Protesting War

This is a fascinating video that i found. Those curious about non-violent protesting should have a look at this.

http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=dorothy+day&hl=en&emb=0&aq=1&oq=dorothy+d#

Christarchist Pt 2. The problem

Another reason that I truly believe that Christian Anarchism is the perfect political alternative is because we have the freedom to separate and unite: separate from this world and it's patterns and unite to one another for the cause of Gospel living. What is old is incompatible with what is new. Thus an old and carnal system of life is not reconcilable with those who put their hands to the plough exploring the alternative of Gospel living. The problems with the social system today are listed here:

1. Our social setting is money. Because greed and waste have been mighty architects, the mass of society is left bankrupt of true life (one of peace).

2. We have made sought to progress in may ways simply for the sake of progression and not for the glory of God. Doing this we encourage society to turn from God and seek self preservation--we lose the necessary fear and dependance on God.

3. Education is secular--we teach alienation from the life of God.

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."