THE LEAGUE OF CHRISTIAN DEFENDERS
....... CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS, MARCHING AS TO WAR...."'
PREFACE:
"Where are the millions who love Me? Where are the millions who say they know Me? Where are the ones who know just who I Am?" I
Defender: One who individually and actively participates in the protection of something
Soldier: One of a member of an army dedicated to the defense of something
Army: A body of men and women who are organized in the defense of something
Throughout history, there has been a group of men and women bound together not by proximity, fraternity, or familiarity--but by the tendril of a common cause: the defense of the faith.
This tendril binds these people from the very beginnings of Christianity until now into a type of “mythical” fellowship: due to the lack of a name, we in this ministry have decided to call it The League Of Christian Defenders.
It is an effort which is composed of research, fact gathering and verification, and the logical usage of this information 'in winning souls to Christ--not just
in days gone by, but in what we consider the "last days."
This mythical league reaches out to all dedicated Christians who live their faith, and are willing to take up the mantle of standing in the breach--between the Kingdom Of God and the kingdoms of man--in the interpretation of the faith in ways which show others how to believe, be strong in their beliefs--and then to show others as the tendril continues on throughout time.
The League has now reached out to PARRC Research, Inc., and its members.
If you are reading this, we would like for you to participate in this with us. We feel as though your unique talents can be a great benefit to the structure
and effort of the League Of Christian Defenders. We feel as though there is no greater or more honorable work in our lifetimes.
Our participation comes in the form of uncovering and disseminating the evidentiary (facts from outside which are corroborated by the Bible as proofs) and the apologetic (facts from the Bible which are corroborated by outside occurrence as proofs) of the God Of The Bible.
While we are the modern soldiers, marching as to war, there have been many forerunners in history that were members of this mythical league:
PART ONE: Giants In The Earth
Throughout history there have been men and women who stood for God; their stories have been told and retold, yet in this contemporary society, it is prudent to recapture the memories of some of them:
St. Peter: one of the original twelve Apostles who gave his life for the propagation of the faith. He was the one whom Jesus Christ referred to as the "rock" upon which the Church would be built
St. Paul: undoubtedly the greatest evangelist who ever lived, and author (by the penmanship of God) of most of the New Testament; martyred for his faith and his work in the Great Commission
Ignatius Of Antioch: the third bishop of Antioch in Syria- the seven letters that he wrote on his way to martyrdom in Rome are among the most important of the apostolic fathers
Justin M@: one of the earliest and most important of the Apologists, spokesmen who offered an apologia or reasoned defense of Christianity
Irenaeus: played an important role in repelling the Gnostic threat of the second century; Gnosticism was a religious movement including elements of Judaism, Greek philosophy, Pagan religion, and Christianity
Tertullian: a prodigious writer, writing with a range of interest greater than any other Christian writer in ancient times, including information about church life, and doctrinal and controversial matters
Origen: the best scholar in the Christian church in the first half of the third century; for decades he defended the faith against heretics and the Roman authorities
Jerome: Jerome was the most learned man in the Latin-speaking church in the late fourth century, making major contributions in the religious history of the Christian West, and the Latin translation of the Bible, or the Vulgate
Francis Of Assisi: a giant in the medieval church, he is remembered as the one who sought to rebuild a church engulfed by spiritual callousness and for his consciousness of the divine unity and interdependence of creation
Thomas Aquinas: a voluminous writer who works are marked by penetrating and powerful genius, he provided the Roman church with reasoned statements of its interpretation of the Christian faith
John Wyclif one of the great thinkers of his age, he wrote many important works in the areas of philosophy and theology; his views became increasingly radical as he questioned a number of accepted Catholic beliefs
Martin Luther: the father of the Protestant Reformation whose study of the Scriptures and own spiritual struggles led him to an evangelical break-through: the teaching of justification by grace by faith alone, and of the Bible as the only ultimate authority for Christian belief and practice
John Calvin: the Frenchman who became the Reformation's supreme Bible teacher, writing on doctrines and devotion, with commentaries on the Scriptures and systematic theology
John Knox: the Scotsman helping to originate Puritanism, and worked on the English version of the Bible-,, he aimed at the support of the poor, equality of all men before God, and the establishment of sound doctrine
John Owen: the most outstanding theologian of Congregational Way practitioners in 17th-century England-,, the most learned and active exponent and defender of Calvinistic Theology in Europe
John Bunyan: an English preacher who went to jail for twelve years for refusing to stop preaching the Gospel; also wrote Pilgrim's Progress, Grace Abounding To The Chief Of Sinners, and other great books
John Wesley: the tireless preacher of the Gospel and founder of the Methodist Church; from the saddle, he covered more than 250,000 miles in all types of weather to, in his own words, "Offer them Christ."
Blaise Pascal: he is to France what Plato was to Greece, Dante to Italy, and Shakespeare to England; at the age of 16 he began contributions in geometry, physics, applied mechanics, and mathematical theory; he became a devout Christian, always aware of his sinful nature and the need of the grace of the Lord Jesus
I could go on and on; the list of The League Of Christian Defenders is a long and distinguished one. We should be aware of the ones who went before us, setting the example of zeal and dedication to the Gospel Of Jesus Christ.
PART TWO: Modern Times
Something happened after the 1800's; philosophy began to die, and so did the evangelists of the caliber of these men. It is for this purpose that this model for witness began with the words Where are the millions who love me?"
Stephen Hawking, Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University and author of the best-seller A Brief History Of Time puts it this way:
"Up to now, most scientists have been too occupied with the development of new theories that describe what the universe is to ask the question why. On the other hand, the people whose business it is to ask why, the philosophers, have not been able to keep up with the advance of scientific theories. In the eighteenth century, philosophers considered the whole of human knowledge, including science, to be their field and discussed questions such as: Did the universe have a beginning? However, in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, science became too technical and mathematical for the philosophers, or anyone else except a few specialists. Philosophers reduced the scope of their inquiries so much that Wittgenstein, the most famous philosopher of this century, said, 'The sole remaining task for philosophy is the analysis of language.' What a comedown from the great tradition of philosophy from Aristotle to Kant!
However, if we do discover a complete theory, it should in time be understandable in broad principle by everyone, not just a few scientists. Then we shall all, philosophers, scientists, and just ordinary people, be able to take part in the discussion of the question of why it is that we and the universe exist. If we find the answer to that, it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason-for then we would know the mind of God....1
Without the great apologists, evangelists, and philosophers of the past--where do we stand in 1994?
Without defenders, how can you build an army? Without an army, how can you mobilize soldiers?
Without an army, or soldiers--how can you win a war? And make no mistake: for men's and women’s souls, each Christian defender is in a war:
"For we struggle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers...
And those principalities and powers are organized, fiendishly dedicated-and our deadly adversaries.
These forces have been at work, vying for the souls of men for millennia--and the curtain is just about to ring down on the Dispensation Of Grace; then the time will follow "when no man can work."
Even a group like the Salvation Army started out with the purpose of saving souls for Christ; the roots of the Goodwill Organization are the same. They have become misunderstood, and seemingly representative of different ambitions today--even though meritorious ones.
Who are the John Calvins' of today?
Here are the champions of the last three hundred years:
Charles Grandison Finney: Father of modem revivalism
David Livingstone: Explorer and Missionary
C.H. Spurgeon: Considered the prince of preachers
D. L. Moody: Revivalist
Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Christianity and the struggle against Hitler
C. S. Lewis: Defender Of The Faith
Francis Schaeffer: Proclaiming biblical truth in an intelligent and practical way
Billy Graham: Leading evangelist of this era
Larger-than-life Christians, to be sure; but not nearly as many.
Take a look at those from in the twentieth century: Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Francis Schaeffer, and Billy Graham.
Those who should be considered as modem-day giants are: Hal Lindsey (The Late, Great Planet Earth), Grant Jeffrey, J.R. Church, D. James Kennedy, Adrian Rogers, Charles Stanley, Tim LaHaye, David Webber, Chuck Swindoll, and many more worthy of mention.
If we were truly following the Great Commission, there would be armies of Christians evangelizing the world.
There are, indeed, some organized missionary and evangelical forces which are doing a mighty work, given their virtual singularity. But there should be multiplied millions of committed and mobilized Christians, living their faith--and not just sitting in church.
And there aren't.
Where are the soldiers? Where are the armies?
Where are the champions?
Well, we know that some are being born in this bible study, even as you read this--for the Lord is sending His Holy Spirit to put it into our hearts--and then give us devastating power and wisdom to accomplish it.
PART THREE: "Onward, Christian Soldiers.....
Christianity--even with the evangelical efforts of the past, and the recent technological breakthroughs, is a minority religious philosophy on planet earth. It seems as though, given all of our efforts of the past and present, we still are not reaching enough with a message and facts compelling enough to change them.
Keywords: Enough. Message. Facts. Compelling. Change.
The League Of Christian Defenders was organized to address these keywords.
As in the past, we need Christians who are willing to do just a little more than sit in church on Sundays. We need people willing to participate in a structured organization designed to give the Body Of Christ an abundance of the keywords mentioned above.
We believe that if enough is provided- and the message is distributed- and the facts outweigh the doubts- and the facts are compelling enough--that change will be the result.
Overwhelming change.
Change from atheist to Christian; from agnostic to Christian; from Buddhist to Christian; from Satanist to Christian. From everything which does not follow the direct letter of the law outlined in the Old and New Testaments, to Christian.
Compelled. Overwhelmingly compelled to change by the Power of God and the Sword Of Truth. Together.
Question: what would happen if a group of people (dedicated soldiers of the faith), formed together in one purpose (as an army) according to the architectures given in the Bible, went forth armed with a great array of fact, apologetics, scientific knowledge, and Biblical truth?
We might find that we were the possessors of the type of power the Bible alludes to--and the beholders of millions of hungry people hungering for our ministry.
To be a soldier for Christ does not mean you must quit your job; leave your family; stop playing softball, or watching football,
It does not mean that you now must dress all in white robes, stand on street comers, or speak in "thee's" and thou's".
It doesn’t mean you will be in church five days a week; you will not spend ten hours a day in prayer; you do not have to become a preacher.
It does not mean that you must now be a totally different person that you are now.
A soldier for Christ is simply a person who--given the opportunity--does whatever they can as a member of the League--and no more.
An example would be: if you were a third baseman, and God wanted you on Ms team, He would find a way for you to play third base. He's pretty smart--and He knows that you will do your best work--and be happiest--at third base. He has first basemen, second basemen .... he would use you where you belong, and want to be.
The League Of Christian Defenders is--and has been--similar; we need people willing to look at certain needs, and volunteer to do certain things within their chosen areas. We are collectors of facts which prove God-, apologists who seek to become better prepared in defense of the faith- people who ask questions, and seek answers. Only then can we take a message to the world which might help tip the scales in Christ's favor.
Whether we call it an army, a league--it doesn't matter. It must be organized, coordinated, and productive. It is a chance to be a "doer of the word, and not a hearer only. " And its EASY, and can be quite fulfilling and enjoyable.
Most of us don't do more because we don't know what we can--or should--do. The next section of this proposal is to show you the areas of need we have at this time:
PART FOUR: "...Marching As To War:" The Soldiers Of The League Of Christian Defenders
In order to go forward, we need volunteers in various modules to participate in certain ways: information gathering, information processing, fact verification, apologetics research, and the like.
Here are proposed modules to conduct studies, fact-finding, and information coordination:
A. Miracles and Healing: Are they real? Can they be verified?
B. God The Father, The Son, And The Holy Spirit: the exact same objective
C. Principalities And Powers: also the same objective
D. Phenomena: How do UFO'S, crop circles, and the like fit into our lives--and are they real?
E. The Bible: Is it a valid, verifiable, and historical document? How do we know?
F. The Church: What was it originally meant to be? Are we doing it right today--or not?
G. Cults, And Other Religions: How to reach them with the truth: and what are they all about?
H. Contemporary News And History: Is the Bible in the news? Is the news in the Bible?
1. The End Times: How can we be sure that these are the end times?
J. This Pagan Society: Is the U.S. the New Babylon, the Revived Roman Empire--or both?
K. Prophecy And Quantum Physics: What are prophecies? Are they always correct? Which ones apply to today? How do they relate to infinite possibility and the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle
L. Completed Jews: What are they, and what is their place in the scheme of things?
PART FIVE: Implementation
All we have to do is have a good time!
To belong to the League, all you need is desire, a computer, and an E-Mail address; if you do not have one, PARRC will give you one!
This ministry will answer questions, resolve conflicts, and bring the considerable intelligence and experience of the League's members and their
unique perspectives to the defense of the faith as a unit--and make these findings available to the world through its’ website.
That’s it!
One more thing that is required of a Soldier Of The League:
Tell others what you know: if we don't make disciples of others--and replicate ourselves--then the mathematics of the Great Commission fails.
Maranatha!
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