Br. Tobin's Statement On Newtown CT Killings (12.14.12)

Prayer

Firstly, all our hearts and prayers go out to those who have lost their lives in Newtown, and their families.

May God receive the dead into his full presence by his mercy. May any injured be quickly healed. May the families of all the victims be consoled by Jesus himself in this time of shock and loss.

May we all cast our cares on Him because he cares for each and every one of us.

In Jesus NAME.

Statement   

In these troubled times wherein young men all around our country have taken to mayhem in too many public places, and even as many of us faithful also throw up hands and say "What do we do" it's perhaps past time for us Christians to state clearly that the healing and deliverance ministry of Jesus Christ can help even the most troubled souls.

Having said that, guys who go into public places and shoot them up not only have mental health and relationship issues, they have demons.

Anyone who knows God's Spirit and his word knows that this is a fact in the spiritual realm. We have seen too many times what happens when such people get no adequate help. We have also seen miracles whereby the tormented come back to their humanity and health.

Yet and still, so many of us in the Christian church fail to offer any ministry in this area of healing and deliverance.

I'm not saying the devil made the Newtown shooter, or shooters, do it. Or, that being demonized frees one from moral fault and responsibility.

Not at all.

What I am saying is that Christianity without healing and deliverance is like medicine without surgery. These activities were Jesus' first gospel activities, as well as those of his first apostles, yet we in Christ's body have too often let them fall by the wayside of disuse?

And thereby, tormented souls do not get the help they need.

I don't usually go back to paintings hundreds of years old from Europe to make points about our modern faith here in the U.S.A., but there's a famous painting in New Haven called "Saint Anthony Tormented By Demons."

It's subject matter is not just artistic for a museum, or for long ago.

We give no glory to the devil however (neither do we revile him), but it can be noted that Ephesians 6,12 says his team works together.

Dear people of God- it also strikes me as passing strange that while we Christians still enjoy freedom of speech, when it comes to such clearly demonic and repeated acts of public mayhem, we are so slow and low key in offering our whole gospel counsel regarding the efficacy of the healing and deliverance ministry.

If just one Christian with some faith confidence in this area of ministry, or even one local evangelist, had reached out to any one of these young men that have caused mayhem across our country, many many people might still be alive today.

Yes we live in a time when healing and deliverance is not a politically correct matter, but the fact is that today in Connecticut we realize that this vital part of our Christian service is sometimes more than politically incorrect, it is also a matter of life and death.

Threrefore, in Jesus' NAME, I ask that we in the body of Christ re-dedicate ouselves to the whole gospel of Jesus Christ, and testify that He has the power to heal the tormented heart of anyone, even young men spiritually festering towards mayhem.

Finally, we intercede for any and all caregivers of whatever religious or secular background and expertise in Newtown who are now called to minister to the families who have lost their loved ones. We pray that God give them all the strength to stand side by side with those who have so brutally lost loved ones and help them with all the resources and understanding they possess.

We also pray a Spirit of consolation and Godly love and faith over Newtown, and all of Connecticut, as her dear people come to grips with what has happened in our home.

In Jesus NAME I pray.

Br. Tobin, Cheshire CT