Our Braveheart

Psalm 101:6 “My eyes shall be on the heroes of the land!”

“Tell my father…I died with my face to the enemy!” –Col. Avery at Gettysburg

Between 1992 & 1994, I actually spent in depth devotional time reading about Christian martyrs. Foxe’s Book, Fair Sunshine, The Search for the Twelve Apostles, They Knew Their God, Martyrs Mirror, The Forbidden Book, The Torch of the Testimony, They Dared to Overcome, many Chinese martyr booklets & The Early Christians were the most memorable.

I believed then & now that history frees us from the cult of the contemporary & testimony invites us into experiences with the One True Living God! The shock & awe of such studies births authentic, New Testament faith, love, humility & perspectives, as the spirit of our age evaporates in the face of the courageous sacrifices of these heroes of faith.

The Bible became a new-open book, conviction & shame filled my heart exposing the desperate need of a sincere & unfeigned faith, religion & worldliness turned repulsive, the Cross shined forth wisdom & power, life became precious, the Kingdom & calling of God was now, prayer & worship became tearful & breathless…

When resurrection is reality, truth is a Spirit & person…Jesus Christ is revealed, experienced & crowned King & Lord!

In these revelation moments, uncontrollable weeping, groaning-travail prayers, raising hands to Heaven, & falling repeatedly on your hands & knees are normal!


Yes, JESUS is alive! He was crucified, dead, buried in a borrowed tomb…and on the third day…arose! This glorious revelation produces a heart revolution resulting in personal, family, community & historic reformation. It is all to be set down as the personal, post-mortem achievement of the Son of the Living God!

JESUS is & ever shall be our “Braveheart!”…& those who follow HIM, the called, chosen & faithful…that great cloud of witnesses should stir our hearts to historic faith & heroic obedience.

My challenge & HIS calling on this Memorial Day was captured by Erwin McManus’ when he invited Christians “to return to the ancient, primal, dangerous faith of Jesus & His early disciples.”

“Jesus is being lost in a religion bearing His name. People are being lost because they cannot reconcile Jesus’ association with Christianity (or the church). Christianity has become docile, domesticated, civilized (paltry, acceptable, palatable, unscriptural, unspiritual, worldly and weak -added for emphasis and clarity). We have forgotten that there is a kingdom of darkness stealing the hopes, dreams & souls of humanity without God. It is time to hear the barbarian call, to form a barbarian tribe, & to unleash a barbarian revolt.”

“(Please understand) the barbarian way is about love, intimacy, passion & sacrifice. Barbarians love to live & live to love. For them God is life, & their mission is to reconnect humanity to HIM. Their passion is that each of us might live in intimate communion with Him who died for us. This way is both spirit & truth, & the soul of the barbarian is made alive in the presence of Jesus... (Remember) the evidence that Jesus is the Christ is that He baptizes us in both Spirit & fire. Barbarians are guided by the wind of God & ignited by the fire of God."

"This way can be found only by listening to the voice of the Spirit…only known by those who have the heart of God. The steps of this way are guided by the footprints of Jesus, followed by those that see the invisible & hear the inaudible because their souls are alive to God…”



“There is within you a raw & untamed faith waiting to be unleashed!...Let go of a sanitized Christianity & get back to the powerful, raw faith that chooses revolution over compromise, peril over safety, & passion over lukewarm, watered-down religion.”
–Erwin McManus, “The Barbarian Way”, a must read by every Christian disciple!

“The Almighty says this must be a fashionable fight. It draws the finest people!”
-Stephen, (One of my heroes, the Irish guy who talks to & hears from God in Braveheart)