It’s a very slow day at work, which allows me some time to write.
As I sit here, I’m reading  about a shooting at an elementary shooting
in Connecticut that has claimed 27 lives, 18 of which  were young children.
This about a week after a mall shooting in Oregon that claimed two lives,
 and several months after a theater shooting in Colorado that ended 12 lives.

     There aren’t words for atrocities like this. And they seem to be happening more and more
frequently. Maybe it just seems that way. As  I read about all of these things, I’m deeply grieved.
How can people do such terrible things to other people? To kids? These were elementary kids!
They don’t deserve this. How could you do this to kids?!

 Just today, I read the following quote on Facebook:

 “Our society is walking through a maze of cultural land mines and the heaviest price 
is exacted as we send our children first”

     Almost prophetic, in light of what has happened now in Connecticut. To be clear, I know
 none of the people in Connecticut, and none of their beliefs, religious backgrounds or well..really
anything about them.

I’m not trying to suggest this is God’s judgment on them specifically in any way.

     But we can’t keep playing games. Our society wants to say there is no God, there are no
morals, and there is no clear line of right and wrong. And we are surprised when atrocities like
this happen? Who are we trying to fool?

     These massacres are the fleshing out of those beliefs in real life. We diminish the value of life.
We slaughter helpless infants in the womb. We mock God’s design of marriage – through both
homosexuality and divorce/re-marriage. We seem bent on taking every single thing that God has
designed and made good and ruining it by doing with it as we please. We rebel defiantly to His
commands. And we expect His blessing.

     I am convinced God is grieved beyond words by what happened today in Connecticut. I
believe He weeps at the atrocities we hoist on each other. But don’t we see what has happened?
His hand of protection has been removed -- and it must be removed! We want nothing to do
with Him! We try to rid ourselves of every reminder of Him. We detest any suggestion that He
might be real, that He might hold us to account for our actions. We despise Him!

Truly, truly, God is not mocked. We can’t sow rebellion and expect to reap blessing. It’s
impossible.

So what do we do?

We cry out to God for those that have been affected by this unspeakable travesty.
We pray that Jesus would surround them with His love, and draw them to Himself through
the pain, tears, and grief. We pray that even now, His light and life would pierce the darkness
of what has happened and bring hope and healing. We pray that He would receive glory through this.

     And we fall on our faces before Him for our nation. We need repentance to sweep
our country! We plead with Him to send His Spirit across our nation, bringing repentance
and grief for sin.We need to turn back to Him!

And we get our there and tell people about Jesus, His death, the defeat of sin,
 and the gift of eternal life.  I’m speaking to myself as much here as anyone.

May God have mercy on us if we continue to refuse Him.