In Christ there is no east or west,
In him no south or north,
But one great fellowship of love
Throughout the whole wide earth.
John Oxenham
It’s imperative that Christians of all stripes, color, race, origin, ethnicity, denomination, and any other separation anyone can think of should join together in a display of love, brother- and sisterhood and unity in Christ.
So Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:42-45
But among you it will be different. Don’t you love that? Don’t you love it when God’s way runs observably different than the world’s way? It’s a difference you can see and discern that sets apart true followers of Christ. It gives you a chance to know what to focus on in your own life if you want to follow Christ, and it also gives you a way to discern who you want to model after so that you do not get led astray by false teachers.
I’ve had some very painful moments in the last few weeks, unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. The pain literally sent me howling a few times. It was 3 or 4 days until the doctors and nurses found something that would quiet it down. What I discovered, however, was an amazing calming effect that singing brought.
Our Catch today comes by way of our Prayer Warrior Pastor, Merv Keck. Though John is home now and doing better, he is still not out of the woods yet, as the last setback came about where we are now in the healing process. So don’t stop praying.
Thanks to everyone for faithfully praying for John and Marti this week. Your continued persistence in praying boldly, fervently, and specifically is a Blessing to both John and Marti.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. (Matthew 5:9)
When I went looking for a picture to go along with a Catch on making peace, I typed “peacemaker” in the image search engine, and got an array of pictures of a gun. Not quite what I expected. Apparently “peacemaker” is the name of a popular gun collector’s item, a Colt 45 that was the U.S. Army official service revolver from 1873-1892. I also found pictures of a very large aircraft — the Convair B-36 bomber — the largest mass-produced piston-engine aircraft ever made, and operated solely by the United States Air Force (USAF) from 1949 to 1959. It was designed specifically to carry nuclear weapons long distances and could travel almost halfway around the world without refueling.
In both of these instances, “peace” was maintained by way of the threat of destructive force. You will be peaceful because I’ve got the gun and I can blow you away. Or, Your country will be at peace with us because you know we have the capability of wiping your entire nation off the face of the earth.
Not quite the kind of peacemaker Jesus was talking about, and yet it is the kind of “peace” many Christians have taken up in the last few decades. There is a militant strain of Christianity that has evidenced itself ever since Christians gained power socially and politically in America. Under the guise of a culture war, Christians have taken to trying to win back lost values by force, as if a Colt 45 in hand would make the country a more Christian nation.
“Grace needs to be turned inside out so that we can see what God’s really doing in there.” That is the way one of our BlogTalkRadio guests explained what he liked about our slogan “Grace Turned Outward.”
But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. – Luke 6:35
If you want to get a little taste of what God is like, try loving your enemies, lending money to those you know won’t pay you back, and then try being kind to ungrateful and wicked people. What does this do to one’s sense of justice and fairness? What could this possibly be about? Jesus can’t be serious about this, can He?
[This story first appeared as a Catch on January 13, 2017. I’m revisiting it because we need to be reminded to listen for this cry in every human soul.]
My wife, Marti, loves to tell the story of a dramatic rescue in which she played a significant role when she was a flight attendant. On a routine done-it-a-hundred-times flight from Chicago to New York, a gentleman on board had a heart attack. Literally keeled over in his seat. This is when you are really grateful for the flight attendant call button the man’s fellow passenger pushed in a panic.
Don’t you realize that I could ask my Father for thousands of angels to protect us, and he would send them instantly? But if I did, how would the Scriptures be fulfilled that describe what must happen now?” Matthew 26:53-54
Jesus spoke these words on the night He was betrayed in the garden and one of the disciples tried to stop the soldiers from seizing Him, and ended up cutting off the ear of one of them. Jesus immediately healed the soldier’s ear, told the disciple to put away his sword and spoke the words quoted above.
A bruised reed He will not break. Isaiah 42:3
I can see it now. Jesus, on the night in which He was betrayed, goes to the olive grove called Gethsemane taking Peter, James and John with Him, and urges them to “Stay here and watch with me” while He goes on ahead to pray. “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death.” And He goes to bargain with God for His life. Meanwhile, Peter turns to the others and says, “Okay guys … John, why don’t you start us in prayer and I’ll close.”Then, Zzzzzzzzzzz. And this happened two more times!
John Fischer The Catch 