Something's Changed

I saw a meme on Facebook last week that got me thinking. It spoke about how life has changed since 1968, specifically addressing gun violence and mass shootings by asking the question: "What has changed since then?" Why are there more mass shootings today than in 1968. What HAS changed?

Back in 1968 I was a freshman in high school, our country was waist-deep in the Vietnam war, but life in general was good. It was safe. There were no mass shootings, The Beatles topped the music charts with Hey Jude, and I was more worried about "being cool" than I was about passing math class. So what has changed in our society since 1968? Here's a partial list:

Prayer removed from schools 1962

Bobby Kennedy shot 1968

Marin Luther King shot 1968

Women's Lib Movement late 60's

Woodstock 1969

Roe v Wade 1973

Jesus Christ Superstar 1973

Vietnam War ends 1975

As gun law restricting gun ownership increase, so do the mass shootings. Clearly, gun ownership is not the problem. I believe it is our government increasingly taking God out of everything. They're even talking God's Word out of the pulpit, calling it hate speech. Sad.

Some people will think this is a "political piece" - a story about gun rights rather than about God. They will be wrong. The gun battle is just that, a battle in a larger war. The war is taking place in our hearts.

Yesterday there was another Potential mass shooting taking place . . . in a church!! However, recently passed laws enabled members of the congregation to carry guns. And it was a good thing they did. But the shooting quite possibly never even occurred had the shooter known Jesus.

There will always be crazy people in the world. Like Jesus said, "The poor you will always have with you." There will always be Herods, Stalins, Hitlers, etc. but a good home with God-fearing parents in it is the best way to combat violence.

"Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. 12 God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways." - Genesis 6:11-12

Jesus will return one day. Most think that day is coming soon. I hope so. Once He removes His church from the scene, what do you think it's going to be like then?

Inventors of Evil

Answers are hard to come by when we try to understand why there is so much violence in our world. "Why?" has got to be the most asked question ever. Why? There IS an answer.

I heard a prominent pastor once say, "When the pews get a little too full I like to pull out one of my 'Wrath of God' sermons." First off, can a church ever be "too full"? But secondly, what is a "Wrath of God" sermon. Open your Bibles to Romans 1 and hold on to your butts.

"18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.

24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.

26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.

28 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. 32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them." - Romans 1:18-32

There is a lot of present-day society represented in this passage of scripture from The Book of Romans. In light of the recent shootings in Texas and Ohio we seem to definitely be a world filling with "inventors of evil." And Paul was preaching to The Church in Rome itself 2000 years ago!

Imagine what the world will look like when Jesus returns and raptures His church out of here. It's not going to be pretty for those who have been left behind. Our future is a personal choice made by each one of us. The choice we make will have eternal consequences. The only question that remains is, "Are we ready?"

Left Behind Trailer

A Holy Kiss

Night after night I watch all the news shows and their coverage of what's going on in various cities. Rioting, unrest, people yelling at each other, people looting stores as if that somehow makes up for some perceived wrong done against someone. Lawless, helpless, hopeless. Shootings, beating, abductions, you name the crime. What is going on in our world today.

In my youth leader days I often asked teens who were complaining about something, "So, what are you going to do about it." I am not above taking my own advice. So . . . I have done something about it.

Jesus was all about love and so should we be. There isn't a single situation on the nightly news that couldn't be solved or prevented with love. I'd like you to read a few verses from the Bible. What do you think God was trying to tell us?

Romans 16:16 - "Greet one another with a holy kiss."

1 Corinthians 16:20 - "Greet one another with a holy kiss."

2 Corinthians 13:12 - "Greet one another with a holy kiss."

1 Thessalonians 5:26 - "Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss."

He was trying to tell us that we should always love those we meet, especially our brothers and sisters in Christ. We need to take this message to everyone we meet.

Now, I am not suggesting that we walk up to a total stranger and kiss them on the lips. But I AM suggesting we greet everyone with a smile, a handshake, a hug and yes, perhaps even a kiss on the cheek. What the world needs now is love, sweet love. Almost sounds like a song, doesn't it.
Love is a rare thing these days.

I have made a Facebook page called "A Holy Kiss." I would like you to go there and "like" it. I also would like you to "share" it and help spread the word about how we should be greeting each other . . . with love.

A Holy Kiss

This world could be an amazing place to live if it wasn't for all the violence and hatred we've been seeing on TV. God has the answer. He's been offering it to us for thousands of years! When are we going to listen?

When I was in high school there was a song that played on the radio. It was a song about the violence that we were experiencing in our society in the late 60's. The answer that was being offering in that song was "love." That's is what this world needs more of these days.

So, what are you going to do about it?

What The World Needs Now - Tom Clay