How to have world peace

World Peace

 

    Could you imagine what went through the minds of the scientists who developed the initial atomic bomb once they saw the damage it inflicted? According to the numbers cited by Richard Rhodes in The Making of the Atomic Bomb, 100,000 were killed in Hiroshima and 70,000 were killed in Nagasaki.

 

    One scientist, Edward Teller, believed strongly that world government would be needed to bring world peace, in light of the "Super." He said, "World government is our only hope for survival. ...I believe that we should cease to be infatuated with the menace of this fabulous monster, Russia. Our present necessary task of opposing Russia should not cause us to forget that in the long run we cannot win by working against something. We must work for something. We must work for World Government" (cited by Rhodes, 766). He made that statement back in 1948.

 

    Well, we've not had another world war but the United Nations has certainly not kept peace in the world. Author Gil Elliot, in Twentieth Century Book of the Dead, did some research and estimated that man-made deaths in the twentieth century came to about 100 million. Yet, his book was written in 1972! The Vietnam war was not quite finished and several wars, genocides, and other atrocities have been committed since then. The United Nations has not brought world peace.

 

    There is no - I repeat "NO" - political solution that will bring about world peace. There is also no military solution to world peace. The world's problem is not politics nor is it who has the most toys. The world's problem is spiritual. There is only one Man and one group who can bring about world peace.

 

    Jesus is the Man and you and I are the group - the Church.

 

    Isaiah prophesied the coming of Christ: "It shall come to pass in the latter days 

that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come, and say: "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, 

to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths." For out of Zion shall go the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem" (2:1-3).  

 

    Jesus came - He came and established His kingdom. The angels announced that peace was now available on earth: "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!" (Luke 2:10-14).

 

    When every man submits to Christ, then peace will rule in his heart and then there will be peace among men. Isaiah goes on to say about the rule of Christ in man's heart: "He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore" (2:4).

 

    If we would have world peace, the Ambassadors of Christ need to preach reconciliation through Christ. That's the only way we'll have world peace. Support your missionaries! They are saving souls and, thereby, bringing peace into the world.

 

--Paul Holland

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me

DO YOU HAVE ROOM FOR JESUS?

You may have heard the story about Wally. Wally was big for his age --
seven years old. Everyone wondered what role the teacher would give him in
the annual Christmas play. Especially considering the fact that he was also
a slow learner. Perhaps he could pull the curtain. To everyone's surprise
the teacher gave Wally the role of the innkeeper. The boy of course was
delighted. After all, all he had to learn was one line: "There is no room
in the inn." He had that down in no time.

Then came the night for the program. The parents took their places.
Every seat in the auditorium was filled. The children entered singing "Oh
come all ye faithful." The lights dimmed. A hush moved over the audience.
The curtain opened on Scene One. Mary and Joseph entered the stage and
walked up to the inn. "Please sir, my wife is not well. Could we have a
room for the night?"

Wally was ready for his line. He had rehearsed it all night. He
began, "There is..." and he hesitated. He started over again, "There is..."
and again his mind went completely blank. Everyone was embarrassed for him,
but poor Wally just didn't know what to do. Joseph thought he would
improvise and started walking away toward the stable on stage left. Seeing
him walking away, Wally called out in desperation: "Look, there's plenty of
room at my house, just come on home with me."

The important question -- not only at this time of year but all year
round -- is, "Do we have room in our lives for Jesus?" Our lives are so
busy -- with things that are good and things that are not so good. By the
time we've filled our lives with time at work, time with the family, going
to football games and the children's recitals, shopping, watching television
and the latest movie, our lives are so very crowded. I don't know anybody
who has "spare time" on their hands. The cry I hear from all around me is,
"I wish I had a few more hours every day to get done when I need (or want)
to get done."

Looking back, we may find ourselves thinking that if the innkeeper had
known that Mary was about to give birth to the Savior of the world, he would
have made room. But I'm not so sure. The reason I question that is because
I see what happens when we are faced with a question similar to one that was
asked of the innkeeper. Jesus wants to know of us, "Do you have room in
your life for me?" And I see how often in our busy, hectic lives -- even
though we know who Jesus is -- we allow other things to crowd Him out.

Will we open our hearts to Jesus, or will we allow the busy-ness of
life to crowd Jesus out? The answer we WANT to give is easy to come up
with; the answer we give by the way we live is sometimes disturbing. May we
have a heart that desires to speak with the tenderness of Wally's heart when
he said, ""Look, there's plenty of room at my house, just come on home with
me."

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and
opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me."
(Rev. 3:20)

Alan Smith

Free semons outlines on Revelation 20

1. The Judge (v.11).

2. The Judged (v.12-13).

3. The Judgment (v.12-13).

 

CHRISTMAS - BAH HUMBUG (some say)

When thinking about our recent Thanksgiving holiday here in the U.S. and the
upcoming Christmas season which is celebrated world wide. The old Bing
Crosby song popped into my mind and I thought how much that applies to the
lives of so many. Some folks really have a problem getting into the 'Holiday
Spirit,' many to the extent of saying "Bah Humbug" as Mr. Scrooge did. The
song I was thinking of is from the movie "Holiday Inn," which is a great old
movie and I recommend highly! Anyway, Bing is sitting at a table full of all
of the holiday trimmings and is really down and depressed because his
girlfriend has left him for another man (and career). He sits there feeling
sorry for himself and singing the song, "I've go nothing to be thankful
for." Of course he is reminded that he does have other options and. well
you'll have to watch the movie to see how it ends.

Sadly, this is not an unusual problem in our world; it may be even more
prevalent in our present financial climate and job market. We have so many
people in our world who have lost their jobs, lost their homes and who are
struggling to just put food on the table or pay for fuel for heat. Then our
advertising world floods or airways, newspapers and magazines with words and
pictures which portray what should be the perfect holiday. Everyone should
be well fed, in comfortable homes, surrounded by friends and family, be
smiling, with no problems in their lives, a Norman Rockwell painting come to
life.

We tend to look at that image and say, that's not my life. I'm barely
scrapping by; I've got nothing to be thankful for!

It is my belief that it's not so much a matter of what you have, but how you
count the blessings you do have. You may be having a tough time, but in
almost every situation, if you will stop and look around you, you will find
someone else who has more difficulties. I think that at some point, everyone
should go and set in the emergency waiting room at a hospital in a major
city. I've had occasions to do this on more than one occasion and it opens
your eyes to what real tragedy and loss is.

I could give you a list of things for which you could be thankful, but I
don't think I really need to do that. You are wise enough to understand
those things yourself. The problem is that we don't stop and count our
blessings nearly as often as we should. I would suggest that you stop and do
that right now. I do want to share with you that for which I am most
thankful. I am thankful for you! You are a blessing for my life as one of
God's children and because of that I have everything to be thankful for!
Relationships are the most important thing in the world. If I loose all that
I have in the physical world I hope to hold you in my heart and be held by
you.

Let me end this with the words of the Apostle Paul from Philippians 1:2-6,
where he writes, "Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ. I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers
for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the
gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who
began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of
Christ Jesus." (NIV)

The key phrase is, "I thank my God every time I remember you." Do you really
have nothing to be thankful for?

Russ Lawson