It all began on a Thursday morning, when a friend came over and asked if I could go with him to retrieve his van which was being held illegally by an auto mechanic. I agreed to go in my car, but before we did I took my .44 Special revolver that I'm licensed to carry.
We arrived to recover the van, and, as I thought, it needed the coil
wire. Thinking ahead I had brought an extra one from home.
The mechanic and his employee came running out, yelling all kind of things
at both of us. After putting the coil wire in place, I yelled at
my friend to get out of there. Now this left me, to deal with the
mechanic and his employee.
I told them if they had a problem with the vehicle recovery to call
the Sheriff's Office. I then climbed into my car, and as I was backing
up to get out of there, the mechanics employee picked up a very large rock.
This was about the size of a soft ball, this guy was about 12 feet away
from the car toward the rear and of to the side. I could see his
arm drawing back, as if getting ready to throw the rock. I
knew if he was going to throw this rock, that it would have come thru the
window for sure, I new he was close enough to make this possible.
I stopped the car, and got out and told him not to do something that he would be sorry for. He looked at me and said, "Sorry, I'm going to kill you." At this moment he dropped the rock in his hand, then from behind his back he produced a keshaw folding knife, with the blade open. I said, "What?" He repeated agian saying, "I'm going to kill you." At which point he took a step forward and was now with in 10 feet from me and displaying the knife in a way that could only be taken in a threatening manner. I drew my Charter Arms .44 Special and ordered him to stop or I would shoot.
Looking down the business end of this, his reaction is what saved his life. His eyes looked like the size of silver dollars, and I heard him make a gurgling sound as he turned away, and say something like, "Oh @#@#." He quickly walked back to the shop, from where he had come from. I got in my car and left and went to the first phone I could to call the Sheriff's Office. It was then turned over to them.
Personal note: I am very happy to say that I didn't have to ruin his day or mine by shooting him. I'm however convinced that without having my .44 Special with me, I could have been seriously hurt, if not dead. Even though I am trained to do so, it is not my desire to engage in deadly force, only as a last resort.
Jon Erdmann
Kalispell, Mt.
by Jim Taylor
Over the years I have had a number of people ask me questions like; "What
does God think about carrying guns?" or "What about using a gun for
self-defense? or "What does the Bible say about killing? Animals or people?"
The fact that I pastor a Church seems to give some folks the idea that I
have all the answers! (And quite a few of my "brethren" in the ministry
have fostered this myth.) I would not presume to speak for God except
where He has already spoken. And, to clarify that statement, I do need to
backtrack slightly.
All of us have certain prejudices. For someone to be totally neutral they
could not entertain beliefs of any type. I speak from certain points of
view, or prejudices if you will. One of those prejudices is that I believe
the Bible is the Word of God. I believe that God spoke to men in a manner
that they could understand, and that they wrote down His words, ideas and
concepts. And, if we want to know what God thinks about something, then
what we have to do is research it in His Word. Now...if you do not
believe that I am not arguing the point. I am not even trying to convert
you. I am simply telling you where I am coming from.
So....for me to find out what God thinks I look at His Record. As I said,
I would not presume to speak for Him and can only look at what He has
already said....... During the times of the writing of the Bible (spanning
some 600 years) the common weapons of the day were the bow & arrow, the
spear, the sword, and the sling. Many people went armed at all times,
most carry at least a staff with them which served duty as a weapon besides
having other uses. During the time that Ezra the Priest was encouraging the
Israelites to rebuild Jerusalem, the necessity of being armed at all times
was heightened by constant attacks from their enemies who did not want
Jerusalem rebuilt. "And it came to pass from that time on that half of my
servants wrought in the work, and the other half of them held both the
spears, the shields, the bows and the habergeons.....they which builded on
the wall, and they which bare the burdens....everyone with one of his hands
wrought in the work, and with the other hand held a weapon. For the
builders, every one had his sword girded by his side and so builded...."
(Nehemiah 4:16- 18 KJV)
The result of this was that the enemy was afraid to attack and they got the
work done. And...get this...they were doing the Lord's work. With
weapons on! ( I know that does not fit with some folks theology, but what
they need to do is line their theology up with what the Bible says instead
of trying to make the Bible say what they want it to.) Doing the Lord's
work while armed? Yes. And it was not uncommon all that many years ago
either. In his book "Butterfield - 7 Years With the Wild Indians" (1945)
the author Ben Moore Sr. relates the story of a preacher who got to
preaching against some of the favorite sins of the local rowdies. They
threatened him if he did not stop so he took to preaching with Winchester
rifle with him. During a service one of the badmen jumped up and took a shot
at the preacher and missed. The preacher fired back and nailed the bad guy
between the eyes. The dead man's partner made as if to draw, then turned
and ran for the door. The preacher took no chances. He did not kill the
man, but he did put a bullet through his shooting arm.
Doesn't the Scriptures tell us, "Thou shalt not kill"? you might ask.
Yes it does, but look at two things. First look at the context of the
Commandment. Shortly after giving Moses this Commandment (along with the
others) God instructs them to attack a country and kill everyone and
everything in it. Men, women, children, goats, sheep, dogs, cats -
everything. So the Commandment cannot be speaking of killing in war.
Secondly, the Hebrew word translated "kill" in this Commandment means
literally "premeditated murder". Many modern translations rightly translate
the Commandment: "Thou shalt not commit murder." There is a vast difference
legally and morally between murder and self-defense. And the great
Commentator on the Scriptures, Matthew Henry, had this to say about the
Sixth Commandment: ".....it does not forbid killing in lawful war, or in our
own necessary defense, but it forbids all malice and hatred to the person of
any and all personal revenge arising therefrom....
I have had those in Law Enforcement ask me questions about using deadly
force. I worked as a Correctional Services Officer for a while and know
that some Prison Guards have these same questions. "Would God be angry with
me if I had to use deadly force in the line of duty?" The Book of Romans in
the New Testament addresses this question. In chapter 13 it says that
"rulers" (policemen, guards, judges etc.) are "ministers of God" and they
are to enforce justice upon the evil. I know most cops would have a hard
time thinking of themselves as "ministers of God". But what it says is that
people are set in government in order to keep order. They are set there to
see that evil is punished and good is rewarded. To see that justice is
done. Justice is the nature of God. Those today who would pervert justice,
who would "call good evil and evil good" are fighting God's will and will
someday pay for it.
What about hunting and killing animals? I know that some people choose to
be vegetarians and that is OK as long as they are honest about it. A lot of
those who argue against hunting have nothing against eating meat. They
gladly scarf down veal that is raised in a confined cage; or steaks that
come from a poor old cow who was bashed in the head to stun it, then hung up
and cut upon before it even was bled dry or it's heart had stopped beating.
And they pay good money to wear shoes that come from the same animals!
What does the Bible tells us? In "And the fear
of you...shall be upon every fowl of the air...and upon all the fishes of
the sea; into your hands are they delivered. Every moving thing that
liveth shall be meat for you..." (KJV) In the Book of Acts chapter 10 God
showed the Apostle Peter. "...all manner of four-footed beasts of the earth,
and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowl of the air..." and to him to
kill some and eat them. Apparently God was not a vegetarian. St. Peter
never thought so and said God told him!! So I have to conclude that hunting
is OK, within certain limits of course. God never condones waste. The
harvested game is to be used.
And as far as self-protection, I Timothy chapter 5 and verse 8 says, "But if
any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he
hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel." (KJV)
To those
who claim to be Christians and yet will not defend their families I have to
say, based on this verse, that many of those you would call "heathen" are
closer to following the Lord than you. Not only do you deny the faith, you
are cowards. May God have mercy on your soul.
