Wild at Heart - second time around...it is still about freedom
I have just returned from 5 days in Colorado attending my second Wild at Heart boot camp. 10 men from Columbus went and it was a very powerful time for our group. Let me be clear, John Eldredge isn't "It". Wild at Heart isn't "the" solution. Jesus is "it". He is "the" solution. John Eldredge doesn't lead some cult of men. He isn't out to get men away from the church. He hasn't invented a better solution. No, John just does a great job of capturing the essence of what scripture is saying to men.

To me, the underlying take away of Ransomed Heart ministries is freedom. Christ came to give man freedom. It is pretty simple and yet the Church has moved men away from freedom into a life of duty. As a result, men are bound up in duty, rules and "I shouldn't". Psalm 119 says "I run in the path of your commands because you have set my heart free". Luke 19:10 says "The Son of Man came to seek and save what was lost." Not "the lost" but the "what was" lost. What was lost? Our hearts. John 10:10 says, "The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life and have it to the full."

"set my heart free"..."save what was lost"..."Live and life to the full"...

Freedom. A full life. No boundaries. Fullness. Richness.

And yet, that isn't what we hear from the church. It surely isn't what we hear from society. We hear conform. Don't rock the boat. Play fair. Be political. Hedge yourself. Have a back up plan. Don't drink. Don't smoke. Don't look at another woman. Don't watch an "R" rated movie. Never cuss.

Works. The path of Christianity of many is a path of perfection. Like the Lexus commercial, "The relentless pursuit of perfection". That I am most like Christ when I have so purged myself of all that is any way sinful... Works. Duty.

Is it any wonder that so many of us are bound up? We are so rigid because we are so afraid of what others in society (or even worse in Christianity) think of us. Christ came that we may have freedom. Freedom. That doesn't mean free to sin, free to booze it up -- no, true freedom means the relentless pursuit of Him. So in love, so passionate about my faith that I am free to pursue Him wherever he takes me.

I'm not doing a good job of articulating this but let me try it this way. On my trip, I was with a man that went to medical school and is now running a community health clinic in downtown Augusta. Charitable work. His dad is a very successful businessman. His uncle retired as a world-class investment manager. His other uncle is a highly paid surgeon. All three, very wealthy. But this guy has taken his medical degree and is giving it away to the poor in Augusta, Georgia. Someone was talking to him one day and said, "sounds great but you are going to be poor". His reply? "Yep, poor for the next 40 years." Wow. That puts it in its proper place. Yes, he will be poor by the world's standards but his eyes are on eternity. He'll be earthly poor for 40 more years but he'll be heavenly rich for eternity. Freedom. He has found freedom.

More to come. In the meanwhile, please -- Soar!