As I walked across our property yesterday the reality of today's struggles ran through my mind. The presidential election (which is vitally important) - so many folks struggling financially - the terrible damage sin and debauchery have visited upon our society - the pain of families dealing with broken children and shattered lives - all of this and more. It can be depressing if you dwell upon it.
In my quiet time this morning I read the story of King Saul's pursuit of David and his repeated attempts to murder him - of Saul's sin falsely accusing and then killing God's priests and the entire population of the town of Nob - of David pretending to be insane in front of Abimelech in order to escape Saul - and of the incredible friendship and love of David's friend and brother, Johnathan, son of Saul. (1 Samuel 20-23)
As you read the story you get the impression that ...
"I sought the Lord, and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears."
And later in verses 17 and 18:
"The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them;
he delivers them from all their troubles.
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit."
Our time is not so different from David's. We live in a difficult and frightening world. We may as well admit that it scares the tar out of all of us.
- Is another world war at hand?
- Will our country survive beyond the November election?
- Do our children and grandchildren have any future at all?
I'm quite sure that similar questions ran through David's mind. He turned to the Lord for help, assurance, encouragement, peace - and God made David, a desperate and frightened man running for his life and hiding in caves, the greatest king ever to live upon this earth.
Have faith. Stay strong. Walk with the Lord. There is a future and it is bright!
In the first half, attorney Sean Maloney from Second Call Defense joins me to explain the lessons gun owners can learn from what happened to Kyle Rittenhouse.
In the second half, I discuss a home invasion case from Oceanside California in which the homeowner successfully defended himself.
I stopped in Pine Top Arizona for breakfast yesterday. There's a little coffee shop there I like. I was sitting at the counter when an older gal sat down two seats over. We struck up a conversation.
She was from the north east and had moved with her husband to Scottsdale. North eastern liberals are common there, apparently.
Anyhow, she asked me if I was visiting the area. I said, "No Ma'am. We have a small ranch in the neighboring county." She screwed up her face and asked me if we had cows. I said, "No Ma'am. I was raised around farms and ranches. In my experience, cows are a big bunch of trouble wrapped up in a leather bag and I'm getting too old to put up with them." I said, "But my neighbor is a castle rancher. He's got thousands of 'em. His cows graze on our land all the time."
It was at that point that she leaned over with a concerned look on her face and whispered, "They pass a lot of gas." I replied, "That's no problem, Ma'am. I pass a lot of gas too." And ...
