Anoint your sword...

About two months ago, while attending Sunday morning services, the Lord spoke to me and said, "Anoint your sword for battle." That was it, no elaboration, no explanation, no further instructions. But perhaps it would be good to let you know that I do own a hand-and-a-half, battle-ready, broadsword. When I decided to purchase a blade, the options were pretty obvious. There were historical blades, replicas, display pieces, fantasy swords, you name it. But the more expensive blades were the ones marked "battle ready". Mine is hand forged and oil quenched and sharpened to a fine edge on both sides. It is truly "battle ready".

So when the Lord told me to "anoint my sword..." I took it literally, but did nothing.

The next Sunday while in service, the Lord spoke to me again. "Anoint your sword for battle." That was it - no further elaboration, explanation, or instruction. And believe me I certainly asked. Again I took no action. About mid-week, while driving to work and pondering these words, the Lord again spoke saying, "I will speak yet once again on Sunday. Pay attention because I am not going to say it again." Okay, that sounded pretty plain, so I thought I would get some further explanation.

The next Sunday - "Anoint your sword for battle." End of story. On the drive home I told my lovely bride about all this and her response was, "So what are you going to do?". Well, I got home, went into the library, took out my blade and my anointing oil, got on my knees in prayer, and anointed my sword.

The next week we were having lunch with a missionary friend of ours and I related the story to him. His response was that he wished he could see what was taking place in the heavenlies as I anointed my sword. I have received further instruction - that I was to mark my blade with my name and the Lord's word. So my blade is at the engravers being marked with "GapStander" and "Ezek. 22:30". After that I will find a time at the church when I can enter the sanctuary and present my blade and my self to my Lord and my King.

Not sure what will happen next, but it is sure to be an "E" ticket!

Later..
GS

Megatrends

One of the research groups I follow is Barna. Over the years I have found their research both insightful and concise. Testing their research, I have conducted my own surveys (on a very limited scale) with pre-teens I was teaching at the time and verified everything the Barna group had found on a much broader scale.

Now Barna has release their "Six Megathemes" for 2010. They are:

1. The Christian Church is becoming less theologically literate.
2. Christians are becoming more ingrown and less outreach-oriented.
3. Growing numbers of people are less interested in spiritual principles and more desirous of learning pragmatic solutions for life.
4. Among Christians, interest in participating in community action is escalating.
5. The postmodern insistence on tolerance is winning over the Christian Church.
6. The influence of Christianity on culture and individual lives is largely invisible.

Like most of Barna's work, this should serve as a wake-up call for the American Church, if it is not already too late.

Work cited

Barna Group. (2010). Six Megathemes Emerge From Barna Research Group for 2010. Retrieved December 14, 2010, from The Barna Group: http://www.barna.org/culture-articles/462-six-megathemes-emerge-from-2010