Welcome To The Daily Blade

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Welcome to the Daily Blade. The word of God is described as the sword of the spirit, the primary spiritual weapon in the Christians' armor against the forces of evil. Your hosts are Joby Martin and Kyle Thompson, and they stand ready to equip men for the fight. Let's sharpen up.

Crusade Era Series Setup

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Alright, welcome back. This week on The Daily Blade, we are looking at five of Christendom's most important men from the crusade era against Islam. I'm bringing this material to you based on the tremendous writings of one of the most foremost leading scholars on the subject, Raymond Ibrahim. And the material is based off of his book, Defenders of the West. You gotta go read

Who El Cid Was

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it. Yesterday we looked at the story of Duke Godfrey, and today we'll explore the Cid. So the Cid's real name was Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar. He actually got the nickname El Cid from the very Muslim warriors he spent his life fighting against. In Arabic, El Cid means the Lord. I mean, guys, you just gotta be real about this. When your enemies respect you so much that they give you a name like that, you know that you've left just an indelible mark, not just on the battlefield, but on the hearts of your

Spain Under Moorish Rule

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enemies. The Cid was born around the year 1043 in Spain. At that time, most of the peninsula was under Islamic rule. And for more than 300 years, the Moors had held Spain. And during that time, they waged constant jihad, they enslaved and tortured Christians and turned all of the Christian churches into mosques. And the fight of that generation was called the Reconquista, which was the Christian recovery of the country of Spain. And the Cid became the greatest warrior in that conflict. Now, just like with any men from really any era of

Valencia Taken And Held

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history, the Cid didn't have a squeaky clean story. Okay. He was actually exiled twice by his own king. He even fought alongside Muslim rulers when Christian kings decided that playing politics against him would be a good idea. And he was certainly a man indicative of the complicated era during which he lived. But this is why it's really important to read primary sources as Raymond Ibrahim does. There are some things that really stand out about the Cid. When he was fighting against the Al-Moravid force, that's the North African jihadist force that had crossed the sea to finish what the Moors had started to wipe out the last of the Christians in Spain, the Cid stood pretty much in lone opposition to them. In 1094, with his own army, not the king's army, but his own army, the Cid took the city of Valencia back from the Moors. He then held it against repeated Almoravid sieges for the rest of his life. And from that point forward, he never lost another battle, not

The Final Charge After Death

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a single battle. So the historians of his time recorded one of his battle cries as this, and this is a direct quote Do you see my bloodstained sword and my horse dripping sweat? That is how Moors are vanquished in battle. And when the Cid died in the year 1099, the same year that Duke Godfrey took Jerusalem, his wife dressed him in his body armor, propped him up on his horse, and then the Cid led one final charge, even though his soul is led to has left his body at this point. And just the mere presence of this dead man in his armor on his horse on the battlefield was enough to break the enemy lines.

Joshua 1:9 And Real Courage

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So the life of the Cid echoes what we see written in Joshua 1 9. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. And look, the Cid had plenty of opportunities to be frightened and dismayed, right? He was ugly, he was exiled multiple times, he was abandoned by the kings on his own side, he was surrounded by Muslims, he was significantly outnumbered in almost every battle and engagement in which he fought. And yet he stood strong and courageous even in the face of that. He never stopped, he never faltered, he was willing to hold his ground when no one else would. He was willing to stand alone if that's what it took. And his courage and strength didn't come from his circumstances, obviously, because his circumstances were never advantageous, seemingly. It came from something much deeper inside of him. It came from the courage that God put there. God doesn't command us to be brave when things are easy, when we outnumber our enemy and when we have high chances of victory already. God wants us to refuse to be frightened and dismayed, even when the situation looks dire, so that we have all the more reason to rely on him and not ourselves.

Find Your Fight And Hold Ground

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So I want you to think through this today. When have you been exiled? When have you been left standing alone? When have you been abandoned by those that were supposed to fight beside you? Who has counted you out? What fight have you been avoiding because the odds aren't in your favor? For some of you, you have been avoiding the hard conversation with your spouse because you're afraid of what comes next. For some of you, you've been avoiding leaving your current toxic work environment because you're afraid that you won't be able to make ends meet. For others of you, you have been betrayed by someone close to you, and you are avoiding doing what it takes to bring reconciliation and forgiveness. But let's just look at the example of the Cid. He didn't wait for the king's permission or for the crowd's approval. He went to battle with what he had with him and subsequently gave all that he had. He did so in the name of what he believed, and he won consistently. And I can say this with extreme certainty. God has not called you to a comfortable life. He's called you to stand your ground with courage and strength. Find your Valencia and hold it.

Share And Leave A Review

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Thank you for listening to today's episode. Before you go, if you want to help equip other men for the fight, share this podcast around and leave us a five star rating and review. Stay sharp.