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How each of us renews our strength with God depends on our relationship
with
God. Most people use the traditional methods of reading the Bible or
devotional books, prayer, and going to worship services. For anyone who is
part of a ministry, be it spoken word or musical ministry, often the
worship services that sustain others can be a spiritual drain. Everyone needs
their own private source of refilling. We have to come close to God on our
own time and in our own way to do this. This is where the personal
relationship that one has with God becomes critical. If the relationship
with God is weak, one is unable to connect to God independently. Perhaps that
person relies on a church or a style of worship or something external to be
able to connect to God. If something happens to that worship or church
service, then the relationship with God is off and the believer often feels
like he/she has been set adrift, unable to connect to their spiritual part.
At this point the believer must develop the independent relationship with God
or walk away from the entire experience. Indeed God often intentionally takes
away our spiritual props to stimulate a deepening of the relationship. This
is also true in cases where we must defend our faith to others. Often we
walk away from these encounters knowing intellectually that we are right but
feeling like we have just been spiritually beaten up. At this point we
desperately need the refilling of God that our straight brothers and sisters
in Christ have just told us we cannot have! This is a unique problem for gay
and lesbian Christians.
All humans know about God. Many different beliefs and interpretations
about God abound. Some don't believe in God, some aren't sure. But
everyone has heard about God in some context. The concept of an all knowing,
all powerful , superior intelligence is present in every culture and at
every time throughout history. Even when repressive governments tried to
stomp out "myths" about God, the stories were still told. God exists in
some context for millions of people. However millions of people also only
know of God. They don't know God personally. This is very much like knowing
that you have a neighbor next door that you've never personally met. We are
all born with the capacity to know our creator. The fundamentalists call
this being "born again". The best definition I have ever read of the
relationship experience comes from Dallas Willard's book, The Divine Conspiracy. He describes it as being "interactively joined with a
dynamic, unseen system of divine reality, in the midst of which all of
humanity moves about-whether it knows it or not." This is the relationship
with our creator that we can know. To become keenly aware of God around us
and with us, is a divine gift. We can interact with God's presence on a
daily basis. Ever one has different methods of interaction -- prayer, thoughts,
visions, prophecy. But all of these interactive methods require a
meditative process. We have to be able to get quiet and listen.
I call my God, Jesus, and therefore myself a Christian. But others in other
religions have also manifested the outward behavior of a life changed by God.
Consider Ghandi, Anwar Sadat, or even Malcolm X in his later years. The historic lives of these men are open for public display. They had an experience
with God, no matter what name God was called by. They were devoted to God and
God's ministries at some public point in their lives. We were born to have a
relationship with God. What name we call God will depend a lot on our
background, culture and upbringing. Whether we connect to a quiet God or a
God that dances in the aisles, is irrelevant. It is a life changing, life
enhancing and life enriching experience. But we must take the time out of our
busy lives to reach out and touch God for renewal. To put God first in a
world with increasing distractions is a constant challenge. According to
Willard:
One can not spill out onto others unless they have refilled themselves at
God's well of love and grace.
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Openly Gay, Openly Christian : How the Bible Really Is Gay Friendly Rev. Samuel Kader
Other Articles By L. Louise:
Also In This Issue:
Against All Odds: A Reflection on Soulforce at Lynchburg
Grace vs. Legalism:
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