And a great army came to life and stood up. The hardest, most demanding challenge to a living faith is turning loose of the past. Unfortunately, the present is commonly captive to the past. Responsibly dealing with the consequences of our past is distinctly different to being a captive to our past. Our past always produces consequences because we all make mistakes, and we must learn to responsibly deal with consequences of those mistakes.
Individuals can be captives to the past.
I had a child when I was 16 and unmarried. That is a matter of decision, of choice. Congregations can be captives to the past. We had power hungry men and women who wanted to control things in the past. That is a matter of decision, a matter of choice.