This essay is written to the young man sitting at home holding a gun in his hand contemplating an act of violence. If you believe in God you should put the gun down and reconsider your position. You should walk into the bathroom, look in the mirror, and ask yourself these four questions: Do I belong in prison? Do I want to spend the rest of my life in prison? Does my mother want me to spend the rest of my life in prison? Is there anything else I can be doing besides holding this gun in my hands? If you answer yourself with an affirming statement, then you should leave the gun where it lay and come join the rest of society and face the day. If you do not answer yourself in the affirmative, then you have made the decision that there is no God and what you desire should control your conduct or conversely you have made the decision that there is a God but at the present time you choose not to follow Him or there is a God but you prefer to support the Devil in his mission. In either case the decision you need to make is a simple one. You need to reconsider your position and answer your self in the affirmative and follow God.
We make this statement because a Christian does not belong in prison. If a Christian lands in prison, either the jury made a mistake or the Christian forgot who he or she was and committed an act against God and man. If you believe in God, then you do not belong in prison you belong outside in society working toward a better world. Anyone can go to prison. It does not take a rocket scientist to be a prisoner. All it takes is a moment of indecision or a moment of impulsiveness and off you go into an arena where you may not survive. When you do not follow God, your conduct is saying there is no hope. When you do not follow God, you conduct is saying nothing is going to change. When you do not follow God, your conduct is saying I do not believe in God's promises. Before you make a decision to use that gun maybe you need to take some instructions from a minister and learn of God's promises before you decide to follow a path of no return. Also, maybe you should go to the library and read the life stories of men who resisted picking up a gun just to survive. There are thousands and thousands of men who get up every morning and go to work as dishwashers, garbage collectors, factory workers, window washers, street cleaners, tree trimmers, cement finishers, painters, etc. They face their day with courage and faith to provide for themselves and their families. They do not pick up a gun in anger and use rejection as an excuse for violence and to murder. The love the men have for their families goes beyond the love for themselves, keep the men going back to work day in and day out. A man can feel miserable inside but love is everlasting and nothing will come before his wife and children. This is why adultery is so dastardly.
If you believe there is a God, then you cannot knowingly pick up a gun and commit an act of violence because your action is saying you are willing to accept God's judgment of your behavior, which is illogical. Also you are saying you are willing to accept man's judgment of your behavior which is also illogical. No man remains resolved into eternity. No man is willing to accept God's judgment unless the man believes that judgment is favorable. How can God's judgment of you be favorable when you violate one of His commandments? Can you truly conceive of a situation where you do not care what happens to your soul?
Either there is a God or there is not a God. If you believe there is a God, then you should follow Him. If you do not believe there is a God then fare ye well. But it would behoove you to consider your options carefully. It would be smart of you to error on the side of caution and accept the possibility that there is a God and lay down the gun rather than take a chance and end up in Hell. You are quite right we do not know definitively in this world whether there is a heaven or hell but if you are a betting man it seems it would be wise to gamble on the side of the angels. We know prison is hell. Putting a gun in your hands increases the possibility that you will end up there.
To date there are approximately 2 million men in prison, on probation, on parole, or in jail in the United State. Also there are approximately 3,700 men on death row. If you pick up that gun and use it, then you will be just another man among 2 million men going to prison to spend the rest of their lives. How significant do you think your life will be among 2 million other men? Think about it. How significant do you think the lives of Mr. Jon Siesling, Mr. Robert Foster, Mr. James Castle, Mr. Randall Abbott, Mr. Wayne Kubsch, Mr. Ismael Cisneros, 26, Mr. Oscar A. Grande, 22, Mr. Chivous S. Robinson, 23, and Mr. Paul Bernard are now that they have been convicted of murder. How important is Mr. Ronald Brown now that he has been convicted of murder. June 7, 2005 Ronald Brown, 42, was convicted in the murder of Deva White, age 7. He picked up a gun and fired it. This act changed the destiny of his life. Mr. Brown was found guilty of first-degree murder in the state of Michigan. His conviction was a foregone conclusion he murdered a child and there were witnesses against him. The jury was not going to let him walk away after killing a child. Mr. Brown had no defense. He murdered a child with a gun. His sentence is automatic. He shall spend the rest of his life in prison. Mr. Brown is 42 years old. He has approximately 30 more years to live which means he has approximately 10,950 days left to spend in prison,……..
