Reconciliation in Christ المصالحة في المسيح

A blog site dedicated to showing the world the reconciliation that God offers to us and between us through the blood of Christ--the blood He shed in love for us and for all nations, to make us one with Him, and one in Him, for eternity.

Tuesday, January 11, 2005

peekaboo

Seth!

I miss you my brother in Christ. this is just a hello, and a reminder to myself to keep you in prayer.
May the peace of Christ be with you alway.

Joh 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you

Sunday, January 09, 2005

Election Day

I've wanted for the most part to stay away from politics on this webpage (except as it directly relates to God's heart for people here), but today are the elections for a new President of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Gaza, so I thought I would just remark on a few things I've observed that you might find interesting.

One, the elections here are nothing like elections in the United States, where TV and newspaper coverage continues for months and various issues are hashed out over and over again before the election finally occurs. I have seen very little public debate going on over these elections, though certainly some has occurred. The extent of the campaigning, other than a few speeches here and there, has been limited mainly to campaign posters of Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas) standing proudly next to Arafat, or with the Dome of the Rock in the background; Mustafa Barghouthi getting shoved by an Israeli soldier with a gun pointed at his chest; and pictures and slogans of other candidates. (There are some pictures of posters and other things I put up on my picture web site; write me if you don't have the info for that and I'll give it to you.) There is not a lot of local media infrastructure here; most Palestinians get a lot of their news by watching Arab news channels like Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya.

One other difference is the length of the campaign season. Campaigning started the day after Christmas, so the total campaign has been only a couple weeks. And since everyone expects Abu Mazen to win, there hasn't been a whole lot of activity to try to change people's opinions or inform voters of other possibilities.

The campaign posters also seem to have been subject to frequent vandalism. Most of the campaign posters in Bethlehem, especially those of opposition candidate Mustafa Barghouthi, had the face or eyes ripped off, with some completely torn down. Some group seems to have systematically destroyed the posters--whether people sent by Fatah (Abu Mazen's party) or simply partisan kids acting on their own, who knows.

Another difficulty of the whole election, of course, is that restrictions on movement in place by Israel have the effect of fragmenting Palestinian society and keeping communication and commerce between areas to a minimum. Candidates for the most part, according to the news, have been able to travel through the West Bank, though a few candidates from Gaza weren't able to campaign in the West Bank at all. East Jerusalem with its large Palestinian population presents a problem of its own, as it is on the Palestinian side of the Green Line (ie, it is an occupied area according to international law), but it has been annexed by the Israelis as Israeli territory. The picture of the Israeli soldier with a gun to Barghouthi's chest I believe come from his arrest while trying to campaign there. I've heard there have been problems at the polling places there; I'm going there in the next couple hours on my way to class to see, and to ask people what kinds of problems there have been.

All in all, I am glad the elections are taking place, and I think they have the potential to really change the situation here, but I am cautious about claiming some kind of revolutionary effect. Simply having a day where people vote for different candidates does not mean a functioning democracy exists. The civil society upon which democracy thrives doesn't exist in the Palestinian territories, partly because of Israeli restrictions on movement and partly because of the history of corruption and centralization of power by Arafat and the PLO. This election helps, but it's only the beginning of a long process.

May God have mercy and allow Palestinians to live freely and in peace, and may all the people here know the peace and freedom that Jesus brings.

Thursday, January 06, 2005

Israeli Chocolate Strikes Again

Merry Christmas!!

What? Aren't you a little late? hehe Nope, it's Christmas today for the Orthodox church, so in Bethlehem there are more celebrations. =) Pretty fun.

One cool thing that this second Christmas brought was an unexpected gift. I was coming in to Bethlehem from Jerusalem, and at the checkpoint there was a lady representing the Israeli government handing out candy. The note she gave along with the candy said basically, "We welcome you to the Holy Land, we want to encourage tourists to come here; please give this gift to a Palestinian friend as a bridge for peace and a good will gesture." I thought it was pretty cool. I gave it to the president of the college here, who was shocked! He couldn't believe the Israeli government would want to give him chocolate for Christmas. =) It reminded me of the previous story I posted about the Israeli soldier giving the Palestinian prisoner (both believers) quality chocolate (see "Precious as Chocolate"). So maybe there's something to this "chocolate for peace" thing. Next time I come to the land, I'll have to bring some chocolate with me. Better yet, I should tell the UN to pick up on this idea. Forget the road map, what they need is some Rocky Road!

Tuesday, January 04, 2005

Early Christians On Violence

Dear friends,

A couple days ago I was in a Messianic Jewish bookstore in the Old City of Jerusalem and saw a book by a guy named Eberhard Arnold, a German Christian who founded the Bruderhof community after WWI, which one of my friends at the College is from. I found some of his writings online, and thought I'd share a few quotes.

These are taken, I believe, from his collection on Early Christians: In Their Own Words, a collection of early Christian writings and their perspective on various issues. What struck me particularly, among other things, was the almost unanimous voice of various early Christian theologians--Origen, Justin, Tertullian, and others--against violence of any kind, and indeed against Christian involvement in the state. This was, according to them, one of the main reasons the Roman government felt so threatened by them. In fact, in quote it says that anyone who joined the army would be excommunicated, and anyone already in the army who refused to promise not to engage in any violence, would be rejected as a candidate for baptism. Pretty strong stances.

Anyway, I'm not sure what I think, but whatever your take on their positions, I think it's a very interesting and challenging historical fact that this is what they believed in the 2nd century AD.
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We, more than all other men, are your helpers and allies for peace.
Justin, First Apology 12

“If everyone were to act the same as you [Christians], the national government would soon be left utterly deserted and without any help, and affairs on earth would soon pass into the hands of the most savage and wretched barbarians.”

Celsus next exhorts us to help the Emperor and be his fellow soldiers. To this we reply, “You cannot demand military service of Christians any more than you can of priests.” We do not go forth as soldiers with the Emperor even if he demands this, but we do fight for him by forming our own army, an army of faith through our prayers to God.
Origen, Against Celsus, Celsus against the Christians, VIII. 68, 73

We ourselves were well conversant with war, murder, and everything evil, but all of us throughout the whole wide earth have traded in our weapons of war. We have exchanged our swords for plowshares, our spears for farm tools. Now we cultivate the fear of God, justice, kindness to men, faith, and the expectation of the future given to us by the Father himself through the crucified one…
Justin, Dialogue with Trypho 110.3, 4

I do not wish to be a ruler. I do not strive for wealth. I refuse offices connected with military command. Fornication I detest. No insatiable hunger for gold drives me to go to sea. I do not fight for a victor’s laurels. I am free from the mad thirst for fame. I despise death. I stand above every illness. No grief consumes my soul.
Tatian, Address to the Greeks 11.2

We must then offer no resistance. He never wanted us to imitate the wicked. Rather, he challenged us to lead everyone away from shamefulness and pleasure in evil by patience and kindness. We can in fact show that many who were once among you have been transformed in this way. They gave up their violent and domineering ways. Either they were conquered by the sight of their neighbors’ patient life, or they were convinced by noticing the extraordinary kindness and patience of some defrauded traveling companions, or they were overcome by encountering and testing this attitude in people with whom they had business dealings. Anyone who is not found living in accordance with his teachings should not be regarded as a Christian even if he confesses to Christ’s teaching with his lips. For he said that only those shall be saved who do not just talk, but who also do the corresponding works.
Justin, First Apology 16

We who formerly hated and murdered one another and did not even share our hearth with those of a different tribe because of their customs, now, after Christ’s appearance, live together and share the same table. Now we pray for our enemies and try to win those who hate us unjustly so that they too may live in accordance with Christ’s wonderful teachings, that they too may enter into the expectation, that they too may receive the same good things that we will receive from God, the ruler of the universe.
Justin, First Apology 14

They speak gently to those who oppress them, and in this way they make them their friends. It has become their passion to do good to their enemies.
Aristides, Apology 15,16; ca. A.D. 137

A military constable [who wants to be baptized] must be forbidden to kill. If he is commanded to kill in the course of his duty, he must not take this upon himself, neither may he swear [to Caesar or to pagan gods]; if he is not willing to follow these instructions, he must be rejected. A proconsul or a civic magistrate who wears the purple and governs by the sword, shall give it up or be rejected.

Anyone taking part in baptismal instruction, or anyone already baptized who wants to become a soldier shall be sent away, for he has despised God.
Hippolytus, Church Order in The Apostolic Tradition 16; ca. A.D. 218

We form a permanent society and come together for communal gatherings as if forming an army around God and besieging him with our prayers. This is the kind of force in which God rejoices. We pray also for the Emperor and for all those who hold responsible offices and positions of authority.
Tertullian, Apology 39, 40, A.D. 198

To be just alone is not enough because to be just means to repay like for like, but we have been commanded to go far beyond this, to be kind and patient.

How could anyone in his right mind accuse us of murder when we hold to such principles...We cannot bear to see a man or woman put to death, even justly! How then can anyone accuse us of murder...? How can we possibly kill anyone when we cannot even look on lest we are polluted with the guilt of murder and sacrilege! How can we possibly kill anyone, we who call those women murderers who take drugs to induce an abortion, we who say they will have to give an account before God one day!
Athenagoras, A Plea Regarding Christians 32–35

We have been taught not to hit back at people who harass us, not to go to court against those who expel us and rob us. Rather are we enjoined to offer the other side of the face for more blows when they ignominiously smite us on the one side.
Athenagoras, A Plea Regarding Christians I.2