Jordan Boyce

HOW TO PROGRESS IN A CORRUPTED CULTURE

Virtue is the Mother of morality, and the virtuous become her children. When you join this family, you choose to begin to conform to its culture of moral excellence. For Virtues are the habits of high moral character. These Virtues have been passed down to us from the great fathers of philosophy and theology through the ages (they are many and complex). Plato, in the Republic, gave us the Four Cardinal Virtues: Prudence, Justice, Temperance, and Fortitude. His student Aristotle, the teacher of Alexander the Great, expands on these Cardinal Virtues with 12 virtues of his own in his Nicomachean Ethics: Courage, Temperance, Liberality, Magnificence, Magnanimity, Patience, Truthfulness, Wittiness, Friendliness, Shame, Justice, Modesty. The Apostle Paul brought the conversation into the Christian tradition by introducing the 3 Theological Virtues: Faith, Hope, and Love- the greatest of these being Love. Later (in 590 AD), the Catholic Church gave us the seven Capital Virtues to combat the Seven Deadly Sins. Which gives us Chastity to deny Lust, Temperance to avoid Gluttony, Charity to prevent Greed, Diligence to avoid Sloth, Kindness to overcome Envy, Patience to slow Wrath, and Humility to withstand Pride.

With all of these moral attributes venerated throughout time, we face the question: Which virtues should matter most to us today? Every generation must face its own crisis of conscience and decide for itself what truth it will cling to and what moral ethic it must strive toward. In the fight for the soul of a nation, it is where the battle is fiercest that it is of most consequence, and where there is a low point in the wall, there must be the greatest defense. The purpose of this post is not to lay out a new ethic for modern man but to rediscover the ancient ones that made man modern. What are the truths that challenge our baser instincts? What is the greater civilizing force that has been forgotten? Where is the current point of attack in culture that proves that area’s strategic importance? We find our society poised on a slippery slope of self-obsession, and it is beginning to rain. How do we find solid ground again, a firm foundation, a truth that we can build our lives and homes upon? I believe that we have to look back to move forward. We must rediscover the ancient boundary stones that our forefathers set up and rebuild those walls. In the day when all that is righteous and good is under attack, Virtue will make you deadly, and the virtuous will be victorious.

“make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue…” 2 Peter 1:5

What Virtue is missing in your life- that you and God to Rebuild?
Faith | Truth | Humility | Prudence | Courage | Sacrifice | Justice

WHO WILL GAIN THE HEIGHTS?

In the early days of the revolutionary war the Continental Army led by Washington was besieging the British Army in the city of Boston. They faced each other on opposite hills- the British at Bunker Hill, a fortification they won only at great cost and the Americans in Cambridge. But there was a third hill of Dorchester that sat open and empty and strategically located. Whoever took this hill would win the Battle of Boston as it strategically overlooked the other positions. The Continental Army could not make a move toward Dorchester because they knew when they did the British Army would engage them and they would be defeated as their numbers were small, they had limited firepower and virtually no powder – so they had to wait month after month as the strategic hill sat empty.

General Howe, on the other hand, had near unlimited firepower and trained troops at his disposal. He knew of the strategic importance of Dorchester, the hill that overlooked all of Boston Bay, and yet he chose to not take the hill. Instead of taking the high ground, he settled for Washington not taking it. What he did not know was that Washington would not join him in his apathy. Under the cover of secrecy Washington dispatched Henry Knox to Fort Ticonderoga 200 miles away to secure the cannons abandoned there by the British. Over mud and mountain, ice and snow Knox and his men dragged these cannons towards Boston. For 3 long months they strained against time and nature to deliver the cannons to Washington and to his high ground.

When Knox arrived the army mobilized to place the cannons and fortify the position in the dead of night. The reverend is quoted as saying “God himself” was for them. In one night they accomplished what one British soldier would say looked like 4 months worth of work- the spirit of the revolutionaries would not be satisfied with stalemate nor did they take their cue from their enemy. Instead, they gained the heights. When the British awoke to find the fortifications lifted and cannon aimed at them from above, they knew the battle was lost before a shot was fired. Within two days General Howe ordered a retreat by sea giving the patriots their first major victory, and evidence that their cause could succeed.

Apathy is anathema to leadership. You must not wait to see where the enemy will attack before you build up your defense. Do not cede by disinterest the strategic areas of your life and mind, to a devil whose desire is to destroy you. Be sober, be vigilant because your enemy stalks like a lion seeking whom he may devour. Above all, do not allow the culture of complacency that surrounds you, seep into you. Instead, gain the heights in your life. Conquer your flesh, discipline your mind, form healthy habits, honor God. Surround yourself with men who do not accept the status quo, but push you towards virtue and victory. Raise the fortifications of your convictions, and sacrifice the things that make you less. Allow God to do the deep work in your life, and take the hills the enemy has his eye on. Deny him the strength by denying yourself, take ground by taking up your cross, and gain the heights by following Christ.

Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God.
Revelation 3:2

A DISCOURSE ON FAITH

“He found nothing but leaves” Mark 11:13

When Jesus examines your life closely, what does He find? Because Faith always produces fruit. The effects of your faith can always be found in the outflow of your life. Religion, on the other hand, produces nothing worthy. It is all for show, a presentation for other people, a mirage in the desert. Religion is nothing but leaves.

Jesus journeyed to and from Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives on the week of his execution. It was early in the morning, on the side of the road, that Jesus saw a fig tree in full bloom. This indication of life and fruit drew Jesus closer with hunger and expectation, only to find the tree fruitless. The leaves of the tree drew in the Savior only for him, upon further examination, to find no life attached to the leaves. He cursed it. Why? You might ask. Did Jesus lose His temper? Was he unjustified in His reaction towards His Creation? This strange story has perplexed people for many generations, causing many to chalk it up to an aberration and move on to more understandable aspects of the Gospels. But what if Jesus’s actions weren’t random, and what if they had massive implications then and now? What if Jesus cursing the tree was a message to us?

The truth is, Jesus is looking for Faith, and He expects there to be fruitfulness. This truth is difficult for a generation that resists expectations as evil. We are sworn only to ourselves and the sway of our emotions. We push against boundaries, despise labels, and claim truth as relative. We say things like “love means never having to say you’re sorry,” or your expectations do not define me. These beliefs are at cross-purposes with a God that expects much of His creation. The Church hasn’t helped much in this area, casting God as one who loves you, and anything you do, with nothing required from you. Whereas the Gospel says that God loves you, died for you, and now demands that you live completely for Him. He closely examines the tree of our lives and desires to see Faith and all its consequences. When God fails to find fruit, it is unacceptable to Him, and if the tree is to bear no fruit for God, may it never bear fruit for anyone else, for “apart from me you can do nothing.”

From these words, the tree begins to whither because that is the consequence of all things absent from God. When your mind, body, and spirit are without the light of Christ, they begin the long process of withering in darkness, falling under the curse of death. Thankfully this curse is reversible as Jesus took it upon Himself by hanging on a tree- He became the first fruits of all creation, offered to the Father in our place. His death stretched back to the Garden of Eden, where Adam and Eve hid their sin from God- and covered themselves in fig leaves. His voice echoed back from the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Now, through the cross, we have a new opportunity to not settle for excuses in the place of righteousness; we no longer have to cover our shame with a presentation of religion, and we no longer have to hide from the voice of God. We are offered Faith, and we must grasp it with all that we have and allow it to work in our lives to “bear fruit in keeping with repentance.”

Jesus is standing in front of your life and examining- will He find Faith?

THE CALL TO CONSECRATION

Elijah stood alone,
On one side Baal, jezebel, Ahab and Israel,
but the one who stood alone stood rightly,
and then came rain.

David stood alone,
On one side stood the Phillistines,
and their champion from Gath,
cursing the God of Israel,
The Lords army frozen by fear,
Saul in his tent scared,
but took his sling and a stone,
then Goliath fell.

Jesus stood alone,
Judged by the Empire,
betrayed by His brother,
condemned by the crowd- crucify him,
his disciples disappeared,
but the Chosen One whispered “forgive them”,
then he rose.

You stand alone,
surrounded by spiritual forces,
a degenerating world,
fallen man,
the flesh against you,
but God for you and Christ in you,
then nothing can stop you.

Welcome to the Holy Rebellion, you don’t stand alone.

“Make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue…” – Simon Peter, Disciple of Christ. 

Virtue. That ancient word and unremembered concept is the buried stone which the whole edifice of civilization rests upon. Virtue has lifted lesser men out of the seat of poverty and set them on the throne of responsibility. It has descended from the heights to deliver the messages of God to man. Virtue has established an eternal house, with great halls that were once filled by men of all stations; it welcomed the rulers and the rejected into its covering where their character mattered more than their lack of privilege or prosperity. Where hearts were weighed on an impartial scale held by the hand of heaven. This great house was once filled with great teachers, preachers, and philosophers who imparted the words of God into the lives of men. They delivered eternal truths to temporary beings so that they could transcend their finite and fallen state. And this grand house stood high above the house of state as the final arbiter of moral truth for the lives of man. In its time, the House of Virtue was honored by all, but in our time it has been forgotten by most. The house has been shuttered, the furniture covered, the drapes drawn, and the great halls abandoned. The echoes of the master’s voice still hang in the air like dust, and the student’s footsteps reverberate in the creaking floorboards long after they have taken their leave. Even the caretakers have left the grounds to rot, moving on with the times to newer institutions with easy benefits and lesser requirements.

But the House of Virtue still stands. If you desire, you can explore this abandoned structure and rediscover its depths. Its pillars are still strong, and its beauty shines through the decay. The nature of man has not yet fully reclaimed the rooms of truth and justice; it hasn’t fully outgrown faith and humility. The theories of the old masters are still written on the chalkboards, and their books lay open in the grand library. If you desire Virtue, it’s still available, but it must be sought after and searched for, and it might become uncomfortable along the way. But it is worth it. The ancient house still holds all its riches and will reveal them to those who ask. For whoever seeks, finds, and to whoever knocks, the door will be open to them. Seek Virtue, discover its depths, direct your life by its principles, and you will become far more than modern man.