Jesus

Gun Control does not equal violence control

~ ForCommonGround ~ 3 Comments


Another mass shooting and the debate is as fervent as ever. Should guns be more regulated? If so, how? Not many people in America are against all forms of gun control. Well over 80% of Americans (regardless of party affiliation) in recent polls support background checks. And let’s be honest, who would ever argue that it doesn’t need to be harder for criminals to have access? However, beyond that point is where the unilateral support breaks down. Why? Simply because most people argue from a point of opinion and emotion rather than based on information and facts. Regardless, it’s the wrong debate. 

Arguing that we need to control guns to curb these mass shootings and homicides is like saying we need to regulate fast food to end obesity. The problem is not in the tool it’s in the motivations behind the problem. Remove the tool and the person will just seek out another. You need to look no further than the fact that accessibility to guns has no correlation to the level of homicides and terror attacks in a country. My point is, if people want to carry out a murder or terror attack, they will, regardless of how regulated guns are. Case in point: United Kingdom. They have had a rise in violent crimes since banning firearms. If people have an eating problem, they’ll seek to satisfy their desire regardless of availability. Same is true with murder and terrorism. If people want to kill, they will with whatever means they can come by. The United States has far less gun related crimes than many nations that don’t even allow private ownership. Also, guns aren’t even the main method of homicides in America. Bombs are illegal and that didn’t stop the Boston Marathon attacks. Hijacking planes is illegal but that didn’t stop terrorists from flying them into the trade center. 

Guns rarely get praised for the good they are used for. For example, guns are used 80 times as often in self defense to save a life than to take one. More impressive than that is that 200,000 plus women save themselves from being sexually assaulted each year by having a gun. Plus, do people think it’s coincidence that almost all mass shootings take place in gun free zones? Several ‘would be’ mass shootings have been stopped by civilians with concealed weapons.  

So why are people like our president, and so many others, ready to fire so quickly at gun regulations when tragedies occur? Because they need something to blame. But the blame is misplaced. Pointing a finger at guns means that our society doesn’t have to look deeper, under the surface at what is really going on. Regulating guns or taking them away will not control the violence in our nation or anywhere in the world. That is a fact proven by ample evidence. So if I don’t believe that guns are the problem, then what is? Here are a few ideas of what I think are leading factors in mass shootings and terror attacks. 

Problem #1- our nation embraces, and really, celebrates violence. Just look at sports, movies and other forms of entertainment like video games. It is glorified in so many ways yet we are shocked when it plays out in reality. 

Problem #2-leaders in America refuse to acknowledge the threat of radical Islam. This is not a peaceful religion. Anyone who has ever studied the Quran, Islamic history, and witnessed the last century of horrors documented in the name of Islam, would have to concede this point. There are peaceful Muslims but that does not mean they reflect true Islam. 

Problem #3-our culture has little to no reverence for the one true God as revealed in the Bible and embodied in Christ Jesus. I admit this has been a problem since the beginning of our nation. It’s just taken different forms like slavery, lack of women’s rights, abuses towards Native Americans and racial minorities, acceptance of pornography and same sex marriage, public support for abortion, etc…This problem perpetuates every problem that a society has. 

Address these problems and we may actually see some change. Continue to ignore them, and things will get worse. Unfortunately it is not just an American problem, it’s a world problem. So we as a nation can change but we are so interconnected that the world needs to change with us. We certainly could act as a beacon of light to the nations and a catalyst to revival. As followers of Christ we need to commit to prayer, to grace, to living and sharing truth, to promoting healing and hope among those around us, to loving more than we ever have, and to pointing the world towards their Savior. He is our greatest hope in these dark times in which we live. And light shines the brightest in darkness! 

God bless my brothers and sisters!

Priceless Gift

~ ForCommonGround ~ Leave a comment


Have you ever gotten someone a really special gift? If so, did you think, “I sure hope they appreciate this…” Maybe more than that have you thought, “they better not let this gift go to waste…” Or maybe, “I hope they get a lot of use out of this…” Or even, “I hope they take good care of this gift.” I don’t think that’s abnormal. In a way we are probably associating their response to the gift as a response to us as the one who gave the gift. This is undoubtedly unhealthy if it influences whether or not we continue to give gifts if their response isn’t up to par with our expectations or hopes. But I do think we are reflecting the ultimate gift giver in a way.

In reality, our response to God’s gifts are a resflection of our attitude towards God Himself. Most importantly, our response to His greatest gift, Himself in the form of Christ Jesus, shows our love and devotion and gratitude. What I mean by response is whether or not we cherish the gift and express thankfulness through the way we live. I think that we should express it both to God and to others. I mean, I’ve been given some awesome things in life and I couldn’t wait to tell everyone about it and I certainly couldn’t contain my thankfulness towards the gift giver. However, over time, years even, the level of joy the gift gave wore off. I grew accustomed to having the gift or perhaps became distracted by other things in life. My point is, I lost focus and perspective.

When it comes to God’s blessings in life, and mostly salvation in Christ, we can’t afford to lose that focus. We can’t grow accustomed to the point where we take it for granted. We can’t stop taking great care of that most precious gift. We need to maintain that thankfulness so we can keep fueling that burning desire inside to shout it to the world. Fortunately, God doesn’t give gifts based on merit and certainly doesn’t stop if we don’t make full use of those He’s already given. If He did, none of us would be blessed and definitely none of us would be saved. 

I think all of this is very important to remember whenever we give gifts to others. If they don’t care for it or appreciate it like they should, it’s their loss but it will not deter me from giving all I can. Because we give because we love and God gives because He loves. And really, unless we’ve made the most of God’s grace in our lives we have no room to talk. So let’s give and love without expectation and pray that the Holy Spirit lights the fire of passion for the Greatest of all Gift Givers and the greatest of all gifts!

“God so loved the world that He gave is one and only Son, so that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

Humility Where You Least Expect it

~ ForCommonGround ~ 1 Comment

  
“The reward for humility and fear of the Lord is riches and honor and life.” Proverbs 22:4

Wrestling season just ended this last week so I like to take the time to reflect on how it went. This was perhaps the most challenging team that I’ve had the privilege to coach. Seems like every week there was some new drama between the kids that exposed every ounce of patience in me. Ironically, this was a very successful team regardless of the divisiveness at times. Amidst all the challenges and success, this year seemed very unique. 

I witnessed a few athletes who chose to set their image aside for their opponents. Sports teach kids many positive character traits but unfortunately humility is not one of them. That is something that can only be learned by example and I’m hoping that these young men will be just that for all those who saw what they did.

We had a boy on our team who was a first time wrestler and faced some physical disabilities as well. Wrestling is a physically demanding sport as it is, so this kid faced an uphill battle every match. Time after time he lost and he began to get discouraged. Two of his opponents would give him the encouragement he needed to keep going. 

Before I tell you what they did let me just mention that they were both the best wrestlers in his weight class. Needless to say both of these kids could have toyed with him and embarrassed him without breaking a sweat. Instead, they turned a possible humiliation into a display of humility. In both matches the opponent of our wrestler allowed him to take them down and get escapes and score several points on them. They didn’t make it super obvious either. They allowed our kid to keep the match close all the way to the end. When the matches were over, our kid walked off the mat with his head held high and a big grin on his face. You could tell he was so happy. Those two losses were his biggest victories of the season. Two weeks earlier I had read about a high school wrestler who was undefeated and ranked #1 in the state. He was wrestling a kid with Down syndrome and actually let the kid take him down and pin him. He gave up a undefeated season to make a mark in a kids life that he’d probably never forget.

These stories give me hope for the younger generations and for athletes who are bombarded with messages to pursue perfection and awards. 

Humility is a powerful force. It can change someone’s life forever. The best example of humility is Jesus Christ. The night before He would be crucified, He knelt down to wash the feet of His disciples, even the one who would betray Him. Jesus did this obviously knowing who would betray Him and when. Jesus even says that He came to give us the ultimate example of humility so that we too would lay down our lives for others and never elevate ourselves above others. If God in the flesh could pay the death penalty for my sin, then I should not hesitate to humble myself before those around me. 

“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

‭‭Philippians‬ ‭2:3-8‬ ‭

Cleaning with a dirty rag

~ ForCommonGround ~ Leave a comment

dirty-rag-by-paul-simpson

I’ve been blessed these last five years to have a Window Washing business that provides my family with a little extra well-needed cash throughout the year. I’ve cleaned a lot of different types of filth off of windows during that time. You’d be amazed at what people allow their windows to look like…During one window job I had an epiphany. I know what you’re thinking: how enlightening can washing windows really be. Well on this occasion it happened to be very inspiring so I’d like to share it with you.

On this day I happened to be doing the windows on this gigantic house. If I lived in a house this size I wouldn’t want to clean my windows either. We’re talking like a 5-6 hour job here with professional equipment. So as the job went on I noticed that it was becoming more and more difficult to get the windows streak and smudge free. I would clean out my gear fairly regularly to ensure that I wasn’t transposing dirt from one window to the next, but after a while that didn’t seem to help. It began to be frustrating. I was getting so close to the end of the job but I wanted to make sure my last window got as clean as my first. It was starting to take a long time just to complete each window.

Then it hit me. I had a super stubborn smudge that would not come out no matter which part of the shammy I used. Each wipe just spread the smudge in a different direction. I just cleaned this shammy too so why wasn’t it doing the job it was designed for? Then a spiritual bomb got dropped on me. “A dirty and used rag, no matter how clean I try to get it, will never be good enough. The rag has to be new.” If you’re familiar with the teaching of Christ you probably have an idea of where this is going.

If you’ve ever used a shammy to clean before you know that no matter how much you clean it, there is still residue from previous uses. There are stains that won’t come out no matter the method of cleaning. Shammies are designed to suck up moisture and clean better than most anything else. They work so well that this can be their downfall as well. My point is, that people and shammies are very similar. We have been designed by our Creator to be so efficient, creative, intelligent, strong, funny, and so much more. Psalm 139:14 says that we have been fearfully and wonderfully made by God and Ephesians 2:10 tells us that we are God’s workmanship (handiwork/masterpiece). God made each of us for a purpose and equipped us to carry out that purpose way more so than a shammy. But the similarities continue. We are all stained from life…from choices…from sin. And no matter how much we try to clean ourselves, those stains remain. Many of those stains are outwardly obvious and others are below the surface just like the ‘stuff’ held in the fibers of the shammy. We try to purify ourselves by being good, following lists, avoiding bad things, believing in ourselves, reading self help books, listening to motivational speakers, achieving high accomplishments, making money, buying nice things, keeping a smile on our faces, and so much more. All of these things are simply a facade without heart surgery. No matter how good we are in life, our goodness is like a filthy rag compared to the pure holiness of God. Our scars/stains will always affect those around us as well just like my dirty shammy was just smearing the glass. The only way for me to get those windows clean…the only way to be clean ourselves…is to be made new.

Second Corinthians 5:17 tells us that everyone who is in Christ is a new creation. Jesus Christ removes the deepest stains in anyone’s lives. God promises to erase any stain and purify anyone who calls on His name and receives forgiveness through Christ. Just check out Isaiah 1:18. God goes on to tell us in 2 Corinthians 5:21 that Christ, the Holy and Perfect One, died so that we might have the righteousness of God. So our filthy rag becomes a spotless garment pure as the driven snow. So my plea to anyone reading this, who battles with deep seeded scars, struggling to mask pain and hurts from life, if you don’t know Jesus Christ, today is your day. In Him is healing…in Him all things become new…in Him is rest and peace. No formula in life will ever work outside of Christ. Everything else is just cleaning with a dirty rag. And lets be honest, every day we get our shammy dirty in some way and Jesus is the only way to remove it.

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”

Lamentations 3:22-23 (ESV)