Truth about guns

I was contemplating writing an article about how wrong Bob Costas was in his rant on guns during the halftime show of the NBC Sunday night football game on Sunday, December 2nd.  However, I ran across this article on Fox News and I really can't improve on it.  I've copied and pasted the text in case the link is removed, but click here if you want to go to the page.

The truth about Costas, Belcher and guns

By John Lott

Published December 03, 2012

FoxNews.com

Did Jovan Belcher, the 6’2” 228 pound linebacker for the Kansas City Chiefs, need a gun to kill his girlfriend Kasandra Perkins? How about to commit suicide? Apparently some think that Saturday's murder-suicide tragedy in Kansas City wouldn't have happened if he hadn't had a firearm. Amazingly, during halftime on NBC’s "Sunday Night Football," Bob Costas told viewers he believed: “If Jovan Belcher didn’t possess a gun, he and Kasandra Perkins would both be alive today.”

Belcher apparently killed Perkins, the 22-year-old mother of his 3-month-old daughter, at home. The horrible tragedy occurred in front of Perkins’ mom. He then drove to the Chiefs' practice facility where he committed suicide.

Guns can make it easier to kill people, but that isn’t relevant here. Even if no weapon existed, the strength differential is so large that Belcher could have easily killed Perkins in any number of ways. The same is true, sadly, about suicide. There are so many ways that Belcher could have killed himself, including crashing his car at a high rate of speed into a wall or even another car as he drove to Arrowhead Stadium. 

Unfortunately, pointing to two deaths here does nothing to advance the case for gun control. Costas’ rant falls under the category of if gun control could save just one life it would be worth it. The argument makes as much sense as saying we shouldn’t have gun control if guns can save one life. 

The question is the net effect of guns, and what Costas ignores is that guns save a lot more lives than they cost each year. And that's not even mentioning the roughly 2 million times a year that people use guns defensively.

Whether people like Costas like it or not the facts speak for themselves: Murder rates consistently rise when guns are banned. This is not just a US phenomenon in places such as Washington, DC and Chicago, but has been observed worldwide. When guns are banned, even in island nations such as the UK, Ireland, and Jamaica, the pattern has been the same. The problem is that gun bans disarm law-abiding good people, not criminals. With disarmed victims, crime is easier to commit.

Gun control advocates frequently point out that the majority of murders are committed by acquaintances, trying to make people fearful of letting relatives have access to guns. But this claim regarding domestic violence irresponsibly makes people afraid of those who they have no reason to be afraid of. What isn’t mentioned by these same advocates is that most of these acquaintances are not people who are emotionally close to each other. They involve rival gang members who know each other. Acquaintance murders also include prostitutes and their pimps or Johns as well as cab drivers who are murdered by their fares.

To put it bluntly, criminals are not typical citizens. About 90 percent of adult murderers have an adult criminal record. They tend to have low IQs and long histories of social problems. Murders are also very heavily concentrated among minorities in urban areas. Over 70 percent of murders occur in about 3 percent of the counties in the US. Even if our country passed laws banning guns, most of these murderers are not the kind of people who are going to voluntarily turn in their weapons.

If women want to protect themselves, they should get a gun. The FBI’s National Crime Victimization Survey indicates that by far the safest course of action for women to take when they are confronted by a criminal is to have a gun. 

There are two groups of people who benefit the most from gun ownership: people who are weaker physically (women and the elderly) and those who are most likely to be victims of violent crime (primarily poor blacks who live in high crime urban areas).

The research by economists overwhelmingly shows that gun ownership has no impact on suicide rates. To the extent that gun control has any impact, restrictions just change the way in which the suicide is committed.

Bob Costas’ emotional reaction to the deaths of Belcher and Perkins is understandable, even if a rant on gun control during a football game is misplaced. But hopefully cooler heads will prevail before we enact laws that will unintentionally lead to more deaths.

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The Lost Art of Disciple Making - Book Review

 I just read The Lost Art of Disciple Making and I must confess I was impressed by the book!  I am growing in my knowledge of disciple making, a concept that was ambiguous at best in the church where I grew up, and this book is a valuable resource.  If you're serious about discipling people to help them to maturity in Christ I highly recommend this book.  

The author, LeRoy Eims, starts by explaining discipleship and it's value.  Then he get to practical application of how to disciple.  From there he then teaches how to train up discipling leaders.  

I believe this is the second most neglected aspect in the 21st century church today, the first being the lost priority of worship (when I say worship, I'm not referring exclusively to music).  Often evangelical churches excel in preaching, teaching and some level of community.  However, they miss deep relational & accountability of discipleship.  Those elements are how Jesus discipled.  Should we be any different?  I hope that has intrigued you enough to pick up the book and read it.

Overall I give this book 4.5 out of 5.

Click here to view it on Amazon.

Thoughts on Worship

It has been a while since I've written on my blog, so I'm hoping to keep up better in the future.

Here's a great article by Bob Kauflin on worship.  I have nothing to add, it speaks for itself.

16 Aug, 2012

From the Archives: Top Ten Reasons to Share Musical Opinions Humbly

Posted by: Bob Kauflin In: —Worship and Music

I’ve been musing recently about how we express our musical opinions. Why do we feel so strongly about songs, bands, and styles? And why do we draw conclusions so quickly? Nope. Don’t like it. That stinks. I can’t stand that kind of music. You like that stuff? Is there anything wrong with raving about the music/artists we love and being swift to trash those we despise?

If we’re Christians, yes. Let me suggest ten reasons why musical forbearance might be good for our souls.

1. Being a self-appointed music critic is often just a sign of pride.Using outrageous or exaggerated words to put down certain songs, styles, or artists can be a symptom of selfishness, laziness, or arrogance. We don’t want to spend time investigating whether or not our assessment is accurate because we’re too busy sharing our opinions. (Prov. 18:2)

2. Music doesn’t define us. Why do we become offended when someone critiques our favorite song, group, or style of music? Because they’re insulting “our” music, which means they’re insultingus. That’s idolatry. Music isn’t our life — Christ is. (Col. 3:4).

3. Great songs don’t always sound great the first time through.Some songs require repeated listenings to appreciate their value.  Albums and songs often grow on us over time. Is all the best music always instantly accessible or appealing? I hope not.

4. The introduction to a song isn’t the same thing as the song. The first twenty seconds of a song usually doesn’t represent the whole song. It just introduces it. Deciding we don’t like a song from the start can keep us from hearing something we might truly enjoy or benefit from.

5. Listening to music the masses have never heard of doesn’t make us better. Some of us derive a particular joy in finding and listening to obscure, undiscovered artists. As if being unknown was admirable in and of itself. Some bands are undiscovered because they’re not very good. And if we do happen to discover a talented unknown band, it’s an opportunity to serve others, not look down on them.

6. Listening to music that is massively popular doesn’t make us better. This is the opposite craving of the previous point. It’s the mindset that says if the song or artist hasn’t been on the radio, at the top of the charts, or on TV, it’s not worth listening to.

7. Learning to appreciate unfamiliar music is one way to prefer others. Why does everyone have to like the music I like? What might I learn about my friends by patiently seeking to understand why they like the music they do? (Phil. 2:4)

8. Learning to like other kinds of music can open my eyes to God’s creativity. In his book, Music Through the Eyes of Faith, Harold Best addresses musical elitists. “Among all this stuff that needs aesthetic redeeming, there is also goodness, a whole lot of integrity and honesty, from which they themselves can learn.” (p. 89) That means I can actually enjoy music that is less sophisticated than what I’d ordinarily listen to.

9. We may have to eat our words. It’s happened more than a few times. I mouth off about how bad a song is, and later on start to think it’s actually pretty good. Or I tear up a song on my blog and later find myself talking to a person who loves it or the person who wrote it. Oops.

10. We might be missing an opportunity to be grateful for God’s gifts. Our tendency is to assume that God’s gifts all look and sound the same. They don’t. What would happen if the first time we heard a song we sought to be grateful rather than critical?

Let me be clear. No song is above evaluation and there are truly bad songs. We just might serve others and ourselves more effectively if we expressed our musical opinions with a little more grace.

[originally posted Dec. 7, 2008]

Great New CD!

Loving the new Vertical Worship CD!  How refreshing to hear Christ exalting worship music!

Click here to check it out.

Criticism

I have to admit I was initially mad then defensive when I received some harsh words from an occasional visitor at our church about our style of worship... not enough hymns for her taste.
My initial reaction was to fight back.  Doesn't she know it's not about the form as much as about the substance and heart?  As I carefully crafted a genius response - in my mind - God laid it on my heart to say nothing.  That's right, nothing.  To simply let it go.
Let it go.
That's not my style to let it go.  I love to debate and defend my positions.  No doubt that's my pride coming out at times.
As I wrestled with this thought of letting it go, I randomly picked up a book that I had started reading a couple months ago but it had lost my attention.   There it was, God speaking just as if he was in physical form in the room speaking in an audible voice.  In the book, a pastor outlining his difficulty with some members and how he handled it.  He loved them. 
No harsh immediate rebuke.
He valued them.  Cared for them.  Listened.  He loved.
Wow, what a word.  This lady will probably never know that her words hurt me.  But my response will be love.  Not because it's what I want to do but because it's what God has shown me. 
Anyone can love when it's things are going well but our true test of character is to love others even when they are un-lovable.
May God be glorified in our responses. 

My answer to a question of how are visitors drawn to a church?

---------------------------------------------

In answer to your last question, prayer… God is drawing people to [church name] through his sovereignty.  We’ve had several visitors say similar things, paraphrasing here, “we just saw the church and felt like we had to come and check it out.”  We have done no advertising or promotion.  When men and women get on their knees and a church takes prayer seriously I strongly believe God uses that church for His glory.

Please take time to read this link…

http://www.evanwiggs.com/revival/portrait/spurgeon.html

James MacDonald has said numerous times when asked how his church flourished so much both in number and in spiritual depth, now 16,000 over 6 campuses in Chicago alone, and more importantly sending Pastors all across the country and the world.  He says, again paraphrasing, “we struggled as a church for a number of years until we started taking prayer seriously, it was only when we wept before God in agonizing prayer that he chose to use us for the glory of His name.”

And when I say Harvest takes it seriously, you have no idea the lengths they go to in fervent prayer – here’s a clue, it’s not a Wed night “prayer meeting”.

If you think about it, doesn’t it make sense?  Imagine a church who has not first fully committed to prayer and starts to grow and flourish.  The temptation is then, “look what we’ve done.”  But if a church is first on their knees, humbling themselves before God, confessing sin and calling out for His favor, then it’s “look what God has done.”

It’s not structure, form of government (although bad church polity will hinder ministry), organization, location, advertising or programs.  Just prayer.  Too simple isn’t it?

Excellent article for men to lead their families...

11 Practical Ways for Men to Lead a Family | Pastor Mark

To my worship team...

An excerpt from an e-mail I wrote today to my worship team...

Keep in mind 3 things as we move forward:

1) commitment to prayer - pray for each other within the team, as a group and for Kingston specifically in the area of worship

2) commitment to holiness - continue to meet with your accountability partners, make this a priority to pray for one another and share life together.

3) Love & humility - don't allow division within the group, show grace and love to your fellow members - remember Satan's favorite strategy is to divide and conquer.  Most often when we're tempted in this area it's because we've allowed pride to infiltrate our hearts.  Continually seek being broken before the cross, allowing God to humble you.  (Romans 12:3)

Philippians 2:3
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

Future Posts!

3 posts I'm writing for my blog coming soon, can't wait...

1) Worship Philosophy: Why new contemporary songs in corporate worship and why we sing primarily to God instead of just about God.

2) Response to Elder led vs. Elder rule:  Distinguishing what scripture really says about Elders and church polity and what has been man made (i.e. congregationalism).  Specifically dispelling what congregationalists have deemed as "musts" when in reality after taking a closer look are not in scripture at all.

3) Review of the book Going Deep by Gordon MacDonald (I'm currently about half way through).  A lot of good stuff so far but it will depend on where it heads in the end.