Into the Fire

It's very difficult for many people to realize the human race is born into sin. Condemned to a hellish destination when they reach the God-determined age of accountability. No: man is not born good in his heart nor is he innately good with personal growth. As some parents will tell you, all you have to do to understand this is to watch their precious baby become a two year old or their pre-teen graduate to a teenager. The sin nature glares at them from those once submissive eyes now defiant and bent on doing what's not in their best interests and often harmful to them or others.

So. Do you agree with the premise presented in the Patrick Bowers Files that there is a thin thread separating us from the most evil among us? Those who delight in experiencing the torturous death of others in all kinds of macabre ways? Are we just one action away from becoming like "them"?

Patrick Bowers is not a Christian in this series. In the early books he's the typical mad-at-God for taking the life of his first wife who'd become a believer. Able to decipher the most complex puzzles left by demonic killers, Patrick couldn't – and wouldn't – understand the bigger picture of a spiritual life committed to the One True God his wife had embraced. In the first few books of the series, he resents God and holds the bitterness of losing a loved one, blaming God for taking her away from him before they even had time to get started. Not only is she gone, but her daughter from a previous relationship is now his step-daughter (Tessa), and he has no idea how to be a father to her, now once again married to his work for relief. As the series continues, his spiritual outlook changes slightly as Tessa begins to investigate the faith of her mother. 

From the standpoint of an unbeliever like Patrick it's easy to understand how the veil between the serial killers he investigates and hopes to put away and mankind in general is viewed as tenuous, thin, an easily crossed line without intense attention to things such as lawful integrity, job protocol, and being the master of one's soul. Without Jesus no one is the master of his soul and that's where this thought of fighting the demons of the soul produces Patrick's thinking. In a way he's correct about humanity. Very little separates the degrees of sin and where it can take a person. It's a spiritual battle whether or not it is viewed as such. Some people feel terrible guilt for having lied to a friend while others take pleasure in picturing the brutal death of someone who's betrayed them or hurt them. They see it as okay as long as it takes place in their minds and manages to stay there.

Many serial killers are methodical, obsessive, intelligent, and determined, planning contingencies for every action in order to accomplish their evil goals. The demons prodding their ruptured minds push and prod them into sociopathic or psychopathic actions, bringing mild satisfaction at accomplishing their wicked deeds with no feeling about the harm or pain they've caused. Some social climbers or business moguls fit that basic description but plan no physical harm to those they walk over to get where they're going.  

So. What do you think about us being just that uneasy step away from those who cross all the lines of acceptable human conduct? Is Patrick Bowers right – or partially right? Are we able to keep the demons at bay in order not to be like "them"?

Father, you're the only One who keeps us clean. We sin, you deliver. So much depends on our allegiance to your Love, Grace, Beauty, and Mercy. We must repent. We must turn to Jesus, your only way out of our human mess. Thank you, Lord and Savior. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.