Circle of Swords

INTRODUCTION

This book is for guys. Guys who like action movies over chick-flicks. Guys who would rather read comic books, Field & Stream, Sports Illustrated, or Hot Rod magazines instead of long, boring novels with no pictures. Guys who grill meat, watch sports, ride Harleys, play practical jokes and sit around campfires with their buddies laughing and telling crazy stories. And, it’s for guys who get about as excited over the idea of a Bible Study or Support Group as they do an afternoon shopping at the mall. Here’s the thing: The Bible is an awesome book full of great advice that can help you live a better life and learn how to know God. But lots of men don’t read the Bible, and they don’t know how to relate to God, or to guys who do. 

So, I wrote this book for ‘that guy’. Am I crazy? Yes I am. And I have a lot of crazy guys I call friends. When we get together to hunt, fish or watch a game, we have a great time. We laugh…A LOT. We live for adventure. We try to ‘out-do’ each other. (It’s a guy thing.) But behind all that testosterone-infused chest-thumping, we’re just grown-up boys in men’s bodies. We need what every human being needs: acceptance, friendship, encouragement – and a relationship with God. We just don’t like to talk about those things. And we sure don’t like when the conversation gets all ‘mushy’ (emotional). I get it. I’m a guy.

But I also know that, deep inside, every man wants to make a difference; to live a life of adventure; to be respected and admired; to be someone’s hero. So I’m pumped to introduce you to a group of guys in the Bible you’re going to totally relate to. Chances are, you’ve never even heard of them or won’t believe a group of guys this ‘wild and crazy’ are even mentioned in God’s Book. But they are! Many of them were outlaws when they met; armed and dangerous. They had a secret hideout in a cave! Their leader was a fugitive ‘wanted: dead or alive’. But guess what? God loves fugitives and outlaws! And through the influence of a godly leader, God turned a bunch of criminals into an elite group of commandos willing to lay down their lives for what – and who – they believed in. (continued…)

CHAPTER FIVE

BRAVEHEARTS

These were the men who came to David…while he was banished from the presence of Saul. They were brave warriors, ready for battle…their faces were the faces of lions. –

1 CHRONICLES 12:1&8 NIV

With God on my side I’m fearless, afraid of no one and nothing. David in PSALM 27:1b MESSAGE

I looked for a man among them who would…stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none.” – EZEKIEL 22:30 NIV

BIG IDEA: Deep in the heart of every man is the desire to do something heroic.

WHAT COURAGE LOOKS LIKE

‘Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.’ – John Wayne

I hope heaven has time machines. After studying and writing about David’s Mighty Men, I’d like to see them in action. Not the cleaned-up for heaven version; I want to see them just before a battle. Dirty, sweaty, banging their swords on their shields. Adreneline pumping. Fingers twitching. Muscles flexing. The Bible says, “Their faces were the faces of lions…”  I want to see the fire in their eyes and hear them roar; yelling and getting in each other’s faces like men do. I want to feel their intensity and be intimidated by their courage. 

Before the final battle in the movie King Arthur , the castle gate opens and Arthur, in full battle-armor, rides out through the smoke on a big white horse to meet Cerdic, the Saxon chief. It’s an awesome scene. Both men are intimidating in their own way. Neither shows any fear. Here’s the exchange that takes place between the two:

Cerdic (standing on the ground): ‘You come to beg a truce. You should be on your knees.’

Arthur (on  horseback  pointing his sword at Cerdic): ‘I came to see your face so that I alone may find you on the battlefield. And it will be good of you to mark my face, Saxon. For the next time you see it, it will be the last thing you see on this earth.’

Cerdic (as Arthur rides off and Cerdic turns to walk back towards his troops): ‘Ahhh, finally. A man worth killing.’

The battle that follows is brutal; hand-to-hand combat with swords, spears, and shields. That’s how David and his Mighty Men fought. Man on man. Swords clanging, men yelling and swearing, blood splattering, people dying all around you. I have often watched re-enactments of battles like that and thought to myself, ‘I’m glad I’ve never had to fight in a war.’ And I wonder how I would have performed and the emotions a person feels in those last moments before you put your life on the line in battle.

David and his Mighty Men fought like that again and again. That’s what courage looks like; a soldier laying his life on the line. But that’s not the only ‘face’ of courage. Courage comes in many forms. Courage looks like…

A New York City firefighter running into the World Trade Center on 9/11

A student standing up for another student against the schoolyard bully

A President taking an un-popular stand against slavery (Abraham Lincoln)

A preacher fighting for racial equality (Dr Martin Luther King, Jr)

A fighter who’s been knocked to the canvas getting up for another round

A husband who refuses to give up on his marriage when things get tough

A man who got laid off after 25 years who finds another job (continued…)

…Courage has many faces. What does courage look like to you?