Confession

I'm so confused by this word, and not in the sense of not being and able to define it. I know what it means.. well solely by itself. Every time I see this word it always leads me to actions, but I am quickly halted because it sparks in me the need to define the action. If you know me, ( which you should if you are reading this) I am completely analytical.

Questions arise like:
- What should this look like?
-Who should you confess things to?
- How often do you confess?

Those are just a few stumbling blocks along the road. I have been reading " Life Together" by Dietrich Bonhoeffer and he brings up some great points about living within community and the act of confession.  He says, " A man who confesses his sins in the presence of a brother knows that he is no longer alone with himself; experiences the presence of God in the reality of the other person." Don't get me wrong, our first confession is to humbly bow at the feet of  Christ, but in community we must confess to our brother or sister in the hope that they will walk along side us.

So where does that leave us.. I guess more specifically where does that leave me.. I guess I could say that I have completely changed my mindset, and am ready to practice this spiritual discipline, but thats not the case all the time. I think in my life pride starts to show up and it tells me I am suppose to look a certain way, and of course that look goes against what I  presently look like, so the confusion and frustration sets in.

Break..

On the other side of confession is the freedom that it produces. In Bonhoeffer's " Cost of Discipleship" He says sin boldly, ( not without regard for grace) but in the sense that we fiercely approach our Lord because He is willing and able to handle our problems. There is freedom in knowing that we are all a mess and we can't help ourselves, and that the only one who can is Jesus. We confess to our brother in hopes that he would partner with us in confessing the ugliness of our hearts in light of the goodness of God. Oh man, to speak of my sin in order that the goodness of my Saviour would shine through! I want to walk in that, and it starts today..

Eleutheria...

Man, I've been very nostalgic the last two days, not sure why, but I went back to my old blog ( yeah xanga!)  and got this excerpt from there...

Tuesday, September 28, 2004
Where the Spirit of the Lord is, There is freedom!
Wow, isn't that the truth? that song just speaks volumes. There is definitely Freedom in Christ. I am no longer held down by the chains a sin, because Christ broke those chains long ago on the cross. Which reminds me of a song.
Remember your chains, remember the prision that once held you, before the love of God broke in, remember the place you were without grace,
It is definitely true to say that there is freedom in Christ, but we also have to remember where we came from to know where we are going. ( i know very cliche) but God wants us to remember that so we won't have to repeat it.

Freedom...

Man, this post was good for my heart. It was good to be reminded of my passion for the Lord then and how it looks now. A friend and I were at the Children's park today talking life and enjoying the great outdoors of East Texas ( haha) We started talking about what it meant to pursue Christ and accept grace. It was a great conversation, but it reminded me of the Freedom that He has called us to, not a freedom to sin freely,but a freedom that causes us to walk boldly with the Lord.

I want to walk fully in the freedom that God has given me.. Galatians 5:1

What does walking in freedom with the Lord look like for you?

Community..

This subject has been a theme in my life for a few years, but more so over the last few weeks. I feel like somewhere along the years we as believers have gotten the idea that true community makes up feel good. Who are we kidding? Is that all its intended to be? I have been looking at biblical living and what Christ calls us to when living in community, and I believe it is far more than comfort.  I have been trying to grasp what true community is, so that I know what to pursue and how to live it out,  and the journey has been hard. To be honest, it has left me lonely most of the time. I want to live out my faith with people who are crazy about Jesus, notice I didn't say perfect and have it together, but people who love Jesus and are a mess, haha.

But what I have found even in myself is the mess part, but people who love themselves more than the pursuit of Christ. I don't want that! I want to echo Psalm 63 "my souls thirst for you, my flesh faints for you" Psalm 63:1 This is legit stuff, oh to live with that mindset, man, my life would look drastically different.

So I guess that's where I start, instead of pursuing people in hopes of finding a community of faith lived out daily. I pursue my best friend, in hopes that he would change me so I could be a light to others.


This is one of many thoughts I had today, decided to filter through and only put one up.