Blessings, honor, and praise to Jesus our Lord who is upon His Throne. He rules
with truth and grace. Alice and I drove up to Boston for a few days last week. We
brought Micah, Simeon, and Ada back with us for the weekend. It was Ada's first
overnight away from her mommy and daddy (2 nights, actually). Daytime was easy,
as Ada adored being out of doors. She has a way of bringing you your shoes, so
that you know she wants you to take her outside. . .
Adorable!
Sunita drove
up from Washington on Friday, Jessie and Tom came up from Philadelphia Friday
night, and Laureen came home on Friday, too. Janice and Jeremy joined us late
Saturday night. Our friends Warren and Linda came down from Vermont for the
weekend. It was great weend culminating in worship and praise in His house
yesterday. Warren preached and Laureen led the music in worship. The Lord
blessed us. It was a great treat to have all the family (except Andy) back home
for the weekend. Andy could not get home because of prior commitments. It was a
great treat to have Micah, Simeon, and little Ada to ourselves for a few
days. Their adoring Aunties spoiled them. We praise the Lord for His blessings
which money cannot buy.
` We were all
stunned last week by the senseless violence and tragedy in Colorado. So many
young people were killed and so many more were injured. We do not understand and
cannot comprehend the depths of evil and sin all around us. I was sharing with my
daughter Sunita about my feelings of grief and anger. She reminded me that in
the midst of violence and horror, terror and godlessness, Jesus is the Lord. He
is the king of all nations and all people.
I watched the
Prayer Vigil that was held at Aurora, Colorado last night. It was a powerful and
very moving service. All the pastors who participated in the service exalted the
Name of Jesus our Lord, the Prince of peace and the Lord of great comfort. In
the time of prosperity as a nation we tend to forget the Lord. We intentionally
igonore Him and publicly proclaim that He has no place in our public arena. We
publicly, and blatantly, disregard Him. In the time of tragedy and massive grief
the nation comes before the Lord seeking His comfort and His
grace.
The pastors
who were involved in prayer vigil led the people in prayer seeking the Lord's
peace and comfort for the families and friends of those who died in the tragedy.
One of the Biblical passages used during the service was taken from II
Corinthians 4:7.
2 Corinthians 4:7-18
New
International Version (NIV)
7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to
show that this all-surpassing power is from God and
not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but
not crushed; perplexed, but
not in despair; 9 persecuted, but
not abandoned; struck
down, but not destroyed.
President Obama, during his address, shared from Revelation 21:
Yet, as we look around us we need always to realize that man’s rebellion started the problems in this world. Death and suffering are not God’s fault, but man’s. From a very secular perspective, death has always been part of this world and is even the agent of progress as the weak die to make room for the strong. But God tells us the truth in the Bible. He reminds us that Death is not what we were created for. Death is an intruder, the enemy. Thanks to God for His grace in sending His Son Jesus Christ, “The last enemy that will be destroyed is death” (1 Corinthians 15:26).
President Obama, during his address, shared from Revelation 21:
A New Heaven and a New Earth
21 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look!
God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They
will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There
will be no more death’[b] or
mourning or crying or pain, for
the old order of things has passed away.”
The prayer vigil concluded with singing of the hymn, "Amazing
Grace".
In the midst of tragedy the Lord comes to us in the deep places of pain and
sorrow. The Lord brings out the best in people. It was reported the three young
men in the theater gave their lives for their girl friends. They died protecting
their girl friends. One of the young men who escaped unharmed was asked how he
was going to live his life. He said, "Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior; He
will lead me on. I will live for Him".
The Bible declares, "Weeping may tarry for the night but joy comes in the
morning."
One of the most moving scenes in John
Milton’s classic Paradise Lost, a fictionalized
account of the fall of man, comes near the end when Adam is granted a peek into
the future. Adam is heartsick when he sees the horrors his descendants—us, all
of humanity—would experience in the millennia to come. He saw the fear, the
heartlessness, the selfishness, the deaths haunting the future. He had to face
the truth of the consequences of his rebellion against God . He saw that all his
descendants would be born with a sinful nature determined to rebel against God
also. The Bible confirms the truth that Adam’s sin brought death into the world,
such as Romans
5:12—“Therefore, just
as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death
spread to all men, because all sinned.” In Milton’s epic poem Adam was
also shown the promise of the Deliverer—Jesus Christ—whose shed blood on the
Cross would pay for man’s guilt. Yet, as we look around us we need always to realize that man’s rebellion started the problems in this world. Death and suffering are not God’s fault, but man’s. From a very secular perspective, death has always been part of this world and is even the agent of progress as the weak die to make room for the strong. But God tells us the truth in the Bible. He reminds us that Death is not what we were created for. Death is an intruder, the enemy. Thanks to God for His grace in sending His Son Jesus Christ, “The last enemy that will be destroyed is death” (1 Corinthians 15:26).
Christians know that the human heart
is capable of great evil. Human history includes a catalog of human horrors. The
twentieth century, described by historian Eric Hobsbawm as the century of
“megadeath,” included a list of names such as Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin, Pol
Pot, and Charles Manson. Yet, even those murderers usually did their killing
from a distance. Those who carry out murders themselves are even more haunting
to us somehow. The young man arrested in this case, 24-year-old James Holmes,
looks disarmingly normal.
The Fall of Adam released human moral
evil into the cosmos, and every single human being is a sinner, tempted by a
full range of sinfulness. When someone does something as seemingly unthinkable
as this, we often question how anyone could do such a thing. The prophet
Jeremiah spoke to this question when he lamented, “The heart is deceitful above
all things, and desperately sick, who can understand it?” [Jeremiah
17:9]
Human beings are capable of
unspeakable moral evil. We are shocked by such atrocities, but as we have some
distance from the last great unspeakable act we tend to forget about it. We
cannot afford to be shocked when humans commit grotesque moral evil. It tells us
the truth about unbridled human sin. Praise the Lord for the great Good News of
redemption in and through Jesus Christ our Lord. He offers new life free and
full. We can be born again. He gives us a new heart. He gives us a new purpose.
He offers us a new destiny. We serve a Lord who is the God of great comfort. He
comforts those who mourn. He heals the broken hearted. He welcomes the prodigals
home and throws a great banquet. We rejoice with those who rejoice. We are
called to mourn with those who mourn. We pray for the church of Jesus Christ to
proclaim and live the Good News of grace and comfort. We pray that the Lord
would draw us as a nation back to Him.
In Christ,
Brown
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