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The Warrior Priest Podcast

The Warrior Priest Podcast

By Warrior Priest

Standing at the intersection of conflict and belief to better understand the human condition.
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017: Midweek Debrief - Choose, Slavery or Love

The Warrior Priest Podcast May 27, 2020

00:00
37:57
0190: Midweek Debrief - Listening Long to The Silence

0190: Midweek Debrief - Listening Long to The Silence

Many and powerful are the agents who would bar the door to the key to the universe, many who would throw a veil over him. Moses, you recall, was hard to see. David, perhaps more so. None of this has been easy. And yet there lies between us and Jesus two-thousand years of war, famine, disease, and death.

Jesus is God. He is the turning point of history, which is why there is no more misinterpreted or maligned or slandered figure. And, most of us have a bone to pick with Jesus too. 

Where can we be with God in this season of death? We pray for help, some daily, and a few, many more times than that. We ask for a heart that is ready to receive God. “Help me, Jesus,” we beg. “Give me some direction.” 

“Or, maybe, you can’t.” The unspoken prayer. 

Mar 21, 202458:20
0189: Midweek Debrief - How Lovely It Was

0189: Midweek Debrief - How Lovely It Was

Those who do not want to live under God’s government will not be forced to. That would erase the principle of love upon which the cosmos is founded — no one will be sent away from the presence of God who wants to stay. So God’s people have prayed for millennia that there will be no such people. But we know it happens, and that there are too many to name. 

Why would anyone want to turn away from God? There are many ways, but rather than try to explain, we pray instead for repentance, and that they, like us, would be transformed. We pray that they may be saved, yes, but even more than that, we pray that they may be changed, to become, in a word, like God. 

Mar 14, 202401:00:34
0188: Midweek Debrief - Keening Their Swords

0188: Midweek Debrief - Keening Their Swords

David was a stone in the path upon which the Paradise King trod. 

This King is the earth shaker. He is the cloud rider. He is the guardian of widows and orphans, and a servant-king who withholds nothing from his people. His face is young, yet old beyond the reckoning of this or any age, for he hails from eternity past. It is a beautiful face, full of humility and adoration and power. And he is crowned with purest golden light. He is the morning star and his eyes burn. They blaze with immortal fires, and there is laughter there, laughter and springtime and joy enough to set the whole cosmos to singing.

Mar 07, 202441:32
0187: Midweek Debrief - The Flames of Time

0187: Midweek Debrief - The Flames of Time

After his death, the people waited for a prophet like Moses to appear because Moses had told them to watch.

“Yahweh your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers.” Moses had said, “To him, you will listen.” 

And so, the invitation is in front of you too, to hear him. “Come,” Jesus says, “and follow me. Come and learn how to live. Come with me, and I will heal your heart. Follow me, and I will make you human again.”

Many before you have accepted the invitation. There is Paul, the persecutor, who saw Jesus on the throne of God and was blinded by the revelation. There is Polycarp, whose blood put out the fire. There is Irenaeus, who stood like a lighthouse on the edge of a stormy sea, and the waves were perversions of the Gospel of Jesus, and yet he did not yield. There is George, the red-crossed knight, who offered up his head to an emperor rather than renounce his faith. There is Ephraim the Syrian, John the Golden Mouth, and the Venerable Bede. They are your ancestors. They are your family. They have passed the Good News of Jesus from door to door, from generation to generation, like small buckets of sacred treasure. Now, at last, it comes to you, and it is time for your hearts to expand with the inexhaustible joy of God’s love; the love of him who leads you through the Sea of Death onto the welcoming shores of Paradise. 

Feb 29, 202445:58
0186: Midweek Debrief - The Gloaming Time

0186: Midweek Debrief - The Gloaming Time

The gods came down. Slinking, slithering, prowling, whispering, they sought out earthly kings. And so, Pharaoh Merneptah heard a voice in the dark and the voice said his name. He woke, and there was Ptah with a plan. The old kings of Uruk also were tutored. Ayala had the fish creature, Adapa, for an advisor. Alaglar had Uanduga from the sea. In his time, Hammurabi met Shammash, and from that god recovered the knowledge the flood had destroyed. The trend never stopped. Descartes saw lights in his tent, and a creature gave him his method. Oppenheimer set off his bomb, and Krishna spoke, “I am become death, the destroyer of worlds.” These had a plan: to rule and remake humanity. The ruling was easily done. The remaking was harder. Harder, but not impossible. 

The enemy has always worked to remake humanity in its image, an image of ancient jealousy and ravenous pride. 

Feb 22, 202435:24
0185: In The Beginning... A Story

0185: In The Beginning... A Story

... we must start in the most difficult place: in the beginning. We have to start where the story is not broken or befouled, when wild waves cooled sun-soaked shores and the choruses of birds carried over ebony cliffs, who knows how far. 

It was a wild world, all welter and waste. Unrestrained rivers carved crooked lines across sprawling green plains. The earth birthed bejeweled fruit, and untended forests clawed in vain at the roots of mountains. And God loved it, because he created it. 

That is just a small part of the story of the Bereshit, the “beginning” as the Hebrews call it. It is an old story, the first story told by God, and God is very old, and he is not always easy to understand. But, old things are often hard to understand. 

For this reason, old stories are abandoned, because they allude us. New stories take their place, stories that are not so wild, or weird, or hard to hear. In general, the more remote a story is, and the more work we must do to understand it, the more likely it is that it will suffer mishandling.

And almost every witch, sorcerer, scientist, and pseudo-philosopher has some interest in mishandling this story. It is not hard to see why. In the beginning, you see the end. If you want to control how the story concludes, you attack it at the very start. - Donavon L Riley. Homily on Creation 

Feb 15, 202433:40
0184: Midweek Debrief - Buffered & Pourous People

0184: Midweek Debrief - Buffered & Pourous People

Feb 08, 202401:25:06
0183: Midweek Debrief - Chesterton on Fairytales

0183: Midweek Debrief - Chesterton on Fairytales

This is the profound morality of fairy-tales; which, so far from being lawless, go to the root of all law. Instead of finding (like common books of ethics) a rationalistic basis for each Commandment, they find the great mystical basis for all Commandments. We are in this fairyland on sufferance; it is not for us to quarrel with the conditions under which we enjoy this wild vision of the world. The vetoes are indeed extraordinary, but then so are the concessions.  - G.K. Chesterton, Fairy Tales 

Feb 01, 202401:04:54
0182: Midweek Debrief - What Is The Goal of An Art?

0182: Midweek Debrief - What Is The Goal of An Art?

The Way of combat strategy can be likened to the craft of carpentry. Comparing samurai with carpenters is related to the subject of “houses.” We speak of noble houses, warrior houses and the “Four Houses.”  We also talk of the collapse or continuation of a house. In the arts we refer to a school or tradition as a house. It is because the label “house” is employed as such that I draw parallels with the carpenter’s Way. The word “carpenter” (dai-ku) is written with the two ideograms meaning “great” and “craft.” The Way of combat strategy is also a “great craft,” which is why I relate it to the carpenter’s endowments. Study the content of these scrolls carefully if you seek to become accomplished in the craft of war. Train assiduously, with the teacher serving as the needle and the student as the thread.

Miyamoto Musashi, Book of Five Rings 

Jan 24, 202401:30:12
0181: Midweek Debrief - Starting Off on The Right Foot with Miyamoto Musashi
Jan 17, 202401:05:37
0180: Midweek Debrief - Lost in the Tall Grass of Gratitude

0180: Midweek Debrief - Lost in the Tall Grass of Gratitude

I got lost in the tall grass of my thoughts after promising at the front end of the podcast that I wasn't going to do it! So, I discuss confidence versus overconfidence, finding your passion, and being a life-long student. 

Dec 27, 202301:00:04
0179: Midweek Debrief - This Week, Let's Be Children Again

0179: Midweek Debrief - This Week, Let's Be Children Again

The Child that was ere worlds begun
(… We need but walk a little way,
We need but see a latch undone …)
The Child that played with moon and sun
Is playing with a little hay. - G.K. Chesterton, Aleteia 

Dec 20, 202333:35
0178: Midweek Debrief - The Void of Addiction
Dec 14, 202301:08:04
0178: Midweek Debrief - Monsters Front & Center

0178: Midweek Debrief - Monsters Front & Center

“the spirit of wickedness in high places is now so powerful and many-headed in its incarnations that there seems nothing more to do than personally refuse to worship any of the hydras' heads.”


― J.R.R. Tolkien, quote from The Monsters and the Critics and Other Essays

Dec 06, 202301:26:38
0177: Midweek Debrief - True Myth Tells The Truth

0177: Midweek Debrief - True Myth Tells The Truth

Nov 29, 202301:03:18
0176: Midweek Debrief - Stories Will Save The World
Nov 22, 202301:22:51
0175: Midweek Debrief - Encouragement in the Midst of Danger
Nov 17, 202301:16:29
0174: Midweek Debrief - Hope Is All We Have
Nov 08, 202356:21
0173: Midweek Debrief - The Politics of Obedience
Oct 24, 202301:06:12
0172: Midweek Debrief - Controlling People Through Fear
Oct 18, 202301:49:20
0171: Midweek Debrief - It's Time to Talk About Spiritual Warfare
Sep 27, 202301:11:08
0170: Midweek Debrief - The Benefits of Failure

0170: Midweek Debrief - The Benefits of Failure

We are raised and educated to believe that failure should be avoided at any cost. The harsh truth is that we cannot be successful in everything we do, but we can strive for excellence as long as we embrace the lessons of failure. Failure is a part of life and can’t be avoided, so how can we learn from failure and use it to succeed?

Sep 20, 202301:14:24
0169: Midweek Debrief - The Virtuous Man & The Devil's Child
Sep 13, 202301:00:02
0168: Midweek Debrief - Brotherhood & Hope
Sep 06, 202301:10:32
0167: Midweek Debrief - Fighting for Freedom
Aug 30, 202301:20:08
0166: Midweek Debrief - Struggle, Self-Sacrifice & Life in Abundance
Aug 18, 202301:20:51
0165: Midweek Debrief - Doing The Next Best Thing
Aug 09, 202301:15:03
0164: Midweek Debrief - Do Not Regret What You Have Done
Jul 26, 202301:05:34
0163: Midweek Debrief - Integrity...
Jul 19, 202301:04:36
0162: Midweek Debrief - Who's The Goat?
Jul 12, 202301:20:27
0161: Midweek Debrief - Put Some Respect on Other People
Jun 28, 202356:39
0160: Midweek Debrief - I Appreciate You

0160: Midweek Debrief - I Appreciate You

First, stop trying to be the person you think other people want you to be. Second, stop listening to people who aren't where you want to be. These are symptoms of the hurt child's mind.

Jun 21, 202301:20:18
0159: Midweek Debrief - Believing You're Not Good Enough...

0159: Midweek Debrief - Believing You're Not Good Enough...

“Every event has two handles - one by which it can be carried, and one by which it can't.” - Epictetus, Enchiridion, 43

Jun 14, 202301:16:48
Sermunition Sunday #83 - The Wild & Untamed Spirit of God

Sermunition Sunday #83 - The Wild & Untamed Spirit of God

The Holy Spirit is no tame pet to be leashed and controlled. Oh no, he is more like a raging wildfire, consuming everything in his path. The Holy Spirit is the sledgehammer that knocks holes in the fortress of our hearts and brings us crashing down to the reality of God's grace. 

Jun 08, 202308:39
0158: Midweek Debrief - Microdosing & Creativity
Jun 07, 202301:23:50
Sermunition Sunday #82 - The Spirit Crashes Into Our Lives

Sermunition Sunday #82 - The Spirit Crashes Into Our Lives

In this topsy-turvy world, where truth is often obscured by a haze of deceit and propaganda, only the Holy Spirit can navigate us through a treacherous landscape of news and social media, separating fact from fiction for us, and exposing the charlatans and demagogues who seek to manipulate our minds.  

And so, holding up the Word of God like a neon sign in the desert of despair, the Holy Spirit illuminates our path and guides us through the darkest of nights. He brings us preachers to remind us that we are not defined by the opinions of others or the whims of popular culture, but by the radical and scandalous love of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Jun 07, 202307:53
0157: Midweek Debrief - All Governments Are Religious Cults

0157: Midweek Debrief - All Governments Are Religious Cults

“The State takes the place of God… the socialist dictatorships are religions and State slavery is a form of worship.” - Carl Jung, The Undiscovered Self

May 31, 202301:14:27
0156: Midweek Debrief - Sir Geraint & Enid
May 24, 202347:20
155: Midweek Debrief - Engaging With Narcissists

155: Midweek Debrief - Engaging With Narcissists

Ask a narcissist if they are dependable and they will say, I'm the most responsible person you know, you can always count on me. And they can be. But when the rubber meets the road (an old saying about being put to the test), narcissists seem to wiggle out of accountability. Why?

Narcissists will gladly be responsible for the things they deem worthy, especially when it provides an opportunity to be the center of attention. However, when others place responsibility on the narcissist, the narcissist sees this as an attempt to control them. This violates one of their personal mantras: no one will have power over them. So they escape from all liability. How?

  1. Intimidate/Blame. The narcissist begins by bullying the person endeavoring to hold them accountable. Frequently they resort to name-calling and belittling to assert dominance over the other person. Once a subordinate position has been established, they blame the person for attempting to make the narcissist look less than superior.
  1. Accuse/Project. To circumvent any accountability, the narcissist preempts the attack by accusing another person. Usually, they pick an overly responsible, co-dependent person who idolizes the narcissist. Then the narcissist projects the things they are answerable for onto the other person. Thus escaping before the attack.
  1. Argue/Exhaust. This is the simplest tactic with great immediate results. When confronted, the narcissist picks one small detail and argues it to the umpteenth degree. If the other person argues back, they pick another tiny point and persistently wear down their opponent. Exhausted, frustrated, and annoyed, the other person gives up holding the narcissist liable.
  1. Deny/Rewrite. One way of avoiding responsibility is for the narcissist to deny they have any. Even if the item is written down, the narcissist will make excuses and rewrite history. Frequently they take the victim role by saying they were forced into being held accountable when in actuality they willingly did so. This tactic often leaves the other person questioning themselves and their memory.
  1. Divert/Attack. This method begins with an outburst over something very insignificant. Then, the narcissist exaggerates the point to incite the other person and draw their attention away from what really is happening. Whenever the narcissist is fueling a small fire, it is to keep the focus off the inferno somewhere else. The diversion is done to drain resources, energy, and time so the narcissist can attack when the other person is vulnerable.
  1. Fear/Avoid. Narcissists have the ability to take a person's small fear and turn it into paranoia. Their charisma is put to destructive use as they weave a believable story with an intense dreadful outcome. Once the other person is frightened, the narcissist uses the other person's terror as justification for avoiding responsibility. They often cite that the other person is reactionary and therefore any requests from the other person should be discounted.
  1. Rescue/Retreat. This tactic is the most manipulative of the bunch. First, the narcissist rescues the other person from a dreadful situation. Having gained the other person's loyalty, the narcissist waits. Eventually, the other person confronts the narcissist about a lack of responsibility, and then the narcissist retreats. The withholding of love/attention/time is so dramatic that the other person becomes horrified and assumes responsibility so that the narcissist will return. Once secured, the narcissist then accuses the other person of not appreciating the rescue. The other person feels bad and succumbs to the wishes of the narcissist even further.

- Author Unknown 

May 17, 202301:34:53
0154: Midweek Debrief - What's So Wrong About Public Education?
May 10, 202301:38:11
0153: Midweek Debrief - Why Do We Desire Power?
May 05, 202301:16:02
0152: Midweek Debrief - The Opposite of Courage

0152: Midweek Debrief - The Opposite of Courage

The opposite to courage is not cowardice: that, rather, is the lack of courage. To say a person is a coward has no more meaning than to say he is lazy: it simply tells us that some vital potentiality is unrealized or blocked. The opposite to courage, as one endeavors to understand the problem in our particular age, is automaton conformity. Rollo May, Man’s Search for Himself

Apr 26, 202309:26
0151: Midweek Debrief - Fighting Through Trauma

0151: Midweek Debrief - Fighting Through Trauma

Trauma can be a difficult obstacle to overcome, but in this episode, we will explore the insights from Theodore Roosevelt's book, The Strenuous Life, published in 1899, that can help us in our trauma...


Apr 20, 202301:09:31
Sermunition Sunday #81 - Touch My Wounds

Sermunition Sunday #81 - Touch My Wounds

In the same way, our own wounds are not a cause for shame, but for God’s glory. They are not a hindrance to God’s mission, but a means of fulfilling it. We are all wounded in some way, whether physically, emotionally, or spiritually. We have all experienced pain, loss, and suffering. We have all been betrayed, abandoned, or rejected. We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

But the good news is that Jesus has taken our wounds upon himself. He has suffered for us, died for us, and risen for us. He has conquered sin, death, and the devil for us. He has reconciled us to God and to one another. He has given us the Holy Spirit, who strengthens us in faith to forgive and to be forgiven, to love and to be loved, to heal and to be healed.

Apr 16, 202309:26
0150: Midweek Debrief - The Psychology of Woke Activism

0150: Midweek Debrief - The Psychology of Woke Activism

Unexpressed emotions will never die. They are buried alive and will come forth later in uglier ways. - Sigmund Freud

Apr 12, 202301:36:46
0149: Midweek Debrief - Finding Meaning in An Ethos

0149: Midweek Debrief - Finding Meaning in An Ethos

Apr 05, 202301:00:32
Sermunition Sunday #80 - The Triumphant Entry We Needed

Sermunition Sunday #80 - The Triumphant Entry We Needed

Similarly, the Nashville School Shooting was a paradoxical moment for the Christian community. Audrey Hale, a self-proclaimed atheist, targeted and murdered six Christians at her former school because, unlike her, they refused to deny their humanity and faith. In the face of such tragedy, it can be difficult to find comfort and hope. But the only hope of Christianity is in the face of death and evil. The martyrs of Nashville remind us that our faith is not a safe thing, but a risky thing. It is a faith that risks everything, even life itself. But it is in this risk that we find true life and true hope.

Apr 03, 202311:15
0148: Midweek Debrief - Avoiding A Wasted Existence
Mar 23, 202301:16:44
0147: Midweek Debrief - Why BJJ Is Life

0147: Midweek Debrief - Why BJJ Is Life

Jiu Jitsu is like a philosophy. It helps me learn how to face life... To understand our society, to relate myself to people, to compete in an actual self-defense tournament, to feel confident to walk on the street and to be able to help people, to be strong enough to forgive - Rickson Gracie 

Mar 15, 202301:04:45
Sermunition Sunday #79 - I Am Baptized, I Belong to Christ

Sermunition Sunday #79 - I Am Baptized, I Belong to Christ

In baptism, we are given a new identity, a new purpose, and a new destiny. We are no longer slaves to sin, death, and the devil, but heirs of God's kingdom, with a mission to proclaim the gospel and to serve our neighbor in love." And when the devil comes with his temptations, interferes in our lives, and accuses us of sin and unbelief, we tell him: 'I am baptized, and in that baptism I have been forgiven, justified, and sanctified. Your accusations have no power over me, because I belong to Christ.’

Mar 12, 202313:02