#711 The Claymore Battle Plan Explained: The Next “Luke” Is Waiting—Will You Step Forward?

You want a better life, a better marriage, a better country in which to raise your kids?

Here is the truth of things: The world changes when we pass down what is true, good, and beautiful to the next generation.

What does that mean? For one thing It means that you and I must be willing to proclaim the Gospel to them in a way that reaches them where they are hurting. 

https://claymoremiliteschristi.com/

This is not brain surgery. Saint Paul, writing to Timothy, says:

“I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus: preach the word, be urgent in season and out of season” (2 Tim 4:1–2).

Pause for a moment and think about that verse.

Was Timothy Superman?
Did he possess some advanced technology to reach the masses?
Was he physically stronger or intellectually wiser than other men?

No. In fact, he was young and somewhat reserved by nature.

Yet Saint Paul called him to be manly—to be strong in the grace of God—and to step forward and preach the word. And he adds a sense of urgency:

“…be urgent…in season and out of season.”

Claymore Milites Christi exists to answer that call—to preach the word with urgency, in season and out of season, to a generation that is clamoring to hear the Truth, with a capital T.

But someone must be willing to preach the word to them.

Email us: info@jp2renew.org

Transcript

A Better World Through Truth

SPEAKER_00 0:00

The next Luke is waiting. Will you step forward? Welcome to the Claymore Become Who You Are Podcast, the production of the John Paul Two Renewal Center. I'm Jack Riggert, your host. I hear all the time we want a better life, a better marriage, better family, a better country in which to raise our kids, right? Well, here's the truth of things. The world changes when we pass down what's true, good, and beautiful to the next generation. What does that mean? For one thing, it means that you and I must be willing to proclaim the gospel to them in a way that reaches them where they are hurting. And a lot of young people today are hurting. This isn't brain surgery, is it? Saint Paul writing to Timothy says, I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, preach the word, be urgent in season and out of season. That's from 2 Timothy 4. Pause for a moment and think about that verse. Was Timothy Superman? Did he possess some advanced technology to reach the masses? Was he physically stronger or smarter, wiser than other men? No. In fact, he was young and the and scripture tells us somewhat reserved by nature. Yet Saint Paul called him to be what? Manly, to be strong. How? In the grace of God. And then to step forward and preach the word. And he adds a sense of urgency, be urgent in season and out of season. Claymore Militus Christi exists to answer that call. To preach the word with urgency, in season and out of season, to a generation, Generation Z, that's clamoring to hear the truth with a capital T. But someone, ooh, someone must be willing to preach the word to them. And this is where reality strikes the hearts of so many men and women that I meet. Fear and insecurity begin to rise within a man when he realizes that that someone Christ is calling to preach his word is him. Strikes fear, huh? In our hearts. That's Satan's plan, of course. It's precisely here, at this moment, that you must rise up and be not afraid. How do we become not afraid? You have to act. You know, a body and a soul, the default position without grace is sin and death. That's just the reality. We know this ourselves, but look around. But a body and its soul, plus grace gives us the potential for human freedom and human flourishing. Well, how do we actualize or how do we make that effective? Efficacious is the word, is to go out and act. We have to act, we have to do the good. Well, we made this easy. It's it's the the Claymore Militus Christi apostolate that we have, it's there to actually help us do this in a systematic way. How do I do this? What should I say to the young people? Well, we have the handbook out now. The handbook is called the Claymore Battle Plan Handbook, and it's called the Battle Plan Handbook for a reason. Because the first battle every man faces and he fights takes place on the battlefield of his own heart, between love and lust, between fear and action, huh? Becoming a man of virtue and a man of vice. So don't run from this battle. If we don't pick it up, don't look to the next person. It's not going to happen. Time is short. Pick up the Claymore sword that you see behind me, huh? Be not afraid. St. Paul goes on to encourage Timothy, and you and me. You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Jesus Christ, and what you have heard from me before many witnesses, entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. Take your share of suffering as a good soldier for Jesus Christ. Remember, Saint Paul writes these words while he's in chains, while he's sitting in prison. And he continues like this, he says, the saying is sure, if we have died with him, Jesus Christ, we shall also live with him. If we endure, we shall also reign with him. But if we deny him, he will also deny us. If we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself. Jesus himself said that the harvest is great, but the laborers are few. We are called to do this. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has commissioned you and I to preach the word with urgency. Well, what do I do? How do we do it? Get the Claymore Handbook. Go on our website. I'll put those in the show notes. We made this in a way that's systematic, it's so beautiful. Step into the battle then, and God will give you the grace you need. In fact, he chooses men like you and me precisely because we know we're not worthy or capable of this work without him. We're not supposed to be capable without him. But God chose you before you were born, actually, to do this work. Deep down, you know this. Years ago when I co-founded the John Paul II Renewal Center with uh Jeff Gallish and a few others, we went on a mission to go out and preach the gospel to young people using John Paul's theology of the body. And it was then that I learned something very important. It's often at that very moment when we invited others to join us. And when men realize that they are personally being called, they lose courage. See, they're all excited at first. They see the need, they feel the urgency in their own hearts and in their families and the communities and the nation, and they want to be a part of a movement like Claymore. But then it dawns on them. They themselves are being called to share the gospel, and then they lack courage, they get fearful. Satan again, he loves that. Don't let that happen to you. For as St. Paul says, the saying is sure, we have if we have died with him, we shall also rise with him. If we endure, we shall also reign with him. If we deny him, he will also deny us. If we are faithless, he remains faithful. We have no excuses, for he cannot deny himself. The only thing lacking is our action, huh? We have the handbook, we have the Claymore battle plan outline, we have everything there. And I'll put again, I'll put the uh the uh Claymore Militus Christie dot com. I'll put that in the show notes. Christ remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself. He calls you to remain faithful. Our life passes in the blink of an eye. Don't look back someday with regret, knowing that you were handed the opportunity to take up the Claymore sword, become a soldier for Christ, and you denied him. And what happens then? You're gonna look behind you as an old man in a rocking chair, and you're gonna say, you know, I think I'm getting it. And then you're gonna look back, and all the people that are living in dysfunction, uh, that have broken hearts that because we didn't bring the gospel down to him, broken marriages, you know, right? Dysfunctional families, addictions. We have to help. And how do we do this? We just pass down what's true, good, and beautiful to the next generation. We're always supposed to do that, you and I, right? Pass this down to the people that are in our circle. Why do we stop doing that? We see the dysfunction around us. Well, because we didn't know how. It was just so much noise. Well, Claymore removes the guesswork. Between the Claymore Battle Plan Handbook, the Battle Plan Outline, which you could you can get the outline for free on our website, the Battle Plan Handbooks available on Amazon or on our website. We have the podcast, we have the website, we have the Claymore community, you have all the tools necessary to proclaim the gospel. It's easy. I should even say it's fun, you know. When you have the tools and you're speaking the language that young people want to hear, it's it's fun. You know, the Claymore uh handbook is is 52 different acts, very short, because we a lot of young people, this is written uh for spiritual battle for young men, you know, they don't like to read a lot. So we're giving them just article-sized acts. They're very easy to read. And then they have Q ⁇ A at the end, and we just we have a uh just a prayer that they do in the morning. That's it. Those two things. Let me share a story from this past Saturday. Uh David Avignone, our managing director, Steve Thomas, a good friend of ours. And if you go to the the Claymore Militus Christi website, you'll see him as a Claymore leader on there. Uh and I we had a booth at a at a men's conference in Milwaukee this last weekend. Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for those of you who aren't for the Midwest. So these three young men, probably 16 or 17, noticed a large banner of St. Michael holding the flaming Claymore sword behind our booth, and they approached us along with the father of one of the boys. I told them that the Claymore Battle Plan Handbook was written for them. I explained that it could be as simple as reading one act each week, something that takes about five minutes and discussing the questions to follow. I suggested they include the father that was there of one of the boys who was present, and whom another boy called his spiritual father. Then I said, guys, you're in a spiritual battle. The battle plan handbook not only addresses the battle plates taking place in your hearts, it also answers the big questions that are stirring within you. Who am I? What's the truth of things? What's the purpose of my life? Why are we created male and female? What is love? How do I find it? One of the boys stepped closer. He was visibly moved by this. So this is about sex and sexuality too, he asked. Yes, I said. And while you brought it up, I want to leave you with one thought for today. I mean, other people were coming behind, so I knew we didn't have forever. So I said, let me leave you with this, guys. One of the most important things you can learn as a young man, temptation is not a sin. Did you know Jesus himself was tempted? What do you mean? He asked. I looked up at the other guys too. How many of you try to do the right thing? Fight lust, for example, when you see this beautiful girl, but after a while you give in to your passions and desires? They nodded. Isn't this the cycle that you're in in this pornographic culture that we have? You try to be good, then after a couple of days, you cave and then you indulge. Your passions and desires rise up within you. You can feel it in your bones almost, right? And then you cave and indulge and you're in this cycle. What if I told you the problem is not your passions and desires? God gave you those. The problem is your misdirected, twisted, and distorted passions and desires. What if you discovered a third way where those same passions and desires could be redirected toward freedom and fulfillment? You would have thought when I said that, that they had just discovered the holy grail. They were excited. And in that excitement, one of them named Luke said, Tell us more. I replied, who'd be willing to spend 10 minutes a day finding the answers that you're looking for? Without hesitation, they said, 10 minutes a day? Of course. Okay, I said, besides discussing one act from the Claymore handbook each week, there's one more simple step. Before you look at your phone in the morning, practice the Claymore 10-minute morning ritual. I handed them a prayer card with that 10-minute morning ritual on it and explained that they could also find it under formation in the Claymore Battle Plan outline, which they could read or download for free from our website. I told them the second part of the ritual is called praying with temptation. And if you do this knees before the phone, first thing in the morning for 30 days and go through this simple uh 10-minute morning ritual, I guarantee you guys, your heart will begin to change. Read one act then from the handbook and discuss it with one another. That's all that's all. Just get started that way. I also suggest that they jump ahead in the handbook and read Act 11. Act 11, praying with temptation, a journey into the power of prayer. Then they'll have you can actually read that prayer while you're on your knees in the morning, at least for a while. At that moment, Luke, the boy who had stepped closer earlier, said something remarkable. Then maybe I could stop confessing the same sins week after week in the confessional, kind of with a smile, but he was looking at me in the eye. He meant it. I said, Yep, that's the plan. I handed Luke my card and I asked him for a favor. I said, after a couple weeks, a couple weeks of you guys on your knees before your phone in the morning saying that 10-minute Claymore morning ritual and sharing one act, at least one act a week with each other and discussing it, text me and tell me how it's going. Would you do that? He extended his hand and we shook at it. And as the boys were walking away, Luke said this to his friends out loud. I've been praying for this. I have been praying for this. Then he turned back and he looked at me. Our eyes met just for a second, and I said, Luke, the world changes when you seek what is true, good, and beautiful, and pass it on. So all everybody listening now, will you answer the call? Learn more today at Claymore Militist Christie.com. Order a copy of the Claymore Battle Plan Handbook for yourself and one for the Luke that God will place on your path. It's available on Amazon or from our website. Again, I got the link in the show notes. Also join us on Tuesday, uh March 24th on a Zoom call for a 30-minute Zoom call. Very, very quick. It's a Claymore overview. It's 2.30 uh Central Standard Time, Chicago time. If you want to email, if you want to join that, email me at info at jptthenumbertrenew.org. Info at jpthe number two renew.org and request the zoom link. Again, I'll put that uh that email in the show notes. If you feel a stirring your heart to join us at Claymore, Militas Christie, that is not a coincidence. Pick up the Claymore sword. The world changes when we pass down what is true, good, and beautiful to the next generation. Somewhere, right now, the next Luke is praying for someone to show him the way. Let that someone be you. Hey, God bless you. Keep me in in your prayers, I'll keep you in mind. Talk to you again soon, everybody. Bye bye.