References:
• Matthew 10:16-23 NAS
• Psalm 91 NAS
• Psalm 23 NAS
• שּׂבּﬨ (shay'-bet)
• משענה (mish-ay-naw')
• Our Daily Bread: Refuge
This past week has seen two assaults upon staff by inmates in two different state prisons. This is not the first time that such an assault has taken place within one of the several Nebraska Department of Corrections prisons. In fact, almost a year ago, there was a major riot on Mother’s Day in 2015. Our work is an inherently dangerous one because of the people that we work with. Every day, we go to work with a cautious and alert attitude, knowing that anything can happen.
Over my 40+ years, I have worked many different jobs. Ranging from camp counselor at a Church Camp, to being a student pastor at a church, to doing ministry to children at an inpatient treatment center (while in seminary), to being an Airborne paratrooper, to being a MP with the Nebraska national Guard. With each of these different jobs, I faced rewards and challenges unique to each environment. Between my almost 15 years with the US Army, between Active Duty and time with the Nebraska National Guard, I have been deployed four times. Three times to Iraq and once to Qatar. Of course, there were significant dangers with each of these deployments. Facing danger definitely isn’t new with me.
To be honest, each of us face dangers of one sort or another. Whenever we wake up each day and go to school or work, walk around town, go to church, go shopping, etc., there are always risks involved. There is always the chance that a we could get into an accident, slip one something, large branch could fall from a tree upon our head, be bitten by some dangerous insect or animal, have a severe allergic reaction to something, etc. We live in a fallen world, plagued with decay and death. But, some jobs seem to have more risks and dangers than others.
When I joined the military or joined NDCS, I went through training to prepare my physically and mentally for the challenges and dangers that I might face. Though all of the training is helpful and absolutely necessary, things always seem different when you are faced with a dangerous situation in real life.
While I drive to work each morning, I prayerfully put on God’s spiritual armor (Ephesians 6) and ask God watch over and protect myself and all of my co-workers. Along with that, I ask God to help us to be aware of things around us. Being alert is paramount!
I know that everyone prays to a god of whatever religious persuasion they follow for help, guidance, protection, etc. Whenever I do, I always remind myself that God always answers prayers, but not always the way that I expect.
Many Soldiers over the decades have found Psalm 91 to be exceedingly comforting. It is sometimes referred to as “The Soldier’s Psalm.” I have found comfort and encouragement in this particular Psalm on several occasions. But, Psalm 23 comes to my mind more often.
Almost 20 years ago, I was in seminary and took a Hebrew reading class. It was one of the few classes that I did extremely well in. Throughout the short semester, we would take various passages from the Old Testament and carefully research the Hebrew text. Afterwards, we would then translate the passage. As long as we could justify the word choice, the professor would accept it. While I was working on Psalm 23, something very interesting stood out to me. The words that are typically translated as ‘rod’ and ‘staff’ very interesting meanings. The first word, שּׂבּﬨ (shay'-bet), can mean ‘staff’ or ‘club.’ The other word, משענה (mish-ay-naw'), does mean ‘staff.’
Since I have a very vivid imagination (one of the strengths of being an INFJ), I pictured in my mind how this might look. In my mind, I saw a flock of sheep with a shepherd or two mingling amongst them. The shepherds watched the sheep, guiding them from place to place. They showed them where to graze on healthy grass and drink from clean water. Then I pictured a wild animal, let’s say a wolf, approach the flock. At first the shepherd would ‘reach out’ to the wolf with the sling and stone if they could. If they missed or there wasn’t time to get a stone ready, they would attack the wolf with the long staff. If that missed, or if the wolf was too close, the shepherd still had the rod (or club) to defend themselves and the sheep with.
That got me thinking just how God might protect me and others, from dangers that may be far away or those that may be right next to us. Just like any protective armor or weapon used for self-defense, they do not always work. Some people, though very highly protected, still get injured or killed. Though a person goes through years of training and become very skilled in protecting themselves and others, it doesn’t always work that way.
In both Psalm 23 and Psalm 91, we see that God is there to protect us, strengthen us, guide us. But, in real life, we also experience pain and death in spite of all the draining and safety precautions that we take. Sometimes we are in awe with how God miraculously saved us or someone else from harm when they should have been hurt or killed. But yet, not always.
It is a struggle when we so earnestly plead with God for safety for ourselves and others, but they are injured or killed. It is painful to see someone train hard for years, do everything right, purposely are careful, and still get hurt or die. We often wonder, “Why?”
What is comforting to me is, that no matter what the outcome will be, God will be there with me. I have been in several situations where I could have been seriously hurt or killed, but yet God miraculously protected me. But though God has done incredible things for me, He has also allowed pain and suffering to happen to myself or those around me. In 2006, a very good friend of mine died in Afghanistan from a IED (improvised explosive device). Several friends of mine within the Nebraska Department of Corrections have been injured while at work.
We all face danger each and every day. We all have a responsibility to think carefully, get the education and training that we need to be safer, to be aware of what is happening around us, etc. But in spite of all we do right, there is no guarantee that the outcome will be what we want. God never promised that. He only promised that He would be there with us, guiding us as we let Him. Just knowing that God will be with me, no matter what I go through, is great encouragement. I do not know what God will allow me to experience in the future. But, I know that God will be there with me, no matter what.
With whatever you are experiencing today, I encourage you to seek God’s help, His blessings, and His protection. Trust that He will answer your prayer. Just understand that His answer may not be what we are hoping or wanting. Let us remember that God loves us more than we can understand. He sees the ‘big picture.’ And, no matter what happens in our lives, let us radically trust God to use our obedience to accomplish His will. Though we may never fully understand the ‘why,’ let us walk in faith that He does. And may God give us the knowledge we need to make decisions we need to make, may He give us wisdom with how to do them, and the strength and courage to do them. And, if necessary, the strength and courage to do it alone, or to lay down our lives.
Showing posts with label protect. Show all posts
Showing posts with label protect. Show all posts
Sunday, April 17, 2016
Sunday, July 19, 2015
Making Churches a Gun-Free Zone: Unbiblical and Dangerous Idea
This blog entry was started over a year ago. Some time in June of 2014. At this moment, I cannot remember what specifically inspired me to write this. I am sure it had something to do with a shooting in a church or school and other places looking at passing laws to forbid the lawful carrying of a firearm inside of a church. And, it's interesting to me… I had forgotten that I had started writing this paper/blog entry until a few days ago. Recently, though, a number of events, including the shooting the shooting in a church in South Carolina and, most recently, the shooting at a Marine recruiting station, brought gun control to the forefront of my mind.
While reviewing my blog entries, I saw that I had written one on the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting on December 14, 2012 (Reflections on the Connecticut Shooting). It was a terrible incident where a young man stole a car and several weapons and proceeded to kill a number of people at the Sandy Hook school. And, without wasting much time, many people on the left were immediately screaming for more gun control. They screamed for more background checks, for stricter control on guns (pistols and rifles), for the banning of 'assault rifles,' etc. Though I was sickened by the senseless killing of the children at Sandy Hook, I was deeply offended and angered by the left calling for bans, control, etc.
When our Forefathers wrote the US Constitution, the added onto it the Bill of Rights, freedoms that all law abiding citizens were to have. The 2nd Amendment states thus: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." (Found here.) Why was this written? In the 1700's we were a British Colony. The government of England decided that they could do with us as they pleased, including taxing us heavily, allowing soldiers to search peoples' homes without cause, to arrest people if they pleased, and many other abuses. We eventually rebelled against England and, after many years of armed conflict, gained our independence. The Amendments was added to our Constitution to protect every person's individual rights. Those writing the Constitution, like George Washing, Thomas Jefferson, etc., had seen what tyranny was like. Therefore, they wanted to enable future generation to have protected freedoms.
Protected freedoms of practicing one's own faith, of being able to peacefully protest for or against something, etc. But, without the ability to actively resist tyranny, even from one's own government (local, state, national, or even a foreign power), none of the other Amendments really matter. As a whole, we have many good laws on the books, both locally and nationally, to protect the innocent while prosecuting the accused law breakers. However, law enforcement officers and judges can become corrupt, a criminal can be very intelligent and hide what he does from others, or law enforcement can be delayed in responding to an incident.
From my experiences as custody staff with the Nebraska Department of Corrections, I have seen depravity at its finest. So to speak… While I believe that people can change, and I have seen God do some awesome things in the lives of inmates, I also know that it is not always the case. There are some very evil people who are incarcerated in our prison system. They are people who would be more than willing to do a person great physical harm if they felt that it would benefit them enough. Many are very good at putting on a façade towards their family, lawyers, religious volunteers, etc. But, if one has to deal with them on a day-to-day basis, away from the public eye, one will sometimes observe a very different side of them.
We have law enforcement professionals, local, county, federal, etc., for a reason. Because of our sinful nature, we are inclined to act out on our sinful and selfish natures. Whether it is something self-destructive that causes harm to others, like drinking and driving, or whether it is something directly aimed at harming others, like assault or murder. I am thankful that we have such people that are willing to put their lives on the line to protect people from those that would want to do them harm. However, they are only human, can only be in one place at one time, and have to respond to when an emergency call is made.
And, that is why I am against these 'weapon free zones.' Unless a place, like a Federal Building, has an armed security force, you are jeopardizing the lives of others within the 'gun free zone.' From the time that a person makes a phone call to 911 (or hits a silent alarm), it can easily take several minutes for the dispatcher to inform those on duty where the emergency is, let alone for the law enforcement officers to actually get on scene. Sometimes it is less than 5 minutes, but it can easily be more. Having done many training scenarios in the Army and with the Department of Corrections, a lot can happen in one or two minutes, let alone 5 to 10 minutes.
The thing that many people either don't understand, or choose to ignore, is that most of those who choose to commit many of these great atrocities do so because they have a blatant disregard for laws. Although some crimes are committed “in the heat of the moment,” many are actually planned out. In fact, many who are serial killers or plan on doing major crimes do major planning before they commit their crimes. The take their time to choose when and where to commit it, as well as how they plan on escaping. The James Holmes, who was recently convicted in the mass murder of the people in the Colorado theater, did a lot of planning before he executed his attack. He choose a movie to do his killing spree in that had lots of action and gunfire so as to mask his shootings. He planned ahead with selecting his weapons and body armor (one article is found here). All of this points to a very evil and vindictive personality, who calculated what to do and when to do it.
Those of us in the military have two terms for targets, 'hard' and 'soft.' A hard target would be one that is fortified with various layers of defense. Although a maximum security prison is built more to keep inmates in, though keeping people who would want to break them out is an important aspect of their security, would be an excellent example of a 'hardened target.' Because of the layers of defense, it would be very difficult to get into a maximum security prison. It would also be just as difficult, if not even more so, to try and break out. Many banks and military bases are built with layers of defenses that overlap each other. These layers of defense keep unauthorized people out and those who are charged with protecting the facility safe.
On a personal level, a 'hard target' for common criminal include a number of different things. A few might be observant neighbors that watch out for each other, one or more dogs that can alert the occupants to something that isn't right, solid doors and well made locks, windows that are secured, landscaping that prevent people from hiding near doors or windows, etc. Each of these things would make it more difficult for a criminal to enter the premises and commit their crime. Except for those who are choosing to commit a violent home invasion, most criminals want to sneak in, commit their crime, and then escape without the occupants and/or police knowing that they were there.
A 'soft target' is one that either does not have any defenses or its defenses are marginal or can be easily be overcome through brute force, intimidation, or the like. A grade school without any armed security personnel and is a 'declared gun free zone' is an excellent example of a 'soft target.' If the sole purpose of an attack is to create as many casualties as possible, as quickly as possible, and with little or no risk to the person committing the crime, the school would be a prime target. Think about it… Each classroom probably has 20-40 kids with 1-4 teachers. After a couple of occupied rooms, such a criminal would have easily injured or killed a large number of people in less than 5 minutes, and is on the way out. Especially if none of the school staff were allowed to carry a firearm to protect themselves or the teachers that they were charge to care for and to teach.
As a Christian, I believe that God calls me to care for those around me. Whether it's my immediate family, friends and neighbors, the inmates that I watch over, or those in a foreign country that I am their guest of. God calls me to seek out His justice and to share His love with those around me. From my Presbyterian heritage, one of the things that has helped me in my faith journey is the Book of Confession. It is a collection of writings from various theologians over the centuries to help explain what Scripture says. One of those writings is the Larger Catechism. It is a very in depth explanation of what we Christians believe. One of the things that it covers in detail is the Ten Commandments. The 6th Commandment is “Thou shall not kill.” The thing is, the Hebrew word, ratsach(found here) means to murder. It infers premeditated, planned killing of innocent life. From 7.244 through 7.246, the Larger Catechism explains what this means. In a nutshell, not only am I to avoid causing harm or death to those who do not deserve it (the innocent), but I am also to protect them from others wanting to cause harm or death. It is not just a 'good idea,' it is a biblical mandate (7.246 especially)! (They are questions 134-136 in the Larger Catechism.)
I sincerely believe that if we were to remove the 'gun free zones' so that those who choose to carry in order to protect themselves and others, will greatly reduce crime. As I stated before, most criminals want to go someplace to commit a crime where there is low risk and high rewards. When a place declares itself a 'gun free zone,' they attract criminals. Criminals know that law abiding citizens believe in following the laws. Therefore, if they will either not carry their weapon into the 'gun free' establishment or avoid going it at all. That means the criminal has a much lower risk for committing their crime.
I also believe that if good, quality training were made more available for those who choose to carry, that would also help make our society safer. Every situation will be different, and no training, no matter how good, can cover all possible scenarios. However, any kind of good training that helps a person, during times of high stress, be able to negotiate criminals from the innocent, quickly determine if it is safe to engage a target, how to aim effectively in difficult situations, etc., is better than nothing.
In short, I believe it is a biblical mandate to serve and protect others. Because of my background in the military and corrections, I have a lot more training than others. I wish that those who also seek to take care of others, including using deadly force if it is absolutely necessary, should have access to good, quality training. Not only is it a biblical mandate, but I believe that our Forefathers protected our rights to defend ourselves via the 2nd Amendment. Any time innocent people are injured or killed, we should be angered about it. However, taking away the rights of the individual (in this case, their right to be armed) is not the answer. Creating more 'gun free zones' will only encourage more attacks. Taking away people's rights to protect themselves will create more victims. This is the thing that criminals want. Not just your 'average criminals,' though. Because of the rise of radical Islam, the more 'gun free zones' and the more anti-2nd Amendment laws you create, the victims you create. Such people, espeically terrorists, love 'soft targets.' If you believe that you are called to serve and protect, or especially to serve via creating laws, should you not enable people to protect themselves instead of creating more and more victims who cannot protect themselves from armed assailants?
While reviewing my blog entries, I saw that I had written one on the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting on December 14, 2012 (Reflections on the Connecticut Shooting). It was a terrible incident where a young man stole a car and several weapons and proceeded to kill a number of people at the Sandy Hook school. And, without wasting much time, many people on the left were immediately screaming for more gun control. They screamed for more background checks, for stricter control on guns (pistols and rifles), for the banning of 'assault rifles,' etc. Though I was sickened by the senseless killing of the children at Sandy Hook, I was deeply offended and angered by the left calling for bans, control, etc.
When our Forefathers wrote the US Constitution, the added onto it the Bill of Rights, freedoms that all law abiding citizens were to have. The 2nd Amendment states thus: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." (Found here.) Why was this written? In the 1700's we were a British Colony. The government of England decided that they could do with us as they pleased, including taxing us heavily, allowing soldiers to search peoples' homes without cause, to arrest people if they pleased, and many other abuses. We eventually rebelled against England and, after many years of armed conflict, gained our independence. The Amendments was added to our Constitution to protect every person's individual rights. Those writing the Constitution, like George Washing, Thomas Jefferson, etc., had seen what tyranny was like. Therefore, they wanted to enable future generation to have protected freedoms.
Protected freedoms of practicing one's own faith, of being able to peacefully protest for or against something, etc. But, without the ability to actively resist tyranny, even from one's own government (local, state, national, or even a foreign power), none of the other Amendments really matter. As a whole, we have many good laws on the books, both locally and nationally, to protect the innocent while prosecuting the accused law breakers. However, law enforcement officers and judges can become corrupt, a criminal can be very intelligent and hide what he does from others, or law enforcement can be delayed in responding to an incident.
From my experiences as custody staff with the Nebraska Department of Corrections, I have seen depravity at its finest. So to speak… While I believe that people can change, and I have seen God do some awesome things in the lives of inmates, I also know that it is not always the case. There are some very evil people who are incarcerated in our prison system. They are people who would be more than willing to do a person great physical harm if they felt that it would benefit them enough. Many are very good at putting on a façade towards their family, lawyers, religious volunteers, etc. But, if one has to deal with them on a day-to-day basis, away from the public eye, one will sometimes observe a very different side of them.
We have law enforcement professionals, local, county, federal, etc., for a reason. Because of our sinful nature, we are inclined to act out on our sinful and selfish natures. Whether it is something self-destructive that causes harm to others, like drinking and driving, or whether it is something directly aimed at harming others, like assault or murder. I am thankful that we have such people that are willing to put their lives on the line to protect people from those that would want to do them harm. However, they are only human, can only be in one place at one time, and have to respond to when an emergency call is made.
And, that is why I am against these 'weapon free zones.' Unless a place, like a Federal Building, has an armed security force, you are jeopardizing the lives of others within the 'gun free zone.' From the time that a person makes a phone call to 911 (or hits a silent alarm), it can easily take several minutes for the dispatcher to inform those on duty where the emergency is, let alone for the law enforcement officers to actually get on scene. Sometimes it is less than 5 minutes, but it can easily be more. Having done many training scenarios in the Army and with the Department of Corrections, a lot can happen in one or two minutes, let alone 5 to 10 minutes.
The thing that many people either don't understand, or choose to ignore, is that most of those who choose to commit many of these great atrocities do so because they have a blatant disregard for laws. Although some crimes are committed “in the heat of the moment,” many are actually planned out. In fact, many who are serial killers or plan on doing major crimes do major planning before they commit their crimes. The take their time to choose when and where to commit it, as well as how they plan on escaping. The James Holmes, who was recently convicted in the mass murder of the people in the Colorado theater, did a lot of planning before he executed his attack. He choose a movie to do his killing spree in that had lots of action and gunfire so as to mask his shootings. He planned ahead with selecting his weapons and body armor (one article is found here). All of this points to a very evil and vindictive personality, who calculated what to do and when to do it.
Those of us in the military have two terms for targets, 'hard' and 'soft.' A hard target would be one that is fortified with various layers of defense. Although a maximum security prison is built more to keep inmates in, though keeping people who would want to break them out is an important aspect of their security, would be an excellent example of a 'hardened target.' Because of the layers of defense, it would be very difficult to get into a maximum security prison. It would also be just as difficult, if not even more so, to try and break out. Many banks and military bases are built with layers of defenses that overlap each other. These layers of defense keep unauthorized people out and those who are charged with protecting the facility safe.
On a personal level, a 'hard target' for common criminal include a number of different things. A few might be observant neighbors that watch out for each other, one or more dogs that can alert the occupants to something that isn't right, solid doors and well made locks, windows that are secured, landscaping that prevent people from hiding near doors or windows, etc. Each of these things would make it more difficult for a criminal to enter the premises and commit their crime. Except for those who are choosing to commit a violent home invasion, most criminals want to sneak in, commit their crime, and then escape without the occupants and/or police knowing that they were there.
A 'soft target' is one that either does not have any defenses or its defenses are marginal or can be easily be overcome through brute force, intimidation, or the like. A grade school without any armed security personnel and is a 'declared gun free zone' is an excellent example of a 'soft target.' If the sole purpose of an attack is to create as many casualties as possible, as quickly as possible, and with little or no risk to the person committing the crime, the school would be a prime target. Think about it… Each classroom probably has 20-40 kids with 1-4 teachers. After a couple of occupied rooms, such a criminal would have easily injured or killed a large number of people in less than 5 minutes, and is on the way out. Especially if none of the school staff were allowed to carry a firearm to protect themselves or the teachers that they were charge to care for and to teach.
As a Christian, I believe that God calls me to care for those around me. Whether it's my immediate family, friends and neighbors, the inmates that I watch over, or those in a foreign country that I am their guest of. God calls me to seek out His justice and to share His love with those around me. From my Presbyterian heritage, one of the things that has helped me in my faith journey is the Book of Confession. It is a collection of writings from various theologians over the centuries to help explain what Scripture says. One of those writings is the Larger Catechism. It is a very in depth explanation of what we Christians believe. One of the things that it covers in detail is the Ten Commandments. The 6th Commandment is “Thou shall not kill.” The thing is, the Hebrew word, ratsach(found here) means to murder. It infers premeditated, planned killing of innocent life. From 7.244 through 7.246, the Larger Catechism explains what this means. In a nutshell, not only am I to avoid causing harm or death to those who do not deserve it (the innocent), but I am also to protect them from others wanting to cause harm or death. It is not just a 'good idea,' it is a biblical mandate (7.246 especially)! (They are questions 134-136 in the Larger Catechism.)
I sincerely believe that if we were to remove the 'gun free zones' so that those who choose to carry in order to protect themselves and others, will greatly reduce crime. As I stated before, most criminals want to go someplace to commit a crime where there is low risk and high rewards. When a place declares itself a 'gun free zone,' they attract criminals. Criminals know that law abiding citizens believe in following the laws. Therefore, if they will either not carry their weapon into the 'gun free' establishment or avoid going it at all. That means the criminal has a much lower risk for committing their crime.
I also believe that if good, quality training were made more available for those who choose to carry, that would also help make our society safer. Every situation will be different, and no training, no matter how good, can cover all possible scenarios. However, any kind of good training that helps a person, during times of high stress, be able to negotiate criminals from the innocent, quickly determine if it is safe to engage a target, how to aim effectively in difficult situations, etc., is better than nothing.
In short, I believe it is a biblical mandate to serve and protect others. Because of my background in the military and corrections, I have a lot more training than others. I wish that those who also seek to take care of others, including using deadly force if it is absolutely necessary, should have access to good, quality training. Not only is it a biblical mandate, but I believe that our Forefathers protected our rights to defend ourselves via the 2nd Amendment. Any time innocent people are injured or killed, we should be angered about it. However, taking away the rights of the individual (in this case, their right to be armed) is not the answer. Creating more 'gun free zones' will only encourage more attacks. Taking away people's rights to protect themselves will create more victims. This is the thing that criminals want. Not just your 'average criminals,' though. Because of the rise of radical Islam, the more 'gun free zones' and the more anti-2nd Amendment laws you create, the victims you create. Such people, espeically terrorists, love 'soft targets.' If you believe that you are called to serve and protect, or especially to serve via creating laws, should you not enable people to protect themselves instead of creating more and more victims who cannot protect themselves from armed assailants?
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