A Country In Mourning

I continue to mourn the lives lost of so many many children. What a horrific thing to lose so many children so brutally. My heart weeps each time I hear of their young lives snuffed out so quickly. No hope of defense. No hope of safety.

With the events this past week in Connecticut my heart is very heavy. My eyes well with tears thinking of this each time I hear a news report, each time a person mentions it. I can't imagine the horrors these children faced. I've fought myself on drawing a contrast to abortion and up until now have been successful. I've not said anything because these families, in grief, lost their dear children in a very different way than abortion.

These families got to know their children. They saw that these lives are viable and that the embryo that grew within the mother's womb was a life. A living person was conceived and was born, lived, and was taken, brutally. Abortion is the same, except the mother, father and the rest of the family never got a chance to know that dear child. They never had the opportunity to kiss their cheek, they never got to hear them cry because their diaper was full, they never got the chance to watch them play soccer, they never got the chance to hear them sing or to even see them smile. Their precious lives were snuffed before any opportunity of life.

 How great the horrors of Sandy Hook and how great the horrors of the abortion clinics across the United States. 20 children were heartlessly gunned down Friday and the nation cried together. Our President gave, what I believe to be, a heartfelt speech on the atrocities of that day. For once, since President Obama was elected, I saw a commonality with him. We cried together.

/>Thinking of that day and the days since, the memorials, the tears, the news stories, I hear wounded people searching. What I don't see is the same wounds for those that never even got the chance to attend school. Since Roe v. Wade America has grown callous toward human life. In the name of convenience or any other false rationale we murder children by the millions. The difference? That killing children by a medical procedure is "legal". I do not want to discount or even remotely lessen the crimes at Sandy Hook, but want to use that to emphasize how depraved our society has become. It is so hard to not see the hypocrisy of our President, of the media and of the others that rightfully condemn the actions of the gunman, but turn around and say killing other children is a choice. It's just doesn't make sense. A few years earlier the media that condemns this shooting would have championed the "healthcare choice" of the mother to kill this same child in the womb. Can they not see the irony in that?

What it comes down to is a need for the Gospel. Just as everything else in this world does. Christians need to stand up for life, they need to proclaim the Gospel and they need to be the voice for the voiceless. In a place in time that humanity has so collectively turned their backs on God there still is Hope. God is longsuffering with us. He knows how black our hearts are and He waits for us. But, He will not wait forever, He is returning one day (soon hopefully) and Christians need to be diligent in proclaiming His Name to all they come into contact with. God can and will use people to make a difference, that is His mode of operation that He chooses more than any other. He has commanded Christians to be the salt and light in this dying world and we must do that.... daily.... every minute.

Rise up followers of Christ and proclaim His Name. Shower this dark world with His light that He shines through you, the Light, the Christ.

Whitney Houston Dead At 48

I am sure for the next few weeks we will be inundated with memorials to Whitney Houston. Her passing today made her part of the ultimate statistic - 1 in 1 will die. I am sure as she woke up this morning she had no idea that this would be the last day she would do so. As her day progressed she probably had no idea that today, this day, February 11th 2012 she would breath her last breath and step into eternity.

I am not an expert on the life of Whitney Houston. I know she was a very popular singer and acted in The Bodyguard, was married to Bobby Brown for a while and had a child together. Other than that I couldn’t really tell you, other than her erratic behavior and drug abuse. I have no idea if she was a Christian or even professed faith in God, which is a sign that she did not actively proclaim Christ.

The Grammy Awards will be telecast tomorrow night, in which we will hear many accolades to Ms. Houston. I am also fairly certain we will even hear how she is “with God now” or “in the arms of angels” or people bidding her to “rest in peace”. Thing is, by all accounts she is probably not doing any of those things. From the little research I did this evening Houston was raised in a Baptist home, later attended a Pentecostal church and went to a Catholic school. She sometimes talked about her “faith” but I could find no account of what that “faith” was. Her life was full of drug use, rehab stays and behavior that makes faith in Christ seem to be the farthest thing from the truth. This is not to say that Christians cannot fall into these evils, but they will definitely not stay there. I caution everyone to be really careful about preaching Whitney Houston into heaven. Professing faith does not really mean a lot. And just because she was famous and had an obvious God given talent does not mean that she was a Christian, it just means she wasted her God given talent on selfish ambitions.

So, what to do? Use this as a springboard, a reason to talk to people about death. Explain to them that we are all going to die one day, maybe even today. Don’t scare them into saying a prayer or anything, but make sure they know that today is the day of salvation and that we are not promised another breath on this earth. Make sure they know the true gospel of scripture and are not placing their faith anywhere except on Christ. Not in a prayer, not in church membership or attendance, not on being proclaimed saved by a pastor, not on how good they have lived - only repenting of their sin and trusting in Jesus Christ and His merit can save them. Point them to resources such as Real Truth Matters , www.needgod.com or any other biblically based ministry’s website. Pursue a relationship with them, disciple those that you talk to, show them where your faith lies.

Use this tragic end to a tumultuous life as a way to share the Gospel. Never waste the opportunity to tell someone how they too can know God.