Renew Your Courage & Hope in the Midst of Doom & Gloom

Christian Martialist Warrior, what is your mood like in this stage of the warfare? Are you optimistic? pessimistic? in a good mood? in a bad mood?

And just as important . . . WHY? Yes, it's important to recognize why your mood ranges up or down at this juncture of your life.

Are you bummed because your candidate did not come out on top on super Tuesday? Do headlines such as the following put you down?

1. Banks Foreclose on Churches in Record Numbers (And the realization that what's wrong is not primarily with the banks, but with the churches that have presumed upon the future while ignoring James 4:13-17)
2. Police Arrest & Strip Search Pro-Life Protestors (Knowing that police attitudes may have been influenced by recent characterizations of pro-life people as potential terrorists)
3. African Christians Massacred (While recognizing that the U.S. "humanitarian" military actions in the Middle East ignore the plight of Christians while kowtowing to the volatile temper of Muslim terrorists [more & more I think Muslim terrorists is an oxymoron])
4. American Police State Gathers Momentum (See also HERE) (Meanwhile, the general populace -- including pastors & church leaders) is unaware, uncaring, conditioned by gradualism, or afraid to stand up against the tyranny.)

When your fellow parishioners talk more about the latest football game than state of our nation & God's strategy/tactics to claim it for Christ, do you get discouraged? Are you tempted to become cynical?

This is nothing new. Listen to this expression of cynicism by the Kingston Trio (The Merry Minuet, released in 1959):


You are probably tempted to do the prepping for yourself & your immediate family, hunker down and let the world go to hell -- literally as well as figuratively. You know it's the wrong attitude, but you feel as though you've run out of options.

MY DIAGNOSIS

If you're at all like me, I believe you feel discouraged and un-hopeful for one or more of just three reasons:

1. You've lost focus on your primary mission and objective;
2. You feel as though you're all alone in the battle;
3. You've experienced so many personal defeats that it has affected your outlook.

Any of these will lead to indecision and inaction -- a bad state of mind for a warrior. So, let's look at all three stumbling-blocks and remove them from your path.

Mission: Proclaiming and Participating in the Expanding Victory of Your Lord's Kingdom on Earth.

When you're up to your [hips] in alligators, it's sometimes hard to remember that your original objective was to drain the swamp.

As a soldier of Christ, it's easy to let "emergency" side issues crowd out the main objective. As someone has observed, "The urgent is the enemy of the important."

There are many urgent issues around us today: abortion, child pornography, the rise of Islam and other cults, our nation's slide into immorality, the corruption of high officials and their utter disdain for the law of the land, let alone the Law of God, and so on. You may feel a need to engage the enemy on these fronts, but if you do so, you will fall into his trap.

The enemy attacks with many faces, like the Hydra of pagan mythology. And if you do manage to cut off one head, two more will grow in its place.

You will not make progress by concentrating on this or that head in the battle. You must realize that all these evils arise from a single cause, that none can be resolved without addressing that cause, and once that society resolves that issue, everything else -- social problems, cultural morality, political integrity -- will also fall into line.

That issue is the acknowledgment of God and obedience to Him. From a denial of these  issue all the ills of the world. (see Romans 1:18-32) Hence, to restore the world necessitates a turn back to acknowledging and obeying Him, which is what the Kingdom of God is all about.

That does not mean that you will never mention or address those other issues, but you will always do so in terms of total surrender to Christ as King. That must constitute your central focus.

Christian Warrior, God has mandated that you  most focus on His kingdom. You must shape your life's mission in terms of the Gospel of the Kingdom.

(This is not to say that you must forsake your livelihood or your family responsibilities to pursue God's kingdom. You must, rather, make your work serve Christ's purposes or find new work. You must determine how your family must function as a part of the Kingdom under the rule of Jesus as Lord.)

This involves a lot more than garnering professions of faith. It means bringing all nations into discipleship to the Lord Jesus Christ.

In His earthly ministry, Jesus did not call men merely to a momentary decision (the emphasis of much evangelism-so-called today). He called them to a lifetime of discipleship.

We offer an easy gospel to our audience, and we produce weak, dependent churchgoers who demand comfort, support and entertainment. When the crowds gathered around Jesus, He pre-qualified all the would-be disciples with an unvarnished call to sacrifice for the King and His cause.

And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away? For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels. (Luke 9:23-26)


And a certain scribe came, and said unto him, Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. (Matthew 8:19-21)

Paul the Apostle echoed this call to discipleship when he exhorted Timothy:

Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. (2Timothy 2:3-4)

Okay, soldier, the battle is hard . . . and long . . . and thankless. So, what else is new?

Real soldiers fight the battle and press on, heedless of the personal cost. They battle to enlist other disciples in this war.

Moreover, the transformation of individual and household lifestyles by the Spirit in terms of the Gospel of the Kingdom and the Royal Law of Liberty can and must lead to a transformation of cultures and the establishment of a Christian civilization.

Loneliness

If you feel discouraged because you think you battle alone, think again. Elijah thought he fought alone for the integrity of God's kingdom.

And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away. And the LORD said unto him, Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when thou comest, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria: And Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel: and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room. And it shall come to pass, that him that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay: and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay. Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him. (1King 19:14-18)

The prophet had occupied the point position on the front lines for a long time, and now, after a time of R&R, he had begun to sink into despair. That's often how it happens -- you don't realize how the battle has drained your spirit until you experience a lull.

Despair had brought the prophet to a critical crossroads. But the Lord did not rebuke him, for he had remained faithful through some desperate times. 

Instead, the Lord did three things. First, He gave Elijah a couple of rear-echelon kingdom tasks. Then, He sent the prophet to a companion, a protege whom he would train by precept and example.

Finally, the Lord opened his understanding to the fact that He has placed His faithful ones exactly where He wants them. The faithful did not make up a majority -- or even a plurality -- in Israel, but they were 7,000 times as many as Elijah had thought.

If you feel alone in the battle, let me tell you that I've felt that way many times. But in the end, I know I'm not alone because someone who cares will read this. And you're not alone, because I'm here, and that's why I've written this.

Personal Defeats

I've had a lot of these in my life, and I know better than to treat yours lightly. Sometimes, you suffer so many defeats physically, mentally and in your spirit that the very word victory seems like a hollow mockery.

At times, I fear that I've spent far too much of my life grimly holding on without much hope or joy. And I've run across more than a few fellow warriors in the same condition.

I'm in a more contented state at this stage of my life than I have been in previous decades, but I can certainly empathize with those who have become weary of repeated defeats.

If that describes you, I want you to know that I had you in mind when I wrote "The Combat Master's Christmas Tale". Beyond that, the Word has much to say to your heart.

The Apostle Paul encourages with these words:

And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. (Galatians 6:9)

Whether you feel it or not, victory lies ahead, and you will partake of it. That's what kept our Lord and King in the battle to end:

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2)

I like the words that Deolexrex puts at the end of every one of his emails:

The history of Christianity is a series of victories, described and disguised as disasters. Beginning with the cross...

In the end, you will discover that every defeat that has so disheartened you was actually a victory leading to the enemy's ultimate undoing. The overall strategy belongs to God, and ultimately, you must count your faithfulness in itself as personal victory, no matter what the outcome looks like "out there".

A Call to Action

Do you agree with my assessment? Do you agree with what I've written about our mission?

Have you come to a place where you're ready to set other things aside and dedicate your warrior skills in service to proclaiming and promoting Christ's kingdom? 

If so, how would you feel about a fellowship of Christian Martialist Warriors for mutual encouragement, planning and aid. It would be part think-tank, part action committee dedicated to the realization of the Great Commission in and through Christ's Church.

If the thought appeals to you, please respond by email rather than in the comments section. Let me know if you're ready to lead or to follow and what your personal heart needs are at this time in terms of our mutual mission.  

gravelbelly@gmail.com

I will write more on this in coming days.