Faith

Knights of Christ – Godliness

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1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Genesis 1:1 (KJV)

Knights of Christ Book has a Website

Daniel Biddle, the author of Knights of Christ: Living With the Virtues of Ancient Knighthood, has a website. Not only that, Mr. Biddle has essentially placed all of the material inside the book online. If you didn’t want to pay for the book, you could read all the material for free.

Pay for the book.

Virtue 1 Godliness

1 Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;
2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.
Ephesians 5:1-2 (KJV)

Mr. Biddle opens this chapter with, “Being godly means imitating God in your daily life.” What does that mean? He very quickly quotes I Timothy.

11 But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.
1 Timothy 6:11 (KJV)

The questions he asks at the end of the chapter are poignant to building a life that is “godly,” but especially number five.

“What does a godly life look like?”

Well, what does it look like? The point of that question isn’t to go looking for other people who are living a godly life. The point of that question is to look in the mirror and decide if that life looks like a godly life. If it doesn’t, what needs to change to make it look closer to a life that someone else would look at and consider godly?

Someone who ascribes to be elevated to the title “Knight” shouldn’t be trying to figure out how to massage scripture so that what is being done now is “approved.” The lives we modern humans live are many things, but “approved of by God” is not one of them. That is a harsh statement, but it is true.

23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
Romans 3:23-26 (KJV)

“All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” All. Not some, not a few, not most. All. So, what does that mean for someone who wishes to carry the title Knight? It means hard, convicting introspection to identify and scour away those things that keep us “…short of the glory of God.” How do we do that? Study. Relentless, persistent, focused study on the Bible and where we find differences between our lives reflected in the mirror and what is written on the page, effort to change. It won’t be easy. It won’t be quick. It will be worth it.

23 His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
Matthew 25:23 (KJV)

Salvation

Holy Week

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In the Christian world we take for granted the idea that
Holy Week has always been observed since the day of Christ. However, it only
began to be celebrated in the 15th century and originated from the
walking of the Via Dolorosa, the path in Jerusalem traditionally believed to
have been taken by Jesus between His mock trial before Pilate and His crucifixion
on Golgotha. Today this week is the most sacred week of the year because
it brings to our close attention the fulfillment of Christ’s earthly ministry
and His supreme sacrifice for our salvation, culminating in His resurrection. This week brings together the three great virtues of Christianity
as brought out by St. Paul in I Corinthians 13: faith, hope and love.

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Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant

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This old proverb is one that we don’t here very often in our fast-paced 21st century. But it is well worth bringing back into use. Because it is attributed to Robert Louis Stevenson, and seemingly no one else, and because it agrees in principle with other Stevenson sayings, though the actual source is allusive, it is quite likely that it came from him. Also, because he was Scottish, this is listed as a Scottish proverb. It has great depth of meaning, and goes back to the biblical principle, “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” 

As members of this holy order, each day of our lives
should include planting some seeds of faith, hope and love.

Relationships

Mending fences

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This metaphoric expression is used to refer to
rectifying damaged relationships with others. Too often in our hurried lives
feelings are hurt, even though unintentionally. Obviously it derived from repairing literal fences
which have been torn down or damaged by weather or decay. According to a major
online dictionary, the term originated in the United States in the late 19th
century in reference to a member of Congress returning to his home town to stay
in touch with his constituents and look out after their interests. This was
likely a reference to Illinois Senator Stephen Douglas, who felt compelled to
do just that, according to page 2 of Abraham
Lincoln: Personal Reminisces of the Martyr Emancipator as he Appeared in
Memorable Campaign of 1854 and His Subsequent Career by James Minor,
published in 1912, where ‘mend his fences’ is in quotation marks.    

Repairing and maintaining our relationships within
both our natural family and spiritual family is imperative.

Children

I Remember

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Memories of God and Growing Up

The warmest of my early memories and the best of those memories were the coldest of days. Snow piled deep, I remember a time when the electric pole came down blocking the road, we didn’t have electric. Our oil heaters were gravity fed so we had heat. Refrigerated items went out and into the 4 foot of snow with a piece of plywood placed over top to protect it from critters. I remember my mother in her broken English teaching me my bedtime prayers in Italian.

A Spy Turns to Christ

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Is your plan procrastination or are you willing to walk with God now? 12  So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. Psalm 90:12 (KJV)

The following was written by a chaplain of an Ohio regiment
on May 18th, 1863, near Carthage, Tennessee, after he was asked to pray for a condemned
spy:

“I found Mr. Smith exceedingly anxious to converse upon the
subject of his soul’s salvation, about which, until the time of his arrest, he
had felt no interest…He had been a soldier in the rebel army, from whom he
deserted some time before his arrest…Those who had been acquainted with him
represented him to be a very wicked and cruel man…His wife and children seemed
to absorb his whole attention. ‘What will become of my poor wife and children?’
he exclaimed, while at the same time his whole frame shook with agitation…We
knelt together, and his cries for mercy and forgiveness, intermingled with
earnest solicitations for his wife and children, were truly distressing…as he
met me in passing from the jail to the ambulance which conveyed him to the
place of execution [he said] that he was ready to die; ‘the Lord has pardoned
my sins.;

I rode with him, seated upon his coffin, to the scaffold,
led him, assisted by the executioner, to the platform and in the presence of
2,000 (at least) soldiers heard him express the same hope…The white cap was
then placed over the prisoner’s face, and in a few moments his spirit was
launched into eternity…”

How tragic that a person would wait until his hour of death
to repent of his sins and trust Christ. Many who enjoy the pleasures of sin
think they will one day give their lives to Christ.

Blood of the Lamb

Prayer for Chevalier Fideles News Paper

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Father, I enter your gates with thanksgiving and present an
offering of thanks.  I enter into your courts with praise!  I am
thankful and delight in saying so, I bless and affectionately praise your
Name.  For You are good and Your mercy and loving-kindness are
everlasting. Your faithfulness and truth endure to all generations.  It is
a good and delightful thing to give thanks to You Oh Most High. 

Lord, by Your Holy Spirit, perfect the fruit of my
lips.  Help me draw thanksgiving forth from my inner most resources; reach
down into the most secret places of my heart that I might offer a significant
thanksgiving, to you Father.  Father, I come to You in the name of
Jesus.  With the help of the Holy Spirit and by Your grace, I join with
the heavenly hosts making a joyful noise to You and serving You with
gladness.  Lord I know, recognize and understand, that You are God. It is
You who made us and not we ourselves.  For we are Your people and the
sheep of Your pasture. 

I’m grateful for the victories and achievements I have
experienced, in spite of my hurts. You use them for good even though Satan
intended them for my destruction. Thank You for life-life in all its
abundance.  It is You who gave me a desire to pray, and I am grateful for
the prayer closet where we meet, and I thank You for Your Word.  Life is
exciting, and I am grateful that I am alive for such a time as this. 

Thank you for past and present relationships.  I
learned from those who oppose me and those who are for me.

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Your Church Member, Family Member or Friend Joined the OSMTJ Knights Templar of America, What does this mean?

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The Knights Templar of America is a Christian community from all Christian faiths who have joined together to encourage one another in this spiritual battle of life. We are made up of pastors, current and retired U.S. Military personnel, current and retired police officers, first responders and just average people wanting to grow in their walk with Christ. Let’s start by what we are:

• We are non-Masonic, focused on Christ! While there are Masonic groups of the Knights Templar, ours is not. We are about proclaiming Christ and His salvation to all.