stevecuringtonministries.com
"Liberty is not 'fight to the
Tuesday, 17 June 2008
It's been said "Give me liberty or give me death." But it could be better said, "Give me death and I shall obtain my liberty."
Good morning! Before we get started I wanted to update you on a few things. First, I am returning from a one week "family vacation". Sad to say, but this was my first vacation as such. Most of our time off is surrounded by evangelistic meetings or work related conferences. Just getting away for a week without any responsibilities has seemed impossible. But we determined to do it this past week and had a wonderful time. I am grateful for the great staff God has given to RU. Many a years have gone by where I have not been able to take such a necessary break. But I am glad for the team with which God has surrounded me. As well, I have missed communicating with you in my semi-daily blog and am glad to be back.
Secondly, I want to update you on our car wash contest. God has done surprising miracles this year as we have sought to raise an incomprehensible amount of money. Our goal this year was over twice last year's amount. We are praying that God would allow us to raise $100,000.00. Many scoffed at the idea and rightly so. It seems impossible. But our God is so BIG! We believe He is going to do it.
But we won't make it without an even greater miracle. We are so very close. To date we have raised just under $85,000.00. Because the car wash is this Saturday, we need to raise $15,000 in the next four days! That may seem probable, given what we have raised so far. But to be quite honest with you, we have no one left to ask. So we have begun to re-ask! I would like you to please weigh in with an investment in this year's SUPER SCRUB Wash-A-Thon. We have come so far and I have one hundred students who REALLY believe that God is going to do this! I believe He will as well, but I know that He will do it through His people. If He is leading you to help, will you please cooperate with His leading? You can be assured a great blessing. Thank you.
You can email me and I will call you for your gift, or you can respond to this email with your name, address and the amount of your one time gift and we will bill you OR, you can click on this link to give my credit card: Super Scrub Final Push!
Now to today's quote: It's been said "Give me liberty or give me death." But it could be better said, "Give me death and I shall obtain my liberty."
Freedom is found within boundaries. Many young people reject the God given boundaries of their upbringing, thinking or feeling as if those restrictions are inhibiting their liberty. But nothing could be further from the truth!
As a young person, I couldn't wait to get out of my Christian home, Christian School and that Baptist church! When the day came, I would finally be free from my boundaries, or so I thought. But we only exchange boundaries with bondage!
Secondly, Freedom is not only found in submission to boundaries, but freedom is also found in submission to authority. So as we obey God's boundaries and are guided by His authority we will find restrictions set in our lives by His delegates. These delegates are people He allows to be in authority over us. It is our parents, our preachers, our teachers, our EMPLOYERS, and even our government.
Yes, God has ordained and chosen His leadership by OUR placement. He placed you in your home. He placed you in your church. He placed you in that job and He has placed you in the country in which you live. This was intentional on His part. You may wish for something different, but it is not the wish of our Lord, at least not at this time. It is our rejection of His wishes that bring us into bondage.
With this said, God has designed a system of advancing our liberty through a routine of daily dying on our part. That is to say a willingness to give our selfish thoughts, wants and feelings over to the thoughts, wants and feelings of our Lord Jesus Christ as led by His Spirit-our Holy Spirit.
The majority of our deaths, that is to say, the sacrificing of our selfishness, will come at the request or behest of our God ordained leadership. If we are unwilling to accept their role of "boundary placement and enforcement" in our lives, do we really think we will enjoy the liberty that comes from our personal death?
Liberty doesn't come because we fight to the death. Liberty comes because we submit to our death! Today, let us give up on our fight to expand our liberties at home or at church or at work and accept our boundaries, embrace our restrictions, honor our leaders and revere our Savior. Then we will find great liberty, for we have died that we may enjoy it!
Have a wonderful day IN the Lord,
1 Comment(s) - Add a comment
< BackAdd a comment..
Let Me Feed You..
reply
I am a member of The International Baptist Church in Brooklyn,N.Y. I am just starting out with their RU under the care of Sam Parks. I would like to donate $100.00 and can submit the check to Sam this Friday evening. I just need to know who to make the check out to and I will need some sort of statement acknowledging this donation.