Scriptural value was a way of life in my parent’s home. I grew up hearing them discuss politics, but never heard them argue politics (or anything else for that matter). I didn’t know until years after I left home; Dad was a democrat and Mom a republican. In 1996 my brother asked Dad if he was going to switch parties to vote for him in the republican primary for Sheriff. I said, “Dad is a republican.” They looked at me like I had three heads. Everyone knew but me. They valued all humanity; in the womb or in a union. Everything was measured first morally, then by other means. Sometimes, they voted for the same President (Carter and Reagan). Sometimes they voted different, but each President elected was their President and honored as such unless they failed. Both Kennedy and Nixon were failed leaders in their book. Our nation is entering…
2019 October
At 10:12 AM (MDT) on 10/12/19, I got the first of many news pings of a situation at a Pelham, NH church. News came in soon that the attack was at the New England Pentecostal Church. I knew that name. On 10/01/19 a pastor of that church (60-year-old Luis Garcia), had been killed by Brandon Castiglione, whom he had gone to see in the home of Brandon’s father, Mark Castiglione. The story started unfolding; Garcia was to have his memorial service at the church on 10/12/19. That morning (before the afternoon memorial), 60-year-old Mark Castiglione was getting married when a hooded guest stood up and started shooting. Castiglione’s bride and Bishop Stanley Choate (who was performing the wedding) were shot. Castiglione was hit over the head with the shooter’s .380 handgun. Deacon Othniel Archer had been watching from the balcony above. Within moments of the gunfire, Archer jumped from the…
On 10/11/19, Boone County (Missouri) officers attempted to stop a man for traffic violations, but he ran. As officers pursued, he ditched his vehicle in a church parking lot and disappeared into the nearby woods. The same day, a Police Officer in Kansas City chased a fugitive on foot through church grounds, got him on the ground behind the church and wrestled a gun from him. There was nothing unusual about October 11th. As much news as I examine on church crime, suspects running to or through a church or the grounds is common. While these two didn’t end deadly, many desperate and deadly last stands are at a church. We may never know what happened on 11/05/2017 (the same day as the Sutherland Springs Texas church attack) in Rockford, IL. What we do know is Police officer Jamie Cox was killed by fatal blunt force trauma on the property…