2nd Annual Gathering of the Westcliffe Band of Brothers Planned

Press Release
We are excited to announce our Second Annual Gathering of the Westcliffe Band of Brothers. JUNE 1st, starting at 10 a.m. or come earlier to help set up for the day. Where: Michael Tschanz’s The Nest will be hosting us again. Located at 1430 Williams Creek Road, Gardner, CO 81040.
We have three main events. In addition, there will be opportunities to play horseshoes, hike, ride ATVs, play volleyball, etc.
(1) Starting at 10 a.m.: short and long-range target practice.
(2) Lunch from 12-2 p.m. Smoked and pulled pork, turkey fried in peanut oil, and pork and beef-filled chili.
(3) From 2 – 4 p.m.: (a) Hand-to-hand self defense tactics and
practice. (b) Indian knife and tomahawk throwing.
(4) Michael leads Bible Study and prayer time from 4-5 p.m.
(5) Overnight Campout with awesome dinner, special time together, breakfast, and sunrise service led by Pastor Richard Desmond!
Brett: (719) 371 – 0021;
Michael:(303) 999 – 5115
This is an extremely relevant gathering on June 1st, as we consider and practice methods to control the growing unrestrained violence in our daily lives. The first thing that must be considered is a historical perspective. I minored in history in college and have enjoyed studying history ever since. The reason history repeats itself is simple. Mankind is born with a pride-filled nature, and destiny apart from God is inevitable unless one’s life is changed.
If we look at the Bible, the Logos—God’s Word to us—it provides direction for life and answers the very problem we are discussing. This underlying historical problem was so critically important that the Logos took on human flesh over 2,000 years ago. Born in Bethlehem, a Nazarene, Jesus, The Messiah, was God in human flesh. He came to live among us as the world beheld the glory of God in human flesh.

Why was Jesus’ life so critically important?
John 3:1-7 (NLT) gives us the story of an old man asking Jesus a life-changing question. “There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee. After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.” Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” “What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?” Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’”
From the above, we see that Nicodemus was concerned about death. As I think most of us are. As an old man, he asked Jesus how a man could be “born again” and avoid eternity separated from God. Jesus’ answer was simple but profound.
Jesus’ second equally critical command is to love our neighbor as ourselves. And who is our neighbor? Look around—just about everybody you see and come into contact with in some way or another throughout your day.
Matthew 22:36-40 (NLT)
36 “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” 37 Jesus replied, “‘You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”
Protecting life for eternity is a very big and important question. The answer is simple, and it is wrapped in humility, trust, and faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Messiah, who gave His life in substitution for ours! Jesus’ sin-free life is credited to our
account! All we need to do is simply follow Nicodemus’ example and be born of water and the Holy Spirit of God.
What about protecting life here on earth? How do we try to get a handle on when and how much violence is appropriate?
To me, the foundation for this system must be built on God’s love, agape. Love prevails over all because God is love. Therefore, there is a clear direction to this second situation.
Murder is always sinful in Scripture while killing is condoned. For example, you wake up at night when someone breaks into your house. You don’t know what they are packing or what they came to do, so in self-defense, you shoot them. This is a justifiable killing.
However, if someone breaks into your house in the daytime and is unarmed and either puts his hands up or runs away, but you shoot and kill that person, that is murder. Just because you can kill someone doesn’t mean you should. There are times when soldiers in war and police officers must take someone’s life. There are times when they kill wrongly as well. Always remember that we must be wise in all situations. There is a time for everything and sometimes there is a time to kill.
God takes it even deeper, 1 John 3:15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
So, as we come together to celebrate God’s gift of eternal life and brotherly love on June 1st, our appreciation of God’s guidance in these areas is very important. We will be shooting rifles and pistols at targets to sharpen our hunting skills and self-defense techniques. We will also learn practical methods of hand-to-hand self-defense and how to be more aware of our surroundings.
This year, we will also learn how to throw knives and hatchets like our forefathers!
Over the years, I have developed strong opinions about self-defense that combine God’s leadership with techniques that complement His leadership.
Shooting is my last choice for self-defense for a number of reasons. It is proven that in a potentially deadly situation, if the attacker is 20 feet or closer, a gun is not as effective as an empty hand or a knife/stick hand response. Secondly, shooting a pistol or rifle is quite difficult to minimize the damage effectively. Thirdly, If you find yourself in a situation where someone is shooting back at you, you have no idea how you will respond to such a threat. So, I would use a rifle or pistol to intimidate someone and, last of all, if absolutely necessary to take a life.