Proverbs: Wealth, Defense, and Justice

Safety, Preparation, and Situational Awareness

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: Old Testament Studies

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name:

Date: 2024-04-27

Synopsis: Pastor John Weaver delivers a message on the biblical basis for safety, preparation, and situational awareness, emphasizing that while ultimate safety is from the Lord, believers have a responsibility to prepare and defend themselves and others. He warns that times have changed, evil is increasing, and churches are no longer safe havens. Using statistics, quotes from experts, and Scripture, he urges Christians to train physically and mentally, develop situational awareness, and view self-defense as a ministry duty.

[John Weaver] Proverbs 21 verse 31 The scripture says the horse is prepared for battle The horse is prepared against the day of battle, but safety is of the Lord This past week. I was preaching in Greenville, South Carolina I was actually preaching at a local Presbyterian church. They had asked me to deal with the biblical doctrine of self-defense. And I did that on Monday night. And on Tuesday night, I dealt with some objections, the main objection against the biblical doctrine of self-defense. And that's when the Lord told Peter to put his sword back up into his sheath. Then they asked me particularly to speak on Wednesday night on on what I would call safety, preparation, and situational ethics. And I did so, not situational ethics, but situational awareness. And I did so.

[John Weaver] And it took me about an hour and 15 minutes to finish the message. I want to try to compress that message and preach it today. And here's why there's a number of things that really impressed my heart. Number one, of course, you know that Joe Biden is made a decree that this day is national transgender visibility today. And of course, that's a slap in the face of God. It's a slap in the face of every child of God, every Christian. And whether you like Trump or dislike Trump's immaterial, but Trump has called on Biden to apologize to the nation. I think you should apologize to God and apologize to every Christian as well. But that's beside the point. But that is one thing.

[John Weaver] Another thing is some of you have heard about Candace Owen. She's a black woman, I guess a journalist, whoever. I don't know what she does. I know she's fairly popular. But she recently got fired, and the reason she got fired is because she said Christ is king. And there was a Jewish man, and I don't remember his name. I've got it all written out at the house. He said, and I'm quoting, that saying Jesus Christ is king or a crisis king is anti-Semitic and that the Jews are God's chosen people and they are far superior to any mere Christian. Of course that would be racist in and of itself as well as a denial of a lot of things and that just kind of set me off I was I was hoping and thinking that maybe about 10 million people ought to just send him a little note saying Christ is King, and just, you know, etc. But that was one thing. Another thing is this, I was talking to a pastor friend this morning.

[John Weaver] And he was telling me that he asked me he did you hear about the churches that have been bombed? Last Thursday? I said, No, I have not heard one thing about it. He said, Well, one of them was actually a nail Latter Day Saints building. And it was really in a gymnasium, the young people there, someone threw an explosive device in there did not go off. But the three churches in California and in Nevada were Baptist churches.

[John Weaver] And yes, they did explode there. And yes, people were endangered and people were hurt. That is for sure. So I got to thinking about this, and then I preached this this morning to our people in White Cross. And when I got through, one of my men said, well, that is an Ezekiel 33 message. That is it is a warning message for sure. And it is. But I want you to look at that again when he said the horse is prepared against a day of battle.

[John Weaver] But safety is the Lord. Everyone should be interested in safety and self-defense. Truly only those that are foolish and naive will not be concerned with their safety or with their welfare. It is normal, natural, and biblical to want to be in health and to want to prosper. It was John the Apostle in 3rd John verse 2 said, Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. And I got to thinking if most of us prospered financially, and if most of us prospered physically, the way our souls prosper, most of us being very poor health and we'd be very poor period. But that's what john said, I wish above all things that we may prosper and be in health even as our soul prosper. So if you consider your safety important, then obviously, you have to put a high priority on safety and on paper preparation as well as self defense. So as long as one remains unconcerned about those things, obviously, clearly, he is not going to be able to defend himself.

[John Weaver] Now, let me give you two major caveats or two major warnings concerning this message. The first one is set forth in Proverbs 21 in verse 31, when the Bible says the horse is paired against the day of battle, but safety is of the Lord. Surely each of us understands that primarily and foremost our safety is in the hands of the sovereign God of heaven and earth. That's what he said. The horse is prepared against the day of battle, but safety is of the Lord. That is for sure. If God does not protect us, all of our preparations, all of our planning, All of our abilities are worthless.

[John Weaver] They are null and void and completely useless. The Bible says in Proverbs chapter 33, not Proverbs, I'm sorry, Psalm 33 and verse 17. The Bible says a horse is a vain thing for safety. Neither will he deliberately by his great strength. A horse is a vain thing for safety. Neither will he deliberately by his great strength. We could paraphrase that. We could say an AR-15 is a vain thing for safety. We could say a machine gun's a vain thing for safety. We could say a tank is a vain thing for safety. An airplane is a vain thing for safety. Neither will it deliver anybody's great firepower. In other words, the Bible is telling us first and foremost that safety is indeed God. That's why the Bible says in Psalm 127 and verse 1, Except the Lord build a house, they labor in vain to build it. Except the Lord build a city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

[John Weaver] So without me going into detail, let me just tell you first and foremost that Scripture tells us that if we want His protection, we need to be obedient unto Him. The Bible says in the book of Leviticus chapter 25 in verse 18, wherefore God says, you shall do all my statutes and keep all my judgments, and then shall ye dwell safely in the land. In other words, safety is connected with obedience. So the first caveat, their first warning, as we've got to understand, is that safety first and foremost is of God. The second caveat, or the second warning, would be this. We must understand that God is not going to fulfill our responsibilities for us. He is sovereign. He is omnipotent. He is omniscient. He is omnipresent. He is immutable. But He is not going to do for us that which we can do for ourselves. Please understand this. God is not going to pray for you. God is not going to repent for you. God is not going to think for you. God is not going to train for you.

[John Weaver] And God is not going to use the means for you that he has ordained that you use. Now, we have to keep these truths in a proper perspective. First, God is sovereign. Secondly, we are responsible.

[John Weaver] Now, there's a good scripture that will illustrate this in 2 Timothy 2, verse 7. That's where the Apostle Paul told Timothy, consider what I say. And the Lord give the understanding all things. It is true that understanding is the gift of God. But as I've said before, you don't go to bed stupid and wake up smart. He said, consider what I say, and the Lord give the understanding all things. The understanding is going to come from consideration, meditation, application, but it's not going to just simply be thrown into your brain. And all of a sudden you wake up understanding everything.

[John Weaver] It doesn't work like that. God said, consider what I say, and the Lord give thee understanding in all things. So we at the same time must understand that God is absolutely sovereign and that our safety is first and foremost in Him, but He is not going to do for us that which He has commanded for you and I to perform. We are responsible. It is true, it is true that God empowered Samson. But when Samson came off that mountain, he had to pick up the jawbone of an ass and slay a thousand Philistines. God did not fight for him. It is true God saved him. It is true God empowered him. But God did not fight for him. It is true that God helped David win over Goliath. But David chose those five smooth stones. David put the stone in the sling and David slung the sling. God did not sling for him. That was David's responsibility.

[John Weaver] Now, let me just point out anyone. Who is over 70 years old? Understands how things have changed in this nation. I'm probably the oldest individual in the room at this point. No, I've got one older than me. He's not nearly as handsome, but he's older. He has more hair. But but but listen, we understand how things have changed in this country. And I've said this before. But 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 few and far between.

[John Weaver] What you say were there were there bad people back then? I suppose there were. But the truth of the matter is most people even back then obey the 10 commandments regardless of whether they were Christian or not. They were they were moral people is what I'm trying to say. In fact, I don't ever remember in my entire life. One of our banks being robbed in our hometown. Alice didn't remember it either. In fact, I asked a deputy Just a few weeks ago, I said, Has there been a bank robbery in our hometown? He said, I don't know. I don't think so. He said there was it happened to be a long, long time ago. I'm just simply pointing out the fact I know people were evil. And I know people were sinners even back then. But at least things were different back then. So I'm just simply pointing out the fact that we've got to accept the truth that things have changed. And I think if you and I are interested in our safety, if we're interested in preparation, the first thing we must accept is that things are not like they used to be.

[John Weaver] Things have changed. You have to believe and you have to receive the truth that there are some really, really bad people in this world. I'm going to say it a different way. There are people who are just pure evil in this world. There are people who will kill you and smile and laugh while they do so. There are people who will steal everything you have and brag about the fact that they got away with this.

[John Weaver] In other words, these folks have absolutely no regard for God. They do not honor him. And consequently, they have no regard for man. You remember that passage in Luke 18 in verse two. When our Lord said, there was a king who feared not God, neither regarded man. So if someone does not fear God, he's not going to regard man. So we have to understand things have changed. Culture has changed. Society has changed.

[John Weaver] Do not live in a fool's paradise. Do not be deceived. Do not be deluded. Do not think that nothing evil will ever happen to you. Let me tell you something. Good men do not always win. I have a message on that. All you have to do is read 2 Samuel chapter 11. You'll find that Uriah the Hittite had his wife stolen from him, and then he was murdered by David. In that instance, David was the bad guy. Uriah was the good guy.

[John Weaver] He was the one honoring God. David was the one dishonoring God. And you can read how God judged him and what God said to him in 2 Samuel chapter 12. But the point I'm trying to make is good men do not always win out. And there's a reason why we are faced today with such wickedness and such evil. And that's found in the book of Ecclesiastes, chapter eight and verse 11, where God says, 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. So God says when there is no execution of his laws, all that does is encourage the criminals. criminals are coddled, left and right.

[John Weaver] They thwart God's law, they laugh in the face of God, and then the judicial system, instead of punishing them, rewards them. Look, if you would, at all of the illegal aliens and what is happening in this country. You remember, in New York, the lady who had the million dollar house squatters had taken over she got into an argument with them. She called the law or the law was called and guess what they did? They arrested her. They arrested the owner. And did you read also about the squatters who took over the house? And when the woman who owned the house came in, they murdered her and cut her into pieces. And guess what?

[John Weaver] We have to understand something. We are not living in Mayberry. And Andy Griffith is not our sheriff. Things have changed.

[John Weaver] The next thing you must accept, I really believe is this that attack and attack could happen at any time. It could happen to you. It could happen to your family. It could happen to your church. The fact that you do not think or the fact that you do not believe, or the fact that you do not wish that anything like that would ever happen to you, will not change reality. It would not stop an attack just because you think, it could never ever happen to me. It will happen to you. And if you understand that there is a change, you have to understand that we're living in an extremely evil time. Now, I told you in time past And I'm just going to mention I'm not going to go in detail.

[John Weaver] But I've got a good friend who is nearly a 30 year police officer. He likes two more years retiring. He's a big man. He took his family to a little Chinese restaurant out of the country and hold on junction. And he left his weapon in his car. And when he went in, first thing he did was go into the bathroom to wash his hands. And here came a man, a big tall black man screaming, hollering, cursing, beating on the door trying to get in. And my friend said, I'll be out in just a moment. And then his big son, one of them, he had two sons, big boys said, Look out, Daddy, he's got a gun. And when my friend came out, sure enough, the man had a gun, he went in the bathroom, he came back out, he still had the weapon out. My friend looked at the owner of the little Chinese restaurant and said, What's wrong with him? And the owner said he just hates white man. And he said, my friend said, Well, we'll probably just go ahead and leave and get out of his way.

[John Weaver] Let him have the restaurant. And so He told his family to go outside and get in the car. And as they walked out, the man followed him out with the weapon. He said, now I had a choice. My weapon was in the car. I could either try to get it while he already has his weapon out in his hand, or I could just get in the car and drive off since my family was already in the car. So he got in the car and drove off and straight to the police station, swore an award for him.

[John Weaver] And here's what he said, you tell everybody that I said, don't go around unarmed, it will happen when you think it cannot possibly happen. So just because you think nothing can ever happen to you does not mean that it will not happen.

[John Weaver] Now, I'm going to give you several quotes today, because I want to really trust that this is going to impact you. I'm going to give you a couple of quotes from a man by the name of Ron Borsche. You probably don't know who he is, and if I just said his name, you probably would think nothing of the quotes. But Ron Borsche happens to be, number one, the staff instructor for the Kent Martial Arts.

[John Weaver] Well, that doesn't mean anything in and of itself, but he was also a Vietnam veteran. He was a paratrooper in the 101st Airborne. That does not mean anything necessarily in and of itself, but he's also a 30-year retired law enforcement officer. 20 years as a range master, 17 years as a SWAT operator and trainer. He's now retired, but he still retains his commission, and he still acts as a consultant.

[John Weaver] So I want you to listen to what he has to say. Here it is. Quote, 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 from pilots there. Unfortunately, churches are not the sanctuary they once were. Here we are not talking about mere arson, assault, 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 were the third most commonly targeted location by active killers after schools, kindergarten through 12, and then colleges and universities. So listen to what he said. Schools, and third churches. He goes on. The survey of over 1,300 congregations in the United States finds that in 2014, don't worry about that, it's 10 years ago, but it's going to be brought up to date. The survey of over 1,300 congregations in the U.S. finds that in 2014, 39% of the congregations experienced some type of property or violent crime from vandalism to homicide.

[John Weaver] He continues, 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 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.

[John Weaver] Now, I'm going to give you another quote before I continue. This quote is from this headline. Listen, skyrocketing. Number of attacks on Christians' 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 policy at home and abroad. Let me just stop right there. I have a dear friend that lives in Germany.

[John Weaver] He and I correspond every day. And this morning he sent me an email. And one of the articles in the email was how Europe and the world were actually and America, because of our intent, intense stupidity. But anyhow, he says, experts are warning a skyrocketing number of attacks on the 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 detailed how such incidents of violence have exploded over 800% in the last six years. During the first 11 months of 2023, there were 436 acts of hostility against churches in America, including 315 vandalisms, 75 arsons, 30 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 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 the point I'm going to make next, you should understand this. I've had people tell me, well, all we've got to do is put a little sign out there saying no weapons allowed. When you go ahead and post your sign, no weapons allowed, all you're telling everybody is we don't have weapons. We're not going to fight. We're not going to defend ourselves. A sign like that is not going to stop a criminal.

[John Weaver] I saw a cartoon some time ago, it showed these two men with masks on and guns in their hand. And they were approaching this building, and it had no guns allowed. And one looked at us at Oh, shoot, we'll have to go back. Then we'll allow weapons in there. Of course, it was a spoof. No, but no criminal is going to think like that. What they're going to do is say, we've got it made. Nobody in there has weapons, and nobody's going to fight us. we'll do what we want to do.

[John Weaver] Now, I'm gonna go a little bit further. Because we talked about gun free zones. We talked about our schools, our universities, our churches sometime being gun free zones. I want you to listen to this gun free school zones and shooting statistics. 20 2024 updated. Listen, There have been 2,646 school shooting incidents in the United States since 1966. Wow. Of those, 2,205, that is 94%, occurred after the 1990 School Zone Safety Act, which was amended in 1995.

[John Weaver] Think about this, he says.

[John Weaver] 94% happened in gun-free zones. Gun-free zones are invitation for criminals to do as they please because criminals do not obey the law. And that's a fact.

[John Weaver] Now there was a church in Colorado, the New Life Church, that was attacked by a murderer with a rifle, two pistols, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. He wanted to massacre these people. 70 miles away, and 12 hours earlier, he had gone to the Arvada missionary church and he murdered two people there and wounded two more. The New Life Church is a mega church. It has 7,000 members. When he pulled up to the New Life Church, he murdered two in the parking lot, wounded three more. Inside the church, they heard the shooting, and they had the foresight to train some people and have some security.

[John Weaver] One individual, who happened to be a woman, Jeannie Assam, who was a former police officer. When she heard the shooting, she ran to the source of the shooting and saw the man coming in with his weapons. She pulled out her pistol and began to shoot him. She hit him several times. She knocked him to the floor. And there, instead of fighting back, he pulled out his pistol and blew his own brains out.

[John Weaver] And here's what she said. She said, God guided me and protected me. And I did not think for a minute to run away.

[John Weaver] Now you're talking about preparation. Let me tell you what preparation involves. It involves not only owning a weapon. It involves knowing how to use that weapon. It involves how to shoot accurately. It involves knowing how to shoot quickly. It also involves knowing how to deal with any malfunctions, which is a temporary stoppage of that weapon. You'd be amazed at how many lives have been saved. Because when people come to mass murder, and their weapon malfunctions, they don't know how to fix it. And that gives people an opportunity then to tackle them, etc.

[John Weaver] So the point I'm trying to make, when you Do you have a proper mindset? Do you have a biblical mindset? Do you understand the sixth commandment? The sixth commandment, thou shalt not kill, that's the negative. The positive is thou shalt preserve life. You have a duty to protect life and preserve life. So, do you know how to use less lethal devices if needed? Do you know how to use tear gas? Do you know how to use a taser? I'm just asking, do you know how to try to de-escalate.

[John Weaver] So, if Steve and I got into an argument and things are getting out of hand, you know, the scripture says in Proverbs 15 in verse 1, a soft answer turneth away wrath, but grievous word stirreth up anger. I don't have to holler back at him. I can lure my voice. I can speak softly. I don't have to be irritated just because he's irritated. Years ago, my office in a Christian school, a huge Christian school was right next door to a lady whose sole job was to take care of irate parents. And I have sat in my office and I've heard parents come in screaming. They were so angry. They were so mad. And dear sweet Sherry, as loud as they got. She got softer, and lower, and lower, and quieter.

[John Weaver] And pretty soon, they saw what they were. And they saw what she was and that got embarrassed. And then she was able to work it out. A soft answer turning away wrath but grievous words through the night. And the fact of the matter is, if Mike wants to jump on me, I can turn and walk away. I don't have to stand there. It takes two to tango.

[John Weaver] I'm just saying we need to learn how to de escalate verbally. We also need to learn how the mind works under stress. Do you realize when you're under stress, one of the first thing that happens to you is you freeze. And the reason you freeze is you're shocked. You're saying I don't believe this. I don't believe this is happening to me. And when you freeze for that moment, you're giving your adversary a great advantage. But usually most of us would freeze until the fight or flight concept came roaring through our minds. But we either have to fight or we have to get out of there. We also need to understand the OODA loop.

[John Weaver] We deal with this in the advanced class. But the OODA loop was actually discovered by Colonel John Boyd, who was a Air Force pilot. The OODA loop simply means that you observe, you orient, you decide, and then you act. There's a way to reboot that loop, which you have to learn. So if Mike is hiding behind that door, and he's going to mug me, he's already seen me coming. Wow. Let's see. He's already observed me. He's already oriented himself. He's already decided he's going to act. And all he's got to do is when I get to the edge of that door, act.

[John Weaver] And he throws that gun in my face and say, Give me all your money. Now I'm behind the loop. I have to do something to distract him to put him behind that loop. In other words, you need to understand this. If we are not prepared, we've got to understand that our minds when a stressful, dangerous situation comes along, the first thing we're gonna probably do is freeze. We're gonna say, I don't think it's happening to me. I can't believe this.

[John Weaver] Now I will tell you this, the best way to win a fight is to avoid it. If you don't have to fight, fine, that's wonderful. That brings me to what I'm known, known as situational awareness. The truth is most people are completely, totally unaware of their surroundings. Most folks are playing with their phones, playing games, talking, texting, doing something. You can probably see this still on YouTube, I'm sure, where this woman is walking down the sidewalk, and she's got her phone, and she's texting back and forth.

[John Weaver] And here, right in front of her, are two doors wide open. Here's this business that has a cellar, and they're moving things in and out of the cellar. She walks right into the open doors and falls in. The next thing you know, here's the ambulance, and they're bringing her own stretcher. I don't know what all she broke. But she was totally completely unaware. That's where most people are. We're daydreaming. We're often la la land somewhere. We're not paying attention to anything.

[John Weaver] situational awareness is not something that you can learn by reading a book. It's not something that you can master in one evening or a week. Learning to exercise situational awareness is an exercise in and of itself. So, Eugene Nelson gave some ideas concerning situational awareness, I added to the list. So I want to give you his first. He said, first of all, be mindful of your surroundings. Know where you are. Watch what you're doing.

[John Weaver] For instance, driving up and down on the interstate. Every Sunday, I'm checking not only in front of me, but my rear view mirror, a side mirrors as well. Occasionally, Alice, I see someone who's weaving. And I think, Oh, no, he's either drunk, texting or something. So I either have to slow down, or I have to get walking past him and get around him very quickly. Because he's gonna be heading more direct sooner or later.

[John Weaver] I Okay, we were going up I 75 to the Atlanta airport. It is ice over. We were driving about 30 miles an hour on I 75. The road was practically empty. No one was on the road because it was iced. But we had to get to the airport. A fellow passed us in a brand new Ford pickup four wheel drive doing 70 miles an hour. Alice said, Wow, he's in a hurry.

[John Weaver] I said, Don't worry, sweetheart. We'll pass him shortly. And sure enough, when a mile down the road, that brand new pickup truck was in the meeting up against an iron rail torn to pieces. I'm just saying you have to be aware. Sometimes I'm driving home and I look in my side mirrors or rear view mirror and I tell Alice, Oh, two are fixing to blow right by us.

[John Weaver] And they will 90 miles an hour. So this is what he's talking about. Be mindful of your surroundings. The second thing he says, establish a baseline. A baseline is what you expect to see in any given situation. Anything outside of that you need to be concerned about. So if you came to this library, And you walk in the library, you expect to see people reading, sitting at a computer, or talking quietly. You don't expect to see people running up and down hollering and screaming. You don't expect to see shelves of Bush books being pushed over. No, no, no. That's out of character for a library. And that means you need to pay attention. Something is going on. So this is what it means by establishing a baseline. The second one is anticipate and predict. In other words, you need to anticipate what could happen to me.

[John Weaver] Is this a good place for someone to bug me? In other words, I need to be anticipating and predicting in the sense that I'm watching out for anything unusual, anything might happen. And then he goes on to say, number four, avoid distractions and complacency. Distractions. We get those all the time. The phone rings. We hear music or we see something outside that gets our attention and we're distracted. It happens to everyone.

[John Weaver] I remember years ago when we lived in Chesapeake, we had to cross a railroad track. and always stop that railroad track. One day, one day, I had so much on my mind. I was almost home and then it dawned on me that I stopped at that railroad track. Did I even look? I didn't remember looking. I didn't remember stopping. I did. I finally figured it out. But I didn't remember because I was distracted by my own thoughts. So you have to make sure that you are not distracted. And then complacency.

[John Weaver] That is when you think nothing could happen here. That's what my friend thought that little out of the way Chinese restaurant way out in the country, nothing had happened. When you think that nothing had happened, and you get complacent. That's exactly when it's going to happen. And then he says, number five, you trust your own intuition and act decisively. Now, here's a good definition of intuition. Your intuition is your subconscious mind processing information before your conscious mind can process it.

[John Weaver] I like to use this illustration because everyone knows what I'm talking about. You've been in situations where you said, the hair on the back of my neck stood up. Oh, you knew something was not right. You knew something was wrong. When that happens. Take yourself and leave. Yeah, you know, don't hang around. Just leave. Then he says learn from feedback and mistakes. In other words, if you make a mistake, learn from it. Feedback is if other people have been in the same situation, see what they've learned. You need to learn from that. And then he said, number seven, you need to train regularly and realistically. He's not talking about training as far as fighting right now, but training your mind to observe and training your mind to pay attention to whatever is going on at that particular time. I'm going to add some to these number one or number eight if I keep going. don't look like or act like easy prey. The sheep that straggles is the one that gets eaten by the wolf.

[John Weaver] That's all there is to it. And if you're walking down the road or the sidewalk, and you've got your head bowed, and you're looking at a phone, you're not paying attention. You're in for trouble. You're easy prey. That's what they do in the knockout game up north. They come up behind you or they'll come to the side and hit you upside the head and knock you down.

[John Weaver] And there have been individuals who have been killed like that. Yes, yes, the blow would have knocked them out. But when they hit their head on the concrete, that's a horse of a different color. And if you act like you're easy prey, you will be preyed upon. It's just that simple. Don't act like that. Act like you know where you're going. Act like you know what you're doing.

[John Weaver] I've been in plenty of places where you would need special permission to be there. But I didn't get the special permission or I went there. How did I do it? I just acted like I knew exactly what I was doing and exactly where I was going. No one said a word to me. But you act like you're confused. You act like you don't know what's going on. You're easy prey. Number nine. Here it is. If you see someone dressed improperly for the weather, you need to be aware.

[John Weaver] Now, last Sunday, Alice and I stopped for a cup of coffee. I stayed in the car. Observing watching while she went in to get the coffee Everyone was in t-shirts and shorts. It was 80 degrees And here came a young man With a heavy coat on a thick collar so I watched him I Watched him as he went inside. I watched him inside through the windows and And about that time Alice was coming out. And I said to her, I asked, Did you see that young man with that heavy coat on? She said, Yeah.

[John Weaver] Let me tell you something. You can hide shotguns. You can hide rifles under these heavy coats. When you see someone that's dressed inappropriately. For the weather. You better be concerned. And I'm going to say number 10. You pay attention to body language. you pay attention to tonal patterns. If you see somebody clenching their fist, fine. If you see someone gritting their teeth, you better pay attention. You see someone just staring, staring, staring, staring, staring, and not looking away, you better pay attention. You see someone just kind of glancing around. What are they doing? seen cops around see if anybody's watching them. I mean, you know, you just better pay attention something like that. In other words, you look and you make sure that you listen for tonal patterns. I can say I could I could say to Alice, I love you, sweetheart. She understands that. But I could also look at her and say, I love you. And she knows I'm mad as I can be at particular time. You see, tonal patterns, they mean something.

[John Weaver] And then, of course, lastly, I would say you need to look for signs of a concealed weapon. A lot of times, people do not really conceal their weapons. They imprint on their shirts or their little white jackets, or you can see the bulge. Just pay attention. I was in a camp. I was preaching at that camp. And there was one man there whom was very vocal. And I considered him a very good man, a good friend.

[John Weaver] I came up to him, I put my arm on his shoulder. 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? Well, he said, Yes, I see you noticed. I said, Well, yes, I did. And I said, Here's my comment. If somebody surprises you, and hits you upside the head, and knocks you out, I said, it's gonna hurt your spine very greatly when you fall back that weapon. I said, if they don't knock you out, you have a hard time accessing it, because it's in the small of your back.

[John Weaver] I said, I wouldn't do that. But that's you, you know, I'm just simply saying, you need to look for signs. You need to observe. That's it. And I will also say this, and I've said it again, I said it before, trust your instincts. If you think something is wrong, just extra take yourself from that and leave. That's all there is to it.

[John Weaver] Now, I want to go back to Ron Borsch. I want you to listen to this. We think we're prepared. We think we're prepared in church. So Gary, you listen to this and save you listen to this. Remember, Ron Borsch, 30 years retired cop. Here's some question that he's asking. I added two of mine. But here's what he asked. He says, I'm asking these questions to see if you are prepared. Here we go. He asked, Do you carry a gun at church? Why or why not? If you have a gun, can you access it quickly? Then I added to Can you shoot accurately? And will you shoot? Then he says this, take a look at your church building.

[John Weaver] Many have very large rooms where the congregation gathers 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. Remember when that guy came into the church out in Texas with a shotgun? He murdered two. And one man at 15 yards while he was walking made a headshot and killed a murderer. So he's asking, can you make a shot from the distance that you need to make a shot?

[John Weaver] And then he says this, listen carefully. When is the last time you practiced shooting that far? And then he said, if you can't make this shot, what is your plan to move closer? He says often during worship lights are dim or at night electricity goes off. Do you carry a bright enough flashlight to fully identify a threat at any range? Do you know how to use a flashlight and a weapon at the same time?

[John Weaver] We teach that in the advanced class. Listen to these questions. What events, what events would cause you to draw your gun and shoot? Now listen to this question. Would you shoot the guy who is ranting at the pulpit with a gun in his hand? Or would you wait until after he shot someone? Then he says this, there isn't any right answer, but you must know personal boundaries lie and what your go signal will be.

[John Weaver] Then he asks, 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 the threat? If you plan on stopping the threat, who will take care of your family? Do they have a plan to get to safety? What can be used as cover or as an improvised weapon in your church? And everyone in this room should know the difference between cover and concealment.

[John Weaver] I could turn this table upside down. I could lie behind it. I'm concealed. You can't see me. But it's not cover because around would go right through this table. Cover will stop around. Concealment will not. And so we ask the ask. What can we use as cover? Look at your church building or as an improvised weapon in your church. If you don't have a weapon on you, what could you use to attack the attacker?

[John Weaver] And then he asked this question, which I've preached on in time past. He said, if your church has pew seating, do you sit near an aisle so that you can easily get out of the pew to address the threat? Think about this one. 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?

[John Weaver] How do you plan on protecting the people in your congregation who are at their greatest risk? What about less serious threats? Do you have a plan to deal with thieves or aggressive beggars? 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 these locations? And then listen to what he said. If you can't answer these simple questions, You are not prepared for a violent incident in your place of worship.

[John Weaver] It's time to start doing your homework. Wow.

[John Weaver] Now, I want to close with two truths. I want you to understand this. First of all, you must understand that you are not too old to train And you're not too old to defend yourself. And you're not too old to defend others. I know that I can't do today what I did at 21. I can't even do what I did at 50. But the truth of the matter is there are some things I can do. There's some things I can do in old age better than a lot of younger folks.

[John Weaver] Someone has said it like this. You're not defeated or let me rephrase it said you do not lose if you're defeated You only lose when you quit And I'm not quitting I'm not quitting now I Want you to look in your Bibles So a vote for a board Lord give you the scripture. Let me get This actually happened in Pennsylvania. I was up there preaching And they asked me to teach a two day handgun class.

[John Weaver] I said, Sure, I'll be glad to. And here is a lady, she would never be fast. But she listened well. And she was accurate. And so when we were shooting center chest, she had all of her rounds in a place about that big around. I mean, you could have taken the bottom of a coffee cup and covered When we did the headshots, it was same thing. It's all in one spot.

[John Weaver] And so I was we took a break. And I was commending her. And right behind her target was an old tree about four to five inches in diameter. And while I was commending her on her shooting ability, all of a sudden, I push around the way because the oak tree fell. She had cut it in two. She had hit in the same spot so frequently. She was in her 60s, probably. I'm just simply pointing out Do not try to excuse yourself and say I'm too old. Don't try to excuse yourself.

[John Weaver] I can't do what I used to do. None of us can do what we used to do. Don't try to excuse yourself and say, Well, I don't have the money. I don't have the time. Yes, you do. You have money for whatever you want. You prioritize the way you spend your money. The reason you don't prioritize your your money on training is you don't think it's necessary. You don't believe in it. You're up. You're prone to it. The reason you don't prioritize your time in it is because you don't think it's important. We each have 24 hours of the day and we each have a certain amount of money, but you can prioritize everything. You can do whatever you really, truly want to do. That's a fact.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to look in your Bibles, if you would, to Psalm 71 and verse 18. We're going to go to Isaiah. Look in Psalm 71, verse 18. I love this passage. I quote it quite frequently. Look in Psalm 71 and verse 18. Look what David says. Psalm 71 verse 18.

[John Weaver] Now also, when I am old and gray-headed, O God, forsake me not. Now look at this. Until I have shown thy strength unto this generation and thy power to everyone that is to come. Did you hear that? I'm old and gray headed, he said, but God forsake me until I've showed this younger generation something. I'm going to show them your power and your grace and your mercy. Then if you look in your Bible, Isaiah 46, Isaiah 46, notice if you would please in verse four, look what God says, Isaiah 46 in verse four. God says, even to your old age I am he and even to the whore hires will I carry you I have made and I will bear even I will carry and I will deliver you God says just because you're old doesn't mean anything I can help you I have the strength I have the power So first, don't think that you're too old to train. Don't think that you don't have the money to train. Don't think that you don't have the time to train.

[John Weaver] Don't think that you don't have the strength to train. You do. You might not can do everything, but you can do something. And whatever you can do, you ought to do by the grace of God. Here's the second truth. Self-defense, defense of others, and church security should be viewed as a ministry. Think about this. It cannot be done with improper mindsets, a lack of training or a lack of dedication.

[John Weaver] I want you to look in your Bibles, if you would, to the book of Colossians, chapter three, and look, if you would, please, at verses 23 and 24. Look at this. I want you to see this. Colossians 3, verse 23. Here it is. Colossians 3, verse 23. And whatsoever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord and not unto men. Notice, whatsoever you do, whether you're eating, whether you're working, whether you're training, and whatsoever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that of the Lord you shall receive the reward of the inheritance, 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 he said, you serve the Lord Christ. And then, of course, in First Corinthians 10 and verse 31, which everyone should be able to quote, the apostle Paul said, whether therefore you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. So Training should be done to the glory of God. Defending others should be done to the glory of God. Defending yourself should be done to the glory of God. Whatever you do, those who have faith in God, their heart in his service, and their mind to the task at hand are bound to fail. And people who naively assume that they will be able to function without training are deceiving and deluding themselves and they will fail. It's just that simple. It's just that simple.

[John Weaver] If you do not wish for evil to triumph and the wicked to win and the criminals to control, you must train for God's glory and for the good of the brethren. You must be able to protect your family and protect your congregation. Remember what Clint Smith said. Here it is. Owning a handgun does not make you armed any more than owning a guitar makes you a musician. Owning a guitar doesn't make you a musician. Owning a gun doesn't make you armed.

[John Weaver] Unless you're trained with that weapon. I'm just simply saying. Now, I'm going to give you a quote. I want you to listen carefully. This quote comes from a debate. The title is The Life and Death Debate, Moral Issues of Our Time by Dr. Norman Geisler and J.P. Moreland. Norman Geisler is an Old Testament scholar, a preacher, theologian, written many books. I have a number of his books. But I want you to listen to what he said.

[John Weaver] To permit murder when one could have prevented it is morally wrong. 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. Hang on. God has laid the expectations at the feet of the heads of families that they protect, provide for, and defend their families and protect and defend their countries.

[John Weaver] Little ones cannot do so and rely solely on those who bore 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 hasn't 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.

[John Weaver] It is a duty based on the idea that man is made in God's image. It is his expectation that we do the utmost to preserve and defend ourselves when in danger. For he who is sovereign and who gives life, and he does not expect us to be dismissive or cavalier about its loss. If you believe that it is your Christian duty to allow your children to be harmed by evildoers, and you actually allow it to happen because you think Christ was a pacifist, you're no better than a child abuser or a pedophile. God demands violence as a response to threats on our person because of the fact that man is created in God's image and life is to be preserved. It is our solemn duty.

[John Weaver] And then he concludes with this statement. I'm afraid that 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 of the Ten Commandments. Thou shalt not murder means thou shalt protect life. If you're willing If you're willing to sacrifice the safety and health of your wife or children to the evils of abuse, kidnapping, sexual predation, or death, God is not impressed by your fake morality. Capable of stopping it and choosing not to, you're no better than a child molester and I would not even allow you around my grandchildren." End quote. Wow. Were those strong words? Yes, they were. Were they true words? Yes, they were.

[John Weaver] We need to learn what God says and we need to have our hearts and our minds prepared for what is happening and what is going to happen. I want you to look at one last passage. I want you to turn to second Corinthians chapter 10. You know this passage because I've preached on it previously, but I want you to see it in light of what I'm preaching today. Look at this. Second Corinthians chapter 10.

[John Weaver] And let's begin reading there with verse three. The apostle Paul says, for though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh. So he's talking about a war.

[John Weaver] Now look in verse four, for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. Now, Paul is not saying that modern day weapons or physical weapons are useless and worthless. What he is saying in this verse is that physical weapons are useless in the kind of warfare that he's talking about. When you look at verse four, He said, for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, that is, they're not fleshly, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.

[John Weaver] Now, your stronghold is your place of defense. So if someone came through that door shooting and I was able to get into that closet back there, that closet would be my place of defense. It would be my stronghold.

[John Weaver] Now I want you to watch this. You're going to see the warfare that he's talking about. Verse four, for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling out of strongholds, casting down imaginations and every high thing, literally every high thought that exalted itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. So here's my question.

[John Weaver] How many thoughts are you and I to have that are unbearable? None. We're to bring every thought in subjection to captivity of Jesus Christ. That means we must think biblically. Concerning self-defense, defense of our families, defense of our neighbors, defense of our churches, we must think biblically concerning preparation. The Bible says in Proverbs chapter 22 and also in Proverbs 27, The prudent man foreseeeth the evil and hide it himself, but the simple pass on it are punished. We need to think biblically when it comes to situational awareness. We need to have every one of our thoughts clarified and established by the word of God. There is a biblical doctrine of self-defense. There is a biblical doctrine of preparation. There is a biblical doctrine of situational awareness. We must train our minds to think biblically. That's great. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we ask for your grace and your mercy and your help.

[John Weaver] Teach us, we pray, build us up in the most holy faith and make us, Lord, what we should be for your honor and your glory. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. ♪ ♪ you

Safety, Preparation, and Situational Awareness

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	moWUqpeyak4
Subject	Old Testament Studies
Course	Proverbs: Wealth, Defense, and Justice
Genre	Sermon
Date	2024-04-27
Dictation Name
Book	Book 083: Proverbs: Wealth, Defense, and Justice — Chapter 8
Source Timed Segments	97

Formatted Transcript

Introduction and Context

Weaver introduces the message, originally preached at a Presbyterian church, and notes current events like National Transgender Visibility Day and Candace Owens' firing for saying 'Christ is King' as signs of cultural hostility.

Proverbs 21:31. The Scripture says,

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 21:31

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

This past week, I was preaching in Greenville, South Carolina. I was actually preaching at a local Presbyterian church. They had asked me to deal with the biblical doctrine of self-defense. And I did that on Monday night. And on Tuesday night, I dealt with some objections, the main objection against the biblical doctrine of self-defense. And that's when the Lord told Peter to put his sword back up into his sheath. Then they asked me particularly to speak on Wednesday night on what I would call safety, preparation, and situational awareness. And I did so.

And it took me about an hour and 15 minutes to finish the message. I want to try to compress that message and preach it today. And here's why: there's a number of things that really impressed my heart. Number one, of course, you know that Joe Biden has made a decree that this day is National Transgender Visibility Day. And of course, that's a slap in the face of God. It's a slap in the face of every child of God, every Christian. And whether you like Trump or dislike Trump is immaterial, but Trump has called on Biden to apologize to the nation. I think he should apologize to God and apologize to every Christian as well. But that's beside the point. But that is one thing.

Another thing is some of you have heard about Candace Owens. She's a black woman, I guess a journalist, whatever. I don't know what she does. I know she's fairly popular. But she recently got fired, and the reason she got fired is because she said, "Christ is King." And there was a Jewish man, and I don't remember his name. I've got it all written out at the house. He said, and I'm quoting, that saying "Jesus Christ is King" or "Christ is King" is anti-Semitic and that the Jews are God's chosen people and they are far superior to any mere Christian. Of course, that would be racist in and of itself as well as a denial of a lot of things. And that just kind of set me off. I was hoping and thinking that maybe about 10 million people ought to just send him a little note saying, "Christ is King," and just, you know, etc. But that was one thing. Another thing is this: I was talking to a pastor friend this morning.

Biblical Foundation: Safety is of the Lord

Citing Proverbs 21:31, Weaver establishes that ultimate safety comes from God, and all human preparations are vain without His protection. Obedience is linked to safety (Leviticus 25:18).

And yes, they did explode there. And yes, people were endangered and people were hurt. That is for sure. So I got to thinking about this, and then I preached this this morning to our people in White Cross. And when I got through, one of my men said, "Well, that is an Ezekiel 33 message. That is a warning message for sure." And it is. But I want you to look at that again when he said, "The horse is prepared against the day of battle, but safety is of the Lord."

Everyone should be interested in safety and self-defense. Truly, only those that are foolish and naive will not be concerned with their safety or with their welfare. It is normal, natural, and biblical to want to be in health and to want to prosper. It was John the Apostle in 3 John 2 who said, "Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth." And I got to thinking, if most of us prospered financially, and if most of us prospered physically, the way our souls prosper, most of us would be in very poor health and we'd be very poor, period. But that's what John said: "I wish above all things that we may prosper and be in health, even as our soul prospereth." So if you consider your safety important, then obviously, you have to put a high priority on safety and on preparation as well as self-defense. So as long as one remains unconcerned about those things, obviously, clearly, he is not going to be able to defend himself.

Now, let me give you two major caveats or two major warnings concerning this message. The first one is set forth in Proverbs 21:31, when the Bible says, "The horse is prepared against the day of battle, but safety is of the Lord." Surely each of us understands that primarily and foremost, our safety is in the hands of the sovereign God of heaven and earth. That's what he said: "The horse is prepared against the day of battle, but safety is of the Lord." That is for sure. If God does not protect us, all of our preparations, all of our planning, all of our abilities are worthless. They are null and void and completely useless. The Bible says in Psalm 33:17,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 33:17

"A horse is a vain thing for safety; neither shall he deliver any by his great strength."

We could paraphrase that. We could say an AR-15 is a vain thing for safety. We could say a machine gun's a vain thing for safety. We could say a tank is a vain thing for safety. An airplane is a vain thing for safety. Neither will it deliver anybody by its great firepower. In other words, the Bible is telling us first and foremost that safety is indeed of God. That's why the Bible says in Psalm 127:1, "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."

So without me going into detail, let me just tell you first and foremost that Scripture tells us that if we want His protection, we need to be obedient unto Him. The Bible says in Leviticus 25:18, "Wherefore ye shall do my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them; and ye shall dwell in the land in safety." In other words, safety is connected with obedience. So the first caveat, the first warning, as we've got to understand, is that safety first and foremost is of God. The second caveat, or the second warning, would be this: We must understand that God is not going to fulfill our responsibilities for us. He is sovereign. He is omnipotent. He is omniscient. He is omnipresent. He is immutable. But He is not going to do for us that which we can do for ourselves. Please understand this: God is not going to pray for you. God is not going to repent for you. God is not going to think for you. God is not going to train for you.

Human Responsibility in Preparation

While God is sovereign, He does not fulfill our responsibilities for us. Believers must act, as illustrated by Samson and David, who were empowered by God but had to fight themselves.

And God is not going to use the means for you that He has ordained that you use. Now, we have to keep these truths in a proper perspective. First, God is sovereign. Secondly, we are responsible.

Now, there's a good Scripture that will illustrate this in 2 Timothy 2:7. That's where the Apostle Paul told Timothy, "Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things." It is true that understanding is the gift of God. But as I've said before, you don't go to bed stupid and wake up smart. He said, "Consider what I say, and the Lord give thee understanding in all things." The understanding is going to come from consideration, meditation, application, but it's not going to just simply be thrown into your brain, and all of a sudden you wake up understanding everything. It doesn't work like that. God said, "Consider what I say, and the Lord give thee understanding in all things." So we at the same time must understand that God is absolutely sovereign and that our safety is first and foremost in Him, but He is not going to do for us that which He has commanded for you and me to perform. We are responsible. It is true that God empowered Samson. But when Samson came off that mountain, he had to pick up the jawbone of an ass and slay a thousand Philistines. God did not fight for him. It is true God saved him. It is true God empowered him. But God did not fight for him. It is true that God helped David win over Goliath. But David chose those five smooth stones. David put the stone in the sling, and David slung the sling. God did not sling for him. That was David's responsibility.

Now, let me just point out: anyone who is over 70 years old understands how things have changed in this nation. I'm probably the oldest individual in the room at this point. No, I've got one older than me. He's not nearly as handsome, but he's older. He has more hair. But listen, we understand how things have changed in this country. And I've said this before, but 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 few and far between.

Accepting the Reality of Evil and Change

Weaver argues that society has changed, evil is rampant, and good men do not always win. He cites Ecclesiastes 8:11 to explain why wickedness increases when justice is delayed.

What do you say? Were there bad people back then? I suppose there were. But the truth of the matter is, most people even back then obeyed the Ten Commandments, regardless of whether they were Christian or not. They were moral people is what I'm trying to say. In fact, I don't ever remember in my entire life one of our banks being robbed in our hometown. Alice didn't remember it either. In fact, I asked a deputy just a few weeks ago, I said, "Has there been a bank robbery in our hometown?" He said, "I don't know. I don't think so." He said there was one that happened a long, long time ago. I'm just simply pointing out the fact: I know people were evil, and I know people were sinners even back then. But at least things were different back then. So I'm just simply pointing out the fact that we've got to accept the truth that things have changed. And I think if you and I are interested in our safety, if we're interested in preparation, the first thing we must accept is that things are not like they used to be.

Things have changed. You have to believe and you have to receive the truth that there are some really, really bad people in this world. I'm going to say it a different way: There are people who are just pure evil in this world. There are people who will kill you and smile and laugh while they do so. There are people who will steal everything you have and brag about the fact that they got away with it. In other words, these folks have absolutely no regard for God. They do not honor Him. And consequently, they have no regard for man. You remember that passage in Luke 18:2, when our Lord said, "There was a judge which feared not God, neither regarded man." So if someone does not fear God, he's not going to regard man. So we have to understand things have changed. Culture has changed. Society has changed.

Do not live in a fool's paradise. Do not be deceived. Do not be deluded. Do not think that nothing evil will ever happen to you. Let me tell you something: good men do not always win. I have a message on that. All you have to do is read 2 Samuel chapter 11. You'll find that Uriah the Hittite had his wife stolen from him, and then he was murdered by David. In that instance, David was the bad guy. Uriah was the good guy.

He was the one honoring God. David was the one dishonoring God. And you can read how God judged him and what God said to him in 2 Samuel chapter 12. But the point I'm trying to make is good men do not always win out. And there's a reason why we are faced today with such wickedness and such evil. And that's found in Ecclesiastes 8:11, where God says, "Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil." So God says when there is no execution of His laws, all that does is encourage the criminals. Criminals are coddled left and right.

They thwart God's law, they laugh in the face of God, and then the judicial system, instead of punishing them, rewards them. Look, if you would, at all of the illegal aliens and what is happening in this country. You remember in New York, the lady who had the million-dollar house? Squatters had taken over. She got into an argument with them. She called the law, or the law was called, and guess what they did? They arrested her. They arrested the owner. And did you read also about the squatters who took over the house? And when the woman who owned the house came in, they murdered her and cut her into pieces. And guess what?

We have to understand something. We are not living in Mayberry. And Andy Griffith is not our sheriff. Things have changed.

The next thing you must accept, I really believe, is this: 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. The fact that you do not think, or the fact that you do not believe, or the fact that you do not wish that anything like that would ever happen to you, will not change reality. It will not stop an attack just because you think, "It could never ever happen to me." It will happen to you. And if you understand that there is a change, you have to understand that we're living in an extremely evil time. Now, I told you in time past—and I'm just going to mention, I'm not going to go in detail.

The Threat to Churches and the Failure of Gun-Free Zones

Using statistics and quotes from Ron Borsch, Weaver shows that churches are frequent targets of violence. He argues that gun-free zones invite criminals and cites the New Life Church shooting as an example of effective armed defense.

But I've got a good friend who is nearly a 30-year police officer. He lacks two more years retiring. He's a big man. He took his family to a little Chinese restaurant out in the country, out on a junction. And he left his weapon in his car. And when he went in, the first thing he did was go into the bathroom to wash his hands. And here came a man, a big, tall black man, screaming, hollering, cursing, beating on the door, trying to get in. And my friend said, "I'll be out in just a moment." And then his big son—one of them, he had two sons, big boys—said, "Look out, Daddy, he's got a gun." And when my friend came out, sure enough, the man had a gun. He went in the bathroom, he came back out, he still had the weapon out. My friend looked at the owner of the little Chinese restaurant and said, "What's wrong with him?" And the owner said, "He just hates white men." And my friend said, "Well, we'll probably just go ahead and leave and get out of his way."

Let him have the restaurant. And so he told his family to go outside and get in the car. And as they walked out, the man followed him out with the weapon. He said, "Now I had a choice. My weapon was in the car. I could either try to get it while he already has his weapon out in his hand, or I could just get in the car and drive off since my family was already in the car." So he got in the car and drove off and straight to the police station, swore out a warrant for him. And here's what he said: "You tell everybody that I said, don't go around unarmed. It will happen when you think it cannot possibly happen." So just because you think nothing can ever happen to you does not mean that it will not happen.

Now, I'm going to give you several quotes today, because I want to really trust that this is going to impact you. I'm going to give you a couple of quotes from a man by the name of Ron Borsch. You probably don't know who he is, and if I just said his name, you probably would think nothing of the quotes. But Ron Borsch happens to be, number one, the staff instructor for the Kent Martial Arts. Well, that doesn't mean anything in and of itself, but he was also a Vietnam veteran. He was a paratrooper in the 101st Airborne. That does not mean anything necessarily in and of itself, but he's also a 30-year retired law enforcement officer: 20 years as a range master, 17 years as a SWAT operator and trainer. He's now retired, but he still retains his commission, and he still acts as a consultant.

So I want you to listen to what he has to say. Here it is. Quote: "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 from violence there. Unfortunately, churches are not the sanctuary they once were. Here we are not talking about mere arson, assault, burglary, mugging, rape, or robbery. Even worse, churches can and have been the site of murder, multiple murders, and rapid mass murder." "About a year ago, churches were the third most commonly targeted location by active killers after schools, kindergarten through 12, and then colleges and universities." So listen to what he said: schools, and third, churches. He goes on: "The survey of over 1,300 congregations in the United States finds that in 2014"—don't worry about that, it's 10 years ago, but it's going to be brought up to date—"the survey of over 1,300 congregations in the U.S. finds that in 2014, 39% of the congregations experienced some type of property or violent crime, from vandalism to homicide."

He continues: "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 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."

Now, I'm going to give you another quote before I continue. This quote is from this headline. Listen: "Skyrocketing Number of Attacks on Christians' 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 policy at home and abroad." Let me just stop right there. I have a dear friend that lives in Germany. He and I correspond every day. And this morning he sent me an email. And one of the articles in the email was how Europe and the world were actually—and America, because of our intense stupidity. But anyhow, he says, "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 detailed how such incidents of violence have exploded over 800% in the last six years. During the first 11 months of 2023, there were 436 acts of hostility against churches in America, including 315 vandalisms, 75 arsons, 30 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 few areas of America left untouched, with reports coming from 48 states and Washington, D.C."

There were 91 such attacks in California. Now the point I'm going to make next, you should understand this. I've had people tell me, "Well, all we've got to do is put a little sign out there saying 'No Weapons Allowed.'" When you go ahead and post your sign, "No Weapons Allowed," all you're telling everybody is we don't have weapons. We're not going to fight. We're not going to defend ourselves. A sign like that is not going to stop a criminal. I saw a cartoon some time ago. It showed these two men with masks on and guns in their hand. And they were approaching this building, and it had "No Guns Allowed." And one looked at the other and said, "Oh, shoot, we'll have to go back. They don't allow weapons in there." Of course, it was a spoof. No, but no criminal is going to think like that. What they're going to do is say, "We've got it made. Nobody in there has weapons, and nobody's going to fight us. We'll do what we want to do."

Now, I'm going to go a little bit further. Because we talked about gun-free zones. We talked about our schools, our universities, our churches sometimes being gun-free zones. I want you to listen to this: "Gun-Free School Zones and Shooting Statistics, 2024 Updated." Listen: "There have been 2,646 school shooting incidents in the United States since 1966." Wow. "Of those, 2,205—that is 94%—occurred after the 1990 School Zone Safety Act, which was amended in 1995." Think about this, he says.

94% happened in gun-free zones. Gun-free zones are an invitation for criminals to do as they please, because criminals do not obey the law. And that's a fact. Now there was a church in Colorado, the New Life Church, that was attacked by a murderer with a rifle, two pistols, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. He wanted to massacre these people. Seventy miles away, and 12 hours earlier, he had gone to the Arvada Missionary Church and he murdered two people there and wounded two more. The New Life Church is a megachurch. It has 7,000 members. When he pulled up to the New Life Church, he murdered two in the parking lot, wounded three more. Inside the church, they heard the shooting, and they had the foresight to train some people and have some security.

One individual, who happened to be a woman, Jeanne Assam, who was a former police officer—when she heard the shooting, she ran to the source of the shooting and saw the man coming in with his weapons. She pulled out her pistol and began to shoot him. She hit him several times. She knocked him to the floor. And there, instead of fighting back, he pulled out his pistol and blew his own brains out. And here's what she said. She said, "God guided me and protected me. And I did not think for a minute to run away."

Practical Preparation: Mindset, Skills, and De-escalation

Preparation involves proper mindset, weapon proficiency, malfunction clearing, and verbal de-escalation. Weaver explains the OODA loop and the freeze response under stress.

Now you're talking about preparation. Let me tell you what preparation involves. It involves not only owning a weapon. It involves knowing how to use that weapon. It involves how to shoot accurately. It involves knowing how to shoot quickly. It also involves knowing how to deal with any malfunctions, which is a temporary stoppage of that weapon. You'd be amazed at how many lives have been saved because when people come to mass murder, and their weapon malfunctions, they don't know how to fix it. And that gives people an opportunity then to tackle them, etc.

So the point I'm trying to make: Do you have a proper mindset? Do you have a biblical mindset? Do you understand the Sixth Commandment? The Sixth Commandment, "Thou shalt not kill"—that's the negative. The positive is thou shalt preserve life. You have a duty to protect life and preserve life. So, do you know how to use less-lethal devices if needed? Do you know how to use tear gas? Do you know how to use a Taser? I'm just asking, do you know how to try to de-escalate?

So, if Steve and I got into an argument and things are getting out of hand, you know, the Scripture says in Proverbs 15:1,

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 15:1

"A soft answer turneth away wrath, but grievous words stir up anger."

I don't have to holler back at him. I can lower my voice. I can speak softly. I don't have to be irritated just because he's irritated. Years ago, my office in a Christian school, a huge Christian school, was right next door to a lady whose sole job was to take care of irate parents. And I have sat in my office and I've heard parents come in screaming. They were so angry. They were so mad. And dear, sweet Sherry, as loud as they got, she got softer, and lower, and lower, and quieter.

And pretty soon, they saw what they were. And they saw what she was, and they got embarrassed. And then she was able to work it out. A soft answer turneth away wrath, but grievous words stir up anger. And the fact of the matter is, if Mike wants to jump on me, I can turn and walk away. I don't have to stand there. It takes two to tango.

I'm just saying we need to learn how to de-escalate verbally. We also need to learn how the mind works under stress. Do you realize when you're under stress, one of the first things that happens to you is you freeze. And the reason you freeze is you're shocked. You're saying, "I don't believe this. I don't believe this is happening to me." And when you freeze for that moment, you're giving your adversary a great advantage. But usually most of us would freeze until the fight or flight concept came roaring through our minds. But we either have to fight or we have to get out of there. We also need to understand the OODA loop.

We deal with this in the advanced class. But the OODA loop was actually discovered by Colonel John Boyd, who was an Air Force pilot. The OODA loop simply means that you observe, you orient, you decide, and then you act. There's a way to reboot that loop, which you have to learn. So if Mike is hiding behind that door, and he's going to mug me, he's already seen me coming. Wow. Let's see. He's already observed me. He's already oriented himself. He's already decided he's going to act. And all he's got to do is when I get to the edge of that door, act.

And he throws that gun in my face and says, "Give me all your money." Now I'm behind the loop. I have to do something to distract him to put him behind that loop. In other words, you need to understand this: If we are not prepared, we've got to understand that our minds, when a stressful, dangerous situation comes along, the first thing we're going to probably do is freeze. We're going to say, "I don't think it's happening to me. I can't believe this."

Now I will tell you this: the best way to win a fight is to avoid it. If you don't have to fight, fine, that's wonderful. That brings me to what is known as situational awareness. The truth is most people are completely, totally unaware of their surroundings. Most folks are playing with their phones, playing games, talking, texting, doing something. You can probably see this still on YouTube, I'm sure, where this woman is walking down the sidewalk, and she's got her phone, and she's texting back and forth.

Situational Awareness Principles

Weaver lists principles for situational awareness: be mindful, establish baselines, anticipate, avoid distractions, trust intuition, learn from mistakes, train regularly, don't look like prey, notice inappropriate dress, read body language, and look for concealed weapons.

And here, right in front of her, are two doors wide open. Here's this business that has a cellar, and they're moving things in and out of the cellar. She walks right into the open doors and falls in. The next thing you know, here's the ambulance, and they're bringing her out on a stretcher. I don't know what all she broke. But she was totally, completely unaware. That's where most people are. We're daydreaming. We're off in la-la land somewhere. We're not paying attention to anything.

Situational awareness is not something that you can learn by reading a book. It's not something that you can master in one evening or a week. Learning to exercise situational awareness is an exercise in and of itself. So, Eugene Nelson gave some ideas concerning situational awareness. I added to the list. So I want to give you his first. He said, first of all, be mindful of your surroundings. Know where you are. Watch what you're doing.

For instance, driving up and down on the interstate. Every Sunday, I'm checking not only in front of me, but my rearview mirror, the side mirrors as well. Occasionally, Alice, I see someone who's weaving. And I think, "Oh, no, he's either drunk, texting, or something." So I either have to slow down, or I have to get walking past him and get around him very quickly. Because he's going to be heading into a wreck sooner or later. Okay, we were going up I-75 to the Atlanta airport. It is iced over. We were driving about 30 miles an hour on I-75. The road was practically empty. No one was on the road because it was iced. But we had to get to the airport. A fellow passed us in a brand new Ford pickup, four-wheel drive, doing 70 miles an hour. Alice said, "Wow, he's in a hurry."

I said, "Don't worry, sweetheart. We'll pass him shortly." And sure enough, about a mile down the road, that brand new pickup truck was in the median up against an iron rail, torn to pieces. I'm just saying you have to be aware. Sometimes I'm driving home and I look in my side mirrors or rearview mirror and I tell Alice, "Oh, two are fixing to blow right by us." And they will, 90 miles an hour. So this is what he's talking about: be mindful of your surroundings. The second thing he says: establish a baseline. A baseline is what you expect to see in any given situation. Anything outside of that you need to be concerned about. So if you came to this library, and you walk in the library, you expect to see people reading, sitting at a computer, or talking quietly. You don't expect to see people running up and down hollering and screaming. You don't expect to see shelves of books being pushed over. No, no, no. That's out of character for a library. And that means you need to pay attention. Something is going on. So this is what it means by establishing a baseline. The next one is anticipate and predict. In other words, you need to anticipate what could happen to you.

Is this a good place for someone to mug me? In other words, I need to be anticipating and predicting in the sense that I'm watching out for anything unusual, anything that might happen. And then he goes on to say, number four, avoid distractions and complacency. Distractions. We get those all the time. The phone rings. We hear music or we see something outside that gets our attention and we're distracted. It happens to everyone.

I remember years ago when we lived in Chesapeake, we had to cross a railroad track. And always stop at that railroad track. One day, I had so much on my mind. I was almost home and then it dawned on me that I stopped at that railroad track. Did I even look? I didn't remember looking. I didn't remember stopping. I did. I finally figured it out. But I didn't remember because I was distracted by my own thoughts. So you have to make sure that you are not distracted. And then complacency.

That is when you think nothing could happen here. That's what my friend thought at that little out-of-the-way Chinese restaurant way out in the country: nothing had happened. When you think that nothing can happen, and you get complacent, that's exactly when it's going to happen. And then he says, number five, you trust your own intuition and act decisively. Now, here's a good definition of intuition: your intuition is your subconscious mind processing information before your conscious mind can process it. I like to use this illustration because everyone knows what I'm talking about. You've been in situations where you said, "The hair on the back of my neck stood up." Oh, you knew something was not right. You knew something was wrong. When that happens, take yourself and leave. Yeah, you know, don't hang around. Just leave. Then he says, learn from feedback and mistakes. In other words, if you make a mistake, learn from it. Feedback is if other people have been in the same situation, see what they've learned. You need to learn from that. And then he said, number seven, you need to train regularly and realistically. He's not talking about training as far as fighting right now, but training your mind to observe and training your mind to pay attention to whatever is going on at that particular time. I'm going to add some to these. Number eight, if I keep going: don't look like or act like easy prey. The sheep that straggles is the one that gets eaten by the wolf.

That's all there is to it. And if you're walking down the road or the sidewalk, and you've got your head bowed, and you're looking at a phone, you're not paying attention. You're in for trouble. You're easy prey. That's what they do in the knockout game up north. They come up behind you or they'll come to the side and hit you upside the head and knock you down. And there have been individuals who have been killed like that. Yes, yes, the blow would have knocked them out. But when they hit their head on the concrete, that's a horse of a different color. And if you act like you're easy prey, you will be preyed upon. It's just that simple. Don't act like that. Act like you know where you're going. Act like you know what you're doing.

I've been in plenty of places where you would need special permission to be there. But I didn't get the special permission, and I went there. How did I do it? I just acted like I knew exactly what I was doing and exactly where I was going. No one said a word to me. But you act like you're confused. You act like you don't know what's going on. You're easy prey. Number nine: here it is. If you see someone dressed improperly for the weather, you need to be aware.

Now, last Sunday, Alice and I stopped for a cup of coffee. I stayed in the car, observing, watching, while she went in to get the coffee. Everyone was in t-shirts and shorts. It was 80 degrees. And here came a young man with a heavy coat on, a thick collar. So I watched him. I watched him as he went inside. I watched him inside through the windows. And about that time Alice was coming out. And I said to her, I asked, "Did you see that young man with that heavy coat on?" She said, "Yeah."

Let me tell you something. You can hide shotguns. You can hide rifles under these heavy coats. When you see someone that's dressed inappropriately for the weather, you better be concerned. And I'm going to say number 10: you pay attention to body language. You pay attention to tonal patterns. If you see somebody clenching their fist, fine. If you see someone gritting their teeth, you better pay attention. You see someone just staring, staring, staring, staring, staring, and not looking away, you better pay attention. You see someone just kind of glancing around—what are they doing? Seeing if cops are around, seeing if anybody's watching them. I mean, you know, you just better pay attention to something like that. In other words, you look and you make sure that you listen for tonal patterns. I can say—I could say to Alice, "I love you, sweetheart." She understands that. But I could also look at her and say, "I love you." And she knows I'm mad as I can be at that particular time. You see, tonal patterns, they mean something.

And then, of course, lastly, I would say you need to look for signs of a concealed weapon. A lot of times, people do not really conceal their weapons. They imprint on their shirts or their little white jackets, or you can see the bulge. Just pay attention. I was in a camp. I was preaching at that camp. And there was one man there who was very vocal. And I considered him a very good man, a good friend.

I came up to him, I put my arm on his shoulder. 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?" Well, he said, "Yes, I see you noticed." I said, "Well, yes, I did." And I said, "Here's my comment. If somebody surprises you, and hits you upside the head, and knocks you out, I said, it's going to hurt your spine very greatly when you fall back on that weapon. I said, if they don't knock you out, you have a hard time accessing it, because it's in the small of your back." I said, "I wouldn't do that. But that's you, you know." I'm just simply saying, you need to look for signs. You need to observe. That's it. And I will also say this, and I've said it before: trust your instincts. If you think something is wrong, just extract yourself from that and leave. That's all there is to it.

Now, I want to go back to Ron Borsch. I want you to listen to this. We think we're prepared. We think we're prepared in church. So Gary, you listen to this, and Steve, you listen to this. Remember, Ron Borsch, 30 years retired cop. Here's some questions that he's asking. I added two of mine. But here's what he asked. He says, "I'm asking these questions to see if you are prepared." Here we go. He asked, "Do you carry a gun at church? Why or why not? If you have a gun, can you access it quickly?" Then I added two: "Can you shoot accurately? And will you shoot?" Then he says this: "Take a look at your church building."

Church Security Assessment Questions

Ron Borsch's questions challenge listeners to evaluate their readiness: carrying at church, shot distance, flashlight use, engagement criteria, security teams, cover vs. concealment, and protecting children.

"Many have very large rooms where the congregation gathers 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?" Remember when that guy came into the church out in Texas with a shotgun? He murdered two. And one man at 15 yards, while he was walking, made a headshot and killed the murderer. So he's asking, "Can you make a shot from the distance that you need to make a shot?" And then he says this, listen carefully: "When is the last time you practiced shooting that far?" And then he said, "If you can't make this shot, what is your plan to move closer?" He says, "Often during worship, lights are dim, or at night electricity goes off. Do you carry a bright enough flashlight to fully identify a threat at any range? Do you know how to use a flashlight and a weapon at the same time?"

We teach that in the advanced class. Listen to these questions: "What events would cause you to draw your gun and shoot?" Now listen to this question: "Would you shoot the guy who is ranting at the pulpit with a gun in his hand? Or would you wait until after he shot someone?" Then he says this: "There isn't any right answer, but you must know personal boundaries lie and what your go signal will be." Then he asks, "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 the threat? If you plan on stopping the threat, who will take care of your family? Do they have a plan to get to safety? What can be used as cover or as an improvised weapon in your church?" And everyone in this room should know the difference between cover and concealment.

I could turn this table upside down. I could lie behind it. I'm concealed. You can't see me. But it's not cover because a round would go right through this table. Cover will stop a round. Concealment will not. And so we ask the question: What can we use as cover? Look at your church building. Or as an improvised weapon in your church. If you don't have a weapon on you, what could you use to attack the attacker?

And then he asked this question, which I've preached on in time past. He said, "If your church has pew seating, do you sit near an aisle so that you can easily get out of the pew to address the threat?" Think about this one: "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 their greatest risk? What about less serious threats? Do you have a plan to deal with thieves or aggressive beggars? 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 these locations?" And then listen to what he said: "If you can't answer these simple questions, you are not prepared for a violent incident in your place of worship."

"It's time to start doing your homework." Wow.

Encouragement for the Old and the Call to Train as Ministry

Weaver encourages older believers using Psalm 71:18 and Isaiah 46:4, and frames self-defense and training as a ministry to be done heartily for the Lord (Colossians 3:23-24).

Now, I want to close with two truths. I want you to understand this. First of all, you must understand that you are not too old to train. And you're not too old to defend yourself. And you're not too old to defend others. I know that I can't do today what I did at 21. I can't even do what I did at 50. But the truth of the matter is there are some things I can do. There's some things I can do in old age better than a lot of younger folks.

Someone has said it like this: "You're not defeated"—or let me rephrase it—"You do not lose if you're defeated. You only lose when you quit." And I'm not quitting. I'm not quitting now. I want you to look in your Bibles. So a vote for a board? Lord, give you the Scripture. Let me get—this actually happened in Pennsylvania. I was up there preaching. And they asked me to teach a two-day handgun class.

I said, "Sure, I'll be glad to." And here is a lady. She would never be fast. But she listened well. And she was accurate. And so when we were shooting center chest, she had all of her rounds in a place about that big around. I mean, you could have taken the bottom of a coffee cup and covered them. When we did the headshots, it was the same thing. It's all in one spot.

And so I was—we took a break. And I was commending her. And right behind her target was an old tree about four to five inches in diameter. And while I was commending her on her shooting ability, all of a sudden, I pushed around the way because the oak tree fell. She had cut it in two. She had hit in the same spot so frequently. She was in her 60s, probably. I'm just simply pointing out: Do not try to excuse yourself and say, "I'm too old." Don't try to excuse yourself.

"I can't do what I used to do." None of us can do what we used to do. Don't try to excuse yourself and say, "Well, I don't have the money. I don't have the time." Yes, you do. You have money for whatever you want. You prioritize the way you spend your money. The reason you don't prioritize your money on training is you don't think it's necessary. You don't believe in it. You're opposed to it. The reason you don't prioritize your time in it is because you don't think it's important. We each have 24 hours of the day and we each have a certain amount of money, but you can prioritize everything. You can do whatever you really, truly want to do. That's a fact.

Now, I want you to look in your Bibles, if you would, to Psalm 71:18. We're going to go to Isaiah. Look in Psalm 71:18. I love this passage. I quote it quite frequently. Look in Psalm 71:18. Look what David says. 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? "I'm old and grayheaded," he said, "but God, forsake me not until I've showed this younger generation something. I'm going to show them your power and your grace and your mercy." Then if you look in your Bible, Isaiah 46:4. Isaiah 46, notice if you would please in verse 4. Look what God says. Isaiah 46:4. God says, "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." God says just because you're old doesn't mean anything. I can help you. I have the strength. I have the power. So first, don't think that you're too old to train. Don't think that you don't have the money to train. Don't think that you don't have the time to train.

Don't think that you don't have the strength to train. You do. You might not can do everything, but you can do something. And whatever you can do, you ought to do by the grace of God. Here's the second truth: Self-defense, defense of others, and church security should be viewed as a ministry. Think about this. It cannot be done with improper mindsets, a lack of training, or a lack of dedication.

I want you to look in your Bibles, if you would, to the book of Colossians, chapter 3, and look, if you would, please, at verses 23 and 24. Look at this. I want you to see this. Colossians 3:23. Here it is. Colossians 3:23: "And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men." Notice, whatsoever you do, whether you're eating, whether you're working, whether you're training, and whatsoever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye 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 he said, "Ye serve the Lord Christ." And then, of course, in 1 Corinthians 10:31, which everyone should be able to quote, the Apostle Paul said, "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." So training should be done to the glory of God. Defending others should be done to the glory of God. Defending yourself should be done to the glory of God. Whatever you do, those who have faith in God, their heart in His service, and their mind to the task at hand are bound to fail. And people who naively assume that they will be able to function without training are deceiving and deluding themselves, and they will fail. It's just that simple. It's just that simple.

Moral Duty to Defend and Closing Exhortation

Quoting Norman Geisler, Weaver asserts that failing to prevent murder or protect family is morally wrong. He concludes with 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, urging believers to think biblically about self-defense and preparation.

If you do not wish for evil to triumph and the wicked to win and the criminals to control, you must train for God's glory and for the good of the brethren. You must be able to protect your family and protect your congregation. Remember what Clint Smith said. Here it is: "Owning a handgun does not make you armed any more than owning a guitar makes you a musician." Owning a guitar doesn't make you a musician. Owning a gun doesn't make you armed. Unless you're trained with that weapon. I'm just simply saying. Now, I'm going to give you a quote. I want you to listen carefully. This quote comes from a debate. The title is "The Life and Death Debate: Moral Issues of Our Time" by Dr. Norman Geisler and J.P. Moreland. Norman Geisler is an Old Testament scholar, a preacher, theologian, written many books. I have a number of his books. But I want you to listen to what he said.

"To permit murder when one could have prevented it is morally wrong. 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." Hang on. "God has laid the expectations at the feet of the heads of 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 hasn't 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 God's image. It is His expectation that we do the utmost to preserve and defend ourselves when in danger. For He who is sovereign and who gives life, He does not expect us to be dismissive or cavalier about its loss. If you believe that it is your Christian duty to allow your children to be harmed by evildoers, and you actually allow it to happen because you think Christ was a pacifist, you're no better than a child abuser or a pedophile. God demands violence as a response to threats on our person because of the fact that man is created in God's image and life is to be preserved. It is our solemn duty."

And then he concludes with this statement: "I'm afraid that 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 of the Ten Commandments. 'Thou shalt not murder' means 'thou shalt protect life.' If you're willing to sacrifice the safety and health of your wife or children to the evils of abuse, kidnapping, sexual predation, or death, God is not impressed by your fake morality. Capable of stopping it and choosing not to, you're no better than a child molester, and I would not even allow you around my grandchildren." End quote. Wow. Were those strong words? Yes, they were. Were they true words? Yes, they were.

We need to learn what God says, and we need to have our hearts and our minds prepared for what is happening and what is going to happen. I want you to look at one last passage. I want you to turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 10. You know this passage because I've preached on it previously, but I want you to see it in light of what I'm preaching today. Look at this. 2 Corinthians chapter 10. And let's begin reading there with verse 3. The Apostle Paul says, "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh." So he's talking about a war.

Now look in verse 4: "For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds." Now, Paul is not saying that modern-day weapons or physical weapons are useless and worthless. What he is saying in this verse is that physical weapons are useless in the kind of warfare that he's talking about. When you look at verse 4, he said, "For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal"—that is, they're not fleshly—"but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds." Now, your stronghold is your place of defense. So if someone came through that door shooting and I was able to get into that closet back there, that closet would be my place of defense. It would be my stronghold.

Now I want you to watch this. You're going to see the warfare that he's talking about. Verse 4: "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 here's my question. How many thoughts are you and I to have that are unbearable? None. We're to bring every thought into subjection to the captivity of Jesus Christ. That means we must think biblically. Concerning self-defense, defense of our families, defense of our neighbors, defense of our churches, we must think biblically concerning preparation. The Bible says in Proverbs 22:3 and also in Proverbs 27:12, "A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished." We need to think biblically when it comes to situational awareness. We need to have every one of our thoughts clarified and established by the Word of God. There is a biblical doctrine of self-defense. There is a biblical doctrine of preparation. There is a biblical doctrine of situational awareness. We must train our minds to think biblically. That's great. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we ask for your grace and your mercy and your help.

Teach us, we pray. Build us up in the most holy faith and make us, Lord, what we should be for your honor and your glory. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.

Study Guide

Major Themes

Sovereignty of God and Human Responsibility

Summary: Ultimate safety is from God, but believers must actively prepare and use means He has ordained; God does not do for us what we can do ourselves.

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

Increasing Evil and Cultural Hostility

Summary: Society has changed, evil is rampant, and Christians face growing hostility, including church attacks and anti-Christian policies.

Evidence: Things have changed. Culture has changed. Society has changed. ... 436 acts of hostility against churches in America in 2023.

Biblical Duty of Self-Defense

Summary: The Sixth Commandment implies a positive duty to preserve life; failing to protect family is morally equivalent to evil of commission.

Evidence: Thou shalt not kill—that's the negative. The positive is thou shalt preserve life. ... Any man who refuses to protect his wife and children against a violent intruder fails them morally.

Practical Preparation and Training

Summary: Owning a weapon is not enough; believers must train in marksmanship, malfunction clearing, de-escalation, and stress management.

Evidence: Preparation involves not only owning a weapon. It involves knowing how to use that weapon. ... Owning a handgun does not make you armed any more than owning a guitar makes you a musician.

Situational Awareness

Summary: Being aware of surroundings, establishing baselines, and trusting intuition are critical for avoiding danger and responding effectively.

Evidence: Situational awareness is not something that you can learn by reading a book. ... Be mindful of your surroundings. ... Trust your own intuition and act decisively.

Church Security as Ministry

Summary: Protecting the congregation is a sacred duty that requires planning, teamwork, and a heart to serve the Lord.

Evidence: Self-defense, defense of others, and church security should be viewed as a ministry. ... Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord.

Key Arguments

Safety is ultimately from God, but preparation is commanded.

Summary: Proverbs 21:31 teaches that while we prepare (the horse), safety comes from the Lord; Psalm 33:17 warns that human strength is vain without God.

Evidence: The horse is prepared against the day of battle, but safety is of the Lord. ... A horse is a vain thing for safety.

God does not negate human responsibility.

Summary: God empowers but does not act in our place; examples of Samson and David show that God expects us to use means.

Evidence: God is not going to fulfill our responsibilities for us. ... God did not fight for him. ... David slung the sling. God did not sling for him.

Churches are no longer safe havens.

Summary: Statistics show a dramatic increase in attacks on churches; ignoring the problem invites tragedy.

Evidence: Churches are not the sanctuary they once were. ... 436 acts of hostility against churches in America in 2023.

Gun-free zones increase danger.

Summary: 94% of school shootings occurred after gun-free zone legislation; criminals ignore signs and target defenseless victims.

Evidence: 94% happened in gun-free zones. Gun-free zones are an invitation for criminals to do as they please.

Training is essential for effective defense.

Summary: Without training, people freeze under stress; proficiency with weapons and understanding of the OODA loop are necessary.

Evidence: When you're under stress, one of the first things that happens to you is you freeze. ... Owning a handgun does not make you armed.

Situational awareness can prevent victimization.

Summary: Most people are unaware of surroundings; principles like establishing baselines and avoiding distractions reduce risk.

Evidence: Most people are completely, totally unaware of their surroundings. ... Be mindful of your surroundings.

Failing to defend is morally equivalent to committing evil.

Summary: Norman Geisler argues that permitting murder when one could prevent it is an evil of omission, as serious as commission.

Evidence: To permit murder when one could have prevented it is morally wrong. ... Any man who refuses to protect his wife and children ... fails them morally.

Self-defense is a ministry to be done for God's glory.

Summary: Colossians 3:23-24 commands doing all things heartily as to the Lord; training and defending are acts of service.

Evidence: Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord. ... Training should be done to the glory of God.

Scripture References

Proverbs 21:31

Context: The horse is prepared against the day of battle, but safety is of the Lord. Used to establish that ultimate safety comes from God despite human preparation.

3 John 2

Context: Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. Cited to show it is normal and biblical to desire safety and welfare.

Psalm 33:17

Context: A horse is a vain thing for safety; neither shall he deliver any by his great strength. Used to emphasize that human weapons are useless without God.

Psalm 127:1

Context: 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. Reinforces God's sovereignty in protection.

Leviticus 25:18

Context: Wherefore ye shall do my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them; and ye shall dwell in the land in safety. Connects obedience to safety.

2 Timothy 2:7

Context: Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things. Illustrates the balance between human effort and divine enablement.

Luke 18:2

Context: There was a judge which feared not God, neither regarded man. Used to argue that those who do not fear God will not regard man.

2 Samuel 11

Context: Uriah the Hittite had his wife stolen and was murdered by David. Example that good men do not always win.

Ecclesiastes 8:11

Context: Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. Explains why wickedness increases when justice is delayed.

Proverbs 15:1

Context: A soft answer turneth away wrath, but grievous words stir up anger. Used to teach verbal de-escalation.

Psalm 71:18

Context: Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation. Encourages older believers to continue serving and training.

Isaiah 46:4

Context: Even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you. God promises to sustain the elderly, implying they can still act.

Colossians 3:23-24

Context: Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men. Applied to training and defense as ministry.

1 Corinthians 10:31

Context: Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. Reinforces that all actions, including self-defense, should glorify God.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5

Context: For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh... bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. Used to urge biblical thinking about self-defense.

Proverbs 22:3

Context: A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished. Cited to support preparation and situational awareness.

Proverbs 27:12

Context: A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished. Parallel to Proverbs 22:3, reinforcing the need for foresight.

Historical References

National Transgender Visibility Day decree by Joe Biden

Context: Mentioned as a current event showing cultural hostility to Christianity.

Candace Owens fired for saying 'Christ is King'

Context: Cited as an example of anti-Christian sentiment; a Jewish man called the statement anti-Semitic.

Church bombings in California and Nevada (2024)

Context: Three Baptist churches bombed; one LDS gymnasium had an unexploded device. Reported by a pastor friend.

New Life Church shooting, Colorado

Context: A murderer attacked the church; armed security member Jeanne Assam shot and stopped him. Example of effective church defense.

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

Context: 94% of school shootings occurred after this act, used to argue gun-free zones increase danger.

Squatters in New York and murder of homeowner

Context: Examples of lawlessness: owner arrested, another murdered by squatters. Illustrates societal breakdown.

Ron Borsch, retired law enforcement and trainer

Context: Quoted extensively on church security statistics and preparedness questions.

Norman Geisler and J.P. Moreland debate on moral duty

Context: Quoted on the moral obligation to defend family; equates failure to protect with child abuse.

Clint Smith quote on training

Context: Owning a handgun does not make you armed any more than owning a guitar makes you a musician. Emphasizes need for training.

Important Quotes

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

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

God is not going to fulfill our responsibilities for us.

Significance: Key argument that while God is sovereign, believers must actively prepare and defend.

Churches are not the sanctuary they once were.

Significance: Highlights the reality that places of worship are now targets of violence.

94% happened in gun-free zones. Gun-free zones are an invitation for criminals to do as they please, because criminals do not obey the law.

Significance: Argues that policies restricting weapons make people more vulnerable.

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

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

To permit murder when one could have prevented it is morally wrong.

Significance: Strong moral statement from Geisler that failing to act is an evil of omission.

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

Significance: Direct application of the duty to defend one's family.

A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.

Significance: Biblical call to foresight and preparation, used to support situational awareness.

Discussion Questions

How do we balance trusting God for safety with taking practical steps to prepare and defend ourselves?

Context: Based on Proverbs 21:31 and the tension between divine sovereignty and human responsibility.

In what ways has our culture become more hostile to Christianity, and how should that affect our approach to church security?

Context: Weaver cites statistics on church attacks and cultural shifts.

What are the moral implications of failing to protect our families or congregations when we have the ability to do so?

Context: Drawing from Geisler's quote and the Sixth Commandment's positive duty.

How can we develop better situational awareness in our daily lives without becoming paranoid?

Context: Weaver lists practical principles for situational awareness.

What steps can our church take to improve security while maintaining a welcoming atmosphere?

Context: Ron Borsch's assessment questions challenge churches to evaluate readiness.

How does viewing self-defense and training as a ministry change our motivation and approach?

Context: Colossians 3:23-24 is applied to training and defense.

What are some practical ways older or physically limited individuals can contribute to church safety?

Context: Weaver encourages older believers using Psalm 71:18 and Isaiah 46:4.

How should we respond biblically to the argument that Christians should be pacifists?

Context: Weaver addresses the objection that Christ was a pacifist and the command to Peter to sheathe his sword.

Applications

Prioritize training and preparation

Summary: Believers should invest time and resources in learning self-defense, weapon proficiency, and situational awareness as a matter of stewardship.

Evidence: You have money for whatever you want. You prioritize the way you spend your money. ... Owning a handgun does not make you armed.

Develop a security plan for your church

Summary: Churches should form security teams, identify cover and concealment, and plan for threats, including protecting children.

Evidence: Do you have a church security team? ... Who is protecting the children in these locations?

Practice situational awareness daily

Summary: Be mindful of surroundings, establish baselines, avoid distractions, and trust intuition to avoid danger.

Evidence: Be mindful of your surroundings. ... Trust your own intuition and act decisively.

Carry and know how to use a weapon if legally permitted

Summary: Weaver encourages carrying at church and being proficient in shooting accurately and quickly.

Evidence: Do you carry a gun at church? ... Can you shoot accurately? And will you shoot?

Learn verbal de-escalation techniques

Summary: Use a soft answer to turn away wrath and avoid unnecessary conflict.

Evidence: A soft answer turneth away wrath, but grievous words stir up anger.

Do not excuse yourself due to age or limitations

Summary: Older believers can still train and contribute; God promises to sustain them.

Evidence: Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, forsake me not... Even to your old age I am he.

View defense as a sacred duty

Summary: Approach training and protection as ministry, doing it heartily for the Lord.

Evidence: Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord. ... Training should be done to the glory of God.

Think biblically about self-defense

Summary: Bring every thought captive to Christ, aligning views on safety and preparation with Scripture.

Evidence: Bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. ... We must think biblically.

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-06T03:12:14Z

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T16:12:01Z

Clean Transcript

Safety, Preparation, and Situational Awareness

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

Proverbs 21:31. The Scripture says, "The horse is prepared against the day of battle, but safety is of the Lord." This past week, I was preaching in Greenville, South Carolina. I was actually preaching at a local Presbyterian church. They had asked me to deal with the biblical doctrine of self-defense. And I did that on Monday night. And on Tuesday night, I dealt with some objections, the main objection against the biblical doctrine of self-defense. And that's when the Lord told Peter to put his sword back up into his sheath. Then they asked me particularly to speak on Wednesday night on what I would call safety, preparation, and situational awareness. And I did so.
#1 | 0:11 to 1:06 | cleaned
And it took me about an hour and 15 minutes to finish the message. I want to try to compress that message and preach it today. And here's why: there's a number of things that really impressed my heart. Number one, of course, you know that Joe Biden has made a decree that this day is National Transgender Visibility Day. And of course, that's a slap in the face of God. It's a slap in the face of every child of God, every Christian. And whether you like Trump or dislike Trump is immaterial, but Trump has called on Biden to apologize to the nation. I think he should apologize to God and apologize to every Christian as well. But that's beside the point. But that is one thing.
#2 | 1:07 to 1:49 | cleaned
Another thing is some of you have heard about Candace Owens. She's a black woman, I guess a journalist, whatever. I don't know what she does. I know she's fairly popular. But she recently got fired, and the reason she got fired is because she said, "Christ is King." And there was a Jewish man, and I don't remember his name. I've got it all written out at the house. He said, and I'm quoting, that saying "Jesus Christ is King" or "Christ is King" is anti-Semitic and that the Jews are God's chosen people and they are far superior to any mere Christian. Of course, that would be racist in and of itself as well as a denial of a lot of things. And that just kind of set me off. I was hoping and thinking that maybe about 10 million people ought to just send him a little note saying, "Christ is King," and just, you know, etc. But that was one thing. Another thing is this: I was talking to a pastor friend this morning.
#3 | 1:50 to 3:04 | cleaned
And he was telling me—he asked me, "Did you hear about the churches that have been bombed last Thursday?" I said, "No, I have not heard one thing about it." He said, "Well, one of them was actually a Latter Day Saints building. And it was really in a gymnasium, the young people there. Someone threw an explosive device in there; it did not go off. But the three churches in California and in Nevada were Baptist churches."
#4 | 3:05 to 3:36 | cleaned
And yes, they did explode there. And yes, people were endangered and people were hurt. That is for sure. So I got to thinking about this, and then I preached this this morning to our people in White Cross. And when I got through, one of my men said, "Well, that is an Ezekiel 33 message. That is a warning message for sure." And it is. But I want you to look at that again when he said, "The horse is prepared against the day of battle, but safety is of the Lord."
#5 | 3:36 to 4:04 | cleaned
Everyone should be interested in safety and self-defense. Truly, only those that are foolish and naive will not be concerned with their safety or with their welfare. It is normal, natural, and biblical to want to be in health and to want to prosper. It was John the Apostle in 3 John 2 who said, "Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth." And I got to thinking, if most of us prospered financially, and if most of us prospered physically, the way our souls prosper, most of us would be in very poor health and we'd be very poor, period. But that's what John said: "I wish above all things that we may prosper and be in health, even as our soul prospereth." So if you consider your safety important, then obviously, you have to put a high priority on safety and on preparation as well as self-defense. So as long as one remains unconcerned about those things, obviously, clearly, he is not going to be able to defend himself.
#6 | 4:04 to 5:17 | cleaned
Now, let me give you two major caveats or two major warnings concerning this message. The first one is set forth in Proverbs 21:31, when the Bible says, "The horse is prepared against the day of battle, but safety is of the Lord." Surely each of us understands that primarily and foremost, our safety is in the hands of the sovereign God of heaven and earth. That's what he said: "The horse is prepared against the day of battle, but safety is of the Lord." That is for sure. If God does not protect us, all of our preparations, all of our planning, all of our abilities are worthless.
#7 | 5:17 to 5:59 | cleaned
They are null and void and completely useless. The Bible says in Psalm 33:17, "A horse is a vain thing for safety; neither shall he deliver any by his great strength." We could paraphrase that. We could say an AR-15 is a vain thing for safety. We could say a machine gun's a vain thing for safety. We could say a tank is a vain thing for safety. An airplane is a vain thing for safety. Neither will it deliver anybody by its great firepower. In other words, the Bible is telling us first and foremost that safety is indeed of God. That's why the Bible says in Psalm 127:1, "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."
#8 | 6:00 to 6:59 | cleaned
So without me going into detail, let me just tell you first and foremost that Scripture tells us that if we want His protection, we need to be obedient unto Him. The Bible says in Leviticus 25:18, "Wherefore ye shall do my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them; and ye shall dwell in the land in safety." In other words, safety is connected with obedience. So the first caveat, the first warning, as we've got to understand, is that safety first and foremost is of God. The second caveat, or the second warning, would be this: We must understand that God is not going to fulfill our responsibilities for us. He is sovereign. He is omnipotent. He is omniscient. He is omnipresent. He is immutable. But He is not going to do for us that which we can do for ourselves. Please understand this: God is not going to pray for you. God is not going to repent for you. God is not going to think for you. God is not going to train for you.
#9 | 7:00 to 8:12 | cleaned
And God is not going to use the means for you that He has ordained that you use. Now, we have to keep these truths in a proper perspective. First, God is sovereign. Secondly, we are responsible.
#10 | 8:13 to 8:25 | cleaned
Now, there's a good Scripture that will illustrate this in 2 Timothy 2:7. That's where the Apostle Paul told Timothy, "Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things." It is true that understanding is the gift of God. But as I've said before, you don't go to bed stupid and wake up smart. He said, "Consider what I say, and the Lord give thee understanding in all things." The understanding is going to come from consideration, meditation, application, but it's not going to just simply be thrown into your brain, and all of a sudden you wake up understanding everything.
#11 | 8:26 to 9:04 | cleaned
It doesn't work like that. God said, "Consider what I say, and the Lord give thee understanding in all things." So we at the same time must understand that God is absolutely sovereign and that our safety is first and foremost in Him, but He is not going to do for us that which He has commanded for you and me to perform. We are responsible. It is true that God empowered Samson. But when Samson came off that mountain, he had to pick up the jawbone of an ass and slay a thousand Philistines. God did not fight for him. It is true God saved him. It is true God empowered him. But God did not fight for him. It is true that God helped David win over Goliath. But David chose those five smooth stones. David put the stone in the sling, and David slung the sling. God did not sling for him. That was David's responsibility.
#12 | 9:05 to 10:08 | cleaned
Now, let me just point out: anyone who is over 70 years old understands how things have changed in this nation. I'm probably the oldest individual in the room at this point. No, I've got one older than me. He's not nearly as handsome, but he's older. He has more hair. But listen, we understand how things have changed in this country. And I've said this before, but 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 few and far between.
#13 | 10:09 to 10:51 | cleaned
What do you say? Were there bad people back then? I suppose there were. But the truth of the matter is, most people even back then obeyed the Ten Commandments, regardless of whether they were Christian or not. They were moral people is what I'm trying to say. In fact, I don't ever remember in my entire life one of our banks being robbed in our hometown. Alice didn't remember it either. In fact, I asked a deputy just a few weeks ago, I said, "Has there been a bank robbery in our hometown?" He said, "I don't know. I don't think so." He said there was one that happened a long, long time ago. I'm just simply pointing out the fact: I know people were evil, and I know people were sinners even back then. But at least things were different back then. So I'm just simply pointing out the fact that we've got to accept the truth that things have changed. And I think if you and I are interested in our safety, if we're interested in preparation, the first thing we must accept is that things are not like they used to be.
#14 | 10:52 to 12:07 | cleaned
Things have changed. You have to believe and you have to receive the truth that there are some really, really bad people in this world. I'm going to say it a different way: There are people who are just pure evil in this world. There are people who will kill you and smile and laugh while they do so. There are people who will steal everything you have and brag about the fact that they got away with it.
#15 | 12:08 to 12:37 | cleaned
In other words, these folks have absolutely no regard for God. They do not honor Him. And consequently, they have no regard for man. You remember that passage in Luke 18:2, when our Lord said, "There was a judge which feared not God, neither regarded man." So if someone does not fear God, he's not going to regard man. So we have to understand things have changed. Culture has changed. Society has changed.
#16 | 12:37 to 13:14 | cleaned
Do not live in a fool's paradise. Do not be deceived. Do not be deluded. Do not think that nothing evil will ever happen to you. Let me tell you something: good men do not always win. I have a message on that. All you have to do is read 2 Samuel chapter 11. You'll find that Uriah the Hittite had his wife stolen from him, and then he was murdered by David. In that instance, David was the bad guy. Uriah was the good guy.
#17 | 13:15 to 13:52 | cleaned
He was the one honoring God. David was the one dishonoring God. And you can read how God judged him and what God said to him in 2 Samuel chapter 12. But the point I'm trying to make is good men do not always win out. And there's a reason why we are faced today with such wickedness and such evil. And that's found in Ecclesiastes 8:11, where God says, "Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil." So God says when there is no execution of His laws, all that does is encourage the criminals. Criminals are coddled left and right.
#18 | 13:53 to 14:47 | cleaned
They thwart God's law, they laugh in the face of God, and then the judicial system, instead of punishing them, rewards them. Look, if you would, at all of the illegal aliens and what is happening in this country. You remember in New York, the lady who had the million-dollar house? Squatters had taken over. She got into an argument with them. She called the law, or the law was called, and guess what they did? They arrested her. They arrested the owner. And did you read also about the squatters who took over the house? And when the woman who owned the house came in, they murdered her and cut her into pieces. And guess what?
#19 | 14:47 to 15:32 | cleaned
We have to understand something. We are not living in Mayberry. And Andy Griffith is not our sheriff. Things have changed.
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The next thing you must accept, I really believe, is this: 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. The fact that you do not think, or the fact that you do not believe, or the fact that you do not wish that anything like that would ever happen to you, will not change reality. It will not stop an attack just because you think, "It could never ever happen to me." It will happen to you. And if you understand that there is a change, you have to understand that we're living in an extremely evil time. Now, I told you in time past—and I'm just going to mention, I'm not going to go in detail.
#21 | 15:45 to 16:33 | cleaned
But I've got a good friend who is nearly a 30-year police officer. He lacks two more years retiring. He's a big man. He took his family to a little Chinese restaurant out in the country, out on a junction. And he left his weapon in his car. And when he went in, the first thing he did was go into the bathroom to wash his hands. And here came a man, a big, tall black man, screaming, hollering, cursing, beating on the door, trying to get in. And my friend said, "I'll be out in just a moment." And then his big son—one of them, he had two sons, big boys—said, "Look out, Daddy, he's got a gun." And when my friend came out, sure enough, the man had a gun. He went in the bathroom, he came back out, he still had the weapon out. My friend looked at the owner of the little Chinese restaurant and said, "What's wrong with him?" And the owner said, "He just hates white men." And my friend said, "Well, we'll probably just go ahead and leave and get out of his way."
#22 | 16:34 to 17:52 | cleaned
Let him have the restaurant. And so he told his family to go outside and get in the car. And as they walked out, the man followed him out with the weapon. He said, "Now I had a choice. My weapon was in the car. I could either try to get it while he already has his weapon out in his hand, or I could just get in the car and drive off since my family was already in the car." So he got in the car and drove off and straight to the police station, swore out a warrant for him.
#23 | 17:52 to 18:16 | cleaned
And here's what he said: "You tell everybody that I said, don't go around unarmed. It will happen when you think it cannot possibly happen." So just because you think nothing can ever happen to you does not mean that it will not happen.
#24 | 18:18 to 18:33 | cleaned
Now, I'm going to give you several quotes today, because I want to really trust that this is going to impact you. I'm going to give you a couple of quotes from a man by the name of Ron Borsch. You probably don't know who he is, and if I just said his name, you probably would think nothing of the quotes. But Ron Borsch happens to be, number one, the staff instructor for the Kent Martial Arts.
#25 | 18:34 to 18:56 | cleaned
Well, that doesn't mean anything in and of itself, but he was also a Vietnam veteran. He was a paratrooper in the 101st Airborne. That does not mean anything necessarily in and of itself, but he's also a 30-year retired law enforcement officer: 20 years as a range master, 17 years as a SWAT operator and trainer. He's now retired, but he still retains his commission, and he still acts as a consultant.
#26 | 18:56 to 19:25 | cleaned
So I want you to listen to what he has to say. Here it is. Quote: "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 from violence there. Unfortunately, churches are not the sanctuary they once were. Here we are not talking about mere arson, assault, burglary, mugging, rape, or robbery. Even worse, churches can and have been the site of murder, multiple murders, and rapid mass murder."
#27 | 19:25 to 20:06 | cleaned
"About a year ago, churches were the third most commonly targeted location by active killers after schools, kindergarten through 12, and then colleges and universities." So listen to what he said: schools, and third, churches. He goes on: "The survey of over 1,300 congregations in the United States finds that in 2014"—don't worry about that, it's 10 years ago, but it's going to be brought up to date—"the survey of over 1,300 congregations in the U.S. finds that in 2014, 39% of the congregations experienced some type of property or violent crime, from vandalism to homicide."
#28 | 20:08 to 20:54 | cleaned
He continues: "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 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."
#29 | 20:55 to 21:34 | cleaned
Now, I'm going to give you another quote before I continue. This quote is from this headline. Listen: "Skyrocketing Number of Attacks on Christians' 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 policy at home and abroad." Let me just stop right there. I have a dear friend that lives in Germany.
#30 | 21:36 to 22:17 | cleaned
He and I correspond every day. And this morning he sent me an email. And one of the articles in the email was how Europe and the world were actually—and America, because of our intense stupidity. But anyhow, he says, "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 detailed how such incidents of violence have exploded over 800% in the last six years. During the first 11 months of 2023, there were 436 acts of hostility against churches in America, including 315 vandalisms, 75 arsons, 30 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 few areas of America left untouched, with reports coming from 48 states and Washington, D.C."
#31 | 22:18 to 23:58 | cleaned
There were 91 such attacks in California. Now the point I'm going to make next, you should understand this. I've had people tell me, "Well, all we've got to do is put a little sign out there saying 'No Weapons Allowed.'" When you go ahead and post your sign, "No Weapons Allowed," all you're telling everybody is we don't have weapons. We're not going to fight. We're not going to defend ourselves. A sign like that is not going to stop a criminal.
#32 | 23:59 to 24:30 | cleaned
I saw a cartoon some time ago. It showed these two men with masks on and guns in their hand. And they were approaching this building, and it had "No Guns Allowed." And one looked at the other and said, "Oh, shoot, we'll have to go back. They don't allow weapons in there." Of course, it was a spoof. No, but no criminal is going to think like that. What they're going to do is say, "We've got it made. Nobody in there has weapons, and nobody's going to fight us. We'll do what we want to do."
#33 | 24:32 to 25:02 | cleaned
Now, I'm going to go a little bit further. Because we talked about gun-free zones. We talked about our schools, our universities, our churches sometimes being gun-free zones. I want you to listen to this: "Gun-Free School Zones and Shooting Statistics, 2024 Updated." Listen: "There have been 2,646 school shooting incidents in the United States since 1966." Wow. "Of those, 2,205—that is 94%—occurred after the 1990 School Zone Safety Act, which was amended in 1995."
#34 | 25:03 to 25:40 | cleaned
Think about this, he says.
#35 | 25:40 to 25:42 | cleaned
94% happened in gun-free zones. Gun-free zones are an invitation for criminals to do as they please, because criminals do not obey the law. And that's a fact.
#36 | 26:01 to 26:15 | cleaned
Now there was a church in Colorado, the New Life Church, that was attacked by a murderer with a rifle, two pistols, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. He wanted to massacre these people. Seventy miles away, and 12 hours earlier, he had gone to the Arvada Missionary Church and he murdered two people there and wounded two more. The New Life Church is a megachurch. It has 7,000 members. When he pulled up to the New Life Church, he murdered two in the parking lot, wounded three more. Inside the church, they heard the shooting, and they had the foresight to train some people and have some security.
#37 | 26:17 to 27:20 | cleaned
One individual, who happened to be a woman, Jeanne Assam, who was a former police officer—when she heard the shooting, she ran to the source of the shooting and saw the man coming in with his weapons. She pulled out her pistol and began to shoot him. She hit him several times. She knocked him to the floor. And there, instead of fighting back, he pulled out his pistol and blew his own brains out.
#38 | 27:22 to 27:55 | cleaned
And here's what she said. She said, "God guided me and protected me. And I did not think for a minute to run away."
#39 | 27:57 to 28:07 | cleaned
Now you're talking about preparation. Let me tell you what preparation involves. It involves not only owning a weapon. It involves knowing how to use that weapon. It involves how to shoot accurately. It involves knowing how to shoot quickly. It also involves knowing how to deal with any malfunctions, which is a temporary stoppage of that weapon. You'd be amazed at how many lives have been saved because when people come to mass murder, and their weapon malfunctions, they don't know how to fix it. And that gives people an opportunity then to tackle them, etc.
#40 | 28:10 to 28:49 | cleaned
So the point I'm trying to make: Do you have a proper mindset? Do you have a biblical mindset? Do you understand the Sixth Commandment? The Sixth Commandment, "Thou shalt not kill"—that's the negative. The positive is thou shalt preserve life. You have a duty to protect life and preserve life. So, do you know how to use less-lethal devices if needed? Do you know how to use tear gas? Do you know how to use a Taser? I'm just asking, do you know how to try to de-escalate?
#41 | 28:50 to 29:25 | cleaned
So, if Steve and I got into an argument and things are getting out of hand, you know, the Scripture says in Proverbs 15:1, "A soft answer turneth away wrath, but grievous words stir up anger." I don't have to holler back at him. I can lower my voice. I can speak softly. I don't have to be irritated just because he's irritated. Years ago, my office in a Christian school, a huge Christian school, was right next door to a lady whose sole job was to take care of irate parents. And I have sat in my office and I've heard parents come in screaming. They were so angry. They were so mad. And dear, sweet Sherry, as loud as they got, she got softer, and lower, and lower, and quieter.
#42 | 29:28 to 30:39 | cleaned
And pretty soon, they saw what they were. And they saw what she was, and they got embarrassed. And then she was able to work it out. A soft answer turneth away wrath, but grievous words stir up anger. And the fact of the matter is, if Mike wants to jump on me, I can turn and walk away. I don't have to stand there. It takes two to tango.
#43 | 30:39 to 31:02 | cleaned
I'm just saying we need to learn how to de-escalate verbally. We also need to learn how the mind works under stress. Do you realize when you're under stress, one of the first things that happens to you is you freeze. And the reason you freeze is you're shocked. You're saying, "I don't believe this. I don't believe this is happening to me." And when you freeze for that moment, you're giving your adversary a great advantage. But usually most of us would freeze until the fight or flight concept came roaring through our minds. But we either have to fight or we have to get out of there. We also need to understand the OODA loop.
#44 | 31:02 to 31:55 | cleaned
We deal with this in the advanced class. But the OODA loop was actually discovered by Colonel John Boyd, who was an Air Force pilot. The OODA loop simply means that you observe, you orient, you decide, and then you act. There's a way to reboot that loop, which you have to learn. So if Mike is hiding behind that door, and he's going to mug me, he's already seen me coming. Wow. Let's see. He's already observed me. He's already oriented himself. He's already decided he's going to act. And all he's got to do is when I get to the edge of that door, act.
#45 | 31:56 to 32:44 | cleaned
And he throws that gun in my face and says, "Give me all your money." Now I'm behind the loop. I have to do something to distract him to put him behind that loop. In other words, you need to understand this: If we are not prepared, we've got to understand that our minds, when a stressful, dangerous situation comes along, the first thing we're going to probably do is freeze. We're going to say, "I don't think it's happening to me. I can't believe this."
#46 | 32:45 to 33:15 | cleaned
Now I will tell you this: the best way to win a fight is to avoid it. If you don't have to fight, fine, that's wonderful. That brings me to what is known as situational awareness. The truth is most people are completely, totally unaware of their surroundings. Most folks are playing with their phones, playing games, talking, texting, doing something. You can probably see this still on YouTube, I'm sure, where this woman is walking down the sidewalk, and she's got her phone, and she's texting back and forth.
#47 | 33:15 to 33:54 | cleaned
And here, right in front of her, are two doors wide open. Here's this business that has a cellar, and they're moving things in and out of the cellar. She walks right into the open doors and falls in. The next thing you know, here's the ambulance, and they're bringing her out on a stretcher. I don't know what all she broke. But she was totally, completely unaware. That's where most people are. We're daydreaming. We're off in la-la land somewhere. We're not paying attention to anything.
#48 | 33:54 to 34:25 | cleaned
Situational awareness is not something that you can learn by reading a book. It's not something that you can master in one evening or a week. Learning to exercise situational awareness is an exercise in and of itself. So, Eugene Nelson gave some ideas concerning situational awareness. I added to the list. So I want to give you his first. He said, first of all, be mindful of your surroundings. Know where you are. Watch what you're doing.
#49 | 34:26 to 35:06 | cleaned
For instance, driving up and down on the interstate. Every Sunday, I'm checking not only in front of me, but my rearview mirror, the side mirrors as well. Occasionally, Alice, I see someone who's weaving. And I think, "Oh, no, he's either drunk, texting, or something." So I either have to slow down, or I have to get walking past him and get around him very quickly. Because he's going to be heading into a wreck sooner or later.
#50 | 35:09 to 35:42 | cleaned
Okay, we were going up I-75 to the Atlanta airport. It is iced over. We were driving about 30 miles an hour on I-75. The road was practically empty. No one was on the road because it was iced. But we had to get to the airport. A fellow passed us in a brand new Ford pickup, four-wheel drive, doing 70 miles an hour. Alice said, "Wow, he's in a hurry."
#51 | 35:42 to 36:16 | cleaned
I said, "Don't worry, sweetheart. We'll pass him shortly." And sure enough, about a mile down the road, that brand new pickup truck was in the median up against an iron rail, torn to pieces. I'm just saying you have to be aware. Sometimes I'm driving home and I look in my side mirrors or rearview mirror and I tell Alice, "Oh, two are fixing to blow right by us."
#52 | 36:16 to 36:47 | cleaned
And they will, 90 miles an hour. So this is what he's talking about: be mindful of your surroundings. The second thing he says: establish a baseline. A baseline is what you expect to see in any given situation. Anything outside of that you need to be concerned about. So if you came to this library, and you walk in the library, you expect to see people reading, sitting at a computer, or talking quietly. You don't expect to see people running up and down hollering and screaming. You don't expect to see shelves of books being pushed over. No, no, no. That's out of character for a library. And that means you need to pay attention. Something is going on. So this is what it means by establishing a baseline. The next one is anticipate and predict. In other words, you need to anticipate what could happen to you.
#53 | 36:48 to 37:52 | cleaned
Is this a good place for someone to mug me? In other words, I need to be anticipating and predicting in the sense that I'm watching out for anything unusual, anything that might happen. And then he goes on to say, number four, avoid distractions and complacency. Distractions. We get those all the time. The phone rings. We hear music or we see something outside that gets our attention and we're distracted. It happens to everyone.
#54 | 37:54 to 38:32 | cleaned
I remember years ago when we lived in Chesapeake, we had to cross a railroad track. And always stop at that railroad track. One day, I had so much on my mind. I was almost home and then it dawned on me that I stopped at that railroad track. Did I even look? I didn't remember looking. I didn't remember stopping. I did. I finally figured it out. But I didn't remember because I was distracted by my own thoughts. So you have to make sure that you are not distracted. And then complacency.
#55 | 38:34 to 39:17 | cleaned
That is when you think nothing could happen here. That's what my friend thought at that little out-of-the-way Chinese restaurant way out in the country: nothing had happened. When you think that nothing can happen, and you get complacent, that's exactly when it's going to happen. And then he says, number five, you trust your own intuition and act decisively. Now, here's a good definition of intuition: your intuition is your subconscious mind processing information before your conscious mind can process it.
#56 | 39:17 to 39:49 | cleaned
I like to use this illustration because everyone knows what I'm talking about. You've been in situations where you said, "The hair on the back of my neck stood up." Oh, you knew something was not right. You knew something was wrong. When that happens, take yourself and leave. Yeah, you know, don't hang around. Just leave. Then he says, learn from feedback and mistakes. In other words, if you make a mistake, learn from it. Feedback is if other people have been in the same situation, see what they've learned. You need to learn from that. And then he said, number seven, you need to train regularly and realistically. He's not talking about training as far as fighting right now, but training your mind to observe and training your mind to pay attention to whatever is going on at that particular time. I'm going to add some to these. Number eight, if I keep going: don't look like or act like easy prey. The sheep that straggles is the one that gets eaten by the wolf.
#57 | 39:51 to 41:09 | cleaned
That's all there is to it. And if you're walking down the road or the sidewalk, and you've got your head bowed, and you're looking at a phone, you're not paying attention. You're in for trouble. You're easy prey. That's what they do in the knockout game up north. They come up behind you or they'll come to the side and hit you upside the head and knock you down.
#58 | 41:11 to 41:34 | cleaned
And there have been individuals who have been killed like that. Yes, yes, the blow would have knocked them out. But when they hit their head on the concrete, that's a horse of a different color. And if you act like you're easy prey, you will be preyed upon. It's just that simple. Don't act like that. Act like you know where you're going. Act like you know what you're doing.
#59 | 41:35 to 41:57 | cleaned
I've been in plenty of places where you would need special permission to be there. But I didn't get the special permission, and I went there. How did I do it? I just acted like I knew exactly what I was doing and exactly where I was going. No one said a word to me. But you act like you're confused. You act like you don't know what's going on. You're easy prey. Number nine: here it is. If you see someone dressed improperly for the weather, you need to be aware.
#60 | 41:57 to 42:35 | cleaned
Now, last Sunday, Alice and I stopped for a cup of coffee. I stayed in the car, observing, watching, while she went in to get the coffee. Everyone was in t-shirts and shorts. It was 80 degrees. And here came a young man with a heavy coat on, a thick collar. So I watched him. I watched him as he went inside. I watched him inside through the windows. And about that time Alice was coming out. And I said to her, I asked, "Did you see that young man with that heavy coat on?" She said, "Yeah."
#61 | 42:39 to 43:24 | cleaned
Let me tell you something. You can hide shotguns. You can hide rifles under these heavy coats. When you see someone that's dressed inappropriately for the weather, you better be concerned. And I'm going to say number 10: you pay attention to body language. You pay attention to tonal patterns. If you see somebody clenching their fist, fine. If you see someone gritting their teeth, you better pay attention. You see someone just staring, staring, staring, staring, staring, and not looking away, you better pay attention. You see someone just kind of glancing around—what are they doing? Seeing if cops are around, seeing if anybody's watching them. I mean, you know, you just better pay attention to something like that. In other words, you look and you make sure that you listen for tonal patterns. I can say—I could say to Alice, "I love you, sweetheart." She understands that. But I could also look at her and say, "I love you." And she knows I'm mad as I can be at that particular time. You see, tonal patterns, they mean something.
#62 | 43:24 to 44:44 | cleaned
And then, of course, lastly, I would say you need to look for signs of a concealed weapon. A lot of times, people do not really conceal their weapons. They imprint on their shirts or their little white jackets, or you can see the bulge. Just pay attention. I was in a camp. I was preaching at that camp. And there was one man there who was very vocal. And I considered him a very good man, a good friend.
#63 | 44:44 to 45:18 | cleaned
I came up to him, I put my arm on his shoulder. 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?" Well, he said, "Yes, I see you noticed." I said, "Well, yes, I did." And I said, "Here's my comment. If somebody surprises you, and hits you upside the head, and knocks you out, I said, it's going to hurt your spine very greatly when you fall back on that weapon. I said, if they don't knock you out, you have a hard time accessing it, because it's in the small of your back."
#64 | 45:20 to 45:57 | cleaned
I said, "I wouldn't do that. But that's you, you know." I'm just simply saying, you need to look for signs. You need to observe. That's it. And I will also say this, and I've said it before: trust your instincts. If you think something is wrong, just extract yourself from that and leave. That's all there is to it.
#65 | 45:58 to 46:20 | cleaned
Now, I want to go back to Ron Borsch. I want you to listen to this. We think we're prepared. We think we're prepared in church. So Gary, you listen to this, and Steve, you listen to this. Remember, Ron Borsch, 30 years retired cop. Here's some questions that he's asking. I added two of mine. But here's what he asked. He says, "I'm asking these questions to see if you are prepared." Here we go. He asked, "Do you carry a gun at church? Why or why not? If you have a gun, can you access it quickly?" Then I added two: "Can you shoot accurately? And will you shoot?" Then he says this: "Take a look at your church building."
#66 | 46:20 to 47:18 | cleaned
"Many have very large rooms where the congregation gathers 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?" Remember when that guy came into the church out in Texas with a shotgun? He murdered two. And one man at 15 yards, while he was walking, made a headshot and killed the murderer. So he's asking, "Can you make a shot from the distance that you need to make a shot?"
#67 | 47:19 to 47:57 | cleaned
And then he says this, listen carefully: "When is the last time you practiced shooting that far?" And then he said, "If you can't make this shot, what is your plan to move closer?" He says, "Often during worship, lights are dim, or at night electricity goes off. Do you carry a bright enough flashlight to fully identify a threat at any range? Do you know how to use a flashlight and a weapon at the same time?"
#68 | 47:57 to 48:27 | cleaned
We teach that in the advanced class. Listen to these questions: "What events would cause you to draw your gun and shoot?" Now listen to this question: "Would you shoot the guy who is ranting at the pulpit with a gun in his hand? Or would you wait until after he shot someone?" Then he says this: "There isn't any right answer, but you must know personal boundaries lie and what your go signal will be."
#69 | 48:30 to 49:00 | cleaned
Then he asks, "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 the threat? If you plan on stopping the threat, who will take care of your family? Do they have a plan to get to safety? What can be used as cover or as an improvised weapon in your church?" And everyone in this room should know the difference between cover and concealment.
#70 | 49:02 to 49:32 | cleaned
I could turn this table upside down. I could lie behind it. I'm concealed. You can't see me. But it's not cover because a round would go right through this table. Cover will stop a round. Concealment will not. And so we ask the question: What can we use as cover? Look at your church building. Or as an improvised weapon in your church. If you don't have a weapon on you, what could you use to attack the attacker?
#71 | 49:33 to 50:02 | cleaned
And then he asked this question, which I've preached on in time past. He said, "If your church has pew seating, do you sit near an aisle so that you can easily get out of the pew to address the threat?" Think about this one: "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?"
#72 | 50:03 to 50:28 | cleaned
"How do you plan on protecting the people in your congregation who are at their greatest risk? What about less serious threats? Do you have a plan to deal with thieves or aggressive beggars? 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 these locations?" And then listen to what he said: "If you can't answer these simple questions, you are not prepared for a violent incident in your place of worship."
#73 | 50:29 to 51:02 | cleaned
"It's time to start doing your homework." Wow.
#74 | 51:02 to 51:07 | cleaned
Now, I want to close with two truths. I want you to understand this. First of all, you must understand that you are not too old to train. And you're not too old to defend yourself. And you're not too old to defend others. I know that I can't do today what I did at 21. I can't even do what I did at 50. But the truth of the matter is there are some things I can do. There's some things I can do in old age better than a lot of younger folks.
#75 | 51:08 to 51:56 | cleaned
Someone has said it like this: "You're not defeated"—or let me rephrase it—"You do not lose if you're defeated. You only lose when you quit." And I'm not quitting. I'm not quitting now. I want you to look in your Bibles. So a vote for a board? Lord, give you the Scripture. Let me get—this actually happened in Pennsylvania. I was up there preaching. And they asked me to teach a two-day handgun class.
#76 | 51:58 to 52:29 | cleaned
I said, "Sure, I'll be glad to." And here is a lady. She would never be fast. But she listened well. And she was accurate. And so when we were shooting center chest, she had all of her rounds in a place about that big around. I mean, you could have taken the bottom of a coffee cup and covered them. When we did the headshots, it was the same thing. It's all in one spot.
#77 | 52:29 to 52:59 | cleaned
And so I was—we took a break. And I was commending her. And right behind her target was an old tree about four to five inches in diameter. And while I was commending her on her shooting ability, all of a sudden, I pushed around the way because the oak tree fell. She had cut it in two. She had hit in the same spot so frequently. She was in her 60s, probably. I'm just simply pointing out: Do not try to excuse yourself and say, "I'm too old." Don't try to excuse yourself.
#78 | 53:02 to 53:53 | cleaned
"I can't do what I used to do." None of us can do what we used to do. Don't try to excuse yourself and say, "Well, I don't have the money. I don't have the time." Yes, you do. You have money for whatever you want. You prioritize the way you spend your money. The reason you don't prioritize your money on training is you don't think it's necessary. You don't believe in it. You're opposed to it. The reason you don't prioritize your time in it is because you don't think it's important. We each have 24 hours of the day and we each have a certain amount of money, but you can prioritize everything. You can do whatever you really, truly want to do. That's a fact.
#79 | 53:53 to 54:37 | cleaned
Now, I want you to look in your Bibles, if you would, to Psalm 71:18. We're going to go to Isaiah. Look in Psalm 71:18. I love this passage. I quote it quite frequently. Look in Psalm 71:18. Look what David says. Psalm 71:18.
#80 | 54:37 to 55:01 | cleaned
"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? "I'm old and grayheaded," he said, "but God, forsake me not until I've showed this younger generation something. I'm going to show them your power and your grace and your mercy." Then if you look in your Bible, Isaiah 46:4. Isaiah 46, notice if you would please in verse 4. Look what God says. Isaiah 46:4. God says, "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." God says just because you're old doesn't mean anything. I can help you. I have the strength. I have the power. So first, don't think that you're too old to train. Don't think that you don't have the money to train. Don't think that you don't have the time to train.
#81 | 55:01 to 56:14 | cleaned
Don't think that you don't have the strength to train. You do. You might not can do everything, but you can do something. And whatever you can do, you ought to do by the grace of God. Here's the second truth: Self-defense, defense of others, and church security should be viewed as a ministry. Think about this. It cannot be done with improper mindsets, a lack of training, or a lack of dedication.
#82 | 56:14 to 56:45 | cleaned
I want you to look in your Bibles, if you would, to the book of Colossians, chapter 3, and look, if you would, please, at verses 23 and 24. Look at this. I want you to see this. Colossians 3:23. Here it is. Colossians 3:23: "And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men." Notice, whatsoever you do, whether you're eating, whether you're working, whether you're training, and whatsoever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.
#83 | 56:47 to 57:31 | 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 he said, "Ye serve the Lord Christ." And then, of course, in 1 Corinthians 10:31, which everyone should be able to quote, the Apostle Paul said, "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." So training should be done to the glory of God. Defending others should be done to the glory of God. Defending yourself should be done to the glory of God. Whatever you do, those who have faith in God, their heart in His service, and their mind to the task at hand are bound to fail. And people who naively assume that they will be able to function without training are deceiving and deluding themselves, and they will fail. It's just that simple. It's just that simple.
#84 | 57:32 to 58:38 | cleaned
If you do not wish for evil to triumph and the wicked to win and the criminals to control, you must train for God's glory and for the good of the brethren. You must be able to protect your family and protect your congregation. Remember what Clint Smith said. Here it is: "Owning a handgun does not make you armed any more than owning a guitar makes you a musician." Owning a guitar doesn't make you a musician. Owning a gun doesn't make you armed.
#85 | 58:39 to 59:17 | cleaned
Unless you're trained with that weapon. I'm just simply saying. Now, I'm going to give you a quote. I want you to listen carefully. This quote comes from a debate. The title is "The Life and Death Debate: Moral Issues of Our Time" by Dr. Norman Geisler and J.P. Moreland. Norman Geisler is an Old Testament scholar, a preacher, theologian, written many books. I have a number of his books. But I want you to listen to what he said.
#86 | 59:19 to 59:51 | cleaned
"To permit murder when one could have prevented it is morally wrong. 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." Hang on. "God has laid the expectations at the feet of the heads of families that they protect, provide for, and defend their families and protect and defend their countries."
#87 | 59:54 to 1:00:52 | cleaned
"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 hasn't 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."
#88 | 1:00:53 to 1:01:33 | cleaned
"It is a duty based on the idea that man is made in God's image. It is His expectation that we do the utmost to preserve and defend ourselves when in danger. For He who is sovereign and who gives life, He does not expect us to be dismissive or cavalier about its loss. If you believe that it is your Christian duty to allow your children to be harmed by evildoers, and you actually allow it to happen because you think Christ was a pacifist, you're no better than a child abuser or a pedophile. God demands violence as a response to threats on our person because of the fact that man is created in God's image and life is to be preserved. It is our solemn duty."
#89 | 1:01:33 to 1:02:29 | cleaned
And then he concludes with this statement: "I'm afraid that 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 of the Ten Commandments. 'Thou shalt not murder' means 'thou shalt protect life.' If you're willing to sacrifice the safety and health of your wife or children to the evils of abuse, kidnapping, sexual predation, or death, God is not impressed by your fake morality. Capable of stopping it and choosing not to, you're no better than a child molester, and I would not even allow you around my grandchildren." End quote. Wow. Were those strong words? Yes, they were. Were they true words? Yes, they were.
#90 | 1:02:30 to 1:03:38 | cleaned
We need to learn what God says, and we need to have our hearts and our minds prepared for what is happening and what is going to happen. I want you to look at one last passage. I want you to turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 10. You know this passage because I've preached on it previously, but I want you to see it in light of what I'm preaching today. Look at this. 2 Corinthians chapter 10.
#91 | 1:03:40 to 1:04:15 | cleaned
And let's begin reading there with verse 3. The Apostle Paul says, "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh." So he's talking about a war.
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Now look in verse 4: "For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds." Now, Paul is not saying that modern-day weapons or physical weapons are useless and worthless. What he is saying in this verse is that physical weapons are useless in the kind of warfare that he's talking about. When you look at verse 4, he said, "For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal"—that is, they're not fleshly—"but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds."
#93 | 1:04:27 to 1:05:05 | cleaned
Now, your stronghold is your place of defense. So if someone came through that door shooting and I was able to get into that closet back there, that closet would be my place of defense. It would be my stronghold.
#94 | 1:05:06 to 1:05:26 | cleaned
Now I want you to watch this. You're going to see the warfare that he's talking about. Verse 4: "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 here's my question.
#95 | 1:05:27 to 1:05:55 | cleaned
How many thoughts are you and I to have that are unbearable? None. We're to bring every thought into subjection to the captivity of Jesus Christ. That means we must think biblically. Concerning self-defense, defense of our families, defense of our neighbors, defense of our churches, we must think biblically concerning preparation. The Bible says in Proverbs 22:3 and also in Proverbs 27:12, "A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished." We need to think biblically when it comes to situational awareness. We need to have every one of our thoughts clarified and established by the Word of God. There is a biblical doctrine of self-defense. There is a biblical doctrine of preparation. There is a biblical doctrine of situational awareness. We must train our minds to think biblically. That's great. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we ask for your grace and your mercy and your help.
#96 | 1:05:55 to 1:07:06 | cleaned
Teach us, we pray. Build us up in the most holy faith and make us, Lord, what we should be for your honor and your glory. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.
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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-06T03:12:14Z

Safety, Preparation, and Situational Awareness

John Weaver | Freedom Ministries

Pastor John Weaver delivers a message on the biblical basis for safety, preparation, and situational awareness, emphasizing that while ultimate safety is from the Lord, believers have a responsibility to prepare and defend themselves and others. He warns that times have changed, evil is increasing, and churches are no longer safe havens. Using statistics, quotes from experts, and Scripture, he urges Christians to train physically and mentally, develop situational awareness, and view self-defense as a ministry duty.

Introduction and Context

Proverbs 21:31. The Scripture says,

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 21:31

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

Biblical Foundation: Safety is of the Lord

Citing Proverbs 21:31, Weaver establishes that ultimate safety comes from God, and all human preparations are vain without His protection. Obedience is linked to safety (Leviticus 25:18).

Scripture Reading — Psalm 33:17

"A horse is a vain thing for safety; neither shall he deliver any by his great strength."

Human Responsibility in Preparation

While God is sovereign, He does not fulfill our responsibilities for us. Believers must act, as illustrated by Samson and David, who were empowered by God but had to fight themselves.

And God is not going to use the means for you that He has ordained that you use. Now, we have to keep these truths in a proper perspective. First, God is sovereign. Secondly, we are responsible.

Accepting the Reality of Evil and Change

Weaver argues that society has changed, evil is rampant, and good men do not always win. He cites Ecclesiastes 8:11 to explain why wickedness increases when justice is delayed.

We have to understand something. We are not living in Mayberry. And Andy Griffith is not our sheriff. Things have changed.

The Threat to Churches and the Failure of Gun-Free Zones

Practical Preparation: Mindset, Skills, and De-escalation

Preparation involves proper mindset, weapon proficiency, malfunction clearing, and verbal de-escalation. Weaver explains the OODA loop and the freeze response under stress.

So, if Steve and I got into an argument and things are getting out of hand, you know, the Scripture says in Proverbs 15:1,

Scripture Reading — Proverbs 15:1

"A soft answer turneth away wrath, but grievous words stir up anger."

Situational Awareness Principles

Church Security Assessment Questions

"It's time to start doing your homework." Wow.

Encouragement for the Old and the Call to Train as Ministry

Weaver encourages older believers using Psalm 71:18 and Isaiah 46:4, and frames self-defense and training as a ministry to be done heartily for the Lord (Colossians 3:23-24).

Moral Duty to Defend and Closing Exhortation

Teach us, we pray. Build us up in the most holy faith and make us, Lord, what we should be for your honor and your glory. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.

Safety, Preparation, and Situational Awareness

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	moWUqpeyak4
Subject	Old Testament Studies
Course	Proverbs: Wealth, Defense, and Justice
Genre	Sermon
Date	2024-04-27
Dictation Name
Book	Book 083: Proverbs: Wealth, Defense, and Justice — Chapter 8
Source Timed Segments	97

Lecture Guide

Outline

Introduction and Context: Weaver introduces the message, originally preached at a Presbyterian church, and notes current events like National Transgender Visibility Day and Candace Owens' firing for saying 'Christ is King' as signs of cultural hostility.
Biblical Foundation: Safety is of the Lord: Citing Proverbs 21:31, Weaver establishes that ultimate safety comes from God, and all human preparations are vain without His protection. Obedience is linked to safety (Leviticus 25:18).
Human Responsibility in Preparation: While God is sovereign, He does not fulfill our responsibilities for us. Believers must act, as illustrated by Samson and David, who were empowered by God but had to fight themselves.
Accepting the Reality of Evil and Change: Weaver argues that society has changed, evil is rampant, and good men do not always win. He cites Ecclesiastes 8:11 to explain why wickedness increases when justice is delayed.
The Threat to Churches and the Failure of Gun-Free Zones: Using statistics and quotes from Ron Borsch, Weaver shows that churches are frequent targets of violence. He argues that gun-free zones invite criminals and cites the New Life Church shooting as an example of effective armed defense.
Practical Preparation: Mindset, Skills, and De-escalation: Preparation involves proper mindset, weapon proficiency, malfunction clearing, and verbal de-escalation. Weaver explains the OODA loop and the freeze response under stress.
Situational Awareness Principles: Weaver lists principles for situational awareness: be mindful, establish baselines, anticipate, avoid distractions, trust intuition, learn from mistakes, train regularly, don't look like prey, notice inappropriate dress, read body language, and look for concealed weapons.
Church Security Assessment Questions: Ron Borsch's questions challenge listeners to evaluate their readiness: carrying at church, shot distance, flashlight use, engagement criteria, security teams, cover vs. concealment, and protecting children.
Encouragement for the Old and the Call to Train as Ministry: Weaver encourages older believers using Psalm 71:18 and Isaiah 46:4, and frames self-defense and training as a ministry to be done heartily for the Lord (Colossians 3:23-24).
Moral Duty to Defend and Closing Exhortation: Quoting Norman Geisler, Weaver asserts that failing to prevent murder or protect family is morally wrong. He concludes with 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, urging believers to think biblically about self-defense and preparation.

Major Themes

Key Arguments

Safety is ultimately from God, but preparation is commanded.

Proverbs 21:31 teaches that while we prepare (the horse), safety comes from the Lord; Psalm 33:17 warns that human strength is vain without God.

The horse is prepared against the day of battle, but safety is of the Lord. ... A horse is a vain thing for safety.

God does not negate human responsibility.

God empowers but does not act in our place; examples of Samson and David show that God expects us to use means.

God is not going to fulfill our responsibilities for us. ... God did not fight for him. ... David slung the sling. God did not sling for him.

Churches are no longer safe havens.

Statistics show a dramatic increase in attacks on churches; ignoring the problem invites tragedy.

Churches are not the sanctuary they once were. ... 436 acts of hostility against churches in America in 2023.

Gun-free zones increase danger.

94% of school shootings occurred after gun-free zone legislation; criminals ignore signs and target defenseless victims.

94% happened in gun-free zones. Gun-free zones are an invitation for criminals to do as they please.

Training is essential for effective defense.

Without training, people freeze under stress; proficiency with weapons and understanding of the OODA loop are necessary.

When you're under stress, one of the first things that happens to you is you freeze. ... Owning a handgun does not make you armed.

Situational awareness can prevent victimization.

Most people are unaware of surroundings; principles like establishing baselines and avoiding distractions reduce risk.

Most people are completely, totally unaware of their surroundings. ... Be mindful of your surroundings.

Failing to defend is morally equivalent to committing evil.

Norman Geisler argues that permitting murder when one could prevent it is an evil of omission, as serious as commission.

To permit murder when one could have prevented it is morally wrong. ... Any man who refuses to protect his wife and children ... fails them morally.

Self-defense is a ministry to be done for God's glory.

Colossians 3:23-24 commands doing all things heartily as to the Lord; training and defending are acts of service.

Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord. ... Training should be done to the glory of God.

Scripture References

Proverbs 21:31: The horse is prepared against the day of battle, but safety is of the Lord. Used to establish that ultimate safety comes from God despite human preparation.
3 John 2: Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. Cited to show it is normal and biblical to desire safety and welfare.
Psalm 33:17: A horse is a vain thing for safety; neither shall he deliver any by his great strength. Used to emphasize that human weapons are useless without God.
Psalm 127:1: 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. Reinforces God's sovereignty in protection.
Leviticus 25:18: Wherefore ye shall do my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them; and ye shall dwell in the land in safety. Connects obedience to safety.
2 Timothy 2:7: Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things. Illustrates the balance between human effort and divine enablement.
Luke 18:2: There was a judge which feared not God, neither regarded man. Used to argue that those who do not fear God will not regard man.
2 Samuel 11: Uriah the Hittite had his wife stolen and was murdered by David. Example that good men do not always win.
Ecclesiastes 8:11: Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. Explains why wickedness increases when justice is delayed.
Proverbs 15:1: A soft answer turneth away wrath, but grievous words stir up anger. Used to teach verbal de-escalation.
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. Encourages older believers to continue serving and training.
Isaiah 46:4: Even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you. God promises to sustain the elderly, implying they can still act.
Colossians 3:23-24: Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men. Applied to training and defense as ministry.
1 Corinthians 10:31: Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. Reinforces that all actions, including self-defense, should glorify God.
2 Corinthians 10:3-5: For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh... bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. Used to urge biblical thinking about self-defense.
Proverbs 22:3: A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished. Cited to support preparation and situational awareness.
Proverbs 27:12: A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished. Parallel to Proverbs 22:3, reinforcing the need for foresight.

Historical References

National Transgender Visibility Day decree by Joe Biden: Mentioned as a current event showing cultural hostility to Christianity.
Candace Owens fired for saying 'Christ is King': Cited as an example of anti-Christian sentiment; a Jewish man called the statement anti-Semitic.
Church bombings in California and Nevada (2024): Three Baptist churches bombed; one LDS gymnasium had an unexploded device. Reported by a pastor friend.
New Life Church shooting, Colorado: A murderer attacked the church; armed security member Jeanne Assam shot and stopped him. Example of effective church defense.
Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990 (amended 1995): 94% of school shootings occurred after this act, used to argue gun-free zones increase danger.
Squatters in New York and murder of homeowner: Examples of lawlessness: owner arrested, another murdered by squatters. Illustrates societal breakdown.
Ron Borsch, retired law enforcement and trainer: Quoted extensively on church security statistics and preparedness questions.
Norman Geisler and J.P. Moreland debate on moral duty: Quoted on the moral obligation to defend family; equates failure to protect with child abuse.
Clint Smith quote on training: Owning a handgun does not make you armed any more than owning a guitar makes you a musician. Emphasizes need for training.

Important Quotes

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

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

God is not going to fulfill our responsibilities for us.

Key argument that while God is sovereign, believers must actively prepare and defend.

Churches are not the sanctuary they once were.

Highlights the reality that places of worship are now targets of violence.

94% happened in gun-free zones. Gun-free zones are an invitation for criminals to do as they please, because criminals do not obey the law.

Argues that policies restricting weapons make people more vulnerable.

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

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

To permit murder when one could have prevented it is morally wrong.

Strong moral statement from Geisler that failing to act is an evil of omission.

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

Direct application of the duty to defend one's family.

A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.

Biblical call to foresight and preparation, used to support situational awareness.

Discussion Questions

[Question]

How do we balance trusting God for safety with taking practical steps to prepare and defend ourselves?

[Context]

Based on Proverbs 21:31 and the tension between divine sovereignty and human responsibility.

[Question]

In what ways has our culture become more hostile to Christianity, and how should that affect our approach to church security?

[Context]

Weaver cites statistics on church attacks and cultural shifts.

[Question]

What are the moral implications of failing to protect our families or congregations when we have the ability to do so?

[Context]

Drawing from Geisler's quote and the Sixth Commandment's positive duty.

[Question]

How can we develop better situational awareness in our daily lives without becoming paranoid?

[Context]

Weaver lists practical principles for situational awareness.

[Question]

What steps can our church take to improve security while maintaining a welcoming atmosphere?

[Context]

Ron Borsch's assessment questions challenge churches to evaluate readiness.

[Question]

How does viewing self-defense and training as a ministry change our motivation and approach?

[Context]

Colossians 3:23-24 is applied to training and defense.

[Question]

What are some practical ways older or physically limited individuals can contribute to church safety?

[Context]

Weaver encourages older believers using Psalm 71:18 and Isaiah 46:4.

[Question]

How should we respond biblically to the argument that Christians should be pacifists?

[Context]

Weaver addresses the objection that Christ was a pacifist and the command to Peter to sheathe his sword.

Applications

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T16:12:01Z