Thousands perhaps millions of conversations have happened in our community since the events of last week. Just this morning I attended my first meeting in 7 days that did not begin with a processing session of what took place last Wednesday. A staff meeting, a discussion group with college students, three community prayer meetings, weekend services, Sunday morning study groups - whatever the gathering, the agenda was dominated by the need to talk.

As Pastor of Spiritual Discovery, I want to encourage you to take advantage of the thirst for conversation that tragedy tends to churn up in our souls. Let me recommend a discussion guide that might be of great help to you, your friends or family members. When Tragedy Strikes: Jesus' Response to a World Gone Wrong, is one of a series of seeker discussion guides written by Mark Ashton that addresses questions like:



Where is God when tragedy strikes?
Is God to blame?
How should one respond to evil?
What has God done about evil?

We'll have extra copies of Mark’s guide on sale this week at the resource center in the Atrium. Get a copy and look through it. The holidays may be a busy time to attempt getting together with others for a discussion, but perhaps after the first of the year you might try inviting a friend or co-worker to join you for a discussion over lunch. If you’d like more help on how to lead a seeker discussion – send me an e-mail at timp@cccomaha.org and I'll give you a call.

Let's continue to reach out for God in response to what’s happened. God wants to meet us through our questions and struggles - seeker groups are a great way to help that happen!



Additional Resources:





Study Guide
How Could God allow Suffering and Evil by Gary Poole?
http://www.willowcreek.com/product.asp?invtid=PR23011&action=details








Booklet
Finding God in the Storms of Life by Bill Hybels
http://www.ivpress.com/cgi-ivpress/book.pl/code=199














Booklet

Praying When Life Hurts by Bingham Hunter
http://www.ivpress.com/cgi-ivpress/book.pl/code=199

Ann's blog touches on something my mind keeps coming back to as well. What would it have taken to prevent such a tragedy? You may have seen the Thursday morning press release where city officials described details of the shooting, the response teams, the victims names, etc. The sad truth, only visible from hindsight, is that not a single member of an emergency response team was on the scene in time to prevent any loss of life. Robby Hawkins was unstoppable. It leaves one wondering if any amount of mall security, surveillance cameras, or additional police could make our world a safer place.

At one point in Hawkins life, he probably was an individual who could have been reached. Correction facilities didn't turn him around. It didn't happen in his adolescent years. It didn't happen in his home or in his childhood. So what does that leave us? It leaves us with the challenge of loving people boldly in spite of the fact that we live in a scary and insane world. Preventing a life from going badly wrong at 19 might be as simple as reaching out in love to a struggling family in your neighborhood. Protecting ourselves from crazy people hell-bent on killing others and themselves means reaching them with Christ's love before they get that way.

We'll continue to need police officers, security workers, emergency medical personnel as long as we live in such a fallen world. Their readiness to face danger should be commended - our gratitude and prayers are with them. Meanwhile, lets continue to love people and see if God's word rings true that commands us to overcome evil with good. I've found renewed energy for prayer this week for our schools - that kids who love Jesus will reach out and include that awkward 5th grader, geeky sophomore or angry 12 year old. As adults let's join our kids with our own acts of kindness and love at work and in our neighborhoods. Yes, Ann, God loves Robbie Hawkins as well as every other unloveable person we could imagine. But God shows his love through his children.

A few thoughts on love from John the disciple of Jesus:

1 John 3:16-18 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.

1 John 4:16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.

John 15:9-13 "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

It still feels surreal, but what I don't get is why this young man hated people so. Could this have been prevented if he was raised in a Christian home or is this in his DNA? If he ever accepted Christ in his life, would he be with the Lord right now? Is this type of horrific taking of innocent lives similar to what we read about in the Old and New Testament? Does Jesus love this Robbie Hawkins? I want to pray but I don't even know the victims. I feel like when I talk about this tragedy I'm invading their personal lives. My thoughts are still in shock. My heart hurts and I want God to make everything better.

Ann Wyman
Christ Community Attender

Where's God When Things Go Real Bad?

It's about 1:00 in the afternoon as I sit down to write this. Yesterday at this time I'd just finished a bite of lunch and returned to my office to discover the Internet was down. "I'll zip over to Panera," I thought to myself. Free Wi-Fi, a cup of hazelnut and I'd be back in business! I almost always pray for a parking spot when I pull in, and "Yes, indeed" I found a great spot not far from the entrance to the coffee shop. I think I even said something like "Thank You, Jesus" as I locked my door and turned to enter the building.

The place was still crowded from lunch. The only spot I could find was in the front of the shop next to the unlit fireplace. I grabbed a round table, opened my Dell lappy and started working on my project.

About 10 minutes into my session I heard a loud, sharp slamming sound coming from the hall. Another slam... and another. A little perturbed, I looked out the front entrance thinking, "Wow, do those guys know how much noise their clumsy construction is causing?" Another series of explosions followed immediately - six or eight. I looked up again, and this time realized something far worse was happening.

People began running past the entrance of Panera. Some ran into the store. A man carrying a toddler with a horrified look on his face speechlessly hustled past the counter and out the rear exit. Two more seconds later another man slid into the front of the dining area like a baseball player stealing second. A third person ran over to the table I was sitting at and started crawling under it - pushing my legs aside.

Another series of shots rang. My next prayer was something like a mildly audible, "Oh dear Jesus, what is happening out there?" I couldn't move. I wasn't sure I wanted to at first. A mall security officer then appeared telling us to move to the back of the store while the gate started descending over the entrance. I grabbed my things, tripped over the guy on the floor and rushed for my car. Police vehicles headed into the mall parking lot as I headed back to Christ Community - Internet or no!

Where were you, God?
I've often thought that if I were ever in a situation like a shooting, some incredible surge of bravery would kick-in and I'd find an amazing sense of presence to intervene. Have you ever caught yourself thinking that? Truth is, when something that brief and terrifying takes place, there's very little time for bravery or faith to quell the rush of "fight or flight" that races down your spine. Yesterday at Westroads there were hundreds of terrified people counting on someone or something to shield them from harm. What a grown man was thinking crawling behind my shins for protection I'll never figure out. It was an insane experience - even the mild dose I was subjected to. If God wasn't present already, there certainly wasn't time to call Him to the scene. And if God was there, He chose not to intervene in such a way that prevented the tragic loss of life that happened.

What do we need now that it's over? We need to go to God with this tragedy. Just as Mary and Martha called Jesus to account for their brother's needless death, it's OK for us to bring God our fears, our anger... our disillusionment. If we survived that hellish scene yesterday, we can thank God that things didn't turn out differently for us. God was definitely with us in a moment of profound vulnerability. Yet for the sake of the victims, their families, friends and loved ones, our hearts ache for a sense of God's presence today. Let's reach out to God instead of staying in our coccoons of TV newscasting.

Feel free to send us your thoughts. How are you experiencing God in the face of yesterday's events? If you could ask God a question or shout something at Him, what would it be? How can we share our city's loss and help bear each other's grief?

I encourage you to gather with others, talk about what happened and what it means. There are lots of gatherings for prayer happening around the city. Tonight at Christ Community we'll have a prayer service at 6:30 in the Sanctuary. Come be a part.