Baton Rouge shooting: What is happening to our world?

Baton Rouge shooting: What is happening to our world?	Dr. Jim Denison July 18, 2016

It has happened again. Three police officers were killed in Baton Rouge, Louisiana yesterday. Three others were injured. The gunman, a former Marine, was killed at the scene. A long-time police veteran said, "I've never experienced anything like this." The president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police noted, "This is perhaps the most difficult and dangerous time in American policing history." Our police need our support and encouragement today more than ever. The heartbreaking news from Baton Rouge followed a bloody attempted coup in Turkey that left 265 dead over the weekend. We are still grieving the tragedy in Nice, France, the police officers killed in Dallas, and the earlier fatalities in Louisiana and Minnesota. Yesterday, a dear friend texted me the question everyone is asking: What is happening to our world? ISIS is inspiring terrorism around the globe; North Korea is advancing its nuclear weapons capabilities; the European Union is fracturing; China's military reach is expanding; violence at home seems to be escalating. But the world is no more fallen today than it was last year. And Jesus is no less powerful than he has ever been. He warned us, "In the world you will have tribulation" (John 16:33a). "Tribulation" translates thlipsis, a Greek term describing the massive stone that crushed grain into flour. But then he added, "Take heart; I have overcome the world" (v. 33b). It's vital that we see our world through a biblical lens, that we view temporal events in light of eternal truth. Now that the political conventions are beginning, the Denison Forum wants to help our readers interpret these historic events in biblical context. So Nick Pitts, our Director of Cultural Engagement, will be reporting from both conventions. Nick will use Facebook Live, a live video function on our Facebook page. Each morning, he will give an overview of the day; each night, he will recap the day's highlights. Throughout the day, he will take pictures and highlight events as they occur. The Denison Forum does not and will not endorse candidates. Rather, we engage cultural issues with biblical truth. I invite you to follow our Facebook page over the next two weeks as Nick reports from the political conventions, connecting God's word with the historic events of these days. And I encourage you in troubling times to remember what matters most: God loves us personally and passionately. "The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases" (Lamentations 3:22). He redeems all he allows and calls us to focus our passion and heart on him. Rachel Denison noted in a recent blog, "In our culture plagued by short-lived infatuations, Jesus is offering you an infatuation as long-lived as the stars and angels in heaven, before time began. You and I were made for this holy fixation. And he is waiting patiently with joy in his eyes. . . . He doesn't see your political affiliation, skin color or notions of him, he simply sees you. And you are all he wants. May we allow him to hold us all together. May all mankind find their true purpose and all-absorbing passion in him." Ten thousand millennia after our world and its crises are gone, God will still love you. Of all that is happening in our world, that fact matters most.     If you received this from a friend, you can subscribe here.