This is a shame! But the friend's words are true, we must pray and forgive.

After reading several articles written by contributors to Christianity Today, I can see that your website is nothing but a gossip column attempting to come under the "Christian" label. You should be ashamed of yourself and the UNCONFIRMED, slanderous details you attempt to highlight or "uncover" in almost every story you publish! We as Christians are instructed by the Word of God to be "in the world and not of it". The majority of articles published by your sight are far more eluding, and in my view sheer gossip-exceeding many of the published by the world. If this is how you want to conduct your business, fine-please remove the name Christian from your title & quit attempting to destroy the church-which God calls His BRIDE & the people He calls His beloved!

I'm not sure what Melissa ______ is talking about. This is clearly news and I don't see gossip at all. There are facts without the writer/editor's personal opinion in it at all.
Telling the truth of an incident is not gossip. Gossip is when you spread rumors about people that have no backing. This is simply an account and a report from a friend of the deceased family.
There are no assumptions, nothing unconfirmed, & nothing slanderous. And there is nothing here to destroy God's people. Only a wake-up call to watch and pray more than ever.

I am talking about the end 3 paragraphs-unnecessary to the story and NOT completely factual! Talk about the facts of te tragic situation and leave all other matters out of the story.

I'm with Melissa 100% the is information on the CT website following the real tragic story, reads more like a "star"magazine.

Melissa, there's been a great misunderstanding, but it's okay. I can help explain it.

It's best to begin by taking into account the history of how CT magazine has covered news over the past 57 years. It's not a history of gossip, slander or writing with greater readership as the priority.

That may help you better understand the lens to use when reading a news story like this one.

I've worked in the Christianity Today International offices for 11 years and I can tell you that you don't need to worry about the leadership there approaching this story with the output of gossip and whatever else appeared to be injected into this report.

As for the last 3 paragraphs, this was just a misunderstanding. Before online news outlets came about (since the rise of the world wide web in the mid-90s), being able to link back to related stories that were previously published wasn't a possibility in print. Your readers simply couldn't click a link in a print newspaper or in a magazine.

Since the web has been around, news outlets have had the ability to help paint the greater picture for the audience by making easy links available at the end of news stories. This is what you see at the end of the story.

It's a true service to the reader to be able to take a single news report in context.

Misunderstandings happen and you are still loved. Someones we just encounter things that look one way to us and are another thing entirely.

In the future, it would probably be best to consider all possibilities, consider the source and to consider there may be something of which we're not aware. Perhaps there's something else going on that made you upset, and for that you now have my prayers and desire for blessings in your life, Melissa.

I think Melissa missed the sentence that states they are referencing a facebook post of a family friend. Even unbiased news sources usually give the views of a neighbor or friend. No different here. A close friend gives a brief history of the deceased. Fitting enough to me.

I see very little gossip in this article. Yes discussions and news stories must deal with the facts ( I think this one did) Me thinks that Melissa is offended when articles deal with the controversial and dark elements in the church. One cannot hide their head in the sand and avoid issues like this. We are not perfect and we need to be reminded of this fact once in a while.

Bible says; during the end times Satan will become strong, Satan will influence many. Many are seduced into allowing demons to posses them. This is a very great tragedy for the church, the body of Christ. I fear there will be more incidence like this as time goes by. It plays into the hands of Satan and his followers. But we much all encourage each other and keep our Faith in Christ.

Time for Christianity to take a long look at the way not only our nation but our religion as a whole embrace violence . . . we will reap what we have sown.

We are not even getting the "true" happenings on the TV/radio networks. Apparently as of this date noone knows why this kid shot his parents and his siblings. It could be anger for something his parents said no to, anger at 15 being told he should be doing this or that, mental illness period, drugs, alcohol addiction, etc. Who knows. Our next door neighbor's kid killed himself because he couldn't say no to drugs. Thank goodness he did it while the rest of the family was not home because who knows what else would have happened. It could be plain wanting attention, the same attention that the media gives these other murderers. Except the kid picked the wrong time, the media is spell bent on Obama and his inauguration right now. This article is just the beginning of what is a news story whether you want to admit it or not and just because it involves a Christian family doesn't mean it should be ignored. That doesn't help us to figure out how to stop it in the future.

"That doesn't help us to figure out how to stop it in the future."

The main thing to help avoid this incident would have been not storing guns in the closet - esp when your kid wears cammos all the time.

Other issue is I'm glad Greg was reformed and all, but if he was an ex-con (even if he got Jesus in his heart) was it legal for him to own guns? I know it was legal for Nancy Lanza to own them (up until her kid blew her face off when she didn't need them anymore) - maybe Greg was only in jail for misdemeanors, or maybe they were in his wife's name.

"It could be anger for something his parents said no to, anger at 15 being told he should be doing this or that"

Could have been something as "bad" as telling him to take out the trash, or would have to start getting out of bed before noon... some parents can be extremely demanding, but main thing here would be to have had these weapons secured in a gun safe (gotta figure even if the son didn't take them, someone else could have).

Oh yes and let us all try to "figure out" why this man, his wife, and his 3 children-ages 9, 5 & 2 "deserved" to be gunned down-oh "because he didn't have a fun safe they deserved to be gunned down", oh maybe it's because he was an ex-con-come on people lets state what we do know to be true-a 15 year old boy had his OWN CHOICE to make-regardless of circumstances-the boy CHOSE to take guns from his father's closet, he CHOSE to not only kill his mother & 3 siblings, but he then CHOSE to wait around 4 hours for his father to get home where he once again CHOSE to gun him down...another fact-Jesus' love is still big enough & His free gift of grace powerful enough to save this 15 year old boy's life & change his heart for all eternity

Let us pray for the family and all others who have been hurt by this tragedy.

Brothers and sister this is such a tragedy, in these times as Christians we need to agree to disagree and be faithful servants who are about our father's business which is winning souls for Christ. There is not much time left for us and we need to be focused on the signs of the times right now. We have another 4 years of a man who has the freedom to destroy our Christian way of life along with our freedom as Americans. Pray for each other and pray for the boy who killed his family it will be his only hope is if we pray for him.