Do You Need To Protect Yourself At Church

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What would you do? Maybe you're sitting there looking at your watch. It's the middle of church, and a guy walks in, or a guy sitting there gets up and heads toward the front, and you're thinking, is he going to an altar call? Or it turns out to be an altercation, because he's got a knife, and he starts stabbing the pastor in the middle of the man's sermon that's just happened to a pastor in Australia.

And it's just fascinating. Another pastor in Alabama who's been on the show, who's actually a mutual friend with Zach Clinton, who just did a great job he did. What a great man of God.

I'm excited about his new book. Travis Johnson was preaching Sunday morning, and he posted this on Facebook. He said, I'm preaching on the voice of the martyrs, on the persecuted church, and this is my topic, my theme, celebrating those who've given it all, preaching the Word of God faithfully. And while I'm preaching, this is going on in Australia. This fellow's preaching. Have you seen the video? A gentleman gets up and starts stabbing him. He comes to the front and starts stabbing him. The pastor's in stable condition.

What would you do if this happened in your church? That's a question. I want to hear from you at 866-348-7884. 866-34-TRUTH. I'm Stu Epperson. This is Truth Talk Live. I'm going to say thank you to VineTastic, our friends at Mighty Muscadine, have come through with an absolute home run.

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Call them. Thank them for being on because they're investing in this show so we can keep spreading the good news of Jesus Christ and we can keep encouraging pastors to speak up and preach the word even if their life is at stake. Like a pastor in Florida who was just killed by a homeless man that he ministered to. He gave sanctuary literally to this man. He let him sleep in the church. The man stabbed the pastor to death.

I just saw this headline earlier today. So this other pastor's preaching and someone comes up, I'm asking you this question. I'm giving the toll-free number. What would you do? How would you handle that? Would you hit the back door? You say, you know what, it's time I head to lunch. I don't want, I got to beat the presbyterians to lunch. You know, what are we doing here? You see, he's a guy going with a knife.

You're like, I'm out of here. Would you step in front of your pastor to try to protect him? Would you try to subdue the person trying to kill your pastor? Have you seen this happen before? What kind of persecution, what kind of resistance have you had when sharing the gospel, preaching the gospel?

Have you been assaulted for your faith in Christ? That's the question. We're dealing with that all hour long on Truth Talk Live. I'm Stu Epperson. The number's 866-348-7884.

866-344-TRUTH. I'm going to give you a couple more headlines too as you're thinking about that one. If you want to weigh in on what your reaction is to this man coming and stabbing the pastor in the middle of his sermon. This just happened over the weekend in Australia. Another headline, the FBI is opening up an investigation into the cargo ship that crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

There's some stuff going on there, so they're looking into this to see about the operator error, or if there's something even more nefarious afoot there. Another, Senator Ted Cruz comes out against Joe Biden this week. He basically says that Biden bears the responsibility for the attack on Israel.

This is a big headline. That the billions of dollars in aid to Iran. Iran gets more and more hot and angry at America, death to America, death to Israel, and America sends them more and more money. And so Senator Ted Cruz is like, president, the president in this administration is contributing to this. We actually had a, Iran was at peace and things were fine with us even though it was tense when the previous president was in. And now it's gotten worse because we're sitting, you know, how do you appease terrorists?

Why do you keep giving them money? And the money indirectly that our government, your taxpayer dollars sent to Iran is money that paid for those missiles that absolutely barraged and tried to destroy Israel over the weekend. The first time that there was a direct warfare, a direct assault. Here's a direct quote from Ted Cruz. It was the first direct attack on Israel from Iran in history and it is an extraordinary escalation of what has been going on. This is quote, Cruz continues, this tragically is the result of the Biden foreign policy of appeasement and the entire Democrat party backing away from Israel and sending billions of dollars to Iran. In a very real sense, the missiles that Iran fired at Israel were paid for by the Biden administration.

Wow. You know, so we talk about, of course, we're praying for and we are in a spiritual battle and we are fully supporting Israel. But how do you process that our government is contributing, is almost negligently contributing to Israel's demise by funding Iran and the terrorist groups? Because when you hear Hamas, they're funded by who?

Iran, Hezbollah, same thing. So that's a headline I want to read to you. The number, if you want to weigh in on any of this, is 866-348-7884.

Especially what would you do if someone came into your church and started trying to attack, kill, shoot, or stab your pastor? It happened this weekend and it's a very real threat. How about this, another quick headline and we'll take some calls. The exiting president of Harvard, remember she got caught with plagiarism?

You can't make this up. She just got a new job at Harvard. She still gets the $900,000 annual salary after resigning. She still gets that salary and she's gotten a new task, a new job. She is now teaching reading and research at Harvard after getting out as president for plagiarism.

Unbelievable. And by the way, applications to Harvard have never been lower since all this stuff has happened because people are saying, what are they, just a political George Soros kind of thing? School? Or are they actually educating people? So this is kind of what's happened with a lot of these socialist Marxist educational places. Karl Marx couldn't be happier right now with what's going on in our country.

He's very happy. The worse it gets, the happier he gets because again, everyone wants this Marxist socialist society. It's never worked anywhere ever, ever, ever.

And yet they think it's going to work in America. And it's very sad to see that happen. How do Christians reply and specifically today, how do you reply if someone comes in and attacks your pastor? 866-348-7884.

I'm Stu Everson. This is Truth Talk Live. So glad you are with us today and we'll talk to Stephen who wants to weigh in on the Israel subject.

And you can call in with whatever's on your mind. There's just so much going on in the news. Why is it happening? Is it the sign of the times?

By the way, how should your church respond to this Israel issue? Stephen, you're on Truth Talk Live. Yeah, I think that you're dealing with liberals. You're dealing with liberals who fund stuff like that and it shouldn't be any surprise this is going on. And it's going to continue to go on until Christ comes back. And it's going to get worse and what they're doing is they're literally paying people money to kill you.

I'm going to pay you money if you attack me and kill me. And that's basically what it boils down to. Interesting. Yeah, and I read a headline. I read a headline and there's documentation that Venezuela has allowed, has emptied a few of their prisons and sent those inmates some of the worst criminals to America. And in the article, there was a citation, a statistical citation that crime in Venezuela actually went down and is down now. But where's the crime up? And they're defunding the police in America. And the politicians would never say, Stephen, I want to kill you.

I want to destroy Israel. But when you give money and when you give all kinds of blessing to people who want to commit crime and you don't prosecute them. In fact, there are statistics in America that crime is down. Well, when you don't prosecute people that shove people into trains and stab people in subways, well, you don't prosecute them, of course crime is down because there's no criminal in jail who's been charged with any kind of crime because they get out that afternoon.

And so it's heartbreaking. You know, you think about the guy that, the gang of illegal immigrants that were kicking the two New York NYPD officers. Remember that? And they were acquitted within hours of that. And they walked out and the cameras were on and they stuck their middle finger up at the people. How does a Christian reply, Stephen, thanks for your call. How do believers respond to Israel? How would you reply or respond if someone literally walked up the aisle, started stabbing your pastor in the middle of his death? Started stabbing your pastor in the middle of his sermon. How do you reply to that? How do you lead that person to Christ?

I mean, you know, what about the Word? What would Jesus do? 866-34-TRUTH. More coming up on Truth Talk Live. Hang on. You're listening to the Truth Network and truthnetwork.com. You know, honestly, we are very spoiled.

We are very pampered. We talk about first world problems, you know, complaining about, well, the air conditioning isn't high or they left the sauce off my entree at dinner. And in the faith, that's the same way, right? When's the last time you were accosted and attacked for sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ, for bringing the good news, or for standing up for your faith, maybe, in a hostile work situation?

I'm Stu Everson. This is Truth Talk Live, and this is happening right now. You know, all over the world, Christians are persecuted. There's never been more suffering and more imprisonment, more Christians.

We've talked about it. We've interviewed people who have suffered. On this program, martyrdom is going on right now. But in Australia, at a church, no one expected a man to walk in or walk down the aisle in the middle of the pastor's sermon and start stabbing him. And that's what happened.

There's a video of it. And so we're getting your reaction to that, asking this simple question on Truth Talk Live. For those of you who just joined us, what would you do if you're sitting there, you know, maybe four aisles back, four rows back from the front, and this guy walks up. He's not walking up to put money in the offering plate or grab a communion cup and, you know, partake of that.

He's walking up to start stabbing. Literally, it's graphic. It's just like, you're looking at it, you're having a moment. They're like, whoa! And this has been posted all over social media.

If you haven't seen it, check it out. What would you do? How would you respond? How would you defend your pastor? How would you react? How would you try to restrain this person? Would you get out of Dodge and think, hey, wait a second, I better check on the kids in the nursery?

866-348-7888. Do you feel like there's going to be more and more of this? You know, it's interesting, they call Christians so angry and so mean and so hateful, and yet these are the things happening at churches. Christians are more persecute than anyone else. Christians are more beat up, and, you know, this pastor wasn't preaching from the Quran. You know, he wasn't preaching on any of that stuff. He was preaching the Bible, talking about Jesus being the only way. 866-34-TRUTH.

I want to hear your thoughts on this. Take some calls. 866-348-7884. How would you have responded?

What are your thoughts on this, and how have you suffered for your own faith? Maybe you have an encouraging testimony for some of us listening, and someone out there, you have a good word to share at 866-34-TRUTH. Let's go to Mike in Dayton, Ohio. 106.5 FM. Mike, you're on Truth Talk Live with Stu. Hey, thanks Stu.

Thanks for taking my call again. Stu, do you... our state has open carry. Do you have open carry in your state?

Yes sir, we do, and I'm sitting in North Carolina, that's right, we do here. Yeah, and my, you know, I told my wife, you know, I'm an ex-military, grew up with guns and understand guns and understand that, and my wife says, you know, Tammy, should I start carrying a gun? My wife, you know, and she's, she's not from a gun family, and we, she said, well let's pray about it, you know.

So we prayed about it, and we talked about it, and my wife came around and says, Mike, I think you, it would be great for you to carry a gun around, you know. I know you're really responsible, you're a good person, and if that pastor was in danger, and my pastor's in danger, I think I'd be there for him. Okay, now that opens up a whole nother thing here that Mike's brought up, and I want to hear from some other folks, and stay with me Mike, I want to probe a little deeper on that with you, but what about a believer carrying a firearm with concealed carry into church for this very reason?

Is that a good solution? Is that practical, or does that go against the whole love your neighbor, the whole, you know, love one another, that sort of thing? Should, should a Christian defend themselves or their pastor with a firearm in their church, especially in the event of someone, you know, waltzing right down the aisle and stab him? You got to watch this, folks, this video's graphic, this guy's stabbing this pastor, and the pastor's now in stable condition. At some point in there, people jumped up, and have you seen the footage, Mike, of this?

No, I haven't. I'll go on your website and see it. Yeah, you'll see it. It's on Facebook everywhere. I might share it.

In fact, I'll share it on my main page right now. I'll go to Travis. Travis did a... On your Facebook page? Yeah, at stu.eperson. That's my fan page.

I'm gonna go on there right now. What am I thinking? This is a... Well, I just want you to see, I really like this pastor, Travis Johnson, how he framed it. You know, he didn't frame it...

It's interesting, he could have really, you know, gotten, you know, been angry, and been, you know, you know, all about, you know, how dare we let, you know, these people, these, you know, horrible people, this and that, but he framed it like, hey, you know, this is the reality of people suffering for Christ, and for, you know, for preaching the gospel. I'm going to share this right now. Share. Boom. Share now.

Okay, so you'll see it on my Facebook page, at stu.eperson. So, you're saying you would have no conviction, or you would have no compunction, or you feel like you're at peace with the Lord about, you know, carrying a firearm into church for this very reason, as a protective measure, and to support your pastor. You're okay with that, Mike? Yes, I am, and I think a couple people in our church do as well. I mean, it's been hush-hush in our church. Yeah.

I understand that reasoning. No one knows that I have, you know, a firearm when I come into church. They might know now. My brother carries one. Or more people might come and feel safer, you know, now that they know.

Let me give the number. If you agree or disagree with Mike, 866-34-TRUTH, you might be like a G-totaller. No guns in church, ever. No guns, concealed carry, no guns. Hey, should pastor have a gun? Should he get his concealed carry?

866-348-7884. Or is that, you know, what about, you know, turn the other cheek and all this other stuff, Mike? What if someone says, Mike, how dare you, how dare you promote violence and, you know, answering, you know, like an eye for an eye? What if, how would you say, what would you say to someone who said that?

Well, you know, we're defending ourselves from, you know, from evil. You know, the other day I walked into Walmart and they had a sign on the, on the under door and it says, no carry. And I walked in without a gun and I, and I went to the manager and I said, sir, you know, you're no carry sign.

I don't like it. And I explained to him, do you think a bad man or a person with a gun is going to come in and obey that sign? So now what's happening is everybody in the store doesn't have a gun. So I'm a good person and I'm a, I'm a Christian person. And I told that manager that I'm a Christian person. I used that as a witness. And I says, I'm going to come into the store with a gun and I'll be responsible. I'm going to have, I'm going to be concealed it. And then if a bad person comes in with a gun and starts shooting people, I'm going to take him out.

You know me? Cause I'm very, very, you know, what the right thing to do. And he, he took the sign down.

That's interesting. So you wouldn't talk to him. You actually went up and talked to him about it. I went up and talked to him. I witnessed to him about it. I says, you know, this, this is what, this is what I'm willing to do for, for customers in this store. I love coming here. I love, I love your management here. I even told him all that, you know?

And I, you know, I, you know, and I says, and he took the sign down and he sees me all the time and he waves to me and he talks to me and it's an awesome thing. You know what I mean? Okay. Yeah. It is unreal, sir.

Yeah. Well look, thanks for your call and for your courage, Mike. He, he, he's got a, he's, he's, he's armed for bear and he's, he's not, not afraid to pack the heat at church.

What about you folks? 866-344-TRUTH. Mike, God bless you. Take care.

866-348-7884. Would you carry a gun to church? Would you, are you, are you agree with Mike or are some of you angry? Like, what are we doing talking about guns at church? What about the, the Holy Spirit? What about the shield of faith?

What about the helmet of salvation? Stu, what are you doing? So love to hear from you.

Love to hear your thoughts. We've got a couple more minutes left in the show. I got a couple big updates for you.

866-348-7884. This is Truth Talk Live. I'm Stu Epperson. We make every one of these shows into a podcast. What does that mean? That means that you can listen to this broadcast later. Maybe you got busy. Maybe you're like, man, I had to, I had to go.

I had to go into a meeting before the show ended. You can listen to the whole segment we did with Dr. Zach Clinton earlier in his brand new book, even if you can listen to that later. We're going to make that available. St. Nick is the man. He's, he's the, the master producer and he, he does a great job. So all the he does a great job. So all the programs we've done.

Now, a heads up programming note. Tomorrow, Pastor Nick, or St. Nick, we have on the air with us a guest. And what this, this, this pastor does is he goes to school board meetings of schools, districts, where they read and they have all these pornographic books for preschoolers and for first, second, third graders.

He gets those books, he goes to the school board meeting and he reads them out loud. And he has now got a cult-like following. He's got hundreds of thousands of people following him on Facebook, on, on Twitter, on, on Instagram. That's where I found him on Instagram, but I've known him and of him for some time.

We know a lot of the same people. And so we've been in a little dialogue, we've been texting and he's agreed to come on the show tomorrow. Now I'm not going to have him read that stuff on the air, although I've got to kind of restrain him.

I may have to restrain him a little bit, but I'm going to have him, I'm going to ask you the question. Is it ever appropriate to read this awful, dark, triple X stuff on, at a school board meeting? Because what happens is these school board people are sitting up there listening and these teachers and all these parents are in this room. And he's saying, this is what you're reading to our children. This is the book in your library that you're reading.

You're bringing, you're bringing transvestites in here to do drag queen shows to our, our seven year olds. And this is what they're hearing. And he starts reading it and it is graphic and it's awful.

It's like blood curdling stuff. And he's a believer. And so I'm going to, we're going to ask the question about that.

Is he going too far or is it a necessary wake up call for parents to say, Hey, this is what my kids are experiencing. And it's time to use some of these school board people, you know, woke up themselves and put this, quit putting this nasty stuff in there. So that's tomorrow. We've got some great shows coming later this week.

We're so glad you are with us. We are truthnetwork.com. We have a free app. Your smartphone is about to get smarter. Download that app. You can listen 24-7 in any of the markets the Truth Network is in and you can be encouraged and share the app with other folks. Cause all I tell people is your phone is like a little portable radio that you can carry around and listen. And I love listening to the truth app myself. Hey, thanks for being with us. That website again is truthnetwork.com and hey, stand up even in the face of resistance and encouragement and share Jesus with someone today. You're listening to the truth network and truthnetwork.com.