God, not gun control

As a Christian and a pastor, my heart breaks for the families in Newtown, Connecticut. I cannot imagine losing my child or grandchild, but I realize the anguish and pain being borne by those families in Newtown is more overwhelming than I could ever comprehend. The cry from many is for gun control. While I fully support reasonable restriction on firearms (no selling to convicted felons, mentally ill, illegal immigrants, etc.) I cannot condone the disarming of our great nation. The truth of the matter is this: guns are but a means for those who want to do harm to others to achieve that end. We already have background checks in place, and we can strengthen those to a degree without infringing on our rights. Many have said that the Second Amendment is outdated. The reasoning is that our founding fathers didn't foresee a strong military and defense policies, and thus the citizen doesn't need more weapons. I strongly disagree. Is the military going to be there to protect my home from a home invasion? Will the military be there if someone breaks into my home at 3 a.m. to rob me and kill my family, or rape my wife? No, that's my job. Every law abiding citizen (I stress the law abiding aspect) should have a firearm inside their home. I do not mean to leave it lying in reach of a child. Leaving the bullets in one room and the gun in the other, though, is on the opposite end of the spectrum and is useless. Use common sense, keep the guns out of reach of children until they are old enough to understand to leave them alone, and be prepared to protect your home. The real problem in this nation is a backsliding from God, from His Holy Word, and into a level of depravity that rivals that of Babylon. The majority of our nation believes that God is better out of sight, out of mind. They believe in all paths to God, they believe in two consenting adults doing what they want to, they believe in watered down religion rather than Christianity, and they don't believe in respecting God, the Church, or the Bible. Parents don't raise their children to respect God. I realize, some parents try hard and external influences cause the children to stray, but many parents don't take their children to church. They don't explain the importance of the Bible. They don't teach God's version of morality. They teach man's version. Then, they wonder why their children grow up to have sex as teens, to lie, cheat, steal, to live off the government, and to commit crime. We need stronger laws to help mentally ill in this nation. I do not mean to throw them in a room and forget about them, but they need better resources for help, and if their families cannot care for them, safeguards need to be in place to protect them from themselves and to protect society from them. The faster we turn back to God, and return to His ways, His Word, His knowledge, His love, the less school shootings, movie theatre shootings and mall shootings we will have. Without God, there is no law, no justice, that can ever govern our lives in the way they should be governed. God bless, and amen!

Good to be back

It certainly feels good to be writing this again. I took a break, due to the declining health of my mother. She passed away in December 2011, and it's been quite a year. My family and I have been so blessed. We made it through the struggle of losing her, and learning to live without her, and now we are embracing, though bittersweet, the next chapters in our lives. The year hasn't been without it's downside, though. It's been difficult at times spiritually and emotionally, as with any Christian, but I still trust the Lord. I hope to be able to write more frequently, and look forward to gaining more followers. God bless you all and have a blessed New Year!