A message of Grace and Love

"To our most bitter opponents we say: 'Throw us in jail and we will still love
you. Bomb our houses and threaten our children and we will still love you. Beat
us and leave us half dead and we will still love you. But be ye assured that we
will wear you down by our capacity to suffer. One day we shall so appeal to your heart and conscience that we shall win you in the process, and our victory will be a double victory.' "

-Martin Luther King Jr.

"The American Dream"

July 4, 1965

[speech, Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta, GA]

How to respond to terrorists. pt.1

How do we respond to terrorists?

Well my first instinct is to look at the Bible. When we do this, we find that a significant character in the Biblical narrative was a terrorist. Who you may ask? Well the obvious answer is the Apostle Paul. He went from house to house arresting, beating, and killing Christians [we know at least Stephen]. These are the acts of a cold-blooded religious extremist/terrorist. If you know the story, this religious extremist converted to Christianity and became a prolific church planter/missionary/Apostle who just happened to write a ton of letters, some of which were included in the New Testament.

What would have happened if some of the earliest Christians had said, "What this guy is doing is evil, let's kill him!" What would the early church have become if a few Christians had got together and looked to kill Paul? Well, it for sure would look different.

What can we learn by thinking about the religious extremist/terrorist/Apostle named Paul?

Great Quote:

The cross is God's way of saying, "Love Wins."

-Rob Bell

http://tinyurl.com/krcgx2

Love pt 4

Love is pro-life. But not like you think.

Love's pro-life stance is against abortion but it is also against leaving a single mother with no options alone to deal with her problems. You see love realizes that just making a law is not a going to make a difference. It recognizes that good laws need to be made, but demands we change our lives to help those who need help. So love does not allow us act - in the name of justice and truth - coldly, blindly, without concern for people who need help

You see Love's pro-life stance is against terrorism, but it's also against the war on terror. It realizes that neither provide the way to peace and equality.

Love's pro-life stance calls for justice, but also demands mercy.

Love is so pro-life it cannot stand idly by and watch another starve. Love causes a rich man to sell everything he has and give it to help his neighbor get some food. Being pro-life asks the one who has much, to liberally give it all away in order to be a neighbor to a stranger.

Love is so pro-life it is against fences. It looks to tear down walls, to repair the broken relationships that divide all of us. Love looks to make friends with the burglar, to clean up after the vandal, and to forgive the criminal. Love is so pro-life that it cannot fathom the death penalty, preemptive strikes, or torture.

Love is so pro-life it demands that wrong doing be treated with forgiveness. It cannot stand revenge, retaliation, or pay-back. Being pro-life means that love refuses to hate, it refuses to hold a grudge, and it refuses to quit attempting to reconcile.

Love's pro-life stance is so strong, its destiny can be summed up in two words: Love Wins.