Firstly, the Prodigal iPod has returned!!! The story of it's disappearance and reappearance is a complicated one, but let's just say that it wasn't my fault and that I am stoked that it has returned and life has gotten back to normal.
Lately I have been working my way through 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings as a part of my devotional time. It is an interesting read, to see how the leadership of Israel and Judah affected the people. But as I read the account of how Israel was led off into captivity by the Assyrians because of their sin, and as I begin to read the early stages of Judah's descent to the point where they are taken into captivity by the Babylonians, it occurred to me how people today are still being taken captive by sin.
Although today, most people are not imprisoned or deported to another country because of their sin, although in some cases this is a consequence of sin, I couldn't help but wonder how many people were captive to fear, and guilt and shame because of the mistakes that they have made in their pasts? We see it on T.V so frequently, some high profile person has a secret that they fear could ruin them if it ever became public knowledge does whatever is necessary to keep that secret, well, secret. This fear of exposure renders them a prisoner to their mistake and forces them to do things they don't want to do to keep things the way they are.
As I thought and discussed this with God, it occurred to me that even the people of Judah didn't remain captives forever. After a while (70 years if I remember correctly) god sent King Cyrus of Persia to liberate His people and allow them to return to the land that He had promised to their ancestors Abraham Isaac and Jacob. As i continued in this discussion with God about this I was reminded of Jesus, who came again to set people free from captivity, this time not from a physical captivity, but a captivity of fear, shame, guilt, injustice and poverty.
We have been freed by Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, now we no longer need to be held captive by those feelings of fear and guilt and shame. All we need to do is come before Jesus in repentance (basically changing our lives so that we do not make the same mistakes again), pray and ask Jesus for forgiveness.
We also, as followers of Jesus have a responsibility to live up to His words "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." This wasn't just Jesus' mission, it is the mission of all of those who follow Him. There are many ways to do this, but I might go into that in another blog.
This week, may you too preach the good news to the poor, proclaim freedom to the prisoners, work for the recover of sight to the blind, release the oppressed and proclaim the year of the Lord's favour!!!
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6 comments:
Interesting that you deleted a comment that referenced an anti-Christianity website.
A question for you: how do you maintain your belief and your credibility about what you believe in the face of great philosophical, factual and believability issues regarding the Christian faith?
To many people, the Christian faith (and other faiths) are not based on evidence, do a poor job at explaining reality, and seem to be a hangover from an older way of thinking that has now been superceeded by scientific methodology.
Mere excitement, emotion and apparent co-incidence is not enough.
Dear David,
I don't want to speak on behalf of Joel, but as someone who actually knows him, I know he would very openly be willing to debate theological issues with you, as would most of us. However, you have to understand that Joel has a spiritual responsibility for many young people within the Church, and as I actually visited the website in question, I would agree with his decision to delete the comment. In fact if it was posted on my blog, I would have done the same. However over email or in person, I would have gladly entered into the debate.
Not all of the Christian (or other faiths) way of thinking have been "superceeded by scientific methodology" at all. There are many scientists that when it comes to some of the deeper questions in life maintain that there is no scientific explanation, and that it possibly is a touch of the Divine.
The very fact you've not only read this blog but cared to question it, shows some level of intrigue, and I respect that.
Thanks Sarah for your comments.
David, yes I deleted the post because I didn't think it was relevant to the topic discussed.
I may be wrong, but as I read the post it seemed to me as though you were looking to pick an argument. If this is untrue, I apologise.
As Sarah mentioned, this is not the place to discuss these things, I too would be happy to talk with you about this in another forum, my email address is in my profile.
As far as the site you posted a link to goes, I do not agree with its assertions. While some of it seems to be well researched and referenced, there is much that it does not answer. The site says nothing of the writings of Josephus the Jewish historian and other historians of the time, who writes of Jesus of Nazareth.
I can understand, although not agree with, people who dispute the divinity of Jesus, who we call Christ, I find it difficult to understand how people can deny the existance of Jesus as a historical figure. Merely saying that He did not exist, does not make it so. And, while I am not saying that these two are the same, can I point out that there are those who maintain that the Holocaust never existed and claim to have proof also.
As for your question of how I manage to maintian my credibility and belief, let me say that I agree with Sarah. There is much in this world that has not been answered or proven by science.
I find it interesting that you would ask such a question, and i wonder whether your credibility and beliefs are altered when one scientist disproves another's theory? Was science destroyed when Einstien proposed his theory of relativity as superceding Newtons laws of physics, did not both still hold true?
As I said at the top of this comment, I am open to discussing this with you, just not here. As I respect your beliefs, I ask that you would respect mine and those of many others who read this page.
Thankyou.
There is no need for me to take this discussion any further other than to suggest to David that he keep trying to prove that Christianity is wrong and that Jesus never existed because by searching he may find the answer.
Joel thanks for a great post, may we all strive to live out this calling everyday. Darren
Hey david, sorry about the confusion, my email is now on my profile, but if you do want to make contact my email is joel.clifford@aus.salvationarmy.org. This is my work address, so if i am travelling it may take me a little bit to get back to you but I will get back to you as soon as I can.
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