Showing posts with label Warfare. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Warfare. Show all posts

3.07.2008

Last moments of Christians, last moments of atheists

Here. There is some introductory material you can scroll down through. Overall, the collection of quotes and vignettes sparks memories and evokes foundational thoughts.

2.14.2008

Address to Christian Warriors

ADDRESS TO CHRISTIAN WARRIORS.
SOLDIERS of Christ, be aware that you are highly
advanced in God's creation, that you occupy an
important station, that you have an arduous work
allotted to you, and that you have neither time nor
talent to throw away. For you are enlisted under the
banner of Christ, you have entered the armies of the
Most High, and have taken the oath of allegiance to
the King of Sion, and bound yourselves by an oath,
to fight the good fight of faith, against sin, Satan, the
world and the flesh. What formidable enemies are
these ! You have to encounter all the powers of hell,
and their name is Legion. Fight them you now must,
for you have put on the armour, and taken the field to
fight all the enemies of God and man. When you
survey the enemies' camp, and see their strength, their
number, their stratagems, and inveterate malice ; and
are then made to feel your own weakness and nothing-
ness, you tremble, and say, How shall I go against these
mighty hosts ! Yet I must conquer them all, or die
an eternal death. O soldiers of Christ! banish all
your guilty fears. There is, after all, far more for you
than against you. You are on the Lord's side, who
fighteth for you. He is your refuge and strength,
your sun and shield. He is with you_in the field, to
teach your hands to war, and to cover your head in
the day of battle, and hath promised you the victory.
If God be for you, who is he that can overcome you,
and put you to death, when you are hid in the Lord's
pavilion, and surrounded with the wall of salvation ? "
While in the heat of the battle, be filled with the
hope of victory, and feel assured, that you shall finally
obtain a complete and glorious conquest over all that
come against you ; for hath not the Captain of your
salvation engaged to subdue Satan and all his armies,
shortly under your feet ? Trust him, and take courage,
then, you cannot meet with disappointment, " for
faithful is he that promised, who also will do it."
With a view to strengthen your hope of victory, keep in
mind that you have not an enemy, difficulty, or danger
to encounter, but which has been already conquered
and subdued for you, by the great Captain of your
salvation. And the countless millions of his soldiers,
who are now arrived safe in glory, singing the song of
Moses and the Lamb, were once here below, wrestling
with all the enemies and difficulties which you now
have to encounter. Only war a good warfare, then,
and rest assured, that he who carried them safe through
the war, will carry you also to the triumphs of the
world to come. Not one of all his true soldiers was
ever left to perish on the field of battle. Put on
courage, ye Christian Warriors ! fight the good fight
of faith, be faithful unto death, and then, your Captain
will release you from the war, and give you the
crown of life, which you shall for ever wear, in
honour of your gracious Lord and Saviour. T. J.

[From the forward material of an edition of The Christian Warrior by Issac Ambrose.]

1.29.2008

Copenhagen's Dance of Death, 1536

Read these dialogues with Death and realize what the armor of God means, and what development of being means, now, and when you face that day. To be able to stand, and to know that Death has been defeated. To know it then, when you are face to face with it. To be a knight, of Christ. To be present. A king.

12.27.2007

The Work and the Faith meet in Spiritual Warfare

Sometimes I get a rush of a realization that warfare will be met with at death, and even prior. The real spiritual warfare that culminates in glorification. The forces of darkness are there. I got this feeling today not just thinking of the violence of suicide bombings and assassination of a political leader, but of thinking about how that political leader herself had no defense against such forces. She died, or let's say she is in recurrence with no connection to the Saviour or to the Triune God and His Kingdom.

10.04.2007

I wrote it

"To fear God only and not man
makes you a dangerous figure on the landscape of the world.
Expect war, and fight like a king."

Reality

When you connect with the Work (the Fourth Way) and you do the Work you need the armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18) for protection. You need the shield of faith (in Jesus Christ) and the Sword of the Spirit (the Word of God inside you). You will provoke the world and the devil (and your own inner elements of false personality, or, the 'Old Man' within you), and being naked and innocent on the battlefield is not how a king takes to the field of battle. A babe in the Work can survive for a season naked and innocent, but as you develop more is required of you. You are recovering the image of God, being a prophet, a priest, and a king.