OPERATION Cease Fire

Written By Megamorphic Church

Pastor N. Curtis Bryant speaks about MCU
OPERATION Cease Fire – June 17 - 19 2023

What the Church Can Do About (Gun) Violence

Gun violence is all around us. We hear about shootings daily. Some incidents involve single individuals and others are mass shootings of multiple people. How tragic it is in either case. When tragedy comes, we look for someone to blame. Violence gets a hold of people against their own inclinations, will, and willpower. What we can do about it is the solution to the problem.

Jesus said we are “the salt of the earth” and “the light of the world.” YOU are salt and light of this world. You have been called by God to bring light into the darkness in His WONDERFUL name through your life, but it is not optional – Jesus said we ARE salt of the earth and light of the world. (Matthew 5:13-14).

Look at what the Bible has to say.

John 15:12 – “This is my commandment: love one another as I have loved you.”

Exodus 20:13 – “Thou shalt not kill (other people).”

Hebrews 12:14-16 – “Seek peace and pursue it.” Live peaceably…

Luke 6:7-29 – “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you…To him who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other also.”

Revelation of the Manifesto

Why mass shootings? Perpetrators usually blame someone or some system. There is a commonality among those who inflict gun violence on large numbers of other people to whom they are not PERSONALLY familiar. Some of the reasons include:

They possess Anger, Hate, and a desire for Notoriety. These are among the common reasons for mass shootings. Other reasons include (but are not limited to):

Injustice Indifference to Violence

Influence of Extremists Traditions of Violence

Personality Problems Mass Media, Social Media

Ideology of guns Greed

Boredom Guns and Politics

Physiological Factors Desire for Revenge

Instinct Evil In this World

Overcrowding Poverty

Practical Action

  • Be Evangelistic – intentionally become an advocate, activist, and the model for peace.

  • Help the victims of gun violence.

  • Educate people about the nature, causes, and extent of gun violence in your city.

  • Seek to rehabilitate the youth (would-be shooters) who are prone to violence.

  • Act to eliminate social conditions which lead to gun violence.

  • Seek to reduce slaughter (mass shootings) by informing law enforcement about potential threats.

  • Criticize the exploitation of gun violence, mass media, and social media to reduce their influence and power.

  • Support the strengthening of family life by ‘turning the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers’ (Malachi 4:4-6)

  • Become PEACEMAKERS.

Recommended Reading

Love Is the Answer, How You Can Put Principles of Love Into Action to Build a Stronger Police-Community Marriage by A.J. Ali.

Bleeding Out, The Devastating Consequences of Urban Violence – And A Bold New Plan for Peace In the Streets, by Thomas Abt.

Megamorphic Church
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