Wisdom, Warnings and Wins – The Chosen and Armed Protection

Think About It Wisdom, Warnings and Wins – The Chosen and Armed Protection
Share
Share

Carl Chinn

Carl Chinn

Sep 10, 2025

My parents were both raised in solid Christian homes and in turn raised us boys in the same way. Many of my prominent spiritual values came not from Sunday School, not from church and not from Christian books. They were modeled for, and instilled in me at home. They were the DNA of our family.

One of the most solid and immutable values is that we always stand with Israel and our Jewish neighbors in America. The covenant extended to the Israelites in Genesis 12:1-3 is timeless and nonrevocable. It pains me greatly to hear some indicate Christians are the biggest threat to Judaism. It hasn’t been that way in any church I have ever attended and it’s not that way in our home. While we maintain vastly different views of Christ, Jews are God’s chosen people. I don’t have to figure that out or write some theological perspective; it’s as true as the sunrise. God’s blessing is on them and how dare I speak or feel different than what God has set in motion.

Therefore, I have been honored to gain the acquaintance of Michael Masters, John Pizer and others at Secure Community Network (SCN); the Jewish version of the Christian Faith based Security Network (FBSN).

Of the three primary denominational strings in America (Protestant, Catholic and Jewish) it has pained me that the Jewish leadership has discouraged armed Synagogue protection teams of volunteers (as has Catholic leadership to a large degree in their parishes).

The killings at the Catholic Annunciation Church in Minneapolis changed that with the Jewish community. I have been privileged to work with the SCN in recent days as they prepared to release a white paper called, “Weapons at Worship” (subtitle, “Armed Congregants & Considerations for Synagogue Security”).

That document has finally cleared the last hurdles and is now available for download at this SCN Website I encourage all FBSN members and friends to download and study your copy today. Though the Protestant string has been leading in this endeavor of using armed volunteers for intervention capable protection for years, the organization and details of this document are outstanding.

Nothing I may have disagreed with was even worthy of bringing up, I could see the critical path portions and enjoyed the collaborative effort. The end result is very well done.

A huge thank you to Michael Masters, John Pizer, Abigail Miller and others at the SCN for allowing the FBSN to have a part in this valuable process and especially for being bold enough to publish this white paper that will keep your congregations safer and free to worship knowing some of their ready, willing and able congregants are also watching.

Community tags

This content has 0 tags that match your profile.

Community Groups

*Open Forum Discussion

Comments

To view comments or leave a comment, login or sign up.

Related Content

4

Think About it -- Remembering Ron Allen

Death never comes at a good time. This last week, FBSN board member Ron Allen (Troy, Michigan) finished his race and went home. Ron was one of the best men I’ve ever known. I was reminded of something Ron wrote to our Board in 2023. It follows, as written by him. GOD'S CALL TO LEADERS. Morning Prayer Notes 8.24.2023. Ron Allen God will never call us to a work that we can fulfill in our own strength. It will always be bigger than we are. That forces us to rely on Him. When God puts people around us to help fulfill the vision that He has given, if we use them, God gets glory. If we don't use them, that means we don't trust God to fulfill His vision. (ownership of the vision then transfers to us and I don’t want to own God vision). Remember, Its God's vision, not ours. He may have given it to us to carry, shepherd and lead, but it's His vision. God will send resources / people to fulfill His vision. If we are uncomfortable using the resources He has sent, (“no, let me do that”) we limit what God can do with His own work. Our job as leaders, as people who are called by God to lead; Pray that God sends laborers and let them labor when they arrive. Love them and lead them in a godly manner. Teach them what God has taught you. Show them the vision so they can run with the portion God has given them. Trust that God will speak to them and give vision for their area of the work. Give them the latitude to hear from God and go with God, (while we are watching to encourage and correct) Discern when the enemy sends wolves to disrupt the work that God has called us to do. Clear out the wolves and get back to doing the work God has called us to do. If the wolves have inflicted wounds, believe God to heal the wounds and move on. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire without the smell of smoke (don’t let wounds linger) Think About it We are called into a work that none of us can complete or even perform well on our own. Ron Allen provided the guide for handling that work.

3

Lessons From the Farm (No. 1)

Having moved back to farm country (from where I continue to manage the Faith Based Security Network), there is also the reality of needed work to be done on the farm. Fortunately, there is not (yet) any cropland; the daily duties are centered around making sure the small cow herd is healthy and accounted for. It is rare that I can’t think of the applicability of some farm action to the realm of effective security operations. Such was the case this week when a neighbor called to see if I could help him out. Helping is just part of common rural hospitality. It’s called “neighboring.” When someone’s ox is in the ditch, you go help them. He owns no oxen, but he did have a few hundred acres of corn to get harvested in a narrow window of time. He needed to keep 3 semis continuously filled as drivers ran the harvested corn to the granaries. He had a 12-row combine working nonstop cutting the corn. The missing link was a man on a tractor to catch the freshly harvested corn out of the combine into a 750 bushel mobile grain cart, then transport that corn to the waiting semis. The inset picture shows the operation and equipment well. He set aside an hour to have one of his workers train me on the tractor and the mobile grain cart. After that I was all alone in a John Deere 8400, 4-wheel drive row-crop tractor. This wasn’t like driving Dad’s old 2-cylinder John Deeres 50 years ago. This $300,000 monster had a computerized cab more like a cockpit. At 30,000 pounds and 225 horsepower, it was bigger, more powerful and more expensive than any machine I’d ever operated. One hour of training. Think About it The great late Jeff Cooper said, “Owning a handgun doesn't make you armed any more than owning a guitar makes you a musician” (another version quoted him as, “Owning a pistol doesn't make you a pistoleer any more than owning a piano makes you a pianist”). A few hours operating powerful machinery doesn’t make one a farmer either. Is your training commensurate with the tools and the needed actions? How much is a life worth? If you think an hour might be a little light for training on a monster tractor, how much is too light for your tools of protecting life?