Jump Start # 1445

Matthew 10:32-33 “Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in Heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in Heaven.”

  Another mass shooting in our country yesterday. One report stated that nearly 300 have been killed this year due to mass killings. These shootings are happening everywhere—high schools, movie theatres, churches, college campuses, work places. These are not organized attacks, but sick and twisted people who do not value life nor have a belief in the God of Heaven. How and why mentally disturbed people are getting guns is of grave concern. Psych medicines, parenting failures, ignoring warning signs, influence of violence in videos and movies and unchecked hatred may all have contributing factors. We are living in dangerous, dangerous times.

What made yesterday’s killings especially haunting is the fact that people of faith were singled out. Believers in God were purposely killed. This loose nut had it in for Christians, the most peaceable, generous and helpful people on the planet. When we talk about persecution and especially look at it Biblically or historically, it generally comes from an organized front. The Jews hated Christians. The Romans hated Christians. The Catholics hated the Protestants. The Crusades were wars between believers and Muslims. Yesterday’s event wasn’t part of an organized, planned effort. It was one guy with a chip on his shoulder. Yet, those who believed were singled out.

Our passage today reminds us that we must be true to Christ. Revelation 2:10 admonishes the Christians to be “faithful even to death.” God’s people were put in fiery furnaces, lion’s dens, their babies were killed, they were imprisoned, stoned and beheaded. God doesn’t promise to put a protective umbrella over us. By faith, we know that there are things worse than death. One is living without God. One is living a miserable life of hatred and to die and then be denied by Christ.

Our passage singles out one of the worst things that could ever happen, and that is, being denied by Christ. Twice in Matthew, Jesus used the statement, “I never knew you.” Depart from Me is worse than death.

Living for Christ also means being willing to die for Christ. Our faith, our commitment, singles us out. Denying the One who died for us, just to save our own skin is not a price we can pay. There will be a lot of discussion on Sunday about what you would have said if asked if you were a Christian. A lot of armchair quarterbacking and after the fact discussions will debate whether or not one ought to admit that they are a Christian. We wrote just recently about Joseph, the secret disciple for fear of the Jews, who asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. He could keep the secret no longer. His actions revealed that he stood with Christ.

So, is there a solution to all this madness? Politicians will use these events to make more laws, raise more taxes, point more fingers but what they do won’t change much. We must realize that the days of Mayberry are long gone. There are people in this country who hate Christians. There are people who would like to eliminate what we believe. There are people who have no remorse about hurting Christians. These are the days we live in. God’s people were faithful through the Babylonians, the Romans and other powerful forces that tried to destroy them.

Here are some things to consider:

First, why do I believe? Is it because there are nice people that I hang out with on Sunday mornings, or is it because what the Bible says is really true? Do I believe? Do I believe no matter what? Do I believe if they took away my home, as it says in Hebrews? Do I believe if I must worship underground? Do I believe if I must pay double the prices that non believers pay, as happened in Revelation? Do I believe if that costs me my job? Do I believe if it costs me my life? Do I believe?

Second, congregations need to have a plan in place in case someone tries to disrupt services. This isn’t the 1970’s any more. It could happen. What would be done to protect families? Who would do what? Schools have such plans. Work places have such plans. Time to get the head out of the sand folks and realize churches are easy targets. Discuss this. Talk about this. Have a plan.

Third, we must continue to preach the saving message of Jesus Christ. It’s not Christ that causes one to kill others, it’s the lack of Christ. Without a moral compass, without a divine accountability, without faith, one becomes a god unto themselves. The more secular our times become, the less value people have for life, any aspect of it. How can the hierarchy of Planned Parenthood discuss the selling of body parts without any shame or guilt? Those folks ought to be in jail. If a funeral director tried that, he loses his license and off to jail he goes. You can’t sell dead body parts, but it’s ok on the unborn? No shame. No remorse. No God in their lives. A growing segment of our times believes that they can live without God. They don’t want to be defined nor confined by God. The gates are open and look at the world they have today. It’s not godliness that has led to these things, it’s the lack of it. So, continue to tell others about Jesus. Continue to point folks to the Bible. Continue to stand. Continue to believe. Don’t blink for a moment, ours is the way of Heaven.

Our hearts hurt for those families who lost loved ones yesterday. I’ve had kids that attended community colleges. This kind of violence can literally happen anywhere. Be strong. Cling to the Lord. Don’t let fear overcome you. Pray often. Someday, we will be out of here and we will be with the Lord forever.

Live as if one foot is already in Heaven.

Roger