Monday, June 9, 2008

The Christian Martialist & Providence

Although US civil authority has historically treated the indigenous -- not native (native simply means born here) -- population abominably, the following story makes a valid point:

In the days of the American frontier, there was an itinerant preacher who believed in God's governing providence in the affairs of men. He particularly liked to apply this doctrine in his evangelistic sermons. "God has determined your time to die, and when your time comes, it comes, so you'd best be prepared to meet Him," he'd say.

One day, a somewhat cynical hearer approached the minister and posed a question. "Preacher, I've heard you say many times that 'when your time comes, it comes.'"

"Yes, that's so," replied the preacher.

"Well, if that's so," went on the man, "why do you always ride with a rifle slung across your saddle?"

Without hesitation the preacher replied, "Why, that's just in case I meet some Indians whose time has come."

The point is that God's providence works through secondary means, and that includes the unviolated free will of men (it's a paradox; accept it). From one second to the next, you retain life because of His providence. But you must never presume upon providence by lack of preparation or training.

Do you have that firmly in mind? I hope so, because this video may blow away all your confidence and cause you to ask, "What chance do I have?" Here, thanks to dlr, is the link:

Sparrow Hitman

Some say, "Do the best you can & leave the rest in God's hands." It's better to say, "Be the best you can and leave it ALL in God's hands."

Now, I'd like to hear your reactions, observations & ideas. Please comment.

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3 comments:

Stephen said...

"Be the best you can and leave it ALL in God's hands."

Amen to that.

That was an incredible clip! But it would seem to me that the average gunman would:
a)not have the training that guy did
b)not be ready to pull the trigger

But I don't believe that this means we should not train for this type of situation. Is it humanly possible to defend against such an attack?

I believe the gentleman showing the clip stated that the assassin would try to get within a certain distance before launching his attack. Would our Distant Early Warning system help?

Craig Mutton said...

Awareness is important, but one of my points in this post is that whether we survive ANY confrontation is in the hands of Providence.

You can do everything right and still die, if the Lord wills. You can do everything wrong and still come out looking like Chuck Norris, if the Lord wills.

The second point is less obvious, but it's there: if an evil assassin trains to perfect his art, how much more should the Christian Martialist train to be the best he can to the glory of God.

BTW, thanks for responding.

The Warrior said...

I agree with your post, and your comment, in full! Fantastic post, yet again. Cross-posted on my blog.

Spencer