I was doing my Bible study this morning in Romans 12:3-8 and I was putting together my notes for Sunday morning Bible study. I started thinking about something that I've been pondering for a while now. Now, the passage talks about Spiritual gifts, but it also mentions the body of Christ and how the body fits together. I also was drawn to Matthew 28:19-20, which is known as the Great Commission to the church. The very words of Jesus command us to go and make disciples. I have thought about church planting recently (not planning on leaving New Bridge to plant, just thinking about planting in today's church culture", as well.
A few things have been bothering me about church planting in today's culture and I just wanted to air them out and maybe get some feedback on what I'm thinking here. I may be completely wrong here, but I have a little bit of a criticism for church plants/planters and I think we need to reevaluate our methods and mindset towards opening the doors to new churches.
The trouble in my mind revolves around a question that I have. The question is this: why do so many of today's church plants have to have the same name as their parent church? Don't get me wrong. I don't want to come off as a hater here. I'm not opposed to church PLANTING. What I am opposed to is church FRANCHISING. I currently minister at New Bridge Baptist Church in Sandston, Virginia, which is just outside of Richmond. Let's say that we decide to plant a church. If we follow the model of the megachurch (again, not hating on megachurches. Just making an observation), our church plant will be called "New Bridge: 'New Location'" (i.e. New Bridge: South, New Bridge: Mechanicsville, etc). The daughter church may have a campus pastor, but will air messages by the planting churches pastor (I am NOT saying that our pastor has this mindset, by they way! I'm just creating a fictitious example here). The plant will probably be under some control, if not mainly controlled by the planting church. Maybe I'm wrong, but this seems to be the pattern. I thought church plants were supposed to be comprised of a team that was raised up, supported, and then eventually cut loose to do their own ministry.
Why are churches building earthly empires instead of the Kingdom of God? It just seems to me like there are some churches who want to talk about the number of campuses that they possess way too much instead of just planting a church and letting it just be a church. Can a church do good things if it has the name of the parent church? Sure, it can. I just wonder if the franchising mindset behind planting churches isn't contributing to the celebrity of churches and pastors, which is contributing to an increasing dropout rate in the church today. Maybe I'm just not making any sense here. Am I alone here or am I being way too hard on the church? I would love to hear some thoughts on this.
Monday, February 2, 2015
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
The Gospel According to Paul...Atreides...
Some notes I typed from my Bible study this morning...more like ramblings...
The language of “the table” is a bit vague here. In the original writing from Psalm 69, “they” are the enemies of the psalmist. In that psalm, the writer is asking God go pour out wrath on them and that the “table set before them become a snare…retribution, and a trap.” It seems to me that the table set before them is one that is set by God. A pagan sitting at God’s table would suggest a pagan being confronted with both the truth of who God is and the choice to submit to God. Those who choose to reject God are doomed. In this sense the table becomes a bad thing to that person. The table that is God’s nourishment in the word becomes a snare and a trap. The trap of rejecting God causes them to be judged for their rejection and they find themselves trapped in the slavery of guilt and shame. I don’t think it is as if God has given only specific people this “spirit of stupor”, nor do I believe that this “spirit of stupor” makes people stupid. When we go back to Psalm 69, the wording is negative in the sense that God did not give people a sense of understanding (eyes to see and ears to hear). They can’t automatically understand the gospel without some measure of desire to seek it out. Paul makes this a positive statement in saying that this “non-giving” of understanding is the same as being given what I would call a “confused spirit” towards spiritual things. We are automatically numb to the gospel. We aren’t born into faith and therefore must be awakened to it by some means. Something has to happen that causes us to seek out eternity. Something breaks through the fogginess and “stupor”. I have that line from the movie Dune in my head where Paul Atreides constantly hears the phrase “The sleeper must awaken!” in his own mind. I think this state of not having eyes to see or ears to hear just means that we are given a totally blank slate when it comes to the decision to accept Christ. God has made things so that “the sleeper must awaken” and search out the truth of Christ. In other words, I might see and hear something that is overtly Christian in nature, but I have to make a choice to investigate that and see where it leads. I can SEE something that is overtly Christian in nature, but I don’t recognize it as explicitly Christian in nature and pointing towards Jesus. I might just see that it is different. With my “non-seeing” eyes, I am attracted to the “otherness” of this thing. Upon investigation, I awaken to the fact that that this Christian thing (a preacher, a book, a website, a whatever) is pointing to Jesus. Then my eyes that were not coerced to see find the truth of Jesus for themselves and this leads to salvation.
The language of “the table” is a bit vague here. In the original writing from Psalm 69, “they” are the enemies of the psalmist. In that psalm, the writer is asking God go pour out wrath on them and that the “table set before them become a snare…retribution, and a trap.” It seems to me that the table set before them is one that is set by God. A pagan sitting at God’s table would suggest a pagan being confronted with both the truth of who God is and the choice to submit to God. Those who choose to reject God are doomed. In this sense the table becomes a bad thing to that person. The table that is God’s nourishment in the word becomes a snare and a trap. The trap of rejecting God causes them to be judged for their rejection and they find themselves trapped in the slavery of guilt and shame. I don’t think it is as if God has given only specific people this “spirit of stupor”, nor do I believe that this “spirit of stupor” makes people stupid. When we go back to Psalm 69, the wording is negative in the sense that God did not give people a sense of understanding (eyes to see and ears to hear). They can’t automatically understand the gospel without some measure of desire to seek it out. Paul makes this a positive statement in saying that this “non-giving” of understanding is the same as being given what I would call a “confused spirit” towards spiritual things. We are automatically numb to the gospel. We aren’t born into faith and therefore must be awakened to it by some means. Something has to happen that causes us to seek out eternity. Something breaks through the fogginess and “stupor”. I have that line from the movie Dune in my head where Paul Atreides constantly hears the phrase “The sleeper must awaken!” in his own mind. I think this state of not having eyes to see or ears to hear just means that we are given a totally blank slate when it comes to the decision to accept Christ. God has made things so that “the sleeper must awaken” and search out the truth of Christ. In other words, I might see and hear something that is overtly Christian in nature, but I have to make a choice to investigate that and see where it leads. I can SEE something that is overtly Christian in nature, but I don’t recognize it as explicitly Christian in nature and pointing towards Jesus. I might just see that it is different. With my “non-seeing” eyes, I am attracted to the “otherness” of this thing. Upon investigation, I awaken to the fact that that this Christian thing (a preacher, a book, a website, a whatever) is pointing to Jesus. Then my eyes that were not coerced to see find the truth of Jesus for themselves and this leads to salvation.
Monday, December 29, 2014
Who Gets To Preach?
Just doing a little Bible study this morning. The following are some thoughts from the commentary that I have been writing in order to process my thoughts on the book of Romans. If you're interested in where this is coming from, read Romans 10:13-15 and then read the following.
At it’s most basic form, preaching is merely a public
proclamation of something. If I am
preaching, I am publicly announcing information about a specific topic. Preaching isn’t something that’s necessarily
done in the private of your own home, unless it is to a group of people. You can’t preach to yourself, in other
words! Of course, there are those who
get up in public and spout complete nonsense and sound like they are making
things up, so I suppose this is where a little credibility would be good
(coming from education and ordination), but there are PLENTY of people who are
“educated” and “ordained” who have seem to have NO idea what the Bible
says. So how does the average teenager
“preach”? Is education important or not?
What if a
person merely preaches what he or she knows?
I am a BIG fan of saying “I don’t know” whenever a person asks a
question that I cannot answer. In my
short ministry career, I have made a great deal of use out of, “Let me get back
to you on that?” The bottom line is that
you don’t have to be a Bible scholar in order to give some very basic good
news, and THAT’S really good news! John
9 contains a story about a guy who was healed of blindness by Jesus. He was brought in and questioned by the
Jewish religious authorities as to who healed him and what exactly
happened. This guy honestly didn’t know
ANYTHING about Jesus. The Jewish
teachers told the guy that Jesus was a sinner.
The guy basically said, “I don’t know anything about that. What I do know is that I was blind and now I
see.” He had already described the
miracle of Jesus putting clay on his eyes in his first interview with the
Pharisees.
Monday, November 10, 2014
Happy 239th Devil Dogs!
As I woke up this morning and read the first Facebook post of the day, which was from my wife, I was swept up in a wave of both nostalgia and pride. I remember boot camp, field training, squad in the offense, squad in the defense, M60's, parachute jumps, helicopter rappelling, field days, friends, brothers, and sisters. Katy, my wife has, without fail, greeted me on the morning of November 10th for the 16 years that we have been married by answering my call, "Back in 1775..." with "my Marine Corps came alive". This morning, she started it and I answered. I have spent the last two hours of my day looking at Facebook posts from Devil Dogs barking from every corner of the United States, "Happy Birthday, Marines!" Now, I know that not every single prior service Marine had a great experience in the Corps and is not as fond of the Corps as I still am. I get that. I don't have a problem with it. However, the vast majority of Marines look back on their experience on 10 November every year and they tell another Marine, "Happy Birthday". They dig through the closet and put on an Eagle, Globe, and Anchor for the day. They may even look back through some old pictures and try to reconnect with old friends. Many will try to find a Marine Corps Ball to crash! There's just something about 10 November that speaks to us. What is it?
As I reflect on my own time in the Corps and I think about the reaction from people when they find out that I served, I think the answer is in the legacy and in the reality of what a Marine truly is. I substitute teach at the Middle School next door to the church where I am currently serving as student pastor. Kids ask me if I served in the military. I tell them yes. Many automatically assume, "Army?" When I say "Nope. Marine Corps". There is a different reaction. There is a sudden reverence, not for me, but for that very name. There is often a moment of understanding that we are different. What is it about being a Marine that causes people to give pause?
Now, I'm not knocking my Army, Air Force, Navy, or Coast Guard brothers and sisters. I hold you all in high regard. I am grateful for every single one of you, so don't take this as an inter-service attack. I'm merely commenting on the experience.
We're sized up differently. No sane criminal attacks a person wearing an Eagle, Globe, and Anchor. Why? I can imagine that a criminal wanting to attack a person sizes up each target individually. Size, weight, gender, build, numbers, lighting, etc. However, if I am a criminal and I detect that a potential target is a Marine, I now have a GREAT DEAL more to add to the equation. If I am a criminal I have to add to my understanding that this person WILL kill me if I hesitate. I'm pretty sure it will be a brutal, swift, and relatively violent death, so now I have two choices. I can certainly proceed, but I need to make sure I have surprise on my side. The knife I have in my hand suddenly seems very small and inadequate. "I'm gonna need a gun for this one...but then again...maybe I should just move on to another target...yeah, that'll probably be safer". Whether or not evil recognizes it or not, it fears the Marine. People gravitate to Marines because they know that their chances of survival when the proverbial sewage hits the fan is increased when they have a Marine on their team. They are encouraged by the authority that Marines command. They rally to a cause when Marines are present. They know that they have a fighting chance when "the Marines have landed". Let's face it. Marines are STILL convinced at 40 years old and have been out of the Corps for over 15 years to believe that three to one odds in the enemy's favor still aren't that bad. We think, "Okay. I got this. I kill that one first, break a leg over there, push his nose into his brain housing group and move on".
There's MORE, though. Let's say I am a criminal preparing to attack a person whom I am pretty sure is NOT a Marine, but I see an Eagle, Globe, and Anchor on a t-shirt nearby. He looks like he may be a Devil Dog. Here's what I know. I may not be attacking him or his family, but that Marine will still kill me. Why? Because he's trained to protect. He's a paladin. He's a samurai. He's one of the good guys. He has been trained to die for people whom he doesn't even know. Why? Because it's the right thing to do. Because one of the most American things to do is to support and defend the weak. Marines will counterattack and neutralize someone simply for harming or attacking someone smaller or weaker (if you happen to survive a counterattack by a Marine, the limp or scar that you carry will remind you of your folly for the rest of your life). He was born a warrior and will continue to be a warrior until the very day that he draws his last breath. On 10 November, each of us are reminded of the oaths that we once took. Not ONE SINGLE MARINE I know considers himself or herself to have been released from that oath. We know that we STILL support and defend the Constitution. We deal death to evil and life to the good. We, until we are released from this life by death, will continue to do so and to look at every single law abiding American as sheep to be protected...
...at least THIS Marine does...
As I reflect on my own time in the Corps and I think about the reaction from people when they find out that I served, I think the answer is in the legacy and in the reality of what a Marine truly is. I substitute teach at the Middle School next door to the church where I am currently serving as student pastor. Kids ask me if I served in the military. I tell them yes. Many automatically assume, "Army?" When I say "Nope. Marine Corps". There is a different reaction. There is a sudden reverence, not for me, but for that very name. There is often a moment of understanding that we are different. What is it about being a Marine that causes people to give pause?
Now, I'm not knocking my Army, Air Force, Navy, or Coast Guard brothers and sisters. I hold you all in high regard. I am grateful for every single one of you, so don't take this as an inter-service attack. I'm merely commenting on the experience.
We're sized up differently. No sane criminal attacks a person wearing an Eagle, Globe, and Anchor. Why? I can imagine that a criminal wanting to attack a person sizes up each target individually. Size, weight, gender, build, numbers, lighting, etc. However, if I am a criminal and I detect that a potential target is a Marine, I now have a GREAT DEAL more to add to the equation. If I am a criminal I have to add to my understanding that this person WILL kill me if I hesitate. I'm pretty sure it will be a brutal, swift, and relatively violent death, so now I have two choices. I can certainly proceed, but I need to make sure I have surprise on my side. The knife I have in my hand suddenly seems very small and inadequate. "I'm gonna need a gun for this one...but then again...maybe I should just move on to another target...yeah, that'll probably be safer". Whether or not evil recognizes it or not, it fears the Marine. People gravitate to Marines because they know that their chances of survival when the proverbial sewage hits the fan is increased when they have a Marine on their team. They are encouraged by the authority that Marines command. They rally to a cause when Marines are present. They know that they have a fighting chance when "the Marines have landed". Let's face it. Marines are STILL convinced at 40 years old and have been out of the Corps for over 15 years to believe that three to one odds in the enemy's favor still aren't that bad. We think, "Okay. I got this. I kill that one first, break a leg over there, push his nose into his brain housing group and move on".
There's MORE, though. Let's say I am a criminal preparing to attack a person whom I am pretty sure is NOT a Marine, but I see an Eagle, Globe, and Anchor on a t-shirt nearby. He looks like he may be a Devil Dog. Here's what I know. I may not be attacking him or his family, but that Marine will still kill me. Why? Because he's trained to protect. He's a paladin. He's a samurai. He's one of the good guys. He has been trained to die for people whom he doesn't even know. Why? Because it's the right thing to do. Because one of the most American things to do is to support and defend the weak. Marines will counterattack and neutralize someone simply for harming or attacking someone smaller or weaker (if you happen to survive a counterattack by a Marine, the limp or scar that you carry will remind you of your folly for the rest of your life). He was born a warrior and will continue to be a warrior until the very day that he draws his last breath. On 10 November, each of us are reminded of the oaths that we once took. Not ONE SINGLE MARINE I know considers himself or herself to have been released from that oath. We know that we STILL support and defend the Constitution. We deal death to evil and life to the good. We, until we are released from this life by death, will continue to do so and to look at every single law abiding American as sheep to be protected...
...at least THIS Marine does...
Wednesday, September 3, 2014
Kingdom Building or Empire Building
I just read an article this morning that compared and contrasted a couple of churches by the same name and a few things occurred to me. If you want to read the original article by Eric Geiger, the link is http://ericgeiger.com/2014/09/tale-two-mars-hills/#.VAcNF2RdXKU.
The article is about both Mars Hill churches that have basically lost their pastors for different reasons. While I am not writing THIS article to criticize either of these pastors (God forbid I put myself in the place of the Almighty and begin to cast my own judgment on those who are just as flawed as myself), I do have a couple of observations of church in general that might be relevant. I'm probably wrong in just about everything, but here I go anyway.
I have a question. Why are so many "popular" megachurch pastors seeming to have difficulty and failing in today's church? I'm not naming names, but you can do a quick internet search and come up with a number of names and churches that have suffered fallen pastors in the last ten years. I realize that we hear about them because they are "popular" megachurch pastors and that small, unknown pastors fail just as much, but the "big" ones seem to be really dropping like flies or getting caught up on controversy regularly. Are the churches getting too big? Are they getting so big and "popular" that they begin to believe their own hype? I think it's a GREAT thing that large churches plant smaller churches, but is it really church planting? Is the church planting that is happening focused on Kingdom building or empire building? What I mean is that it seems to me that some of the larger churches have begun, over recent years, to open up what seem to be franchises rather than planting independent churches. Maybe I am totally wrong and the churches that, Mars Hill in Seattle for example, has planted are totally independent and have nothing to do with the mother church outside of sharing the name, but I would bet that this is not the case. There are pastors who had to sign a no compete clause to leave Mars Hill just so they would not minister within a ten-mile radius of Mars Hill in Seattle, so I can't imagine that the mother church just supported the daughter churches until they were healthy and then just completely let go.
Why can't a church just plant a church, give it a different name from the mother church, set up and train a completely independent staff, be a resource when times get tough, and just let the church be a church that is ministering in the Kingdom of God on its own? Why does the planted church have to be a part of the conglomerate of churches? Why does the church have to simulcast that one guy to all of its campuses in order to control a message?
Years ago, I sat at a church planting conference in Lynchburg behind these two kids who were probably in school at Liberty University (not knocking Liberty, mind you. I received my M.Div from there. Great school.) I honestly heard one of them say the following: "When I get invited to come back to speak at one of these conferences and they ask me how my church was so successful, I'm gonna be like, 'I don't know. It was just God!" Now, on the surface, that seems fine and innocent and even humble by giving credit to God for church growth. I didn't take it that way, though. The inflection and focus was not even ON God in the conversation. It felt dark and selfish. When did church planters become rock stars and cease to become ministers? Why do we all need to plant a church, write a book, and go multi-site in order to feel worthy of our position in the Kingdom? Now I'm not saying all of that is BAD, but it feels like a slight shift in focus. "When I get invited back..." is about ME and not about God. If my ambition is to be invited to a church conference as a speaker, then am I doing this for the right reason? If I need to have an empire of ten churches, all of which broadcast MY message during the week, am I becoming a narcissistic overlord? More importantly, does the church get so big that I cannot focus on actually ministering and have to become a politician in order to get anything done, thereby losing time to actually do ministry and maintain my relationship with God? Does the church machine become so big and my name becomes so intertwined with it that I just break under the pressure and compromise morals and theology?
I don't know. Maybe I'm just being a jerk, or a hater. Maybe MY focus is wrong. Maybe I really do need to focus on using any avenue that I can to grow the church and make Jesus famous. That's all fine and I agree with that. But do I really NEED to do that by growing a church empire that has ten different churches that have the same name? At some point, won't my personality become a distraction to the Kingdom to a point that I couldn't get out of the way of church growth even if I wanted to? What if I just ministered in my church, planted churches that could stand on their own two feet, empowered the pastors and staff of those churches, and just cheered them on as we all work together to build the Kingdom and move it forward. I don't need to LEAD those planted churches if they have qualified leaders. I need to FIGHT alongside them. Maybe instead of building an empire of church conglomerates, we need to build a Kingdom of armies that will fight and bleed TOGETHER in the name of Christ. Anyway, that's just my two cents.
The article is about both Mars Hill churches that have basically lost their pastors for different reasons. While I am not writing THIS article to criticize either of these pastors (God forbid I put myself in the place of the Almighty and begin to cast my own judgment on those who are just as flawed as myself), I do have a couple of observations of church in general that might be relevant. I'm probably wrong in just about everything, but here I go anyway.
I have a question. Why are so many "popular" megachurch pastors seeming to have difficulty and failing in today's church? I'm not naming names, but you can do a quick internet search and come up with a number of names and churches that have suffered fallen pastors in the last ten years. I realize that we hear about them because they are "popular" megachurch pastors and that small, unknown pastors fail just as much, but the "big" ones seem to be really dropping like flies or getting caught up on controversy regularly. Are the churches getting too big? Are they getting so big and "popular" that they begin to believe their own hype? I think it's a GREAT thing that large churches plant smaller churches, but is it really church planting? Is the church planting that is happening focused on Kingdom building or empire building? What I mean is that it seems to me that some of the larger churches have begun, over recent years, to open up what seem to be franchises rather than planting independent churches. Maybe I am totally wrong and the churches that, Mars Hill in Seattle for example, has planted are totally independent and have nothing to do with the mother church outside of sharing the name, but I would bet that this is not the case. There are pastors who had to sign a no compete clause to leave Mars Hill just so they would not minister within a ten-mile radius of Mars Hill in Seattle, so I can't imagine that the mother church just supported the daughter churches until they were healthy and then just completely let go.
Why can't a church just plant a church, give it a different name from the mother church, set up and train a completely independent staff, be a resource when times get tough, and just let the church be a church that is ministering in the Kingdom of God on its own? Why does the planted church have to be a part of the conglomerate of churches? Why does the church have to simulcast that one guy to all of its campuses in order to control a message?
Years ago, I sat at a church planting conference in Lynchburg behind these two kids who were probably in school at Liberty University (not knocking Liberty, mind you. I received my M.Div from there. Great school.) I honestly heard one of them say the following: "When I get invited to come back to speak at one of these conferences and they ask me how my church was so successful, I'm gonna be like, 'I don't know. It was just God!" Now, on the surface, that seems fine and innocent and even humble by giving credit to God for church growth. I didn't take it that way, though. The inflection and focus was not even ON God in the conversation. It felt dark and selfish. When did church planters become rock stars and cease to become ministers? Why do we all need to plant a church, write a book, and go multi-site in order to feel worthy of our position in the Kingdom? Now I'm not saying all of that is BAD, but it feels like a slight shift in focus. "When I get invited back..." is about ME and not about God. If my ambition is to be invited to a church conference as a speaker, then am I doing this for the right reason? If I need to have an empire of ten churches, all of which broadcast MY message during the week, am I becoming a narcissistic overlord? More importantly, does the church get so big that I cannot focus on actually ministering and have to become a politician in order to get anything done, thereby losing time to actually do ministry and maintain my relationship with God? Does the church machine become so big and my name becomes so intertwined with it that I just break under the pressure and compromise morals and theology?
I don't know. Maybe I'm just being a jerk, or a hater. Maybe MY focus is wrong. Maybe I really do need to focus on using any avenue that I can to grow the church and make Jesus famous. That's all fine and I agree with that. But do I really NEED to do that by growing a church empire that has ten different churches that have the same name? At some point, won't my personality become a distraction to the Kingdom to a point that I couldn't get out of the way of church growth even if I wanted to? What if I just ministered in my church, planted churches that could stand on their own two feet, empowered the pastors and staff of those churches, and just cheered them on as we all work together to build the Kingdom and move it forward. I don't need to LEAD those planted churches if they have qualified leaders. I need to FIGHT alongside them. Maybe instead of building an empire of church conglomerates, we need to build a Kingdom of armies that will fight and bleed TOGETHER in the name of Christ. Anyway, that's just my two cents.
Saturday, August 30, 2014
ISIS and the American Patriot
There is a World War II legendary quote by Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto. Allegedly he stated something to the effect of, "You cannot invade the mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind every blade of grass". Now before you go off and start yelling, "There is no proof he ever said that", I qualified it as a legend and I would imagine that YOU don't really know, either. I have begun this particular blog post with that quote, whether real or fictitious, to make a point. In recent days, there has been a great deal of internet traffic and hand-wringing over the possibility of an ISIS invasion. I read that the border has been targeted for an attack and that terrorist forces are massing in Juarez Mexico, which is just outside of El Paso, Texas. Now, I could go on a really nutty conspiracy theory rant about how someone just happened to try to bring down Rick Perry thereby leaving that border unopposed by one of the few governors in this country who would probably mount a Hummer and personally lead the Texas National Guard against any invasion, but since that's just crazy I'll let you think that over and decide for yourself. I think I have a solution to the problem of ISIS. I'll get back to that in a minute.
As a militiaman myself, I have taken seriously the following from the Code of Virginia:
§ 44-1. Composition of militia.
Problem: ISIS wants to invade the United States of America
Solution: Good. Let them come.
The worst nightmare of our enemy is the American Patriot. The American Patriot is a free man or woman who has a heart of steel and ice for blood. We bleed red, white, blue and we are NOT afraid to defend our homes, our farms, our children, and our freedom. Be warned though. Don't say someone didn't warn you. There will be no rules of engagement. There will be no fair fight. And just know that out in the backwoods of Texas, there will likely be no survivors. Those boys are just mean.
As a militiaman myself, I have taken seriously the following from the Code of Virginia:
§ 44-1. Composition of militia.
The militia of the Commonwealth of Virginia shall consist of all able-bodied residents of the Commonwealth who are citizens of the United States and all other able-bodied persons resident in the Commonwealth who have declared their intention to become citizens of the United States, who are at least 16 years of age and, except as hereinafter provided, not more than 55 years of age. The militia shall be divided into four classes: the National Guard, which includes the Army National Guard and the Air National Guard; the Virginia Defense Force; the naval militia; and the unorganized militia.
Now I'm not really 100% sure just exactly how many able-bodied persons there are between the ages of 16 and 55 currently residing in the Commonwealth. I do know that the United States military has roughly 1.5 million active troops and maybe 850,000 or so reservists. The last check I did said that there is somewhere in the vicinity of 20 or 21 million veterans (as of 2012), about 800,000 of which live in Virginia. Now, I know of few, and I mean, FEW veterans who do not own at least one firearm. I know of MANY who are armed to the freaking TEETH, however. I will not discuss my loadout here, but let me just say that in less than 60 seconds, this old Devil Dog can be ready to repel an attack and make the average home intruder wish that he or she had picked his or her target a bit more carefully. So how many veterans with how many guns would you say would be ready to hit the street in even less time than that!? Grab a shotgun and a few shells and let's mount a defense, right? Let's just say 25% of the population of veterans are able and armed to do just that. That cuts us to 200,000 strong. On top of that, this is only military veterans AND one represents one state of this great Union. I know a LOT of patriots in my Commonwealth who may have never served, but will grab a hunting rifle and be ready to throw down in less time than it takes you to holler "Allahu Akbar". I dare you to come to Virginia and tell a redneck he ain't allowed to go fishing or deer hunting because of some crazy rule in your Sharia Law and I can guarantee you that you will find yourself uncorking a bottle that you will in very short order wish to all that is good and holy in this world that you could get put back in.
So what about the other side? How many ISIS soldiers are there? I think ISIS has somewhere between 7,000 and 10,000 troops? Someone can feel free to correct me if I am wrong. Let's just say that ISIS has a FIELD DAY in their next recruiting drive and they double the high end of their estimate to 20,000 troops. Oh, I know they are well-armed, but what are they fighting? Who are they fighting? They kidnap innocents, duct tape their hands and feet so they can't fight back, buy some recording equipment, and tape a murder after reading some garbage about a Caliphate and Allah or something like that. They have YET to face down the American Patriot. How long did it take to kick them out of Iraq? Four days or something insane like that?
Riddle me this, Batman...how on God's green earth does ISIS seriously expect to mount any serious threat to the United States Mainland? I'll tell you how they could conceivably do it.
Riddle me this, Batman...how on God's green earth does ISIS seriously expect to mount any serious threat to the United States Mainland? I'll tell you how they could conceivably do it.
They could scare enough people with their terror tactics and make us all think that they are much more than they really are. Fear is the only weapon that the average Islamic terrorist has to use that will have any possible effect. I for one am sick to death of hearing the rhetoric and am more than just a little amused at the empty threats and hollow words of a delusional religious attempt at the domination of the United States (by the way, the IRS has already accomplished that, so you might want to pick an "unoccupied" country to attack).
Here's what I think. I think it's time to dust off our rifles. Maybe it's time to go to the store and get some ammo. Maybe it's time to go out and do a little target shooting. If you're so scared of Islamic terrorists in our midst, let's prepare a real American welcome for them. I'm talking the type of welcome that Cornwallis got a few years back. Oh. I almost forgot. I promised a solution to the problem of ISIS. It isn't fancy. It's not magic. In fact, it is so simple that you may just wonder why you didn't think of it yourself. Here it goes:
Problem: ISIS wants to invade the United States of America
Solution: Good. Let them come.
The worst nightmare of our enemy is the American Patriot. The American Patriot is a free man or woman who has a heart of steel and ice for blood. We bleed red, white, blue and we are NOT afraid to defend our homes, our farms, our children, and our freedom. Be warned though. Don't say someone didn't warn you. There will be no rules of engagement. There will be no fair fight. And just know that out in the backwoods of Texas, there will likely be no survivors. Those boys are just mean.
Monday, July 21, 2014
What Do You Do When It Rains?
Well, we "completed" day one of our mission week at a local neighborhood. For those just tuning into my life, our church has engaged a local mobile home community in ministry and organized a week of power washing and painting porches and homes with their office. Today we had about 25 folks from the age of about 11 to 65 launch from New Bridge armed with lots of equipment and a desire to serve. We arrive onsite at about 8:30am. We began work between 9am and 9:30. At about 10am the drizzle started. At 10:30am, we stopped work as the rain had increased to a point at which we figured it was going not going to stop. As I sit here this afternoon with a forecast that is not boding well for the rest of the week, I reflect on that passage in Matthew 5:45 where it states that rain falls on the just and the unjust. Not sure why that one comes immediately to mind, but for some reason I feel like God has a word for me in that this week.
The other thought that comes immediately to mind is that ministry isn't always going to be easy. The forecast called for rain this morning. In fact, all this last week the weather forecast was rain and not one drop fell! This morning, I made the call to go ahead with the project and just see what would happen. Today, the forecast was actually accurate. That's the risk of leadership, though, I suppose. It isn't always going to work out the way that we had planned. But there's always tomorrow, right? Over the last three days, I have met a lot of people in this community who just some really nice folks with some really tragic circumstances. I think that if I were having a hard time in my own life, I would like to know that the church down the road would show for me in the rain if that's what it takes to help me out. That's the kind of church I would want to be a part of. So tomorrow, we'll get up and gather at New Bridge. We'll get in vans with all of our gear and see what the weather is doing. Maybe it won't rain. If it does, we will have to fold our operation up again and go home. The next day, we'll gather at New Bridge again and start over. The point is that we won't stop. We won't stop reaching out and getting wet and dirty if it means that we are able to reach into the lives of our neighbors and fight for just one opportunity, rain or shine, to tell them that we're there because Jesus loves them and so do we.
The other thought that comes immediately to mind is that ministry isn't always going to be easy. The forecast called for rain this morning. In fact, all this last week the weather forecast was rain and not one drop fell! This morning, I made the call to go ahead with the project and just see what would happen. Today, the forecast was actually accurate. That's the risk of leadership, though, I suppose. It isn't always going to work out the way that we had planned. But there's always tomorrow, right? Over the last three days, I have met a lot of people in this community who just some really nice folks with some really tragic circumstances. I think that if I were having a hard time in my own life, I would like to know that the church down the road would show for me in the rain if that's what it takes to help me out. That's the kind of church I would want to be a part of. So tomorrow, we'll get up and gather at New Bridge. We'll get in vans with all of our gear and see what the weather is doing. Maybe it won't rain. If it does, we will have to fold our operation up again and go home. The next day, we'll gather at New Bridge again and start over. The point is that we won't stop. We won't stop reaching out and getting wet and dirty if it means that we are able to reach into the lives of our neighbors and fight for just one opportunity, rain or shine, to tell them that we're there because Jesus loves them and so do we.
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