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Christianity Today, April (Web-only), 2007 |

SoulWork

Peace in a World of Massacre

What Jesus calls us to when we're most frightened.

Mark Galli | posted 4/17/2007 11:35AM

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be ...

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Jeff	Posted: April 26, 2007 7:11 AM

This event, and article, remind me of the lyrics to a great song by the group Rush. "Lock And Key" I don't want to face the killer instinct Face it in you or me We carry a sensitive cargo Below the waterline Ticking like a time bomb With a primitive design Behind the finer feelings This civilized veneer The heart of a lonely hunter Guards a dangerous frontier The balance can sometimes fail Strong emotions can tip the scale [Chorus] Don't want to silence a desperate voice For the sake of security No one wants to make a terrible choice On the price of being free I don't want to face the killer instinct Face it in you or me So we keep it under lock and key It's not a matter of mercy It's not a matter of laws Plenty of people will kill you For some fanatical cause It's not a matter of conscience A search for probable cause It's just a matter of instinct A matter of fatal flaws No reward for resistance No assistance, no applause [Chorus]

Jerry

Posted: April 25, 2007 4:54 AM


Very good article.

Susan B

Posted: April 24, 2007 12:42 PM


Thanks so much for this encouragement. It's helpful to read this perspective when so often I feel like I am surrounded by Christians who are more concerned about being safe than following Jesus.

berni lemon

Posted: April 24, 2007 12:36 PM


thought provoking, courageous, and inspired with the peace that passeth all undersatnding. thanks so much BL

Matthew Moris

Posted: April 23, 2007 11:12 PM


Very powerfully written. Well done. Everyday I pray for wisdom and strength and I encourage all who read this to do the same. Wisdom to understand what we are to do and strength to carry it out. To take up our cross.

Cheri Henderson

Posted: April 23, 2007 2:47 PM

TEARS FOR VIRGINIA Frustrated by my far-away location, I see your faces; hear your stories, through the news. Oh, that I could reach out to you through the television, wipe away your tears and say I love you. For I see the tender, wounded ones of Virginia, and I feel a great compassion from the Lord. I know He's weeping with each one of you this hour, and I know His tears are falling on Blacksburg. How I long to be His arms of great compassion, His hands of healing and His voice of gentle love. He wants to comfort all the hearts that have been broken, and He longs to draw each one unto Himself. So I say to the wounded, frightened, and the weary, I love you . . . I really love you in Jesus' name. And though I can't be with you in your time of grieving, Jesus can, and for each of you, that's what I pray. --Cheri Henderson

ksm	Posted: April 21, 2007 8:22 PM


This article is a help. Think on it. There is much to learn and internalize in it.

Ron Peterson

Posted: April 21, 2007 2:55 AM


A thought provoking article as people hide to escape & not confront their fears

maria l arnold

Posted: April 19, 2007 11:14 PM

20 stars!!! Much biblical basis has been prophesied about the coming of Christ and that "in this world we will have tribulation.......yes, we will be of good cheer for He had overcome this world" . We need Campus crusade for Christ. Church leaders training the next generation will usher a revolution of Passionate Christ lovers, seekers of good....studying to make themselves aprove of God, unashamed in the midst of this crooked generation. We need Pastors of large and small congregations to roll up their sleeves ! Our children are crying for attention. Souls are going to hell by the minute. We have enough church goers, but the real workers are few. Let us encourage one another that we may boldly proclaim the gospel. Let's get out of our comfort zones. Are we the light? we were given much understanding and resources to share. How about fasting? Humility invites His Presence into our homes and campuses. Jesus said, this kind (satan) cometh out through prayer and fasting.J

Jon	Posted: April 19, 2007 12:21 PM


Wonderful article! This eloquently enumerates what many of us have been grappling with this week. Thank You!!

Linda Salladin MFT

Posted: April 19, 2007 11:56 AM

Thank you for a uniquely Christian response to unspeakable tragedy. Thank you for reminding us that suffering and sharing in the sufferings of others is a courageous act, and that the great commission involves not only the great joys, but also the great sorrows. In a culture that abhors and denies suffering, the Church is daily challenged to face our fears. God has called his church to face the giants in the land, and, thankfully, we face them not alone. Reinhold Niebuhr, in his famous Serenity Prayer offers us an encouraging petition: "Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time; accepting hardship as a pathway to peace; taking as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; trusting that You will make all things right if I surrender to your will." So with determination we turn and face the giants in the land, the suffering, confounding events, the fear, and uncertainty, TRUSTING in our risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, our Sovereign King

Lorie

Posted: April 19, 2007 11:14 AM


This was absolutely a God given appointment, as I needed to be reminded of the anchor that holds.Thank God for your willingness to share these God-given insights with the rest of us. Don't grow weary in doing well...

H> D. Schmidt

Posted: April 19, 2007 7:34 AM

Yes, the more I learn about the hopes and dreams of the Founding Fathers as a legal immigrant of 51 years, and now a Staunch Conservative Christian Republican, it is more and more my conviction that this Nation has totally forgotten those men, who under God's inspiration "ripped" out this nation, from the corrupt British Empire, for a grander purpose to make this a better and more loving and humane world, than that of a horrific , inhumane and horrendous war machinery cirlcing the globe, and now using more and more bullets instead of food and cloting. While the nation will remain forever a mass grave of 50+ milions of unborn babies murdered by a legal massacre, so to speak, that of abortion. Yes, this story in Virginia Tech, is no difference than the blooddy and murderous movies that more and more, are enjoyed, by Christian none Christians alike, and spending billions upon billions of dollars, while 18000+ children die daily of hunger and sickness. Not to ignore billions for pets!

***	Posted: April 19, 2007 3:54 AM

I was prayerfully recollecting in horror the slitting of the throats of the three in that christian publishing house (publishing Bibles) in Turkey yesterday; how prepared are we for martyrdom (is this concept now hijacked by muslims as their own thing when christians currently are being persecuted eg in Iraq and other predominantly muslim lands). What pressure in being brought on Turkey?! - human rights? etc

shirley

Posted: April 19, 2007 12:18 AM

God has been taken out of our culture , no respect for life nor person . this young man was hurting so bad and very angrey no one to turn to , he had no one ,so bleak so hopeless and Satan used him . What is it going to take for humans to realise God has the answer all the answers . Bulliness ,disrespect ,cheating, stealing,and indifference goes against humanity and DAMN their souls to hell . God PROMISES never to leave you nor forsake you all he asks is our heart to open up and to serve him it don't cost a penny and you get back everlasting life .

Rob	Posted: April 18, 2007 7:54 PM


I found much of this article helpful, especially the basic idea that we need to resist the temptation to hide. However I found the example of the war movie absolutely jarring. The disciples were not armed! This kind of example sends mixed messages that could fuel the cycle of violence. We are disciples of the Prince of Peace.

Renee

Posted: April 18, 2007 5:47 PM


Excellent thoughtful and thought provoking article. It inspires me to desire to trust more fully in the Lord no matter what and less in my hiding places that in the long run are of no value. Thanks.

audrey

Posted: April 18, 2007 3:18 PM

(five star rating will not be activated on my compurter so whatever comes up unless 5 is incorrect) I am profoundly moved by your words challenging us to live in Christ's peace. As disciples walking with God, in his purposes, and in understanding, we move in the world not in safety but in harms way; vulnerable and physically at peril of loosing our earthly lives. Your article reminds me that His peace steadies us and draws us into serenity and grace, giving us blessings of assurance He is present and saving lives, setting believers apart for eternity with Him.

Anne	Posted: April 18, 2007 2:39 PM


I appreciate this article, as it puts our human condition in proper perspective. It is comforting and disturbing at the same time. As the praise song says, "He is our peace."

Charles Brownell

Posted: April 18, 2007 12:08 PM

I think that someone should stepped up and not necessarily turned him, but instead talk to him offer to be a friend that will listen to whatever be going on in his life that was causing him act out violently. Thats only way these people will be able to come to Christ, and thats why God uses us because we can testify people like cho and let them know that there someone out that cares and that loves them. I believe that is the cause of violence people not having any friends because noone offers or talks, instead they ignore him just because he different. When people are in that kind of state they tend to feel that noone cares and then they begin believe the lies that are entering their minds. I pray that God would lay it on people's hearts too talk to someone even its just give them a complement. I challenge everyone that reads this to pray and then make a friend with a person God lays on your heart. God Bless You who read this!! :)

Sylvia Sykes

Posted: April 18, 2007 11:57 AM


Excellent! Thank you for getting my focus back on God and His plan for my life. (I give this five stars but accidentally hit the first star and could not change it.)

Patricia Casey

Posted: April 18, 2007 11:22 AM


There is so much to understand in our walks with God. Why is it so difficult to discover the source of our fears? Great and timely article, in Jesus' Name.

Alison Miller

Posted: April 18, 2007 10:26 AM


A helpful and visionary perspective,thanks--I will be forwarding to my family scattered all over the world. In Christ alone is our reuge and stregnth.

Deborah

Posted: April 18, 2007 10:18 AM


Thank you, this was the message I needed to hear this morning. One that I knew but that I needed to be reminded of.

Ed C	Posted: April 18, 2007 9:48 AM


What a pity that Dr. Phil gets more air-time than Rev. Pace of the Blacksburg Christian Life Center with Larry King. It goes to show the lack of impact that the church has made when the world turns to "feel-good frauds" than to the Lord in times of tragedy.

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