Freedom: A Call to Prayer

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." -Galatians 5:1, NIV

This verse (and all of Galatians 5-6, as we will see) speaks of freedom, which is a word near and dear to my American-born heart. When we as Americans hear the word "freedom," our hearts ring like the Liberty Bell with nationalistic pride and we say things like "I can do what I want!" or "I have rights and can exercise them!" And to be honest, there is an element of that in this passage. 

We are, in a sense, able to do as we like and can exercise rights...that honor God, that is. Christ freed us for a freedom that goes deeper than our nation's sense. Think of the 21 Christians that were recently killed by the Islamic State (ISIS). The Islamic State doesn't allow freedoms like the United States' Constitution, so how is Galatians 5:1 relevant to Christians in those positions? Are they freed for freedom?

Most certainly.

The freedom here is a freedom from sin, which enslaves us (5:1). An enslaved person lives a life gratifying the desires of a sinful nature (5:16-17), which looks like such: sexual immorality, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, orgies (the Bible said this, not me!) and "the like."

The problem we find here is that people enslaved to lives like the list I just mentioned are headed to Hell. They will not inherit the Kingdom of God or any benefit from Christ (5:18-21). And yet, isn't this all of us in our natural state? Aren't we all guilty of having lived at some point for one or most of those things (and if you're saying no, you are lying and that falls into the "the like" category)? Have we not all been enslaved to that life? Have we not all been "contrary to the Spirit?"

This is why Christ must free us! We were directly opposed to the Spirit (which is God, so we opposed GOD) until we were freed for freedom in the Spirit of God through the death and resurrection and sacrifice of the Son of God by the hand of the Father God. We have had the gratification of the sinful nature replaced with a desire and goal to gratify the Spirit, and this brings a new list of things: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (5:22-26)! Our sinful nature, our enslavement, was put on the cross with Christ! He took it for us!

So now we live in the Spirit. That is why we bear with one another, rebuke one another and fight through sin's last grasps at our souls together (6:1-8). This is why we love one another (5:13). This is why we teach each other (6:6). We do good without ceasing, even looking for opportunities to do so (6:9-10)!

We also must stand with those who face persecution. They may have the same spiritual freedom as us, but they do not have the other freedoms we enjoy. Paul says twice in Chapter Six (v. 12 & 17) to be with those in persecution/have sympathy towards a persecuted state in a person's life. These are our brothers and sisters in Christ, and the Islamic State is just the latest group of people that are out to destroy the people of God, the "people of the Cross."

So, how can we do this? Some great people that I respect dearly have started 21martyrs.com, a website devoted to ways that we can stand with our brothers and sisters in IS-controlled countries. Specifically, they are praying at 7:03am until 7:14am (times and more explained here) for ourselves to take back up our crosses, to pray for Him to work through us in this world, to pray for His restoration of everything to how it is supposed to be, for our hearts to be looking for opportunities to "do good" toward people, as Galatians 6 said, and more.

Also, please join me and many others with a moment of silence tomorrow, Sunday, February 22, 2015, while we pray for churches in persecution to stand strong for Christ, to continue being a witness for Him, and for our hearts to break with them. Below, I have placed a video to help with that time of reflection and prayer. I urge you, Christian, fellow person of the Cross: do not abandon these opportunities to live out Galatians 5-6. We have been freed for freedom; let us now live in that freedom.



Here's a link if this video doesn't work: 21 Martyrs Video

The Protestant Work Ethic and You

"Slaves, obey your human masters with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ. Don’t work only while being watched, in order to please men, but as slaves of Christ, do God’s will from your heart. Serve with a good attitude, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that whatever good each one does, slave or free, he will receive this back from the Lord." -Ephesians 6:5-8, HCSB

I have issues with authority. Anyone who knows me will tell you that while I generally do as I have to, it isn't always with a good attitude or in the exact manner that my superior wanted it done. I am independent, stubborn and tend to think that I know the right way to do things. I find trivial tasks stupid, and dislike being put in a box, given parameters in which I must accomplish my goal. In a sentence, I like to be my own boss.

Yet, I am not. I have a job at Kroger, a grocery store chain in the United States. I am often responsible to do certain tasks, and do them with a smile. Yet, menial tasks (which are common in a grocery store) irritate me. I don't like to do them, and if I have to do them, it will be in my own way or I will dislike that. I'm guessing many of you probably feel the same way in your jobs-- you do you job because you have to, but it isn't because you want to.

This is not how Paul says one should work in Ephesians. The context is that of a slave and a master, but if a slave should reflect this attitude, how much more should a paid employee?! Colossians 3:17 talks of doing everything as if for Christ, which is almost the same message here: we work as if for Christ Himself. Think about your job: if we did our jobs for Christ, what would that look like? If Christ wanted me to clean the floors, how would I clean the floors? How would I cashier or push carts or stock milk? I'd wager my work ethic would look much different.

There's an old phrase called the "Protestant work ethic." This concept probably came from people living out this passage. They served with a good attitude. They didn't work only when watched, but even harder when not watched. They did everything out of an overflow of their heart, a heart that loved Christ and wished to do the will of God.

We must bring this back. We must, as representatives of Christ in this world, show His heart in the workplace. We must work with a good attitude. There is no qualifier; we don't do this "if our boss doesn't suck." No, we do this as evidence of the new heart Christ has given us. Let us show this! Let us prove our remade selves in the workplace!

The Defeat of the Impossible

"For nothing is impossible with God." -Luke 1:37, HCSB

How many times have you heard that verse, right? It is a favorite verse of the underdog and athlete, the troubled and addicted.

 "There's nothing God can't help us achieve, and there is nothing that can stop us with Him at our side."

This is very true, but there is a definite asterisk next to this truth: nothing is impossible with God when He decides to do so. The passage that this verse comes from is the same passage in which the angel Gabriel is telling Mary that she will give birth to the Son of God. She is obviously flabbergasted and confused by this news, and so she asks (very humbly) how this could happen, considering that she was a virgin.

The angel proceeds to tell her of how her relative Elizabeth was currently preggo at an old age, and that "nothing is impossible with God." God is all powerful, but this verse is not meant purely to inspire us on fourth-and-goal with time expiring. It is showing that nothing will stop God on His mission. Nothing will prevent God from ruling the world, and nothing can stand in His way.

Old age? Nope.

Virgin? Not an issue.

Your past addictions? Nothing He can't overcome.

Your physical condition? Not a handicap in the working of God.

God can use whomever and whatever He so chooses to accomplish His plans. He's running the ship, and nothing can slow Him down.

You may wonder in this moment: "what role do I play in this? If God is in charge, and He is looking to accomplish His goals and plans, what do I do?" You do exactly what Mary did.

"'I am the Lord's slave,' said Mary. 'May it be done according to your word.'" -Luke 1:38, HCSB

We humbly accept God's power and lordship, and do as He says. We are His slaves, and He is our Good Master. He will accomplish great things through us, so long as we are humbly looking to accomplish His great things.

Perhaps God's purpose in your defeat of the impossible is to win a football game and give Him glory for it. Perhaps His purpose in your defeat of the impossible is to overcome your physical limitations to show the love of Christ to others. Perhaps His purpose in your defeat of the impossible is to share your story of addiction and redemption in order to help someone else see the love and freedom of life with Christ.

You never know what impossible task God may want to overcome through you, but He already did one. Your salvation through the blood and resurrection is a miracle in and of itself; who's to say He doesn't have something else for you? Humble yourself, and look to accomplish His plans with His power and might.

The Largest Genocide in World History...And You Are Doing Nothing About It

This coming Sunday is known as "The Sanctity of Human Life Sunday" in churches across the United States. This year marks 40 years since Roe v Wade, the Supreme Court case that gave women "the right" to have an abortion. Since then, 55,871,353 fetuses have been aborted.

Or, if this will make it more real to you, 55,871,353 children have been aborted. 55,871,353 future living, breathing people have been exterminated, and the number is climbing day-by-day.

Let these numbers soak in:

Amount killed in genocides

Nazi Holocaust: 6 million Jews, 11 million total
Killing Fields of Cambodia: between 1 and 3 million, believed to be closest to 2.2 million
Rwandan genocide (1994): at least 800,000, as many as 1 million
Darfur genocide: 178,258–461,520
Trail of Tears/American genocide of Native Americans: approx. 4,000

Perhaps using genocides (mass killings of a people) doesn't allow the magnitude of this to register. Let me show you some other numbers.

Amount killed in wars

World War II: 50-73 million
World War I: 15-60 million (high estimate includes deaths due to Spanish Flu, which killed between 20-50 million people; thus, World War I alone probably killed much closer to the lower end)
Vietnam War: 1-3 million
American Civil War: 400,000-800,000 thousand

According to these numbers, only World War II (the deadliest war in history) and the combination of World War I/Spanish Flu can top the deaths in the United States due to abortions since 1973. No genocide, not even that of Nazi design, comes close. Bear in mind, WWII and WWI were worldwide wars, and I only include numbers for abortions in the United States since Roe v Wade. I have no idea how much higher the total number of abortions worldwide (even since 1973, not even before) could possibly be.

And yet, this mass killing of humans is happening in the United States under the guise of women's rights. Just as Hitler believed that it was his right to rid the world of the unwanted Jews and homosexuals (among others), millions of Americans believe that it is a woman's right to rid the world of her unwanted child.

You can try to spin this however you want. Go ahead, tell me how a fetus isn't a human being. Go ahead, tell me I don't understand. Go ahead, tell me that no one should tell a woman what to do with her body. You will not convince me, and I will only be more convinced of the depravity and evil in this world.

You cannot tell me that I do not understand. My brother was supposed to die at birth, or even before, due to a defect in his placenta. Even if he survived, he would have severe problems for life. The doctors advised that my parents abort him; they didn't. He is now my best friend and is perfectly normal. He attends college and plans to be a police officer. Yet, medical officials believed the best option was to abort this person.

You cannot tell me that a woman has the right to do with her body, and that no one else can say anything. Tell that to the person on the other end of a suicide hotline, talking a woman down from taking those pills. Tell that to the counselor, who desperately wants the teen to quit cutting herself. People only get mad about telling a woman (or man, honestly) what to do with her body when it is inconvenient. People are only upset when the part of a woman's body that is being damaged can be killed and thrown away, having never been heard or seen outside of a protruding belly.

You cannot tell me that a fetus is not a baby. We are fearfully and wonderfully made, knit together in our mother's womb (Psalm 139:13-14). The Spirit filled John the Baptist within Elizabeth's womb in Luke 1; as my friend Austin Little pointed out, God fills people with his Spirit. Why fill nothing more than a pre-human, non-spiritual creature/piece of flesh/thing with His glorious Self? It would be ridiculous and clearly points to God's belief that a fetus is a human being.

This has gone on long enough, and will continue as long as Christians sit quietly. We are watching one of the biggest, if not the biggest, killing of human beings unfold right before our eyes. The American genocide of unborn children has been happening for 40 years; will we allow it to continue for another 40?

*Only select genocides and wars were included; I used the largest I could find, as well as some well-known others. I, to the best of my knowledge, have included the highest killing genocide and war. Comment if you know of a worse example, and I'll be glad to add it.
-Stats taken from http://www.numberofabortions.com/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wars_and_anthropogenic_disasters_by_death_toll. Feel free to stat-check me. I doubt that you'll find numbers large enough to dwarf the American genocide of the unborn to an insignificant number, but you're welcome to try-

You And Your Slavery

"For I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries, and will bring you into your own land." -Ezekiel 36:24, HCSB

In this verse, God is speaking to the Israelites, telling them that He will bring them back to their homeland. But why aren't they there already?

Israel, for the uninitiated, was a hot mess during biblical times. They were a constant roller coaster of spirituality: some years they were on fire for God, and other years they were worshipping idols and hosting child sacrifices.

Due to their foolishness of turning away from worshipping God, they got taken captive by the Babylonian empire and were enslaved in a foreign land. Idiots, right? Don't speak too soon.

We're very much the same. We are often foolish. Just think with me: how often do you have a reason that you don't worship and chase after God?

"I'd read my Bible more, but I'm really busy..."

"I'd pray more, but I don't really know how..."

"I'd go to church on Sunday mornings, but I had this thing on Saturday night..."

You may not have had one of those exact excuses, but I promise you've had at least something similar at some point in your walk with God. Probably in the past few days, honestly. We all have.

These foolish excuses do two things: they pretend that our relationship with God doesn't need priority over everything else (and He is worth infinitely more than anything else in our lives, I promise), and it lowers our defense against evil.

You see, God is our Shield. He says that all over the book of Psalms. When we stop pursing Him and put other things over that pursuit, then we lower our Shield in the middle of battle. Lowering a shield in battle is NOT a good idea.

The forces of darkness are always looking for one of His followers to lower their shield and become vulnerable for an attack. They will strike, and without a tried and true relationship with God, we will fall. We'll become enslaved to a sin, incapable of freeing ourselves.

Israel couldn't save themselves from captivity, and neither can we. Both groups of people need God. Fortunately, Ezekiel 36 continues.

"I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all of your impurities and all of your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will place My Spirit within you and cause you to follow My statutes and carefully observe My ordinances." -Ezekiel 36:25-27, HCSB

Beautiful. Not even beautiful; this is beyond words. We foolishly turn from God, which leads to our enslavement to darkness. And yet, God is a God of freedom. Not just literal freedom of the flesh, but freedom of the heart. He wants His people to be saved and to have new hearts. He wants His people to be clean. He wants to give us His Spirit to free us to follow Him, and to kick sin to the curb.

Is this the year that you allow God to give you a new heart? Maybe you still have a heart of stone, and are turned away from Him. Maybe you're already a Christian, and just need to be reminded that our God has saved you from sin, so quit re-enslaving yourself. Regardless of your situation, run to Him. Run to our God and turn from foolish ways of ignoring Him. Make 2013 a year where you are dedicated to following Him.

We were dead, and now we are alive. We were enslaved and foolish, but now we are free. Remember that. Embrace that. Live your life based off of that.

-Inspired by Louie Giglio's talk "Main Session 1-Passion 2013"