A heavily armed gunman attacked
an Aurora, Colorado, movie theater early Friday, tossing tear gas before
opening fire on the terrified audience and killing 12 and wounding 58,
authorities said. The theater was showing the new Batman movie, "The Dark Knight Rises."
The question you want the answer
to is “Why”? Why did James Holmes do this? Why would anyone act in such a way?
The answer to this question is a
complex answer, but nonetheless we have the answer right here in plain text for
you to read.
Was James Holmes abused as a
child? Did his mother and father neglect him? Maybe you are wondering if James
was born with a mental disorder.
James Holmes, now 24 years old
was 11 in 1999 when teenagers
Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold shot themselves after killing 12 students and a
teacher at Columbine High School in
Columbine, Colorado.
You have to wonder if James felt he was a victim or if he was bullied at
school like Eric and Dylan said they were. Is it possible that James was
influenced as a result of the Columbine shooting spree that occurred just 13
years prior?
While all of these questions and many other good ones are being asked,
they will never lead us to the correct answer.
The correct answer lies in the motivation within the heart of James
Holmes. “For out of the heart come evil
thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders”.
Most people are asking the
question “Why did He kill those people?” or “Why do evil things like this happen
to good, innocent people?” However, if you would stop and take the time to see
your own heart and the heart of all people you would be asking a different
question. The question we should be asking is “Why doesn’t this sort of evil
happen every day?”
You may be thinking that James
Holmes is sick and very much different from anyone you have ever heard about. I
would like to ask you to stop for a moment and evaluate your own heart.
Have you never read, ‘Then the
Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every
intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The Lord was
sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. The
Lord said, “ I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land,
from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry
that I have made them.” ‘
James Holmes carried out the
physical act of murder because hatred and murder are in his heart. It says in the bible “You lust
and do not have; so you commit murder.”
Jesus himself said, “You have
heard that the ancients were told, ‘ You shall not commit murder’ and ‘Whoever
commits murder shall be liable to the court.’ But I say to you that everyone
who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever
says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the Supreme
Court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into
the fiery hell.
How many times have you been angry with someone? How many times have you
hurt someone’s feelings or called someone a name? Maybe you are even angry with
James Holmes for what he did.
According to God you are just as worthy of the flames of hell as James
Holmes.
The real reason James Holmes murdered 12 people and wounded 58 more is
because he was born into sin. You were born into sin just like him.
Human history is clearly seen in this statement, “There is none
righteous, not even one; There is none who understands, There is none who seeks
for God; All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is
none who does good, There is not even one.” “Their throat is an open grave,
with their tongues they keep deceiving, The poison of vipers is under their
lips”; Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness”; “Their feet are swift to
shed blood, destruction and misery are in their paths, and the path of peace
they have not known.”
There is no fear of God before your eyes. That is why you have anger in
your heart and that is why James Holmes committed murder.
While you are wondering “why” this happened, you should seriously
consider your own soul. If you consider yourself “better” or “less
evil” than James you will be judged by the same judgment before God.
Jesus was once asked about a massacre similar to the Aurora Massacre.
People asked Him if the people who were killed “were worse sinners” than all
the other people in the city. Jesus replied, “truly I tell you no, but unless you
repent, you will all likewise perish.”
The reason “why” James Holmes committed murder is because he is a sinner.
Sinners commit sin against God and against man. You are a sinner and unless you
repent you will die in your sins and suffer for eternity under the wrath and
fury of the Holy God who hates sin.
12 people lost their lives in this tragedy and 58 more saw their lives
flash before their eyes. Life is a vapor; when will you die? 12 people died and
stood before Jesus Christ in Judgment.
You see it is
appointed for men to die once, and then comes the Judgment. God was not taken
by surprise at the tragic death of those 12 people. God allowed their life
on this earth to expire on exactly that day at exactly that time. God has
ordained a time for you to die as well. Are you prepared to die? One day
you will take your stand before the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and He will
precisely execute judgment on all your thoughts, words and actions.
James Holmes one day soon will give
an account of every thought, word and action from that fateful day on which he
made the decision to pull the trigger. Every action will
be called into Judgment by Almighty God. You see, James Holmes and you have
something in common. You have both broken God’s Laws. You have both heard the
voice of your conscience and ignored it. You have both made decisions to do
things, say things and think things that you should not have done, said or
thought. When will you take your stand before the Lord Jesus Christ?
What will you do with your thought life? What will you do with the words you
should not have said? What will you do with all the things you should not have
done? Where will you go? To whom will you go?
Many around the country are crying
out for justice. What they do not know is that the 12 people who died have
already met perfect Justice. My hope is that before they died they met
perfect Mercy and Love so that perfect Justice could be satisfied.
Many around the country are crying out for James Holmes to
be brought to justice. What they do not understand is that James and every
person will give an account according to perfect justice on that Final Day.
God will judge your life with perfect
Justice. Jesus Christ is living proof that God is a righteous judge. Jesus
Christ is living proof of the perfect justice of God. You see Jesus never
“side stepped” or ignored the truth. This man spoke like no other man had ever
spoken before or will ever speak again. Jesus never lied or ignored the truth,
but He always spoke the truth in love. What about you? Do you tell the
truth?
Jesus never did anything without
considering the outcome of His words or actions. He always did the will of His
Father in Heaven. What about you? Do you bring your thoughts in line
with what you know God has commanded? Or do you ignore your own God given
conscience?
Jesus Christ never made a careless
decision. He always loved His neighbor as Himself and always loved
God with all of His heart, soul, mind and strength. What about you? Do you even
know your neighbor? Do you know God? Do you love to keep God’s commandments?
Or are His commandments a burden to you?
Death didn’t come rushing
into Jesus’ life with a shocking, sobering reality causing Him to change His
ways.
Jesus came into this world to die. Every thought, word and action of
His was done to glorify His Father in heaven. Jesus came into this world to
demonstrate God’s righteousness. Look at His life. Now, compare this Man’s life
to yours. How do you compare? Do you really love your fellow man? Do you
really love God? I know you go to church. I know you give to charity. I know
you’ve been baptized. I know you are a good Catholic, Baptist, Presbyterian,
Methodist, Pentecostal or Non-Denominational believer, but are you a follower
of Jesus? Do you keep His commandments? Have you given up your life to follow
Christ? Do you live a life of truth? Do you love God and love your neighbor
the way Jesus did and said?
Jesus didn’t only come into the world
to demonstrate the righteousness of God, but He also came into the world to
save sinners. Jesus wasn’t surprised by death like the people who tragically
lost their lives in Aurora. Jesus wasn’t surprised by death like you will be. Jesus
wasn’t taken back when the world called for His death. He came to give His life
a ransom for many. He had the power to lay His life down for His sheep and to
take it back up again. Are you afraid to die? What will you do with your
sins on Judgment Day?
There is only one right answer. You
have only one hope. You can only go one way for what you really need and must
have. Your bad decisions, careless words, thoughtless actions and sins against
God must be forgiven. God will not overlook your sins on the Day of
Judgment. God will pour out His wrath on all of His law breaking enemies.
What will you do? Where will you go? To whom will you run when death comes
knocking on your door?
Despite all the mystery, chaos and
controversy surrounding this tragedy, there is really good news. Jesus Christ died for sinners. He died and rose from the grave three days later. He conquered
death. He died for murderers, thieves, religious hypocrites, and all your sins
against God. He died that you might be forgiven. He rose again that you
might stand before God on Judgment Day with a perfect righteousness that is not
your own. Jesus died and rose again so that you can be restored to God. So
that you can live the way you were designed by Him to live. Jesus died, rose
again and still lives so that you can love God with all your heart, soul, mind
and strength and love your neighbor as yourself.
12 precious people did not live to
see tomorrow. Will you live to see tomorrow? You are not
guaranteed another moment on this earth. The bible says “today if you hear His
voice, do not harden your hearts”. Today is the day of salvation. Jesus said, “Come
to me all you are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
Will you agree with God that you have
sinned against Him and deserve Hell? Or will you say,
“nobody’s perfect”?
Will you be truthful with your heart
and soul and see that you are a wrath deserving sinner? Or will you say, “I’m not that bad, I’m not as bad as James
Holmes”?
Will you cry out to God for mercy
today? Or will you go your own way?
Will you ignore the call of Christ to
turn from your sins and trust Him and Him alone? Or will you listen to the call of the world that will take you
straight to hell?
Bunch of ranty-ravy religious crap......
ReplyDeleteYour comment above exactly proves the heart of men and shows why we need the Savior. "There is no fear of God before there eyes". Only Christ can unblind our eyes and unstop our ears and cause us to see the desperate need of our heart.
ReplyDeleteYou are abviously not familiar with something called schizophrenia, a thought disorder that can cause people to think they are "The Joker" and go on to act like they are indeed "The Joker" when they aren't. Mental Illness does exist, and that doesn't make someone "evil", that just makes someone sick who needs medical attention.
ReplyDeleteIlene, I am familiar with the "disorder" called schizophrenia. I do not doubt illness and disease in this world as they are self evident as the empirical evidence suggests. However, to deny the words of Christ on the subject is just intellectually dishonest. The "heart" of man is the source of all evils. We are born into sin. Our hearts are deceitfully wicked, who can know them? So, in short you are right, mental illness does not make someone evil. We are all born evil and mental illness is just plain evidence that this is true and we need A Savior, A Great Savior.
ReplyDeleteFOR INSTANCE READ THIS: They came to the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gerasenes. When He got out of the boat, immediately a man from the tombs with an unclean spirit met Him, and he had his dwelling among the tombs. And no one was able to bind him anymore, even with a chain; because he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him and the shackles broken in pieces, and no one was strong enough to subdue him. Constantly, night and day, he was screaming among the tombs and in the mountains, and gashing himself with stones. Seeing Jesus from a distance, he ran up and bowed down before Him; and shouting with a loud voice, he said, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God, do not torment me!” For He had been saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” And He was asking him, “What is your name?” And he *said to Him, “My name is Legion; for we are many.” And he began to implore Him earnestly not to send them out of the country. Now there was a large herd of swine feeding nearby on the mountain. The demons implored Him, saying, “Send us into the swine so that we may enter them.” Jesus gave them permission. And coming out, the unclean spirits entered the swine; and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea, about two thousand of them; and they were drowned in the sea.
ReplyDeleteTheir herdsmen ran away and reported it in the city and in the country. And the people came to see what it was that had happened. They came to Jesus and *observed the man who had been demon-possessed sitting down, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had had the “ legion”; and they became frightened. Those who had seen it described to them how it had happened to the demon-possessed man, and all about the swine. And they began to implore Him to leave their region. As He was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed was imploring Him that he might accompany Him. And He did not let him, but He *said to him, “ Go home to your people and report to them [d]what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you.” And he went away and began to proclaim in Decapolis what great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed.
Please remember, if you comment, that no foul language will be approved for posting.
ReplyDeleteWow, I cant believe I got half way through this. Its really sad when people make "God" more important than themselves and dont realize that they are their own god.
ReplyDeletePlease dont blame this on your version of an imaginary man in the sky. Sinners Sin... EVERYONE is a sinner.
When you say they did it because of sin or because he had hate in his heart you are only falsely judging him. You should not judge people. Especially when your reasons are your own perspective and opinion. These arent facts.
Anonymous above: Thanks for the comment. Let's be intellectually honest for a moment. If Jesus is as you say "an imaginary man in the sky", then why is your birth certificate stamped in reference to His life? Why does the entirety of the modern world count time off "an imaginary man in the sky"? The simple answer is we don't. We count time at Harvard University, Yale University, The N.Y.S.E., the United Nations building and on every newspaper, telephone, watch in the world the same way. This is the year 2012 and we have counted every second from the rearranged year number 1 off of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. The real Man who really lived, really did what He said He would do, He really loved God perfectly, really loved His neighbor perfectly, really healed the sick, really made the blind see, really made the deaf hear, really died on a Roman cross, really was put into the grave and really rose from the dead 3 days later. That is why your and and everyone else's death certificate will bear witness to Him by having the date and time stamped on it. We count time off of the only Man worthy to be the center of human history, God in the flesh, Jesus Christ. So much for my "own perspectives and opinions", these are not opinions, but absolute truth that history testifies to every second with empirical evidence.
ReplyDeleteAnd by the way, He is really coming back to judge the living and the dead, including you and James Holmes. This is why God commands all men everywhere to repent.
ReplyDeletedear tim tebow. 12 people r dead. Everyone has their day to perish. theres no reason for it but it was just their time to go. just like how tomm if u drive to work u cant get hit by a drunk driver and die. it was the work of the devil manipulating another mans mind. my heart goes out to the families who lost there loved ones. whether the kid was mentally unstable or not he will burn in hell forever. at least the pizza will taste great down there
ReplyDeleteHow well the author knows the letter of the law, like the pharisees, and yet you do not know the heart of the law. I am a devout Christian, but even I would not presume to know James Holme's heart, for only God knows men's hearts. Also, I would not presume to be so self righteous to judge that this man had an evil heart to start with. Having worked with people with the devastating illness of Schizophrenia, I do know what it can push the suffers of this illness to do, which includes murder. I have seen it first hand. While the murders comitted by James are devastating, my heart goes out to this man, who in one last desperate cry for help, may have sent a folder of his intent to kill to his psychiatrist, and some how it fell throught the cracks and his cry went unheeded. There may have been one little ray of sanity that cause James to sent this file to his counselor in the hopes he might have been stopped, but sadly, he wasn't, and that little window of opportunity closed, and he slipped into complete madness. Just curious Returntotruth, PBS had a documentary about a little girl who was born "BORN" Schizophrenic. Already when she was able to verbalize, she said the auditory voiced she heard told her to kill her family!!! At age 3. She cried to her mother and said:' The voices are telling me to kill. Help me mommy. I cannot stop myself." I assume you think she must be possessed, as seems to be the excuse against mental illness being the cause of this little girls mental affliction, but extreme religious fanatics like you who misinterpret scripture. I am so glad that Jesus knows the heart of the law, and has more compassion for people than some purported Christians like you. God will know James heart when he stands before him, and will deal with him accordingly. As for me, My heart goes out to those who were shot and killed, and the injured. My heart goes out to James Holmes, who has slipped away into madness.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous above: You are correct that I know the letter of the Law. As the apostle Paul said, "I would have not known sin, but by the Law". We can't know the Spirit unless we have been "convicted of sin, righteousness and judgment to come", that is the Spirit's work. He uses the divine Law of God to show us our sin so that we might see our desperate need for the Savior. For someone not "presuming" to be self righteous, you sure are condemning me a lot for simply quoting scripture. As far as James Holmes, the little girl "born" ill, me and you, we are all born into sin, evil from birth. That is what the Word of God says, it is what Jesus says. If you don't believe the bible when it speaks on one subject, how will you believe any of it? Jesus knows the "heart of the Law" and He said, "No murderer will inherit eternal life". James Holmes has not slipped away into madness, he is a sinner in need of a Savior, just like me and just like you. Why call James Holmes a mad man when you yourself have had anger in your heart, the same kind of anger that leads to murder? Pray for James Holmes that he would repent and cast himself on the mercy of Jesus Christ. My heart goes out to him as well. God bless you.
ReplyDelete