SAVE THE DATE!
February 28 – March 2, 2025
Hurricane Milton swept through Florida in mid-October and forced us to have to move our Convent and Investiture to another date. After much deliberation by Temple Church’s Executive Committee, the date of the Spring 2025 C&I has been set and subsequently approved by our Grand leadership. It is now pinned on the GPUSA calendar. It will be held on the weekend of February 28 through March 2. The really great news is that hardly anything has changed! All of the places we had scheduled for the 12 October C&I are the same – Our hotel block, St. Stephen’s Retreat Center in Titusville as well as the formal Banquet at the John F. Kennedy Space Center! In the next week, we will release all the details, including links to register.
SPECIAL NOTE: If you have paid for the October event, those costs you have already paid minus processing charges such as credit card fees, will be applied!
_______________________________
My Templar sword, the one I was dubbed with at my own accolade as I became a Templar Knight, has a name. I named it Elijah, and had it engraved near its stock. And on the other side, I had the scripture address engraved as well: 1 Kings 18
Concerning the fate of the 450 Prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Ashera who eat at Queen Jezebel’s table – Elijah ended their careers personally with his sword:
“And Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal! Do not let one of them escape!” So they seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the Brook Kishon and executed them there.” (vs 40)
Elijah did not play around with evil or the enemies of God. He let his sword take care of these 850 prophets of evil and the Word Says of his actions that not even one of them escaped God’s hand of justice through His faithful prophet.
The two idols of the Canaanites – Baal and Ashera the tree goddess – were married in this idolatrous story in one telling. Yet, in another version, Ashera was the mother of Baal. Prophet Hosea even states that the Israelite Baal worshipers even claimed that Baal was Jevohah! (Hosea 2:16) As a part of this evil practice, Israeli children were sacrificed by being burned alive. It was so pervasive that King Manasseh even placed an Ashera pole inside Solomon’s temple! (2 Kings 21:7) And, in case you may wonder what the allure and power of these idols were – it was nearly exclusively erotic. All of them had sexual rituals and immoral activities connected to their worship activities.
Of course, in post-Calvary Christendom, we no longer use swords to destroy the enemies of God. Jesus has commanded us to “…love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you…”. (Matthew 5:44)
Since that is the case, then why do I proudly own Elijah the 21st Century Templar sword?
Elijah the prophet and the Templar sword reminds me that in the divine sanctuary in which the Holy Spirit of the Living God dwells, which is my body, of course, there is no room for anyone or anything else but Him. In my life, there is no other idol or object of worship permitted. And when one or another idol creeps in, as they occasionally do, there is no room for mercy. I get my spiritual sword out and mercilessly slay whatever “it” or “all of them” may be! God clearly commands me though His Word. And not even one of them shall escape the final judgement of the sword in my life.
Our Templar heritage is modeled exactly like that – by the very image that exemplifies exclusivity of worship. In fact, our forefathers were cloistered, set apart, set aside Cistercian Monks. Their practices were established to do everything possible so that no idolatry or worship of anything but God was ever considered, as far as humans could possibly insulate themselves. They were set apart and recognized for their battlefield prowess, but just like our own battlefield, their field of conflict was primarily inside their hearts, which they set aside exclusively for the Holy Spirit and Him alone and in as far as they possibly could, they guaranteed it by their strict, no compromise rules. Nothing, absolutely nothing was allowed to cross that threshold except the Spirit of the Living God.
Said Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, “Thus in a wonderous and unique manner Templars appear gentler than lambs, yet fiercer than lions. I do not know if it would be more appropriate to refer to them as monks or as soldiers, unless perhaps it would be better to recognize them as being both. Indeed, they lack neither monastic meekness nor military might. What can we say of this, except that this has been done by the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes.”
And finally, our real spiritual struggle and our authentic sword of battle are defined clearly by the Postle Paul, “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.” Ephesians 6:10-18