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Emancipation 2

Tom couldn't comprehend what was happening to him, but he was conscious. He was conscious of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Was he imaging all this, or was it real? Was he stuck somewhere in the past with these slaves brought over from Africa to work the sugar plantations of the British imperialists? He began to cast his mind back over his own history, remembering the civil rights movement in America he realised he had entered the history of the African people who had been stolen from their own homes and families, shipped to countries far away to work for the white man. The same African slaves had ended up in America and forced to work on cotton plantations similar to the sugar plantation he was experiencing. The civil rights movement with it's history of defying the white man's system just to forge freedom for themselves. Defying school systems, bus regulations, everything they could defy without violence. Martin Luther King and his historic speech, the Alabama riots, the Ku Klux Klan, vilification and heroism.
Tom had became part of the historic journey of the abducted African people, simple people working the land, tending their cattle. They grew up married, and had children. Just ordinary people aware of tides and times, birth, death, courtship, marriage, all the norms of humanity was theirs. Until they were captured, often by Arabs who sold them to White men where their lives changed for ever. But in America hadn't it been different? When Parliament in Britain outlawed slavery, hadn't it been different? Tom's mind raced.
'This is your journey.' The quiet voice spoke to Tom.
Tom opened his eyes. He was laying in his own bed in familiar surroundings. looking at his skin he found he was white as he always had been.
'I gave you the word emancipation to show you the journey you are on. When Adam failed I knew the journey you would undertake. A journey that you don't understand, and a journey that is often painful for you. But what you didn't realise is that I had already taken care of all the necessities. You have been emancipated. Your freedom is assured in Jesus and you are with Me in Him continuously. What you don't understand is while living in a world of chaos, evil, and negativity; you are complete in Me. As the African slaves had to undertake a journey to freedom so my children have to undertake a journey of liberation with Me.
Don't worry Tom, I'll make sure you get it.

Emancipation

Tom looked at his hands, then his arms, and the rest of his body. He was black. No not dirty, black skinned. He found himself in a shed, it was hot, cripplingly hot. Not only that he saw that he was not alone. As he moved upright he found himself shackled to a man by leg irons, and chains.There were other men in the shed as well, twenty, or maybe thirty Tom estimated. Fear began to invade Tom's soul as he sought to comprehend what was going on. With that the door of the shed was flung open  and a terrifying voiced ordered them outside. Stumbling, hobbling along, with his companion Tom found himself being marched along with the other men, who Tom assumed were Negroes. After a short while under a blazing sun Tom found himself in what he could only think was a sugar plantation as he remembered seeing them on holiday in Barbados. A big black man glistening with sweat un locked the irons that bound him to the young man at his side and a machete was pushed into his hand.
'Work.' Barked the big man.
Tom opened his mouth to protest but before the words were formed in his parched lips the man brought a cane down on the side of his head with such force that Tom was knocked to the ground.
'Work.' Again the order came.
Reeling with pain Tom began hacking at the sugar cane. Observing what his companion was doing Tom tried to copy his actions. The sun rose, the heat was unbearable and hour after relentless hour the work continue.
Out of the corner of his eye Tom saw a figure of a white man on a horse talking to the big black overseer.
'That must be the plantation owner.' Tom thought as he numbly hacked away at the hard cane in front of him. How long he was going to last at this Tom did not know, or what really was going on.
'Stop'. Ordered the big man.
All the workers slumped down where they stood and a boy began to pass between them with water and a small ladle. Two mouthfuls were all that Tom was allowed, then it was back to work.
The sun was going down as the weary slaves made their way back to the shed from where they had emerged all those hours ago. Tom was exhausted, his hands were a mass of blood where blisters had formed and broken on his hands after handling the machete all day. Feeling very discouraged and desolate, he waited in line with the other men. A plate was thrust into his raw hands containing what passed as food, it looked hideous to Tom. If he hadn't been so ravenous he would have thrown it on the floor, but eat it he did as he knew that without the scraps he wouldn't last very long. Then the men were pushed into the shed, and the door was locked behind them.
Tom laid on the earth and began to cry. He didn't understand any of this and he felt so alone as sobs racked his body. Then he began to hear soft singing from the men. It was almost heavenly as they harmonised together. As they sang Tom could only think they were Negro spiritual songs and that somehow he had entered a slave population maybe in the Caribbean some centuries earlier. With that he heard a whisper in his ear.
'One day son this will be a memory. Maybe not in my lifetime or yours, but we will be free.'
Tom turned to see the face of an elderly man bathed in sweat, his white teeth shining in the dark as he smiled at Tom.
'We will be free. One day we will be free.'

Where to Start?

What a year! So much has happened, but in a very different way than 1995 when the Holy Spirit exposed me to my heavenly Father who was all I ever dreamed of. Sure of my relationship with Him and the idea the Agape was all there was, there was still a long way to go to show me what He thought about me and what His plan was for me from eternity. So sixteen years later I am still at the place where understanding God is like entering a maize. But I know certain truths have embedded themselves into my soul. I have a different take on the gospel than I had 28yrs ago. I don't see myself or my family, and neighbours, in the same way as I saw them before. When God told me some years ago He was going to deal with religion I really didn't know what He meant. But it's religion out of us individually  that's important, as well as religion out of the church. This past week has seen the Church of England facing extinction in 20yrs if members don't increase. But you can't run the CofE like a business, although the cash they invest is quite substantial.
God wants to cleanse His dear ones from all effects of religion. The spirit behind religion can be easily seen in the generations of 'christendom'. Empire, exploitation, power and control are the characteristics of religion, and always manifested through people as that is the way the devil operates. But there is a new day upon us where christians know who they are, and who their saviour is, and nothing else is important. Could the church disappear, or explode in numbers? It doesn't matter as Abba is running the history of humanity on His terms.

It's the Truth that will set you free................

On the broken crucified body of Jesus Christ the false, deceitful, charade of the demoniacally inspired  Adamic lifestyle was crushed. 'It is finished'. Those triumphant words of Jesus echoed around heaven, earth, and hell, with such power that from that moment on all things would become new. In His death and resurrection a new species of human beings was birthed. The old false self centred lifestyle gave way to a new Christ centred lifestyle. Once it was 'me' who had to make his way in the world working, achieving, sweating, striving for love, success, and identity; and not finding reality. How could I have found reality in deception and fiction? How could I have found truth in lies and confusion, how could I have found light in darkness? Now it is Jesus Himself who has become my life. There is no independent me, no I central to the cosmos. That is the deception of satan, he thinks he is an independent god, but he is mistaken. He has passed on the lies and false information to all in Adam. 
But now in the truth that is Christ I see I am free to be. I am free to be a container, a branch of the vine attached to Life which is Christ. I am in the Godhead united with Father and Son in the Spirit. Grace means I don't have to strive to be, I am. I don't have to 'do' anything. You can't imagine what that feels like. All I have to do is believe, believe I am loved as Jesus is loved. Believe I am free from falsehood, and lies; free to believe I am who I've always wanted to be. Most importantly free to allow the Holy Spirit to show me the slendour of God's plan, and desire for His loved ones. I can trust because His extends His trust, I can love because He is love, I can believe because it is His faith that's given to me. The exchanged life is so much more rewarding, so much more fulfilling, so much more abundant; as Jesus said it would be.

Reformation is Real.......

I call it reformation, you can call it reformatting if you like, the results will be the same. Revelation is coming to us as a torrent in these days causing a reformation of our minds, and  post religious thinking can embrace the gospel like never before. I am deeply appreciative of the Holy Spirit for His faithfulness to us in the body of Christ, and particularly in the way He is able to bring truth to us as individual unique saints. I have, because of my generational habits I guess, been a man who can receive truth from the written word. I don't do as well with the spoken, or visual, though I do enjoy it. Jesus lead me to the bible in my seeking years, and to two christian authors who He used to open my eyes to the truth about Him. That truth was in those days limited I agree, but it was enough to get me 'started' as it were.
But what magnificence in these days as the Spirit of Christ is pouring out truth as an Niagrian explosion. It has been wonderful to share truth with those dear ones not in my particular stream. Now that's a silly saying as I'm in the river, not in a stream. I don't wish any longer to have a denomination handle, but what I mean is I am so glad Holy Spirit gives His truth to any who will receive. I am learning so much today about incarnation, adoption, reconciliation; which enlarges my picture of the Father's heart. Just this week I've had my idea of creation/evolution challenged, my concept of a holy Jesus coming to earth but not really experiencing the pain I have been through, blown away and much more.
I'm excited as never before and I'm so glad to be part of what God is doing in these days. Much more is to come I am sure. I just want to say thank you to the ones that have helped me, and been gracious enough to walk with me. I love you very much.

Freedom

Christian Thinking on Freedom.

Christian thinking has always encapsulated freedom as an intrinsic part of humanity. Every human being is created free. The concept of slavery, dis-empowerment, inhibition, is alien to the concept of freedom to be. Freedom to be is a fundamental, a given to humanity. It was a gift from He who is free. Freedom to be loved, freedom to love, freedom to give ourselves is who we are in our humanity. Freedom is essentially a part of my consciousness as a human being, it is part of who we are. So in a way no external circumstances such as war, prison, famine, persecution, abuse etc. can take away my freedom if I maintain the correct perspective. There are profound stories from the concentration camps of the last war where men have never allowed themselves to be enslaved to the inhumanity that was part of their existence at that time. So no matter what the current Government comes up with, no matter the high fuel prices, my arthritic hip, the breakdown of human relations, or the injustice of the stasi Eu. nothing can take my freedom from me.

But I know, and I see by experience, that I am not really free. Fear, anxiety, discomfort, dis-ease, sickness, poverty, death fill my world. These realities scream at me telling me I am not free, and the freedom I crave for is somewhat illusionary. Freedom is mine, but how can I live in it and experience it in my day to day living? It is here that we need to interject the biblical concept of the fall of man. It is evident that every thing in the garden is not rosy. What had been created perfectly has undergone a massive trauma, resulting in a reverse of perfection, and a slide to degeneration. The earth itself groans under this pressure and mankind lives now as a shadow of that which was intended. Coupled with the damage done to my soul I see my freedom, a gift of God, is now perverted into a self centred exercise in what is best for me. Left without civil law, checks and balances, I would use my freedom to steal, molest, rape, or even kill. I am free to do so as freedom is part of who I am, but now I am aware that this precious gift has been so distorted, and I am not truly free to be the person I long to be.

Is there a solution to this very negative situation? Well yes there is, and we need to take a look at real freedom in action on the face of the earth. Two thousand years ago Jesus walked the dusty roads of Israel as a living human embodiment of God. Look closely and we can see the true nature of He who is invisible. Everything Jesus did was 'other centred'. He was free to be love itself, though love is, and that produces the action. Love is for others, God is love, and love is for others. Our concept of love has been tainted by the fall. Many of us have never experienced love, and we don't know what it is outside of some romantic illusion from Hollywood. Love has it's roots in the care and well being of another. True freedom allows me to live my life for others, to have the care and well being of others on my mind constantly. Jesus said that no man has greater love than to lay down his life for his friends.

What the church has not been very good at is proclaiming the good news. Humanity in it's fallen state cannot love perfectly. Only God can love as He is love. But on the cross at Calvary Jesus loved us enough to rectify the fallen state of humanity and opened the way for us to be reconciled to God and His plan of re-generating the human race. When the Holy Spirit came into the upper room at Pentecost it wasn't to give the frightened disciples a bit of a lift, but to implement part of God's plan to incorporate all of humanity into Him, by Him coming into humanity. Christ in me is my hope of glory. Christ in me as my life means I am free. Free to be loved, free to love, and free to give myself away.