Are you afraid? Thousand Oaks killings.

[MoreCoffee]

In California, Ventura county, Thousand Oaks at a bar 12 people were shot and killed by a chap who was 28/9 years old named Ian (pronounced ee-an) David Long who was an ex-marine. Does it make you fearful for your own safety to know that so many shootings are happening. Ian shot (and killed I think) the guard who was outside, near the door. The bar was mostly filled with university students.

 

[Josiah]

We ALL need to be "ready" to die - at any moment. My confidence is absolute because it is entirely in Christ.

 

[MennoSota]

In California, Ventura county, Thousand Oaks at a bar 12 people were shot and killed by a chap who was 28/9 years old named Ian (pronounced ee-an) David Long who was an ex-marine. Does it make you fearful for your own safety to know that so many shootings are happening. Ian shot (and killed I think) the guard who was outside, near the door. The bar was mostly filled with university students.

God is Sovereign. We will not die until God ordains. How we die is by God's decree. Why should we worry?

 

[MoreCoffee]

Josiah & Mennosota, your replies appear rather fatalistic. Que Sera Sera ...

 

[Josiah]

Josiah & Mennosota, your replies appear rather fatalistic. Que Sera Sera ...

Friend, your question is about FEAR... are we AFRAID of our death.

IMO, those who think that salvation depends on SELF (even 0.0000000001%) have solid reason to fear.... and those who believe that Jesus died for only a minority of people have a solid reason to fear. But for those who believe that Jesus is the Savior, well.... we can then have confidence.

That doesn't mean I necessarily look forward to death (although St. Paul did) or to DYING (the process can be horrible, as it was for Jesus) but, no, I'm not afraid of death. IMO, no Christian who accepts Jesus as the Savior has any reason to be.

Friend.... you could die this very hour. A comet would crash down and instantly kill you. Sorry to be "dark" but it IS a reality - death happens. FEAR comes from the uncertainty of salvation.... it is vanished when we realize that Jesus saves us.


I wish you a very long, very healthy life - and a peaceful, confident death in Jesus.




.

 

[Lamb]

Josiah brings our attention to an important question...what exactly are you asking Are we afraid of? Being killed? Although a lot of us aren't ready to die; we know we'll be with the Lord since we're His children so there shouldn't be fear of dying.

 

[psalms 91]

worry is fear and fear is sin. I agree that if our confidence is in God then what is there to fear and I also agree that we will not die until Gods ordained time for each of us.

 

[MoreCoffee]

Josiah brings our attention to an important question...what exactly are you asking Are we afraid of? Being killed? Although a lot of us aren't ready to die; we know we'll be with the Lord since we're His children so there shouldn't be fear of dying.

Afraid of going to places where shooters might attack. Afraid of being shot and wounded, injured, crippled, or killed. These are the sorts of things that happen with shooter's victims. It isn't a theological question. This is the "news centre" forum.

 

[psalms 91]

Afraid of going to places where shooters might attack. Afraid of being shot and wounded, injured, crippled, or killed. These are the sorts of things that happen with shooter's victims. It isn't a theological question. This is the "news centre" forum.

Actually it is a question of do you trust God? Do you hear Him when He tries to warn you say not to go? So yes it is a theological question

 

[tango]

In California, Ventura county, Thousand Oaks at a bar 12 people were shot and killed by a chap who was 28/9 years old named Ian (pronounced ee-an) David Long who was an ex-marine. Does it make you fearful for your own safety to know that so many shootings are happening. Ian shot (and killed I think) the guard who was outside, near the door. The bar was mostly filled with university students.

Once you take out suicides (about 2/3 of gun-related deaths) and justified homicides the chances of being killed in a motor accident are substantially higher than being killed in a shooting.

In the US, statistically speaking, the best way to avoid being shot is to avoid so-called "gun free zones".

Spiritually speaking, I can't argue with Josiah and Mennosota - if God needs me to stay on this earth for something then God will protect me. Once God decides my time is up then so be it. One might argue it's fatalistic but it's not as if our beliefs have anything to do with it - the people who died unexpectedly early faced the same fate regardless of their worldviews.

 

[tango]

Afraid of going to places where shooters might attack. Afraid of being shot and wounded, injured, crippled, or killed. These are the sorts of things that happen with shooter's victims. It isn't a theological question. This is the "news centre" forum.

Shooters might attack anywhere in theory. So might terrorists. Or muggers. Or rapists. It's pointless to spend our lives hiding from threats outside our control, just take appropriate preparations and practise situation awareness as best you can.

I rode the London Underground on the days around when it was bombed. The only reason I wasn't underground at the time the bombs went off was because I overslept (although the line I used wasn't attacked). Within a couple of days I was back on the Underground (not surprisingly parts of it were closed for a time after the attacks).

There's no point being paranoid - every time you step outside your house you might fall victim to a shooter, a mugger, a killer, a rapist, or whatever else. It's not as if hiding indoors will help because you never know when you will face a burglar or other intruder.

 

[MennoSota]

Josiah & Mennosota, your replies appear rather fatalistic. Que Sera Sera ...

Not at all. Instead, I am greatly encouraged that God will cover me and protect me within His Sovereign will.
The Bible is repleat with words of encouragement so that we need not worry or be afraid.
I am reminded of the famous Christian martyr of the 20th Century, Jim Elliot, who said: "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose."

 

[MennoSota]

Afraid of going to places where shooters might attack. Afraid of being shot and wounded, injured, crippled, or killed. These are the sorts of things that happen with shooter's victims. It isn't a theological question. This is the "news centre" forum.

I have a work colleague who will not go to any public areas in a metropolitan area for fear of possible terrorists. I consider it irrational. I know of a 30 year old man who slipped in his shower and died. He had no fear of showers. Should I now be afraid to take a shower? No. It is irrational.
Now, do I frequent saloons where many people are drinking alcohol and getting drunk? No, I don't like the atmosphere and I have seen drunk people do bad things. I consider it rational to avoid those taverns.

 

[Lamb]

Afraid of going to places where shooters might attack. Afraid of being shot and wounded, injured, crippled, or killed. These are the sorts of things that happen with shooter's victims. It isn't a theological question. This is the "news centre" forum.

That makes more sense. I do avoid high crime areas whenever possible and when my GPS leads me to one of those I want to throw her out the window but I need her to get home LOL

I don't fear someone coming into my church to shoot but I was raised in an area near Gary, Indiana so I always have my street smarts about myself while out and about.

 

[Andrew]

I used to believe that psychotic relief drugs contributed to homicide and suicide cases, but it's due to the psychosis itself as well as having a gun around, nothing to due with the meds.
IMO if you are diagnosed and have to take a series of medication to combat that psychosis then you shouldn't be able to register for gun ownership for the safety of yourself and of others.
People returning from combat should be seen immediately and if there be any signs of PTSD well... they shouldn't have guns.
We need stronger background checks to help prevent these tragedies.

 

[Albion]

I used to believe that psychotic relief drugs contributed to homicide and suicide cases, but it's due to the psychosis itself as well as having a gun around, nothing to due with the meds.
IMO if you are diagnosed and have to take a series of medication to combat that psychosis then you shouldn't be able to register for gun ownership for the safety of yourself and of others.
People returning from combat should be seen immediately and if there be any signs of PTSD well... they shouldn't have guns.
We need stronger background checks to help prevent these tragedies.

Sure...

 

[Andrew]

Sure...

Sure...

 

[NewCreation435]

the reality of it is that there is no such thing as a completely safe place. You can get killed or hurt just about anywhere whether that is sitting in your own living room or an accident or domestic violence at home or driving to work or at a sporting event or church. We aren't promised a tomorrow and need to live in such a way that if this is the last day then we are doing God's word until he returns or we go to Him

I can remember seeing this when I worked in a hospital that had a trauma unit. People came in who were doing nothing wrong, just driving to work and the next thing they knew they were laid out on a hospital bed fighting for their lives because of a car accident or a knife wound or something else that was terrible. It may sound morbid, but the reality is that none of us are promised a tomorrow

 

[tango]

the reality of it is that there is no such thing as a completely safe place. You can get killed or hurt just about anywhere whether that is sitting in your own living room or an accident or domestic violence at home or driving to work or at a sporting event or church. We aren't promised a tomorrow and need to live in such a way that if this is the last day then we are doing God's word until he returns or we go to Him

I can remember seeing this when I worked in a hospital that had a trauma unit. People came in who were doing nothing wrong, just driving to work and the next thing they knew they were laid out on a hospital bed fighting for their lives because of a car accident or a knife wound or something else that was terrible. It may sound morbid, but the reality is that none of us are promised a tomorrow

I know a guy who lost two fingers when he was doing nothing more than trying to fix a piece of farm equipment. He needed a piece of wood cut so fired up his table saw. The wood slipped, his hand slipped, and his fingers detached from his hand.

If you refuse to ever venture outside you're probably at least somewhat safer. Assuming you don't get taken out by a home intruder, debris falling from an aircraft, or die of cardiac disease because you weren't able to exercise. And assuming you don't use any sharp objects for any reason at all, avoid using electricity to be sure you can't be electrocuted, only bathe in an inch of water to protect yourself from drowning (cold water, because a gas leak might be fatal), live in a single-floor house so you can't fall down the stairs, and so on.

Sounds like a pretty dull life to me, essentially doing little more than hiding from the world and waiting to die.

 

[tango]

That makes more sense. I do avoid high crime areas whenever possible and when my GPS leads me to one of those I want to throw her out the window but I need her to get home LOL

I don't fear someone coming into my church to shoot but I was raised in an area near Gary, Indiana so I always have my street smarts about myself while out and about.

Situational awareness and basic forward planning aren't all that hard. But people don't do it, it's as if they just assume they have the right to be safe and therefore refuse to take basic precautions.

I remember in my university days there was a notorious part of town. In the space of a week two women were raped and one escaped from a man trying to rape her. Yet within a day or two of the reports, you'd see young women walking alone after dark, visibly drunk, through the area where a rapist was known to be active. And then you see people walking around at night with a hood up and headphones on, so they can't hear their surroundings and took out much of their peripheral vision. For good measure some of them walk around looking at their phone, making sure they have no idea of their surroundings.

When my wife and I were younger she sometimes wanted to go into town with her friends. I always told her if she wanted to out with her friends that was fine with me, but she needed to plan how she was going to get home again before setting out. A lot of her friends (at the time they'd have been in their early to mid 20s) just took the view they'd head into town and go clubbing and work it out as they went. They didn't seem to consider that going to a club and not leaving until after the last train home had left, leaving them in an area with lots of well oiled people spilling out of clubs, lots of dark alleyways, and no plan of how to get home, wasn't particularly smart.