‘They are killing them’ – conclusion:

John told them all to put their hands up high.  They did so immediately.  He told the man with the knife to drop it.  He did.  We could not see beyond the fence and were not going to take the chance that someone was lying in wait for us.  There was a language problem.  The man with the knife was trying to tell us something, however, neither John nor I spoke Mexican and their English was weak. 

They understood to keep their hands high as we held our guns on them.  We both took a couple of deep breathes.  The windows of the house had the drapes drawn, we could not see if there was anyone inside the house and we could not see the ground. 

We could hear another police siren coming in the background.  That would be the Deputy that was also on duty.  He had been just out of the town area and had been advised of the call.  He was responding as quickly as he could with Red lights and sirens blaring.  The dispatcher said, the ambulance was also in route to our location.  I could also hear their siren.   They would stop a couple of blocks away until we told them it was safe to come up to the crime scene.

The men were scared and shaking now, licking their lips and watching us.  They looked at us, our guns and each other. 

They were trying to say something, but, we didn’t want to hear anything right now.  We needed to SEE what was going on.  John told the men, and motioned them, to step back and to the side and to keep their hands up, motioning with his gun for emphasis. 

With them stepping back and over we would have a better view of their whole body.   Normally, we would have put them on the ground, but, then we would not be able to see them as well.  The deputy arrived and parked behind my car.  He came out of his car with shotgun drawn and moved to the back side of his car to cover us.   John stood back and kept them covered from his angle. 

We were set up as a triangle with the men at the point in front of us and John and the deputy on each corner.  John asked if there was anyone else, and the one that had held the knife nodded his head, then pointed towards the house and it sounded like he was saying his wife and children were inside.

Crouching down, I slowly walked up closer and then opened the gate.  I saw a large hole in the middle of the yard with a shovel and pile of dirt to the side, there was also smoke coming from the hole.   John was watching me and the men.   I stood up. 

I looked over at John and then, trying to keep from smiling too large, I holstered my weapon.  I told John and the deputy they could put their weapons down.  I called Dispatch and told them to call off any other departments they may have called for back up and to call off the ambulance.

Where the man with the knife had been standing was a dead goat.  It’s throat was cut and the man had just started to skin it when we rolled up. 

They had dug a barbecue pit and had been burning wood in the pit, to get good hot coals.   I could see the spit and forks off to the side, ready to stick into the ground.  It was obvious they had brought the goat to the property, killed it to dress and barbecue it. 

It took us a while to get through the language barrier, but, we did come to understand that the older man was the father, the two younger men his sons.  They were having friends coming over that afternoon for a party.  They had been working for about an hour on the pit and coals so they could have the goat cooked in plenty of time.

I went next door to talk to the neighbor that had called 9-1-1. 

She was still very upset and couldn’t understand why we didn’t confiscate the goat and arrest the men for cruelty to animals. 

I tried to explain that we were dealing with a different culture, they had not understood it would have been better to kill the animal elsewhere and then bring the carcass to the yard (they did after we talked about it for awhile.)  

While it would have been better to have done that, the deed was now done, it was not unlawful to kill a goat for food – they had not tortured it – and the barbecue, of course, was also legal.  

However, she wasn’t hearing any of it.  She slammed the door in my face and screamed at me from the closed door, threatening to call the humane society, the Chief, the Mayor, the Council, the paper, etc.  I stuck my business card in the door jam and left.

While both John, the deputy and I were invited to the barbecue, we told them we would be sleeping, but, thanked them for the offer.  Besides we all knew what would happen if the neighbor saw us eating goat at the barbecue.

The party was held.  They had some good laughs and enjoyed themselves.   They had a great story to tell their friends and family.

To my knowledge the Chief never heard anything from the neighbor, although we understand she found another house to rent within a few days.

Acts 21:10-14  And as we tarried there many days, there came down from Judaea a certain prophet, named Agabus.

¹¹ And when he was come unto us, he took Paul's girdle, and bound his own hands and feet, and said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.

¹² And when we heard these things, both we, and they of that place, besought him not to go up to Jerusalem.

¹³ Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.

¹⁴ And when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, The will of the Lord be done.

Paul was warned, by one of God’s prophets, about what would happen to him should he go to Jerusalem.

Leaders of the church begged Paul not to go.

Paul accepted what the prophet said as truth, or at least he felt he was prepared if it was the truth.

I have heard that there are those that teach today that Paul was foolish and should have not traveled to Jerusalem.

Was Paul following the Will of the Lord when he went, or was he allowing his own sense of purpose or pride guide him?

We know he went to Jerusalem and the prophecy was fulfilled.

He was taken by the leaders of the Jews before the council in Jerusalem, just as they had Jesus, to have him bound over to them to be killed.

After over 2 years imprisonment in Jerusalem, and several ‘trials’ he was found innocent of the death penalty the Jews felt he so richly deserved – however, he remained a prisoner.

Acts 26:32 Then said Agrippa unto Festus, This man might have been set at liberty, if he had not appealed unto Caesar.

Did he not trust God to deliver him from the situation he was in so he invoked his Roman citizenship to escape the Jewish ‘punishment?’

Was this a mistake, or a carefully orchestrated affair by God?

I believe Paul was following the Holy Spirit’s direction.

However, let us say it wasn’t the guidance by the Holy Spirit but Paul making the wrong decisions.

If that were true then we know that God STILL used him in a mighty way.  Paul became one of the most powerful and recognized Apostles.  He wrote to many churches, he was able to have visitors – and he met with those visitors both proclaiming Christ and giving words of wisdom to those in search of it.

It didn’t matter that Paul oversaw the persecution of the early church, God still used him.

It didn’t matter if he made a judgment error and went to Jerusalem, God used him.

Because of God using Paul, we have insights into both the difficulties the early churches encountered, the need and the path they (and us) must follow to overcome the sins within and the truth of both Christ’s message and the blessings those that obeyed Him received.

The things that the early churches endured, the rest of us through the last two millenniums have and also are encountering.

Some churches are fighting the ‘good’ fight, while others are weakening and accepting false teaching and propagating those teaching which undermine their church organization and opens up attacks on those that stand against them in support of God’s Word.

Encouraging the comments of:  “How can you say that when this denomination accepts what we are saying?  You are preaching a hateful message – and you shall and will be punished for it.”

While there may be a question in some people’s minds of the decision Paul made in going to Jerusalem, it is clear that Paul didn’t consider it a bad decision – AND he didn’t consider himself incapable of serving God.

Ephesians 3:1 For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles,

Ephesians 3:7 Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power.

Right now, throughout the world, we have a radical Muslim sect, ISIS, in conjunction with other fringe elements and with the support of nations deliberately targeting Christians and Jews.  They are forcing them out of their homes, destroying their places of worship and killing them.

While we may be personally upset about what is occurring in our own nations with the persecution of Christians, we need to understand satan has a much more grander scheme and is going to turn that persecution into a mirror of the ones being done in other parts of the world.  We have just begun to feel the wrath of persecution, it will get worse, And we are allowing it.

Part of an article from Fox News, March 16, 2015:

“Mosul is Iraq’s second largest city and was once the home of Iraq’s most vulnerable and persistent Christian community, tracing their lineage nearly to the time of Christ.

Now there are no Christians left.

All of this happened under the watchful eye of West, and while you’d hope that the humanitarian threat alone would have motivated the West to act, you would be certain that Mosul’s strategic importance would do so.

Neither proved true.”

Instead of the western governments – America in particular – taking a firm stand against the destruction of innocent people, we are appeasing them.

That is what Europe tried with Germany and later Russia.  It didn’t work then, it won’t work now.

We need leaders who recognize this group for what it is:  an evil tool under the control of satan.  And satan doesn’t give in, he will continue to use these people and the undermining of God by using the world’s ideas, instead of God’s, to appease and encourage them by failure to act.

This is both a physical and a spiritual battle, but the leaders of the western world refuse to acknowledge that fact.

Innocent Christians and Jews are suffering for it.  Just as the Holocaust was allowed in World War II – are we getting to or have we already surpassed that same mentality by ISIS and their supporters and alliances?

The ‘West’ has the ability to defeat this cancer that is growing so large it now encompasses the earth.  But first we must have leaders that understand God’s Word and the application of its truths. 

Joshua 10:12-14 Then spake Joshua to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon.

¹³ And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day.

¹⁴ And there was no day like that before it or after it, that the Lord hearkened unto the voice of a man: for the Lord fought for Israel.

Joshua, following the commands given to Him by God in his lifetime, led the Jewish people into the Promised Land and in battle defeated 31 Kings.  Claiming the land.

The Lord will fight against ISIS.  But we have to have leadership that puts their faith in Him, not in the world’s ideas.  That has been proven, through the ages, to be destructive to all concerned.

I am not advocating individual Christians take up weapons and physically attack ISIS and other terrorist organizations.  I believe that is the responsibility for nations not individuals.

However, the nations are made up of people/citizens.  In most of the western world those people elect their leaders.  As Christians we need to be vocal about how our governments are handling this and other crisis of war against God and His Word.

AND we need to vote for those that understand that.

What we can do as Christians is engage, in battle, the spiritual enemies of not only God, but our countries and all our people (including those that are misguided about Christ.)  

We need people, like Paul, who will take a stand for Christ and be ready to suffer any consequences.

We do that by studying God’s Word; proclaiming God’s Word; standing up for God’s Word and PRAYING.

The world sees the conflict as physical – but it is more than that and only Christians are equipped and have the ability to go into battle for the real base of these conflicts.

Ephesians 6:10-13   Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

¹¹ Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

¹² For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

¹³ Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

The God that punished Israel for its disobedience; the God that destroyed nations that tried to destroy Israel; the God that has made it clear if He is not obeyed dire consequences will follow, is the same God we serve today.

That is the same God that fought for the Israelites; the God that guided Paul and the other Apostles; the God that says we have access to Him through His Son, Jesus Christ, is the same God we serve today.

Malachi 3:6  For I am the Lord, I change not;

Let us pray that He will decide to end this, ALL OF THIS; He will raise up Christian Leaders and man will recognize it as God’s Work and will Glorify Him.

Let us pray for a revival throughout the world, an understanding that sins we have not only permitted – but encouraged and indeed worshiped – are wrong and that only He has the answer to the ills of this world.

Later, Art :-)

From the ColumbiaRiverGorgeous
May Our Good Lord Bless and Keep YOU....’til we meet again