AMAF Patch

What is the symbolism of the

Auburn Martial Arts Fellowship patch?

The "yin - yang" symbol is familiar to all martial artists and represents the eastern philosophy of constant and eternal change during the continuous competition for supremacy between all the opposites of life -- day and night, summer and winter, birth and death, etc. The small dots in each field of the symbol also symbolize the eastern idea that there is some negative in every positive and some positive in every negative.

Although the philosophy of "yin - yang" appears consistent with many aspects of life, Christians view the competition between the opposites of good and evil more precisely and without the "fuzziness" found in such descriptions. God is the ultimate good and there is no place in God's heaven for any evil -- not even the smallest dot. In fact, the root of evil is the rejection and absence of God in our lives. The AMAF patch symbolizes the Ultimate Good of God as the white region on the right side of the patch and evil as the dark navy blue region on the left side. Good and evil are opposites separated by the vertical nature of the red cross of Christ. Christians also believe that God sent Jesus as His Son to be humanity's Savior from evil and the ultimate eternal death. Thus the cross of Christ also is the horizontal bridge that God provides to lead us from darkness and evil to Him.

Each and every one of us must decide what we believe about the historical figure we know as Jesus. God gave us free will to make this choice. Either Jesus was God's Son and He will become our Lord for us to follow .... OR He was not and we reject him. There is no middle ground for us in this choice. Many would like to believe that Jesus was merely a "great teacher." However, Jesus himself did not give us that option. He claimed to be the Messiah predicted in the Old Testament. He claimed to be "one with God." He could NOT have been simply a "great teacher" if these marvelous claims from Him were false! Thus He either was what He claimed, or He was not!

We can choose God's bridge of Christ's cross when we willingly humble ourselves and accept Jesus as the Lord of our earthly life and our spiritual Savior. How will You choose?

We martial artists train and train to learn to protect ourselves from harm. However, our human bodies generally last less than a hundred years while our souls last forever. If you are attacked tomorrow and your martial arts training doesn’t save you, would your soul go to heaven? Think carefully about it. What have you done to protect your eternal soul? What a shame it would be for you to invest the years of work needed to master the many skills in your martial art system and then miss the most important “defense of self” of all!

The Holy Bible tells us that we were made in the image of God and that Jesus Christ came as God’s ultimate gift to save the world. You will only find peace, true peace, …… lasting peace in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Right now you can begin to learn about God and accept Jesus as your Lord and the Savior of your soul. If you desire peace of heart and eternal protection of your soul, you can find them beginning now. Right now! If you are willing to believe that Jesus died for you and you want to receive a new, transformed life through Him, pray a prayer similar to the one shown below.

The Sinner’s prayer

Dear God:

I admit that I have ignored You and have run away from You all of my life. I believe that Jesus is Your Son and that He forgives me and died for my sins. I want Jesus in my life as Lord and Savior and I humbly accept Your offer of forgiveness and eternal life. Thank You for forgiving me of my sin and for my new life. From now on, I choose to follow Jesus and I pray that You will help me, guide me, have patience with me, be merciful on me, extend mercy to others through me, and protect me day-by-day. Amen.

For follow-up help and counseling please contact the Pastor of your local church or e-mail Dr. Tony Overfelt.