I am re-posting this blog because recently I have had people tell me that they would shoot someone who came into their house or threatened their children. Thank God nobody killed the Apostle Paul before he was converted. What would the New Testament have looked like if someone had killed him when he broke into one of their houses in his zeal to wipe out the followers of the Way?

Members of the early church did not defend themselves against their persecutors. They prayed for them and laid down their lives. As far as we can tell from the historians, all of Jesus’ disciples, with the possible exception of John who was exiled, were martyred. The church was, and still is at times, built on the blood of the martyrs.

So what will it be

Guns and Gold, or God?

At the end of our driveway we have a sign for our business and store. On the east side of the sign we always have the name of Jesus and say something about him.

A man came into our store one day and said, “How can you be so bold to put up the name of Jesus on your sign?”

“We run this business for Jesus. What do I have to lose by holding up his name?” I asked.

“Maybe some people won’t buy your stuff,” he said.

“Jesus runs this business. He will direct sales to us,” I answered. “My responsibility is to point people to him.”

The man mused for a moment. He then told me that he was a Christian; he even led Bible studies and home groups. We had a good discussion about the Lord. As he got ready to leave, he asked, “You are investing in gold, aren’t you?”

“What for?” I said, “You can’t eat gold.”

“Yes, but when the monetary system collapses, you are going to need gold.”

“You can’t eat gold,” I said again.

“You won’t be able to buy anything if you don’t have gold,” he said.

“You can’t eat gold. It won’t be worth anything. We are making food. Food will have value, give us something to trade, if it comes to that.”

His forehead crinkled as he looked intently at me.

“Well, you do have a CWP don’t you?”

“A what?”

“A permit to carry a concealed weapon?”

“You have got to be kidding me,” I answered.  “Who would I shoot?”

“Things are going to get very bad. You are going to have to defend your property,” he said.

“I don’t agree,” I said. Then I gave him my perspective on guns, self-defense, and defense of my possessions.

“Let me tell you about one of my heroes” I said. “I met Dorothy Bennett, who was in her 80’s, in the dough nut shop in Lynden. She heard me and my mom talking about the Lord. She asked if she and her husband could join us. After introductions she told us that she had been doing radio broadcasts into Muslim countries, daily, for many, many years. She told us lots of stories. One of them was about a prayer meeting she and her husband, Richard, were holding in Africa. Genocide was going on in this part of Africa. People in that meeting had been attacked by neighboring, warring, tribes. Suddenly a man burst into the meeting. He was drunk. He had a machine gun. He threatened them all. He put the gun in Dorothy’s face and told her he was going to kill her. “Go ahead,” she said. “I’m going to heaven. Where are you going?” The man fell face down, on the floor, Dorothy’s husband, Richard, kicked the gun away. When the man got up, he was sober and saved.

“I hope,” I told the man in my driveway, “that I will have that kind of courage if I am ever faced with that kind of threat.”

I went on to tell him that I had thought a lot about this. The worst-case scenario would be, in my opinion—someone is torturing a child. I have been given the power to stop it by denouncing Jesus. I hope that I would respond by commanding the perpetrator to stop, in the name of Jesus! If he didn’t, I would assume that this was the will of God. Then I would speak to the child, “This is temporary. Have faith. We will be out of here soon.”

I told him that I read Voice of the Martyrs magazine every month. Christians are having this kind of experience, right now, in many parts of the world. I hope I never have to go through such a thing, but if I do, I hope that I can be as steadfast as they are.

The man said not another word. He got in his car and drove away. As I watched him leave, I thought. “Isn’t that interesting. Here is a guy that says he’s a Christian, but he questioned my “boldness” to hold up Jesus’ name. Then he showed me that he doesn’t trust the Lord. What he is really counting on, trusting in, are his gold and his guns.

This ad came in the mail. a few days ago. Tim was about to throw it away, but I told him I would keep it. It helps to illustrate my point.

I am not a gun control advocate. But I wonder why so many Christians are running to gold and guns instead of trusting in the Lord.

• He told us not to love the world, nor the things of the world.
• He told us to seek the kingdom of God.
• He told us not to fear him who can kill the body but fear him who can send the soul to hell.
• He told us not to worry about what we are going to eat, or what we are going to wear.
• He told us not to worry at all!

Some men trust in horses, some men trust in chariots, but we will trust in the NAME of the Lord.