Jason E. Fort's Blog, page 15

Who Will Go for Us?

Isaiah 6:8-10
"Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying:
Who shall I send? Who will go for Us?

I said: Here I am. Send me.

And He replied:
Go! Say to these people: keep listening, but do not understand;
keep looking, but do not perceive.
Dull the minds of these people; deafen their ears and blind their eyes;
otherwise they might see with their eyes
and hear with their ears, understand with their minds, turn back, and be healed."

I am quoting this verse because it reminded me of what I want to accomplish in my writing. I was inspired to type a blog post tonight because I just finished another book by my favorite author, Ted Dekker...and I couldn't help but tell God,
"Lord - now that is how I want to tell people your message. I want to help people feel what You are all about through the writing, as seemingly effortless as Dekker."

I enjoy reading almost any story with good working action, and old Ted does not disappoint. But I am amazed at how he weaves a fictional tale and yet still helps you visualize how Jesus takes hold of the character's heart. I want to capture that feeling, and pass it on.

Which brings me back to Mr. Isaiah. If you haven't ever read the book of Isaiah, I recommend it. Yes, it can get quite heady at times, but it really helps one understand just how magnificent God is - and makes you really glad He is on our side if you are a believer. And he also has that amazing ability to help the reader feel God's power taking hold over him - which if you get to read the verses just previous to this, you learn the ability was given to him by God.

When you read, don't you want to feel good about what you read? I absolutely love when an author's words help me achieve a greater understanding of something than I had before. But then, if you read the verses above, God still doesn't want us to have all the answers, does He? This is something I have had to improve upon as I have taken on the endeavor of writing Christian suspense thrillers. I think I am getting better at it, by the way. But when writing suspense, you don't want to answer all the readers' questions. You want to make them think. I have actually gotten in a better habit of answering reader's questions on this blog than anything else. I will keep the thrills coming, I assure you, and the curve balls. But I am learning how to get the readers to 'keep looking, but do not understand.'

If you like to write, and if you like to share your thoughts, but haven't really voiced the thoughts you may think God has placed on your heart, let it out. Let the evangelical blogger within you out. Let the world know that God loves all the people. As hard as it is for me to say, He even loves the ISIS terrorists, too. If they would only open their hearts and listen, instead of be controlled by their radical ideology. Perhaps if more of us attempt to reach out, who knows?
Yes, I just typed that. Does that mean I want us to open the borders to all refugees? No - not without a solid safety check in place. If we were a truly Christian nation and our leaders wanted to pray about how to do just that, than that would be a good start. I am not present within the walls of our top government officials to know whether they pray or not (other than just invocations), but in my experience one can usually tell a man of faith and prayer without ever hearing the man pray aloud...I cannot say I have that perception of any of our current most influential government leaders.

As I said, I was inspired tonight. I just felt like sharing my thoughts. I will continue to try to positively effect my little section of the world, one reader at a time. I will attempt to do that through what I know and believe about Jesus my Savior. I would love to hear some of the other readers out there and their thoughts on the matter. In the meantime-

Here I am, Lord...send me.

Make sure you're riding a good bike...

Are you cycling through this world on a good bike? And I don't mean in the literal sense (Literally speaking, I don't often ride a bike).

Life is full of ups and downs. The hardships we all encounter throughout life are inevitable; there is no way to avoid suffering in this world. It is also kind of rare to never ever have one positive thing in your life happen if one pays attention to their surroundings. Experiencing these positive things and negative things in life, or ups and downs if you will, are very analogous to riding a bicycle through a given course.

The way I see it, a cyclist has to have a good bicycle to make it through the toughest of courses. Now this course could have lots of twists, turns, steep climbs, and long racing hills. There can also be all sorts of terrain on the course. If you have a cheaper made, more degradable material that makes up your bicycle, it won't last. If you have a bicycle that doesn't have any extra gears, that can cause problems as well. You can encounter hills too tough to climb. You can also lose control if you pedal too fast down hill. The true cyclists out there want a bicycle they can depend on.

Here's the problem - I think all of us start out trying to be the bicycle ourselves. The real problem is evident when we see just how flawed a bicycle we have when we make ourselves the bicycle, and try to take on more than we can handle. We become misguided by other things out there telling us that self-self-self is what you need to rely on. So we keep trying to make it through the course without any help.

What if I told you there is a bicycle that was unbreakable? What would you say to getting on a bike that never wears out, and can get you through even the most difficult and challenging courses? Doesn't that sound like the bicycle for you?

See, I think God meant for us to just push the pedals; He just wants us to be the cyclists. He will be our unbreakable bicycle. We are born learning how to ride a bike that just gets us by for a while, but God wants you to get on His Bicycle. Live the way God teaches us to in the Bible; give your life to Him and trust him, and all you have to do is keep pedaling. Sure - there will still be tough hills to climb...some suffering to go through. And there will be those steep hills to coast down with the wind in your face, or even race down pedaling hard.

But if you are on a good bike, isn't the ride worth it?

Attack where the Enemy Isn't -

So there I was, sitting there eating my lunch in the crowded cafeteria at the large hospital where I work - my back to a wall, gun at my side, and me in the perfect spot to see anybody and everyone around me. I happened to observe a certain man with dark eyebrows, wearing some sort of red sweater, perhaps with some festive holiday or Christmas design, but nothing that brings clear memory of detail. I watched him pass by and thought nothing else of him, and I continued to eat my sandwich.

Shortly after downing the sub sandwich, I began eating my chips. I looked up and in the direction of one of the eateries in the cafeteria, the same man, whom I recognized, began walking directly towards my carefully and intentionally selected corner table - with purpose. The paranoid novelist inside could see something strange unfolding, but the professional in me smiled and acknowledged him with a "Hello - how are you?"
The stranger smiled in return, and held two small paper bags from the bakery, and said, "Couldn't help but notice you don't have a dessert. You want chocolate chip, or oatmeal?"
I thought for a moment, and said hesitantly, "Chocolate chip?"

"Chocolate chip it is, sir. Just wanted to say thank you for your service and what you do. Have a great day." Then he placed the chocolate chip cookie bag down next to me on the table. I replied with a words of thanks, and he nodded and walked on his merry way.

So I wolfed down the chocolate chip cookie accordingly, and of course, I started thinking.
Although the paranoid, cynical law enforcement officer in me suspected poison, I was overwhelmed by the random act of kindness. And then I realized, at that moment, when he presented me with an unconditional gift - evil was nowhere to be found...at least not in my vicinity.

The Bible tells us that God, and His Son, are wherever two or more are gathered in His name. So God, and His Son, have the power to be omnipresent. They can be in several places at once (especially on Sundays, no?)
But Satan is shown time and time again in the Bible to only carry out attacks one place at a time. Sure, the 'lord of the air' can mount multiple points of attack with his minions; his demons. But he DOES NOT have the same power as God.

So that is what I was thinking about as I realized the absence of evil in that place, at that time...and I started thinking further. What if all this safety and security, and defense training, while serving its purposes, really isn't what God wants us to use in the constant fight against evil until He comes again.? What if...we are supposed to attack where the enemy isn't?

In other words, when there is no sign or evidence of evil about us, in the presence of strangers - we kill people with kindness. We 'attack the enemy' by showing random acts of kindness. Then someone else notices those acts, and they pay it forward to others. And the action becomes contagious, and spreads, and explodes! What if we could do this, and make it harder and harder for evil to have a place to go in the first place.

Now don't get me wrong; I am still a sheep dog at heart, and I want to attack a wolf when I see him and know he is a wolf. But let's encourage each other to do more random acts of kindness when evil is NOT present, and maybe...just maybe - evil will run out of places to hide.

The Haunted House of Success

So I was thinking about opportunity as it applied to my 13 year old son. Ever since he was 7 years old, he has had aspirations of one day being an officer in the US Air Force. He has recently become active in the Civil Air Patrol as a cadet, and he and I have taken steps along the way to encourage success in this pursuit of his dream. Now he is only 13, so he has plenty of time, unknown events, and opportunity ahead of him. The problem he has had to face most of his childhood has been respiratory health. As a parent, this concerns me - because I know that at a certain point, the branches of the military will look down on his health history if it effects him much longer...so I got to thinking about that word opportunity, as it relates to open and closed doors.

I have enjoyed many opportunities to walk through several open doors in my professional life. I have initiated professional careers in education, fitness, coaching, law enforcement, and writing. I have had doors that I pushed open myself, and I have had doors, or opportunities, open to me. It was up to me to take those opportunities - to walk through those doors.

This brought to mind the imagery of a scary movie - an image of a person stuck in a haunted house, trying to escape. For the person who is trapped in that scary house, it may seem convenient sometimes to find doors along the way...doors they think may lead them to a way out - a way to 'break through' to the outside. Because this is a movie we are talking about, some doors appear out of nowhere; some doors they see way down the hall. Some doors might look frightening, and they think there is no way they are going through that one! Others seem convenient. Perhaps a certain ladder suddenly hangs down from the ceiling that appears to break through to the outside via the roof. Sometimes these doors are only open for a little while, then slam shut when you least expect it. And then sometimes, some doors may even seem like the only way to go, but there is a huge, ugly monster they must get by just to reach the door.

Does this not relate to perhaps how a young person could view the journey to success in this world? On my journey through this professional world, I have taken on some career paths because they were convenient at the time. I have taken others because a door was suddenly open to me, and I thought I saw a unique path to 'break on through to the other side.' I know some people may take what appears to be the easy path - the most convenient doors, while others want to climb that ladder hanging before them and go straight to the top. My current path in law enforcement is a door that both I chose to take, and one that is in line with other goals. But the ultimate path I want to take, to achieve my real 'breakthrough', if you will - is the opportunity I discovered, that seems to line up with a certain divine purpose; the opportunity to succeed in a writing career. But there is this huge ugly monster in the way; this monster has many heads, with names on their foreheads like Target Audience, Critics, Platform, Advertising, and Publishing! My initial intentions were to take this monster head-on; but I didn't realize how many heads it would have. I am slowly realizing that this daunting task will take time, and maneuvering. But I will break out of this haunted house!

Which brings me back to the task ahead for my son, and perhaps other people out there. I hope I can help my son realize that there is no one way to go to become successful. There will be ups and downs, and just when you think you might be walking through the right doorway, that door slams shut. For my boy, that could be his asthma. That may be the only reason the Air Force doesn't accept him - OR - maybe that's just the big ugly monster in the way. Either way, I want him - and others - to realize that you don't have to feel pigeon holed or cornered into one career path.

So...what has your haunted house of success looked like?

'Dabo', Garth, ...and Suffering in this world?

"I told them, 'We give you scholarships, we give you stipends and meals and place to live. We give you nice uniforms. I can't give you guts and I can't give you heart.' And tonight, it was BYOG: bring your own guts," Dabo Swinney told reporters after a hard fought win in a torrential down-pour, against the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame.

Now I know, I will be the first to admit, I am a self-professed biased Clemson fan, who likes to see the world through orange colored glasses often. But if you read that quote from my favorite coach, and break it down...it speaks volumes!

And as I thought back to those words spoken by the exuberant football coach, I thought of how many people out there in the world refuse to accept the Word of God, simply because they don't understand how a loving God could just let us all go through this world and have to put up with so much suffering. When it comes right down to it, a football coach is one who gets his players to go through high school and college life, and teaches them lessons along the way. They go out there and have to take on the cuts, the bruises, the tackles, the slobber-knocking hits, the pain and suffering of workouts, the cruddy weather, the coaches yelling in their faces...you know - stuff that me, personally, never volunteered to do growing up. But I have seen others who have, and I have seen how they are better for it. Now, does this not reflect life...as a Christian? Here is the kicker - you don't have to play for that coach. You can try to play football somewhere else. You can choose not to play football at all. But if you decide to follow that coach...where is he trying to lead you?

Now look at this from a Christian perspective. God gives us the perfect life coach in Jesus Christ. Christ came to Earth and taught us everything we need to know in life. He taught us how to pray, what to believe, and what is meant to be. And He even warned us of the suffering to come, just as plenty of football coaches, such as Dabo, will tell his players what to expect - if they want to win the prize. But just like those football coaches, nobody is forcing anyone to follow Christ. Jesus shows the way, but you don't have to put on His uniform; you can choose not to follow Him. You have to BYOG - Bring Your Own Guts, to follow Him and see where it will take you.

All this got me thinking even more when I was on my way home from church, and a Garth Brooks song played on my CD. These words, of a father raising a child, jumped out at me from the song:

"You can cry for them; live and die for them; you can help them find their wings, but you can't fly for them.
'Cause if they're not free to fall - then they're not free at all, and though you just can't bear the thought of letting go...
"You pick'em up....dust'em off...and send'em on down the road."

How much like a father is a good coach? How much is God like the ultimate Father? Does He not weep for us? Read the New Testament...He has wept. Christ lived and died for Us, and Lives again! And if you turn to God and ask for help, He can help you find your wings to take off for Him to do anything you can imagine.

But He still has to let us fall. He still has to let us fail - so we can learn to pick ourselves back up again. And what does it take to get back up and keep going?

Guts.

Isiaiah 25:8 says -
 He will swallow up death forever.
The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears
    from all faces;
he will remove his people’s disgrace
    from all the earth.
This is a great Old Testament description of where the ultimate life coach says He will take us. But if you are going to follow the ultimate Father; the Ultimate coach - you have to be willing to suit up. I may not have suited up for a real football coach like some of my best friends - or like my own little brother. But I am willing to suit up now - and follow the Lord.

So BYOG people...let's follow Jesus. And get your Bibles - your playbooks if you will...
And let's go to work :)

Sheep Dogs

I have written a blog on protecting and serving before, and how I have felt called to do just that as a profession. However, I want to look at things at a slightly different angle; I want to take a look at it from the perspective of a sheep dog. Both military and law enforcement have been entrusted with protecting the innocent - the sheep, if you will - from the wolves...the evil people in this world.

Now, these sheep...they don't like the way the wolves look. They don't like seeing a wolf prey upon one of their fellow sheep. As a matter of fact, they can even bare some of their own fangs sometimes - but only for a moment. Most of the time when this big bad wolf is harming a sheep, and a sheep dog is at the sheep's disposal, then they have no problem when the sheep dog comes to the rescue. But there are a couple of things that the sheep and sheep dogs must realize about each other.

First of all, sometimes, a sheep dog can't just bare its teeth and growl and scare the wolf away. Sometimes, the sheep dog has to go all in, actually fight the wolves...and that fight can be messy (you know, shootings, people resisting arrest, tasing, use of force caught on video, etc.). So it may even disturb the sheep when the fight gets messy; this messy fight may get the sheep to look at us sheep dogs with caution, concern, and even fear. Sometimes, the sheep just don't realize what was necessary for the fight.

Second, the sheep need to realize that sometimes, sheep become wolves themselves...or were wolves all along. The very people that seemed okay to trust detect a moment of weakness or vulnerability in a fellow sheep, and they throw off the sheep skin and prey upon that sheep. Enter the sheep dog, to help the victim sheep. But lo and behold, but who ends up being seen as the enemy? Why, the sheep dog, or course...because no sheep would ever want to admit to being fooled by their fellow sheep, when all along that person was really a wolf.

And third, since the best thing to fight the wolves with big sharp teeth is another set of big sharp teeth, sometimes the sheep dogs can be just as scary as the wolves. Some sheep dogs might not even mean to come across that way to the sheep, but they just can't help it. Then there are those sheep dogs who become rabid; infected by the same evil hunger that effects the wolves, and the sheep that go bad.

I was thinking about this today, as once again, I saw all the media bashing of law enforcement, and all the people out there with common sense that still see the need for the 'sheep dogs'. And it occurred to me that I don't need to get too offended - or surprised even - by the people out there who are afraid of cops...afraid of the sheep dogs. Although I intend to be nothing but protective in my job when I am in uniform, it is still easy to tell that some sheep, no matter how evil the wolves get, will never want to trust the sheep dogs, with their big pointy teeth, sitting right there on their hip.

Projection of Power

John 14: 11-21

"Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. 12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be[c] in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”

So I was listening to my new pastor in yesterday's message, and he was speaking about living a life on mission. He quoted this scripture, and seeing and hearing these words got me thinking of the military principal of projection of power. According to Militaryfactory.com, the definition of power projection is the ability of a nation or entity to apply all or some of its elements of power to rapidly and effectively deploy and sustain forces in and from multiple dispersed locations - to respond to crises, maintain or add deterrence, and to enhance stability in the land occupied.

Now let's look at God's strategy, according to the gospel of John. Here, in a sense, is his battle plan. Despite the fact that God's Son left this world for a time, He promises that whoever believes in Him will do the works He has been doing. So first of all, all his troops will keep up the march, and will continue to spread the good news as He did. I think it is safe to say that several good minded Christians have begun this process, and several of us continue it to this day. But that's all fine and good until you realize all we can do is spread the message; we ourselves don't have the power. It turns out God has an answer for that in His battle plan as well. He goes on to say that those He leaves behind for a time will do even greater works than He did! How will they do this? Well, God also planned for this contingency; He goes on further and explains that whatever believers ask in His name, He will grant! That's right...if it is in the Name of God and His mission, He will make it happen. Not only that, but He also says that He will leave behind an Advocate...the Spirit of Truth, who will be with us forever. How's that for reinforcements? So we have a constant powerful ally...but what about the lack of power in the troops? God decided to take things even further. He tells us that the Holy Spirit lives in us. So wherever we go in His name, carrying His good news, He is with us - WITHIN us.

Do I need to say that again? Do you have any idea what it means to have the most powerful being in the universe on your side? How AWESOME!

And if we use the power of prayer along the way, God's will will be done. So it seems the Good Lord is quite the strategist when it comes to mapping out a plan to project His power all over the globe. All we have to do is make that leap of faith, and sign up to join His troops (See John 3:16).

Like a Thief in the Night

 
1 Thessalonians 5:2
"For you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the Night."

Matthew 24:43
"But understand this: if the owner of the house had known at what time the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into."

These verses were brought to mind because I was witness to possible thieves in our neighborhood in the pre-dawn hours as I was leaving for work Tuesday morning. As I was about to climb up into my truck, I witnessed a tall hooded man run over to a suspicious vehicle waiting for him with its headlights out in the cul-de-sac across the street. What made it suspicious, besides all dark clothing and hood, was that the man didn't run to the vehicle until he noticed me turn to look at him. Once he got to the vehicle, they quickly drove away, turning the headlights on further up the street.

Now this alarmed the protective side of me. So 'like a good neighbor', I called local police to send an officer to conduct extra patrols in our neighborhood. I even went up later that day to the neighbor's house whose driveway the hooded figure had run from, and found out someone had opened their daughter's car and rummaged through her things. So I also alerted everyone on our neighborhood Facebook page, and told them to keep an eye out.

Now, let's go back to the Bible verses. What if I knew for sure those thieves were coming back? What if we knew that, and we made sure we told the other residents in the neighborhood to be ready? Well - I think Jesus has these verses in the Bible for that very reason...so we can tell all the neighbors. They can decide for themselves whether to get ready or not, but we are spreading the message. Because you see - although Jesus is certainly not a thief, he point-blank tells us that is how He is going to return.

So what I want you to think about is this:
Are you one of the neighbors that will join us on the watch? Are you the neighbor that will just shrug the neighbors who have been made aware aside? I choose to be part of the global neighborhood watch. I choose to stand up for my other neighbors and tell them to make ready, because He said he is coming back...I just don't know when.

So who wants to join me on the watch?

For further details on how to join, seek all the answers in the New Testament of the good book, the Holy Bible.

The Heart

The heart is a funny thing; in this case I am referring to the soul - your inner-most self, and the emotions that come with it. I was blessed yesterday with a surprise gift from my Mom...she bought me the latest Garth Brooks CD, because she and my closest family members know what a GB fan I was growing up. And Mom being Mom, told my wife to tell me to make sure I listen to Track 5 on the CD. So when I put the CD in my truck for the first time, I look at the back of the cover, and see the title of the song as it begins to play. Of course - the song is titled 'Mom'. The line that caught my ears the most was this:
"So hush now Baby, don't you cry
'Cause there's someone down there waiting
Whose only goal in life
Is making sure you're always gonna be alright.
A loving angel, tender, tough and strong
It's almost time to go meet your mom."

I have always found it fascinating when the perfect melody mixes with the perfect words, and it reaches right through to your heart. See, the song writers knew what they were doing when they wrote the lyrics. They wrote the song to pull the heart strings of not only ALL the moms out there - but the daughters and sons as well. And the lyrics do it effectively. So before I knew it, because of the song's grip on my heart - the next thing I know, a tear rolls down my cheek. Considering I was on my way to work out, I really had to change gears once I got to the gym.
So this brings me back to the heart. Does anyone else find how the heart can just take a hold of you. In the most random moments, whether it be because you see one of those Publix family commercials, or someone helps out an elderly person or small child in a public place, the heart can remind you it's there; grab you and take hold. I know I can't be the only person that experiences this? Perhaps the only 6' 2", 265 pound man to write about it...but still - aren't those times awesome! Sure, they may be weird, but you know, I think we need those moments. Perhaps God blesses most of us with moments like that to keep us grounded. Perhaps God helps some of us notice these events with our hearts in order to remember what we shouldn't take for granted. I know this is a random thought today. But before you leave work or even go to sleep tonight, look back over your day and see if you can remember catching one of those chance moments - that can touch the heart.

LIFE Matters

 

 This is not meant to inflame anyone. This should not make anyone mad, but I was inspired by our youth pastor today, as he delivered a positive message about life, and how we as Christians should spread that message.

He began by bringing up current events regarding Planned Parenthood, and of course - abortion. But the message was about more than just being Pro-life.

This especially hit home with me; I have rarely been vocal about being pro-life, because of my connection to the issue, and being afraid that I may end up being too passionate. I am very much pro-life because I refuse to think that the unborn child that I saw moving around in my wife's belly, along with Jay, was not a human life! That's right...my son Jay had a twin brother (we named him John Robert Fort)- who never made it far enough along to join Jay into this world. I saw the little babies on the screen early on in the pregnancy. I saw the cute little profiles on both faces. I saw the movement. Other members of my family have had similar experience, and I am sure my brother Daniel can relate. So because of the evidence of life that I have seen, and had the displeasure in mourning the loss - I am very much pro-life.

But the point that was hammered home was that we need to be more than just pro-life. We need to do more than just stand against the stealing away of human lives before their time. Another interesting point brought up was the point of view from the other side...one that I can ALMOST understand. That point is that why would we want to go back and bring those aborted lives into the low income, insufferable conditions, and even this fallen world. In other words, for a lot of pro-abortion people, (not the assuming left wing, free-loader generalization here) it is actually a matter of the heart...pity for those unborn children...not wanting them to suffer. The point was made that although this is not the best way of looking at it, we should at least listen and know that this is a concern from the other side.

But then there was more. There were examples given of all the other ways we can stand up for life - other than just standing against abortion. And one of the best things we could do is actually address the other side's concern...by caring for the LIVES that are here now! Yes, there are people suffering in this world, so let's help those people out of their suffering. Help the needy; the Bible says that we should always do this. Help the suffering, such as soldiers who have been wounded. Reach out to people of all groups, all colors, all cultures - all religions. Foster children who are brought into this world in poor conditions, or without a parent. Adopt children. Feed the hungry. Give money to a cause. There are ways we as Christians can fight the negative and evil things going on in this world...by doing good. Although we will be persecuted, even while we do good - we should still do it.

Black lives matter - Asian lives matter - Hispanic lives matter - White lives matter - police lives matter - Muslim lives matter - Christian lives matter - poor people's lives matter - soldier's lives matter - rich people's lives matter - homosexual and transgender lives matter - animals' lives matter (but we were given dominion over the animals) - LIFE matters. So we should do what we can to preserve it and protect it; it is sacred.

Now I believe there is an order to things the way God made it; I think there are going to always be cultures in this world, and even reasons for the preservation for human life that make hunting necessary. This is a fallen world, so there will be death, and suffering, and killing, and fighting. And I will save my son or wife if their life is in danger way before I save an African lion. Does that make me evil? No...but I do think God would prefer us to protect the sanctity of ALL life.

Please don't read this and let it make you angry. Even if you are not a Christian, go out and treat other people you encounter like their lives matter. If we all did this, the world would be a much brighter place. If you made it this far - thanks for reading, and God bless