![]() ![]() The strange thing is that a snake’s neurology and blood flow make it such that a snake still slithers wild even after it’s been sliced headless. ![]() That’s about when a machete-wielding neighbor showed up, calmly walked into her kitchen, and sliced off the head of the reptilian thing. That woman turned around, split the day with one blood-curdling scream, and flung herself outside wide-eyed. Apparently, so the story went, there had been a tropical snake, longer than the length of a man, that wound its way up the stilts of a jungle cabana and slithered right into one unsuspecting woman’s kitchen. A light that unlocks the dark and releases you into the land of a thousand suns. My grandad told me a story once and that story became a light. Used by permission of Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60187, Until the Snake Has No Head Taken from Uncomfortable by Brett McCracken, © 2017, p. But which reflects the character of Christ more : refusing to take in a Syrian refugee because we are concerned at the possibility that we could be harmed by such charity, or taking in the Syrian refugee out of sacrificial love that says, “ You are welcome at my table even if it costs me something ”? Could terrorists disguise themselves as refugees and infiltrate target nations within the “Trojan horse” of the massive flood of refugees?įears like this led to Donald Trump’s infamous call to ban Muslims from entering the United States. In 2015 – 2017, there was much dialogue about whether or not Western countries should admit refugees from the Middle East. I will never get to talk to her ever again - but I forgive you, and have mercy on your soul… If God forgives you, I forgive you.” Maybe it looks like loving people even if it potentially brings us harm. Given the chance to address her mother’s killer, Collier choked back tears as she forgave him: “You took something very precious away from me. What does this look like for Christians in today’s world? Perhaps it looks like Nadine Collier, whose mother, Ethel, was one of nine victims in the 2015 church massacre at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina. ![]() ![]() One of the costliest requirements of Christlike love is Jesus’s call to “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matt. Published by InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, IL. Taken from Reconciling All Things: A Christian Vision for Justice, Peace and Healing by Emmanuel Katongole and Chris Rice Copyright (c) 2008 by Emmanuel Katongole and Chris Rice. The Christian vision of hope never disconnects the question of whether we can reconcile the nations from whether we can live in peace and forgiveness with those nearest to us-in our homes, at work, in worship and even on the road. This way, they are able to confuse both the military and rebel fighters. When they come to a rebel roadblock, Hutu student leaders do the talking while the rest of the students carry on with their own conversations. When they come to a military checkpoint, the Tutsi students talk with the soldiers. But he knows that small things make a difference in the everyday lives of people, so he has formed groups of Hutu and Tutsi students who travel together. As a leader at the university in Bujumbura, he constantly finds himself caught between the Burundi military, dominated by Tutsi, and the predominantly Hutu rebel groups who are fighting the government. Our friend Emmanuel Ndikumana is a Hutu married to a Tutsi in Burundi. In this short story from the small African country of Burundi, one leader, a university professor, brings two tribes together in a practical way. Enemies can become friends, even to the point of caring for and protecting each other. Sometimes, the Christian faith can be confounding to the outside world. Living In Peace and Forgiveness with our Neighbors ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |