A Knight's Blog

  In Rodney Stark’s book “God’s Battalions: The Case For The Crusades” he divides the Church into two factions. He describes these as “The Church of Power” which seeks wealth, prestige, dominion over souls (control), and vain-glory; and “The Church of Piety” which seeks God’s Will, purity, devotion to Christ, and the glory of God. These two descriptions are helpful, and how I wish to expound on my last post about “Salt and Light: Paradigm Shift for the Church.” The Church of Power is most obvious in its imperial and medieval forms that reigned via emperors in Constantinople, and through the Pontiffs or Popes in Vatican City. This corrupt church system appears to be godly but is devoid of God, “having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them. always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth.” (2 Timothy 3:1). In these systems Bishops became Lords: land barons and had their own retinue of knights at arms. Going merely by how Geoffrey Plantagenet was

  The Church was suppose to be “Salt and Light,” to the world. We were suppose to be beacons of the Jesus who lives in us; we were suppose to add His savoriness to this world. However, we have failed. We have preached the gospel, but our salt is no longer useful, “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.” (Matthew 5:13). We have lost our savoriness through sexual scandals, selling out to Mammon (god of money), and Seeker Friendly appetites rather than spreading God’s presence, power, pledge of salvation, and peace.    The ecclesia is anemic, and impotent, raising up bowls of salt that has gone bad and dancing to a beat that has stopped. Did we think our Lord would let us continue to be lukewarm, and bad salt forever?  The Church is a ruin. My eyes are now set only on the Kingdom of Heaven that our Lord Jesus preached far more than the one time he

  Christianity Today asserts that the conquest of Canaan can be a “stumbling block” for believers. This probably is because of a foolish idea of comparing it to a modern conquest happening in our world. The truth is that God had Israel conquer Canaan because it was ruled by evil giants, “We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.” (Numbers 13:33). These are Anakim or Nephilim, the children of angels and human women, “When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, the sons of God (angels) saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. Then the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These w

  I ordered a pectoral cross that contained the Head of Christ with the words IC XC Nika which is “Jesus Christ Conquers.” I received the cross and instead of those letters it reads “IO XO Nik” when you look up these Greek letters they are to pagan gods:  “Io/ IO was, in Greek mythology, one of the mortal lovers of Zeus. An Argive princess, she was an ancestor of many kings and heroes, such as Perseus, Cadmus, Heracles, Minos, Lynceus, Cepheus, and Danaus. The astronomer Simon Marius named a moon of Jupiter after Io.” (google search) Io is essentially one of those mortal women that this fallen angel Zeus made a lover, “ The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.” (Genesis 6:4).  XO is the Greek god Orpheus, “Orpheus is a figure from ancient Greek mythology, most famous for his virtuoso ability in playing the lyre or ki

  Happy St. Patrick’s Day. I myself admire the missionary commitment of Patrick, that he even defied his bishop and chose to obey God’s voice, and go and preach the gospel to Ireland. It invokes the apostle’s Peter’s words, “Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings.” (Acts 5:29). That said what kind of gospel Patrick preached matters, was it the gospel according to the Scriptures or Roman Church tradition?   Another alarming tradition to hail from Ireland and Celtic culture was the Irish Cross which puts knots in a pattern on the cross. These knots or roads are sacred in Neo Paganism, and one shape is even used for the Trinity called  triquetra, a knot that is three:   The problem is the triquetra is sacred to Celtic pagans, New Ageists, Neo Pagans and more, “ “ Celtic pagans or  neopagans  who are not of a Celtic cultural orientation, may use the triquetra to symbolise a variety of concepts and mythological figures. Due to its presence in insula

  Coptic Orthodox are part of the Oriental Orthodox Church who reject the Council of Chalcedon and adhere to Athanasian Creed. Coptic Orthodox affirm    the doctrine of The Holy Trinity, but their doctrine of soteriology/ salvation (how one is saved for eternity)    is heterodox and false, “Coptic Christians teach that both God and man have roles in human salvation: God, through Christ's atoning  death  and  resurrection ; man, through good works, which are the fruits of  faith .” ( https://www.learnreligions.com/coptic-christian-beliefs-and-practices-700009 ). This is in contradiction of the truth that only Jesus and His grace saves us, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast,” (Ephesians 2:8-9), “and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right w

  What is Lawlessness? According to the apostle it is sin, “Everyone who sins breaks the law, and in fact, sin is lawlessness. You know that Christ* was revealed to take away our sins, and in him there is no sin. Whoever remains in him does not continue in sin, but whoever practices sin has not seen him and does not know him. Little children, let no one lead you astray. Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. Whoever lives in sin belongs to the devil, since the devil has been a sinner from the beginning. This was the purpose of the manifestation of the Son of God, to undo the work of the devil. Those who have been born of God do not keep on sinning because God’s seed abides in them. They cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. This is how the children of God and the children of the devil are revealed: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, and neither is the one who does not love his brother [or sister].” (1 John 3:4-10,

  There are many books on Church History. One that is lauded is Diamand McCulloch’s “Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years.” It is a lengthy tome that will frighten most away at 1016 pages.  To spare you a waste of time reading such behemoth of a book, I shall show you That MacCulloch’s bias appears early in the book, here is a escript from pg 24 that reads, “All Powerful Creator,”.. who dismissed Moses’ question “what is your name?” with a terrifying cosmic growl out of the burning bush in the desert, “I WILL BE WHO I WILL BE.” The Name of God of Israel is No Name.” (Diamand MacCulloch, Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years, Chapter One: A Millennium of Beginnings- Greece and Rome pg 24). Firstly, God did not growl at Moses when He gave his Name:  “ Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And

  The Slain Christ on Good Friday means so much. For most it means “It is Finished,” and “Forgiven,” that our sins are washed in the blood of His death. There is another picture at the Crucifixion that we should not miss. A crucial message from God our Savior on the cross. That message is that God wants to be near to us, so much so He took human form in a body and allowed himself to be torn and nailed to a tree. The adage “I am dying to be with you,” is exactly what Jesus is telling us at Golgotha, that He suffered a excruciating death because He wants us reconciled yes, but also tp be with Him, The Father, and Holy Spirit in a divine dance in heaven.  Christ didn’t get crucified to no purpose. It was so that all people: male, female, black and white, Jew and Gentile could be with the Triune God that made us all! There is a reason its called His Passion. Passion means “ardent affection,”:    enthusiastic love! Our Lord is love (1 John 4:7-21), and He hung on the cross to prove it. All

Before us are times that will test our faith. Our Lord Jesus Christ said that when He returns, “will I find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8). A foreboding omen of just how trying the times will become. What lies ahead will be a shifting, we shall pass through tribulations that may break us, hence Christ’s encouragement to “endure to the end.” (Mattbew 24:13).  I know many Christians brothers and sisters who are going through great trials. It is as if truly “The Constrainer” has been removed and tribulation has come to the Church. We must not get mad at God. For Our Lord disciplines us, “  For the LORD disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child,” (Hebrews 12:6), “ Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent.” (Revelation 3:19), and “  For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?” (1 Peter 4:17). I believe Jesus is di

  “Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.” (1 Corinthians 10:14) In Ephesus it is reported that there were over 60,000 idols of various gods in the city. There was even a joke that there were “more gods (idols) than people,” in the city. The Greek City was hub for idol making, and when the apostle Paul came and preached a God not of stone, but flesh and blood who lives not in statues or temples but inside all believers, “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.” (1 Corinthians 3:16-17), it goes without saying it caused a stir.  In fact the early church was labeled athiests because they had no visible gods of stone, wood, or clay. Like the Jews from which Christians were an offshoot, the rule was no idols, but a living God who though unseen could be heard and felt, and then this God took human form and could be touched and seen in the flesh,