02 | October | 2017 | The Journey

October 2017
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Las Vegas Tragedy

Posted on October 2, 2017 by Dr. Steve Martin

I imagine that most of us spent a great deal of time today looking at the tragic news reports on the television concerning the mass shooting at a Las Vegas open-air country western music event Sunday night, where 59 were killed and 527 were wounded. Just typing that makes me pause. One lady said: “That is the most scared I have ever been… in my life.” I watched as they repeatedly showed the people in that venue running in a panic for some safe place. Problem is, they didn’t know where a safe place was… because they didn’t know where the gun shots were coming from.

Across the street, 32 floors up, was a 64 year-old man intent on killing as many people as possible.

A summary of the latest press conference from law enforcement:

A total of 59 people have died, not including the suspect, and 527 people have been injured.
Police said authorities found several pounds of ammonium nitrate, a material used to make explosives, in the suspect’s car.
At least 19 guns were found in the hotel room of the shooter.
The shooter is believed to have fired roughly 500 yards from his hotel room to the site of the concert.
The suspect had a girlfriend, who is currently in Tokyo, according to police, who are continuing to investigate her and plan to meet with her when she returns.
Police are preparing to raid another property of the suspect in Reno, Nevada.
Authorities still have no information to share about a possible motive for the shooting.
Several gun dealers have come forward and said they sold weapons to the suspect, who reportedly passed background checks.
The suspect may have attended another music festival in Las Vegas one week ago.

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I believe the saying is being proven more true each day… Pogo’s quip was a pun based on the famous quotation “We have met the enemy and they are ours” — one of two famous quotes made by American Navy Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry on September 10, 1813, after defeating a British naval squadron on Lake Erie during the War of 1812. (Perry’s other famous quote that day was “Don’t give up the ship.”)

Yes, I also believe the enemy is within… it is us. As long as we remain unrepentant, unsurrendered, and hold tightly to our selfish wills we will never walk humbly with our God… or love one another. As long as we remain this way we can count on tragedies like this continuing to happen. I wonder, was there a time when some word of encouragement would have turned Paddock to see some light rather than deeper darkness?

Pray for us all… but especially the people immediately affected by this tragic event.

Grace and Peace
Steve

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The Leading Grace

Posted on October 2, 2017 by Dr. Steve Martin

“The spirit of the Lord will possess you…and you will be turned into a different person.”
Excerpt from 1 Samuel 9:27-10:8

We ought to be something we’re not. I should be smarter, more thoughtful, not so impatient, more self-confident, less risk averse, not so concerned about the approval of others. I should be able to attach a file to an email all the time. I should be able to send the right file. I shouldn’t make so many mistakes in typing. The list is endless. We’re never enough. So it seems.

We turn into whatever we need to be when first we know that God is with us, just as we are. Saul remained Saul but with a difference when he could believe that despite his weakness and inadequacy the spirit of God was with him. In his case, he became king.

While hard to grasp, God’s presence is not as far from us as we may think. As with Saul, awareness of this makes a difference: looking ahead becomes a lot more promising. In the words of the lead character in Wendell Berry’s novel, Jayber Crow: “Often I have not known where I was going until I was already there…Often my fairest hopes have rested on bad mistakes. I am an ignorant pilgrim, crossing a dark valley. And yet for a long time, looking back, I have been unable to shake off the feeling that I have been led – make of that what you will.”

Maybe we should quit thinking of all the ways we should be different and be glad for the difference God has already made. The grace that has led us this far is not through with us yet… and neither is God through with any of us.

“Finish, then, thy new creation,” O God. Change us “from glory into glory, ‘till in heaven we take our place.” Amen.

Grace and Peace
Steve

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