Onward Christian soldiers, marching as to war,
     With the cross of Jesus going on before!
     Christ, the royal Master leads against the foe;
     Forward into battle, see His banner go!

Several years ago there was a movement to remove from the hymnal all militant hymns. Hymns like the one you just read the lyrics to and probably heard the melody in your mind. Hymns like this one:

     Stand up, stand up for Jesus, Ye soldiers of the cross;
     Lift high his royal banner, it must not suffer loss:
     From vict’ry unto vict’ry, His army shall He lead,
     Till ev’ry foe is vanquished and Christ is Lord indeed.

Their reason? They said militant hymns were inappropriate in a Christian hymnal because they were an endorsement of war. This is probably true, but also as church’s we have lost our militant spirit.

The church today needs not only to keep its militant hymns, it needs also to recover a militant spirit. She needs to see herself as the Bride of Christ—loving Christ; As a body—serving Christ; As a family—nurturing in Christ; and as an army—marching, advancing, and conquering for Christ.

As we approach July 4, 2008, and recall our independence as a nation, let us also consider our orders for the day in the Church. We are the army of the living Lord. We are adorned with Spiritual armour, and we are covered with the blood of the Lamb. We are called to be unified as we assemble and fight against our foe; the devil.

Let us once again to be determined to become militant and sing and march and declare: Onward Christian Soldiers!
 

Because of Jesus,


Bro. Blake