Comments on: Enlightened Witnessing by Kevin Beck

By: societyvs

societyvs — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 02:59:26 +0000

That was a great piece of writing and brings the human element of it to life…awesome! I think we all end up in that place where we need to be ourselves or follow the group (a peer pressure of sorts) - and it always sucks. But I have found that being yourself and not being a ‘clone’ works so much better for reality - we are responsible for ourselves - not neccesarily for others. I want to make decisions that align me with helping others and being their friend - not choices that help ruin others.

By: mindy

mindy — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 18:13:50 +0000

Wow, yes this hit home for me to. I want to embrace who I am because I do strongly believe that God made me perfect. This journey can be tough, but I feel like I get stronger and stronger each step I take. I don’t ever want to conform to what others think I should be.

By: Mike

Mike — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 02:56:50 +0000

Both the post and all your comments are excellent and timely! There is the very real sense in which, though I know I must be true to the God of love, I still dread the cost.

That is of particular concern at this Thanksgiving season when visiting friends and family will afford occasions to speak of a wholly gracious Lord. In my faithlessness I do not foresee those as entirely positive opportunities because of the likelihood that an old friend may longer come around when he discovers my perception of God as more compassionate than our encrusted theology permits.

Old friends are dear friends and the loss of one goes down hard. I pray my fears will not materialize during this holiday!

Peace,
Mike

By: Bruce

Bruce — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 15:02:57 +0000

“Be true to yourself”… and you will be true to God.

It’s too bad people won’t trust a loving God. They want to be lorded over by a God who is easily angered, and willing to turn his back on people who don’t perform correctly. That was the perception of God the Jews had (have), and that’s exactly what Jesus came to change.

REPENT! Change your mind about God!

Repent of thinking God is angry and divisive. Turn your mind to God who is unconditionally loving, and all-inclusive! You can trust this loving God… that is the message of the Cross of Christ. God is worthy of your trust because his love surpasses all understanding, and cannot be diverted by you, or anyone else!

You cannot love someone you don’t trust. But if you trust someone THAT completely, your love will flow out to them without your understanding or permission. That was God’s plan all along. Demanding love won’t make it happen. But, he knew that showing you how perfect his love is would bring you to trust him. And if you trust him, you will find yourself loving him!

It’s sad to me that God lovingly showed his heart for us through the Cross, but instead of realizing what he did for us, our religious scholars took his simple message of relentless love and turned it into a complex religion full of burdensome obligations, expectations, and requirement. They promote relationship through fear, and that will never result in love. It only produces hypocrites.

God got it right! Man screwed it up terribly.

By: dan

dan — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 02:43:57 +0000

Kevin this truly hit deep in my heart what a wonderful message of freedom and love.I thank God for a place to go and truly receive living words that free the heart and mind.
Love in Christ Dan

By: Connie

Connie — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 02:36:45 +0000

Good words Kevin!!
So many of us can relate to how difficult the journey is when we leave the “status quo norm of christendom” or maybe more accurate would be to say leave the denominational scene, for I dont know that we can bunch them all up and call them christians. Either way, its leaving orthodoxy as we knew it and as it has been for a long time. I am shocked at the realization that my new witness has so affected my relationships with other spiritual brothers and sisters. So then I ask myself, “What was that relationship really based on anyway, if when I believe different, you can no longer be my friend? It surely wasnt about love then, but more about common ground where we both felt good to hang out together cause we stroked each other by confirming what we beleived was surely the truth.What you said Kevin, someone who truly loves you wants you to be no one but yourself. Yes, we are not free witnesses for we are in this prison of fear, of pleasing man, and bieng tortured by our thoughts..so well put Kevin. The anguish of a divided self. How strongly these things hold us back from bieng HIS shining witness. But we know who our liberator is and HIS name is JESUS… We trust HIM to make us the witnesses HE has called us to be.Thanks for sharing this great word.
Connie

By: Don Hendricks

Don Hendricks — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 14:50:19 +0000

That was deeply profound, Brother Kevin. As I have said before, this fear is heightened when your soul and your salary are intertwined. It feels to me as if every effort to share the dynamics of the love of God is confused and darkened by this enormous load of theological tradition that sees the mass of Christ rejectors seperated and tormented througout all eternity.

Thanks for this, for Christ’s desire was to expose this compassionless,
loveless attitude in the pharisees. When God’s passion for reconciliation is discovered in the texts, they we really have been given eyes to see, and we want to tell others.

Don