I learned something about the Crusades that made me laugh, if it’s permissible to laugh about something involving the Crusades.

Since so many folks currently claim to be experts on the Crusades, and I skeptically figure “claim” is the operative word, I decided to educate myself. I found a short book (135 pages) by a real authority on the Crusades, Jonathan Riley-Smith, “The Crusades, Christianity, and Islam.” There are massive, multi-volume histories of the Crusades, but being a simple person, I wanted something short and sweet.

Sure enough, I’m learning, too many people are full of hooey when talking about the Crusades. It’s all very complicated and nuanced.

But I digress from the aforementioned laughing point. It regards how the Catholic Church recruited people for the various Crusades. This is back in the 1100s and 1200s, but it sounds startlingly akin to 20th century evangelistic revivals and missionary appeals.

Church leaders, accompanied by Crusade vets, would travel from town to town holding inspirational recruiting services. Many of these places had never been visited by Cardinals, Bishops, and war heroes, so they were star-struck.

They would emphasize the penitential aspect of the Crusades–forsaking everything, putting your life on the line to engage in this holy pilgrimage to liberate the Holy Places from the Muslims. Do you want to deny yourself, pick up your cross, and follow Christ? Then join our holy Crusade. Demonstrate your unreserved love for God, and watch God return the favor.

They held services which, intentionally, tugged mightily at heartstrings. They would read a letter from the Pope himself. Crusaders would testify to the holiness of the mission and how it had deepened their devotion for God.

Then they would invite men to come forward to dedicate themselves to the upcoming Crusade. It was like an altar call. Peasants, nobles–anyone yearning for a deeper relationship with God, and wanting to be absolved of their sins and get a fresh start–would come to the front and be embraced by church leaders. Probably a few psychopaths, too. A cloth cross was pinned to their clothing; they were to wear it until they returned home, their vow fulfilled.

It was not unlike a challenge to missionary service, inviting someone to leave everything behind to serve God in a foreign land–and perhaps die there.

Here’s the part that made me chuckle. When the invitation was given, the standard order of service required a hymn being sung underneath, probably by a choir. They found that very effective in pulling on emotions. It was not “Just As I Am” or “I Surrender All,” but probably close. Maybe some combination of “Onward Christian Soldiers” and “I’ll Go Where You Want Me to Go.” In Latin.

Truly, there is nothing new under the sun. Billy Sunday was just ripping off the Crusades.

Earlier this week, a very impressive young couple visited the UB National Office in Huntington, Ind. They are preparing for missionary service in an “undisclosed” (as we say) country on the other side of the world, where they will train church leaders to be more effective in their work. The husband is the son of a former United Brethren pastor. As a staff, we laid hands on them and prayed for them.

As the denominational communications director, I would love to tell our constituency more about this couple–what they will be doing and where. But for security reasons, they don’t want their names or photos appearing anywhere on the internet–websites, Twitter, Facebook, etc.

Such is the case with a growing number of United Brethren missionaries who serve in “restricted access” countries. Some of the most exciting stories I hear come from these missionaries…but frustratingly, I can’t report on them. The most I can do is say, these people are out there, they are dedicated, they serve in potentially hostile situations, and they could use your prayers. God knows who they are.

I get weary with Christian articles crafted from a negative viewpoint: “How to Turn Off People to the Gospel,” or “Five Reasons Why People Leave the Church.” So it was refreshing to see this title: “3 Common Traits of Youth Who Don’t Leave the Church.” That’s an article I wanted to read. Here are the three points:

1. They are Converted. They aren’t just “good kids,” but are truly new creations in Christ. “It is converted students who go on to love Jesus and serve the church.”

2. They have been equipped, not entertained. “After conversion, it is our Christ-given duty to help fan into flame a faith that serves, leads, teaches, and grows. If our students leave high school without Bible-reading habits, Bible-study skills, and strong examples of discipleship and prayer, we have lost them.”

3. Their parents preached the gospel to them. In general, kids from Christian homes stay with the church. Just a fact. Obviously, it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t work with kids from nonChristian homes. But it’s tougher.

I’ve always been intrigued by Stephen Colbert’s knowledge of Christianity. He gives glimpses of this between the punch lines, and he clearly knows how to defend biblical Christianity.

Yesterday the online Christian magazine, Relevant, published a piece called “Six Times Stephen Colbert Got Serious about Faith.” It’s quite revealing.

Rush Limbaugh and Bill O’Reilly have been criticizing CBS’s decision to replace David Letterman with Colbert. “An “ideological fanatic,” says O’Reilly. “CBS has just declared are on the heartland of America,” declared Rush Limbaugh, describing Colbert’s hiring as an open “assault on traditional American values” (Rush and Bill, of course, are both known for their deep commitment to marriage).

Meanwhile, Colbert remains married to one woman, is a devout Catholic, teaches Sunday school, and can clearly defend his faith (as he showed this past week with liberal theologian Bart Ehrman). And have either O’Reilly or Limbaugh been to Iraq or Afghanistan to spend time with the troops? Colbert has.

But just because Colbert (like me) holds some views that fall in the “Democratic” camp–views on justice, the poor, immigrants, etc.–he gets lambasted as somehow morally corrupt by hypocrites like Limbaugh and O’Reilly.

I’m not aware of any other TV personality who can talk about my faith as well as Stephen Colbert can, even when cloaked in satire. So yeah, this guy in the heartland of America will watch him.

Fellow Christ-followers, we have entered that time of year when we ramp up our evangelistic efforts, shining our light for nonChristians to see. Here are some basic evangelistic techniques to apply during the next six weeks.

• Insist that December belongs exclusively to Christianity, and that no other faiths have holidays during December.
• Denounce the use of “Happy holidays” wherever it occurs.
• Even references to “the holidays” should be denounced. There is only one holiday during December (unless you’re a True Patriot who counts Pearl Harbor Day).
• Criticize any pronouncements from business or government entities that do not specifically mention Christmas. We can’t tolerate such anti-Christian behavior.
• Repost lots of Facebook graphics, designed by people you don’t know, which sanctimoniously proclaim your courageous devotion to the term “Christmas.”
• Even though American society has pretty much extended the Christmas season to the beginning of November, insist that there is a societal War on Christmas.

In this way, a watching world will see our zeal and say, “That is so cool! I want to be a Christian too!”