Fit and Finish

I've never owned an Ernest Emerson knife, so I'm not necessarily endorsing his product (as if his company needed my endorsement!) But his comments about "fit & finish" vs. performance apply to a lot more than knives.

Here's a link:

Fit and Finish

And, thanks to my barber for sharing the link.

From the Barber's Chair: Erosion of Personal Character

My barber responded to my Tuesday's blog entry "Is Society Collapsing?" with the following email:

This subject comes up at least weekly in the shop. I am not the one who brings it up,either.  We all agree that the erosion of personal character is a huge problem,and getting worse.  More and more folks are prepping.....

He and I observed this years ago, in the little rural PA town where they hold an annual week-long fair. The police treat whatever the carnies do on the fairgrounds as off limits.

I've seen trailers that ran sewage right out onto public streets, and I've seen a respected member of the community illegally use a handicap placard so he could park close to the fairgrounds.

Officialdom looks the other way, because not only is the fair itself big business, it also generates a lot of money for local business owners. They allow lawlessness during fair week because, in the short run, lawlessness pays.

For the general public, although, the fair is not quite as flamboyant as Mardi Gras, the principle is the same. Everyone excuses misbehavior with the phrase, "What the h***! It's fair week."

Well, the erosion of character is not limited to small town Pennsylvania. The Justice Department has unsuccessfully tried to cover up an ATF operation that deliberately armed Mexican drug gangs, fully knowing that murders would result.

Some observers think that part of the motivation for the operation lay in a plan to manufacture a crisis situation and then call for stricter gun control laws. IMNSHO, this would not have been the first time federal authorities have done this.

When some of the agents objected to the agency's deliberately subverting federal law, a supervisor issued the following statement:

I will be d****d if this case is going to suffer due to petty arguing, rumours, or other adolescent behavior," he wrote. "We are all adults, we are all professionals, and we have an exciting opportunity to use the biggest tool in our law-enforcement tool box. If you don't think this is fun, you are in the wrong line of work, period!

The erosion of character does not belong solely to the private sector. You may read more about the ATF fiasco here:

Exposed: The secret guns sting that backfired on the US

Is Society Collapsing?

Over at the site named "The Economic Collapse" you will find an article entitled 18 Signs the Collapse of Society is Accelerating. I've known about some of them, but others are [bad] news to me.

You might want to look things over, especially if you need a little motivation to get your preparedness program in gear. Things are getting nastier, and the author hits the nail on the head -- economic hardship is not causing the collapse, but merely uncovering the erosion of personal character that has taken place over the past couple of generations.

Do you see any signs of a disintegrating social order -- large or small -- where you work or live? If so, I hope you will share them in the comments section

From the Barber's Chair: The Inescapability of Character

Bob Jones, Sr. used to say, "Your reputation is what men think you are. Your character is what you are when no one  but God is looking." Nevertheless, character will always come out in our actions and attitudes.

This recent communication from my barber (edited for typos and to protect the identity of a certain young army captain serving in Afghanistan) anecdotally illustrates the inescapability of character:

Had to get blades sharpened yesterday.  Williamsport Barber Supply does an international business.  Few walk-in customers.  Frank works in a small back room at his work bench.  Frank apprenticed for his Barber License in 1939.  That was not a misprint.  1939.  "Retired" now,he services clippers,lather machines,and sharpens blades,and shears.  We have been fast friends for years.  Frank is a Barber's barber.  If you are reading this email,it's because I know you appreciate sharp blades,and tools.  Frank works only one day a week,wednesday,my day-off.  We have known each other for years,and we both smile when we see each other.  Like you and me,he's only serious about a few things.  Like God,the Barber trade,sharp edges,and tradition.  Frank stills travels back to the old country,Italy.  He has family there yet.

 

Four blades,and one shear needed the master's touch.  We talked shop as he hand sharpened the blades on a wheel he made himself decades ago.  Only he knows the right number of times,and the right pressure to use on the wheel. Barber shears have a corrugated edge to the blades.  If they didn't,the hair would just fold into the blades,and not cut.  Turning to the shears,(scissors are what kindergarteners' use to cut construction paper with),we barbers are touchy when a woman comes in the shop and tells us to use scissors only on her child.Frank hand files them,using a well-worn groove in the workbench.  Yeah,Craig,totally by hand,with a master's eye.  He keeps an old wig perched on an old cosmetology mannequin head on the shelf.  After hand filing the shear points,the filing of the blades changes the contact point at the tips ever so much,he reached up,took a small section of hair,and gently closed his hand.  The now razor-sharp shears,severed the fake hair effortlessly.  Frank looked at me,big grin on his face,and I smiled back in acknowledgement.  That's our routine.

 

A woman's voice interrupted the joy of the moment.  A voice I recognized.  It was a lady barber from a town about 20 miles from my place.  She announced herself,reached into a rather gaudy colored,large handbag,and unceremoniously dumped three clippers onto a table in the room,while at the same time complaining about all the haircuts she had to do the day before.  All the life,and joy was sucked out of the room.  She very high-and-mightily told frank to clean,and tune,and sharpen the clippers,and that she would return later for them.  Frank looked at me with a look of disgust,shaking his head slowly.  After she flew out of the room,Frank told me that she likes girls.  I said, "That figures."  In the fifteen years I have known this wonderful man and master,I have never TOLD him to do anything.  I have always gently asked,and he has always dropped what he was doing,and went immediatly to work on my gear.  Bidding goodbye,and giving him the Lord's Blessing,I walked out front to greet Kevin,the manager.

 

Kevin excitedly told me that his son-in-law is now discharged,and thanked me for the support,and Prayers.  Turns out it had been four years since the IED blast in the armored-up HMMV in Iraq.  Among the grievous injuries he suffered TBI still lingers.  I told him that the Army wouldn't discharge him until he was fixed.  Turns out that was correct.  I couldn't believe it had been four years.  Kevin always asks about [my son].  Told me before I left that he still Prays for [him],and to tell him so.  Kevin began to tear-up as he describes what his daughter has to go through with her husband,and the TBI.  I've said it before,the true cost of this war will never be known,but to God.

It's just a simple story, but in it you can see kindness, compassion and mutual respect contrasted with rudeness and self-absorption. Christian Martialist, how does your character peek through the trappings of daily activity? And what would your barber have to say about your last visit?

Heroic Father Dies Protecting Family

I could comment on the death of Osama bin Laden, but I will put that off to share an incredible video interview with the eldest son of a man who died during one of the tornadoes late last week. He shielded some of his 13 children with his own body and died praying for their safety.

The young man's maturity, focus and dedication to Christ are an amazing testimony to his upbringing. This is a must-see video.

Prayer for Our Warriors

My Barber's son is a captain serving in Afghanistan. I received this communication today:

It's official.  He will recieve a half-paycheck on the 15th.  Soldiers don't serve for the money...

The video excerpt from Blackhawk Down (below) was attached to the email. What words of disgust can do justice to a C-in-C who promised to begin bringing troops home as soon as he took office, but instead has expanded undeclared war on behalf of the profits and globalist vision of his puppet masters?

I do not recommend for any young American Christian to go into the military, because odds are he will end up fighting for the wrong side. For a long time, now our armed forces have existed to profit the military industrial complex and to submerge our country in a godless, globalist state.

Nevertheless, we owe respect and support to those military personnel who have entered service with good -- albeit mistaken -- motives. No leader with any sense of honor would do what their C-in-C has done to them.

I would like to see every officer in the service resign his commission in protest. Please pray that God will bring our warriors home physically, mentally and morally intact. This is my daily prayer for my barber's son.

(CAUTION: Speaker in video curses twice, taking God's name in vain. Minor readers, please consult parents/follow your family policy.)


While we're on the subject of prayer, I have a young friend who is going through a rough patch. He is a believer who has the mindset of a Christian Martialist, so please pray -- right now, while you're thinking about it -- that God will bring him through his present trials as a mighty man in service to the King.

Beautiful!

(Got home from Illinois yesterday afternoon. Wedding of daughter #3 was Saturday. Thanks to our gracious God for preserving us through blizzard & from foolish drivers on the trip home.)

I suppose every man thinks his own wife and daughters are beautiful. Maybe they don't, and I'm just making a generalization based on my own mindset.

Over the last weekend, though, I found myself impressed by the beauty of the girls and women of all ages at the wedding and then at worship the next morning. From preschool to elderly, I saw an attractiveness that really struck me.

I am going to go out on a limb, here and say that the grace of Christ in the heart can be seen in the countenance. I saw (and still see) it in the woman I chose to love for a lifetime, and I know my sons-in-law have seen it in countenances of my daughters, as well.

For some reason, though, it really impressed me over the weekend that Christian ladies have it all over the world in the beauty department. To keep this post true to the purpose of WARSKYL, I guess I should analogize an application for Christian Martialism, here.

As a woman's beauty begins within, so does a warrior's strength. Strength of character translates into strength for the battle.

I've written about this  before in a post about Sir Galahad. In the words of Tennyson's Galahad,

My strength is as the strength of ten
Because my heart is pure.

Christian Martialist, may your righteous strength complement the gracious beauty of the Christian women in your life.

The New, New Army: Home for Perverts?

"Present arms!" (With a limp wrist, perhaps?) "Let me hear you lisp out those cadence calls." Is this the face of the U.S military of the near future?

According to an article in the Washington Times,

Those serving who oppose the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) agenda are no longer welcome.

Those were the views of Lt. Gen. Thomas P. Bostick, the Army's deputy chief of staff in charge of personnel matters who spoke about "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" before several hundred troops at the European Command headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany. "Unfortunately, we have a minority of service members who are still racists and bigoted and you will never be able to get rid of all of them," Lt. Gen. Bostick said. "But these people opposing this new policy will need to get with the program, and if they can't, they need to get out. No matter how much training and education of those in opposition, you're always going to have those that oppose this on moral and religious grounds just like you still have racists today."

If you're a Christian with Biblical convictions regarding sexual preference, it looks as though you may soon be barred from service. If you're a Christian in the military, you may be drummed out of the army, unless you tippy-toe the politically correct line on sexual perversion.

So, what's next. Will the army battle cry, "Hooah!" be replaced with "WooHoo"?

A Film for the Warrior's Heart

This is a feature-length "fanfilm" prequel to "The Lord of the Rings". Would that the "professional" trilogy were this good.

The battle scenes are very well done. The theme of self sacrifice for a cause occupies a major place in this film. Also, look for the strategic elements (and learn).

I really hope for some comments on this one.

Loyalty

For the Christian Martialist, loyalty is a key character trait. According to Merriam-Webster, loyalty along with its synonyms (fidelity, allegiance, fealty, devotion and piety) means

faithfulness to something to which one is bound by pledge or duty.

In particular, loyalty implies a particular facet of faithfulness:

a faithfulness that is steadfast in the face of any temptation to renounce, desert, or betray 

I recently read the book of Job, and as I was meditating on the theme of loyalty this morning, I realized that the story of Job is not only about perseverance, but also about loyalty.

Hit  by multiple shock waves of loss and grief, it seemed that life itself had conspired against him. What reason did he have to maintain his loyalty? Even his wife exhorted him to curse God and die.

Through all this, Job maintained his integrity -- including his loyalty to the Lord.

How do you as a Christian Martialist express your loyalty to Christ the King? Do you ever experience conflicting loyalties? How do you discern a & deal with them?

Fodder for future posts, perhaps?

Would You Like to Know What's Coming? - 3

Continued from "Would You Like to Know What's Coming? - 2"

The next installment is available at the link below:

Judgment on America? - 3

Would You Like to Know What's Coming?

Would you like to know what's coming in the next year to year-and-a half? I'm not talking about prophetic revelation; I'm talking about insider information.

Over at one of my other blogs, I have posted the first in a series of videos that provides a peek into the insiders' plans for the next couple of years. Warning: it ain't pretty.

Just click this link to get there.

How Goes the Battle?

Is life a metaphor for war, or is war a metaphor for life? It seems to work both ways.

Perhaps that's why the martial references in the New Testament can confuse so many. It's so easy to take passages like "put on the whole armor of God" or "endure hardship as good soldier of Jesus Christ" and see them as metaphors for life.

But passages like that express so much more than mere metaphors. The war of Satan's rebellion against the Most High God rages on, and He has assigned each of us a place in battle.

The war is real, and so are the casualties.

One Christian Martialist warrior has written about it recently in this blog post. I found it helpful, and thought I'd pass it on.

One of my shield-maiden daughters reflected on that post, and you can read her comments here.

Christian Martialist, Secure Your Heart

I'm not talking about the physical pump in your chest -- as important as that may be. I'm talking about the very core of your being, your soul.

To the Christian Martialist, purity of heart & character is even more vital than skills and weapons. That's why I wrote this post about Sir Galahad
.
As readers of this blog, my Christian Martialist brothers are also plugged into the worldwide web with all its potential for information and inspiration as well as temptation. And the temptation can be great.

None of us is immune to fleshly lust. One of the sad testimonies to that fact is the number of pastors who have become addicted to online pornography.

My own defenses are twofold. My computer is in our study at home, and I maintain an open-door policy for my wife & my youngest daughter, who still lives at home. This ensures that I do not put anything up on the screen that I would be ashamed for them to see.

The open-door policy, however, is just a check on the weakness of my flesh. The main bastion of my moral safety is that, by God's grace, I have purposed in my heart to eschew the evils of pornography. If you are to maintain  pure heart and a clean conscience, you must do the same.

Not only that, but you must safeguard your home, as well. I found this article (by a concerned Christian activist) helpful to that end:
Teenagers, Pornography & the Internet

Doing Right

Not all battles are fought with guns, knives or fists. The greatest battles are often unseen.

I wrote "Doing Right" about 25 years ago, when I was going through some difficult times. I hope it will encourage all you Christian Martialists out there.

                   Doing Right

When you are all alone, and no one sees you but God,
Doing right is still the right thing to do;
When you think you can do wrong, and no one will ever know,
Dong right is still the right thing to do;
When the whole world marches to the jazzed-up beat of the devil's drum,
Doing right is still the right thing to do;
When the choice is between doing wrong or suffering personal loss,
Doing right is still the right thing to do,
When the temptation comes to do wrong in order to preserve your good name,
Doing right is still the right thing to do;
When the right choice may threaten the loss of friend, job, loved one, security, or even life itself,
Doing right is still the right thing to do;
Some people say that life is a gamble. If that is so, I want to place my bet--I will risk it all on the bet that all the pain, suffering, rejection, criticism, poverty, and persecution that I may endure for the Savior will evaporate in the warmth of one "Well done!"
Then may we see that doing right was not just the right thing to do, but the only thing to do.

My Rifle, Pony and Me

A few weeks back, my daughter Merrianna bought a DVD of the John Wayne movie Rio Bravo. We enjoyed watching it again -- it has been a favorite for years.

The theme of strong men trying to do the right thing against all odds appeals to me. Then there are tactical survival hints, such as what John Wayne's character does just before he sits down to talk to Ward Bond's character in the hotel lobby.

Another attractive aspect is the mutual respect and camaraderie among the main characters. Nothing forges bonds like facing hard times together.

At one of their low points, the main characters are hunkered down in the jail house. In the providence of the writers, it's just the time for a song -- and thanks to good casting, Dean Martin and Ricky Nelson are on hand to do the singing.

(Note to my barber: In our personal dark times, we never broke into song, bro, but we did hunker down and laugh at the absurdities of the evil around us. Enjoy the song.)

"Hello! My name is Inigo Montoya . . ."

"Hello! My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father; prepare to die," is just one of the great and memorable lines from one of my favorite films. 

The Princess Bride is a classic, which I commend to Christian Martialists everywhere. Unintentionally -- I assume -- the secular humanists (many of whom come from Jewish backgrounds) have put together an epic tale that borrows many elements from the story of redemption as found on the pages of the Old and New Testaments.

George Grant has said that all great stories borrow themes from the One Story (redemption). You can find many allusions to the One Story in the film.

There is the theme of the bride and the bridegroom (who is absent for a long time, so that the bride's faithfulness wavers). The bridegroom's faithfulness: his death and resurrection because of his love & desire to rescue the bride. That's probably the most central theme from the One Story that you can find in The Princess Bride, but there are others.

Isn't it about time to watch (or watch again) the movie & see how many of the themes & allusions you can find that are "borrowed" from the One Story?

By the way, I thought you might enjoy this Yerzies T-shirt design found by my daughter Raquel:

One Man's Stupidity Unveils Another's Courage

Thanks to Deolexrex for sending me the link to this article.

The words of Glen Rhodes as reported on the CarteachO blog:

I was shot point blank in the chest Friday the 13th of July 2007, the bullet entered near the front edge of my left armpit about 4 in. to the left of my left nipple and about 2 in above it. The bullet traveled through my left lung destroying about 30% of it then the bullet nicked my aorta and heart sack it then ricocheted of of the inside front of my ribcage. It then tore through my diaphragm leaving a 3 in by 2 in hole in my diaphragm. From there it tore through my stomach destroying 3 acid ducts and causing me to lose about 20% of my stomach. From there the bullet nicked my liver and spleen then it traveled through the back third of my spinal cord canal from about the middle of T11 on my left side to about the middle of T12 where it exited my spinal canal and traveled about another inch to my right parallel with the skin of my back and came to rest. The bullet was a Speer Gold dot 9mm that was fired from a Glock model 17.

Read the full story for the circumstances of the shooting, who saved his life (a fantastic side story), the tragic consequences of one careless moment, and the courage, objectivity and forgiveness wrapped up in the heart of one incredible warrior:

A Cautionary Tale for Shooters

Entertained by Violence?, 2

James Jordan has commented on this aspect of manhood in one of his Biblical Horizons newsletters:

Biblical manhood is not connected with hunting or with sports. The great men of the Bible were not hunters but accountants; contrast Jacob and Esau. There is nothing wrong with hunting, but it has nothing to do with manhood one way or another. There is nothing wrong with many sports either, but we should note that while sports were an important part of Greek education, they play no part in Biblical training at all.

Biblical manhood is connected, however, with martial skills. At the age of 20, every man was enlisted in the militia (Numbers 1). When the trumpet was blown, every man was expected to show up to fight.

What does this mean for us today? Well, it has to be admitted that modern super-weapons are not the kinds of things ordinary citizens can be expected to possess or know how to use. But there are two kinds of martial arts that can and should be part of Christian education for men, and also for women to a lesser degree. The one is self-defense tactics, and here we can use the Jubal-techniques developed in oriental lands to good advantage: karate, tae-kwan-do, jui-jutsu, etc. The other is weapons training, which should include bow & arrow, spear, pistol, and rifle.

If these ideas shock you, you’ve spent too much time as a couch potato watching sports on television. Wouldn’t you like for your children to know these things? Don’t you wish you did????

(Also, see my blog series, "Designed for Work, Destined for War")

Given that Christian young men have inner questions & conflicts based on one God-ordained facet of manhood, war movies, martial arts movies, and other "action" movies serve a very real purpose. Every staged violent confrontation addresses his personal concerns -- What would I do in that situation? Could I do that? Would I have the courage to . . . ? (etc.)

I would recommend that Christian parents use such movies to evoke discussion aimed at evaluating the movie from a Biblical perspective. Ask the right questions: Did the main character act out of revenge, or was he protecting himself (or someone else)? Did the main character use wrongs committed against him as an excuse or an occasion for sin? Were the movie's situations true-to-life or too contrived to be of practical use? Are there Biblical characters who faced analogous situations? (etc.)

This sends the right message to the young Christian -- that the Bible speaks to every situation of life, including the use of force in defense of self or others.

On my blog, I recently reviewed a couple of war films. I would recommend to you the comments by two or three young men who responded in the comments section. It shows how Christian youths can approach such movies with a discernment that issues from Biblical ethics:

Valkyrie

Defiance

Finally, I want to make it clear that I recognize that the young Christian does not always act from pure motives. His legitimate interests may be mixed with an addiction to adrenaline or an unhealthy interest in some of the seamier aspects of modern "action" movies. Here, I believe the discerning parent must direct his child's attention to those movies which best serve the legitimate purposes I've discussed above.

Entertained by Violence?

In a recent exchange of emails with some Christian parents, they posed the following question:

Just a side thought-One question that has arisen in our house several times is whether it is OK to be entertained by violence, such as is in R rated movies.

My answer follows:

First, I think it would be wise to discern what you mean when you say "entertained by violence."

If by that, you mean watching blood-and-splatter movies (e.g., Texas Chain Saw Massacre & movies of that ilk) and deriving pleasure from  bloody death & dismemberment, then I would have to say that such entertainment goes against the teaching of Scripture. There is no warrant for taking delight in the violent suffering and death of other people.

On the other hand, I believe a lot of Christian young men (and some older ones) watch "action" movies that include a lot of fighting and death for reasons other than to glory in bloody suffering.

God has implanted men with an instinct to protect home & family. Sadly, however, many churches and homes do not know what to do with these drives.

Often, the only message a Christian boy receives is: "Fighting is always bad; don't do it." This causes a radical disconnect between the young man's religious perception and his God-created manhood.

Within him, certain questions nag. If I had to, could I defend myself? Could I protect my family? Could I take a human life, if necessary?

These questions are not limited to Christian young men, but it is they who, in particular, need Biblical answers -- answers that are not always forthcoming. I'm afraid that in many of our young men, the questions just take the form of impressions and feelings that they cannot even articulate.


(To be continued)