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.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
A Glimpse of Hope
I must say, today I saw a glimpse of hope.
Last week I went to a local pizza shop to get some pizza and support Uganda. If you brought a 'coupon' with you, then 20% of your money went to Uganda (I wish you didn't have to have a coupon, and 20% of all the revenue from that day went to support Uganda). But anyway, There were people (supporting project have hope) selling beads which are handmade by the Acholi tribe in Uganda, which supports education and helps sustain villages. I didn't have enough cash with me, so they told me they would be selling the bead jewelry november 13th (today) at UD's student center.
I went today to buy some goodies for my sister for christmas, and for my girlfriend since it's our anniversary tomorrow. I talked with the people at the kiosk for a while. I asked them what organizations they are involved with, and they told me Uganda Untold and the Invisible Children. I told them I was very interested in joining their group, because I think it's about time for me to actually do something. I must say I haven't been involved with social activism really, but I know that it's the will of God to help people around the world.
Anyway, I saw somebody drinking some Undawater, which is distributed through a mission team of the church I attend Circle of Hope. It costs a dollar for a bottle of water and that dollar provides somebody with fresh drinking water for a whole month!!! I got really excited! "Hey where did you get that water!!!" They told me they got it at the Gulu Walk in Philly. I told them that my church is involved with distributing the water. They asked me if I knew how to get a hold of some. They said they would like to get a hold of some to sell. So I told them I could probably arrange that.
The moral of the story here is that I saw a glimpse of hope today. I am usually a pretty cynical person when it comes to the world. I see how messed up everything is and it gets me down. But after today, I really believe that there is Hope and that God wants us to turn hope into a reality. If we can help develop education for people in Uganda, and supply people with a month's worth of drinking water with only a dollar, then maybe it is possible for God's kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven.
check out these sites for more info:
www.projecthavehope.org
www.undawater.com/
www.invisiblechildren.com
Uganda Untold (University of Delaware)
Last week I went to a local pizza shop to get some pizza and support Uganda. If you brought a 'coupon' with you, then 20% of your money went to Uganda (I wish you didn't have to have a coupon, and 20% of all the revenue from that day went to support Uganda). But anyway, There were people (supporting project have hope) selling beads which are handmade by the Acholi tribe in Uganda, which supports education and helps sustain villages. I didn't have enough cash with me, so they told me they would be selling the bead jewelry november 13th (today) at UD's student center.
I went today to buy some goodies for my sister for christmas, and for my girlfriend since it's our anniversary tomorrow. I talked with the people at the kiosk for a while. I asked them what organizations they are involved with, and they told me Uganda Untold and the Invisible Children. I told them I was very interested in joining their group, because I think it's about time for me to actually do something. I must say I haven't been involved with social activism really, but I know that it's the will of God to help people around the world.
Anyway, I saw somebody drinking some Undawater, which is distributed through a mission team of the church I attend Circle of Hope. It costs a dollar for a bottle of water and that dollar provides somebody with fresh drinking water for a whole month!!! I got really excited! "Hey where did you get that water!!!" They told me they got it at the Gulu Walk in Philly. I told them that my church is involved with distributing the water. They asked me if I knew how to get a hold of some. They said they would like to get a hold of some to sell. So I told them I could probably arrange that.
The moral of the story here is that I saw a glimpse of hope today. I am usually a pretty cynical person when it comes to the world. I see how messed up everything is and it gets me down. But after today, I really believe that there is Hope and that God wants us to turn hope into a reality. If we can help develop education for people in Uganda, and supply people with a month's worth of drinking water with only a dollar, then maybe it is possible for God's kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven.
check out these sites for more info:
www.projecthavehope.org
www.undawater.com/
www.invisiblechildren.com
Uganda Untold (University of Delaware)
Thursday, November 8, 2007
What's Your Theological Worldview?
I saw that our friend adam took this quiz. So i decided to take it as well. Some of the questions were hard to answer, and I don't know if I'm 21 percent Roman Catholic, and i think i should be 0% fundamentalist rather than 21%, but it was fun. I also have no idea how i got 79% charismatic/pentecostal Please take it and post your results in either our comments section or on our page. The guy in the picture is Brian Mclaren, who i'm reading right now. I thought that was funny!
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
What's your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| You scored as Emergent/Postmodern You are Emergent/Postmodern in your theology. You feel alienated from older forms of church, you don't think they connect to modern culture very well. No one knows the whole truth about God, and we have much to learn from each other, and so learning takes place in dialogue. Evangelism should take place in relationships rather than through crusades and altar-calls. People are interested in spirituality and want to ask questions, so the church should help them to do this.
|
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
This got me fired up.
I just read something that really upset me. I was reading through Brian McLaren's book: Everything Must Change, and i stumbled across a figure blew my mind. He's talking about US military budget. I'll just quote from the book:
"The 2006 budget showed that US military expenditures were twenty-one times larger than diplomacy and foreign aid combined, and that the United States was dead last among the most developed nations in foreign aid as a percentage of gross domestic product. One wonders what would happen if good-hearted Americans realized that a mere 10 percent of the US military budget, if reinvested in foreign aid and development, could care for the basic needs of the entire world's poor. Or if they realized that one-half of 1 percent of the US military budget would cut hunger in Africa in half by 2015. Would there be marches in the streets calling for budgetary reform?"
These figures are disturbing. How can this be? What bothers me the most is the lack of people that realized this. Especially so called followers of Jesus. Think about these hungry children next time you pay your taxes.
I'm embarrassed to live in this country
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Tolerance
Tolerance is something I've struggled with for a long long time. In high school i was always hating on the jocks and preps, and people who conformed to the norms. When I entered college, I judged everyone who got wasted every weekend, and I couldn't stand how slutty some of the girls dressed. I had the wrong attitude for far too long.
Last spring it hit me. I realized that Christians are some of the most judgmental people. How can this be? I had fallen into this same trap. Followers of Christ are called NOT to judge. Jesus himself said "Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven". I think we all need to listen to His words here.
Ever since I had this epiphany last spring, I have tried my hardest to respect all people and to love everyone, and it has really has been working out for me. I do not hate anyone anymore. This is coming from a person who used to be extremely cynical, but now I have forgiven everyone and I live a much more enjoyable life.
Try it!
Last spring it hit me. I realized that Christians are some of the most judgmental people. How can this be? I had fallen into this same trap. Followers of Christ are called NOT to judge. Jesus himself said "Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven". I think we all need to listen to His words here.
Ever since I had this epiphany last spring, I have tried my hardest to respect all people and to love everyone, and it has really has been working out for me. I do not hate anyone anymore. This is coming from a person who used to be extremely cynical, but now I have forgiven everyone and I live a much more enjoyable life.
Try it!
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