Monday, December 17, 2012

What happened in Newtown?

Well, it has been three days now since the incredible tragedy in Newtown Connecticut and like most of you, I have thought and prayed about it a lot. Like many of us who are followers of Jesus, I have tried to make theological sense of it all. What is a Christian to do with the crazy sinful stuff that seems to be surrounding us? How should we react? What should this cause us to do? The Scripture that has come back to me over and over again is, "Our struggle is not against flesh and blood..." Ephesians 6:12. Since the Bible says so, I have to ask myself what this terrible taken of our most innocent is all about...what it IS and it IS NOT! *This IS the evil of the roaring lion, Satan, the liar and father of lies, the great deciever, the Devil. Whatever happened Satan was behind it all. He is a destroyer of life. If you want to place blame squarely on HIM. That's where it started! *This IS NOT a battle to fought in courtrooms, politics, or news channels. All the thinking and dialogue and rules and regulations in the world will not prevent something like this from happening! If you don't change a person's soul, they will do evil things. *This IS a wake up call to how fragile life is. We are not promised tomorrow. This means two things for Christians. 1) Love those around you greatly every day. 2) Care about those around you who are going to an eternity of pain without Jesus enough to share your faith with them. This IS a time to intensify what we really believe. *This IS NOT a time to figure things out from a physical standpoint! We all immediately think of more security, gun laws, etc... But... *There IS a spiritual solution. The world needs Jesus! Jesus is the only world leader who promises to change the heart by the work of his salvation and the Spirit within us. Had this gun man been a Christ follower, he very likely would not have killed these innocent children. *This IS a time to pray and seek God. Isn't it amazing how many people rush to God and church and pray in the most tragic of times. This is of course, the right thing to do. Only God can heal. Only God can make sense at a time like this. Only God has ultimate power. Only God is bigger than even death. Only God has the keys to eternity. *This IS a time for Americans to stop believing every thing it hears and everything someone thinks is there right. Bottom line, if we continue to embrace the sin in this culture, incidents like what happened at Newtown will only increase! There is no way to embrace evil (sin) and expect good (morally right in God's eyes) to happen! *This IS time to fight a spiritual battle for the hearts of men and women who will all eventually die eternally if Satan wins their souls. The irony is that Jesus has won the battle by His death, burial and resurrection! Beyond all the pain of the Newtown tragedy...this truth remains. Good wins and evil loses. We should especially get this during Christmas. The baby in Bethlehem was the beginning of the victory.

2 comments:

Aida Giurgianu said...

I was just watching CNN (it's always on at work), and they were discussing God's role in this tragedy--where He was or why He didn't stop it. They were interviewing a man who said God wasn't there because we don't allow him in our schools. It frustrated me because God doesn't care if we allow Him somewhere or not, He is everywhere whether we like it or not. Just when I was on the verge of yelling at the TV, I read this entry and I found comfort when you reassured me that Jesus has already won this battle. No matter what anyone says about Jesus, He still is. Thanks for this.

Anonymous said...

Thanks so much Pastor Mike for addressing this issue. I have felt that Satan has been on the attack a lot this year, especially against the woman of our small group. Then this tragedy in Ct. happened. Do you think Satan is attacking more? Do you think that it could be because so many are finding or renewing faith?. I know without Jesus, without your sermons, without all the spiritual guidance of East view everyday would be so hard. You are one of my blessings Pastor Mike and I truly hope that makes the devil really mad.