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October 1, 2017, presumably-lone-gunman Stephan Paddock sprayed rifle fire, thousands of rounds in about 10 minutes, from his 32nd floor Mandalay Bay Resort corner room into an unsuspecting crowd of thousands, enjoying the weather and a country music festival in Las Vegas, Nevada. Latest count, he killed 58 people and injured close to 500.
News anchors are understandably distraught, asking, Why? How could a person do this? One even said, "But he was a multi-millionaire," incredulous someone with money could slaughter others. But money, education, talent, success, beauty, age do not produce moral uprightness.
Media pundits ask, Why? The answer is not easy even if it seems too simplistic. Sin is why, a wicked and warped heart, what Calvin called "total depravity," the human condition. Whatever kind of life Stephan Paddock had lived, he had given his heart over to sin. And sin leads to destruction "For the wages of sin is death..." (Romans 6:23a).
This may sound like religious moralism. But it’s more than that. It’s biblical Christianity, it is an understanding of the Sovereign God, and it is meaningful theology.
So, some say, OK, this is avoidable tragedy. Why did God allow it? This is where theodicy comes into the picture.
Tragedy is a conversational word that means disaster, sadness, or unexpected developments that victimize human happiness, wellbeing, and even lives.
Theodicy is a less often used word that means a vindication of divine justice in allowing evil, suffering, or tragedies to exist.
Tragedies we’ve seen, perhaps experienced, and all-too-painfully understand. Theodicy, the idea that God has a reason for tragedies, the idea that God allows or, even more discomforting, directs tragedies is not so easy to understand.
Yet if we believe in the God of the Bible we must acknowledge his sovereignty, omniscience, and omnipotence. He is in control. He knows all things. Nothing is a surprise or an accident to him. He is all-powerful, so nothing happens outside of his will or influence. Not 9/11, not this latest senseless mass brutality against innocent concertgoers.
The idea that God could have stopped the carnage seems to beg the question of God’s purported love and compassion for people. In the after-shock of irrational violence and unnecessary death, the thought that God could have prevented the tragedy tests our faith.
So some question God’s existence, some his goodness. Some, like Job’s wife, simply want to curse God and die.
Yet in the Book of Job, the oldest scriptural writings, God does not answer all of Job’s questions. God reminds Job and us that he, God, is great. That he is good. That he is just. That he is love. God is big—bigger than our circumstances, bigger than suicide bombers, terrorists, or lone-wolf killers.
Theodicy, in the end, requires faith—faith in a God whose goal is to reconcile us with him, even through tragedies, even in the face of man’s inhumanity to man. This, in turn, requires a right understanding of theology. To interpret properly the world and its volatile events we must know who God is, what comprises his character, and what he wills for the world in which we live.
Tragedy is abrupt and often life altering. Theodicy can meet our rational need to know why and our emotional need for comfort. Theology provides us with understanding of a God who is not mean, vindictive, arbitrary, or clueless but a God who is love, righteous, and peace.
I cannot answer the question, “Why?” other than to point to sin and its destructive consequences. But I believe God is in charge, he knows, and he will hold accountable not only Stephan Paddock but all others in the world who perpetrate evil upon society.
I also know that sin and death, i.e. hopelessness, are not the end. The rest of Romans 6:23 says, "but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." God is at work in the world. He is at work in the midst and the aftermath of barbarism. In the days ahead, we may hear some stories of spiritual impact, but then again we may not. Either way, we know God’s providence is still present, as is his peace.
© Rex M. Rogers – All Rights Reserved, 2017
*This blog may be reproduced in whole or in part with a full attribution statement. Contact me or read more commentary on current issues and events at www.rexmrogers.com/, or connect with me at www.linkedin.com/in/rexmrogers.
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If you're feeling the need for humility, 1) Google your name; 2) search your name on LinkedIn...You are not as singular or unique as you think you are, at least not based upon your name.
However: "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows" (Matt. 10:29-31).
Actually, you are unique. Not very unique or really unique, just U-nique.
© Rex M. Rogers – All Rights Reserved, 2017
*This blog may be reproduced in whole or in part with a full attribution statement. Contact Rex or read more commentary on current issues and events at www.rexmrogers.com.
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God is at work fighting for all manner of issues, interests, and people groups. At least that’s what you’d conclude listening to people’s assertions on the nightly news. God is on our side, so it is said, and not on the side of others, especially our opponents.
It sounds great, doesn’t it? If God is fighting for us we must be right. We must own the higher ground. And we will win in the end. We’re more righteous than thou and we’re justified in everything that we do.
But I’m not so sure this is a biblical point of view, which is to say, making such claims is not always good theology.
Let’s think about this:
© Rex M. Rogers – All Rights Reserved, 2014
*This blog may be reproduced in whole or in part with a full attribution statement. Contact Rex or read more commentary on current issues and events at www.rexmrogers.com.
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Today is our 40th Anniversary. Hard to believe Sarah and I have been married for forty years, but here we are.
We’ve been blessed beyond measure, first in the Lord bringing us together in college (We met Freshman year, started dating Sophomore year, broke up Junior year, and got engaged Senior year—a pretty typical sequence for a couple figuring out what “getting serious” means), and second for the years of love, caring, great relationship, and much more.
Like most good marriages involving human beings our “wedded bliss” hasn’t always been blissful, but it’s always been characterized by love, commitment, and respect. In my book, this translates to bliss no matter how the word is defined.
Through this marriage God gave us four children, a daughter and three sons. Now we add a good, hard-working, and committed son-in-law, two wonderful and gracious daughters-in-law, and four noisy grandsons. Add to this in the last two years: two teenage boys from China, adopted first by our friends and then by us as grandsons. Lots of boys and as yet no little girls, but we’ll see what the future holds.
Sarah is Proverbs 31 come to life. As a person and as a wife she is everything a man and specifically I could ever want, need, or imagine. She is kind, caring and compassionate, clearly possesses the gift of hospitality, and would help anyone anywhere anytime if she could. She has been and is an amazing Mother and Grandmother.
For all this I am grateful to her and I praise the Lord. I’d marry her all over again. In fact, I’d marry her every day.
Thank you, Sarah. I love you. I look forward to every minute the Lord gives us past 40 years.
© Rex M. Rogers – All Rights Reserved, 2014
*This blog may be reproduced in whole or in part with a full attribution statement. Contact Rex or read more commentary on current issues and events at www.rexmrogers.com.
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Money. Now I have your attention, right?
Some of us like to think about money. Some of us like to find ways to earn more of it. Most of us wish we had more of it.
Money. It’s not exactly what makes the world go round, despite songs, poems, and sayings claiming money is the end-all, be-all.
I’ve always loved the joke, “I’m not a Prophet. I’m not the Son of a Prophet. In fact, I’ve rarely made a profit.”
Maybe I’ve loved this joke because it seemed to fit me. I’m not a numbers guy, not a money guy really. I’m a word guy. But even I need money to do my thing in the world.
Whatever you think of money, God talked rather much about money in the Scripture because money matters.
Here’s a look at smart money:
© Rex M. Rogers – All Rights Reserved, 2014
*This blog may be reproduced in whole or in part with a full attribution statement. Contact Rex or read more commentary on current issues and events at www.rexmrogers.com.
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Littering is something I’ve never been able to understand. Does it make any sense to pollute the environment, much less your own property? Yet people do this everyday.
In my view littering is little more than laziness. It’s the unwillingness to expend enough energy to walk to a trash can, to stuff trash into your pocket until you find a waste receptacle, to place trash or garbage on the floor of your vehicle until you stop where disposal can be cared for properly. And so it goes.
It always amazes and incenses me to see people pitch bags of food trash or beer/soda cans out their vehicle window or to drive behind someone as he or she blithely tosses cigarette butts onto the road.
Littering is damaging, destructive, and sometimes dangerous. Litterers are irresponsible, immature, and lazy.
No matter how you cut it, littering is wrong:
© Rex M. Rogers – All Rights Reserved, 2014
*This blog may be reproduced in whole or in part with a full attribution statement. Contact Rex or read more commentary on current issues and events at www.rexmrogers.com.