I’m aware that this is one of those posts that makes folks refuse to come back to visit me.
The school shootings over the past years have been horrific. The Newtown, Connecticut, shooting in 2012 was the hardest for me to deal with, I suppose, because of the ages of the children and it's timing so close to Christmas. I have a lot of questions; I have precious few answers. I know that God is in control. I know that it was not His will that this tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary happened, but He did allow it. I don’t know why.
There’s a lot being said about gun control. If someone thinks banning guns will stop guns from getting in the hand of the bad guys, they need a reality check. If someone is determined to kill, they will. Would we next outlaw fertilizer (bombs) and box cutters (hijacked airplanes)? If someone is determined to get a gun, they will; just the same as if they want cocaine, meth, or heroin, they will find a way.
We cannot deny that we are living in perilous times. We’ve heard it said that we removed God from schools, and now we have these atrocious acts of violence in the classrooms that, until a few years ago, were both unheard of and unimaginable. I believe it to be a truth, that once prayer is removed, the hedge of protection that came with it is gone. (That is not to say that we cannot bathe our schools in prayer from the outside...but do we?) When I was in elementary school, one of the things we did every morning was say the Pledge of Allegiance, and in second grade, I remember we learned, and recited every day, Psalm 100. I can recite it to this day. We always said the blessing before lunch...unheard of in today’s public schools…much to the detriment of this country, and especially our children.
We have a nation of people who happily (and blindly) elect Godless leaders, and sadly, Christians are part of those blind voters. We have placed the Bible in a position of being an archaic piece of fiction that is no longer valid, and according to our president, obscure. We have embraced institutions the Bible calls abominations. We offer our children “entertainment” in the form of violent video games which we allow unlimited hours of play, while parents spend endless hours online or in front of a television, on cell phones, and playing our own video games. We have embraced vampires and wizards in the names of Twilight and Harry Potter, and call them innocent entertainment, forgetting that the Bible clearly states that witchcraft and divination is evil.
America has denied the very existence of God…not always in words only, often in deed. Christians have played a big part in our demise by keeping our mouths shut and bowing to the pressures of evil instead of standing strong for what’s right, in faith and belief, and in the fear of God. Oh yes, we’ve lost the fear of God, and in doing so, we've lost Wisdom. We've allowed the Bible to lose its authority.
There’s change on the horizon. It’s not a change that any of us will want to embrace, and I believe it is at that time, finally, and if the Lord tarries, America will fall on her knees because, frankly, she’ll have no place left to go. My friends, I feel Jesus's return is much closer than we realize. Are you ready?
Friday Flashback...
A post from my previous blog.
right on!
ReplyDeleteExcellent post. I believe God allows tragic things to happen because He gave us free will. As a parent, He expects us to do the right things and learn from our mistakes. This isn't heaven, there is sin here and we created it, not God. We have to live with it and not succumb. Life is our test. Prepare for the Final exam. He is.
ReplyDeleteI'm a little afraid of what's to come...I try to just trust, but still, I fear.
DeletePreach it, Sister!
ReplyDeleteAs has often been said, we told God to go away--and then we wonder why He isn't here taking care of things.
I am daily--really, daily--shocked by what our society is accepting as normal and routine. You hit on many aspects, so I won't repeat. I have the desire to grab up my grandchildren and head away from "civilization" as we now know it. . I wouldn't, of course, but if my son ever says that he things he'd like to "get away from it all," I'll be all in.
As far as gun control goes--While I believe that there should be some screening of who can legally buy guns (I'll give you a real life reason below.), making gun laws overly restrictive or banning guns altogether is foolish. Criminals or those with evil intent DO NOT FOLLOW THE LAW; it's only us "law abiders" that would be disarmed. How silly is that?
I do think, tho, that people should have to take a brief gun safety course before they can walk out of a gun shop armed. Too many people are careless, leaving guns where children can get at them. (I do realize that an hour's course won't prevent it all, but it might help some who are sincerely clueless about how guns should be stored, etc.)
My real life example re: the need for screening. My mother is chronically mentally ill and was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia about 50 years ago. (Yes. Everything you've heard on TV about voices and delusions is true.) One of her ever present delusions is that the people in her life (My dad, me, my brother--everyone) is an impostor and the real people are somewhere else.
One day, my father discovered that she had bought a revolver. When he asked her what she was going to do with it, she said it was for protection from the impostors.
Yeah. That would have gone well.
That's been about 20 years ago, but at the time of purchase my mother had been in and out of the state mental hospital half a dozen times. Seriously. The laws have to be better than that.
Deb
The "daily" is so commonplace that our youth have no clue what's Godly. The gun control...I agree, and God bless you and your family's hearts for having to deal with mental illness. Just bless you!
DeleteAmen. Just how much more is He going to put up with? "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do."
ReplyDeleteI wonder, too....how much longer will he strive with man?
DeleteI was reading in Matthew the other day when Jesus was talking about the kingdom being taken away from the Jewish people and gave to others and it made me think how other countries are making bigger strides in growth of Christianity compared to the United States and how we, America, had a chance but we don't seem to any more because we (collectively speaking) have turned our backs on God. It is sad.
ReplyDeletebetlty
Very sad...and I don't know what it's going to take to drive us back to Him...but I am certain it will not be happy times for any of us. The Bible does warn us it rains on the just and the unjust.
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