Las Vegas shooting October 1, 2017
This mass shooting in Las Vegas at the Country Music Festival yesterday is beyond a terrible tragedy. There have been some who report this is the worst shooting in US history, others of course are speculating on Antifa literature in his room, Middle East ties, a specific honing in on Country Music Fans because of conservative values, etc. I honestly don’t know, and I don’t think any of them know right now either. All we can and hopefully should do, is continue to pray for all concerned.
I have seen and heard both some touching experiences as well as some foolish comments out of people’s mouths. God forgive them.
But, I am not here to discuss anything other than this video I just saw. I want to reach out
to this young man Taylor Benge. I pray he and others who were involved in this massacre yesterday may see it. He had an interview with CNN — actually a answer to my prayer for this awful event. This mass shooting happened directly across the street from where I was married last year (the Luxor hotel). I am not fond of Las Vegas, but in a busy life, it does make it easier to get married (not often a good thing we know) but for us, it was the best solution. But it saddened me to see where this happened. I am very familiar with where it was.
Here is the video of Taylor Benge, an admitted agnostic who says he now believes in God. I sincerely pray that he does understand the good news…
Shooting victims
I am praying for the family of those who lost their lives today. I know some have set up some gofundme accounts for the shooting victims. I am also praying for those in the hospital, that they might pull through, (as millions are) and if they haven’t believed upon the One who gave Himself for them, I pray they may do so now.
Taylor, (and any others who had to endure this tragedy –I want to address the living at this point); I was so touched when you spoke of your sister throwing her body over yours to protect you and telling you, “Taylor, I love you”. You understood at that moment a greater love.
Jesus Great love for all
The Bible speaks of Jesus when it says, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” Your sister was willing to do that for you. Jesus Christ, who is the Son of God, God in the flesh, came and died for you. We have all sinned, and that sin makes us fall short of God’s glory, the penalty is eternal death and separation from God, which means everything good (which comes from Him).
God loved us (everyone in the world) so much, that He gave His only begotten Son, (to die for our sins), that we might not perish (die eternally), but have everlasting life instead.
Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins, for my sins, and for every single person who has lived and will live. We never know when we might die, and then it’s too late. He gave Himself, placed Himself in front of you to save you from eternal death. By His death, His burial, His raising Himself back up to life again on the third day as He said He would, He has paid the price for you. All he asks of you is that you believe upon Him, that He did this for you, and if you will, He will give you eternal life, never to be lost, never to be forfeited, it is everlasting from this day forward. Do not listen to the street screamers with their hateful sins. You cannot DO one thing to earn this, His gift of eternal life is FREE. We ALL have sinned, those street preachers are no better than you, for the Word of God tells us if we break one law (which is sin) we have done it ALL. So we are guilty of ALL.
None of us are promised tomorrow
I pray for any reading now, (whether having experienced this tragedy or not), that you
consider that we are not promised tomorrow. Please don’t wait. Please look into the claims that Jesus is who He is said He is (Fully God and fully man). That He died for you personally, not just that He died, but that He did it for you, for your sins, to save you from the penalty. And that who HE is and what HE did, is the payment in full for you. There is nothing else you can offer or promise to do. No changes you can make, no sins can you stop, you are helpless to do so without Him. It is good to do better, but you cannot offer this or believe on this as part of your salvation it will not fly in the face of a Holy and perfect God. Stop relying on what you did, or what you have done or are doing and rely only on Him to save you. He is asking you to believe solely in His Work on His cross, for you — and once you believe on Him, then PLEASE get to know Him.
There are many of us here, either at this website, or expreacherman.com, or northlandchurch.com, or standforthefaith.com who would happily explain more to you and be happy to help you grow in your faith.
We are praying for you, and want to declare God’s love for you in this midst of this terrible, scary time. May the Lord bless you and keep you. We will continue in prayer for you, leave your comments below. Or look at the good news link above.
Love in Christ.
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Your passion and documentation is terrific. I am not a Calvinist. If Christ died for all sin , I believe this Offer is open to every man. God is not willing that any should perish. If we are robots and just do what God decrees, I don’t want to know that God. God is not the author of sin, that was the free will choice of Satan and then man. To make all men have the opportunity to be saved, he imputed Adams original sin to every man at birth, it is part of our genetic heritage. By condemning all, all have the right to choose the imputation of Christ’s righteousness through an act of faith, recognition of an ultimate need. Some will grow in the Word, some will not. Hence you see the Scripture about those who turn away from their faith and become the worst enemies of the Church. They were given eternal salvation, will be in heaven, but squander their chance to grow, fulfill their unique destiny and fail to be rewarded. That is why their will be weeping at the Bema seat. But then later all tears will be wiped away and they can go in to know God in eternity instead of all they could gain on earth in their spiritual walk. Christmas is everyday for me. Traditional day is Decrmber 25. Good enough for me. Many of the added traditions can get twisted and materialistic, but that is Satan’s plan that is allowed . God is a gentleman, gracious, patient, interested in fellowship with those men and angels that choose faith and forgiveness. He is omniscient knowing what will happen and what might have happened if we all made better choices. He is sovereign and steps into human affairs when his ultimate essential plan could change. Satan tries and will try to change it, still thinking that free will shall ultimately change history. It never has, he tried to destroy the Jews, the line of Christ, maybe the whole world with some of the weapons available and the astronomical rocks out there whirling around the sun. Sorry, I got sidetracked. Just wondering about the Calvinists. I see the Calvinistic blogs and discussions and they seem to have nothing to do with what the 12 apostles did and the call to evangelize. Robert B Theime and Louis Sperry Chafer and today a good voice is Gene Cunningham if you want a handle on that I’ve come to believe. Well documented. Theime pushes some ideas to “logical “ conclusions which are implied by the Word but not super clear in the Word.
Now for the only criticism I have about this long statement and argument about Christmas. Science point, a common misconception is that winter happens because we are farther away from the sun. Actually it is the tilt of the earths axis that creates the seasons. The Northern Hemisphere and US is tilted away from the sun in our journey around the sun as we rotate daily. This means we get less hours of sun in the winter daily, making the temperature lower. Your arguments about Christmas and crazy Mr Pink are pretty good.
Hi Richard, thanks for commenting! Appreciate it. You are so correct, “some will grow in the Word, some will not”.
I think it’s why so important we do our best to feed His sheep.
I know what you mean about Christmas being every day. And I agree some of the added ones can get twisted and/or materialistic, so we do our best to do all as unto Him.
I agree with you on the Calvinistic blogs and nothing much to do with evangelism or preaching Christ and Him crucified. They preach TULIP or DOG.
I appreciate the science point criticism on the tilt of the earth’s axis (which does mean the Northern Hemisphere gets less sun in the winter as does Israel too). I still say that makes us further from the sun, but I’ll concede the point 🙂 Science used to be a strong area for me, but I grow older and more ideas leave my head that I lose interest in, so thanks for the lesson!
God bless you Richard in this season and the year to come, each day that the Lord gives us.