All Who Wander Are Not Lost -JRR Tolkien

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Sometimes it feels like we are wandering through a land of shadows alone but we don't wander about thus. It is in knowing that we don't wander alone on this journey but rather we journey with Christ- for Christ- through Christ; trying to sort out life. That is our reassurance. We are fellow travelers with their varied stories to share and many songs to sing. We are journeying along through these shadows together. For me I am journeying away from an evangelical ,conservative religion to ( hopefully) becoming a true Christ follower. I invite you to journey along with me. That if you are so inclined; then by all means feel free to wander and ponder.

Monday, October 5, 2009

Health Care & Christ pt 1

{author's note: this was a response to some postings on Facebook and my reply]
Since the debating started I have been wondering ,how or even if, I should post make a public posting of what I think Jesus would have us to do in reforming what we all agree is a broken and unfair health care system. I have chosen to remain quiet until recently. The reason I have decided to wade into the fray is because I have seen some well meaning ' Christians' make some damn fool statements and expect that they can do so in God's name. They [the well meaning " Christians'] have are literally attacking some one on the same team just because that those people do not march in lock step with the conservative Christian right but rather want to look at the Issue from a more liberal stand point and I ,for one agree with them. I had started suspecting about a year ago that the traditional church has been hijacked. Not just recently but it was hijacked some time back by those who would have us on the same team fall in line with the conservative uprising aimed at the then disenfranchised Christian voter. Veiled in the idea that the conservative thought and anti abortion protesters were really the new heralds of God's message. And God help anyone who disagreed with them or even had the audacity to question their interpretation of scripture. I can say this since I was one of those conservatives. Or at least I tried to be. I really wanted to have the right interpretation of Scripture ,and the Gospel. After all who doesn't want to understand what the Creator/God wants from his chosen? But as I studied and meditated on His revealed will [aka the Bible] the realization began to sink in that One, no one person can ever to hope to really hope to have the 'correct' interpretation. Two, only Jesus was capable of that. Three, all we are left with then as student/followers of Jesus is the need to examine what Jesus said and did since Jesus was the only reflection of God we have available ( Heb 1:1-3) . It is only through the accounts of His deeds and words can we really get a grip on what the Gospel really is. Jesus proclaimed what the Gospel is in Luke 4:15-21 and His declaration of the true nature of the Gospel had nothing to do with family values or banning abortions ,as some conservative Christian commentators would have us believe. He declared a Gospel that gave hope to the poor, freedom to the captive and release of the oppressed from then oppressor. In short Jesus was proclaiming a Gospel of restoration and redemption. So what does this have to do with the debating of the Health Care Reform Issue and the position of the Christ follower?

I have some ideas I am willing to share but I must warn you that I am not taking the position of being an authority. All I am offering is my interpretation of what I read and don't want to be augmentative . I just am wanting to open a conversation among students of Jesus. After all, we won't really know who is right and we stand before the Judgment to answer the question [ Matt 25:31-46].

SELAH

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