No greater than Christ

One of the most challenging events that Rome had encountered or rather Europe had encountered was when the time of dark ages took place. There were various groups of tribes who attacked Rome and led the Western part of it to downfall. Some groups which attacked Rome were: The visigoths, vikings, huns. Aside from the attacks that Rome faced, there was also a dreadful plague which nearly killed half of the population of Europe. The plague was then called the "Bubonic plague." There were also rulers who rule the Roman empire and lead the productivity and glory back to Rome. One of the rulers who somehow caused me to be disappointed but glad at the same time was Charlemagne, who was a grandson of Charles the Hammer. They were Franks.

Charlemagne brought  back the liveliness of  Rome. He brought up the economical progress of the land, education, literature, and arts. These contributions made the Rome productive. One good thing about his reign was, he protected the preservation of Christianity but the sad part was he persecuted the pagan people who refuse to be converted to Christianity. In fact, it came to the point when pagan worshipers were murdered brutally. The murder was then called, "Bloody verdict of Verden."

As I've learned these information, I was terrified and could not believe that not only Christians can be persecuted but also non-Christians. I feel so sad knowing this, because it seemed like there was no giving importance to the lives of other people especially those who had not known Christ as their Lord and Savior. But whatever my reaction might be, I could not judge those rulers. all I know is that, those events happened, not accidentally, I believe, but with purpose, still in line to God's will.

As I relate the lesson to my self, I have pondered and evaluated how I am doing with my commitment to God regarding reaching out to those who have not yet known Christ as their Lord and Savior. Since the revelation of Christ Jesus as being the Messiah, death and life have been fighting, good and evil are competing with one another. What I mean is that the moment a person becomes a believer, Satan finds ways to lead another person to the path to hell. I feel like Christians really have to share the gospel not with procrastination but with motivation because everyday the spiritual battle becomes stronger. What's happening in the world right now are  events which should give Christians the motivation to continue sharing the gospel not escaping from doing it. While Christians go to church there are people outside who are dying being uncertain of their eternal destination. It is something that I grieve and am happy for. Happy because I can freely worship God; grieving because there are people outside who are seeking for the truth until they die being shot by a gun, blown by the bomb, not knowing Christ as their Lord and Savior.

I have learned that whatever challenges we, Christians, face, we must endure it by the grace of God and strength of Christ. Dark ages, calamity, crisis, drought, starvation, poverty, persecution, war, death can not hinder us from moving forward toward the goal and they can not hinder us from continuing the mission Christ has left for us to do, to reach out to the lost. These challenges that we face right now are eye-openers for us Christians. Challenges do not cease to come, and so we must not cease to go share the gospel knowing that Christ does not stop on loving us. Also, God's love for us overflows from us to other people who lack love. He is with us in this journey.

The reason why Christians live

Monasticism is one of the interesting topics I have learned in our church history class. I admire how monks desire to live holy lives by living alone in a certain place, disciplining themselves by praying, fasting, and studying the Scriptures. Their main goals of practicing this kind of religious discipline are: purity of life, ceaseless prayer, life beatitudes, self mastery, imitation of Christ, and awaiting for the eternal life. People who practice this spiritual discipline have good intentions. However, there are disadvantages as well like; they try to isolate themselves away from people and it seems like there is a conflict against obeying what Christ has commanded His followers to do which is to "Go and make disciples of all nations..." (Matthew 28:;19-20).

Because of this lesson, I have evaluated myself on how I am doing with my spiritual discipline and prayer life. Somehow this lesson taught me the full importance of spending time with the Lord except that it has a sort of imbalance of obeying Christ's commission: "reaching out to those people who do not know Christ yet as their personal Lord and Savior in their lives. I have learned the negative and positive side of their practice. The positive is that they can have more time to really know the Scriptures but the negative side is that they tend to run away from the people and it results to not enabling them to be shared about the word of God or the gospel of Christ.

As I look back on what I have experienced in my 1st semester of my fourth year in the seminary, I could feel the negative effect of being alone. I could think a lot of negative thoughts which almost drive me crazy. I experienced isolating myself and withdrawing myself from other people which made the matter worse. God really reminded me that I am created to be a relational being just as how he willed His other children would be. He reminded me and allowed some questions to pop up in my mind and one of those was, "How can I minister to others if I act the way I act; isolating myself and not talking to others?" As I thought once again what is my purpose why I live, I was reminded of the answer which is: God loves me so much and He wants me to share the love I have received from Him to those who have not received it yet.

Christ Himself came to the world with human flesh in order to reach out to human beings. He never isolated Himself and withdrew away from the people. He even drew near to those who were sick, blind, demon possessed, poor, hungry, tax collectors, and sinners. He overflowed His love for the people including us who have become recipients of God's grace. God would want His children to declare to the world how He has loved us and all the people. As children of God, we have no right to be silent about the truth.

Love as Jesus loves

Around 392-395 A.D., during Theodosius reign as the Emperor, was said to be the true beginning of the reign of Christian Emperors. Partly, it has really brought me happiness as I have known this information. On the other hand, as its results started to take effect, it has brought shame upon me. One of the effects of this Roman Christian empire, was the persecution of the non-Christians. Christians are supposed to show love to other people just as what Jesus did when He was on earth. Even though, it brought sorrow in my heart, I still am grateful for the preservation of Christianity since the time it had become subjected to persecution, to the time it has been tolerated, up to this day.

When Christ came on earth, He never demanded to be worshiped or to be highly respected by all people. Christians are the salt and light of this dark world. We ought to love as Jesus loved us. Jesus did not kill anyone or those who did not revere Him, instead He still showed love to them. That's why, for us, Christians who are still existing on this generation, let love overflow and not bitterness or greediness be upon our lives. One way to share the gospel of Christ is to be a living testimony showing that Christ truly lives in the lives of us, Christians. Before, they were passionate of winning converts but did the wrong action in accomplishing that goal.

As I have evaluated my self as a Christian, it is true that forcing people to believe in Christ will not do any good, it will all the more cause them to withdraw from God. The first step in sharing God's love to an unbeliever is to build rapport. Next, is to accept him or her as a person. Then, to be a friend and pray for him or her constantly. Lastly, slowly share to him or her how God has changed my life and how He has loved me in spite of my frailty and imperfections.