Since I had nothing better to do and everyone had gone out, I decided to watch the war movie "SAVING PRIVATE RYAN". It was some years ago now and I was at my daughter's house and Joel, my son-in-law had just connected his TV WITH SURROUND SOUND. The movie was set during the invasion of Normandy in World War II and since it was directed by Steven Spielberg I thought it might be worth watching. THE VERY FIRST SCENES SHOCKED ME! They depicted the Omaha beachhead assault of June 6, 1944 and the intensity of the surround sound and slaughter of men brought me to the point of turning it off. I couldn't watch or hear such a graphic portrayal.
As a Chaplain I speak with old servicemen who have encountered the horrors of war, and I can only begin to appreciate why they speak with tears running down their faces after all these years.
MURDERED! Beheaded! Violence of unspeakable proportion! And their legacy has been repeated. Those who followed their example were ruthlessly mistreated, flogged and threatened and some were never released except into the hands of God. No I'm no longer talking about World War II. I'm talking about the followers of Jesus throughout the centuries.
They were demonized by family members, beaten and bruised by the brutality of violent men, betrayed by the very people they loved the most!
But they didn't give an inch and cut through the garbage of humanity with a message as sharp as a razor and as lethal to those who resisted as hell itself.
IF YOU'RE A PACIFIST DON'T READ MATTHEW 11:12! Although this is part of what Jesus said, the red letter part of your Bible, YOU WON'T LIKE IT! Jesus spoke of VIOLENCE AND WARFARE and said we would be in the thick of it.
"And from the time John the Baptist began preaching until now, the Kingdom of Heaven has been forcefully advancing, and violent people are attacking it."