this marks the end of resistance is ruin and the beginning of our new blog: Sword of Peace, which you can find here:
www.swordofpeace.wordpress.com
Our posts and comments have all been transferred to our new site
We decided to change the name of our blog and our format. To start off, we went with Wordpress, because we think we can do more with this.
We also want to add more people as authors to the blog, so if you are interested, just let us know.
We want our blog to be more open to everyone. We still want to focus on peace and spreading the word of Jesus, but it will not have an anarchist focus as not everyone who will be writing with us will have the same perspective as matt and I.
so check it out!
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Monday, December 10, 2007
In Preparation for Jesus, Advent Season (Part 2: Mary, Elizabeth and John the Baptist)
Being raised in a protestant church, we never really talked about mary. I don't even know why this is really. I guess maybe it could because of the catholic stigma.
Two weeks ago we had a retreat consisting of prayer and meditation. One of the passages we meditated on was the Magnifcat:
Luke 1:46-57 (New King James Version)
46 And Mary said:
“ My soul magnifies the Lord,
47 And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
48 For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant;
For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.
49 For He who is mighty has done great things for me,
And holy is His name.
50 And His mercy is on those who fear Him
From generation to generation.
51 He has shown strength with His arm;
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
52 He has put down the mighty from their thrones,
And exalted the lowly.
53 He has filled the hungry with good things,
And the rich He has sent away empty.
54 He has helped His servant Israel,
In remembrance of His mercy,
55 As He spoke to our fathers,
To Abraham and to his seed forever.”
This passage tells the story of the Messiah, it speaks of God's mission to dethrone kings and lift up the lowly.
When Mary visited Elizabeth, John leapt in Elizabeth's Womb.
Luke 1:39-45
39 Now Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste, to a city of Judah, 40 and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. 41 And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43 But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. 45 Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord.”
Jesus is coming
Two weeks ago we had a retreat consisting of prayer and meditation. One of the passages we meditated on was the Magnifcat:
Luke 1:46-57 (New King James Version)
46 And Mary said:
“ My soul magnifies the Lord,
47 And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
48 For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant;
For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.
49 For He who is mighty has done great things for me,
And holy is His name.
50 And His mercy is on those who fear Him
From generation to generation.
51 He has shown strength with His arm;
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
52 He has put down the mighty from their thrones,
And exalted the lowly.
53 He has filled the hungry with good things,
And the rich He has sent away empty.
54 He has helped His servant Israel,
In remembrance of His mercy,
55 As He spoke to our fathers,
To Abraham and to his seed forever.”
This passage tells the story of the Messiah, it speaks of God's mission to dethrone kings and lift up the lowly.
When Mary visited Elizabeth, John leapt in Elizabeth's Womb.
Luke 1:39-45
39 Now Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste, to a city of Judah, 40 and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. 41 And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43 But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. 45 Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord.”
Jesus is coming
Monday, December 3, 2007
In Preparation for Jesus, Advent Season (Part 1: Prophesies)
I decided to do a series of posts during this advent season, which leads of to the birth of Jesus
The people of Israel were left in darkness, they went through many hardships since God revealed himself through Abraham, Moses, etc. At a point when hope was almost completely lost, God began to reveal himself to the prophets. He promised to send his son, who will change the world. There are many prophesies in the Old Testament that were finally fulfilled by Jesus. Micah revels God's plan for a world of peace:
Micah 4:1-3
1 Now it shall come to pass in the latter days
That the mountain of the LORD’s house
Shall be established on the top of the mountains,
And shall be exalted above the hills;
And peoples shall flow to it.
2 Many nations shall come and say,
“ Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
To the house of the God of Jacob;
He will teach us His ways,
And we shall walk in His paths.”
For out of Zion the law shall go forth,
And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
3 He shall judge between many peoples,
And rebuke strong nations afar off;
They shall beat their swords into plowshares,
And their spears into pruning hooks;
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
Neither shall they learn war anymore.[a]
4 But everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree,
And no one shall make them afraid;
For the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken.
This shows how Jesus will come and bring with him the Gospel of Peace.
Isaiah 40:3
3 A voice of one calling:
"In the desert prepare
the way for the LORD [a] ;
make straight in the wilderness
a highway for our God. [b]
Prepare the way for the Savior
Isaiah 42:1-9
1 "Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen one in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him
and he will bring justice to the nations.
2 He will not shout or cry out,
or raise his voice in the streets.
3 A bruised reed he will not break,
and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.
In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;
4 he will not falter or be discouraged
till he establishes justice on earth.
In his law the islands will put their hope."
5 This is what God the LORD says—
he who created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spread out the earth and all that comes out of it,
who gives breath to its people,
and life to those who walk on it:
6 "I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness;
I will take hold of your hand.
I will keep you and will make you
to be a covenant for the people
and a light for the Gentiles,
7 to open eyes that are blind,
to free captives from prison
and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.
8 "I am the LORD; that is my name!
I will not give my glory to another
or my praise to idols.
9 See, the former things have taken place,
and new things I declare;
before they spring into being
I announce them to you."
God reveals the person of Jesus and describes how Jesus will be a new covenant that will give light to not only the Jews, but all people (the Gentiles)
Micah 5:2
2 "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
though you are small among the clans [a] of Judah,
out of you will come for me
one who will be ruler over Israel,
whose origins [b] are from of old,
from ancient times. [c] "
Jesus will come out of Bethlehem
Jesus will be the light of the world, he will change the face of Jewish history, which had been plagued by darkness for generations.
The people of Israel were left in darkness, they went through many hardships since God revealed himself through Abraham, Moses, etc. At a point when hope was almost completely lost, God began to reveal himself to the prophets. He promised to send his son, who will change the world. There are many prophesies in the Old Testament that were finally fulfilled by Jesus. Micah revels God's plan for a world of peace:
Micah 4:1-3
1 Now it shall come to pass in the latter days
That the mountain of the LORD’s house
Shall be established on the top of the mountains,
And shall be exalted above the hills;
And peoples shall flow to it.
2 Many nations shall come and say,
“ Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
To the house of the God of Jacob;
He will teach us His ways,
And we shall walk in His paths.”
For out of Zion the law shall go forth,
And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
3 He shall judge between many peoples,
And rebuke strong nations afar off;
They shall beat their swords into plowshares,
And their spears into pruning hooks;
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
Neither shall they learn war anymore.[a]
4 But everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree,
And no one shall make them afraid;
For the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken.
This shows how Jesus will come and bring with him the Gospel of Peace.
Isaiah 40:3
3 A voice of one calling:
"In the desert prepare
the way for the LORD [a] ;
make straight in the wilderness
a highway for our God. [b]
Prepare the way for the Savior
Isaiah 42:1-9
1 "Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen one in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him
and he will bring justice to the nations.
2 He will not shout or cry out,
or raise his voice in the streets.
3 A bruised reed he will not break,
and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.
In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;
4 he will not falter or be discouraged
till he establishes justice on earth.
In his law the islands will put their hope."
5 This is what God the LORD says—
he who created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spread out the earth and all that comes out of it,
who gives breath to its people,
and life to those who walk on it:
6 "I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness;
I will take hold of your hand.
I will keep you and will make you
to be a covenant for the people
and a light for the Gentiles,
7 to open eyes that are blind,
to free captives from prison
and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.
8 "I am the LORD; that is my name!
I will not give my glory to another
or my praise to idols.
9 See, the former things have taken place,
and new things I declare;
before they spring into being
I announce them to you."
God reveals the person of Jesus and describes how Jesus will be a new covenant that will give light to not only the Jews, but all people (the Gentiles)
Micah 5:2
2 "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
though you are small among the clans [a] of Judah,
out of you will come for me
one who will be ruler over Israel,
whose origins [b] are from of old,
from ancient times. [c] "
Jesus will come out of Bethlehem
Jesus will be the light of the world, he will change the face of Jewish history, which had been plagued by darkness for generations.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)