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I've been reading this forum for a few months and want to thank everybody for all the good info. I've never really had anything to contribute until something reminded me of a true story about an armed CHL holder that a local CHL instructor tells frequently. The instructor is fairly anti-computer so, I'll share the story....

A man (who we'll call John so I don't confuse myself with pronouns) was driving home in the middle of the night after working in another state all week. He pulled into a small town gas station in the middle of nowhere. It was empty except for the clerk inside and a car beside the store across the parking lot. John gets out and starts pumping gas. A man gets out of the only other car around and starts walking toward John. The guy says "Hey man!" John ignores him thinking he'll go away. He says "Hey man!" again and adds "Can you help me? I need some money." John still ignores him and continues with his gas. All of the sudden the man walks around John's car and they're standing face to face and the man has a knife poking John in the side and he says "Give me some money or I'll kill you." John stands there in shock for a second until the guy wiggles the knife and says again "Give me some money or I'll kill you."

What should you do in that situation? Do you give the guy a few bucks knowing it'll buy drugs or booze but probably make him go away? When the guy first made contact should you yell "Stop! Don't come any closer." What if the guy didn't stop? Maybe then you say "Stop right there! I have a gun." What if he still doesn't stop? What if he starts coming toward you even faster? Do you shoot him? What does the clerk see here? Does she tell the police "Some random guy was just walking across the parking lot and this other crazy guy just pulls out and gun and shoots him."? Maybe you should just get back in your car and drive off when ignoring the guy didn't work. This is the only gas station in this town though. Do you have enough to make it to the next one? Let's say none of that happens and you're in the same situation as John, standing there with a knife poking your side. The bad guy is obviously serious. Do you pull your gun and shoot him? You'll get stabbed but you'll probably survive. A well placed shot will certainly kill the bad guy but a slit in your side proves he's an attacker and all the conditions are met for lethal force. Do you flee? You'll probably lose your car but nobody gets hurt.

Well, here's what John did: He look the guy in the eyes and ask him "Do you think Jesus Christ would approve of what you're doing tonight?" The guy put his knife back in his pocket, apologized, and walked away.

I think Luke 12:12 applies here. "for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say."

There's no question you should think through your reaction to all the situations you can think of and that you should be proficient with whatever you plan on defending yourself with. Christianity isn't about being passive but if the time ever comes, I'll trust God over any of my skills or equipment.