To all who are listening,
Since the beginning of time men have been able to muster armies to fight for their gain or at least the collective gain of their countrymen. You see the great armies of the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Macedonians, Romans, Ummayads, Abbasids, Mongols, the Chinese, the French, the British, Germans and finally American. Throughout time there have been people who give up their lives and limbs for the ideals of another. The vanquished nations their peoples and wealth. In each army the sole purpose was expanding their borders or influence so that its wealth will increase. Tell me if the love of money is not the root of all evil. Why are people so nationalistic?
I have a dream of an army ..Not even an army but at least a division of men of all nations...Disciplined and skilled..to do what? Not to conquer or destroy lives but to improve it. William Gorgas needed 1 000 men to wipe yellow fever out in Panama. Romeo Dallaire needed 5 thousand to stabilize Rwanda. With one division (which is different according to nations but my model is the Wehrmarcht) this can be replicated 3-15 times! No nation fights with just a few hundred men but yet when we try to oppose death, pestilence and humanitarian disasters we use this small number. Why can't we raise a Christian army so that we can concentrate our forces and energy and solve some world issues? The current situation in Darfur is helped by 300 expatriate humanitarian workers and 2 000 local staff. Imagine the lack of manpower. Now imagine 1 000 going in (15 000 will over-load logistics unless we have a modern day von Zizendorff). Sometimes it not just about the man-power there is also the resources. In short we invest so many people into armies to build empires that will crumble and accumulate wealth that will disappear but why not build sanitation, feed the hungry, help those affected by natural disasters. Why isn't there a nation in the world that uses its large standing army to help another nation in need? Maybe that nation may fear this is a ploy to invade it but why be independent if you can't help your own I rather be colonised and be helped than be independent and suffer. But to solve this why can't we have a non-military humanitarian army? Don't depend on the UN they are not out to build God's Kingdom, we are. So what if that nation itself doesn't not use its own armies to help their own. Can we standby and look while others die?
My kind of aristocrats are von Zizendorff and Tolstoy who instead of expanding their wealth gave it all up to finance the causes, ideals and principles they hold on to. Tolstoy gave up his serfs and made them free men. Zizendorff used his wealth to finance the missionary journeys of the Moravian brothers. Yes, there places in the army of God for rich men but how many are like Zizendorff or Tolstoy? Where are our modern-day Christian equilavent? To help people we need not only need man-power but resources. To bring food to the hungry you need planes, pilots, buy that food or medicine, fuel for the plane, airport tax. Why can't nations do that? When they fail this is where Christians can show what the Kingdom of God will be like by rising up and filling in the gap where governments fail. Never mind if the corrupt officials are siphoning disaster relief funds but for the sake of lives being lost God's Kingdom is willing to be taken advantage of. By this I mean we spending the money AND also doing the job ourselves..that is the only way of guaranteeing a job well done. Anyway are not the riches of the earth His? Why not give us all of it you may ask God but if we are so scabby with little we have what makes you think that with more you will give more. I have never heard of a billionaire who donated all his wealth except the widow of the founder of McDonald's who gave 1.5 billion to the Salvation Army when she died. God rest her soul. So eat more McDonald's at least you know it won't be going to the church of Satan.
But every cent of wealth that we do not need to survive on that is not spent on building God's kingdom goes to building Satan's that is my believe anyway. So if you need only need 10 million but kept one billion in the bank guess who gained? But I don't know how I will steward the wealth God give me so I will not preach on it too much..just give examples..but in the end one must lead by example. Who will take up my challenge? To raise an army whose sole purpose is not to fight other men but death, poverty, illiteracy, lack of sanitation and whatever that make people's lives miserable. And to use his wealth in the model of Zizendorff, Tolstoy and Carnegie but at the same time sustainably so that future generations will also benefit. Carnegie( this is Andrew the Scottish industrialist who sold his steel factories and gave it all away except for some to live on. Everytime you see a library with the name Carnegie he provided the money) said he who dies rich dies disgraced.