“In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes (Judges 17:6).”It
is often difficult to put events like those that unfolded in Connecticut into
perspective. Unfortunately, the focus will no doubt turn to side issues like
“gun control” because of the weapon used, but mass murderers use more than guns
to commit their crimes. However, the question most people want answered is,
“Why did this happen again?” As we wait to discover what motivated this last
individual, other murderers might shed some light on the subject. To give you
some insight, I want to give you quotes from two notorious mass murderers,
Jeffrey Dahmer and Pekka-Eric Auvinen. Dahmer was convicted of murdering 17 men
and boys between 1978 and 1991. On November 7, 2007, 18-year old Auvinen shot
and killed eight students at Jokela High School in Jokela, Finland before
killing himself. Dahmer said, “If a
person doesn’t think there is a God to be accountable to, then—then what’s the
point of trying to modify your behavior to keep it within acceptable ranges?
That’s how I thought anyway. I always believed the theory of evolution as truth
that we all just came from the slime. When we, when we died, you know, that was
it, there is nothing.” Just prior to his rampage, Auvinen is reported as
saying, “I am prepared to fight and die for my cause, . . . I, as a natural selector,
will eliminate all who I see unfit, disgraces of human race and failures of
natural selection. No, the truth is that I am just an animal, a human, an
individual, a dissident . . . . It’s time to put NATURAL SELECTION &
SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST back on tracks!” The
link between these two murderers is belief in evolution!
When you remove God
from the equation, mankind has nobody to be accountable to as Dahmer ominously
alludes to when he said “there is nothing” after you die. When God is left out,
then each person can determine what is right and wrong in his or her own eyes.
In fact, belief in evolution destroys the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Evolution
teaches that death, suffering and bloodshed have always been here; that what
survives is as a result of “natural selection” and “survival of the fittest.”
Therefore, as one evolutionist wrote, “Destroy Adam and Eve and the
original sin, and in the rubble you will find the sorry remains of the son of
god. Take away the meaning of his death. If Jesus was not the redeemer that
died for our sins, and this is what evolution means, then Christianity is
nothing.” He is absolutely correct. Belief in evolution destroys the Gospel. The
Bible teaches death came through sin not that death was always here. The
teaching of evolution leads to a devaluing of life as we have seen all too
often in our culture. Mankind becomes nothing more than random parts thrown
together by accident. Therefore, if there is no Creator, life has no value and
there is no problem if someone takes another person’s life. When you remove God
what you have left is godlessness and the senseless crimes with which we have
become all too familiar. Now that evolution is being taught in all parts of the
world, it is logical to assume its influence will sadly continue to bear more
fruit. It is more than just a debate over origins. It is life and death.
Finding Thankfulness in Suffering
“Rejoice
always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks;
for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).”
It can be pretty depressing for someone to be told to give thanks in
“everything.” If things are going well for you and you are experiencing a lot
of success in whatever you are trying to accomplish in life and not
experiencing much suffering, it can be easy to give thanks to God. You can
easily think that it is God’s will for you to be happy in this life. But, what
about those circumstances when you are not experiencing success or you are
suffering? For example, what about those parents in Connecticut who received a
phone call saying there’s been a shooting and your child is not coming home?
What is there to give thanks for under those circumstances? I do not believe that
is what this verse means. God is not wanting you to believe that it is His will
that you experience great pain and suffering in this life and be thankful for
it. Who wants a God like that? Not me. What I believe is that this verse is
telling us that the emphasis in our lives should be on giving thanks, not on
the circumstances of our lives whether they are good or bad.
Yes, there are
circumstances that make giving thanks very difficult, if not impossible. And it
usually takes time for the Lord to be able to use our suffering in a way in
which we can find reason to be thankful. In fact, we may feel that God is not
using our suffering in a way in which we would like Him to use it. I am not
here to tell you what to be thankful for in your suffering. That is something
that is between you and the Lord. As a Christian, I can point to times I have
experienced suffering and later on, after time had passed, was able to be
thankful for something I had learned about my God, my faith and my life. My
prayer is that in the midst of our personal suffering and success that we do
not lose site of the bigger picture. It is easy to blame God for whatever has
happened to us because we feel that He could have intervened in our lives and
prevented the suffering. However, God has structured the world in such a way
that we all suffer. But, the benefit of that suffering could be the opportunity
to know your God in such a way that you will be able to give thanks. And that
may result in you rejoicing always and praying without ceasing.
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