God Loves Charleston

On Wednesday the 17^th June, Dylan Roof, a 21-year old male walked into the Emmanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina and shot dead nine people who were attending a Bible Study in the church. Among the dead was the Reverend Clementa Pickney the church pastor and a state senator. Immediately after the killings, the usual questions and statements were asked and raised. “God’s dead”, “Is God alive?”, “If there’s a God, why didn’t he stop it?”, “Maybe God is not as powerful as they say he is”. Sigh!

The troubling thing is that Christians, even pastors have these thoughts and ask these questions. However while it’s okay to have these worries and doubts, the only way they can erase these doubts and answer these questions is only by going to God’s revealed word, the Bible. Psalm 115:16 says that “The heavens are the Lord’s heavens, but the earth has He given to the children of men.” John 4:24 goes further to say that “God is a Spirit and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” Hebrews 1:14 tells us that “Are not the angels all ministering spirits sent to minister to the heirs of salvation?” If we understand that God is a spirit and the angels and God live in the same place, then what these verses tell us is that the Heavens are for spirits while the earth is for humans.

The Bible makes us understand that we are spirits with a soul and we live in a body. With our spirits we connect with the heavens, God’s own or the devil’s own. With our souls we feel and express emotions. With our bodies we interact with the world around us. While we know that God is a spirit, the fact is that spirits are not legal in the earth. God is only legal in the earth through human agents in answer to the prayers of individuals. That is mainly how miracles happen. But the fact is that we live in a fallen world where crazy things happen because as the Bible says “The heart of man is desperately evil.”

Tragedies will happen. At times we will lose loved ones when we are not ready to let them go. Horrible things will happen in the world that will be broadcast on the news that will make us wonder: “Is God in control?” Yes he is. The Bible tells us that the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof. He owns the earth. Which then leads to the question, “Why did he let it happen?”, the answer to that is “He didn’t. He gave the earth to men. The evil in the hearts of men makes them commit heinous crimes. “Does that mean God is helpless?” No. God set the rules by which the earth runs. While he is God, he chooses to abide by the rules he has set to govern the world in that spirits are illegal in the earth. However because crazy things happen in the world, at times we fail to see or understand the love of God because of the bad things that happen. No matter how long we live on the earth, we will never have the answers to all the questions we have. We should however take comfort in the fact that he has promised to never leave nor forsake us. He also promises to comfort us when crazy things happen. That should comfort us in the midst of our troubles.

JC Cruz is the author of DECEPTIO published by WestBowPress, a division of Thomas Nelson publishers and LOST, BUT FOUND.

Grace Under Fire

 Shortly after the Hobby Lobby by the Supreme Court in America, Holly Fisher a West Virginia native posted a picture on Twitter. In the picture she was wearing a shirt displaying Hobby Lobby and holding a Chick-fil-A cup. In the caption to the photograph, she made reference to the fact that liberals were going to get enraged by the picture. I doubt even if she knew the outrage that would pour forth in reaction to the photograph. The photograph and the reaction to it by people on both sides of the political spectrum in America have made her something of a celebrity.

In American media, liberals are described mostly as tolerant while conservatives are generally referred to as bigots. Going through Holly Fisher’s timeline on Twitter, I was shocked, appalled and distressed by the comments from those who don’t share her views. Even elected Democratic representatives in Congress from her state have joined in on the act of insulting her on Twitter. There were not only those who wished her dead and who wanted to do her harm, there were those who were determined to call her every hurtful name under the earth. I felt not only distressed and alarmed by the abuse she was receiving on Twitter. However I was quite struck by the grace with which Holly Fisher answers those who abuse and wish her hurt.

It is a well-known fact that that the American media supports liberal causes. It is also a known fact that they believe liberals can do no wrong and every idea they have must be imposed on others. They do not take dissent very well. Anyone who does not agree with their opinion is labelled with the word bigots. Yet how anyone can refer to the people who insult and abuse Holly Fisher on a daily basis as “tolerant”. The people (both male and female) are quite definitely outraged by the fact that Holly Fisher obviously supports something they disapprove of. While I find it hard to believe that anyone would swallow the liberal line without critical thinking, it seems the people who hurl abuse at Holly Fisher actually do. The newspapers and other media outlets have been pushing the lie that the Supreme Court decision was a denial of contraceptives to women. All those who come to her Twitter feed to abuse all spout the same lie because that is what they have been made to believe. Whenever I see another comment by another enraged liberal, I ask myself why the media is determined to push lies as the truth. However there is a book titled Letters To America by Ayoade Oluwasanmi that seems to answer the question. The book is written in the form of letters from a friend in Nigeria to another living in America. They are based on the author’s perception of several social issues in America from gun control to the contraceptive mandate. The writer posits that the media and other liberals are determined to push the lies as truth because of the incitement value. In other words, liberals are determined to incite those who are moderate or sitting on the fence with regards to issues that liberals hold dear to hate conservatives to the point of wanting to harm them. The book can be found here. While others might think that the idea is far-fetched, looking at Holly Fisher’s timeline on Twitter, I don’t think so. While liberal heroes like Sandra Fluke are feted and anyone who dares say a word against them is demonised, no one stands up for people like Holly Fisher because the media do not like their message. Which is sad.

I admire Holly Fisher. In spite of the hate and opposition and criticism she has faced, she has stuck to her beliefs. I wish her all the best. However what gives me great joy is the fact that Holly Fisher is inspiring conservatives like her who were prior to her act, afraid to stand up for what they believed. If the liberals don’t like Holly Fisher, they should watch out for those who are following in her footsteps. Holly Fisher is an example for in the way she answers her critics, just by being who she is.

JC Cruz is the author of DECEPTIO published by WestBowPress, a division of Thomas Nelson publishers.http://bookstore.westbowpress.com/Products/SKU000194087/Deceptio.aspx and LOST, BUT FOUND available at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DPLLEUQ/.

It Was Foretold

^{1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.}

^{2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.}

^{3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.}

^{4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.}

^{5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.}

^{6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.}

^{7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.}

^{8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.}

^{9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.}

^{10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.}

^{11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.}

^{12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.}

^{13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.}

^{14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.}

^{15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.}

^{16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.}

^{17 These things I command you, that ye love one another.}

^{18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.}

^{19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.}

^{20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.}

^{21 But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me.}

^{22 If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin.}

^{23 He that hateth me hateth my Father also.}

^{24 If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father.}

^{25 But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.}

^{26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:}

^{27 And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.} 

JC Cruz is the author of DECEPTIO published by WestBowPress, a division of Thomas Nelson publishers.http://bookstore.westbowpress.com/Products/SKU000194087/Deceptio.aspx and LOST, BUT FOUND available at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DPLLEUQ/. You can follow him on Twitter @Cruz_JCReal