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Gidday .30Carbine

Back from Honolulu now, sorry for not responding sooner. You write:

> Dear DieHard, I hope you will be patient with me and read my whole post, though it is a long one. I do love you and so I took extra time with this for your sake!

What you say is true and right: I guess I am triggering off on Oswald's use of the word "Surrender". Christ does not require surrender from us: we are volunteers, not POWs.

This is in keeping with Divine Intent: God wants His creation to worship Him of our own Free Will: that is why He made us free will agents, rather than robots and automatons. That is why He gave Adam and Eve the power to choose His way or the other way.

As with Adam, so with us: He wants us to voluntarily choose His way. Surrender plays no part in this choice: He isn't going to beat compliance out of us until we capitulate.

Allah, on the other hand, is quite content with surrender. If you aren't stupid enough to mindlessly follow Allah's Militant Muslim drivel, then it is perfectly OK to surrender and Obey. If you do neither, then off with your head!

Surrender, my arse! I will *never* follow anybody who requires my surrender as a pre-requisite to service. Such a "leader" would not be worthy of the burden of Leadership, and certainly not worthy of leading Christian Soldiers.

Fortunately, Christ does not require Surrender from us. In the finest tradition of all good Leaders, Christ says "Follow Me!" impying Leadership "from the front". He's going first, we follow in support.

Christ does *not* say "Stick 'em up!" -- as He would do if He required us to surrender.

Christ wants His Lads to be like Jehu, son of Nimshi. And He calls us: "Who is on my side? who?" (2 Kings 9:32)

Welcome home, dear DieHard, and thank you for taking the time to reply! I so respect your willingness and ability to discuss the things of God in Christ Jesus! Perhaps we appear to be speaking at cross purposes (I like the pun) because of varying understandings of the word submission and what it means to surrender to Christ the Will of God versus what it means to surrender to enemies

Unless Christ is one's enemy, one ought not draw back from submission to HIM, to His Word, to His Spirit! But I trust that you do not consider Christ your enemy, but your Lord.

For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God.
~Romans 10:3
But He gives more grace. Therefore He says:
“ God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble.”

Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
~James 4:6-10
Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for
“ God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble.”

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
~1 Peter 5:5-8
Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).
Wives, be subject (be submissive and adapt yourselves) to your own husbands as [a service] to the Lord.
For the husband is head of the wife as Christ is the Head of the church, Himself the Savior of [His] body.
As the church is subject to Christ, so let wives also be subject in everything to their husbands.
~Ephesians 5:21-24

Submission, by definition, is a willing giving over to a greater authority. If it is forced, as you cite with the mention of the terrorists, it is not called submission, but oppression.

Submission n. About 1390 submission act of submitting; a lowering, sinking, yielding, from submers-, past participle stem of submergere to sink, SUBMERGE.
~The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology

No man can serve [submit to] two masters," said Jesus. So we must choose, and as you rightly say, we are given freedom to do so by the Creator - will we serve, submit to, God and resist the devil, or will we serve, submit to, the devil, God's enemy, and resist God?

Perhaps you did not intend it so, but your posts make it appear that you are not willing to submit [willingly submerge your will] to God.