We just finished up an AMAZING conference that I will write about quite a bit this week, but I want to take an aside to point you to an article on MSNBC about the 3 kids who were killed after her mother was found dead with her stomach sliced open and her fetus removed. I've seen this story's headlines but refused to read it because I hate to read about kids being killed or abused. But, I finally read it. It is one of the saddest things I've ever seen or heard of. I just kept staring at the picture of the children. Why did they have to go through this? Why such violence, hatred, murder? Why such evil? I am horrified, overwhelmed, and broken hearted. They were just starting out in life. They're mother was maimed. All of this was done at the hands of a lady who was a friend. Demonic Insanity.
I normally try to write about where I see God at work, but when I see evil on this level, I am reminded of why Jesus came. He came to forgive us of our sins and destroy the Devil's work (1 John 3:5,8). How grieved was God over what happened? How does this break His heart? We know that Jesus came to set right all that has gone wrong and restore the marred image of our Creator. He came to save us from this. Come quickly Lord Jesus. Put an end to all of this horror and devastation. May we weep tears over the death of innocents, both here and around the world. May our hearts never grow so calloused that we fail to feel sorrow when evil is inflicted upon the helpless. May we never fail to share and live out the gospel so that hearts will be changed, lives will be saved, and God will receive glory. May God help us.
Thanks for having courage to state what I consider the obvious.
Crimes such as these are straight from the pits of hell. It is hard to imagine why things like this are allowed to happen and we will not fully understand it until we are standing before God and he allows us to understand these unspeakable horrors. What we can understand, if we choose to is that all evil is from satan and the evil spirits that encompass this earth.
Most pastors and christians do not want to get involved with such conversations for one reason or the other but there is no mistaking where evil comes from if we only look to the scriptures that clearly speak of the evil spirits that reside among us.
The bible also states that we have authority over these demons and in the name of Jesus cannot be harmed if we are covered by the powerful blood of Jesus. Praise God !
I will agree that we do not need to dwell on evil because of this power that Jesus has provided over evil but we need to be aware of the battle that is going on around us.
I thank God for the wisdom that he has blessed you with.
Posted by: Charles | September 25, 2006 at 08:47 AM
Alan,
I'm with you here! My heart breaks over this. We need a few Christian Nancy Grace's to expose the evil that is out there.
Posted by: Kevin Bussey | September 25, 2006 at 09:31 AM
This is truly evil at its worst. I can not even try to imagine the pain and anguish that this family is walking thru. I just pray that there are godly people to surround and minister to them. It also reminds me of the Micah 6:8 mandate that Bro. Thom shared with us at the conference this weekend, that we need to fight for justice, be liberal with our mercy and to walk humbly and worthy of Jesus.
Posted by: Rob Slagle | September 25, 2006 at 09:37 AM
Alan:
Of course this is an unspeakable tragedy. But it points out something that one of my favorite authors said (it was Jim Cymbala or Max Lucado, I cannot remember which but I love them both). He called it, as I recall, the insult of the gospel, and it's the fact that it took as much grace to save me as it would to save the lady who did the murdering. My sin was as painful to Jesus and as ugly to God, as hers.
We're going to get to heaven and find folks (who were once) just like her, there. She'll get in under the same grace that got me in.
It's easier to be less personally upset when your grandkids are as old as the murderer and the mom. It's also easier when you've stood in Dachau and seen pictures of what went on there. And in the "Nazi Documentation Center" in Ubersalzburg, where they documented photographically and with documents, the atrocities of the Third Reich .. so that it might never happen again.
Once in a while, God lifts the veil and shows us the real ugliness of sin. All sin. Every sin.
You've been to school, friend. Let that gut reaction fuel the fire of the reality and the magnitude of God's grace.
Posted by: Bob Cleveland | September 25, 2006 at 06:26 PM
No, I know that my sin is just as evil as these deeds. I do not judge this person in a morally superior sense, or think that I am better. BUT, may my understanding of grace not keep me from being horrified by evil when it is personified this way. The thing is that I need to see my own evil this way and cry out to God for mercy on my soul. While all sin is equally evil before God, different sins have different effects and the ones that end life in this type of heinous manner have a greater effect on our human experience.
Posted by: Alan Cross | September 25, 2006 at 07:26 PM
I know that you know that, and knew that. Personally, I think every sin has consequences somewhere, sometime, to someone. We may never know what that is. But it'll be there, regardless.
We had something happen in our SS class, young marrieds, about 16 years ago. In the same week, two things happened. One was that a man in our church had an adulterous affair with his secretary. When they told their mates, finally, they were leaving, the secretary's hubby showed up with a .44 magnum at the parking lot where they worked, and dispatched her with multiple shots to her head. He then drove 50 miles away and did the same to himself. TV news that evening showed the man collapsing on the hood of his car when the police told him she was dead.
That same week, a lady member of our church died. My SS class had "adopted her" for Christmas and had given her a robe and gown outfit, a very nice one. She was so taken by that simple act that she asked to be buried in the outfit. And she was.
The point I made to my class was that every sin is as ugly, and has as big an impact sometime, somewhere, as the affair. And, that every good deed has as beautiful an effect, sometime, somewhere, as the robe and gown.
It really drove home to them the ugliness of all sin, and the beauty of all good things done in His name.
Posted by: Bob Cleveland | September 25, 2006 at 08:56 PM
This is wickedness and the depravity of mankind at it's ugliest. No amount of theology or carefully crafted doctrine can relieve the pain this family and community is going through.
Thankfully, the Spirit of the living God walks with us, carries us, and grieves with us during times like these. When Jesus came to Bethany, knowing He would soon raise Lazarus from the dead, He was so deeply touched at the grief mankind languishes in because of the painful reality of death, it says:
“Jesus Wept”.
Posted by: Andrew Hicks | September 25, 2006 at 09:00 PM
Thanks for writing about this Alan; it just confirms to me how badly the Gospel is needed. My heart is broken just thinking about it.
Posted by: CHris Pughsley | September 29, 2006 at 07:18 PM