The novel Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Seth Grahame-Smith’s alternate history in which one of America’s most beloved presidents must preserve the union by ridding it of vampires, has spent much of the past couple years on the bestseller lists and has inspired a major motion picture. Though the premise seems absurd, the story deals with a subject that is hard to understand and that most would prefer to avoid: evil. As Christians we believe in the reality of evil and its effects on our world. LinC talks about how God calls us to respond to evil with love and the message of God’s grace through Jesus Christ. Key Scriptures: Genesis 4:2-15; Matthew 5:38-48; Romans 12:21; 1 Thessalonians 5:12-22. Americans celebrate Independence Day on July 4, the anniversary of the day when the United States declared itself a sovereign nation. Our culture values independence and self-sufficiency. But while we enjoy celebrating our country’s independence, we also must remember that God didn’t create human beings to be independent. God wants us to be interdependent, to draw strength from one another. Sometimes it requires courage not to be independent—to admit that we rely on other people and to allow other people to rely on us. We see interdependence in the persons of the Trinity: God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Next week LinC explores interdependence, how we need one another, and how God loves all of us equally.
