"For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind. There is no
standing grain; what sprouts up fails to yield flour. Even if it should
produce, the foreigners would swallow it up."
(Hosea 8:7)
In the aftermath of the horrific shooting in Minneapolis this week, my heart
and prayers are with the victims' families. I cannot begin to imagine the
overwhelming sorrow and pain they are suffering in the loss of their beloved
children. My heart and prayers are also with the mother of the shooter.
May she receive care and comfort and not blame for her son's actions.
Image courtesy/Newsweek
This terrible tragedy reminds me of another incident involving a shooting
at a school in 2006, when a gunman took hostages inside a one room schoolhouse
in the Old Order Amish community of Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania.
The suspect, Charles Carl Roberts IV shot ten girls, ages 6-13, killing five
in the initial incident, and a sixth victim, who later succumbed to her injuries
in 2024. Like the Minneapolis shooter this week, Roberts committed suicide.
Considered the worst school shooting in the history of the state of Pennsylvania,
this Amish community, whose lives were changed forever by this senseless act
of evil, approached the situation in an unexpected way. They did not use the
tragic incident which befell their community to demand the passage
of more gun control laws or to eschew the power of prayer.
They realized that the entire situation was the result of sin.
The Amish people of Nickel Mines chose forgiveness.
The grieving parents forgave the man who murdered their daughters.
They also went and visited the shooter's family to pray with and comfort
them as they grappled with their own shock and grief.
This was not the typical response of the world. In this latest case,
one Republican lawmaker posted on X: ".. but to the shooter,
I have one thing to say in response. F*** you. Burn in hell."
The sad reality of this statement is the shooter is most likely in Sheol,
separated from God for all eternity, until he is raised to stand before Him
one day to give an account of his actions. Then he, and others like him,
will be thrown into the Lake of Fire prepared for Satan and his angels.
By his own prideful admission, the god of this world has been wandering
through the earth collecting victims since He was first cast from Heaven.
"Where have you come from?" said the LORD to Satan. "From roaming to
and fro through the earth," he replied, and walking back and forth in it."
(Job 1:17)
This is what is happening in America and around the world today.
Satan knows better than anyone else that he is running out of time.
He knows that he cannot stop or frustrate the forthcoming plans of Almighty God.
Yet, as Jesus warned us, Satan is a murderer, the father of lies, and all that is false.
If he can convince human beings that God did not create man and woman
in His own image, or as in the case of Robin Westerman, that they are
"transgender", a word which I believe was first coined in hell itself,
he not only destroys their lives, but their souls as well.
The same can be said about prayer. If an unwitting mouthpiece for
the enemy can convince the American people that prayer is useless,
and a waste of their time, Satan clearly has the advantage.
Former WH Press Secretary Jen Psaki recently posted on X:
"Prayer is not freaking enough. Prayer does not end school shootings, prayers
do not make parents feel safe sending their kids to school. Prayer does
not bring these kids back. Enough with the thoughts and prayers...."
God clearly tells us through the prophet Amos His solution to stop the
impending judgment coming upon a wicked and idolatrous nation:
"Seek Me and ye shall live!"
(Amos 5:4)
Pray America! Pray like your life depends on it.
Because it does.
mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic School and Church
this week. May they rest safely in the arms of the One
who said, "Let the little children come unto Me".
Image courtesy/MPRNews
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