MY THOUGHTS ON THE CHARLESTON CHURCH MASSACRE

My Thoughts on the Charleston Church Massacre
Larry Grecu, Baker, Florida
June 24, 2015

In a few hours, it will be a week since the murders of nine members of Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina.  I was struck by a statement made by the governor of South Carolina when she said that Charleston, South Carolina, was known as the "Holy City."  There are two things the Lord has laid on my heart regarding these events and this comment.  All Christians should realize that the Lord is sending us a clear message, whether we like to believe this or not - especially since the message was sent in such a horrific manner.

First, the very fact that Charleston is called the Holy City should make us pause!  If we knew the history of the Holy City, Jerusalem, we would know that Jerusalem had walls to protect it from its enemies.  But, what do we see?  The walls of the Holy City are down when they should be up!  The Church should be equipped, but we are not!  Second, the Church has no discernment.  We do not like the idea that God would bring judgment to our door, but we better learn from what has happened, or we will see a repeat of the events of last week!

The murderer sat for one hour in the midst of nine members of the church.  Nine in Biblical numerology is the number of blessing as well as judgment.  The judgment question that we need to ask is, "Where was the discernment?"  Are we as Christians supposed to be so open-minded and receptive that we lay discernment at the door of our churches when we walk in?  I believe that one of the most important lessons that we need to learn from this tragedy is to pray for discernment.   Even Jesus knew who his betrayer was!  Even the disciples, Paul and Peter, knew when their time of departure was at hand. 

The walls of the American Church are down.  We must repent and pray for the gifts of the Holy Spirit to become more and more operative in our midst like never before.  Years ago, I was attending a revival in a nearby city.  One day as I was praying, the Lord spoke to me that there was going to be an attack on the church where the revival was being held.  I was to warn the pastor that there would be an attempted murder or some other kind of disaster coming, and the church authorities were to be warned to be on the lookout for anyone acting suspiciously. 

You can imagine my hesitancy to warn because of the gravity of what I was told.  So, I asked the Lord for a confirmation.  As I was praying, the Lord spoke to me and said, "Read Isaiah 56:10."  I didn't even know if Isaiah 56 had ten verses, or if it did, what it said.  However, when I read this verse, I decided that I was not going to be a fulfillment of what it said!  So, I immediately sat down and wrote a letter containing the warning to the pastor.  By the way, here is what the verse said:  "His (Israel's) watchmen are blind:  they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, THEY CANNOT BARK; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber."

Within a week, a man walked into the church offices acting strangely.  It immediately caught the attention of one of the staff members who called the police.  The man was apprehended and taken away.  I cannot remember if the man had a gun or not, but I believe that he was upset because of the effect the revival had had on his wife.  Either way, I did not remain silent by keeping the warning to myself.  Only time will tell if there were any warnings given in advance to the Mother Emanuel AME Church by the Lord, and if so,  if they were ignored.  In the meantime, I would encourage every pastor and every member of their congregations to pray for discernment.  This is something God is focusing us in on, and we must take heed to the Lord's warning no matter how painful the loss of these nine precious lives has been.  We must not let this warning be in vain.