In Dayton, Texas, a minister was sleeping in his church office early last week when he heard an intruder. It was around 6:15am, too learly for anyone to be in the building.  This being Texas, everyone has a gun (I think they hand them out at birth), so naturally the  churches are packing as well. So after being roused from his sleep, Benny Holmes, a pastor at the Church of New Beginnings, grabbed a gun and went to investigate.

He then encountered and shot 27-year-old Marvin Blue, an intruder who police say was attempting to burglarize the church.  Some may see this incident as a bit of poetic justice. I’m a little more concerned that even pastors are getting trigger happy.  I remember the part of the Bible where Jesus stops the crowd from stoning a prostitute and sends her on her way.  Or the one where he tells his followers that when a thief wants your outer garment, you give him your shirt too. I must have missed the story where he says “Make my day!” before having a thief eat hot lead.

Just saying: if you attend this church, or happen to be in the area, whatever you do, make sure you never, ever show up early for religious service. You might feel a bit of a sharp nip in your backside, and it isn’t the holy spirit calling.