The Case FOR the Crusades

I’ve begun re-reading Rodney Stark’s Gods Battalions. It is such a refreshing read, correcting so much of the lazy scholarship which has historically marked the modern day presentation of The Crusades including that of the most notable scholars such as Carl Erdmann. These lies have been repeated by such notables as former President Obama, who at the 2015 Prayer Breakfast equated violence in modern Muslim terrorism with violence in the Christian Crusades of the 11th and 12th centuries – the problem being that the Crusades followed Muslim attacks on Christian lands for well over three centuries, hardly the case with today’s largely unprovoked Muslim attacks.

Again, “the Crusades were not unprovoked. They were not the first round of European colonialism. They were not conducted for land, loot, or converts. The Crusaders were not barbarians who victimized the cultivated Muslims.” (Stark p. 248)

Illustration of the Battle of Yarmuk by an anonymous Catalonian illustrator (c. 1310–1325)

Far from being unprovoked, the Crusades only began after more than 300 years of non-stop Muslim aggressive rapes, pillaging, and plundering against the Christian world – places and battles such as Yarmuk, Qadisiyyah, Alexandria, Nahavand, or Constantinople; essentially unprovoked Muslim attacks on the Byzantines and Persians that utterly destroyed the latter, the Muslim invasions of Sicily, Sardinia, and Southern Italy, Guadalete and Aquitaine, part of the Muslim Arab and Berber invasions of Spain and France, etc. It was following all of this and more that finally moved the Byzantine Emperor to write the Pope, asking for military aid.

 

A few years earlier, the Caliph of Egypt("the mad caliph") destroyed the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, along with many other Christian churches and sacred sites throughout the Holy Land. Muslims murdered and enslaved Christian pilgrims. Weighing the known historical evidence, Stark concludes, “In any event, mass murders of Christian monks and pilgrim were common … These events challenge the claims about Muslim religious tolerance” (Stark pp. 84–85). The Pope and his preachers alluded to these numerous incidents, exhorting Christian knights to defend their fellow Christians.

Did the Crusaders go east to get rich? Hardly—going on a crusade was an expensive undertaking, requiring an expense of roughly 4-5 years wages for each individual knight. “Nor were the Crusades organized and led by surplus sons,” writes Stark, “but by the heads of great families who were fully aware that the costs of crusading would far exceed the very modest material rewards that could be expected; most went at immense personal cost, some of them knowingly bankrupting themselves to go” (Stark p. 8).

This is a book I most notably recommend for those whose understanding of the Crusades have been poisoned by the current stream of intellectual deception in public institutions of “Higher Learning.”

And for others, it’s just an exciting historical read for those who enjoy history.

*Quotes are taken from Rodney Stark’s God’s Battalions: The Case for the Crusades

**Excerpts taken from a review of God’s Battalions by Lee Duigon at https://chalcedon.edu

Icons and Idols

I've long been intrigued by the tendency we have to elevate those we like to the level of icon or idol.  Our discernment is so often lacking.  We like their music. They score at the right time to save the game for our favorite team. They make a movie, or sing a song we luuuuv!  And before long we've put them on a pedestal so high, their fall is inevitable.

The problem is this: we invest so much of our personal integrity in them, building them up, talking them up, wearing their clothes, their team jersey, listening to their music, that we believe that if they fall, we too will fall, our integrity, our choices might be questioned, and so we continue to support them even when they've done something REALLY stupid.We don't want to realize they aren't so special, they like all of us, fail from time to time.

This morning's news brings Whoopi Goldberg to the forefront.  Irrespective of where we stand on the issue we have someone:

who once stated: "I just know I am Jewish. I practice nothing. I don't go to temple, but I do remember the holidays. Religion is a lot of work, it's exhausting."

now having stated that the Nazi Holacaust wasn't about race but about "man's inhumanity against man." "Whites fighting whites." And then retracting and apologizing.

At the same time, we have Neil Young a well respected musician: 

who at the height of the AIDS scourge announced "You go to a supermarket and you see a f----t behind the f---in’ cash register, you don’t want him to handle your potatoes."

who has now pulled his music from Spotify over someone else's negative comments.

And we have Joni Mitchell supporting fellow music icon Neil Young by pulling her music for the same reason, even though she has her own history of misbehavior and misinformation:

appearing at a 1976 Halloween party in black face as a "pimp-like character" described as a "svelte black man in a zoot suit with matching chapeau, meticulous afro, wide moustache and big, dark shades."

and making statements like "I really feel an affinity because I have experienced being a [B]lack guy on several occasions."

As a culture we've busied ourselves cancelling people based on something they may or may not have said or done, rather than talking to them and coming to some agreement as to how our conflicts can be handled. And alongside this we've lost our ability to laugh at ourselves and at one another.  (Shout out to Ricky Gervais here.) 

What would it have taken for Whoopi to simply get on the air the next day and poke fun at her own ignorance, perhaps even stupidity, saying "I have met the enemy and he is me! I sure blew that one...I was wrong....I was seriously wrong...I offended people by my ignorance and I am ashamed of myself and I will do better."? How hard is that?

How hard would it have been for Neil Young to lay aside his doobie for a minute and call Joe Rogan and try to have a conversation? How difficult would it be for Joni Mitchell to ask Spotify to clarify its position rather than using threats and intimidating tactics?  I personally think too many of us want our positions to be "protected."  We don't want to have to do the hard work of defending them.  We don't want to have to take the time it actually takes to gain an understanding of other people's opinions.  We'd rather just shout them down using the voices of the sheep who follow us to help us.

Pride and arrogance are at the core of being an icon or an idol.  If enough people tell you you are great, you begin to believe it. You think your opinion matters. You become convinced that you are more informed than others. You believe you need to steer people in the right direction without bothering to check whether or not it is the right direction and whether or not it is a kindness to do so.

Whoopi's glaring ignorance on the topic of race shined brightly.  She needs to stop listening to the other ignorant icons, and idols, and to her fan base and take a serious look at the complete lack of scientific support for the biological concept of race, the strong social constructs of race, and the racist nature of the category itself which functions only to inaccurately and unnecessarily divide.

We, the "worshippers" of these icons and idols need to more fully confess our own faults, our own dark backgrounds, our own complicity in developing a false sense of security in them...and we need to stop seeing them as significant.  They are musicians, movie stars, sports personalities, and that is all.  The money we waste that results in the vast overpayment for their skills and the subsequent greed that that develops in these people which continues to feed their arrogance.

Christopher Columbus, George Washington, and others are now castigated for what was largely socially acceptable behavior in their milieu. Someday we will be too. We need to remember that history will judge us accordingly as well, not in terms of what we deem is right, true or appropriate today, but in terms of whatever the social temperament of the day may be.

Might Martin Luther King Jr. finally be dethroned for his reported sexual perversity? Might President Joe Biden be dethroned for a revealed inappropriate touching of younger women? Might you or I be judged when our darkest sins or even simple indiscretions are revealed?  If society becomes radically puritanical what would the judgement be on so many?  Or if it were to go over the the darkest recesses of despotic dictatorial communism how might we be judged?

But take heart, we know how all this ends.  God prevails. His justice will pour down.  He will rightly judge.  I've read the answer book.

And in the meantime, we need to be able to speak honestly and candidly, though lovingly to the matters before us, willingly enduring the scorn and the shame that we might rightly face for the sake of the cross.

Rotarians occasionally recite the four way test:

We might do well to consider these questions in our conversations, as we teach, correct, and admonish one another in a spirit of love and peace.

But it still comes down to that first question: Is it the Truth?  Is it based on scripture, the only authoritative witness to Him who is the Way the Truth and the Life? Because eventually all our actions, all of our thoughts, all of our words, will be judged. Are you ready?

PDA

P.D.A. - Personality Driven Apostasy

It would be tempting to get distracted in this post and carry on about my anxiety with pretend worship in our churches today: “Worship Leaders” and musicians who see themselves as prophets controlling the temperament of the “worshipers” looking for emotional touch points, pontificating choruses that talk about “me” and what “all I need”, and what “I will do,” going on tour, making albums and otherwise selling the gospel for personal fame and fortune, all “in the name of Jesus” of course.

It would be tempting to list those “preachers” who held fast to the idea of a fundamental faith, who preached against this sin or that sin and they who fell prey to that very sin themselves- like Jerry Falwell, Jr, Jim Bakker, Ted Haggard, Jimmy Swaggart, and so many others. 

It would be tempting to list those who have used dishonesty to advance their “platform,” of who used false teaching as a means of making money – like Mike Warnke, Benny Hinn, or Creflo Dollar.

It would be tempting to list those who have brought shame to the church of Jesus Christ by virtue of controversy - like Mark Driscoll, Brian Houston, and others.

It would be tempting to list those who have denied the faith after making such a big deal of the depth of their commitment – like Joshua Harris or Phanatik...

..not to mention the plethora of celebrities who have abandoned their faith in order to advance their station in life, or due to what they perceive is mistreatment by those of the faith - like Katy Perry, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, and Anne Hathaway.

I wonder if it isn't that all these people have one thing in common. They lack a true born-again experience. Might they have never met the Lord, personally. While some may have experienced an emotional fervor, an excitement, had a mountain top experience, or some other emotionally laden encounter which they did not fully understand, it is quite obvious that some have never had that genuine encounter with He who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

I hold this to be readily understood, with simple logic, that if we have met God, we can’t deny Him. We know that He IS God. We know that He is not to be judged in accordance with our own personal standards, whether or not he approves of what tickles our fancy, whether or not he approves of our friends…rather we judge our personal standards acceptable or not based on His revealed will. We judge whether or not our interests, our desires, our inclinations and everything else is appropriate based on His word, because He is God and we are not. He reveals this indisputable fact to us when we meet Him, as He reveal himself to us. We don't doubt Him, we only doubt our ability to comprehend the fullness of His desire, His purposes, His intent. It is ourselves we doubt, never Him. (It is, at its core, the sin of pride that causes us to think that what God has given us is insufficient, the very original sin demonstrated through Eve’s interaction with the Serpent in the Garden of Eden.)

We choose our friends based on whether or not they are conforming their lives to His will. Not that any of us is perfect, but that we press on, NOT to what we think is right, but to what God has revealed is right. And when one has a divine encounter with Him who is the author of life, the Creator of the universe, and the judge of all things, one is unable after that to question anything but our own ability to understand. We are called to obey, to be faithful, to be loving in the way that He defines obedience, faith, and love.

The Christian faith is not a religion. It is not a philosophy. It is not a way of life. It is not even a world view. It is an understanding of the Truth, based on an experience of God’s revealing himself to us. When one has had an encounter with the Divine, there is no turning back.

The structural Church in the West today, is failing because of personality cults which develop so easily. Apparently this is nothing new as Paul writes to the Corinthians:

My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul? (I Cor 1:11-13)

And just two chapters later a far more extensive statement on personality cults and weak leadership:

Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings? What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building. By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames. Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple. Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age, you should become “fools” so that you may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness” and again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.^" So then, no more boasting about human leaders! All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.

When personality, personal interest, personal identity, personal friendship, personal anything takes precedence over God given priorities, we lose. The structural Church of Jesus Christ becomes a cult when it lifts up a particular worship leader, preacher, or other as the means of grace. That spot belongs to Christ alone. We don’t save. We don’t lead. We aren’t somebody. We are nobodies who serve Him who alone is worthy of praise...

 

Winter has arrived...

 

 Winter has arrived here in north central PA.  We've received around 18" in the last day and a half or so.  It was good snow. Soft, light, easily shoveled...

I continue to feel so very blessed to be in this place at this time.  In addition to being closer to family, mortgage free and retired from the rat race of institutionalized ministry, I am able to appreciate the beauty and the splendor of God's creative prowess.I've generally been able to adapt to (or at least learn to tolerate the many varied settings in which we have lived - the wonderfully temperate highlands of Nairobi (in spite of the poverty, noise, and pollution), the heat and humidity of Chiang Mai (along with the haste, overcrowding, and what was terrible and is now the worst air quality in the world),

and the heat and humidity (along with the Harmattan winds, the noise and waste) of Accra Ghana (in what is often considered the hottest and most humid area of the world).

Not that I didn't complain from time to time, but I have long had the sense that complaining about that over which one has no control is a waste of time.  It neither makes good, helpful, or endearing conversation, nor does it change anything.

I've known people who say "I could never live anywhere else" when referring to the place in which they've lived all of their lives.  And I guess I can appreciate that the good Lord does not call all to the lifestyle to which I seem to have been called.  But I do wonder what might happen if each of us, and I include myself in all of this, were to say to God, "Here I am, send me."  Do we have the trust in our Lord to be uprooted from our jobs, our homes, our family, all that is familiar...

Can we say, in spite of what we might want, in spite of what we may think we can and cannot do, in spite of what we like and enjoy, that we are truly WILLING servants.

Carol and I are currently in something of a discernment mode regarding our future work with the Great Guana Cay congregation.  It would put us back into a more active ministry role.  It would move us from our comfortable home here in north central PA, near our family...to the Bahamas.  Some might say, "and you VACILLATE?

Many of us tend to stay put because we fear change or we tend to go because we love adventure.  The human spirit is fickle.  So how do we discern the will of God?  It begins with a willingness to set aside all that we like, all that we love, all that we have established, and say openly and honestly, that we would rather live in destitute poverty in the slums of Kibera witnessing to God's grace, than to live in the lap of luxury and confidence, comfort and convenience, doing little for the Lord.

So as Carol and I look forward to getting a furnace installed in the next couple of weeks, we realize too that this will free us up for more possibilities. We won't be locked in to feeding the wood stove every 3-6 hours.  We wouldn't have to flush the toilets with antifreeze, turn of the water and drain the lines.  We will be more fluid, more free to move about... God just keeps making it easier to do His will (for all of us).

Internet communication makes things possible that have hitherto not been possible.   Information flows freely across the airwaves.  Travel is easier now than it has ever been (in spite of people's anxiety about having to produce a vaccine card and wear a mask, and even quarantine oneself).  

Since Christ suffered so much for us, might we not more easily and willing follow in His footsteps, taking on His yoke? Who are we to whine, complain, make excuses, or otherwise neglect the wonderful possibilities he sets before us.

It's not so much a matter of "I haven't heard God's call."  It's more a matter of not really having been interested in listening for that call nor being willing to obey when we hear it, forsaking all others...Too often we hear God's call once and we stay with that, even past the expiration date of the call, thinking it wouldn't, couldn't, and won't be done with out us, never wondering if maybe it could or should be done without us, or maybe not done anymore at all. God's call is difficult to construe to be sure...but it must be that which we seek with all the intelligence, imagination, and love he makes available to us

The new Heaven and the new Earth which God promises should make one realize just how bland, sick, broken, and ugly this earth is.  Our future resurrection lives will mock today's existence - the Grand Canyon, the Pyramids of Egypt, the small Parisian Cafe, are all but things which moth and rust consume, things which will be made new without decay, without decline, without destruction. 

So what's holding you back?

It's Christmas somewhere...

 

It's Christmas Day.  My wife and I have exchanged gifts.  The fire is burning in the wood stove.  We are snug in our home.  Some of our children will arrive in an hour or so. And I am reflecting, yet again, on why Christmas always seems so empty to me.  

I don't recall ever truly enjoying the gift giving.  I do recall sometimes waking up in the middle of the night and going out and just sitting in the living room.  I recall a very specific time when my dad came out and just sat with me in the silence.  It was snowing.  I had turned the Christmas Tree lights on.  I was sad and my dad comforted me. Even then I recalled thinking that there must be more to Christmas than just singing a bunch of songs at church lighting some candles, exchanging gifts. But I never caught the excitement bug.

Later in life, when we entered our child raising years, we would have the children come in on Christmas morning to wake us with a Christmas Hymn.  It had to be a Christian Hymn, because Christmas, irrespective of the social nonsense, is a Christian Holiday. Period.  That was often the highlight of Christmas, the drowsy, raspy early morning voices trying to stay in tune.  I missed that this morning...

Nevertheless Christmas comes each year and each and every year I get caught up in listening to the ne'er do well pundits trying to explain, "the real meaning of Christmas."

But this year it seems seems to have struck an especially sour note.  I hear it in pulpits. I hear it on the radio. I read it on the internet.  Asininity is everywhere.

And yet that is the reality of Christmas! 

Jerusalem was awash with do-gooders and well-intentioned people who didn't have a clue God was amongst them.  Just like today.  Rulers made baseless claims and were fearful to the point of insanity.  And yet in their midst, without their approval, without their opinion on the matter, the Very Begotten of God dwelt amongst them in Glory; not the kind of glory world defines as glorious but the kind, of Glory that belongs only to the King of Kings, which only the broken, repentant, and humble could give.

Amidst all the idiocy of "christmas," - the blasphemous warm fuzzy family, cozy up to the fire, "you'll shoot your eye out nonsense, Christ still dwells among us.  At least for those with eyes to see...not in the decorations, not in the songs, not in the gift-giving or the "twinkling of an eye," not in the cinammon scented pine cones, the  bittersweet branches, the hand carved trees, or the well-wishes of neighbors.  

He dwells in the hovels, rude and bare, amongst the displaced refugees and those on the run in fear for their lives. He visits the grieving, the embittered and distressed. He is near to the broken-hearted and ignores the comfortable and affluent.  He is apparent to those who seek Him, those who dwell in the shadow of the Most High. But He is NOT under a Christmas Tree or in a gift exchange, or in a merry celebration.  

I think I will always dread the nonsense that seems so attractive to so many at Christmas.  But I will seek Him while he may be found.

Maranatha!