Finding Your Way – John 10:27
Praying over the City at Roots Roasting.
January 22, 2019· Saint Paul ·
For those of you that know me, you know I’ve gone through a shake up with my friends. Over the course of the last few years, I’ve moved from being conservative to far more liberal. In truth, I always described myself as fiscally conservative and socially liberal. A person possibly best described politically as a libertarian, but even then, it didn’t quite fit. With greater freewill, we rely on the moral character of those in power. We’ve seen that doesn’t generally work so well. Greed and self-interest get in the way. Frankly, the more one is separated from the poor, the less we see their needs, and therefore, those that are disenfranchised, struggle more.
A couple of things converged in my world to motivate what some might consider a radical shift. First, I committed myself to Christ and I would frequently pray, “Make me like you.” I wanted a heart that saw others as Jesus did. The second thing was my work. As I would research economic trends and effects of public policy, I found that things were working more to the benefit of those who already had. That there was an income separation that was widening and far too many items were in place to economically suppress the middle class.
There are so many things I could say about this evolution. You’ll find a bit more on my GOD ASKS page at my blog: https://wrongwaylizzie.me/category/god-asks-social-justice-micah-68/ In truth, you’d need to read through many of the posts in this section to get a full grasp on my transformation and how I believe it to be faith driven. God did this and regardless the costs, I must act.
The problem is there are several people that I love and who love me that do not understand what I’m doing or don’t believe this is right. They tend to be, as the majority are, conservative Christians. This difference in ideals and the variance of the vision of what Christ asked of us has caused conflict. To a great degree, we’ve just bantered back and forth on Facebook. Some have messaged me with messages as harsh as, “You’re going to hell.”
To insulate myself from this, I just started unfriending, or in tough situations, blocking people on my more public account. It seemed counterproductive to keep badgering each other, and honestly, during the Kavanaugh hearings, I was being triggered all the time. I know my friends did not intend to hurt me, but all this rape culture defense brought me right back to the lies I encountered after my own assault.
Last week a friend messaged me an article about illegal immigrants receiving billions in tax refunds. It immediately set me off. I responded, “#GodHelpUs.” This has become my hashtag anytime I say a silent prayer asking God to help us with the mess down here. Then I typed, “Keep spreading hate. God loves that…read Matthew 6:19-21”
My friend then wrote, “You see this as hate?” I replied, “Yes. Don’t send these to me.” His response, “I see this as an investigative report.” After a little tango online, and a calming of my emotions, I asked him, “Do you really want to know what I think?” Since he said he did, I committed to write him back. While considering all I’d like to say, I was unsure where to begin, and thought of Greg Boyd’s book, LETTERS FROM A SKEPTIC, in which he has a correspondence dialog with his father about Christianity.
From all of this, I then thought, or really God inspired this idea, “Maybe I could dialog via email about these issues with my friends?” Take this point by point banter from social media and have a thoughtful conversation about these really important issues. I suggested this to my friend, he agreed, and further stated it was okay with him to share it on my blog. Please look for the first one about this very issue, ILLEGALS GETTING U.S. TAX MONEY, very soon.
This is my other thought, “If you don’t fully agree with what I have to say or have concerns about my perspective, message me or post right here at our blog.
I cannot guarantee all questions will be responded to and anything brought forth that is NOT courteous will be deleted and ignored. Please know, if you send me something, it might be included in my future writings. God placed this passion on my heart, and I need to find a more constructive way to get His word out. It’s my firm belief that many are seeking Truth. Let’s try to arrive there together.
John 10:27 (NIV) My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.
Dearest Heavenly Father (Mother), you are the Master of Love. You created it. When you were here on earth with us, you showed us the best way to do it. May we always model ourselves after you. It will only be through this love we will heal and bring others to your saving grace. Please step into the middle of our conflicts, our discussions, our concerns speak clearly so we might hear your voice and find our way. In Your Mighty Name…
You are loved. Bring any prayer requests forward.
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[…] As I mentioned in an earlier blog, many of my Christian friends have had questions and concerns about my political stance. Even though we hold the same faith and seemingly the same beliefs, since my views much of the time conflict with their views, these friends have thought me off track. To learn more about this, please see a recent blog published on January 22, 1019, FINDING YOUR WAY: https://wrongwaylizzie.me/finding-your-way-john-1027/ […]