NOT AGAIN

How beautiful are the feet of

 those who preach the gospel

of peace, who bring glad tidings

of good things.

Romans 10:15

It's been a tough week in our country.  One week ago today, life was pretty normal for people, if we can define NORMAL anymore.  We went about our daily business with few  questions about anything.  It's amazing the ways we can be yanked out of what we consider to be our norms.  A young man, Charlie Kirk was assisinated before a crowd of young people on a college campus.  Such a setting wasn't new to Charlie.  He has been talking to and encouraging college-age young people for some years with a listening ear and a strong message of faith.

At my age, my mind drifted back to other times.  I was working in a Christian center in a very needy area.  One day, I was called from my apartment in the center to the one and only TV we had in the building.  President Kennedy had been killed by a sniper.  The feeling was daunting and breath taking.  Little did I know then that I would also see assasinations or attempted ones times over:  Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, Martin Luther King, President Kennedy and then his brother Bobby.  

Evil doesn't need a reason for what it does through it's followers.  Reasons for such behavior  is often impossible to explain....politics, race, money, influence, etc.  In these years, it's been heartbreaking to see how evil has multiplied in so many areas of our culture.  

The culture I live in now is so incredibly filled with a darkness it's hard to make our way through.  Few of Satan's tactics have changed.  Humanity has just given him more permissin to do his own thing.  The saving grace in all of this is Jesus.  He was Charlie's main message delivered wherever he went, without hesitation.  Folks will debate why this happened to this young man.  He wasn't a threat socially or politically.  He WAS a voice for the Lord He loved and wanted others to know His Savior.  Even much of the culture we live in today, doesn't want to hear that message.  An evil culture is much more threatened by Charlie's life message that was getting through to a young generation and it had to be snuffed out.

Charlie's voice is silenced physically but will still be heard.  What about the rest of us?  How bold are we in speaking of our love for Jesus when given the opportunity or when not.  What is our personal responsibility to speak the name of Jesus boldly.  I have as much responsibility to speak of my Lord to others as any young person. May we feel it a privilege to speak of Jesus whether in the presence of friend or foe.  We all have that blessed privilege.  Thanks Charlie for your encouragement.

Father, give us a boldness in these days to stand for You, speaking Your name often.  Thank You for the message that backs up Your name.  Thank You for Charlie's life and influence.  May we be willing to be used by and for You at every opportunity.  In that precious name, Jesus....Amen