People Who Pack Heat in Church
13 comments:
I love to get comments and usually respond. So come back to see my reply. You can click here to see my comment policy.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I love to get comments and usually respond. So come back to see my reply. You can click here to see my comment policy.
It is unfortunate, Bob, but with churches becoming real targets for deranged people more and more, taking a concealed weapon to church may now be what it takes to prevent a massacre. A Sunday morning service at a packed church can become a nightmare of a shooting gallery, as we've already seen in recent years. Some churches have hired armed guards to protect pastors and worshipers during services, but perhaps only the mega-churches can afford them. Do I like this, Bob? Of course not! But remember the disciples had weapons and Jesus told them they would need them to defend themselves from robbers because he wasn't going to be there to protect them any longer. Being martyred for one's faith is one thing, but becoming a victim of opportunity is something else entirely.
ReplyDeleteOdd that Luke would mention this sword recommendation and then Matthew would mention Jesus saying "live by the sword die by the sword."
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine this. I can't even think of something to say. Nope, I still can't think of an explanation from a Christian perspective.
ReplyDeleteI don't see the point of packing heat anywhere, much less in church. Should you have the right to? I suppose so.
ReplyDeleteWould you be more open to the idea if you lived in a place where there were less effective police? Jesus told his disciples to carry swords for some reason. It was not to advance the cause of the gospel (hence Matthew's statement), but it was a part of Jesus telling His disciples to carry money, cloaks, etc. It was a necessary tool when the miraculous circumstances of the disciples' first sending were removed. The Father miraculously fed the disciples the first time around. This time it would not be so, so Jesus told them to take money, spare clothing, and weapons.
ReplyDeleteFYI, Bob. This is like the 4th time I've commented on your site and almost given up in frustration. Having to log in to Google and probably losing my comment anyway is a definite barrier to me commenting. I'm almost never logged in when I visit your site, so as a rule I just don't comment here. My wife lost a comment here a while back, too. I wish I could remember what about.
ReplyDeleteI decided to go ahead and log in and post my thoughts, since it would let me leave this little additional comment. If I'm the only one so inconvenienced, so be it.
I feel your pain, Kevin. I'm always logged into Gmail and Blogger still makes me log in, whereas it didn't used to. I'm not sure what they changed, but it's pretty annoying. It's every Google/Blogger blog I go to that does this, not just Bob's.
ReplyDeleteThanks Kevin and Mike for the feedback on commenting. I allow anonymous comments and just ask folks to leave a first name when they comment anon so you could go that way if you do not want to keep up with the comment thread.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I just changed to a pop-up style comment box in hopes of making it easier to comment. Possibly a browser like IE may have difficulty commenting inline like I had it before. Please try it again and let me know if you still have issues. Also let me know what browser you a are using so that I can try to simulate if you have a problem. Thanks for commenting!
@Kevin - Maybe if I lived in a high-crime area I might feel the need to pack heat.. probably not as I do not own a weapon.. I would probably be more inclined to move than pack heat.. but may as a last resort?
ReplyDelete@All - Does anyone personally know of a situation where it might be wise to pack heat in church?
I thought at first Bob your article was dealing with 'heating the church' so that people who attend do not feel cold.
ReplyDeleteIt is alien to me to refer to personal firearms as "heat". It is my feeling that "heat" must be an "all American expression".
Other than 'guns' an alternative expression, as I understand it in Australia, is 'arms'.
I would not from my current perspective carry 'arms' or 'heat' to a Church for two reasons.
1. Jesus during his earthly mission only fended for himself demonstrating and/or exercising God's Love. I think as far as it is possible Christians should do like wise... this is a generalisation. But before one considers bearing arms/heat I think the issue should be taken to the throne of Grace.
2. I have never had any training or education concerning the bearing of arms/heat and so do not feel qualified to use such self offence/defence equipment.
As per crownring's comment, I must admit, I attend a church that fits his description to a tee. I am not ashamed to say, my husband is one of those "plainly clothed" off-duty officers with a concealed weapon. I love my church, I love my pastor. This only seems to be in the best interest of everyone. He has an officer within with 10-20 feet at all times unbeknownst to just about everyone except those who are on the security detail, or the spouses of the detail members. Because of where I live, in the nation's capital, I find much solace in deterring the "enemy" from bursting in and declaring Jihad on us! Particularly since there is an Islamic Center on the neighboring property. This gives my pastor complete freedom to focus on what he considers critical,teaching and imparting what the Lord had placed on his heart. He preaches five weekend sermons beginning with two on Saturday evening. The sanctuary is at near capacity during the last sermon and the lower level is entirely full during the first four. Based on all that has happened here since 9-11, I feel much less vulnerable with these undercover officers roaming our campus, particularly when all heads are bowed. ~Reba~
ReplyDeleteTest comment
ReplyDeleteThat was much smoother, Bob. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteFWIW, I've never felt the need to be armed at church.