lungs.

Yes, in this world, we will have troubles, but we also have a Liberator who came to lift us above those troubles and destined us to live in freedom!  He came to give us life - to the full!

Be encouraged, any who feels like a baby bound and confined, you have been set free!!

Yahoo,
Christina

Today was the last day of my structured reading plan given to me by a friend to read during the month of December.  I loved the literary path it took me down as I read of the foretelling of Jesus' birth, the events of the birth, and the fall out after the birth.

Today I read Titus 3:3-7.  I've read this and/or heard this many, many times.  Today it takes on new meaning.  It's all about Jesus ...the baby born that triggered this process of me coming to be called righteous.  Powerful.

If I trust the words of Scripture, then my confidence in going to heaven, in being called righteous (one belonging to God) lies on one thing:  Grace.  It's not through a belief in Jesus AND then the doing of "good things".  It's not a process of obeying commands/rituals/tenants.  Anything that makes us earn Heaven is misleading.  We had/have no part in our own righteousness.  It's all because of Jesus through the Holy Spirit.  Our confidence that we have eternal life is Jesus and is confirmed by the Holy Spirit in us.

Granted, it's easier to try to earn when there is no confidence in our righteousness or eternal security that comes from the Holy Spirit.  I've played that game.  I played it for years thinking that my "good deeds" and "good girl" reputation would earn me a golden ticket to the pearly gates.  That ended poorly.  No peace.  No confidence.  It led me to pursue religion that praised my production.  

Then, SHAZAMM!  The truth of who Jesus was seen, accepted, and embraced.  The confidence was there, but so were the old habits of "earning" some brownie points with God and men. A little bit of Grace and a whole lot of "good deeds" followed.

Finally, a few hard knocks to get me to step back and really look at who God is  and who God is NOT, allowed me the insight to see fully the power of the Holy Spirit.  It's all about the life-changing and life-giving power that doesn't come from me and does the work in me:  Grace.  This is the better path, and unfortunately the path less taken.

Poor and weary travelers along the road of production and "good deed" makers: GRACE.  Have the courage to step back, stop, sit out, breath, and really see the Good News that silently screams over all other voices during this Christmas season.  This baby born from Heaven came to breath life into us, abolishing old systems and structures.  It's not about religion and it's trappings.  It's all about Him revealing kindness and love.  It started in a manger and ended on a cross.  All so you, YOU, could know with full-confidence the righteousness apart from works that He afforded us through the Holy Spirit.

Don't trust my words, trust the words of Scripture:  "He generously poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior.  Because of His grace, He declared us righteous and gave us confidence that we will inherit Eternal Life.:  Titus 3:7

Grace to us all,
Christina

I'm still thinking about Sound Maker.  A friend posted this comment: "A few months ago, I read in a book about how when we see stuff like this, and feel so helpless to do anything about it, we should remember that maybe, just maybe we are the only people on the entire planet who will pray for this person. "

I know my new role.  I am Sound Maker's warrior.


For all the Sound Maker's who reside in modern temples called local churches, my heart is burdened.  My battle cry for them - you - came/comes in the form of words written in Romans 5 ...  we have undeserved privilege where we can stand - confident and full of joy!

The trend in Christian religion is to change the words from we have undeserved privilege to we are the Undeserved.  Oh that we would allow the truth of God's Word to reside, bounce off the corners, and burst into our heart of hearts and live in freedom.  BECAUSE of Jesus ... of His great gift of life ... we do have an undeserved privilege because we didn't earn it ... we were given it ... to stand ... to stand in confidence not of ourselves, our work, our titles, education, notches in our Bibles, or number of Sunday's attended but IN CHRIST ... and full of joy!

Joy?  Joy!  Joy because God loves us so much that not only did He give Jesus ... and Jesus gave His life ... God also gave us the Holy Spirit!

When I left Addison in Oklahoma to return home to Vienna, I left her a journal full of entries that I had compiled over the course of many, many months.  I gave a heading and then my thoughts, experiences and god's truth about the subject.  Everything from where to get her hair cut, what to do in case of a blown out tire, dating, serving those around her, hormones and friendship.  It was vast and varied.  I tried to think of everything she might come up against, and provide some sort of wisdom on that subject.

This morning when I read Romans 5:5 "The spirit is given out of God's great love for us as His children" I had a SHAZAM moment.  My little gesture of love and concern for my child is just a tiny example of what God - my Father - did for me when Jesus left planet earth to return to His home in heaven.  Through the Holy Spirit ... he left me what I would need to navigate life!!

However, what I observe is "the church" not getting this truth.  Instead, the "undeserving" work to earn what they keep striving for and never seem to reach.  Where is the joy?  The Holy Spirit is left on a shelf as a token trinket, never unveiled, never explored, never allowed to perform, and work, and produce what He was given to us to do.  I know.  I lived too much of my life in Christ without the power of the Holy Spirit. I lived as a Sound Maker ... working from crumbs and trying to earn my keep as one of the "undeserved".   I know the difference.  I can't go back.

Oh dear Sound Makers who silently cry while wearing your crosses and bearing them, too.  Have Joy!  God has given you a great gift through the Holy Spirit.  Dare to explore, to come close, to taste, to see, to live .. truly live in freedom, grace, and truth!!

Sound Maker's Warrior,
christina

It is no secret that our American heritage is shaded by periods of darkness.  Darkness of thinking, of circumstances, of tragedy, of violence, of hatred, of ignorance.  Should it come, then, as no secret that "the church" has, too, walked in darkness.  No need to drudge up all of that ... we all know the stories and have a few of our own!

My "beef" (as it were) is not with "the church" ... God loves his church ... my "beef" is with church goers and doers.  And if I can draw a comparison to what I read in the Bible, Jesus was kind of done with these folks, too!  The religious leaders, the pious, the goers, the doers were often addressed in his monologues.

I love that he made this comment in the temple, right smack dab in the middle of all the church folks:  I am the light of the world.  If you follow me, you won't have to walk in darkness because you will have the light that leads to life.  (John 8:12)

Sometimes I'm left scratching my head and wondering, "Now Jesus, why did you say that?"  This, however, leaves me shouting "Amen" and knowing why he said it.  Contextually I believe it fits the culture at that time and our culture in this present day and age.  We have neglected to follow the Light in lieu of following rules of tradition and religion.  True worship, true religion liberates and doesn't suffocate.  It brings us life!

Fear keeps us from truly following the Light.  Light shines in places that formerly were kept in shadows.  Too few have discovered true life in Christ and freedom in and through the Holy Spirit.  Those who have touched the surface seem too "radical" and "out there" and are shunned for their new found freedom.  Yet, I desire what "the few" have found ... true freedom and Light in Christ and in the Holy Spirit!!

My Chris and I had coffee with an Austrian couple who have lived in the same apartment since their first baby was born.  That baby is now 52 years old.  They are from Vienna.  They are a small minority who have proclaimed to know Jesus as their personal savior.  They saw modern Christianity roll in after WWII.  They've been called radical and thought to have become members of a cult.  However, if they lived in America they would be your next door neighbors.

As we sipped our coffee in pretty cups with matching saucers and ate our cake (a typical sponge cake embedded with tart apricots) we asked questions about their lives together.  After many years, they have come to the conclusion that most of "the church" (according to my definition of goers and doers) has not grasped that Jesus is Light, that He alone brings freedom, and living by the Holy Spirit is nothing short other than living with abundant life  According to our friends, in over 60 years of the waves and influence of evangelical Christianity, if the masses knew the freedom of truly knowing Christ, Austria would have been profoundly impacted and changed for the better.  They are not talking about those who still live without a life committed to Jesus Christ.  They are talking about those who say they know Jesus personally.  They have so traded safe religion and a cozy subculture of "christian" friends that they have had little impact on the culture.

Those who know Jesus - would we dare to live in freedom!?!  He is the LIGHT.  At first light may hurt the eyes when not exposed to the illuminating sensation.  But then, once exposed, followers of the LIGHT of Christ become like vitamin D deficient premenopausal women who desperately crave the light ... and crave the truth of what living in the LIGHT has to offer.  Freedom!

moving a little closer to the window to catch a few rays,
christina

"Hiding Place"
Sara Groves

Early when the day is new
Before the stirring
I will come and talk to you
And confess the ways I am broken
To recall the words you've spoken
And to try to comprehend
The love you have for me

You are my hiding place
You fill my broken heart with songs
Songs of deliverance
You sing of how the weak are strong

You never meant for me to walk alone
You are always for me
As the truest lover of my soul
You hear my desperate calling
You have kept my feet from falling
And have set me on this rock on which I'm stand now

You are my hiding place
You fill my broken heart with songs
Songs of deliverance
You sing of how the weak are strong

And I believe you
For you've saved me from my darkness and my shame
And I believe you
For I hear your song of beauty through the pain

So after having my out-of-the-routine kind of morning ... I sit down to read my Bible and SHAZAM!  I always pray before I read God's Word.  I pray the Holy Spirit would be my teacher.  I'm weird (it's what I do) but I pretend He is there, sitting next to me, as a professor, pointing out things He wants to me know ... truth.  It happened in a very SHAZAM-like moment just after reading three verses!

Joshua 18:3 says ... "How long are you going to wait before taking possession of the remaining land the Lord God has given you?"  Back story ... Joshua is the head honcho to Israel.  They've been wandering the dessert for 40 years, their main guy, Moses, dies.  Joshua takes over and leads them into the land God only gave them by His words.  Once they got there, they had to defeat those who were occupying the land.  But, because God is a good God and keeps His promises ... they only had to obey and God gave them the land.  Now, the land was under Israelite control.  But there were 7 tribes (out of 12) that were being a little ... sheepish about their new found freedom.

In my personal and humble opinion, 7 out of 12 is about normal.  I believe 7 out of every 12 people who say they are "Christian" live in freedom and actually "occupy the land" so to speak.  So what about the others?  When Moses arrived at the land God was giving them (notice I say "was going to give them"?  It was a promise spoken.  It was reality.  It just had to physically take place.),  he sent out 12 spies.  Only 2 came back after seeing the occupants saying "We can do this because God said He was giving us the land."  Here the stats differ:  2 out of 12.

Why don't we all "occupy the land"?  This could be a great series, couldn't it?  Why don't we all experience freedom, peace, enlarged faith, blessing etc.?  I once heard a friend - who can I say really gets the "occupying the land" thing - say that most Christians have this kind of mentality:  "I know God loves me.  I accept that Jesus died on the cross for my sins.  But ... I suck.  I gotta do all these things to make God really like me."

Occupying the land?  I don't think so ...

unpacking bags in the land I'm occupying,
christina

As I was walking to the Penny Markt (a discount grocery store) at the end of my street, I noticed these words.  They have been spray painted on the side of a building.  Call it graffiti.  Call it defacing public property. I call it my anthem!

I don't know what inspired the artist to write his words.  No doubt inspiration came from some deep place that had been bound in chains.  I don't know from what my artist was delivered, but I do know the freedom of deliverance!

Over the last year, God has been speaking this word "Freedom" into my life in such a variety of ways:  other people, through His Word - the Bible, my circumstances, through prayers, through random things ... like words painted on the side of a building!  The funny thing, I didn't know I was in chains.  That's the reality of bondage ... sometimes you don't know the weight of the shackles until they are gone!

A long time ago, I heard a story about how they (whoever "they" are) train elephants.  When the elephants are young, they tie a heavy chain on their leg.  They feel the weight of the chain and when they pull against it, trying to free themselves, the chain is a formidable foe that won't allow freedom.  By feeling the constant touch of the chain, they know they can never be free.  The chain remains until adulthood, gradually being replaced by a lighter one.  Now, the elephant could break away.  It's size and strength outmatches the object of it's imprisonment.  However, it's been trained not to resist.  It doesn't even try.

My journey with walking with Jesus has taken me from attending traditional church, to getting involved in programs, to seeking something new, to participating in more interdenominational work, to seeing the value of "community" with other Believers and now to the place I am today ... wondering how I can "be" the church and not just attend a church.  The way has been paved by such breakthroughs of wrong thinking and tradition.  Each new path led me to a greater realization of God.

Today, I feel I am at the edge of a place I've never been before ... and it's quite wonderful!  God is not bound by a box ... or can even be described accurately by amateur bloggers like myself!  However, this blogger wants to say that the story of my life ... my journey with God ... has led me to more and more FREEDOM!

breaking free, one chain at a time,
chrisitna

It's our first Independence Day to celebrate in the U.S. in 6 years!  As I revel in the pageantry and ol' fashioned traditional celebrations, I am just struck by the symbolism of this day !  Independence Day.
Hmm.

This year, as I sit in the dark of my beloved Oklahoma, watching fireworks pop in the sky and swatting killer mosquitoes ... I will be reflective.  These bursts of color and gun powder represent independence from so many things.

As our nation celebrates the day of our independence from another country, I will whisper thanks to God for the ways He's set me free from struggles, wrong attitudes, hurt, ideals, destructive patterns and so many other things external and internal that could have kept me captive.  Instead, I walk in freedom!!

Let the Oooooooooo's and Awwwwwwwwww's begin!!

Waving my flag,
christina