Redemption, Protection, and Safety, with an Interview with Kevin Sorbo

Today's broadcast had two parts.  The first was an interview with Kevin Sorbo, a well-known actor who has played many roles, including that of Hercules in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and that of Captain Dylan Hunt in Andromeda.  He is currently promoting a movie that will be coming out in August called Firing Squad, in which Sorbo acts along with James Barrington and Cuba Gooding, Jr.  The movie is based on a true story about three men facing execution in Indonesia and the hope and redemption that broke out in a terrible place.  Sorbo also discussed a book he wrote about his own experiences nearly dying from an aneurism and having four strokes as a result; the book is called True Strength: My Journey from Hercules to Mere Mortal and How Nearly Dying Saved My Life and details what it was like to go so quickly from being in Hollywood shape to being unable to get himself out of bed.  Like the movie discussed earlier, the book offers hope and redemption.  The book also describes Sorbo's understanding that God has not promised us easy lives and that blaming Him for the trouble on earth is counterproductive.  He reports that many people have told him his book inspired them to stop feeling sorry for themselves in the wake of legitimately difficult experiences and life changes, and to move forward with hope.  
Sorbo and Cintiha discussed themes of accepting the work of the Creator in our lives.  Cinthia stated, "He thought you up.  He knew you before you were born," and she compared the destruction and harm we sometimes level at our own bodies with going into the Louvre and starting to destroy the works of art.  She spoke of the work it takes to undo and redo much of the damage that has been done and that continues to happen.  Cinthia also praised Sorbo's example and portrayal of masculinity as a positive thing.  She stated, "We really need our men to be men... When you emasculate men, everything falls apart... [Men are] made for a reason, and that reason is to take care of the world."  Sorbo also has a book coming out on this topic called The Bare Essentials of Fatherhood, which can be explored through Brave Books.
After the interview with Sorbo, Cinthia continued the broadcast, discussing Matthew 19:13-14 in which Jesus told His disciples not to hinder the "little ones" from coming to Him since the Kingdom of Heaven "belongs to such as these."  While acknowledging that Jesus was at least partly speaking about actual children, she also suggested that His meaning went beyond this, that the "little ones" are all those whom we should be protecting.  This includes all those who are vulnerable, including ourselves.  She urges us not to "get in the way of God finding and saving every single human that He has made."  Cinthia points out that we are all little children next to God, that we will never become His contemporaries but become His children when we come to Jesus.  As adults, we often come to rely on ourselves and emphasize independence.  We may get in the way of the "little ones" by shaming them, speaking harshly to them, scorning their dependence in our rush to make them independent.  We may shoo away those whose faith is weak by arguing over biblical interpretations unnecessarily instead of befriending people and allowing the Holy Spirit to do His work.  We may get in the way of our own vulnerable selves through harsh, shaming self-talk or scorning our own dependency needs that lead us to Jesus.
Children were brought to Jesus because He was safe, and He insisted that the children be allowed to come to Him.  The vulnerable are very important to God.  He is a loving Father.  He has died and resurrected because He loves us so much.  He would never harm His children.  We need to remind ourselves of His goodness and join Him in His endeavors by being good parents to our own inner children.  We need to handle each other gently.  In heaven's economy, the little ones matter.  The Message version of these verses says that people brought children to Jesus "in hope that He would lay hands on them and pray for them," and He did.  Jesus intervened when the disciples tried to stop the "little ones" from taking up His time.  He did not move to the next thing until He had taken the children on His lap, laid hands on them, and blessed them. 
The disciples who tried to shoo the children away thought they were helping Jesus.  They thought they were honoring the Lord, and sometimes we think that, too.  We think we are standing up for what is right when we argue fruitlessly about less-crucial doctrinal issues with people who are struggling just to come to Jesus.  We think we are aiding in our own sanctification when we internally shame and speak harshly to ourselves.  We minimize the importance of the least of these instead of laying down a red carpet for them to run to Jesus.  We minimize our own need for Jesus because we think as adults we should have it together.
Don't discourage others' hope or minimize your own.  If you can't support others in coming to Jesus, then (as Jesus told the disciples) let them alone.  Jesus said it would be better to have a millstone hung around your neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea than to cause one of these "little ones" to stumble.  Sometimes God would rather we be quiet than say the things that we do, things that cause each other to stumble.  We must be more careful how we treat God's children--- including ourselves, since we also are vulnerable.  It does not help God to be mean and harsh to ourselves and cause ourselves to stumble.
Let us come to Him like little children, for the Kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.  Lay down your ways of supporting yourself, and allow yourself to come to Jesus with the hope that He will touch your life, that He will lay His hands on you and bless you.  Ask Him to lay hands on you, and acknowledge your need for Him.  Don't add requirements on yourself that He does not place there.  Just come to Jesus and let Him hold you.