In small group yesterday there was an illustration used that we should imagine someone who doesn’t believe in Jesus looking like a Prisoner of War. The point of the illustration is that we should treat non-Chrstians with respect and grace and love, not with arrogance, judgement, or hate. I agree with that wholeheartedly, but I didn’t agree with the illustration. Of course, all examples have their flaws and can only be used to the extent they are true. <\/p>\n
My argument with this illustration is that, while non-believers may be POWs in the war over our souls, they are not shackled by the devil. He can’t keep us imprisoned, he has no power over us, he can’t even make us do anything. And God chooses not to as well. If we have been imprisoned, it has been our own doing, our own choices and actions that brought us to that point. <\/p>\n
I HAVE to believe this most fundamental truth of the bible, the truth of free will. If God or the devil was able to (of course God IS able to, but chooses not to) make us do anything, that would violate free will. If there is no free will, we are nothing more than puppets and not really even human. Others may be able to influence us (imagine the two little cartoon characters sitting on your shoulders), but in the end it is our choice. Without free will, the rest of my faith shatters and there is nothing left. <\/p>\n
Thus, when we sin, we should never place the blame on anyone else and especially not the devil. That is giving him way too much credit and way too much influence over us. We need to grow up and take responsibility for our actions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In small group yesterday there was an illustration used that we should imagine someone who doesn’t believe in Jesus looking like a Prisoner of War. The point of the illustration is that we should treat non-Chrstians with respect and grace and love, not with arrogance, judgement, or hate. I agree with that wholeheartedly, but I…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[245,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-becca-2","category-faith","wpcat-245-id","wpcat-9-id"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p504YJ-1tM","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6166,"url":"https:\/\/www.themoehrings.com\/index.php\/2015\/07\/a-poetry-book","url_meta":{"origin":5690,"position":0},"title":"A Poetry Book","author":"Becca","date":"July 18, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Hannah took it upon herself to make a poetry book and illustrate it. 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All of her 2015 artwork","rel":"","context":"In "Hannah"","block_context":{"text":"Hannah","link":"https:\/\/www.themoehrings.com\/index.php\/cat\/kids\/hannah"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themoehrings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/87-poetry.jpg?fit=797%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themoehrings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/87-poetry.jpg?fit=797%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themoehrings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/87-poetry.jpg?fit=797%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themoehrings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/87-poetry.jpg?fit=797%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2644,"url":"https:\/\/www.themoehrings.com\/index.php\/2013\/02\/egyptian-collar","url_meta":{"origin":5690,"position":1},"title":"Egyptian Collar","author":"Becca","date":"February 22, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Our overall theme for this year's curriculum is world cultures. 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So that's what we did!\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Core A"","block_context":{"text":"Core A","link":"https:\/\/www.themoehrings.com\/index.php\/cat\/homeschool\/core-a"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themoehrings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/18-egyptian-collar.jpg?fit=951%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themoehrings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/18-egyptian-collar.jpg?fit=951%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themoehrings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/18-egyptian-collar.jpg?fit=951%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themoehrings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/18-egyptian-collar.jpg?fit=951%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8281,"url":"https:\/\/www.themoehrings.com\/index.php\/2017\/02\/dare-devil","url_meta":{"origin":5690,"position":2},"title":"Dare Devil","author":"Becca","date":"February 3, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Ahhh, he always has to run to the end of the dock and sit down. Crazy kid!","rel":"","context":"In "Joel"","block_context":{"text":"Joel","link":"https:\/\/www.themoehrings.com\/index.php\/cat\/kids\/joel"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":918,"url":"https:\/\/www.themoehrings.com\/index.php\/2010\/11\/secret-wisdom","url_meta":{"origin":5690,"position":3},"title":"Secret Wisdom?","author":"Nate","date":"November 29, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I\u2019ll admit it, there are some parts of the bible I don\u2019t like.\u00a0 This doesn\u2019t mean I don\u2019t accept them on faith, it just means there are areas in the bible where I hope to someday come into better emotional peace and intellectual understanding so I get the fuller meaning,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Faith"","block_context":{"text":"Faith","link":"https:\/\/www.themoehrings.com\/index.php\/cat\/faith"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themoehrings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/1cor212.jpg?fit=600%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themoehrings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/1cor212.jpg?fit=600%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themoehrings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/1cor212.jpg?fit=600%2C600&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3948,"url":"https:\/\/www.themoehrings.com\/index.php\/2014\/09\/ode-to-stacked-sequence-structures","url_meta":{"origin":5690,"position":4},"title":"Ode to Stacked Sequence Structures","author":"Nate","date":"September 15, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Introduction and Disclaimer LabVIEW 2014 has removed the Stacked Sequence Structure (SSS) from the palettes, and my guess is in just a few years the phrase \u201cStacked Sequence Structure\u201d will be totally gone from our vocabulary.\u00a0 Before that happens, I would like to officially state my position on SSSs.\u00a0 I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "LabVIEW"","block_context":{"text":"LabVIEW","link":"https:\/\/www.themoehrings.com\/index.php\/cat\/labview"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.themoehrings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/SSS-obscured.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10088,"url":"https:\/\/www.themoehrings.com\/index.php\/2017\/10\/rides","url_meta":{"origin":5690,"position":5},"title":"Rides","author":"Becca","date":"October 12, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"And we went back for rides last night! 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