What Happened in Las Vegas?

October 4, 2017

Sadly, this story has become all too common. Another mass shooting - this time in Las Vegas. Another senseless killing, taking the lives of several innocent victims and bringing anger and fear into the hearts of even more.

As I was reflecting upon these recent events, I remembered a post I wrote last year after a similar tragedy in Orlando. Prior to this week, the Orlando shooting was the largest in US history, but the Las Vegas tragedy has now surpassed it - with 58 dead and more than 500 wounded.

The post below was my way of processing what happened and answering the question, "Where do we go from here?" The details may be different, but the message is the same.

Making Sense Out of Tragedy

December 14, 2016

By now, most of the world is aware of the horrific act of terrorism that took place three days ago in a Coptic church in Egypt. Someone went into a crowded church on a Sunday morning during the time of worship and set off a bomb that killed at least 25 people and injured 50 more – the majority of whom were women and children.

Awful awful awful. Makes me sick to my stomach. Another senseless tragedy to add to the list that was already too long to begin with.

What I want to talk about today is how we can make sense out of tragedies and disasters like this. How do we process the event and move forward – not forgetting what happened but also not letting it consume us and fill us with fear and/or anger?

Whether it’s across the world or across the street… whether it’s terrorism or racism… whether it’s called an act of God or an act of the devil…

…how can we make sense of the inevitable tragedies in our lives?

What Happened in Orlando?

June 15, 2016

By now, everyone is fully aware of the horrific events that took place in Orlando, FL last weekend where a man opened fire at a nightclub, killing 49 people. The attack was “the deadliest mass shooting in the United States and the nation’s worst terror attack since 9/11” according to this CNN article.

When things like this happen, I find myself needing to process the event internally and find an answer “what happened here?”

Why I’m Not Blogging Today

April 16, 2013

No blog post today. Two reasons: First of all, this entire week is dedicated to me packing up my house and preparing it to go on the market (we’re moving to a new home in May….YEAH!!!!). I painted an entire room for the first time ever yesterday.

Many spiritual lessons there which I’m sure I’ll blog about at some point – like for example, the importance of not having the color blind guy (aka, ME) insist that the color is correct when everyone is saying otherwise. We painted half of the room until I finally was willing to admit that “ok maybe it won’t look different when it dries. Maybe it’s the wrong color.”

Second reason is this: because I was tucked away painting and packing all day yesterday, I just heard about the tragedy in Boston this morning. Don’t really know what to say. My heart goes out to everyone involved.

Is Christmas Ruined?

January 25, 2013

Hurricane Sandy, turmoil in Egypt, Newtown, CT, a murdered church member. All these tragedies and disasters are playing out and wreaking havoc on our countries, communities and hearts. The question “Why?” is ever present in our heavy hearts and troubled minds.

Why does God allow for these events to occur? Why so close to Christmas? Christmas is a time we are supposed to be joyous and celebrate his birth and coming. How does He expect us to be able to bask in the joy of His birth when we are surrounded by all of these horrendous events?

When I began to wonder why God would allow these traumatic events to happen around Christmas and dampen everyone’s spirits, I realized I had fallen into the trap of forgetting what Christmas is actually about. Distracted by the worldly aspects of Christmas, I saw these happenings detracting from the spirit of Christmas and the joy of the season. I soon realized though that I was mistaken and had just become too comfortable in going through the motions of Christmas. Not only had I become too comfortable going through the motions of Christmas, I realized that it had seeped into other parts of my life as well.

It’s a Good Thing Jesus Was Born at Night

December 20, 2012

Did you ever stop and wonder why Jesus was born at night? Why would God send His Son into the world in the middle of the night? It was bad enough that the Son of God had to be born in a small stinky manger in the middle of nowhere. Why make it worse by making it dark? So dark that Joseph and Mary probably had to hold a candle in order to even see their newborn baby!

A few days ago, I read “A Christmas Prayer” by renowned author, Max Lucado, written in response to the tragic events that took place last week in Newtown, CT. In it, he spoke about why Jesus was born in the dark and helped shed some light on the subject (pun intended – HA HA!).

He begins by saying “Dear Jesus, it’s a good thing you were born at night. This world sure seems dark. I have a good eye for silver linings. But they seem dimmer lately…But you were born in the dark right?”

Responding to Tragedy - sermon video

December 17, 2012

Our hearts are all broken over the recent tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut. Yesterday I preached a message about how we can respond to the inevitable tragedies and disasters of life.

May God comfort the hearts of all those who are mourning this tragic loss and may He once again make light to shine out of the darkness of this world.

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