Brian Nichols, Before and After

March 17, 2005

Brian Nichols, Before and After

Brian Nichols, the man who murdered 4 people last Friday before taking Ashley Smith hostage in her home, is shown on the left. That’s his angy looking police mug shot. After spending seven hours with Ashley on Friday while she shared her faith with him, the picture on the right is from Saturday after he gave himself up.

I agree with Peggy Noonan. Something changed. Something happened.

You can read Ashley Smith’s entire transcript on Peggy Noonan’s OpinionJournal article. Peggy points out some things that Christians daily working for the salvation of others see often:

Tuesday evening on the news a “hostage rescue expert” explained that she “negotiated like a pro.” Actually what she did is give Christian witness. It wasn’t negotiation. It had to do with being human.

It is an amazing and beautiful story. And for all its unlikeliness you know it happened as Smith said. You know she told the truth. It’s funny how we all know this.

You can hear it in her voice, read it in her transcript, and see it in his face. When Christ is at work, it’s a beautiful thing.

Is it a matter of happenstance, is it without meaning, that America was taken by this drama at Eastertide, in the days before Palm Sunday, when a wanted man rode by donkey to an appointment at Golgotha?
Is it an accident that a great but troubled country that yearns so to be good is given such instruction at this time?

Maybe we should be thinking: God loves all of us, every one of us most tenderly, even convicts, maybe especially convicts, who know what they are and hang their heads and one of whom, so long ago, looked up, and cried out to the man on the other cross, and received from him a promise of forgiveness and a promise that soon, very soon, they would stand together in a place without pain.

Like the story of the prodigal son, God especially loves convicts who turn toward Christ. It’s a wonderful and true story for this Easter season.

Rate this:

Faith, General, News

Art, Christ, Christian, Easter, Forgiveness, God, sin, work

Posted by:

Michael

Follower of Jesus, conservative, freedom-loving patriot.

13 responses to “Brian Nichols, Before and After”

Sirc_Valence

March 17, 2005 at 4:18 pm

I’ve seen very bad pictures of people who have never murdered anyone and I’ve seen good pictures of murderers. I wouldn’t put too much stock in the juxtaposition of the pix because people’s moods change all the time.

Some people look better in their profiles than in foreward face shots.

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone can tell me what they think of the Old Testament being contradicted by The New Testament. In the OT people would be stoned to death like in Islam. I have a big problem with that and even though Christianity preaches the NT, I don’t understand why include the OT in the Bible and if God made the OT then what’s up with the flip-flop, so to speak.

😕

LikeLike

Reply
Sirc_Valence

March 17, 2005 at 4:20 pm

Sorry, I had to correct my email.

LikeLike

Reply
Uptown Girl

March 17, 2005 at 7:28 pm

It is an amazing story – – and one that people should not take lightly

LikeLike

Reply
A.M.M.

March 17, 2005 at 7:34 pm

I may not be the best person to answer, but I’ll try.

For starters, the last chapter, Revelations, tells us that to change the Word of God in way, shape, or form is a mortal sin, so we must include all parts/chapters and we’re not allowed to write fiction about the Bible. (This is a big hint for you, Jo. The DC is heresy.)

Also, the difference can’t really be considered a flip-flop. The OT is the foundation for the Jewish religion, while the NT is the basis for Christianity. We’re told that Jews will be forced to choose (by God during the Rapture) whether they’ll accept Christ as their savior or not (with obvious consequences). We preach the NT since the OT (for lack of a better term) isn’t “complete”. God’s mind can change, as this is evidenced from Noah’s flood. After that event, God declared he would never do such again.

If you want a better response on the so-called “flip-flops”, you might want to give a few examples of what you’re curious about.

LikeLike

Reply
Jo

March 17, 2005 at 8:25 pm

I’ve never said the DC isn’t heresy. I’ve said I don’t really care about heresy, because being the lifelong protestant I am, just about everything I believe is heresy. I’ve been sitting in the brimstone section my whole life, according to the Catholic church. Poor King James, though, huh?

LikeLike

Reply
A.M.M.

March 17, 2005 at 10:18 pm

I think you’re mistaken. I’m not a Catholic. The heresy I’ve mentioned is heresy as described by the Bible itself (and as a Protestant you’re still obligated to believe the Word of God). It’s not hard to find. If memory serves, it should be the very last paragraph of the very last chapter.

Not to be rude, but perhaps you should check up on a few definitions. Only a few Protestant ideals are considered heresy by the Catholic church, and those particular ones weren’t even being called into question. Changing, editing, and writing fiction about the Bible is heresy, and is clearly stated as such in Revelations.

LikeLike

Reply
Jo

March 17, 2005 at 10:38 pm

I know you’re not Catholic; it has nothing to do with whether or not I care about heresy. Simply being Protestant is being heretical, because it is a rejection of the Catholic church, and heresy is a Catholic concept dealing with acceptance of the Catholic church’s teachings. Here’s a link for you: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12495a.htm

I think you’re confusing heresy with blasphemy.

LikeLike

Reply
Michael

March 18, 2005 at 8:40 am

Sirc_Valence, the Old Testament gives good examples of God’s likes and dislikes. Many of those laws are still in effect, but many more were changed by Christ in the New Testament. For instance, calls to sacrifice animals no longer is applicable since Christ made the ultimate sacrifice for all of us.

2 Corinthians 3:13-16 We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away. But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.

LikeLike

Reply
Sirc_Valence

March 18, 2005 at 8:44 am

Jo,

A heresy is a doctrine at variance with established religious beliefs. If you contradict Christian doctrine, and not only Catholic Christian doctrine, knowingly, then you are still being a heretic and a false-Christian.

LikeLike

Reply
Sirc_Valence

March 18, 2005 at 8:46 am

Thanks Michael and A.M.M.

Belief in the Bible is difficult for some people because they don’t believe that God would intervene in the world since it doesn’t make sense for all the bad things happening to happen, such as Plato not reading the Bible (assuming that that diminished his potential) – or a potential Plato starving to death or killed in infancy ending up in some unmarked grave, unknown or forgotten. Former leading atheist-philosopher Anthony Flew (http://www.geocities.com/rpfa/flew.htm) makes a good representative of this criticism. He now believes that God exists, but he doesn’t believe that He would use “any revelatory system” (i.e. Christianity). http://www.biola.edu/antonyflew/

Flew admits that the case for God “who has the characteristics of power and also intelligence, is now stronger than it ever was before.” It is more logical that we are Creatures of God, and not of mindless and purposeless random events.

The objection that Divine Intervention would be tyrannical brings us to Christianity and the Miracle of the Incarnation.

This would be the most powerful and intelligent way to produce the act that accompanies that love behind the creation of the universe and the root of understanding and of reason; of life. The event was the defeat of death by its own means. The purpose? If we are the slaves of nature then we don’t have free will. Jesus is the leader of the Emancipation of us, from those that would hold us as slaves. And here is the evidence of intelligence, and not of arbitrary rule or tyranny, because the autonamy to choose between right and wrong also means that some will do right and some will do wrong and that the saint may pay for the sinner. And without discarding all of that God manages to lift humanity and nature along with it by this Act. It is not that we are to “violate” nature, it is that we are to make it fruitful. A good mother or father doesn’t just say that they love their children, they show it by their actions. Christianity teaches that God is not out of reach, nor a characterless oblivious intelligence made up of nature. As C.S. Lewis put it, “Sometimes it is hard not to say, ‘God forgive God.’ Sometimes it is hard to say so much. But if our faith is true, He didn’t. He crucified Him.”

To sum it up, I embraced the Resurrection of Christ because I saw it as a non-tyrannical way to Save humanity. But if God is never wrong, then why would He change His mind??? To paraphrase, so as not to choose between bibles, Proverbs reads “Wisdom is Supreme, though it cost you all you have get wisdom, get understanding.” This means I am allowed to think. My understanding may be flawed, but it leads me to wonder why Jesus said that He did not come to change The Law, yet we were supposed to stone people for adultary and homosexuality according to The Law. God said that these things don’t change either before or after the OT. Am I wrong? See, my problem is not with the law this way (perhaps it would correct human behavior and reduce the probabilty of humans doing worse to eachother), my problem is with this impassable contradiction.

Does anyone know whether God commanded the stonings in the OT or are the stonings in the OT what we thought was the way to carry out the enforcement of God’s Law which is that we shall not sin?

LikeLike

Reply
Michael

March 18, 2005 at 10:19 am

I wouldn’t dream I have the answers to all the questions, Sirc_Valence. I’m an engineer, not a theologian. But I don’t believe God changed – I believe man has changed, and God modified the rules when we were ready.

The OT called for stonings for adultery; Romans tells us we are free from the law. And of course Jesus himself addressed the question of stoning; the law is still applicable, but nobody stoned the woman that day. For those that repent, He says He does not judge us, but to go and sin no more.

LikeLike

Reply
david hume

March 21, 2005 at 7:37 am

Well, please, I don’t see any difference in the two mug shots. Pegyy Noonan is plain silly with that combo of photos. In both, he is a human being. God will be his judge. He looks bad in both photos.

As for the New Testament and Old Testament, look folks, the NT replaced the OT, just as the Christians replaced the evil Jews as God’s chosen people. The OT should be thrown in the garbage heap. The NT rules. Jesus is Lord. The Jewish are outta the loop now, but they can still be saved if they repent and accept Jesus as their messiah. Of course, that won’t happen until hell freezes over, but no harm in wishing it.

I say all this as someone who believes in neither testament as truth, but feels that both of them offer some good moral and ethical instruction at times. I am non-believing believer. Put that in your pipe and smoke it. SMILE.

LikeLike

Reply
Michael

March 21, 2005 at 8:15 am

I see the difference in the two mugshots. Others do, too, or Peggy Noonan wouldn’t have linked them. In the first, there is anger, in the second, there is peace.

Your statements on the OT and NT conflict with the teachings in the New Testament. The OT is still relevant (the entire book of Romans discusses why), the Jewish people remain God’s chosen people and hold a special place in His heart (read Revelations for the role of the Jewish people yet to come).

You don’t have to believe either; that’s your perogative, of course. You should at least read and understand it though before trying to explain what it says. You have my email address; I’m happy to discuss it with you.

LikeLike

Reply

About Me

Michael, a sinner saved by grace, sharing what the good Lord has shared with me.

Solomon, in the book of Ecclesiastes, said, “I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.”

If you’re not living for the glory of God, then what you’re doing is meaningless, no matter what it is. Living for God gives life meaning, and enjoying a “chasing after the wind” is a gift from God. I’m doing what I can to enjoy this gift daily.

Got questions? I’m not surprised. If you have any questions about Chasing the Wind, you can email me at chasingthewind@outlook.com.

Chasing the Wind