R. Albert Mohler Jr.'s Blog, page 418

The Briefing 01-02-2013

Today marks the beginning of the 2013 season.

Story 1 - The Fiscal Cliff: an artificial crisis that points to a very real one Keep Reading

“Man Does Not Know His Time” Ecclesiates 9:11-12

“And Them That Mourn” — Celebrating Christmas in the Face of Grief and Death

Families across the Christian world are gathering for Christmas even now, with caravans of cars and planeloads of passengers headed to hearth and home. Christmas comes once again, filled with the joy, expectation, and sentiment of the season. It is a time for children, who fill homes with energy, excitement, and sheer joy. And it is a time for the aged, who cherish Christmas memories drawn from decades of Christmas celebrations. Even in an age of mobility, families do their best to gather as extended clans, drawn by the call of Christmas.

And yet, the sentiment and joy of the season is often accompanied by very different emotions and memories. At some point, every Christian home is invaded by the pressing memory of loved ones who can no longer gather — of empty chairs and empty arms, and aching hearts. For some, the grief is fresh, suffering the death of one who was so very present at the Christmas gathering last year, but is now among the saints resting in Christ. For others, it is the grief of a loss suffered long ago. We grieve the absence of parents and grandparents and aunts and uncles and siblings. Some, with a grief almost too great to bear, suffer the heartbreak that comes with the death of a child.

For all of us, the knowledge of recent events of unspeakable horror and the murder of young children make us think of so many homes with such overwhelming grief. Keep Reading

James 3:5b-18

Rachel Weeping for Her Children — The Massacre in Connecticut

Thus says the LORD:  “A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.” [Jeremiah 31:15]

It has happened again. This time tragedy came to Connecticut, where a lone gunman entered two classrooms at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown and opened fire, killing at least twenty children and six adults, before turning his weapons of death upon himself. The young victims, still to be officially identified, ranged in age from five to ten years. The murderer was himself young, reported to be twenty years old. According to press reports, he murdered his mother, a teacher at Sandy Hook, in her home before the rampage at the school.

Apparently, matricide preceded mass murder. Some of the children were in kindergarten, not even able to tie their own shoes. The word kindergarten comes from the German, meaning a garden for children. Sandy Hook Elementary School was no garden today. It was a place of murder, mayhem, and undisguised evil. Keep Reading

The Briefing Special Edition – Connecticut Shooting

This special edition of The Briefing is released in response to the recent shooting in an elementary school in Newtown Connecticut. Keep Reading

The Briefing 12-14-12 – Final Episode of the Season

This is the final episode of the season. Please join us again for The Briefing on January 2nd, 2013. Thanks for listening. Keep Reading

The Briefing 12-14-12

Story 1 - The freedom of information threatened by UN treaty Keep Reading

The Briefing 12-13-12

Story 1 - Is rural America becoming less relevant? Keep Reading

The Briefing 12-12-12

Story 1 - The death of Christian Britain? Keep Reading