It Is Finished... Or Is It?
Jul 15, 2022 11:00:02 GMT
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prnolonger, AgnosticAgain, and 9 more like this
Post by Hw on Jul 15, 2022 11:00:02 GMT
Good morning forum. I just caught up on reading the loving and supportive responses and messages that were in response to Part 2 of the podcast.
My husband and I went to a ballgame last night. We didn't watch the second part until late and it was tough for me to watch. It was HARD to watch me experiencing emotion so publicly but I was proud of that woman I was watching. I know what it took for her to be here right now, and how hard fought the fight to stay alive was.
I do not know what will come of all of this but I know one thing, deep down in my very soul. What I have begun, I cannot stop. The stories have been poured out to me and the hurt and the pain they have suffered is like an Everest in my life. Not only am I realizing I wasn't the only one being mistreated, I am grieved at the sheer number of people who suffered and are suffering.
The work has only just begun. How can we stop when we know what we know? How can we NOT help our fellow church members, former church members, our own family members? I believe everyone has their line. That place they reach where they finally say, "This has got to stop and it's been swept under the rug long enough." I'm going to start pulling up rugs.
There is tremendous vulnerability in putting yourself out there in all your raw emotional "glory". It opens you up to more hurt and to people who wish to take you down. That being said, watching Part 2 and allowing myself to grieve for what I've lost and to then allow myself to truly celebrate what I have been given and what I have become, was a gift to me. I am truly free in every way now!
While there is so much more to my life story, enough has been shared to show the reality of excommunication and shunning. I'm more than willing to go deeper and make people even more uncomfortable but I don't think I have to. I do believe something is in the wind. It's like I feel a slight change. Like someone lifted just the corner of the page and is about to turn it. What they know is there is hard to read and harder still to own, admit, and demand that it must change. I truly understand how unbelievably hard it will be to stand up, especially if you are a member in good standing in those churches.
I know, I know. Another longish post from Heidi. I'll wrap this one up before I go on and on. I think people, some people that is, misinterpret or simply choose to see what I'm doing as my anger, spite, and a desire to destroy those 2 church denominations. I apologize, because I know this will irritate you, to the members now for what I'm about to say. I see no difference between those 2 denominations. It's all the same people now squabbling about each other. The hatred and ugliness lobbed back and forth is heartbreaking as there are now even more ripped apart families. I'm sorry, but nothing can make me believe that God is pleased by that kind of behavior.
All that time wasted by attacking each other when His call was to go out into the world and love those around you so that THEY MAY KNOW WHO JESUS IS. Please, for the love of God, stop it!!! What about your behavior draws people in and makes them want to know your God?
I was a member there. I know the answer to that. People are NOT being drawn to your churches and they are NOT interested in your version of the gospel. Why is that? It's a question you need to answer because God has expectations of us. Those expectations though are not what you are currently doing. Please just try loving people. God can handle the judging and the entrance to heaven. He doesn't need our human "rules and regulations" to box Him in and make Him small. Heaven is not as small as you may believe it's going to be!
You will NEVER be condemned by God for loving those around you, no matter who they are or what their life looks like. In fact, that kind of love comes with a "well done" from God. Just try it. I promise you, loving people feels good and it is good. L.O.V.E...a small word that holds the key to joy and freedom and a life you are eager to face every day. Love... it's the only reason I'm doing this. I love the ex-ers, and I love those still there. I love the believers and those who say they no longer do. I love the ones you broke and abused, but did you know that I love you so much that I'm trying to reach you too? I love my family.. my parents, my siblings my cousins.. all of them. My heart aches at what had become of my family in the name of a denomination.
I say denomination because what was done wasn't a God thing. I've lived with the results for decades. I realize now that they too have to live with it, every day. I hope it pricks them. I hope it hurts sometimes. I hope they remember me on occasion and feel shame. Not because I want them to suffer. I want them to feel it so maybe, just maybe, they will be brave enough to say "this stops with me".
My past life can't be changed and it is what it was. But I'm not trapped there anymore. I thought I was free before. Last night, after watching, I finally got my freedom papers!! I feel light and unburdened by my story. I feel ready to continue and to pour love into those hurting and those committed to making it different.
Love matters, love heals, love fixes, love destroys hate. If we could literally pour our energy into being kindness and love in this world, what do you think this world would look like? Because it matters! God wants you living in the moment and that means here, on earth. Let's stop with the "I hope God calls me Home soon because it's just so wicked here" talk. God gave you this beautiful world to live in and how many of you notice it and love your life here? He gave us this life not just to suffer through and endure. We should live joyful here. Look at what He did for us because of Love!!!
With that I will say I'm finished writing for now. Have a truly good Friday! ❤️
My husband and I went to a ballgame last night. We didn't watch the second part until late and it was tough for me to watch. It was HARD to watch me experiencing emotion so publicly but I was proud of that woman I was watching. I know what it took for her to be here right now, and how hard fought the fight to stay alive was.
I do not know what will come of all of this but I know one thing, deep down in my very soul. What I have begun, I cannot stop. The stories have been poured out to me and the hurt and the pain they have suffered is like an Everest in my life. Not only am I realizing I wasn't the only one being mistreated, I am grieved at the sheer number of people who suffered and are suffering.
The work has only just begun. How can we stop when we know what we know? How can we NOT help our fellow church members, former church members, our own family members? I believe everyone has their line. That place they reach where they finally say, "This has got to stop and it's been swept under the rug long enough." I'm going to start pulling up rugs.
There is tremendous vulnerability in putting yourself out there in all your raw emotional "glory". It opens you up to more hurt and to people who wish to take you down. That being said, watching Part 2 and allowing myself to grieve for what I've lost and to then allow myself to truly celebrate what I have been given and what I have become, was a gift to me. I am truly free in every way now!
While there is so much more to my life story, enough has been shared to show the reality of excommunication and shunning. I'm more than willing to go deeper and make people even more uncomfortable but I don't think I have to. I do believe something is in the wind. It's like I feel a slight change. Like someone lifted just the corner of the page and is about to turn it. What they know is there is hard to read and harder still to own, admit, and demand that it must change. I truly understand how unbelievably hard it will be to stand up, especially if you are a member in good standing in those churches.
I know, I know. Another longish post from Heidi. I'll wrap this one up before I go on and on. I think people, some people that is, misinterpret or simply choose to see what I'm doing as my anger, spite, and a desire to destroy those 2 church denominations. I apologize, because I know this will irritate you, to the members now for what I'm about to say. I see no difference between those 2 denominations. It's all the same people now squabbling about each other. The hatred and ugliness lobbed back and forth is heartbreaking as there are now even more ripped apart families. I'm sorry, but nothing can make me believe that God is pleased by that kind of behavior.
All that time wasted by attacking each other when His call was to go out into the world and love those around you so that THEY MAY KNOW WHO JESUS IS. Please, for the love of God, stop it!!! What about your behavior draws people in and makes them want to know your God?
I was a member there. I know the answer to that. People are NOT being drawn to your churches and they are NOT interested in your version of the gospel. Why is that? It's a question you need to answer because God has expectations of us. Those expectations though are not what you are currently doing. Please just try loving people. God can handle the judging and the entrance to heaven. He doesn't need our human "rules and regulations" to box Him in and make Him small. Heaven is not as small as you may believe it's going to be!
You will NEVER be condemned by God for loving those around you, no matter who they are or what their life looks like. In fact, that kind of love comes with a "well done" from God. Just try it. I promise you, loving people feels good and it is good. L.O.V.E...a small word that holds the key to joy and freedom and a life you are eager to face every day. Love... it's the only reason I'm doing this. I love the ex-ers, and I love those still there. I love the believers and those who say they no longer do. I love the ones you broke and abused, but did you know that I love you so much that I'm trying to reach you too? I love my family.. my parents, my siblings my cousins.. all of them. My heart aches at what had become of my family in the name of a denomination.
I say denomination because what was done wasn't a God thing. I've lived with the results for decades. I realize now that they too have to live with it, every day. I hope it pricks them. I hope it hurts sometimes. I hope they remember me on occasion and feel shame. Not because I want them to suffer. I want them to feel it so maybe, just maybe, they will be brave enough to say "this stops with me".
My past life can't be changed and it is what it was. But I'm not trapped there anymore. I thought I was free before. Last night, after watching, I finally got my freedom papers!! I feel light and unburdened by my story. I feel ready to continue and to pour love into those hurting and those committed to making it different.
Love matters, love heals, love fixes, love destroys hate. If we could literally pour our energy into being kindness and love in this world, what do you think this world would look like? Because it matters! God wants you living in the moment and that means here, on earth. Let's stop with the "I hope God calls me Home soon because it's just so wicked here" talk. God gave you this beautiful world to live in and how many of you notice it and love your life here? He gave us this life not just to suffer through and endure. We should live joyful here. Look at what He did for us because of Love!!!
With that I will say I'm finished writing for now. Have a truly good Friday! ❤️