An Independence Day message from the Christian news website
Assist News provides a Christian perspective of Freedom. The first caught my
attention because it was written by a person from a relatively small city in
Oklahoma – Grove. I have lived most of the last 25-years in Oklahoma arriving
from a small college town in Central Washington State (east of the Cascades)
where I had grown up, went to High School and completed my college education.
Here is a teaser quote from the essay:
“At the very heart of the Christian
gospel is the strange truth,” he continues, “that real freedom is found only in
giving up everything secular culture touts as freedom. The gospel, it turns
out, requires a distinction between the enjoyment of true freedom and the mere
possession of ‘free will.’ Not that free will or independence from tyranny is a
bad thing; they’re just not true freedom. True freedom, the gospel tells us, is
trusting obedience, the obedience of faith. That’s not exactly the image one
finds portrayed in popular culture.”
So, what does true freedom mean for
those who choose to follow Christ? According to St. Augustine, true freedom is
not choice or lack of constraint, but being what you are meant to be. (Understanding
the Paradox of Freedom; By Carol Round; AssistNews.net;
7/2/17 [Blog Editor: The Ms. Round is quoting is President James Madison])
JRH 7/3/17
********************
Understanding the Paradox of Freedom (Writer's Opinion)
By Carol Round, Special to ASSIST News Service (Writer’s
Opinion)
Email Alert Sent: 7/2/2017 8:15 PM
Webpage date: July 2, 2017
Webpage: Assist News
True freedom comes through Christ - https://thepreachersword.com
[Blog Editor: The entirety of the essay is in the
email however I am cross posting from the webpage.]
GROVE, OK (ANS – July 2, 2017) –
“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).
To most Americans, the word freedom connotes
images of the American flag. We associate July 4 with the freedoms
we’ve been granted by the U.S. Constitution. We celebrate our
country’s independence with fireworks and parades.
According to dictionary.com, freedom means “the state of being
free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint.”
Physical freedom is denied those locked behind
prison walls. But those who have discovered a relationship with Jesus while in
prison will tell you they are, indeed, now free, in spite of the iron
bars they peer through each day.
Found throughout the Bible, the word, “freedom,”
is familiar to those who’ve read God’s Holy Word. John 8:32 says, “And you will
know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
In an article by Roger Olson, he writes, “Unfortunately, two
very different ideas of freedom get confused in many people’s minds. The biblical
idea of freedom is different from, but easily confused
with, the cultural value of the same name. And neither
one is the same as “free will.” It can be confusing to the average
Christian who wants to know what “real freedom” is. Is it having choices?
Is it lack of coercion and constraint? Is it being able to do
whatever you want? In what sense does Christ set us free, and how is that
different from what Madison Avenue and Hollywood promise?
“At the very heart of the Christian
gospel is the strange truth,” he continues, “that real freedom is
found only in giving up everything secular culture touts as freedom. The gospel,
it turns out, requires a distinction between the enjoyment of true freedom and the mere
possession of ‘free will.’ Not that free will or independence from
tyranny is a bad thing; they’re just not true freedom.
True freedom, the gospel tells us, is
trusting obedience, the obedience of faith. That’s not
exactly the image one finds portrayed in popular culture.”
So, what does true freedom mean for those who
choose to follow Christ? According to St. Augustine, true freedom is
not choice or lack of constraint, but being what you are meant to be.
For too many years of my adult life, I was a
slave—a slave to other’s opinions, a slave to the false image I
portrayed as someone who had her life together, a slave to the identities
I slipped into because of cultural demands. I wasn’t experiencing
true freedom. I wasn’t completely free until I embraced the woman
God has created me to be.
“Humans were created in the image of God.
True freedom, then,” writes Olson, “is not found in moving away from that
image but only in living it out. The closer we conform to the true
image of God, Jesus Christ, the freer we become. The farther
we drift from it, the more our freedom shrinks.”
Only Christ can set us free.
Photo captions: 1) True freedom comes through Christ. (https://thepreachersword.com).
2) Carol Round.
Note: I always love hearing from my readers. Please feel
free to e-mail me at carol@carolaround.com with
your thoughts, or visit my blog for more inspiration at www.carolaround.com.
If you need a speaker or workshop leader, you can contact me at the above
e-mail or website. I'd be delighted to hear from you.
______________
** You may republish this and any of our ANS stories with
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About ASSIST and Dan Wooding
Dan Wooding has been my friend for over 20 years, and I hold him in
the highest esteem. I love his stories, his courage, and his conviction.
Dan and his wonderful wife Norma have been faithful to God and the
call to share the stories of Christians working around the world for decades. They
have been through difficult times, and have always found a way to get the work
done.
Dan tells his own story of being a British journalist gone a bit
wild after growing up on the mission field with his parents. Then Dan was
convicted to tell the stories of Christians being killed and persecuted in
countries where their faith left them vulnerable to abuse and worse. Dan has
been in many dangerous situations in order to get the story out to the rest of
the world.
Lower down on this page, you can see a module from Amazon.com with
some of Dan's books listed there. He is amazingly prolific and so
effective in his work.
The main ASSIST Ministries site will give you information on the
multiple locations of the ministry, and the projects that are ongoing.
The ASSIST news site gives you access to stories that are of
interest to Christians worldwide, some of them would never be told without Dan
Wooding's help.
Dan interviews people whether famous or intriguing every day.
He writes their stories, shares them on … READ THE REST
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