He didn’t fire a shot
He didn’t fire a shot in anger. Yet He changed the world. He never carried a gun, or a sword, yet He changed the hearts of men. He never led a rebellion yet today He has a following numbering in the billions.
Napoleon Bonaparte said of Him,
"You speak of Caesar, of Alexander, of their conquests and of the enthusiasm which they enkindled in the hearts of their soldiers; but can you conceive of a dead man making conquests, with an army faithful and entirely devoted to his memory?
My armies have forgotten me even while living, as the Carthaginian army forgot Hannibal. Such is our power.”
“I know men and I tell you, Jesus Christ is no mere man. Between him and every other person in the world there is no possible term of comparison. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I have founded empires. But on what did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded his empire upon love; and at this hour, millions would die for him.”
“I search in vain history to find similar to Jesus Christ, or anything which can approach the gospel. Neither history nor humanity, nor ages, nor nature, offer me anything with which I am able to compare it or to explain it. Here everything is extraordinary.”
Napoleon Bonaparte,
Billy Graham said of the men who followed Jesus,
“The men who followed Him were unique in their generation. They turned the world upside down because their hearts had been turned right side up. The world has never been the same.”
Billy Graham.
Throughout history many men have tried to conquer the word. The Romans, Alexander the Great, Napoleon, Hitler, IS as well as other terrorist groups and crack pot dictators.
Dozens of men thinking their way will make a better society. All are now or soon will be footnotes in history. Force does not change people hearts.
T. H. White wrote,
“There was just such a man when I was young—an Austrian who invented a new way of life and convinced himself that he was the chap to make it work. He tried to impose his reformation by the sword, and plunged the civilized world into misery and chaos.
But the thing which this fellow had overlooked, my friend, was that he had a predecessor in the reformation business, called Jesus Christ.
Perhaps we may assume that Jesus knew as much as the Austrian did about saving people. But the odd thing is that Jesus did not turn the disciples into storm troopers, burn down the Temple at Jerusalem, and fix the blame on Pontius Pilate.
On the contrary, he made it clear that the business of the philosopher was to make ideas available, and not to impose them on people.”
T. H. White, The Once and Future King.
Jesus showed how to change the world. That way being by love. Today there are close to three billion Christians in the world and the number is growing despite being persecuted.
Only true love can truly change the hearts of men. Only true love can change society for the better.
It is only when we love others and respect their rights and freedoms can we truly change the individual.
The apostle Paul writes,
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails....
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
1 Corinthians 13:4-8a,13.
Those who do not espouse to what Paul writes about will never win a true following among men.
Ultimately I believe those who try to force themselves on people by force of arms and fear will one day be judged by God and it will not go well for them.
I believe the words of Jesus who said,
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11:28-30.
I believe that the way to heaven and the way to a better world is to follow the teachings of Christ. Something violent, evil men will never understand.
Please think about it.
He didn’t fire a shot in anger. Yet He changed the world. He never carried a gun, or a sword, yet He changed the hearts of men. He never led a rebellion yet today He has a following numbering in the billions.
Napoleon Bonaparte said of Him,
"You speak of Caesar, of Alexander, of their conquests and of the enthusiasm which they enkindled in the hearts of their soldiers; but can you conceive of a dead man making conquests, with an army faithful and entirely devoted to his memory?
My armies have forgotten me even while living, as the Carthaginian army forgot Hannibal. Such is our power.”
“I know men and I tell you, Jesus Christ is no mere man. Between him and every other person in the world there is no possible term of comparison. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I have founded empires. But on what did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded his empire upon love; and at this hour, millions would die for him.”
“I search in vain history to find similar to Jesus Christ, or anything which can approach the gospel. Neither history nor humanity, nor ages, nor nature, offer me anything with which I am able to compare it or to explain it. Here everything is extraordinary.”
Napoleon Bonaparte,
Billy Graham said of the men who followed Jesus,
“The men who followed Him were unique in their generation. They turned the world upside down because their hearts had been turned right side up. The world has never been the same.”
Billy Graham.
Throughout history many men have tried to conquer the word. The Romans, Alexander the Great, Napoleon, Hitler, IS as well as other terrorist groups and crack pot dictators.
Dozens of men thinking their way will make a better society. All are now or soon will be footnotes in history. Force does not change people hearts.
T. H. White wrote,
“There was just such a man when I was young—an Austrian who invented a new way of life and convinced himself that he was the chap to make it work. He tried to impose his reformation by the sword, and plunged the civilized world into misery and chaos.
But the thing which this fellow had overlooked, my friend, was that he had a predecessor in the reformation business, called Jesus Christ.
Perhaps we may assume that Jesus knew as much as the Austrian did about saving people. But the odd thing is that Jesus did not turn the disciples into storm troopers, burn down the Temple at Jerusalem, and fix the blame on Pontius Pilate.
On the contrary, he made it clear that the business of the philosopher was to make ideas available, and not to impose them on people.”
T. H. White, The Once and Future King.
Jesus showed how to change the world. That way being by love. Today there are close to three billion Christians in the world and the number is growing despite being persecuted.
Only true love can truly change the hearts of men. Only true love can change society for the better.
It is only when we love others and respect their rights and freedoms can we truly change the individual.
The apostle Paul writes,
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails....
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
1 Corinthians 13:4-8a,13.
Those who do not espouse to what Paul writes about will never win a true following among men.
Ultimately I believe those who try to force themselves on people by force of arms and fear will one day be judged by God and it will not go well for them.
I believe the words of Jesus who said,
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11:28-30.
I believe that the way to heaven and the way to a better world is to follow the teachings of Christ. Something violent, evil men will never understand.
Please think about it.
No comments:
Post a Comment