Supreme Court Rules Americans May Cling To Their Guns

In spite of secular progressive pressure on the courts of this country to disarm American citizens, the Supreme Court ruled today that individual citizens do have the right to own guns.  This is the first major ruling on gun rights in the Supreme Court’s history.  The five to four decision struck down the ban on handguns in the District of Columbia.

Justice Antonin Scalia said that an individual right to bear arms is supported by “the historical narrative” both before and after the Second Amendment was adopted.  The Constitution does not permit “the absolute prohibition of handguns held and used for self-defense in the home.”  Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Samuel Alito, Anthony Kennedy and Clarence Thomas agreed with Scalia.

Justice John Paul Stevens wrote a meaningless dissent based on the argument that the Founding Fathers did not mean what they wrote in the Bill of Rights.  Stevens’ fellow secular progressive, Justice Stephen Breyer wrote there “is no constitutional right guaranteed by the Second Amendment to keep loaded handguns. . . .”  Secular progressives have repeated this so much that many actually believe it.  This is, of course, only one mantra of the radicals who want the courts to change the original meaning of words they don’t like.

Thank you Senator John McCain for supporting security guard Dick Anthony Heller who brought this case to the Supreme Court to secure his Second Amendment rights under the Constitution.

How Do You Develop Godly Character?

As I pointed out in my earlier article on “Success,” God is very concerned about your character development as a Christian.  James L. Christensen wrote, “The purpose of Christianity is not to avoid difficulty, but to produce a character adequate to meet it when it comes.  It does not make life easy; rather it tries to make us great enough for life.”  I can think of nothing more important in the development of character than the exposure to and reading of God’s word in order to find God’s Will.

Proverbs 11:3 tells us that, “The integrity of the upright guides them. . . .” Character is the result of a moral compass that determines how we think and act.  Intentional concern for the condition of that compass is also an important quality of character.  The psalmist expresses this when he prays, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.  See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (139:23-24)

God is not impressed by our reputations.  He has unlimited insight into the real quality of our character.  Have you ever been disappointed in the process of getting to know someone only to find they have real issues with integrity?  Think how disappointed God must be in His children, who are saved by grace, when they fail to repent and call on the power of the Holy Spirit to help them deal with character issues.  Too few of us understand, as did Teddy Roosevelt, that – “Character, in the long run, is the decisive factor in the life of an individual and of nations alike.”

If we choose to develop personal godly character traits and wish to leave behind us a generation of godly children, who grow into men and women with the character traits we most desire, then we must certainly teach these traits to our children by lesson and example.  The Bible instructs us, “And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.  You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.  You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” (Deuteronomy 6:6-9)  If you want to teach godly character, it is important to have it around the home.