The Real Source of Evil and Violence

by Kathryn Krummrey, RN

 

As we Americans awake one more time to another "morning after killings" experience, we must acknowledge some real truths. Evil, violence, and terror are found in the hearts and minds of people, not in the objects used to commit their evil.

 

In recent weeks and months we have had people hurt, maimed, and killed by various objects. There is nothing inherently evil in household goods that can comprise a bomb, knives, cars, ball bats, in strong arms and hands that are placed on small, weaker bodies of little children, or even in guns. The problem is not with these objects, but rather with the heart, mind and thought processes of the human being using these objects.

 

All caring American citizens want this terror in our land to stop! We want to send our kids off to school or to public events without the fear of terror and the carnage it can bring to our lives. We want the "old America" back when evil and violence were not invading our shores on a sporadic but regular basis.

 

So we must look back to what has changed in the heart of our people, our culture, and the way we think. In the last several decades we have changed dramatically in the way we think about the crucial values and morals of our society. In our "enlightenment" we became self focused people rather than family focused people.

 

Keeping the family unit strong and nurturing the next young generation dropped dramatically on our list of priorities. We sent our kids a message with our new laws and our new trends. Marriages are easily disbanded if it gets too hard. Human beings are only of value if they are wanted. We can also easily get rid of things we don't want and put a nice name on it, like being pro-choice.

 

We have outlawed the very things that gave stability, strength, and hope to Americans in tough times. Things like the Ten Commandments that told us how to honor God and our fellow man have been banished from our public places as if they were too dangerous for our kids to know. The freedom to acknowledge and call out to our God for his help at our schools was done away... And this is when evil came in to fill this void in our land.

 

We have raised a generation of people without the influence of God and what He values in their life. This is the true definition of evil; a total absence of God and His loving standards of conduct for His people. Societies of people are not healthy when there is a void in their spirit and soul. They fill this void with self serving evil rather than good for others.

 

I fear that we could now be on the receiving the end of some of our choices as a nation. Could this be one of the true sources of evil and violence in America? There is hope if we will turn back to the One who offers the real cure. Yet, I fear we may be too progressive and enlightened to do that.

The Significance of the Resurrection

by Ron Livesay

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most significant event in all of history. Without it, we have no Gospel, no salvation, and no hope.

Scoffers make light of it and call it a myth or a fairy tale. They do this because they actually understand its significance, and the truth of the resurrection must be undermined if Christianity is to be trivialized. Even some who claim the name of “Christian” minimize its importance. Some believe the resurrection was only a “spiritual” resurrection, not a bodily one. In other words, the body of Jesus is still in the grave, but He rose in a figurative sense to give us hope of a better life, or some such nonsense. Others will say that the resurrection is “only a doctrine, and after all, doctrine is divisive and unimportant. We need to emphasize unity, not doctrine.” This idea is very dangerous. Without biblical doctrine, there can be no truth, and Christianity has no foundation. It is reduced to opinion based on feeling. Such foolishness is typical of modern-day false Christianity.

When I was teaching at a Christian school in Temecula, CA, I had a student in my junior Bible class who was a Muslim. Although he was not a Christian, he was a very good and knowledgeable Bible student and got an “A” in my class. The class met the last period of the day, and he stayed after school many times – for a while it was almost daily – to discuss the Bible. Sometimes he would stay five minutes and sometimes he would stay up to half an hour. We had many good discussions of Scripture.

One day he said the following: “Mr. Livesay, I have to give you this – if the resurrection really happened, then Christianity is true.” He understood the significance of the resurrection. Christianity stands or falls based on the truthfulness of the resurrection. If it really happened, Christianity is absolutely true. If it did not happen, Christianity is a hoax.

My student was quick to add his opinion that “of course, the resurrection didn’t really happen, because Jesus didn’t really die on the cross.” He told me he believed in The Gospel of Barnabas, but that he rejected its teaching that Judas died on the cross instead of Jesus. Instead, he believed that the individual who actually died on the cross was one of Jesus’ brothers, but he offered no proof for this other than his own opinion. I pointed out that it didn’t make sense that one of His half-brothers would have taken His place just so Jesus could claim to have been raised from the dead to prove He was the Messiah, especially since His brothers did not believe in Him until after the resurrection. He thought about it for a minute, and said, “I think you got me on that one.”

The real point here is that my Muslim student and friend actually understood the significance of the resurrection far more than it is understood by many professing Christians. The Scriptures make this significance very clear. “Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up – if in fact the dead do not rise. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable. But now Christ is risen from the dead…" (I Corinthians 15:12-20, NKJV).

Jesus Christ rose from the dead. That is a fact of history, absolutely proven and utterly impervious to criticism. Regardless of all the dishonest skepticism that has been thrown at it, we can be confident that “…now Christ is risen from the dead…” and Christianity is validated.

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ

by Ron Livesay

 

Christianity stands alone among the “world religions” for two very important reasons. First of all, we Christians have a God who loves us. The majority of the people in this world worship gods who are angry and must be appeased, while our God, the Creator of all things, loves us, cares for us, and shows His grace to us. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16, NKJV)

Second, we have a risen Savior rather than a dead prophet. “But the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.” (Matthew 28:5-6, NKJV) Our Lord Jesus Christ has defeated death, the thing that all of mankind fears, and He has made salvation a reality. His resurrection validates Christianity, the Gospel, and the Bible in its entirety. It is utter foolishness to reject Him, when his miraculous resurrection, the event that validates all truth, has been established beyond question.

The resurrection is a more solid historical fact, based on eyewitnesses and documentation, than many other facts that people believe without question. Very few would doubt that Ben Franklin flew a kite with a key on it, that George Washington crossed the Delaware, or that Abraham Lincoln gave the Gettysburg Address. Why do we believe these things? We believe them because there were eyewitnesses, and the events were documented and are now in the history books. Yet, many events found in history books are less provable historically than the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He was seen alive after his death by many individuals and groups, one of which was larger than five hundred, and much documentation has been written attesting to the facts surrounding His resurrection.

It is interesting that this event is left out of history books, while many other far less established events are included. The reason is obvious. Men do not want to accept this truth, because it validates all of God's truth, and that places great responsibility on humanity to respond appropriately to that truth. It is much easier to be intellectually dishonest about the resurrection and relegate it to merely being “religious belief,” while claiming it is some kind of violation of the so-called “separation of church and state” to allow this truth to be taught and accepted as fact. It often boils down to the fact that many people make a deliberate choice to believe what they want to believe, regardless of the truth.

Truth is consistent with the facts. Certain historical events are factual, based on the standards for establishment of historicity, even though they are rejected by many who do not want to believe them.

· Irrefutable historical fact: Jesus Christ walked the earth.

· Irrefutable historical fact: Jesus Christ was crucified and died.

· Irrefutable historical fact: Jesus Christ rose again from the dead.

No amount of hiding the truth on the part of those who write history will ever change the facts. The fact of the resurrection absolutely establishes the truth of all of the Scripture and the validity of Christianity and the Gospel. Many people choose not to believe the truth, because it requires something of them. Anyone who does so is only fooling himself, and that at his peril.

The great message of Christianity is that the God who created all things, the God who loves us, gave His Son as a sacrifice for our sins, and that He not only died for us, He defeated death forever by His resurrection. God does not ask us to feel anything or to have an emotional experience, although some do. He only asks us to have simple, childlike faith in Him and what He has already done for us. When all is said and done, all human endeavor and all human wisdom will evaporate into ashes, and the one important issue will be each individual’s answer to the question asked so long ago by Pilate during the trial of Jesus. “What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” (Matthew 27:22, NKJV)

Pastor Jeff Anderson preaches Titus 1:10-16

Pastor Jeff Anderson from Grace Bible Church in Colorado Springs preaching in chapel at The Master's Seminary. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYlt7KutW2U&list=FLcIy5pr74spnT1fbrl-2Kfw&index=1

 

God Leads Us Along

There are so many great hymns that we just don't seem to hear any more. Some have simply been removed from hymn books. Others have been revised so as to make them less "offensive." We sang one a couple of weeks ago that I had not heard in years.

 

In shady, green pastures, so rich and so sweet,
God leads His dear children along;
Where the water’s cool flow bathes the weary one’s feet,
God leads His dear children along.

Some through the waters, some through the flood,
Some through the fire, but all through the blood;
Some through great sorrow, but God gives a song,
In the night season and all the day long.

 

"God Leads Us Along," by George A. Young, 1903

 

What? 1903? How can a song written in 1903 be relevant? But then again, the Bible is much older than that, and there is nothing more relevant today than the Scriptures.

Foolishness Running Amok

Here we go again. I sometimes think we as a culture have lost our collective mind. First, I hear that two first graders have been suspended for playing cops and robbers and shooting at each other with their fingers. Remember – "If fingers are outlawed, only outlaws will have fingers."

Then I hear that a kindergarten girl has been suspended for making terrorist threats by telling her friend she was going to shoot her with a toy gun that shoots only soap bubbles. After a bit of public outcry, her suspension was reduced from ten days to two days. Two minutes would have been too much.

These kinds of things are indicative of the lack of wisdom, common sense, and biblical discernment in our culture today. When we consider the things that are given "hearty approval" (Romans 1:32, NASB) by politicians and the media, while we vilify the innocent actions of little children, we can only conclude that we as a nation have truly forgotten a number of important biblical injunctions, including the following two:

"Go from the presence of a foolish man when you do not perceive in him the lips of knowledge" (Proverbs 14:7, NKJV).

"Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" (Isaiah 5:20, NKJV).

I have to wonder – What would have happened if these students had been playing abortion doctor, dishonest politician, or lying member of the media instead? I suspect they would have been rewarded in some way for lifting up the "honorable" segments of our society. Our country is certainly in a mess today. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only answer to the many problems we face.

Gun Control or Sin Control

Every time there is a vile crime committed with a gun, we find ourselves bombarded by a plethora of proposals allegedly designed to prevent gun violence. Some of these proposals are utterly absurd, such as declaring certain places to be "gun-free zones," which is tantamount to declaring those areas to be "shooting galleries" by announcing that it is likely to be filled with unarmed people. Most mass shootings tend to occur in "gun-free zones." Who wants to have someone shoot back at them? NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre said, “The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is with a good guy with a gun.” He is right. Anything else violates common sense.

 

Anti-gun people, in spite of their absurd proposals, are thought by some to be heroes, while gun owners are vilified in the media and by many politicians. Taking guns out of the hands of potential victims in order to stop the criminals makes as much sense as a teacher punishing the whole class except for the one student who is causing problems.

 

Other proposals involve outlawing "assault weapons" (a made-up term that does not apply to any legally-owned gun) and "high capacity clips," which is another indicator that the people who talk the most about guns are those who know the least about them. A "clip" and a "magazine" are not the same thing. But hey, who cares about accuracy and truth if it will hurt the agenda? This stuff is reminiscent of the old argument from several years ago that we needed to outlaw the "Saturday night special," another made-up term that describes no firearm that ever existed.

 

New proposals and recycled ones continue to emerge, quite often from those in Washington who demonstrate hypocrisy by having armed bodyguards and, in some cases, by carrying firearms themselves. They seem to have the attitude that they and their children deserve to be protected, but everyone else and their children can just be targets.

 

Of course, there is this little thing called the Constitution that gets in their way, and most of their proposals violate the Second Amendment by infringing on the right of the people to keep and bear arms. This is a tough one for them to get around, especially since the Supreme Court has declared the obvious – that the right to keep and bear arms, just like all of the Bill of Rights, is an individual right of U.S. citizens. Most of the "gun control" proposals are unconstitutional, silly, ridiculous, and absurd. Nevertheless, they are generally presented as "common sense" measures to prevent gun violence. In truth, most of them have no effect and some even have a reverse effect.

 

Just to illustrate absurdity by being absurd, I might as well add my own idiotic proposal, because it makes as much sense as most of what is coming out of our politicians. Following is my proposal:

 

We know that a large percentage of gun crimes are committed with stolen guns. All we have to do is make a new law (Isn't that always the answer? Make a new law.) that says all criminals must submit to a background check and purchase a "gun stealing license" before they are allowed to steal a gun and then wait fifteen days before stealing it. After they steal it, they must register it. That way, after they commit their gun crime, they will be easier to catch. This will work because we know that criminals always obey the laws. If they see a sign that says "gun-free zone," they simply slink away and find something else to do, so obviously if they know it is illegal to steal a gun without a background check and without a license, they simply will not do it.

 

Does that sound absurd? Obviously it does, so I fully expect some elected official to pick up on it and propose it, because it is very much like all of the other foolish gun-control laws and proposals.

 

It really is time to start dealing with the problem instead of blaming other people or inanimate objects for the evil things committed by criminals. The problem is what the Bible calls "the exceeding sinfulness of sin" (Romans 7:13).  "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; Who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9). Those who commit crimes are responsible for what they do. We are all responsible for our actions. This concept seems to have been lost in our culture.

 

Sin is a real issue in this world today. Human beings need to be saved from their sin by the Lord Jesus Christ. The necessity of salvation has been illustrated since the Old Testament Law was given to Moses. The Bible clearly points out that the law does not make anyone righteous. It only points out how short we fall of reaching God's perfect standard of righteousness. The same is true today. Congress can make all the laws it wants, and the President can hand down all the executive orders he wants, but none of these things will stop violence, because none of them can possibly change the nature of man. Only salvation by grace through faith can give man a new nature, forgive his sin, and declare him to be righteous.

 

The message we need today is not more patriotism, more Americanism, more gun control, less gun control, more welfare, higher taxes, lower taxes, etc. The only message that can truly change lives is the message of the Gospel:  "... I declare to you the gospel...by which also you are saved...that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures" (I Corinthians 15:3-4, NKJV).