Welcome everyone and thanks for joining me for another edition of Fine Points. I feel for the mother and father of the 8-year old student who brought a loaded 9MM handgun to school. I know they, as well as we all, are thankful that the gun was not used and no one was hurt.
We live in a culture that permitted a child to get access to a deadly weapon and threaten another child with death. How could this happen? Part of the reason is the abundance of firearms within the culture. With over 400 million of them floating around, it shouldn’t be surprising that 1 would end up in the hands of a child. After all, many children are killed by firearms every year.
Still more troubling is the notion that an 8-yr old is threatening to kill another person. Some people are running around talking about civil war if the President is impeached. Nearly 110 people a day are dying from gunfire in America. This culture of violence and death is perpetuated by those who are squeezing and profiting from those who have not.
It is cruel and evil for a society to profit on the condition of the poor, weak and needy. They have and still are manipulating the system to keep people divided, envious and in competition of resources they hoard and limit to everyone else. This creates a climate of fear, need, distrust, anger, dishonesty, desperation and despair which fuel crime and drug addiction and abuse.
Those who are mainly responsible do not fear any consequences for their actions. But God is the defender of those who suffer at the hands of the wicked and greedy. He will not allow their suffering to go unanswered. In the meantime, we who are the children of God must comfort people and help them out of their situations by giving them the bread and water of life.
“Fiddling While Rome Burns” is a phase that means doing nothing or something trivial in response to an emergency or crisis. Our world and culture is in crisis and the love and salvation of God in Christ is what God has given us to address the ills of evil. We see what is happening, but if we stand by and do little or nothing to address what’s happening, then we are “Fiddling and Fanning While the World Burns”.
It’s time for us to get serious about our efforts to love people and share the gospel of Jesus Christ with them before the whole world is engulfed in the fire of violence, iniquity and greed. Look for our Sunday School preview that comes out on Thursday of this week on our Facebook page and mobile app. You can also enjoy the SS Daily Bible Readings anytime and anywhere at our website. As always, remember to fear God and keep His commandments
Pastor Jordan
