The Christian Militant

The martyrdom of St. Stephen
 by Juan Correa de Vivar 

...for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword. Mat 26:52

From the outset, the Christian church has been under attack. Stephen was stoned, James beheaded, and the apostles beaten and imprisoned, yet there was no retaliation, no revenge, and no counterstruggle, at least not a physically violent one. Their methods of combat were prayer, compassion, and preaching because they believed:

2Cor.10:4  For the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, and yet:

Acts 6:7  And the Word of God was increasing. And the number of the disciples in Jerusalem was multiplying exceedingly; even a great crowd of the priests obeyed the faith.

For the next three centuries Christians were persecuted, murdered, used for circus entertainment, set alight as human torches, and fed to wild animals, and yet:

Acts 12:24...the Word of God grew and increased.

Over the years Christians were attacked by Romans, Jews, Persians, Muslims, Vikings, pagans, and even other Christians, and yet:

Acts 19:20  So the Word of God grew mightily and prevailed.

Christianity has been at war since the birth of Jesus when Herod sent his army to kill the babes of Bethlehem. Its weapons of resistance have always been the Word of God and prayer. It was a war won with the blood of martyrs, some of whom gave their lives voluntarily. The endless attacks eventually spilled over into physical retaliation. 

Don't fear the dark

 

The call.

A short while ago I received a desperate and urgent call from a friend who wanted to talk to me. When I arrived at his house, I found him shaken and upset. Taking me by the arm, he led me away from the house so that his wife could not hear what he had to say. Then, in a voice that trembled with worry and fear, he told me of his experiences the night before. At this point, I must add that my friend is a normal, hard-working, practical man who is not spiritual or involved with the supernatural. He attends church every Sunday and does his bit for the congregation when there is a function or event. At that stage in his life, he was having financial and other related problems. He insisted that he was wide awake and did not dream the events he described to me.

The certainty of death, taxes and prayer.

 

Is prayer always a good thing? What about prayer without much thought to consequences? What about praying a curse over somebody? What if prayer was a problem and a scourge like death and taxes?