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Not Ashamed!

Pastor Ian Buntain pens his first pastoral column for Grace News, on not being ashamed of our one true Love, as we persevere in our study and application of the Book of Acts.

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Aurore Dupin was a French poet and author who lived and wrote in the middle of the 19th century. Perhaps the most famous quote to come out of her work is, “There is only one happiness in life, to love and be loved.” Dupin definitely lived out what she wrote. She spent her entire life seeking that one elusive happiness. Uncomfortable in her own skin, she wrote under the pseudonym, “George Sand”. Though this was not uncommon for women of that day who hoped for their work to be taken seriously, she further scandalised Victorian culture by pursuing multiple affairs, dressing like a man, and appearing in public smoking fat black cigars. She was unapologetically loud, lewd, shocking and scandalous. And when contemplating what some called her shameless lifestyle, Dupin wrote, “Once my heart was captured, reason was shown the door, deliberately and with a sort of frantic joy. I accepted everything, I believed everything, without struggle, without suffering, without regret, without false shame. How can one blush for what one adores?” Ultimately, though Sand triumphed in literature, Dupin failed to discover the love she most desired. Sometime during June 8, 1876, Dupin died alone, estranged from lovers, friends and family.

Our world continues to be full of men and women who, just like Dupin, shamelessly pursue a love that ultimately proves unworthy and unsatisfying. But for those of us who have been found by God, whether we are married or single, whether we know our biological fathers or not, the cross stands as a constant reminder: we have been loved! Believers in Christ have been awakened to the reality that we ourselves are the objects of a Divine love pursuit and yet, the question remains: “Is there daily indication that our own hearts have been gloriously captured?”

As we continue to walk through the book of Acts, and as we continue to press into the embrace of Christ, it is my prayer that each of us will boldly and unashamedly live out an authentic alternative to this human pursuit. For indeed, “How can one blush for what one adores?!?”

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Read the full issue of Grace News.

Follow our sermon series on Not Ashamed and watch videos of GBC members sharing how they have experienced the power of the gospel in their lives, and are not ashamed of the gospel.