For God has revealed his grace for the salvation of all people. That grace instructs us to give up ungodly living and worldly passions, and to live self controlled, upright and godly lives in this world.

Titus 2: 11-12

Do not deceive yourselves; no one makes a fool of God. You will reap exactly what you plant. If you plant in the field of natural desires,from it you will gather the harvest of death; if you plant in the field of the

Spirit, from the Spirit you will gather the harvest of eternal life.

Gal. 6:7-8

A host on a Christian radio station in Michigan, John Balyo, was arrested on first-degree criminal sex charges involving children this week. In fact, he admitted to raping a 12-year-old boy, the Calhoun County, Mich., prosecutor said Monday.

Today, the people of western Michigan are stunned. Until his arrest on Friday, this gentleman hosted the number one Christian radio program on WCSG-FM in that area for 10 years. He was regarded as a boy scout, squeaky clean and thoroughly ethical. He was a volunteer member of the Sheriff’s dept. He had been married only seven weeks to a widow – a mother of a young son - whose first husband died of cancer a mere two years ago.

His arrest is linked to the case against Ronald Moser, 42, of Battle Creek. Moser was arrested in early June and is charged in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids with manufacturing and possessing child pornography. The allegation is that Balyo paid Moser to arrange sexual encounters with minor children.

Case in point. The natural heart of man is intrinsically evil and who can really know it?

During the Central High School crisis in Little Rock in 1957, President Dwight Eisenhower made a very sagacious observation. No amount of law could make a change in the human heart. Only the Maker understands the desperately wicked nature of the heart of man. Since he is the original designer, he alone has the insight and knowledge to fix any defect.

Laws can become twisted, corrupted , broken or implemented for the benefit of one segment of society to the detriment of another.(Jim Crow in the south and anti Jewish laws in Nazi Germany).Therefore, for a man to know and do the right thing, he must align himself with the one who is all right all the time.

Our country is presently reeling from the spate of mass shootings, seemingly in every corner. There are numerous explanations and reasons being considered and corrective measures being outlined. On the table are early childhood intervention, education, gun control and more economic opportunities.

Yet they will prove to be insufficient and ineffective.

The spirit of man is damaged and broken and these means will not mend it. He needs to return to the Creator for a complete makeover.

He must learn empathy, social responsibility and love for his fellow man. Taking the gun out of his hand and restricting his access to it is not the answer. He will find a rock and slay his brother. I just read in a Jamaican newspaper that a man killed his brother with a stone for eating his "No. 11” mango.

Legislating new laws and regulations will not cure the sickness.

There are over 600 laws in the Old Testament; yet Jesus, God incarnate, had to come so he could write his laws on our merciless stony hearts and replace them with hearts of flesh and compassion.

In certain parts of the globe, homosexuality, fornication, adultery and abortion are lawless deeds. The perils and criminality of drug abuse are widely known. They continue to demand no, but we still go.

We are driven to destruction and cannot or will not help ourselves until our spirit is arrested.

Changing our location and status will not make a difference. If you do not maintain a constant connection to the power of his light, you will go dark.

Separation and disconnection from him spell disaster.

You will never be whole and well balanced without his constant direction.

You must be truly born again. Then will follow expression and demonstration of empathy.

You will fully grasp and live out the meaning of ”Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”

You will fully understand what the white Freedom Rider meant when he responded to a question, "why are you here?” His answer boggles the mind because tere was no obvious upside for him to be beaten, abused and possibly killed for the plight of an unknown Black man.

"I will not stop or rest until every American has the right the ride or sit anywhere on a public bus free from the worry of harassment, fear and danger. This is my social responsibility and some of us are more aware of this responsibility than others,” he said.

For the human race to survive, we must reconnect with the Being who inspired such lofty ideals.

Indeed none of us will be secure and whole anywhere until all of us are secure and whole everywhere.

V. Knowles is a husband and father with an interest in penning issues that serve to uplift mankind. He melds his love for Classic literature, The Bible and pop culture - as sordid as it may be - into highly relatable columns of truth, faith and justice. Hence the name: Just Thinking. If he's not buried in a book or penning his next column, you may find him pinned to his sectional watching a good old Country and Western flick.