Birthday Updates with Heroes and Swords

I’m now 26 and it’s a little peculiar,

But as I look at it, life is still pretty familiar,

I’m still that same man, just a bit older,

Hopefully that means I’ll be smarter, wiser, and bolder.

On the other hand, I’ve come a long way,

I’m not the same man I was four years from yesterday.

A lot of the same hopes and dreams remain,

But they go deeper, wider, and are far from the same.

Today I wanted to post something I wrote when I was a freshman,

It’s a little something that shows my love for hero’s and weapons,

But more then that, it was a young man’s desire for manhood,

So I’ll post it for all, then add to it after, now with ideas better understood.

Ernie “To Use a Sword”* 2006

Tonight was pretty rad. Super cruise night with the boys. Anyways, we were talking and the question came up, "What's a movie or movies you can watch over and over again without it getting old?" Instantly movies like Gladiator, Brave Heart, Last Samurai, Cinderella Man came to mind. So I said it. My friends thought those movies are so intense, and wondered how I could watch them over and over again. I thought about it and answered simply "Cause I want to be a hero."

William Wallace, Maximus, James J. Bradock, those men are hero's, those men are legends. I want to be the guy that's in the front of the battle, leading the charge, and fighting for God and His kingdom.

When I watch these movies they give a glimpse of what a man could be if he had purpose. They had something to fight for, something bigger then themselves. By God's grace I have just that. I don’t ever want to give up. I don’t ever want to surrender. Robert the Bruce, in the movie Brave Heart, makes this statement after he betrays William Wallace, "I don’t want to loose heart...I will never be on the wrong side again." That's the story of my heart at the moment. At the end of my days I’d like this said about me, " Ernest Walter Johnston Jr, A man known in heaven and feared in Hell." Kind of dramatic I guess, but these heroes I see in movies had a flare for the dramatic, a flare for the extreme.

Ever since I was a boy, I’ve had almost this obsession with swords, loved them and wished I owned one. But the closest I ever got, was a broomstick, a backyard, and a lot of sore knuckles. However, my whole life I’ve been taught the word of God and hid it in my heart. The Word of God is the Sword of the Spirit. It's awesome to think about how now I’m in college and I’m learning how to use it.

I want to pray for the men who read this far. Here's my prayer over you. "1 Corinthians 16:13,”Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong." Let God lead you through grace by faith. Be on the alert. Stand for what you believe.

Act like a man. Be strong. Don’t give up. Amen.

Ernie- Updated 2010

I still love all those movies because they speak to my soul. They, like myths and legends, give me a hope of what a man could be, should he be willing to sacrifice, persevere, and work for. I guess the right now only other man I’d at to the list is Tyler Durden from Fight Club.

I still want to be a hero, but I see now that these men of history and fantasy I looked up to were more then bad ass everyone was afraid of, but were men of character, who knew who they were, what they believed why they did what they did, and caused people to follow. The Bible describes the greatest man as the servant of all, the man willing to lay down his life for his friends. This man is no coward and oozes strength, offering it to those that need it.

I still love swords, though my obsession with them might have dwindled into the normal realms love. Over the years I’ve begun to understand the power of words and ideas. Words and ideas have shaped the very world we live in, influencing both the masses and the individual.

The Sword of Truth is the Word of God, the Bible. It is the hope that sets us free. It pierces the heart and soul, exposing our thoughts and intentions. This is the sword I carry, the sword that brings hope and arms us with righteousness, courage, and love. This sword has changed the world. Jesus once told Peter, “Those who live by the sword will die by the sword.” The Word of God is the one sword I would be willing to live and die by.

In Revelation, Jesus is described as the returning and conquering King, leading the Heavenly Hosts, mounted a horse, with fires in his eyes, and a sword coming from his mouth. I always read that literally, seeing Jesus as God returned, ready to punish those who defied him, ready ruling by the sword.

But what if this sword we read about is not made of metal or sharpened to slay the infidels, but this sword that comes from Jesus’ mouth is his word, not sharpened to dominate, but delivered to lead. What if this sword is one we already have, the one that sits on the shelf collecting dust, serving and protecting no one.

I’m further down the path I started down four years ago, but still have a long way to go. For those of you who read this far, and to those that have journey with me, much love and thanks for walking with me. Thanks for the birthday wishes.

-Ernie

* I wrote this late one night in 2006. The grammar was astonishingly atrocious. I fixed it a little. I couldn’t help it. Don’t worry, as you saw, it’s still pretty bad. I couldn't leave it up as it was, too embarrassing.