Columbus Day or Indigenous People Day, What Do Christians Celebrate?

Columbus Day or Indigenous People Day, What Do Christians Celebrate?      Maj. Kelly Durant

 

Colossians 3:11 Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.

 

2. What will you celebrate tomorrow, Columbus Day or Indigenous People Day? I think most of us, as in the past, won’t really celebrate anything having to do with either of these cultures, but instead will go out to a local park, or just stay home and enjoy a free day. There are a few cities with festivals celebrating this holiday, but there are a few.

 

In general how are we to celebrate the holidays established by men of certain cultures? This has always been a dilemma for people of conviction from the beginning. For example if you were a Jew, would you celebrate with the Romans their holiday to recognize the goddess of the harvest? Probably not, right? The Jews celebrate Sukkot but that’s not like our modern ones.

 

And the Christians in the Roman times, did they celebrate Roman holidays? Probably not, but converted Romans must have had a hard time because all their life they were use to participating in certain holidays, and to break the habit was not easy. Once Jesus became your, ‘all in all’, nothing else had anything more to offer, it was empty. All worship of idols and gods who reign over seasonal holidays were despised! They were false!

 

3. As the Christians back then and now, we have the discretion to observe or not observe holidays (holy days) but of course anything directing us to the worship of evil, or of an idol or false deity we must avoid. So how should we interpret Colossians 2:16

Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:

 

I think this verse may confuse some folks as to what it is being reiterated from Romans 14. Basically in Colossians, and this happens anywhere at any time within any culture, there was a blurring of doctrines and ideas. On the eating of meats, for example, are there not vegetarian Christian denominations today that eat only vegetables? Some Christians are vegetarians, as in India and elsewhere, but are they wrong to choose as they do? No, but there is controversy. Back in Paul’s day when you ate in someone’s home serving some meats that were offered to pagan idols you just needed to pray in Jesus name before you ate it, or just not eat it.

 

In their eyes if you were eating meat while you were in fellowship with them then you would need to be looked down upon as doing something they disagreed with. What does scripture say about that? In general it basically says, when with Romans do as the Roman, and when with the Jews, do as the Jew. Romans 14: 21 It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbles, or is offended, or is made weak.

 

4. The rest of Colossians 2:16 says, “or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days”.  What’s that? Did Christians back then celebrate holidays and new moons?

According to this some of them in some places did, and it seems clear we are not to judge them for it. What harm is it to be culturally adapted? If this were a literal worship of the moon goddess (which the Romans did practice with Diana or Luna) then this would be idolatry, but otherwise a new moon it is just a recognition of a special day, a way to reset your biological calendar. Who knows, maybe they did picnics by sea or a vigil or something special to get together but for sure it was innocent of pagan customs.

 

Notice also they liked to honor the Sabbath, and even today some Christians do that as the Seventh Day Adventist or Messianic believers. It was the first day of the week when Jesus resurrected, or Sunday, (See John 20 :1 ‘The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early’…) but to honor a Saturday, what harm does it do? No harm unless we start in fighting and condemning each other as heretical Christians over it!

 

Here is the difference, we may respect a certain holiday, as you know many Christians like to respect some Jewish holidays, but in the observance of it we must evaluate ourselves to be sure we are not doing it in an idolatrous way with alternative motives like doing it for a spiritual pride! Also, no one should be reverencing any part of anything that has total pagan  roots and inferences because anything observed is to be as a means to honor God only, amen?

 

5. So Christopher Columbus or the Native American Indian, which should we honor? With all the new light on history, I think many people have become disillusioned in their admiration for Columbus, not because he himself was so evil, but because he opened the gateway for many other colonists to come over and kill and oppress the Indians and take their lands. So why is he recognized? He is honored because he was first in connecting Europe with the New World. After all, it was a voyage of many months with the risk of death.

 

Columbus, according to new evidence, must have been Portuguese and not even Spanish or Italian as many presume, plus he landed in the Caribbean, not in North America but landing only in the islands. Through him word got back to the Spanish, English, Dutch, Portuguese, Italians and others that there were new places they could immigrate to and many wanted to escape Europe. Europe has a history of cruel kings and dictators with constant war, and in the 1500s there was a lot of religious persecution against those who wanted to not submit to the institutionalized church. The pursuit of freedom or the pursuit of prosperity became a huge motivator for immigration away from the Europe. For sure anyone of us would have risked it too just to come here, to the land of opportunity. And even today we cannot stop the immigration with 700,000 granted visas yearly and another half million more who sneak in.

 

There is record that many Christian colonists (puritans and the like), contrary to recent divisive revisionist history that respected the American Natives and traded with them iron goods for their natural goods such as furs. The beginning started out well. We celebrate another holiday over that, do you know which one? Thanksgiving! A celebration of diverse cultures and good relationships. But what happened? Some new greedy colonists came over that wanted to steal land, furs and natural resources and kill in the process, and thus began the war with invaders. 

 

6. So Columbus did not ‘discover’ America, America was already discovered and inhabited by several million people with many hundreds of Native Tribes. Adventurous Christopher only introduced a new knowledge that there were ‘noble savages’ (this is how they labeled them) and massive land opportunities after his voyages. Also, Columbus brought Christianity to the new world, the Catholic-Jesuit-Templar Knights type. However, the way in which later settlers imposed themselves in the Americas, many would argue their societal model was not so Christian done more in the style of Spanish conquests establishing class distinctions and feudalism. The Catholic Church traditionally honors Columbus for his missionary endeavors which is now a 500 year old holiday!

 

So what has happened in the past 500 years? Atrocities that you and I cannot change! The ancient wars we read about in the old Testament, and the wars we learn about that happened in the Americas and everywhere else reveal how much the world needs our prince of peace, the savior Jesus Christ! We cannot change the past but we can learn lessons from it and pray we do not repeat the same evil mistakes of killing each other over race, greed, power, or ideologies.

 

As Christians we are commanded to be opposingly different from the people of the world! James 4:1 From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? 2 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. 3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. 4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

 

7. Christians historically fought for the rights of the underdog and those who are abused unjustly. Isn’t this the premise for which the Salvation Army was founded? To practice the commands of Jesus to love others as ourselves and provide for the needs of the defenseless and suffering? We do this as best we can but still there is a lot to do, considering joining us! Talking about cultural practices, this is our Salvation Army practice: compassion & love through service.

 

Some Christians feel that one way to honor the Natives that were almost entirely wiped out is to give them a holiday in their honor, the Indigenous People Day. We observe a MLK Jr. Day, a Hispanic day, but shouldn’t we also have a native American recognition Day? After all, they were the dominate culture in the past, and now they are only 1.6% of our entire population!

 

Did you know there were many tribes that had practices to help their young children mature into men and women? The Jewish people do this with Bar Mitzvah, but this is not a common practice with most people anymore. We need to do something to help our youth today, do we not? The solemn ceremonial events the Indians did helped awaken their youth to the reality of respecting God (the great white Spirit) survival and nature’s importance. There was a principle of only taking what you needed from nature and then giving something back to replenish it.  

 

Traditionally in The Salvation Army in our youth programs during the summer camps we have celebrated native American customs, did you know that? The ones who consistently applied their selves well in the life skills programs would get awards and recognition. My wife made many dresses and feathered jewelry for them throughout the years. We talk about ‘best practices’, this is one of them, one to help young people see the value in progressing oneself in the knowledge of many practical things needed for survival in this life. (food prep, sewing, etc.)

 

8. Considering Indigenous Peoples Day, or Native American Day is a holiday in Maine, New Mexico, South Dakota, Alaska, Louisiana, Minnesota, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont and Wisconsin, and in our neighboring Washington D.C., we can conclude it is legal and acceptable to honor our Native ancestors on October 12^th if we so desire. Considering I am Chickasaw myself, I believe to honor the original American dwellers is a good thing to do. But that being said, I am not going to go on a hate filled rant about the evils of Columbus or the colonists as it leads nowhere. We cannot change the past but we can learn from it; we must learn to respect each other and not keep the hate refueled over the past, over race, or over loses. 

 

Here is what I propose, that we learn the good practices from every culture, glean those into our way of life, and let the evil practices be shunned and forgotten. Was Columbus inherently bad? No. Yet some of those that came after him were the real bad ones. Were the Indians bad?  In general they were not! But some  of the tribes were bad as they owned slaves from other nearby tribes and plundered and invaded in the style of the European Vikings. 

 

When we look at the entire history of the world we observe there has been dominance by certain races for certain periods of time and always all of them used slaves to build their empires. Today in 4/5^th of the world’s people are still in essence slaves as they are oppressed by false religions, evil atheistic governments, or cultural norms that consolidate class distinction which includes the oppression of women and children. In those places a protester or a counter culture resistor of the unjust system is either beaten, jailed, or killed! No rights there! We must appreciate and conserve the few rights we do have and resist top down mandates that do not empower, but rather control: It’s our mind, body, & spirit and the control belongs to Jesus!

 

Here there is a certain amount of freedom, freedom to the extent some governors allow destructions and anarchy, and freedom to worship God or Satan as you please. But personally, as a Christian, I find we should not give place to the devil or to those who destroy, to those who want absolute power, or to anyone who stirs up hate with excuses because usually hate groups attack the good people, or the ones not guilty, and they target Christians! 

 

9. In conclusion there is no harm done in the celebration either of these holidays as long as we are not doing it with an evil motive. Some people want to change our history and make all people appear evil, be they white, black, or Indian, and we need to rebuke them and their vain words as God taught us to love each other! Use all holidays as a means to preach Jesus!

 

Here is a book in the New Testament for Christians that get swayed by divisive history rewritten to instill hate for others, for those that put culture and education above the dominance of their faith in Jesus.  Galatians 1:6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: 7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. 9 As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

 

Please do not get pulled into all the current arguments made by anyone, even by false so called Christian leaders that want controversy over anything, over holidays, theology, over gender, over class equality, over race supremacy, over sexuality, over or anything! They are not worth your time as stated in Galatians! They are to be rebuked in Jesus name and exposed as Paul exposed the Galatians who were trying to force Christians to distort their beliefs and simplicity into a submission of practices that would elevate a certain group as more spiritual, righteous, and powerful than another. (In that case it was the Jewish Galatians) In our case today there are several groups vying for power!) We are princes and princesses to God and we must act like it! We are a noble people, not ones to trash, but ones to build and edify with sound doctrine!

 

So everything we do needs to be all about Jesus! He is all in all! No race, no social class, no religious practice, nothing should distort us away from exalting Him in every holiday, amen!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Respect & Let It Go! Or Pay The Price

                              Major Kelly Durant

Matthew 5:25

Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison.

 

2. How many of you have ever seen someone get involved in someone else’s business and you conclude that they should have just left it alone? In the world we expect to see this type of ignorant carnal conflictive behavior but isn’t it a shame when it is from one of our own brothers? Please pray before you ever get into someone else’s fight, you might end up looking like a fool or even getting arrested! Always be humble, be ready to forgive and back down.

 

One time at a certain Corps I recall on an evening Bible study night a member parked in the designated slot for the pastor’s car. That didn’t usually happen but it did that night. Well, wouldn’t you know it that one of the men wanted to track down the car owner and make him move the car. He wanted that rule breaker to respect the rules, which seems normal, but it escalated into anything but a normal situation.

 

The man was not asked, but told to remove his car. Apparently, neither of these two men knew the Bible verse,  Proverbs 15:1 A soft answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger. So the one with the car was offended by the loud rough tone and the other one was offended because he was being challenged. The situation was, the Captain (pastor) didn’t even mind that someone got his spot, but without him knowing two people were arguing and yelling and insulting each other. The whole Bible class came out to witness two men almost having a fist fight! About five of us had our phones out to call 911 but thank God these two listened and settled down! That heated dangerous situation didn’t have to happen how it did!

 

3. Have you ever been in a room and one person yawns, and then you and others yawn too? Why is that? That is one being affected by the behavior of another! Like it or not we are all subjected to a type of hive influence, and if one is bad, then the others want to follow and be bad too. That one disrespectful bad apple will bring on a new low standard. That’s why bad apples must go, and quickly!

Before in a classroom if a kid was rude and disrespected a teacher, the rest of the class would shut up knowing the one kid was going to the principle’s office and was going to get punished by the school and then by his parents. The hive mentality was, the respectful ones get to remain free to study, while the ones with bad behavior end up having to do boring punishments. What has happened to our systems of late? Now the kids imitate the bad ones and get away with it!

 

As Christians we must give respect to others even when they do not deserve it! Jesus predicted what would be happening in our last days, Matthew 24: 12 “And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold”. Today we see lawlessness, rudeness, and disrespect rewarded by social “likes”, media news support, and even some getting a paycheck from evil billionaires! Our world is topsy turvy, or functioning in the opposite way that it should in order to maintain peace and order. Satan and his hateful people want the system to fall apart so they can rebuild it under their draconian dystopian anti-Christ empire. Who is of God and who isn’t? See how much they align with Jesus’ teachings to know.

 

4. But what is a Christian supposed to do? We get disrespected a lot! We are tempted to want to get into the fight to set everyone straight, to correct the lawbreakers and in a harsh way, but we are reminded of what Paul instructed Romans 3:8 And why not say, “Let us do evil that good may come”?—as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say. Their condemnation is just. Rom. 12:21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

 

Many people are getting angry and cold hearted due to all the recent nonsensical lawlessness. Seeing how it is we resist any sympathy for the devil and his people; they are causing too much pain and death, we want God’s righteousness!  Romans 12:19 Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give no place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. Satan’s values are the opposite of God’s and in his eyes, and those of his loudmouthed demons, the disrespect and even murder of authority figures (or that of babies) is termed “justice” and justifiable because evil done on whom someone claims as bad is alright. What?! Do you see what horrendous blasphemy is being marketed to our confused youth? We must pray and trust that God’s judgements will come soon! God’s people and His values are the target of Satan and it is hitting home!

 

How is it that anyone with a brain could accept the recent messages that to ‘respect the law’ makes you be a bad person? And notice that labeled ones get targeted, harassed, trolled, and ridiculed into shame as crazy, disqualified, privileged, conservative idiots! The technocrat social-media gate keepers, the evil agenda driven school and college professors, and the mass media news outlet propagandists are pushing evil 86,400 seconds a day! The ‘bad is good and good is bad’ demons amongst us in authority are deceiving multitudes contradicting every instruction in God’s Holy Word! Their messages are always inflammatory lies and deceptions! 

 

5. Ephesians 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Our fight is against Satan and the demons inhabiting in evil people who spew out hate, mockery, lies and destruction with every breath, and these people are to be resisted, exposed, and denounced. “By their fruits you know them” But discretion must be applied to know that some powers are not purposefully evil but just functional. 

 

Romans 13:1 Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. 4 For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. 5 Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience’ sake.

 

These verses apply to everyone meaning we must be submitted to the legitimate authorities of society or we will pay the price. But of late many youth and angry people have been getting it wrong, they have been submitting to anarchist voices so they are as barbarians rebelling against all authorities! We must.. Ephesians 4:27 not give place to the devil.  2 Timothy 3:1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,

 

6. So what is the context for the verse of today? Matthew 5:25

Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him. Jesus is basically telling us not to go crazy and want to take matters into our own hands. In the verses in the beginning of the chapter we are reminded that “blessed are the peacemakers” but life is not just ‘love and peace’ many injustices are always happening to you and to others. Here Jesus speaks about controlling your anger, not letting disrespect get out of hand or you will pay the price of punishment. 

 

21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. (Side note: Because an injustice occurs, say with an Asian man killing someone, this does not justify making any other Asian man innocent of that particular crime be worthy of death too! This explains the ‘without cause’ as here) Note that being angry is synonymous to murder if not dealt with appropriately!

 

And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire. 23 Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. (Or vs, 25 happens)

 

7. All of this is about respecting others and that there is a Biblical system in place for the correction of injustices and it is better to not respond arrogantly with a vicious fight. In other words, you might insult someone, or express anger so ugly as to say ‘go to hell’ but this accomplishes nothing but to invoke God’s anger. Push it too hard and you will end up in jail! Angry provocative words, (even chants and slogans as in riots), insults, and violence will not serve as a remedy for correcting offenses. The solution is in a dialog, in communication, in a reconciliation, in a an agreement. And take note that according to these scriptures, God will not hear your prayers nor accept your sacrificial gifts if you are in conflict with someone and you do not go to them to fix it. “And forgive us our debts (offenses) as we forgive those who sin against us.” Matthew 6:12

 

What happens to someone with a bitter chip on their shoulder? Someone who is bitter against the world, God, or another person? They usually end up doing some random act of violence on someone (on someone innocent!) and then they have to pay the price for being stupid and out of control!

 

So learn that instead of being an idiot that gets taken to jail over being so cantankerous, heed the warning Jesus gives us that it is better to just back down and agree when confronted by someone, especially someone in an authority. The implication is to be humble, to set aside your anger and pride, to just let it go as it is not worth it to want to create a big emotional altercation over anything. James 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

 

8. We all need to come to terms that we don’t need to be in the middle of every fight going on in our family or in our community or nation. The truth always comes out, justice will happen, if not in this life it will when the ‘Great White Throne Judgement’ comes with Jesus overseeing who goes where for eternity. (Revelation 20) We must learn and teach respect to our children and friends, respect for God and authorities and respect for each other to keep the peace.

 

May the Lord help us to recognize that disrespect and anger is a sin. Don’t participate in the anger or disrespect that others may do. Our human anger against any people group over an injustice will not accomplish anything except getting God angry with us for adding fuel to the fire. 

 

Conflicts and our resolutions with others should be with those directly tied to us, with our brothers, family, and coworkers. And now I will end on a positive note with our Salvation Army’s 11^th doctrine. Those who do God’s will, even though unfair in this life, even though we suffer persecution, disrespect, and ridicule, we will go on to be rewarded forever! 

 

11: We believe in the immortality of the soul; in the resurrection of the body; in the general judgment at the end of the world; in the eternal happiness of the righteous; and in the endless punishment of the wicked.

 

 

 

 

 

Are You a Peacemaker?

Are You a Peacemaker?                                                     Major Kelly Durant                                               

Matthew 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God      

2.Missionaries have always fascinated me. Today our schools teach only secular, sterile, and usually considerably boring history dealing only with war, politics, and power. But the real interesting stories of history are those about people who went to faraway places for the first time like David Livingston, the Scot who was the first white man in deep Africa in the 1800’s. He was almost killed several times but saved by miraculous means; you should read his stories! He made famous the Victoria Falls! How many of you have heard of him or read about him? Not long ago everyone knew of him and his adventures, along with Hudson, Muller, and Wesley. 

One story worth repeating from the 1950s is the Jim Elliot story. He was one of 5 missionaries that were making friends with the Quechua Indians in deep the jungle of Ecuador which had never had any outside contact with modern man before. For weeks they dropped gifts from their airplane but when the day came to land and meet them they were not received well. All five were killed but here is what I want to emphasize: when authorities examined the area later it was discovered the missionaries had loaded guns but they had chosen not to use them! How Christlike that was! It was in Elliot’s diary that it was better to die for Jesus than to kill for him. He was a man of peace. 

The most famous quote from his diary which I love is this one: “You are no fool to give a life you cannot keep, to gain a love you will never lose”.  Over time many of the Indians converted, TTL! 

3. Blessed are the peacemakers! In the end only Jesus’ way and heart changing words brings peace to the human race. When the angels announced Jesus birth to the shepherds, they said, “Peace on earth” (and goodwill to men)! As the old bumper stickers that use to appear on cars reads: ‘Know Jesus, know peace, No Jesus, no peace’.  

Why am I preaching on peace today? Like it or not all of us seem to be exposed to an abundance of people who do not practice peace. Some people have the worldly idea they have to always fight for their own and make their selfish point be highlighted not caring if they are disrupting the peace and harmony of the larger group. I thought I should address this issue because amongst ourselves at times everyone experiences inner family or extended family conflicts. Conflicts happen inside and outside the church and how sad it is to see certain cities and nations right now! Many people have become warmakers, not peacemakers!

James 4:1 (MSG) 4 1-2 Where do you think all these appalling wars and quarrels come from? Do you think they just happen? Think again. They come about because you want your own way, and fight for it deep inside yourselves. You lust for what you don’t have and are willing to kill to get it. You want what isn’t yours and will risk violence to get your hands on it.

4. Many opinions on current events are circulating right now and some confused Christians even believe that God’s justice includes doing something harmful to others to make a point. Romans 3:8 And why not say, “Let us do evil that good may come”? as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say. Their condemnation is just.  The controversial part is that even a few so called Christian Reverends vouch for ‘justice’ by demanding things, but justice is never achieved through mob rule, railing words, or violence. Violence usually has a way of being counter-productive as it just brings about even more violence until someone forgives and stops the cycle of revenge. Romans 12:19 Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.

5. Regarding character and how to have a controlled one, concerning how we should behave, let’s examine Jesus most famous opening statements to everyone for all generations:  3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Those who are not full of themselves and proud are ready for heaven) 4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. (Those who are empathetic, and offer consolation to others in pain get comfort returned to them) 5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. (The humble, non-aggressive people will win) 6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. (People who want God’s way of doing things) 

7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. (People who forgive & love as they want to be loved). 8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. (Those who are not doing anything corrupt, those who are being holy as God is holy) And now the emphasis of today:

9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. (So agitators by default would be the children of who? Satan!)

 

5. Jesus Sermon on the Mount was influencing thousands towards the stopping of the cycle of violence in his day. His entire message was always of peace and of loving your enemies, a feat considered impossible by some. Everything about his message and example was diametrically opposed to the lifestyle and message of all so called glorious oppressive dominions. Recall at that time how badly the Hebrews wanted revenge on the cruel enslaving Romans. 

 

Jesus infused a diametrically contradictory governance model into the world on how to conquer by meekness and peaceful means. It was like pouring vinegar on baking soda, the outcome was a reaction that neutralized the harbored bitter properties. This example eventually served as the means to overcome the aggressive Roman Empire with the new Constantine Holy Roman Empire.  In the words of an oriental saying, the teeth are hard and fall out, but the tongue is soft but remains.

 

So why do we have agitators today trying to stir up division however they can? Do you recall the phrase. “Divide and Conquer”, all of these tactics are Satan’s same old game! The recent racial wars, class warfare, and religious disunity are a product of the obvious concerning politically motivated people: They have their own personal gain agenda, and they feed the inner carnal debauched appetites of others for vengeance, violence, and power. 

 

6. Contrary to this there are outstanding examples of people who changed the world for the better and brought peace to many and even to entire nations.

Let’s look at just a few of these modern day peace heroes and peacemakers who were blessed and blessed others. Who has been successful in diffusing race and economic power differences preventing massive deaths in our own century?

 

One of them is Mahatma Gandhi.  The oppressive English lost the battle with him because his way of protesting was by peaceful means, even fasting until the violence and killing stopped. India won independence from England in 1947 after he had protested many times by peaceful means. Non-violence worked because the world felt sorry for the suffering Indians under the English because the violence used against them was excessive. Gandhi attributed the Bible and the Sermon on the Mount as being a big influence in his life.  An International Day of Non-Violence is observed on October the 2nd on the birthday of Mohandas Gandhi to celebrate the effectiveness of the victory won from the outcome of his peaceful protests. 

 

7. Another hero of peace is Nelson Mandela. You are aware how oppressive and segregated the country of South Africa was and unjustly he served 27 years in jail. When he was released having fame due to his writings and support of being an anti-apartheid  freedom fighter for the oppressed, he was exalted to being voted in as the President of the country. On his release he immediately said he was called to be a humble servant and he pleaded for all tribes to unite and to not take revenge on anyone. He made a court system in which if the white oppressors were to come voluntarily and confess their sins against the people and ask forgiveness, forgiveness was granted. Quote, “For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others. If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy, then he becomes your partner”. This outraged all the African blacks that wanted revenge on whites for their crimes, but due to these peaceful measures, he prevented even more bloody massacres from happening. May God bless him in his final days on earth, amen? He lived until he was 95 then he passed away on 12-5-13!

 

8. Americans also recognize one of their own peacemakers, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who is a modern day hero of civil rights and peace. He spoke at protests emphasizing peace and due to his marches, many laws were changed for and more equal rights were achieved for Afro-Americans. Quote, (I Have a Dream Speech) ”With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together…” I think it is a pity his Christian principles are not emphasized enough. When we compare Dr. MLK to others such as Malcom X, Luis Farakan, and other current voices, his gospel of influence outweighs in all areas.

 

9. When we think of peace what verses come to mind?  

Peace emanates from a person pleasing God.

 

Proverbs 16:7

When a man’s ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.

The benefits of being a peaceful person brings on God’s blessings and even good health.

 

Peace comes from knowing God’s word and practicing it.

Psalms 119:165

Great peace have they which love thy law and nothing shall offend them.  Someone could offend you and it will not even phase you because you have your value in God, not in opinions.

 

Peace is directly connected to Jesus and the Holy spirit.  

Galatians 5:22

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

 

People who have peace almost always have a face (happy and calm) that reflects that peace. In our case as Christians, we bring peace (or take it back) according to how people receive Jesus message. Matthew 10:13

If the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.   You should be bringing peace to everyone everywhere you go! (If they deserve it!)

 

10. The question today is, are you a real peacemaker as Jesus had intended? I have heard some people in the past take pride in saying, “Oh I’m just brutally honest, I’m just a firey Irish, or I love a good fight”, but these qualities are of the world and not of God. Some people always love going against others just because they enjoy seeing people get bothered and red in the face. 

 

Today God is calling you and me to influence everyone with a peace that is supernatural!  A peace that is divine in nature overwriting your human nature! 

Peace means not speaking loud to express your point trying to dominate every conversation because you believe you know more than others. That is pride. Some people even argue Bible?! 

 

Peace means greeting with a Shalom, or a “Hi”, and talking to a person whom you feel has offended you in the past.

 

Peace implies letting others have contrary opinions to yours, and quite often opinions really do not really matter so much from either you or others! But of course Christians should not tolerate people who offend God’s truth in the Bible so when exposed to moral or blasphemous words, practices, or beliefs, we must speak the truth even if it does disrupt the peace.

 

11. There is a time for peace and a time for war according to Ecc. 3: 8  A time to love,

    And a time to hate;

A time of war,

    And a time of peace.

One must evaluate what fight God wants you to pursue though. If you are standing up against hypocrisy, and against sin as Jesus did, then you are correct to disturb the peace and to bring on a war cry provoking conviction in the hearts of evil doers.

 

In the world today, however, beware that many fights are created only as diversion tactics so someone can pull off some bigger scandal and not be noticed since all the focus is on the hyped conflict. Our world is full of political division. By praying (and being watchful) the Holy Spirt can reveal many truths to you so you fight for the right things at the right time.

 

Jesus chose his fight against sin, but not with the drunks and harlots who would easily recognize their wrongs against God, but He disturbed the peace with the religious hypocrites who were damaging the faith of others by misrepresenting the character of our God of love, peace, and mercy.

 

12. Does your face reflect peace to those around you? Peace-making is a lifestyle that can only be lived out by a person who is filled with Jesus peace and the Holy Spirit.  John 14:27

Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

 

If you are full of Jesus, then you are full of His peace! Will you start becoming more peaceful as of today? In Miami I have heard Cubans yell at each other over stealing parking spots (but that happens most everywhere), but to bring peace to a non-peaceful world is not easy; but with the Holy Spirit you can do it! Ask God for forgiveness, and ask Him to make you a peacemaker.

 

Final prayer…by St. Francis of Assisi

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

Where there is injury, pardon;

Where there is doubt, faith;

Where there is despair, hope;

Where there is darkness, light;

Where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,

grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;

to be understood, as to understand;

to be loved, as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive.

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

Amen. 

How to Avoid Manipulation -What Jesus Taught Us When Pressured!

How to Avoid Manipulation -What Jesus Taught Us When Pressured!              

By Major Kelly Durant

John 8:1  Jesus went unto the mount of Olives. ²And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them. ³And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst,⁴They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act ⁵Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? ⁶This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. ⁷So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. ⁸And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. ⁹And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. ¹⁰When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? ¹¹She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

2-Have you ever been suckered at a Carnival or at some game? I recall once when I was 11 I had saved up $6 for about 6 months. When you are age 11 money is hard to come and at that time it would have been worth about $60 today. I was shooting at a target with a BB gun and almost getting all the area shot out with a hole big enough to win. They would trick me so good and say, “Keep playing son, you almost won!” I played over and over for almost an hour and a half and spent all my money. Later I felt like such a fool to have wasted all that hard earned money. I was young and learned my lesson, but in life many of us are predisposed to accept abuse because we want to gain something out of pride, something that we may not really need. We all can get easily misled!

3-Have you ever felt that people all around you are trying to manipulate you? You are not alone! You may first think it is junk mail and TV advertisers, politicians, and Uncle Sam that are trying to convince you against your will and opinion but actually most manipulation occurs with those closest to us!  To manipulate another person for personal gain is a sin and God will hold those who do it guilty for it. Beware.

Many people grow up in abusive homes and you should determine what kind of an example your parents and relatives gave you. Was it good or bad? When either the father or the mother withholds something from the other, hoping to obtain some personal item, usually a luxury item or money, then that is manipulation and abuse! And it can get violent! 

Like they say, “People use people and love things, when they should love people and use things”. I personally get angry when I feel taken for a fool, and you?

4-Before exploring more about the deceitfulness of people for personal gain let’s look at Jesus forgiveness for the prostitute sinner. What is the main lesson of this incident? That God will show mercy on all sinners, no matter how many accuse and want to punish, right? It is a comfort to know that God will love the worst of the worst and forgive.

This is a beautiful lesson and we all should feel relief that if God forgave her, then He can forgive you and me! But let’s dig deeper here. Usually we focus on the prostitute, but what were the other ones in the street doing? All of Jesus actions always have multi-faceted lessons for us to learn by, many teachings all in one. We know and understand forgiveness from these verses. Now, what do we learn about the accusers? 

It seems obvious that the scribes and Pharisees wanted to manipulate Jesus and the crowd to their cruel way of doing things. What was their way? The condemning self-righteous, double-standard way! Jesus exposed them! Did they stick around and tell Jesus later, “Oh I am so sorry I had such maliciousness in my heart”?  No! They went home angry or convicted for Jesus interfering with their conscious and system of doing things!

If Jesus were to have said: “Agreed, she broke the law and she is worthy of death”, then He would have been allowing the merciless hypocrites to manipulate Him. But what were His words that shocked all like a bomb going off?  7”He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her”.

5-Here clearly Jesus is resisting and not playing the game of the hypocrites. What happened as a result is that all of them had to walk away because in their hearts they knew they were guilty of sin too! Jesus had the divine gift of knowing how to expose sin and stop abuse by those who just wanted the power, control, and manipulation. 

Now let’s apply this to our lives at home! When a relative or a friend tries to get you to agree with them on something not quite right, and you feel that pull of the spirit inside you making you feel that it is wrong, what should you do? You should be silent a moment and reflect just like Jesus did!

When they came to pressure Jesus, did he jump right into the discussion? No, we read He wrote on the ground. Haven’t you ever wondered what he wrote? I have many times!  But it seems Jesus was giving all of them time to calm down, time for them to shut up so he could speak.  It worked because when He asked who didn’t have sin, let him throw the first stone, they were all very quiet for sure!

Never let others manipulate you to get you in on the game of gossip, accusations, or bullying another person. People always want to manipulate you and anyone they can to their way of thinking as it usually gives them the advantage over you. They have arguments that if you do not agree with them then you are a hater, a racist, and the worst kind of sinner that exists! But hypocrites cannot take the truth the truth that they are a terrible sinner as well!

6-There is a time to forgive, but when a serious sin is harming someone it should be addressed by church leaders, or community leaders for correction. There are 2 sides to the coin. Proverbs 11:14 Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.

I am thankful that in The Salvation Army we must do all decisions, in councils. The Pastoral Councils are the ones who put many heads together to see how to handle something wrong in the Corps or community. It creates a big problem when either the Officers or a certain leader decides to do some punishment on their own with no one’s council or advice.  By experience I have seen this never works. Like with the Pharisees, they got exposed to the fact that they had no authority to judge and condemn due to their own sins.

7-The deceitful part is throwing stones makes some people feel holy, it is a holier–than-thou platform. However, when condemning the sin of another, as Jesus points out, one must take into account one’s own sins. God shows mercy to repentant sinners, and we should too.

All things we see in life should be handled by prayer. Sometimes there is a time to expose and meet and deal with a sin and other times it is a time to be silent. 1 Peter 4:8 And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.

There are times to point out sin. I John 2: 1, 2 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: 2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

8-What we learn today is how to handle sin and the errors of others without being manipulated into condemning someone without mercy. We must apply in our lives the lesson of Jesus’ forgiveness and also of the exposure of the hypocrite scribes and Pharisees.  Due to pride, power abuse, and deceitfulness, they were manipulated by Satan in their hearts. In the end, all they wanted was to see blood, and see Jesus admit they were right. But they were evil and wrong! Never let anyone lead or manipulate you! To agree with the hypocrite makes you guilty of his sin as well!

Christians must be strong and become the most difficult people on earth to manipulate, use, or abuse! Resist lies, intimidation, and negative violence! Take time out like Jesus. Let the dust settle before acting on anything. Safeguard yourself with prayer and with more knowledge of God’s Word, and share any disturbing news with someone strong in the faith who can help you get through it. Others may have more facts than what you do. Live in the truth and you will always see the truth of motives!

 

Troubles & Worries, But No Despair!

Troubles & Worries, But No Despair     Kelly Durant    8-8-15 (Re 9-13-20)

2 Corinthians 4:7-9

7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.8 We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; 

2. Have you every screamed out loud, really cried out, to the Lord for help in distress?  One time my wife and I were traveling between Bogota & Cucuta in our 1984 Ford Fairmont. (In our 14 years abroad we only owned a car for 2 years) There are many steep mountainous cliffs on the way there and no ledges to pull off onto and many crashes occur when one semi-truck passes another between the mountain and the cliffs. The problem is coming around the curving mountains you are blinded to never know when you will face 2 trucks head on head on with one passing another! 

This very scenario happened to me and my wife and by a miracle a small edge appeared by the cliff side and we pulled over on it to break to a frightening stop as 2 trucks passed us on that pitch dark single lane road. My wife and I both cried out, “Jesus, Jesus save us!” Instead of going off the edge of a mountain we were saved! How could God time it so precise with that ledge to save us! God has saved us from death many times, actually! Thanks be to God we did not die of heart failure either!

A near death experience, a sudden fear, or an accident will drive you seek God! It is just a natural response to either cry out to God, or to curse God, depending on your heart’s condition! Many times bad things happen to good people and in the end only God knows why. All we can do is accept that God has a plan and obviously His will is being done even though we may not like it, agree with it, or understand it. 

It is painfully hard, but we have to accept that we are just frail people in frail bodies living in a broken sinful world where many tragedies happen daily! Our bodies, and our spirits housed within them, are not of iron but of clay and they can break easily. But if we seek Him, God can be our strength keeping us together. 7 “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.” The power we have to endure all our fragilities living in these jars made of clay comes from God! To Him is the glory forever!

3. Each one of us here have had times of troubles and despair and most everyone relates to King David’s clamors to God in the Psalms. Psalms 3:4 I cried unto the LORD with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill. Selah. Have you ever yelled out to God for help? I have often!

The anguishes and pains we suffer in this life are very real and do hurt so much they often leave us with a scar. How many of you have scars on your bodies? What about a scar from a traumatic experience? Pain changes each of us! We either become close friends with God praying the whole time for hope and healing, or we may become embittered as those who have no faith, who curse God for allowing evil to happen to them or a loved one. I have met many bitter people in my life, and some of them have even been “so called” Christians. I hope you are not one of them here today!  How sad, right?  Here is a poem to reflect deeper …

       THE SCAR    by Kelly Durant

1-Writhen tissue

A deadened stain

Disfigured past

Evident pain

 

2-Nakedly exhibits

Itself indifferently

To the cringing, ill world

Indiscriminately

 

3-Exposed surface

Imbedded screams

Painted trauma

Recanting dreams

 

4-Cruelty left its mark

Let it be diminished

By the hope of God in

Surroundings unblemished

Cursing God gets no one anywhere! Job’s wife saw Job so miserable after losing his wealth, health, and family (who were killed by robbers) that she in Job 2:9 said this, “Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die!” If Job would have done that he would have died in despair, failure, and humiliated by Satan, but He answered her to the contrary. 10 But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.

4. Sometimes our pain in life can come from empathy as we suffer when someone we love suffers. Some Christians have this compassionate quality of love, but not all. People that truly love others are capable of putting their selves in the shoes, mind, and body of another. This connectedness causes you or me to want to help, console, and show compassion in the very way Jesus intended for us to do it in our love for one another.  Matthew 14:14 And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick.

In desperate times our prayers need more desperation! You may even need to scream and cry and let God know how hurt you feel! A little silent prayer will not do when you or I are under stress and afraid for an uncertain or difficult future. Let God know how you feel! God loves to feel us, hear us, and answer us! That is how David did it! His passionate prayers and songs are an encouragement to us even 3,000 years later!

To obtain comfort from God we must converse with Him in prayer! We must gain strength from Him by reading His Word! And we must support one another by doing what we can to make life easier in some way! 1 John 3:17 But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? 

5. The verses of today continue, 2 Cor.4:8 “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;” After you let it out and vocalize it in prayer, what should you do?  Should you stay awake and worry? Worry does nothing except bring you bad health! Over time it will bring you depression and insanity as well!  

God knows that everyone will have troubles in this life but through Him and the Holy Spirit, He desires that none of us suffer to the point of becoming psychotic, crazy mad, or falling into a manic despair. Despair should never be a condition of a Christ following child of God! God will comfort us with the Holy Spirit if we ask for it. (John 14:26)  It has been so hard for me to practice this next verse, but I have done my best in the past. Psalm 3: 5 “I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the LORD sustained me.” 

This seems so contradictory, David is distressed for his life as He could be killed any day by his enemies or Saul, but yet he writes that he is able to go to sleep in peace because he is trusting in God! Now that is faith and trust in God for real!

6. So what do we need to learn when we are in terrible situations? To take an attitude that after you cry out, after you pray, that you will trust God for the answer to the point you let God stay awake and not you!

David gave all his burdens to the Lord and then he went to bed! Have you ever prayed and trusted that intensely? Have you felt that intensity of peace from God’s Holy Spirit after prayer and then gone to sleep like that? This is true confidence, when a calm trust comes over you!

We hope in God knowing that He is the one who will do the miracles. After all He is in control of everything and there is nothing we can do that is going to override His supreme will. Our prayers will often get positive results, but God does want to see if we will honor Him or not.

7. Pain also is often the results of man’s cruelty to man. I sometimes get very concerned and worried over the current and future persecutions of Christians. I know their pain is very real and I suffer with them! After all about 13 million Christians have recently been displaced in the Middle East and are living in tents hiding from religious persecution. We want to save and heal in the name of God, and others want to kill in the name of their false god. Psalm 3:6 “I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people that have set themselves against me round about”. 

Being afraid is something that grips you making your insides shake but it is something that God wants us as Christians to reject because we ultimately trust in Him for our lives and for our deaths! Multitudes of horribly evil people in society around the world are against you and me as Christians, but we do not tremble, despair, or lose our minds! 

What is David referring to here? He was at war with the pagan nations around him! They all hated him and were hunting for him wanting him dead. Have you ever felt like, that thousands are hating you? We are at war against the world’s evils and it never is God fault that men chose evil instead of good. God and Jesus are there to save and heal us, but always recall suffering is Satan’s idea as a means of destroying us in this life and in the one to come.

8. If you are truly righteous, telling your friends about Jesus, you will be hated by Satan, his demons, and those who do evil! I want to tell you something shocking, if you really stand up for what is right, it is inevitable, you will have enemies and you will be afraid at times! Satan at some time or another will put you to the test as He did to Jesus.

And this takes us to the last part of the verse in 2 Cor.4: 9 “Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;”  As Christians we are persecuted by our adversary, the Devil, and he sometimes may cause us physical harm. We must also recognize that our enemies are often those who make us worry and stress, and invoke on us spiritual anguish! 

Evil people may even attack us! Persecution often includes more than just offensive words, it may mean a loss of a job, an embarrassing defamation of character, or as in other countries, a loss of home and belongings with the possibility of death or the death of one’s loved ones. 

9. The pain we suffer in life often is an attack from Satan, but even in the midst of the trial we can recall that we can defeat Him as Jesus did when He was tempted. You may be faint, you may be sick but in the end God will win the victory for you if you do not give up!   

Amongst Christians though, each of us must be united to stand against those who are evil! We must fight when Satan harms any one of us in any way! Remember the fight is not amongst our selves as Christians (unless someone is obviously violating God’s principles) but our fight is against the principalities of darkness and spiritual wickedness!

Apart from the evils of accidents and sicknesses in this fallen world, we witness right here in our community many people practicing destructive devices from Satan. There is amongst all races exploitations and abuse, sexual trafficking, immigrant trafficking, voodoo, gang activities, and more! Drugs, prostitution, and fraud are everywhere and these evils bring cruel suffering upon our neighbors. We are called to do our part to save the victims and alleviate the suffering!

10. The question is, if God hears the cries of you and me and of everyone who is a victim in distress, are you willing to also hear, see, and show compassion and do something? God has no hands but ours to do good! You and I are called to love as Jesus did, and to put bandages on the broken as the Good Samaritan did while on his way to Jericho. The reason the Salvation Army exists and came to be was for its compassionate members to bless others with love, compassion, and prayer in this horrible hell of a world! But when a Christian loses their salty flavor, when they have no compassion or love, then God’s heart and many people suffer!

What is our response when there is pain? 1) To cry out to God praying to Him when in troubles and distress!  2) To trust God totally claiming His Word to us calm down so we sleep   3) To trust that God will avenge those who persecute or do evil, and   4) In the end, accept that salvation and blessings will come from God over time for trusting in Him!

Psalm 3:8 “Salvation belongeth unto the LORD: thy blessing is upon thy people”. It seems so simple, but it is true, God bestows to us who trust in Him healing, salvation, and blessings! How many of you feel like you are in a desperate situation right now and you need to cry out to Jesus? Trust in Him and accept His will and you will live in peace.