Unfortunately what you posted is probably all to common and normal.... I'll make the preface short, but I am now the President of our church counsel and between myself, our Elder, our Pastor and quite a few other members wer'e pretty armed during service... Anyway... Where I'm going with this is that becoming part of the inner workings of the church I've learned there are two kingdoms... The left hand kingdom and the right hand kingdom..... The right hand is of God, whereas the left hand kingdom is of Man... As a member of the church counsel we concentrate on the day to day running of the church... Pay the bills, etc, etc.... So for us Church security and those types of matters are up front for us.... So back to what you were saying.. I think most people are focused on the right hand Kingdom, and as such put to much faith in God to keep them safe... (Please don't get me wrong, I am 100% agreed on faith in God), But they forget the kingdom of man... And man is sinful... Born sinful, and will die sinful.... And is capable of terrible evil.... And not to forget that the Devil lives among us and wants us to commit evil doings.... We must do more to wake up the Church, wake up the faithful and to remind them that evil lives amongst us everywhere, every day.....E10 wrote: ↑Sat May 04, 2019 5:48 pm Spent the last two days in Philadelphia, this morning at a Shabbat service which featured the welcoming and naming of our new grandson. I think I was probably the only armed congregant, and I spent most of the service scanning the two entrances to the sanctuary for untoward activity. No trouble, but somewhat surprised that there seemed to be no one concerned with security and safety.
We were headed to the airport immediately after the service, and stowed our luggage in a corner near an entrance. No one took any notice at all, as far as I could tell. All this only six months after the shooting at a synagogue just across the state in Pittsburgh.
I'm glad you posted your observations.. I think they were spot on.....