Exercise for a good cause

This blog is going to be a bit different.  Usually when I set out to make a blog, I am doing some reflection on a verse from my Bible study or a concept from a book that I really enjoy.  Every once in a while this can also come from a pop culture reference that actually can really apply to our own lives.  However, this blog is going to have a bit of that, as well as information about a nonprofit organization that I really love and have been volunteering/leading with, and even a direct application of things we can all do.  This is about an event that is coming up that is very important to me, and I want to give everyone a chance to participate in it with me!

I recently was reading a book called “Dear Church,” by Lenny Duncan.  This book is a love letter to the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) describing their race relations as they are the whitest church denomination in the world.  This book opens up the idea that the church needs to be thinking more about their addition of culture and race into their church. Basically the idea is that the church should be growing and become more diverse. This book also describes caring about one’s neighbor, especially if that neighbor is of a different race or culture than you. 

One quote from this book that really struck me was;  “Grace is a powerful message to hear: that the cost of salvation is nothing; that the ledger balance has been paid; that I don’t have to earn my freedom in Christ, which in turn sets me loose to fight for freedom here on earth; that I can turn my focus to my neighbor.”  This quote is beautiful.  Jesus died on the cross for our sins, so that we could have freedom in him.  He didn’t mind forfeiting up his freedom that he had with his father in heaven in order to come and help us gain our freedom.  We don’t have to earn it.  No one does.  We are granted it by Jesus solely, and we just have to accept it.  

This quote also includes too many commands that are given throughout the Bible. To give an example of a Biblical verse similar to this quote is Galatians 5:13 which is “For you were called to freedom, brother. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.”  Because we have gained our own personal freedom in the spirit, our next command is to help others achieve that same freedom and love from Jesus.  We want as many people from the world from every tongue, nation, tribe to achieve this complete, unearned but given freedom in Christ.  

For many people who know me, they know that I am very passionate about working against Human Trafficking and modern day slavery in all areas of the world.  I know that I am incredibly blessed to have freedom in my life when it comes to the ability to vote, make decisions, work, and dream.  Because of this, I want to continue to fight for the millions of people that are enslaved in the world.  There are more slaves in this world now more than there ever has been in history.  Here is a time when I am actually not just talking about spiritual freedom, but they are physically enslaved and made to do hard labor where most of them receive little to no pay or have sex with multiple people whom they don’t know.  There are also many who are enslaved in prisons for crimes they did not commit, but they don’t have the money in order to receive a good lawyer to gain their freedom.  Sadly, there is a great deal of this in the world, and we have the ability to help many people through it. 

One nonprofit organization that I have loved for a long time then is IJM or International Justice Mission.  IJM fights Modern Day slavery all over the world including fighting the unjust fishing industry in Ghana, and southern Asia, as well as fighting violence against women in Latin America, and the online sex trafficking industry in the Philippines amongst many other things. Their overall motto as an organization is “Until all are Free.”  This is because IJM and the workers who work for IJM know that we will never fully have a perfect and peaceful world until all in the world are free.  Everyone needs to be able to be a part of this complete freedom.  IJM’s main goal is to go in and rescue slaves, yes, but then they also have a goal to recreate the government systems as the main reason for why these people were enslaved in the first place.  This will thus create a slave free world that will then create a world of peace and love.  

One event that they are going to do is Race for Rescue.  This Race for Rescue will be a virtual run where you can run it in your own home, on your porch, or around your town. This is a perfect time to get some exercise for a good cause, specifically fighting for freedom for everyone in the world.  You can start your own team or join the team in general. Will you join the race? There is also, of course, a chance to donate to the event or specific teams or people. Here is actually the link to my page!

The major question that we can ask ourselves is: are we using our freedom in Christ to make freedom a possibility in someone else’s life? This, of course, can take on many different forms.  Whether this be that you spend a good portion of your time making sure people are fed and cared for.  Whether this is through making sure to spend time evangelizing to your neighbors, whether they are living close by or in a different country.  Whether this be through devoting your time and efforts to making sure the word is spread to the youth. There are so many ways and journeys that one can take in order to share our freedom and love of God with the world.  This is one of the main ways that I am choosing to, but this is something that we most definitely can use our freedom for: to help people gain freedom, both physically and then eventually spiritually.