Pastor's Weekly Update

MARCH 30, 2023

Lakeshore Friends—

The shooting massacre that took place this past Monday at Covenant Christian School in Nashville was another brutal example of how dark these days are.  A former student took the lives of 6 innocent people for reasons we do not fully yet understand.  Three of them were adults who were 60 or 61 years old.  The other three victims were just 9 years old.  Can you imagine that?

You would expect and hope that there would be universal outrage and anger at this evil act of murder.  Everyone with any level of compassion should be focused on the victims and their families who lost them.  And while many have done this, there are also many who have taken subtle—and even not-so-subtle—shots at Christianity in response. From AP reporters to political action groups and progressive commentators, the focus has been on how Christianity is the ultimate cause of this shooting. Here are just two quotes to reveal what some are saying:

“Very surprising that there would be a mass shooting at a Christian school, given that lack of prayer is often blamed for these horrible events. Is it possible they weren’t praying enough, or correctly, despite being a Christian school?” –David Pakman, a talk show host wrote on Twitter in a later deleted post.

“I don’t condone Audrey Hale’s actions, though I understand their outrage against an intolerant state that brainwashes children through religious indoctrination.  The reality is this human still identified as that child attending that school and carried that pain into adulthood.” –Twitter user

So it was an opportunity for people to mock prayer and to call Christian education at a private school an indoctrination that leads to violence.  It wasn’t ultimately the shooter's fault, many are insinuating. Instead, it was the folly of believing in prayer and Christian doctrine that was the root cause.  And this has been a growing trend that has accelerated over the past three years.  

God help our nation!

Sadly, even our president was joking about his love for ice cream right before talking about this shooting. Can you imagine going to a funeral home and saying that to a grieving family member?

This shooting is senseless and saddening.  But it is made worse when people use this tragedy to attack the Christian faith and ultimately Jesus Christ Himself.  This is a growing trend in our nation and world, and if you follow Jesus Christ you can expect it to continue.  Jesus reminded us that we will be insulted, persecuted, and have evil things said of us (Matthew 5:11-12) and we will be hated by many in the last days (Matthew 24:9).

So what’s the answer?  People need to know the real Jesus Christ.  If people knew who the real Jesus was and embraced Him, they would never say such horrible things or commit such heinous crimes.

That’s what we hope to do in our timely Sunday series, The Resume of Jesus Christ.  Because only a true understanding of who Jesus is and what He has done for us can lead to a changed life and a changed nation.

Much love,
Vince