Jim's Peacemaking

-->Dear Friends Revenge or ForgivenessMay 19,2010
“If a man came walking down the street outside my business here and was about to beat me up or kill me, and I had a gun, I'd shoot him. As a human, that's natural and I couldn't do anything else. What would you do?” a good friend challenged me.

I don't know what I'd do for sure. But I hope I'd respond in a nonviolent way. I would hope I would just start to pray to Jesus. For me, it is important to keep up my regular quiet time of praying and reading the Bible. Let me read from Zachariah 8:12-13 from The Message:

"You've gotten a reputation as a bad-news people, you people of Judah and Israel, but I'm coming to save you. From now on, you're the good-news people. Don't be afraid. Keep a firm grip on what I'm doing."

Notice all the words that refer to God. It's not that we're going to straighten things out, but this is what God is doing. When we read or wat…

Dear FriendsPastor’s Sharing 3/10/2019 Cali, Colombia “Can you tell us what your sharing’s are about?”Ask my Nazarene church friend Juan and his mother Norha. “I focus my sharing on healing the deep divide that is in Colombia today. One side supports the peace accords and the other opposes them. My focus comes out the book “I’m Right and You’re an Idiot.” Both sides are thinking this of the other and not talking to each other. That is very similar to what is happening in the USA, for Trump and against Trump.” “I will begin by sharing my experience of trying to do this myself. Then I will ask the listeners to share their experience of conversation with the other side. I see this as a way of encouraging each other to talk across the wall separating them. And thus to plant seeds for a more kindly Colombian society.“ “That is a real challenge as we all know today here in Colombia,” said Norha. She added, “Juan, it would be great to have Jim share with Enrique’s Baptist pastors who support his …

¡Queridos amigos!Pastores Compartiendo 10/03/19 Cali, Colombia "Compartan su experiencia de conversación con la otra parte. Veo esto como una forma de alentarnos unos a otros" ¿Puedes decirnos de qué se trata tu compartir?" Pregúntale a mi amigo de la iglesia nazarena; Juan y a su madre Norha. Enfoco mi participación en sanar la profunda brecha que hay hoy en Colombia. Un lado apoya los acuerdos de paz y el otro se opone a ellos. Mi enfoque viene del libro: ‘Yo tengo razón y tú eres un idiota’. Ambas partes piensan esto el uno del otro y no se hablan. Esto es muy similar a lo que está sucediendo en los Estados Unidos hoy a favor de Trump y en contra de Trump. Comienzo compartiendo mi experiencia de tratar de hacer esto yo mismo. Luego pido a los oyentes que para hablar a través de la pared que nos separa. Y así plantar semillas para una sociedad colombiana más amable. "Ese es un verdadero desafío como todos sabemos hoy aquí en Colombia", dijo Norha. Ella agregó: &…

Hello friends, Running Out of the Classroom 4/1/2019 She stood up to share, and then she just runout of the classroom. I was confused, I had no idea what was going on. In a few minutes she returned and began crying and sharing about some terrible violence that had happened in her family. This started about 8 in the class one by one to cry and share about violence that took place with their uncles, aunts, parents, grandparents or neighbors. This ended up taking up the entire time of the last two classes of my time in Colombia. This likely was the first time they had shared these things outside of their families. This surely was healing for many of the students. The adult friend who was there mentioned she was having someone experienced with trauma healing coming to her church. She hoped to have her go to the school and help some of these students. It felt a real gift to be able to hear and share these things. Afterwards as students often did after class…