I just finished a week filled with celebrations and blessings. I was busy at work, but even with a couple high-level visitors in town, it was a good week. The pollution has been bad in China because the government won’t turn on the central heating systems until the end of the month, so people are burning coal to keep warm. Neither bothered us because our apartment has a heating system, and we have air purifiers and masks to deal with the dirty air.
On Saturday morning I was getting ready to write a story about my “Blessings” when I turned on the news to discover the world was falling apart. They were still counting the dead and wounded in Paris and a reported hostage situation later turned out to be a mass execution. It is the kind of story you want to know every detail about and then try to block it from your mind because it is so bad.
Susan and I have been to Paris several times and enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere and the fairy-tale beauty of the top tourist destination in the world. That atmosphere has dramatically changed, as the authorities struggle to stabilize the situation and protect their people. The brutality with which the attacks were carried out is a nightmare scenario they couldn’t believe until it happened.
Islamic terrorists want our world to fall apart, so they can establish theirs. They are described as “radicals” and are willing to give up their own lives for what they believe in. That makes them hard to defeat. The secular world lumps all religions together, but that gives too much credit to “religious followers” and too little credit to radicals. Radicals act on their beliefs.
Our world didn’t just begin to “fall apart” when those terrorists started their attack. It has been falling for a long time. On the same web site that lists every detail of the Paris attack, you can see a glimpse of how our world has fallen. Many of the displayed pictures and stories used to be hidden in “dirty” books and magazines but are now there for all to see. Sin and perversion have become staples of popular culture. Sex is called love and greed has been mislabeled as success. Few stories are found about righteousness, real love, and mercy because people aren’t interested.
Maybe our world needs to fall apart? Perhaps we need more radicals that are willing to give up their own lives for what they believe in? No, I don’t suggest we launch suicide attacks to kill people and destroy property. We need to give JESUS control of our life to gain eternal life for ourselves; and do something radical like, “love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:31). Then He can reach out to others through us. “For GOD so loved the world, He gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him might not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” (John 3:16-17). That world won’t fall apart.
Wayne Lance (2015) – That’s Good News to Share!