Three heroes at Aurora


Leadership, heroes, portraits of courage, its all found in the three young men who gave their lives so that their beloved girlfriends could live.

Here's the headline from a local Aurora, Colorado news paper: 

'Dark Knight Rises' shooting: Three heroes died in Aurora taking bullets for their girlfriends

The Daily News goes on to report:

 Three survivors of the Colorado movie-theater massacre escaped with minor wounds, but were left with broken hearts because their heroic boyfriends died saving them.

In final acts of valor, Jon Blunk, Matt McQuinn and Alex Teves used their bodies to shield their girlfriends as accused madman James Holmes turned the Aurora cineplex into a shooting gallery.

The Daily News goes into detail and describes for its readers the acts of valor in detail. For instance, we are given a detailed account of what happened by Jansen Young the girlfriend of Jon Blunk. She tells the Daily News how Jon pushed her to the floor and used his body to cover and protect her from the spray of bullets coming from the gun of a deranged mad man. 

In the words of Jansen Young's mother, "he pushed her down on the floor and laid down on top of her and he died there."

The article goes on and chronicles how each couple met and how they fell in love. Three couples who met and fell in love, and three heroic men who gave their lives for the ones that they loves and adored.

Two emotions for me are touched, one, we still have young heroes today; men who are willing to put others before themselves. As tragic as this shooting was the nation can see that there is still a fabric in our society that is good and ideal. 

With all the self love and narcissistic behaviors that we are bombarded with on a daily basis, it is a breath of fresh air to have read what these three young men did; their acts of valor and selflessness will stand out for a long time in a culture of self love and self interest.  

My second thought was how Jesus willing laid down his life for us. I think Romans 5 verse 8 sums this up "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

I think how our Savior being totally innocent would willing give his life for us guilty sinners. It is such an amazing thought and reality to know that Jesus "paid it all, all to Him I owe, sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow." 

This story of the shooting in Aurora has left me thinking about "sacrifice." We as a nation thank those three young men for reminding us that there is no greater gift that can be given to another than laying down of our lives for those that we love.

The thought of Christ laying down his life for me, not innocent in any way, but guilty and an enemy of the Savior, brings me to my knees. It is unfathomable to think that one would give his life for an enemy, but that is exactly what our savior did for His body---the church.



 

 


 

 

 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Character traits of Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Image
I've been reading Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas. I'm on page 81 of a book that has over 500 pages. There has been many things that have moved me and inspired me in the 80 pages that I've taken in, but today I'd like to share some of the remarkable character traits that Eric Metaxas has gleaned from Bonhoeffer's family friends, and college professors. Now keep in mind that these character traits that I'd like to share were ascribed to Bonhoeffer when he was still just a teenager or a very young man. Bonhoeffer received his doctorate degree in theology at the age of 21. He had already decided to become a theologian as a young teen, but if you read the book you will find that God began to give Bonhoeffer a pastoral heart and eventually he went into the pastorate. Listed below are just a few of the character traits that were used to describe a young precoucius Bonhoeffer: 1. A fellow member of the Igel -pronounced eagle-means he
Read more

Our Executive branch a clear and present danger.

Image
Those of you who are political junkies like me may appreciate this short analysis of America's dangerous devotion to Executive power. I think that we can all agree that our political system has been corrupted by an out-of-control unchecked Executive that has moved so very far from the limited powers and modest goals that our Framers gave us in 1787. Like Israel of old we have cried for a King and our oligarchy was more than willing to give us one. Do you remember the story in 1 Samuel 8 where the people come to an aged and worn out Samuel and asked for a King?...They told Samuel they wanted to be like the other nations. God then spoke to the people through Samuel that a king is going to be expensive - both financially and in terms of lost freedom, yet, in spite of all these warnings straight from God, the people still wanted a king. For some reason, it seems that the Israelites were oblivious to the price of having a king. God warned them that a king would be costly both
Read more

Lenin, Stalin, and Hitler

Image
I've just recently started reading a book by Robert Gellately, Lenin, Stalin, and Hitler and was struck with the adjectives that the author used to describe the leadership styles of these depraved, debased, and debauched men. The author described these men as visionaries, men who were relentless in the pursuit of their goals, never allowing their mission and vision to be compromised. Gellately characterized these men as always being smart enough to get the "right people on their team," surrounding themselves with people who would support their mission and vision. Lenin, Stalin, and Hitler were all marked by a dogged determination to fulfill their dreams, these men would let nothing stand in their way; their passion and drive carried them to complete their goals. So, these are the kind of character traits that I've read about in every leadership book that I've ever read. These men exhibited the same leadership traits that many of us strive to emulate---
Read more