Free people remain free to give up their freedom. They bestow freedom on others by giving up their own. Soldiers who fight for freedom (and who sometimes die for it) provide good models for us. Soldiers of Christ should always be willing to do that.
- Steve Brown, A Scandalous Freedom: The Radical Nature of the [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Freedom’
Free People Remain Free to Give Up Their Freedom
Posted in Brown, Steve, tagged Freedom on October 29, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Quit Making Your Goodness the Issue!
Posted in Brown, Steve, tagged Freedom, Goodness on October 28, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Let it go, and quit making your goodness the issue! This isn’t about you and me; it’s about Jesus. When you obsess over anything but him – and that includes being free – you can lose it. Jesus is freedom, and to the degree that you stay focused on him, you will find yourself free.
- [...]
Many Christians Live in a Prison of Failure
Posted in Brown, Steve, tagged Failure, Freedom on October 21, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Many Christians live in a prison of failure, thinking they cannot gain their freedom from that poison. They aren’t free because they think they don’t deserve freedom. They have lived in the abnormality of a dark prison for so long they won’t look up at the open door God has given them – an open [...]
True Freedom Is Wrought Only Through Pain and Tragedy
Posted in Brown, Steve, tagged Christian, Freedom, God's Love, Pain, Tragedy on October 21, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
It wasn’t the freedom of the Christian who pretends that things are all right when they’re not. It was the freedom that only believers who have faced pain and tragedy know. It was the freedom of Jesus who, when we’ve lost it all, invites us to laugh, dance and sing in his presence, knowing that [...]
When Power Ceases To Be and Freedom Becomes
Posted in Brown, Steve, tagged Freedom, God's Love, Gospel, Grace, Guilty, Power, Religion on October 20, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Whenever religion becomes leverage, it ceases to be the religion of Jesus. The gospel of God’s grace takes away the leverage. Why? Because if I’m forgiven without condition, you can’t make me feel guilty. If God loves me, you can’t manipulate me by threatening to take away your love. If God knows my secrets and [...]
It Is Very Dangerous
Posted in Brown, Steve, tagged Altar, Freedom, Worship on October 19, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
It is very dangerous to worship at any altar other than God’s, and when we do, the inevitable result is a major loss of the freedom God would give his people.
- Steve Brown, A Scandalous Freedom: The Radical Nature of the Gospel, copyright 2004, Howard Books, page 119
What Should Be The Material of Our Witness
Posted in Brown, Steve, tagged Church, Freedom, God, Joy, Witness on October 19, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
We hear a lot of talk in the church about the importance of our witness to the world. Our witness is important – but God does not call us to witness about our goodness or that we have it all together. We are to witness regarding the freedom and joy we have found in Christ.
- [...]
What the Church Ought to Be
Posted in Brown, Steve, tagged Church, Confess, Freedom, Sins on October 19, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
The church should be a place where we can say anything and know we won’t be kicked out, where we can confess our sins knowing others will help us, where we can disagree and still be friends. It ought to be the one place in the world where we don’t have to wear masks. And, [...]
Honesty and Control Rarely Sleep Well Together
Posted in Brown, Steve, tagged Christ, Freedom, Religious Leaders, Superficial Christians on October 16, 2009 | 2 Comments »
Christ can give you the freedom to stop pretending. Of course, superficial Christians – those who have been wearing their masks for so long that they seem sewed on – will probably reject you. Those who put you on a pedestal and worship there will feel so shocked they might, for a period, not want [...]
So, We Keep Marching, How Pitiful
Posted in Brown, Steve, tagged Commitment, Freedom, Good News, Goodness, Religion on October 14, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
The good news is that Christ free us from the need to obnoxiously focus on our goodness, our commitment and our correctness. Religion has made us obsessive almost beyond endurance. Jesus invited us to a dance…and we’ve turned it into a march of soldiers, always checking to see if we’re doing it right and are [...]
