Four Wycliffe Bible Translators Murdered by Militants in Middle East

Mr. Bear, I understand were you're coming from, and I'm sure everyone that has read this news is brokenhearted, but please don't put folks under condemnation for not responding. Example, I lost a good friend to a motorcycle accident this morning, I have just set here all day in shock and prayer, it's not that I could not call many others and talk to them about this, but I have choose to just be still and keep my friends family in prayer. Brothers and sisters we can't be put under condemnation "which I personally don't think Mr. Bear meant to do" because we don't follow up on posts here, God knows our hearts and this is a personal thing between God and us. Mr. Bear I love you Brother, and I'm not calling you out, but I have seen many threads here that maybe I feel should have had many responses, but did not, maybe God has not lead some folks to respond, and to just keep it in prayer. Maybe I'm way off here with my response, but I try to see both sides of everything.
God Bless!

Mark 8:35. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.

Dear Mr. Bearmaster,

Abraham Lincoln said words that also apply to this situation, if you can adjust them a bit to fit the context. I quote them below. The Bible recommends silence as sometimes being more golden or worthy than simply saying something. Yes, I believe that many saints were in truth deeply grieved by their murder, and are likewise deeply inspired by their sacrifice.

"But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this [event]. The brave men, living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who [worked] here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us ”“ that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion ”“ that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain."

May each take from it in Christ what they ought.

Dearest Brother Blaine,

I am now just reading this news as I sit in an emergency room waiting to see about my brother who has been battling an illness for quite some time. He just came home last night and is back in ER.

Brother I understand and share in your grief to a degree. These dear brothers died a very honorable death for Jesus and have only followed in the footsteps of millions before them.

How do you grieve for men who are in the presence of Jesus and those who have gone before? These men are in absolute GLORY.

As I have said in this forum on a couple of other occasions when one reads the books and history of those who have been martyred you cannot help but see the absolute faithfulness in their commitment and service for our Lord. They and I trust we know the risk involved for standing up and proclaiming the good news of the gospel.

Brother please be encouraged, these men may have lost a battle but they have won the war for Christ. I also know that I know, that a very SPECIAL grace was given to these dearest of souls.

I pray that the Lord comfort those who are grieving and trust that they not be overtaken in sorrow. If these men could return I believe they would tell us not to weep for them but to weep for those left behind.

Much love and prayers to all!

Brother Blaine,

Thank you for your concern for my brother. I would be blessed for your intercession and supplication on his behalf. His name is Tom and he has made a confession of Christ many years ago but has not been living for Him.

He has sown much to his flesh and is now reaping. He has led a very lonely and cut off life spending nearly half of his life in and out of prison.

He has also struggled for many years with drug addiction to pain medicine. He has gone through detox and got over the hump for his dependence.

God is working in him and continues to draw him. Our parents are saved and many in the family he has battled condemnation his whole life.

With this said, I believe God is going to fully save, heal, and deliver him.

So thank you again brother and I also give my sympathies to Bill for his loss and also remembering the families of the Lords servants who have given their lives for the furtherance and preservation of His holy word.

Much love and prayers to the Lords saints this day.

bearmaster....Bill I am saddened by the loss of your friend. I pray that God's comfort will be up on the family. And I pray that they grow close to Jesus in the midst of this tragedy. May God use you to be a comfort to them.

Brother my intention was not to put people under condemnation. If that came across in my deepest apologies.

Brother, I even mentioned it in my post, that I did not personally think you meant to put anyone under any condemnation. My response probably come from all the emails I get that say you must pass this on for this to happen, this is a way of putting folks under condemnation, and I truly believe some Christians don't see this. Thank you all for your prayers, I think I'm just now today realizing my friend is gone and will never be back.

I'm now a widower, and have choose to stay single, not long ago I thought I might buy a motorcycle, that it might give me a life beyond this homebody life I have now. I don't blame myself in anyway for my friends loss, but I did give it some thought, asking God was this you way of telling me to forget the motorcycle. We all would hope God would not use the death of a love one or close friend to get a message to us, but as we all know, our thoughts and his ways or as far apart as the east from the west.

I'm past that thinking today, but it really did knock me to my knees yesterday, and literally made me sick at my stomach. Could God really allow the death of a love one or friend, to see to it that we stay in his will? or did he see ahead that if I bought a motorcycle that I would be killed? Lot of thoughts have ran through my head since yesterday morning when I received the news, and of course I will never know why my friend had to die. After a lot of personal loss in the past 6 years, I have become a pretty resilient person, but like Job, I don't care of how great of faith or resilience we have, the pain of the sting still hurts.