Terrorism In Orlando - Are People Hearing The Truth?

50 lives taken and 53 wounded in Orlando, Florida.   

Numbers may change, but the evil of it won't.

The murderer reportedly was a 29 year old American Muslim of Afghani parentage.

The place?  A "gay" club.

Islam is a false religion that rejects the God of Scripture.  

It denies the Deity of Christ, and His death and resurrection (which are clearly taught in Scripture).   It is a religion of works.

It relies on the revised words of a man named Muhammad who claimed to be a prophet, but yet God cannot contradict Himself,  and so we know that whatever contradicts the Bible is not true.

Whoever is trusting in any way in their good works will not go to Paradise or Heaven.

Homosexuality is one of many sins.  

All sin is deserving of Hell (lying, coveting, stealing, immorality, idolatry, murder, etc.)  

When people reject the true God of the Bible, they are given over to sin as a form of judgment.

All people will face the same Judge on judgment day.

Only those who trust in Christ's sacrifice for sin will have Christ's righteousness placed on them, and their sins having been atoned for.

So, the mass murderer who worships a false god will be sentenced even after death.

Yet, we can be sad about what the murderer in Orlando chose to do.

The people at the club (and I don't know what all they were), also will come before the same God.

This is sad, unless people repented and trusted Christ before they were murdered.

Did any of these people ever hear the truth?  Were they warned about what happens after death?

I don't know.  What about the ones who are still alive?  Who is telling them the truth?

God created the Heavens and the earth perfect, but mankind sinned and death was passed on to all men.  All have sinned and fall short of God's glory.  God chose a people for Himself, and He set up a system whereby people who had faith in Him were able to have animals sacrificed and have their transgressions cleansed.  He gave them the Law which pointed out what sin was.

Yet, nobody was able to perfectly keep the Law, and so a better more perfect sacrifice was planned and necessary.

God is Sovereign, and He had it all planned out.  Men of old prophesied about the coming Christ.

Jesus....fully God and fully man....the perfect Son of God and sacrifice Lamb, was born of a virgin as prophesied of old, and He lived a sinless life.  He perfectly obeyed.  He was a representative of man, so that He could save men.   He died willingly taking the punishment of sins for everyone who would ever believe, and since He was also God, death could not hold Him.  He rose from the grave.  He conquered sin and death, and He sat down at the right hand of God the Father, and He will judge the world.

The only way for anybody to be saved from sin and eternity in Hell (where the worm will never died, there will be fire, and weeping, and gnashing of teeth), is to repent and turn from sin and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.  Those who trust in Him will not be disappointed, and they will pass from death to life.  They are adopted and will spend eternity serving happily the One who loved and rescued them.  Yet, only His sheep will hear His voice.  If this message resonates with you, please let me know.   It doesn't matter the background of your past.   Please look to Christ and live.

If you are a Christian, please share this.

September 11, 2001 - Twelve Years Ago

Twelve years ago America was attacked on September 11, 2001.

Many of us will not forget how we heard about it and how we felt.

I turned on the radio while still in bed and made guesses about who had done these things after realizing that it was a real event.

People flooded into church and were ready to acknowledge God for awhile.  Patriotism was high.

I was thinking this afternoon about some of the facts that stand out when events like this take place in the world.

1. Evil exists - Sin exists in the hearts of all mankind.  All the world is guilty before God... although events like terrorist attacks stand out to us as a particular threat to our comfort and safety.  It is a symptom of the callousness that some have toward human life.
2. We should not trust in our own security or in man to be able to protect us.
3. How am I living my life in a way that will count for what matters for eternity should I die today?
4. Saving lives is a noble thing, but the saving of souls is what matters most.  God uses people to bring the Truth.  People who are saved from physical death by heroic people will still stand before God one day - either for judgment or resting on the blood of Jesus who died for sins and rose from the dead conquering death and its power.  If someone lives after a terrorist attack or an accident or some medical emergency, what good will it do in the end if they go on in rebellion to God and face an eternal judgment?