Saturday, April 27, a tragic shooting occurred at Chabad Synagogue in Poway, California, —just a few miles down the road from our church, Maranatha Chapel. One woman died, and three other people are wounded, including Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, whose hand was torn by bullets. Worshipers were celebrating the last day of Passover.

Rabbi Goldstein is a friend of mine.

We met in the early 90s shortly after I had traveled to Israel. I brought home a bumper sticker that said, in Hebrew, “The Messiah Is Coming Soon!” and put it on my car. The Rabbi was driving behind me one day and saw it; he followed me and pulled into the parking lot of our church right behind me.

He got out of his car, walked over to meet me and introduced himself.

“Where did you get that bumper sticker?” he asked.

“Israel!” I answered.

“Why did you put it on your car? You are a Christian!?” he asked, assuming so since I had pulled into a church.

I told him, “Not only am I a Christian, I’m the pastor here.” He broke out in a huge smile, and said, “Let’s go to coffee and talk!”, which, of course, we did. We have been friends ever since.

I shared my faith in Jesus as the Messiah, and that I believe He is coming back soon. He shared with me that while He doesn’t believe in Jesus, He does believe the Messiah is coming soon. He said, “We will know who Messiah is then, for sure!”

That was the beginning of a long and wonderful friendship. His congregation holds an annual fundraiser called “The Friendship Circle,” which goes toward helping disabled children in our community. Our church has helped support that cause for years.

Rabbi Goldstein is in stable condition after extensive hand surgery and has been released from the hospital.

I texted the Rabbi and received a text back, in which he said, “Ray, tell your congregation thank you for their love and prayers. It is a miracle by God’s grace that I am alive.”

He is grieving over the loss of a long time friend and pioneering member of Chabad of Poway, the woman who died from gunshot wounds. He is very concerned for her family, the other two wounded victims, as well as the trauma suffered by his congregation. But he vows to stay strong!

We are shocked and horrified by this act of anti-Semitism in our beautiful county of San Diego. Please continue to pray with us for the Rabbi as well as his family and congregation.

Love and blessings from Maranatha Chapel.

“A rash of school shootings” has people scratching their heads wondering why. Many locate the problem primarily in America’s love of guns. Each new campus tragedy becomes a rallying point in the call for gun control legislation. Gun owners and Second Amendment advocates push back. The debate degenerates into name calling and useless vitriol.

Now we hear of an emerging epidemic of suicide. While a number of experts have been calling attention to the problem for a while, the recent deaths of two celebrities, Anthony Bourdain and Kate Spade, has moved the issue to center stage.

I don’t think the increasing frequency of school shootings and suicides are disconnected.

I believe they find their origin in the same cause. Are guns the problem, as many propose? A little online sleuthing does indeed indicate the USA has the highest per capita gun ownership by a wide margin over most other countries. But that rate hasn’t increased markedly over the last 40 years. Yes, there are a lot more guns. But there are also a lot more people. So, per capita fire arm ownership hasn’t increased significantly. A remarkable statistic asserts only 3% of the entire population owns half of all fire arms! Of that 3% a statistically insignificant fraction are involved in mass shootings, such as took place in 2017 at the Route 91 Music Festival in Las Vegas. Yet school and mass shooting incidents were unheard of 40 years ago, though per capita gun ownership was virtually identical to today.

So, what changed?

Secular pundits look for causes in economics, politics and sociological trends. They ignore the spiritual dimension, because it’s regarded as a non-starter. Religion is neglected as a viable paradigm for consideration in social trends in the modern world. It’s only place of relevance for secular moderns is as a curiosity of ancient history and a handicapping hiccup to the advance of enlightened progressivism.

In order to cure a malady, the right diagnosis is required. As long as sociologists and policy makers ignore the spiritual nature of humans, they’ll miss an important ingredient that shapes society. They’ve done so in understanding the root cause of both mass shootings and the rising tide of suicide.

I propose what’s changed over the last half century is a hollowing out of the transcendent in modern society.

The State-sponsored public school system from kindergarten through university has promulgated a materialistic worldview that’s told people they are little more than grown up germs. Mistakes. Pure chance. The fortuitous combination of chemical reactions that produced self-replicating organic machines. But there is no real purpose to their existence, no significance to their 80 or so years. The best they can hope for is to feel alive. So, do whatever you want, because—well, why not? No one’s ultimately going to judge you, because molecules can’t be right or wrong; they just are.

Is it any wonder people shaped by such ideas slip a noose around their neck or swallow a bottle of pills when their pain seems inescapable?

Deep inside, something irresistibly human, something originally God-imaged, rises up against such materialistic notions. It says, “No! I reject that. I mean something.” It’s that inner voice that prompts many to live as though they are significant and that their life does matter. They strive to achieve something lasting, something worthwhile. But in some, that voice turns dark. It rages against the injustice of feeling significant when the system’s worldview tells them they aren’t. They rebel against the convenient contradiction of modern society: “You’re the product of mindless evolution. So get a degree and make something of yourself.” Their inner turmoil boils over into lashing out at the system. They are in pain and want others to feel it. Since no one seems to care about them, they’ll attack others to spread their misery.

What’s changed is the core worldview that shapes modern society.

The Judeo-Christian worldview that framed Western Civilization was replaced by a secular and materialistic worldview a century ago following the horrors of the First World War. It took several decades for the forward momentum of the Judeo-Christian worldview to slow. World War II brought it to a halt. It’s last fumes are now spent and secularism prevails.

The remedy is found in something I shared in my last article. What’s needed is a wholesale return to God and His Word. But that’s not something any church or group can engineer. It requires a mighty, soul-shaking, life-transforming move of God’s Spirit bringing revival.

This past week, Pastor’s Perspective aired a few broadcasts on the Las Vegas shooting that happened Sunday Night at a Country music festival.

Guests Derek Neider of Calvary Chapel Las Vegas, Greg Laurie of Harvest Fellowship, Ed Stetzer of Christianity Today and Brian Brodersen of Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa address questions and concerns surrounding the tragedy.

In light of recents events, we have compiled information and resources that we hope may serve as helpful and encouraging during this time.

Here are resources and ways to help in light of the recent shooting in Las Vegas Sunday Night. We continue to pray for the victims, their families and the city.

I have run out of fingers & toes to count tragedies. Just in the US and just in the last five years, over 20 mass shootings have taken place in locations as diverse as a Colorado movie theater and a Florida airport, a Connecticut elementary school and an Arkansas night club, a South Carolina Church, a Sikh temple in Wisconsin, and an office Christmas party in San Bernardino, California.

All but one of the perpetrators have been men (the lone woman was an accomplice of her husband). A few were declared supporters of the Islamic terror organization, ISIS. Most took their own lives. Only a few survived to stand trial.

However, the most remarkable element in every sad case, has been the response of those who rushed in to either stop the attacks or come to the aid of victims. Some heroes were targeted themselves. Some were passersby, unable to watch evil unfold unchallenged before them.

In dark moments like these, everyone reacts, but some (often too few) respond in ways that surprise us all, as agents of hope & healing.

The words “react” and “respond” are technically synonyms, but there is a significant difference between a visceral, knee-jerk reaction and a thoughtful, redemptive response.

Initial reactions range from tears, screams, hate-filled accusations, profanity-laced threats, retaliation and emotional breakdowns. However, helpful responses open doors of escape in the midst of chaos.

In the aftermath of these tragedies, stories of such responses always emerge. Trained officers raced toward gunfire in Las Vegas. But also civilians, became rescuers, covering and carrying victims to safety. They were all just decent people helping friends and strangers.

Personal vehicles became makeshift ambulances. Wheelbarrows became stretchers to rush the injured toward safety. Young men & women placed themselves in danger to shield the targeted from flying bullets or carry victims to safety, though most had no idea from which direction the shots were originating, as the concert ground became the “killing-field” of a deranged sniper perched 32 floors above them and about a quarter mile away.

These first responders, professionals and volunteers were doing what they could to provide refuge. Their sole hope was survival for themselves and those around them. The best of those present in Las Vegas on the evening of October 1 were standing between life and death, as shields of defense.

We have once again been reminded that true evil exists.

We are baffled at the depths of darkness to which a man’s heart can sink. Yes, we are all sinners, capable of great depravity. Many have pointed out that each one of us is capable of any heinous act. Nonetheless, this all seems so senseless.

All the same questions will be posed again, by reporters, journalists, radio talk show hosts, co-workers, family and friends. “Were there warning signs?” “Where does violence come from?” “Why is it so prevalent?” “And why has such extreme violence become so commonplace?” It seems ironic that as I write this, sitting in a coffee shop, a woman has just walked in with two young girls ages 10 or 11. Both girls are wearing taekwondo t-shirts, and as the woman places her order, the girls practice a mock attack. One girl plays the assailant, picking up a metal thermos bottle, and in slo-mo, with teeth-bared like a Doberman dog, brings the “weapon” across the face of her “victim,” who recoils with a practiced, dramatic scowl, slowly rolling her head away from the point of impact, until the adult intervenes with “knock it off girls!” Moments earlier, I saw an Instagram pic, posted within hours of the Las Vegas massacre showing two early teenaged Aussie brothers looking viciously into a camera with pirate swords drawn and standing in a threatening pose. Apparently, the desire for dominance lives in a good number of us.

Why is there violence? It has become sport on every screen of every size. We must remind ourselves that we indeed live in a terribly broken world. Senseless violence happens all over the world every day.

Every outbreak is a reminder that we need a savior.

The bigger question is “How do we who follow Jesus respond in the presence of such evil and heartbreak? Here is what I know for sure:

1. We must not allow ourselves to be frozen in fear. We can’t hide away. We must be present with grace, hope, kindness. We must openly speak of Jesus as the hope and healer of the wounded heart and shattered life.

2. We must weep with those who weep, entering into their suffering as Jesus did with Mary & Martha over their brother Lazarus’ recent death, even though He was about to call him back to life.

3. We must intercede for those wounded & the families of all lost victims as they seek to recover from their profound loss.

4. We must intercede for America. This has gone too far & too long (2 Chronicles 7:14).

5. We must seek God for our next action step. Perhaps giving blood or donating through an online fund to help cover crisis expenses to those in need. We could team up with a Las Vegas church, asking for street teams of Good Samaritans to pray and comfort the shaken people of their city.

It is time for the Church to step outside the churches to BE the Church on the battleground of our streets. Jesus has no hands & feet on earth but ours. No voice speaking truth, hope & healing, and Gospel to hurting souls around us but our voice.

In Exodus 3, God told Moses, “I have seen, heard & know of the suffering of My people, and I have come to deliver them.” Then to Moses’ surprise, God said,”…And I am sending you to bring My people out.” May we hear God speaking those same words to us.

Moses felt inadequate. So do I. But it is time to move beyond being “reactionaries” and become “first responders” for the Prince of Peace.