Sandy Hook Elementary School

What a day of rejoicing in Heaven Friday was ... and what a day of tragedy in our nation. 
A lone young man of 20, took it upon himself for whatever reason to end the lives of not only his mother and himself - but of these precious teachers and children @ Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT. 

My heart is breaking. My spirit is grieving. And the questions rage within my mind. Why?
What could possibly possess a man to do this to innocent children? 
How does someone become that angry? 
How does someone get that full of despair? 

I have no answers. 
I have tears ... grieving ... unbearable sorrow. 
So, I call on Jesus! I ask Him to wrap His arms of love and grace and mercy around this community, around our nation. And especially around the parents, the brothers, the sisters, the family and friends of each one of these on this list. Give them comfort as only He can give. Give them sweet and precious memories. Give them laughter. And don't ever let one of these precious ones be forgotten!!! 

Some are once again screaming for gun control. Gun EDUCATION would be better. 
There are guns on the streets that do not need to be in the hands of ordinary citizens. But even with tighter gun laws, they will be.
Gun control will NOT solve our nation's problems of people killing people. 
And sadly - neither will gun EDUCATION. 
Because there will always be guns and there will always be ignorance. 
As it is has been said so often - guns do not kill people ... people kill people. 
People have been killing people since the beginning of time and space - usually over some petty form of jealousy. And with all manners of weapons. There is NO WAY to remove all the weapons used to kill one another. Jealousy that leads to feelings of losing something ... that leads to resentment and bitterness ... that leads to anger ... that leads to stupidity ... and to acts of tragedy that can never be taken back, that change our lives forever. 

Education and compassion. 
What this world needs is JESUS! 
A good old-fashioned revival! 
Where we fall on our face (forgo the knees) and we cry out to JESUS!!! 
Save us O God!!! This is too big of a mess for us to fix!!! Redeem us O GOD!!! Protect us!!! Deliver us!!! O GOD!!! Intervene and invade our hearts, our lives, our homes, our churches, our schools, our businesses, our nation! Take control God of an out of control way of life!!! Turn our hearts and our minds back to YOU - our Creator, our Defender, our Provider. 

What are we going to do about letting this change our lives? 

Will we barricade ourselves and our families? Trying our best to protect us from the evils of this world? If so, then what about the evils that come into our lives and homes thru TV, movies, video games, books, music, the Internet? 

Will we pray? We as Christians ought to be praying for the teachers in our local schools - BY NAME! If you don't know their names, find out! Call the school. Meet with at least one teacher this week and tell them face to face that you are praying for them. Ask them if there is any specific prayer request that they have? Something that you can agree with them on? 

Will we as Christians who are to be the light of the world - will we let our light shine before others this week? When do you turn a light on? When there is darkness. People wake up!!! How much more dark must our world become before we are "turning on the light"?!?
We need to be showing Jesus in every breath we take, with every move we make, in every word we speak!!! We need to think and to consider - WHAT WOULD JESUS DO???
There is too much darkness in the world for Christians (Galatians 2:20) to go around not shining the light!!! 

Will we still praise Him? In the midst of all the storms and darkness - will we still praise Him? Nothing changes who God is. No matter what our human eyes see, what our human hearts feel - God is still God. And He is still worthy of praise. The Bible tells us that God inhabits the praises of His people. How much do we need the inhabiting of God's Presence in our lives today?!? Then PRAISE HIM!!! 
He is God ... the Ancient of Days ... Redeemer ... Saviour ... Loving God ... Faithful Father ... Mighty One ... Holy One ... Lord of lords ... King of kings ... God of gods ... 

Gather your loved ones close - love them ... hold them ... give them hugs and kisses to their embarrassment even - what these parents and families would do if only they could!!! And if for no other reason - do it for the honor  and memory of these names! 

This picture with all the precious names was snagged off of Facebook this morning. And I don't even know who to give credit for it to. But the Lord knows ... 

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