Ken Walker: Blessed Are Those Who Mourn
Ken Walker, “Blessed Are Those Who Mourn,” Charisma (September 1999), pages 38-46, 91.
What happens when young people pray that God would do whatever it takes to bring about revival? Is there a connection between prayer and the tragedies that have taken place in Columbine High in Littleton, Colorado and at Wedgwood Baptist in Fort Worth, Texas?
Eight months before Columbine, Mike Higgs wrote in the September/October 1998 issue of Pray! magazine, that “Littleton, Colorado, students are on their way to establishing a prayer group on every campus in their community.” Jonathan Graf, editor of Pray!, reported that one of the student leaders of this movement told adults to “lead us, join us, or get out of the way!” Graf went on to comment in his editorial that “In a very real sense, the Columbine shooting was a result of the prayers of these young people. They wanted God to do something so huge on their campuses that the world would take notice. Satan tried to stop them when two troubled boys entered Columbine High School on April 20, 1999, and started shooting. But God turned Satan’s scheme into the very answer to their prayers. Something huge for the kingdom is coming out of this tragedy” (Pray! Nov/Dec 1999, p. 5).
There has been an E-mail, reportedly circulated by Pastor Dr. Ed Tropp of Circle Drive Baptist Church in Colorado Springs, that has said, “What the news is not reporting is the revival that’s begun. There were 2 other backslidden Christian kids in that library while people were getting killed, who watched her step up and give her life and came out and vowed never to compromise their faith again as long as they lived. Christian kids that were in public schools in the whole area that had been embarrassed because they wanted to be cool, didn’t want to stand up for Christ, have all opened their mouths this week and there are hundreds of teenagers turning to Christ. They don’t want to hear about peer counseling and psychology, they’re falling on their knees and crying out to Jesus Christ. . . .One girl stood forward and said, ‘I believe in Jesus,’ and what that has done in the hearts of the people in this community is unbelievable. What the news isn’t reporting is what they don’t understand, a revival has begun.”
Wendy Murray Zoba quotes Reinhold Niebuhr, “It may be that there will be no salvation for the human spirit from the more and more painful burdens of social injustice until the ominous tendency in human history has resulted in the perfect tragedy.” In her opinion, Columbine was the perfect tragedy to awaken the United States (“‘Do You Believe in God?’: Columbine and the stirring of America’s soul.” Christianity Today, Oct 4, 1999, p. 33).
Two of the most interesting reports from this terrible tragedy are about the Holy Spirit’s forewarning. Exactly 90 days before April 20, local pastor, Bruce Porter, awoke from a nightmarish vision of kids killing kids (p. 38). Youth minister Larry Pambianco says that three nights before Columbine Eric Harris was at his youth outreach center. Pambianco reports that he received a word of knowledge before the main band played and that he stood and delivered this message: “Somebody in here has either murdered someone or is about to. Please reconsider and accept the Lord. God can save you out of that lifestyle, clean you up and take you out of that” (“Reaching ‘Trench Coat Kids’” Charisma, September 1999, p. 42).
Five months later, another tragedy engulfed the Dallas area when Larry Ashbrook entered Wedgwood Baptist Church during a post-See-You-At-The-Pole Prayer and Praise rally. He opened fire upon a sanctuary full of high schoolers and their leaders, throwing bombs and shooting over 100 times.
“Right before the gunman committed suicide, a young man [Jeremiah Neitz] stood up and faced him. He said, ‘I know what you need…Jesus.’ [Ashbrook] answered with a curse to which [Neitz] replied, ‘Come on, shoot me. I know where I am going. Do you?’ Larry Ashbrook then sat on the back pew and put a bullet through his brain” (as reported in E-mail by Arlyn on September 19, 1999, see the Wedgwood Baptist Website: http://www.wedgwoodbc.org/ [Conversation no longer available as of October 3, 2014]).
Reports continue to come in from all over the United States where young people have been deeply shaken by these events. Many are ready to listen to a spiritual message that answers questions untouched by the relativism they have been taught for years. There is a holy boldness arising in previously lukewarm young people. Charisma reports that church and ministry leaders are also recognizing the urgency of the hour. Doug Stringer, founder of Turning Point Ministries in Houston, says “From a Christian perspective, there’s a sense that [the church’s focus] can’t be business as usual. We can’t get together and navel-gaze. We’re the watchmen on the wall. We have to look at tangible ways to serve the community” (p. 43).
It has been observed in both of these tragedies that there were miracles of protection that kept many more from dying. Many of the bombs planted in Columbine High never exploded. Likewise, Ashbrook was a terrible shot and a poor bomb maker. What was intended for an even greater tragedy was limited by God for His very specific purpose.
If these tragedies are any indication, when youth pray for God to do “whatever it takes” there is a tremendous triumph that comes in the wake of a great tragedy. It appears that when young people “sell out” for God to do whatever it takes, the Enemy does his worst. Then, God takes the tragedy and brings a spiritual revolution to the community.
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose” Romans 8:28 NKJV.
Reviewed by Raul Mock
