TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT TO SEE
IN DUSTYBEARS PLACE
Send me a message in FACEBOOK, and I will respond
FEATURE #1.
THE PICTURES AND STORIES FACEBOOK
DIDN'T WANT YOU TO SEE.
I saw this on Pinterest and thought it was cute so I
downloaded it and then tried to share it on Facebook,
but FB BLOCKED IT
SEE IT HERE...
Send me a message in FACEBOOK, and I will respond
FEATURE #1.
THE PICTURES AND STORIES FACEBOOK
DIDN'T WANT YOU TO SEE.
I saw this on Pinterest and thought it was cute so I
downloaded it and then tried to share it on Facebook,
but FB BLOCKED IT
SEE IT HERE...
I just thought it was cute and sweet.
Just two boys, maybe brothers...being affectionate
They are I would bet too young for this to be in any way sexual
It is just showing affection
But, Facebook in its infinite wisdom wants to be able to prevent you
from seeing ANYTHING IT DOES NOT DEEM ACCEPTABLE.
THAT IS A VERY SLIPPERY SLOPE.
If you don't like it don't look but DO NOT tell me I can't see it
CAUSE YOU DON'T THINK I SHOULD
FACEBOOK WHO IN THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE.
HAHA...this is precious, and oddly enough FB did NOT have a problem with it.
Good God.
FEATURE #2.
THE ABSENCE OF FEAR
_______________________________
Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us. – 1 John 4:17-19
How would you live if you were fearless? What would you do that you are now unable to do because of the paralyzing effects of intimidation? What risks would you take? What would you try? What would you say? How much would you love?
In the above scriptural passage, we are told that “Love has been perfected among us.” Have you ever been a witness to perfected love? Do you feel that you offer a perfected love to the world? I would venture that most people will not say that they have experienced or given a perfect love to anyone in their lives. But has anyone ever asked how that is possible when so many people say the most important “thing” in the world is love? Very few people will question the assertion of love’s importance. By most standards love is the “right answer” to almost every question concerning human relating. And yet, it seems that the majority of the people that I have met in my life feel unworthy of this so called most important thing. Why? Well if you ask me, I think it has a lot to do with fear.
In the above scriptural passage, we are told that “Love has been perfected among us.” Have you ever been a witness to perfected love? Do you feel that you offer a perfected love to the world? I would venture that most people will not say that they have experienced or given a perfect love to anyone in their lives. But has anyone ever asked how that is possible when so many people say the most important “thing” in the world is love? Very few people will question the assertion of love’s importance. By most standards love is the “right answer” to almost every question concerning human relating. And yet, it seems that the majority of the people that I have met in my life feel unworthy of this so called most important thing. Why? Well if you ask me, I think it has a lot to do with fear.
Speaking to an audience who had embraced or by faith accepted that perfect love had walked among humanity in the form of Jesus who is known by Christ, the author of 1 John says, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear…” He also bolsters his audience with the magnificent claim that “we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.”
In other words, those who have received the love of Christ and love Christ in return are also like Christ in the world. What does that mean in practical terms? Do you see yourselves as being like Christ in the world? What kind of world would we experience if every person lived into the potential that they have the capacity to live like Christ is in the world–that they can embody a perfect love and cast out fear?
In other words, those who have received the love of Christ and love Christ in return are also like Christ in the world. What does that mean in practical terms? Do you see yourselves as being like Christ in the world? What kind of world would we experience if every person lived into the potential that they have the capacity to live like Christ is in the world–that they can embody a perfect love and cast out fear?
According to a Pew Research Center report, as of the time of the report, there were approximately 2.18 billion identifiable Christians of all ages around the world representing 232 countries. And I’m sure that doesn’t even include the Jesus lovers who are into Christ in some capacity but don’t want to be identified as Christian due to the connotations that have come with tanking on that label. One would think that with that many people testifying that perfect love has come among us and that as Christ’s followers we are as He is in the world at least a significant portion of the fear in this world would be cast out. But all we have to do is turn on the television and we will see very quickly that fear gets a lot more attention than love–perfect or otherwise. Rather than being cast out, it looks like fear is being cast forward. What does this imply? An ineffective faith? An imperfect love? What are we as Christians not doing that we are not experiencing a life where we can live boldly in love casting out fear wherever we encounter it? Well going back to the idea that through love we are as He is in the world, I think we can look at how we were in the world according to the Bible to get some clue about what it might look like to live boldly and to cast out fear so that we can live a life of perfect love.
In the conversations that I have had with other Christians, a majority of the sermons that I have listened to, and the Christian music I have heard–both contemporary and traditional–it seems that the popular idea of how Jesus was in the world was simply as the nicest guy in the world who did miracles, healed people, fed them, loved them, and yet was betrayed, abandoned, and then killed for his troubles all while keeping his composure because he knew he would come back to life.
Not everyone would describe their impression of Jesus in this way, but if I were to give a voice to what I have been exposed to over the last few years, this would be the general consensus I would draw. So, given this idea of Jesus, I have another question. Does that description sound like you or any other Christian you have ever met or heard of? Personally, I can’t say that I have heard of anyone like this besides what many people espouse about Jesus. So what can the author of John mean when he says we are as He is in the world?
Not everyone would describe their impression of Jesus in this way, but if I were to give a voice to what I have been exposed to over the last few years, this would be the general consensus I would draw. So, given this idea of Jesus, I have another question. Does that description sound like you or any other Christian you have ever met or heard of? Personally, I can’t say that I have heard of anyone like this besides what many people espouse about Jesus. So what can the author of John mean when he says we are as He is in the world?
The assumption I infer is that one reason why so many of Christians are not living the perfect love that casts out fear is that, as a global faith, we have yet to come to a corporate understanding of how He is in the world, nor have we accepted the commission to love as He loves. We are still yielding to fear. Like Peter who walked with Him, we deny Him and His love when it draws unwanted attention to us. Because we are afraid to stand out, we have a difficult time allowing the power of love to cast out the fear that torments us in the world. If I were to describe in a sentence how Jesus was in the world–regardless of the miracles, healings, or resurrection–I would say that He didn’t back down from fear. And that is a choice that each and every one of us is empowered to make through accepting our full inheritance of God’s love just as he did.
Hebrews 4:14-16 teaches us about how Jesus was in the world and how we are to walk boldly when it says, “Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” In other words, Jesus feels what we feel. He has our weakness, to include the fear. Therefore His perfect love–that can also be perfected in us–does not cast out fear by not feeling the fear, but rather by feeling the fear and yet surrendering to love anyway. If we are to live boldly in love, it will be not by avoiding our fears, but by facing them, overcoming them, and casting them out in perfect love. My prayer is that as we come to terms with the idea that our humanity is part of the gift we bring to the world, we will increasingly release the fear and shame that prevents us from expressing the love we are made of.
While it is not an endorsement for the film, The Passion of the Christ, I am adding a link to a video of the portrayal of Jesus facing his fears in the Garden of Gethsemane. I do so to draw some perspective on the notion that to be like Christ is in the world is to feel everything that we feel as humans but to choose love and that which draws us together over the fear which does nothing but torment us and tear us apart.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkROLJjYCpo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkROLJjYCpo
Posted on January 13, 2014 in Christ, Fear, Hate, Jesus, Love, Suffering, Temptation, The Congregational Church of Westborough, The Greatest Love, Weakness
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