Like many Americans, I was appalled by and\nashamed of what transpired in Washington DC as protesters stormed the capitol. It\nwas an ugly and sad day for America and a bad look to the rest of the world. I\nlove our country deeply and it grieves me to see the hatred and division on\nboth sides. I have no issue with peaceful protesting. I believe the media is\noften biased and distorts the truth. Plus, in politics people often play dirty\n(all is fair in love and war and in politics). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some sources say the peaceful protest was\nhijacked by extremists. Even so, when people cross the line and resort to\nviolence, we condemn it on both sides. While we can\u2019t control what\u2019s going on\nin DC, we can control what\u2019s in our own heart. We should constantly pray \u201cCreate\nin me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me\u201d<\/em> (Ps. 51:10,\nKJV). In other words, when the world goes wrong, don\u2019t go wrong with it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like millions of conservatives, I have questions\nabout the fairness and accuracy of the 2020 election. If there was fraud or\ncorruption, I pray it is exposed. But two wrongs never make a right. Besides, our\nhope is not in a man (Trump or Biden) or in a political party\u2014our hope is in\nJesus! Our future and salvation do not depend on who is in the white house but on\nwho is on the throne! \u201cOn Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is\nsinking sand!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Violence is not the solution because it\nonly breeds more violence in a vicious cycle of revenge. Paul provided the\nanswer\u2014<\/em>\u201cRepay no one evil for evil . . . If it is possible, as much as depends on\nyou, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather\ngive place to wrath; for it is written, \u2018Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,\u2019 says\nthe Lord . . . Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good<\/strong>\u201d<\/em> (Rom. 12:17-21, NKJV).<\/p>\n\n\n\n We are in a spiritual war for the soul of our nation. Our nation is in turmoil (racially, politically, medically with Covid-19, and, most of all, spiritually). There is a constant clash between good and evil, God and Satan, truth and error, light and darkness, the spirit and the flesh. People are not the enemy but the spirits that work through people. Paul provided insight into this unseen realm, \u201cFor we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places\u201d<\/em> (Eph. 6:12). <\/p>\n\n\n\n A major difference between the Old and New\nTestaments is Israel fought mostly natural battles against natural enemies\nusing natural weapons while we are fighting spiritual battles with spiritual\nenemies and weapons. We can\u2019t win spiritual battles with natural weapons (they\ntried it in DC, and it backfired). \u201c<\/em>For the weapons of our\nwarfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds\u201d<\/em> (2 Cor. 10:4). We can\u2019t defeat the devil or evil with swords,\nknives, guns, or bombs; we defeat them with the Word of God, faith, prayer, and\nthe name and blood of Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jesus dealt with violent tendencies among\nHis own disciples.One of His hand-picked recruits wasSimon \u201cthe\nZealot\u201d which tells us about his political affiliation. The Zealots were a radical,\nJewish sect of outlaws who hated Roman occupation and often resorted to violence\nto incite riots and tried to overthrow Roman rule. Other infamous Zealots were\nJudas of Galilee who was crucified in a revolt around 6 A.D. (Ac. 5:37),\nBarabbas (Mk. 15:7), and probably the two thieves crucified with Christ. So,\nthink about it, Jesus chose Matthew (a tax collector) and Simon (who hated tax\ncollectors) to be on His ministry team. Imagine the arguments they had at the\ndinner table. There were serious clashes of opinions and, who knows, maybe a\nfew fights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, why did Jesus choose a zealot to be His disciple? Jesus probably had to take him aside a few times and tone him down: Simon,<\/em> I know you don\u2019t like these people and want to hurt them, but I love them and came to save them! So, mind your manners and be NICE! <\/em>Jesus redirected Simon\u2019s political fervor to a greater cause\u2014spreading the Gospel. Jesus replaced his racism and hatred with a genuine love for people. Church tradition says that Simon later preached in Africa, Egypt, and Britain and he was either crucified or sawn asunder for his faith and testimony. Ironically, the disciple who was the most likely to take lives ended up giving his life as a martyr. Christ changed his heart, and a potential murderer turned into a powerful minister. That\u2019s what God\u2019s grace can do!<\/p>\n\n\n\n James and John, whom Jesus nicknamed \u201csons\nof thunder,\u201d also had a violent streak. When a Samaritan village rejected them,\nthey asked for permission to pray fire down from heaven like Elijah did to burn\nthem up. Jesus rebuked them, and said, \u201cYou do not know what manner of\nspirit you are of. <\/sup>For the\nSon of Man did not come to destroy men\u2019s lives but to save them\u201d<\/em> (Lk.\n9:55-56). They had the wrong spirit like many do today. People we might dislike\nor wish to harm are the same people Jesus loves and seeks to help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When Peter drew his sword to defend Jesus\nin Gethsemane, He scolded him and healed the man he injured\u2014\u201cPut your sword\nin its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Or do you\nthink that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more\nthan twelve legions of angels?\u201d<\/em> (Mt. 26:52-53). Jesus could have summoned\nan angelic army to route the Romans and deliver the Jews. Later,\nHe stood before Pilate who demanded, \u201cAre You the King of the Jews?\n. . . Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of\nthis world, My servants would fight<\/strong>\u201d<\/em> (Jn. 18:33, 36). Jesus didn\u2019t rally His followers to fight. Instead, He inspired\nthem to change the world with love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Are there times when violence is\njustified? Certainly. If someone is being attacked, you have the right to protect\nthem. If someone breaks in your home, you have a right to defend yourself. If\nyou are a soldier in combat for a just cause, not all killing is murder. Somebody\nhad to stop Hitler\u2019s Nazism. Somebody had to defeat fascism and communism. Somebody\nmust stop dictators who are hell bent on genocide. Someone must stop violent\ncriminals determined to commit mass murder. Often the only way to stop violent\npeople is with force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Christians, we must balance this with\nthe fact that Jesus called us to be peacemakers. When\nJesus said, \u201cFrom the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of\nheaven suffers violence<\/strong>, and the violent take it by force\u201d<\/em> (Mt. 11:12),\nHe wasn\u2019t talking about violence against other people. He was talking about being\nforceful in a spiritual sense and resisting sin, Satan, self, and the world to press\ninto and promote the kingdom of God (Lk. 16:16).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes, we oppose abortion, but we don\u2019t harm\ndoctors who perform them or bomb abortion clinics. We disagree with communism,\nsocialism, atheism, and racism, but we don\u2019t threaten or harm those who embrace\nthem. We disagree with adultery, homosexuality, drugs, drunkenness, and\ngambling, but we don\u2019t hurt people who practice them. Like Jesus, we love the\nsinner and loathe the sin. Christ calls us to be peacemakers not troublemakers.\nViolence is never the solution. In an increasingly violent world, Paul\u2019s\nmessage is more relevant than ever, \u201cBe not overcome with evil but overcome\nevil with good!\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Like many Americans, I was appalled by and ashamed of what transpired in Washington DC as protesters stormed the capitol. It was an ugly and sad day for America and a bad look to the rest of the world. I love our country deeply and it grieves me to see the hatred and division on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":797,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-334","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=334"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":338,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334\/revisions\/338"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}