A Time for War and a Time for Peace

Friday, September 1, 2023

For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven….A time for war and a time for peace.  Ecclesiastes 3:1, 8b

“Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth!  I came not to bring peace, but a sword.  Matthew 10:34-38

Timing is everything…so said my Dad, who was a certified bowling instructor, trying to teach me how to roll the ball towards the pins with effectiveness and the kind of repetitive consistency needed to score better.  I said:  What?  I’m certain Jesus was saying the same kind of wisdom to his disciples in that day (and getting the same kind of doe-in-the-headlights reaction). 

It is true (in a both/and sense) that Jesus is the Prince of Peace, as much as he is the Lord of Heaven’s armies.  He who self-described himself as “love” is also the author of Ecclesiastes.  It is a matter (as my favorite bowling instructor would say) of timing.  When Jesus came the first time, lowly, meek, and riding a donkey, we saw him as the submissive, perfect sacrificial lamb.  He demonstrated his love by taking our pain in his body.  The next time he comes it will be as a warrior, coming to clean up our mess. 

Question:  Does Jesus’ character change from loving-dove to unrelenting-hawk in the 1,000-year interlude between Ecclesiastes and Matthew?  Did he only come in peace the first time, and will he put that aside and be different the next time?  Did we get Ecclesiastes wrong?  God inspired Solomon to write those words, and God called him the wisest among men, yet Solomon says there is a time and place for peace, as well as war.  The Answer must be a resounding NO if you believe the Bible.  He said this:  I am the Lord, and I do not change.  Malachi 3:6a

So how do we reconcile all this…is Jehovah a God of war and peace, or just one,   and not the other?  When he shows up as Jesus we can expect love, kindness, and grace…but, when he shows up as the I AM, look-out? 

I think you know the answer to that, but let’s put it in another scenario:  Suppose it is the issue of homosexuality; is he the God of I love you – I’m ok, you’re ok – you aren’t in for any judgment?  Or is he the God who says that is sexual perversion, and if you buy-into that there is fire on the horizon for you, beloved?  Applying that to contemporary culture, the trend is to an absence of judgment on God’s part.  American culture is quite evenly-divided, but only because there’s a relatively even distribution of humans above and below 50 years of age.  But the trend is moving towards popular culture legitimizing and even applauding the practice of homosexuality.

A greater question then becomes:  If public opinion is moving in one direction, does that make it right?  Ultimately there is no fence upon which to sit, and that brings only two possibilities, both of which are supremely uncomfortable for those who want to reject Biblical precedent:  God will judge, or scripture is wrong.  We’re forced to obey God or popular opinion…there’s no in-between!  Humans mess-up, and must own our mess-up, or defend our beliefs.  You cannot do both.

Within the denomination I served the past two decades, the move has been towards popular opinion, with those disagreeing, jumping ship to band together with those holding Biblical doctrine.  And, among both those who are staying, or leaving, are some who are taking parting shots at the other side’s position as a lack of Biblically-moral character, preferring to judge motives and intelligence.   The God we’re talking about was not silent on that:

Do not judge others, and you will not be judged.  For you will be treated as you treat others.  The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged.  And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own?  Matthew 7:1-3

For You Today 

I take the stand for Biblical obedience to love other sinners, because I am also a forgiven sinner.  I will not compound my sins by judging others.  What say you?

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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There are about 2,600 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road library. 

Title Images:  Pixabay.com Sword  Dove  Images without citation are in public domain.  

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from NLT^©   

Love Means...

 

Tuesday, April 20, 2021

This letter is from John, the elder.  I am writing to the chosen lady and to her children, whom I love in the truth—as does everyone else who knows the truth—because the truth lives in us and will be with us forever.  Grace, mercy, and peace, which come from God the Father and from Jesus Christ—the Son of the Father—will continue to be with us who live in truth and love.  How happy I was to meet some of your children and find them living according to the truth, just as the Father commanded.  I am writing to remind you, dear friends, that we should love one another.  This is not a new commandment, but one we have had from the beginning.  Love means doing what God has commanded us, and he has commanded us to love one another, just as you heard from the beginning.  2 John 1-6

The much beloved apostle, John, writes to the chosen lady, a code word for the church he pastored while in Ephesus.  He tells the believers there to love one another. 

That one word, “love” could mean a lot of things.  In popular culture of the 21^st century the word evokes images of a far-different meaning than that to which John referred.  When writing these devotionals I hunt for an image to use as a title base, something which conveys some of the thought central to the Scripture.  For today I typed in the word “love” and, within 3/10^ths of a second I had 482 pages of images from which to choose.  Each page had around 100 images.  Do the math…if I looked at them all to make a selection it could have been a week from next Friday before I even wrote word #1 on the page.  Even more problematic is that most of the images would have been rated PG…at best!  (My choice of search filter for my computer won’t even show me the more lurid ones).

The point here is that our current popular culture’s idea of love centers around romanticism, a far cry from what John urged for his congregation.

But even when you make that distinction…not romantic love, but God’s love…there is a disconnect about what the apostle means (thus having 40,000 pictures from which to choose). 

So, let’s be clear; John doesn’t mean we should lust, like uncontrollable animals.  He is not referring to sappy flowers-and-balloons, tear-jerking feelings.  And he is certainly not into Hallmark-movie sighs of everything will be just fine and dandy.  John is full-on describing the way God dies for us…laying-down His life, spilling His blood, so that we can live forgiven and joyful.  When the apostle says we should love one another he’s pointing to the command to be obedient to God’s command to live in truth with each other, humbly accepting each other as part of the same family.  He’s calling us to a lifestyle of unconditionally doing what is best for each other, even if it hurts, is inconvenient, or costly.

Most of us respond…but who can live like that?  The short answer is:  Jesus!

When John says “love one another” he’s saying “be like the one you chose to follow”.

For You Today

It’s hardly ever easy, strapping on a towel and carrying a basin to wash another’s feet.  But, if you claim the name, it’s time to get in the game!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!  

[1] Title Image: Vanni, via Wikimedia Commons  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©

Standing Out in a Blended World

[i]

Friday, March 8, 2019

One of the teachers of religious law was standing there listening to the debate. He realized that Jesus had answered well, so he asked, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”  Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this:  ‘Listen, O Israel!  The Lord our God is the one and only Lord.  And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’   Mark12:28-30(NLT)

Circular arguments tend to close-off everything else outside the circle.  And that gets really weird when the stated purpose of the circle is to proclaim inclusiveness.  It’s like this statement:  We are for total tolerance; we will not tolerate any intolerance.  Huh…what?

American culture today demands total inclusiveness, everybody equally welcome at the table.  Now that sounds wonderful, except for the fact that, while God created everyone equal, we didn’t stay that way.  Created equally, we devolved into baser, harsher, nearly bestial beings, capable of not merely intolerance, but capable of eradicating all traces of the image in which we were created.  Examples abound like Stalin, Hitler, and Cain, to name a few.

My nephew, Lars Brownworth, has written several books[ii] on historical movements.  After reading a few chapters of the Norman invaders, or about Bohemond leading the First crusade to liberate Jerusalem, you wonder how anyone was left alive, considering the abject brutality, constant warfare, and scheming power grabs that define our human (not humane) history. 

The so-called evolved, civilized, and tolerant society which we claim today, highly-touted and politically-correct, is but an illusion.  We are just as unprincipled, undisciplined, power-hungry, and celebratory of those who are successful in having achieved notoriety and position by such means, as are the pages of history, effusive in praise over the building of bigger and better towers at Babel.

Popular thought today celebrates diversity as wonderful, yet demands that no lines be drawn to point out differences.  We prefer to live in a blender culture, having a homogenized idea of our existence amid the diverse parts.  As with a kitchen blender, throw us all in at the top, push the button, and whatever mush is created will be the new norm.  We will only be defined by our median, that common value which separates the higher half from the lower half.  But we will never admit to what characteristics bring the median up or down, because that might not be kind, or politically-advantageous.

Now, save the cards, letters and tweets…I’m not advocating a new circle to keep anybody on the outside of anything.  I am simply pointing to the truth of that complexity with which we have muddied the looking glass.  By trying to accommodate every thought in the 7.7 billion minds upon this planet as equally-valid (a feat certainly only possible by God…who would probably laugh at the prospect, or the results), we have arrived at the kind of impasse in human social possibilities that pleases no one, and that makes more than a few mad!

So, what do you do when you have reached a dead end, and all you have is a circular road map that tells you to keep circling?  Common sense says turn around; go back to the place of beginning and start over…begin with the basics…keeping the purpose of the journey in focus!

That’s what Jesus was telling the Pharisee, whose colleagues had made faith so complex it was unrecognizable (to God).  He told his questioner the most important message we ever got from God was to love God with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strength…and love our neighbors with the same kind of respect we’d like to have.  To me, that means tell the truth, listen more than you speak, and believe God rather than every new whim of social science engineering claiming to have the next, best-ever idea!

For You Today

So, let diversity flourish; away with the boredom of one-size-fits-all.  There’s a difference between common purpose which promotes unity, and demanding uniformity of thought.  Stand-out in this blended world; stand up for God’s way.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[i] Title Image:   via Pixabay.com

[ii] See a list of Lars Brownworth books HERE

The Original Radical

 [1]

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

See VIDEO here

“To what can I compare the people of this generation?” Jesus asked.  “How can I describe them?  They are like children playing a game in the public square.  They complain to their friends,

‘We played wedding songs, and you didn’t dance,

so we played funeral songs, and you didn’t weep.’

For John the Baptist didn’t spend his time eating bread or drinking wine, and you say, ‘He’s possessed by a demon.’  The Son of Man, on the other hand, feasts and drinks, and you say, ‘He’s a glutton and a drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors and other sinners!’  But wisdom is shown to be right by the lives of those who follow it.”  Luke 7:31-35 ^(NLT)

People complained about Jesus, the radical.  Jesus returned the sentiment; he said the people of his generation were like children who complained they couldn’t get him to play nice.  And then he pointed to his cousin, John the Baptist.  John lived the esthetic, austere lifestyle of a monk in the wilderness, preaching and baptizing – so the religious leaders suspected he was possessed.  Jesus spent time with people at their houses and parties, and the religious leaders accused him of overindulgence and having bad friends. 

You just can’t please some people.

The real fact of why they complained had nothing at all to do with parties or not partying; the real reason was because Jesus made them nervous.  Holiness makes people uncomfortably aware of their own shortcomings; and they don’t like it at all!

I read a news story[2] years ago about Billy Graham playing golf with a couple of PGA professionals.  After the round a reporter asked one of the pros how it was to pay golf with Dr. Billy Graham, “America’s Pastor”.  His reply was that it was OK, except he didn’t like having religion shoved down his throat.  One of the other pros privately told the reporter that Mr. Graham had not even mentioned God a single time the whole day. 

A guilty conscience will always react the same way when in the presence of somebody who models Godly living – with anger and vengeance.  Jesus, the original “radical” lover of men’s souls caused that kind of reaction. 

John the Baptist wanted nothing to do with the gluttonous, drunken culture.  Jesus wanted to be in the center of that culture to bring healing for their downward spiral of life choices.

Both Jesus and John were motivated by holy love, a radical, God-kind of love that genuinely cares for their fellow humans…and both were killed for it!

To those who would follow Jesus, the idea that you will always be liked and admired, is an idea that you would do well to shed and leave behind.  A holy and radical God-kind of love will more often be rejected just because you’ve always got Adam and Eve in the equation…mankind’s fallen nature runs, hides, and grabs the nearest fig leaf to conceal true motives.

But if you follow Jesus…you love them anyway!

For You Today

What’s your motivation for what you do for others?

You chew on that out on the Rocky Road today…and have a joy-filled and blessed day!

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[1] Title image:  Carl Heinrich Bloch [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

[2] I’m not certain of the source of that story (it’s been too long)