28 Dec On Mission Warrior (7 of 12)
THE ON MISSION WARRIOR (7 of 12)
Continuing our year-end series on “The On Mission Warrior”…check our previous posts for the first six if you missed them! 
SEVEN (7 of 12): I will rely on force as a last resort while I strive to be a peacemaker and recognize that reconciling people to God and each other, is preferable to conflict, when possible.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” (Matthew 5:9, ESV)
In the Dojo, we have a large picture of my hands in what we call the “Peace over Power” position. This is a reminder to all of us, every time we train, that even though we are learning combat skills and developing the ability to hurt or even seriously injure an opponent, our first response is to choose the peaceful way out. No matter how adept we are in the martial arts, or no matter how serious the situation we find ourselves in is, the non-violent way is always the preferred outcome. Sometimes, however, our enemy gives us no choice, and in those cases, we choose to fight, and if we choose to fight, we have trained to survive!
When Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, He had the choice to “fight” or to go peacefully. Even though He was betrayed by a close companion (Judas), unjustly arrested and had the divine power to summon “more than twelve legions of angels.” (Matthew 26:53) There was enough power at our Lord’s disposal (72,000+ angels) to destroy not only the Roman soldiers in the Garden that night, but probably every human on the face of the planet! Nevertheless, Jesus surrendered the option of force and surrendered to what was His eventual death by crucifixion. Of course, in this case, Jesus’ very purpose was to create a way, by His blood, for all mankind to be reconciled back to God. Without His choosing peace over power in the Garden, none of us would have had a hope of being reconciled to God, or leading others to that same reconciliation!
“To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace.” – General George Washington
“Only a warrior chooses pacifism; others are condemned to it.” – Unknown
“If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” – Romans 12:18, NIV
Keep Fighting the Good Fight!
Blessings,
Marco
OMMA Founder/Senior Instructor
Yondan – 4th Degree Black Belt
P.S. – As we “press on” toward our goal to fulfill the Mission the Lord has given us, we need your help to get our 3rd OMMA Location in Central Florida open and continue growing the other two locations. Click here (https://onmissionmartialarts.com/gi…/increasing_capacity2017/) to make a Year-End donation to our “Increasing Capacity for 2018” Fundraiser. Thank you!
Attachment: on mission warrior.pdf (116.2kB)