"No man is free if he fears death. But the minute you conquer the fear of death, at that moment you are free. ... I submit to you that if a man hasn't discovered something he will die for he isn 't fit to live!"
Cassie Bernall had marked this passage from a book she was reading. She wanted to share it with her youth group at West Bowles Community Church that night. But Cassie never made it to that meeting. On the morning of April 20, 1999 this Columbine High School senior was put to the ultimate test of her faith.
It was lunch time, and Cassie was studying in the library when two classmates stormed inside, armed with guns and pipe bombs. They began firing on helpless and terrified students. Cassie was praying when one of the gunman approached her. He pointed the gun at her head.
"Do you believe in God?" he asked, he's eyes blazing with rage.
She paused for a few seconds, as if considering what to say.
"Yes" she answered.
"Why?" the teenage gun man asked her.
But he did not give her a chance to respond. He pulled the trigger.
Cassie was one of 12 students killed at the Littleton, Colorado , school when two students went on a shooting rampage, turning Columbine into the site of the worst school masscre in U.S history!
Her simple profession of faith has made Cassie a modern-day martyr.(Marty is a person who dies for his or her convictions.) Two days before her death , Cassie had participated in a video which teens in her church shared their belief in Jesus Christ.
"I just try to not contradict myself, to get rid of all the hypocrisy and just live for Christ" she said
Cassie was not a super hero Christian. She was an ordinary person with real problems. During her troubled teen years, she tried drugs and alcohol and even dabbled witchcraft. She experienced depression, rejection, and anger. It wasn't until she attended a youth retreat that she understood how valued she was in God's eyes. Once Cassie became a Christian, she was eager to share that love, and her faith in Christ gave her confidence to face both life and death courageously.
Maybe you think you would be afraid to take the bold stand that Cassie made. But the Lord will give you strength to stand up for what is right, even then making that stand may cost your life. The Apostle Paul said that he considered what he gained in Christ worth more than everything else he had in the world, including his very life. That's the kind of power and passion God will give you.
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