Armed For Christian Service?

I’m sure you have all heard by now about the young man who entered both a mission’s facility and a large Evangelical church and opened fire. Let me give you the basics of the story just in case you have not heard. The news media has been plenty quiet about this one. My thought is that because it was a hate crime against Christianity, that there is little coverage. If there would have been an attack on a Muslim Community, the media would have been screaming for reform.

A young man by the name of Matthew Murray, who had apparently been kicked out of a school that trains missionaries, and had been raised in a very “religious” family, decided to take revenge on Christians by killing as many of them as he possibly could. Obeying the “voices” in his head that he claimed to hear, he armed himself and made his way to the mission’s facility. There he killed two missionaries. Whether they were current missionaries or still in training, I do not know.

After this event, he took a break in order to either make a call or write a letter or something to that nature…my memory escapes me. Then he made his way to New Life Church in Colorado, which was founded by Ted Haggard. (Dismissed last year for his involvement in sexual immorality)

There was a prayer meeting going on at the time that Matthew Murray began firing outside of the building. One woman, who just so happened to be praying and fasting for three days, (when was the last time you prayed and fasted for three days…I will go on record to say that I have NEVER done that for such a long period…I stand amazed!) was a volunteer security guard for the church.

This woman, Jeanne Assam, carried a gun on her for security purposes. Apparently, Murray had been sending threats and the church decided to prepare itself. When Murray came in the doors, Assam ducked down behind a pew or a table, identified herself as a security guard with a gun, and when she had the opportunity, she took the shot that put an end to a crazed mind.

After this story got out, I was listening to a talk show radio program which allows people to call in and comment. I was surprised to find that there were some (not many…but still some) who were upset that a church would keep an armed guard on staff. Those who were upset by this complained that this young man needed to be persuaded to drop the gun without violence, but with love. It was also said that by killing Murray, it showed a lack of faith that God would deliver them.

Here are my thoughts:

1. We’re getting closer and closer to a time when Christians might need to defend themselves. Nehemiah and his group carried weapons as they re-built the temple walls. Violence against Christians is on the rise. Just because we live in America we get this false sense of security. Christians around the world feel the need to defend themselves all of the time. There is one pastor in Africa that carried a gun. He was able to fight off two gunmen who entered the church and began to open fire.
2. Trusting God does not mean acting foolish. Christians today do all sorts of foolish things under the guise of “trusting God”. They talk about men like Abraham who stepped out in faith. True, he did. But he was given a direct order by God…then he stepped out in faith to perform it. Today, Christians make a stupid decision based upon a gut feeling, then trust God that it was the right one. Remember, Abraham did not have the books of wisdom that we have today as given to us by God. Let’s follow God’s word by faith…which means making wise decisions based upon a perfectly preserved Bible given to us by God Himself. Trusting the Bible is TRUE FAITH!
3. Pleading with the boy would have cost more lives. He was ready, willing, and able to take out as many Christians as possible. How do I know this? Here is what he wrote on a website: “I’m coming for EVERYONE soon and I WILL be armed to the @#%$ teeth and I WILL shoot to kill. …God, I can’t wait till I can kill you people. Feel no remorse, no sense of shame, I don’t care if I live or die in the shoot-out. All I want to do is kill and injure as many of you…as I can especially Christians who are to blame for most of the problems in the world.” Notice the “I WILL”s all in caps. Think Satan might have had something to do with this? (Is 14) This young man had heard the gospel. Come on, he was in missionary school until kicked out! He obviously rejected the gospel and hated Christ and Christianity. He needed to be stopped…plain and simple. THANK GOD JEANNE ASSAM DID WHAT SHE DID!

You have my thoughts…can I have yours? What do you think? Did this woman do the right thing? Have we reached a time in which we should consider having armed people within the church in case of an incident? By the way, pepper spray would not have helped here! There is much to comment on here…I’d like to hear them.

Until the next post, may the grace and peace of God be with you all!