I beg to differ....
Do these words sound like reconciliation?
Luke12:49-59 (TLB), “I have come to bring fire to the earth, and, oh, that my task were completed! 50 There is a terrible baptism ahead of me, and how I am pent up until it is accomplished!
51 “Do you think I have come to give peace to the earth? No! Rather, strife and division! 52 From now on families will be split apart, three in favor of me, and two against—or perhaps the other way around. 53 A father will decide one way about me; his son, the other; mother and daughter will disagree; and the decision of an honored mother-in-law[a] will be spurned by her daughter-in-law.”
54 Then he turned to the crowd and said, “When you see clouds beginning to form in the west, you say, ‘Here comes a shower.’ And you are right.
55 “When the south wind blows you say, ‘Today will be a scorcher.’ And it is. 56 Hypocrites! You interpret the sky well enough, but you refuse to notice the warnings all around you about the crisis ahead. 57 Why do you refuse to see for yourselves what is right?
58 “If you meet your accuser on the way to court, try to settle the matter before it reaches the judge, lest he sentence you to jail; 59 for if that happens, you won’t be free again until the last penny is paid in full.”
Then, he says, "If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple." (Luke 14:26)
If we are to follow HIm and pick up the cross, it will mean leaving family and friends behind should they disagree or not choose to believe in He who has called us to folllow Him!
In Matthew 10:34, He says, “Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! No, rather, a sword."
Then in Luke 12:51 we read a parallel passage where the word sword is replaced by the word "Division." See: “Do you think I have come to give peace to the earth? No! Rather, strife and division!"
Your word reconciliation is just another word for "appeasement or pacification!" It can also be construed as meaning Harmony, or worse yet, compromise!" These words or terms are more in line with the mission and objectives of the Emergent Church! Make everyone happy. Everyone goes to heaven in the end, or "Deus ex machina!" And that is not the Gospel Jesus taught when it comes to being on a Narrow Path traveled by few versus the road to destruction, traveled by the multitudes!
So, I beg to differ...of course we know He did not advocate a physical violence to attain that division, He surely meant that spiritually speaking, we need to be separated from the world, like salt, we are a curative to sinful desires, a beacon on a hill, marching to a different tune or beat, one that leads to heaven not hell! Sacrifice must and will come when we follow Him, and reconciliation is not always possible, especially in a world that is ready to mock Him and those who follow Him. Those who are wanting to live like hell six and a half days a week, only to give God a pittance for the other half day, or even less, for an hour! :tear:
Do these words sound like reconciliation?
Luke12:49-59 (TLB), “I have come to bring fire to the earth, and, oh, that my task were completed! 50 There is a terrible baptism ahead of me, and how I am pent up until it is accomplished!
51 “Do you think I have come to give peace to the earth? No! Rather, strife and division! 52 From now on families will be split apart, three in favor of me, and two against—or perhaps the other way around. 53 A father will decide one way about me; his son, the other; mother and daughter will disagree; and the decision of an honored mother-in-law[a] will be spurned by her daughter-in-law.”
54 Then he turned to the crowd and said, “When you see clouds beginning to form in the west, you say, ‘Here comes a shower.’ And you are right.
55 “When the south wind blows you say, ‘Today will be a scorcher.’ And it is. 56 Hypocrites! You interpret the sky well enough, but you refuse to notice the warnings all around you about the crisis ahead. 57 Why do you refuse to see for yourselves what is right?
58 “If you meet your accuser on the way to court, try to settle the matter before it reaches the judge, lest he sentence you to jail; 59 for if that happens, you won’t be free again until the last penny is paid in full.”
Then, he says, "If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple." (Luke 14:26)
If we are to follow HIm and pick up the cross, it will mean leaving family and friends behind should they disagree or not choose to believe in He who has called us to folllow Him!
In Matthew 10:34, He says, “Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! No, rather, a sword."
Then in Luke 12:51 we read a parallel passage where the word sword is replaced by the word "Division." See: “Do you think I have come to give peace to the earth? No! Rather, strife and division!"
Your word reconciliation is just another word for "appeasement or pacification!" It can also be construed as meaning Harmony, or worse yet, compromise!" These words or terms are more in line with the mission and objectives of the Emergent Church! Make everyone happy. Everyone goes to heaven in the end, or "Deus ex machina!" And that is not the Gospel Jesus taught when it comes to being on a Narrow Path traveled by few versus the road to destruction, traveled by the multitudes!
So, I beg to differ...of course we know He did not advocate a physical violence to attain that division, He surely meant that spiritually speaking, we need to be separated from the world, like salt, we are a curative to sinful desires, a beacon on a hill, marching to a different tune or beat, one that leads to heaven not hell! Sacrifice must and will come when we follow Him, and reconciliation is not always possible, especially in a world that is ready to mock Him and those who follow Him. Those who are wanting to live like hell six and a half days a week, only to give God a pittance for the other half day, or even less, for an hour! :tear: