Parkland

I am sure you have heard by now, we had another school shooting.  And we who are Christians pray for the victims, and atheists say, don't waste your time.  Tough tooties, atheists, I prayed anyway.  For the families, for the victims, and for the shooter and those like him.  I asked hard questions about the whys, and got hard answers.  Some might say cold answers and cold comfort, but bear with me.

First thing I want to point out, is Jesus our Savior has been there.  On both sides perhaps.  I am going to go into speculation here, because we don't know this kid's motivation.  We know he was "a former student", 18-years old.  So let's make a speculation he was a loner, bullied/ignored by the popular, the mainstream.  And he felt a need to "pay them back for what they did."

Now think of Jesus on the Cross.  At a certain level, He is the victim.  We don't know the motivations of the crowd, jeering at Him, spitting on Him.  Maybe He was for some of them just a generic victim, representing in their hateful minds someone who told them what to do at some point.

At another level, He is the shooter.  Bullied, attacked by "popular opinion", suffering like no one else could have- and He more than anyone had the ability to stop the pain, and declare, "Vengeance is mine."  He could have blown them all away with a thought.

But the conclusion of either angle is, He said, "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do."

He made a choice not to hurt back.  He made a choice to forgive.

Second thing, He HAS spoken about such things to us, IN THE BIBLE.  Here is His take on what happened today- and what might happen tomorrow:

Luke 13 There were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? 3 I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”


See, the Heavenly perspective is that there isn't a lot of difference in how you live OR die on this earth, if you haven't been saved by grace.  If I may "go Pence" again tonight, it was explained to me, "There is no difference between his sin and yours.  You shut Me out and did what you wanted.  SO DID HE."

People keep getting lost in the whole good deeds, good life" thing, and it just isn't so.  Will Hitler and Stalin end up in hell?  By the way their lives ended, I'd bet heavy on it.  What about a good guy like, say, John Denver?

John Denver?

From an article by Bill Fay, Baptist Press, from 2010:

One day in a frequent flyer room, I looked over and saw John Denver. It was pretty obvious with his distinct features and signature guitar that it was him.

I went over and said, "John!"

He jumped up, stuck out his hand and said, "I haven't seen you in a while."

I said, "No sir, we've never met. But I am a man who's prayed for you for over five years, and I have a message for you from your dead father, Dutch."

You see, years earlier, in the height of my pagan lifestyle, John Denver's father was the co-pilot on the Learjet that used to fly me around the country to do my illegal mob business.

His father -- whose hand I held when he surrendered his life to Jesus Christ -- made me promise that one day I would share with his son. I said, "Dutch, if God provides the moment, the privilege is mine."

Now it looked like the moment was going to come.

I met with John in a private room in the Denver airport for the better part of two hours. I took him line by line through the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

There wasn't a single verse of Scripture he did not understand -- nor was there a single verse of Scripture that he would accept.

Finally, I said, "John, when did you make up your mind Jesus Christ would never become your Lord and your Savior?"

He could remember the date, the time and the place. A godly Sunday School teacher, like some of you, said to him Jesus Christ was The Way, The Truth and The Life.


I left with a saddened heart, tears in my eyes.


And that is the cold, hard way of things.  Perhaps John had a change of heart after that meeting; we can't know.  But without it, he'll be right there with Adolph and Joe.  Maybe on a different level?  Who knows.  And why would it matter?  Hell is eternal, and it is awful.  And you wouldn't wish your worst enemy there.

Even if he was an 18-year old who let anger control him, and destroy a lot of innocents with him.  So let's pray for the victims and their families.  And include in that the prayer that they will be able to forgive.