8th November 2007

All My Tears- Selah

Lyrics:

When I die don’t cry for me
In my fathers arms I’ll be
The wounds this world left on my soul
Will all be healed and I’ll be whole

Sun and moon will be replaced
With the light of Jesus’ face
And I will not be ashamed
For my savior knows my name

It don’t matter where you bury me
I’ll be home and I’ll be free
It don’t matter where I lay
All my tears be washed away

Gold and silver blind the eye
Temporary riches lie
Come and eat from heaven’s store
Come and drink and thirst no more

So weep not for me my friend
When my time below does end
For my life belongs to him
Who will raise the dead again

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3rd November 2007

Ashes to Ashes- Faith No More

This one truly reminds me of my ex-wife. It was playing on a loop on our first night together with a few other songs. It is a truly great make out song. Also the song and title are spot on for the eventual outcome of our relationship. I will always have regrets over it.

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31st October 2007

Loving America By The Book

rodney.jpg (21656 bytes)

Dr. Rodney Plunket

“Loving America By The Book”

Since this past Friday was our nation’s Independence Day, our national birthday, it seems to me particularly appropriate for us to come together and ask, “How should we, as Christians love our country; how should a people of The Book love America according to the teachings of that Book?” I have chosen three examples from the Bible which I think are relevant in teaching us how to love America. Let’s go to The Book.

Please open your Bible to Isaiah (Isa) 1.

Is. 1:1 The vision of Isaiah son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

2 Hear, O heavens, and listen, O earth;

for the Lord has spoken:

I reared children and brought them up,

but they have rebelled against me.

3 The ox knows its owner,

and the donkey its master’s crib;

but Israel does not know,

my people do not understand.

Is. 1:4 Ah, sinful nation,

people laden with iniquity,

offspring who do evil,

children who deal corruptly,

who have forsaken the Lord,

who have despised the Holy One of Israel,

who are utterly estranged!

Is. 1:5 Why do you seek further beatings?

Why do you continue to rebel?

The whole head is sick,

and the whole heart faint.

6 From the sole of the foot even to the head,

there is no soundness in it,

but bruises and sores

and bleeding wounds;

they have not been drained, or bound up,

or softened with oil.

Is. 1:7 Your country lies desolate,

your cities are burned with fire;

in your very presence

aliens devour your land;

it is desolate, as overthrown by foreigners.

8 And daughter Zion is left

like a booth in a vineyard,

like a shelter in a cucumber field,

like a besieged city.

9 If the Lord of hosts

had not left us a few survivors,

we would have been like Sodom,

and become like Gomorrah.

Is. 1:10 Hear the word of the Lord,

you rulers of Sodom!

Listen to the teaching of our God,

you people of Gomorrah!

11 What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?

says the Lord;

I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams

and the fat of fed beasts;

I do not delight in the blood of bulls,

or of lambs, or of goats.

Is. 1:12 When you come to appear before me,

who asked this from your hand?

Trample my courts no more;

13 bringing offerings is futile;

incense is an abomination to me.

New moon and sabbath and calling of convocation—

I cannot endure solemn assemblies with iniquity.

14 Your new moons and your appointed festivals

my soul hates;

they have become a burden to me,

I am weary of bearing them.

15 When you stretch out your hands,

I will hide my eyes from you;

even though you make many prayers,

I will not listen;

your hands are full of blood.

16 Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;

remove the evil of your doings

from before my eyes;

cease to do evil,

17 learn to do good;

seek justice,

I want to stop right here for just a moment. The prophet is speaking for God, and he is speaking words that clearly convey God’s white-hot anger due to the evil of the people and the leaders of the nation of Judah. But what exactly are they doing? Up to now we have had no explicit examples of what behaviors they are to change to become pleasing to God. In the next few lines God we hear of the changes that need to come. In the next few lines God expresses what the people are to start doing that they have not been doing. Hear what they are to change. Please look with me at the reminder of verse (v) 17 and then listen to the word of God in verses 18-20.

rescue the oppressed,

defend the orphan,

plead for the widow.

Is. 1:18 Come now, let us argue it out,

says the Lord:

though your sins are like scarlet,

they shall be like snow;

though they are red like crimson,

they shall become like wool.

19 If you are willing and obedient,

you shall eat the good of the land;

20 but if you refuse and rebel,

you shall be devoured by the sword;

for the mouth of the Lord has spoken (NRSV).

God is, through the prophet Isaiah, calling the nation, which God loves, to repent and change. The people are evil. Their “hands are full of blood” (v 15). Who is it that they are abusing? Whose blood have they shed? Verse 17 lets us know the answer to that question. The people against whom the nation of Judah has sinned are the people who have fallen from or been kicked off of “the power ladder.” It is the “oppressed,” “the orphan,” and “the widow.” Those were the groups that had no political power and no financial influence. They were, therefore, “easy pickings” for those who did have political power and/or wealth. They were the ones who were abused. They were the ones who suffered one injustice after another. They were the ones who lost their lives at the hands of their own fellow Jews. And God was so angry that God was ready to destroy the nation of Judah. God was ready to do that because God could stand this sin no longer.

Now please look with me at Isa 3:13-15.

Is. 3:13 The Lord rises to argue his case;

he stands to judge the peoples.

14 The Lord enters into judgment

with the elders and princes of his people:

It is you who have devoured the vineyard;

the spoil of the poor is in your houses.

15 What do you mean by crushing my people,

by grinding the face of the poor? says the Lord God of hosts (NRSV).

Here God is declaring anger toward the leaders of the nation of Judah. The phrase “elders and princes of his people” in v 14 makes that clear. What have these lead­ers done? They “have devoured the vineyard.” The phrase “the vineyard” is used in the Book of Isaiah to refer to the nation of God’s people, i.e., Judah (see Isa 5:1-7). How have the leaders of God’s people “devoured the vineyard”? The lines that follow that phrase answer that question. They have taken “spoil” from “the poor” and have made that spoil their own. In other words, they have treated the poor of their own nation as enemies. They have, as it were, gone to war against them and have taken what they have as the victors in ancient warfare took home the wealth of those whom they defeated. Again, the prophet cries out, on behalf of God, against the way the people without power are treated. In Isa 1 the terms that are used are “the oppressed,” “the orphans,” and “the widows.” Here the term that is used describes the category that these same types of people fell into. They were poor. They did not have the influence or the power to protect themselves. The leaders of God’s people were to guarantee that justice was granted to these people, but instead they were the very ones who oppressed them.

If we love America according to the teachings of the Bible, if we love America by The Book, we will love our nation like God loved the nation of Judah as revealed by the words of God’s prophets. We will love America by being the voice of those without power or influence. We will love America by crying out for those who often have no one of influence who will listen to them.

Isaiah is just one of the prophets whose message is dominated by cries for God’s people to have soft hearts toward the poor and disenfranchised. And we should note that many of the prophets were men of influence. Some scholars think that Isaiah was a priest, and Jeremiah and Ezekiel certainly were. These men were not without influence; they were from the upper classes; but God took hold of them and made them spokesmen for the lower classes.

It is, I think, not difficult to see a parallel between God’s use of the prophets and the way God can use the members of the Broadway church of Christ. May we be prophetic voices. May we cry out for the people whom often are completely factored out of all the political equations. And may whatever political influence we have be used to focus attention upon the needs of America’s poor and disenfranchised. That is one way to love America by The Book.

The next two lessons that I hear from the Bible on how to love America are found in the New Testament. Please look with me at 1 Timothy 2:1-2 (1Tim) and follow along as I read.

1Tim 2:1 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity.

Now please turn to 1 Peter (1Pet) 2:13-17.

1Pet 2:13 For the Lord’s sake accept the authority of every human institution, whether of the emperor as supreme, 14 or of governors, as sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to praise those who do right. 15 For it is God’s will that by doing right you should silence the ignorance of the foolish. 16 As servants of God, live as free people, yet do not use your freedom as a pretext for evil. 17 Honor everyone. Love the family of believers. Fear God. Honor the emperor.

As many of you will know, the kings and emperors of the ancient world were often unbelievably heinous persons. Their evil often expressed itself in sick and perverted ways. But the New Testament is very clear. The Christians of that day were to pray for them and to honor them.

I confess that I struggle with this teaching. I find political leaders very easy to criticize, and I get so caught up in criticizing them that I do not honor them in anyway at all. I believe that I am supposed to pray for my leaders from an attitude which honors them. And I am trying to learn how to be a prophetic voice of critique while, at the same time, being a person who honors and prays blessing upon our nation’s leaders.

I have been around this church long enough to know that we have many members who have an easier time praying positive prayers of blessing for and honoring leaders who are Republicans than they do upon Democrats. We have a smaller number of members who have the exact opposite problem. My problem may be more severe. You see, I have just as much trouble with Republicans as I do Democrats. So I ask you, please commit with me today to love America by The Book by honoring leaders with whom we agree and with whom we do not agree and by praying for all of our leaders with an attitude of honor in our hearts as we pray. Please join me in prayer now. [I led a prayer for President George W. Bush, his cabinet, and other leaders at this point in the sermon].

For the third lesson concerning loving America by The Book, I want to note briefly a passage in the Book of Acts and a passage in the Book of Revelation. In Acts 17, we read of Paul’s sermon in the city of Athens. In that sermon Paul makes use of an idol that he saw as walked through the city. Listen to what he says:

Acts 17:23 For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.

Remember that Paul was a Jew. Jews were commanded not to make any idols. Yet Paul the Jew connects an idol in Athens to the living God of the Bible. That is radical.

In Revelation 13 we have the story of the Red Dragon. That story makes clear use of a pagan myth known all over the world of Paul’s day. I doubt that any of the original readers of the Book of Revelation had not already heard the pagan version of this myth. Yet the inspired apostle John takes this myth and uses it to convey a message of Jesus, a message concerning the incredible power of the living God.

If we are going to love America by The Book, we must do what Paul and John did. We must embrace America’s secular culture enough to be able to find ways to proclaim Jesus, ways that are built into that culture. If we use means to connect with our culture that simply do not connect, then we will be irrelevant and fruitless. God will find others to spread the Good News. God will not use us.

Surely we all want to be instruments of righteousness in the hands of God. Let’s learn from Paul and John. Let’s make sure that we find ways to spread Christian faith to our culture.

Let’s love America by The Book. Let’s love America like the prophets did by being God’s voices for those without power and influence. Let’s love America as Paul and Peter teach us to do by honoring our leaders and praying for them from a stance of honor. Let’s love America like Paul loved Athens and John loved the people of Asia Minor by embracing our secular culture enough to find the best way to connect the Bible’s Good News to that culture.

We are going to sing “God Bless America” now. Please pray this song. Please pray that God will bless in God’s way our nation.

If you have a spiritual need that we can address, please come now as we stand and sing.

SOURCE: http://broadway-church.org/home/sermons/2003/0706.html

Broadway Church of Christ, Lubbock, Texas


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30th October 2007

The Mighty Lemon Drops- Out of hand

This band was among my faves in the late 80’s and early 90’s. Heck, they still are. I remember feeling just the way this song portrays practically all the time. I sure wish I could re-live those years. They didn’t have to be so hard. Its taken me a lifetime to figure out what life is all about. I wish I had just found a spiritually mature person and asked. I reckon I was usually too wasted to look somebody in the eye and ask the right questions. I had to do it all on my own I thought. I am happy with where I am now spiritually… I just wish I wasn’t middle aged and just now “got it”.

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17th October 2007

I Then Shall Live


Here is one of the most powerful songs I’ve heard in a while. Hope it gives you a blessing. It made me shed tears.

Lyrics:

I then shall live
as one whose been forgiven
I’ll walk with with joy
to know my debts are paid
I know my name is clear before my Father
I am His child and I am nolt afraid
so greatly pardoned, I’ll forgive my brother
the law of love, I gladly will obey
I then shall live
as one whose learned compassion
I ‘ve been so loved, that I’ll risk loving too
I know how fear builds walls instead of bridges
I’ll dare to see another’s point of view
and when relationships demand commitment
then, I’ll be there to care and follow through
Your Kingdom come around and through and in me
Your power and glory let them shine through me
Your hallowed Name, O, may I bear with honor
and may your living Kingdom come, in me
the Bread of Life, O, may I share with others
and may You feed the hungry world through me
Amen!!!!

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14th October 2007

Philosophy of Nonviolence: Why Nonviolence Works


Here is another brilliant article that I found at Nonviolence.org

Its sad to me that one of the greatest if not THE greatest proponents of non- violence in history was Jesus Christ and yet the modern voice of Christian non- violence is seriously marginalized and squelched by the more popular positions of “Christian” militarism. I have had a lot to say about both Christian non- violence and “Christian” militarism on this blog. If you are interested… just look around and you will find it.

Meanwhile, enjoy the article:

Part Five. By David McReynolds

Having tried to give some of the background of nonviolence - and I am just going to have to assume you have read the four earlier installments - how is it possible that unarmed people can hope to liberate themselves? First, there is no guarantee nonviolence will work in every case.

This puts nonviolence in precisely the same place as violence. No one picks up a gun to liberate their country - as the Vietnamese did - with a guarantee of victory. History is a bleak record of countless valiant battles for justice - ending in defeat. One case worth mentioning was the struggle in South Africa led by Gandhi’s son, Manilal Gandhi, in the 1950’s in an effort to force a change in policy by the regime. The struggle ended in violence and defeat. In our own country there are thousands of cases where oppressed people have tried to deal with injustice peacefully and have lost.

The first instinct of every sane person is to find a “safe” way to resolve a conflict. The closer you are to a serious conflict - racial, labor, human rights - the more aware you become that people who are already hurting would prefer not to get hurt still more. So a peaceful - nonviolent - solution is almost always the first way chosen. People turn to violence when they feel the oppressor “only understands violence.” As this is being written there is a tragic situation unfolding in Kosovo, where a long and remarkably nonviolent struggle by the Albanian ethnic majority (about 90% of the population of Kosovo, which is a province under Serbian control in former Yugoslavia) is turning violent because a handful of courageous, angry young Albanians started killing Serbian police, the Serbs in turn have killed a number of them, and hopes for a nonviolent resolution may be fading as both sides in this conflict take the position “they only understand violence.”

SOCIAL DISLOCATION

Pacifists try to create conditions under which the opponent is “free to try different behavior”. There are three examples that can be used (and a lot more waiting for the history student, all the way from Finland to Cambodia). One is India. A second is the Montgomery Bus Boycott which began the Civil Rights Revolution in this country. The third is the Farm Workers under Chavez.

CREATING NEW REALITIES

Mahatma Gandhi did two things which were crucial to victory. The first was to give the Indians a pride in themselves, a sense that they were not weaker than the British. (It is common when you are in an oppressed group to feel that perhaps the reason you are oppressed is because you deserve it - the old pattern of self- hatred or a lack of self-respect common to the oppressed, whether black, gay, women, etc.). When Gandhi led the famous Salt March to the sea (to protest the British tax on salt). This simple act - so simple it would have made the British look foolish to try to stop it - let all of India see this man with a handful of followers walk from his “Ashram” across India to the sea. With every step he took all India began to feel a new pride. When he reached the sea and began the process of collecting the salt (which could be had at low tide when the salty sea water had evaporated and left deposits of “raw salt”), he was arrested and jailed. But not before some of his followers had begun to send the collected salt across India where it was auctioned for money for the Congress Party.

At every auction new arrests were made until thousands were in jail. A foreign correspondent talking to a high caste Indian asked if he didn’t find it embarrassing that someone of his social standing faced prison, to which he responded “Oh no, all the best people are in prison.” That was the first step - an open, public defiance of the law. A proof that Gandhi and his followers were not afraid of the British prisons.

The second step - both in this campaign and in the many others Gandhi led - was to create such disorder that the British were forced to negotiate. One of the actions Gandhi urged on his followers was the weaving of their own cloth, so that they would not depend on the British for imported cotton. (Up to that point the British bought the Indian cotton at a low price, then milled it and made garments in England, which were sold back to the Indians at a much higher price).

THE SPINNING WHEEL AND REVOLUTION

For Gandhi, it was important to have a “Constructive Program” which would involve all Indians in the movement. His use of the spinning wheel was a symbol of “self reliance”. Gradually the British mills began to face bankruptcy as their exports to India fell. As we will see in looking at the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Gandhi was creating a new reality, was “changing the political facts” so that the British either had to engage in massive violent repression, or negotiate. There were many ways in which Gandhi created such facts - massive sitdowns in front of trains, general strikes, the famous “passive resistance” which so fascinated the West in the 1930’s. Here was a little man in a loin cloth, unarmed, and yet able to bring the British Empire in India to a standstill. He could, simply by issuing the call, stop trains from running. (There is an interesting, little known bit of history from the early Bolshevik Revolution, when the Revolution was saved not by force of arms - in the early days after October 25 the Bolsheviks had no armed forces - but by a “battle of the trains”. The White Russians were trying to move their troops to Petrograd, the center of the Revolution, but because the Bolsheviks had the support of the workers running the railroads, the trains carrying the White Russian troops kept having mysterious delays, or were shunted down the wrong tracks. Hannah Arendt documents similar actions by the Italians when, late in World War II, Hitler tried to deport all the Jews from Italy to make sure they were killed - he had lost confidence in the Italians to do the job properly. It was, again, a battle of trains, with the Jews never arriving at the same place as the Nazi transport. (It would have been funny - if the whole event had not been so horribly tragic).

MONTGOMERY 1955

When the Montgomery Bus Boycott began in December of 1955 it seemed hopeless, but it was all the black community could risk. They had no support from the Federal government at that point, and they faced the armed force of the local (and state) police. No one had successfully defied the white power structure in the South - resistance was suicidal. But the black community felt the police would have a hard time coping with something as simple as … NOT riding the bus. What could the police do if people chose to walk instead of ride? And in Montgomery that winter, and that spring, black folks walked. They walked if they were young, they walked if they were old. They walked if they were tired and they walked if they were sick. If they couldn’t walk, the Montgomery Improvement Association arranged for some transport by car.

At first the whites laughed. They weren’t threatened by black people walking!! But King and his co-workers were creating new facts. One of the first facts was that blacks were learning that, even if they were still afraid, they could act. Every step they took was seen as a step forward to a new goal. One of the white women asked her maid, who was arriving at work by walking a great distance, if she weren’t tired to which the maid said “my feet are tired, but my soul is rested”. A change began to occur within the white community, similar to the change Gandhi had been able to achieve in the British community - people who had looked on the Indians or the blacks as barely human, suddenly saw them emerge as people with dignity. With each passing day, the white community grew more restless and uneasy. No bullets had been fired by King’s people. Yet the community in the heart of the capital of the Confederacy sensed something was changing forever. One of the changes was that the bus company said it was losing so much money it would have to go bankrupt - and this meant that no one, black or white, would have public transportation. Faced with this fact, the white community negotiated a a settlement. Long weeks after it had begun, blacks and whites were no longer segregated on the buses. Glenn Smiley (an old friend and mentor, who ran the Fellowship of Recon-ciliation office in Los Angeles when I was a student at UCLA), was the first white man to board the buses arm in arm with Dr. King, as they sat together on a day of victory.

FARMWORKERS AND CHAVEZ

In 1962 Cesar Chavez, himself a migrant worker, began organizing largely Mexican farm workers in California. As with Gandhi and King, Chavez was struggling with the sense of defeat the farm workers had. Migratory, many unable to speak English and illiterate in Spanish, some illegal aliens, the Mexican community in California was considered impossible to organize - a source of cheap, compliant labor. Chavez did what the powerful AFL-CIO had failed to do - he gave the farm workers a sense of dignity and showed them it was possible to struggle and win. At great cost, and against the prejudice of the police and the public, he made the grape boycott into such a powerful symbol that he forced the growers to the bargaining table. In the face of beatings and shootings, he responded with fasts, boycotts, and peaceful marches.

THE KEY IS SOCIAL DISLOCATION

This will have to go to a sixth and perhaps seventh “chapter”, so I will close this “why it works” by emphasizing that nonviolence succeeds because through organized disruption of the existing social structure (sit downs, sit ins, boycotts, etc.) the old order cannot continue to function. It must choose between violent repression and negotiation. Nonviolence doesn’t work because it appeals to the “best in the enemy”, (though it certainly always does make that appeal). It works because the “enemy” is not only treated as a brother or sister, but also because our tactics absorb the pain and suffering even as we create social disorder so great that something must yield. By behaving, always, with dignity we compel our opponent to see us in new ways, making it hard for him to use violence (though violence will be used — nonviolent social changes does not mean no violence — it means we will not use violence but it is certain it will be used against us).

And it works because it changes how the oppressed think of themselves — it gives them pride and confidence. And nonviolence empowers the whole community — it can be used by old and young, weak and strong, professors and those still illiterate. This is in contrast to armed struggle which is usually limited to the young and healthy.


NEXT: PART6: The Basic Rules of Nonviolence

“If we remember that we must try to be honest, and act with courage, we won’t do things in the dark which we wouldn’t do by day. We won’t do things we aren’t willing to be caught doing. Again, there are paradoxes - does this mean that there are times when we might not act in secret?.. Yes, and I’ve tried to stress that there are always contradictions.”

Parts: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Debate this with others on the Nonviolence.Org Board

David McReynolds was a long-time staffperson for the War Resisters League. He writes: “There is not a single original idea in this material. Some of the ideas may be new to you, or may be arranged in ways that seem novel. They lack the power to kill, but contain the power to change. Read with caution. They have not been approved by any government authority. You are free to reprint, giving the source.”

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10th October 2007

The Torture Question Part 2

The torture issue is back in the news over the last few days. Once again, the mendacity of our government leadership is at issue.

Its simple really. True disciples of Christ cannot endorse or sign off on torture and/or deception (AKA as lying). Not long ago I saw an interview with a former CIA interrogator from the Vietnam era. He said that back then enemy combatants would go out of their way to surrender to the US because they pretty much knew that they would be treated well. He went on to say that what is going on today is not only a disgrace, but it gets our soldiers killed because when opposing combatants assume they will be torutred they will fight to the death. He added that information derived from torure is generally worthless. - S.S.

Now…. here is what the Bible says about dealing with enemies and conflict (pay special attention to the bold verses):

Romans 12
1I APPEAL to you therefore, brethren, and beg of you in view of [all] the mercies of God, to make a decisive dedication of your bodies [presenting all your members and faculties] as a living sacrifice, holy (devoted, consecrated) and well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable (rational, intelligent) service and spiritual worship.

2Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs], but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His sight for you].

3For by the grace (unmerited favor of God) given to me I warn everyone among you not to estimate and think of himself more highly than he ought [not to have an exaggerated opinion of his own importance], but to rate his ability with sober judgment, each according to the degree of faith apportioned by God to him.

4For as in one physical body we have many parts (organs, members) and all of these parts do not have the same function or use,

5So we, numerous as we are, are one body in Christ (the Messiah) and individually we are parts one of another [mutually dependent on one another].

6Having gifts (faculties, talents, qualities) that differ according to the grace given us, let us use them: [He whose gift is] prophecy, [let him prophesy] according to the proportion of his faith;

7[He whose gift is] practical service, let him give himself to serving; he who teaches, to his teaching;

8He who exhorts (encourages), to his exhortation; he who contributes, let him do it in simplicity and liberality; he who gives aid and superintends, with zeal and singleness of mind; he who does acts of mercy, with genuine cheerfulness and joyful eagerness.

9[Let your] love be sincere (a real thing); hate what is evil [loathe all ungodliness, turn in horror from wickedness], but hold fast to that which is good.

10Love one another with brotherly affection [as members of one family], giving precedence and showing honor to one another.

11Never lag in zeal and in earnest endeavor; be aglow and burning with the Spirit, serving the Lord.

12Rejoice and exult in hope; be steadfast and patient in suffering and tribulation; be constant in prayer.

13Contribute to the needs of God’s people [sharing in the necessities of the saints]; pursue the practice of hospitality.

14Bless those who persecute you [who are cruel in their attitude toward you]; bless and do not curse them.

15Rejoice with those who rejoice [sharing others' joy], and weep with those who weep [sharing others' grief].

16Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty (snobbish, high-minded, exclusive), but readily adjust yourself to [people, things] and give yourselves to humble tasks. Never overestimate yourself or be wise in your own conceits.(A)

17Repay no one evil for evil, but take thought for what is honest and proper and noble [aiming to be above reproach] in the sight of everyone.(B)

18If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

19Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave the way open for [God's] wrath; for it is written, Vengeance is Mine, I will repay (requite), says the Lord.(C)

20But if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head.(D)

21Do not let yourself be overcome by evil, but overcome (master) evil with good.

Cross references:

1. Romans 12:16 : Prov 3:7
2. Romans 12:17 : Prov 20:22
3. Romans 12:19 : Deut 32:35
4. Romans 12:20 : Prov 25:21,22

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6th October 2007

The Torture Question

Yesterday, Bush said the program, which has sparked criticism over interrogation methods, was to ´better protect´ Americans.

See the PBS program HERE.

The torture issue is back in the news over the last few days. Once again, the mendacity of our government leadership is at issue.

Its simple really. True disciples of Christ cannot endorse or sign off on torture and/or deception (AKA as lying).

Not long ago I saw an interview with a former CIA interrogator from the Vietnam era. He said that back then enemy combatants would go out of their way to surrender to the US because they pretty much knew that they would be treated well. He went on to say that what is going on today is not only a disgrace, but it gets our soldiers killed because when opposing combatants assume they will be torutred they will fight to the death. He added that information derived from torure is generally worthless. - S.S.

Torture Still In Force in US

WASHINGTON, Oct 5–Former US attorney general Alberto Gonzales issued a secret document in 2005 authorizing use of painful interrogation techniques, a new report says.

The New York Times, citing unnamed officials, said the legal Justice Department document was circulated in 2005 — when Congress adopted a law banning cruel inhumane and degrading treatment.

At the same time, the Justice Department publicly had declared torture “abhorrent” and the Bush administration seemed to back away from claiming authority for such practices.

The legal document, approved by Gonzales, remains in effect, despite efforts by Congress and the courts to limit interrogation practices used by the government in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Gonzales resigned last month under withering criticism from congressional Democrats.

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino did not deny the existence of the document, but did not offer details.

However, White House Homeland Security Adviser Fran Townsend later said the program involved a team of fewer than 100 highly trained interrogators.

“We start with the least harsh measures first,” Townsend told CNN television. “It stops … if someone becomes cooperative.”

She said the White House was “baffled” by suggestions that if the US government didn’t use harsh interrogation tactics, Al-Qaeda would treat captured Americans better.

And she suggested the harsh interrogation techniques had support and understanding of the American public.

The authorizations came after the withdrawal of an earlier, secret Justice document, issued in 2002, that had allowed certain aggressive interrogation practices so long as they stopped short of producing pain equivalent to experiencing organ failure or death.

But that controversial document was withdrawn in June 2004.

In a statement Thursday, the Center for Constitutional Rights urged attorney general nominee Michael Mukasey to end the policy if elected.

“Torture is illegal, immoral, and it doesn’t work. Detainee torture policies that produce faulty intelligence and exaggerated confessions result in innocent men being locked up,” the CCR said.

Now…. here is what the Bible says about dealing with enemies and conflict (pay special attention to the bold verses):

Romans 12
1I APPEAL to you therefore, brethren, and beg of you in view of [all] the mercies of God, to make a decisive dedication of your bodies [presenting all your members and faculties] as a living sacrifice, holy (devoted, consecrated) and well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable (rational, intelligent) service and spiritual worship.

2Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs], but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His sight for you].

3For by the grace (unmerited favor of God) given to me I warn everyone among you not to estimate and think of himself more highly than he ought [not to have an exaggerated opinion of his own importance], but to rate his ability with sober judgment, each according to the degree of faith apportioned by God to him.

4For as in one physical body we have many parts (organs, members) and all of these parts do not have the same function or use,

5So we, numerous as we are, are one body in Christ (the Messiah) and individually we are parts one of another [mutually dependent on one another].

6Having gifts (faculties, talents, qualities) that differ according to the grace given us, let us use them: [He whose gift is] prophecy, [let him prophesy] according to the proportion of his faith;

7[He whose gift is] practical service, let him give himself to serving; he who teaches, to his teaching;

8He who exhorts (encourages), to his exhortation; he who contributes, let him do it in simplicity and liberality; he who gives aid and superintends, with zeal and singleness of mind; he who does acts of mercy, with genuine cheerfulness and joyful eagerness.

9[Let your] love be sincere (a real thing); hate what is evil [loathe all ungodliness, turn in horror from wickedness], but hold fast to that which is good.

10Love one another with brotherly affection [as members of one family], giving precedence and showing honor to one another.

11Never lag in zeal and in earnest endeavor; be aglow and burning with the Spirit, serving the Lord.

12Rejoice and exult in hope; be steadfast and patient in suffering and tribulation; be constant in prayer.

13Contribute to the needs of God’s people [sharing in the necessities of the saints]; pursue the practice of hospitality.

14Bless those who persecute you [who are cruel in their attitude toward you]; bless and do not curse them.

15Rejoice with those who rejoice [sharing others' joy], and weep with those who weep [sharing others' grief].

16Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty (snobbish, high-minded, exclusive), but readily adjust yourself to [people, things] and give yourselves to humble tasks. Never overestimate yourself or be wise in your own conceits.(A)

17Repay no one evil for evil, but take thought for what is honest and proper and noble [aiming to be above reproach] in the sight of everyone.(B)

18If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

19Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave the way open for [God's] wrath; for it is written, Vengeance is Mine, I will repay (requite), says the Lord.(C)

20But if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head.(D)

21Do not let yourself be overcome by evil, but overcome (master) evil with good.

Cross references:

1. Romans 12:16 : Prov 3:7
2. Romans 12:17 : Prov 20:22
3. Romans 12:19 : Deut 32:35
4. Romans 12:20 : Prov 25:21,22

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posted in Iraq, Love, Sin, The Art of War, War, christian, just warfare, morality, non-violence, peace, peacemaking, politics, social comment, theology | 0 Comments

30th September 2007

Believing Means Doing

Luke 6 (Amplified version for emphasis)

Blessings and Woes

17And Jesus came down with them and took His stand on a level spot, with a great crowd of His disciples and a vast throng of people from all over Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to listen to Him and to be cured of their diseases–

18Even those who were disturbed and troubled with unclean spirits, and they were being healed [also].

19And all the multitude were seeking to touch Him, for healing power was all the while going forth from Him and curing them all [[d]saving them from severe illnesses or calamities].

20And solemnly lifting up His eyes on His disciples, He said: Blessed (happy–[e]with life-joy and satisfaction in God’s favor and salvation, apart from your outward condition–and [f]to be envied) are you poor and [g]lowly and afflicted (destitute of wealth, influence, position, and honor), for the kingdom of God is yours!

21Blessed (happy–[h]with life-joy and satisfaction in God’s favor and salvation, apart from your outward condition–and [i]to be envied) are you who hunger and seek with eager desire now, for you shall be filled and completely satisfied! Blessed (happy–[j]with life-joy and satisfaction in God’s favor and salvation, apart from your outward condition–and [k]to be envied) are you who weep and sob now, for you shall laugh!

22Blessed (happy–[l]with life-joy and satisfaction in God’s favor and salvation, apart from your outward condition–and [m]to be envied) are you when people despise (hate) you, and when they exclude and excommunicate you [as disreputable] and revile and denounce you and defame and cast out and spurn your name as evil (wicked) on account of the Son of Man.

23Rejoice and be glad at such a time and exult and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is rich and great and strong and intense and abundant in heaven; for even so their forefathers treated the prophets.

24But woe to (alas for) you who are rich ([n]abounding in material resources), for you already are receiving your consolation (the solace and sense of strengthening and cheer that come from prosperity) and have taken and enjoyed your comfort in full [having nothing left to be awarded you].

25Woe to (alas for) you who are full now (completely filled, luxuriously gorged and satiated), for you shall hunger and suffer want! Woe to (alas for) you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep and wail!

26Woe to (alas for) you when everyone speaks fairly and handsomely of you and praises you, for even so their forefathers did to the false prophets.

Love for Enemies

27But I say to you who are listening now to Me: [[o]in order to heed, make it a practice to] love your enemies, treat well (do good to, act nobly toward) those who detest you and pursue you with hatred,

28Invoke blessings upon and pray for the happiness of those who curse you, implore God’s blessing (favor) upon those who abuse you [who revile, reproach, disparage, and high-handedly misuse you].

29To the one who strikes you on the [p]jaw or cheek, offer the other [q]jaw or cheek also; and from him who takes away your outer garment, do not withhold your undergarment as well.

30Give away to everyone who begs of you [who is [r]in want of necessities], and of him who takes away from you your goods, do not demand or require them back again.

31And as you would like and desire that men would do to you, do exactly so to them.

32If you [merely] love those who love you, what [s]quality of credit and thanks is that to you? For even [t]the [very] sinners love their lovers (those who love them).

33And if you are kind and good and do favors to and benefit those who are kind and good and do favors to and benefit you, what [u]quality of credit and thanks is that to you? For even [v]the preeminently sinful do the same.

34And if you lend money [w]at interest to those from whom you hope to receive, what [x]quality of credit and thanks is that to you? Even notorious sinners lend money [y]at interest to sinners, so as to recover as much again.

35But love your enemies and be kind and do good [doing favors [z]so that someone derives benefit from them] and lend, expecting and hoping for nothing in return but [aa]considering nothing as lost and despairing of no one; and then your recompense (your reward) will be great (rich, strong, intense, and abundant), and you will be sons of the Most High, for He is kind and charitable and good to the ungrateful and the selfish and wicked.

36So be merciful (sympathetic, tender, responsive, and compassionate) even as your Father is [all these].


Judging Others

37Judge not [neither pronouncing judgment nor subjecting to censure], and you will not be judged; do not condemn and pronounce guilty, and you will not be condemned and pronounced guilty; acquit and forgive and [ab]release (give up resentment, let it drop), and you will be acquitted and forgiven and [ac]released.

38Give, and [gifts] will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will they pour [ad]into [the pouch formed by] the bosom [of your robe and used as a bag]. For with the measure you deal out [with the measure you use when you confer benefits on others], it will be measured back to you.

39He further told them [ae]a proverb: Can a blind [man] guide and direct a blind [man]? Will they not both stumble into a ditch or a [af]hole in the ground?

40A pupil is not superior to his teacher, but everyone [when he is] completely trained (readjusted, restored, set to rights, and perfected) will be like his teacher.

41Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye but do not notice or consider the beam [of timber] that is in your own eye?

42Or how can you say to your brother, Brother, allow me to take out the speck that is in your eye, when you yourself do not see the beam that is in your own eye? You actor (pretender, hypocrite)! First take the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.

A Tree and Its Fruit

43For there is no good (healthy) tree that bears decayed (worthless, stale) fruit, nor on the other hand does a decayed (worthless, sickly) tree bear good fruit.

44For each tree is known and identified by its own fruit; for figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor is a cluster of grapes picked from a bramblebush.

45The upright (honorable, intrinsically good) man out of the good treasure [stored] in his heart produces what is upright (honorable and intrinsically good), and the evil man out of the evil storehouse brings forth that which is depraved (wicked and intrinsically evil); for out of the abundance (overflow) of the heart his mouth speaks.

The Wise and Foolish Builders

46Why do you call Me, Lord, Lord, and do not [practice] what I tell you?

47For everyone who comes to Me and listens to My words [in order to heed their teaching] and does them, I will show you what he is like:

48He is like a man building a house, who dug and went down deep and laid a foundation upon the rock; and when a flood arose, the torrent broke against that house and could not shake or move it, because it had been securely built or [ag]founded on a rock.

49But he who merely hears and does not practice doing My words is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation, against which the torrent burst, and immediately it collapsed and fell, and the breaking and ruin of that house was great.

________________________________________________________

S.S. Says,

These words are some of the most powerful and paradigm changing words that Jesus ever spoke. In one sermon he turned the World, the system of domination and revenge and the value systems associated with it upside down. In Christian circles today we hear a lot about the Ten Commandments and the fight to hang them on our walls. We hear a lot of condemnation of them that do not adhere or accept our own particular brands of belief. We have too often shunned the even-the-enemy loving, grace filled Jesus of the gospels and clung to the image of Christ the avenger from the book of Revelation. Instead of only scrapping to hang the Ten Commandments in our public places, would we not, could we not better serve Jesus and our World by living as Jesus lived- speaking as he spoke- loving as he loved instead of shoveling dirt on those we perceive as our enemies? I acknowledge that there is a time to fight- to stand up for what is right. There is a right and wrong way to do that however. My question is why is no-one pushing to hang the Beatitudes in the public places? Another question… wouldn’t living as Christ like disciples and servants… living by humble example be better than hanging plaques on the walls?

When Jesus asks in Luke 6:46, “Why do you call Me, Lord, Lord, and do not [practice] what I tell you?”-what is your answer?

Too many that wear the name “Christian” today are not true disciples of Christ.

Mark and remember this from Luke 6:49:

“But he who merely hears and does not practice doing My words is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation, against which the torrent burst, and immediately it collapsed and fell, and the breaking and ruin of that house was great.”

Selah!


Footnotes:

  1. Luke 6:9 Hermann Cremer, Biblico-Theological Lexicon.
  2. Luke 6:9 John Wycliffe, The Wycliffe Bible.
  3. Luke 6:10 Some manuscripts add this phrase.
  4. Luke 6:19 Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.
  5. Luke 6:20 Hermann Cremer, Biblico-Theological Lexicon.
  6. Luke 6:20 Alexander Souter, Pocket Lexicon.
  7. Luke 6:20 Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon.
  8. Luke 6:21 Hermann Cremer, Biblico-Theological Lexicon.
  9. Luke 6:21 Alexander Souter, Pocket Lexicon.
  10. Luke 6:21 Hermann Cremer, Biblico-Theological Lexicon.
  11. Luke 6:21 Alexander Souter, Pocket Lexicon.
  12. Luke 6:22 Hermann Cremer, Biblico-Theological Lexicon.
  13. Luke 6:22 Alexander Souter, Pocket Lexicon.
  14. Luke 6:24 Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon.
  15. Luke 6:27 Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.
  16. Luke 6:29 Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon.
  17. Luke 6:29 Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon.
  18. Luke 6:30 Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon.
  19. Luke 6:32 Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.
  20. Luke 6:32 William Tyndale, The Tyndale Bible.
  21. Luke 6:33 Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.
  22. Luke 6:33 Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon.
  23. Luke 6:34 Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.
  24. Luke 6:34 Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.
  25. Luke 6:34 Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.
  26. Luke 6:35 Hermann Cremer, Biblico-Theological Lexicon.
  27. Luke 6:35 Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.