Violence

All violence motivated by greed, lust, anger, fear and/or the desire for power, is evil at its core.  There is such thing as holy violence. It is motivated only by Love and the ensuant desire for freedom for the human soul. This is the violence that one would use to protect his family from a violent attacker. But there are threats in the spiritual realm that threaten freedom and peace for whole nations and cultures. The lust for power was recognized by our Founding Fathers who set up a governmental system with "checks and balances" to guard against it. They recognized the dangers that perpetually threatened a government that provided and tried to protect individual freedom from tyranny and oppression. They recognized the dark side of the human soul. They even protected the populaces' freedom to bear arms to prevent being overpowered by a government run amuck. This, of course, places immense responsibility upon the populace to be mature and self-controlled; not quick to violence and willing to go to great lengths to settle all disputes without violence, but rather through the sincere pursuit of the "common good."  Even with this sincere discipline and holy desire, there has been and will continue to be the need for good men who have no ill will toward anyone---who covet no man's property or rights, and who desire to live in peace with all mankind---to take up arms against those who seem to be lost in a deep darkness that spawns hatred and callous disregard for freedom and human life. The primary battle is and will always be the battle for the enlightenment of those who are in this darkness. This battle can only be won if motivated by divine Love---the Love of Christ evident in His prayer from the Cross, "Father forgive them. They don't know what they are doing." Theological debates, though necessary, are only useful if they lead to more of this love in the hearts of human beings. This is the result of all true evangelism. The hardness of heart that opposes the Truth of Christ puts one on a pathway that has as its ultimate destination many variations of hell, including hatred and violence.
Any theology that presents a god that rejoices in the death of any human or that rewards violence and spawns hatred cannot be the God of the universe---the God Who has so generously lavished us with life, beauty. and freedom.

Prayer

Pray this prayer slowly, meditatively. Be careful not to just read it---pray it. Contemplate the meaning of the words.

O Holy Father and Mother,

The Conscious Core of the universe, beyond all concepts, beyond all labels, beyond all religions; the Giver of all that is. Help us to know You as You are. May we feel Your Love inwardly, and therefore know, beyond all doubt, that we can Trust You in life and in death.

Fill our hearts with Love and Peace and Gratitude. We are thankful to You, O God, for life. You have given us Life. Our consciousness is a product of Your consciousness. And we are alienated from Your consciousness only as we are in darkness—the darkness that You allow, in order for us to be free and for our lives to have meaning. We recognize that there are many in this world who do not believe that You exist or who have different ideas about You. We have come to know You through Christ, Who has revealed You as a loving parent, patient, merciful and kind; but also Who commands, and Who has the rightful authority to command us to love each other. We understand that You, O God, are Love—the love that you have put within us for our children! You are constrained, in Your infinite freedom, only by this Love. And we are also only constrained by it. This is a joyful restraint! It is the constraint of freedom. And You, O God, have always demanded that Your people be free. We receive, in this moment, the gift of knowing that we are free, and allow ourselves, with Your permission, to feel this freedom and the peace it brings into our souls.

The Peace that we find in You O God is also constrained by this Love. We recognize the unnecessary suffering that we inflict upon ourselves because we have not known, understood and submitted to this Love. We are appalled that men still brutally kill men, women, children---that there is hatred in our hearts toward each other, and that, even in our most mature relationships there are lapses of selfishness and abuse. We recognize that we have work to do. We pray for the Peace of Christ as we do this work. Help us to be neither lazy nor compulsive in this work of Love. Help us to be diligent---and peaceful. Help us to overcome our fear of man, what he thinks about us or what he can do to us. But, please Lord, help us to never stop loving him and working for his freedom from all oppression; as we allow Your Spirit in us to keep us free from oppression—even the frustrations of our own and our peoples' failures and ignorance. Help us to take to heart Your prayer from the Cross: “Father forgive them, for they don't know what they are doing.”

Thank You for Grace—Amazing Grace—that enables us to live free from both denial and guilt. It is only in Your Love that we can look at some of the ugliness in ourselves; and it is only by Your Grace that we can be “cleansed from all unrighteousness.” Thank You for giving us the Righteousness of Christ—unspeakable gift! We receive Your Grace, forgiveness, and cleansing, with deep gratitude and the humility that recognizes that we did not earn it, nor are we entitled to it; any more than we were entitled to life on this planet. You give deliverance as freely as You have given life---deliverance from all oppression. In this moment, we allow ourselves, with Your permission, to feel free from all fear, or to embrace our fears in Faith. We allow ourselves to feel forgiven and healed of all the ways our souls have been twisted by the darkness that is in our world. Free from all oppression.

We seek only to be motivated by Your Universal, Divine Love---Love for all sentient beings, for life and goodness and truth---for all the love that has been and is being expressed in the human family---for kindness and generosity of heart---for the innocence of childhood, and for the opportunity to return to it ourselves---for the delivering power of forgiveness. And for the confidence of Your promises: to be with us always, even to the end of the world; to complete the work that You have begun in us---to give us eternal life---to empower us to love effectively with eternal results.

We renew our devotion to be obedient to You by loving others as we love ourselves; and by doing what we can to facilitate the expansion of Your Love in the hearts of humans---to work for Your Kingdom.

In Christ's Holy Name,

Amen---Let it be so---Amen.

Bible: Statements Regarding

Great Statements Concerning the Bible

“The only way of establishing and perpetuating our republican forms of government is the universal education of our youth in the principles of Christianity by means of the Bible. ...The Bible contains more knowledge necessary to man in his present state than any other book in the world.”

-Benjamin Rush, signer of Dec. of Independence, “Father of Public Schools under the Constitution”

"So great is my veneration for the Bible that …the earlier my children begin to read it, the more confident will be my hopes that they will prove useful citizens of their country and respectable members of society. I have for many years made it a practice to read through the Bible once every year."
"I speak as a man of the world to men of the world; and I say to you, Search the Scriptures! The Bible is the book of all others, to be read at all ages, and in all conditions of human life; not to be read once or twice or thrice through, and then laid aside, but to be read in small portions of one or two chapters every day, and never to be intermitted, unless by some overruling necessity."
"In what light soever we regard the Bible, whether with reference to revelation, to history, or to morality, it is an invaluable and inexhaustible mine of knowledge and virtue."
"The first and almost the only Book deserving of universal attention is the Bible."
- John Quincy Adams

“The existence of the Bible, as a book for the people, is the greatest benefit which the human race has ever experienced.”

-Immanuel Kant German philosopher who is a central figure in modern philosophy

“Of the many influences that have shaped the United States into a distinctive nation and people, none may be said to be more fundamental and enduring than the Bible.”

“My experience in this office that I hold has only deepened a belief that I've held for many years: Within the covers of that single Book are all the answers to all the problems that face us today if only we'd read and believe.”

_Pres. Ronald Reagan

“There are a good many problems before the American people today and before me as President, but I expect to find the solutions to those problems just in proportion that I am faithful in the study of the Word.”

-Woodrow Wilson, 28^th Pres. Of the United States

"The Bible is no mere book, but a living Power that conquers all that oppose it."
- Napoleon Bonaparte

"The American nation from its first settlement at Jamestown to this hour is based upon and permeated by the principles of the Bible."
- Justice David Joseph Brewer, Supreme Court Justice

"I believe the Bible because it is the Word of God."
- William Jennings Bryan
"I know the Bible is inspired because it finds me a greater depth of my being than any other book."
“I have found in the Bible words for my inmost thoughts, songs for my joy, utterance for my hidden griefs and pleadings for my shame and feebleness.”
— Samuel Taylor Coleridge an English poet, literary critic, philosopher and theologian who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England  

"It is impossible to enslave mentally or socially a Bible-reading people. The principles of the Bible are the groundwork of human freedom."
- Horace Greeley

"I have always believed in the inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, whereby they have become the expression to man of the Word and will of God."
- Warren G. Harding

"The Bible is worth all other books which have ever been printed."
- Patrick Henry

"That book, sir, is the rock on which our republic rests."
- Andrew Jackson

"The Bible contains more true sublimity, more exquisite beauty, more pure morality, more important history, and finer strains of poetry and eloquence than can be collected from all other books, in whatever age or language they may have been written."
- Sir William James

"Of the hundreds of thousands of artifacts found by the archaeologists, not one has ever been discovered that contradicts, or denies one word, phrase, clause, or sentence of the Bible . . . but always confirms, and verifies the facts of the Biblical record."
- Dr. J.O. Kinnaman

"In all my perplexities and distresses, the Bible has never failed to give me light and strength."
- Robert E. Lee

"All the good from the Savior of the World is communicated through this Book . . . All the things desirable to man are contained in it."
"I am profitably engaged in reading the Bible. Take all of this Book upon reason that you can, and the balance by faith, and you will live and die a better man."
"I believe the Bible is the best gift God has ever given to man. All the good from the Savior of the world is communicated to us through this book."
"In regard to this Great Book, I have but to say, I believe the Bible is the best gift God has given to man. All the good Savior gave to the world was communicated through this Book. But for this Book we could not know right from wrong. All things most desirable for man’s welfare, here and hereafter, are to be found portrayed in it. To you I return my most sincere thanks for the elegant company of the great Book of God which you present."
- Abraham Lincoln

"I consider an intimate knowledge of the Bible an indispensable qualification of a well-educated man."
- Dr. Robert A. Milliken, American experimental physicist honored with the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1923 for the measurement of the elementary electric charge and for his work on the photoelectric effect.

"We account the Scriptures of God to be the most sublime philosophy. I find more sure marks of authority in the Bible than in any profane history whatever."
- Sir Isaac Newton

"I thoroughly believe in a university education…but I believe a knowledge of the Bible without a college course is more valuable than a college course without the Bible. Everyone who has a thorough knowledge of the Bible may truly be called educated."
- Dr. Wm. Lyon Phelps, Yale University

"A thorough knowledge of the Bible is worth more than a college education."
- Theodore Roosevelt

"Make it the first morning business of your life to understand some part of the Bible clearly, and make it your daily business to obey it in all that you do understand."
- John Ruskin

"There is only one Book – the Bible."
- Sir Walter Scott

"The whole hope of human progress is suspended on the ever-growing influence of the Bible."
- William Henry Seward

"Nobody ever outgrows Scripture; the book widens and deepens with our years."
- Charles Haddon Spurgeon

"You ask me what I think of Christ? He is the Chiefest among ten thousand, and altogether lovely – my Lord, my Saviour, and my God. What do I think of the Bible? It is the infallible Word of God, a light erected all along the shores of time to warn against the rocks and breakers, and to show the only way to harbor of eternal rest."
- William Strong

“The fundamental basis of this nation's laws was given to Moses on the Mount. The fundamental basis of our Bill of Rights comes from the teachings we get from Exodus and Saint Matthew, Isaiah and Saint Paul.”...

"The Bible is the moral code of civilization."
- Harry S. Truman

"A loving trust in the Author of the Bible is the best preparation for a wise and profitable study of the Bible itself."
- H.C. Trumbull

"After all, the Bible must be its own argument and defense. The power of it can never be proved unless felt. The authority of it can never be supported unless it is manifest. The light of it can never be demonstrated unless it shines."
- Henry Van Dyke

"I cannot too greatly emphasize the importance and value of Bible study—more important than ever before in these days of uncertainties, when men and women are apt to decide questions from the standpoint of expediency rather than on the eternal principles laid down by God Himself."
- John Wanamaker

"It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible."
- George Washington

"If there is anything in my thoughts or style to commend, the credit is due to my parents for instilling in me an early love of the Scriptures. If we abide by the principles taught in the bible, our country will go on prospering and to prosper; but if we and our posterity neglect its instructions and authority, no man can tell how sudden a catastrophe may overwhelm us and bury all our glory in profound obscurity."
"The Bible is our only safe guide."
- Daniel Webster

“It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ! For this very reason peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom of worship here.”

-Patrick Henry

“The Bible is the rock on which our Republic rests.”

-Andrew Jackson

For more than a thousand years the Bible, collectively taken, has gone hand in hand with civilization science, law; in short, with the moral and intellectual cultivation of the species, always supporting and often leading he way...     Samuel Taylor Coleridge

"A man had deprived himself of the best there is in the world who has deprived himself of this, a knowledge of the Bible. When you have read the Bible, you will know it is the Word of God, because you will have found in it the key to your own heart, your own happiness and your own duty."...
"I am sorry for the men who do not read the Bible every day. I wonder why they deprive themselves of the strength and of the pleasure."
"It is very difficult for an individual who knows the Scripture ever to get away from it…it forms a part of the warp and woof of his life."
- Woodrow Wilson

"This Book contains the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners, and the happiness of believers. Its doctrines are holy, its precepts are binding, its histories are true, and its decisions are immutable. Read it to be wise, believe in it to be safe, and practice it to be holy. It contains light to direct you, food to support you, and comfort to cheer you. It is the traveler’s map, the pilgrim’s staff, the pilot’s compass, the soldier’s sword, and the Christian’s character. Here paradise is restored, heaven opened, and the gates of hell disclosed. Christ is its grand object, our good its design, and the glory of God its end. It should fill the memory, rule the heart, and guide the feet. It is a mine of wealth, a paradise of glory, and a river of pleasure. It is given you in life, will be opened in the judgment, and will be remembered forever. It involves the highest responsibilities, will reward the greatest labor, and will condemn all who trifle with its sacred contents."
- Unknown

The text that led to Martin Luther’s conversion, and inspired the Reformation: "For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith.’" (Romans 1:17)

The text which more deeply influenced the life of John Knox: "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." (John 17:3)

The text which saved William Cowper from suicide: "Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God." (Romans 3:24-25).

John Bunyan’s favorite text: "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." (John 6:37).

The text which challenged David Livingstone: "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and, lo I am with you always, even to the end of the world." (Matthew 28:19-20).

Just use me – I am the Bible.
I am God’s wonderful library.
I am always – and above all – The Truth.
To the weary pilgrim, I am a good strong staff.
To the one who sits in gloom, I am a glorious light.
To those who stoop beneath heavy burdens, I am sweet rest.
To him who has lost his way, I am a safe guide.
To those who have been hurt by sin, I am healing balm.
To the discouraged, I whisper glad messages of hope.
To those who are distressed by the storms of life, I am an anchor.
To those who suffer in lonely solitude, I am a cool, soft hand resting on a fevered brow.
O, child of man, to best defend me, just use me!
- Unknown

The Bible in 50 Words
God made, Adam bit, Noah arked, Abraham split, Jacob fooled, Joseph ruled, Bush talked, Moses balked; Pharaoh plagued, people walked. Sea divided, tablets guided, Promise landed. Saul freaked, David peeked, prophets warned, Jesus born. God walked, love talked, anger crucified, hope died. Love rose, Spirit flamed, Word spread, God remained.

BIBLE

I find the Bible to be what it says of itself: a hammer that breaks down my defenses, a mirror in which I see myself, and a sure guide.

The Bible is more than a historical document to be preserved.

And it is more than a classic of English literature to be cherished

and admired. It is a record of God's dealing with men, of God's

revelation of Himself and His will. It records the life and work of

Him in whom the Word of God became flesh and dwelt among men.

The Bible carries its full message, not to those who regard it simply

as a heritage of the past or praise its literary style, but to those who

read it that they may discern and understand God's Word to men.

[From the Preface of the RSV New Testament 2^nd. Ed.]

We learn 7 different images for the Word of God in the Bible. This Bible study lesson is the list of these images found in the Bible.

1. Like a Double Edged Sword:

* Hebrews 4:12: -" Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart."

2. Like Fire:

* Jer 23:29: - "Is not my word like fire, says the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?"

3. Like Hammer:

* Jer 23:29: - "Is not my word like fire, says the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?"

4. Like Lamp and Light:

* Ps 119:105: - "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path."

5. Like Food:

* Mat 4:4: - "Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God."

* 1 Pet 1:25-2:2:"But the word of the Lord stands forever." And this is the word that was preached to you. Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation."

6. Like Seed:

* 1 Pet 1:23: - "For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God."

7. Like Mirror:

* James 1:22-25: - "But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves* in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act---they will be blessed in their doing."

Bible study - What is Word of God like? The seven symbols of Word of God in Bible - Double edge sword, fire, hammer, light and lamp, food, seed, mirror

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/2325938

Letter to a Friend

James, Please forgive the delay in responding.
I'm so thankful for you, and esp. your willingness to use your formidable intellect and broad-scoped thinking to propagate the Gospel. It has always, since the time of Christ's coming, been of ultimate importance to do so, but especially in our time when the collective mind is flooded with so much stimuli, and man is armed with powers as never before--military and communicative powers. The materialistic promises and impressive advances of science have had the effect of drawing our minds away from the deeper experiences of the soul; and even cast doubt upon their existence, since they can not yet be measured in the laboratory. Yet we see in societal ills the deleterious effects of such ignorance. [I do not say this in arrogance.]  There are spiritually blind men who possess a high degree of intelligence, and these must be countered by intelligent faith. This is true because humans are impressed by intelligence. Men whose philosophy makes no sense at all in its core can assemble great crowds of followers when the philosophy is clothed in intelligence and presented in bold confidence. But, of course, no philosophy can compare with the Love of Jesus Christ, without which all philosophies, all systems of government, in fact every pursuit of man becomes vain and meaningless, arrogant, and doomed to degenerate into the struggle for power.
Jesus has rescued us from this darkness. And we can now live in a growing, infinite peace, powered by a growing, secure knowledge that we are now connected with the fathomlessly glorious Creator of the universe, who is Love!
 I quote Julian of Norwich:
"Truth sees God; wisdom contemplates God; and of these two comes a third: a holy and wonderful delight in God, who is love."
This contemplation and its resultant delight is the wellspring from which evangelism [including apologetics] flows.
We are not thwarted by the pain that we continue to feel in our hearts; nor by our fears and lack of confidence. The pain is the "cross"  that Jesus has called us to bear; the same that He bore--life in this fallen world. It is the pain that drives us to love people with His Love--the only solution to the pain--both theirs and ours. We embrace it in the peace that He gives us—that transcends the circumstances.
We experience ever more deeply the reality of being “in, but not of the world.” We persevere—not in growing strain, but in growing peace and rest and strength, like the widening river as it approaches the ocean.
I've written enough. I mainly want to thank you and encourage you in this supremely important work of fulfilling His great command [Mt. 28], using our particular gifts and speaking into our particular sphere of influence.
You are a good brother, and I thank God for you.
Mark

Charlottesville, Christianity and Atheism

Hatred of persons is forbidden by Christ {Matthew 5:44}. No political agenda, therefore, that promotes hatred of any person or people group can legitimately claim to be Christian.

The recent events in Charlottesville, VA may be interpreted as the result of the waning influence of Christianity in American culture, coupled with the fact that humans are innately bent toward supreme devotion to something. If we are not devoted to the God of this universe Who is love {1Jn 4:8}—the God of Jesus Christ—then we either languish in meaninglessness or attach ourselves to some purpose; anything from saving whales {a noble endeavor} to promoting one's own race above other races {an ignoble one by Christian and perhaps all rational standards}. This is why it is important not to suppress the evangelistic efforts of the Christian faith. To use a metaphor that I read somewhere: The fires of Christianity are like the fires of the ancient cave men that held at bay the ravenous beasts that would otherwise devour them. As long as the fire burned brightly, men were safe. But you could see the glaring eyes of the hungry beasts around the perimeter of light.

Christianity unifies in love. This is the expressed prayer of Jesus {John 17}. Outside of this unifying love there are hundreds of motivating pursuits that potentially divide people against each other. If our egos are not subdued by a conscious submission to the love of Christ, they dominate the personality, and the “common good” gets left behind in the dust. Our Founding Fathers were clear on this. They knew that government “of, by and for the people” could only prosper in a culture of spiritually mature people who could overcome selfish motives and work, sometimes sacrificially, for the common good. And they also knew, from personal experience, the value of legitimate religion, particularly the teachings of Christ, in bringing men to this level of maturity. That is why we see religion protected from the State, and hear words such as “endowed by their Creator...”.

This belief that free government is bolstered and preserved by religion {and the ensuing morality} is clearly set forth in George Washington's Farewell Address of 1796. Quoting therefrom:

…Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, Religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great Pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connections with private and public felicity. Let it simply be asked where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths, which are the instruments of investigation in Courts of Justice? And let us with caution indulge the supposition, that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that National morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.

I compare atheism to cancer, and Christianity to the immune system. All human bodies contain some cancer cells, but our immune system protects us from their aggressive spread. If the immune system is suppressed, cancer flourishes and, ironically, ultimately destroys its own host. There is something sinister in any efforts to subvert or suppress a religion that promotes the love of all humankind—a willingness to practice unselfish, sacrificial service to one's fellows, even those very different from oneself. The life and teachings of Christ exposed, and exposes, that darkness. But the demons scream, criticize and attack—now as then. Or else sit and smile in smug, but ignorant, condescension.

Meanwhile, earnest Christians continue confessing their sins, looking to God to help them become better human beings, love their enemies and help those in need as Christ commanded, receiving the gifts of peace, joy and abundant life expressly promised by their Lord, forgiving, and then ignoring those who gloatingly point at their failures, realizing that they “know not what they do.” 

Mark Graham 

Crusades and Jihad {James Willis}

"Here's a response I've been earnestly working out for myself through research to respond to the comparison of modern day Islamic jihadist terror with so called Christian Crusades, as if this is historical justification for jihad, and 'an eye for an eye'. The comparison simply doesn't work if you consider historical facts for the purposes of justification, but ironically the comparison works for enlightening the flaws of jihad.

The Crusades, there were several, were a bad response to the violence of Muslims upon Christian sojourners traveling to the Holy Land, which was used in part as a pretense by Roman Catholic popes at the time to organize a so called holy war to 'defend the faith' and Jerusalem, also in part as a means of establishing an increase in the economic and military power, and the sphere of political influence of the Roman Catholic popes. The Roman Catholic popes at the time, (there were initially more than one at one time) were struggling for power among themselves and with various emperors and kings to rule both church and state. One can argue the 'chick or the egg' theory as to whether or not the economic, military and political power was needed to organize resistance against the Muslim attackers of Christians and infidels, however, that question is still unsettled to this day and ironically is stimulated by the phenomenon of Islamic jihad.

Although the violence of the Muslims attacking Christians in and on the way to the Holy Land was the original trigger for this corruption in the Roman Catholic church, yet there have been at least two major modern responses to this corruption of note:

1- Martin Luther in the Christian Reformation sought to bring visibility within the church, of the corruption within the Roman Catholic church doctrine and practices of the time, and to separate and preserve both the doctrine and practice of the truth as revealed by God through Jesus Christ. Direct evidence of this can be read in Martin Luther's writings, as well as the words of Christ, and of his witness by John in the Gospel of John. When John writes "in the beginning was the Word", John is referring to that which created the universe according to the Greeks - Logos - becoming incarnate in Jesus Christ but that is not all that was revealed through John. Whereas the Roman Catholic church, in error, teaches that salvation is through Jesus Christ but only through the Roman Catholic church sacraments, in contrast Christians  believe not that God became man or part of man as if descending, but that God through Jesus Christ adopted man into Himself through salvation. Further, in providing propitiation to Himself for our sins through Jesus Christ, God invalidated the need for man to attempt atonement for sins by animal sacrifice or by jihad, as a 'way to God'.

My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: and he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. ( 1 John 2:1 Isaiah 2:1-2 )

2- The United States was founded in part in response to the corruption of church and state known at the time in the Church of England. Although progressive activists would have us believe that the United States consitution  provides for separation of church and state so that church has no influence on state affairs, the founders of the US believed that separation of church and state was the other way round, i.e., that the state has no business regulating and governing the affairs of the church. In this way, men of the church would influence state affairs by being Godly men.

Here's a rough timeline
Muhammad dies 632 AD ->
oldest Quran 790AD, oldest fragments 725AD ->
Hadith (modifies Quran by some, history ongoing) ->
Muslim attacks on Rome and Churches 846, 850, 886-908 AD ->
Crusades 1096-1291AD ->
Martin Luther, reformation 1521 AD ->
United States founding as a nation, 1776 AD->
First Barbary War, Muslim attacks on United States ships with Quran as authority 1801 AD ->
Second Barbary War, Muslim attacks on United States ships with Quran as authority 1815 AD
etc

In contrast to these two corrective measures described above, both the preservation of Christianity apart from the Roman Catholic church (justification is by faith alone, Christ alone, scripture alone, i.e., not dispensed by the Roman Catholic church and sacraments) and the establishment of a Christian nation indivisible, and under God, what we see from those that claim a similarity of current Islamic jihad with the Crusades of the middle ages is simply continued violence upon God's people and other so called infidels. Where is the corrective action on the part of these perpetrators of violence? The corrective action is against those that don't believe in Islam.

Consider, from a global perspective above religion the corrective action of the jihadists appears as backward progress.

However, the perpetrators of jihad would have us believe that their dedication to Allah, intended in part to be atonement on their part for sin and evidence of right living, and to achieve Allah's favor and therefore attainment of paradise, would be gained by their own works for the propitiation of their sin and God's wrath by the sacrifice of Christians and all other so called infidels, like animals at an ancient alter. Only a psychopath will pour gasoline over a captured Jordanian pilot, light him on fire and film him as he screams to death.
Psychopaths that use religion as a cover story are still psychopaths or worse.
Fortunately psychopaths can't ultimately skew the truth of Christ's revelation, only the intentional blindness of the individual to the truth of Christ's revelation will do that, call it voluntary deception.

Further, if someone still claims that the Crusades are justification of Islamic jihad, then they must also acknowledge that the violence perpetrated by Muslims at the founding of Islam hundreds of years before the Crusades, must be owned by the Muslims of today. It works both ways - either human beings make real progress over the mistakes of the past or they will inevitably repeat them.

Instead, Islamic jihad is just one prong of a multi prong attack on diverse cultures different from Islam.
While the news focuses on jihadist terror operations and results, and the filming of captured, tortured, assassinated so called infidels in jihadist videos, the jurisprudence of entire nations are bending under the multicultural pressure of Islamic law fighters that claim, and I paraphrase, "because you offend me, you must change your laws, until they are my laws". This attempt to take over other nations throughout history both through violence and through political change and the resistance of target nations is often veiled in phrases like a "reaction to the expansion of Muslims" or "as a result of the expansion of Islam" to shift the focus to the intolerance of the nation that resists the real goals of jihad from the actors that are trying to bring about change.

Finally, for anyone that compares the Crusades to modern day jihad for justification, note that the comparison brings down the jihadist and the crusader in the argument- both parties used the concept of holy war for the secular purposes of gaining power and influence. Even so, the origin of the Crusades (1096-1291) is based in defensive action albeit with corruption, whereas the origin of jihad is based in offensive action, arguably also with corruption.
James Willis

Fifty Year Class Reunion Speech

Fifty years! I trust you have let that sink in. The Bible says our life is like a mist that arises for a moment then disappears—like grass that withers in the noonday sun. C. S. Lewis said, "to be in time is to change." Time means change. It's inevitable. It's those old scientific laws of gravity, of friction, and entropy. And from our graduation day until today, we have had a lot of it. In particular, we've had to adapt to new personal technologies — email, the Internet, texting, Facebook, selfies, flash drives, Bluetooth — all unheard of in 1967. In fact when I typed those words in my word processor, some of them came up redlined. “Bluetooth, texting and selfies” have not yet been added to the spellcheck dictionary! “Facebook and Internet” made the cut though. But they may not have at our last reunion! We have probably seen more technological change in our lifetimes than in the past three generations combined. And the accompanying social and moral changes. A few years ago I visited our campus while Faye, Lynn's Mom was living in the retirement community across the street from it. I saw something etched on one of the glass windows that I never saw in my 12 years at the school: The “F” word. I had a small anxiety attack—felt like running away quickly thinking, “O my God! Somebody's in a world of trouble, and I don't want to be suspected. They'll probably shut down the whole school until somebody confesses! And if no one does, Coach Hayes will probably line up the whole school and give every one a lick”. ... Then I remembered that times have changed. Our society certainly has become more desensitized to vulgarity in our lifetimes. In our lifetimes we've either progressed or regressed from a time when Ed Sullivan wouldn't show Elvis from the waste down because it was too suggestive, and Lucy and Ricky slept in separate beds, to Victoria Secret commercials and beyond.

Over these 50 years some got married, and some divorced, and some remarried. Some became parents, some early on, some later. Some of us went to Vietnam. Some watched it on TV—the first generation that was able to watch a war unfold in real time. We've all had to, in some ways deal with the confusion, grief, anger and guilt that resulted from it. We've seen TV programming evolve from extremely unreal to extremely, sometimes refreshingly, sometimes sickeningly real. Those of us who've had children are still helping them [and our grandchildren] negotiate this complex, bloated society. As some of you know, I've lost one—a very good one—to drug addiction. Most families have been impacted in some way by addiction. We've learned that prosperity only blesses when it's paralleled by spiritual maturity. And it is usually the pain of deprivation that drives us to spiritual maturity. Prosperity puts us out of touch with our deprivation. When God was delivering the Hebrews into the Promised Land, He warned them solemnly about becoming “full, fat, and forgetful.” He even commanded a set of rituals designed to keep them mindful that they had not delivered themselves—that they owed a debt of gratitude to Him and obedience to His commands if they wanted to continue to prosper. They failed. I still hope we won't. But if we do, I want to be among the faithful remnant. One thing is for sure; we have certainly lived in at least a close proximity to the Promised Land; evident in any study of human history. We have been blessed on this big bountiful continent! We owe our Founding Fathers a debt of gratitude for giving us a democracy and a system of government that has built in protections against the ever-threatening lust for power.

I'm thankful that they were men of faith and prayer.

I told some friends recently that I had this vision of my life like a river. Earlier, in those cold mountains where the river originated, there were many twists and turns down the descending rocky stream—alot of waterfalls and boulders to avoid. There were people in my boat who depended on me to steer us clear of the dangers. Sometimes I ran aground or faltered, and we all suffered. I had to pay better attention to what I was doing. Diligence was necessary. Had to decide which fork in the river would take me in the right direction. The river was moving fast..for a long time. But one day, not too long ago, as I took time to look around, I realized that the river was wider now, and moving more slowly. The noises along the river banks was quieter—fading away in the distance. I started to put a paddle in the water, as I was accustomed to doing, and realized that the boat was floating right on down the river, just fine without a lot of effort—at least that kind of effort. I laid back and, for the first time in a long time, looked at the beautiful amazing sky. I felt a little anxious at first—like I was ignoring something—so I sat back up and looked around. But sure enough, everything was Ok! And as I let that Okness sink down deep into my soul, I relaxed my gut for the first time, maybe since I was a baby at Momma's breast. And those words that I had read and even studied in seminary took on a more profound meaning for me: “I have calmed and quieted my soul. Even as a baby at its mother's breast is my soul.” “Peace I give to you. My peace I leave with you. Not as the world gives do I give to you.” “Fear not. Let not your heart be troubled...” “Be still and know that He is God.”

Diligence is still required—the diligence to guard my heart against whatever is dark in our culture—and in myself! All that stuff that steals and kills and destroys our peace and faith, hope and love—especially our love. Jesus said that, in the end times, because there would be much evil, that our love would wax cold. I can see how that happens. It's hard to love in a culture of apathy, hedonism and hatred. But He said that whoever endures to the end will be saved! That's what I want us to do—endure. Keep on loving our people all the way to the end. Just like I saw my mom and dad do. When I think of all my teachers at BB Comer [school], I realize they were loving me. I never felt mistreated by any of them. I appreciate their stern requirements that shook me a little, and caused me to begin waking up. I never want to stop waking up. And, as you've already surmised, Jesus has been the most unspeakably profound influence in my life. I give Him credit for all that is good in me, because without Him, it would have been choked out by what is not good in me.

That brings up the thought that, despite all this change, there are thankfully some things that don't change. Just like Babe Ruth said, “The most important thing is love; but baseball is good too.” “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but the word of the Lord endures forever.” The most important thing is still love—the love that Jesus brings us to in a powerful and commanding way; and that he keeps us rooted and grounded in despite the glaring distractions of change. The love that is the greatest adventure of life. As that river of life gets closer and closer to the infinite ocean, all that stuff that doesn't matter—all those distractions—really do begin to fade away. We let those who are in a hurry dash past us. We've learned that it doesn't do any good to push the river. We're gonna reach the place we're going to. I wrote this poem some years ago:

Why are we going so fast, so fast?

Why are we going so fast?

Where will we end up at last, at last?

Where will we end up at last?

Why are we going so fast to where we will end up at last?

Maybe a good way to think of our life span is: it's like a process of waking up. We see the process clearly in our little infants; new born; squinting their eyes in the bright light outside the womb. Unable to open their eyes in the bright light of day. Then growing onward they begin to realize that they are a self—they have a separate identity—the terrible two's—waking up to insects, rocks, and other people—the ocean for the first time. Discovering later that there are people who believe differently than they and their parents—about the most important things: God, Truth, Eternity. We wake up to the fact that relationships are as tough as they are important. We wake up to deep and profound pain that either defeats us or sends us on a quest for Truth. Pain awakens us! We discover that we're going to die. Then, like Ernest Becker pointed out in his book, The Denial of Death, we spend some energy trying to distract ourselves from that fact. If we're blessed, and especially at our age, we stop doing that. We look at death squarely in the face; and keep looking, and looking until he smiles at us and gives us some important wisdom. “Your days are limited and precious. Live them well. Sow good seeds. Love your people well,” death says to us. “And by the way, I am not the end. I am a doorway, just like Jesus said.” We wake up to freedom from fear. We wake up again, as when we were children, to the wonder of each present moment. The mystery of a blade of grass, a flower, a child's precious mind. And we may grieve some, knowing that we've missed some things. We've strained out some gnats and swallowed some camels. We lost some of our people before we could love them very well. We made some bad decisions with long-term affects. We've been in some darkness, and, in that darkness, even perpetrated some evil. We've hurt some people. But when we face that darkness in us, and take responsibility for it, we hear Jesus say, “Father forgive them, for they don't know what they are doing.” A major part of waking up is realizing that we didn't know what we were doing. And still don't to some degree. We still “see through a glass darkly” as Paul wrote. At some point in the awakening process, if we carry it all the way through, we fall on our knees and say “God have mercy on me, a sinner!” And if we are listening, carefully, intently, to that still small voice, we hear Him say “You are justified. I forgive you. I love you more than you love your children and grandchildren. I am the One Who put that Love in your heart. All is well. The universe has been designed lovingly to get you to this place. You have arrived. You are home, as well as going home. Go, and sin no more. I am with you always, even to the end of the world.”

What a wonderful awakening that is! Now we are no longer walking in darkness, but in the Light of Jesus Christ, the Eternal Light of the world. But this is not the Jesus that we thought we knew—the “religious” Jesus. This is the Jesus who imagined a butterfly and the process of conception. Bigger than we can imagine. The Author of imagination. Above all our concepts; and closer than the beating of our hearts. We understand now that all our suffering, all our mistakes and weaknesses were part of the Great Plan. And we find rest for our souls.

May He bless us as we strive peacefully to impart the wisdom that He has given us to the coming generations. May we not allow our weaknesses and failures prevent us from pointing others in the direction of the One who embraces all those failures in Grace and Love—the One Who has enabled us to refine what we have been given by our elders—our teachers and parents, pastors and guides. In this final leg of our journey, may we bring all that we have gleaned from life into a laser beam focus. May we build a solid foundation for the next generation to stand upon as they take life to the next level. May we not leave any Truth unspoken, nor any Love unexpressed when we depart from this amazing journey; when this river reaches its end, and our lives pour out into the infinite ocean of eternity, where God's Love will be more evident than ever.

Mark Graham