Suicide at The Crystal Cathedral
- Posted by: Todd
- Posted on: Thu, February 19, 2009
- Viewed 240
- (20) comments so far
The article continues:
Betty Spicer, a volunteer greeter at the cathedral, said that when the man walked in, the sanctuary was nearly empty except for a group of Canadian tourists.
“I said, ‘Good morning, welcome to the Crystal Cathedral.’ “ She asked the man, “Where are you from?” He replied, “Oh, from around here.” He handed Spicer a folded note written with a felt-tip pen. Tucked into the middle of the note was his driver’s license and what appeared to be a business card. As Smick was walking down the aisle, she began reading the note, which referred to a truck in the parking lot and a gun.
“The next minute, there was a pop,” Spicer said. “I thought he was praying. I didn’t realize he had shot himself.”
Yvette Manson, another volunteer, said she was talking to the tourists when she heard a sound that she likened to the noise from a firecracker. “I had just been telling them about the suicide prevention ministry we have.”
Pastor Juan Carlos Ortiz said the shooting was tragic, but may have revealed something about Smick’s faith.
“This must be a person who believes in God because he went to the foot of the cross,” Ortiz said.
You can read more here at the LA Times...
The Crystal Cathedral is going through a rough time... and now the L. A. Times is reporting: "A man walked into the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove on Wednesday, knelt down at the foot of a cross and fatally shot himself in the head.
The man entered the sanctuary about 9:40 a.m. and gave a handwritten note to a church volunteer. He then walked to the front of the pews, knelt before the cross and removed a semiautomatic handgun from his backpack.
Comments
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Leonard on Thu, February 19, 2009
How frustratingly sad and irritating. I am praying for this church and for those people who were there when this took place.
Brian L. on Thu, February 19, 2009
Amen, Leonard.
I can’t imagine the heartache that those who were there must be going through.
Peter Hamm on Thu, February 19, 2009
So tragic that someone could walk into, of all places, CC, with no hope in them.
Lukewarm Christianity on Thu, February 19, 2009
“This must be a person who believes in God because he went to the foot of the cross”
How does this man believe in God? It’s a shame that he has fallen into hell. By committing suicide, he just blasphemed by thinking that he had the power to control life.
Peter Hamm on Thu, February 19, 2009
Lukewarm,
All he said was that the person believed in God. Stepping into a church seemed to indicate that. He never made a judgment about the individual’s salvation as you have, and a judgment that you really could not have any surety about.
Lukewarm Christianity on Thu, February 19, 2009
Sorry if that’s the way I came across but it just pains and angers me to see people throw their lives away. It doesn’t just affect themselves. Children could have been there and the pain that others would feel…
Anyways sorry if I offended anyone.
"Anna" on Fri, February 20, 2009
I am a widow, of a suicide victim.
I know my husband believed in God, but did not have Jesus as his Lord and Savior.
Judgment is with Jesus, but I have no assurance of his salvation.
Therefore, I agree LC that suicide does not affect only the one person. That completely selfish act, which in deed, it really is, lays the burden of pain and anger and depression and even embarassment on the shoulders of everyone who is left.
Coping from any death has been helped by the support of a wonderful organization called “griefshare.org”.
Katrina on Fri, February 20, 2009
Peter,
Please don’t take this the wrong way….but OF ALL PLACES I would believe the Crystal Cathedral. Schuller does not preach the Gospel. He believes that the Bible is the cause of the “low self-esteem” from which some people suffer. The idea that he could preach another Gospel and give anyone true hope is a joke. The lack of hope is the greatest contributing cause of suicide and true hope comes from salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. This is tragic without a doubt but whether you want to believe it or not, some of the blame falls at the feet ot Schuller and his disregard for Scriptural truth about sin.
Katrina on Fri, February 20, 2009
Peter,
He believed in A god but based on the beliefs and preaching of Robert Schuller, he was never introduced to the ONLY GOD. Just because someone wears a cross or owns a Bible or even commits suicide in a church doesn’t mean he is saved. This is why it is so important for us to be faithful to share the WHOLE counsel of God….the nice parts and the parts we think others might consider mean. It is God’s message of salvation and we should NEVER tamper with it. Tell it like it is and let God do the rest. Had someone told this man the Gospel truth he might still be alive today.
Brian L. on Fri, February 20, 2009
Wow, it only took SEVEN comments before someone blamed Schuller for this. I half expected it to be one of the first couple.
Sad. Instead of sadness of the death of this man, blame is being thrown around.
Leonard on Fri, February 20, 2009
Brian,
Thanks, I was trying to figure out a way to say that but everything I type came out ticked off. My father took his own life when I was a kid and the last thing I needed then was someone telling me he blasphemed… (even though this was not the biblical definition of blasphemy) that he was going to hell, (even though the bible does not teach this) and then blaming a church because ... well you get the point.
Peter Hamm on Fri, February 20, 2009
Katrina,
the man was not a member of the church. Drawing any connection between what Schuller may or may not preach and what this man may or may have not believed based on your arguments is… well… ridiculous…
Can you see that?
I think you are looking for an excuse to throw stones. Shame.
Elbee on Mon, February 23, 2009
Certainly not trying to justify suicide - it assumes a right that only God has (i.e. determining how long we get to live here on this planet)… My reaction is directed at those who are so quick to pronounce judgment. Samson, in essence, committed suicide…and yet, God still saw fit to include him in the “hall of fame of faith” in Hebrews. Leave it to God to sort out saved & lost - we need to invest our lives in reaching out to these folks before they harm themselves & then ministering to those they leave behind…
Daniel on Tue, February 24, 2009
This is indeed tragic. I have no further thoughts about this particular incident, but I am curious about the topic of suicide in general. Elbee suggested that suicide “assumes a right that only God has.” I take it this is the general evangelical view.
And so my question is: how does this mesh with most evangelicals’ being fine with the military and/or killing in self-defense? If there are circumstances under which human beings supposedly have the ‘right’ to decide when another human being lives or dies, why does an arbitrary line get drawn at suicide?
Not trying to make a cheap point here, just trying to follow the logic through. If God is the master of life and death… who are we to take anyone’s life? Including our own?
Peace,
-Daniel-
Peter Hamm on Tue, February 24, 2009
Daniel.
the Hebrew doesn’t say, “No killing”.
It says “No murder”.
Killing in war (in a “just war”) is not murder. Taking your own life is.
However, I can’t imagine Jesus taking his own or anyone else’s life under any circumstances, so I won’t either…
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