This has been a tough past few days. We are a nation in mourning for the lost lives of the innocent. Today's funeral services for two first-graders killed in the Newtown, Connecticut shooting, Jack Pinto and Noah Pozner, remembered the 6-year-olds respectively as "a fan of New York Giants Victor Cruz" and as "inquisitive, smart as a whip."

In light of the Sandy Hook Elementary school massacre, there are two types of Christian sentiments who seem to have surfaced. One says, "this is why we need to bring back prayers in school" and the other says "wanting prayer back in school is a misguided sentiment. We need to focus on ourselves, not rely on our politicians and government to take care of our community's spirituality."

Both sides have convincing arguments. The gradual degradation of morals is evident in pop culture, media and government. The more God is pushed out, the worse things get. Coincidence? We removed prayer from school and now early morning Bible studies in schools are also being banned. Anything to do with Christianity is being shunned before our eyes. That much is obvious.

However, there are schools in Japan (a Buddhist country), India (Hindu/Muslim country) and you don't hear stories of mass shootings in their schools. China and Russia are atheist nations and if we're to use the barometer of "prayers in school," we should be expecting atomic bombs to go off on their college campuses any minute now.

So, why are some Christians convinced that bringing prayer back to school will bring back America's hey-day where every town was a Pleasantville and the worst thing that happened in school was bubble gum chewing? You mean, the same America that segregated Black people and killed off millions of Native Americans, we want to go back to that?

But what if those Christians get their wish? What if the President decided enough was enough and re-instituted prayer? What would happen if there were Christian teachers across America that took advantage of this re-institution and led a prayer every morning before sessions began? Would God NOT listen? Would He not grant their petition? Would He scoff at our repentance and say "Too late! You had your chance!" Well, what does His Word say?

"The fervent prayers of a righteous man avails much" - James 5:16

In light of that scripture, is it safe to say that if the righteous man is not praying, then he's not availing much of anything? Can we admit that much? This is not to say that bringing back prayer in schools is the end-all answer. We CAN STILL PRAY before we drop our children off to school. We can STILL PRAY for the faculty and staff. But how much more would prayer do if a school decided to publicly proclaim its faith? A lofty goal but nothing's impossible. It has been the norm before.

Do we really take God at His word when he says, "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows." - Galatians 6:7

Are these empty threats? Akin to a parent telling his child for the 50^th time to wash the dishes "or else" only to find the rebellious kid running off to play video games?

Is that what we have here? Reaping what we've sown? How could a loving God allow 18 children from ages 5 to 7 to die in such a horrific manner? Where was the Christian when killer Adam Lanza was having these demonic thoughts?

It really is too early to determine anything and I'm not sure we're never going to get any true satisfaction from finding out what Adam Lanza was thinking. Twenty years old is awfully young to commit a crime of such a degree. What ran across his mind as children screamed for their innocent lives and he stood there discharging every round mercilessly into their yet to be lived out bodies? Columbine and Virginia Tech was how many years ago and we still have yet to get any satisfactory answers from those shootings?

Like President Obama, I shed a tear about this tragedy and I can't imagine what the parents must be going through. But I will never tell them to their face that, "Well, ever since we took prayers out of school, we left our children vulnerable and well, there you go!" God forbid! Where is the compassion in that? If there is any truth to that, is it the right time to proclaim that truth?

In the same breath, I'm not going to roll my eyes at Christians who feel that we need to bring God back into our country, schools and government as they take tragedies as these to be a wakeup call. These are positive desires they're unwilling to give up on. I applaud that. What is wrong with wanting our leaders to be believers? There are those that say the 1st Century Christians lived in a much more hostile environment than Millennial America and they weren't pre-occupied with the politics of Caesar so why should we place our hopes in the White House? Those same Christians forget that Israel was reaping the consequences for her disobedience.

Had Israel remained faithful, they wouldn't be in that hostile rule of Roman oppression. THEY. PUSHED. GOD. OUT. Generations suffered for the decisions their fathers made. It DOES NOT have to be that way. We, in America, have a choice. We're not under the oppressive British rule so we have a choice of leaders, laws and ideals.

Since we are in the Age of Grace, I cannot compare America's responsibilities to that of ancient Israel. God called and chose Israel to be a light to the nations. No other nation was called to do that so they had a great responsibility in regards to obeying the Mosaic Law.

But the principles of God still stand whether Jew or Gentile. We still reap what we sow; we are still called to live as a Holy people, a royal priesthood and preach the gospel. That's why God is still the same yesterday, today and forever. His principles and character hasn't changed and if you want a nation without Him, He may give you exactly what you want. As a nation, we've allowed video games with characters that pimp slap prostitutes, even rape them if you know the codes! You don't think this permissiveness is going to reap some kind of corruption? I'm picking on the game, Grand Theft Auto, but the seeds of corruption are rooted in almost every form of pleasure.

Just recently, a 20-year-old man from Palm Beach, Florida almost decapitated a prostitute over prescription pills. In Hallandale, Florida, two teens stabbed a homeless man to death WITH A PEN because they wanted to keep money they owed the homeless man and spend it on a prostitute. You don't think pornography has ANY connection to this behavior?

Comedian Chris Rock once joked (I paraphrase) that he felt women need to shut up with the sentiment that, "You don't need a man to raise a child. You don't need no man." Chris Rock responded by saying "Yea, you can raise a child without a father but that don't mean it's to be done. You can drive your car with your feet but that doesn't mean it's a good idea."

Sure, we can have a country without God but that doesn't make it a good idea.

I'd like to think that we simply live in a fallen world where the "rain falls on the just and the unjust."

"We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time." Romans 8:22.

And in such a world, we have innocent women in the Congo that are brutally raped on daily basis. Where innocent Thai children are sold into the sex slave trade for money and where 20 innocent American children meet their demise at the barrel of a gun. This is the world we've created that continually chooses death over life.

You can be sure that this massacre was demonically inspired. There is a sinister darkness surrounding this unexplainable incident, which really, is the best explanation we can find. They've already found a suspected second shooter. There will be more revelations in the coming days about this tragedy. President Obama has already declared a need for change and, though the details are vague, I think the NRA got a heads up; fair or not.

If Christians had their requests granted and prayers in school were re-instituted, is God going to rolls His eyes at that? That's not His character. If we decide to move on and continue on our downward moral spiral, should we expect blessings from un-blessable lifestyles and choices? God so loved that He sent His only begotten son to die for our sins but does that love and grace deny His Truth? Our only Hope is in Christ. We can make all kinds of efforts in government and media but ultimate change will come in His return. In the meantime, we can continue praying, preaching the gospel, weeping with those who weep and ministering to the needs of the broken-hearted. May all of the victims Rest In Him.

The self-proclaimed Zig Ziglar of rap, Billy Delgado, is a Music Producer/Artist and Writer by day and sleeping pillow-drooler by night. He is currently producing the debut album for his band The 288's, a God-inspired Hip Hop/R&B group that combines soul-baring lyricism with an electric innovative sound, breaking from the norm and reaching all cultures & ages (save senior citizens). He still can't believe he's a family man with a beautiful wife Mari & three boys Chris, Nelson and Joshua, so he continues to pinch himself silly to this day.