To the Legion of Christ: These are unprecedented times. I never thought that I would live to see the day that going to church in the United States of America would be considered dangerous or reckless or somehow immoral. When the State government of Nevada would encourage the casinos and strip clubs to stay open but try to keep the churches closed. When liquor stores and abortion clinics would be propped as essential to the health of the nation but the church would be considered as dangerous to the national health. When National, State and Local leaders are calling for the closure of the churches but are outwardly supporting rioting and acts of violence, it is time for the members of the Church of Jesus Christ to stand in defiance of Caesar. What is even more concerning to me are the Christians, especially those of my generation, who would value perceived safety over their duty to worship Christ and fellowship together. When has the Church ever allowed itself to be intimidated by slander, loss of popularity, or threats of fines or imprisonment? How shall the Church have been created if Christ had refused the Cross? How shall the early Church have been fed if Paul had allowed himself to be silent to avoid imprisonment? Let us not forget the countless saints who were thrown to the lions in the Colosseum, who were burned alive, who were sawn in two, and who were crucified. The American Church has grown so soft from lack of persecution. Don’t misunderstand me, I am glad that we in the American church have had such freedom, unknown to the history of the church, but we have become weak from a lack of persecution. What is worse, too many in the American church desire earthly friendship, peace, and comfort more than they value their fellowship with their fellow soldiers in Christ. Lastly, when did the Church of Jesus Christ become so afraid of death? We are called to be above the fear of death. Whether it be from a virus, cancer, disease, nature, or our fellow man, we are called to embrace death. I chafe under the constant use of phrases, such as “Until it’s safe.” Safety is an illusion! I am sorry to say it but death is an ever-present character in your life. It may strike you at any moment! There is no escape from it and there is no way to truly prevent it or escape from the reaper’s grip. For what reason should the follower of Christ fear death? As the apostle Paul wrote “For to live is Christ and to die is gain”! The more expediently you can embrace this simple fact, the more expediently you will live without fear of death. I therefore issue a call to you, my fellow soldiers, my brothers and sisters, my friends: STAND FIRM AND UPRIGHT IN YOUR DEFIANCE OF TYRANNY! Our Christian duty is to obey government as long as it follows the edicts of God. However, as Paul also wrote, “We ought to obey God rather than men.” We must determine that we will die on this hill my friends. If we allow ourselves to be cowed and persuaded to abandon our duty to God in the interest of perceived safety, we will allow ourselves to be persuaded little by little to not meet at all. I encourage you to have no fear, to look persecution, slander, loss of popularity and social acceptance in the face and laugh. These concepts are so temporary in comparison to the wondrous and eternal acceptance and love we have in the arms of our Savior. We will not be scared of a virus, whose supposed danger has been used as a political tool to divide and weaken our body and our country. We will not allow the media, either or professional or social, to dissuade us from our Holy mission. Let it be recorded in the history books that the Western Church stood in defiant obedience to Christ. No King but King Jesus! Legionnaires, Soldiers, stand firm and keep the Phalanx!
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By E.J. Cox | TRINICY.org | Volume I Issue III
My friends, no doubt you have seen and heard about the trying times in which we live. I do not endeavor to recount all the world events that you know are occurring in our world. That would accomplish nothing but introducing more stress and I will allow the mainstream news media to peddle that product. My intention is to encourage you through our common belief in the Lord Jesus Christ. The first thing we must recognize as the body of Christ on earth is that we were never promised comfort or painless living on this earth. From the Old Testament to the New Testament, we are confronted with the absolute pain, torment and degradation that all the prophets, saints, and believers have had to suffer on this earth. Job suffered terribly with the loss of his wealth, the murders and killing of his children and the loss of his servants and employees. Job even lost his own health and was reduced to scraping the puss out of his open sores with bits of broken pottery (Job chapters 1-2). In the book of Acts, Paul lists the various ways in which the Apostles and disciples of Christ were persecuted, tortured, imprisoned and afflicted.Acts 7:54-60 recounts how the Jews stoned and murdered Stephen the Martyr. The ultimate example of all of these cases, of course, was the scourging and crucifixion of Christ. This month, we have celebrated this event and the resurrection of Christ on Easter Sunday. We know from historical documents left by Roman historians like Tacitus and Josephus that the death Christ suffered was on of the most excruciating deaths imaginable. As a part of His scourging, He would have been beat to the point of near death. His ribs and internal organs would have even been slightly visible through the wounds that would have been inflicted upon Him. He would have lost control of His bowels. By the time He was nailed to the cross (yes, he was nailed and not tied up by rope, as some might say), He would have been an unrecognizable slump of flesh on that cross. In fact, crucifixion was such a horrific form of execution, it was forbidden under Roman law to crucify a Roman citizen. This is the reason Paul was beheaded and not crucified. However, despite all of this, we have a hope that surpasses all hopes, my friends, because three days later He arose from the dead! The prophet Isaiah foretold this hundreds of years beforehand when he wrote some of the most magnificent words found in the scriptures. He wrote, “’He will swallow up death forever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces; The rebuke of His people He will take away forever; for the Lord has spoken’” (Isaiah 25:8). My friends, we have NOTHING to fear! We know that Job was restored, that Stephen sang hymns and prayed as he was stoned to death, and that Christ rose from the grave! For us, death can only be a positive. Death means that we receive the reward Christ died and was resurrected to win for all Believers. Death means we get to see the Lord face to face. Death means no more crying, no more sorrow, no more pain, no more depression, and no more failure.
By E.J. Cox | TRINICY.org | Volume I Issue II
My Brothers and Sisters, the Spirit has put it on my heart to address the first, and perhaps most insidious, of the devil’s weapons that has been used against the church. This is a weapon that many of the church, myself included, have fallen victim to over the years. It is my recommendation that if any reader has young, impressionable children that may read this address, to kindly keep this issue of Onward Christian Soldiers from their eyes until they have reached a proper age to understand the content of this issue. It is my belief that the only way to truly combat any weapon is to be able to talk plainly about said weapon in order to more logically understand and combat its intended devastating effects. While this will not be a vulgar analysis, I will not overly censor the nature of the topic. That weapon which I wish to address is pornography. This weapon is of supreme danger to the life of a Believer. At the present time, estimates suggest that between 60-80% of men in the church, across denominations, are struggling with some form of pornography addiction. Pornography, as defined by dictionary.com, is “sexually explicit videos, photographs, writings, or the like, whose purpose is to elicit sexual arousal.” At one time this material was relatively difficult to find in that it had to be purchased in physical copies from shops that had a social stigma already associated with them. However, the devil has developed this weapon to be much more potent as technology and the internet have made information so quick to procure and so easy to hide. A person can be on a pornographic website within 10 seconds using their smartphone or computer, consume the content, and, when they are done, clear their search history, effectively removing the “evidence” of their activity. It enables a person to live a double life wherein they may live an outwardly positive life, but inside, they are being eaten up with this cancerous spirit. In recent years, pornography has taken a decidedly darker turn. This new access to online pornography fuels a habit that is comparable to illicit drug use. The brain pathways that excessive internet pornography use create are like those found in addicts of such drugs as methamphetamine. These pathways, once formed, dull the mind to explicit images. This makes the porn-addicted mind seek out more violent and hardcore depictions of intercourse. A person who would have previously been greatly disturbed and disgusted by such images then becomes numb to the material. Pornography addiction creates severe and extreme bouts of depression, anxiety, loss of self-worth, and ultimately deep and dark feelings of loneliness. Additionally, this weapon is the greatest consumer of modern-day slavery and sex trafficking, which has resulted in there being more slaves in the U.S. than before the American Civil War. Obviously, to us as Christians, we should be concerned about this weapon. Those of you who are students and teachers in high schools or colleges around the world have seen the effects of this weapon on your classmates and students. The loss of empathy, the illicit sexual relationships as people live out what pornography has programmed into them, in fact the complete inability to have healthy relationships is evidence of this weapon’s power. There is no doubt in my mind that it is one source of the growing LGBT sickness in the West. It is the propaganda arm of the over-sexualization of our cultures. YOU MUST GUARD YOUR HEARTS! GUARD THE HEARTS OF YOUR CHILDREN! The enemy is working as hard as he can to make sure that your children fall into the aim of this weapon. The average age of an American boy’s first exposure to pornography is roughly 6 years old. Once this addiction is started it will take every ounce of strength to throw off its chains. The enemy will attack you with ever increasing bouts of depression, anxiety, and doubt. He will do everything he can to drive you back into the addiction. But the situation is not hopeless my friends! There is good news from the battlefield! Just two months ago, around the world, we came together to celebrate the birth of our Captain! He is the one who has come to set the captives free. He is not only the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, but He is the Commander of Commanders and the General of Generals. He is the most intelligent, most seasoned, most proven Leader in history. And, He is on our side! He has delivered us from the weapons of the enemy. Isaiah wrote these words: “’ No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, And their righteousness is from Me,’ Says the LORD.” My friends, no matter how dark the night, no matter how fearsome the fire of the enemy, we are on the winning side! No matter how loudly the devil yells in your ears, no matter how far down he drags you, you are never outside the reach of God. You only need look up and pray. He will deliver you! Seeking Help*If you or someone you know is suffering from porn addiction, please find a good Christian Counselor or therapist in your area. The Lord has equipped these people with wonderful talents and skills to destroy this addiction and heal your mind. You CANNOT do it alone. I personally recommend Dr. James Dobson’s Counselor database at https://www.focusonthefamily.com/get-help/counseling-services-and-referrals/. This is a very trusted and rock-solid Christian organization who will get you in touch with a good Christian counselor.
By E.J. Cox | TRINICY.org | Volume I Issue I
Attention to Orders! Members of TRINICY, you have been recruited to the Armies of the Living God. You are entering, whether you are aware of it or not, the War of the Ages! The forces of the Devil have been allowed to ravage our educational system for too long. They have infiltrated even the highest levels of Academia. That beautiful palace, once the thinking place of great Christian scholars like Newton, Galileo, and Da Vinci, has been slowly poisoned into an atheistic, pluralistic, and anti-Christian cesspool of deceit. Many of these current scholars have for too long pushed for the destruction of the basic and inherent human rights to free speech, free thought, self-defense, and self-autonomy. We, my friends, have been called to combat this destruction of Christian morals and Christian law. We have been called to use our many great and varied gifts to bring the light hurtling back into Academia. We are that great counter-offensive which will make the Devil and those who follow his deception quiver in their boots. This will not be an easy battle. Many of us will be unfairly mocked, derided, disenfranchised and otherwise cut from society. In fact, some of us may face physical violence in parts of this world. But we must look to our Captain, Jesus, and have faith in the final victory assured to us on the Cross. Have faith and press forward the attack like the knights of old! Our cause is just, and we know that no matter the enemy or his fire, we shall press forward all the harder. “The wicked flee when no man pursues, but the Righteous stand bold as a lion” the Proverbs tell us. No matter your age, race, whether you are male or female, health or wealth, stand your ground! We must embody the spirit of the Greek soldiers who stood at the Battles of Marathon and Thermopylae. They used the phalanx formation, where one man’s shield covered the left side of the man next to him. Those men behind used their shields to help push the front men forward and kept the line from bowing or breaking. The phalanx was almost completely protected from the arrows and the horses of the enemy. The phalanx could only be broken when the Hoplites could no longer stand together and could be picked off individually. We must rely on each other to survive these dark days of intellectual and social combat ahead of us. Therefore, I leave you with these words of encouragement: Keep the Phalanx and On to Victory!
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