Seek Peace

 Turn aside from evil and do good,

Seek peace and pursue it.

Psalm 34:14

Peace, Love and Light!

Kevin (Cloud)

There Are No Just Wars!

 

I'm starting to hear preachers pushing the "Just War Theory", but I believe that there is no such a thing as a “Just War”. 

According to Civilian Deaths in Wartime by William Eckhardt (1989) throughout history civilians have made up 50% of all casualties during war. Others have estimated that the civilian death toll is somewhere between 80% and 90%.

When as many civilians die from war as armed combatants I say that all war should be considered unjustifiable under the “Just War Theory”.

Peace, Love and Light!

Kevin (Cloud)

Rock Mass 03-05-2022

Rock Mass on the first Sunday of the month.

Rock Mass for Sunday March 5, 2022

Blessed Are The Peacemakers Edition

"We will not build a peaceful world by following a negative path. It is not enough to say "We must not wage war." It is necessary to love peace and sacrifice for it. We must concentrate not merely on the negative expulsion of war, but on the positive affirmation of peace."

~Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. - Nobel Peace Prize Lecture December 11, 1964


"The Church of Christ is continually represented under the figure of an army; yet its Captain is the Prince of Peace; its object is the establishment of peace, and its soldiers are men of a peaceful disposition. The spirit of war is at the extremely opposite point to the spirit of the gospel"

~Charles H. Spurgeon from "The Vanguard and Rereward of the Church" December 26, 1858


"We utterly deny all outward wars and strife and fightings with outward weapons, for any end, or under any pretence whatsoever; and this is our testimony to the whole world. The spirit of Christ, by which we are guided, is not changeable, so as once to command us from a thing as evil and again to move unto it; and we do certainly know, and so testify to the world, that the spirit of Christ, which leads us into all Truth, will never move us to fight and war against any man with outward weapons, neither for the kingdom of Christ, nor for the kingdoms of this world."

~The Quaker Peace Testimony, Declaration of Friends to King Charles II, 1660

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God."
- Jesus (Matthew 5:9)

Peace, Love and Light!

Kevin (Cloud)

The inspiration for creating "Rock Mass" came from the Rock Mass at All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena California back in the early 1970’s. On the first Friday night of each month All Saints held a Rock Mass which was a mix of traditional Episcopalian Mass and rock concert. A live band would play popular rock music which couldn’t necessarily be called “Christian” but contained spiritual phrases and references to God or Jesus. During the 1960’s and early 1970’s there was an explosion of these songs coming out of the "secular" music industry way before there was “Contemporary Christian Music”, in a way, it could be called "The Gospel According To Billboard's Top 10".

(Stained glass guitar angel found at www.patheos.com/blogs/nadiabolzweber)

Fair Use Notice

Did I Stutter?

 "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God" ~Jesus (Matthew 5:9)

Peace, Love and Light!

Kevin (Cloud)

Rock Mass 02-06-2022

 

 

Rock Mass on the first Sunday of the month.

 

Rock Mass 02/06/2022 - On The Road To Find Out

 

This is what the Lord says: "Stand by the roadways and look.

Ask about the ancient paths, Which is the way to what is good?

Then take it and find rest for yourselves..." (Jeremiah 6:16)

Peace, Love and Light!

Kevin (Cloud)

The inspiration for creating "Rock Mass" came from the Rock Mass at All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena California back in the early 1970’s. On the first Friday night of each month All Saints held a Rock Mass which was a mix of traditional Episcopalian Mass and rock concert. A live band would play popular rock music which couldn’t necessarily be called “Christian” but contained spiritual phrases and references to God or Jesus. During the 1960’s and early 1970’s there was an explosion of these songs coming out of the "secular" music industry way before there was “Contemporary Christian Music”, in a way, it could be called "The Gospel According To Billboard's Top 10".

(Stained glass guitar angel found at www.patheos.com/blogs/nadiabolzweber)

Fair Use Notice

Put Away Your Sword

"Those who prepare for war get the war they prepare for."

~Aldous Huxley, Ends and Means

 

“Put away your sword, for those who live by the sword will die by the sword."

~Jesus (Matthew 26:52)

Peace, Love and Light!

Kevin (Cloud)

Photo: National Nuclear Security Administration,  Operation Plumbbob - Priscilla, 24 June 1957

Three Books Worth Reading

Here are three books I have recently finished reading that I highly recommend:

What If Jesus Was Serious? A Visual Guide to the Teachings of Jesus We Love to Ignore by Skye Jethani

Postcards from Babylon: The Church In American Exile by Brian Zahnd

After Evangelicalism: The Path to a New Christianity by David Gushee

 

In What If Jesus Was Serious Skye Jethani guides us through Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount using insightful observations and witty doodles that help illustrate the practical application of the Kingdom of God in daily modern life.

 

 

In Postcards from Babylon Brian Zahnd examines Christianity in America where today faith and nationalism has become increasingly indistinct. Zahnd states that at the moment of our baptism we become exiles in the land of our birth. Brian uses many references to Rock n’ Roll lyrics and to the Jesus Movement which this old Hippie Christian truly enjoyed.

 

In After Evangelicalism David Gushee Lays out the history of modern Evangelicalism, where we are at this time and where we can go from here. Gushee urges a return to the core teachings of Jesus and tolerance of those on different paths and stages of progress back to the heart of the Gospel.

 

 

I found these three books useful as I try to sort out what it means to be a Christian in America today and how to make sense of the unholy union of faith and nationalism. I don’t fully agree with everything these authors put forward in their books but they are chocked full worthwhile information and advice for those seeking a way back to a pure faith. I found a common thread in all three which is a call to return to the teachings and compassion of Jesus.

 

Peace, Love and Light

Kevin (Cloud)