GMAF Newsletters – 2001 1 of 138 GMAF Newsletters 2001 By Mark McGee GMAF Newsletters – 2001 2 of 138 GMAF Newsletters – 2001 3 of 138 Introduction Grace Martial Arts Fellowship began in 1990, went online with a website in 1995 and began publishing newsletters to the Christian martial arts community in 1998. Because of the quality of information found in those early newsletter articles and the fact they are no longer available online, we’ve decided to re-publish many of them in the coming weeks and months. Our hope is that a new generation of Christian martial artists will be blessed by the wisdom of those who were on the path before them. GMAF Newsletters – 2001 4 of 138 GMAF Newsletters – 2001 5 of 138 GMAF NEWSLETTER JANUARY 2001 Welcome to the GMAF Newsletter! We pray it will encourage you in your Martial Arts and Outreach for Christ. Thoughts from the Master “As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.” Jesus Christ “Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.” The Apostle Paul GMAF Newsletters – 2001 6 of 138 Wisdom Notes “Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge. For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee; they shall withal be fitted in thy lips.“ Proverbs “Dearly Loved” by Mark McGee One of our family’s favorite verses is Colossians 3:12: “Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.” The New International Version reads: “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” GMAF Newsletters – 2001 7 of 138 Christians are “holy and beloved, holy and dearly loved”. The Greek word for “beloved” is agapao. It expresses God’s Attitude toward us: He loves us deeply and dearly. If we are honest with ourselves, which is not an easy thing to do but helpful at times, we will see how difficult it is to love us. Human beings are, well, not nice at times. We say bad things, do bad things, think bad things … in general, we’re a bad group. Paul said it perfectly when he described humans this way: “There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes.” Romans 3:10-18 GMAF Newsletters – 2001 8 of 138 Not a pretty picture, but it’s the Truth. And it is that very Truth that makes Paul’s statement in Colossians 3:12 even more precious. Humanity is sinful. It is like rotting flesh on decaying bones. Yet, God dearly loves us! Why? Because of Christ Jesus our Lord. Jesus makes all the difference in God’s Attitude toward us. Without Jesus, you and I would be just another lump of clay prepared for Divine judgment. “We know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin…For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:19-20, 23) “…who were dead in trespasses and sins…and were by nature the children of wrath.” (Ephesians 2:1,3) With Jesus, we are dearly loved and protected for a great eternal purpose. “But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all GMAF Newsletters – 2001 9 of 138 and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference… Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God.” (Romans 3:22,24-25) “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:4-7) Christians are the most fortunate of humanity. We have experienced God’s Love, Grace, Mercy and Eternal Kindness. We are forgiven and our nature has been changed from “children of wrath” to “His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works.” However, before we gloat over our good fortunate, let’s remember what we were and what we would be without Christ. All glory belongs to God. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the GMAF Newsletters – 2001 10 of 138 gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9) We owe God everything, including our lives. So, what does all that mean? We are saved by Grace. We are dearly loved. We are forgiven. We have Eternal Life. Those are basics of our faith. But what does it mean today, in the real world? It means we have responsibilities and obligations to God and others. It doesn’t mean we have to perform good work s to”earn” our salvation, because that’s free, but it does mean we do good works “because” of our salvation. “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” Our new nature as children of God includes a view toward good works. What are those good works? What is it we should do with our lives now that we are “saved,””free” and “in Christ”? GMAF Newsletters – 2001 11 of 138 Let’s go back to our favorite verse in Colossians. “Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.” We have a special responsibility to our family and friends and other members of the Body of Christ. That responsibility is to have an attitude of mercy, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness and longsuffering. That attitude leads to the actions of forbearing and forgiving. We begin by putting on (enduno – to envelope in, clothe with) a Christlike attitude. Because we are holy (set apart for sacred service) and beloved (loved deeply and dearly), we are becoming “like Christ” in our thoughts and behavior. One Christian writer said we “become so possessed of the mind of Christ as in thought, feeling, and action to resemble Him and, as it were, reproduce the life He lived.” GMAF Newsletters – 2001 12 of 138 The first action is “Forbearing one another.” The Greek is anechomenoi and means “to bear with, endure, put up with.” It’s a picture of the reality of relationships within the Body of Christ. The fact is that Christians are human and thus flawed. We are not always easy to put up with. It takes a “Christ- like” attitude to get along with some Christians. Before we get too proud, let’s remember that other Christians will need a Christlike attitude to put up with us. The word is used in Romans 2:4 and 3:25 (“the forbearance of God”) to describe God’s withholding of punishment against sinners while He gave them the opportunity to trust Christ for their salvation. God wants us to use that same attitude in our dealings with others. Not an easy job, but necessary. The second action is “Forgiving one another.” The Greek is charizomenoi and means “to bestow a favor willingly and unconditionally.” The word comes from charisma (“a gift of Grace”) and tells us what we’ll need to willingly and unconditionally forgive Christians who sin against us. We will need special “gift of Grace” from God. Human beings don’t have a good record of forgiving others. If we’re honest, we’ve GMAF Newsletters – 2001 13 of 138 all had problems willingly and unconditionally forgiving Christians who did us wrong. That’s natural. What’s “supernatural” is “forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.” Yikes! That’s a tall order.