Spirit of Grace

God's message to the world is all about grace. Grace is not about judgment or condemnation. Grace is all about love and acceptance. When one feels totally accepted there is no fear in the relationship. We can be totally honest in our relationship, no need for lying or subterfuge, for we have no need to hide anything. Who we are is totally known by God and God loves us completely. There is no hate in God. The amazing element of the spirit of grace is it makes us want to better ourselves. When we are put down or ridiculed, we run away from the pain or try to hide from our feared inadequacy. When we are loved and accepted, we are able to love our self as we are and what we can become. We live in hope of what we'll develop into rather than living in fear of failure. The world often wounds or criticizes; God heals and strengthens. The world puts us down; God lifts us up. If we follow God's role model, our behavior will achieve the same results with our children and in our other relationships. Live in the spirit of grace and achieve your fullness of being! www.fcccarrollton.org

Freedom

        The 4th of July will soon be upon us when we celebrate our nation's freedom. Our ancestors fought against England to preserve personal rights and freedoms. Freedom of religion was one of the many guarantees our people fought to create and preserve. Freedom of religion should still be something we fight to preserve in our country. If we try to legislate our personal beliefs or in other ways try to pressure others to accept our religious point of view, are we not eradicating the very freedom for which we fought? It is either freedom of religion for all or none. We cannot say you are free to practice your religion any way you want just as long as it agrees with mine. Freedom of religion is also freedom from religion. I am a Biblically based believer in Christianity--I am a Christian. However, I am aware that this is still is a very broad statement. They are those who can make the same statement from the far left to the far right of theology. I would love for our nation to have strong Christian ethics. With Catholicism, Orthodoxy, and some 33,000-40,000 other protestant denominations , whose standard should be used? We can teach and preach and share our faith to our heart's content, but when we try to manipulate the law of our nation through legislature and lawsuits to fit our particular brand of faith, we have stepped over the boundary. We become religious oppressors. We would like people to believe just like us, but that is unlikely to happen. We humans are very independent sorts. If we try to force people to believe like us, then we are taking away their religious freedom.
         God gave humanity free will. God gives us guidance on how to best live through scripture and through God's spiritual presence, accessed through prayer. However, God does not force God's will upon us. Perhaps that is a good role model for us as we continue to stand for freedom of religion as our ancestors did who helped shape this country. Happy 4th of July, Happy Day of Independence, Happy Freedom!  www.fcccarrollton.org