Months before his wife was shot, Caleb Flynn sent his mistress a text. She testified that he wrote he’d kill his wife if he could do it without going to hell.
Flynn, a former worship pastor and one-time American Idol contestant, told police an intruder had shot his wife, Ashley. A jury convicted him of murder - and earlier this month he was sentenced to life without parole.
That a worship pastor could do this has left many shaken and disillusioned. Some single Christian women are openly wondering if it’s safer to just stay single. After all, if you can’t trust a pastor, who can you trust?
Started from a thought, now we here
Nobody wakes up one morning and decides to murder his wife. It started long before, and it started small.
You’ve heard the saying: Watch your thoughts, for they become words. Watch your words, for they become actions. And eventually, they become your destiny
The Bible puts it more starkly: “Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death” (James 1:15).
Oh be careful little brain what you think.
Our Lord warned us time and again about nipping things in the bud. He couldn’t have been more clear when He said “You have heard that it was said by them of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart” (Matthew 5:27-28).
The Bible is full of people who show us what NOT to do. And it’s much better to learn from other people’s mistakes, than from your own.
Take King Ahab - the Biblical version of “I see it, I like it, I want it, I got it.” He saw a vineyard that wasn’t his: he liked it and he wanted it. When Naboth refused to sell his family’s land, the king went home, sulked, and refused to eat. His wife Jezebel stepped in & finished the job in true Jezebel fashion - and Naboth ended up dead. (1 Kings 21).
David’s downfall began with a single lingering look. He saw Bathsheba, desired her, took her, and then had her husband Uriah, one of his most loyal soldiers, killed to cover it up (2 Samuel 11).
These were two very different men. Ahab was one of the worst kings Israel ever had. David was one of its best - a man after God’s own heart. Yet both were dragged by the same sinful desire to the same place: the untimely death of an innocent man.
Above all, guard your heart
Our minds and hearts are a constant battleground. The battle is often won or lost long before anyone sees anything at all.
Now we can’t always control which thoughts knock on the door, but we do decide which ones we invite in - and feed. Being tempted isn’t the same as giving in. What matters is what we entertain.
And don’t be afraid (even though this world can feel terrifying). None of this is new under the sun. All of us will face the same choice: either listen to God and leave the forbidden fruit alone…..or talk, dream, and reason ourselves into taking a bite.
You can’t see inside anyone else’s head - and you don’t have to. You only have to guard your own.
Naboth, Uriah, and Ashley Flynn are happy and safe now. They’re probably feasting with their Father in heaven - while their murderers received their just desserts.
If I were among those shaken by Flynn’s story - I’d say this to myself: Be more afraid for them - not of them.
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