Spiritual Dynamics

We are in a conflict with an unseen enemy who is manifested through sinful actions. His influence is profound, and can be deadly - spiritually speaking, certainly, but through physical manifestions, as well. 2nd Corinthians 10 states:
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.
4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,
5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ...

What we see and what we experience through our physical senses, the material world, is not all there is.  There are forces arrayed around us that we cannot see - there is the Holy Spirit, at work in this world, and there are the angels of God who do His bidding.  And, there is the devil and those spirit beings who are aligned with him. They are at work and they are at war, and it's a warfare in which we are all involved.  We have to careful to be prayerful and cognizant of the power of evil, recognizing that God is greater.

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When we consider the heinous event in the Christian school in Nashville, we cannot ignore the spiritual dynamics at play. James 4 states:
1 Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?
2 You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask.
3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.
4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

The heinous act of a woman armed with three weapons breaking and entering a Christian school during the school day has sent shock waves through the Nashville area and throughout the nation. The school, The Covenant School, is a ministry of Covenant Presbyterian Church.  

We think of a church or religious facility as a safe space, a place where God is exalted. And, we have too often over the last few years seen instances of people walking into churches intent on doing harm, some brandishing weapons, others committing acts of vandalism that are meant to intimidate churches who stand for life.

We know that murder is a violation of God's commandments.  The state of a person's heart or mind that has been corrupted to such an extent that he or she would want to commit such an act is clearly influenced by demonic forces.

And, I believe this is amplified in the case of the young lady who walked into a Christian school building and took the lives of three children and three adults.  It has been reported that she was a biological female who identified as male.  She would be considered a transgender individual - and in this age of seemingly increasing acceptance of this type of "transition," combined with an exposure of what the agenda is all about in promoting surgical and hormonal alterations in a person's body and soul, this only goes to highlight the twisted nature of what is being promoted.

The shooting comes just days before something called the "Trans Day of Vengeance" this weekend.  According to The Daily Wire:

A group of transgender activists is planning a “Day of Vengeance” in Washington, D.C., for March 31-April 2 while raising money for firearms training this week, according to its online materials.

The Trans Radical Activist Network (TRAN) said on Twitter that “The time is now, enough is enough,” and uploaded posters to TikTok that said, “We want more than visibility. Trans Day of Vengeance. Stop trans genocide..."

The article also mentioned that one of the group's co-founders had, in a TikTok post, "called on transgenders to take part in a 'day of trans joy and rage' on March 10 in Sacramento to drown out the voice of detransitioner Chloe Cole."

It is unnatural for a person to attempt to change their biology and begin to identify as another gender, and while these individuals believe they are victims because people have not readily accepted these actions, certainly they are in need of mental and emotional care; and not the so-called "gender-affirming" care that results in drastic, and perhaps permanent, biological alterations. 

Make no mistake, just like extremists on the pro-abortion side who have unleashed their fury on multiple pro-life pregnancy resource center and churches, there are trans activists that are advocating violence to advance their cause.  And, the Nashville shooter was apparently influenced by similar impulses.  And, this type of behavior is never acceptable and the deception of the enemy regarding the sanctify of life and the viewpoint of sexuality has been extended to include violent acts. 

According to The Washington Stand website, a Tennessee state representative, Tim Burchett, said to Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, “Obviously, it’s a mental health issue, and it’s just a complete and total tragedy,” adding, “I honestly feel like this is some sort of demonic possession that has gotten into our world today. And it’s become accepted...” he continued.

He went on to say, “This country needs this revival, Tony,” adding, “All the laws and all the politicians pontificating back and forth are not going to solve it. Until we have a revival in this country, I’m afraid this is going to be more the norm than the exception.” The article concluded by stating:

...Christians should look beyond issues of gun distribution and police response time, to the deep recesses of the heart, said Perkins. “We need God in America again,” he concluded. “And this is further evidence that, as we’ve moved from His truth and from His ways, we suffer the consequences.”

Recognizing that we are engaged in a spiritual war, Christian leaders have announced opportunities to pray.  Pastor Jack Hibbs of Calvary Chapel Chino Hills in California posted on Facebook:

I am inviting all of you to join us ONLINE OR IN PERSON, Wednesday evening March 29th at 7:00 pm Pacific, for a time of national prayer for the victims, the families, and the community of Nashville, Tennessee.

Our nation has certainly lost its way and we may be lost as a nation, even as our enemies are at the gates. However, as a people of faith, we can choose to turn back to our nation’s beginnings and to Him who is mighty to save.

As a people, we must receive the conviction of sin and offer to God a heart of repentance so that we might turn to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

By God’s grace and invitation, we can stop this. Together as a people, let us rend our hearts, asking God to forgive us of our sins and pray that God would forgive the grievous sins of our nation. It is now incumbent upon me to ask you to consider joining us live Wednesday evening March 29th at 7:00 pm Pacific time as we dedicate our service to praying for our nation and seeking God for His mercy.

And, already scheduled for this Saturday was a prayer and worship gathering at the State Capitol in Nashville, another stop in the Kingdom to the Capitol tour, co-sponsored by Let Us Worship and Turning Point USA Faith.  Sean Feucht, who leads the movement, said on Twitter:

It is divine timing that we have a permit for the capitol of Tennessee this Saturday at 5pm. 

Only God can heal the city and bring hope in the midst of such an evil tragedy. 

We’re calling the whole state to join and pray...

Erick Erickson, Atlanta talk-show host and commentator, wrote this:

In fact, time and again, the press increasingly has found ways to excuse or explain away leftwing violence like this. The evil actor was, in fact, the victim constantly becomes the theme.

Sadly, these conversations turn political. Should guns be banned? Should we fund mental health more? Should we hire or fund security for schools to stop shooters? All these are political and political policy positions.

What happened was evil devolved from a spiritual problem running amok in our society.

Transgenderism is not normal. It is a mental health issue. Its activists are increasingly violent. More and more have declared their intent to be violent. They shout down, bully, harass, and attempt to cancel others.

He goes on to say that "this shooter goes beyond all that" and notes:

Evil is not generated by God or caused by God. Evil is the absence of God. A society that has driven God out of its conversations, thoughts, and institutions is a society that must deal more and more with evil in the Godless vacuum of moral relativism. It is in that vacuum of relativism that society begins its war on truth and its embrace of evil.

Remember, we do not know the full extent of what motivated Audrey Hale to do what she did, although we do see a troubled individual who not doubt had mental issues who carefully planned an attack on the Christian school she once attended.  Somehow, rather than stick to the clear narrative of the shooting NBC News ran a story painting the LGTBQ community as victims.  It opened by saying:

Shortly after news broke Monday of a fatal shooting at a private Christian Nashville elementary school, police said the suspect was transgender. This detail, according to trans people in the state, has poured fuel on an already combustive environment that has led many of them to fear for their safety.

The article said:

“We are terrified for the LGBTQ community here,” Kim Spoon, a trans activist based in Knoxville, Tennessee, said. “More blood’s going to be shed, and it’s not going to be shed in a school.”

It goes on to say:

Aislinn Bailey, the acting president of Tri-Cities Transgender, a trans-led support and advocacy group based in Johnson City, Tennessee, said her initial reaction to news that the suspect was transgender was fear.

“I knew that as soon as anyone mentioned that, it was immediately going to become the center focus instead of what should be the focus, and that’s gun violence in this country,” Bailey said.

Actually, the focus should be on a shooter, who apparently had mental issues, walking into a school and killing three children and three adults.  A Christian school.  Christians targeted and losing their lives. The motive of the shooter has not been absolutely determined as of yet, but Audrey Hale's gender identity could have been a factor.  But, yet NBC News describes public health and safety legislation as somehow "targeting" the LGBTQ+ community, stating:

Over the last several years, historic numbers of bills targeting LGBTQ people have been introduced in state legislatures across the country, including in Tennessee’s. This year, state lawmakers filed more than 400 such bills — more than half of them targeting trans people specifically — according to the American Civil Liberties Union and a separate group of researchers who are tracking the flow of legislation.

So far this year, Tennessee lawmakers passed two bills targeting LGBTQ people...

Six people are dead in a Christian school, yet the shooter and LGBTQ people are the victims. What a mixed-up world we live in.  A world in which evil is called good. 

Make no mistake; violence is a work of the enemy.  And, our position as Christians is not to be angry and hostile toward those with whom we disagree, but to stand on truth, to exercise conviction with compassion.  And, we recognize that it is immoral to try to alter biology in order to try to change God's created identity.  To speak that truth is honorable and godly and may be hard for people to accept. Yet, it is rooted in the Scriptures.

And, we can't ignore the spiritual dynamics at play.  The enemy will deceive people into not accepting the way they were created.  And, he will fuel the flames of anger, which results in taking hostile, hateful action, even death.  Some would blame the guns, the weapons - but in most cases, someone who shouldn't be brandishing a weapon is using it to harm another.  What happened at The Covenant School was an act of pure evil, and it appeared to be an act of hostility toward the faith community, a symbolic gesture of some sort, perhaps.  But, Christians are not the enemy.  There is an enemy, and we have to pray and take our Biblical authority in resisting him in prayer and by not giving in to hostility, hatred, or anger.