My Christmas Eve Story

Four years ago, I published a Christmas Eve story which seemed popular among my readers. It's a Christmas tale of war, a harrowing escape, a miraculous vision and the bonding of two very different kinds of warriors. I am linking back to it here:

The Combat Master's Christmas Tale

A Note to Modern Readers: The claymore in the story is a Scottish two-handed sword, not an explosive device.

An Announcement: This story is now available in print form as a booklet.

Click here if you may be interested in purchasing a copy for one of Christ's battle-weary warriors.

The Insane Warrior

David Watson, a missionary who has seen extraordinary church planting results has recently written a blog post entitled "The Insane Warrior" that gives great insights on warriors who battle on the physical as well as the spiritual planes.

The article begins:

Warriors, by necessity, are mentally imbalanced, when viewed by non-warriors. To put one’s self in harm’s way for another is not natural, regardless of politics, and requires a degree of insanity to do so. From the warriors’ perspective, the rest of the world lacks balance because it fails to understand the unique role of the warrior and what he or she has sacrificed in order for others to feel and/or be safe, often without even knowing they were not safe.

To read the rest, CLICK HERE.

Political Power, RKBA and a Hunger Games Fan Vid

Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun. -- Mao Zedung

For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:

For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. -- Romans 13:3-4

The possession of weapons projects power. Thus, it appears as a symbol of political power not only in Scripture, but in history from the Etruscan fasces -- which reappeared in ancient Rome and again, in Mussolini's Italy -- to Chinese Communist leader Mao's famous quote.

Therefore, the right to keep and bear arms (RKBA) marks the difference between a citizen and a mere subject. Many American officials and not a few citizens seem bent on reducing the general populace to the latter category.

That's why I found the video below so refreshing. It's a fan video based on the characters that appear in Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games novels and the movies based on them. As an amateur production, it's not only well done, but it distills an important message from the larger works into a strong and memorable argument for the RKBA.

In Case You Wondered . . .

I've posted a few of my fiction pieces on this blog about the Master of All Combat Arts, Ancient and Modern. In case you were wondering why I made him a Scot, here's just one example of the traditional Scottish warrior spirit.

http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/heritage/scots-war-hero-sir-tommy-macpherson-dies-at-94-1-3598468

"His most fearless act came during the same deployment. He confronted the leader of a 23,000-strong column of battle-hardened troops, led by an SS Panzer division, persuaded them they were outnumbered and outgunned by Allied forces, and forced them to surrender."

Homemade Body Armor?

Truthfully, I'd be a more than a little hesitant to trust my life to something like this, but I think the idea is fascinating. I'm sharing this here for informational purposes only.

Do not try this at home.



To see the inventor test this homemade armor plate, CLICK HERE.

My Barber Asked My Opinion

Whoa! My barber, whom I consider THE firearms guru. sent out an email to me and his circle of "gun people" asking our opinion on the FBI's proposed move from .40 cal to 9mm handguns.

Now, it's no secret that I'm a big fan of larger calibers, the .45 ACP in particular. However, I'm also an advocate of utilizing the handgun with which you can put the most shots on target. A .380 that puts all its rounds in the kill zone will serve you better than a .454 Casull that won't let you hit the broad side of a 40' storage container.

Anyway, my barber referenced an article on the LoadOut Room site by Mark Miller. The following quote from the article distills the FBI's rationale into a few salient points:

· Handgun stopping power is simply a myth

· The single most important factor in effectively wounding a human target is to have penetration to a scientifically valid depth (FBI uses 12” – 18”)

· LEOs miss between 70 – 80 percent of the shots fired during a shooting incident

· Contemporary projectiles (since 2007) have dramatically increased the terminal effectiveness of many premium line law enforcement projectiles (emphasis on the 9mm Luger offerings)

· 9mm Luger now offers select projectiles which are, under identical testing conditions, I outperforming most of the premium line .40 S&W and .45 Auto projectiles tested by the FBI

· 9mm Luger offers higher magazine capacities, less recoil, lower cost (both in ammunition and wear on the weapons) and higher functional reliability rates (in FBI weapons)

· The majority of FBI shooters are both FASTER in shot strings fired and more ACCURATE with shooting a 9mm Luger vs shooting a .40 S&W (similar sized weapons)

· There is little to no noticeable difference in the wound tracks between premium line law Auto enforcement projectiles from 9mm Luger through the .45 Auto

· Given contemporary bullet construction, LEO’s can field (with proper bullet selection) 9mm Lugers with all of the terminal performance potential of any other law enforcement pistol caliber with none of the disadvantages present with the “larger” calibers.

Notice the crucial point here. In an armed confrontation, the bureau has statistically established that law enforcement officers miss from 70 to 80 percent of their shots. This statistic has remained consistent over the years.

In 2007 I posted an article that cites an FBI five-year study which reports that while 70% of offenders in a shootout put at least some shots on target, only 40% of LEOs could hit their adversaries. Should we blame the caliber of  their weapons or their training?

I would consider myself remiss if I did not point out that the FBI switched from the 10mm to the .40S&W in 1997 for precisely the same reasons that they say they will now switch to the 9mm. Their agents did better at the range with the lighter load of the .40 cal. (see here)

Evidently, the bureau sees the poor performance of LEOs in actual gunfights on too much bang or too big gun. Hence the search for a magic bullet.

To be continued.

On Love and the Use of Force

While I don't condone everything that Francis Schaeffer stood for, I want to share the following quote about how love sometimes requires the use of force:

“I would say that from my study of the Scripture, not to do what can be done for those in the power of those who automatically and logically oppress is nothing less than a lack of Christian love. This is why I am not a pacifist. I am not a pacifist, because pacifism in this poor world in which we live, this lost world, means that we desert the people who need our greatest help. As an illustration: I am walking down the street. I see a great big burly man beating a little tiny tot to death – beating this little girl, beating her, beating her. I come up and I plead with him to stop. If he won’t stop, what does love mean? Love means that I stop him in any way I can including, quite frankly, hitting him, and to me this is necessary Christian love in a fallen world. What about the little girl? If I desert the little girl to the bully, I have deserted the true meaning of Christian love, and responsibility to my neighbor. …As far as I’m concerned, this is the necessary outworking of Christian love. The world is an abnormal world, because of the Fall it is not the way God meant it to be. There are many things in this world which grieve us, and yet we must face them.” – Francis Schaeffer