Faith

PASTOR’S CORNER, Brad Bennett, First United Methodist Church, Liberal

This was a bone-chilling week in our country to be meditating on the words of Jesus recorded in Luke’s good, good news of  Jesus Christ (Luke 24: 36b-48). By the end of this past week, the whole world could see and hear, if they cared to look or listen or learn, that the parents of a 15-year old son, who shot and was convicted of killing four high school students in 2021, {the parents} were convicted of involuntary manslaughter and received sentences of 10 to 15 years in prison.

Even though the father had purchased and had left the gun unlocked in their house, the parents claimed they did not know their son had the handgun — he called it his “beauty” — in a backpack when he was dropped off at school that morning. Prosecutors convinced jurors that the parents still played a disastrous role in the violence. Many witnesses, including parents of the deceased students, significantly supported the prosecution’s case. Witnesses recounted what each saw or heard or touched or felt and the impact of all these deaths in their lives. The world is full of people who are witnesses.

PASTOR’S CORNER, Brad Bennett, First United Methodist Church, Liberal

‘Doom-scrolling’ is a term that’s been coined in recent years to describe the act of endless scrolling down social media of every sort while viewing all the bad news in the world. Doom-scrolling can become a repetitive habit that is very difficult to break . . . until our bodies rebel. Many   people, who doom-scroll a lot, eventually experience eye-strain with headaches, blurred vision, along with an elevation of fear and stress and depression and anxiety. What may have started as an attempt to stay informed of current events can lead to a person spiraling into despair from exposure to all the gloom and doom in the world.

PASTOR’S CORNER, David Harris, Fellowship Baptist Church, Liberal

The imprecatory Psalms do not deal with hardship in general, but a particular kind of evil. These Psalms address personal evil intentionally worked by others. Evils like betrayal, false accusation, persecution, personal animosity.

Many Christians are nervous about the imprecatory Psalms and wonder if we should use them at all. Isn’t this a failure to love our enemies? Before we move on, I want to remind you that the command to love our neighbor (including enemies) is the second part of the Great Commandment that begins with loving God with all our hearts, souls and minds (Matthew 22:36-40, ESV). Our love for neighbors and enemies is not Christian if it outranks our love for God and his rightful role as King and Judge of everything. If loving enemies means erasing part of God’s character or justice, then we are not really loving them as Christ has commanded, for he told us to love God first.

PASTOR’S CORNER, David Harris, Fellowship Baptist Church, Liberal

Earlier this week, disaster struck Baltimore, Maryland, and the greater American consciousness when a large cargo ship (that we now know lost power)[1] rammed directly into the iconic Key Bridge. The crews that leapt into action to communicate the danger and clear the bridge are no doubt responsible for saving many lives. Seven were taken in the water who were not able to evacuate. As of this writing four are presumed deceased. While we should be grateful the loss of life is not worse, the additional effects of the collapse will be both logistical (considering the port of Baltimore’s major role in our economy) and in our collective morale. The vision of a powerful icon being torn to shreds by failed technology is a painful check about what we can do and expect, about the limits of our technology.