Virginia Tech
It’s different when the images that you see on the TV are not from a small schoolhouse in Pennsylvania or a campus in Colorado but are from minutes down the road. They are somehow more shocking. As I am listening to the radio and watching the coverage on TV, I am saddened by the immediate calling for stricter gun laws and the installation of metal detectors as being the answer for the wickedness that transpired on the Virginia Tech campus. The answer is not found in legislation or in technology. The answer is Jesus Christ, and Him crucified, slain for our transgression and raised for our justification. Anything less stops short of the true need. May God be glorifed and Christ be made known, even in the midst of this trouble…especially in the midst of this trouble.
I couldn’t agree more!
Man controlling other men. Administrators controlling students. Big government controlling the masses. It just doesn’t work. God is in control. It took me many years to realize that until I gave it all over to Jesus my life was askew. I had no answers to the many questions of life until that time. Now, “I found THE Answer!”
I pray that somehow through all that non-specific mumbo-jumbo that was being heaped on the students this afternoon by the team of 4 supposed holy men at the VA Tech convocation, the Holy Spirit put His hands on those lost and shows them the way to true happiness.
I wish these clergy would have been bold enough to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ. Alas, that was not the case. Other than the Muslim Cleric, these “clergy” tip-toed around calling (their particular) god by his name. Isn’t that sad? I worship Jesus Christ.
Even President Bush has the fortitude to call God GOD.
Rob
Well said Pastor Nick!
I first would like to extend my deepest sympathy to all who have lost loved ones and endured the pain in this tragedy. Second, with each passing year I have found only one thing in life that is steadfast, faithful and everlasting, my Salvation and eternal life through Jesus Christ.
I echo your thoughts Pastor Nick and thank you for reminding us the only answer to preventing these horrific acts is through a intimate and personal relationship with Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. It is through Him, and only Him, that all things are possible.
My heart pours out to the families and friends of these victims, the students and faculty of VT, the young man’s family who committed this crime, and to all those, including myself, who have been profoundly impacted by this senseless tragedy. We should also pray for our brothers and sisters at WSBC who have family members who attend or have attended VT or they themselves attend or are alumni of this fine university.
Let us also be witness to the unity we are seeing on this campus, throughout our communities and across this nation. It is when we all come together, and in the name of Jesus Christ, that great things are possible.
“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10
God put things in perspective this past Wednesday night when you preached about why things like this happen. Rather than focusing so much on asking why this happened, you posed the question, “Why don’t things like this happen everyday?” I had never thought to look at it that way, but it’s definitely the better question to ask. Without the grace of God, they certainly would. As you said, if we’re honest about it, we can all admit that we have thoughts of sins far beyond those that we ever actually physically commit. Murderous thoughts don’t just belong to those who commit it. But thank God that His power conquers sin’s power over us, and also thank Him that He has power over all evil; otherwise we really would be subject to the type of evil that occurred Monday everyday. No gun control law or security measure is enough to stop a determined and unsaved sinner from carrying out the evil he has set his mind to–but God is!
Your sermon reminded me of a commentary in the Roanoke Times on Sunday, April 15th, by Jim Ludington, a Liberty University history professor, which talks about the Christian principles of our nation’s founders. Basically, the gist of the article is that many of the founding fathers firmly believed that our constitution would only be suitable to govern a group of moral and self-disciplined people. Ludington quotes John Adams as saying, “We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion… Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” What’s far more important than just a society with religion and morality is one that has the living power of Jesus within it. The real root of what makes our form of government possible is the restraining grace of God. We, without a doubt, are incapable of ever legislating a way to bridle human passions, but God is completely adequate to do all things, and I pray that He will continue to supply his restraining grace abundantly.