Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Adam Lanza and Guns in the United States

Adam Lanza was a 20-year-old young man with mental illness. Adam Lanza lived home with his mother who was an enthusiast of guns. Adam Lanza's mother had a variety of guns in their home that weren't properly locked away. What's wrong with this picture?

This picture is very wrong. Mental illness and guns don't mix. I'm not saying that every mentally ill person would misuse guns, if they got the chance. I'm saying that when you have a person with severely impaired judgment handling guns, there's a good chance that bad things will happen.

The rest is history. We know that Adam Lanza shot his mother dead with a gun. Then went to a Connecticut elementary school and massacred 20 children and six adults with an arsenal of guns he brought to the school. Then as authorities closed in on Adam Lanza, he turned a gun on himself and took his own life.

Unfortunately, some people are using this tragedy as a political football. They're screaming for human rights to be taken away from United States citizens. They're using this single tragedy as proof that all United States citizens are too irresponsible to own guns and live their lives. They're demanding that the United States government should completely take over the lives of its citizens, enslaving them.

I don't think enslaving United States citizens is the answer. Thank God, only a very small percentage of people mass murder in the United States. And thank God mass murder is rare. That's why mass murder is huge news when it does happen.

In the United States, people are free. They're free to make decisions. And with freedom comes responsibility. So it's very important that each person conduct himself in a responsible manner. And if they don't, they should be punished accordingly.

I used to work at a group home of mentally ill individuals. During my time there, the staff members kept knives and other sharp objects locked up. They had a very good reason for doing this.

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

What is God's Will?

What is God's will? Is it possible to transgress God's will? What exactly are the parameters of God's will? These are questions that you may have asked yourself at one time or another.

You don't have to read the entire Bible to find God's will. God's will is summarized in the following Bible passages.

Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
~Matthew 22:37-40 NIV

If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.
~Matthew 21:22 NIV

So basically God's will consists of loving God and people, and praying for your needs to be met and believing that they're being met. That's it.

If you're doing these things, then you're following God's will. If you're following God's will, then you're living your life successfully.