Proverbs: Wealth, Defense, and Justice

Theology of Self Defense-3

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: Old Testament Studies

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name:

Date: 2024-03-27

Synopsis: John Weaver teaches that biblical safety involves both trusting God's sovereignty and fulfilling personal responsibility. Using Proverbs 21:31 as a foundation, he argues that preparation, training, and situational awareness are duties, not optional. He warns that society has changed, evil exists, and churches are increasingly targeted. Practical advice includes having a plan, carrying and training with weapons, and developing a biblical mindset. The lecture emphasizes that self-defense is a ministry and a moral obligation, especially for heads of families.

[John Weaver] I want you to open your Bibles, if you would please, to the book of Proverbs, chapter 21. I'm going to be giving you a number of passages, but I'm also going to be giving you a number of illustrations and some quotes that I think are very, very important. So I want you to look in Proverbs, chapter 21. Tonight's message is going to be dealing with safety, preparation, and situational awareness. So if you look in Proverbs chapter 21 in verse 31, the Bible simply says this, the horse is prepared for the day of battle, but safety is of the Lord. Everyone should be interested in safety and self-defense. Only those that are foolish and naive will not be concerned about their health, their safety or their welfare.

[John Weaver] Let me just say this. It is normal. natural and biblical to want to prosper and to be in health and certainly to be safe. You remember it was the Apostle John in 3 John who said this concerning his loved ones and his people. He said, Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health even as thy soul prospereth. And I've often thought about that. If most of us prospered physically and economically the way our souls prosper, most of us would be very, very poor. The truth of the matter is we need to understand that there is indeed a natural desire and a biblical desire to be safe and to be healthy and to prosper as well. So if you then consider your health, if you consider your safety important, then you're certainly going to be interested not only in self-defense, but you're also going to be interested in preparedness as well. It's impossible to remain safe. It is impossible to remain healthy if you are unconcerned about your welfare and if you're unconcerned about things that are going on around you.

[John Weaver] Now let me give you two major warnings or two major caveats concerning this message. First of all, the Bible says in Proverbs 21 and verse 31, the horse is prepared for the day of battle, but Safety is of the Lord. Safety first and foremost is in the hand of the Lord. It is not in our hands. We may prepare, we may be responsible, but He is the Sovereign and He is the One who is in absolute and total control.

[John Weaver] Without Him, all of our preparation, all of our training is useless and worthless. It's just that simple. The Bible also says, In Psalm 33 and verse 17, listen to this one, a horse is a vain thing for safety, neither will he protect any by his strength. In other words, we are not going to be able to depend upon anything that we have for our protection. For instance, we could paraphrase that verse and say like this, a Glock is a vain thing for safety, or a tank is a vain thing for safety, or AR-15 is a vain thing for safety. Neither will it deliver anybody by its great firepower. In other words, the point of the being that we must understand that first and foremost, primarily, our safety is in the Lord. That's why I said in Psalm 127 in verse 1, Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain." In other words, safety is of the Lord.

[John Weaver] Now, without going into great detail, let me just say this, that Scripture affirms and confirms the fact that if we desire His protection, we need to be absolutely obedient to Him and to His law. The Bible in the book of Leviticus chapter 25 and verse 18 says this, Wherefore, you shall do my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them, and then you shall dwell safe in the land. So safety is in the hands of the Lord first and foremost.

[John Weaver] Now, here's the second caveat, here's the second warning that I want to give concerning this message, and that is this, that God is not going to fulfill our responsibilities for us. God has commanded us. God has told us exactly what we must do. But God is not going to fulfill our responsibilities for us. It is true He is sovereign. It is true He is omnipotent. He is omniscient. He is omnipresent. He is God. But God is not going to do for us what we refuse to do for ourselves. God is not going to think for us. God is not going to pray for us. God is not going to train for us. God is not going to repent for us. God is not going to prepare for us. In other words, God holds us accountable and responsible.

[John Weaver] So we have to keep these two truths in the right perspective. God is sovereign. Safety is in His hand, first and foremost. But secondly, we are responsible.

[John Weaver] Now, I want to tell you how these things work together. There's a passage that the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2, verse 7. He told Timothy, consider what I say. And the Lord give the understanding of all things. Understanding is the gift of God. That's what he said in Proverbs two and verse six as well. But God does not give understanding willy nilly. You don't go to bed stupid and wake up smart. You don't go to bed ignorant and wake up knowing everything. He said, consider what I say. In other words, it is our duty, it is our responsibility to think and meditate and consider what God has said and then at the same time seek God to give us understanding. So it's the same when we are talking about safety and responsibility. It is God who must keep us safe, but at the same time, God is also expecting us to be responsible.

[John Weaver] So, the very fact, the very fact that Samson came down from the mountain and he killed a thousand Philistines, he had to pick up the jawbone of the ass. God provided the jawbone, but God did not fight for Samson. And likewise, God gave David the victory over Goliath. But God did not sling the stone for David. David had to sling the stone. He had to have been trained in the use of the sling.

[John Weaver] So clearly, obviously, these things go together. Now, let me just tell you, things have changed drastically in this country. Anyone who is 70 years or older can verify the fact that we are living in an entirely different nation than which we grew up in. Now, some of you young folks, you may not think things have changed that much. But let me tell you, it was certainly different back in the fifties. And I usually tell people, I really truly think this. I could be wrong, but I really think this. I think my generation was the last generation to taste the last little bit of freedom that we really had in this country. To show you how things have changed, when I was a boy, if I wanted to see a policeman, I had to drive uptown, and once I got uptown, I had to look around, because they were hard to find.

[John Weaver] There were very, very few policemen in our small town. We didn't need them. Why? Well, because most folks were basically moral. Most folks at least believed the Ten Commandments, even though they were not Christians. And most folks acted decently. I tell people, when I was a boy, my father used to take us on vacation down to Miami, Florida. Two weeks during the winter, we would go down and visit relatives and stay with them. My father was a farmer.

[John Weaver] We never locked a door. We never locked a window. He had multiple thousands of dollars worth of machinery all out around the barns and in the barns. When we would come back two weeks later, everything was exactly the way we left it. No one had broken in. No one had tried to steal anything. It was just simply there. In other words, things were different back in the 1950s and in the early 1960s.

[John Weaver] For instance, my wife and I grew up in the same area, and I was thinking when I was actually preparing this message, and I was racking my brain to find out if I could ever remember a bank robbery in our town. And I could not. And so I have a deputy friend, and I asked him, I said, can you tell me Has there been a bank robbery in this town in the last 50 years? He said, well. I don't know. He said there hadn't been one since I've been around, and he said, I don't even remember, I don't think so.

[John Weaver] The point being, now today, everybody's stealing from dollar stores and convenience stores and everything else. I'm just simply saying things have changed in this country.

[John Weaver] Now, when we're talking about self-defense, when we're talking about preparation, let me tell you what I think it should be our first step. And our first step, I believe, should be what you and I would call acceptance. What do I mean by acceptance? We've got to accept the fact that we're living in a totally different society. We are living in a totally and completely different culture.

[John Weaver] We have to understand that there are extremely bad people. I'm going to say it even another way, that there are evil people, and these people rejoice in and delight in evil. They have absolutely no regard for God. They have no regard for you. They have no regard for your property. And stealing to them is a way of life, killing to them is a way of life. Years ago, there was a movie, Black Hawk Down. I watched that movie years ago when it came on TV. And about a year or so later, it came on again.

[John Weaver] And I thought, well, I don't need to see it again. I've already seen it. But then I thought, no, I will watch it one more time. And I was so thankful that I did. Because I had totally missed the scene the first time. Because in Mogadishu, Here was the helicopter pilot, the Black Hawk helicopter pilot, up against the wall. He had been beaten absolutely senseless, black eyes, blood everywhere, tied up. And one of the big drug lords looked at him and here is what he said. Listen carefully.

[John Weaver] He said, you stupid Americans, you think that you can come over here and force your democracy down our throats? And you think you can stop us from killing when killing has been a way of life for us for over a thousand years. By the way, that culture is being brought to America as well. That is the mentality. And what I'm trying to tell you is this. We have to understand that there are bad, wicked and evil people.

[John Weaver] You remember that passage in the book of Luke, chapter 18, verse 2. Our Lord is speaking, and He said, there was a certain judge who feared not God, neither regarded man. Do you understand, if there is no fear of God, there will not be any regard for man? The reason so many people violate God's law and break His commandments, there is no fear of God. That's what the Apostle Paul said in Romans 3. There is no fear of God before their eyes. That's what Psalm 53 and Psalm 14 is all about. The fool has said in his heart, there is no God. And when you have no regard for God, you're not going to have any regard for mankind. So we've got to understand this. Things have definitely changed. Cultures change. Societies change.

[John Weaver] So do not live in a fool's paradise. Do not be deceived. Do not be deluded. Do not think that evil will never happen to you. or will never happen to your family, or will never happen to your church. And let me say it another way. Good men do not always win. Read 2 Samuel chapter 11 and find out what happened to Uriah the Hittite. In that instance, Uriah the Hittite was the good man and David was the bad man. But it was Uriah who was murdered. to cover up David's sin. I'm just simply saying bad things oftentimes happen to good people. One of the reasons I think that evil is so prominent today is because of a violation of God's law. The Bible says in the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 8 and verse 11, because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily. Therefore, the hearts of the sons of men in them are fully set to do evil. Listen to what he said, because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily.

[John Weaver] The wicked are not taken care of. Therefore, the hearts of the sons of men and them are fully set to do evil." And what we've done is we've coddled criminals. We've not punished them. We've been more concerned for the criminal than the victim. Look at what is happening in this country already. How the one woman who had the million dollar house in New York, you know what happened.

[John Weaver] Squatters took over and she tried to run them out. The cops were called. She was arrested.

[John Weaver] Now, in Georgia, a 70-something-year-old man was kicked out of his 20-year-old home and put out on the street. He lived in that home for over 20 years because someone had filed some fraudulent documents. There are online courses now on how to take over people's homes. I'm just simply saying, we have coddled these criminals. And we have not punished anybody. I'm going to tell you, I think I still have the document, but I had a friend who was sentenced to federal prison for nine months. And he was sentenced because of a biblical stand that he took. He was not wicked. He was not wrong.

[John Weaver] He was not a criminal. I was there every day at his trial. But before he went to the federal prison, he showed me the paper. And of course, in a federal prison today, you get to go to a, you know, an air base. There are no armed guards. You could walk off. I've visited him many times. But if you walk off, then they put you in a real prison with walls. But I saw the letter and they said, you must report such and such day to begin serving your sentence.

[John Weaver] Please be advised, we do not provide tennis rackets or golf clubs. If you want anything like that, you must bring it with you. What? I'm just simply pointing out the fact We've got to understand something, folks. We are not living in Mayberry and Andy Griffith is not our sheriff. Things have changed. You've got to accept that. The next thing you must accept, I believe, is this. You must accept that an attack could happen at any time. It could happen to you. It could happen to your family. It could happen to your church. It may never happen, but it could happen today. The fact that you do not think that anything bad will ever happen to you does not change the reality that it could happen and it will happen. So if you're living in Never-Never Land, you're greatly deluded and greatly deceived. If you're not living in Never-Never Land, then what you need to come up with is a plan for yourself, for your family, and for your church. The plan does not have to be publicized, but you need to know what it is.

[John Weaver] Every person in your Family needs to know what it is, as well as if it's a church, you need to have everyone in the church totally aware of what is going on and what the plan really is. Now I want to give you a few quotes. The first one is going to come from a man by the name of Ron Borsche. I'm sure you don't know who he is, but I'm going to tell you before I give you his quotes. Ron Borsch happened to be a staff instructor at the Kent Martial Arts Club, so he's a martial artist.

[John Weaver] He was also a paratrooper in Vietnam, 101 Airborne Division. He was also 30 years a cop. 20 of those years he was a range master. He was a pistol team captain for 17 of those years. He was a SWAT operator and trainer. He's now retired, but he's still in the consulting business in law enforcement. And I want you to listen to what this man said. I'm going to quote from him again just a little bit later.

[John Weaver] So you should pay close attention to this. He said, one would imagine that among different locations, places of worship would be a safe haven and we would not have to be concerned about safety or violence there. Unfortunately, churches are not the sanctuary they once were. Here we are not talking about mere arson, burglary, mugging, rape, or robbery. Even worse, churches can and have been the site of murder, multiple murders, and rapid mass murder.

[John Weaver] About a year ago, churches that were, listen to this, about a year ago, churches were the third most commonly targeted location by active killers after schools, colleges, and universities. Churches were the third most targeted by mass murderers. He goes on. The survey of over 1,300 congregations in the United States finds that in 2014, it's going to be updated, 39% of congregations experience some type of property or violent crime from vandalism to homicide. 39%. Wow. He goes on. Listen to this.

[John Weaver] Checking our stopwatch of death database back to 1975, we find that church murders have been increasing with alarming frequency. Regrettably, ignoring the problem is only trolling for a tragedy. It is perfectly normal for us to not want to think about violence, much less murder or mass murder in church. Today, however, Safe havens do not occur naturally. They require our personal attention, intention, planning, and effort. And he's dead on.

[John Weaver] Here's a man 30 years law enforcement. Wow. Here's another article. I want to read it to you. In light of this, skyrocketing number of attacks on Christians and churches explodes. American culture appears increasingly hostile to Christianity. That's just the headline. Experts are warning a skyrocketing number of attacks on Christian churches mirrors the general anti-Christian tenor of the Biden administration's policies at home and abroad. according to a new report from the Washington Stand that details how such incidents of violence have exploded 800% over six years.

[John Weaver] Now listen, during the first 11 months of 2023, that's last year, During the first 11 months of 2023, there were 436 acts of hostility against churches in America, including 315 vandalisms, 75 arsons, 20 bomb threats, and 12 instances of satanic graffiti. The Stan reported, these statistics likely understate the extent of the problem, because many acts of hostility against churches are likely not reported to authorities and are not featured in the news or other online sources from which we collect data. There were a few areas of America left untouched with reports coming from 48 states and Washington D.C.

[John Weaver] There were 91 such attacks in California. Now, here's what someone's going to say. Well, we've got the answer to that. All we've got to do. Is post a sign out front saying no weapons allowed. Wow. You post that sign, no weapons allowed, that is an invitation for disaster. How can that be? Because they know now you're unarmed and you're not willing to fight. I saw a cartoon. And it showed two muggers, they had their mask on, they had their guns in the hand, and the door said, no weapons allowed.

[John Weaver] And one robber looked at the other and said, oh, shoot, we can't go in there. They don't allow guns. You think that's going to matter to a thief? You think it's going to matter to a criminal? Of course not. Of course not. The very fact is. A sign like that is an invitation for criminals. It's saying, come on in. We don't have any weapons here. And we are not going to fight. It's a fool's belief that's going to end in tragedy.

[John Weaver] Now, remember, churches were third. Schools were second. I would imagine probably every school in this county has a gun-free zone in it. I want you to listen to this. This will absolutely astound you. Gun-free school zones and shooting statistics 2024. There have been 2,646 school shooting incidents in the United States since 1966.

[John Weaver] Now you're going to say, well, that's bad, but that's not too bad. Hang on. Of those, 2,205, that is 94%, occurred after the 1990 School Zone Safety Act amended in 1995. Think about this now. 94% of these shooting incidents happened in gun-free zones in the school. Why? Well, we know nobody's armed. We know no one's going to fight us back. We can do what we want to do. We can kill as many as we want to kill, because this is a gun-free zone.

[John Weaver] Clearly, that does not work. Now, there was one prepared church, and this church happened to be in Colorado Springs. This happened on December the 9th, when an active killer came to this particular church. I must point out that he actually shot five people on the outside. He killed two and he wounded three. Before he had gotten there, 12 hours earlier, 70 miles away, he also murdered some folks at the Arvada Missionary Church there. He murdered two and wounded two others. So he came to the New Life Church, who had about 7,000 congregates that day. So, once he killed the two outside and wounded the three, and by the way, he only had a rifle but several pistols and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.

[John Weaver] And when the shooting began on the outside, the inside, of course, heard the shots. And, of course, they had already had prepared for such an incident. They had trained individuals there, and one was a lady who had been a former cop. And when the man came into the church building, she ran toward him, drew her own personal pistol, started shooting him, hit him multiple times, and finally, when he could not function, he took a weapon and shot and killed himself. There were no incidents inside the church building.

[John Weaver] Here is what the woman said. God guided me and protected me, and I did not think for a minute to run away. Stop and think about that. I did not think for a minute to run away. There's a number of things that woman had. Not only she had some ability, but she also had a mindset that she was not going to let evil triumph, and she was going to stop that cowardly murderer where he was.

[John Weaver] Now, let me tell you what preparation involves. It involves a number of things. Number one, it does indeed involve having a weapon. It does involve knowing how to shoot that weapon and how to shoot that weapon accurately. And I'm going to add another one. Oftentimes, you need to know how to shoot that weapon not only accurately, but quickly as well. I trained one man years ago, and this fellow, I don't care what distance he was standing, He could put 15 or 20 rounds in the center of a target and you could put a 50 cent piece over all the holes.

[John Weaver] I kept telling him, speed up, speed up. And he looked at me, he said, Pastor, I like accuracy. I am an engineer. And he was. And I said, well, brother, If I ever get into a gunfight with someone, I hope I get into a gunfight with someone like you." He said, how? I shoot so accurately. I said, I know. And while you're trying to put one in me, I'm going to put 15 in you. Because although you can shoot accurately, you cannot shoot quickly.

[John Weaver] And you have to have both. That doesn't mean you've got to be the fastest drawer in the West, but it does mean you have to get your weapon out in a timely fashion to confront the threat. If you can't do that, your accuracy is worthless because someone's going to shoot you first. Okay, so it not only means that, it also means that you better know the malfunctions. You better know the temporary stoppages of these weapons and how to clear those malfunctions reflexively.

[John Weaver] You have to be able to do those things without even thinking. Any weapon will malfunction. There have been a multitude of lives saved just simply because weapons malfunctioned and those who were using them did not know how to clear the malfunction. I'm just simply saying it involves that. It involves also a biblical mindset. If you don't have a biblical mindset, And I have a whole message just on a biblical mindset. If you don't have a biblical mindset, you're not going to do anything. And if your mind is not already prepared, you're going to be in never never land. You're going to be wondering, what in the world can I do? What in the world should I do? And then it's going to be too late. You have to have mindset.

[John Weaver] Do you understand the sixth commandment? Do you understand, thou shalt not kill as a negative, thou shalt preserve life is the positive of that. Do you know, and I'm thinking about this, do you know how to use less lethal devices? Do you know how to use pepper spray, tear gas, tasers? Do you know how to deescalate if it's nothing but verbal threats? Just because Greg comes around and starts bad-mouthing me and calling me all kinds of names does not give me the right to draw a weapon on him and say, you better shut up, brother. No, no, no, no. If I'm assaulted verbally, I can respond verbally.

[John Weaver] Moreover that, Please remember Proverbs 15 in verse 1, a soft answer turns away wrath, but a grievous word stirs up anger. Remember the old adage we had, it takes two to tango? If he's hollering at me, I've got two feet, I can turn and walk away. I don't have to stand there and listen to it. I'm just of the saying, I can deescalate. Do you know how to do that? In other words, you don't have to shoot everybody that just happens to walk through the door that looks like they're mean. I'm just saying preparation includes mindset. It also includes, listen to this, knowing how the mind operates under stress. Do you know what happens to most people when they get into a very dangerous situation? They freeze. They freeze. And when you freeze, that gives an enemy a very definite advantage. But all of us will freeze momentarily before the fight or flight attitude kicks in.

[John Weaver] And you better be able to deal with that, because usually what happens when you step around the corner and someone pulls a pistol on you and holds it in your face, the first thing you think of is this is not happening to me. This is not real. This this this just can't be happening. But it is happening. It is happening. I want to tell you, I've got a friend who is a lieutenant.

[John Weaver] And the police force, he lacks probably two years retiring. He called me a few weeks ago. And he said, I want to tell you something and I want you to tell everyone. He said, I carry all the time. He's a police officer. He said, but I took my family out to a little Chinese restaurant. Way out in the country. He said, no one was around. He said, so I left my weapon in my car. He said, probably the first time I've ever done it.

[John Weaver] He said, we went in. And he said, I went into the bathroom to wash my hands before we ordered. And a big man came up, knocking on the door, hollering and screaming, telling him to get out of there. Now, my friend happens to be a very big man himself. And he had his wife, two sons and a daughter with him, and those two boys Or six, three or four, I mean, they're big themselves. And one of his sons hollered, look out, daddy, he's got a gun. So my friend came out of the bathroom, this man rushed in the bathroom and my friend looked at the manager and the man was black. The man looked at the manager, my friend looked at the manager and said, what's wrong with him?

[John Weaver] Said he just hates white people. My friend said, well, we wanted to eat here, but it's probably best that we go ahead and leave. And before he could do that, the man came out with a weapon in his hand. And my friend said, well, this is you can have this restaurant, we're going outside and we're leaving. And he walked out and the man followed him with a weapon.

[John Weaver] And he said, I had a I had a choice to make. He said, I could try to get my weapon out of the car while he already had his in his hand. He said, or I could get in the car and drive off. He said, my family is already in the car, so I got in the car and drove off. He said, I went straight to the police station, swore out a warrant for him. They went down and arrested him.

[John Weaver] But he said, you tell everybody that when they don't think something can happen, that's when it's going to happen. He said, mark her down. So I'm telling you, I'm telling you, you've got to understand. That when you freeze, you're giving your enemy an advantage. You need to learn the OODA loop. The OODA loop was invented or came into existence by Colonel John Boyd, who was an Air Force pilot. And he came up with this, OODA, observe, orient, decide, and act.

[John Weaver] We go over all of that in the advanced class and then how to reboot. In other words, if I walk around the corner and there you are with a gun sticking in my chest, you already have the advantage on me. I'm behind the loop. I would have to change. I would have to do something to distract you so I could get my weapon and then you would be behind the loop. In other words, it's a very important tactical strategy. But I'm going to tell you something about fighting.

[John Weaver] The best way to win a fight is not have to fight. If you can avoid it through observation, situational awareness, then that is the thing to do. So this brings me to what I'm going to call situational awareness. Most people have no idea what situational awareness really is. I recently saw a video of a woman who was walking down the street. I guess she was texting or doing something on her cell phone.

[John Weaver] And here were two cellar doors open on the sidewalk. With orange cones out. She walked straight into one and fell straight down.

[John Weaver] Next thing you know, here comes the ambulance and they're putting her out on a stretcher. You don't have situational awareness. She had absolutely none. And that's where most of us are today because we're either talking on the phone or we're playing games on the phone. Or we're texting someone. Or our minds are a thousand miles away. We're off in La La Land somewhere. We have no idea what is going on around us. Situational awareness is not something that you can achieve just by reading a book. Situational awareness is something that has to be basically learned, and it turns out to be a life practice is what it amounts to.

[John Weaver] I want to give you some truths. These are put down, not all of them because I've added two of them. But the first ones come from Eugene Nielsen, and he's giving you tips to improve your situational awareness. And here's what he said. Number one, be mindful of your surroundings. The first step in improving your situational awareness is to pay attention to what is going on around you. You look out for threats, you look out for danger, you pay attention.

[John Weaver] Many times Alice and I have been driving down the highway and we look up ahead and we see a car that's weaving back and forth. And I tell Alice, I said, well, I've got two choices. I can either stay back or wait until I can pass him and get away from him because I don't want to be around him. He's inevitably going to have a wreck or he's going to cause one.

[John Weaver] So this is what I'm talking about in the fact that you need to be aware of your surrounding. Number two, you need to establish a baseline. A baseline happens to be what you conceive and what you understand to be normal. Any deviation from that is abnormal. For instance, if you're in a library, you expect to see people reading or talking quietly. or looking for books. That's normal. But if you're in the library and you hear someone screaming or you see someone running or you see someone pushing books away, that's abnormal. Something is going on. And you need to be alert and be able to protect yourself or remove yourself. So he says you have to establish a baseline, and that is true. And the third thing he says is you need to anticipate and predict.

[John Weaver] In other words, you have to look ahead and you have to look behind. Let me take driving, for instance. I'm looking ahead while I'm driving, but that does not stop me from glancing up at my rearview mirror. That does not stop me from glancing my sideview mirrors. I try to make sure nobody creeps up on me or nobody runs up on me. In fact, this past Sunday, I was on the interstate and I looked at Alice and I said, well, here he comes flying by.

[John Weaver] And of course, I was doing 75 and he flew by me doing 90. I saw him in the rearview mirror. I'm just saying you have to be able to anticipate. You see someone in a convenience store and he's standing there with his hand in his pocket and he's just looking around. People don't do that when they just go in to buy something. You have to anticipate. You have to predict.

[John Weaver] You have to, fourthly, avoid distractions and complacency. A distraction, the cell phone. A distraction, anything that breaks your train of thought. Complacency is when you think, man, nothing's going to happen here. This is too dull. That's what my friend thought in that way out Chinese restaurant out in the country. Nothing's going to happen here. And when you get complacent, that's exactly when something is going to happen.

[John Weaver] Now, I want to tell you, here's another one. You need to learn to trust your instincts, your intuition, and you need to act decisively. Someone has said that your intuition is your subconscious mind dealing with things before they ever become conscious in your mind. We have another way of saying this in the South. When the hair on the back of your neck stands up, pay attention. When you get a gut feeling that something's not right, you need to pay attention. You need to make sure that you follow your gut instincts, you follow your intuition. If something appears not right, probably it is not right. It's that simple. Then you have to actually try to learn from other folks. Try to get feedback. If you go through something, ask somebody else, how did you perceive this? How did you respond? How did you act?

[John Weaver] How should I have responded? How should I have acted? And then, of course, you've got to train regularly and you have to train realistically. And you have to train yourself, you know. I learned this years ago. One of the men in our church said that he was hired to replace the shrubbery around the local bank. But I said, what? He said, yeah, of course, the man had a regular job, but he just was doing it. He said, I'm going to replace the shrubbery. I said. There's no shrubbery around that bank.

[John Weaver] Well, he said, yes, there is. I've been in that bank, I don't know how many times. I've lived there for years. I never noticed any shrubbery, but it was there. I never paid attention to it. There are so many things that we do not pay attention to. So I'm just simply pointing out you have to you have to train and you have to be realistic. I'm going to add several things to this.

[John Weaver] The next one is this. Don't act like easy prey. Don't act like easy prey. If you are stumbling around, if you're walking without noticing anything, if you're paying attention to your phone, if you're talking to your friend, I got news for you. People are watching you. You are easy prey. Someone can slip up behind you. Someone can come up on the side of you. You're just dead meat is what it amounts to.

[John Weaver] What about that knockout game that they were playing up north? Don't you remember how they would run up behind people and hit them upside the head? If you are walking and talking and you're not paying attention and you don't look like you have a fighting attitude, I got news for you. You better perk up and pay attention, especially in these larger cities. And to me, this is a larger city.

[John Weaver] You would never make it in Chicago, you'd never make it in New York. I wouldn't. I'm just simply saying, no, I'm not even going to go through that, but you cannot look like easy prey. The next one is this. If you see someone dressed inappropriately for the weather or for the season, you better pay attention.

[John Weaver] Now, this past Sunday, Alice and I stopped at a little convenience store to get a cup of coffee. And I was sitting in the car watching while she went in. Everybody was in t-shirts and shorts. I mean, it was 80 degrees. And one young man walked in. with a heavy jacket on and a thick collar." And I said, uh-oh. And I just watched him. He went on about his business about that time Alice came out and I said, did you see that young man in that heavy jacket? She said, yeah. Do you realize how easy it is to hide weapons under a jacket or under a coat? Have you seen the video where the young man who has baggy pants, baggy shirt, pulls out all kind of weapons for the camera and lays them on a table. I mean, he has a shotgun. He has pistols. He has a rifle. He has knives. He has brass knuckles. He has everything. There's 10 or 15 weapons he had on him. Just from baggy pants and a baggy shirt and jacket.

[John Weaver] I'm just going to say, you need to pay attention. You also need to pay attention to body language. You need to pay attention not only to body language, you need to pay attention to tonal patterns. I can look at my wife and I can say, sweetheart, I really love you. And she is going to say, he loves me. But I can look at my wife and say, I love you.

[John Weaver] And you know what she knows? She knows I'm mad and mean, and I don't mean what I'm saying. It's just my tonal pattern, my facial expression. You better watch people. You better listen to what they say. You better listen to their tonal patterns. And a lot of times when people get excited, not only are their eyes moving quickly, not only are their nostrils flaring, but at the same time, Oh, man, at the same time, they're always quivering in their voice, gets higher and higher and higher.

[John Weaver] You remember the fact the Bible says that God is. Long suffering. I hope I remember the correct Greek words, I think is macro to me. But you know what that word actually means, long passion or literally long nose or long nostrils. Have you ever noticed this? When you get angry, when you get upset, watch yourself. You start breathing and your nostrils start flaring. But the larger the nose and the longer the nose, the less you can see the nostrils flare. God is long suffering.

[John Weaver] But mankind is not longsuffering. So you need to pay attention to all this bodily language. You need to listen out for threats, whether they are plainly spoken or whether they are implied. You also need to look for concealed weapons. Most individuals who carry concealed, they're really not concealed. Usually they're imprinted on the shirt or the jacket. There's a way to tell if you were paying attention. I was preaching in a conference in Virginia, and it was way out in the boonies.

[John Weaver] And here was this one brother that. He was very good, he was very straight. And I walked up to him, I said, let me ask you a question, he said, go ahead. I said, do you always carry concealed in the small of your back? He said, you noticed? I said, yeah, I noticed. I said, I have a word of warning for you. I said, if someone comes up and hits you very quickly and you fall on that, it's going to really hurt your spine and then you're not going to be able to access it if you're laying flat on your back. I said, yes, I did notice you carrying the small of your back. So I'm just simply saying you can always tell when someone is usually carrying a weapon.

[John Weaver] So I would suggest this, that you trust your instincts. that you pay attention.

[John Weaver] Now, let me give you another quote. Here's Ron Borsh again. I want you to think about this. Listen, this is what this conference is about. This is what this message is about. Remember, this man is a retired law enforcement. He's retired cop. Listen to what he asked. He's asking these questions. So you can see as to whether or not you are prepared. Here's what he asked. Do you carry a gun at church? Why or why not? If you have a gun, can you access it quickly?

[John Weaver] And then I added to this. Can you shoot accurately? And my next one would be, will you shoot? He goes on. Take a look at your church building. Many have very large rooms where the congregation gather for worship. Could you make a shot with your carry handgun at the farthest distance a threat can appear from you in such a large room? When is the last time you practice shooting that far? If you can't make the shot, what is your plan to move closer? Often during worship, lights are dimmed or at night an electricity goes off. Do you carry a bright enough flashlight to fully identify the threat at any range? Do you know how to use a flashlight and a weapon at the same time? We teach that. If you don't know how, you need to know how.

[John Weaver] Then he asks this, I'm just quoting him. What events would cause you to draw your gun and shoot? Would you shoot the man who is ranting at the pulpit with a gun in his hand, or would you wait until after he shot someone? He said, there may not be any right answers, but you must know where your personal boundaries lie and what your goal signal will be.

[John Weaver] And then he asked this, do you have a church security team? These are gaining in popularity and many churches now have them. If you don't have a team, do you know who else is armed in your church? Do you have a plan to work together to stop a threat? If you plan on stopping the threat, who will take care of your family? That is, who's going to get them to safety? Do you have a plan to get to safety? What can be used as cover or an improvised weapon in your church? And by the way, there's a difference between cover and concealment.

[John Weaver] I could turn this table over and lie down behind it and I would be concealed. But you could shoot right through it. Cover will stop around. Concealment will not necessarily. I could hide in bushes and you might not can see me, but the bushes are not going to stop around. So he asked, look in this building, what would you use for cover? What can you use as an improvised weapon if you do not have a weapon on you? He goes on.

[John Weaver] If your church has pew seating, listen men, do you sit near an aisle so that you can easily get out of the pew to address the threat? Who is the most likely target of a killer in your church? Do you have a high-profile religious leader or engage in controversial political actions that might anger someone? How do you plan on protecting the people in your congregation who are at the greatest risk?

[John Weaver] What about less serious threats? Do you have a plan to deal with thieves or aggressive beggars?

[John Weaver] Now there's a funny story on this. We had a man come into our church, 30 minutes after I started preaching. And when he came in, he's looking around. He sat on the front pew. And when he sat down, he kept looking to the rear. He kept looking to the rear. Well, my daughter had left her Glock in the car. So she got up, went out the side door to get her Glock. What this man did not know is practically everyone in our church was armed. But this man, when he saw my daughter get up and go out, he got up and followed her out. And by the time he got there, she already had her hand on her pistol. And four or five of my men followed him out. Come to find out, all he wanted was money.

[John Weaver] He was arrested the next day for harassing a widow woman. Church was over. I chewed him up one side and down the other. I told him, don't you ever, ever, ever, ever come back in this church again like that. I said, if you want to hear the word, you come in when it starts and you sit there until I'm through. Don't you ever, ever interrupt this church again. Do you understand? Do you have a plan to deal with people like that? It will happen. It happened to me. It'll happen to you. How about this one?

[John Weaver] In many churches, children have Bible study or separate worship sessions from adults. There may also be a cry room. Who is protecting the children in those locations? And then he says this, if you can't answer these simple questions, you're not prepared for a violent incident in your place of worship. It's time to start doing some homework.

[John Weaver] Now, I want to close with two truths, I want you to listen, I want you to follow me in the Bible. I get so tired of hearing so many excuses. But here's one. I want you to listen. First, you must understand that you are not too old to train and you are not too old to defend yourself and your family and your neighbor. You are not too old.

[John Weaver] You may not can do what you could do when you were 20. I can't. But there are a lot of things that I can do. Alice and I were in Pennsylvania. I was preaching there and they asked me to teach a two day handgun class. I said, sure, I'll be glad to. And we had one woman who was in her 60s. She was never fast. If she had gotten into a duel with some of these men here, she would have been shot 100 times. But although the woman was not fast, she was extremely accurate.

[John Weaver] And in her target, she kept putting them in the same hole over and over and over. Well, we took a little break. Behind her target was an oak tree about that big around. And I was standing there talking to her, encouraging her with her shooting, and all of a sudden, and the tree fell over. She had cut the tree in two by hitting the same spot every time.

[John Weaver] I got news for you. She may have been slow, but she was deadly. Don't tell me you're too old. I'll soon be 80. Don't tell me that you don't have enough money. Don't tell me that you can't buy ammunition. Don't tell me that you don't have time. Let me tell you, you prioritize your life. You have time to do what you want to do. You have money to spend on whatever you want to spend your money on. It's not a matter that you don't have enough money. It's not a matter that you're too old. It's not a matter that you don't have time. It's what it is. You don't care. It doesn't interest you. You're not concerned about safety. You're not concerned about protecting your life. You're not concerned about protecting your family or anyone else. I'm just simply saying you are not too old. I want you to turn in your Bibles, please.

[John Weaver] First of all, to Psalm 71. I love this verse. I quote it all the time. Look at it. Psalm 71. And notice, if you would please, in verse 18. Psalm 71, verse 18. Look what David said. When I am old and gray-headed, O God, forsake me not, until I have showed thy strength unto this generation and thy power to everyone that is to come." Did you hear that? Now, when I am old and gray-headed, O God, forsake me not until I have showed thy strength unto this generation and thy power to everyone that is to come.

[John Weaver] I've got news for you folks. Being old does not stop you from learning. Look in your Bibles, if you would please, to Isaiah 46. Isaiah 46. And notice, if you would please, verse 4. Isaiah 46 and verse 4. Look at this, Isaiah 46 and verse 4. God says, And even to your old age I am he, and even to her hairs will I carry you. I have made and I will bear Even I will carry and I will deliver you, even to your old age. Don't come up telling me that you're too old. And ladies, don't tell me that you don't need this.

[John Weaver] You say, well, my husband is going to protect me. That's wonderful. That's fine. But what if your husband gets hit? What if your husband gets killed? Or what if someone has your husband down beating into death and there's a weapon, but you don't know how to use it to save your husband? Don't come up and say, I'm too old. You're not too old. You can do what you can do. I've trained a lot of old men. And I always tell people, don't hurt yourself. Here's what we're going to do.

[John Weaver] I will show you how to do it safely, whether it's running, diving to the ground. I can show you how to do it safely. I can show you how to do it easily. But don't hurt yourself. You can do what you can do. You might not be able to do everything, but you can do what you can do. And old age does not stop you.

[John Weaver] Secondly, I want you to understand this, that self-defense, defense of others and church security must be viewed as a ministry. A ministry. I want you to look in your Bibles. first of all to the book of Colossians chapter 3 and look if you would please in verses 23 and 24 Colossians chapter 3 look at this Colossians 3 verses 23 and 24 look at this and whatsoever you do Do it heartily as to the Lord, and not unto men, knowing that the Lord you shall receive the reward of the inheritance, for you serve the Lord Christ." What? Whatever you do. Training? Do it heartily as unto the Lord. Protection? Do it heartily as unto the Lord. For you serve the Lord Christ.

[John Weaver] There is no division between the secular and the sacred for the child of God. For the child of God, everything is sacred. And everything is a ministry. I have a ministry to my wife. My wife has a ministry to me. Everything is a ministry for the child of God. Look in your Bibles, 1 Corinthians 10, verse 31. Most of you can quote it. But here it is again, 1 Corinthians 10, look in verse 31. The Bible says, whether therefore you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all for the glory of God. Wow. Do all for the glory of God. Those who do not place their faith in God, their heart in his service and their mind to the task that is at hand are bound to fail. They're bound to fail.

[John Weaver] Those who naively assume that they will be able to function without training are deceiving and deluding themselves and setting themselves up for failure and death. I'm telling you, folks, if you do not wish for evil to triumph, if you do not wish for the wicked to win, If you wish for the criminal to control, you must train for God's glory and for the good of your family and for the brethren in Christ. You must.

[John Weaver] Some of you need to hear what Clint Smith said. Clint Smith trained so many people. But here's what he said, and it is certainly true. Listen to this. Owning a handgun does not make you any more armed than owning a guitar makes you a magician. That's the truth. That's the truth. And most folks, they'll buy a pistol, they'll load it, put it on the nightstand and think that somehow if their house is broken into, they're going to grab that weapon and save their families and themselves.

[John Weaver] Usually it will not work like that. Usually, it will not work like that. I want to close with this quote. I want you to listen to this. This was written by Dr. Norman Geisler, who was written many books, an Old Testament scholar, theologian. This is from a debate that he had. And listen to what he said, oh, to permit murder. when one could have prevented it is morally wrong. To allow rape when one could have hindered it is an evil. To watch an act of cruelty to children without trying to intervene is morally inexcusable. In brief, not resisting evil is an evil of omission, and an evil of omission can be just as evil as an evil of commission. Any man who refuses to protect his wife and children against a violent intruder fails them morally.

[John Weaver] God has laid the expectation at the feet of the heads of the families that they protect, provide for, and defend their families, and protect and defend their countries. Little ones cannot do so and rely solely on those who bore them. God no more loves the willing neglect of their safety than He loves child abuse. He no more appreciates the willingness to ignore the sanctity of our own lives than He approves of the abuse of our own bodies and souls. God has not called us to save the society by sacrificing our children or ourselves to robbers, home invaders, rapists, or murderers. Self-defense. and defense of the little ones goes well beyond a right. It is a duty based on the idea that man is made in the image of God. It is his expectation that we do the utmost to preserve and defend ourselves when in danger, for it is he who is sovereign who gives life, and he doesn't expect us to be dismissive or cavalier about its loss.

[John Weaver] Now listen, If you believe that it is your Christian duty to allow your children to be harmed by evildoers, and you actually allow it, because you think that Christ was a pacifist, you're no better than a child abuser or pedophile. God demands violence as a response to threats on our persons because of the fact that man is created in the image of God, and life is to be preserved. It is our solemn duty.

[John Weaver] I'm afraid there have been too many centuries of bad teaching endured by the church, but it makes sense to keep trying. As I've explained before, the simplest and most compelling case for self-defense lies in the Decalogue. Thou shalt not murder means thou shalt protect life. If you're willing to sacrifice the safety and health of your wife and children to the evils of abuse, kidnapping, sexual predation or death, God isn't impressed with your fake morality.

[John Weaver] Capable of stopping it and choosing not to. You're no better than a child molester and I wouldn't even want you around my grandchildren. That's what he said. Those are hard words, but those are true words. They are strong words. And we have to return to the biblical doctrine of self-defense. We have to learn what the Bible says, and we have to learn to get up off our rear ends and start doing what God has told us to do to prepare to protect ourselves and our families. You just remember this.

[John Weaver] When you most need the police, they're only 15 minutes away. And they'll get there in time to draw the chalk line around your dead body, or the bodies of your children. One last passage. I want you to turn in your Bibles to 2 Corinthians chapter 10. 2 Corinthians chapter 10. And look, if you would please, beginning there with verse 3. Look at what the Apostle says, 2 Corinthians chapter 10 and look, if you would please, at verse 3. Watch this. I want to explain this. The Apostle said, For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh.

[John Weaver] For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, But mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. Now, hang on. Paul is not condemning physical weapons. He's just simply saying in this warfare that he's now about to talk about, physical weapons would not help us at all. What is he talking about? Look at it in verse four again. He says, For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. What is your stronghold? Your stronghold is your place of defense. Your stronghold is what you think and what you believe. I can't change you. You think like this. Well, look at it now. He says, for the weapons of our warfare are not carne, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations and every high thing or literally every high thought that exalted itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.

[John Weaver] So let me ask you a question. As a Christian, how many unbiblical thoughts does God allow you to have? None. So that means when it comes to self-defense, when it comes to violence, when it comes to preparation, when it comes to safety, when it comes to any of these subjects, you better learn to think biblically and bring your mind, bring your thoughts into captivity to the Lord Jesus Christ in His Word.

[John Weaver] The best way to be prepared isn't only to be trusting in the sovereign God of heaven and earth, but fulfill your responsibility to the best of your ability by His grace and by His mercy. You remember, God allowed David to defeat Goliath, but God did not throw the rock for David. David had to use the sling. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee this day.

[John Weaver] We thank You for Your Word. We thank You for Your truth. And Lord, I pray, I ask Thee to let this think deeply into our hearts, deeply into our minds. And Lord, that You would indeed, by Your infinite grace and mercy, teach us, build us up in the most holy faith, and give us, Lord, Your grace and Your mercy. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen.

Theology of Self Defense-3

John Weaver | SermonAudio

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	SermonAudio
Media ID	3282419222033
Subject	Old Testament Studies
Course	Proverbs: Wealth, Defense, and Justice
Genre	Sermon
Date	2024-03-27
Dictation Name
Book	Book 108: Theology of Self Defense — Chapter 3
Source Timed Segments	106

Formatted Transcript

Introduction: Safety, Preparation, and Situational Awareness

Weaver introduces the topic of safety, preparation, and situational awareness, citing Proverbs 21:31 as the foundational text.

I want you to open your Bibles, if you would please, to the book of Proverbs, chapter 21. I'm going to be giving you a number of passages, but I'm also going to be giving you a number of illustrations and some quotes that I think are very, very important. So I want you to look in Proverbs, chapter 21. Tonight's message is going to be dealing with safety, preparation, and situational awareness. So if you look in Proverbs chapter 21 in verse 31, the Bible simply says this,

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 21:31

"The horse is prepared for the day of battle, but safety is of the Lord."

Everyone should be interested in safety and self-defense. Only those that are foolish and naive will not be concerned about their health, their safety or their welfare.

Two Major Caveats: God's Sovereignty and Human Responsibility

Weaver explains that safety is ultimately from the Lord, but God does not fulfill our responsibilities for us; we must prepare and train.

Let me just say this. It is normal, natural and biblical to want to prosper and to be in health and certainly to be safe. You remember it was the Apostle John in 3 John who said this concerning his loved ones and his people. He said, "Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health even as thy soul prospereth." And I've often thought about that. If most of us prospered physically and economically the way our souls prosper, most of us would be very, very poor. The truth of the matter is we need to understand that there is indeed a natural desire and a biblical desire to be safe and to be healthy and to prosper as well. So if you then consider your health, if you consider your safety important, then you're certainly going to be interested not only in self-defense, but you're also going to be interested in preparedness as well. It's impossible to remain safe. It is impossible to remain healthy if you are unconcerned about your welfare and if you're unconcerned about things that are going on around you.

Now let me give you two major warnings or two major caveats concerning this message. First of all, the Bible says in Proverbs 21 and verse 31, "The horse is prepared for the day of battle, but safety is of the Lord." Safety first and foremost is in the hand of the Lord. It is not in our hands. We may prepare, we may be responsible, but He is the Sovereign and He is the One who is in absolute and total control. Without Him, all of our preparation, all of our training is useless and worthless. It's just that simple. The Bible also says, in Psalm 33 and verse 17, listen to this one,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 33:17

"A horse is a vain thing for safety, neither will he protect any by his strength."

In other words, we are not going to be able to depend upon anything that we have for our protection. For instance, we could paraphrase that verse and say like this,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 33:17

"A Glock is a vain thing for safety,"

Scripture Reading — Psalm 33:17

"a tank is a vain thing for safety,"

Scripture Reading — Psalm 33:17

"an AR-15 is a vain thing for safety. Neither will it deliver anybody by its great firepower."

In other words, the point being that we must understand that first and foremost, primarily, our safety is in the Lord. That's why I said in Psalm 127 in verse 1, "Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain." In other words, safety is of the Lord.

Now, without going into great detail, let me just say this, that Scripture affirms and confirms the fact that if we desire His protection, we need to be absolutely obedient to Him and to His law. The Bible in the book of Leviticus chapter 25 and verse 18 says this,

Scripture Reading — Leviticus 25:18

"Wherefore, you shall do my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them, and then you shall dwell safe in the land."

So safety is in the hands of the Lord first and foremost. Now, here's the second caveat, here's the second warning that I want to give concerning this message, and that is this, that God is not going to fulfill our responsibilities for us. God has commanded us. God has told us exactly what we must do. But God is not going to fulfill our responsibilities for us. It is true He is sovereign. It is true He is omnipotent. He is omniscient. He is omnipresent. He is God. But God is not going to do for us what we refuse to do for ourselves. God is not going to think for us. God is not going to pray for us. God is not going to train for us. God is not going to repent for us. God is not going to prepare for us. In other words, God holds us accountable and responsible.

So we have to keep these two truths in the right perspective. God is sovereign. Safety is in His hand, first and foremost. But secondly, we are responsible.

Now, I want to tell you how these things work together. There's a passage that the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2, verse 7. He told Timothy,

Scripture Reading — 2 Timothy 2:7

"Consider what I say. And the Lord give thee understanding in all things."

Understanding is the gift of God. That's what he said in Proverbs 2 and verse 6 as well. But God does not give understanding willy-nilly. You don't go to bed stupid and wake up smart. You don't go to bed ignorant and wake up knowing everything. He said,

Scripture Reading — 2 Timothy 2:7

"Consider what I say."

In other words, it is our duty, it is our responsibility to think and meditate and consider what God has said and then at the same time seek God to give us understanding. So it's the same when we are talking about safety and responsibility. It is God who must keep us safe, but at the same time, God is also expecting us to be responsible.

Accepting the Reality of a Changed Society and Evil

Weaver urges acceptance that society has drastically changed, evil people exist, and attacks can happen anytime, requiring a plan.

There were very, very few policemen in our small town. We didn't need them. Why? Well, because most folks were basically moral. Most folks at least believed the Ten Commandments, even though they were not Christians. And most folks acted decently. I tell people, when I was a boy, my father used to take us on vacation down to Miami, Florida. Two weeks during the winter, we would go down and visit relatives and stay with them. My father was a farmer.

We never locked a door. We never locked a window. He had multiple thousands of dollars worth of machinery all out around the barns and in the barns. When we would come back two weeks later, everything was exactly the way we left it. No one had broken in. No one had tried to steal anything. It was just simply there. In other words, things were different back in the 1950s and in the early 1960s.

For instance, my wife and I grew up in the same area, and I was thinking when I was actually preparing this message, and I was racking my brain to find out if I could ever remember a bank robbery in our town. And I could not. And so I have a deputy friend, and I asked him, I said, "Can you tell me, has there been a bank robbery in this town in the last 50 years?" He said, "Well, I don't know." He said there hadn't been one since I've been around, and he said, "I don't even remember, I don't think so." The point being, now today, everybody's stealing from dollar stores and convenience stores and everything else. I'm just simply saying things have changed in this country.

Now, when we're talking about self-defense, when we're talking about preparation, let me tell you what I think it should be our first step. And our first step, I believe, should be what you and I would call acceptance. What do I mean by acceptance? We've got to accept the fact that we're living in a totally different society. We are living in a totally and completely different culture. We have to understand that there are extremely bad people. I'm going to say it even another way, that there are evil people, and these people rejoice in and delight in evil. They have absolutely no regard for God. They have no regard for you. They have no regard for your property. And stealing to them is a way of life, killing to them is a way of life. Years ago, there was a movie, Black Hawk Down. I watched that movie years ago when it came on TV. And about a year or so later, it came on again.

And I thought, well, I don't need to see it again. I've already seen it. But then I thought, no, I will watch it one more time. And I was so thankful that I did. Because I had totally missed the scene the first time. Because in Mogadishu, here was the helicopter pilot, the Black Hawk helicopter pilot, up against the wall. He had been beaten absolutely senseless, black eyes, blood everywhere, tied up. And one of the big drug lords looked at him and here is what he said. Listen carefully.

He said, "You stupid Americans, you think that you can come over here and force your democracy down our throats? And you think you can stop us from killing when killing has been a way of life for us for over a thousand years." By the way, that culture is being brought to America as well. That is the mentality. And what I'm trying to tell you is this. We have to understand that there are bad, wicked and evil people. You remember that passage in the book of Luke, chapter 18, verse 2. Our Lord is speaking, and He said,

Scripture Reading — Luke 18:2

"There was a certain judge who feared not God, neither regarded man."

Do you understand, if there is no fear of God, there will not be any regard for man? The reason so many people violate God's law and break His commandments, there is no fear of God. That's what the Apostle Paul said in Romans 3. "There is no fear of God before their eyes." That's what Psalm 53 and Psalm 14 is all about. "The fool has said in his heart, there is no God." And when you have no regard for God, you're not going to have any regard for mankind. So we've got to understand this. Things have definitely changed. Cultures change. Societies change.

Scripture Reading — 2 Samuel 11

So do not live in a fool's paradise. Do not be deceived. Do not be deluded. Do not think that evil will never happen to you, or will never happen to your family, or will never happen to your church. And let me say it another way. Good men do not always win. Read 2 Samuel chapter 11 and find out what happened to Uriah the Hittite. In that instance, Uriah the Hittite was the good man and David was the bad man. But it was Uriah who was murdered to cover up David's sin. I'm just simply saying bad things oftentimes happen to good people. One of the reasons I think that evil is so prominent today is because of a violation of God's law. The Bible says in the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 8 and verse 11, "Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the hearts of the sons of men in them are fully set to do evil." Listen to what he said, "Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily."

"The wicked are not taken care of. Therefore, the hearts of the sons of men in them are fully set to do evil." And what we've done is we've coddled criminals. We've not punished them. We've been more concerned for the criminal than the victim. Look at what is happening in this country already. How the one woman who had the million dollar house in New York, you know what happened. Squatters took over and she tried to run them out. The cops were called. She was arrested.

Now, in Georgia, a 70-something-year-old man was kicked out of his 20-year-old home and put out on the street. He lived in that home for over 20 years because someone had filed some fraudulent documents. There are online courses now on how to take over people's homes. I'm just simply saying, we have coddled these criminals. And we have not punished anybody. I'm going to tell you, I think I still have the document, but I had a friend who was sentenced to federal prison for nine months. And he was sentenced because of a biblical stand that he took. He was not wicked. He was not wrong.

He was not a criminal. I was there every day at his trial. But before he went to the federal prison, he showed me the paper. And of course, in a federal prison today, you get to go to a, you know, an air base. There are no armed guards. You could walk off. I've visited him many times. But if you walk off, then they put you in a real prison with walls. But I saw the letter and they said, "You must report such and such day to begin serving your sentence."

"Please be advised, we do not provide tennis rackets or golf clubs. If you want anything like that, you must bring it with you." What? I'm just simply pointing out the fact. We've got to understand something, folks. We are not living in Mayberry and Andy Griffith is not our sheriff. Things have changed. You've got to accept that. The next thing you must accept, I believe, is this. You must accept that an attack could happen at any time. It could happen to you. It could happen to your family. It could happen to your church. It may never happen, but it could happen today. The fact that you do not think that anything bad will ever happen to you does not change the reality that it could happen and it will happen. So if you're living in Never-Never Land, you're greatly deluded and greatly deceived. If you're not living in Never-Never Land, then what you need to come up with is a plan for yourself, for your family, and for your church. The plan does not have to be publicized, but you need to know what it is.

Every person in your family needs to know what it is, as well as if it's a church, you need to have everyone in the church totally aware of what is going on and what the plan really is. Now I want to give you a few quotes. The first one is going to come from a man by the name of Ron Borsche. I'm sure you don't know who he is, but I'm going to tell you before I give you his quotes. Ron Borsch happened to be a staff instructor at the Kent Martial Arts Club, so he's a martial artist.

The Failure of Gun-Free Zones and the Need for Church Security

Weaver presents statistics showing gun-free zones do not deter criminals and shares an example of a prepared church that stopped a mass shooter.

And one robber looked at the other and said, "Oh, shoot, we can't go in there. They don't allow guns." You think that's going to matter to a thief? You think it's going to matter to a criminal? Of course not. Of course not. The very fact is, a sign like that is an invitation for criminals. It's saying, "Come on in. We don't have any weapons here. And we are not going to fight." It's a fool's belief that's going to end in tragedy.

Now, remember, churches were third. Schools were second. I would imagine probably every school in this county has a gun-free zone in it. I want you to listen to this. This will absolutely astound you. "Gun-free school zones and shooting statistics 2024. There have been 2,646 school shooting incidents in the United States since 1966."

Now you're going to say, "Well, that's bad, but that's not too bad." Hang on. "Of those, 2,205, that is 94%, occurred after the 1990 School Zone Safety Act amended in 1995." Think about this now. 94% of these shooting incidents happened in gun-free zones in the school. Why? Well, we know nobody's armed. We know no one's going to fight us back. We can do what we want to do. We can kill as many as we want to kill, because this is a gun-free zone.

Clearly, that does not work. Now, there was one prepared church, and this church happened to be in Colorado Springs. This happened on December the 9th, when an active killer came to this particular church. I must point out that he actually shot five people on the outside. He killed two and he wounded three. Before he had gotten there, 12 hours earlier, 70 miles away, he also murdered some folks at the Arvada Missionary Church there. He murdered two and wounded two others. So he came to the New Life Church, who had about 7,000 congregants that day. So, once he killed the two outside and wounded the three, and by the way, he only had a rifle but several pistols and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.

And when the shooting began on the outside, the inside, of course, heard the shots. And, of course, they had already had prepared for such an incident. They had trained individuals there, and one was a lady who had been a former cop. And when the man came into the church building, she ran toward him, drew her own personal pistol, started shooting him, hit him multiple times, and finally, when he could not function, he took a weapon and shot and killed himself. There were no incidents inside the church building. Here is what the woman said. "God guided me and protected me, and I did not think for a minute to run away." Stop and think about that. "I did not think for a minute to run away." There's a number of things that woman had. Not only she had some ability, but she also had a mindset that she was not going to let evil triumph, and she was going to stop that cowardly murderer where he was.

Components of Preparation: Weapons, Training, and Mindset

Weaver details that preparation involves having a weapon, training for accuracy and speed, knowing malfunctions, and cultivating a biblical mindset.

I kept telling him, "Speed up, speed up." And he looked at me, he said, "Pastor, I like accuracy. I am an engineer." And he was. And I said, "Well, brother, if I ever get into a gunfight with someone, I hope I get into a gunfight with someone like you." He said, "How? I shoot so accurately." I said, "I know. And while you're trying to put one in me, I'm going to put 15 in you. Because although you can shoot accurately, you cannot shoot quickly." And you have to have both. That doesn't mean you've got to be the fastest drawer in the West, but it does mean you have to get your weapon out in a timely fashion to confront the threat. If you can't do that, your accuracy is worthless because someone's going to shoot you first. Okay, so it not only means that, it also means that you better know the malfunctions. You better know the temporary stoppages of these weapons and how to clear those malfunctions reflexively.

You have to be able to do those things without even thinking. Any weapon will malfunction. There have been a multitude of lives saved just simply because weapons malfunctioned and those who were using them did not know how to clear the malfunction. I'm just simply saying it involves that. It involves also a biblical mindset. If you don't have a biblical mindset, and I have a whole message just on a biblical mindset. If you don't have a biblical mindset, you're not going to do anything. And if your mind is not already prepared, you're going to be in never-never land. You're going to be wondering, "What in the world can I do? What in the world should I do?" And then it's going to be too late. You have to have mindset.

Do you understand the sixth commandment? Do you understand, "Thou shalt not kill" as a negative, "thou shalt preserve life" is the positive of that. Do you know, and I'm thinking about this, do you know how to use less lethal devices? Do you know how to use pepper spray, tear gas, tasers? Do you know how to deescalate if it's nothing but verbal threats? Just because Greg comes around and starts bad-mouthing me and calling me all kinds of names does not give me the right to draw a weapon on him and say, "You better shut up, brother." No, no, no, no. If I'm assaulted verbally, I can respond verbally.

Situational Awareness: Principles and Practices

Weaver defines situational awareness and provides tips such as being mindful, establishing baselines, avoiding distractions, and trusting instincts.

And here were two cellar doors open on the sidewalk with orange cones out. She walked straight into one and fell straight down. Next thing you know, here comes the ambulance and they're putting her out on a stretcher. You don't have situational awareness. She had absolutely none. And that's where most of us are today because we're either talking on the phone or we're playing games on the phone. Or we're texting someone. Or our minds are a thousand miles away. We're off in La La Land somewhere. We have no idea what is going on around us. Situational awareness is not something that you can achieve just by reading a book. Situational awareness is something that has to be basically learned, and it turns out to be a life practice is what it amounts to.

I want to give you some truths. These are put down, not all of them because I've added two of them. But the first ones come from Eugene Nielsen, and he's giving you tips to improve your situational awareness. And here's what he said. Number one, be mindful of your surroundings. The first step in improving your situational awareness is to pay attention to what is going on around you. You look out for threats, you look out for danger, you pay attention.

Many times Alice and I have been driving down the highway and we look up ahead and we see a car that's weaving back and forth. And I tell Alice, I said, "Well, I've got two choices. I can either stay back or wait until I can pass him and get away from him because I don't want to be around him. He's inevitably going to have a wreck or he's going to cause one."

So this is what I'm talking about in the fact that you need to be aware of your surroundings. Number two, you need to establish a baseline. A baseline happens to be what you conceive and what you understand to be normal. Any deviation from that is abnormal. For instance, if you're in a library, you expect to see people reading or talking quietly or looking for books. That's normal. But if you're in the library and you hear someone screaming or you see someone running or you see someone pushing books away, that's abnormal. Something is going on. And you need to be alert and be able to protect yourself or remove yourself. So he says you have to establish a baseline, and that is true. And the third thing he says is you need to anticipate and predict.

In other words, you have to look ahead and you have to look behind. Let me take driving, for instance. I'm looking ahead while I'm driving, but that does not stop me from glancing up at my rearview mirror. That does not stop me from glancing my sideview mirrors. I try to make sure nobody creeps up on me or nobody runs up on me. In fact, this past Sunday, I was on the interstate and I looked at Alice and I said, "Well, here he comes flying by." And of course, I was doing 75 and he flew by me doing 90. I saw him in the rearview mirror. I'm just saying you have to be able to anticipate. You see someone in a convenience store and he's standing there with his hand in his pocket and he's just looking around. People don't do that when they just go in to buy something. You have to anticipate. You have to predict.

You have to, fourthly, avoid distractions and complacency. A distraction, the cell phone. A distraction, anything that breaks your train of thought. Complacency is when you think, "Man, nothing's going to happen here. This is too dull." That's what my friend thought in that way out Chinese restaurant out in the country. "Nothing's going to happen here." And when you get complacent, that's exactly when something is going to happen.

Now, I want to tell you, here's another one. You need to learn to trust your instincts, your intuition, and you need to act decisively. Someone has said that your intuition is your subconscious mind dealing with things before they ever become conscious in your mind. We have another way of saying this in the South. When the hair on the back of your neck stands up, pay attention. When you get a gut feeling that something's not right, you need to pay attention. You need to make sure that you follow your gut instincts, you follow your intuition. If something appears not right, probably it is not right. It's that simple. Then you have to actually try to learn from other folks. Try to get feedback. If you go through something, ask somebody else, "How did you perceive this? How did you respond? How did you act?"

"How should I have responded? How should I have acted?" And then, of course, you've got to train regularly and you have to train realistically. And you have to train yourself, you know. I learned this years ago. One of the men in our church said that he was hired to replace the shrubbery around the local bank. But I said, "What?" He said, "Yeah, of course, the man had a regular job, but he just was doing it." He said, "I'm going to replace the shrubbery." I said, "There's no shrubbery around that bank." Well, he said, "Yes, there is. I've been in that bank, I don't know how many times. I've lived there for years. I never noticed any shrubbery, but it was there." I never paid attention to it. There are so many things that we do not pay attention to. So I'm just simply pointing out you have to train and you have to be realistic. I'm going to add several things to this.

The next one is this. Don't act like easy prey. Don't act like easy prey. If you are stumbling around, if you're walking without noticing anything, if you're paying attention to your phone, if you're talking to your friend, I got news for you. People are watching you. You are easy prey. Someone can slip up behind you. Someone can come up on the side of you. You're just dead meat is what it amounts to.

Practical Questions for Church Security Preparedness

Weaver quotes Ron Borsch's questions to assess readiness, covering weapon access, shooting ability, plans, and protecting vulnerable areas.

And then I added to this. "Can you shoot accurately?" And my next one would be, "Will you shoot?" He goes on. "Take a look at your church building. Many have very large rooms where the congregation gather for worship. Could you make a shot with your carry handgun at the farthest distance a threat can appear from you in such a large room? When is the last time you practice shooting that far? If you can't make the shot, what is your plan to move closer? Often during worship, lights are dimmed or at night an electricity goes off. Do you carry a bright enough flashlight to fully identify the threat at any range? Do you know how to use a flashlight and a weapon at the same time?" We teach that. If you don't know how, you need to know how.

Then he asks this, I'm just quoting him. "What events would cause you to draw your gun and shoot? Would you shoot the man who is ranting at the pulpit with a gun in his hand, or would you wait until after he shot someone?" He said, "There may not be any right answers, but you must know where your personal boundaries lie and what your go signal will be." And then he asked this, "Do you have a church security team? These are gaining in popularity and many churches now have them. If you don't have a team, do you know who else is armed in your church? Do you have a plan to work together to stop a threat? If you plan on stopping the threat, who will take care of your family? That is, who's going to get them to safety? Do you have a plan to get to safety? What can be used as cover or an improvised weapon in your church?" And by the way, there's a difference between cover and concealment.

I could turn this table over and lie down behind it and I would be concealed. But you could shoot right through it. Cover will stop a round. Concealment will not necessarily. I could hide in bushes and you might not can see me, but the bushes are not going to stop a round. So he asked, "Look in this building, what would you use for cover? What can you use as an improvised weapon if you do not have a weapon on you?" He goes on.

"If your church has pew seating, listen men, do you sit near an aisle so that you can easily get out of the pew to address the threat? Who is the most likely target of a killer in your church? Do you have a high-profile religious leader or engage in controversial political actions that might anger someone? How do you plan on protecting the people in your congregation who are at the greatest risk?" "What about less serious threats? Do you have a plan to deal with thieves or aggressive beggars?"

Now there's a funny story on this. We had a man come into our church, 30 minutes after I started preaching. And when he came in, he's looking around. He sat on the front pew. And when he sat down, he kept looking to the rear. He kept looking to the rear. Well, my daughter had left her Glock in the car. So she got up, went out the side door to get her Glock. What this man did not know is practically everyone in our church was armed. But this man, when he saw my daughter get up and go out, he got up and followed her out. And by the time he got there, she already had her hand on her pistol. And four or five of my men followed him out. Come to find out, all he wanted was money.

He was arrested the next day for harassing a widow woman. Church was over. I chewed him up one side and down the other. I told him, "Don't you ever, ever, ever, ever come back in this church again like that." I said, "If you want to hear the word, you come in when it starts and you sit there until I'm through. Don't you ever, ever interrupt this church again. Do you understand?" Do you have a plan to deal with people like that? It will happen. It happened to me. It'll happen to you. How about this one?

"In many churches, children have Bible study or separate worship sessions from adults. There may also be a cry room. Who is protecting the children in those locations?" And then he says this, "If you can't answer these simple questions, you're not prepared for a violent incident in your place of worship. It's time to start doing some homework."

You Are Not Too Old: Biblical Encouragement for All Ages

Weaver refutes excuses of age, citing Psalm 71:18 and Isaiah 46:4, and shares an example of an older woman's deadly accuracy.

You may not can do what you could do when you were 20. I can't. But there are a lot of things that I can do. Alice and I were in Pennsylvania. I was preaching there and they asked me to teach a two day handgun class. I said, "Sure, I'll be glad to." And we had one woman who was in her 60s. She was never fast. If she had gotten into a duel with some of these men here, she would have been shot 100 times. But although the woman was not fast, she was extremely accurate.

And in her target, she kept putting them in the same hole over and over and over. Well, we took a little break. Behind her target was an oak tree about that big around. And I was standing there talking to her, encouraging her with her shooting, and all of a sudden, and the tree fell over. She had cut the tree in two by hitting the same spot every time. I got news for you. She may have been slow, but she was deadly. Don't tell me you're too old. I'll soon be 80. Don't tell me that you don't have enough money. Don't tell me that you can't buy ammunition. Don't tell me that you don't have time. Let me tell you, you prioritize your life. You have time to do what you want to do. You have money to spend on whatever you want to spend your money on. It's not a matter that you don't have enough money. It's not a matter that you're too old. It's not a matter that you don't have time. It's what it is. You don't care. It doesn't interest you. You're not concerned about safety. You're not concerned about protecting your life. You're not concerned about protecting your family or anyone else. I'm just simply saying you are not too old. I want you to turn in your Bibles, please.

First of all, to Psalm 71. I love this verse. I quote it all the time. Look at it. Psalm 71. And notice, if you would please, in verse 18. Psalm 71, verse 18. Look what David said.

Scripture Reading — Psalm 71:18

"Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come."

Did you hear that?

Scripture Reading — Psalm 71:18

"Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come."

I've got news for you folks. Being old does not stop you from learning. Look in your Bibles, if you would please, to Isaiah 46. Isaiah 46. And notice, if you would please, verse 4. Isaiah 46 and verse 4. Look at this, Isaiah 46 and verse 4. God says,

Scripture Reading — Isaiah 46:4

"And even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you."

Even to your old age. Don't come up telling me that you're too old. And ladies, don't tell me that you don't need this.

You say, "Well, my husband is going to protect me." That's wonderful. That's fine. But what if your husband gets hit? What if your husband gets killed? Or what if someone has your husband down beating him to death and there's a weapon, but you don't know how to use it to save your husband? Don't come up and say, "I'm too old." You're not too old. You can do what you can do. I've trained a lot of old men. And I always tell people, "Don't hurt yourself. Here's what we're going to do."

I will show you how to do it safely, whether it's running, diving to the ground. I can show you how to do it safely. I can show you how to do it easily. But don't hurt yourself. You can do what you can do. You might not be able to do everything, but you can do what you can do. And old age does not stop you.

Self-Defense as a Ministry and Moral Duty

Weaver argues that self-defense is a ministry to be done for God's glory, and failure to protect family is morally inexcusable, quoting Norman Geisler.

Secondly, I want you to understand this, that self-defense, defense of others and church security must be viewed as a ministry. A ministry. I want you to look in your Bibles, first of all to the book of Colossians chapter 3 and look if you would please in verses 23 and 24. Colossians chapter 3, look at this. Colossians 3 verses 23 and 24, look at this. "And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ." What? Whatever you do. Training? Do it heartily as unto the Lord. Protection? Do it heartily as unto the Lord. For you serve the Lord Christ.

There is no division between the secular and the sacred for the child of God. For the child of God, everything is sacred. And everything is a ministry. I have a ministry to my wife. My wife has a ministry to me. Everything is a ministry for the child of God. Look in your Bibles, 1 Corinthians 10, verse 31. Most of you can quote it. But here it is again, 1 Corinthians 10, look in verse 31. The Bible says, "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." Wow. Do all for the glory of God. Those who do not place their faith in God, their heart in his service and their mind to the task that is at hand are bound to fail. They're bound to fail.

Those who naively assume that they will be able to function without training are deceiving and deluding themselves and setting themselves up for failure and death. I'm telling you, folks, if you do not wish for evil to triumph, if you do not wish for the wicked to win, if you wish for the criminal to control, you must train for God's glory and for the good of your family and for the brethren in Christ. You must. Some of you need to hear what Clint Smith said. Clint Smith trained so many people. But here's what he said, and it is certainly true. Listen to this. "Owning a handgun does not make you any more armed than owning a guitar makes you a musician." That's the truth. That's the truth. And most folks, they'll buy a pistol, they'll load it, put it on the nightstand and think that somehow if their house is broken into, they're going to grab that weapon and save their families and themselves.

Usually it will not work like that. Usually, it will not work like that. I want to close with this quote. I want you to listen to this. This was written by Dr. Norman Geisler, who has written many books, an Old Testament scholar, theologian. This is from a debate that he had. And listen to what he said, "Oh, to permit murder when one could have prevented it is morally wrong. To allow rape when one could have hindered it is an evil. To watch an act of cruelty to children without trying to intervene is morally inexcusable. In brief, not resisting evil is an evil of omission, and an evil of omission can be just as evil as an evil of commission. Any man who refuses to protect his wife and children against a violent intruder fails them morally."

"God has laid the expectation at the feet of the heads of the families that they protect, provide for, and defend their families, and protect and defend their countries. Little ones cannot do so and rely solely on those who bore them. God no more loves the willing neglect of their safety than He loves child abuse. He no more appreciates the willingness to ignore the sanctity of our own lives than He approves of the abuse of our own bodies and souls. God has not called us to save the society by sacrificing our children or ourselves to robbers, home invaders, rapists, or murderers. Self-defense and defense of the little ones goes well beyond a right. It is a duty based on the idea that man is made in the image of God. It is his expectation that we do the utmost to preserve and defend ourselves when in danger, for it is he who is sovereign who gives life, and he doesn't expect us to be dismissive or cavalier about its loss."

Now listen, "If you believe that it is your Christian duty to allow your children to be harmed by evildoers, and you actually allow it, because you think that Christ was a pacifist, you're no better than a child abuser or pedophile. God demands violence as a response to threats on our persons because of the fact that man is created in the image of God, and life is to be preserved. It is our solemn duty." "I'm afraid there have been too many centuries of bad teaching endured by the church, but it makes sense to keep trying. As I've explained before, the simplest and most compelling case for self-defense lies in the Decalogue. 'Thou shalt not murder' means 'thou shalt protect life.' If you're willing to sacrifice the safety and health of your wife and children to the evils of abuse, kidnapping, sexual predation or death, God isn't impressed with your fake morality."

"Capable of stopping it and choosing not to, you're no better than a child molester and I wouldn't even want you around my grandchildren." That's what he said. Those are hard words, but those are true words. They are strong words. And we have to return to the biblical doctrine of self-defense. We have to learn what the Bible says, and we have to learn to get up off our rear ends and start doing what God has told us to do to prepare to protect ourselves and our families. You just remember this.

Conclusion: Bringing Thoughts Captive to Christ and Final Exhortation

Weaver closes by urging biblical thinking, using 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, and prays for grace to fulfill responsibilities.

When you most need the police, they're only 15 minutes away. And they'll get there in time to draw the chalk line around your dead body, or the bodies of your children. One last passage. I want you to turn in your Bibles to 2 Corinthians chapter 10. 2 Corinthians chapter 10. And look, if you would please, beginning there with verse 3. Look at what the Apostle says, 2 Corinthians chapter 10 and look, if you would please, at verse 3. Watch this. I want to explain this. The Apostle said, "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh."

"For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds." Now, hang on. Paul is not condemning physical weapons. He's just simply saying in this warfare that he's now about to talk about, physical weapons would not help us at all. What is he talking about? Look at it in verse four again. He says, "For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds." What is your stronghold? Your stronghold is your place of defense. Your stronghold is what you think and what you believe. I can't change you. You think like this. Well, look at it now. He says, "For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds; casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ."

So let me ask you a question. As a Christian, how many unbiblical thoughts does God allow you to have? None. So that means when it comes to self-defense, when it comes to violence, when it comes to preparation, when it comes to safety, when it comes to any of these subjects, you better learn to think biblically and bring your mind, bring your thoughts into captivity to the Lord Jesus Christ in His Word. The best way to be prepared isn't only to be trusting in the sovereign God of heaven and earth, but fulfill your responsibility to the best of your ability by His grace and by His mercy. You remember, God allowed David to defeat Goliath, but God did not throw the rock for David. David had to use the sling. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee this day.

We thank You for Your Word. We thank You for Your truth. And Lord, I pray, I ask Thee to let this sink deeply into our hearts, deeply into our minds. And Lord, that You would indeed, by Your infinite grace and mercy, teach us, build us up in the most holy faith, and give us, Lord, Your grace and Your mercy. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen.

Study Guide

Major Themes

God's Sovereignty and Human Responsibility in Safety

Summary: Safety is ultimately from the Lord, but believers must actively prepare and train; God does not do for us what we refuse to do.

Evidence: Proverbs 21:31 is cited: 'The horse is prepared for the day of battle, but safety is of the Lord.' Weaver says, 'God is not going to fulfill our responsibilities for us.'

The Reality of Evil and the Need for Acceptance

Summary: Society has changed; evil people exist who have no regard for God or man. Believers must accept this reality and not live in denial.

Evidence: Weaver states, 'We have to understand that there are extremely bad people... they have absolutely no regard for God.' He references the Black Hawk Down quote about killing as a way of life.

The Ineffectiveness of Gun-Free Zones

Summary: Gun-free zones invite criminals because they signal no resistance. Statistics show most school shootings occur in such zones.

Evidence: Weaver says, '94% of these shooting incidents happened in gun-free zones in the school.' He calls a 'no weapons allowed' sign 'an invitation for disaster.'

Practical Preparation: Weapons, Training, and Mindset

Summary: Preparation includes owning a weapon, training for accuracy and speed, knowing malfunctions, and having a biblical mindset to act decisively.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'It does indeed involve having a weapon... knowing how to shoot that weapon accurately... and quickly.' He emphasizes mindset: 'If you don't have a biblical mindset, you're not going to do anything.'

Situational Awareness as a Life Practice

Summary: Situational awareness involves being mindful of surroundings, establishing baselines, anticipating threats, and trusting instincts to avoid danger.

Evidence: Weaver lists tips: 'Be mindful of your surroundings... establish a baseline... anticipate and predict... avoid distractions and complacency... trust your instincts.'

Self-Defense as a Moral and Ministerial Duty

Summary: Protecting oneself and others is a ministry to be done for God's glory; failure to protect family is morally equivalent to evil of omission.

Evidence: Weaver quotes Norman Geisler: 'Any man who refuses to protect his wife and children against a violent intruder fails them morally.' He cites Colossians 3:23-24 to do all as unto the Lord.

No Excuses: Age, Money, or Time

Summary: Believers are never too old to train or defend; prioritizing safety is a matter of will, not resources.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'Don't tell me you're too old... It's not a matter that you don't have enough money... You don't care.' He cites Psalm 71:18 and Isaiah 46:4.

Biblical Mindset and Captivity of Thoughts

Summary: Christians must align their thinking with Scripture on self-defense, bringing every thought captive to Christ.

Evidence: Weaver uses 2 Corinthians 10:3-5: 'bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.' He asks, 'How many unbiblical thoughts does God allow you to have? None.'

Key Arguments

Safety is from the Lord, but preparation is our duty

Summary: Proverbs 21:31 teaches that while God grants safety, we must prepare like the horse for battle; God does not act for us without our effort.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'The horse is prepared for the day of battle, but safety is of the Lord... God is not going to fulfill our responsibilities for us.'

Evil is real and must be accepted to be prepared

Summary: Denying the existence of evil people leads to vulnerability; believers must accept that attacks can happen and plan accordingly.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'Do not live in a fool's paradise... Good men do not always win.' He cites Ecclesiastes 8:11 on unpunished evil.

Gun-free zones increase danger

Summary: Statistics show that most mass shootings occur in gun-free zones because criminals know victims are unarmed and unlikely to resist.

Evidence: Weaver states, '94% of these shooting incidents happened in gun-free zones in the school.' He argues a 'no weapons allowed' sign is an invitation for criminals.

Training must include speed, accuracy, and malfunction clearing

Summary: Mere ownership of a weapon is insufficient; one must train to shoot accurately and quickly, and know how to clear malfunctions reflexively.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'You have to have both... you better know the malfunctions... how to clear those malfunctions reflexively.' He quotes Clint Smith: 'Owning a handgun does not make you any more armed than owning a guitar makes you a musician.'

Situational awareness prevents victimization

Summary: Being aware of surroundings, establishing baselines, and trusting instincts can help avoid threats before they escalate.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'The best way to win a fight is not have to fight. If you can avoid it through observation, situational awareness, then that is the thing to do.'

Self-defense is a biblical ministry and moral obligation

Summary: Protecting family and others is a duty rooted in the sixth commandment and the image of God; failure to act is an evil of omission.

Evidence: Weaver quotes Geisler: 'Any man who refuses to protect his wife and children against a violent intruder fails them morally.' He cites Colossians 3:23-24.

Age is not a valid excuse for inaction

Summary: Scripture shows God uses the elderly; older individuals can still train and defend effectively within their capabilities.

Evidence: Weaver cites Psalm 71:18 and Isaiah 46:4, and shares the story of a woman in her 60s who was 'deadly' accurate.

Christians must bring thoughts on self-defense into obedience to Christ

Summary: Unbiblical pacifism or negligence must be rejected; believers must think biblically about violence and protection.

Evidence: Weaver uses 2 Corinthians 10:5: 'bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.' He says, 'You better learn to think biblically.'

Scripture References

Proverbs 21:31

Context: Foundation for the message: the horse is prepared for battle, but safety is of the Lord.

3 John 1:2

Context: Used to show it is normal and biblical to desire prosperity, health, and safety.

Psalm 33:17

Context: A horse (or any weapon) is a vain thing for safety; ultimate trust must be in God.

Psalm 127:1

Context: Unless the Lord keeps the city, the watchman stays awake in vain; safety is from God.

Leviticus 25:18

Context: Obedience to God's statutes leads to dwelling safely in the land.

2 Timothy 2:7

Context: Paul tells Timothy to consider what he says, and the Lord will give understanding; illustrates cooperation between human effort and divine enablement.

Proverbs 2:6

Context: The Lord gives wisdom; referenced in connection with 2 Timothy 2:7.

Luke 18:2

Context: A judge who feared not God nor regarded man; illustrates that without fear of God, there is no regard for human life.

Romans 3:18

Context: There is no fear of God before their eyes; explains why people commit evil.

Psalm 53:1 (and Psalm 14:1)

Context: The fool says in his heart there is no God; connected to lack of fear of God.

2 Samuel 11

Context: Uriah the Hittite was a good man murdered by David; shows bad things happen to good people.

Ecclesiastes 8:11

Context: Because sentence against evil is not executed speedily, hearts are set to do evil; explains societal decay.

Proverbs 15:1

Context: A soft answer turns away wrath; used to illustrate de-escalation.

Psalm 71:18

Context: David asks God not to forsake him in old age until he shows God's strength to the next generation; used to encourage the elderly.

Isaiah 46:4

Context: God promises to carry and deliver even to old age; used to refute the excuse of being too old.

Colossians 3:23-24

Context: Whatever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord; applied to training and protection as a ministry.

1 Corinthians 10:31

Context: Whether you eat or drink, do all to the glory of God; reinforces that all actions, including self-defense, are sacred.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5

Context: Weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to pull down strongholds; applied to bringing thoughts about self-defense into obedience to Christ.

Historical References

Black Hawk Down movie and Mogadishu incident

Context: Weaver recounts a scene where a Somali warlord tells a captured pilot that killing has been a way of life for over a thousand years, illustrating a culture of violence now entering America.

New Life Church shooting, Colorado Springs, December 9, 2007

Context: An active killer attacked the church; a trained female former police officer shot and stopped him, preventing further casualties inside. Weaver uses this as an example of effective church security.

Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990 (amended 1995)

Context: Weaver cites statistics that 94% of school shootings since 1966 occurred after this act, arguing gun-free zones increase danger.

Ron Borsch (retired law enforcement, SWAT trainer)

Context: Weaver quotes Borsch extensively on church security statistics and preparedness questions.

Clint Smith (firearms trainer)

Context: Weaver quotes Smith: 'Owning a handgun does not make you any more armed than owning a guitar makes you a musician.'

Dr. Norman Geisler (theologian)

Context: Weaver reads a lengthy quote from Geisler on the moral duty of self-defense and the evil of omission.

Colonel John Boyd and the OODA loop

Context: Weaver mentions the OODA loop (observe, orient, decide, act) as a tactical concept for responding to threats.

Squatters and property fraud incidents in New York and Georgia

Context: Weaver cites recent examples of criminals taking over homes to illustrate societal breakdown and coddling of criminals.

Important Quotes

The horse is prepared for the day of battle, but safety is of the Lord.

Significance: Foundational verse for the entire message, establishing the balance between divine sovereignty and human preparation.

God is not going to fulfill our responsibilities for us. God has commanded us. God has told us exactly what we must do. But God is not going to fulfill our responsibilities for us.

Significance: Key caveat emphasizing human responsibility alongside trust in God.

You stupid Americans, you think that you can come over here and force your democracy down our throats? And you think you can stop us from killing when killing has been a way of life for us for over a thousand years.

Significance: Illustrates the mindset of evil people who have no regard for life, used to warn that such culture is coming to America.

Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the hearts of the sons of men in them are fully set to do evil.

Significance: Explains why evil is prominent: lack of swift justice emboldens criminals.

Owning a handgun does not make you any more armed than owning a guitar makes you a musician.

Significance: Emphasizes that mere possession of a weapon is insufficient without training and skill.

Any man who refuses to protect his wife and children against a violent intruder fails them morally.

Significance: Strong statement on the moral duty of self-defense, quoted from Norman Geisler.

If you believe that it is your Christian duty to allow your children to be harmed by evildoers, and you actually allow it, because you think that Christ was a pacifist, you're no better than a child abuser or pedophile.

Significance: Provocative quote from Geisler equating passive inaction with active evil, challenging pacifist interpretations.

I did not think for a minute to run away.

Significance: The mindset of the woman who stopped the New Life Church shooter, illustrating decisive action.

Discussion Questions

How do we balance trust in God's sovereignty with our responsibility to prepare and train for self-defense?

Context: Weaver emphasizes both truths from Proverbs 21:31 and Psalm 127:1.

In what ways has our society changed regarding safety and morality, and how should that affect our preparedness?

Context: Weaver describes the shift from a safer past to a present with rampant evil and lack of fear of God.

What are the practical and biblical problems with 'gun-free zones'?

Context: Weaver presents statistics and argues they invite criminals.

What does it mean to have a 'biblical mindset' regarding self-defense, and how do we develop it?

Context: Weaver stresses the need for a mindset aligned with Scripture, not passivity.

How can we practice situational awareness in our daily lives?

Context: Weaver gives tips like being mindful, establishing baselines, and trusting instincts.

What steps should a church take to develop a security plan?

Context: Weaver quotes Ron Borsch's questions about weapon access, team coordination, and protecting children.

How does the sixth commandment ('Thou shalt not kill') imply a positive duty to protect life?

Context: Weaver and Geisler argue that the command to not murder includes the duty to preserve life.

What are some common excuses for not preparing, and how does Scripture address them?

Context: Weaver refutes excuses of age, money, and time using Psalm 71:18 and Isaiah 46:4.

Applications

Accept the reality of evil and the need for preparedness

Summary: Believers must stop living in denial and accept that attacks can happen; develop a plan for self, family, and church.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'Do not live in a fool's paradise... You must accept that an attack could happen at any time.'

Train regularly with your weapon

Summary: Owning a gun is not enough; practice shooting accurately and quickly, and learn to clear malfunctions.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'It does indeed involve having a weapon... knowing how to shoot that weapon accurately... and quickly.'

Cultivate situational awareness

Summary: Pay attention to surroundings, avoid distractions like cell phones, and trust gut instincts to avoid danger.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'Be mindful of your surroundings... avoid distractions and complacency... trust your instincts.'

Develop a church security team and plan

Summary: Churches should have trained, armed individuals and a coordinated plan for threats, including protecting children.

Evidence: Weaver quotes Borsch: 'Do you have a church security team?... Who is protecting the children?'

View self-defense as a ministry

Summary: Training and protecting others should be done heartily as unto the Lord, for His glory.

Evidence: Weaver cites Colossians 3:23-24: 'Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord.'

Do not use age as an excuse

Summary: Older believers can still train and defend within their capabilities; God uses the elderly.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'Don't tell me you're too old... You can do what you can do.' He cites Psalm 71:18.

Bring your thoughts on self-defense into obedience to Christ

Summary: Reject unbiblical pacifism or negligence; align your thinking with Scripture on violence and protection.

Evidence: Weaver uses 2 Corinthians 10:5: 'bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.'

Prioritize protection of family as a moral duty

Summary: Heads of families must take responsibility to defend their households; failure is morally inexcusable.

Evidence: Weaver quotes Geisler: 'Any man who refuses to protect his wife and children against a violent intruder fails them morally.'

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-06T04:27:47Z

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T16:46:09Z

Clean Transcript

Theology of Self Defense-3

Clean readable transcript. This view follows the Commentary.net cleaned segment text while preserving timestamps for audio follow-along.

I want you to open your Bibles, if you would please, to the book of Proverbs, chapter 21. I'm going to be giving you a number of passages, but I'm also going to be giving you a number of illustrations and some quotes that I think are very, very important. So I want you to look in Proverbs, chapter 21. Tonight's message is going to be dealing with safety, preparation, and situational awareness. So if you look in Proverbs chapter 21 in verse 31, the Bible simply says this, "The horse is prepared for the day of battle, but safety is of the Lord." Everyone should be interested in safety and self-defense. Only those that are foolish and naive will not be concerned about their health, their safety or their welfare.
#1 | 0:00 to 0:52 | cleaned
Let me just say this. It is normal, natural and biblical to want to prosper and to be in health and certainly to be safe. You remember it was the Apostle John in 3 John who said this concerning his loved ones and his people. He said, "Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health even as thy soul prospereth." And I've often thought about that. If most of us prospered physically and economically the way our souls prosper, most of us would be very, very poor. The truth of the matter is we need to understand that there is indeed a natural desire and a biblical desire to be safe and to be healthy and to prosper as well. So if you then consider your health, if you consider your safety important, then you're certainly going to be interested not only in self-defense, but you're also going to be interested in preparedness as well. It's impossible to remain safe. It is impossible to remain healthy if you are unconcerned about your welfare and if you're unconcerned about things that are going on around you.
#2 | 0:52 to 2:09 | cleaned
Now let me give you two major warnings or two major caveats concerning this message. First of all, the Bible says in Proverbs 21 and verse 31, "The horse is prepared for the day of battle, but safety is of the Lord." Safety first and foremost is in the hand of the Lord. It is not in our hands. We may prepare, we may be responsible, but He is the Sovereign and He is the One who is in absolute and total control.
#3 | 2:09 to 2:40 | cleaned
Without Him, all of our preparation, all of our training is useless and worthless. It's just that simple. The Bible also says, in Psalm 33 and verse 17, listen to this one, "A horse is a vain thing for safety, neither will he protect any by his strength." In other words, we are not going to be able to depend upon anything that we have for our protection. For instance, we could paraphrase that verse and say like this, "A Glock is a vain thing for safety," or "a tank is a vain thing for safety," or "an AR-15 is a vain thing for safety. Neither will it deliver anybody by its great firepower." In other words, the point being that we must understand that first and foremost, primarily, our safety is in the Lord. That's why I said in Psalm 127 in verse 1, "Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain." In other words, safety is of the Lord.
#4 | 2:41 to 3:48 | cleaned
Now, without going into great detail, let me just say this, that Scripture affirms and confirms the fact that if we desire His protection, we need to be absolutely obedient to Him and to His law. The Bible in the book of Leviticus chapter 25 and verse 18 says this, "Wherefore, you shall do my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them, and then you shall dwell safe in the land." So safety is in the hands of the Lord first and foremost.
#5 | 3:49 to 4:25 | cleaned
Now, here's the second caveat, here's the second warning that I want to give concerning this message, and that is this, that God is not going to fulfill our responsibilities for us. God has commanded us. God has told us exactly what we must do. But God is not going to fulfill our responsibilities for us. It is true He is sovereign. It is true He is omnipotent. He is omniscient. He is omnipresent. He is God. But God is not going to do for us what we refuse to do for ourselves. God is not going to think for us. God is not going to pray for us. God is not going to train for us. God is not going to repent for us. God is not going to prepare for us. In other words, God holds us accountable and responsible.
#6 | 4:25 to 5:18 | cleaned
So we have to keep these two truths in the right perspective. God is sovereign. Safety is in His hand, first and foremost. But secondly, we are responsible.
#7 | 5:19 to 5:30 | cleaned
Now, I want to tell you how these things work together. There's a passage that the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2, verse 7. He told Timothy, "Consider what I say. And the Lord give thee understanding in all things." Understanding is the gift of God. That's what he said in Proverbs 2 and verse 6 as well. But God does not give understanding willy-nilly. You don't go to bed stupid and wake up smart. You don't go to bed ignorant and wake up knowing everything. He said, "Consider what I say." In other words, it is our duty, it is our responsibility to think and meditate and consider what God has said and then at the same time seek God to give us understanding. So it's the same when we are talking about safety and responsibility. It is God who must keep us safe, but at the same time, God is also expecting us to be responsible.
#8 | 5:30 to 6:26 | cleaned
So, the very fact that Samson came down from the mountain and he killed a thousand Philistines, he had to pick up the jawbone of the ass. God provided the jawbone, but God did not fight for Samson. And likewise, God gave David the victory over Goliath. But God did not sling the stone for David. David had to sling the stone. He had to have been trained in the use of the sling.
#9 | 6:27 to 6:59 | cleaned
So clearly, obviously, these things go together. Now, let me just tell you, things have changed drastically in this country. Anyone who is 70 years or older can verify the fact that we are living in an entirely different nation than which we grew up in. Now, some of you young folks, you may not think things have changed that much. But let me tell you, it was certainly different back in the fifties. And I usually tell people, I really truly think this. I could be wrong, but I really think this. I think my generation was the last generation to taste the last little bit of freedom that we really had in this country. To show you how things have changed, when I was a boy, if I wanted to see a policeman, I had to drive uptown, and once I got uptown, I had to look around, because they were hard to find.
#10 | 6:59 to 8:10 | cleaned
There were very, very few policemen in our small town. We didn't need them. Why? Well, because most folks were basically moral. Most folks at least believed the Ten Commandments, even though they were not Christians. And most folks acted decently. I tell people, when I was a boy, my father used to take us on vacation down to Miami, Florida. Two weeks during the winter, we would go down and visit relatives and stay with them. My father was a farmer.
#11 | 8:10 to 8:42 | cleaned
We never locked a door. We never locked a window. He had multiple thousands of dollars worth of machinery all out around the barns and in the barns. When we would come back two weeks later, everything was exactly the way we left it. No one had broken in. No one had tried to steal anything. It was just simply there. In other words, things were different back in the 1950s and in the early 1960s.
#12 | 8:43 to 9:09 | cleaned
For instance, my wife and I grew up in the same area, and I was thinking when I was actually preparing this message, and I was racking my brain to find out if I could ever remember a bank robbery in our town. And I could not. And so I have a deputy friend, and I asked him, I said, "Can you tell me, has there been a bank robbery in this town in the last 50 years?" He said, "Well, I don't know." He said there hadn't been one since I've been around, and he said, "I don't even remember, I don't think so."
#13 | 9:13 to 10:01 | cleaned
The point being, now today, everybody's stealing from dollar stores and convenience stores and everything else. I'm just simply saying things have changed in this country.
#14 | 10:04 to 10:15 | cleaned
Now, when we're talking about self-defense, when we're talking about preparation, let me tell you what I think it should be our first step. And our first step, I believe, should be what you and I would call acceptance. What do I mean by acceptance? We've got to accept the fact that we're living in a totally different society. We are living in a totally and completely different culture.
#15 | 10:15 to 10:42 | cleaned
We have to understand that there are extremely bad people. I'm going to say it even another way, that there are evil people, and these people rejoice in and delight in evil. They have absolutely no regard for God. They have no regard for you. They have no regard for your property. And stealing to them is a way of life, killing to them is a way of life. Years ago, there was a movie, Black Hawk Down. I watched that movie years ago when it came on TV. And about a year or so later, it came on again.
#16 | 10:44 to 11:30 | cleaned
And I thought, well, I don't need to see it again. I've already seen it. But then I thought, no, I will watch it one more time. And I was so thankful that I did. Because I had totally missed the scene the first time. Because in Mogadishu, here was the helicopter pilot, the Black Hawk helicopter pilot, up against the wall. He had been beaten absolutely senseless, black eyes, blood everywhere, tied up. And one of the big drug lords looked at him and here is what he said. Listen carefully.
#17 | 11:32 to 12:13 | cleaned
He said, "You stupid Americans, you think that you can come over here and force your democracy down our throats? And you think you can stop us from killing when killing has been a way of life for us for over a thousand years." By the way, that culture is being brought to America as well. That is the mentality. And what I'm trying to tell you is this. We have to understand that there are bad, wicked and evil people.
#18 | 12:15 to 12:51 | cleaned
You remember that passage in the book of Luke, chapter 18, verse 2. Our Lord is speaking, and He said, "There was a certain judge who feared not God, neither regarded man." Do you understand, if there is no fear of God, there will not be any regard for man? The reason so many people violate God's law and break His commandments, there is no fear of God. That's what the Apostle Paul said in Romans 3. "There is no fear of God before their eyes." That's what Psalm 53 and Psalm 14 is all about. "The fool has said in his heart, there is no God." And when you have no regard for God, you're not going to have any regard for mankind. So we've got to understand this. Things have definitely changed. Cultures change. Societies change.
#19 | 12:52 to 13:39 | cleaned
So do not live in a fool's paradise. Do not be deceived. Do not be deluded. Do not think that evil will never happen to you, or will never happen to your family, or will never happen to your church. And let me say it another way. Good men do not always win. Read 2 Samuel chapter 11 and find out what happened to Uriah the Hittite. In that instance, Uriah the Hittite was the good man and David was the bad man. But it was Uriah who was murdered to cover up David's sin. I'm just simply saying bad things oftentimes happen to good people. One of the reasons I think that evil is so prominent today is because of a violation of God's law. The Bible says in the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 8 and verse 11, "Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the hearts of the sons of men in them are fully set to do evil." Listen to what he said, "Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily."
#20 | 13:40 to 15:04 | cleaned
"The wicked are not taken care of. Therefore, the hearts of the sons of men in them are fully set to do evil." And what we've done is we've coddled criminals. We've not punished them. We've been more concerned for the criminal than the victim. Look at what is happening in this country already. How the one woman who had the million dollar house in New York, you know what happened.
#21 | 15:05 to 15:31 | cleaned
Squatters took over and she tried to run them out. The cops were called. She was arrested.
#22 | 15:31 to 15:36 | cleaned
Now, in Georgia, a 70-something-year-old man was kicked out of his 20-year-old home and put out on the street. He lived in that home for over 20 years because someone had filed some fraudulent documents. There are online courses now on how to take over people's homes. I'm just simply saying, we have coddled these criminals. And we have not punished anybody. I'm going to tell you, I think I still have the document, but I had a friend who was sentenced to federal prison for nine months. And he was sentenced because of a biblical stand that he took. He was not wicked. He was not wrong.
#23 | 15:39 to 16:32 | cleaned
He was not a criminal. I was there every day at his trial. But before he went to the federal prison, he showed me the paper. And of course, in a federal prison today, you get to go to a, you know, an air base. There are no armed guards. You could walk off. I've visited him many times. But if you walk off, then they put you in a real prison with walls. But I saw the letter and they said, "You must report such and such day to begin serving your sentence."
#24 | 16:32 to 17:13 | cleaned
"Please be advised, we do not provide tennis rackets or golf clubs. If you want anything like that, you must bring it with you." What? I'm just simply pointing out the fact. We've got to understand something, folks. We are not living in Mayberry and Andy Griffith is not our sheriff. Things have changed. You've got to accept that. The next thing you must accept, I believe, is this. You must accept that an attack could happen at any time. It could happen to you. It could happen to your family. It could happen to your church. It may never happen, but it could happen today. The fact that you do not think that anything bad will ever happen to you does not change the reality that it could happen and it will happen. So if you're living in Never-Never Land, you're greatly deluded and greatly deceived. If you're not living in Never-Never Land, then what you need to come up with is a plan for yourself, for your family, and for your church. The plan does not have to be publicized, but you need to know what it is.
#25 | 17:13 to 18:45 | cleaned
Every person in your family needs to know what it is, as well as if it's a church, you need to have everyone in the church totally aware of what is going on and what the plan really is. Now I want to give you a few quotes. The first one is going to come from a man by the name of Ron Borsche. I'm sure you don't know who he is, but I'm going to tell you before I give you his quotes. Ron Borsch happened to be a staff instructor at the Kent Martial Arts Club, so he's a martial artist.
#26 | 18:45 to 19:19 | cleaned
He was also a paratrooper in Vietnam, 101st Airborne Division. He was also 30 years a cop. 20 of those years he was a range master. He was a pistol team captain for 17 of those years. He was a SWAT operator and trainer. He's now retired, but he's still in the consulting business in law enforcement. And I want you to listen to what this man said. I'm going to quote from him again just a little bit later.
#27 | 19:20 to 19:56 | cleaned
So you should pay close attention to this. He said, "One would imagine that among different locations, places of worship would be a safe haven and we would not have to be concerned about safety or violence there. Unfortunately, churches are not the sanctuary they once were. Here we are not talking about mere arson, burglary, mugging, rape, or robbery. Even worse, churches can and have been the site of murder, multiple murders, and rapid mass murder."
#28 | 19:57 to 20:38 | cleaned
"About a year ago, churches that were, listen to this, about a year ago, churches were the third most commonly targeted location by active killers after schools, colleges, and universities. Churches were the third most targeted by mass murderers." He goes on. "The survey of over 1,300 congregations in the United States finds that in 2014, it's going to be updated, 39% of congregations experience some type of property or violent crime from vandalism to homicide." 39%. Wow. He goes on. Listen to this.
#29 | 20:40 to 21:30 | cleaned
"Checking our stopwatch of death database back to 1975, we find that church murders have been increasing with alarming frequency. Regrettably, ignoring the problem is only trolling for a tragedy. It is perfectly normal for us to not want to think about violence, much less murder or mass murder in church. Today, however, safe havens do not occur naturally. They require our personal attention, intention, planning, and effort." And he's dead on.
#30 | 21:33 to 22:14 | cleaned
Here's a man 30 years law enforcement. Wow. Here's another article. I want to read it to you. "In light of this, skyrocketing number of attacks on Christians and churches explodes. American culture appears increasingly hostile to Christianity." That's just the headline. "Experts are warning a skyrocketing number of attacks on Christian churches mirrors the general anti-Christian tenor of the Biden administration's policies at home and abroad, according to a new report from the Washington Stand that details how such incidents of violence have exploded 800% over six years."
#31 | 22:15 to 23:04 | cleaned
Now listen, "During the first 11 months of 2023, that's last year, during the first 11 months of 2023, there were 436 acts of hostility against churches in America, including 315 vandalisms, 75 arsons, 20 bomb threats, and 12 instances of satanic graffiti." The Stand reported, "These statistics likely understate the extent of the problem, because many acts of hostility against churches are likely not reported to authorities and are not featured in the news or other online sources from which we collect data. There were a few areas of America left untouched with reports coming from 48 states and Washington D.C."
#32 | 23:05 to 23:57 | cleaned
"There were 91 such attacks in California." Now, here's what someone's going to say. "Well, we've got the answer to that. All we've got to do is post a sign out front saying no weapons allowed." Wow. You post that sign, no weapons allowed, that is an invitation for disaster. How can that be? Because they know now you're unarmed and you're not willing to fight. I saw a cartoon. And it showed two muggers, they had their mask on, they had their guns in the hand, and the door said, "No weapons allowed."
#33 | 23:58 to 24:46 | cleaned
And one robber looked at the other and said, "Oh, shoot, we can't go in there. They don't allow guns." You think that's going to matter to a thief? You think it's going to matter to a criminal? Of course not. Of course not. The very fact is, a sign like that is an invitation for criminals. It's saying, "Come on in. We don't have any weapons here. And we are not going to fight." It's a fool's belief that's going to end in tragedy.
#34 | 24:47 to 25:13 | cleaned
Now, remember, churches were third. Schools were second. I would imagine probably every school in this county has a gun-free zone in it. I want you to listen to this. This will absolutely astound you. "Gun-free school zones and shooting statistics 2024. There have been 2,646 school shooting incidents in the United States since 1966."
#35 | 25:14 to 25:56 | cleaned
Now you're going to say, "Well, that's bad, but that's not too bad." Hang on. "Of those, 2,205, that is 94%, occurred after the 1990 School Zone Safety Act amended in 1995." Think about this now. 94% of these shooting incidents happened in gun-free zones in the school. Why? Well, we know nobody's armed. We know no one's going to fight us back. We can do what we want to do. We can kill as many as we want to kill, because this is a gun-free zone.
#36 | 25:56 to 26:42 | cleaned
Clearly, that does not work. Now, there was one prepared church, and this church happened to be in Colorado Springs. This happened on December the 9th, when an active killer came to this particular church. I must point out that he actually shot five people on the outside. He killed two and he wounded three. Before he had gotten there, 12 hours earlier, 70 miles away, he also murdered some folks at the Arvada Missionary Church there. He murdered two and wounded two others. So he came to the New Life Church, who had about 7,000 congregants that day. So, once he killed the two outside and wounded the three, and by the way, he only had a rifle but several pistols and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.
#37 | 26:43 to 27:45 | cleaned
And when the shooting began on the outside, the inside, of course, heard the shots. And, of course, they had already had prepared for such an incident. They had trained individuals there, and one was a lady who had been a former cop. And when the man came into the church building, she ran toward him, drew her own personal pistol, started shooting him, hit him multiple times, and finally, when he could not function, he took a weapon and shot and killed himself. There were no incidents inside the church building.
#38 | 27:47 to 28:31 | cleaned
Here is what the woman said. "God guided me and protected me, and I did not think for a minute to run away." Stop and think about that. "I did not think for a minute to run away." There's a number of things that woman had. Not only she had some ability, but she also had a mindset that she was not going to let evil triumph, and she was going to stop that cowardly murderer where he was.
#39 | 28:32 to 29:04 | cleaned
Now, let me tell you what preparation involves. It involves a number of things. Number one, it does indeed involve having a weapon. It does involve knowing how to shoot that weapon and how to shoot that weapon accurately. And I'm going to add another one. Oftentimes, you need to know how to shoot that weapon not only accurately, but quickly as well. I trained one man years ago, and this fellow, I don't care what distance he was standing, he could put 15 or 20 rounds in the center of a target and you could put a 50 cent piece over all the holes.
#40 | 29:04 to 29:51 | cleaned
I kept telling him, "Speed up, speed up." And he looked at me, he said, "Pastor, I like accuracy. I am an engineer." And he was. And I said, "Well, brother, if I ever get into a gunfight with someone, I hope I get into a gunfight with someone like you." He said, "How? I shoot so accurately." I said, "I know. And while you're trying to put one in me, I'm going to put 15 in you. Because although you can shoot accurately, you cannot shoot quickly."
#41 | 29:54 to 30:32 | cleaned
And you have to have both. That doesn't mean you've got to be the fastest drawer in the West, but it does mean you have to get your weapon out in a timely fashion to confront the threat. If you can't do that, your accuracy is worthless because someone's going to shoot you first. Okay, so it not only means that, it also means that you better know the malfunctions. You better know the temporary stoppages of these weapons and how to clear those malfunctions reflexively.
#42 | 30:34 to 31:03 | cleaned
You have to be able to do those things without even thinking. Any weapon will malfunction. There have been a multitude of lives saved just simply because weapons malfunctioned and those who were using them did not know how to clear the malfunction. I'm just simply saying it involves that. It involves also a biblical mindset. If you don't have a biblical mindset, and I have a whole message just on a biblical mindset. If you don't have a biblical mindset, you're not going to do anything. And if your mind is not already prepared, you're going to be in never-never land. You're going to be wondering, "What in the world can I do? What in the world should I do?" And then it's going to be too late. You have to have mindset.
#43 | 31:04 to 31:57 | cleaned
Do you understand the sixth commandment? Do you understand, "Thou shalt not kill" as a negative, "thou shalt preserve life" is the positive of that. Do you know, and I'm thinking about this, do you know how to use less lethal devices? Do you know how to use pepper spray, tear gas, tasers? Do you know how to deescalate if it's nothing but verbal threats? Just because Greg comes around and starts bad-mouthing me and calling me all kinds of names does not give me the right to draw a weapon on him and say, "You better shut up, brother." No, no, no, no. If I'm assaulted verbally, I can respond verbally.
#44 | 31:58 to 32:43 | cleaned
Moreover that, please remember Proverbs 15 in verse 1, "A soft answer turns away wrath, but a grievous word stirs up anger." Remember the old adage we had, "It takes two to tango"? If he's hollering at me, I've got two feet, I can turn and walk away. I don't have to stand there and listen to it. I'm just saying, I can deescalate. Do you know how to do that? In other words, you don't have to shoot everybody that just happens to walk through the door that looks like they're mean. I'm just saying preparation includes mindset. It also includes, listen to this, knowing how the mind operates under stress. Do you know what happens to most people when they get into a very dangerous situation? They freeze. They freeze. And when you freeze, that gives an enemy a very definite advantage. But all of us will freeze momentarily before the fight or flight attitude kicks in.
#45 | 32:44 to 33:53 | cleaned
And you better be able to deal with that, because usually what happens when you step around the corner and someone pulls a pistol on you and holds it in your face, the first thing you think of is "This is not happening to me. This is not real. This just can't be happening." But it is happening. It is happening. I want to tell you, I've got a friend who is a lieutenant.
#46 | 33:56 to 34:26 | cleaned
And the police force, he lacks probably two years retiring. He called me a few weeks ago. And he said, "I want to tell you something and I want you to tell everyone." He said, "I carry all the time." He's a police officer. He said, "But I took my family out to a little Chinese restaurant way out in the country." He said, "No one was around." He said, "So I left my weapon in my car." He said, "Probably the first time I've ever done it."
#47 | 34:27 to 35:08 | cleaned
He said, "We went in." And he said, "I went into the bathroom to wash my hands before we ordered. And a big man came up, knocking on the door, hollering and screaming, telling him to get out of there." Now, my friend happens to be a very big man himself. And he had his wife, two sons and a daughter with him, and those two boys are six-three or four, I mean, they're big themselves. And one of his sons hollered, "Look out, daddy, he's got a gun." So my friend came out of the bathroom, this man rushed in the bathroom and my friend looked at the manager and the man was black. The man looked at the manager, my friend looked at the manager and said, "What's wrong with him?"
#48 | 35:10 to 36:04 | cleaned
Said, "He just hates white people." My friend said, "Well, we wanted to eat here, but it's probably best that we go ahead and leave." And before he could do that, the man came out with a weapon in his hand. And my friend said, "Well, this is you can have this restaurant, we're going outside and we're leaving." And he walked out and the man followed him with a weapon.
#49 | 36:04 to 36:31 | cleaned
And he said, "I had a choice to make." He said, "I could try to get my weapon out of the car while he already had his in his hand." He said, "Or I could get in the car and drive off." He said, "My family is already in the car, so I got in the car and drove off." He said, "I went straight to the police station, swore out a warrant for him. They went down and arrested him."
#50 | 36:32 to 36:54 | cleaned
But he said, "You tell everybody that when they don't think something can happen, that's when it's going to happen." He said, "Mark her down." So I'm telling you, I'm telling you, you've got to understand that when you freeze, you're giving your enemy an advantage. You need to learn the OODA loop. The OODA loop was invented or came into existence by Colonel John Boyd, who was an Air Force pilot. And he came up with this, OODA: observe, orient, decide, and act.
#51 | 36:54 to 37:36 | cleaned
We go over all of that in the advanced class and then how to reboot. In other words, if I walk around the corner and there you are with a gun sticking in my chest, you already have the advantage on me. I'm behind the loop. I would have to change. I would have to do something to distract you so I could get my weapon and then you would be behind the loop. In other words, it's a very important tactical strategy. But I'm going to tell you something about fighting.
#52 | 37:38 to 38:09 | cleaned
The best way to win a fight is not have to fight. If you can avoid it through observation, situational awareness, then that is the thing to do. So this brings me to what I'm going to call situational awareness. Most people have no idea what situational awareness really is. I recently saw a video of a woman who was walking down the street. I guess she was texting or doing something on her cell phone.
#53 | 38:10 to 38:54 | cleaned
And here were two cellar doors open on the sidewalk with orange cones out. She walked straight into one and fell straight down.
#54 | 38:55 to 39:07 | cleaned
Next thing you know, here comes the ambulance and they're putting her out on a stretcher. You don't have situational awareness. She had absolutely none. And that's where most of us are today because we're either talking on the phone or we're playing games on the phone. Or we're texting someone. Or our minds are a thousand miles away. We're off in La La Land somewhere. We have no idea what is going on around us. Situational awareness is not something that you can achieve just by reading a book. Situational awareness is something that has to be basically learned, and it turns out to be a life practice is what it amounts to.
#55 | 39:08 to 39:54 | cleaned
I want to give you some truths. These are put down, not all of them because I've added two of them. But the first ones come from Eugene Nielsen, and he's giving you tips to improve your situational awareness. And here's what he said. Number one, be mindful of your surroundings. The first step in improving your situational awareness is to pay attention to what is going on around you. You look out for threats, you look out for danger, you pay attention.
#56 | 39:55 to 40:28 | cleaned
Many times Alice and I have been driving down the highway and we look up ahead and we see a car that's weaving back and forth. And I tell Alice, I said, "Well, I've got two choices. I can either stay back or wait until I can pass him and get away from him because I don't want to be around him. He's inevitably going to have a wreck or he's going to cause one."
#57 | 40:31 to 40:52 | cleaned
So this is what I'm talking about in the fact that you need to be aware of your surroundings. Number two, you need to establish a baseline. A baseline happens to be what you conceive and what you understand to be normal. Any deviation from that is abnormal. For instance, if you're in a library, you expect to see people reading or talking quietly or looking for books. That's normal. But if you're in the library and you hear someone screaming or you see someone running or you see someone pushing books away, that's abnormal. Something is going on. And you need to be alert and be able to protect yourself or remove yourself. So he says you have to establish a baseline, and that is true. And the third thing he says is you need to anticipate and predict.
#58 | 40:54 to 41:55 | cleaned
In other words, you have to look ahead and you have to look behind. Let me take driving, for instance. I'm looking ahead while I'm driving, but that does not stop me from glancing up at my rearview mirror. That does not stop me from glancing my sideview mirrors. I try to make sure nobody creeps up on me or nobody runs up on me. In fact, this past Sunday, I was on the interstate and I looked at Alice and I said, "Well, here he comes flying by."
#59 | 41:58 to 42:31 | cleaned
And of course, I was doing 75 and he flew by me doing 90. I saw him in the rearview mirror. I'm just saying you have to be able to anticipate. You see someone in a convenience store and he's standing there with his hand in his pocket and he's just looking around. People don't do that when they just go in to buy something. You have to anticipate. You have to predict.
#60 | 42:31 to 42:54 | cleaned
You have to, fourthly, avoid distractions and complacency. A distraction, the cell phone. A distraction, anything that breaks your train of thought. Complacency is when you think, "Man, nothing's going to happen here. This is too dull." That's what my friend thought in that way out Chinese restaurant out in the country. "Nothing's going to happen here." And when you get complacent, that's exactly when something is going to happen.
#61 | 42:55 to 43:33 | cleaned
Now, I want to tell you, here's another one. You need to learn to trust your instincts, your intuition, and you need to act decisively. Someone has said that your intuition is your subconscious mind dealing with things before they ever become conscious in your mind. We have another way of saying this in the South. When the hair on the back of your neck stands up, pay attention. When you get a gut feeling that something's not right, you need to pay attention. You need to make sure that you follow your gut instincts, you follow your intuition. If something appears not right, probably it is not right. It's that simple. Then you have to actually try to learn from other folks. Try to get feedback. If you go through something, ask somebody else, "How did you perceive this? How did you respond? How did you act?"
#62 | 43:34 to 44:39 | cleaned
"How should I have responded? How should I have acted?" And then, of course, you've got to train regularly and you have to train realistically. And you have to train yourself, you know. I learned this years ago. One of the men in our church said that he was hired to replace the shrubbery around the local bank. But I said, "What?" He said, "Yeah, of course, the man had a regular job, but he just was doing it." He said, "I'm going to replace the shrubbery." I said, "There's no shrubbery around that bank."
#63 | 44:40 to 45:23 | cleaned
Well, he said, "Yes, there is. I've been in that bank, I don't know how many times. I've lived there for years. I never noticed any shrubbery, but it was there." I never paid attention to it. There are so many things that we do not pay attention to. So I'm just simply pointing out you have to train and you have to be realistic. I'm going to add several things to this.
#64 | 45:26 to 45:57 | cleaned
The next one is this. Don't act like easy prey. Don't act like easy prey. If you are stumbling around, if you're walking without noticing anything, if you're paying attention to your phone, if you're talking to your friend, I got news for you. People are watching you. You are easy prey. Someone can slip up behind you. Someone can come up on the side of you. You're just dead meat is what it amounts to.
#65 | 45:58 to 46:28 | cleaned
What about that knockout game that they were playing up north? Don't you remember how they would run up behind people and hit them upside the head? If you are walking and talking and you're not paying attention and you don't look like you have a fighting attitude, I got news for you. You better perk up and pay attention, especially in these larger cities. And to me, this is a larger city.
#66 | 46:29 to 47:00 | cleaned
You would never make it in Chicago, you'd never make it in New York. I wouldn't. I'm just simply saying, no, I'm not even going to go through that, but you cannot look like easy prey. The next one is this. If you see someone dressed inappropriately for the weather or for the season, you better pay attention.
#67 | 47:03 to 47:22 | cleaned
Now, this past Sunday, Alice and I stopped at a little convenience store to get a cup of coffee. And I was sitting in the car watching while she went in. Everybody was in t-shirts and shorts. I mean, it was 80 degrees. And one young man walked in with a heavy jacket on and a thick collar. And I said, "Uh-oh." And I just watched him. He went on about his business about that time Alice came out and I said, "Did you see that young man in that heavy jacket?" She said, "Yeah." Do you realize how easy it is to hide weapons under a jacket or under a coat? Have you seen the video where the young man who has baggy pants, baggy shirt, pulls out all kind of weapons for the camera and lays them on a table. I mean, he has a shotgun. He has pistols. He has a rifle. He has knives. He has brass knuckles. He has everything. There's 10 or 15 weapons he had on him. Just from baggy pants and a baggy shirt and jacket.
#68 | 47:23 to 48:52 | cleaned
I'm just going to say, you need to pay attention. You also need to pay attention to body language. You need to pay attention not only to body language, you need to pay attention to tonal patterns. I can look at my wife and I can say, "Sweetheart, I really love you." And she is going to say, "He loves me." But I can look at my wife and say, "I love you."
#69 | 48:52 to 49:21 | cleaned
And you know what she knows? She knows I'm mad and mean, and I don't mean what I'm saying. It's just my tonal pattern, my facial expression. You better watch people. You better listen to what they say. You better listen to their tonal patterns. And a lot of times when people get excited, not only are their eyes moving quickly, not only are their nostrils flaring, but at the same time, oh, man, at the same time, they're always quivering in their voice, gets higher and higher and higher.
#70 | 49:22 to 49:57 | cleaned
You remember the fact the Bible says that God is longsuffering. I hope I remember the correct Greek words, I think is makrothumia. But you know what that word actually means, long passion or literally long nose or long nostrils. Have you ever noticed this? When you get angry, when you get upset, watch yourself. You start breathing and your nostrils start flaring. But the larger the nose and the longer the nose, the less you can see the nostrils flare. God is longsuffering.
#71 | 50:03 to 50:47 | cleaned
But mankind is not longsuffering. So you need to pay attention to all this bodily language. You need to listen out for threats, whether they are plainly spoken or whether they are implied. You also need to look for concealed weapons. Most individuals who carry concealed, they're really not concealed. Usually they're imprinted on the shirt or the jacket. There's a way to tell if you were paying attention. I was preaching in a conference in Virginia, and it was way out in the boonies.
#72 | 50:48 to 51:27 | cleaned
And here was this one brother that, he was very good, he was very straight. And I walked up to him, I said, "Let me ask you a question." He said, "Go ahead." I said, "Do you always carry concealed in the small of your back?" He said, "You noticed?" I said, "Yeah, I noticed." I said, "I have a word of warning for you. I said, if someone comes up and hits you very quickly and you fall on that, it's going to really hurt your spine and then you're not going to be able to access it if you're laying flat on your back." I said, "Yes, I did notice you carrying the small of your back." So I'm just simply saying you can always tell when someone is usually carrying a weapon.
#73 | 51:29 to 52:16 | cleaned
So I would suggest this, that you trust your instincts, that you pay attention.
#74 | 52:16 to 52:23 | cleaned
Now, let me give you another quote. Here's Ron Borsch again. I want you to think about this. Listen, this is what this conference is about. This is what this message is about. Remember, this man is a retired law enforcement. He's retired cop. Listen to what he asked. He's asking these questions so you can see as to whether or not you are prepared. Here's what he asked. "Do you carry a gun at church? Why or why not? If you have a gun, can you access it quickly?"
#75 | 52:23 to 53:04 | cleaned
And then I added to this. "Can you shoot accurately?" And my next one would be, "Will you shoot?" He goes on. "Take a look at your church building. Many have very large rooms where the congregation gather for worship. Could you make a shot with your carry handgun at the farthest distance a threat can appear from you in such a large room? When is the last time you practice shooting that far? If you can't make the shot, what is your plan to move closer? Often during worship, lights are dimmed or at night an electricity goes off. Do you carry a bright enough flashlight to fully identify the threat at any range? Do you know how to use a flashlight and a weapon at the same time?" We teach that. If you don't know how, you need to know how.
#76 | 53:05 to 54:08 | cleaned
Then he asks this, I'm just quoting him. "What events would cause you to draw your gun and shoot? Would you shoot the man who is ranting at the pulpit with a gun in his hand, or would you wait until after he shot someone?" He said, "There may not be any right answers, but you must know where your personal boundaries lie and what your go signal will be."
#77 | 54:09 to 54:37 | cleaned
And then he asked this, "Do you have a church security team? These are gaining in popularity and many churches now have them. If you don't have a team, do you know who else is armed in your church? Do you have a plan to work together to stop a threat? If you plan on stopping the threat, who will take care of your family? That is, who's going to get them to safety? Do you have a plan to get to safety? What can be used as cover or an improvised weapon in your church?" And by the way, there's a difference between cover and concealment.
#78 | 54:38 to 55:11 | cleaned
I could turn this table over and lie down behind it and I would be concealed. But you could shoot right through it. Cover will stop a round. Concealment will not necessarily. I could hide in bushes and you might not can see me, but the bushes are not going to stop a round. So he asked, "Look in this building, what would you use for cover? What can you use as an improvised weapon if you do not have a weapon on you?" He goes on.
#79 | 55:13 to 55:48 | cleaned
"If your church has pew seating, listen men, do you sit near an aisle so that you can easily get out of the pew to address the threat? Who is the most likely target of a killer in your church? Do you have a high-profile religious leader or engage in controversial political actions that might anger someone? How do you plan on protecting the people in your congregation who are at the greatest risk?"
#80 | 55:49 to 56:17 | cleaned
"What about less serious threats? Do you have a plan to deal with thieves or aggressive beggars?"
#81 | 56:18 to 56:24 | cleaned
Now there's a funny story on this. We had a man come into our church, 30 minutes after I started preaching. And when he came in, he's looking around. He sat on the front pew. And when he sat down, he kept looking to the rear. He kept looking to the rear. Well, my daughter had left her Glock in the car. So she got up, went out the side door to get her Glock. What this man did not know is practically everyone in our church was armed. But this man, when he saw my daughter get up and go out, he got up and followed her out. And by the time he got there, she already had her hand on her pistol. And four or five of my men followed him out. Come to find out, all he wanted was money.
#82 | 56:27 to 57:45 | cleaned
He was arrested the next day for harassing a widow woman. Church was over. I chewed him up one side and down the other. I told him, "Don't you ever, ever, ever, ever come back in this church again like that." I said, "If you want to hear the word, you come in when it starts and you sit there until I'm through. Don't you ever, ever interrupt this church again. Do you understand?" Do you have a plan to deal with people like that? It will happen. It happened to me. It'll happen to you. How about this one?
#83 | 57:47 to 58:24 | cleaned
"In many churches, children have Bible study or separate worship sessions from adults. There may also be a cry room. Who is protecting the children in those locations?" And then he says this, "If you can't answer these simple questions, you're not prepared for a violent incident in your place of worship. It's time to start doing some homework."
#84 | 58:24 to 58:45 | cleaned
Now, I want to close with two truths, I want you to listen, I want you to follow me in the Bible. I get so tired of hearing so many excuses. But here's one. I want you to listen. First, you must understand that you are not too old to train and you are not too old to defend yourself and your family and your neighbor. You are not too old.
#85 | 58:49 to 59:19 | cleaned
You may not can do what you could do when you were 20. I can't. But there are a lot of things that I can do. Alice and I were in Pennsylvania. I was preaching there and they asked me to teach a two day handgun class. I said, "Sure, I'll be glad to." And we had one woman who was in her 60s. She was never fast. If she had gotten into a duel with some of these men here, she would have been shot 100 times. But although the woman was not fast, she was extremely accurate.
#86 | 59:21 to 1:00:10 | cleaned
And in her target, she kept putting them in the same hole over and over and over. Well, we took a little break. Behind her target was an oak tree about that big around. And I was standing there talking to her, encouraging her with her shooting, and all of a sudden, and the tree fell over. She had cut the tree in two by hitting the same spot every time.
#87 | 1:00:11 to 1:00:49 | cleaned
I got news for you. She may have been slow, but she was deadly. Don't tell me you're too old. I'll soon be 80. Don't tell me that you don't have enough money. Don't tell me that you can't buy ammunition. Don't tell me that you don't have time. Let me tell you, you prioritize your life. You have time to do what you want to do. You have money to spend on whatever you want to spend your money on. It's not a matter that you don't have enough money. It's not a matter that you're too old. It's not a matter that you don't have time. It's what it is. You don't care. It doesn't interest you. You're not concerned about safety. You're not concerned about protecting your life. You're not concerned about protecting your family or anyone else. I'm just simply saying you are not too old. I want you to turn in your Bibles, please.
#88 | 1:00:50 to 1:01:51 | cleaned
First of all, to Psalm 71. I love this verse. I quote it all the time. Look at it. Psalm 71. And notice, if you would please, in verse 18. Psalm 71, verse 18. Look what David said. "Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come." Did you hear that? "Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come."
#89 | 1:01:52 to 1:02:34 | cleaned
I've got news for you folks. Being old does not stop you from learning. Look in your Bibles, if you would please, to Isaiah 46. Isaiah 46. And notice, if you would please, verse 4. Isaiah 46 and verse 4. Look at this, Isaiah 46 and verse 4. God says, "And even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you." Even to your old age. Don't come up telling me that you're too old. And ladies, don't tell me that you don't need this.
#90 | 1:02:35 to 1:03:29 | cleaned
You say, "Well, my husband is going to protect me." That's wonderful. That's fine. But what if your husband gets hit? What if your husband gets killed? Or what if someone has your husband down beating him to death and there's a weapon, but you don't know how to use it to save your husband? Don't come up and say, "I'm too old." You're not too old. You can do what you can do. I've trained a lot of old men. And I always tell people, "Don't hurt yourself. Here's what we're going to do."
#91 | 1:03:30 to 1:04:05 | cleaned
I will show you how to do it safely, whether it's running, diving to the ground. I can show you how to do it safely. I can show you how to do it easily. But don't hurt yourself. You can do what you can do. You might not be able to do everything, but you can do what you can do. And old age does not stop you.
#92 | 1:04:06 to 1:04:29 | cleaned
Secondly, I want you to understand this, that self-defense, defense of others and church security must be viewed as a ministry. A ministry. I want you to look in your Bibles, first of all to the book of Colossians chapter 3 and look if you would please in verses 23 and 24. Colossians chapter 3, look at this. Colossians 3 verses 23 and 24, look at this. "And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ." What? Whatever you do. Training? Do it heartily as unto the Lord. Protection? Do it heartily as unto the Lord. For you serve the Lord Christ.
#93 | 1:04:29 to 1:05:34 | cleaned
There is no division between the secular and the sacred for the child of God. For the child of God, everything is sacred. And everything is a ministry. I have a ministry to my wife. My wife has a ministry to me. Everything is a ministry for the child of God. Look in your Bibles, 1 Corinthians 10, verse 31. Most of you can quote it. But here it is again, 1 Corinthians 10, look in verse 31. The Bible says, "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." Wow. Do all for the glory of God. Those who do not place their faith in God, their heart in his service and their mind to the task that is at hand are bound to fail. They're bound to fail.
#94 | 1:05:36 to 1:06:36 | cleaned
Those who naively assume that they will be able to function without training are deceiving and deluding themselves and setting themselves up for failure and death. I'm telling you, folks, if you do not wish for evil to triumph, if you do not wish for the wicked to win, if you wish for the criminal to control, you must train for God's glory and for the good of your family and for the brethren in Christ. You must.
#95 | 1:06:37 to 1:07:14 | cleaned
Some of you need to hear what Clint Smith said. Clint Smith trained so many people. But here's what he said, and it is certainly true. Listen to this. "Owning a handgun does not make you any more armed than owning a guitar makes you a musician." That's the truth. That's the truth. And most folks, they'll buy a pistol, they'll load it, put it on the nightstand and think that somehow if their house is broken into, they're going to grab that weapon and save their families and themselves.
#96 | 1:07:17 to 1:08:01 | cleaned
Usually it will not work like that. Usually, it will not work like that. I want to close with this quote. I want you to listen to this. This was written by Dr. Norman Geisler, who has written many books, an Old Testament scholar, theologian. This is from a debate that he had. And listen to what he said, "Oh, to permit murder when one could have prevented it is morally wrong. To allow rape when one could have hindered it is an evil. To watch an act of cruelty to children without trying to intervene is morally inexcusable. In brief, not resisting evil is an evil of omission, and an evil of omission can be just as evil as an evil of commission. Any man who refuses to protect his wife and children against a violent intruder fails them morally."
#97 | 1:08:01 to 1:09:09 | cleaned
"God has laid the expectation at the feet of the heads of the families that they protect, provide for, and defend their families, and protect and defend their countries. Little ones cannot do so and rely solely on those who bore them. God no more loves the willing neglect of their safety than He loves child abuse. He no more appreciates the willingness to ignore the sanctity of our own lives than He approves of the abuse of our own bodies and souls. God has not called us to save the society by sacrificing our children or ourselves to robbers, home invaders, rapists, or murderers. Self-defense and defense of the little ones goes well beyond a right. It is a duty based on the idea that man is made in the image of God. It is his expectation that we do the utmost to preserve and defend ourselves when in danger, for it is he who is sovereign who gives life, and he doesn't expect us to be dismissive or cavalier about its loss."
#98 | 1:09:11 to 1:10:25 | cleaned
Now listen, "If you believe that it is your Christian duty to allow your children to be harmed by evildoers, and you actually allow it, because you think that Christ was a pacifist, you're no better than a child abuser or pedophile. God demands violence as a response to threats on our persons because of the fact that man is created in the image of God, and life is to be preserved. It is our solemn duty."
#99 | 1:10:25 to 1:10:54 | cleaned
"I'm afraid there have been too many centuries of bad teaching endured by the church, but it makes sense to keep trying. As I've explained before, the simplest and most compelling case for self-defense lies in the Decalogue. 'Thou shalt not murder' means 'thou shalt protect life.' If you're willing to sacrifice the safety and health of your wife and children to the evils of abuse, kidnapping, sexual predation or death, God isn't impressed with your fake morality."
#100 | 1:10:57 to 1:11:30 | cleaned
"Capable of stopping it and choosing not to, you're no better than a child molester and I wouldn't even want you around my grandchildren." That's what he said. Those are hard words, but those are true words. They are strong words. And we have to return to the biblical doctrine of self-defense. We have to learn what the Bible says, and we have to learn to get up off our rear ends and start doing what God has told us to do to prepare to protect ourselves and our families. You just remember this.
#101 | 1:11:31 to 1:12:14 | cleaned
When you most need the police, they're only 15 minutes away. And they'll get there in time to draw the chalk line around your dead body, or the bodies of your children. One last passage. I want you to turn in your Bibles to 2 Corinthians chapter 10. 2 Corinthians chapter 10. And look, if you would please, beginning there with verse 3. Look at what the Apostle says, 2 Corinthians chapter 10 and look, if you would please, at verse 3. Watch this. I want to explain this. The Apostle said, "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh."
#102 | 1:12:16 to 1:13:05 | cleaned
"For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds." Now, hang on. Paul is not condemning physical weapons. He's just simply saying in this warfare that he's now about to talk about, physical weapons would not help us at all. What is he talking about? Look at it in verse four again. He says, "For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds." What is your stronghold? Your stronghold is your place of defense. Your stronghold is what you think and what you believe. I can't change you. You think like this. Well, look at it now. He says, "For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds; casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ."
#103 | 1:13:06 to 1:14:09 | cleaned
So let me ask you a question. As a Christian, how many unbiblical thoughts does God allow you to have? None. So that means when it comes to self-defense, when it comes to violence, when it comes to preparation, when it comes to safety, when it comes to any of these subjects, you better learn to think biblically and bring your mind, bring your thoughts into captivity to the Lord Jesus Christ in His Word.
#104 | 1:14:10 to 1:14:37 | cleaned
The best way to be prepared isn't only to be trusting in the sovereign God of heaven and earth, but fulfill your responsibility to the best of your ability by His grace and by His mercy. You remember, God allowed David to defeat Goliath, but God did not throw the rock for David. David had to use the sling. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee this day.
#105 | 1:14:40 to 1:15:12 | cleaned
We thank You for Your Word. We thank You for Your truth. And Lord, I pray, I ask Thee to let this sink deeply into our hearts, deeply into our minds. And Lord, that You would indeed, by Your infinite grace and mercy, teach us, build us up in the most holy faith, and give us, Lord, Your grace and Your mercy. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen.
#106 | 1:15:12 to 1:15:38 | cleaned

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-06T04:27:47Z

Theology of Self Defense-3

John Weaver | Freedom Ministries

John Weaver teaches that biblical safety involves both trusting God's sovereignty and fulfilling personal responsibility. Using Proverbs 21:31 as a foundation, he argues that preparation, training, and situational awareness are duties, not optional. He warns that society has changed, evil exists, and churches are increasingly targeted. Practical advice includes having a plan, carrying and training with weapons, and developing a biblical mindset. The lecture emphasizes that self-defense is a ministry and a moral obligation, especially for heads of families.

Introduction: Safety, Preparation, and Situational Awareness

Weaver introduces the topic of safety, preparation, and situational awareness, citing Proverbs 21:31 as the foundational text.

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 21:31

"The horse is prepared for the day of battle, but safety is of the Lord."

Everyone should be interested in safety and self-defense. Only those that are foolish and naive will not be concerned about their health, their safety or their welfare.

Two Major Caveats: God's Sovereignty and Human Responsibility

Weaver explains that safety is ultimately from the Lord, but God does not fulfill our responsibilities for us; we must prepare and train.

Scripture Reading — Psalm 33:17

"A horse is a vain thing for safety, neither will he protect any by his strength."

In other words, we are not going to be able to depend upon anything that we have for our protection. For instance, we could paraphrase that verse and say like this,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 33:17

"A Glock is a vain thing for safety,"

Scripture Reading — Psalm 33:17

"a tank is a vain thing for safety,"

Scripture Reading — Psalm 33:17

"an AR-15 is a vain thing for safety. Neither will it deliver anybody by its great firepower."

Scripture Reading — Leviticus 25:18

"Wherefore, you shall do my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them, and then you shall dwell safe in the land."

So we have to keep these two truths in the right perspective. God is sovereign. Safety is in His hand, first and foremost. But secondly, we are responsible.

Now, I want to tell you how these things work together. There's a passage that the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2, verse 7. He told Timothy,

Scripture Reading — 2 Timothy 2:7

"Consider what I say. And the Lord give thee understanding in all things."

Scripture Reading — 2 Timothy 2:7

"Consider what I say."

Accepting the Reality of a Changed Society and Evil

Weaver urges acceptance that society has drastically changed, evil people exist, and attacks can happen anytime, requiring a plan.

Scripture Reading — Luke 18:2

"There was a certain judge who feared not God, neither regarded man."

Scripture Reading — 2 Samuel 11

So do not live in a fool's paradise. Do not be deceived. Do not be deluded. Do not think that evil will never happen to you, or will never happen to your family, or will never happen to your church. And let me say it another way. Good men do not always win. Read 2 Samuel chapter 11 and find out what happened to Uriah the Hittite. In that instance, Uriah the Hittite was the good man and David was the bad man. But it was Uriah who was murdered to cover up David's sin. I'm just simply saying bad things oftentimes happen to good people. One of the reasons I think that evil is so prominent today is because of a violation of God's law. The Bible says in the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 8 and verse 11, "Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the hearts of the sons of men in them are fully set to do evil." Listen to what he said, "Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily."

The Failure of Gun-Free Zones and the Need for Church Security

Weaver presents statistics showing gun-free zones do not deter criminals and shares an example of a prepared church that stopped a mass shooter.

Components of Preparation: Weapons, Training, and Mindset

Weaver details that preparation involves having a weapon, training for accuracy and speed, knowing malfunctions, and cultivating a biblical mindset.

Situational Awareness: Principles and Practices

Weaver defines situational awareness and provides tips such as being mindful, establishing baselines, avoiding distractions, and trusting instincts.

Practical Questions for Church Security Preparedness

Weaver quotes Ron Borsch's questions to assess readiness, covering weapon access, shooting ability, plans, and protecting vulnerable areas.

You Are Not Too Old: Biblical Encouragement for All Ages

Weaver refutes excuses of age, citing Psalm 71:18 and Isaiah 46:4, and shares an example of an older woman's deadly accuracy.

First of all, to Psalm 71. I love this verse. I quote it all the time. Look at it. Psalm 71. And notice, if you would please, in verse 18. Psalm 71, verse 18. Look what David said.

Scripture Reading — Psalm 71:18

"Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come."

Did you hear that?

Scripture Reading — Psalm 71:18

"Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come."

Scripture Reading — Isaiah 46:4

"And even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you."

Even to your old age. Don't come up telling me that you're too old. And ladies, don't tell me that you don't need this.

Self-Defense as a Ministry and Moral Duty

Weaver argues that self-defense is a ministry to be done for God's glory, and failure to protect family is morally inexcusable, quoting Norman Geisler.

Conclusion: Bringing Thoughts Captive to Christ and Final Exhortation

Weaver closes by urging biblical thinking, using 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, and prays for grace to fulfill responsibilities.

Theology of Self Defense-3

John Weaver | SermonAudio

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	SermonAudio
Media ID	3282419222033
Subject	Old Testament Studies
Course	Proverbs: Wealth, Defense, and Justice
Genre	Sermon
Date	2024-03-27
Dictation Name
Book	Book 108: Theology of Self Defense — Chapter 3
Source Timed Segments	106

Lecture Guide

Outline

Introduction: Safety, Preparation, and Situational Awareness: Weaver introduces the topic of safety, preparation, and situational awareness, citing Proverbs 21:31 as the foundational text.
Two Major Caveats: God's Sovereignty and Human Responsibility: Weaver explains that safety is ultimately from the Lord, but God does not fulfill our responsibilities for us; we must prepare and train.
Accepting the Reality of a Changed Society and Evil: Weaver urges acceptance that society has drastically changed, evil people exist, and attacks can happen anytime, requiring a plan.
The Failure of Gun-Free Zones and the Need for Church Security: Weaver presents statistics showing gun-free zones do not deter criminals and shares an example of a prepared church that stopped a mass shooter.
Components of Preparation: Weapons, Training, and Mindset: Weaver details that preparation involves having a weapon, training for accuracy and speed, knowing malfunctions, and cultivating a biblical mindset.
Situational Awareness: Principles and Practices: Weaver defines situational awareness and provides tips such as being mindful, establishing baselines, avoiding distractions, and trusting instincts.
Practical Questions for Church Security Preparedness: Weaver quotes Ron Borsch's questions to assess readiness, covering weapon access, shooting ability, plans, and protecting vulnerable areas.
You Are Not Too Old: Biblical Encouragement for All Ages: Weaver refutes excuses of age, citing Psalm 71:18 and Isaiah 46:4, and shares an example of an older woman's deadly accuracy.
Self-Defense as a Ministry and Moral Duty: Weaver argues that self-defense is a ministry to be done for God's glory, and failure to protect family is morally inexcusable, quoting Norman Geisler.
Conclusion: Bringing Thoughts Captive to Christ and Final Exhortation: Weaver closes by urging biblical thinking, using 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, and prays for grace to fulfill responsibilities.

Major Themes

Key Arguments

Safety is from the Lord, but preparation is our duty

Proverbs 21:31 teaches that while God grants safety, we must prepare like the horse for battle; God does not act for us without our effort.

Weaver says, 'The horse is prepared for the day of battle, but safety is of the Lord... God is not going to fulfill our responsibilities for us.'

Evil is real and must be accepted to be prepared

Denying the existence of evil people leads to vulnerability; believers must accept that attacks can happen and plan accordingly.

Weaver says, 'Do not live in a fool's paradise... Good men do not always win.' He cites Ecclesiastes 8:11 on unpunished evil.

Gun-free zones increase danger

Statistics show that most mass shootings occur in gun-free zones because criminals know victims are unarmed and unlikely to resist.

Weaver states, '94% of these shooting incidents happened in gun-free zones in the school.' He argues a 'no weapons allowed' sign is an invitation for criminals.

Training must include speed, accuracy, and malfunction clearing

Mere ownership of a weapon is insufficient; one must train to shoot accurately and quickly, and know how to clear malfunctions reflexively.

Weaver says, 'You have to have both... you better know the malfunctions... how to clear those malfunctions reflexively.' He quotes Clint Smith: 'Owning a handgun does not make you any more armed than owning a guitar makes you a musician.'

Situational awareness prevents victimization

Being aware of surroundings, establishing baselines, and trusting instincts can help avoid threats before they escalate.

Weaver says, 'The best way to win a fight is not have to fight. If you can avoid it through observation, situational awareness, then that is the thing to do.'

Self-defense is a biblical ministry and moral obligation

Protecting family and others is a duty rooted in the sixth commandment and the image of God; failure to act is an evil of omission.

Weaver quotes Geisler: 'Any man who refuses to protect his wife and children against a violent intruder fails them morally.' He cites Colossians 3:23-24.

Age is not a valid excuse for inaction

Scripture shows God uses the elderly; older individuals can still train and defend effectively within their capabilities.

Weaver cites Psalm 71:18 and Isaiah 46:4, and shares the story of a woman in her 60s who was 'deadly' accurate.

Christians must bring thoughts on self-defense into obedience to Christ

Unbiblical pacifism or negligence must be rejected; believers must think biblically about violence and protection.

Weaver uses 2 Corinthians 10:5: 'bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.' He says, 'You better learn to think biblically.'

Scripture References

Proverbs 21:31: Foundation for the message: the horse is prepared for battle, but safety is of the Lord.
3 John 1:2: Used to show it is normal and biblical to desire prosperity, health, and safety.
Psalm 33:17: A horse (or any weapon) is a vain thing for safety; ultimate trust must be in God.
Psalm 127:1: Unless the Lord keeps the city, the watchman stays awake in vain; safety is from God.
Leviticus 25:18: Obedience to God's statutes leads to dwelling safely in the land.
2 Timothy 2:7: Paul tells Timothy to consider what he says, and the Lord will give understanding; illustrates cooperation between human effort and divine enablement.
Proverbs 2:6: The Lord gives wisdom; referenced in connection with 2 Timothy 2:7.
Luke 18:2: A judge who feared not God nor regarded man; illustrates that without fear of God, there is no regard for human life.
Romans 3:18: There is no fear of God before their eyes; explains why people commit evil.
Psalm 53:1 (and Psalm 14:1): The fool says in his heart there is no God; connected to lack of fear of God.
2 Samuel 11: Uriah the Hittite was a good man murdered by David; shows bad things happen to good people.
Ecclesiastes 8:11: Because sentence against evil is not executed speedily, hearts are set to do evil; explains societal decay.
Proverbs 15:1: A soft answer turns away wrath; used to illustrate de-escalation.
Psalm 71:18: David asks God not to forsake him in old age until he shows God's strength to the next generation; used to encourage the elderly.
Isaiah 46:4: God promises to carry and deliver even to old age; used to refute the excuse of being too old.
Colossians 3:23-24: Whatever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord; applied to training and protection as a ministry.
1 Corinthians 10:31: Whether you eat or drink, do all to the glory of God; reinforces that all actions, including self-defense, are sacred.
2 Corinthians 10:3-5: Weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to pull down strongholds; applied to bringing thoughts about self-defense into obedience to Christ.

Historical References

Black Hawk Down movie and Mogadishu incident: Weaver recounts a scene where a Somali warlord tells a captured pilot that killing has been a way of life for over a thousand years, illustrating a culture of violence now entering America.
New Life Church shooting, Colorado Springs, December 9, 2007: An active killer attacked the church; a trained female former police officer shot and stopped him, preventing further casualties inside. Weaver uses this as an example of effective church security.
Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990 (amended 1995): Weaver cites statistics that 94% of school shootings since 1966 occurred after this act, arguing gun-free zones increase danger.
Ron Borsch (retired law enforcement, SWAT trainer): Weaver quotes Borsch extensively on church security statistics and preparedness questions.
Clint Smith (firearms trainer): Weaver quotes Smith: 'Owning a handgun does not make you any more armed than owning a guitar makes you a musician.'
Dr. Norman Geisler (theologian): Weaver reads a lengthy quote from Geisler on the moral duty of self-defense and the evil of omission.
Colonel John Boyd and the OODA loop: Weaver mentions the OODA loop (observe, orient, decide, act) as a tactical concept for responding to threats.
Squatters and property fraud incidents in New York and Georgia: Weaver cites recent examples of criminals taking over homes to illustrate societal breakdown and coddling of criminals.

Important Quotes

The horse is prepared for the day of battle, but safety is of the Lord.

Foundational verse for the entire message, establishing the balance between divine sovereignty and human preparation.

God is not going to fulfill our responsibilities for us. God has commanded us. God has told us exactly what we must do. But God is not going to fulfill our responsibilities for us.

Key caveat emphasizing human responsibility alongside trust in God.

You stupid Americans, you think that you can come over here and force your democracy down our throats? And you think you can stop us from killing when killing has been a way of life for us for over a thousand years.

Illustrates the mindset of evil people who have no regard for life, used to warn that such culture is coming to America.

Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the hearts of the sons of men in them are fully set to do evil.

Explains why evil is prominent: lack of swift justice emboldens criminals.

Owning a handgun does not make you any more armed than owning a guitar makes you a musician.

Emphasizes that mere possession of a weapon is insufficient without training and skill.

Any man who refuses to protect his wife and children against a violent intruder fails them morally.

Strong statement on the moral duty of self-defense, quoted from Norman Geisler.

If you believe that it is your Christian duty to allow your children to be harmed by evildoers, and you actually allow it, because you think that Christ was a pacifist, you're no better than a child abuser or pedophile.

Provocative quote from Geisler equating passive inaction with active evil, challenging pacifist interpretations.

I did not think for a minute to run away.

The mindset of the woman who stopped the New Life Church shooter, illustrating decisive action.

Discussion Questions

[Question]

How do we balance trust in God's sovereignty with our responsibility to prepare and train for self-defense?

[Context]

Weaver emphasizes both truths from Proverbs 21:31 and Psalm 127:1.

[Question]

In what ways has our society changed regarding safety and morality, and how should that affect our preparedness?

[Context]

Weaver describes the shift from a safer past to a present with rampant evil and lack of fear of God.

[Question]

What are the practical and biblical problems with 'gun-free zones'?

[Context]

Weaver presents statistics and argues they invite criminals.

[Question]

What does it mean to have a 'biblical mindset' regarding self-defense, and how do we develop it?

[Context]

Weaver stresses the need for a mindset aligned with Scripture, not passivity.

[Question]

How can we practice situational awareness in our daily lives?

[Context]

Weaver gives tips like being mindful, establishing baselines, and trusting instincts.

[Question]

What steps should a church take to develop a security plan?

[Context]

Weaver quotes Ron Borsch's questions about weapon access, team coordination, and protecting children.

[Question]

How does the sixth commandment ('Thou shalt not kill') imply a positive duty to protect life?

[Context]

Weaver and Geisler argue that the command to not murder includes the duty to preserve life.

[Question]

What are some common excuses for not preparing, and how does Scripture address them?

[Context]

Weaver refutes excuses of age, money, and time using Psalm 71:18 and Isaiah 46:4.

Applications

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