Speak Up, Stand Up, Serve and confront evil!

I don’t know about you but I’m beyond the WHY question of the continued acts of violence against innocent people! It’s so tragic that a family lost 8 members while at church due to a deranged young man. Clearly something needs to be done between better regulations about gun sales and not allowing those with mental illness to have access to assault type weapons or any weapon!

I know that our world seems like it’s out of control between natural disasters, hurricanes, tornadoes, fires and an endless stream of mass shootings or use of vehicles to murder people. I believe it’s so critical that everyone stand up, speak up and serve to confront the ongoing acts of evil. One of the more important ways of expressing your heart is by speaking out but also by choosing to serve in your community and the world. This last Saturday I was so fortunate to have a group of over 200 friends join together to paint seven  houses of low income seniors.

The media too often only reports the tragic news of the day instead of balancing the news with the good that does take place every day in our communities throughout our world. Sadly, what we remember most is the tragic news. I know that it’s so easy to live life on the side lines and not be part of making a difference to overcome the evil that happens around us.

I know that the unsung heroes of the day will seldom be mentioned which is perfectly fine with me. More people need to stand up by doing something of value and substance that draws the attention of the world around us to the simple message that light does overcome the darkness around us. I know that it’s too easy for most to be silent and complacent in the face of real evil. The only way that good can triumph over the tragedy of the day is for more to stand up and literally put their life on the line to confront the darkness around us.

The more difficult topic to address is that I agree that even if you remove all guns, knives or ‘God forbid’ force everyone to ride bikes that ‘bad stuff’ will continue to happen. The root of the issue at hand is a ‘heart’ problem. We have a ‘fallen’ inner nature that sadly tends to express itself in ways that are fodder for nightmares. Spirituality, which has been cast aside, needs to come back to the forefront of life. Secularism and intellectualism must be more honest and transparent about the ills of human nature that they aren’t able to address and reflect on our spiritual problems that have caused the brokenness that is reflected in on going acts of violence.

I know that a person who has lived in the middle of hurt, brokenness, anger, resentment and fear is more likely to commit some type of crime against humanity. Recently the mass shootings or violence hasn’t been related to extreme terrorism or racism. The issue before all is to be more willing to address the spiritual vacuum in our own lives and in the communities around us. The unfortunate difficulty is that it’s not politically correct to talk about God, repentance, renewal, grace and forgiveness.

The goal of our present judicial system and penitentiaries should be to see lives changed and transformed! Instead we continue to have our prisons and jails become incubators that produce more violence and tragedy in our communities. So, it’s time to TALK about what happened and why! Yes, mental health is a tough topic to address and sadly the US continues to have the highest rate of death by guns in the world. Time to force our legislators to listen to common sense, reason and stay away from the powerful lobbyists that too often direct congress and the senate.

So, stand up, speak up and SERVE to make a difference!