Another Face of Joy

January 1, 2014 Leave a comment

Another Face of Joy

I recently read Pope Francis’ “Evangelii Gaudium,” his first Apostolic Letter. The letter may be viewed at http://www.vatican.va/phome_en.htm.

As a former Roman Catholic and Nondenominational Evangelical Christian I am overjoyed at Pope Francis’ ethics and in particular, this recent letter.  My hope is that Pope Francis will reknew (I know, deliberately wrong spelling) the Catholic Church. I even feel called to come back to the Catholic Church, at least part time, to see how all of this is unfolding among individual Catholic communities. It is all because of Pope Francis that I feel called to do this.

My view of the Gospel is that the Gospel is the good news of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ which results in Peace and Salvation for all who believe. Pope Francis in some cases refers to the Gospel in relationship to the Crucified and Risen Christ. I agree to this definition also. I quote a section of his letter below:

“The joy of the Gospel is for all people: no one can be excluded. That is what the angel proclaimed to the shepherds in Bethlehem: “Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people (Lk 2:10). The Book of Revelation speaks of “an eternal Gospel to pro¬claim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tongue and tribe and people (Rev 14:6).”i

I too, hear the Universal call of the Gospel as Pope Francis states, as a Gospel of joy for all, and none is excluded, but all are included in the message of the Gospel. I am excited that the leader of the world’s largest Christian system, of over a billion individuals would speak in these inclusive terms and physically and mentally demonstrate his compassion for all mankind, even those who are not of his particular fold, and also those of other religious systems and non religious people.

I will write a type of review of Pope Francis’ Exhortation following, along with my own free form comments.

Humans everywhere, of all beliefs are always looking for Joy. For Christians, Joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit which is believed to be an internal gift, not something we merit of your own goodness. To put another face of joy into humanity is always good. The face Pope Francis is highlighting is the face of joy we can experience, as a result of following God’s will for us, that of going into the world, and sharing the Gospel, or Good News.
Pope Francis seems to put early emphasis on works of mercy that result from our joyfully sharing the Gospel. To me, these works are very good when they arise from the inner motivation of the gift of Grace freely given to us by the Holy Spirit and proceeding from the Father and the Son, who live in us all and we in him, One God.
I read Pope Francis as deploring violence in the cities of God, and later in his letter actually speaking of the Gospel of Peace.

“The Church proclaims “the Gospel of peace” (Eph 6:15) and she wishes to cooperate with all national and international authorities in safeguarding this immense universal good. By preaching Jesus Christ, who is himself peace (cf. Eph 2:14), the new evangelization calls on every baptized person to be a peacemaker and a credible witness to a reconciled life.”ii

It is very Good News to me to hear a leader of Christianity speaking out for the Gospel of Peace. I have long felt a calling to proclaim this Gospel of Peace, and regularly do so, but I have been rebuffed by Evangelical Christianity at nearly every point. I keep sharing, however, and also write about the Gospel of Peace on my blog site, http://www.jcooperforpeace.org. As a Body of Believers who deplores violence to the unborn, the Catholic Church, it is music to my ears to hear of the Gospel of Peace from the Christian leader of that system.
To me, it is a perfect time, today, for Pope Francis to set a vision of the Gospel of Peace, the Gospel of Salvation, and the Gospel of the Kingdom, one Gospel, as a Gospel that is to bring Peace to the world, as much as possible now, and certainly when Jesus returns, and always when Jesus comes to us now in this life. I cite in this regard:

Luke 2:8-15

8 That night some shepherds were in the fields outside the village, guarding their flocks of sheep. 9 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terribly frightened, 10 but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news of great joy for everyone! 11 The Savior — yes, the Messiah, the Lord — has been born tonight in Bethlehem, the city of David! 12 And this is how you will recognize him: You will find a baby lying in a manger, wrapped snugly in strips of cloth!”

13 Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others — the armies of heaven — praising God:

14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and peace on earth to all whom God favors.”
NLT

Above we see the Good News of Joy for all mankind concerning the Peace God wishes for all whom he favors, which to me would be inclusive of all mankind, since Jesus came to suffer and die for all mankind’s sins. Whether all mankind will hear and understand this Good News and believe is another matter for discussion, but personally, I hope so, once they see the crucified and risen Christ, and it is a Joy to me to assist in sharing this Gospel.

In the setting of this vision of Peace and proclaiming the inclusiveness of the Gospel, I hope Pope Francis will provide even more confessions of Guilt of the Roman Catholic Church regarding the terrible sins of the Church, (It is not just the Catholic Church,) regarding the post Constantinian destruction of Sanctified human adult life in the Inquisition, the killings of Moslems, and Christians, and the lack of nonviolent actions concerning the killings of Jews and others in World War II, in Nazi Germany. The Church’s support of the Just War Theory, (although it is not a Doctrine of the Church,) needs to be disregarded in relationship to the Gospel, and other confessions as may be needed. Hopefully, Pope Francis will lead the Roman Catholic Church back to Early Roots Christianity. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_early_Christianity It is a Joy that the Gospel proclaims the forgiveness of all sins, both our own individual sins, and those of corporate religious and national and political bodies. Some believe even the fallen Powers may be redeemed if they accept the Gospel. The author, Walter Wink, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Wink has written books concerning the possible redemption of the Powers which lie behind human systems.

As a Church that values human life, and life of every kind, I feel this is a perfect opportunity for the Roman Catholic Church, under the leadership of Pope Francis, to divest itself of all conjoining relationships with political Powers and return to its Early Roots. Likewise, all Christian churches should divest themselves of political alliances and concentrate on preaching the Gospel. Te Politics of the Kingdom of God is what the Church, (and all religious systems,) need to focus upon. In joyfully sharing the Gospel, no Catholic should ever want to take a human life in warfare. In response to the Gospel, the time to stop killing for all who believe and share the Gospel, is now. The visible and tangible expressions of Pope Francis and every Christian Believer’s love for one another, and our enemies, Catholic and non-Catholics is the way the seeds of the Gospel are joyously shared… It is these Joyful expressions of love by which others know the Gospel has been preached.

Speaking of Joy, I concur with Pope Francis’ vision of the Image of God being in all mankind, not just in Catholics, and not just in Christians or adherents to one’s own individual religious system. The Quakers, whom I am particularly fond of, believed that there is a spark of God in every man and that the proof of this is that if there is anything a person does, that he feels sorry for, it is proof of the indwelling spark of the Spirit. I quote Pope Francis:

“If we are to share our lives with others and generously give of ourselves, we also have to realize that every person is worthy of our giving. Not for their physical appearance, their abilities, their language, their way of thinking, or for any satisfaction that we might receive, but rather because they are God’s handiwork, his creation. God created that person in his image, and he or she reflects something of God’s glory. Every human being is the object of God’s infinite tenderness, and he himself is present in their lives. Jesus offered his precious blood on the cross for that person. Appearances notwithstanding, every person is immensely holy and deserves our love. Consequently, if I can help at least one per¬son to have a better life, that already justifies the offering of my life. It is a wonderful thing to be God’s faithful people. We achieve fulfilment when we break down walls and our heart is filled with faces and names!”iii

Challenging Catholics to take joy in Evangelicalism by Love and the Gospel of Peace, in place of the sword, is a very good challenge for all, in these days where the Myth of Redemptive Violence is still being believed even after millennia of proof that this method of “making peace” has never and will never ultimately work.

I also appreciate Pope Francis’ many references to the Grace of God. One instance is cited below:
“Non-Christians, by God’s gracious initiative, when they are faithful to their own consciences, can live “justified by the grace of God”,199 and thus be “associated to the paschal mystery of Jesus Christ”.200 But due to the sacsacramental dimension of sanctifying grace, God’s working in them tends to produce signs and rites, sacred expressions which in turn bring others to a communitarian experience of journeying to¬wards God.201″iv

To me, Pope Francis comes very close to the Biblical text at the heart of Protestant Evangelicals’ beliefs,

Eph 2:6-10
6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
NIV

I understand that our works are a response to Grace, not the cause of our Salvation, and I believe Pope Francis is quite Universally minded in his understanding of Grace, although he gives adequate expressions to the necessity of accompanying works. Perhaps St. Francis is thinking of the early Church Father, Origen, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origen. At any rate, Pope Francis seems to me very progressive in his thinking processes compared to recent Popes. He states:

“We know that “evangelization would not be complete if it did not take account of the unceasing interplay of the Gospel and of man’s concrete life, both personal and social”.146 This is the principle of universality intrinsic to the Gospel, for the Father desires the salvation of every man and woman, and his saving plan consists in “gathering up all things in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth” (Eph 1:10).”v

I agree here that Salvation is for every man. I cannot say that every man will be saved, and I do not say that Pope Francis is saying that here. I would like to believe that every man will be saved, and I hope once Jesus draws all men to himself, that the beauty and love of the Crucified and Risen Christ, as Pope Francis also explains the Gospel will result in many hearts turning to God. To me, the Joy of Evangelization rests in the saving Grace of God, and efforts of Evangelization are never over until Jesus has executed his “time” to draw all men to himself…

One of the concerns Pope Francis expresses in his Apostolic Letter is the relationship of the economy to Joyfully Evangelizing the world. To me, the Gospel of the Kingdom of God which is beyond political systems, should change political systems so that our economies look more and more like Jesus would have them look. To this end Pope Francis states:

“We can no longer trust in the unseen forces and the invisible hand of the market. Growth in justice requires more than economic growth, while presupposing such growth: it requires decisions, programmes, mechanisms and processes specifically geared to a better distribution of income, the creation of sources of employment and an integral promotion of the poor which goes beyond a simple welfare mentality. I am far from proposing an irresponsible populism, but the economy can no longer turn to remedies that are a new poison, such as attempting to increase profits by reducing the work force and thereby adding to the ranks of the excluded.
205.
I ask God to give us more politicians capable of sincere and effective dialogue aimed at healing the deepest roots – and not simply the appearances – of the evils in our world!”vi

I am reminded of the Mennonite teacher, John Howard Yoder, and his book, “The Politics of Jesus.” In a nutshell, according to my recollection from reading the book, the ethics of Jesus and the Kingdom of God in Early Roots Christianity radically changed the political systems of the world, including the Roman Empire. The radical changes so endangered the Empire, with all these Christians loving one another, which in itself is sharing the Gospel, and refusing to join the Powers’ ethics of Redemptive Violence, that the Powers offered the Church the sword, and the Church accepted, and began to use the sword to supposedly advance the Gospel, in many cases disregarding unconditional, self sacrificial love for all men. Apparently the Church of that time, the Roman Catholic Church, neglected to consider that Jesus had already refused the same ploy from Satan, when Satan offered Jesus rulership over the earth. Jesus refused. The Church accepted. Then, the Church began to use the sword to advance the Gospel, since it had been given the sword, and began to make up its own rules of “just” war, etc…

Therefore, when Pope Francis speaks of no longer trusting the unseen and invisible hand of the market, I can imagine that the Powers are really disturbed… Talk like that is Jesus talk like when Jesus began to proclaim the Gospel, the Kingdom of God, the release of prisoners, and the year of Jubilee… The Powers kill humans for speaking like that… They killed God, Jesus too, but Jesus rose again and has overcome these Powers. Pope Francis has already rattled the heads of both invisible Powers and human economic powers. They have squealed like stuck pigs… I pray for the protection of Pope Francis and that the Highest of all Powers, Allah, God, will protect him until his mission is done, which may be the radical changing of the Roman Catholic Church, including the economic wrongs involved with the Vatican economy.

Although my comments regarding Evangelii Gaudium have thus far been overwhelmingly positive, even though I was raised Catholic, I view Pope Francis’ ending of his letter and the inclusion of the Mother Mary as a “tack on” thought to Catholicize his letter…He states:
“With the Holy Spirit, Mary is always present in the midst of the people. She joined the disciples in praying for the coming of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:14) and thus made possible the missionary outburst which took place at Pentecost. She is the Mother of the Church which evangelizes, and without her we could never truly understand the spirit of the new evangelization.”vii
I cannot personally agree with this statement. To believe it would certainly stretch my envelope and my understanding of Theology all out of shape. That’s OK though, I am imagine my beliefs in Peace and Nonviolence also stretch Pope Francis’ envelope too, and certainly stretch the envelope of the historic Roman Catholic Church as a whole, with exceptions such as Thomas Merton, Dorothy Day, and other Catholic Pacifists excluded.

On the other hand, Pope Francis is stretching a lot of peoples’ envelopes all out of shape… Young people seem to love him, Moslems seem to love him, Atheists even seem to love him… I love him too and felt an immediate conjoining of Spirits as soon as I realized who he was and is. I pray for the continued advancement of the Gospel, and the reformation of the Roman Catholic Church under the leadership of Pope Francis.

Grace & Peace,

John Cooper
http://www.jcooperforpeace.org/

i “Evangelii Gaudium,” Pope Francis, 2013 – Sect. 23
ii Ibid., 239
iii Ibid., 274
iv Ibid., 254
v Ibid., 181
vi Ibid., 204

vii Ibid., 284

Filed under Christian, Cross, Evangelii Gaudium, Grace, Holy Spirit, Lord's Supper, New Covenant, Nonviolence, Peace, Politics, Pope Francis, Uncategorized

Reflections and Shadows

September 29, 2013 2 Comments

Reflections and Shadows

2013-09-25 12.18.16

I visited Birmingham, AL this past week while calling on a casket distributor and some funeral homes attempting to get a new phase of our business, Simple Way Coffin, http://www.simplewaycoffin.com going. I drove by the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, http://bcri.org/index.html which is just across the street from the 16th Street Baptist Church http://www.16thstreetbaptist.org/ and noticed in Kelly Ingram Park what is referred to as the “Four Spirits Statue.” http://www.wbhm.org/News/2013/fourspiritsstatue.

I drove on by and I believe a Spirit urged me to come back, to take a picture, and to stop in the middle of the day and spend time in reflecting on the meaning of this statue and the history and sacrifice depicted here and in the surrounding buildings and park. Perhaps a Spirit will urge you to stop what you are doing and think about these things too… The picture above and the links above are enough for long periods of study. You may wish to spend a whole day visiting this area, the museums and church and park and statue, and to think….. Thinking, meditation, and reflection may be becoming lost arts in our fast paced society. I wish you well if you decide to attain to these disciplines.

In those days then President John F. Kennedy responded the day after the killings by saying, “If these cruel and tragic events can only awaken that city and state – if they can only awaken this entire nation to a realization of the folly of racial injustice and hatred and violence, then it is not too late for all concerned to unite in steps toward peaceful progress before more lives are lost.”

President Kennedy’s words still ring true for those who believe in Racial Reconciliation, Social Justice, and the ethics of Peace and Nonviolence. Surely these words ring true also for the rest of the world, including Iraq and Afghanistan, Palestine, Pakistan, and multitudes of other bombing tragedies that occur so often they are not in the news, and are, unless extra brutal, passed on by without reflection of the folly of attempting to overcome Evil with more Evil, Hatred with more Hatred, and Falsehood with more Falsehood.

Open the picture up full screen and take some time to think about these matters…. Read the links… Read the names…. I will mention just a few of my reflections….

It was a sunny day; notice the shadows cast by the gentle rays of the Fall sun…. Notice the landscaping, flowers and other statues in the exquisitely well-kept park… Notice the 6 doves released in my view to God above, who keeps in my view the Spirits of all mankind, those who subscribe to our personal religious systems, and those who subscribe to other systems too… Or, who subscribe to no systems… Notice the girls have no defense systems. What good would a gun, a sword, or any method of overcoming Evil with more Evil have done? Overcoming Evil with Good is all they could possibly have done, and are actually still doing.. 6 Spirits… These 4 girls died, but the same day two other girls died… The girls are in the process of physical development… They were only 11 to 14 years old… I can only imagine they still occasionally played with dolls, and I cannot imagine they had seen much violence on TV back then that is now our steady diet. “Gunsmoke,” and Matt Dillon was about as violent as it got on TV back then. In those days the news was sanitized, as it is now in the United States. No blood, no guts on TV…. The terrible wars we were in back then… The public was protected from seeing people actually die… We still are, basically… We do not see the results of our long range missiles, and Drones…. It could be your own girls… What would stop anyone with a heart of Evil from killing your children, or killing you?

Notice what appears to be a cloth under the kneeling girl… Is she praying? Should we pray too? I thought later that I should have offered to pray with another woman who was there taking pictures too… Do our prayers matter? Does God hear our prayers? What could we pray for? For forgiveness? For Peace? For Justice? For ourselves and our own sins? Notice the kneeling girl is not wearing shoes…. The shoes are in the shadows on the ground… Is this Holy Ground? Where are the other girl’s shoes, the girl that is reaching to the doves, or perhaps reaching to heaven? Where are the shoes? Really poor people do not have shoes… The girl sitting on the bench has a book in her lap… Is that a Bible? I imagine so… I imagine she believed the words of the Bible… I imagine other things too, that God is Good, that Justice will be done, not retributive Justice, but Justice to restore and draw us all to God, including the killers of these little girls. Including us too… Our own hands are not clean who benefit from the injustice done to black slaves and the injustice we as a nation do in other parts of the world… Including Presidents and the CIA who do it too… Including me, who used to pay taxes to support warfare. I say used to; now I am living under the level that requires me to pay Federal taxes… But, there are all those hidden taxes… It is these systems we all grow up in, including those systems of our perceived enemies, including the four little girls… Men’s systems that are less than perfect, that are not “Exceptional.” Except Exceptionally Evil, they are…

Therefore, we look to a better Kingdom, a better system, as these little girls seem to be looking… Maybe there will come a better Kingdom… Maybe if we just go to a hilltop we can envision it from far off… Just to look at it as our father Abraham, not to enter it yet… Maybe there will be a Millennium on earth and these little girls will be resurrected to live in it, to grow up, have families of their own, and to forgive their killers…. You may say there is no hope, no future, but I disagree… The statues told me that there is a hope and a future for those who at least pause to reflect upon the shadows of the past that haunt us…

Grace, Peace,

John Cooper

Filed under Christian, Cross, Death, Grace, Holy Spirit, Nonviolence, Peace, Politics, Racial Reconciliation, Uncategorized Tagged with , ,

Do not Think of Yourselves as Better

August 27, 2013 Leave a comment

Do not think of Yourselves as better

I was thinking about this Sunday, in a Bible Study of the Christian New Testament book of Romans….  It came to mind that one needs to listen to the poem by Thomas Merton, a Catholic Monk, who was a  fellow member of the Fellowship of Reconciliation as I am now, and a believer in the Gospel of Peace and non-violence…

The phrases that I was thinking of were “obeyed perfectly” and “do not think of ourselves better because we burn up friends and enemies with long range missiles…”
This seems significant in today’s society, where we can launch drones from long ranges away, and missiles, and nuclear weapons, and never look into the eyes of those we condemn to destruction.  We were taught all these practices on TV, from little children on… Overcome Evil with violence, not Good… Overcoming Evil with violence has not “worked” in thousands of years, since Cain killed Abel…

I confess my own conceit and plan to write a confession of my conceit as soon as possible… I think as Christians, we should all confess our conceit, if we think of ourselves “more highly,” or better, or as “Americans.” If we think of ourselves “more highly,” or “better,” let us confess…..  All we have been given in Christ as Christians are gifts.. We are not better….  We are not more intelligent…. We are so vain… so stupid, compared to the Father, Son, Holy Spirit, “God.”

Listen to the link below, and hear the prophet speak…

http://archive.org/details/ThomasMertonChantToBeUsedInProcessionsAroundASiteWithFurnaces

Let us look into the eyes of those we refuse to love as Jesus loved, not launching long range missiles of suffering and damnation upon them… Would it be better to quickly destroy them as in Annihilationism… :):)

It is better to listen to the poem…

It is possible this will be of significance in the next few days…

Oh,  just thinking some more… I am sure this classic proof text for those who believe in war and killing will be covered but possibly completely out of context with the whole book of Romans which concerns submission and obedience to God first, then those in authority secondly:

Romans 13

13:1 “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. 4 For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience.

6 This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. 7 Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor. ”

NIV

I deliberately did not quote this verse in context, but let us be sure we obey perfectly, God, that is, not men, and let us certainly not think of ourselves as better….
Grace & Peace

 

John

Filed under Christian, Cross, Death, Grace, New Covenant, Nonviolence, Peace, Politics, Uncategorized

Taking Sides

August 20, 2013 Leave a comment

Taking Sides

For those who believe in overcoming evil with good, falsehood with truth, and hatred with love, of any religion, system, or creed, I wrote the following to one of my friends…  Do we need to “take sides,” or take the side of overcoming evil with good, falsehood with truth, and hatred with love, as Peace Pilgrim proclaimed?

“All I am saying is it is just a terrible mess when anyone attempts to overcome evil with more evil, violence with more violence, falsehood with more falsehood, hatred with more hatred… On either side of this, and on all sides of everything, resorting to the Myth of Redemptive Violence is the way of the world since Cain killed Able, and has never “worked,” although mankind keeps trying it over and over and over again and again in place of the clear Godly Gospel message which includes overcoming Evil with Good, as Jesus did on the cross… This message of the cross is the central focus point to solve the world’s problems.

As Christians, we can “DO this” as is indicated in the observance of the remembrance and the reality of Jesus’ death on the cross which we as Christians need to DO often, since we seem to not be able to remember for long Jesus’ core message to “Love one another as I have loved you,” and to overcome Evil with Good, not more Evil. If we as Christians cannot remember it, DO it, BE it, and shine this as a light on the hilltop, not hiding it under bushel baskets, afraid to preach this message of the Gospel of Peace, how can we expect Goodness to arrive magically from any non Christian political system? In Egypt, anywhere, including the NON Christian political system in the United States…

Make sense?

What do you think?”

John Cooper
Tuscaloosa, AL

Filed under Christian, Communion, Cross, Death, Grace, Lord's Supper, New Covenant, Nonviolence, Peace, Politics, Uncategorized

Bye John

August 11, 2013 Leave a comment

Bye John

 

It was just last Saturday, a week ago, that I visited my longtime friend, Ray Willkie.  It was for the last time in this life… 

 

He and I and his wife, Sue visited for a good period of time, but not too long, since it is not good to wear sick people down with too much talking.  However, we spoke of some old time events, like the time we were on a golf trip to Terre Haute, Indiana and we were doing some shopping in a golf store.  My rain suit had “shrunk” and I decided I needed to purchase another one.  I could not find one to fit, so a nice girl who also plays golf that we knew who worked there volunteered to “measure” me for a rain suit.  Ray and the guys with us had never heard of such a thing as being measured for a rain suit.  However my legs are short and I have a hard time finding pants for my 28” inseam.  Apparently it took longer to get measured for the rain suit than my buddies expected, so I got a good kidding about it, even there with the girl present, and she piped, up to tell them that it was no business of theirs what we were doing at that eventJJ

 

We always were joking about things like that.  Ray, was sometimes known to voice some prejudicial feelings and we sometimes bantered that around a little bit, with my disagreeing with him and telling him how much I personally loved black people.  One time I facilitated the event of his feeling a black girl who was a waitress for us arm muscles.  I doubt I could convince Michelle Obama on that one thoughJJ  Really, deep down, he had a kind heart, although he sometimes tried to be the tough guy around his peers.  It was for Ray and I that I invented the game, “6 Par.”  You can read of that game on my blog site at www.jcooperforpeace.org.

 

Ray knew I used to be a pastor, and asked me to pray for him after he found out he had cancer.  I and David Jones prayed for him and anointed him with oil and asked for his healing.  I feel he was given several more months to live.  He regularly asked me to pray for him when I visited.  I was happy to do so.  The time before last, I spoke to Ray about the resurrection and gave him some audio CDs of Ray Stedman speaking about the resurrection from the passages around 1 Corinthians 15.  I do not know if he felt like listening to them or not… 

 

In our last prayer together, I mentioned how God can do anything he wants, to heal, or to allow one to die, and I asked Ray if he was OK with that.  He said he was OK…  When I left, I did not hear his words exactly, (I am hard of hearing), but Sue, his wife, spoke up to tell me Ray was saying something.  I looked back at Ray lying on his hospital bed set up in their home, and Ray lifted his hand up and waved, “Bye John.”  I said “Bye Ray, I will see you later.”  I briefly wondered if that would be in this life.  Ray died this past week.  I will not see him again in this life.

 

Now what?

 

What happens when one is fully conscious, intelligently speaking, reasoning, and aware mentally, and the body shuts down?  No one has yet found physical evidence of this Spirit of awareness that seems to be a part of, but not all of us as human beings.

 

Some say the Spirit goes up, some say it goes down.  Some say one goes immediately into heaven, some say there is a period of sleep.  Some say one suffers in Purgatory for their sins until cleansed of unrighteousness, and others say it is 100% Grace by which people are saved.  Some say people go to hell to suffer forever and ever more…. Some say only a few are saved, even though they would also say Jesus draws all men unto himself.  Some say all will eventually be saved…..  Some say there is no God, and none are saved and death is the end.  The End….

 

I know enough of fire and ice to “prove” from certain Scriptures most any of those views, excepting the no God view…  I will pass on that… and pass on “proving” anything, for that matter.  Except to still wonder….

 

Where is Ray’s Spirit?  Where is Ray?

 

Perhaps a better question would be for us, the living.  Where is our Spirit? Where are we? Where am I in relationship to life and eternity?  Where are you?

 

Bye now, see you later…

 

John Cooper

Tuscaloosa, AL

Filed under Christian, Cross, Death, Golf, Grace, Peace, Uncategorized Tagged with

The Gospel of Peace

July 13, 2013 Leave a comment

The Gospel of Peace as an Ethic from

Judaeo-Christian Roots of Non-Violent Conflict Resolution</p>

 

We can view the amazing contributions of human intelligence to our society.  We can drive our automobiles, fly to other nations 24,000 miles away, and connect instantly with virtually anyone on earth who has internet service, or a phone, and on, and on.  However, since the days mankind tamed the horse, invented the wheel and used the wheel to carry back spoils won in warfare from our perceived enemy, we cannot yet seem to understand how to win the peace. We cannot understand how to implement, not weapons of war, but to implement instruments of peace, such as the simple but complex principle of how we can love our enemy.  We can win the Nobel Peace prize, yet in our acceptance speeches speak of the ethics of preemptive warfare and claim allegiance to them.  Why not explore and discuss preemptive theories of conflict resolution, not preemptive war?  Are we merely slaves to principalities and powers who rule over us in a spiritual realm? Do we serve these powers as a result of our failure to believe in and practice ethics based upon the roots of Judeo-Christian historical evidence?

For Jews, and Christians, it is important to view the Gospel of Peace from the origins of history recorded in Genesis.  At certain other times God apparently made allowances for mankind to attempt to solve problems through the Myth of Redemptive Violence, and parts of Hebrew Scripture appear to even approve of such methods and support them.  God in other cases appears to approve of polygamy, of dashing little babies against rocks, of divorce, and warfare, but for Christians, we must view the Gospel of Peace through the lens of the New Testament firstly, and also recall the origins of mankind recorded in the book of Genesis.  Jesus himself made similar statements when he said:

Matt 19:8-9

 

8 Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. 9 I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery.” 

NIV

In the same vein, although this presents a logical challenge to Biblical inerrancy, just as Jesus challenges divorce as being normative for humanity, I believe that from the beginning mankind (all mankind, not just Christians or Jews, since there were no Christians or Jews from the beginning) was created good, by God, in the image of God, to live peacefully with one another, nonviolently.  To understand the exegetical difficulties of just a few strange and alien Scriptures, and to hold them in tension, we need to view them through the eyes of Jesus.

               Can we imagine that when we eat dinner as a human family in our homes that we should set a place setting for our worst enemy, if we have one?  Can we imagine that we should pray for and love our enemy, that our own egos should die so the ethics of Jesus, a Jewish prophet, could actually live spiritually in us?  It was that prophet, Jesus, who said “blessed are you if you do this…”

 

               We intend to provide fresh insight into generally overlooked, and generally rejected, Judaeo-Christian roots of the Gospel of Peace as a method of conflict resolution firstly between God and man and secondly between man and man, looking to the Old Covenant for those roots and examining the predominant roots of the New Covenant Gospel of Peace revealed by and in Jesus whom Christians believe to be “the image of the invisible God”, (Col. 1:15) and the “exact and complete revelation” of God.

               In our discussion we will be examining the following principles which we will argue will preemptively, if understood, transform human lives into a non-denominational, apolitical, ethic of a peaceful, non-violent proactive lifestyle, which creates the type of human soil in which conflict of nations and conflict of individuals cannot grow.

We will be examining principles revealed millennia ago which, to our knowledge have not been applied by nations, governments, or seldom even religions of this world, or generally speaking by humans living on earth to the problems of conflict and war.

We will firstly list these peaceful and harmonious beliefs before discussing them individually in more detail.

We Believe we are dressers and keepers and that we humans are created to be the most valuable asset in our world for the purpose of taking care of this world and all life, plant, animal, and human, within it.

We Believe and act on the premise that we are our brother’s keepers.

We Believe and act as if we humans are created in the image of God.

We Believe the root principle of the Old Covenant, that we are to love God, and to love man, is applicable to preemptive conflict resolution.

We Believe the root principle of the New Covenant, the new command Jesus gave to transcend the nationalism to the old, “to love one another as I have loved you” will resolve conflict.

We Believe that “love your enemies” will complete our transformation as beings created in God’s image and make us into real, actual, everlasting children of God who have no bones of conflict in our being.

We Believe the old and new roots of resolving to let God Himself be our king, fight our battles, resolve our conflicts (e.g. – Old Testament records of Samuel and establishments of an earthly king and juxtapose with the Lord’s prayer (Matt. 6) and our dependence upon God, to deliver us from evil) not ourselves.)

Faith is required just as Faith has always been required.  God Believed Mankind into being and called upon mankind to believe what he commanded for harmonious relationships with himself, and with all those who he created into existence in his image.

In all our discussions we must also recognize that from the origins of mankind in Genesis to the final resolution of conflict in the book of Revelation, which conflict is consummated and dissolved by Jesus riding a white horse dipped in blood (Rev. 19) (which is Jesus own blood,) that from Genesis to Revelation we are urged to war and conflict by fallen powers which must be defeated and transformed before the peaceable kingdom of God is fulfilled and fully established.  Mankind was not created to be warriors.  Being a warrior must be learned from fallen powers proclaiming myths of redemptive violence.  Who taught us to be violent warriors?  It is our understanding that it is God who desires us to be Peacemakers and wants us to call us his children.  Our understanding of the Gospel of Peace will be magnified as we examine ancient Judaeo-Christian principles.

 

This is the end of first section to post on jcooperforpeace.org.  Other installments will follow.

Grace & Peace,

John Cooper

Filed under Christian, Grace, New Covenant, Nonviolence, Peace, Uncategorized

You Know Where You Laid Him

May 26, 2013 Leave a comment

You Know Where You Laid Him


I went to the Country Club of Tuscaloosa this past Saturday morning to try to play some golf… It was a beautiful day in the end of May, just right for playing golf… The Country Club of Tuscaloosa, Tuscaloosa’s oldest country club, is being sold to an investment group for redevelopment as of the end of May. The club has been struggling financially for many years. I have been there many years, having joined shortly before Southern Grass Tennis Academy, where I used to play tennis, closed. I have played a lot of tennis there, having won the open division of the Club Championship, and making many friends there. About 20 years ago, after playing tennis for 20 years, I decided I would take up golf… Golf, like tennis, requires strength in one’s legs. I suffered a torn Patella tendon several months ago, and my legs are still weak. Later in the day I discovered I could not play that day so I went back to work. However, I want to share with you a happening related to this visit to the Tuscaloosa Country Club.

Now don’t take what I say that seriously. Few do that anyway:):)  I am setting on our deck which Wink cleaned today, having a beer, and thinking about some things….

When I drove up today to the Country Club, I was getting my clubs out of the Avalanche truck, and I was greeted by the older black lady know in many parts of town as the “Preacher Lady.” Preacher Lady walks from Alberta City, where I live, to West End, where our business is, and the Country Club of Tuscaloosa is, 12 miles away, preaching in a loud voice as she walks along in a long dress that goes down to her ankles. She preaches in nonsensical phrases as she walks for miles and miles… She must have very strong legs…. She may be homeless… On this day, Preacher Lady came up to me quietly, with an open Bible Cradled in her arms, speaking in a soft voice, with kind eyes, asking me, “Where did you lay him.” I told her, “He is risen.” “I did not lay him anywhere.” She insisted that I did lay him and that I knew where he was, and that she was looking for him and to please tell her where I laid him. I told her again, as we communicated as if we were normal people, that I did not do it… She said that I did do it, and I knew where I laid him and to please tell her. This conversation went on for some time…

Now, those who know me generally think that I am just about as crazy as this crazy Preacher Lady… I used to be an actual preacher once…. I am thinking now, why did I not walk with her to a restaurant and eat together with her, and get to know her better? I think a lot of people are afraid of Preacher Lady, but I am not afraid… Instead, I went ahead and tried to play golf. After attempting to play a few holes, I discovered my legs were too weak and sore from hitting some balls the day before and working in the shop this past week on some prototype coffins, that I could not play and was just reinforcing bad habits… So, I quit. You might say I was on my last legs that day, which in several ways, I appear to be…

Not Preacher Lady though, she is not on her last legs… She can walk, and she can talk, anywhere….

Well, where then, did I lay him? She said I laid him there…

Setting on the deck, in Alberta City, the City with perhaps the largest moon you have ever seen, and a hotel named Moon Winx, with crickets chirping, and an occasional train going by, as I think of the new Pope Francis and his concern for the poor, and for Peace, (one of his sayings I recently shared) it is coming to me where I laid him… I have laid him… I have laid him there… I have laid him somewhere after my concerns for success, somewhere after materialism, somewhere after pride, etc. This Jesus, concerned for the poor, for the rat upon, sat upon, spat upon, as Dallas Willard speaks of in his book, “The Divine Conspiracy,” knows I have laid him there. He knows that often other things are of a higher priority to me than him.

The somewhat nonsensical sentences of Preacher Lady make more sense upon reflection… “Where did you lay him?” “You know where you laid him.” “You laid him there.” “You know where.” “You did it, yes you did.” These phrases make more sense as we review the history of the Christian religious systems post Constantine… Oh, and my own personal history too…

I did it… I laid him there. I crucified him there now upon my own altars… I should know where I laid him… We, who say we are Christians, should know where we laid him,
Did you lay Him there too?

Grace and Peace,

John Cooper
https://jcooperforpeace.org/

Postscript: Before I post this, I was driving to work after church this afternoon and coming over the 15th street viaduct with Stafford Park on the right, there was Preacher Lady half way down the block. I pulled over into the park and waited as she walked slowly toward me. I got out of the park and walked toward her with body language I knew would not scare her. My Uncle, Bill McCulley was so good at this with animals he raised. I learned some of it from him many years ago.. He would often offer his hand out forward, and other things like that so as not to frighten the animals he cared for, who were likely to run away from, or to attack others. I reminded her of our conversation just yesterday and asked her if she had found where he was laid yet. She had not yet, but began another conversation. I listened to her and interjected that I would like to take her to lunch, but she said she did not need to eat. As we talked for perhaps 15 minutes or so, mainly it was her talking, I interjected my offer at least twice more to take her to lunch or drive her where she might need to go, but she declined each time.
What was on her mind today, is that Jesus is coming and he is coming soon…. In the midst of her extended preaching she pulled out her Bible and began looking in in the Book of Revelation around chapter 20 for the passage she was looking for…. I asked her if she meant to find Revelation 19, where Jesus was coming back in robes soaked in blood, his own blood, I said, but she said she knew about that, and fingered forward to Revelation 22 and read some of the Scriptures there, without eyeglasses, in a clear and pleasant and knowledgeable voice, “Behold, I am coming soon!” among other Scriptures.
She preached about many things…. I told her my name, and asked for hers, but she did not want to give it to me, therefore, for now, let’s just say, “Preacher Lady” asked me to tell you about all of this…..

Filed under Christian, Cross, Golf, Grace, New Covenant, Nonviolence, Peace, Uncategorized

Mother Dogs and Men Who Cry

May 4, 2013 Leave a comment

Mother Dogs and Men Who Cry

We had a mother dog come in our showroom door this week… She had broken loose from her wire like leash obviously to search for food…. She was a dog with a pleasant disposition, although obviously in need on food… Her rib bones where protruding through her skin and her breasts were partially full of milk, as much as could be supplied from her body fat….. Not much fat was left on her…

Wink, my wife, came in to my office crying, saying “there is a dog out here.” You may have heard the puppy stories before… I went out to find the mother dog with her nose to the ground trotting back and forth all over the place, into the back shop, etc. I thought she might be thirsty so I garnered a bucket, put some water in it and offered it to her… She refused the water, but vigorously liked my hands in an appreciative manner and ran back to the showroom where she tipped over Wink’s trash can that had some wrappings from a Jimmie John’s sandwich and tried to open the empty crushed up paperwork. Wink was crying and I began to realize what was really going on…. “It just isn’t right,” Wink whimpered, as she cried with tears streaming down her cheek.

I took out $20 and asked David Jones to go to the Dollar store and purchase some dog food. While he was doing that, I pursued the dog who left the showroom, who ran to a house across the street with her nose to the ground, and I momentarily lost her as she ran around the neighborhood… I checked with the neighbor across the street, whom Wink said had some puppies, but they said it was not their dog… then I saw her, a block away, not far from a lot upon which a policeman had been shot and killed a few years ago… I went to catch her so we could feed her, but she ran up under the crawl space of another house looking for food… I called Flannigan, a truck driver who lives next door to the house asking if this dog belonged to the neighbor. He said it did not, but it belonged to the house next to the lot I knew the policeman had been shot and killed on.

About that time, the mother dog came out licking my hands and I captured her short leash and began to lead her back to our shop to feed her. Then the Animal Control truck wheeled around the corner… Wink had called 311 and the Animal Control Center responded quickly. David came up with the dog food, and I told them the dog was hungry and needed to eat. They advised not to feed her because she would just throw up in their truck… They put her in the truck and they were going to carry her off and I offered the bag of food to them to take with them, but objected that the mother dog had puppies somewhere and the puppies would die if they took the mother dog away… The Control Men began to realize the seriousness of the situation and we all began to search nearby houses…. There was a Pit Bull dog on a heavy chain in the back of one house, barking and lunging at his chain… “He is just a breeder,” the Control Men said, but they saw a dog house just out of reach of the lunging Pit Bull’s chain and went to get a long metal stick with a lasso on it to catch the pit bull it he broke loose… One of them went to the dog house while the other one and I watched close by, keeping our eyes peeled for the Pit Bull… “There are five puppies!) he exclaimed…

The Control Men then got the Mother dog out of the truck, and put a long leash on her collar as I scurried to get an empty and dry dog food bowl from the back yard. I opened the dog food sack David had brought to me and poured out some into the bowl and the Mother Dog desperately gulped up the dog food…. “She isn’t protective of her food,” one of the Control Men said, as I put my hands close to the food in the bowl as the Mother Dog lapped and chewed the food and I poured more out for her as tears dropped from my eyes..… I asked the Control Men how much to give, knowing that one should give only a limited amount to a starving animal, and they told me. I put the rest at the door of the house where apparently no one was home, and left my business card on the door for those who lived there….

We took the Mother Dog to the doghouse and the Control Men said the dog house should have a wood floor, and the puppies should not be on the ground… I told them I had wood, if they needed it, (in our cabinet shop)The little puppies where so happy to see their mother, and vice versa…. In the meantime, Wink had called me at least a couple of times to see what was happening… I went back to briefly tell her what happened, and I am writing in more detail now…. “It just isn’t right,” she murmured as she cried…

After work, I did my regular things, having some popcorn and drinks as I checked my personal email…. One of my Sisters called me, and we talked at length about some family difficulties we are suffering, (about someone we love who is suing the family) and I left work about 7:30, before dusk and saw a whole bunch of new and shiny cars around the house where the Mother Dog lives…. Some of the cars were driven up in the yard, so I stopped at the intersection and took a picture of the scene with the new and shiny cars… I thought to myself, … If the resident’s friends have new and shiny cars, why can’t they afford dog food? So, I drove up in my Avalanche in the yard too, and walked to the back of the house to see the Mother Dog…. The Pit Bull did not make that much of a ruckus, since apparently he knows me a little bit, since our face to face meeting earlier in the day…. Soon the residents came out of the house, the man of the house first… I introduced myself, asking him his name, shaking his hand… He told me he had the dog food and had my business card… I explained how the Mother Dog had gotten loose, and a much shorter version of the story above. He said he worked at Burger King. I told him if he was at work, and that since the dog was apparently starving, since our business was so close, I could come and feed the dog in the middle of the day…. He seemed appreciative, and a little girl, about two years old came out of the house in front of apparently her Mother. I offered my index finger to the little girl, she grasped it; I asked her name, and I listened closely with my hearing aid ear to her name, and nodded to her Mother… We ended the conversation on an amicable note, and I told them that the Animal Control Men were to come to see them the next day to help them keep better care of the Mother Dog, telling them, for instance, that the Mother Dog would need food with more protein while she was nursing…

I drove across the lawn in my pick up, the tires slipping a little bit, since they are slick and are in need of replacing, to the yard of Flannigan, to whom I sold our GMC-White truck tractor on terms… “They just don’t need things like that if they can’t take care of them.” Flannigan said…… After that conversation, I began driving home, crying along the way…. At a couple of points, I pulled doff the road to weep and cry… “It just isn’t right.” I muttered, as Wink had cried also…..

 
Let me clue you in on this…. All the above is written with multiple meanings in mind. The Book of Revelation, or Apocalypse, is written this way… This means there is more to it more than you may imagine at first reading….. For a glimpse of what I mean, check out http://sojo.net/blogs/2013/04/30/apocalypse-now/.

The story I tell is true… I have witnesses that it is true, but I will only partially explain a couple of things…. Other meanings of this story may become evident…. At a later time….

First,
Some men cry….
I am a man…
I cry… I cry often…
John 11:35
35 Jesus wept . (Over Lazurus)
NIV

 
I can imagine the anguish Jesus had:
Luke 13:34-14:1
34 “O Jerusalem , Jerusalem , you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! 35 Look, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'”
NIV

 
And Nehemiah:
Neh 1:3-5
3 They said to me, “Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.”
4 When I heard these things, I sat down and wept . For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. 5 Then I said:
NIV

 
And Esau, and Jacob, and Joseph, and the people of Israel, many times, and David, and Kings, just for a few… They wept too….
Real men cry….

 
Back to Mother Dog and puppies… I told Wink and David later that It is just not right, and even worse that it is just not right that in addition to animals, human beings are in the same condition, starving to death too, while we spend enormous funds on the military and killing people… Flesh and blood people whom we mistakenly believe to be our real enemies.

Even the amount we spend on Drones could be put to better use. The amount we spend on sanctions against Iran….. Would that be better spent sending peace delegations, even Civilian Peace Delegations to just drive up on Iranian officials lawns and talk to them? I have asked before… I have asked “high” officials such things…. No response… Dead silence….

Ancient walls such as Nehemiah wept over were walls for the protection of the city of Jerusalem… A Christian is called to be a citizen of a different Kingdom, of a New Jerusalem, one whose light is of a God who cries for us, and runs after us, and whose mayor is a God who pursues us. It is a city whose gates are never closed… Always open….. A Christian is to bear the Armor of God, and have feet shed in the Gospel of Peace…. The Gospel of Peace, another idea just about completely rejected in most of Christianity… Bring that idea up one day. I imagine you will find no response, dead silence…. Other elements of the Armor of God mentioned below are:

 
Eph 6:10-18
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God , so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
NIV

 
Speaking truth to the powers….
righteousness…
gospel of peace…
shields of faith… (not shields of nuclear warheads)
helmets of salvation, swords of Spirit, prayer, awareness that we are not fighting against flesh and blood… such things along with the Gospel of Peace seem to be sought after, not so much….

 
It just isn’t right that we should spend so much money, time, and energy building up walls of defense, using that armament actually for offense, and pre-emptive warfare, while we shed our lives of the Armor of God and ignore the Gospel of Peace and suffering and hungry humans in so many nations, and our own, and our supposed enemies beautiful mothers and children…

Our enemies are not flesh and blood..

 
“It just isn’t right,” cried Wink… Not for Mother Dogs, certainly not for humans…
Mother dogs and men who weep… Some don’t care so much about that idea either…
Maybe the world would be a better place if we did….

 
Oh, I just saw our neighbor who owns the dog again this morning after I finished this article… He waved, and I we walked to meet each other… I shook his hand, asked how the dog was doing and he said fine… I told him there are some people around concerned… He said the Animal Control people had talked to him and advised him the mother dog while nursing needs more protein, like chicken and stuff…. I was thinking of the Mother Church too, while talking to him… Yes, Christians need more protein too… Solid food, the meat of the Word…

Grace and Peace,

John Cooper
Tuscaloosa, AL

Filed under Christian, Communion, Cross, Grace, mother's day, New Covenant, Nonviolence, Peace, Uncategorized

The Kingdom of God and Barabbas

March 24, 2013 Leave a comment

The Kingdom of God and Barabbas

I was thinking about the Kingdom of God recently in view of Pope Francis’ desire to serve the poor, and choose St. Francis of Assisi, known to many for his care for the poor, for the environment, and his love of Peace, as his namesake. When I heard of this name choice, I thought of the following Scripture from Luke 4, (NIV):

 

 

“16He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
20Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him.21He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” “

 

 

As Jesus began to proclaim the Kingdom of God, choosing this Hebrew Scripture from Isaiah 61, which goes into even more explanation of God’s concern for Social Justice, he seems to be introducing a Gospel of a new type of Kingdom on earth. The earthly Kingdoms and the Powers over those kingdoms seem to be more interested in ruling over humans, not setting them free, and certainly not ruling “under” as servants to humans under their jurisdiction.

 

 

I am writing today not to explain my thinking specifically regarding the Kingdom of God, but to tell you about a connection to Barabbas regarding the proclamation of Jesus quoted above. I am sure many have already thought of this connection before, but it had never really registered with me until today during Grace Church’s Palm Sunday worship service the connection between Luke 4 and Barabbas. We were watching a video where a man was imitating Peter, and said he was so sorry for betraying Jesus, that concerning the cross, it should have been me, (Peter.) Then I thought of Luke 4, and how the release of Barabbas was a also a fulfilling of this Scripture because it was the sinner, Barabbas, who was a captive set free… Then I thought. It should have been me, (John Cooper.) Then I thought, it should have been all of us, the whole world, and how the cross and Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection set all of us, captive to sin, free… Not just us though, According to other Scriptures such as 2 Corinthians 5, Jesus was reconciling the whole world.

 

 

Speaking of setting people free, let us look at this Scripture from Colossians 1 (NIV):

 

 

“20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
21Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. 22But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— 23if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.”

IMG_20130324_115400_525[1]

IMG_20130324_115527_201[1]

So, here we go… Jesus setting Captives free, including Barabbas, you, and me, and reconciling all things to himself, on earth and in heaven, and making Peace too! Could it be finished? Could all we human captives to sin, including our enemies, all things, everyone, be set free? Would that not be good news, if it were true? I believe it is true! Some people, including some Christians, may not believe God is big enough to do things just like that, but I do, and it is my name written on the purple robes on the cross at Grace Church today with the words about setting captives free written on the robe, with many other names too at Grace Church today…. Let’s just imagine your name is there to, and that the whole world will be as one, living life in Peace… I may be a dreamer, but I am not the only one… :):)

 

 

So, thank you Pope Francis, for choosing that name and getting me to thinking about the Kingdom of God, that looks like Jesus, that looks like you, someone who came to serve under, not over others… Assuming that is what you mean to do and mean to continue to do… May we all do the same… Oh, and thank you Barabbas, if you are in heaven already reconciled. It should have been you… It should have been me…. It should have been us..

 

 

John Cooper
Grace & Peace,
https://jcooperforpeace.org/

Filed under Christian, Cross, Easter, Grace, New Covenant, Nonviolence, Palm Sunday, Peace, Uncategorized

God, you are just not big enough to handle all my problems:):)

February 9, 2013 Leave a comment

God, you are just not big enough to handle all my problems:):)

I set before my computer just a little dazed, knowing I need to write out my thoughts, knowing I have been thinking about some things I need to get off my chest, the past week or so.., not having a clear and present idea of exactly what it is… Have you ever been there? Have you ever prayed like that also? Help me, God, I do not know how to pray?

 
I and our families, including my personal church family have been going through a lot lately…. Personally, Wink, my wife, has had an exam that seems to indicate something suspicious regarding the occurrence of breast cancer from five years ago we thought was behind us… One of my cousins recently had a Mastectomy…. Our business is struggling for the past several years in an inhospitable housing industry related environment…. I have had a Patella tendon torn in two this past year and am still healing from that… In my church family, one of our members just lost her unborn child… One of my business friends recently lost his family business that had been a pillar of the community for over 60 years, and is selling his home to attempt to pay off more of his creditors.. I cannot pay our business bills in a timely manner as we have always been able to for over 35 years… One of my Great Nephews, only 5 years old, had holes drilled in his head to relieve pressure from fluid building up as a result of brain cancer, just yesterday…. He is scheduled for a craniotomy to take out one of the large masses of cancer from his skull this coming Tuesday…. There is more lurking in the background than even these things…

 

 

Ever been there? Ever done that? That is, you are personally struggling, and it seems so many you know are also personally struggling also? What is one to do? It seems to just pile up….

 

 

Last week, I think it was, Fred Shuckert, pastor of Grace Church, http://www.gracenews.org/index.php, which I am a member of, mentioned in his sermon a quote from Corrie Ten Boom, recalling it something like this, “”When I walked by a mirror I told God, “God, you are just not big enough to handle all my problems.”” I got to thinking about that and could not get up the nerve to say it just like that, but that Sunday afternoon, I emailed another friend, Paul Kurts, a former pastor in the Worldwide Church of God, as I was, the following note regarding an email he had sent to me:

 

 

“The Pastor of Grace Church, Fred Shuckert, in Tuscaloosa, AL where I attend, mentioned a reference from a book written by Corrie Ten Boom something to the general idea of “When I walked by a mirror I told God, “God, your are just not big enough to handle all my problems….” And she laughed….

I tried it out Sunday afternoon three times, but I had to modify it to “Father, someone told me to look into the mirror and tell you that your are just not big enough to handle all my problems.” And, I laughed until I cried….

I went home thinking about it, and had to pull off the road, in front of Your Way Furniture and laugh some more until I cried some more…. It is “Your Way, Jesus!” We are not Furniture, we are all beautiful human beings, each one of us, loved by God before time began, because He gives us a portion of his Eternal Spirit, to live forever into eternity…. This is just hilarious! We should celebrate it! Every communion, we should celebrate, and remember Jesus, and remember we are chosen, and remember Jesus has promised to draw ALL men unto himself…. It is more than funny, it is funny and beautiful….. It is amazing….

We are looking for the original source for Corrie Ten Boom’s idea, but I have found this link that may be a clue: http://rinamarie.wordpress.com/2009/02/04/wednesdays-word-corrie-ten-boom-on-anxiety/

I intend to write some about this and post it to my blog site, https://jcooperforpeace.org/ ASAP….

Personally, Wink and I are facing a lot of personal problems, principally of which is that Wink is going back to the Dr. tomorrow for evaluation of an MRI which shows something suspicious regarding her occurrence of breast cancer originating 5 years ago. Our business is severally struggling, and it seems the more I do Spiritually, the more we are attacked physically… Therefore, when I look into the sky, and see the universe, and read of physical masses in the universe that are billions of light years across in width, depth, and height, and are propelled outward from Divine force, I look into the mirror and say, “Father, someone told me to look into the mirror and tell you that your are just not big enough to handle all my problems.” and… laugh, hilariously…:):)

Jesus, you are worthy, Jesus, you are the way… Your Way, Jesus…”

 

 

Now, your God may not reveal himself to you, as a Triune God, as mine has to me… You may not call him Jesus, you may call God Allah, or Yahweh, or God, or you may not call on him at all, but some day, I really believe, God will call on you, and all of us to believe in the One God of the Universe who created all of mankind and all of creation, and created us “Good,” and loved us, and promised us he has everything under his control, that he has a hope for us, that he has a plan for us, that he knows what is best for us, if we live, if we die, we live and die in the parameters of Eternity he alone can imagine in its fullness….

 

 

OH, by the way, he has promised to resurrect us. He has promised to draw ALL men unto himself, he has promised that EVERY knee will bow, He has said that as in Adam, ALL men die, so in Christ shall ALL men be raised alive.. He has promised he has a hope and a future for us. He has told us he SO loved the world that he gave his only son for us….

 

 

God is FOR us? Who can be against us? Let us Laugh, hilariously, that any enemy can think they are against us, or can do anything to us of an eternal or lasting meaning… Why, who would have thunk it, but maybe we might even consider loving our enemies! A key to peace in one’s personal life, a key to peace in ones national life, and key to peace in the life of the world is to love one’s enemies….
Let us rest in this Peace…

 

John Cooper
https://jcooperforpeace.org/

Filed under Christian, Communion, Grace, Lord's Supper, New Covenant, Nonviolence, Peace, Uncategorized

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