Orlando and Its Aftermath: It's Spiritual

It takes an unspeakable evil to murder.

There's a phenomenon that happens during deer season called "buck fever." This is when a first-time hunter has a buck in his sights for the first time. The adrenaline of bagging your first trophy buck, combined with the focus to keep the deer in your cross-hairs while squeezing the trigger without flinching and missing the shot can wreak havoc on a hunter's steady hand. Many a hunter missed their first shot at a buck as a result.

Recently where I live, a gunman grabbed a rifle, went to his neighbors house, killing them and their dogs for no other reason than one of the dogs had "used" his yard. Police responded, and immediately came under fire from this deranged individual. As the responding officer was pinned down by the gunman's rapid fire, another neighbor retrieved a pistol, and "neutralized" the shooter, killing him with about three shots fired. The good neighbor, later dubbed "the Good Samaritan Shooter" was honored by the local Sheriff's Office, the County Commissioners and the Governor of Texas.

During one of the ceremonies, a war veteran approached me, and said, "His hand must have been shaking something fierce. Buck fever doesn't even begin to describe what you go through when it's another man in your sights." The veteran then shared with me his first combat experience.

Here you have two men, the Good Samaritan Shooter and the War Veteran, placed in a position where they had no choice but to take the life of someone to either (a) end a murderous rampage, or (b) survive combat and defend the country. Both expressed the anguish and intensity of having to make that choice. In situations where the shooting was completely justified, it troubled these men to have to do it. This is the natural reaction for most people.

However, for the hundreds, if not thousands of people who commit murder each year, and those who have perpetrated terrorist attacks, that anguish seems absent. The idea of taking human life is no big deal to them. In fact, it becomes their means to an end. It's the vehicle they use to achieve their goals.

The Orlando shooter was evil. Plain and simple. There are those who say I shouldn't judge. If you cannot call someone who takes 50 lives and wounds 53 others, who carried out this attack for three hours evil, then what can you call it? Whereas most people shutter to think they could take another person's life, and whereas most hunters shutter before they bag their first deer, the Orlando shooter placed another person in his sights and pulled the trigger no less than 103 times. This is evil personified.

The tragic part about this is that we've seen this evil manifest itself many times, in America and around the world. Whether it's the San Bernadino shooting, Aurora, Newtown, Virginia Tech, or Charleston, the root cause of these tragedies is evil. The motives are different, but the root cause is evil.

From where does evil originate? Satan. Satan was the one who entered into Judas' heart, prompting him to betray Jesus. Isaiah 14:16 says Satan has made the earth tremble and has shaken kingdoms. On three different occasions, Jesus referred to him as the "prince of this world." Satan is evil, and he influences men, and human events.

Why are we experiencing so many mass shootings and terror attacks? Simple. Evil. And Satan is the one influencing that evil. If it seems like all of this is part of some well-coordinated conspiracy, well, it is. However, it's not the so-called Illuminati coordinating these events... it's Satan.

Which brings me to the coordinated response to these shootings, particularly the one in Orlando. In the aftermath of the Orlando shooting, there was the predictable call to enact more gun control. There was the predictable outcry about the persecution of homosexuals. And, I'd be remiss if I didn't include the predictable call to "not judge all Muslims by the actions of this one."

While there was outcry that we shouldn't judge all Muslims, suddenly there was a backlash against Christians. While there are extremists all over the internet who post insanity on Twitter, I was shocked to find that a high-profile cable news commentator decided to lash out at Christianity.

In a series of tweets following the Orlando shooting, CNN's Sally Kohn called Christians who offered prayers and comfort to the victims of the shooting as "hypocrites" whose "guilt was showing." In the aftermath of a massive terrorist attack on homosexuals perpetrated by an Islamic extremist, Kohn said that Christians value the humanity of homosexuals less than moderate Muslims do. That must be why homosexuality is a crime punishable by death in many Middle Eastern countries, but I digress.

Meanwhile, according to the Washington Examiner, an ACLU attorney tweeted that the Orlando shooting was caused by a homophobic atmosphere cultivated by Christians.

Somehow, these commentators, as well as a number of others not worth mentioning, have found a way to blame Christians for a terrorist attack committed by a man who pledged his allegiance to the Islamic State, who professed Islam, who claimed to represent a religion that dominates the Middle Eastern countries that execute homosexuals. An Islamic extremist representing a religion that bans homosexuality kills homosexuals, and Christianity is blamed. How can any reasonable person follow that logic? Simple. It's not logic. It's evil.

The same spiritual force that influenced the attack is influencing the reactions.

Satan opposes Christ. He opposes Christianity. His name literally means "opponent." So, it should make sense that, given the opportunity, he would try to steer the rage of a nation against Christians. So, he puts it in the mind of political influencers that Christianity bred the homophobic atmosphere that led to the attack. If people don't believe that argument, simply state that Christians are no better than the Orlando shooter. The only way to prove that they are better is to reverse Bible doctrine and accept homosexuality as a righteous behavior. Many Christians are following that path today.

Stephen Colbert said it best. He said it is as if we have adopted a national script, and we follow that script every time. If it all seems collaborated and coordinated, it is. Where there is a script, there is a screen writer. In this case, that screen writer is Satan.

We are in a Spiritual battle. Satan, his demons and his followers are seeking to turn the world away from God and toward destruction. God, and His followers, seek to lead the world to repentance and restoration. The battlefield is the heart and minds of all people. The battle will continue until Christ returns and wins the final victory.

Our role as Christians is to wage that battle by speaking the truth in love, and spreading the Gospel of salvation. As we do this, we recognize the Spiritual battle for what it is, and look forward to the return of Christ.

My heart, and prayers go out to the victims of the Orlando shooting, and their families. The last thing I wanted for them was what happened this past weekend. May God comfort them, may God help the rest of us to know how to minister to them, and may God forgive us where we fall short.

The Mother of all What-If's....

Several weeks ago, around Easter time, I was preaching on the Triumphal Entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem. The text was from the book of Luke. During that sermon, one of the points I made was that Jesus had entered Jerusalem, just as the Old Testament foretold. The people who said they wanted Messiah to come were now witnessing the arrival of the Messiah, but they didn't recognize it because they were Spiritually blind. Because Jerusalem had failed to receive the Messiah, electing rather to turn Him over to the Romans to be crucified, the city was condemned to total destruction, which happened some 35 years later in AD 70. The city could have received its promised Messiah, but instead rejected Him and chose destruction.

Following church that day, my wife asked me, "What would have happened had they received Him? What about His death for our sins on the cross?"

The simple answer to that would be that God knew that Jerusalem would reject Christ, so He worked it into His perfect plan of redemption. That's the answer I gave, and that's how we left it.

Still, does that mean that Jerusalem was doomed from the start? Was there a way they could've received the Messiah, and for the plan of Redemption to go forward? I mean after all, Jesus Himself said in Luke 19:42, "If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes."

Jesus said "If thou hadst known," indicating possibility. If Jerusalem would've been worshiping and serving God, and thus would have recognized Jesus as the Messiah, things would've turned out different for Jerusalem. AD 70 would've never happened, and the Temple would still stand today because the Messiah would've defeated the Romans. But, what about redemption? Salvation was purchased by the death of Christ on the cross. So, if the Jewish leaders didn't turn Him over to the Romans to be crucified, how would we have salvation today?

Granted, this is a big what-if scenario, and this is all conjecture, but it could be that God would've worked the plan of redemption into Jerusalem's acceptance and obedience. Consider the following possibility:

Jesus enters Jerusalem to the cheer of the crowd. The religious leaders open their Bibles, read the scriptures that Jesus was in the process of fulfilling, and realize that the Messiah has arrived. They proudly and victoriously announce that Christ has indeed come, as God promised in the scriptures, and proclaim that God's Kingdom has once again been restored. Christ arrives in Jerusalem, where a coronation ceremony is held and He is crowned King.

The Romans would not have just accepted that. The Roman army would've marched on Jerusalem, just as they had in previous insurrections, taken the leadership, and crucified them. The result: Christ would've been crucified anyway, and still would've paid for the sins of the world. Once He rose again on the third day, He would've destroyed the Roman army and restored the Kingdom once and for all. Salvation would then have been extended to the Gentiles based on whether they accepted Him or rejected Him. 

Granted, there are holes in that theory. But instead of going into deep theological debates as to how God would've completed the plan of redemption if Jerusalem would have accepted Jesus, let's just be glad we have an all-powerful God who completes His plan no matter what man does, and that His plan called for our redemption, salvation, and inclusion into His Kingdom. Praise the Lord!