Christian leaders can learn much from one of the most amazing and lop-sided military victories of all time—the Battle of Agincourt. Though fought 585 years ago (October 25, 1415), the clash reverberates in Shakespeare's famous Henry V (1599), in Laurence Olivier's Academy-Award winner (1944), and in the brilliant film by Kenneth Branagh (1989).

England's King Henry brought to the field only 5,000 or 6,000 men, while the French force numbered 20,000-30,000. As Shakespeare's soldier Exeter exclaimed in anguish, "There's five to one; besides, they all are fresh."

The odds become more stunning when you realize the French knights were better rested, better fed, better equipped, and healthier. Plus, they were fighting on their own territory.

The night before the battle, the English camp lay stone quiet, fearful, with men kneeling and making their final confessions to the priests before they died. The French camp sounded like Mardi Gras as knights threw dice to see who would get which prisoners. ...