HOW TO LOSE A BATTLE Part 1 The Beginning

I did not expect this series to have posts that were going to be in parts – but hey! I’M not in charge of this blog! I follow the orders,precepts and directions of my Commander in Chief. Almighty God knows us best and can direct our lives the best! Keep that phrase in mind! Let me capitalize it: ALMIGHTY GOD KNOWS US BEST AND CAN DIRECT OUR LIVES THE BEST! Before I can even do justice to the title of this series, I have to take us back – back to the time when the last Judge of Israel was active. His name was Samuel. Please read the passage below from the book of 1 Samuel 8…

8 When Samuel was old, he made his sons judges for Israel. ² His first son was named Joel, and his second son was named Abijah. Joel and Abijah were judges in Beersheba. ³ But Samuel’s sons did not live as he did. They tried to get money dishonestly, and they accepted money secretly to make wrong judgments.

⁴ So all the elders came together and met Samuel at Ramah. ⁵ They said to him, “You’re old, and your sons don’t live as you do. Give us a king to rule over us like all the other nations.”

⁶ When the elders said that, Samuel was not pleased. He prayed to the Lord,⁷ and the Lord told Samuel, “Listen to whatever the people say to you. They have not rejected you. They have rejected me from being their king. ⁸ They are doing as they have always done. When I took them out of Egypt, they left me and served other gods. They are doing the same to you. ⁹ Now listen to the people, but warn them what the king who rules over them will do.”

¹⁰ So Samuel told those who had asked him for a king what the Lord had said.¹¹ Samuel said, “If you have a king ruling over you, this is what he will do: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and his horses, and they will run in front of the king’s chariot. ¹² The king will make some of your sons commanders over thousands or over fifties. He will make some of your other sons plow his ground and reap his harvest. He will take others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. ¹³ He will take your daughters to make perfume and cook and bake for him. ¹⁴ He will take your best fields, vineyards, and olive groves and give them to his servants. ¹⁵ He will take one-tenth of your grain and grapes and give it to his officers and servants. ¹⁶ He will take your male and female servants, your best cattle, and your donkeys and use them all for his own work. ¹⁷ He will take one-tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. ¹⁸ When that time comes, you will cry out because of the king you chose. But the Lord will not answer you then.”

¹⁹ But the people would not listen to Samuel. They said, “No! We want a king to rule over us. ²⁰ Then we will be the same as all the other nations. Our king will judge for us and go with us and fight our battles.”

As I was reading up for this post, a truly “aha!!!” moment jumped out at me. I served in the military for 26 years….BECAUSE of history! The tradition was laid down. IF we as His creation would have stayed with HIM as our Commander, I never would have had to be a soldier. You see, if you can recall anything of the early books of the Bible, GOD,,,Yahweh to the Israelites, was their judge, their king, their military leader and their redeemer. Look back at verses 7 and 8 above: The people, God says, have not rejected Samuel, they rejected God ONCE again. You know, we are no better! Look at modern history WITHOUT God. Wars, famine, disease and death..all because right from the Garden when Adam and Eve sinned. WE inherit the sin nature. The Bible says that anything that we think is good or righteous about ourselves is what?. Remember the verse in Romans 3:10? “Not one of us always does what is right, not one” (NCV). Compared to the holiness of God, our goodness is like filthy rags.  We are in the state we are right now in the world because of sin – not terrorists, not global elite, not corrupt governments and certainly not global warming/climate change!!! We have created this mess because humankind has rejected God as their King. What did the Israelites use as their reason? We want to be like the other nations. How were the other nations? They worshipped many gods and some worshipped none. 

So, to summarize, LONG before we learn how to lose a battle, we need to remember this lesson: The downfall of a nation or an individual begins and ends the same. When we or a nation, think we can do it better than God; or we delude ourselves into thinking there is NO God; then we fall. People, it happened to the very ones that God chose as His people. He WAS their Sovereign. He WAS their light of truth and guidance. He WAS their provider. That wasn’t good enough. Oh sure! they had moments of repentance and change. They didn’t last.  Today, we have the same sin that infests and destroys.  WE choose to not have Him as our Commander in our nations. We want leaders and Presidents and Kings and Queens. So, God, says to us, just like He did to Israel..I will give you what you want!  Is it any wonder that we have the evil that we do? Oh soldiers of the cross! Come back to the King of Kings. Embrace again your true love. He came once as a baby. SOON AND VERY SOON He is coming as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords! EVERY knee shall bow and EVERY tongue confess that this “little child” is Jesus! The song that I end this with is a powerful truth about the King of Kings. Remember, there is a lyric in here that says that every nation that has fallen, has fallen from within. Within each of us lies the seed of sinful rebellion. Turn today to the King of Kings and kneel once again before Him and declare Him our Redeemer and Lord!

I’M AN EXPERT -I’VE USED MY WEAPON 3 TIMES!!

 

Say what?!!!! I don’t know about you, but if I ever heard a soldier say that, I would run for the nearest cover! I spent years and years with weapons training. While in Basic Training, your “weapon” is an old banged up NON firing weapon for a time. You learn how to take it apart, to clean it and to see how it works. You spend countless hours with that personal weapon. When you go out for field exercises, you are issued a weapon that has a bright orange painted front brake (at the tip of the muzzle) and it fires BLANKS….lots of noise but no bullet. You are TRAINED on the range. Can you hit exactly THAT target at 50 yards; then 100 yards and so on. Showing proficiency at those distances, some of us were moved over to work on longer distances -300 yards, 600 yards and up. Hours and hours and months later, I was approved. When Paul was writing to Timothy about studying the Word to be “approved”, the Greek word “dokimos” means TESTED. It doesn’t mean trained, it doesn’t mean you passed the course; it means you have been put through it time and time again until you are stamped as worthy of passing inspection.  Okay, let’s look at the Ephesians 6 passage about the armor of God – specifically, the sword.

Before we go further, let me say this; I am loving this chance to see my frontline service for Him in a way that relates back to my time as a soldier.
In Ephesians,  Paul shares about that armor of God. He only knew the Roman form of armor as an analogy. The Roman soldier had 2 and sometimes 3 blades. His main sword – the gladius (where we get gladiator),ranged in size from 2 feet to almost 3 feet in length. This variation was determined by rank. He carried a second shorter blade…sort of a dagger…the pugio….where we get pugilist or fist fighter from. Many soldiers chose to carry a third short dagger in a sheath at the small of their back.

Okay…on to modern times. I had a primary weapon that depended on the mission. Many times it was the Parker-Hale…then later the AI L115A3. If I was part of a small squad incursion, I carried the C7 ( Canadian version of the M4). I also had other close in weapons.
Why go into this detail? Well, stay with me. Paul goes on in Ephesians to explain that our sword of the Spirit…is just that! The Holy Spirit helps us wield or swing!…Swing what? We are to wield (with both authority and skill) the Word of God..also known as the Bible! If you are in battle against one of satan’s minions that is well educated, you will wield the sword differently than say when you are witnessing to teenagers or a dock worker. I am NOT saying either of the latter are not smart; they just think differently. It remains the same Word of truth. It remains the bread of life! The Holy Spirit will not only train us in how to use the wonderful truths of the Bible, He will also direct us in how to use what with whom!
We serve a very creative Creator! Jesus showed us how in all the parables. Use what is applicable for the person, age, time and circumstances. I would never have used my commando style knife for a target 1300 yards away! That would be useless. The same can also be said for any “weapon” What makes a TRAINED warrior? Just that – training! 3 days into Basic Training, the Master Corporal didn’t say “Okay, ya bums, get over to Supply and pick up your entire arsenal of weapons and go to it”! Could you imagine a fully automatic weapon with a full 30 round clip in the hands of  a raw recruit? The same goes for us if we are authentic followers of Christ. We need to be trained in handling the Sword – The authoritative Word of God. Sadly, some, although meaning well go about wielding their sword and start bashing people over the head with it! THAT is not what we are called to do.

So, where does that leave us? I don’t think for a minute that Paul used the Word as the last and final piece of our armor. All of our armor works together under the direction of our Commander in Chief – the Lord God of heaven and earth! The whole army works together as well. Whenever we would go out in the field for training during the weapons section; there came the day when the huge speakers would roar out “Attention, this will be a LIVE FIRE exercise, I repeat, this will be a LIVE FIRE exercise”. THAT certainly got our attention. Well, people, we are in a live fire REALITY with the minions and powers and demons of the evil one. Satan will do anything and everything from his bag of tricks to ping us off. Take the sword – the powerful Word of God – the Bible and start training every day in it and using it to share Jesus’ love and offer of salvation to all who would hear. Use it to encourage the fellow troops. Use it to keep you strong and safe in Him. Use it as your map, your compass,your solace and your defense!
Now, the armor is on! The battle rages! The Master calls us to “having done ALL else to stand!” 

ARMCHAIR GENERALS…the bane of every good team!

Though some of you that happen upon this post, may think it is a military evaluation or critique; you would be mistaken. Some may read the title and think it is some motivational business team exercise, you too would be mistaken. Did it ever occur to you that those of us who are authentic followers of Jesus the Messiah also have to deal with this problem? Well, we do! Permit me to lay out the problem and then the solution!

 Dictionary.com defines an armchair general as follows: A person who speaks authoritatively but not convincingly on matters where that person lacks practical experience.

Wow! not a ringing endorsement is it? YourDictionary says they are this: An outspoken warmonger, and/or a self-appointed strategist, who normally lacks actual military experience, and probably has no intention to get any in the near future. I can give you some non-military examples first. How about a dear old spinster aunt or a priest who has never married, telling you all about what it is like to be married! Useful? Not a bit. How about an artist who doesn’t even own a car, telling you how to adjust the timing? Worthwhile heeding that? I would hope not! In the military, sadly, we had lots of them. Who were they? A rather nasty acronym was coined during the Vietnam War to describe them as REMFs I CHOOSE to change the wording to say Rear Echelon Military Foulups. Some called them Desk Weenies. The best example I can give is from the US military during that same era – the Vietnam War.  There is an excellent article by Lewis Sorley that clearly lays out 10 reasons why this incompetent buffoon cost the lives of so many. I will only list a few that I believe are applicable to us as Christians in our battle with the evil one.

1. He lacked the schooling and experience to lead. He did not go to the War College; he did not come out of the Command and General  Staff College; he was an artillery man with limited line duty in two previous theaters of war and most grievously, he surrounded himself with like thinkers!

2. He refused to listen to sage advice and showed NO interest in any other point of view…in fact, was quoted as saying that he could command alone!  

3. He misled…oh who am I fooling? HE LIED to the general public as well as the National Intelligence community about enemy strength and PERSONALLY removing from the Order of Battle, ENTIRE categories that would have shown how ineffective his strategy was to reduce enemy strength.  

Okay, I won’t go further. This is NOT about criticizing one single military officer (though he ranks as one of the US’s worst commanders) This is NOT about starting dialogue about Vietnam etc. DON’T go there please. Let us focus. As believers and soldiers of the cross, we are at war with “principalities and powers of the air”…aka the demonic forces of the evil one. His strategies are very good and too often we see another solid soldier fall from the darts of sin!  Though we are all equal as soldiers for HIM. Please permit me a small digression. I truly believe we are WRONG in these last days to be insisting on titles -such as Apostle this or Prophet(ess) that! Unlike the military, we have but ONE Commander. ONLY to Him are we to yield allegiance. Sadly today, we have those that insist on their titles, their “ministries” and their mini-kingdoms! One look at Osteen’s palace of doom or Warren’s megalith of falsehoods and you KNOW we have false teachers.

What is the solution? Again, it is so simple –  like all the truth of Scripture. Look at this passage from the Bible:

If we do that, and take every single thing we hear to the Lord in prayer, then our spiritual warfare tactics will always be sound. STOP listening to Spiritual Armchair Generals. THIS is the solution:

For me, being on the battlefront, day in and day out, I want ONLY sound tactics taught to me and solid advice that will strengthen me. Those of us called to teach, MUST teach truth! -truth from the Word of God! I leave you with this quote about truth from a great tactician and even greater believer:

I have to be HOW old to do right?

A little change of pace here, readers. Oh I doubt that my warrior heart and military learning will be absent for long in this story, but, who knows?! I truly hope the title created enough curiosity that you are still reading this. I love the truths contained in the Old Testament stories. I was not much of a reader of the Prophets or the books of the Law..I have to confess. The tales of the Kings and the Judges that God raised up to govern His people have both intrigued and captivated me for years. Incidentally, during a period of being bamboozled…oops, I mean seconded, yeah that’s the word the military brass used, to teach at a military college; I used some of these Old Testament stories to teach battle tactics – believe it or not! The Bible is so packed full of not only eternal truths to help us make the right and everlasting decision; but, also practical helps to cope, to grow in maturity and to have as examples.

Let’s look at one now. I am aware that not all who may read this are well versed in the Old Testament. Sadly, far too many “Christians” are New Testament only. To me, that is like a half baked loaf of bread. I will grant you that some parts of the Old Testament are dry -to say the least. If you have insomnia, try reading all the “begats” that are about lineage! BUT the stories about Israel and Judah’s different kings are better than bestseller thrill novels! You have heard of King David and later his son King Solomon. They are both well known. You may have heard of some of the more notorious evil kings, such as Ahab…no, he didn’t captain a whaling ship!!! Did you know that of the divided kingdoms, EVERY SINGLE king of Israel was declared as “doing evil in the sight of the Lord”? Wow! And when the Assyrians overcame them in 721 BC and led Israel into captivity, the people NEVER returned. Israel would not be a nation again until 1948.That is a long time to have to pay the consequences of doing evil in the sight of Almighty God! The kingdom of Judah in the south, fared a little better. About 50% of their kings did right in God’s eyes.   Alright, on to the story!!  

King Amon was the king in Judah. He was declared by the Bible as an evil king. So was his father, the king before him – King Manassah. King Amon teaches us a very valuable lesson. I will get to that later.

King Amon was an evil king that the Bible says very little about – other than to say he “walked in all the ways of his father, and served the idols that his father served and worshipped them” (2Kings 21:21) Not exactly a ringing legacy! The Talmud adds that he burnt the Torah and allowed, through disuse, the altar to become utterly cobwebbed. Just an aside here. There ARE dire consequences for not obeying God. We can rail and talk of His love and mercy all we want. However, the Bible is VERY clear. When we sin – you go ahead and call it “hurts, habits and hangups” like our sellout pastor Rick Warren coined, but it is sin

King Amon’s sins caught up to him and he was assassinated. He left behind an 8 year old son – Josiah, who became king. The Bible says little about the first few years of his reign. At the age of 18, he began to take an interest in God. He had monies collected to repair the temple. In the construction mess, they found a copy of the Scriptures…long ago left to molder and decay! When the kings’ aide read them to Josiah, he tore his clothes and cried. The fear of the Lord filled him and he knew God was not pleased with Judah. 

A young king, only 18 years old – with the example of both father and grandfather as evildoers – does the RIGHT thing. He has courage.

Courage to go against what his family legacy was; courage to stand against what had slowly but steadily crept into his nation and courage to begin restoring a right standing with God!

Now that takes some doing! 18! Dang! when I was that age, I had no courage! This king, bows to the King of Kings and is imbued with a resolve to clean up not only his act but his nations! He began a tour of the country and smashed every altar to false gods, he tore down every statue of false gods and he commanded the people to give to build up the temple where they would worship Yahweh!  

Remember, earlier that I would get back to Assyria and the lesson contained therein. The chosen people, God’s CHOSEN people had by sin, allowed the kingdom to be split into Judah to the south and Israel to the north. Israel had fallen and for almost 1oo years had been taken into captivity. Judah was beginning to fall from within. How? Josiah’s father and grandfather before him were allowing Assyria more and more influence. They imported their politics, they imported their worship and they imported their influence – to the point that Judah no longer served God nor lived by His ways. Look at the map of what Assyria was:THAT is the kingdom of Assyria at the time of Josiah. Do those countries look familiar to you? Have they been in the news for the past oh say 2o-30 years? Are you just a tad familiar with the “politics” of those nations shown here?…their “worship”?….their “influence” on the nations around them…oh let’s be honest and add the world! I am NOT bringing this up as a bash of Islam! I am using their motivation as a strong reminder of what ANY kind of evil can do. Sin begins slowly, seductively

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First, you give up a little of your goodness – your ability to know the difference between right and wrong. Then a little more…it FEELS good doesn’t it? It’s okay, you say, lots of other people are doing it. Hey! you say, I can stop anytime I want to. Soon, the snares are too strong, the bars of the cage too thick and the sound of the final SLAM of the door is eternal.  Isn’t it time? Isn’t it time for you to be courageous like Josiah and “tour” your life and SMASH every idol – your hopes and dreams; your desires and misplaced allegiance? Isn’t it time to be focused on what HE desires?  The Bible tells us in verse after verse, story after story; what HE wants….US!!! He wants us to receive His love, His forgiveness, His indwelling and His goals! 

If it isn’t time now…then when? Can you guarantee me that you have tomorrow? We ALL can step into eternity in a twinkling of an eye. TODAY make the choice to be King Josiah and CLEAN UP YOUR ACT!  I know I have to do it every single day. Sin can be like a sneaky fox that creeps into the vineyard and steals our fruit!  Don’t let that happen! Start NOW to pull down your idols and your misplaced allegiance. We cannot align with flag or country before our service to the King of Kings!!! You will NOT save a nation or yourself with bullets and Constitutions and resolve. You save a nation by starting with YOU!

May God give each of us the courage to start cleaning house. He IS coming back very soon…in our lifetime I truly believe. He WILL be judge of our deeds. Walk humbly with Him and ACT within His justice.

LEADERSHIP….THE GOOD, BAD AND UGLY

The very first thing I want you to see. This is a Master Gunnery Sgt…aka Gunny. Whether you served or not; and if you did, whether it was in the US or elsewhere; whether you were Army or Marine Corps; these men and women were the leaders! They were forged by training, by mindset, by example and by trials. The Air and Navy just don’t have the same equivalent in my eyes. They were created! The blood, sweat, tears and example of those that went before them stamped them, annealed them and made them formidable!  In Canada, the equivalent was actually a lower rank. They are the Master Corporals. Same mad dog meanness that conceals a heart that yearns for nothing but shaping the best unit they can out of the newbies that come before them. Yes, we had ranks that far surpassed this non-commissioned rank. The list of “fruit salad” wearing officer corps goes right up to 4 Star General. (The 5th star was retired in 1981 with the death of Gen. Omar Bradley)

So, why am I giving this military lesson? Simple really, the military taught me more about leadership than any classroom. Now, as I look back, I can see such a perfect parallel to the leadership we are called to give as soldiers of the cross! Our Commander in Chief is Jesus Christ. In military ranking, He would be 4 star, The Chief of the Army and the King of Kings all rolled up into one. YET, despite all those “titles”, Jesus not only spoke about, but demonstrated SERVANT LEADERSHIP!

I spent a great deal of time within the ranking system. I was never an officer. I mustered out of the Canadian Forces at the Master Warrant level. I answered to many and had some who answered to me. I understood very clearly the chain of command.  The Canadian equivalent to the US Chief of the Army is the Queen’s representative –  the Governor General. He or she is called Commander in Chief. The ranking, the protocols and the military pomp that goes with that ranking is very clearly laid out. In the civilian world, there is also ranking! It is called the management ladder. Many of you would be quite familiar with it.

BUT…all of this ranking goes right in the hopper once we meet Jesus! If you don’t have a clue what “servant leadership” is..hang on and I will attempt to illustrate:

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That sounds so contradictory to anything we have learned about succeeding or being an effective leader doesn’t it? Well, it gets even better!…or more odd if you will! Look at this passage from the Bible:

13 ^1-5 Before the festival of the Passover began, Jesus realised that the time had come for him to leave this world and return to the Father. He had loved those who were his own in this world and he loved them to the end. By supper-time, the devil had already put the thought of betraying Jesus in the mind of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son. Jesus, with the full knowledge that the Father had put everything into his hands and that he had come from God and was going to God, rose from the supper-table, took off his outer clothes, picked up a towel and fastened it round his waist. Then he poured water into the basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to dry them with the towel around his waist.

It is found in the Gospel of John 13:1-17. What an amazing truth for us to grasp. Step back for a minute and try and get your head around this…Jesus –  the Son of God; the Messiah and King of Kings and Lord of Lords – the Almighty himself – stoops to perform a task that the lowliest of household servants was tasked with performing. Do you grasp that? THE LOWLIEST OF SERVANTS.  Now, look around you today. Whether it is in the political field, the corporate world; whether it is the business world or even the military world. It seems like everyone clamors to get to the top. Whatever it takes, no matter who they step on; by hook or by crook, honesty be damned! Sound familiar? We sure see it acted out in front of our very eyes!

Permit me to go back to the military concept for a moment. A private doesn’t give orders to a Major. A Captain does not report to a Sergeant. Yet, time after time, while in training, maneuvers or deployed, I found myself being “led” by some wet behind the ears brand new “Butter Bar” – a Second Lieutenant –  named for the single gold bar on the collar. Oh sure! they had all kinds of learning. All the rules and regs and how to salute and how to march were freshly imprinted on them. HOWEVER, they hadn’t been in the field..unless they were of non-com rank and then were accepted into Officer Candidate School. These were rare. So, you are being led by someone who hasn’t been around. That is not easy. Back to the top picture –  the wonderfully versatile Gunny. They ran every single unit. They were the go to guys. They had seen it all, done it all and corrected it all…better than anyone! Getting the drift? They knew what they knew because they had DONE it, not LEARNED it in school.

   With Jesus washing the disciples’ feet, He DOES. His actions LEAD the way for us who follow. Am I saying that we are to actually wash feet like some Christian denominations feel is necessary? Well, if asked by Him, would you?? 

Living for Jesus is not easy! He calls us to be the servants of all! Is this happening in your church? Too often we see the pastor/elder as the General and we look to them for all the answers. We expect them to visit the sick, to chair the meetings, to govern the body and walk on water! Then we are fussed because they burn out or worse! What about your own leadership skills? What kind of leader are you in light of His example? A soldier must be ready to take orders from the Commander in Chief…but in the present day battle against evil, we are all the same rank together…Hello! Need I highlight that? WE ARE ALL THE SAME RANK IN THE LORD’S ARMY. So, stop lording it over others. Cease berating a new believer for still struggling. Most of all, START leading by example.

5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

6 Who, being in very nature God,

did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;

7 rather, he made himself nothing

by taking the very nature of a servant,

being made in human likeness.

8 And being found in appearance as a man,

he humbled himself

by becoming obedient to death—

even death on a cross!

9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place

and gave him the name that is above every name,

10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.

THAT dear people is the example. THAT is the Commander in Chief! He calls us to be just like Him. We serve – not command. We serve – not demand. I love the quote you see below. It sums up nicely the kind of “soldiers” we are to be:

May all that we do for Him and for one another be as servants. THEN we shall be exalted as His true leaders. We have all had quite enough of the bad leaders –  in the secular world AND the followers of Christ world. We have even recently in both seen the UGLY demonstrated –  whether it is the candy coat “Pez Prophets” in the mega churches spouting platitudes and ear tickling people right into hell; or in the Oval Office itself with the anti-christ sitting on the throne of evil. We are to be opposite them We proclaim the power of Christ by submitting to it ourselves. We become great in Christ’s eyes by placing others before us. Ready to step up and be that kind of leader? I am!!! 

WAIT FOR IT…..WAIT FOR IT….NOW!!!!!

Some of you may think that is an odd title. Good!!

Keep that frame of reference in mind.  See the picture of the Bible passage?

 

Well, it’s happening isn’t it? Can you deny that any of those things are not and have not been happening with increasing regularity? What do we do? When the Lord first gave this to me only an hour ago, my wife and I were listening to TruNews with Rick Wiles. You might want to consider giving that a listen on either the web or podcasts or even shortwave radio! He and his guests really tell it like it is. The end times newscast that shows the very imminent return of Jesus Christ.

 Most of us know that whether we are believers or not; we could step into eternity at any given moment. 

 

There will be a day coming when Jesus DOES return. In the next 3 weeks until the end of 2015, many, MANY of God’s present day prophetic people are saying some great changes are going to happen. I don’t ever profess to have any gifting in that area. I do, however, believe that some of our great modern day giants of the faith will go home before any of the real horrid things begin to occur. Years ago, when Mother Teresa was alive, a young journalist followed her along on her rounds of the Calcutta slums. The gentle servant mentioned in passing that her time on earth was almost gone. The journalist, in shock, asked who would ever be able to replace her? Mother Teresa replied very matter of factly “Anyone!”

   You see, too often we get far too comfortable with others taking the lead. I personally do think Billy Graham will be called home before too long. I believe many of the pastors of the prosperity churches will be cast out very soon. I believe that ministries that have been in the shadows – faithfully and obediently preaching the Word and serving amongst the needy souls that we are, will be thrust forward into a new and changed role!

In the military, the line of succession, if you will, was not always obvious! Rank can be overlooked by merit. The ones who are called out to be leaders don’t always lead. Battle can take lives, but it also “makes” lives. So too for us as believers in these troubled times. WE are warriors. WE serve however, wherever and whenever the Lord God Almighty says! It is time to step up and be counted. WHEN the stalwarts are gathered home in the next coming while (however long that is) it is up to us – the everyday “grunts” for Jesus -to step to the line and take over His commission to live and preach the Good News!

Any day now, any hour, any week or any month…we will be asked to answer the call. If you are reading this for the first time maybe and have never really done anything about your relationship with Jesus. TODAY is the greatest day to come to him; to confess your need of a Saviour, to ask for forgiveness for your sins and ask Him to become not only your Saviour but Lord of EVERY area of your life. He IS coming back. There WILL be many horrible things done by evil people before He returns. Christians WILL suffer and WILL die for their faith. ALL people will stand before God Almighty on Judgement Day. Are you ready for that? Only the love Christ showed on the cross when He died for you and your acceptance of Him into your life will make the difference. 

Why not today?…as for us believers? Keep on waiting for His call…wait for it…wait for it…and when He calls….shout “Here I am!” NOW. May Christ be ever in us and before us in these evil days.

For more information about TruNews CLICK HERE

DON’T AWAKEN THE SLEEPING GIANT!!

After the successful bombing raid on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese Admiral (Yamamoto) was quoted as saying “I am afraid that all we have done is awaken the sleeping giant and filled him with an awesome resolve”. This post is not about commemorating that “day of infamy” – though the anniversary is tomorrow. It is not about patriotism and fiery rhetoric. The giant I want awakened is the great army of the Lord!  Do you, for one minute, ever stop and grasp the truth of this following statement?

In other words, The power of Almighty God is in every fiber of the believer.

 Jesus tells us ……Matthew 21:21  “If you have faith even the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea’, and it will be done”!    We have GOD in the form of His Spirit residing in us and infusing us with ALL that He desires us to have and be. Did you know that the Bible contains 365 different occasions where we are told “Do not fear”? That is one powerful reminder for every day of the year! There is a very well known hymn that I remember hearing as a little boy. I thought it was powerful even then – though I didn’t understand its’ meaning nor have a personal walk of faith with Jesus. It is ‘Onward Christian Soldiers’. Have you ever really read the lyrics? The third verse sums it up for me: . Like a mighty army moves the church of God;
brothers, we are treading where the saints have trod.
We are not divided, all one body we,
one in hope and doctrine, one in charity. Boy Howdy!! THAT is the giant I’m talking about!! THAT is the kind of mighty, powerful army that I am calling forth to get busy on kingdom business! THAT is the awesome, overcoming army that HE calls each believer to be a part of. Forget this shivering and shrinking that the enemy tries to get us doing! Forget the naysayers who don’t believe that He is for us! Look at this passage from 2 Chronicles 20:15. Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast number,  for the battle is not yours, but God’s. Tomorrow, go down against them. You will see them coming up the Ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the valley facing the Wilderness of Jeruel. You do not have to fight this battle. Position yourselves, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD.  He is with you, Judah and Jerusalem.Do not be afraid or discouraged.  Tomorrow, go out to face them, for Yahweh is with you

Permit me to lay this one out for you as a military person would grasp it. The King of Judah is told by one of his intelligence advisors that the armies of no less than 3 surrounding nations are gathered and ready to pounce on Judah. The advisor used the term “a vast number” to describe the size of this invading army. In other words, there was a disproportionate  numeric military advantage! (That’s government speak for  “overwhelming odds”). The Bible tells us that the King (Jehoshaphat) was afraid. Well, who wouldn’t be? BUT, you see, the verse also says, right after “he was afraid” then says..”…and he  RESOLVED to seek the Lord” That means he got right in God’s face in fervent prayer! He called for a nation wide time of fasting and he stood in the confidence of being a child of God and pleaded for help. Verse 15  tells us and him the solution! The battle is not ours!Now that is something!!  There are 4 things we need to do – no!! that HE, our Commander in Chief tells us to do.

1. POSITION YOURSELF… get ready. We are, because of His power within us a mighty army…the sleeping giant that the enemy thinks is powerless. Get your armor on, get your “weapons” and get in position. Where is your position? Well, what is your gift? THAT is where you are to be.

2. STAND STILL…. stop running to and fro. Quit thinking you have to do it all. Don’t feel you are the only one and it is all up to you. “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10)

3. DO NOT BE AFRAID OR DISCOURAGED. ….. every soldier is afraid sometimes. Every soldier gets discouraged.  The Bible sometimes calls that “dismay”. We think the battle can’t possibly be won. We feel that at any moment, we will be overrun and be just another casualty. GOD SAYS NOT A CHANCE!! He is the one who fights for us.

4.GO FACE THEM…FOR GOD IS WITH YOU.  … no battle against the enemy is ever won by staying at home. No soldier can ever be part of the victory He gives by staying on the sidelines.  I really want to go back to the lyrics of that old hymn.  Like a mighty army, MOVES the church of God. We live and move and have our being in Him (Act 17:28)

   I know that it seems pretty bleak right now. We look around this old world and we can easily get disheartened. We read of Christians being slaughtered, beheaded, raped and mutilated. No, it isn’t easy to take. YES!! I feel such an anger rising in me…BUT….go back to the story of King Jehoshaphat. Read again the 15th verse. It is not OUR battle to win! IT IS THE LORD’S. He has never lost yet. Oh death tried…but He rose victorious even from the grave. Scorners and mockers try, and yet His “church” –  the mighty army of believers is STILL victorious even in death! Terrorists come from every direction. The evil in our world seems to explode in growth every day. What do we do? ARISE! POSITION OURSELVES, STAND STILL IN HIM AND GO OUT TO MEET EVIL HEAD ON……not in your own strength..for only in Him and only as one unified army can we see His victory. People, that “victory” may not be in our time. We may very well be martyrs. BUT, I’ve read the final chapter of HIStory and JESUS CHRIST WINS. Grasp this please! We serve a mighty God. 

So arise! Shake off your fear and your dismay. Stand TOGETHER in Him against all the powers of evil and HE WILL GIVE THE VICTORY.

CIRCLE UP AND HUNKER DOWN!!!

Man!! if I had a dollar for every time I heard that command shouted out! Do you see these soldiers?  That is somewhat the idea of hunkering down. It is called out to give the warriors a break; it can be ordered to take the time to check out who and what is out there up ahead. and it can be motioned very quietly BECAUSE there is something out there.  From the time that warfare began, we are so accustom to the concept of the entire line of defense is to the front…of course! Why? Because that is where the enemy is! Hmmm. Have you been following the news lately?  Terrorist attack here and terrorist attack over there –  oh I am sorry! For you readers in the US your government has told you that Ft Hood was “workplace violence” and now San Bernardino is “workplace violence”. According to the entity in the White House there is no such thing as an Islamic jihadist/terrorist. Okay, back on topic. We are now faced with attacks from EVERY direction and many times it is one after the other. THIS line up (seen below) does not work anymore. This isn’t your grandfathers’ war that we are fighting. Spiritual warfare as well as the real one happening around us is from all over and attack after attack! What do we do? Bear with me while I lay this out using military tactics. Pictured below is a circle hunker. Granted, they are not behind any real viable cover, but pretend.When we are faced with attacks from many different quadrants. we need to WORK TOGETHER. The well worn phrase “I’ve got your back” (six in the military) was derived from tactics!  

  I want to apply this to us as soldiers of the cross. With all that is happening in our world, more than ever, we need to become tighter! We should be always ready to cover each other against attack. If all of us face one direction – let’s start stepping on toes here…say, thinking we have to concentrate our “fire” on the political. Great! we maybe accomplish some TEMPORARY bandaid on an ETERNAL dilemma. If we think we hear the command to ALL face the same direction …in say, the social/moral decline; we achieve only small victories with potentially larger casualties among us! If we are guilted into facing the “enemy” of theology or doctrine and let all other quadrants go undefended…..some of us die. ALL of us are in one position and the foundation of that position is the BIBLE.I couldn’t find a more apt picture! WE, the little child that Jesus yearns to have come to Him…in childlike faith; are standing on Him…on the Living Word and on “every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord” aka The Bible. THAT and that alone is our mission doctrine. THAT is what motivates us to keep each other safe during the “firefights” THAT is all that matters when it comes down to it.

Now, before I get too many of you all in a lather… YES, God calls certain soldiers to be His light in politics. YES, God sets some soldiers aside to work in the social justice arena. YES, God selects some to be the defenders of the faith in terms of ensuring we hold to sound doctrine. I grant you that…BUT they are the “special forces”. MOST of us are the everyday, regular forces that face ALL the onslaughts together. It is really simple, people. Either we stand together or ALL will fall. Bottom line: There is one evil master plan; and that is to ensure that as many of those who inhabit this planet as they can get to, will be annihilated WITHOUT ever knowing Jesus personally. Lucifer/Satan/The devil (you choose) does not want one single person to ever confess, repent and become adopted into God’s family. So,,,either we all fight THEM (and stop fighting each other) or we accomplish nothing for Christ.

Which is it? He PLEADS with us to fight together. This I pledge: I will NOT fight another follower of Christ; I WILL ALWAYS guard their six against all attacks. Join me? Let’s stop the bickering and the recriminations because someone doesn’t read ONLY this translation of the Bible or drinks wine or goes to a worship service on Saturday as their Shabbat! ENOUGH! We face spiritual attacks from ALL directions and ALL of them are meant to overwhelm us; to cause chaos and make us become frozen, ineffectual warriors. Philippians 1:27 says we “strive together”. It does NOT say cause strife with each other. Unite under our Commander – Jesus Christ. SERVE UNITED!

TRIED AND TRUE

Just a short post about that phrase. It is familiar to most of us. What do YOU immediately think of when you read that phrase? If you do an internet search using that phrase and check out the images, you get allusions to recipes, marital advice and even toy testing. My wife gave the answer “an honorable soldier”. In some ways, that shouldn’t surprise me in the least. I will get back to that in a moment.

  Many years ago, when I entered the military, we were transitioning over from the FN C1 as the service rifle to the new Colt C7A1. For some of us that were trained in other longer range weapons, the transition was about the same time from the old Parker Hale or C3A1 to the new C14 Timberwolf. To some of you this has become real boring real fast! Sorry, I will move to my point. In order for a new service rifle to be accepted into the list of infantry weapons; it had to pass all the stringent pre-field as well as in-field testing. In other words, it had to become tried before it became true. Allow me a few more minutes on the military referencing. I would go out either to the range and/or in field exercises with a new rifle AND a new scope. I, like many people was a creature of habit! I LIKED my old scope. I LIKED my old Parker Hale! Why do I have to change? So now, I have to get used to dialing in the scope using all the formulations ( I still REALLY hate Calculus!!!!) required and comparing that will straight bore sighting and “iron sights”. Trying it and trying it and trying it. THEN and only then could I designate it as true. True in its’ aim, true in its view and true in its’ purpose.

Okay, back to my wife’s comment. An honorable soldier. It was not until I was tried and tried and tried in maneuvers, in training and in deployments that I could be deemed “true”. It was not until I had been tried and tried and tried in squad and fire team tactics that I was accepted as part of the team and deemed “true”. See where I’m going with this? For the believer  and follower of Jesus, the calling as a soldier of the cross is NOT a Crusade against a human enemy! It is a battle for people’s salvation- their souls; and it is against the demonic forces of the evil one -Satan. We need to be tried and true. How does that happen?

The Bible tells it like it is! We are tried in first “little things”. Are we reliable? Are we honest? Do we do what is right and good when the “cameras aren’t on”?  Do we obey without grumbling or like me, start bipping off about not wanting to change! With each level of spiritual warfare training comes new missions and new responsibilities from Him. I get alarmed when I read posts on social media from believers who think they are ready to go charging right to the front lines! Whoa!! Let God tell you when, where and how! I have an amazing little sister in Christ who is fast becoming a bit of a martial arts warrior…in training. She is even more so becoming a dependable and honorable soldier of Jesus on the frontlines! NOT because of katanas and bokkens for practise…but by prayer; by trial and by testing in fire. NOW I see a warrior ready to be “tried and true” under spiritual fire ( The Bible says that our armor of God is to quench the fiery darts of the enemy 

What about you? Are you ready, willing and then by trial after trial be “able”? We are called to endure hardship.

That basically means we are to be tried before being declared true. Join the fray! Endure the hardship of His testing of us. We who stand and endure to the end WILL be saved. Let’s serve with honor so that more will be brought to Him!!

SPIRITUAL WARFARE FROM A MILITARY VET’S PERSPECTIVE…The Game of Risk

How many of you have ever played the game of Risk, or at least are familiar with how it is played? Most of us, I would think. Well, look at the picture of the board game:

So, if the enemy were the player with the dark green coloured pieces and they have built up and built up an overwhelming force on that one “country”, you as the red player have two choices: One, you can in full awareness of this impending danger, meet it with equal build up, or, Two…you can ignore it and build up over in say, South America!  People, WAKE UP!!!. The forces of the evil one have been building up and building up RIGHT BY YOU…and what have you done? You’ve focused on your “ministry” or your churches’ building fund or the latest trends in fashion or this or that! Jesus did NOT call you to be soldiers against PETA or oil companies or any other distraction! He called you to serve Him against SIN!! NOT Isis, NOT Al Qaida or Syrian refugee/jihadists. 

NO!!! We fight against Satan’s evil forces that want to kill and destroy ALL human life.

You know, in all the years I was in the service, NOT ONCE did I witness one regiment of the Canadian Forces fighting against the other. NOT ONCE did I see the 3rd Battalion of the Princess Pats shooting at the 1st Battalion. YET, what do I witness every single day on Facebook? So called Christians rip and tear at each other over petty doctrines!!  In the Old Testament book of Isaiah (22:5-14) the story is just like the Risk game analogy…only WORSE!! All the armies of both Elam(modern day Iran) and Kir (modern day Jordan) were surrounding the city of Jerusalem. The people were on their rooftops and could see the vast armies. The Bible tells us they could hear the chariots and roar of their enemies. Were they getting their defenses all lined up? NO! Were they praying and asking God for forgiveness for turning away from Him and being disobedient? NO…They were partying!! Hello!! Did you read that? THEY WERE PARTYING…THEY WERE DRUNK  and they declared “Hey! let’s kill the oxen and fatted calf, let’s eat, drink and be merry…for tomorrow we die!”   Guess what? They were right! 

 

This is exactly what the sleeping church is doing today! We watch our sports, we plan cruises and retirement portfolios, we give to this overblown palace of cotton candy and that one. We yearn to have our ears tickled and told that our breakthrough is coming! We don’t see the build up of evil in our OWN lives. We ask “What’s wrong with ……(fill in the blank), far more often than we do “What is RIGHT with it?”  There is an old Russian proverb:

You don’t have to agree with it. You certainly won’t like it! I am calling all of us out! Stop playing church!!! God doesn’t want your form, your once a week “do the church thing” and go on about your dance with the secular pursuits thing the rest of the week!

The military has a reserve force. The army of God does NOT!! This is a very key truth:

If we truly say we are completely souled out for Jesus, then He is Lord of ALL our life! He rules over our choice of music, what movies we see, He chooses our mate and He is ALWAYS the Commander in Chief. I see way too much of Obama this and ISIS that and “We’ll fight and get back our country”. YOU ARE NOT FIGHTING EITHER OF THOSE!!!  You are called to serve the King against what sin is doing to people. Without Jesus, we ALL sink to the level of lowest depravity…we really do!! IF you are in Christ, then STOP SINKING WITH THEM!!!

FOCUS!  That is all. When I was called upon to take the shot, all I saw was what was in the scope.NOTHING ELSE MATTERED.

The Apostle Paul sums it up clearly for us. Read this and start practicing it in everyday life. Stop ripping at each other and fight the enemy.

May Almighty God step into our lives so completely that we heed this…not because I post it; but because He calls us to be true and pure and on fire for HIM.