Christarchist Pt.1 The Individual

i am a Chistarchist. Christ-archism is the alternative of Anarchism. I know this is a realatively new concept to be heard for most people because of the fact that a "christian right" has been the only political option for most people who attend mainstream denominations in America (at least where i am from). An-archism, etymologically means "no ruler", while Christ-archism is the belief in the "Christ ruler". The more I read the Bible, particularly the books of Daniel and 1 Samuel, I am convinced that God intended for Himself a people who held their sole allegiance to Him. In the books of Samuel, we see God's people rebel and grieve God's Spirit as they beg for monarchal rule. God in His anger grants them this, but at a price. God promises His people that with a king will come many forms of injustice upon the people (1 Samuel 8). In Daniel, there is portrayed an everlasting Kingdom of God (Dan 4:31-32), this Kingdom is also presented in the Gospel of Mark by Jesus. Daniel had such clear meditation of this Kingdom, and all who fear God can see it coming eventually, but the thing that we must see today is the fact that we are citizens of heaven and must live as sojourners here on earth; that is, we must live for and by the One who has called us to Himself.

In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus is called the Son of God. This is easily overlooked today as just one of Jesus' many titles, but it is extremely significant to the identity of Christ in relation to His people. During the days of Jesus, the title "son of god" was reserved for the emperor of Rome. This emperor was considered the incarnation and presence of god on earth, and people under Roman rule were required to worship the emperor. Mark commits blasphemy against the State by attributing this title to Jesus, the true incarnation of God. What Mark asserts in the first verse of his Gospel is that Jesus is worthy of worship and that the emperor is a pretender; Jesus is our Ruler and will receive glory, not a profligate man deluded by his own position. Mark also talks a great deal about the humanity of Jesus. This is shown by the title, "son of man". Jesus humbled Himself and lived for the purpose given to Him by the Father: to love, teach and die for the people of God. He came to serve His people and teach them how to serve others. The purpose of Mark's Gospel is to teach Christians who Jesus is and how we are to follow Him. Thus we find our identity as Christians and God's identity revealed to us: the paradoxial nature of glory and humility revealed in the man/God Jesus.

All this said, i do not recognize authority on earth. i submit to establishments of government, but i submit to them according to the Biblical standard (Romans 12). i understand that Jesus is my Messiah, Prophet, Priest, and my King; thus i find it unecessary to associate myself with the government of the United States. i understand the instruction of Jesus on how to live life. If I follow this instruction, I do what is best for humanity for the glory of God. The commandments of Jesus can be summed up in love for God, then love for humanity.

Eberhard Arnold

Here are some important excerpts from the book, God's Revolution. i hope these may be of some use to you:


"Faith will bring about true unity among believers who are ready to live a life of unlimited, active love. "


"We ought constantly to occupy our minds and hearts with the person of Jesus: who He is, what He said, how He lived, how He died, and what His resurrection means. We have to take in the full import of His words in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5–7) and in the parables, and we have to represent to all the world the same things He represented in His life."



"Nowhere among the early Christians do we find the cold light of intellectual understanding that constantly analyzes and differentiates. Instead, there was the Spirit that burned within their hearts and made their souls alive." (Col. 2:8–10)



"What is unique about the way Jesus has shown us is that no one but God is in authority, no one else has the right to say anything. So it is quite right to speak of God’s kingly rule. God alone has the rulership. He alone is King. That is the Kingdom of God. "

Holiness...maybe incommunicable.

I recently returned from the 2009 Ligonier Conference in Orlando Fla. The theme of the conference was the holiness of God. What I want to bring to the table, is an idea that one of the speakers presented that really has left me with the a new impression: the notion that we, as a human race, should be undone when we come to pray or ponder the ordinances of God because of His holiness. This speaker, with dead earnest, said that he almost believed that the reality of God's holiness in His person is an incommunicable attribute of God. Yet we are commanded by Jesus to be perfect, by Peter to be holy as God is holy, and warned by the author of Hebrews that without holiness, we shall not see the Lord--this is indeed an unmerited privilege. The holiness of a God who knows no sin and the gift of holiness to His people whom He has ransomed from the law of sin and death is indeed an immense reality that humanity does not readily consider. If we did consider the holiness of God, perhaps we may be less willing to sympathize with blind people who demean the nature of God, and deny His existence based seeing a broken and condemned world with which they are apart. Maybe we should be more ready to point out the nature of God's holiness and the fact that His Son was immolated for the salvation of the fallen. To think that there is no God because the human race is corrupted and unable to heal itself, or to think that if there is a God, He should solve the problems of society as some transcendental sociologist is a nearly blasphemous notion. We must aways keep our allegiance to God by not allowing a sinful pity to arise in us that will gloss over our perception of God's holiness. This will cause us to sympathize with sin and will cause great confusion for the Christian. The fact that an incomprehensible God shares His holiness through divine union with a sinful people wrought out though the sacrifice of Jesus and by faith is a display of the paradoxial and selfless love of the Living God. This fact alone should overwhelm us and encourage us to devote ourselves wholly to God because of His great love and the holiness he shares with His people. May we be overwhelmed in the knowledge of the holiness of God.

"For indeed, our God is a consuming Fire."

Thoughts of a Saint

"Remember your creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come, and the years draw near when you will say, "I have no pleasure in them; before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return witha the rain; in the day when the guards of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the women who grind cease working because they are few, and those who look through the windows see dimly; when the doors on the street are shut, and the sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low; when one is afraid of heights, and terrors are in the road; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself alongb and desire fails; because all must go to their eternal home, and the mourners will go about the streets; before the silver cord is snapped, and the golden bowl is broken, and the pitcher is broken at the fountain, and the wheel broken at the cistern, and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the breathd returns to God who gave it. Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher; all is vanity."

Epilogue

"Besides being wise, the Teacher also taught the people knowledge, weighing and studying and arranging many proverbs. The Teacher sought to find pleasing words, and he wrote words of truth plainly.
The sayings of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings that are given by one shepherd. Of anything beyond these, my child, beware. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh."

"The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God, and keep his commandments; for that is the whole duty of everyone. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil."

"I lay there under the stars and thought of what a great responsibility it is to be human. I am human because God made me. I experience suffering and temptation because mankind chose to follow Satan. God is reaching out to me to rescue me. I am learning to trust in Him, learning to live by His precepts, that I might be preserved." ~Donald Miller

"Six billion people live in this world, and I can only muster thoughts for one. Me."

"Nothing is going to change in the Congo until you and I figure out what is wrong with the person in the mirror."

The nature of violence regarding God's Kingdom

"The law and the prophets were in effect until John came; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is proclaimed, and everyone tries to enter it by force."

"From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force."

"Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it."


"There they strengthened the souls of the disciples and encouraged them to continue in the faith, saying, "It is through many persecutions that we must enter the kingdom of God."


"Jesus went through one town and village after another, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem. Someone asked him, "Lord, will only a few be saved?" "He said to them, Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able. When once the owner of the house has got up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, 'Lord, open to us,' then in reply he will say to you, 'I do not know where you come from.' Then you will begin to say, 'We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.' But he will say, 'I do not know where you come from; go away from me, all you evildoers!'"


I have recently begun to understand the certainty of violence required of God's people. This violence is not one of physical force, or anything of that sort, rather it is a violence of faith. Justification is the outcome of our faith (Romans 6:17-18) and as Christians, our purpose is to be justified in the sight of God (the very reason we live). After studying the Scriptures and reading works by those who knew God and His Word, the Christian will come to the conclusion that it is absolutely necessary we must set our faces like flint to be justified in the sight of God. This is done by God's grace and that grace affords us faith to live a life pleasing to God. Violence is the duration of our faith; it is what makes us able to overcome opposition on the Road to Life in this world (1 John 5:4-5). In this duration of our faith, all of God's blessings and promises are preserved for us (Col 1:21-23). I am not ruling out sin because we all sin, but I am saying that through faith, we come to a consistent pattern of living that is pleasing to God. If we say we have no sin, God's truth does not remain in us (1 John 1:8) and we also deceive ourselves into believing that Jesus' offices of High Priest and Mediator are non existent.

I have been reading through The Pilgrims Progress, and I recall an instance where Christian has come to Mr. Interpreter's house. Mr. Interpreter has already shown Christian some very important things concerning the nature of Christianity, but the one instance where Christian and Mr. Interpreter go and view a palace. Outside of the palace many men stand who would enter it but dare not because of the many guardsmen intent on keeping people out. Also, Christian saw a doorway; a little distance from that doorway stood a table, book, pen, and a man who served to take down the names of those who would enter the palace. Suddenly a man of valiance comes and tells the man to put down his name. Immediately after, he attacks those people who are guarding the palace, and cutting his way through them, he presses into the palace where he hears a voice calling to him, Come in, come in; Eternal glory thou shalt win.

Faith to set upon the Kingdom of Heaven though we are opposed by many forms of evil is what God requires of us and will strengthen us to do because of the blessing of His grace given to us. Violence is to walk the narrow and hard way of this life which God has chosen for His people and to do harm to any opposition that we may meet along the way to the Kingdom. I write this in full knowledge of the lack of violence in my own life, but I can only write down what I know is necessary for the follower of Jesus Christ. God will strengthen us in His will if we accept it wholly without comprimise.

On a final note, I would like to point out the solemn fact that the Gospels of Matthew and Luke are colored by the theme of violence in people's faith, or lack of. The sermons on the Mount and Plain display a life that can only be lived if a person determines to live entirely for the will of God. Yes there will be failures and sin, but through the strength provided by the Pioneer and Perfecter of our faith, this can become the consistant pattern of our lives. Praise God for this!

"Now to God who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but is now disclosed, and through the prophetic writings is made known to all the Gentiles, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith -to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever! Amen. "

Self Examination

"Men are apt to act very treacherously and perversely in the matter of self-examination. When they are put upon examining themselves, they very often decline it, and will not enter into any serious examination of themselves at all. They hear uses of examination insisted on, but put them off to others, and never seriously apply them to themselves. — And if they do examine themselves, when they are put upon it, they are exceedingly partial to themselves. They spare themselves. They do not search, and look, and pass a judgment according to truth, but so as unreasonably to favor and justify themselves — If they can be brought to examine themselves at all, whether they do not allow themselves in known wickedness, although they attend on divine ordinances, they will not do it impartially. Their endeavor will not be indeed to know the truth of their case, and to give a true answer to their consciences, but to blind themselves, to persuade and flatter themselves that they do not allow themselves in known sin, whether it be true or not. There are two things especially wherein persons often act very perversely and falsely in this matter."

~Jonathan Edwards

Sin

"Sin has no substance, it can only be know through the pain it brings."

~Julian of Norwich

World Slums

The result of a spiritually impoverished society:

http://www.theplaceswelive.com/

Part 2

"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life."

--Ephesians 2:8-10

"For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us)..."

--Romans 4:16

"And he believed the Lord; and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness."

--Genesis 15:6

The Scriptures establish that humility and faith are inseparable to those walking the path of life in Christ. Humility is one of the conditions, or proofs of faith acceptable to God. That said, I want to attempt to cover the relationship of grace, faith, and works in a summarizing manner. The verses in Ephesians are often ignored by people today. This is saddening because we need to realize the fact that in these verses, the revelation of God's dealings with mankind and what He wills for us to do are made clear--basically, this is the desire of God's heart. The Apostle Paul is saying that God has snatched us from eternal death even though we are unworthy, has granted us the ability to rely on Him (faith), to live bearing the good works of our faith to God and that this be our continual way of living. The other side is that no person can do this by his or her own strength. This salvation; this way of life is only possible through the death and rising of Jesus. He is our life (Col 3:1-4) through faith that brings us into a deep relationship and unity with God. The Grace of God giving us faith and accessed by faith is revealed to humanity--this is the way, may we walk in it certainly by the favor of God!

Parable 1

Grace

Grace is not a pillow on which a man sleeps; it is the Hand of the Almighty grasping the human soul, lifting it from death and rousing it to life in the journey of faith.

Humility and Faith pt 1

"Unless you become like a little child, you will not enter the kingdom of God."

Today in American society, people are taught certain moral perspectives on life. People today can be very moral, in a civil sense, in their personal lives and yet be very far from the Kingdom of God. Many modern churches teach a certain code of ethics to the masses, yet they are far from the knowledge of God. The reason for this is that the vast majority of people lack the humility that God requires of His people. God said that he would look upon and be with the humble who are filled with contrition; who tremble at His words (Is 66:2), that He leads the humble in what is right, and that the humble are taught by Him (Ps 25:9). The Scriptures teach us that the spirits of the proud are unstable and that the righteous will live by reliance upon God (Hab 2:4), this reliance can only be found in the humble. In order to recieve such faith that lasts forever, a person must be clothed with humility. God does not lavish His grace upon the proud, but on the humble, who by their humility can look to Him in faith for the fulfillment of the will of God. Faith and humility are intertwined, they co-exist together within the saint binding him to Jesus who stands before the Father pleading for the needs of those bound to Him in faith. James tells us that God is against the proud, but is for the humble (Jas 4:6-10). James also admonishes us to turn to God by means of humble faith, changing our patterns of life that are not in accord with the will of God through lamentation, mourning, and weeping. This is the work of humility that is acceptable to God. So let us examine our lives with the prayer of the psalmist (Ps 139:23-24) and cleanse our hands with zeal for God and the humility of faith. With that, I will post two last admonitions from Scripture pertaining to the necessity of submition to God:

"See that you do not refuse the one who is speaking; for if they did not escape when they refused the one who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we reject the one who warns from heaven!"

"And we want each one of you to show the same diligence, so as to realize the full assurance of hope to the very end, so that you may not become sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises."