How Do I Process A Senseless Massacre?
by Danny Yamashiro
Gun sales in Colorado rose sharply after a massacre during the midnight showing of The Dark Night Rises. Certification requests to carry concealed weapons are off the charts. People envision themselves in a similar scenario and want to have a chance to fight back. This prompts debate about the right to bear arms. While we attempt to carry weapons for protection, someone else could be collecting ammunition over the course of several months to carry out a sick and senseless plan to snuff out human beings in one startling moment. The result is heartache and unanswered questions. These feelings are compounded by the injustice of the press. Coverage of the savage killer sadly eclipses coverage of the victims, featuring him more than them.
Going in Circles with Gun Control
Why is it that the number of killings attributed to firearms is remarkably higher in America than in nations like Japan and England? Gun laws in those countries are much stricter, even prohibitive. “But,” one argues, “I want to have a gun just in case someone assaults me or my family.” It’s a “Catch 22.” Both sides can be argued vehemently with supporting data.
Let’s face it, there is evil in the world, much more than we realize or even want to know. Intricate schemes are being drawn up in some dingy basement or in an immaculate metro penthouse suite. A person has an idea that is connected to a cause that would justify, at least in their mind, a random shooting spree.
Do you really have a defense? Even if you had a weapon and practiced using it 10,000 times? Perhaps. But what if in the heat of the assault, your mind froze in shock of the moment? Or on that particular day, what if you left your weapon at home? Is a weapon really going to help? Maybe. There are, however, no guarantees. This is not the first mass tragedy, and it won’t be the last. Columbine was sick. The thought that it somehow planted a seed for July 20th’s carnage is disgusting.
An Obsession That Scares Satan
We have a choice to make. We can fuel the world for evil or fan the flame for good. More explicitly, we can sell our souls to the devil or surrender our lives to Jesus Christ. That decision will begin to strengthen our spines for every moral and ethical decision we will ever make. Have you heard about the “Civilized Maniacs” of the first century, otherwise known as the Apostles?Most of the Apostles died for the cause of Christ. People of the same conviction have lived throughout history. These people are so committed to Jesus that they are considered obsessed, and their actions may seem strange to many who don’t know the Lord. They love people and serve people. They forgive people, give to people and sacrifice for people, so much so, that you would swear, “If Jesus were here on earth today, that would be Him.”
Crazy people are feared because they are unsettling, unpredictable and step beyond the invisible bounds of social norms. “Civilized Maniacs” who serve Jesus are scary to the devil and his demonic cohorts. Not only are they different, they are empowered by a resurrection potency that causes darkness, evil people and satanic spirits to shiver! The mantra of these Christ-followers is found in Romans 14:8, “If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.”
I don’t believe the answer for security is in a firearm, a sword, a stick, a knife or a punch. I am also not against using any of the above to protect my family – that’s my responsibility when it is in my power to do so. However, there is too much that is beyond my control, and at some point, I need to choose someone beyond me. I choose to trust the One who created me. I also decide each day to serve Him and others for good. Will you?
There actually is a guarantee for security. It is found in the person of Jesus Christ. It’s eternal security that can be accessed by faith today and will last forever.
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My friend Dr. Steve Dorsey had a sawed-off shot gun pointed right at him. Find out what happened when he found himself staring down the barrel at a deranged gunman with a finger on the trigger. See what a modern-day “Civilized Maniac” for Jesus did. Click here to listen to Dr. Steve Dorsey’s Experience.
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