Taken from John MacArthur’s, Twelve Ordinary Men.

Many Christians become discouraged and disheartened when their spiritual life and witness suffer because of sin or failure. We tend to think we’re worthless nobodies–and left to ourselves, that would be true! But worthless nobodies are just the kind of people God uses, because that is all He has to work with. (My emphasis)

I read an absolutely fantastic article from New Perspective Counseling today. The article entitled, Philosophy, Knowledge, Wisdom: Important Concepts For Christian Living, speaks to the need for God in our epistemology. If we are to distinguish not only truth, but also proper application of that truth, God must be in the equation. The article also speaks to the historical decline of God in America’s universities which were originally founded as Christian institutions, and what that has meant to our society.

…Of course, to know a wise course of action and to choose a wise course of action is two different things and the latter is sometimes illusive to us all…

…Without God’s eternal truth knowledge is corrupted as is wisdom and philosophy. Psalm 111:10 says; “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow His instructions have good insight.” Knowing God’s will, therefore, is part of knowledge and is necessary for making proper ethical and moral choices…

The author of the article is Terry Jackson, who just happens to be my Dad, but I can assure you this has not prejudiced my review of the article. Dad and I have our disagreements. I’m sure the far-reaching conclusions he would infer as rising from his arguments would be a little different than mine, but this does not detract from the wisdom of his words.

There is a very informative article entitled, 25 years murder-free in ‘Gun Town USA’, published on WorldNetDaily. The WorldNetDaily is an obviously hard right website that I do not normally frequent, but the article in question uses statistics, not emotion, to make its point.

…The crime rate initially plummeted for several years after the passage of the ordinance, with the 2005 per capita crime rate actually significantly lower than it was in 1981, the year before passage of the law.

Prior to enactment of the law, Kennesaw had a population of just 5,242 but a crime rate significantly higher (4,332 per 100,000) than the national average (3,899 per 100,000). The latest statistics available – for the year 2005 – show the rate at 2,027 per 100,000. Meanwhile, the population has skyrocketed to 28,189…

Once again, the point being made is, more guns = less crime. It simply doesn’t matter if you can’t get yourself to say it because it “just doesn’t feel right”, or if it seems counterintuitive to you. It doesn’t even matter if you believe America has a love affair with guns; this is beside the point. The data support the hypothesis, and is shown to be true over and over.

Those who wish to limit firearm ownership in the name of safety frequently win ground among otherwise intelligent, conservative thinking people by using the same tools they use to push the rest of thier agenda. Namely, emotion-driven, statistically incorrect data presented in a way that speaks to ones feelings instead of ones mind. If the pictures of mass murder on the screen are bothering you, remember, these atrocities are being committed in “gun-free” zones. It seems that taking away firearms just isn’t going to stop people from doing bad things.

If you want to hate firearms, and want ammunition to support your position, simply keep doing what your doing: getting your information from the media. However, if you want to make an informed decision on your position towards firearm ownership start reading! You can even read the books that the anti-gun groups put out…just don’t expect footnotes or a full bibliography. Take notes in the margins of both types of books. When you find an argument based on data write the word “data” in the margin. When you find an argument based on emotion, write the word “emotion” in the margin. The results will speak for themselves.

Don’t know where to start: Start Here or Here or Here or Here (CDC..Look For Yourself!)

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