The Warrior Priest Podcast

A bonus episode about sobriety, setting a standard and standing fast when others avoid conflict, consequences, and us.

What do athletes and fitness fanatics share in common that can be their greatest asset but also their ultimate downfall? Perfectionism and obsession. When this leads to over-training. You want to be training more than everyone else. Working harder than everyone else. You put in the hours even when your body is crying out for you to stop. It’s a fine and difficult line. So how do you know when you’re overtraining? How do you know when you’re doing more harm than good?

No matter what goal or challenge we take on in life, there tends to be that moment that occurs along the journey where you make a decision because you are forced with a choice of quitting or not quitting. The goals, the timelines, the processes are different for each of us, but we typically have to rely on pure will, guts, determination, and remember “our why” in order to be successful with the personal or team mission you are trying to accomplish. The process that we have to consider is how do we best utilize our past, present, and even the future to help us get through what feels like sticking points in personal, professional, team, or military selection goals. - Stew Smith

This message, this confrontation between God and his people is why the prophets were executed by the people that they were sent to preach to. This message, which was born, lived, and ministered to his people, is why his people executed him on a cross. This message makes fake saints into haters and real sinners into saints. This message isn't safe, but it's good. It’s good because it points you to the God who loves you a d cares for you and not to the culture who could care less whether you live or die. It’s good because it points to the truth that is revealed to you by God’s Word; Savior Jesus. The Lion of Judah. The Protector and defender of your life and life everlasting.

Ethos is a derivative of the same Greek word for ethics, and for the warrior comprises a code of conduct that guides his values and actions. It is often an oral code, passed down from one warrior to the next. Warrior ethos dictates not just how a warrior should behave towards his enemies, but also how he should relate to his people and overcome his own weaknesses. It is a philosophy that must balance the encouragement of active aggression with voluntary self-restraint. This tension lies at the core of warrior ethos. https://www.thecollector.com/warrior-ethos-spartan-samurai-sioux/

God's Word creates life, so we invent abortion, suicide, and euthanasia. God's Word creates man and woman, so we invent over one hundred different genders. God's Word is the big T truth, so we invent our own truths. God’s Word gives us leaders so we invent rebellion, banana republics, and civil war. God’s Word gives us marriage and family, so we invent divorce, domestic violence, and child abuse. God’s Word gives us everything we need to care for our body and life, so we invent pharmaceutical drugs, processed foods, slavery and war. God’s Word gives us good weather and a world teeming with life, so we invent climate change, environmental movements, and doomsday cults. God’s Word sends us his preachers, so we invent other gods and religions, praying to ourselves, preaching to ourselves, worshipping ourselves, inventing our own sacraments, trying to absolve ourselves, trying to save ourselves from God’s Word and his preachers.

“First off, don’t let the force of the impression carry you away. Say to it, ‘hold up a bit and let me see who you are and where you are from — let me put you to the test’ . . .” — EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 2.18.24

Jesus is not, as so many paint him, and even Christians do this now, Jesus is not an impotent, feminine, passive, weak individual. He is the Lion of Judah. He is our shield and fortress; a mighty warrior, as the psalmist writes, who fights for us against sin, death, and all evil.

“There are a few things to keep in mind when faced with a seemingly insurmountable obstacle. We must try: To be objective. To control emotions and keep an even keel. To choose to see the good in a situation. To steady our nerves. To ignore what disturbs or limits others. To place things in perspective. To revert to the present moment. To focus on what can be controlled”. - Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle is The Way

And you need not think that you will have God's word and gifts forever because your ingratitude and contempt will not make them stay. So seize and hold fast, wherever you can, whenever you can, to God's word and gifts because those who don't will soon discover that God has taken away even the little that they have.