Getting Back To Base

Part Three In The Spiritual Warfare Series

Without a doubt baseball is my all time favorite sport, but a very very close second is wrestling.  I'm not talking about "rasslin'" WWE style, but collegiate style wrestling.  It is high drama: two excellently conditioned athletes going at it mano a mano.  There's no one to pick up your slack, no one to cover your mistakes - just you against your adversary one on one with a whole lot of people screaming at you, telling you what to do!

Base Position

One of my best friends in high school was an excellent wrestler, and my school had a really good team.  As a result, our wrestling matches often had better attendance than our basketball games.

There was a whole series of traditions that surrounded our matches, including the "We Will Rock You" rhythm deafeningly beaten out on the gymnasium bleachers whenever one of our guys put one of theirs on his back.  It was even reported that there was a sign on the ceiling that said, "If you can read this you're pinned."  It was a lot of fun.  For us, anyway.

Wrestling is an ancient sport.  It has been around for thousands of years.  So it is no surprise that wrestling is used in the Bible as a metaphor for spiritual warfare.  Paul wrote, " For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."  That being said, I would like to take a moment and point to a way that wrestling does mirror spiritual warfare.

The bottom wrestler is moving back to his base

There are many techniques that are important to wrestling, but one of the most important is the ability to get back to base.

Base position is a very stable defensive posture where a wrestler's feet, knees, and hands (or elbows) are firmly on the mat with his center of gravity as low as possible.  It puts him in a strong position to frustrate his opponent's attempts to control him and gives him a stable platform from which to escape or take dominant position from the other wrestler.

Every wrestler, regardless of his skill level, will eventually find himself on the bottom.  To be successful, he must learn to defend himself and to move from a defensive posture to an offensive one.

Going for the pin

One of the most frustrating things for a wrestler to experience is to be trapped flat on the mat by a skillful wrestler.  The top wrestler can leisurely have his way with him  while the bottom wrestler gets tireder and tireder and more and more frustrated.  The more he struggles the more he opens himself up to yet one more of his opponent's fiendish methods to keep him right where he wants him.  If a wrestler is not wise when he is in that position he will give his opponent the leverage that he needs to flip him over and pin him.

Because there are so many levers for the top wrestler to use, it is very important for the bottom wrestler to not only get back to his base quickly, but to know how to do it correctly.

One mistake that some wrestlers make is to try to lift their opponent's full weight when coming back to their base.  They rely on their own strength to accomplish the task instead of wisely using the protection and leverage that the mat offers them to get it done.  As a result, they have to expend more physical energy than is necessary and they tire quickly.  They also have to concentrate harder to force their body to accomplish this difficult task.  That means that they lose concentration on their positioning, which can lead them to open themselves up to attack.

 Another mistake is to forget to move.  In wrestling the defender's goal is to create enough space between himself and his opponent to be able to do what he wants to do.  The offensive goal is to take away your opponent's space.  A wise wrestler will recognize the attack that his enemy is employing and will move (keeping his base intact) to counter that attack.  (See the embedded video at the end.)

When we are engaged in spiritual warfare these same principles hold.  In our own ability and strength we quickly find ourselves frustrated by the enemy's skill level.  It often seems that they know where all of our levers are and that they can employ them at will.

The enemy loves to come at us with a flurry of attack that leaves us bewildered and out of touch with what is going on.  He brings strong temptations to us.  He lies to us.  He accuses us.  He deprives us of sleep.  He stirs up strife.  He injures us or makes us sick.  He orchestrates the circumstances around us to create the greatest level of chaos that he can.  It is in these times that everything in our world will seem to fall apart simultaneously.  It is like an ocean wave that catches us off guard and rolls us over and over and over.  We are so overwhelmed that we don't know what is going on and our ability to fight back is greatly compromised.

That is when we MUST get back to our base.

What is our base?  Our base is the Word of God.  This is the truth.  This is our position of strength.  This is our unassailable position.  The devil, just like any good wrestler will do everything that he can to tear down that base. 

The wrestler in red was on the bottom. 
He is executing a switch - a move that will
allow him to take the dominant position behind
his opponent.

Consider how the devil approached Jesus during his time of testing in the desert.  The devil did everything he could to move Jesus from his base.  Yet Jesus' response in each temptation was to counter it with the Word of God.

In the same way we have to come back to our base when the devil attacks us.  That means that we need to be very familiar with the Word of God.  We must become workmen who need not be ashamed because we can accurately handle the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15)  That is accomplished by reading, studying, memorizing, meditating upon, and exhorting each other with the Bible. 

Remember that the enemy tried to even use the Bible against Jesus in his temptation.  Because Jesus' hadn't satisfied Himself with a casual knowledge of the scriptures, He knew that the devil was trying to get Him to inappropriately apply the Bible's truth and was able to defeat him.

So, when the enemy comes in like a flood to wash you off your feet; when he tries to bury you under a wave of chaos, temptation, and despair, come back to your base.  Come back to the Word of God and its truth.  Remember that you will fail if you try to wrestle our enemy in your own strength.  Wrestle in the strength of the Lord and with the help of your brothers and sisters.  Counter each lie that the enemy has thrown in your face with God's truth from the Bible. This will stabilize you and help you to go back on the offensive.  Brothers and sisters, watch over each other.  When you see the enemy taking your brother down, remind him to get back to his base.  When your sister is overwhelmed give her the scriptures  that she needs to get her foundation back under her. 

As we continue to frustrate our enemy's attempts to tear us down, our strength will grow, and we will eventually find the opening that we have been looking for to go on the offensive and defeat him.

I Never Dreamed

For I have come to turn “‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law— a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.”
- Jesus Christ (Matthew 10:35-37)

Jesus Christ said some pretty shocking things during His time on earth. The passage I have quoted above is certainly one of the most disturbing. In it Jesus stated that His coming would bring division between the most intimate family relationships – division so intense that it would make the members of one's own household his enemies. For years I thought – wished perhaps – that Jesus was merely being hyperbolic. I recently discovered that He was not.

Last week, the Lord directed me to study Ezekiel 33. In that passage the Lord told Ezekiel that He was making him a watchman for Israel. God told Ezekiel that if He sent a warning through him and he failed to deliver it to the people then Ezekiel would be responsible for their failure to respond, but if he delivered the message and the people ignored it their calamity was on their own head. I felt that God was giving me the same charge.

A few days later God called me to deliver an important message to someone who is very close to me. They have been openly engaged in sin and effectively asked me to endorse it. I reminded the individual of my position and the reason why I could not approve. I explained the hope of the gospel to them and encouraged them to repent and turn to God. They were offended. I got unfriended (on Facebook). And from what I have heard some less than kind words were spoken about me.

I'll be honest, it makes me sad. I had hoped that the individual would be born again. Unfortunately, it went the other direction. I suppose it could have been a lot worse. I hope it won't be, but the violent reaction I got made me wonder just how this person will respond if they continue down the path they have taken much longer. I love this individual and really hope that one day our relationship can be restored.

As much as I desire that, there are some things that I cannot compromise: I cannot endorse something that the Bible calls sin, and I cannot allow a person to walk in sin without warning them.

I love this person too much to allow them to believe that their sin is OK. I cannot withhold the truth when directly confronted by the deception that they are living under. A person may think that a stick of dynamite is a candle, but if I let them walk around with a lit stick to find their way I am not loving them as I should. If I don't try to stop them their destruction is certain. Thus it is with sin.

The Bible tells that there is coming a time when people will not endure sound doctrine, but will seek teachers that will tell them what they want to hear, leading them away into deception (2 Timothy 4:3-4). As Christians it is our duty to hold the line and not compromise the message of the Bible. That doesn't mean that we have to be hateful. In fact, it would be best if we're not. We are to speak the truth in love. Does it guarantee that we won't still be hated and reviled as ignorant? No. Jesus always spoke the truth in love and they crucified Him. The Bible tells us that we will become a fragrance to all we encounter – to some we'll be the beautiful fragrance of Christ but to others the stench of death. It will all depend on the path they are taking.

We must be willing to stand unblinking before the wrath of the spirits controlling those we love and desire to see born again. We must hold up the mirror of the Word before them so that they know their true condition and recognize their need for the radical change that can only come from the Savior. We must keep loving them even though they think we are the enemy. And we must believe that God will get through to them eventually as we pray and hold the line against their deception. Never quit! He is mighty to save.

I never dreamed that Jesus' words in Matthew 10 would be true for me. But I was wrong.

Choosing Your Ground

Part 2 In The Spiritual Warfare Series

It was a bad situation. His brother had parleyed an agreement that dictated the English surrender their garrison at Stirling Castle to them if they were not relieved by the English army by Midsummer's Day (June 24). Robert hadn't wanted to put his troops in a position where open battle against the English army was necessary. Slash and burn techniques and guerrilla warfare had proven the more effective strategy given the strengths and weaknesses of the Scottish and English armies. Yet what was done was done, and once again, as he had for the past 18 years, Robert was making the best of a bad situation.

That the English would come was without a doubt. Edward II had been humiliated by Robert and his men too many times for him to pass up a chance for one decisive victory to win back the lands that he had ineptly lost - lands that his father Edward Longshanks had so ably taken from the Scots. The setting was already chosen - Stirling Castle, and the time was relatively certain. He had just a few months to prepare for the coming battle.

The English would have heavy cavalry and archers. The Scots would have only light cavalry and a few archers. The English would likely have far better armor and would probably also outnumber the Scots heavily. It was unthinkable to attempt to fight the English in the open field. It would have been suicide. Their superior technology and numbers forbade it. So what could he do to mitigate the strengths of the English army and leverage the abilities of his own?

At the Battle of Falkirk, William Wallace had demonstrated that it was possible to repulse heavy cavalry using a bristling formation of soldiers armed with long pikes. Unfortunately, the same battle demonstrated that these formations (schiltroms) were vulnerable to the attack of archers because they were not mobile.

Robert had developed a solution to this problem. He drilled his men, teaching them to be able to move and fight in perfect formation with the schiltroms. Now they were less vulnerable to archers. But that in itself would not be sufficient to give him victory against so large a force. He began to scout the land for a defensible position.

There was little doubt that Edward's army would follow the old Roman road to Stirling. It was the only way that would give his heavy cavalry firm enough ground to be able to operate. But, with the dense Tor Wood to either side of the road, it would be easy to force the English into a narrow formation that would negate their numerical superiority in battle. Robert set his men to the task of digging pits along either side of the road and hiding them under a thin layer of branches and earth. They also cut down trees to make easy passage through the woods impossible and blocked all paths. On the other side of Tor Wood the Bannock Burn flowed through a narrow, boggy floodplain, called the Carse, that created a natural funnel between Tor Wood and New Park - a heavily forested hunting preserve on the other side of the Carse. It was a perfect spot to pick a fight.

He didn't have to wait long. Edward arrived on the scene on June 23 and his cavalry made contact with Robert the Bruce's forces in a frontal assault that was easily repelled by the Scots. As expected, the English outnumbered Bruce's army nearly three to one, but Robert's preparations had borne fruit. Edward turned his forces off the Roman road and crossed the fords of Bannock Burn to camp on the Carse that first night. He had fallen into the Bruce's trap. The battle that followed the next day saw the English routed and Edward abandoning his army to flee for his life, leaving them to get home the best that they could. The victory was so decisive that Scottish independence from England was only a matter of time. Edward never ventured into Scotland again.

The victory that day belonged to the Scots because they picked their battleground wisely and forced their enemy to engage them on their terms. Had Edward been wise enough to recognize the trap that he was walking into, he may have refused to engage the Scots until he had a plan to counter their positional advantage.

The lesson that Robert the Bruce taught to Edward that day is one that we must learn if we are to be successful in our spiritual campaigns. A wise commander chooses his ground carefully and refuses to engage his enemy on a battlefield that does not play to the strengths of his force. How well we do this will determine our success or failure in spiritual warfare.

There is only one battlefield that the saints of the Lord should battle on - the battlefield of truth¹. All other battlefields belong to the enemy. The battlefield of truth is defined by the Word of God. The enemy will do everything that he can to entice us to fight on his terms and on his battlefield. But we must not do this! We can rest assured that it is a trap every time.

Let's return to a story that most folks are very familiar with:

Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."

Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it — I give every green plant for food." And it was so. Genesis 1:26-30

Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground — trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Genesis 2:8-9

The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." Genesis 2:15-17

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"

The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.'"

"You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Genesis 3:1-7

This story is a perfect example of the devil's tactic. God gave Adam and Eve a specific command, "you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil," and a specific consequence for disobeying that command, "for when you eat of it you will surely die." This was the truth. As long as they believed and acted on the reliability of God's truth they would be fine.

But then the devil showed up. And the serpent immediately began to question what God had said. He probed the defenses to see how firmly Eve knew the truth. He began very broadly, asking, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"

Eve's answer was sound. She explained that they could eat from any tree but the one, and she even went further, saying that they couldn't even TOUCH it or they would die. It sounds good, right? She was making sure that she didn't eat any of that fruit, because if she didn't even touch the tree she couldn't eat the fruit, right?

Perhaps God had given them that additional instruction, but we have no record of it if He did. Is it possible that this deviation from the truth that was recorded provided the opening that the devil was looking for? Immediately upon hearing her reply the devil lied to her saying, "You will not surely die" and continued to convince her that she needed to eat that fruit to be like God.

At a recent spiritual warfare conference I attended, Steve Thompson² taught that the enemy always tries to convince us that we have to do something to become what we already are. How true that was in this case! Both Adam and Eve were the very image of God, and yet the devil tried to convince Eve that she had to do something else to become like God. Unfortunately for all of creation, she and Adam took the bait, trading their lives and their dominion of the earth for a lousy piece of fruit. The rest, as they say, is history.

The devil didn't make it clear what was at stake. In fact, he flatly denied the truth. I can imagine the old serpent handling the fruit, polishing the fruit, perhaps even tasting the fruit before Eve and demonstrating that it was indeed quite tasty and non-lethal. How different things would have been if Eve (or even Adam) had stuck to their guns and remained firmly planted on the truth. "God is my friend. He loves me, and if He told me that it would kill me then it will. I don't care how pretty it is. I don't care how tasty it is. God doesn't want me to die, and He knows what is best!"

However, that is not what happened, and because Adam and Eve allowed themselves to be persuaded to move away from the truth that God had revealed to them, the enemy was able to defeat them and take everything that was theirs. This story is our example of what happens when the devil is allowed to choose the battlefield and define the terms of the battle.

Fortunately, we also have an example in the Bible of how to keep the enemy fighting in the realm of truth. The story takes place right after Jesus' cousin, John, had baptized Him.

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, He was hungry. The tempter came to Him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread."

(The devil tried the same line on Jesus that he did on Eve. 'If you are the Son of God, you have to prove it!' From the very start he tried to get Jesus to doubt that He was the Son of God.)

Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'[a]"

(Jesus set the battlefield and the terms right there: Man lives on every word that comes from the mouth of God. He gave the enemy notice that this was where they would fight. He wasn't going to listen to the devil, and He wasn't going to listen to His body. He was going to listen to every word that came from God's mouth.)

Then the devil took Him to the holy city and had Him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If You are the Son of God," he said, "throw Yourself down. For it is written:

" 'He will command His angels concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'[b]"

(Impressive. The devil knows some scripture. He pretended to comply with the terms that Jesus set, but he didn't change his premise. He was still trying to get Jesus to question who He is, and he was still trying to dictate what Jesus would have to do to prove it.)

Jesus answered him, "It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'[c]"

(Jesus wasn't fooled by the devil's use of scripture. He recognized that the enemy's tactic hadn't changed at all; he had just wrapped it in a nice religious package. Jesus' thorough knowledge of the scriptures exposed the sin in the devil's enticement. This attack shows us the importance of studying and understanding the scriptures thoroughly - a job that we will never complete in this lifetime.)

Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. "All this I will give You," he said, "if You will bow down and worship me."

(The enemy is persistent, and in this temptation he finally got around to what he was after all along. Please notice that he never left his premise that Jesus really isn't the Son of God. Inherent in this promise was the denial that everything in all of creation already belonged to Jesus as the Son of God. The audacity is staggering.)

Jesus said to him, "Away from me, satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.'[d]"

(End of discussion. This was the final word. Jesus was never moving off of it.)

Then the devil left Him, and angels came and attended Him.

Matthew 4:1-11

That is how you beat the devil. You take your stand upon the truth with the help of the Holy Spirit, and you refuse to be moved. Every time he opens his mouth, every time he brings a temptation, every time he attacks you, you must respond with the truth of the Word of God. To be able to stand you must know the truth and you must believe the truth.

To know the truth you must know the Word of God. The Bible tells us that God's Word is truth. It tells us that we shall know the truth and the truth shall make us free. And we also have the important admonition of Paul to Timothy to, "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth."

Be diligent! To be able to accurately handle the word of truth we must be diligent in our study of the scriptures. The children of Israel were encouraged:

These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

That is constant marination in the truth! If only we were so diligent to do so! But it is what we must do if we are to know the truth and to believe the truth.

Belief goes far deeper than mere mental assent to the veracity of the Scriptures. Belief begins to kick in when you are willing to stake your life on the truth of the word of God. I know no one who is walking in perfect belief, but this is an area where we must begin to grow!

The trials that we suffer are opportunities to transform our knowledge and our mental assent into true belief; for it is in these trials that we find the enemy's assault on the truth that we claim to believe. How do you respond when sickness comes? Depression? Trouble? Persecution? Poverty? Do you still believe the truth of the scriptures in these situations? Do you still fight against the devil with the Word of God when these situations come against you? How long are you willing to fight? Are you willing to lean on the Word alone instead of running to other supports?

I am not suggesting that you run out and handle poisonous snakes to prove the truth of Mark 16:18, but if you should find yourself bitten one day, will you trust that verse for your life? (You might want to refer to Jesus' response to the devil when he suggested that Jesus jump off of the temple if you are tempted to handle them just to prove it. Don't fall into the devil's trap!)

I am also not suggesting that you must fight alone. God gave us brothers and sisters to stand with us and to multiply our strength when we fight together. I had an experience leading up to my trip to Japan that demonstrates what I am saying very clearly.

All winter I was around many people who were very sick. I was in close contact with people who had sicknesses that lasted for weeks and weeks, yet I stayed healthy. Every time I would begin to feel a twinge of something starting to attack, I would declare that it wouldn't take residence in my body and that I was well. I would stand on Isaiah 53:5, Psalm 103:4 and 1 Peter 2:24, and I was victorious in that fight all winter.

However, three days before I was to leave for my mission trip to Japan, I began to exhibit the symptoms of a cold. I fought them all day with the Word of God and with my declarations. I declared that I did not receive it and that I was well, but as the day wore on it was clear that I was losing the fight. I called two friends who are powerful in faith and asked them to pray for me. They did, but the battle still wasn't won. I had not shaken it yet. So, when I went to church that night for worship practice I asked the band members to lay hands on me and pray. They did, and the sickness broke. I got continually better from that moment, and by the time I landed in Japan there was no more sign of any sickness.

I'll make one comment here regarding battle that I expect I'll come back to before everything is said and done. It is easier to keep the devil out than it is to get him out once he has established a foothold. That is why it is so important to not let him get even one inch of ground upon which he can stand. Call in every resource that is at your disposal to defeat the enemy before he can get established.

I have heard that people trained to spot counterfeit money don't study counterfeit bills - they study real money. They become so familiar with the inscriptions, weight, feel, and smell of real money that when someone tries to hand them something that is fake they know it immediately. Similarly, we have to become so familiar with the truth of the Word of God that we recognize his counterfeits the instant that he tries to pass one.

One of the disciplines that I have developed over the past 10 years or so is the reading of the entire Bible over the course of a year. I use the One Year Bible. I have found that it is a good format for me.

When I first began, my stated goal was not to understand everything that I read, it was merely to make sure that I got the entire Bible entered into my brain. That way, if I were ever without a Bible for some reason, the Holy Spirit would already have the resources stored away in my memory that He could draw back out. I figured anything that God wanted to highlight to me was an added benefit.

As I continued the tradition, I began to read with an eye toward various themes. One year I read, paying special attention to all of the passages that I saw about healing. Another year I read paying special attention to the way that God describes Himself in the Bible. It hasn't been a fast process, but it has been a thorough one.

I would recommend such a discipline to anyone. Over the years I would say that the greatest benefit that I have derived from it is the increased understanding of who God is and what He is like. The better I know who He really is, the better I recognize the lies and counterfeits that the devil tries to float past me.

As we diligently input God's Word into our hearts and minds we will become more and more like Jesus and instantly recognize any attempt of the enemy to take us away from the truth. As we let it begin to change us, we will find that we have greater and greater authority. Then we will find it easier and easier to dictate the battlefield and the terms to the devil. If we stay firmly planted on the battlefield of truth the enemy won't be able to stand before us. Learn this battlefield and refuse to be moved from it.

Go To Spiritual Warfare Series Part 1: Total War

¹I am reasonably sure that I got this concept from Francis Frangipane's book, The Three Battlegrounds. I am not positive because I read the book almost 20 years ago, and I cannot find my copy to confirm it. I remember hearing the phrase "fight from the realm of truth" somewhere, and I think it was from Francis. After 21 years of walking with the Lord it is hard to remember where I picked up my information.

²I was attending the MorningStar Ministries Spiritual Warfare Conference that ran from April 16-18, 2009 and Steve Thompson made this comment on Saturday morning, April 18.

That Those Serving The Obama Administration Would Be Guided By God's Word

For the members of the new administration from the President and Vice President to the West Wing to clerical workers at every level to be guided by the Holy Scriptures as they serve

How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! I gain understanding from Your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path. Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.
—Psalm 119:103-105

O Lord God, how I praise You for the love You showed us in giving Your Son Jesus Christ, the Living Word who was, who is, and who is to come. Thank You for providing Your holy Word to guide our path as we seek and serve You. May Your Word be lifted up, honored and obeyed by all Americans in the days and weeks to come.

As the members of the new administration are identified, appointed and hired to serve in specific positions of service to our government, I pray that they will be guided by Your Word. Shine the light of Your truth on their paths, Lord, so they may experience the sweetness of walking in Your truth. Do this, O Lord, for Your Name’s sake. In Jesus’ name, amen.

I Am One Of Only Four Percent In America...

who believe the following things:

1. Absolute moral truths exist.
2. The Bible defines these absolute moral truths.
3. Jesus Christ lived a sinless life during His ministry on the earth.
4. God created the universe and continues to rule it today. He is omnipotent and omniscient.
5. Salvation is a gift from God. It cannot be earned through good works or behavior.
6. satan is a real living entity.
7. Christians have an obligation to share the gospel with the unsaved.
8. The Bible is accurate in all of its teachings.

This is according to a Barna poll that I learned about in an excellent article by Harry R. Jackson, Jr.

I must say that finding myself in such a minority in America is shocking to say the least. What was even more shocking was to discover that less than one in ten evangelical Christians hold to these 8 beliefs! (You can also reference the beliefs of those considered "Born Again Christians" by the Barna Group.)

According to Jackson's article,

Shortly after the Civil War, the Protestant church divided over this belief in a literal interpretation of Scripture. Liberals moved away from Scripture as the sole authority in order to accommodate “rational truth,” which they saw as incompatible with the Bible. These liberals embraced the “essence of Christianity” rather than the inerrancy of Scripture so they could synthesize their Christian thought with so-called scientific findings of the day.

One of the preeminent voices to emerge in defense of absolute truth shortly after the turn of the century was a Princeton Theological Seminary professor and Presbyterian minister, J. Grescham Machen, who would later lead a split within the Presbyterian Church over the rejection of biblical orthodoxy. In his definitive work, Christianity and Liberalism, Machen said that liberalism was not only theologically wrong but was not connected at all to true Christianity. “What the liberal theologian has retained after abandoning to the enemy one Christian doctrine after another is not Christianity at all, but a religion which is so entirely different from Christianity as to belong in a different category.” Machen felt that the argument was no longer between two views of evangelicalism, conservative and liberal, but rather a conflict between two religions. Liberalism is “a type of faith and practice that is anti-Christian to the core,” Machen wrote. (Emphases mine.)

I couldn't agree more. Mr. Jackson went on to share the statistics that I referenced at the beginning of this post and pointed out just how serious this problem is. He wrote, "Unfortunately, a growing number of Christians are influenced more by the popular culture than Scripture in terms of their worldview. Even younger evangelicals, who tend to track conservatively on most core social issues, do not consistently view the world from a biblical perspective." (Emphases mine.) If less that 10 percent of all EVANGELICAL believers hold to this definition of biblical worldview we have serious flaws in our foundation.

All standards other than the Bible fall far short of acceptability when judging the culture. The Bible is the only pure standard that we have. When we abandon that standard we are telling God that we are wiser and smarter than He is. That never ends well.

Mr. Jackson went on to say,

In light of these dispiriting statistics, Christians must return to emphasizing God’s truth and God’s love. America currently stands at a crossroad. Many of our national problems are a result of our churches abandoning truth. It is not the institution that needs to seek God – it is every individual in each one of the nation’s pews.

A truly repentant church will experience a spiritual renewal. A renewed church can once again be salt and light to the nation. A critical mass of godly Christians must be reached. If we use the imagery of today’s light bulbs we don’t yet have a high enough wattage light bulb to truly lighten our nation. Once we have reached critical mass, the Lord will pour out tangible blessings upon the entire nation in honor of a faithful church that lives and preaches biblical truth.

I pray to God that the church will repent. The consequences are too great if we fail to.

Thank you, brother for the awesome article.

Revive us O Lord.

Sound Familiar?

Was reading this the past couple days:

...in the last days there will be very difficult times. For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control; they will be cruel and have no interest in what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. They will act as if they are religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. 2 Timothy 3:1-5

For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to right teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever they want to hear. They will reject the truth and follow strange myths. 2 Timothy 4:3-4

Is it me or does this sound eerily familiar?

Interesting Quote

I read this today in an editorial by Brian Fitzpatrick:

Evangelical theology teaches that a person is saved based not on how he votes, or any other action, but on whether he places his trust in Jesus’s sacrifice to pay the price for his sins. Trust Christ today and you’re “saved” today. Therefore, salvation is not so much a future event as a present possession. Once people are “saved,” however, they undergo a spiritual transformation that affects the way they think, behave, and vote.

Exactly. This is why I am astounded when people who claim to have experienced such a spiritual transformation can enthusiastically support any candidate who is in favor of abortion, infanticide, or the redefinition of marriage. I am similarly shocked that anyone with this claim can support any of these policies.

The Bible has much to say about God's standard of right and wrong. It talks about the things that God hates. It talks about the way that He created things to be. It talks about God's nature and what He is like.

It is interesting that God through the Bible does not explicitly deal with these issues. However, He does give us some very strong principles that logically bring us to certain conclusions.

God shows us many examples of marriage - including the very first one. He is very explicit about the sexual relationships that He endorses and condemns. And none of these boundaries are ever revoked in the Bible.

Similarly, it is very clear from the scriptures that God is intimately involved in life even from the womb. It is also clear from the Bible that God hates those who harm children, the helpless, and the innocent.

So I have a real disconnect when someone who claims to be saved can support either of these issues. I have read through the Bible many times, and I can only think of one very weak argument that would support abortion and none that support the redefinition of marriage.

The only way that I can conceive that a person could logically come to the conclusion that these things are alright would be for them to be operating from a different base of moral authority than the Bible. If the Bible is the ultimate authority for morality, I don't see any way to justify these things. Anyone is welcome to try to convince me otherwise. (But I can assure you that if you aren't using a holistic view of scripture you will fail.)

Biblical Worldview

The other day I posted a quote by Chuck Colson about biblical worldview.

Moral restraint, you see, requires a set of morals—beliefs that some things are right, and some things wrong. To put it more simply, moral restraint requires a biblical worldview.
- Chuck Colson

I have been thinking about this subject quite a lot lately and decided that I should probably write more about it. Today I want to discuss biblical worldview.

So what is a biblical worldview? Perhaps the best place to start to answer that question is to define what a worldview is. A worldview is the "decoder ring" that one uses to interpret the world that he encounters and to guide him in responding to that world. It is a filter through which he forces his experiences to pass to make sense of each experience. It is a person's philosophy of life.

A worldview can be formed by many things. Indeed, most people cobble their worldview together from whatever they find that sounds or feels good. In the United States for many generations the predominant flavor of that view was Judeo-Christian. However, in the years since the 1960s the cultural norms of this country have been diluted by the influx of and the growth of the influence of other religions. The rise in the popularity of Eastern religions, paganism, Islam, humanism, and even atheism have created quite a bazaar (though perhaps 'bizarre' would be a better word) of religious notions that people can latch onto to form their worldview.

In fact, many people who consider themselves Christian also subscribe to notions gleaned from many other religious worldviews. Television, movies, books, and educators often assist in the process of developing people's worldview.

This brings us back to the question of what makes a definitively biblical worldview. A biblical worldview uses the teachings of the Bible as the filter to understand experience and as the guide to direct an individual's response to each experience. In this view, the most important anchor is the mental assent that the Bible is historically and scientifically accurate and that it conveys God's message to mankind without error.

The Bible's claims about itself make this view a reasonable one. Here are three examples of how the Bible claims to be a reliable guide:

When Moses finished reciting all these words to all Israel, he said to them, "Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. They are not just idle words for you—they are your life. By them you will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess." Deuteronomy 32:45-47

In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:12-17

So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. 2 Peter 1:19-21

If a person believes the claims that the Bible makes about itself, it is then possible for that individual to confidently trust that the Bible contains the final word about the things that are most important to his life. This is very beneficial because, as anyone who has studied logic can tell you, if you base an argument on a flawed premise you will achieve an incorrect conclusion.

It is this principle that makes a biblical worldview superior to all others. All other views are greatly flawed.

While it may be asymptotic for us to reach perfection in our development of a worldview that is informed by the Bible, the closer that an individual comes to a true knowledge of and acquiescence to the veracity of the Bible the more firm his foundation will be. And a person whose worldview is accurately built upon the Bible can stand firm in that belief even if the entire world should disagree with him. As Paul wrote, "let God be found true, though every man be found a liar..."

It is on this rock that I stand.

Time To Duck...

It hasn't rained at my home since my birthday over a month ago. The drought is so severe here in North Carolina that they don't have a more severe category to use to classify it. This is the driest that it has ever been here since they have kept records. This is what they would call a famine in biblical days.

The interesting thing about famines is that they don't come around for no reason. According to the Bible famines come as a wake up call from God to turn from our sins and cry out to Him. Here's the problem: no one seems to be calling out to God. Now, I know that I have a number of Christian friends who are praying for rain and even a few who are acknowledging that this seems to be a judgment from the Lord's hand. However, the numbers of people who seem willing to acknowledge this are small in comparison to those who want to scream "global warming!"

Today in the news I have heard about massive, violent, unseasonable tornadoes and thunderstorms all across the country. There is a major storm in Washington state right now that is threatening a floating bridge, and there has been an overabundance of rain in Texas of all places.

The thing that really concerns me is that the Bush administration is beginning to press Israel for a "Palestinian" peace deal again. They even have some people in Israel talking of giving up part of Jerusalem to the terrorists in exchange for peace. Just the other day Secretary Of State Rice declared that now is the time for a Palestinian state. I shudder. The last time we got involved in pushing Israel to give up its rightful homeland, ceded to them by God, Katrina devestated New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, killing thousands.

In fact, historically, every time that the United States has pushed Israel to give up land it has ended very badly for us.

So right now we have catestrophic (historically associated with judgment) weather patterns plaguing us. Our economy is on very shaky ground with the dollar growing weaker almost daily and the banking industry suffering the consequences of the poorly thought out loans that they made during the housing boom. Businesses are run by CEOs with short term mentality and big time greed. We even saw swarms of insects attack our national passtime in the Cleveland and New York game! The next thing in the litany of judgments is pestilence and it may have been unleashed as MRSA claims more and more lives and begins to spread further and further. After that comes war and defeat.

I wish I knew what to repent for. The problem is not actually trying to find one thing to repent for - it is that there are so many things that we are guilty of! As a people we are perverse, murderous, idolatrous, greedy, self-absorbed, non-loving, rebellious, faithless, baby-killing, self-worshipping swindlers. I am reminded of a passage from Jeremiah that says, "'Should I not punish them for this?' declares the LORD. 'Should I not avenge myself on such a nation as this?'" (Jeremiah 5:9 and 5:29 and 9:9) These words make me tremble. I pray that they make you tremble as well.

God please forgive us! Please cause us to repent! And please turn your anger from this land.

I believe it is time to duck.

Various and Assorted...

It has been an interesting and busy day. Of course, my dinosaur computer tends to make small jobs big, (don't think sexy dinosaur like veloceraptor, mine is more like the big-boned brontosaurus - who has a really great personality and likes long walks on the beach...) but it was just a packed day anyway.

I have been doing some contract software testing for a company for the past month and a half. I figured the job would last a week and a half. Oh well, so much for that. I guess the good (and bad) thing is that I have found some fairly major bugs. It is good from the perspective that they know that I am doing what they hired me to do, bad from the perspective that it is causing the contract to drag out FAR longer than I and planned on.

I used to be scared of computers. They never did what I wanted them to do. Later, I discovered that it wasn't my fault. I just have an innate ability to uncover latent "product features" as the developers like to call them!

One of the best pieces of advice I got on my first QA (Quality Assurance) job. An old, seasoned tester told me to not be afraid to break something. That if I could break it, it needed breaking. Good advice. There is a lot of software out there that needs breaking. Microsoft's is the worst. I am pretty sure that they don't have a single QA person on staff. If they do, they should be fired. Microsoft puts out the buggiest software on the planet I think.

I never buy any of their new release software because I know that it will be crap. They release it with as many bugs as a low-rent mobile home, and then put in this clever little program that allows you to report failures when it crashes and burns - kind of like a black box for software. They get their customers to do for free what they are too cheap to pay for. And people put up with this junk! But I digress...

I have always been accused of not knowing my own strength. Growing up, I often broke things by using force against resistance. I eventually became conditioned to not do this because it usually ended up in something getting broken. (That whole tie up a baby elephant thing...) This is why there are times when I will ask for help with something and end up looking like an idiot when someone half my size and strength comes up and easily accomplishes my task by applying a little more force. I guess this explains why I was afraid to mess with computers.

Isn't it funny how much fear influences our lives? I have really been pondering this lately. In fact we had a pretty strong prayer meeting tonight with some guys from the church, and fear was our number one target. I think that we had a really good breakthrough. I guess the proof will be in the pudding. When we have an opportunity to fear, will we give in to it, or will we respond in faith? Jim Laffoon wrote a really good devotion about that the other day at Our Daily Blog. You should check it out. Here is a quote from one of his recent posts:

Even as faith is your greatest friend, so fear is your greatest foe. In fact, fear is the enemy’s version of faith; even as faith will bring you into the reality of God’s promises, so fear will bring you into the reality of the enemy’s tormenting threats.

- Jim Laffoon

I have a post cooking, actually a couple, that are about fear. I will probably post different ones on the different blogs that I am working on (as if keeping up ONE blog wasn't challenging enough.) If you are interested in more Christian-themed posts about fear you can check out Conspiracy Of Kindness. It is a blog that I set up for my church to use, but so far I am the only one who posts there. I try not to be so political over there and I really try to resist the urge to get in a good rant. Should be safe for a 'G' rating. I might just copy the post that I do on fear over there to this blog too. I can do that. I have the power.

Still, it will be interesting to see how I handle another bad news day and whether it is sufficient to bring me down or if I will be able to respond in faith. Sigh... The bad thing about that is that it means there will have to be another bad news day. I am definitely getting better at handling them, though. By temperament I tend towards melancholy, but Jesus is helping me to deal with that a lot better. Things that would have bummed me out for a month now only seem to be able to affect me for a few hours. That is an improvement!

Another indicator that I am getting better is in the way I handled my recent reading of the book of Job. Job has always been my least favorite book in the Bible. In the past, I have found myself railing at God for not answering Job's legitimate question. This time it was different. I think that I am finally starting to understand Job.

Bottom line? God is good. Period. Even when it looks like He isn't good, He is good. If you can get that, you'll be fine.

Some good news today:

Judge: Ten Commandments Display Can Stay

It's about time we win one of these.

The other day seemed heavy laden with bad news. There is an old treaty that Ronald Reagan refused to ratify (because of the damage that it would do to US sovereignty) that inexplicably is in the Senate at President Bush's request for full ratification. This is a horribly bad idea. I love President Bush and all, but this was not one of the finer moments. You can read about it at the link below. Please call and fax your Senators and tell them that you strongly oppose the ratification of this treaty. Unfortunately, letters and emails have almost no impact on Congressional opinion. Since the anthrax scare, letters take months to get there if ever, and emails are given very little weight.

UNITED NATION JURISDICTION OF THE SEAS - THE LAW OF THE SEAS TREATY

Let folks know about this one. It is bad news. It is always a bad thing for us if the UN is in control of anything. I'm personally ready for the US to kick them out of NYC and tell them that if they want to act like our enemy they can do it in someone else's country. I have heard that there is a lovely mountain ridge in the middle of the Atlantic...

I also read a good article the other day on the Town Hall website. It was called:

Exposing How Liberals Misread the Bible
By Frank Pastore
Sunday, September 16, 2007

It demonstrated a very serious weakness in any biblical argument of anyone who doesn't accept biblical inerrancy. Kind of hard to legitimately use the Bible to support your point if you don't accept that the Bible is what it claims to be - the literal Word of God.

I've also been helping a friend who is trying to sell a couple homes in Rowan County, NC. You can see them here. Sorry about the website. It is new and I haven't finished doctoring it up yet. One property is a farm ($255,000) and the other is a really well renovated single story house ($149,900). I know that is a "ranch" but I thought it might be a little confusing after I was talking about the first being a farm. If you know anyone looking to move to Rowan County let them know about it.

My friend, David P has returned from Japan. Keep an eye on his blog. He has found out some interesting information, and I think that his posts in the coming days, weeks and months will prove to continue to be interesting and enlightening.

It seems that there was something else that I wanted to ramble on about, but I can't seem to remember what it was. Perhaps that is because I should have gone to bed hours ago. Thus, that is enough rambling for this post. I'll try to get those fear posts done soon. They have been tumbling around in my mind for a couple of weeks. I think they'll be pretty good. Should be ready before Halloween anyway!

Is It True?

A gentleman in the office where I work made an assertion yesterday that I found just shocking. He said, "It doesn't make any sense getting upset about politics. One day you'll realize that regardless of who is in office it isn't going to make a difference in your day to day life...."

I guess I am just too much of a romantic to believe that that statement is true. Perhaps I am too much of a realist too. I remember the Jimmy Carter days and even as a young child I knew that things weren't that great in our country. I have been told about gas lines and runaway inflation and outrageous interest rates. I also remember that during the Reagan years things got progressively better. So, fundamentally I just have to disagree with my co-worker's statement.

Perhaps once upon a time there was a period where it didn't matter so much who was in office. That time certainly isn't now. Let us consider the things that the Democrats stand for.

First of all, the Democrats largely favor gun control laws. If you don't believe it, look to Congress and see which party has proposed the lion's share of legislation regarding gun control. Look at the majority of people who voted for those bills. Look at the states whose gun control laws are the most restrictive - they are states that vote traditionally Democrat.

Secondly, Democrats favor tax increases. This seems to be a mantra of all Democrats. Of course, when Republicans want to lower taxes, Democrats moan that the tax cuts aren't fair: that they are only lowering taxes for a very small portion of the people. Oddly enough, when the Democrats are in power, they never lower anyone's taxes. Funny how it works that way.

Democrats are also in favor of big government. They believe that the government is better than anyone at anything. They can raise your kids better than you can. They can prepare for your retirement better than you can. They can spend your money better than you can. They can protect you better than you can.

The Democrats love to pretend that they are great champions of the little man too. However, is this self-testimonial true? Hardly. Democrats favor policies that keep the "little man" down. How many people have been set free or improved by the welfare system? Few if any. What does affirmative action tell a minority? If I were to receive a job or a position because of affirmative action I wouldn't feel like I had earned it. It basically tells minorities that they aren't good enough to make it on their own merit; they need a crutch. How about taxes? Who do taxes hurt the most? That's right. The little guy. And we know how often the Democrats lower taxes.

Another problem with the Democrats is their seeming enamoredness with the United Nations. The Democrats have bowed to the UN way too many times. Bill Clinton was willing to bring the United States under the jurisdiction of an international court. The rallying cry of the Democrats since the escalation toward hostilities in Iraq has been, “We need a UN resolution!” The UN is an evil organization that seeks to undermine the sovereignty of every nation on this earth. They make American politics and politicians look like worshipers at a church picnic. Anybody who would support the UN’s agenda is a borderline traitor if not a full blown one.

One of the things that I hate most about so many members of the Democratic Party is their overarching self-absorption. Democrats will do absolutely anything to benefit themselves. For instance, Bill Clinton accepted money from China for his campaigns. (Oddly, about the same time he relaxed trade restrictions that allowed China access to technology that gave them the ability to deliver long-range nuclear weapons – technology that China has sold throughout the world to our detriment.) John Kerry changes his mind about his position on everything depending on whom he is talking to. Al Gore called for how many recounts of the Florida ballots in the 2000 election? John Edwards uses his first term in the Senate to campaign for the Presidency. The list goes on and on and on.

However, the most offensive thing about the Democratic Party is its complete disregard for morality. Democrats support abortion on demand. They support partial birth abortion. They favor euthanasia. They oppose the protection of the family and the traditional definitions of marriage and family. And they lie with satanic ease. These things are absolutely unacceptable, and in and of themselves would be reason enough to not elect them.

You will never convince me that it doesn’t matter who is in charge of our country. If the governance of our country were left to the “superstars” of the Democratic Party, I would hate to see what would happen. I am sure that it would be ugly. I know that it is considered “old fashioned” to refer to the Bible about these sorts of things, but I don’t care. The Bible makes it very clear that the person (or people) who is in charge of a country DIRECTLY affects the destiny of the country. The ruler sets the tone for the society. Under David, Nehemiah, Hezekiah, and Josiah the nation of Israel thrived and was safe from its enemies, but the evil of Jeroboam, Ahab, Jezebel, and Ahaz brought death, destruction, and exile to Israel and Judah. The same thing will happen here if we don’t stand for what is right.

When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.
- Edmund Burke 1729-1797