more about “Secrets”

this was posted in the comments section of the “Secrets” article.  This is truth:

rebekah witzke

"Someone gave voice to their secret and in doing so, gave permission for another person to share theirs. Naming the one thing that held them captive for years rendered the secret powerless. All at once, the church at large is beginning to echo the chorus of confession."
I feel this statement points to the crucial piece in seeking truth and being fully known: community. I would argue that this journey can rarely be experienced alone, and that these confessions must be heard first by God, and then by one another- and not by everybody, but by those few trusted people who are willing to come alongside when you are going through the sometimes unattractive process of healing. I count having those people in my life among my greatest blessings.
Great piece. I hope it will spark deeper layers of honesty in families, marriages and friendships.

 

These words spoke to me:

1.  the need for community

2.  heard by God, then by one another, but not by everybody

3.  the trusted few who come alongside you…

4.  deep layers of honesty  <3

the power of secrets

Wow, this was powerful! -

http://qideas.org/blog/whats-your-secret.aspx

 

a quote from the article:

“The thing is, Satan DWELLS in the secret, in the haunting, hidden brokenness. The longer we keep that secret, the more power he has  to speak lies into our own identity. We have a crisis of faith; we don't truly believe that God will hear and lavish us with his love upon our confession. We don't REALLY believe that we will be made new. So we keep it and hide it and cover it and die from it. ”

 

and this quote:

“But we ought to have another motivation for telling our secret. In Let Your Life Speak, Parker Palmer reminds us:
“Many young people today journey in the dark, as the young always have, and we elders do them a disservice when we withhold the shadowy parts of our lives. When I was young, there were very few elders willing to talk about the darkness; most of them pretended that success was all they had ever known. As the darkness began to descend on me in my early twenties, I thought I had developed a unique and terminal case of failure. I did not realize that I had merely embarked on a journey toward joining the human race.” “

We care about Scripture… except at Christmas

 

Alan writes in his post “We care about Scripture… except at Christmas” -

“Okay, so before you begin reading, you should know something. I’m not opposed to celebrating Christmas. Really, I’m not. I enjoy the tree and decorations; I enjoy giving presents wrapped in colorful paper; I enjoy the songs and carols and stories; I enjoy getting presents wrapped in anything.

But, I was recently talking with my children… yes, for some reason, they’re as sarcastic and skeptical as I am. Anyway, we were talking about Christmas. One of them… I don’t remember which one… said something about the story of Jesus’ birth in Scripture. Later, at work, we had a similar discussion.

So, why do we care so much about Scripture – dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s (or would that be iota’s and tau’s – jots and tittles) – except at Christmas? Here are a few examples:”

click to read the rest of the post (and the comments section): http://www.alanknox.net/2011/12/we-care-about-scripture-except-at-christmas/

CAN I BE FRIENDS WITH A MAN WHO IS NOT MY HUSBAND?

 

That is a good question to ask.  In this post (http://www.keepinitreal-gina.com/2011/01/can-i-be-friends-with-man-who-is-not-my.html) a woman writes a letter explaining how a friendship with a man turned into something it shouldn’t have.  She shares what she sees as the small steps that led to many wrong choices.  It is very thought provoking and something that isn’t addressed in today’s society.