Knights Wanted: By Tim Kernan

When the princes in Israel take the lead,
when the people willingly offer themselves -
praise the Lord! Judges 5: 2

In the days of old England the land was ruled in the feudal system. Kings a kingdom that sometimes included Ireland, Scotland, Wales and even France. Their Dukes ruled the provinces, Marquees often handled security and military affairs for the Dukes and finally the Barons (called Earls in England) and Counts ruled the counties and owned much of the land by title. The peasantry rented the land from them and in turn the nobles paid taxes up all the way back to the King. The peasantry not only had to rent the land but they also had to serve as “levies” or conscripts in time of war usually as masses of spear men or masses of archers. However the real heroes of all the old stories were… the knights. The Knights of the Round Table, The Knights Hospitalier, The Knights Templar, The Knights of Malta.

Knights were noblemen, often without land, who were professional fighters, much like professional footballers of today. The Barons and Counts were expected to maintain a group of knights in case the King called for them in war. However they were often costly for an Earl or Count to maintain, with their stables, armourers, blacksmiths, salaries, etc. To the total discouragement of the peasantry a ruthless Baron might opt for a cheaper army made up of levied spear men and archers and count on sheer numbers to win in a battle. Of course this would mean that thousands of peasants would die in battle. It them becomes clear why the peasants are always cheering for the knights in the movies!

However most people in Europe have heard of the Battle of Hastings. In that tragic battle French invaders, never lacking lots of knights, pinned the English peasant archers to a hilltop. Because the Earls and Counts had cut corners and had not trained and equipped the expensive Knights, with their armour, horses, salaries, etc. the English peasants had to stand alone. What the people of England would have paid on that day to see several hundred heavily armed, steel plated knights on lightning fast horses whip out behind the enemy and save the day! However there were no knights, and in this particular battle, despite their incredible valour of the English they lost and the Normans conquered England. A chunky percentage of landowners in England are still of French descent. (And a chunky percentage of Englishmen are still angry with the French!)

There has never been a stronger need for noble men who will stand up and carry the cross of Christ. In fact in the “army” of Christ there are no conscripts at all. Jesus says “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” If ANYONE, meaning that EVERYONE who follows Christ must be a totally committed disciple of Christ. Christ doesn’t send massive droves of terrified peasants to their spiritual deaths. He sends trained spiritual warriors to conquer the world with the truth!

Its a perfect time to kick off our three week series of Sundays entitled “Christianity for Dummies” which will outline some of the basics of what being a Christian is all about! There is no “part time Christian” only full time Christians. Hopefully we will make a lot of squires!

In our church in London today we are producing totally sold out “full time Christians” who will in turn make totally sold out leaders. We have new members who are still training to be effective in their faith and we have some weakers disciples who are receiving help (1 Thes 5:14) to eventually be reliable leaders (2 Tim 2:2). However right now I want to raise up our “Knights of the Round Table”. We have very high expectations for the following disciples to advance fearlessly in the next two months in terms of being an example in evangelism, devotion to God, protection and betterment of the fellowship, and in many other areas of love. I personally cannot wait to see how God is going to bless these men and women in the next two months:

Jacques is my right hand man. He has been a loyal friend and strong partner in the faith who is with me daily, schemeing and planning with me about how to advance the church forcefully in London. He has learned a great deal this year in terms of boldness. He is our new Cyber-Evangelist in training and is advancing the church on the streets with his preaching and on the internet in many ways. I am praying that he will be personally fruitful in the next two months.

Jeanette is Jacques wife and a dear friend to my wife Lianne. As Lianne is there for me Jeanette is there for her. Jeanette is one of the disciples with the best natural instincts for leadership in the church. She knows how to gather her ducklings under her wings and love them. She has learned this year how important it is to advance the ministry in order to train the new disciples. Satan tries to convince us that we are not baptizing but we are “training”. But Jeanette knows you can’t train without baptisms. I know she and her ducklings will be fruitful before the Gathering. I know she is fasting and praying for the same thing.

Ola is our chief of finance and administration. He is also part of Michael Kirshners “Global Administration Team” that will keep us above reproach in the eyes of God and men. It will also keep us unified in a common high standard for legal, finance and administration of the church. Ola is learning to be as good at training men as he is at handling computers and numbers. As such he is taking on the lions share of organizing for the Gathering. He is a respected leader in the church and has been a loyal companion to me in this battle.

Phil is our young and zealous campus minister! He has taken hold of the campus dream that Kip brought us in April and has been having weekly Bible Talks on campus. He is learning to lead himself, his bible talk, his lovely girlfriend Kimmy, to victory. This year he has learned to never give up and to play every card to the very end. I know that soon Phil and his right hand man Ini will go out and find a student who will be their best friend in the Lord.

Niyi is one of the most passionate and visionary disciples in the church. At the same time as he has some of the best instincts and tools for evangelism he is also one of the most sensitive and caring disciples in the church. He is so charismatic that he can lift the church and spark up everyones moral just by being in a good mood! There is no leader who wouldnt value that trait! Niyi is a natural born leader and baptizer who Satan will work hard to destroy. I’m counting on you bro to do what you do best: save souls.

Kimmy is an incredible young sister. She just had her first year anniversary this week and she is already a formidable campus womans leader. She is a “one woman” team in her own right, effective and reliable. At the same time as she does need to set out and be fruitful on her own, pulling in her women behind her, she has also done an amazing job working as a team with Jeanette and Lianne. Kimmy unexpected leadership skills have been one of the big good surprises of the year!

Trista is our little firecracker Canadian sister who handles our book table and shows up to more bible talks every week than anyone in the church! She comes over to my place every sunday for dinner and a movie and I dont know what I would do without her. She is learning to be effective and efficient at sharing her faith, not just being a joy to the church. We were out last week and she found an amazing bible study and was so encouraged! Keep it up daily sister!

Daniel is the newest Knight. He had his first chance to preach this last Sunday and did an amazing job! It encouraged the church massively to see a man who was baptised less than a year ago share so openly and show so much improvement in such a short time. One of the guests was astounded after church to hear that Daniel had been baptised less than a year ago! Daniel is a future preach who Satan will want to take out. However Daniel knows that through loyalty and advancing boldly comes spiritual safety and I cant wait to see what he will do this year!

Those are our little band of 10 Knights, including Lianne and I, that take the field of spiritual battle. I’m very proud of each of them and I know that God is too. I’m very excited to see how God will use each of them in the next little while to advance us as a church. I also know from the bottom of my heart that these nine leaders will make nine more who will make nine more.

A church cannot rise above the standards of its leaders and I know this team will raise the banner high.

Love,

Tim