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bigmike

Luke 5:32 (LSB) 32 I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”
Earlier this week I witnessed the assassination of a young man of God. He was a husband, and a father to two very young children.
He was mercilessly killed for boldly sharing truth and the word of God and trying to help a generation of young people who have lost their way.
Seeing this was horrific, and it affected me deeply.
It showed me a level of evil that is truly hard to comprehend.
And it showed me the uncertainty, fragility, and brevity of life here on earth.
The only consolation in his death is the fact that he was a child of God; a strong believer in, and lover of Jesus Christ.
He is home now, in the presence of God.
For the first 24-48 hours after his death, I wrestled with several emotions.
The first was pure sadness. I mourned his death. And I felt sadness for his wife and two children, knowing that their lives are forever changed.
And I wrestled with what I was feeling about whoever took his life.
Anger, frustration, and a desire to see the killer punished were very strongly rising up within me.
But I also knew that the perpetrator of this terrible crime needs Jesus.
And as I was going about my daily things this morning, God gave me a clear breakdown of this, and how we should view it as believers.
We should want to see justice for this killing. Laws were broken, and God’s commandments were violated. Choices have consequences, and punishments must be handed out for violating those laws.
But we must also desire that the killer see his/her own heart, and the evil that is at play within them to have carried out such a heinous act, and repent before God, begging for His mercy.
If this person is caught and convicted, they will likely spend the rest of their life in prison. But if they truly see their lost state, and they sincerely repent and turn to God, He will forgive them and create in them a new heart, and make them a new creation.
And in that, their life could become fruitful, and their soul would be eternally saved.
Let us be sure not to get caught up in becoming so focused on seeing justice that we lose sight of God’s desire that every man and woman should bow before Him in repentance here on earth, so they can also spend eternity in His presence, worshiping Him with the rest of the saints and the angels.
Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

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