epistle2equippers Sept. 21, 2001
Posted by: ccfmo <ccfmo@...>
Weekly ministry letter (successor to "The Whetstone" ) from Christian Civic Foundation
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Dr. Curt Scarborough, President September 21, 2001
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In this Issue:
Sermon: Romans 12:17-21
Bible Stude: "Communications: a 2-way Street" (Matt. 5:37)
Pillsbury Institute of Applied Christianity
Peacemakers . . . reduces violence
A Christian Response to "911" Terrorism
Romans 12:17-21
"Jews and Arabs should settle their differences in a Christian manner!" It is reported that a politician made this foolish remark several years ago during a discussion about the Middle East crisis. DUMB! But it does raise a valid question: "How should we apply Christian principles to the terrorist attack on America that occurred on 9-11-01?"
I. Consider Jesus' words in the Sermon on the Mount
1. Jesus said: "Do not resist an evil person," Matt. 5:39.
2. He illustrated by saying, "Turn the other cheek," Matt. 5:39.
3. The Lord taught: "Love your enemies," Matt. 5:44.
4. He summarized His non-violent principles by giving us the Golden Rule:
"Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do you also to them,
for this is the Law, and the Prophets," Matt. 7:12.
II. However, we need to understand these basics about the Sermon on the Mount
1. Christ was talking to His followers, teaching them how to conduct themselves as His
disciples. To the lost masses of humanity, these words are nonsense. Christians cannot
expect non-believers to conduct themselves this way, and Christians should not attempt
to impose these rules and regulations upon others who are not followers of the Lord.
2. Jesus was teaching about how individual Christians are to treat those who mistreat
them. He spoke of thoughts and deeds, of attitudes and actions, which a believer
should exhibit toward another person. He was not discussing the proper response which
should be taken against aggressor nations or terrorist groups. This distinction must be made.
3. The Lord here does not rule out self-defense. The use of force (even deadly force) to protect
innocent human life is not prohibited in Christ's teachings or anywhere else in the Scriptures.
4. God's nature demands justice. This includes, for example, capital punishment administered
by the proper authorities for premeditated murder. This is not revenge! It is vengeance, and
"'Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,' says the Lord," Rom. 12:19. The execution of a cold-blooded
murderer by the state magnifies the value of a human life by meeting out the only punishment
which matches the seriousness of the crime against the victim. The hunting down and punishing
of international terrorists is exactly the same thing, but on a far larger scale . . . with many
more victims and many more guilty perpetrators to be held accountable.
III. Old Testament examples of God-initiated action against aggressive terrorism
1. Abraham attacked and killed the raiders who had captured Lot and his family, Gen. 14:1-16.
2. Joshua fought against and killed the aggressive Amalekites (Ex. 17:8-16), and he carried
out an extended war against the wicked Canaanites, as described throughout
the Book of Joshua.
3. David retaliated against the terrorists who raided his home city of Ziklag and
kidnapped his family and the families of all his men, I Sam. 30:1-19.
4. Perhaps the most dramatic account of divine retribution is the slaying by the
Lord's death angel of the firstborn of every family in Egypt on the night of
the Passover before the Exodus, Ex. 12:29-30.
All these retaliatory strikes were endorsed by the Lord in response to wicked "terrorist"
nations who had aggressively attacked God's people.
IV. Applications: as a Christian, I need to . . .
1. Understand that nationalism (including patriotism for the United States) is not a sin.
In fact God, is the the author of nations, Acts 17:26.
2. Be careful that love for God, for the victims, and even for the enemy is our
prevailing motivation . . . not hate, Matt. 5:44. A military response to aggression is the
lesser of two evils, preferred above allowing ourselves to be terrorized and oppressed.
3. Resolve to take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, Ezek. 33:11. A Christian's reaction to
victory over a vanquished human foe should be thanksgiving to the Lord for His deliverance,
mixed with sadness over the fate of those who were sent into eternity without knowing
and accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.
4. While holding evil leaders accountable for their wicked, violent deeds, and while
reflecting with deep sorrow upon the great loss of human life and the unspeakable tragedies
which have happened to innocent people, examine myself and repent of my sins
against God, Lk. 13:1-5.
In the middle of the full text (Romans 12:17-21), note these words: "If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceable with all men," (v. 18). This implies that it may be impossible to live peaceably, as is the case with our nation in 2001. Because some people and nations may remain violently opposed to us and our heritage of freedom, there are times when all efforts toward peace fail. However, Christians in the United States should take heart that in this case our nation is not at fault and we are not the aggressors. Therefore, we can pray with a confident assurance and a clear conscience: "GOD BLESS AMERICA!"
Communications: a 2-way Street
"Let your yes be yes, and your no, no. For whatever is more than these is from the evil one,"
Matthew 5:37.
I. Speaking, James 3:2-18
1. Deceitful speech
* Psalms 10:7
* Psalms 120:2
* Proverbs 4:24
2. Malicious speech
* Proverbs 10:18; Proverbs 16:27-28
* Proverbs 17:4; Proverbs 18:6-8
* Proverbs 26:20-21; Psalms 12:2-4
3. Careless speech
* Proverbs 29:11,20
* Matthew 12:33-37
* Ephesians 5:4
4. Edifying speech
* Proverbs 15:1-2, 4, 23, 26, 28; Proverbs 25:11
* Psalms 141:3
* Isaiah 6:5-7
"Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer," Psalms 19:14
II. Listening, Proverbs 17:27-28; Matthew 11:15
1. Ezekiel 33:30-33; Psalms 58:4-5
2. James 1:22
3. Matthew 7:24
4. Proverbs 4:10-13, 20-27
"A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks," Luke 6:45
Pillsbury Institute of Applied Christianity
* A flexible, personalized non-resident, distance learning alternative to traditional graduate level
education, for persons who are actively engaged in Christian ministry.
* For Christian pastors, counselors, and other leaders with a heart for helping hurting people,
designed to equip them to practice, teach, and apply practical spiritual principles and
positive Scriptural lifeksills.
* Allowing mature, self-motivated ministers to earn a legitimate, affordable, convenient, and
self-paced masters or doctoral degree from a reputable institution: Pillsbury Institute of
Applied Christianity is owned, controlled and operated by Christian Civic Foundation,
established in 1955.
* Authorized to operate as a graduate school by the Coordinating Board for Higher Education of the
State of Missouri.
* Degrees offered in Christian Counseling (certified by the AACC, American Association of Christian
Counselors) and in Spiritual Mentoring (through private tutoring by the president of the Institute).
* Advanced standing granted for transferable graduate credits, proven career competencies,
and demonstrated performance skills.
* Full academic credit awarded for documented independent study, professional training, and other life
experience learning.
* Tuition costs, at $50 per credit hour:
Master of Applied Christianity 32 credit hours - $1,600
(prerequisite: Bachelor's Degree)
Doctor of Applied Christianity 48 credit hours - $2,400
(prerequisite: Master's Degree)
* Undergraduate study also is available at $50 per credit hour: leading to the Associate of
Applied Christianity (2 year degree), or to the Bachelor of Applied Christianity (4 year degree).
* No charge is made for credit hours transferred from other colleges or seminaries, and no
charge is made for documented independent studies, professional training, and other
life experience learning.
* A non-refundable $50 registration fee is charged; students are required to pay $300 of their
tuition charges when they begin work on their degree track, with the balance payable in
regular monthly installments.
* Some limited financial assistance is available for qualified students.
Study in public schools reveals CCF-FreeWay's "Peacemaker"
curriculum significantly reduces "high risk" student violence
In a study completed in 1999, in Missouri public schools served by the FreeWay Project, violent behavior was reduced 13.5% by the teaching of CCF's "Peacemakers" violence prevention curriculum in over 61 classrooms. The survey of 957 students, grades 3 through 12, was designed to measure the changes brought about by the 4-session classroom activities taught by FreeWay Project prevention specialists.
The anonymous survey was conducted prior to the first classroom session and then re-administered following the fourth classroom session. (Usually the FreeWay teacher spends one day on each school campus about once a month.) This "pre" and "post" questionnaire was designed to measure student attitudes, verbal abuse, and physical abuse patterns.
Students were instructed to indicate their grade and gender then respond to these three statements:
1. I stay angry and try to get even with people who hurt me.
2. I yell at people I don't like and call them ugly names.
3. I shove, slap, punch, or kick people who don't do what I say.
For each of these three statements, students were asked to check the one best answer: "Most of the time"; "About half of the time"; or "Hardly ever." The students who marked "Most of the time" on the survey were considered to be "high risk," and they are the main focus of the inter-active activities included in the K-12 curriculum. (Although Peacemakers is taught in all grades, the survey did not include children in Kindergarten or first and second grades.)
Overall results (grades 3-12) reveal that Peacemakers reduced "holding grudges/seeking revenge" among high risk students by 17.7%. Verbal abuse was reduced by 24.4%, and physical abuse was reduced by 13.5% among those students who initially indicated "Most of the time" to the survey questions before the four teaching sessions began.
Among the high risk elementary students (grades 3-5), the most significant change occurred in their attitudes, with a 31.7% reduction in the number of those who initially reported holding grudges and seeking revenge "Most of the time."
Among the high risk middle school students (grades 6-8), the number of students using verbal abuse "Most of the time" dropped 35.1%, and the number of students using physical abuse "Most of the time" dropped 41.2%.
Among the high risk high school students (grades 9-12), the number of students holding grudges and seeking revenge "Most of the time" fell 38.2%; the number of students using verbal abuse "Most of the time" plummeted 47.0%; and the number of students using physical abuse "Most of the time" dropped 6.7%.
The 3-volume Peacemakers curriculum, written by Dr. Curt Scarborough, is based on the Biblical concept that violence begins with attitudes of the mind, progresses through angry speech, and results in hostile actions. Therefore, students are taught to always speak courteously and treat others politely, with acceptance, diginity, and respect ... the same way they would like to be spoken to and treated. (The Golden Rule!)
The curriculum is grounded on two of the main pillars of our nation; liberty and justice ... as seen in the pledge of allegiance to the flag. These are the values we teach in public school classrooms; first, "liberty" ... that a person is free to do whatever he decides within the bounds that a unit of society (home, school, state, etc.) has established, limiting our personal freedom on the basis of truth, fairness, right, and benefit to all concerned. Persons who step on these lines are "out of bounds." They make themselves subject to penalty designed to fit the seriousness of the infraction.
Peacemakers uses fresh lesson plans and challenging learning activities to teach three fundamental principles:
1. Be sure you know the truth before you speak; control what you say and how you say it;
do not criticize or condemn anyone personally.
2. In conflict situations, be willing to compromise rather than always demanding your own way;
seek immediate reconciliation and offer complete forgiveness.
3. Do not practice revenge or try to "get even" in any way; use the tactics of avoidance, passive
resistance, and non-violence; combat prejudice and hatefulness with tolerance and kindness.
For further details on the survey or for information about purchasing the Peacemakers curriculum,
contact us by mail at: Christian Civic Foundation, 3426 Bridgeland Drive, Bridgeton, MO 63044;
Phone: 314-739-1121; Fax: 314-739-0848; email: ccfmo@netzero.net