War or Love?

Hello crossnote;

God is love and for those of us who love God loves others. The Lord is a man of war is our war with the principalities of darkness and sin, even physical war that advocates for sin and darkness against God.

Ephesians 6:12, 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. - ESV

We may overemphasize on God's Agape Love only, and not engage in spiritual warfare against the devil. This is not so. Scripture teaches this in the Gospels and throughout the New Testament.

God bless you, brother, and thank you for posting War of Love?
 
bobinfaith said:
We may overemphasize on God's Agape Love only, and not engage in spiritual warfare against the devil. This is not so. Scripture teaches this in the Gospels and throughout the New Testament.
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Thanks Bob, That, (the over emphasis on God's love) is what I was wondering especially in the light of such verses as this

Revelation 19:11,13,15 NKJV
Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. [13] He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. [15] Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
Perhaps,as usual, the answer is 'both'.
 
Just as the problems and the scenarios are different one from another, so too are the answers and solutions.

Ecclesiastes 3:
1 To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven:
2 A time to be born,
And a time to die;
A time to plant,
And a time to pluck what is planted;
3 A time to kill,
And a time to heal;
A time to break down,
And a time to build up;
4 A time to weep,
And a time to laugh;
A time to mourn,
And a time to dance;
5 A time to cast away stones,
And a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace,
And a time to refrain from embracing;
6 A time to gain,
And a time to lose;
A time to keep,
And a time to throw away;
7 A time to tear,
And a time to sew;
A time to keep silence,
And a time to speak;
8 A time to love,
And a time to hate;
A time of war,
And a time of peace.
 
Big Moose said:
Just as the problems and the scenarios are different one from another, so too are the answers and solutions.

Ecclesiastes 3:
1 To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven:
2 A time to be born,
And a time to die;
A time to plant,
And a time to pluck what is planted;
3 A time to kill,
And a time to heal;
A time to break down,
And a time to build up;
4 A time to weep,
And a time to laugh;
A time to mourn,
And a time to dance;
5 A time to cast away stones,
And a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace,
And a time to refrain from embracing;
6 A time to gain,
And a time to lose;
A time to keep,
And a time to throw away;
7 A time to tear,
And a time to sew;
A time to keep silence,
And a time to speak;
8 A time to love,
And a time to hate;
A time of war,
And a time of peace.
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Hey Big Moose;

crossnote's thread and your post gave me a thought and question that I want to share / ask you.

When I was on the praise team it was a tough ministry because we were dealing with "different personalities" rehearsing, praying, studying, and leading praise and worship on Sundays.

Some of the younger members thought it was only a fun time worshiping God, playing our instruments and singing. But there were musicians who had issues with the other musicians, or someone wanted to do special song and got pushed aside for another week, some of the congregation complained because they didn't like the style, or someone was habitually late and had to be disciplined, so on and so on...

The music ministry is a tough ministry because the spiritual forces of evil exists there too.

God bless you, brother.

Yours or anyone else's thoughts?
 
bobinfaith said:
Hey Big Moose;

crossnote's thread and your post gave me a thought and question that I want to share / ask you.

When I was on the praise team it was a tough ministry because we were dealing with "different personalities" rehearsing, praying, studying, and leading praise and worship on Sundays.

Some of the younger members thought it was only a fun time worshiping God, playing our instruments and singing. But there were musicians who had issues with the other musicians, or someone wanted to do special song and got pushed aside for another week, some of the congregation complained because they didn't like the style, or someone was habitually late and had to be disciplined, so on and so on...

The music ministry is a tough ministry because the spiritual forces of evil exists there too.

God bless you, brother.

Yours or anyone else's thoughts?
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I can see how that can happen. I am in a small church, so most everyone was glad to have any special music. We never performed so often to become a worship/praise team, but I can imagine those pressures.

I did a requested song for a memorial service for a member of the church. I had to come up with a version of Luke Bryan's "Drink a Beer" song, as it was a favorite of the loved one who had passed. All the lyrics were fine for a church service except the "and drink a beer" line at the end of each chorus. I asked the pastor about the need to change it for the service and he just said it was up to me, in a way that he knew I would pray on it and take some Holy Spirit leading. So I did and I ended up replacing the lyric with "Just sitting here" for the "and drink a beer" for all except the last chorus where I left in the "and drink a beer". Well as you can imagine, I got a phone call a few days later letting me know how it wasn't appropriate and it upset one of the ladies in the church.

I don't know why I just shared that with you, other than we should be aware of the leadings of some people will end up stepping on our toes or someone else's. Clashes or butting heads will happen from time to time. I grew up in a church who had a big split over getting rid of a pastor. Almost half the church wanted to keep him, the slight majority wanted him out. It split the church and the minority went with the pastor to form a new church. My dad was caught in the middle of it because my older sisters who were married and out of the house went with the new church and two of my dad's brothers (my uncles) stayed at the old church. We ended up going Sunday mornings to the old church and Sunday evenings to the new church. Was this a bad thing? This happened back in the late '70's and both churches still exist today. The Lord works in mysterious ways, is all I can say. And you never know what may come from it.

Blessings to you too, my brother.
 
A former pastor of mine told about strife in a church when he was in seminary. They were going to replace the carpet and add padding to the pews. Half of the congregation insisted on red and the other half insisted on blue, fist fights broke out over this issue. The pastor of the church told them to stop their foolishness and that he would decide what to do. His solution was to put red carpet and blue padding on one side and blue carpet with red padding on the other, he then gave a hard sermon about getting along with other believers.
It seems that there is always someone that is not happy about something and starts to complain. We all must learn that the world does not revolve around us and we are not the ultimate authority on all things. I have seen these kind of attitudes in many different churches and it is so wrong and against what the bible teaches. Some folks would benefit by changing their attitude to be more like the beattitudes, or as I have heard it said "The attitudes that we ought to be."
 
Dave F. said:
A former pastor of mine told about strife in a church when he was in seminary. They were going to replace the carpet and add padding to the pews. Half of the congregation insisted on red and the other half insisted on blue, fist fights broke out over this issue. The pastor of the church told them to stop their foolishness and that he would decide what to do. His solution was to put red carpet and blue padding on one side and blue carpet with red padding on the other, he then gave a hard sermon about getting along with other believers.
It seems that there is always someone that is not happy about something and starts to complain. We all must learn that the world does not revolve around us and we are not the ultimate authority on all things. I have seen these kind of attitudes in many different churches and it is so wrong and against what the bible teaches. Some folks would benefit by changing their attitude to be more like the beattitudes, or as I have heard it said "The attitudes that we ought to be."
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Might be a good sermon the Republican Party needs to hear as they continue to squabble and search out a house speaker
 
crossnote said:
Exodus 15:3 NKJV
The LORD is a man of war; The LORD is His name.

1 John 4:8 NKJV
He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

What do you think?
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I think that War is a terrible thing. Some wars are more “just” than others, but war is always the result of sin.

God is Love to those who love Him.

I think that It is an error to say that God never supports a war or that Jesus is a pacifist. In a world filled with evil people, sometimes war is necessary to prevent even greater evil.

Consider what is taking place right now in Israel. Evil raised its ugly head and killed 1400 innocent people.

Then consider that If Hitler had not been defeated by World War II, or the atomic bomb was used on Japen, how many more millions would have been killed?

Consider then If the American Civil War had not been fought, how much longer would African-Americans have had to suffer as slaves?

The real life fact is that war is inevitable. As Christians, we should not desire war, but neither are Christians to oppose the government God has placed in authority over them. The most important thing we can be doing in a time of war is to be praying for godly wisdom for our leaders, praying for the safety of our military, praying for quick resolution to conflicts, and praying for a minimum of casualties among civilians on both sides.
Is God a God of Love or War............BOTH!

Romans 15:33.......
“Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen.”

God of War
Exodus 15:3.......
“The Lord is a warrior; the Lord is His name.”

Joel 3:9-10,.......
“Proclaim this among the nations: Prepare a war; rouse the mighty men! Let all the soldiers draw near, let them come up! Beat your plowshares into swords, 10 And your pruning hooks into spears; Let the weak say, “I am a mighty man.”
 
Dave F. said:
A former pastor of mine told about strife in a church when he was in seminary. They were going to replace the carpet and add padding to the pews. Half of the congregation insisted on red and the other half insisted on blue, fist fights broke out over this issue. The pastor of the church told them to stop their foolishness and that he would decide what to do. His solution was to put red carpet and blue padding on one side and blue carpet with red padding on the other, he then gave a hard sermon about getting along with other believers.
It seems that there is always someone that is not happy about something and starts to complain. We all must learn that the world does not revolve around us and we are not the ultimate authority on all things. I have seen these kind of attitudes in many different churches and it is so wrong and against what the bible teaches. Some folks would benefit by changing their attitude to be more like the beattitudes, or as I have heard it said "The attitudes that we ought to be."
Click to expand...

LOL............Been there and done that!!!!
 
Big Moose said:
I ended up replacing the lyric with "Just sitting here" for the "and drink a beer" for all except the last chorus where I left in the "and drink a beer"
Click to expand...
imo the part of the beer should been left out. especially if it was a Christian funeral once again this is only imo
 
Dave F. said:
A former pastor of mine told about strife in a church when he was in seminary. They were going to replace the carpet and add padding to the pews. Half of the congregation insisted on red and the other half insisted on blue, fist fights broke out over this issue.
Click to expand...
I've heard of this sort of thing as illustrations of what is biblically essential and what is not, but never believed it actually happens.
 
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