Spartans, Texans and Warrior Kings

Almost 500 years before Christ, a Spartan army of only 300 men stood against a million or so Persians at a place called Thermopylae. The Brewer isn’t a particularly a big fan of ancient Spartans — besides destroying the fair city my mama named me after with a stinking wooden horse, they were also known to be racist and pagans who had no mercy for anyone. With that said, the Texan in me can’t help but love the astonishing quality of warriors they produced.

The king who is famous for Sparta’s military miracle was a guy by the name of Leonidas. What I love about king Leonidas is he wasn’t just a king, he was a warrior King. He didn’t sit on a golden thrown and order men to fight. He fought in front of all his men and invited them to fight beside him. I love the whole idea of a warrior king.

About 200 years later, another warrior king rose from the same part of the world — but this one would be remembered as “Great.” Alexander conquered the known world not for a righteous reason but just because he wanted to. Before it was over, millions would be dead and many more hurting because of Alexander’s ambition of conquest. Though I don’t much care for his empire any more than the Spartans, I can’t help but love the fact Alexander was a warrior king.

After Alexander and his army turned south on the Indus River, they encountered a warlike clan called the Mali. After building siege weapons and ladders, Alexander’s army attacked the walled city — and Alexander was the first over the walls. He was so far ahead of the rest of his men that he engaged the entire army by himself while his men scrambled to keep up. With an arrow piercing his chest and his lung and a sword in his hand Alexander the Great fought hand-to-hand combat until his men were able to subdue the enemy. I love a warrior king.

Almost 2,300 years later on holy ground that would be called Texas, a general with a righteous cause, raced across the San Jacinto battlefield. Though vastly outnumbered and in broad day light, Sam Houston was so far ahead of the rest of his men that he drew all the fire of the Mexican dictator’s troops. Having two horses shot out from under him, Houston limped towards the enemy with pointed sword yelling, “Remember the Alamo, Remember Goliad!”

Sam Houston would soon become the president of the nation of Texas. Though he was a political leader he was also a proven warrior. I love a warrior king.

Being a fairly famous Jesus freak with an ever-growing popularity, I get a lot of letters and e-mail. Most of them cuss me but there are more and more asking me what denomination or nondenominational group I subscribe to.

I am for whatever in Christianity is wimp free.

Sign me up with the Christians who have the guts to be Christians in a day where men act more like women than men. Show me Christians who are not just talking about the love of God, but who are demonstrating it through the hard work it takes to make a difference in somebody’s life. Put me in line with the people who are living proof that God never consults your history before giving you a future.

Real Christians don’t just serve a King. They serve a passionate, warrior King — and those of us who follow Him live a lifetime of learning how to get out of His way and let Him fight like He wants to. Not only is Christ not scared of the battles you and I face, He actually gets excited about the prospect of another glorious scrap. That’s the way our King is, and He is unlike any we have ever seen before. He’s compassionate, ready to serve, approachable and full of mercy, but make no mistake about it — He is a warrior King.

“The LORD is a man of war: the LORD is his name.” — Exodus 15:3

Troy pastors Open Door Ministries near Joshua and can be found at www.opendoorministries.org.

Thoughts on "The Book."

In 1986 I completely dedicated my life to Christ. I was so blown away that God would want anything to do with a guy like me that I signed up for the full ride. I dedicated my life’s work to furthering the Gospel, advancing the Kingdom and generally trying to be useful somehow. Consequently, I became a Bible thumper.

Now I wasn’t always like that. There was a day when the Bible looked more like a Chinese tech manual than anything actually worth reading. Stephen King had taught me how to read giant novels. I’ve been blessed with a good reading aptitude so I didn’t think reading the bible would be any problem. It wasn’t that easy.

Carrying My Security Bible
Volunteering for an outreach ministry in Dallas, a friend suggested that reading the Bible could “save my life”. I had no idea what he was talking about. Less than a week later I went to a James Roberson convention in downtown Dallas and survived an attempted robbery in the parking lot by slamming my King James up side the head of the perpetrator.

I was only 19. Sitting in the nosebleed section of the Dallas Convention Center I looked at my bible and thought, “This thing really CAN save your life”.

I started taking it with me everywhere I went. I struggled through the “thee’s” and “thou’s”. I learned to focus on the red letters. I began to comb through the Commentary and Biblical history books. Slowly, the light began to come on.

It’s not the black ink on the white pages. Its not the actual book itself but rather what the book testifies of. I am amazed at what happens when “the book” gets into the hands of the average Joe.

This book combined with the power of the Holy Spirit, changes lives, families, lifestyles, society, nations and entire generations.

There Goes The Neighborhood
The Bible transformed the entire world when the early Christians startled the pagan world of Rome by their unselfish love and caring for the poor, the sick and the hopeless. The Romans didn’t know what to do with this bunch, so they tried to snuff them out.

Despite the overwhelming wealth of the Roman Empire, Historians have not found one single example that these societies had a single hospital, housing for the poor, orphanage, or old folks home. There were not even universities for the masses. This great example of worldly civilization didn’t give a rip about the betterment of others until people with the book showed up.

The Egyptian empire, the Babylonian empire and the Syrian empire were the same way. Nations never had any of these things until the Bible got into the hands of common people.

The Greeks and the Spartans prided themselves on the being the “light of advancing wisdom and higher thought.” These same people threw infants off of cliffs for having birthmarks.

The idea of taking on the cause of the betterment of ordinary people didn’t show up until the idea of equality showed up. The value of life and the cause of the helpless are Biblical principles. The dark ages and the atrocities of that time didn’t end until the common European had access the Bible in his common language. Hundreds of thousands died during the 1500’s so the average Joe could get his hands on the book.

Say Uncle
One person that stood up for his faith and conscience during that terrible time was my ancestral Uncle, Robert Farrar. We recently discovered that his family was an important part of the modern Brewer bunch. He was a Bishop of St David’s and Protestant martyr that was burned at the stake in London in 1555. He wanted people to have access to what was written about in the book.

Ironically, somebody was quoting the Bible wile they set him on fire. I know that some of the meanest people on earth have thumped their bibles while living hate-filled lives. I also know this; people that study the Bible either allow it to change them and they become world changers, or they remain the same and use the Bible to somehow support their evil agenda.

Loving the Author
This tells me that the book is not enough. There have been and still are today, people that love that book but do not love the Lord the book is testifying of. There are people that love to study the track but do not care a bit about the foot that actually made the track.

The Bible is awesome because Jesus is awesome. As soon as we get away from that, we get into big trouble.

“I believe the Bible is the best gift God has ever given man. All the good from the Savior of the world, is communicated through the book.”
Abraham Lincoln

Spartans, Texans and Warrior Kings

Almost 500 years before Christ, a Spartan army of only 300 men stood against a million or so Persians at a place called Thermopylae. Now the Brewer is not particularly a big fan of ancient Spartans. Besides destroying the fair city my mama named me after with a stinking wooden horse, they were also known to be racist and Pagans that had no mercy for anyone. With that said, the Texan in me can’t help but love the astonishing quality of warriors they produced.

The King that is so famous for this military miracle was a guy by the name of Leonidas. What I just love about King Leonidas is that he wasn’t just a king, he was a warrior King. He didn’t sit on a golden thrown and order men to fight. He fought out front of all his men and invited them to fight with him. I love the whole idea of a warrior king.

Almost two hundred years later another warrior king rose from the same part of the world but this one would be remembered as “Great”. Alexander conquered the known world not for any righteous reason but just because he wanted to. Before it was over, millions would be dead and many more hurting because of Alexander’s ambition of conquest. Though I don’t much care for his empire any better, I can’t help but love the fact that he was a warrior King.

After Alexander turned south on the Indus River he encountered a warlike clan called the Mali. After building siege weapons and ladders they attacked the walled city and Alexander was the first one over the walls. He was so far ahead of the rest of his men that he actually engaged the entire army by his self while his men scrambled to keep up with him. With an arrow in his lung and a sword in his hand Alexander the great fought in hand-to-hand combat until his men were able to subdue the enemy. I love a warrior King.

Almost 2300 years later on holy ground that would be called Texas, a General with a righteous cause, raced across the San Jacinto battlefield. Though vastly outnumbered and in broad day light, Sam Houston was so far ahead of the rest of his men that he drew all the fire of the Mexican dictator’s troops. Having two horses shot out from under him, he limped towards the enemy with pointed sword yelling, “Remember the Alamo, Remember Goliad!”

Sam Houston would soon be the President of the nation of Texas. Though he was a political leader he was also a proven warrior. I love a warrior King.

Being a fairly famous Jesus freak with ever growing popularity, I get a lot of letters and e-mails. Most of them cuss me but there are more and more asking me what denomination or nondenominational group I subscribe to. I am for what ever in Christianity is wimp free. Sign me up with the Christians that have the guts to be Christians in a day where men act more like women then men. Show me those Christians that are not just talking about the love of God but actually demonstrating it through the hard work it takes to make a real difference in somebody’s life. Put me in line with the people that are living proof that God never consults your history before giving you a future.

You see; real Christians don’t just serve a King. They serve a passionate, warrior King and those of us that follow him live a lifetime of learning how to get out of His way and let him fight like He wants to. Not only is Christ not scared of the battles that you and I face, he actually gets excited about the prospect of another glorious scrap. That’s the way our King is. Unlike any we have ever seen before, He’s compassionate, ready to serve, approachable and full of mercy but make no mistake about it. He is a warrior King.

Exodus 15:3

The LORD is a man of war: the LORD is his name.

Contact Email: The Brewer welcomes your input at FFTB@OpenDoorMinistries.org

Contact by Phone: 817-297-6911.

Please visit us online at http://www.opendoorministries.org/ & http://www.joshuarising.com/