Are we free?

Vacationing in Beijing while reading articles about Bangkok being under a state of emergency (read: no press freedom) got me to thinking about freedom a little bit.

* I've been surprised at some of the websites that I cannot access here in Beijing. I haven't been able to get to PerryNoble.com. :) Is it possible that the police have deemed a pastor from Anderson, SC USA a threat to national security?

* Later this morning I will go to a church where I have to show my passport to get in. No local people allowed. That's weird.

* Huge military/police presence at Tian'an Men Square yesterday (always?). What are they so afraid of?

* Reading about how UNfree Thai press is. http://www.prachatai.net/english/node/1147

* Last week after church, people from Burma BEGGED me to pray for Burma. Just talking about not being able to freely express opinions got them all emotional. One had once been an officer in the Burmese army, but turned because she just couldn't stomach what her government was doing anymore.

I was amazed on Monday in BKK and from Tuesday until now that Twitter was really my best source of news about the Thai Red Shirt protests. I wonder if they'll block Twitter and Facebook at some point. Too much information.

I've been focused on Psalm 46 this week. Today is my last day. What struck me this morning was that the first verse says "God is our refuge and strength." Sometimes it's very instructive to pay attention to what something doesn't say. It doesn't say "Money is our refuge and strength." It doesn't say "Political power is our refuge and strength." It says "God is."

And what's more, it says "God is OUR refuge and strength." Not "God is my refuge and strength." Of course God IS my refuge and strength. But I wonder if God is only mine when God is ours? God is not only for ME. God is also for YOU. God cannot be for me unless God is also for you. And I have to remember that as I pursue God.

This relates to freedom in that unless we are all free, none of us is. Unless you are free, I am not. I am reminded of Roger Williams, the first Baptist in the United States. Roger was known for arguing vociferously for the rights of his opponents to be heard. While arguing with his opponents, he had a terribly sharp tongue. But the minute someone tried to shut them up; he was their staunchest defender.

He knew that if they weren't free; then he wasn't free. If God is not OUR refuge; then God is not MY refuge. We are together in this.