1. Once again evil has raised its ugly head in beautiful Lancaster County. While most of us were sleeping in the early hours of Thursday ... Leeton Thomas allegedly broke into a residence in the tranquil southern part of the county and, with a knife, murdered a mother and her teenage daughter and critically injured another. The suspect was out on bail for charges of alleged sexual abuse of one of the murder victims. You can probably figure out his motive. During the press conference yesterday morning, D.A. Craig Stedman made reference to the possibility of seeking the death penalty in this case. In his opinion, certain capital cases are of such hideous nature, that the only just punishment is death. He also spoke about having to go to testify in Harrisburg on Thursday of this past week in defense of the death penalty. In news reports concerning the hearing on the state's death penalty, one woman present outside the capitol, protesting the death penalty, was quoted as saying the death penalty is "immoral." Of course, that statement begs the question as to "whose morality?" According to Genesis 9:6, if a man unlawfully sheds the life blood of another man, than his life blood should be shed. The reason God gives for this mandate is: to murder a human being is to strike down an image bearer of God. Now this command of God, of course, has to be understood in the context of the rest of the teaching of Scripture. Not all the taking of human life is "unlawful" according to God. We read in Romans 13:1-4 that governing authorities do not "bear the sword in vain." This is an obvious reference to capital punishment. And in some crimes, the only just punishment is death. In addition, some times the only way to stop evil and the loss of life is to take life (i.e. - WW 2 and the need to stop the evil atrocities of Nazi Germany). It saddens me that someone can (as Leeton Thomas did), in cold blood, murder another human being(s). I can only imagine how God, the Creator of Life feels about it!
2. On a lighter note .... with the much anticipated (at least by some!) release of the movie, Jurassic World, some people might be wondering what ever happened to the dinosaurs. How and when did they become extinct? To help answer this, the folks at thegoodbook.com have come up with an interesting infographic, From fossils to films: How do dinosaurs fit with the Bible? And for your information, I hold to the young creationism view.
3. Finally, in light of the darkness of our world (now that sounded a bit like an oxymoron!), keep in mind these words of the Lord Jesus: "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 5:14-17)
Thanks for stopping by . . .
pj
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