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No Pleasure In The Death of Anyone!


For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD.
Repent and live!
(Ezekiel 18:32)

          At the moment, I am listening to the bell tones of the responses of people to a Face Book post. The news has just reported that a man who brutally beat a woman to death and killed at least one of her dogs has been found dead in his cell. Immediately, the comments celebrating his death rolled in. As I noted in my response, what he did was deplorable beyond belief. His victims in no way deserved what happened to them. But I cannot and will not celebrate his death or join in denying (even to myself) his humanity.
          There are people who celebrate deaths of others. Some of them we call serial killers. Some of them we call barbarians. It is just as evil for Americans to celebrate another person's death as it is for the Muslims to dance in the streets over the deaths of Americans. We have no more right to decide someone is not human or doesn't deserve to live than a serial killer does. To do so means that we are like the very people we call "monsters."  As Christians, we are called to love our enemies (Matthew 5:44). We are called to be like Christ (Romans 8:29).  We are told to love our neighbors as ourselves (Leviticus 19:18, Matthew 22:39.) Nowhere are we given permission to decide that neighbor is undeserving of that love, no matter what terrible thing that neighbor might do. God told us in today's verse that He takes no pleasure in the death of anyone - even the wicked. That is the behavior Christians are called to model.
          Shall we tell God He's wrong?
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Birthday of:
Guglielmo Marconi

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