Not a big deal at all. And to be honest, if ever someone came in my church to hurt us, i would sure like for you to be there. And i would hope you were packin

Mathew 24: 43But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. 44Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

How would the master of the house prevent a thief from breaking in. Ask him nicely?
Christ didn't speak against the prevention of a break in.

Also Personally i believe the turn the other cheek is to not immediately react to anger. However a person only has 2 cheeks.

Didn't Jesus say to sell your cloak and buy a sword?
I know he was talking to a would be disciple, just saying though

I would wonder if the bomb was already planted and she was just a remote trigger waiting for the right time.

Okay!

Luke 22
“Let the one whom has no sword sell his cloak and buy one,” Jesus said to his disciples during their last meal together before Jesus was arrested and executed. The statement is recorded in Luke 22, and it must have been a head turner, both to his disciples and early hearers of the Gospel.

Ok. Since yall are so set on being right about the "go buy a sword" scripture. Yall tell me how many of the men he said that to defended their own lives, even when being murdered? What did Stephen say when he was being stoned to death? If you are right about what Jesus meant by those instructions, why didnt one of the desciples follow those instructions? Or maybe every one of them followed his instructions. Like i said, that scripture makes a good argument, but you have to make up alot to go along with it for it to hold water. Mght have been another use for the sword, or the sword might not have been a sword at all, it could have been the two edged sword. I dont know. Also, thats one verse, that youhave to decide for yourself what it means. Do you by chance have any other examples that were a little more clear about the meaning?

Is there anyone here who served in the middle east? Was it easy for a woman to have a conversation with you? I still think everything she did can be explained by cultural differences. Also she only stayed for 10 mins so they were still singing hymns. The pastor at my last church before I moved had a phrase he always used about dealing with people you don't know and with conflict " be a velvet covered brick". Don't let your suspicions, bigotry or distrust of this person rob you of your chance to glorify God. There are lot of bible verses that can be quoted to make a point either way on this so here's mine.

Hebrews 13 2 Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.

"When Jesus warns his disciples that things are about to get rough—meaning he is about to be arrested and crucified—he tells them in Luke 22:36-38"

"The disciples take him literally and say, “here are two swords,” and Jesus tells them “that’s enough.”

Maybe He wanted Peter to have a sword to cut off the soldiers ear, so He could perform a miracle and put it back on. I don't know the answers to all your questions. Just supposition on my part to know all the answers. I was just providing the one that you asked for ...lol

gwstang, i dont have all the answers either. But ive prayed and meditated about this one thing quite a bit. I feel like im right about it. I believe if i was wrong the Lord would show me. And like i said, this is something i would fail at just like the rest of you. Theres probably alot more to it than any of us realize. I try real hard to just take God at his word and believe it 100%. I dont have to understand every word of it, just believe it. And i certsinly dont have hard feelings toward anyone who disagrees.

Did jesus himself not drive the money changers from the temple?

I know we were talking mostly about New Testament but the Jews faced many persecutions. I have been reading the 4th chapter of Nehemiah He first prayed and then he set a watch and then they went to work with their weapons in one hand. I honestly don’t know how that fits in but God is the same yesterday,today, and forevermore.

Yes sir he did. That was a great example of justified anger but i dont think it was self defense. Pretty sure theres some things he would run out of alot of churches these days if he was to show up one day. I reckon that could be an example of defending Gods plan. That was one of the actions that ended up getting him killed, and part of the plan.

I think we need to tread lightly when throwing puzzle pieces of scripture around to make them fit wherever we want them to.

The Sword refers to the Word of God- Scripture

The thief in the night example in Matthew 24 doesn't mean stay up all night and make sure someone doesn't break into your house, it means that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night when we least expect it.

Jwalker, there is validity to what you are saying. Throughout Scripture, Jesus nor the disciples display a "Safety First" attitude. In fact, the bible is clear that Jesus didn't even defend himself before Pilate.. We are taught to rely on the LORD for protection and walk as if "To Live is Christ, to Die is Gain."

But there is a reason that Christ endowed men with protective instincts.

Iam all for welcoming visitors and getting rid of trouble. As we go into the latter days there will be more of it. That stuff that went on with the Methodist should have been dealt with swiftly, instead they lost more than half their church to wickedness.

I always carried in church, even when I was pastoring. Kel Tec P 3at in my inside suit jacket pocket. Never told a soul. Gun in the truck ain’t gonna help nobody

A lot of the scriptures referenced is talking about denying your faith . Blasphemy is the unpardonable sin. The disciples probably all died as martyrs but that was the plan. Jesus didn’t come to defend himself he came as the blood sacrifice that if you believe and repent it covers your sins. Up to the time on the cross you can find many many references to defend yourself. David was a man of war and God said a man after his on heart. The one nation that attacked the week and elderly Jews at the back of the progression leaving for the promise land. God said kill every one of them. I guess I have a problem and maybe I am insecure in my faith. I am saved but I am packing not for my protection as much as the church members I love. If the world and it will keeps getting more evil the lost will see all these church shootings on the news and be scared to ever set foot in the church

The sword is not the word of God in these examples. They were told to "buy" a sword. You dont buy scripture. Malchus had his ear cut off with a sword not scripture

And when Jesus comes back in revelations he will not be the suffering servant. He will be leading the charge of the final war

Ephesians 6: 17 makes it pretty clear that the Sword is the Word of God

Why do you think other passages say that the Word of God "Cuts into us sharper than a double edge sword"(Hebrews 4:12)?.....The Lord is consistent in his analogies. The Sword is the Word of God.

The metaphor here is that the Scriptures are more important that clothing, earthly items, etc.(cloak) give up whatever you have to in order to access and digest the Word

Again "BUY" a sword. You do not buy the word or scripture. Yes the word has been referenced as sharper than a double edge sword.