My 3 Enemies

There are some who have become enemies because of my sin or theirs. Here all I can do is apologize and ask for forgiveness and seek reconciliation, Mt. 5:23-24. Or if I feel I have been wronged I can let them know how I was hurt. The ones who become “enemies” are the ones who refuse to extend true grace. I cannot really help that. Now the spiritual ball is in their court, not mine.
The 2nd group of enemies is produced by no other reason than the fact that some people simply don’t like you. Our personalities may grate them the wrong way or perhaps they don’t like my jeans, taste in music, worship style, non-essential christian doctrine (4 or 5pter; pre or post trib) or philosophy of ministry. I believe this group is the most ridiculous. I strive to never allow these things to develop enmity but again, I cannot really help it if they don’t reciprocate.
The 3rd group of enemies is the result of our walk with God. For example, the biblical model of Jesus as the only way of salvation (Jn. 14:6) is the equivalent of waving a red flag to a bull within a relativistic and pluralistic culture. The warm fuzzy Jesus is more preferred than the one who also demands Lordship over every area of our lives. Regardless, you know where I’m going…Jesus said, “”Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Mt. 5:44. Are you sure Jesus? Those are some pretty mean people! They should get what they deserve. Loving our friends is pretty easy but … our enemies? Yet, we must learn from the love of Jesus. Only the Holy Spirit, I believe, can help us here. I personally don’t think God expects us to be a door mat and that there are simply some toxic people that I have a complete peace about avoiding. For ex. note how David didnt return w/Saul in 1 Sam 24:22 (no more javelin practicing on me) yet I must still love them. I must do the right thing even when the wrong thing happens. There is no reward for doing what the world expects (see Mt. 5:46) Jesus expects us to reflect Him and His ways. May God, the Holy Spirit help all of us in living this out.. Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God (Mt. 5:9) I guess the non-peacemakers will not be called “children of God.”

Give War a Chance

I believe it was Winston Churchill who said something like, "all that's needed for evil to prevail is for good people to do nothing." It’s a hot topic. Blood pressures rise. Pupils narrow. But, its one we need to discuss-war. Often ive been asked: “How can a holy God condone all of the wars in the Bible?” or "why was God so mad in the OT?" Indeed it seems that there is a conflict between the God of the Old Testament and the Jesus, the Prince of Peace, of the New Testament. I’m not quoting him verbatim, but I recently read where Elton John believes that most of the world’s problems would be eliminated if the world’s religions were eliminated. He probably forgot that the biggest wars of the 20th century were caused by atheism, Nazism, Communism, and imperialism.

War is in the Bible and at times God even commanded it. At times God used Israel as His instrument for judgment upon godless and immoral governments and societies. And, at times Israel was on the receiving end (this, for example, was Habbakkuk’s beef w/God and of course, the book of Lamentations is lamenting the invasion of Jerusalem). In some ways, the book of Joshua is like a military manual. I know that this is Totally P-Inc but we must always remember that the Bible reveals who God is and not who we think He should be. What we do know is that war, at times, must be just, bc God cannot make immoral commands.

The question then is: what about today?
In the USA war brought an end to slavery in the 19th c. and in the 18th c. it took a war to insure our freedom of worship. In the 20th war brought an end to Nazism and checked the spread of communism.

2ndly, Is it ethical to have the power to intervene but not intervene when a govt offers no resistance to murderers, criminals, etc.?

Jesus has already won the battle over the spiritual powers and in much of his ministry we see His efforts attacking the forces of darkness and reclaiming that which is rightfully His. And He is coming again. One day, we’ll see the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy and swords will be beaten into plowshares.