What About Love? Part 1

Gotta admit…

Love that song by Pink, the artist.

The horrible public slaughters of the past few years has turned all of our stomachs – Florida school killer, Vegas Shooter, et. Somehow there seems to be a turning of the proverbial tide in public opinion regarding guns, gun control, et.

We all know we wish that kid did not have those guns in his hands. There is no argument on that point.

But The good-ole USA is absolutely torn when it comes to finding a solution to the growing murders and use of automatic weapons to spray a deathly dose of bullets in an unsuspecting crowd.

We have heard the blame being placed on so many issues, people, laws, lack of laws. Some say the best thing would be for schools to hand each kid a gun. Yeah. That way, you see, the gun control opposers (I may not be what you think I am) say that each kid could have a shot at this crazy murderous monster and instead of 17 dead, we would have just 1 dead. (Unless the First kid to shoot him might have missed, or forgot to add bullets, et) Right. But now you would have daily “gunfights” over who won Homecoming King, and who sat in which seat first. Doesn’t sound like the best solution if you cannot 100% control all the human elements. (Which of course, you certainly cannot.)

We’re getting to the point where church-going folks think 90% of the Biblical mandate is found in the 2nd Amendment. Please, I strongly support it. But again – is that all you are able to think about at a time like this? If so, you are not alone.

But remember – the Word of God is living and active. Our Constitution, Bill of Rights, Amendments and so forth – THAT CAME from the BIBLE. It is an amazing document insofaras it draws from OUR ONLY SOURCE OF ULTIMATE TRUTH – SCRIPTURES. It is not Holy Scripture, itself.

And one more thing. The Bible says in Psalm 20:7 “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.” (NIV)

Who and in what do you trust?

I think there is something far deeper, far more serious going on.

Let’s take a quick look at this young man, Nikolas Cruz.

Nikolas (No relation to “Nicky Cruz” a gangster-turned-evangelist in NYC back in the 1950’s) had no parents, had been distraught after his mother died a few months earlier, and apparently had guns when he moved into his adoptive parents house. They made him store his guns in a gun “safe” and thought they had the only key.

Of course, so many things should have happened to stop this massacre, but alas… none of them did.

Now Nikolas awaits his fate as an angry nation seeks justice and a scapegoat in which that justice can be corporately dumped.

The Republicans blame the Democrats; the liberals blame the conservatives; the gun control supporters blame the gun control non-supporters; the religious blame the non-religious; the “Trump-haters” blame the “Trump-lovers” and the private school groups blames the public school education system.

So the question for you, and for me, comes down to one thing… who do YOU blame?

Can I tell you a sob story?

I attended public school and in general, am glad for the experience. But I must say, memories of my freshman and sophomore years are filled with Vietnam-esque flashbacks of beatings and bullying. I was a victim of daily persecution by a handful of nasty boys who saw in me, an easy target – I was a late bloomer in terms of physical size. (In 10th grade football, I was so short, the shortest leg-pads were too long for me.) Also, I was the oldest of 3 boys. In other words, I had no forerunner to pave the way for me, to protect and defend.

I was an A student until 8th grade. And then my grades plummeted over the next several months and even years… and, my parents never really knew the real reason why. I am not saying this to gain anyones sympathy. I ended up getting revenge on a few of those bullies when, out of nowhere, I grew almost 12 inches before my senior year.

But to my point – boys will be boys.

Mean boys will be mean boys. Throw a thousand newly pubescent teens into a mall of dark rooms and cheap desks for 8 hours a day – bullies are going to bully. That’s my experience.

But lets take that step further. Bullying in terms of physical is one thing, but what about mental, social, psychological and verbal bullys? Ever seen the movie “Mean Girls?” It’s the nature of the beast.

And guess what, the Bible claims that this beast is alive and well, in all of us.

Don’t believe me?

Jeremiah 17:9 says “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?” (New Living Translation)

Or how about Romans 7:5 “When we were controlled by our old nature,^b] sinful desires were at work within us, and the law aroused these evil desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds, resulting in death.”

Or Matthew 15:19 “For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander.”

I have much more to say, but in the interest of time, check out Part 2 of this post below!

Jeff

What About Love? Part 2