A Life Cut Short?

When they woke up on Saturday, December 20, neither Officer Rafael Ramos nor Officer Wenjian Liu knew it was their last morning on earth. They were murdered as they sat in their squad car. Their killer had been targeting cops.

Evidently Officer Ramos was a believer in Christ. World Magazine has a great story (click here)  about his funeral and the church where he and his family worshiped for the last 14 years.  Ramos, who just turned 40, was due to graduate from the NYPD’s chaplain training program the day after he was killed. He left behind a wife and two sons.

The senseless murder of a young, godly man reminds us that evil is real and that our world is in its grip. It lives within each of us sinners, and flares like a malarial fever in some, erupting in rage and violence.

We might be tempted to conclude that this dark world is irredeemably out of control, and that the enemy of our soul won yet another ugly victory in cutting short the life of a man like Rafael Ramos.

An Atrocity You Probably Haven't Heard About

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." Matthew 19:14, NIV

Have you heard the name Kermit Gosnell? Did you know he is an abortion doctor on trial in Philadelphia for murdering seven babies and one mother? And that he is suspected of killing hundreds of other babies? And that he operated out in the open, under the cover of the law?

If you get your news primarily through “the main stream media,” you probably don’t know anything about this atrocity. Yet this is a case that deserves front-page headlines in every newspaper and top-of-the-hour coverage in every newscast. Don’t hold your breath.

But why bring it up on a blog called “Admiring Christ”? After all, my intent in this blog is mainly to lift up the beauty and greatness of Jesus. Not to comment on news and not to be political.

I decided to write this post because Christ loves babies, because He came to give abundant life, and because this horror story is the terrible, grisly, unspeakably gruesome opposite of who He is. The Lord Jesus was angry with those who tried to prevent little children from coming to Him (see Mark 10:13,14). Decapitating newborn babies and treating their mothers like subhuman trash ought to inflame the righteous anger of anyone who loves Jesus.

I’ll give you three links to read for yourself, with the hope that you’ll not be silent. Many Germans apparently knew what was going on in the Nazi death camps when millions of Jews were murdered, but didn’t speak up.