“But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the Faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” 1 Timothy 5:8
Fathers and husbands are required by Almighty God to provide for their families. This includes not only providing food, housing, clothing, education, medical care, love, discipleship and spiritual guidance, but also protection. Of what worth is all the other provision if one does not provide protection as well? Anyone who fails to provide for their family has denied the Faith and is worse than an unbeliever. In fact, those who refuse to protect their young are worse than an animal. What animal will not fight to protect its offspring? Our Lord Jesus Christ told His disciples that: “He who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one.” Luke 22:36
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In the aftermath of the Joker Massacre at the Dark Knight screening in Colorado, (20 July 2012) some sought to blame firearms. Yet evil does not reside in cold metal inanimate objects. Evil comes from human hearts. Far more to the point would be to ask what role Hollywood has played in glamourizing evil, portraying extremely sadistic violence and desensitising youth to cruelty. An excellent resource that exposes this is the Death by Entertainment DVD by Jeremiah Films.
Are Firearms for Self-Defence Permissible?
During the Reclaiming Africa for Christ Biblical Worldview Summit, the Deputy Director of Frontline Fellowship, Charl van Wyk, and Creation Science lecturer Philip Stott, were held up in an attempted hijacking at Khayelitsha while en-route to record a radio programme.
While two thugs pointed their automatic pistols at Uncle Philip threatening and manhandling him, Charl drew his pistol and opened fire, sending the assailants scurrying for cover. Charl then came under fire from a third assailant who was concealed by the side of the road. By God’s grace, our speakers and vehicle escaped the attempted hijacking and ambush unharmed. Our people have laid charges of attempted murder, hijacking and robbery with the local police. We praise the Lord for His protection, that no lives were lost. On a recent ministry trip, while speaking at a conference at a missions station, I met an old friend who had been a pastor at Walvis Bay. He was recovering from having his shoulder shattered by a high velocity bullet. Two months earlier, this man had been attacked by hijackers, who blocked his way and opened fire on him. He did evasive driving while his companions returned fire and they escaped from the trap.
by Peter Hammond
With an average of 2,5 million crimes reported every year, crime is endemic in South Africa. Listening to the official advice, from both government and media, as to how to deal with crime, it becomes evident as to why crime is such a growth industry in the country. Far from declaring war on crime, or encouraging strong resistance to crime, the official mantras are: Don't be armed! Don't resist! Do what the assailant tells you! Last year 111,528 vehicles were reported stolen in South Africa, of which 45,152 (40%) were recovered. Police investigated 44,222 stock theft cases which resulted in 7,980 court cases.
52,425 rapes were reported. 41% of all the victims were aged 18 years or younger with 14% being 12 years or younger. In the last 6 years there have been over 5,000 attacks on farmers, resulting in 771 murders of farmers. In the last 4 years 654 policemen have been murdered. Last year officially 21,553 people were murdered in South Africa. These statistics are just some of the facts revealed in the latest report from the Ministry of Safety and Security. Frontline Fellowship missionary, Charl van Wyk was invited to speak at a political gathering of those who attacked the St. James Church, Charl was the one who shot back at the terrorists. Here’s his report:
On a recent visit to Zimbabwe, I took my family to visit the site of the old Elim mission station in the Vumba. As so much of my mission work is spent helping persecuted Christians, I wanted to show my children an example of how Christians suffer persecution. I also thought that it might help explain why I must travel away from home so often to serve those suffering for their Faith.
Firearms in the hands of pastors or missionaries seems to have become a controversial subject. There is no doubt that the primary weapons for missionaries and pastors are spiritual - the Bible and prayer. However, does God require full-time Christian workers to ignore Biblical commands, which require self-defence and mandate the protection of one's family? (See: Exodus 22:2; Nehemiah 4: 14; Luke 22: 36; 1 Timothy 5:18).
Sometime ago, while I was engaged in a mission trip to Sudan, I was taking the picture of 4 pastors, each in their clerical collars, and each holding an AK-47 assault rifle. I requested them to put their rifles to one side for the picture. They laughed. "Christians in the West will not understand pastors carrying firearms" I explained to them. They laughed even more. I put my camera down and explained: "pastors in the West do not carry rifles." The response of one was: "Why not?" |
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