The world is mourning the passing of Nelson Mandela and talking about what a great man he was. What was it about the man that was so great considering the fact that he was identified as a Communist? In a sense, there were at least two sides to the man. The one which is not talked about is the man who identified as a Communist and resorted to violence to achieve his goals in his younger days . The other side of Mr. Mandela is the side that grew out of his Christian teachings being raised a Methodist. The attributes that he is lauded for include forgiveness, reconciliation, endurance, gentleness, compassion, empathy and such. These are all the personality traits that are consistent with “Christian” character. The Bible teaches that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23 NIV).
Mandela’s life and legacy should remind world leaders that those noble and honorable leadership qualities come from the teachings of the Bible, and of the Author of our faith, Jesus Christ. It is the truths contained in the Scriptures that should guide their pursuit for a noble legacy. It is as President Ronald Reagan reminded us:
“Within the covers of that single Book are all the answers to all the problems that face us today if we’d only read and believe.”
Dec 11
ON THE PASSING OF NELSON MANDELA
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Very good post! So many are either going all the way to the left praising him or utterly destroying him
By pointing out all of his wrongs – I absolutely love that you brought everything that was good about his legacy
Back to his Christian Teaching. Great post as usual!
Thank you! God Bless!
That is a great point Bill!
Among other things, he legalized abortion in South Africa and a million babies have died since then.
http://www.lifenews.com/2013/12/10/one-million-babies-have-died-in-south-africa-since-nelson-mandela-legalized-abortion/
Was not St.Paul one of the worse enemies of Christianity too in the early days of the Church?
Was not St.Paul changed,from and enemy to one of the greatest apostles thru the grace of Christ,and became one of the greatest champions of Christ and Christianity too?
The Lord works in great ways,and is their a diffrence between what he did politicaly for change,was found guilty of treason,terrorism,being a communist,jailed,as a traitor,as would any of our Forefathers too,who founded this country did too as of record to force change?Washington,and all would have hung too,as traitors,insurectionists,traitors too,of the crown!However,never caught,and won thru forced change too!
Communist,socialist,democrat,republican,libiterian,Conservative,all just labels of man,God see’s thru all that too!
Did he not love the gentile as the Jew?Did he not love the Pharisee too as the Seducee?Was Luke,a Greek and a doctor,too,and not a Jew?Was not one of the apostles a tax collector too,the most hated people in all the lands too of the time?As in the story of the good samaritan as Jesus taught us,were the samarians too even hated by the Jews and enemies too?
God does not answer to mans laws and rules,he has his own,and has His plan too,and loves us all,every color,every race,Jew and non Jew alike,as we are created by Him in his own image too,by His hand,and knows our name,long before we are even born,as per His purpose too!
Was not a former Pope a member of the Nazi Party as a young person in life,in Germany too?
Was not a former Pope a communist too,born in Poland,and both HAD to be by law,during the time?
Were both not raised too the highest levels of Christianity thru our Lord too!
Were not the 3 wise men who came to the manger,and DID pay homage,non Jews too,as in the first Christmas when the greatest gift the world has ever seen,the son of man born in Bethlehem?
The greatest gift of all is Love,forgiveness out of love!Are communists,or dems,or republicans or Conservatives barred from Heaven if they believe in God and Jesus and are Christians?Of course not,those are mans bigotrys,
created by man,mans way,not Gods!
Perhaps Nelson Mandella was changed by God too,saw the lite in a way,was saved in his ways by our Lords saving grace,for his reason,purpose,and who are we to even judge at all too?One thing for sure,good became out of it all,end of apartheid,segregation,predudice,so maybe Nelson was used as Gods tool,for His purpose too,for His higher purpose in this regards too!God kept him alive for a purpose,traitors usually shot,or hung,and God did not bring Him that far along to abandon him,for His purpose too!For His reason and purpose and Glory too!
As God has a purpose and is just,did not our preachers and religious in Washingtons time,recruit from the pulpit in every church here in pre revolutionary America?The cause was right,the cause was just,it was ordained by God to do such as His plan too,from the beginning of time!And as God on their side,as christians too,good men,faithful men,God fearing men,against all odds,they won against the largest most modern well equipped army of the time,known as Britian and the King ,as was Gods plan too!
Were we once arch enemies too,you bet cha,but now the greatest allies too,200 plus years later!
God always makes good out of bad,was once Egypt the home of the Jews,and Joseph a jew,a member of the eyptian kings royal family too?Did he not save the jews during the famine and save the Jews,his people during the famine too?Did not our Lord go to Eqypt for over 2 years after His birth,a country that used idols at the time,and
not even His chosen people too?
God has no boundries,or has any bigotry,or hate,as God created it all,and God has a plan too,and who are we to even question His purpose,His plan,and the greatest gift of all,is LOVE,the greatest Commandment as stated by Jesus too!The rest is just mans folly,mans ego,man who dies and forgotten about,unless we rise above the problems caused by man,made by man,and come to Him and believe in Him,and as we belong to Him,and if do so and such,we live forever too,with Him,in the next life too as promised and Gods promises never forgotten and always true as he is perfect love!Thats why the church has many marytrs,like Christ,die for Christ too,if need be
too!And if do,its only a transition to be with Him forever too,and His will too,out His his love for us,as man is immortal too,cannot die,unless our Lord says so and calls us home at His time too!We are all immortal until God tells us otherwise,then he calls us home to Him forever!That is our faith as Christians,that is Christianity,that is beliveing in God and exercising it too,thru faith,and as taught to us by the commandements and our Saviour when He walked with us too,,for God so loved the world,he gave us His only begotton son,not mans,son,Gods son!
Again,the message is love its always love and yes forgiveness too out of love,even to our enemies,and turn the other cheek too,out of love.
Merry Christmas everyone,Jesus is the reason for the season,and the most wonderful time of the year too,as the songs says too!And as you cannot as man give our Lord a present,as he made all,owns all,we only use it,maybe the best present we can give Him on His birthday(Mans rule again)is more love,to all,maybe a special prayer to Him,take care of those less fortunate a little more,and offer it as a gift to Him in the manger to honor him too!
He does not ak for much,only Love,and when we do acts of kindness,and charity,”When we do it for the least of these,we do it for Him”Love is the greatest gift of all,maybe thats all he would like as a present in the manger too!
What could man,who is nothing,has nothing,except for the love of God that sustains him,give God anyway,give love,to honor Him,as he asked us all to do!
Bill Conn