Archive for 'Christianity'
Part One: Knowing that you are at war
Posted on 06. Jan, 2010 by Tim Stoner.
The most offensive stance you can take today is to believe that you are a part of a spiritually militant band of warriors. Many today believe that all of that noisy, sweaty, battle rhetoric was brought to a sudden halt by the violence of the cross. This view interprets the death of Jesus as this massive back fire that burned off everything that fueled spiritual conflict. Any residual warfare rhetoric that emphasizes dueling antagonists is antiquated or destructive. The problem? That is precisely how Jesus, the apostles and church fathers (and mothers) taught us to talk.
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On Cursing Your Enemies
Posted on 05. Jul, 2009 by Tim Stoner.
There are certains Psalms called the Imprecatory Psalms because they are filled with prayers of curses on wicked oppressors. I am tempted to run as far as I can from them. I wish they weren’t included in the Bible. They are so utterly Medieval and Inquisitorial. But it is their intolerable harshness that arrests me and drags me back. And it makes me wonder whether I am the one in need of change not the Psalms.
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A Generation of Martyrs: Suicide Bombers in Reverse
Posted on 17. Jun, 2009 by Tim Stoner.
By choosing to follow Jesus (”take up the cross”) we joined a long train of faithful disciples who accepted the shame of the cross and drank the bitter cup, like their Master, to the dregs. The symbol of the cross points us to the reality that this battle we are in will cost us our lives one way or the other. And we are called to die, daily, and that, at least, means we must lay our lives down, like Jesus did, for life of the world. We do not take life–we give ours, freely, as our Lord did.
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A Necessary Tension
Posted on 17. Jun, 2009 by Tim Stoner.
The encouragement by many current teachers to fearless engage in the world is laudable. It is a necessary corrective to the fundamentalist tendency to flee from or demonize culture. However, I think it is not very helpful to teach that we are to feel at home, “safe” in this world; i.e. that true holiness reduces the Christian’s tension in and with the world. According to the NT, our primary identity with regards to the world remains “stranger”, “alien. We are still to be in the world but not of the world. That very biblical and very healthy tension is essential and should not to be lessened or sneered at, even if it is done ever so ironically.
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Jesus On Jihad: Part 6
Posted on 17. Jun, 2009 by Tim Stoner.
What turned the adoring crowd into a frenzied, blood-thirsty mob? Perhaps more to the point, why are the religious leaders, the entire Sanhedrin no longer paralyzed by fear? The conspiracy’s success depended upon avoiding the public eye. Jesus must be ambushed by subterfuge, and the trap must be sprung in total secrecy. The crowd must not, under any circumstances, be alerted to the capture of their hero, at least not until the conspirators have set the stage and created the image of failed charlatan, a powerless pretender–a fraud.
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Jesus On Jihad: Part 5
Posted on 17. Jun, 2009 by Tim Stoner.
Twice Jesus pointedly tells the religious leaders who hate Him that He knows they are planning His murder. They come back with a not-so subtle jab at His suspicious origins, bragging that, unlike some who-shall-remain-nameless, their mothers were not “loose women”. How angry did He get at that? John doesn’t say but he does report that Jesus declares to them that (while their mothers may have been virtuous) their father was the Devil. And to top it off they, like their father, are murderers and liars. It would seem Jesus was not amused.
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Jesus On Jihad: Part 4
Posted on 17. Jun, 2009 by Tim Stoner.
If we study Jesus’ encounters carefully we have to face a troubling difficulty, Jesus, like His cousin, John, was also an equal opportunity offender. He appeared indifferent to the effect of His caustic labeling and “intemperate” outbursts even on those drawn to Him, those inclined to side with him against the wealthy, privileged elite. What is so astonishing is His disregard for the sensibilities of His constituency and His stubborn refusal to curry favor with them. At times it would appear that He wanted to offend them as much as, if not more than, those who despised Him.
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Jesus On Jihad: Part 3
Posted on 17. Jun, 2009 by Tim Stoner.
The approach Jesus takes with His bitter enemies is instructive. It begins innocently enough inside a synagogue where some Pharisees raise a question about healing on the Sabbath. Jesus has a choice, He could respond with the classic rabbinic misdirection: a non-responsive question which puts the questioner on the spot, or a show-down. He takes off the velvet gloves and opts for the latter. Jesus refuses to side step their ambush. He plunges forward with an abandon that might be thought foolhardy. But first He turns to the handicapped man, and in a voice that rings off the stone walls He commands: “stand up in front of everyone!”
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Jesus On Jihad: Part 2
Posted on 17. Jun, 2009 by Tim Stoner.
Selecting the battleground:
The longed-for Messiah is a king, therefore, His coming is announced in regal fashion by a conspicuous and outspoken herald. His name is John the Baptizer. It is his distinct honor to proclaim the arrival of the Chosen One and make ready His path before Him. We could say that, in a matter [...]
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Jesus On Jihad: Part 1
Posted on 16. Jun, 2009 by Tim Stoner.
Invasion of Enemy Territory:
Jesus, from the very beginning, is at war. He is invading His enemy’s kingdom intent on vanquishing, dethroning, and expelling him. Because He is God and is coming to establish the kingdom reign of heaven on earth (more specifically, in the hearts of men), it is a holy war. His birth is [...]
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Tim Stoner: send me your address you get a book...
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Emory Hermie: So little done, a lot to accomplish. One's mind h...
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Bob Schuman: Mmmmm...........
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Sara Schimmer: I couldn't agree with him more. The Falls Church ...
