"For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain."

"For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." Philippians 1:21

The following is a list of the nine Christians (and their ages) who were killed for their faith in the shooting at Umpqua Community College in Oregon on Thursday, October 1.

• Rebecka Ann Carnes, 18
• Quinn Glen Cooper, 18
• Lucas Eibel, 18
• Lucero Alcaraz, 19
• Treven Taylor Anspach, 20
• Jason Dale Johnson, 34
• Sarena Dawn Moore, 44
• Kim Saltmarsh Dietz, 59
• Lawrence Levine, 67 (teacher)

It truly is tragic how these nine people were killed, however, there is one positive result of this shooting: these people died for Christ, which means these brave people are now with Christ. These folks must have known that Earth wasn't their eternal home. God has prepared a home for all of us. Here are some verses that talk about our eternal home:

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." John 14:1-3

"For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked." 2 Corinthians 5:1-3  

"Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. For we live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord." 2 Corinthians 5:6-8

"But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body."  Philippians 3:20-21

The nine people on this list showed great bravery in dying for Christ; these Christians set an example for the rest of us. We should all be willing to die for Christ.

Most people don't believe they would be able to die for their faith and they're partly right. No Christian has all of the strength necessary be a martyr, the Holy Spirit gives people the strength  to be a martyr. I'll use Stephen as an example. 

"When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep." Acts 7:54-60

As you can see in the text there, Stephen was "full of the Holy Spirit" and before he died he prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Stephen trusted that Jesus would give him strength and receive his spirit. God knew Stephen's true intentions, which must have been to die. Stephen also lived a faithful life to Jesus: he lived like Christ as well as he could. His life of faith was very important because it prepared him to be a martyr. Obviously, being killed for your faith is a hard thing to do, so don't let me minimize the gravity of the situation by my short post. 

Please pray for the friends and family of the nine victims and the shooter.