THE instant when Marcuz stepped into the living room, and saw his uncle seated, he could tell that Luca had told him everything he’d got with Cannon...
So he just sat there, and followed the talk.
Vincent was about to address Luca’s concerns when the older boy stepped in. So he chose to address the main matter.
He turned to the two kids.
“You see, you are so brilliant, you boys, that I won’t have to explain some things to you.
“Now you know at every point in time, there is always a government, a people, or at times a person, at the helm of affairs of the whole world.”
The kids nodded.
“Then again, I’m sure you’d have read something about the rise and fall of such powerful people. But that’s not where I’m going.
“You see, the ancient Rome was once the ruling power in the world. Their soldiers were skilled in battles, and so they could bring down any army.
“They were a major force to fear.
“The Romans stationed their troops across the nations. They placed their elites as governors over colonies.
“They unified the territories by making them all use one standard measurement. Their own scales of measure.
“So they made the whole world answer to one man—Caesar.
“Now you see how great the Romans were, that this planet became their empire.
“Still when this people came, they didn’t come with soldiers and weapons alone. No, they didn’t earn their first place with just their fierceness and battle tactics.
“But they came with the brains, too. And that’s one rare stuff in the world then.
“It was a bit uncommon then for people to take over the world with brainpower.
“It was a time when greatness was determined by courage and strength. Still, a people came ruling with both strength and the mind.
“So you know that it would be very difficult for this kind of people to be defeated. Let’s just assume they were the Cannon of those times.”
Marcuz and Luca sat upright. They became more interested.
“Now since you both know the end of the Romans, I’m sure you’ll want to ask how they lost their power. But that’s not where we’re going.
“This is it: if that age was a play, then we could simply say Rome was the major character.
“So let’s look at this particular minor character at the time.
“This other character was the Church. It was just beginning and there already was a giant dominating the stage.
“The goal of Rome was to rule over every single head. They wanted all nations and people to bow their heads to them.
“But the Church wanted something else. She wanted all hearts won for Jesus Christ.
“It was a battle for both the heads and the hearts of the same people.”
Vincent paused a second. Then he went on to explain.
“If heads bowed to Rome, it would seem they got the whole person. Again, if hearts opened for Jesus, then the whole existence is won for Christ.
“So it was a fierce battle because the Romans and the Church fought over the same peoples.
“Still unlike Rome who had sword and spears for their weapons, the Church had nothing of that sort.
“The apostles were going to fight a monstrous power as Rome, and they had no sword or shield.
“They were fighting bare hands with fully armed soldiers.”
Vincent sat up and went on in a bit.
“Well, I will skip the story of their fight and go to the ending.
“Everything the Romans did to represent their dominion and hold their colonies together failed.
“The standard scales, the currency, the architecture, and all.
“But they didn’t give up, no. They fought on to dominate.
“So they thought of a solution. And they resorted to establishing the widely spread faith of that time in every conquered territory.
“And that religion was Christianity.
“Rome placed the Cross in every colony. And ensured Christianity became the main faith all over.
“And with that, they marked their dominion.
“Yes, their use of faith did work. As the nations needed more than the physical. So Rome ruled on.
“But then, their politics crumbled as faith rose until the empire was completely transformed to a church.
“The last remnant of Rome today is a church. The only trace of Rome’s domination of Earth today is a church…
“And we even call the church by the name of the nation Rome.
“Now today, we have the gospel spread through the world, producing believers called the Church of God.
“And no world power can stop God’s move on this.
“The question now is, How did it happen? How did Paul and Barnabas, Peter and John—and all those early believers, how did they upturn history?
“How did they go into the giant’s house and rule over his property?”
By now the Lopez boys were quite enthralled. They couldn’t wait for the answers.
They spoke at the same time, like a rehearsed talk. “How did it happen, sir?”
Vincent smiled. “I told you they’d got no sword or shield.”
“Yes, you did.”
“But I didn’t tell you that they used a weapon.”
The boys looked at each other. For they didn’t know.
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