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Religious Violence

by Jerry Ousley  
7/08/2016 / Christian Living

When we were children we loved running and playing in the woods. At one particular place we lived there was a stand of trees close to our house. During the summer we'd go out sometimes even before breakfast so as to get all the playing time in that we could. Mom would call us in for breakfast and afterward we'd head right back out until she called us for lunch. Then we'd do the same until she called us for supper (dinner to some) and finally for bedtime.

It was safe then. You didn't have to worry about someone snatching your children. Who'd want a bunch of snotty nosed kids anyway? Today I wouldn't let a child out of my sight for a single minute because you just don't know who's lurking about and what their intentions are.

It's not only dangerous for children but for women too. In the cities women have been raped in broad daylight in the parking lots of shopping centers and people are robbed in the middle of crowds.

Our world is now filled with violence. You'd think our advanced technology would serve to stop some of it but it seems that it has only become worse. I remember in the sixties and even the seventies that our biggest concern seemed to be nuclear war. We took a tour just the other day of the Mega Caverns in Louisville, KY. These are a very large network of man-made caverns that run under the city. They were created during the time of the nuclear scares.

But then the USSR dissolved and suddenly the cold war was over. Even though there are still some unstable countries with nuclear capabilities that threat doesn't seem as likely as before. Today the threat that scares us the most is that of terrorist groups. These are made up mostly of radical Muslim organizations whose mission seems to be to destroy anything that has to do with Judaism and Christianity.

There has been religious violence in days gone by. We touched on it somewhat already. We'd like to think that we can win this war our nation and several other nations of the world have declared on terrorism. Folks, let's face the facts. These groups are unlike any enemy we have ever fought before. There was a time when you took out the leaders of enemy nations and the war was won. But these groups don't exist in just one nation. In fact they are found either secretly or openly in every nation on the face of the globe. When a leader has been captured or killed a new one simply takes his place. If the group is run out of a certain country they just move into another one. As a patriotic citizen of this country I would love to believe that we can win this war. But folks, I'm afraid that we can't. The truth is that violence is going to continue to get worse until the Lord returns. The good news is that when He does He will rid the world of terrorism and violence.

What we must guard against the most is religious violence coming from the Christian side of the fence. We can't win the world by fighting them. We can't bring souls into the harvest if we are burning the field, and we will never attract those bound in false religions by trying to exterminate them. We can only win the religious side of the war by showing Christ within us. We can only convince the world that Jesus is the door to Heaven by allowing them to see the change in our own lives and then extending love.

Of course we must take a stand. We can't just give up and roll over. But we must be as Christ told us to be; wise as serpents and harmless as doves. We allow the Holy Spirit within us to be our guide. He will direct us and let us know what to do.

We are fighting a war but it isn't a physical one. We aren't fighting with guns and weapons of mass-destruction but with love, compassion, and the power of the Holy Spirit. This is a winnable war. It is winnable because our Captain is not one that can be taken out. He will never be captured because He is none other than the Great God of all creation. Join our ranks. Take up the battle cry for the Lord and you'll see, regardless of how bleak things may look, under the command of Jesus Christ we will win.

Jerry D. Ousley is the author of ?Soul Challenge?, ?Soul Journey?, ?Ordeal?, ?The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional and his first novel ?The Shoe Tree.? Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge.

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