Don't Love Peace, Make Peace

Torrey Pines

"Get away from a man who argues every time he talks."
- Thomas Merton, The Wisdom of the Desert

Do not partner with an argumentative person. They are not in touch with wisdom. Love them, but do not be influenced by them.

Enter not into the arguments of the argumentative person. They are fishing for a fight. Don't take the bait.

Relationships in the New Community are not to be like living in a court of law. Argue? Yes. Reason together? Yes. And always in love. Argumentative? No.

Don't go looking for controversy. Wage war against the devil, not people. If it has flesh and blood it's not your real enemy.

Don't love peace, make peace. Anyone can love peace. Peace-makers are God's active agents of peace. They are rare, are blessed, and are called the offspring of God. 

Lay down your sword. Beat it mercifully into a plowshare. Recycle your weapons into instruments of righteousness and peace. 

1. Be at peace with God.
2. Peace with God brings peace within.
3. Peace within leads to peace with others.


Or:

1. Abide in Christ.
2. Christ gives you his peace, a peace unlike this world gives.
3. Bring this heart of peace into your flesh-and-blood relationships.

Or:

1. As a Jesus-follower you are "in Christ."
2. In Christ there is peace (everlastingly so, in the perichoretic Triune being of the Godhead).
3. And thus fulfill the prayer of Jesus in John 17 to "be one" with others, as Jesus and the Father are one.

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My two books are:
 Praying: Reflections on 40 Years of Solitary Conversations with God.
Leading the Presence-Driven Church.