LEARNING DAILY

1 John 3:11-16, For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous. Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him. This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.

I am going to do today’s blog a little different. The pastors from the two churches began their messages the same way this weekend. They both reacted to the murders that have happened in the last week or so. Today’s blog will reflect their thoughts and some of my own.

 Read the words of John above and know that the world, those who do not follow Jesus Christ as Lord hate you, Believer. “Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.” Those who are “in the world” hated Jesus and are going to hate you. Pastor Ed Newton stated, “The tension is growing!” What tension? The tension “between good and evil, light and darkness, right and wrong!” stated both pastors. Pastor Newton was specific when he spoke about the one who killed the two children in the Minneapolis school. This guy wrote messages on the magazines used to shoot into the church. “Where is your God now?” In his journal he wrote that he used the face of the Lord Jesus Christ for target practice. Evil! Pastor Newton asked where the help was when the young girl was brutally stabbed to death.

Both pastors spoke to the shooting of Charlie Kirk, a conservative and a strong Christian who spoke Jesus into the lives of many people. Yet, there has been celebration and cheering for his death. There are those who are saying, “he got what he deserved,” “good riddance,” and “he’s finally dead!” Is that what this country has come to be? Pastor Newton said,” This is not a left vs right issue; it is an up and down issue, heaven versus hell.” Understand that this issue has been around for a long time. Since Jesus walked on this earth, there have been those who have tried to silence His followers. Early Christians were killed as entertainment in the Roman coliseums and the desire to quiet those expressing their belief in Christ has continued. Once again, people are being killed for their profession of faith in Him. “The tension is growing!” It has become “devaluing people so one does not feel bad about getting rid of people who are living and speaking a biblical worldview.” (EN). The result of what we are seeing is a clear division between those with a biblical worldview and those with living in the world.

I am embarrassed to admit that I have had a casual attitude toward this. Yes, I felt troubled by these events, but these men woke something up in me. “God’s Word cannot be silenced by these events; they only magnify God’s Word” (JM). “Stop living casually; those following the Lord need to rise up. Jesus did not die as a martyr; He died as a Savior. The issue causing all the problems today is sin! The world is not getting better; it is getting darker” (EN).

I am going to join Pastor Newton. I am going to do better to stand for Jesus, call sin what it is, and not buckle to society and the world. It is time to stop worrying about what others think and say about me. It is time to truly “die to self.” It is time to do as Pastor Moore said, “Pray first. Humble yourself, seek God’s face, and turn from my evil ways. Then God will hear my prayers. Do not hate. Instead love and spread the love of God.”