{"id":1265,"date":"2013-06-15T19:01:02","date_gmt":"2013-06-15T19:01:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.all-creatures.org\/blog\/?p=1265"},"modified":"2013-06-17T14:19:46","modified_gmt":"2013-06-17T14:19:46","slug":"challenging-church-compassion-21-christian-bowhunters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.all-creatures.org\/blog\/challenging-church-compassion-21-christian-bowhunters\/","title":{"rendered":"Challenging Church Compassion \u2013 21: Christian Bowhunters"},"content":{"rendered":"

Challenging Church Compassion \u2013 21: Christian Bowhunters an Oxymoron<\/h2>\n
\"Lamb<\/a>
Lamb of God<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

These comments are in response to the article: Christian Bowhunters use archery as a way to spread the word about God<\/span> by Beth Slaughter Sexton.<\/p>\n

Bryan White, the founder of the local group in Georgia, is quoted in the article as saying, “All of us were very involved in our faith and we said, \u201cWouldn’t this be a neat ministry to use archery in someway to minister to people.\u201d Today it is a part of the ministry of Solid Rock Baptist Church. On the surface, some might believe that it could be a nice way to spread the Gospel message.<\/p>\n

So, why do we believe that the term \u201cChristian Bowhunters\u201d is an oxymoron?<\/p>\n

Because the people who call themselves Christian Bowhunters say that they believe in Jesus Christ as their personal Savior, yet at the same time they also fail to follow His teachings on compassionate living.<\/p>\n

They make killing a part of their so called ministry.<\/p>\n

To be a Christian means that the person is a follower of Jesus Christ and His teachings, and not just a believer. This is exactly what James wrote about in 2:18-20\u2026<\/p>\n

18 But someone may well say, “You have faith, and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”<\/p>\n

19 You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.<\/p>\n

20 But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?
\nNAS<\/p>\n

Jesus tells us that we are to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48), and that we are to pray for our heavenly Father\u2019s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10). Thus, if people are really Christian, they will strive to end the pain, and mourning, and death that is absent in heaven (Revelation 21:4), and so prevalent upon this earth.<\/p>\n

These bowhunters are doing just the opposite, which voids their claim that it\u2019s a Christian ministry. It also makes the SolidRockBaptistChurch seem more like the HardHeartedBaptistChurch.<\/p>\n

The only one who is empowered by the hardness of the human heart and the shedding of blood is Satan, so from our point of view, they are really advocating for the devil.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s go on and see if these bowhunters and the Church are following what Jesus teaches us in the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-9):<\/p>\n