SemperVerus Helps You Be Authentic : The 2023 Word of the Year

The craving for authenticity in our internet culture of bogosity and the breakdown of society reflected in deepfakes, post-truth, situational ethics, “your-truth-is-not-my-truth,” and artificial intelligence, has resulted in Merriam-Webster declaring authentic its Word of the Year, based on the high-volume lookup data during 2023 on the dictionary’s website, driven by stories and conversations about AI, celebrity culture, identity, and social media.

Among the other highly searched words in the dictionary’s 2023 data, is deepfake: “an image or recording that has been convincingly altered and manipulated to misrepresent someone as doing or saying something that was not actually done or said.”

Authentic has a number of meanings, including not false and not imitation, and its synonyms include real, actual, legitimate, pure, reliable, and true.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Situational Awareness: Spiritual Self-Defense ]

SemperVerus is here to help you “stay true to what is right” (1 Timothy 4:16 NLT) by adhering to the teachings of Scripture; as Jesus prayed to God the Father, “Use the truth to make them holy. Your word is truth” (John 17:17 NIrV).

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Spiritual Fitness: How Long Does It Take to Read the Bible? ]

Personalize the following pledge and constantly remind yourself of it by wearing the SemperVerus® waterproof flexible rubber inspirational wristband.

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Church Security Book Review: Defending the Flock

The US is in a heightened threat environment due to violent conflicts around the world, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Lone offenders, motivated by a range of savage ideologies, pose the most likely threat. DHS urges the American public to stay vigilant.

[ Read SemperVerus articles on the topic of Situational Awarenewss ]

Middle East expert Walid Phares says the charter of the terrorist organization Hamas calls for not only the killing of Jews and the elimination of Israel, but also for the killing of Christians worldwide. He says, “This is a jihadist movement, and it is manifesting itself in America and Canada, and in Western Europe. We have never been at this level of danger for our democratic world.”

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Chart: The Spectrum of Potential Threat Personas in Self-Defense and Church Security ]

Acts of targeted violence against houses of worship are a real—and potentially growing—problem in the United States, says the DHS. The best way to mitigate a potential attack is to take a holistic approach to security.

[ Read the SemperVerus article, A Prayer for Church Security Team Members ]

A necessary and excellent resource for establishing a well-rounded, comprehensive church security program is the book, Defending the Flock: A Security Guide for Church Safety Directors by veteran police officer, retired Army captain, and founder of Sheepdog Church Security (SDCS) certification curriculum, Kris Moloney.

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An Attempt to Define Pistol Size Categories

Are you confused about the different category names that are supposed to clearly identify handgun sizes? You’re not alone.

“Pistol size categories are notoriously ambiguous. What’s the difference between a micro compact and a subcompact? We don’t know, and we’re pretty sure nobody else does either,” says Chris Baker of LuckyGunner.com in the video below. “A handgun’s physical dimensions—its size, shape, and weight—largely determine how well it will fit our hands and whether we’re likely to find it comfortable and concealable as a carry gun.”

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Checklist: Matters to Consider When Deciding on a Handgun ]

Watch the video to get a feel for the different categories:

  • full size (also called duty size)
  • compact
  • subcompact
  • micro compact
  • pocket
  • single stack
  • double stack

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Situational Awareness: What Are You NOT Seeing?

Situational awareness is intentionally being aware of possible threats in your everyday surroundings. But there’s more to it than what is obviously observable.

You need to also ask yourself, “What am I NOT seeing?”

That question comprises two sub-questions:

  • “What IS there that I SHOULD be seeing but I’m NOT seeing it?” and
  • “What ISN’T there that SHOULD be there that I’m NOT seeing?”

[ Read the SemperVerus article, Situational Awareness: 14 Ways to Walk Like You Drive ]

“Looking isn’t the same as seeing. You have to focus attention on something in order to become aware of it,” says Prof. Daniel Simons. “We know when we notice something unexpected, but we’re not aware of the times when we miss something unexpected….We need to filter out the distractions from our world and not let them interfere with our ability to do the task we’re trying to do.”

In self-defense situational awareness, it’s important to “filter out the distractions” and focus on both what IS in front of our eyes and what SHOULD be in front of our eyes but isn’t. Take the challenges in the videos below and see how attentive you are.

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