Wednesday night goodness and a little off topic

We had our second meeting on Wednesday night dealing with freedom and what that can mean to us as Christians. It was another good session. Steven Johnson was talking about some very interesting things. Stuff that I hadn't really thought about but definitely hit home. One of the things that he said was that its the meaning that we give to events in our past that affect our beliefs. If you perceived that you were hurt by a situation, you were hurt. I know that I have struggled with this. I might look back at a hurt in the past and think that it shouldn't be that painful, but still have aches from it. Those are the areas that I need to ask for God to remove that pain. And thats the key, that we have to ask. It is a choice that we have to make about what we want God to do. God wants to help us, but he also loves us so much that he won't force Himself on us. The example of this that Johnson gives is John 5:1-14. It is the story of the man at the Pool of Bethesda. The first thing that Jesus says to the man is "Do you want to get well?" That is the choice that we are given. We get so comfortable with our pain, that changing things, which would be required can be quite scary. Its not that we enjoy being hurt, but that we don't know anything else. I am continuing to look at those areas in my life that I know that I have pains. They aren't fun to visit, but I also know that God's freedom is better than coping with these pains.

One of the other things that Johnson was talking about is that there are 3 areas that are sources of burdens that we carry around. They are anger, disappointment, and grief. I know that there is some anger and grief in my past that I have to deal with, but I know that the disappointment that I keep in my life is far greater. I have many things that I have done in the past that I think that shouldn't have or that I feel like I have let some one down. These are the areas that I don't want to really get into, but I need to. Its not going to be fun, but it will be fruitful to be the man that I need to be.

I want to mention Desire again. One of the things that Eldridge talks about is that we are made for something . He even goes to the extent to say that whatever you get excited about (writing, singing, etc) is what you were made for. I don't know if I completely believe this, but I do know that your desire is where you heart is. My problem is that I don't have an occupation or a talent that gets me excited. Was I made for nothing? I know thats not true, but I wonder about this idea.

Ok, now to step off topic. If you don't want to read this, thats fine, but I am going to talk about politics. I love watching and following politics. I think thats important for people to do that so that they know what their government is doing. I was led to this article about looking at voting as a Christian and how we can base our votes. I think its worth a look as well.

That being said, I will now launch into my personal beliefs. You can ignore them if you want, but these are the things that I think. In that article, one of the things that you are asked to look at is the character of the candidates and thats what I think people should be looking at in regards to our presidential candidates. I might not agree fully with everything that McCain stands for. However, I don't think that anyone can claim that he is not a man of character. While this might end up with people doing searches and trying to put up their ideas in comments, I will say that I can't be sure of Obama's character. There are so many questions about his past. And it would seem that for the most part people don't care. Is it because no one cares about judgement and character anymore? I won't say that if you vote for Obama that you aren't a Christian, because I don't know your reasons. You know one of my reasons for choosing to vote for McCain, but I have others that won't really fit in this blog. I write about this because I think that part of our life as Christians is that we have to be people above reproach. In other words, people of great character. I just offer that, as a Christian, that your idea of who has greater character should be a consideration.

Alright, enough of that talk. I appreciate you letting me stray away for a few. I might not be back this week due to a short day for me tomorrow. I am heading to my parents and enjoying a couple days with the family and will be back on Monday.

PS If you came here due to a search and are about to blast me about Obama vs McCain, please don't. Its not necessary. You can think the way you want and I will think the way I want. At the end of the day, we are still Americans and politics are just politics.