Why There are More and More Killing Sprees

Look around you, the world is falling apart, and it’s happening rapidly, too quickly to keep up. So much so, that many of us are even becoming desensitized to the numerous killing sprees that seem to be continually plaguing us.

Before I delve into my theory of why there are more and more killing sprees happening, seemingly one after another, let me first answer one of the most common questions asked by fuming atheists (or non-believers truly seeking clarity): Why does God let these awful things happen?

The world hates God and hates those who serve Him. The media criticizes and lies about Christians, Hollywood mocks us and always represents us as the “evil” hate monger and/or villain, and the government is now concocting brilliant ideas on how to accuse and arrest us—we are the “new and improved” terrorists. God has been taken out of our schools, out of our justice system, out of the Pledge of Allegiance, out of this nation’s history, out of Bible colleges and studies, and more and more churches are even denouncing God’s holy Word and claiming it’s “ancient,” or “archaic.” Christians are turning their backs on God, too. They are conforming to the ways of the world and allowing non-believers to dictate to them  on how to live, behave, and worship.

Romans 1:21-24 says this:

What happened was this: People knew God perfectly well, but when they didn't treat him like God, refusing to worship him, they trivialized themselves into silliness and confusion so that there was neither sense nor direction left in their lives. They pretended to know it all, but were illiterate regarding life. They traded the glory of God who holds the whole world in his hands for cheap figurines you can buy at any roadside stand. So God said, in effect, "If that's what you want, that's what you get." (The Message)

When we trade God’s glory for the world’s glory, in essence, we get what we ask for.

And now look around you with your eyes WIDE open: Columbine, Batman movie shooting, Sandy Hook elementary, 9/11, the Boston bombing, the massacre at the Amish schoolhouse, Fort Hood, numerous college campus shootings. This isn’t a gun issue, it’s a HUMAN VALUE issue!

Why is it a human value issue? Consider Kermit Gosnell, the mass murderer of innocent live-birth “abortions”. He brutally butchered living babies who could cry, squeal, wiggle, and FEEL a knife in their spinal cords. But who cares, right? Planned Parenthood knew about it, the government knew about it, State officials and local police knew about it, government health officials knew about it. Women were killed, overdosed, and brutally mutilated. And no. one. cared! No one came to their rescue: the women OR the innocent babies.

To top it off, Girl Scout cookie money funds Planned Parenthood, Susan G. Koman Foundation funds Planned Parenthood, YOUR hard earned money funds Planned Parenthood, and the leader of our country extended a blessing over Planned Parenthood. “God bless you, Planned Parenthood, and your ability to murder innocent children. Many praises for all that you do!” (My paraphrase.) The President won’t comment on Gosnell, but he’ll bless Planned Parenthood.

See, the problem is that we, as a society, no longer value human life. If we can’t find compassion for the thousands of innocent babies that are being aborted each day, how can we find compassion for our fellow man? If we don’t value them at conception, or even at birth, how can we value them as they walk amongst us? If the government says it’s okay to murder these children, why then, would it not be okay to kill them at 5, 10, or 20? And when we have Planned Parenthood higher-ups arguing for post-birth abortions (full term babies born and THEN “aborted” or killed), how can we expect our younger generation to value other children or even adults?

And to make matters worse, our media goes out of their way to hide the Gosnell story, if they’re telling it at all. (Today I asked my local newspaper why they weren't covering the trial and the editor indicated that “a short story” was reported in today’s paper in the Dateline section, meaning, it wasn’t important enough to be front page or even anywhere noticeable…it was buried, but “reported.”) The reason they don’t want to tell the story is because with the Gosnell trial, abortion itself is on trial, the horrifying truth is being revealed and they don’t WANT you to know. They don’t want to end the murdering. They don’t want women to know what abortion really is and the effects it will have on them. THIS IS THE REAL WAR ON WOMEN! The Gosnell trial just isn’t “sexy” enough as the Jodi Arias trial, therefore the media won’t report it. These murderers then become millionaire celebrities after the media glamorizes their trials and lives. Whose life have we valued then? Surely not the victim, but the criminal who TOOK the life. If you want fame and fortune, just go on a killing spree, or kill your 2 year old daughter and go out partying afterwards…and make sure to post it all on Facebook.

Then we glorify celebrities coming out and making “brave” declarations of their sexual preferences, when all the while the gay community admits that their real hope is to dismantle marriage all together. Their real hope is to kill families by forcing a backwards agenda in our schools, forcing young girls to ask other girls for a “lesbian kiss.” We took out God and put in “alternatives”. We took out God and put in Islam. We took out God and brought in anti-Christian bullies. The bullied became the bullies, but from my experience, they were always the bullies to begin with, based on their own muck and mire. No human value there, especially if you disagree with their demands of “tolerance.” This type of mentality is asking for trouble! You are less of a human to them if you are a Christian or believe in the Word of God. YOU are the monster! The world doesn’t value families anymore either, consider the two gay men who were allowed to adopt NINE children and then molested two of the young boys. We are putting children into the enemy’s camp, and we are demoralizing traditional family. Even some predominant pastors, such as Rob Bell, claims:

“Whether it’s a man and a woman, a woman and a woman, a man and a man — and I think the ship has sailed and I think the church needs to just — this is the world we’re living in and we need to affirm people wherever they are.”

He also claims that those who uphold biblical values and morals is a “subculture” that is dying and decaying. So welcome to your new religion, folks! This is the new Jesus the world is DYING for.

This is what we’ve allowed. This is what we wanted. God said, “If that’s what you want, then that’s what you’ll get.” Is this what we want? Is this what YOU want or wanted? How many rights need to be taken away from you before you start making a stand? How many babies need to be murdered before we start shouting from the rooftop that THIS is the reason for killing sprees, that THIS is the reason no one values life! That THIS is the reason no one has a conscience anymore, or a heart, or a care in the world. How many children will be forced or bullied into homosexuality by the school system before you demand this nonsense be stopped?

And while a defensive lawyer in an abortion trial can convince the world that a screaming, wailing baby, fighting for its life ISN’T really “living”, then I’d say the problem goes much deeper than a heart issue, it’s a cause for real grief because we WANT to be ignorant. We demand it, and the media and Hollywood spoon feed us the garbage we ache for. We no longer demand truth, we demand whatever feels good or whatever seems more convenient than the truth.

This is how we lose, and they win. We close our eyes and plug our ears as they come after our children from every angle. When a MSNBC commentator declares our children don’t belong to the parents and should have no right to teach OUR values, beliefs, or morals to our children, but rather it is the government’s responsibility, we know we’re in trouble.

Harris-Perry said that “We have to break through our kind of private idea that kids belong to their parents or kids belong to their families and recognize that kids belong to whole communities.”

They will win if you don’t step up to the plate. They will take your kids and brainwash them into believing homosexuality is just another “easy” form of sexuality, that abortion is humane “reproductive choice”, and that believing in God is treason but the Muslim faith is to be respected and honored—even learned extensively by forcing them to read the Koran and practice jihad. (Yes, believe it! It’s happening!!) Who hates abortion, homosexuals, women or African Americans like the Muslims? Yet the media wants us to believe they are a religion of peace and Christians should now be classified as terrorists.

The voice of morals is the voice that is not your own, but that of God’s who makes us step out of our comfort zone and makes life a bit uncomfortable. It’s those things that we don’t WANT to do that matter. The things that go against the grain. And valuing human life, marriage and families IS the will of God, and if you don’t believe that anymore, then you are on the vine that will be snipped from the tree.

Are You Listening?

“I told you but you wouldn’t listen. You rebelled at the plain Word of God.” Deuteronomy 1:43

Jesus said, “…Don’t you recognize my voice?… Those who have never seen will see, and those who have made a great pretense of seeing will be exposed as blind… If you were truly blind, you would be blameless, but since you claim to see everything so well, you’re accountable for every fault and failure.” John 9:37, 39, 41

“First of all, you should know this: No prophesy of Scripture comes from one’s own interpretation, because no prophesy ever came by the will of man; instead, men spoke from God as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. But there were many false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly bring in destructive heresies…many will follow their unrestrained ways, and the way of truth will be blasphemed because of them. They will exploit you with their greed and deceptive words.” 2 Peter 1:20-2:3

There is a common theme in the Bible, besides Jesus. That theme is deception, and that deception is caused by two things: 1. not listening to God; 2. being misled by religious leaders.

We are discovering that more and more mega church leaders are neglecting Biblical/Godly truths and fundamentals, and making their own interpretations on holy Scriptures. Shamefully, they are bringing down many followers of Christ only to appease the masses and fill the pews and feed their greedy wide pockets.

Moses warned the Israelites: “I told you…but you wouldn’t listen.” But the story doesn’t end there. Read on you’ll see that God was furious with the people for not listening. So angry, that The Message version puts it this way: “God didn’t give you the time of day.”

Romans 1:18-24 (The New Testament, mind you, NOT the Old Testament) says, “But God’s angry displeasure erupts as acts of human mistrust and wrongdoing and lying accumulate, as people try to shroud over truth… But when they didn’t treat Him like God, refusing to worship Him, they trivialized themselves into silliness and confusion… So God said, in effect, ‘If that’s what you want, that’s what you get.’”

Now the reason I reiterated that this is New Testament scripture is that many “grace messages” will speak against the wrath of God. They want you to believe it no longer exists. They want to convince you that sin doesn’t matter anymore. It’s irrelevant.  How is that possible? Read this scripture and the warning that proceeds it: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. Don’t be led astray by various kinds of strange teachings…” (Hebrews 13:8-9) This means that Jesus is the same today and forever as He was before the beginning of time.

The New Testament declares His righteous anger all over the place, but many refuse to acknowledge it. Look at what He says to the Pharisees in John 9:41. He is rebuking them and condemning them for their refusal to acknowledge who He is; for seeing the Truth before their very eyes, yet proudly remaining blind to it.

Yet, the mega churches are filled to the brim with itching ears, as my neighbor so rightly defined it. Today’s Christian doesn’t seek Truth. They seek easy excuses, justifications, and psychological “labels” to their sins. The church isn’t TALKING about sin anymore! They reject it!! They claim we are sinless by the blood of Christ and His “grace.” Please stop misinterpreting the message of grace! We are all still sinners, struggling with our own sin and messes. “If we claim we have not sinned, we make [Jesus] out to be a liar and His word is not in us.” (1 John 1:10, again NT). The Message continues, saying: “A claim like that only shows off our ignorance of God.”

The church is truly showing off their ignorance of God, and the sad reality is that Christians are eating it up. They like this “new and improved” God that can’t be found anywhere in the Bible. This god they speak of doesn’t exist outside of their own fantasy land. “How can we be sure that we know God in the right way: Keep His commandments,” John continues (2:2-3). It doesn’t say throw His commandments out the window, it says that the ONLY way we will “know” God—the real, true God that created Heaven and Earth—is by obeying His commandments. They aren’t useless and pointless. You are still bound by sin until you see Jesus face to face, and God’s commandments are our guide to righteous living.

What’s the good news? God LOVES a repentant heart. Those who admit their faults and sins and come to Him in repentance will see true grace. The message of grace is mercy, and mercy is not having God’s just wrath poured on us because we instead seek Him AND his grace, acknowledging our weaknesses and sin.

We need to follow King David’s example and ask God: “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns. See if there is any offensive way in me; lead me in the everlasting way” (Psalm 139:23-24). And continue to ask for “protection from the clutches of the wicked” (Psalm 140:4).

Our eternal lives are at stake. Are we putting our faith in man’s “new” god and risking our salvation? Or are we willing to KNOW God through His Word, and recognize when we are being lied to and speak against it, while keeping our souls out of the clutches of the wicked? 

Remember, “They’ll come to a bad end, for God has never just stood by and let that kind of thing go on” (2 Peter 2:3).

Giving Up The Dream

What are dreams anyway?

Over the years so many of my so-called dreams in life have been shattered to pieces. Some were due to destructive decisions, others were out of my control completely, and others just weren’t meant to be.

I’m trusting God in something major in my life: my decision to stop writing my blog, NOTE TO SELF: Daily Reminders from God. I came to the difficult conclusion abruptly this morning, but not after nearly a year of agonizing over what was happening to the blog and why.

I changed formats so many times that eventually it began to look like a stranger to me. While everything at a moment felt right, eventually I was empty and drained. I wasn’t feeling the Holy Spirit anymore. Every once in a while I was inspired, but I was mostly roused by the desire to speak my mind from the perspective of being a woman of God.

I’m opinionated, but my opinions are based on a Biblical foundation. I’ve never been afraid to speak my mind, and it’s probably one of the only areas in my life in which I am completely confident about. I don’t ever mind telling you how it is. Ever! And I won’t ever walk away from informing someone when they are being misled. As a follower of Christ, it’s my duty to keep Christians on the right track (Ephesians 6:18).

I’m giving up my dream of writing daily devotionals, but I’m determined not to give up writing entirely. This blog bears my name. It will hold all that I am, all that I’m doing or not doing, and it will also bear my witness to Truth. One thing it will not do is sell out. I tried that on my other blog and I failed miserably. If no one follows along or cares about what I say, it won’t matter and it won’t hurt me. I’m not going to promote it, share it, send it around in hopes someone will notice it/me. If you’re reading this, it’s probably by mistake. If you stay: fantastic! If you don’t: that’s okay, too. (Notice: there is no membership, no traffic counter, no affiliates, no “buttons”, no link ups.) This is going to be my online home where I vent, rant, rave, journal, bless, worship…write. Just write to write because God made me a writer. And it will be raw and real, mostly unpleasing to man, but mainly pleasing to feed a desire God placed inside of me.

I dream of being published one day. I pray to God He’ll make it happen, and I pray that when He does He’ll bless it beyond any of my human expectations. Because, you see, I was also born to speak, but God gave me the ability to speak through the written word. But I’m not seeking it out anymore. I spent half of my life spinning wheels and banging my head against walls. I believe with my WHOLE heart that if it’s meant to be God will make it happen, not me because I tried and I failed. Now it’s up to God. And in the meantime, I’m just going to be…me.

But Jesus Hung Out With Sinners

To use the excuse that "Jesus hung out with sinners," is a ridiculous notion that our sin is okay. The tax collector did not continue collecting taxes on anyone, and certainly not on Jesus. The prostitute did not continue selling herself, and certainly NOT to Jesus. Those "sinners" left their sin. While they were not perfect, they gave up their "lifestyles," to follow Christ in His ministry. Do we really believe Jesus in all His "love" would have tolerated and ACCEPTED the prostitute to keep living that lifestyle in FRONT OF HIM?

"It's scandal when people waste their lives on things they must do in the darkness where no one will see. Rip off the cover of those frauds and see how attractive they look in the light of Christ." (Ephesians 5:12-13 MSG)

 
Then consider this: When the rich man came to Jesus and asked him what he had to do to have eternal life, Jesus told him, to paraphrase, "Give up everything..." The rich man couldn't and wouldn't do it. I find this story ironic, because the man became "sad" that he would have to leave his lifestyle behind in order to be saved. The rich man was not willing to leave the worldly and fleshly desires behind as Christ commanded. When we hang onto our sin with justifications and excuses, we are not willing to be true servants of Christ. We want God with conditions, and we want God to accept our sins instead. We don't want the real God, we want a god who will coddle us as the world does, with fancy labels and diagnoses.

Now imagine those sinners continuing their sin while in the camp, so to speak, with Jesus. Fornicating. Soliciting. Lying. Cheating. And now imagine two men making out in  front of Jesus. Is this a scene that anyone truly thinks Jesus would smile upon and applaud? This is blunt, but this is reality. This may be offensive, but the gospel of Jesus Christ will absolutely be offensive to many people. The problem with the church is that they don't want to offend anyone, so they've watered down not only the gospel, but Jesus Christ Himself!

"Is the offense of the cross ceased?” (Galatians 5:11).

Now don’t get me wrong. Jesus still loves us, even when we do sin. But when we make a conscience, deliberate decision to keep sinning by making excuses to continue living in our sin lifestyles, Jesus cannot be near us, and we cannot be near Him. It is a repentant heart that is appealing to Jesus. It is a real surrender of everything that we know to be wrong in our lives and a willingness to let it go that Jesus will honor. That is real grace.

I struggle with sinning in my anger. I know anger is not the sin, however what I possibly do when I’m angry can be sin. I know that if I spank or yell or ridicule my son in anger, I am sinning. I can use the excuse that it’s a knee-jerk reaction, which is it, but I refuse to admit that those behaviors are not wrong. I repent and seek God’s forgiveness, and ask God to help me to do and be better.

The world and their sin is making excuses: “I was born this way. And if God made me this way then it must be okay.” But let’s consider this: I was born a sinner, too, but that doesn't mean I walk around excusing myself and justifying those very sins. God didn’t create me in sin or to live in sin, but we were born “into” it, into a world of sin. We were all born with our own personal sinful nature. I try--desperately--to resist my sinful nature. I don't always win the battle, but I have a God who gives me strength daily to obey Him and love Him from a heart that wants to please Him. His mercy and love surrounds me, but if I merely justify it and continue to sin, then I am spitting in God's face and all of His goodness. We were created to glorify God and live a repentant life, willing to give up our fleshly desires at any cost. 

Grace is not earned, but grace is not a ticket for a free-for-all, either. Grace matters in our lives when we truly seek to be holy. When we are willing to resist temptation and we are willing to walk away from our sinful nature. When we are willing to let God’s Word be our true guide to all the answers we may have, and not try to fudge with Its meaning, instructions, and God’s intentions. When we don’t try to change God to conform to us, but we are willing to conform to Him instead. When we don’t overlook Jesus’ rebuke to the Pharisees and the merchants at the Temple by making Him some “love” crazed hippie who accepts sin BECAUSE of His love for us.

The church should absolutely welcome any and all sinners. But we shouldn’t be ashamed of the gospel by trying to change it to be less offensive. If we do that, then we will not only be leading them down the wrong road, but we will also be held responsible for being their guide. The church was always supposed to be the place where sinners could find hope and forgiveness, a life with Christ. But now the church simply offers loopholes for sin, merely leading them in the opposite direction of repentance and hope.

The Spill on the Walkway and My Revenge With Blue Dawn

So this morning I woke up to my son, Tavin, screaming through his bedroom door, “Mommy, are you sad because you miss grandma?” After he asked me several times, I finally answered, “I am now, thank you.”

I went to bed upset last night and it spilled over onto my morning.

When you realize that once your automatic bills are paid that your account will absolutely, positively end up in the negative, it’s hard to have a good outlook, especially when there’s no money for groceries or household items for at least another two weeks. Grim. Depressing. Just sad.

This, added to my grief of my mother’s death nearly a year ago, is causing my heart to break.

But it gets better!

Our washing machine is still broke, and since we have no money to go the Laundromat, I had to ask my neighbor if I could use her washing machine. After I put a load in her washer, I ventured back home and took a good spill on our front walkway, twisting my hips, back, ankle and wrist. I wasn’t going down without a fight!

So I armed myself with 1 teaspoon blue Dawn and 1 tablespoon rubbing alcohol, mixed with 1 gallon warm water. I took it outside and poured it on the two-inch-thick ice on my sidewalk. It started melting immediately. I then took a hammer and garden shovel and pummeled it to pieces. Crack me up? Oh, I’ll show you…

I got on a roll. I then went to one of my favorite sites, One Good Thing by Jillee, and found a “recipe” to clean my scummy bathtub and shower. I have never, EVER seen my shower sparkle like it does right now. I’m seriously contemplating not taking a shower just to keep it clean for one full day. Oh, who am I kidding? I have nowhere to go. Who needs a shower when there’s a sparkling shower to admire?

And now, as I’m finishing my post, Tavin is throwing a MASSIVE three-year old temper tantrum in his battle against the nap, fully loaded with arms flailing, screaming, crying and running into walls. Yes…life is good today.

Our Calling

"Many of the things our culture values stand in opposition to the way Jesus calls us to live. When Scripture contradicts what our society believes, it's not uncommon for people to belittle our lifestyle as narrow-minded and extreme. In many ways, our society is spiritually rebellious, in that it defies both the laws of God and the laws of man; obedience is considered optional. A large percentage of the population rejects God's viewpoint on intimacy and marriage in order to please self--as a result, immorality is prevalent. But they have been deceived into thinking that they can violate God's laws without any consequences." (In Touch devotional) 

The reality Jesus told us is that, "the world hated Him first" before they hated us (John 15:18). I, for one, have been shocked at the accusations that have come against me as a Christian. I have been called every name in the book for my beliefs against abortion and homosexuality and how the church has accepted these sins.

Are we narrow-minded, or are we Christ-minded? Which would you rather be? The world will see us as narrow-minded despite our best efforts to prove them otherwise. The reason for that is their own rejection of God and their selfish desires to feed their fleshly nature. It is not us, but them, who are narrow-minded, slaves to their own greed to not have to answer to anyone but themselves. While we are concerned about their eternity, they only care about pleasing themselves in the now. Nothing and no one else matters. So who is narrow-minded if one is merely concerned about their own desires?

Little do they know, that even in their disbelief, one day they WILL stand before God and need to take responsibility. The people they blame today will not be standing next to them on judgment day. It will only be them and God. Alone. Facing their own selfish desires as they rejected Christ's sacrifice for them, denying they needed anyone or anything to "save" them from themselves. EVERY knee will bow. EVERY tongue will confess. Not just believers of Christ, but those who also refused to believe now. They will know Christ is Lord, and they will bow, one way or another...they will know and confess.

As a Christian, we, too, will stand before God in judgment, the only difference is that we will have a Lawyer defending our case. However, Christ will not defend us if we have denied Him and His teachings. He will not overlook our neglect to share the real Truth of right and wrong with others. 

I am often brought back to Ezekiel, when God said to him:

"Son of man, I'm sending you to the family of Israel, a rebellious nation if there ever was one... They're a hard case, these people to whom I'm sending you - hardened in their sin. Tell them, 'This is the Message of God, the Master.' They are a defiant bunch. Whether or not they listen, at least they'll know that a prophet's been here. But don't be afraid of them, son of man, and don't be afraid of anything they say. Don't be afraid when living among them is like stepping on thorns or finding scorpions in your bed. Don't be afraid of their mean words or their hard looks. They're a bunch of rebels. Your job is to speak to them. Whether they listen is not your concern. They're hardened rebels." (Ezekiel 2:3-7 MSG)

But God continues by insisting that Ezekiel:

"Eat this book that I am giving you. Make a full meal of it!" So I ate it. It tasted so good - just like honey. Then he told me, "Son of man, go to the family of Israel and speak my Message." (vv.3:2-4)

God's message to us is the same today: Eat God's Word, let it consume you, make it a part of who you are. Teach other's about God's Word even if they refuse to listen. But most importantly don't become rebellious like them; instead, let the Word of God, that lives inside of you, be your Master.

 

NOTE TO SELF: Daily Reminders from God

My new URL address is http://dailyremindersfromgod.blogspot.com/

Thanks,

Tristine Fleming