The God Vacuum

Just today I was again praying for the families of the victims who lost their lives in the tragic massacre that took place last week in Newtown, Connecticut. The hearts of so many in the nation are deeply saddened and disturbed by such a senseless tragedy. We need to keep the families of those who lost loved ones in our prayers. What I'm going to express here is in no way intended to diminish the importance of remembering the real victims in this horrific act of violence. I was reading a few days ago in Romans chapter 1 and in verse 21 we read that "even though they knew God, they did not Honor Him as God...their foolish heart was darkened." The consequence of their idolatry and rebellion was that "God gave them over to degrading passions" (vss.26-27) and "just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind to do those things which are not proper" (vs.28). Verses 29-31 list those "things that are not proper" including murder. In America both privately and publicly there has been a tremendous effort to expunge God from life. Privately more and more people are turning away from God. The church has become more like the world in it's preaching and practices than different from the world. We have expelled God from schools and have sought to eradicate His influence by removing the 10 commandments from public buildings and banning nativity scenes from public lands. In Arkansas a church cancelled a showing of "A Charlie Brown Christmas" intended for school children when a parent complained that the students would be traveling to the church to attend the play. Every year at Christmas there are debates over whether or not it is appropriate for public officials, businesses, etc. to say "Merry Christmas" or to use the less controversial and more PC statement "Happy Holidays." From the White House to the School House the term "Holiday Tree" is being used. I always wonder "what Holy Day" the tree commemorates? Can't be New Years for that is not a Holy Day. Must be Christmas. So why can't we say Christmas Tree? I still do. My point is that in America today even though we know God we do NOT honor Him as God. With the tragedy in Newtown even those who normally keep God out of the conversation (unless of course they refer to Him in some derogatory or defaming way with vulgarities) are found saying, "the victims and their families are in our prayers". There has been an openness to talk about God, about faith, about prayer since the tragedy that resembles the response of the nation following 9/11/2001. "We know God" in the sense that we know He exists (no atheists in a fox hole sort of thing) but we do not HONOR HIM as God. In tragic times the response of the elites who normally ignore God is to treat God like a genie in a bottle. When times are tough we rub the bottle in order to make our wish hoping that the God we have eliminated from our life will pop up and serve our utilitarian and self-absorbed purposes. How wonderful of us to treat God like our personal slave. We've missed that last part of Malachi 1 where God speaks through the prophet to the pretending people of God to tell them, " I AM A GREAT KING says the Lord of Hosts." The GREAT KING has been locked out of most of our lives, most of our public activities, and when the going gets tough we want to treat him like a bell hop. We should not be surprised to see a rise in "the things which are not proper" (Ro.1:28) like greed, envy, murder, malice, arrogance, etc.in our society. So when I see a tragedy like what happened in Newtown I see in the horrific act and in the response further evidence of a society with a God Vacuum...a people who have lost their moral compass, abandoned God, and who persist on "worshipping with their lips while their heart is far from him." The perpetrator of the horrific act was of "depraved mind", fallen, sinful, not controlled by God, but by Satan. The reaction by some politicians has been equally depraved in my opinion. Consider the knee-jerk reaction to push for stricter gun control. It seems pretty simple to me. The mother of this young man was negligent to let her son who was mentally unstable even near firearms. That is not the fault of the firearms, but of the mother and the son who should never have been allowed to handle them. Those pushing for gun control after this emotionally charged tragedy appear sanctimoniously to have the interest of the innocent victims in view. When I heard who was leading the charge in the quest for increased gun control I paused. Seriously, the women who are advocating for gun control to "protect innocent victims from violent acts" are the same women who are the most vocal proponents of murdering unborn children while they are still in the womb. These are the legislators who run for office as proponents of "a woman's right to choose." So they advocate that the government pay for abortions, for abortifacients, for abortion services. Think about this for a minute. The same women who are outraged that the second amendment is still upheld because of their concern over protecting innocent victims is the same group that vehemently, vocally, and venomously defends the need for abortions--that is the murder of millions of innocent children while still in the womb. So I ask, why are they so adamant about gun control to protect the innocent outside the womb,while they lobby for murdering innocent children inside the womb? Their concern, I would submit, has little to do with concern for the innocent victims or else they would be equally as disturbed over abortion as they are over what happened in Newtown. Consider for a moment that the second amendment is designed to provide protection for those who are under assault, to allow people to hunt and provide for their family, to provide recreation for gun users, to guard against tyranny. Now let me suggest that the real assault weapons that should be banned are those wielded by abortion doctors, and women who use abortifacients. These devices/drugs have one and only one express purpose and use--to take the life of an unborn, unsuspecting, and innocent child. The "weapons of abortion" cannot be used by the victims to defend themselves, they are not necessary to fend off tyranny, they are not for recreation (yeas I know that can be debated, but a life is in the balance), nor can these weapons be used to gather food to feed a family. Let me put things into perspective. There were 28 innocent lives taken at Newtown. There are 1.6million abortions per year in the U.S. That is over 4,000/day. That means the horror of Newtown is repeated over 200 times every single day in the U.S. Where is the outrage? Where is sorrow? Where is the outcry to stop this senseless taking of innocent human life? There is none. Just the opposite. The mantra is that murdering inside the womb is a "woman's right" So why was it not the mad man's right to shoot 28 people in Newtown. Of course this is a ludicrous thought. Murder is wrong...period. But we live in a nation with a God Vacuum where "doing what is not proper" is normal. So one man takes a number of innocent lives and that is tragic, horrific, heart-wrenching and WRONG. And everyday 200 times as many innocent unborn lives are taken and the general public pays for it, condones it, celebrates it as a step forward for women, and I say IT IS WRONG...terribly wrong. Where God is absent justice is twisted--In America we advocate stripping away people's second amendment rights in a futile attempt to prevent a tragedy that is a matter of human hearts turned away from God, but diligently defend the murder of millions of unborn children because that respects a "woman's right to choose." This is twisted indeed, but the answer is in seeing people's hearts changed, seeing people turn from sin, trust God, and live fully surrendered to the Lordship of Christ in their lives. But that is hard to legislate and offends our arrogant belief that we can control our own destiny. Such is life when God is absent. 2 Chronicles 7:14 comes to mind. In the meantime, I would advocate banning the assault weapons of abortion.