The King, His Knights, and the Ladies Who Serve Them: The Clarion Call to Knighthood

“I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning.
I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one.
I write unto you little children, because ye have known the Father.
I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning.
I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you,
and ye have overcome the wicked one.
Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.
If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life,
is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof:
but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.”

1 John 2:13-17 (KJV)

This post is written in allegorical but biblical terms.

The Knight

There is a plethora of ministry dedicated to women today, but not much have I found solely dedicated to men. This saddens me greatly, and I believe this grieves the heart of God. I believe the men of our generation – the male population – is in dire need of authentic ministry. Men everywhere are desperate. The challenges men face are uniquely their own, and can be very lonely and disparaging. I believe men have been yearning for this, even seeking it avidly, yet have discovered it difficult to find, being many times ineffective, and even inconsistent. I speak as one who sees this dilemma and is sympathetic toward those caught in the quandary. Strong noble men of impeccable character and virtue are hard to find. Men are struggling to be who God created them and designed them to be: men of strength, integrity, power, leadership, and victory. And if the leaders are themselves enslaved, and in desperate need of ministry, then I dare say the blind are leading the blind. I am not saying qualified ministry is non-existent—I am saying it is scarce. The men who have been searching are indeed noble in their pursuit. If you are one of those men, I applaud you.

The Lady

I believe the Christian woman of today has somewhat graduated. Christ Jesus has done a great work in His Body at large to release women into ministry from every conceivable angle upon every platform imaginable. Women in ministry are innumerable, being recognized, validated, and successful. Joyce Meyer, Darlene Zschech, Beth Moore, Christine Caine, Marilyn Hickey, and Kay Arthur are a mere few. The lay Christian woman of today has resources and opportunities never before available, and they abound. God has accomplished a mighty work to bring healing, validation, and liberation to women in His Body just as He did in His own day. That ministry has never stopped and it continues. And because of this, God has been able to accomplish unprecedented feats in His kingdom—precisely because His women have been liberated in Him and taken their place as wives, mothers, sisters, and daughters in ministries of various kinds. Women carry a mantle, a place in Christ’s Body, that is uniquely their own—even as the men do. It is a place reserved for them alone. Now that this part of Christ’s Body is functioning, I believe Christ is calling out to the men, and awakening women to their desperate need, because a healthy godly woman is a man’s greatest strength and fiercest ally.

We as women must recognize our responsibility toward our men: to conduct ourselves in a chaste, holy, and honorable manner that accurately represents Christ’s Bride. We need to be ready to lift their arms, honoring, esteeming, and supporting them – even in their time of need, weakness, distress and apathy. God created us for them, and they need us now more than ever. Our love and support must be unconditional. It has been said that men are only as strong as their women. We are the ones who strengthen our men and assist them in preparing for battle. We are the ones who nurture them for their daily duties. Warfare requires strong men—therefore, it requires strong women.

A healthy godly woman is a man’s greatest strength and fiercest ally.

Joining Forces

Parents, you also have a responsibility. Yours is monumental. I want to urge every one of you to begin to teach your young sons and daughters how to conduct themselves as ladies and gentlemen of Christ Jesus (both independently and inter-dependently) in all manner of speech and behavior. Your responsibility is paramount, and it cannot be ignored, neglected, or belittled. It starts in the home when they are young, as soon as they begin to understand themselves to be female or male. How males and females appropriately relate and interact is fundamental to the health and well-being of society as a whole. It is out of this interaction that relationships are formed, marriages are established, and healthy families are born. In turn, our churches, schools, markets, and workplaces will be transformed because males and females will begin to respect, admire and take care of each other accordingly in a manner that is edifying.

I believe now is time for the men to rise up and be strengthened, validated, liberated and launched into position. Christian women will be an integral and strategic part of this. We as women are longing for strong men of integrity and character. We need you—and desperately. I cannot begin to express the frustration we feel. We ache with you. We suffer with you, because this area of the Body is painfully weak and out of joint. We as women need our men: our brothers, our fathers, our spouses, our leaders, our sons. And I wholeheartedly believe the men are going to experience and receive the cooperative efforts of Christian women everywhere at every turn, finding themselves embraced, esteemed, honored, and supported. We are the ones who cheer you on. We want to see you succeed and overcome.

Now is the time for men to rise up and be strengthened, validated, liberated and launched into position.

Christ’s Body must cooperate if we are going to represent Him accurately and with power as the Day approaches. It’s time men and women end division, enmity and strife. We must join forces. This is absolutely imperative. I humbly remind you that with God there is neither male nor female, slave nor free, Jew nor Gentile. All are one in Christ. He prefers not one above the other—or instead of the other. We are the ones who have done that—not Him. The Lord is no respecter of persons. Therefore, unity is absolutely essential for victory in this last hour. The bickering, back-biting, blaming, bashing, and abusing have to stop. Christ is coming back for a spotless bride (His church), and we as male and female, must recognize each other as the invaluable gifts we are to each other in the Body, and begin functioning cohesively. Together we represent the perfect image of God, who is neither male nor female. We glorify Him only when we function together in unity. We were created to function inter-dependently. We are indispensable to each other—absolutely indispensable. If we are going to be empowered and see the kingdom of God advance, men must rightly recognize and relate to the female; and women the male. Relationship must be restored in this last hour. God is ready to repair the breach and cross the divide, creating and establishing healthy relationships between males and females everywhere. Once we effectively join forces, Christ’s Body is going to be an unstoppable force, and His kingdom will advance like never before. Unity is the key—and it starts where it did ages ago in the garden—with the male and female.

The Battle

It appears to me that the frustrations men face are becoming increasingly oppressive. Temptations that are nearly “impossible” to resist, which they find hard to escape, are seizing them. And many find it hard to continue fighting and resisting, because the enemy’s onslaught is simply relentless. Hence, the temptation to give up and give in is ever-present. The battle is simply overwhelming, and for many of these issues they face, we as women are not helping matters. We are simply adding gasoline to fire. We must recognize the detrimental effects our words, actions and behaviors have upon our men, and repent. But defeat is not an option. Men of God, He sees your hearts. You must repent also. This battle can be won, if men and women will appropriately join forces as Christ intended to defeat the enemy. God’s perfect design has always been our unity: men and women coming together operating in Christ’s anointing and power. And the enemy, since day one, has sought to divide and destroy this magnificent and incredible unity we inherently have. We were created to cooperate; not function independently. Men, you are the very reason we are here! And without us, I’ve got news for you – you cannot exist. God’s wisdom and design is absolutely perfect and flawless. But functioning within it is not easy. It is something we must be willing to appreciate, respect, seek to embrace, and diligently apply ourselves to learn with open, humble and contrite hearts of kinship.

Men are called to be the head. God is a God of order and this is an undeniable fact, not only because the Word of God declares it, but it is clearly evidenced because women everywhere ache desperately for men of integrity in their lives who can love, lead, protect, preserve, and provide for them. We are dog sick and tired of assuming that responsibility for ourselves. I don’t care how liberated or independent a woman is, deep inside she longs for a strong, loving and able man to love, lead, protect and provide. It is astonishing to me how many Christian women are the spiritual leaders in their home—and they are frustrated being in this position. Women all over the world have experienced a breath of God upon their lives that has wooed them into a deep intimacy with Christ. They are falling in love with Jesus and their spiritual lives are exploding. They are, by-in-large, the ones initiating prayer and intercession, integrating worship into their home and workplace, starting bible studies, going to church, praying over their children, teaching Sunday school, home schooling, and attending Christian conferences. The response of many men has been to let them, kicking back into a position of spiritual apathy. Instead of catching wind and fire, recognizing the zeal God has unleashed in their wives, sisters, mothers, and daughters, and joining forces with them, they have allowed themselves to take a back seat, going along for the ride. This apathetic position leads to spiritual laziness which only ends in despair. It is painful for us and it is painful for you. This has to stop. God wants to desperately turn this thing around.

Women are frustrated and tired of assuming roles of spiritual leadership within the home, for which God ordained the man.

The Clarion Call to Knighthood

It has to change. I believe God is giving a clarion call to men everywhere who are willing to hear—and to women as well. God is reinstating His men, and we as women need to be ready, because every knight (Sir) needs his dame (Lady). I believe God is giving a new call to knighthood. This noble position employs a code of chivalry which includes:

• Unwavering devotion to God and His church and the defense of the Gospel at the cost of his life
• Protecting and defending the orphans, children, and widows
• Serving his countrymen and the disadvantaged
• Defending the women and children, even unto death
• Living a life of remarkable chastity and purity achieved through sanctification
• Upholding the standard with strength, honor, vigilance and valor

What man does not aspire to such a noble position as knighthood?

What woman does not dream of her knight in shining armor?

It’s the dream of which fairy-tales are made. But in God’s kingdom—it is a reality. Any man (young or old) who aspires to such a noble position needs to be applauded and supported.

When God initially spoke this to my heart He did so by first revealing the pain and suffering of men everywhere who privately (yes, privately) long for, and are desperate for change in their personal lives. They are hurting for numerous reasons, the one most critical being because they have not properly treated or related to their greatest gift and fiercest ally – the female. This brings isolation and loneliness unlike any other which only perpetuates itself, because a wounded, broken woman cannot strengthen her man. Such a woman has three primary defenses: she shuts down, lashes out, or runs from him. Consequently, men’s spiritual lives are directly affected. God said it is not good that man be alone, and if he is chasing away God’s solution to that problem, he is all the worse for it. A man who understands the gift he has been given in a woman, will want her completely liberated in Christ and will do all he can to love and protect her. A man’s relationship with God is directly affected by how he relates to his women (mother, sisters, wife, daughters). However, we must recognize that men’s issues are diverse, spreading far beyond those regarding the female. Issues do not always revolve around things men are doing or have done, or have not done—but what has been done to them. There are deep wounds that must be healed.

Men are hungering and thirsting for depth, meaning, spiritual sustenance, and ultimate victory. There is a distinct lack of fulfillment. They want to matter but many feel left out. There is an emptiness they can’t seem to escape. They want to go deeper with God. For many their hunger and thirst is genuine and sincere, but they can’t seem to break through. They are hindered and stifled. Others have sought to fill this aching void with the things of this world which are often perverse, robbing them of any fulfillment. Instead a chasm is created that furthers their pain and suffering, perpetuating confusion and bringing defeat. Their battle, once again, is different; being uniquely their own, and many times complex. I believe many men hide behind shame, guilt, and a sense of defeat and failure. The fear they experience in opening up is paralyzing. So their issues continue to circulate and evolve, and they are never properly dealt with—because the male image of God was not designed or created for such weakness and defeat (not to imply that the female is. Quite the contrary). But men respond much differently than women. Women will often reach out for help, where as theirs has an almost crippling effect. Their coping mechanisms are different, because their design is different, their purpose is different in the Body of Christ, and they think differently. For the man to seek help is an admission of weakness which brings a sense of shame, guilt and failure. With this being said, although there are successful men in ministry, there is a lack of effective ministry for men which has been unleashed as God desires.

Successful Ministry

There is much work to do. I humbly suggest that to effectively deal with the issues men face, the paralyzing effects of shame, guilt, defeat and failure must first be healed and removed. Men must again be esteemed, edified and supported by their women, as well as other men—regardless of their struggles. There is perhaps nothing more reaffirming, encouraging and edifying to a man than to receive the avid respect and admiration of a woman who supports him. Women are going to have to change the way they relate to men by repenting, forgiving, and embracing. Although repentance is necessary for our men, we cannot ignore it ourselves. We must embrace a zero tolerance policy toward that which continues to evoke shame, guilt, and failure upon them. That is not God’s redemption at work. God’s loving-kindness and mercy is what draws us to repentance; not His judgment. Mercy triumphs over judgment—every time.

Men, you need to know that we as women long for you to stand up and take you place. We are linking arms, supporting each other, crying out to God for you to stand up. There has been much weeping. There is an aching vacancy because men everywhere have not taken their place. The world desperately needs strong men to lead, and Christ is calling you to rise up and advance His kingdom as mighty men of valor. Man of God, He has created you to be strong—not weak; to lead—not tag along; to preserve and protect—not abuse, misuse, and destroy the greatest gift He ever gave you in wanton selfish pleasure. Christ is giving a solemn charge. God is calling His men into deeper places with Him where perhaps few have ever ventured before. Christ is coming! Time is short; the season is here; and it is requiring greater military strength, preparation, and power. This is not for the feeble and weak of heart. Hearts must be transformed and strengthened, because this is a position of nobility and vulnerability that can rightfully demand your life. The King of kings riding His white horse wielding the sword from His mouth is about to return, and He needs faithful knights enlisted in His army who can rightly represent Him and His kingdom, faithfully fulfill His orders, preserve and protect His citizens, and honor His beautiful Bride. He needs men who are willing to die. I believe we are living in such days. It is indeed an exciting and marvelous time to serve our Lord Jesus Christ.

Men of God, it’s time to rise up and take your place.

Women of God, get ready. This is your finest hour. The Lion of Judah is about to roar, and your men are called to conquer.

Cheers & Shalom,

From The Call to Knighthood by Erin Pavlicek (tentative release date Fall 2018)

“Christ is issuing a clarion call to His Church – both men and women alike. The call to knighthood is one only the King can give, where the accolades of man cease. In this allegorical book, discover the ancient principles of knighthood and how they apply to the Church as end times progress. Men everywhere are facing internal battles they are  of left to wage silently by themselves. They are desperate for genuine ministry: that which can heal and deliver them, and that by which they can heal and deliver the world. It’s time for men everywhere to rise up and take their place within the Kingdom of God. As they do, they will find their fiercest and most noble ally to be their women, whom God has carefully groomed for their finest hour.”

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