ON THE VANGUARD

ON THE VANGUARD
“From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful may lay hold of it.”
Matthew 11:12

In my junior year of college I served as a student chaplain. The benefits of being a chaplain, outside of being able to serve others, consisted of knowing ahead of time who the guest speaker would be in chapel and having your own room. One of the benefits of having my own room was being able to put my own message on the answering machine as opposed to having to come to an agreement with my roommate, which many times resulted in the sound of a toilet flushing. I remember one such message I recorded when alone, though. With the song, Taking Heaven by Storm by Steve Camp playing in the background, I simply stated, “I’m out drop kicking the devil, leave a message and I’ll return your call.” Sixteen years later from the humble ideas of that song based on Matthew 11:12, I am still drop kicking the devil. It was also that song that birthed in me the beginnings of the phrase, On The Vanguard!
I have had many people over the years ask me what a vanguard is. Vanguard is a military term. According to Webster, the vanguard was the troops moving or fighting at the head of the army. They were the forefront of soldiers. If business needed to be done, they stood in the front and attempted to get the job done. It is not a phased out word, but perhaps one that many are not familiar with unless they have served or know someone who has served in the military.
So then why would I use the term vanguard? I have never served in the military. Or have I? While I can say in truth I have never fought for America, I can say that I have served for years now in a greater army. I want to be on the vanguard. I want to be on the front line of what God is doing and be one of those who God is using. I want to drop kick the devil and send his little demons running. Recently I was talking to a friend and I said the following. “If the devil knows my name I want it to be because he is tired of fighting against me.” I am tired of seeing myself and my fellow warriors getting beat up. I serve in the army of God. I serve to promote God’s truth and bring freedom to those who have been POWs for far too long. I serve in God’s army, forcefully advancing the kingdom of heaven (Mt 11:12). I fight because I am tired of the enemy winning, deeming his rights and stealing from the saints.
My challenge to you is to join the ranks. Where are the men and women of the vanguard? Are we afraid to take a stand; afraid to fight the enemy and take back what he stole from us? Are we willing to stand and fight? No longer can we continue to be passive and expect things to be okay. If nothing else let us follow the example of Christ and say no the devil, shut him up and rebuke him from interfering in our lives. Warriors rise up and join me on the vanguard!

If you would like to hear Taking Heaven by Storm, and maybe get a little motivated, I encourage you to view the following. This specific song starts around the 3:45 minute mark.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJ7uAp5zh3U