Movies, Courage, and Foolish Talk

In late November, after the Paris terror attacks, French Ambassador to the United States, Gerard Araud had a bee in his bonnet based on a tweet by Donald Trump, who had said that the attacks were enabled by the gun control laws in France. Asked to respond on Fox News he said, “Imagine a theater hall and suddenly people enter with machine guns and are really killing people … It is only in the movies someone is using his gun to defend himself.”

As an American, who has never been to France, I am not qualified to speak for the French people. I assume that the ambassador knows his people and their character better than I do. Although I would like to remind the ambassador of something.

Back in mid-August three American young men traveling in France were on a train when another mass shooting started. These men acted, attacking and subduing the attacker, one can only guess how many lives they saved.

These individuals were not in a movie. But they took courageous action to save themselves and others. Yes, I know that they did it without firearms. I suspect the courage they applied in their situation was even greater than if they had firearms.

It’s time to set aside the hysteria over weapons. The only deterrent to the type of attacks we are seeing right now, is the understanding that people have the right and will use the right to defend themselves. I have never been in a gunfight. I can’t imagine what it is like. But I am sure it is more challenging for the attacker if they expect to someone to shoot back. What is our other option? To bring a knife to a gunfight?

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Character Matters

One of the points I am careful to make in my book, The Storeroom of the Heart, I go to great lengths to highlight the importance of filling your heart with positive character and courage. You never know when an opportunity to do something great for God and humanity will pop up in front of you. You can, however, be sure that if you don’t work on your character prior to the critical moment, then you will not have the gumption to do whatever is necessary and the opportunity will be lost.

This past week a friend pointed me an article by Michael Hyatt called The Reflex of Character which also makes that point.  Jump over and read this incredible true story.

The Olympics

When I was a kid, the Olympics was a big deal. The family would gather around the TV and all of us would want to watch the events that were on our McDonald’s game cards.

Yea, I know I just dated myself.

As an adult I seldom sit still to watch the Olympics, but when I do I notice a change in the events. Back when I was a kid the most extreme sport for aerial stunts was figure skating. In more recent years we have had people doing stunts on skis, then came snowboards, and in this Olympics Slopestyle events have also been added.

In my book I talked about courage, and the movement towards extreme sports. If you want to know what I said, you will have to buy the book. Contact me via social media if you would like to buy a copy directly from me. This will get you a signed copy for about the same cost as ordering a hard copy from any other source.

But you can also order it from CrossBooks, Amazon or any other bookseller, including picking it up as an E-book.