Don't shoot your hungry neighbors!

Classical music is my usual listening choice, but one Saturday I happened to hear a radio talk-show host interview a man who had prepared himself for possible future calamities in his hometown:

"Fifteen years ago, I decided to build a basement under our garage. The walls are built out of cinder blocks," said the man. "It has an air filtration system and enough food and water to take care of 10 people for three months."

"Who are the 10 people?" asked the talk show host.

The man replied the 10 included his wife, children, parents and other members of his family.

"OK," said the talk-show host, "what will you do to keep your neighbors out of your shelter, who themselves might be starving and thirsty, and know that you have supplies on hand?"

"If need be, we will use the guns which are stored in the basement to protect ourselves from outsiders," said the man.

"And Jesus answered, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.'" (Luke 10:27)

I absolutely believe Christians should prepare themselves for possible future catastrophes, but we need to think through all of the possible consequences before moving ahead with anything. If we come up with any scenarios where we might end up shooting neighbors over food and water supplies, we might want to rethink our options.

As for myself, I have no problem with having guns to protect our loved ones and for hunting, but shooting hungry and thirsty neighbors? This should never be an option for Christians.

What can we do?

If believers can't shake the thought of possibly shooting desperate neighbors, they should consider moving as soon as possible to another location. Read Pat McLene's columns on WND. His ideas about moving to Idaho, Montana and Wyoming are timely and invaluable. Don't delay!

The majority of us probably do not plan on moving out of our cities. Our reasoning may be jobs, families, ministries, health reasons, finances or whatever. Any prepping plans for us need to be crafted for our present locations.

But, of course, some will read this article and put its ideas on the back burners, maybe even ignore them altogether. This is their prerogative, but I hope they won't regret it later. You see, most victims of major catastrophes did the exact same thing because they never thought it would happen to them. And even if it somehow happened, they believed the government would arrive on the scene and rescue them before their cups of coffee turned cold.

Those who hope government forces will be their lifelines if calamities occur should check out the events related to Hurricane Katrina. The bureaucratic infighting, red tape, lack of coordination between local, state and federal governments, poor planning, political grandstanding and incompetent management – all of these revealed how our government agencies are neither good nor fast first responders in major catastrophes.

The best and fastest first responders for any calamity are people who planned and prepared themselves beforehand. Our decisions today might save us agony tomorrow.

My advice to all Christians who plan on staying in their cities is twofold:

First, we should read Pat McLene's columns to discover what supplies should be stocked in our pantries and garages to prepare us for possible calamities. But let's not buy enough just for ourselves, let's buy as much as we can afford to purchase so we can help our neighbors, too.

Along with the extra supplies, it might be a good idea to ask the Lord to give us willing hearts to share our supplies with neighbors. We're flawed humans who often look at circumstances and forget the One who can move mountains for us. Therefore, let's prepare our hearts now before anything happens.

Second, there is no way we will have every base covered if a calamity hits our community. There is bound to be something forgotten or a prescription medicine missing or something wrong with our prepping plans.

To handle these shortcomings, I recommend giving to the poor now.

"Oh, the joys of those who are kind to the poor! The LORD rescues them when they are in trouble. The LORD protects them and keeps them alive. He gives them prosperity in the land and rescues them from their enemies. The LORD nurses them when they are sick and restores them to health." (Psalm 41:1-3 NLT)

There will be those who believe giving to the poor should be done without asking for anything in return. Although sounding pious, it isn't scriptural. We are to look to Him as a "rewarder of those who diligently seek Him" and to think of our giving to the poor "as a loan to Him, which He will repay."

Let's say I'm totally off the mark and no tragedies hit America in the future. What do we lose by following my advice? Not much.

Oh, we might have a few extra cans of beans and bottles of water on hand, but these can still be consumed by our families over a period of time. As far as giving to the poor, the blessings will extend from now until we stand at the Judgment Seat of Christ.

This could be a possible win-win prepping solution for us, but we need to move forward on it today.