#usa1776

USA1776 has been shadowbanned, and is taking a break from social media for personal reasons. I am in contact with him through other means and will be posting some of his thoughts on his behalf from time to time. 

What is a peacemaker? 

I came back to this thought while reading about a word my grandpa used extensively "ekklesia"...a worshiping body of people joined in one purpose. "Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called sons of God". If the Bible is God's word....and we know - without even a shadow's doubt that it is, then all of it corresponds all the rest. God abhors violence, yet brought death for judgement. God doesn't contradict himself - ever. In order for me to understand what I am reading, there must be an acceptance that modern constructs do not apply (nor should they). Israel always found peace, prosperity, health, happiness following the harshness of judgement of its enemies.           

This in no way gives us permission to go about "cleansing" the world of non-believers - Muslims already have a corner on that market.           

Then my mind takes to the what if corner. What if Christian men, in one ekklesia armed for war, but seeking peace and love, tending to the widows, the sick, the downtrodden as Christ our redeemed instructed? A unified front of love...at all costs. An ecclesiastical Si Vis Pacem Parabellum....would this fall under Christ's warning of "live by the sword/die by the sword" ... I'm not sure. The amazing thing about God's word is the more you go to it...the deeper your desire to find more...because you learn that what you were searching for (you thought) wasn't really it at all. And the journey of seeking God in all things....this is the point of life. Seeking to be the best we can be for God to inhabit, to use...to bless. The act of seeking him has always seemed to calm my inner storm. It is in this inner storm that I have always found my anger, my penchant for violence....and to calm this leaves only love. In the calm of the storm, whatever actions are deemed needed...more likely than not will be God-breathed, blessed....a holy action. Taking the life of a murderer in action isn't violent. It is bringing peace to the life of the would-be victim. It isn't an act of judgement because that belongs only to God himself. We protect, defend, love, cherish the creation of God's holy hand...at all costs.