Given that California has one of the most extensive gun registration databases in the nation, and that database already is being used as a list for the state’s Department of Justice to disarm law abiding citizens who legally own guns, and the California Attorney General has recommended to the White House that its program be the national model, many Christians are wondering just what their response should be if faced with armed authorities knocking at their doors. There are generally two responses: submit to the authority or resist it. This is likely to spark a debate over Romans 13:1, “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers.” This Daily Jot may save your life if you are ever faced with such dread.
Romans 13:1 uses the Greek word “exousia” for “the higher powers.” According to Strong’s Concordance, it means “power, authority, weight, especially: moral authority, influence.” Helps Word-studies says it “refers to the authority God gives to His saints authorizing them to act to the extent they are guided by faith (His revealed word).” Many Christians believe this means that they must submit to all government authority whether it is just or unjust. To those Christians, if the black-clad, bullet proof vested, heavily armed authorities come knocking at your door, by all means follow your belief and allow them entry. May the Lord protect you and your family. May your actions not put others in harms way.
Many Christians believe that unjust authority is no authority. Jesus ran the moneychangers out of the Temple, going against the authority that allowed them. Jesus called the scribes and Pharisees, who were in “authority” over the Jews at the time, hypocrites and a generation of vipers. Peter and the Apostles came against the “authority” of the Sadducees in Acts 5:29, saying, “We ought to obey God rather than men.” If you believe that unjust government is no government at all, and that you are endowed by YHVH God certain inalienable rights, among them Life, Liberty and pursuit of Happiness (which is also backed by the Bible), and that in America’s case the Constitution guarantees those rights, then resistance is your path. May the Lord protect you and your family. May your actions not put others in harms way.
Several Christians have written The Daily Jot with suggestions on how to respond to the jackboots that may come a-knockin’. First, you need to know your rights. Authorities are not allowed in your house without a warrant. A 1961 Supreme Court decision (Mapp v Ohio) determined that “the Fourth Amendment prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures, as applied to the states through the Fourteenth, excludes unconstitutionally obtained evidence from use in criminal prosecutions.” Refusing an authority for lack of a warrant is called by the Court “a belligerent claim of rights.” Here is a procedure you might follow:
LOUD KNOCKING ON DOOR, This is such and such Police are you John Doe?
(DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR. Opening the door may be construed as invitation, allowing the authority to enter without force.)
John Doe: Why do you ask?
Police: (with forceful demeanor) We’re here for John Doe. Are you John Doe?
John Doe: I respectfully decline to answer. Do you have a warrant?
Police: We don’t need a warrant. Are you John Doe (with more force and intimidation)?
John Doe: If you don’t need a warrant, then you are either in “hot pursuit” or you are about to violate the Law that limits your actions. Without a warrant you may not enter this house. Please leave at once.
Loudly instruct someone in the house to call 911-that you may need official witnesses. Call 911 and tell them that there are armed men trying to enter your house. Give them your address. Get off the phone. Have by your door this script with one more additional phone number-that of the nearest local media that has a 24-hour assignment desk, usually a radio station or daily newspaper. Call them, give your name, address, and tell them that armed men are at your door threatening you. Get off the phone.
Also know the definition of a firearm by the government. For example, The IRS oversees the Department of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. The IRS code that defines firearms is Title 26, Chapter 53, Subchapter B. The term “firearm” means a shotgun of less than 18 inches in length or a rifle with a barrel less than 16 inches, has been modified to fire a single shot or a single fixed shotgun shell. Automatic machine guns are also considered firearms. This code says “Such term shall not include a pistol or a revolver having a rifled bore, or rifled bores, or weapons designed, made, or intended to be fired from the shoulder and not capable of firing fixed ammunition.” Knowing your rights and how to use them as well as legal definitions may save your life or the lives of your loved ones. Choose this day life that you and your seed may live.
Biblical Response To When The Authorities Come a-Knockin’
Given that California has one of the most extensive gun registration databases in the nation, and that database already is being used as a list for the state’s Department of Justice to disarm law abiding citizens who legally own guns, and the California Attorney General has recommended to the White House that its program be the national model, many Christians are wondering just what their response should be if faced with armed authorities knocking at their doors. There are generally two responses: submit to the authority or resist it. This is likely to spark a debate over Romans 13:1, “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers.” This Daily Jot may save your life if you are ever faced with such dread.
Romans 13:1 uses the Greek word “exousia” for “the higher powers.” According to Strong’s Concordance, it means “power, authority, weight, especially: moral authority, influence.” Helps Word-studies says it “refers to the authority God gives to His saints authorizing them to act to the extent they are guided by faith (His revealed word).” Many Christians believe this means that they must submit to all government authority whether it is just or unjust. To those Christians, if the black-clad, bullet proof vested, heavily armed authorities come knocking at your door, by all means follow your belief and allow them entry. May the Lord protect you and your family. May your actions not put others in harms way.
Many Christians believe that unjust authority is no authority. Jesus ran the moneychangers out of the Temple, going against the authority that allowed them. Jesus called the scribes and Pharisees, who were in “authority” over the Jews at the time, hypocrites and a generation of vipers. Peter and the Apostles came against the “authority” of the Sadducees in Acts 5:29, saying, “We ought to obey God rather than men.” If you believe that unjust government is no government at all, and that you are endowed by YHVH God certain inalienable rights, among them Life, Liberty and pursuit of Happiness (which is also backed by the Bible), and that in America’s case the Constitution guarantees those rights, then resistance is your path. May the Lord protect you and your family. May your actions not put others in harms way.
Several Christians have written The Daily Jot with suggestions on how to respond to the jackboots that may come a-knockin’. First, you need to know your rights. Authorities are not allowed in your house without a warrant. A 1961 Supreme Court decision (Mapp v Ohio) determined that “the Fourth Amendment prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures, as applied to the states through the Fourteenth, excludes unconstitutionally obtained evidence from use in criminal prosecutions.” Refusing an authority for lack of a warrant is called by the Court “a belligerent claim of rights.” Here is a procedure you might follow:
LOUD KNOCKING ON DOOR, This is such and such Police are you John Doe?
(DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR. Opening the door may be construed as invitation, allowing the authority to enter without force.)
John Doe: Why do you ask?
Police: (with forceful demeanor) We’re here for John Doe. Are you John Doe?
John Doe: I respectfully decline to answer. Do you have a warrant?
Police: We don’t need a warrant. Are you John Doe (with more force and intimidation)?
John Doe: If you don’t need a warrant, then you are either in “hot pursuit” or you are about to violate the Law that limits your actions. Without a warrant you may not enter this house. Please leave at once.
Loudly instruct someone in the house to call 911-that you may need official witnesses. Call 911 and tell them that there are armed men trying to enter your house. Give them your address. Get off the phone. Have by your door this script with one more additional phone number-that of the nearest local media that has a 24-hour assignment desk, usually a radio station or daily newspaper. Call them, give your name, address, and tell them that armed men are at your door threatening you. Get off the phone.
Also know the definition of a firearm by the government. For example, The IRS oversees the Department of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. The IRS code that defines firearms is Title 26, Chapter 53, Subchapter B. The term “firearm” means a shotgun of less than 18 inches in length or a rifle with a barrel less than 16 inches, has been modified to fire a single shot or a single fixed shotgun shell. Automatic machine guns are also considered firearms. This code says “Such term shall not include a pistol or a revolver having a rifled bore, or rifled bores, or weapons designed, made, or intended to be fired from the shoulder and not capable of firing fixed ammunition.” Knowing your rights and how to use them as well as legal definitions may save your life or the lives of your loved ones. Choose this day life that you and your seed may live.
By Bill Wilson
