This past weekend I had my 30th birthday. It is a day not many who knew me growing up expected to come. I should not have seen my first birthday. I had all sorts of physical and mental challenges as I grew up. I could not play sports, let alone understand them until I was about 12 years old. Most kids know exactly why you run up and down a soccer field before they are five. I didn't until I was 12. I had no reading comprehension until I was 12 either. I could tell you what was on a page but I could not tell you what it meant. My brain is really good at memorizing what to do for a particular situation but has difficulty applying what I know to a different situation. This is why I did not drive until a year and a half ago. I had no problem operating a vehicle. I had problems knowing how to operate my vehicle in conjunction with other people operating their vehicles (and I have seen while on the road that this problem is not mine alone). The list goes on and on and I could write a full length novel about this.
But in all that I have been through, God has come through in style. Today, I am not the best as sports but I am generally at least decent at almost all of them. I started fencing 15 years ago and since them my athletic skills have dramatically improved. I never did read as much as people tended to give me credit for but in the last few years, I have written and published a fiction novel, something that someone in my situation growing up would never have on his radar. I have more books coming. As I have reflected over my life, I had a really slow start. But that does not automatically mean I am "behind". I often play video games and one of the games I would play is called F-Zero, a racing game for various Nintendo Consoles. Interestingly enough, my favorite cars to play were the ones with the slower accelerator (it took them a while to pick up speed) but the greater maximum speed (once it got to it's max speed, nothing could keep pace). My life has felt like this. I started out very slow, but once God started moving in my life, I have picked up more and more speed. At age 30, I am not sure if I have "caught up" with where I should be had I grown up "normally" or not, but I do know I am either nearly there or already surpassed it. What I do know for certain is that God made me exactly who I need to be to accomplish what he wants done.
What do I have coming? I am certified to be a teacher and I am waiting and searching for a job opening. I will continue my new found hobby of writing. I do not intend it to be my breadmaker, but you never know. I have a non-fiction book in the planning stages. In one of my posts from last year, I talked about how the Doctrines of Christianity trace back to the book of Genesis. With some feedback and some big names expressing a strong interest in this project, I am going to be getting started on it soon. That will be a multi-year project and from what I have heard from various people is that no one has attempted to do what I am going to be doing with this. So I have a potential really big hit with this project. I still plan to continue fencing, though due to finances until I get a full-time job, I have been forced to hold back on competition. That being said, I am still searching for opportunities to use my sport as a ministry tool. I will have my next opportunity coming up at the end of July with my church when we wrap up a 9-week Summer Wednesday night service, emphasizing on evangelism. I also have an invitation to speak about my fencing ministry and my books on an internet radio show in July as well. The network apparently has approximately 100K listeners. All I know is that God has big stuff planned for me and I am thoroughly enjoying this ride every step of the way. I have been through some tough trials and tribulations leading up to this and I know I have plenty more to come. But God is a big God and as long as I stay in the center of his will, nothing will bring me down. It's going to be a wild, fun, and intense journey to come.
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Thursday, June 6, 2013
The King's Mighty Men
What does it take to be listed as one of "God's Mighty Men"? My last couple posts have been about rising up to the task that God is placing before us. But what I am talking about is not just enlisting in God's army. I am talking about reaching that highest tier of that army. The examples we have of this upper tier is David's Mighty Men listed in 2 Samuel 23. David had a whole army of men that would fight and die for him, but of that army only 37 are listed as the elite of the elite. These 37 men were David's closest companions. They got to hear his inner desires. In 2 Samuel 23, three of these men heard David crying out in the Cave of Abdullam wanting a drink of water from the well at Bethlehem, his home town. They went out on their own, broke through a Philistine garrison, which occupied Bethlehem at the time, got the water and returned to David. Another stood his ground and slew 800 men. Another yet defending a field until his hand grew so tired it actually clung to his sword and he could not let it go. Another sneaked into Saul's camp with David, slipped into where Saul slept along with his personal guard, and stole Saul's personal spear and water skin.
The list of the stories of David's Mighty Men continue goes. But these stories often have the appearance of those of legends and myths. These stories are not mere myths and exaggerated legends. These stories are historical fact. They actually happened. And because they actually happened, what they did physically is something that we can seek to do spiritually. Every one of us has the opportunity to stand and join our King in the battles we face and to one day be listed among his Mighty Men (or Women). I am not saying that in order to be saved we must be one of these men (or women), but I am saying that as a born-again Christian, we have the opportunity to be one of these men (or women).
What does it take to be counted on this list? To understand this, we must look at what David's Mighty Men did. They did not win great battles to become among his Mighty Men. They already were his Mighty Men. David's Mighty Men were 100% loyal to David. They did not question him. They went out of their way to serve the needs of their king. They did not care about life or limb or their own safety. They would readily lay down their lives for the sake of another. They did not fear the ruling authority. Remember, at this time, Saul was still King of Israel and while David was anointed to be the next king, Saul was out to preserve his family line. David's Mighty Men joined the one true king at the cost of risking their lives and their families' lives. David not only had to survive Saul's hunting, but he also had wars to fight with the neighboring tribes such as Egypt, the Philistines, the Ammonites, and many others. They likely had bounties on their heads. If they had families, they would have to keep them on the move. They had to hide out in caves, and could not live in their homes. But yet, they remained steadfast because they were in the presence of the king.
One important thing to note was that because David was anointed to be the next king, the only thing that would prevent him from becoming that king was his own choices in terms of his obedience to God. The enemy could not touch him. Look at the exploits of his men. They fought giants. They killed hundreds of men. They killed lions and bears with their bare hands. Where is that kind of drive? Where is that kind of courage today? They did not consider the impossibilities. They did not think about the "What would happen if we fail?". They saw their goal and they sought to get it done and NOTHING was going to get in their way. I'm not 100% sure about the source here, but I think it was William Carey who said, "I am immortal until I have done everything that God has in store for me do to." As long as William Carey was in God's will, nothing could touch him until he completed God's plans for him. Where is that mentality today?
We need men and women to rise up and be counted as Christ's Mighty Men (and Women). There are some that are seeking that position. Eric Ludy is one. I seek to be one as well. I am not in that level where I could be considered on that Mighty Men list. I am definitely in the army, perhaps has a Captain or General in training, but to be on that list of 37 (there is no cap space on this one)? That is what I want to be. I want to be in a position where God could tell me his deep thoughts as he did with Abraham and as he did with David and as he did with Moses. Am I willing to toss aside the luxuries and comforts of life to get more God? It does not mean he will do so right at this time, but am I willing? I live in the desert and AC is a luxury. Am I willing to go without it? Am I willing to face impossible odds for whatever task God wants me to do? Am I willing to face down giants and charge into battle against the armies of the spiritual enemies we face? Am I willing to put my life on the line, even to the point of death, to serve my King? Many of us will not be able to say yes to these questions. In some of them, I can say yes without a second thought. But some of them, I must be honest and say I am not there yet. Until I can answer yes to all of these questions and those like it, I will not be listed with Christ's Mighty Men. To be in the presence of the King, to go with him into battle, to be able to hear his deep secrets that he wants to share with us, and to be counted on in 100% obedience, that is the goal. It is possible to reach that place. Several have already made the list. Amy Carmichael. William Booth. William Carey. David Brainard. C.T. Studd. David Livingston. If God has a list equivalent to David's Mighty Men, these people would be on it. These are not perfect men or women. Neither we David's Men. David himself was no angel. But which of us are going to make that step to get in closer to God? Which of us will risk it all to prove our God faithful without fear of possible failure? I want to be able to say I am one who will do it.
David's Mighty Men had to start somewhere. They did not just become his Mighty Men overnight. I'm just getting started on this journey to a much deeper level. It is going to be long. It is going to be hard. But I see the prize: intimate fellowship with the King. I don't want to wait until heaven to really get to know my King. I want to know him here and now. And if this is a journey I must take alone, so be it. But I challenge my readers to join me in this journey. It does not matter what happens to my body. As long as I obey God and seek after him and rest in his will, I will be invincible until I have done all that needs to be done. If what I need to do is endure physical torture and execution, then so be it. I obey, God wins. And that is the only victory that matters. I want to be like Stephen who saw the God of Heaven standing at the throne as he was being stoned. God was giving Stephen a standing ovation, even though it came at the cost of Stephen's life. I want to hear that line "Well done, Good and Faithful Servant." I can go on and on and on. But God is issuing a challenge. Will we rise up to it? God will never give us any task without first equipping us for it. And he will be with us, going before, staying behind, and covering our flanks. I am going to stand up and say "Send me." Which of you will do so as well?
The list of the stories of David's Mighty Men continue goes. But these stories often have the appearance of those of legends and myths. These stories are not mere myths and exaggerated legends. These stories are historical fact. They actually happened. And because they actually happened, what they did physically is something that we can seek to do spiritually. Every one of us has the opportunity to stand and join our King in the battles we face and to one day be listed among his Mighty Men (or Women). I am not saying that in order to be saved we must be one of these men (or women), but I am saying that as a born-again Christian, we have the opportunity to be one of these men (or women).
What does it take to be counted on this list? To understand this, we must look at what David's Mighty Men did. They did not win great battles to become among his Mighty Men. They already were his Mighty Men. David's Mighty Men were 100% loyal to David. They did not question him. They went out of their way to serve the needs of their king. They did not care about life or limb or their own safety. They would readily lay down their lives for the sake of another. They did not fear the ruling authority. Remember, at this time, Saul was still King of Israel and while David was anointed to be the next king, Saul was out to preserve his family line. David's Mighty Men joined the one true king at the cost of risking their lives and their families' lives. David not only had to survive Saul's hunting, but he also had wars to fight with the neighboring tribes such as Egypt, the Philistines, the Ammonites, and many others. They likely had bounties on their heads. If they had families, they would have to keep them on the move. They had to hide out in caves, and could not live in their homes. But yet, they remained steadfast because they were in the presence of the king.
One important thing to note was that because David was anointed to be the next king, the only thing that would prevent him from becoming that king was his own choices in terms of his obedience to God. The enemy could not touch him. Look at the exploits of his men. They fought giants. They killed hundreds of men. They killed lions and bears with their bare hands. Where is that kind of drive? Where is that kind of courage today? They did not consider the impossibilities. They did not think about the "What would happen if we fail?". They saw their goal and they sought to get it done and NOTHING was going to get in their way. I'm not 100% sure about the source here, but I think it was William Carey who said, "I am immortal until I have done everything that God has in store for me do to." As long as William Carey was in God's will, nothing could touch him until he completed God's plans for him. Where is that mentality today?
We need men and women to rise up and be counted as Christ's Mighty Men (and Women). There are some that are seeking that position. Eric Ludy is one. I seek to be one as well. I am not in that level where I could be considered on that Mighty Men list. I am definitely in the army, perhaps has a Captain or General in training, but to be on that list of 37 (there is no cap space on this one)? That is what I want to be. I want to be in a position where God could tell me his deep thoughts as he did with Abraham and as he did with David and as he did with Moses. Am I willing to toss aside the luxuries and comforts of life to get more God? It does not mean he will do so right at this time, but am I willing? I live in the desert and AC is a luxury. Am I willing to go without it? Am I willing to face impossible odds for whatever task God wants me to do? Am I willing to face down giants and charge into battle against the armies of the spiritual enemies we face? Am I willing to put my life on the line, even to the point of death, to serve my King? Many of us will not be able to say yes to these questions. In some of them, I can say yes without a second thought. But some of them, I must be honest and say I am not there yet. Until I can answer yes to all of these questions and those like it, I will not be listed with Christ's Mighty Men. To be in the presence of the King, to go with him into battle, to be able to hear his deep secrets that he wants to share with us, and to be counted on in 100% obedience, that is the goal. It is possible to reach that place. Several have already made the list. Amy Carmichael. William Booth. William Carey. David Brainard. C.T. Studd. David Livingston. If God has a list equivalent to David's Mighty Men, these people would be on it. These are not perfect men or women. Neither we David's Men. David himself was no angel. But which of us are going to make that step to get in closer to God? Which of us will risk it all to prove our God faithful without fear of possible failure? I want to be able to say I am one who will do it.
David's Mighty Men had to start somewhere. They did not just become his Mighty Men overnight. I'm just getting started on this journey to a much deeper level. It is going to be long. It is going to be hard. But I see the prize: intimate fellowship with the King. I don't want to wait until heaven to really get to know my King. I want to know him here and now. And if this is a journey I must take alone, so be it. But I challenge my readers to join me in this journey. It does not matter what happens to my body. As long as I obey God and seek after him and rest in his will, I will be invincible until I have done all that needs to be done. If what I need to do is endure physical torture and execution, then so be it. I obey, God wins. And that is the only victory that matters. I want to be like Stephen who saw the God of Heaven standing at the throne as he was being stoned. God was giving Stephen a standing ovation, even though it came at the cost of Stephen's life. I want to hear that line "Well done, Good and Faithful Servant." I can go on and on and on. But God is issuing a challenge. Will we rise up to it? God will never give us any task without first equipping us for it. And he will be with us, going before, staying behind, and covering our flanks. I am going to stand up and say "Send me." Which of you will do so as well?
Monday, June 3, 2013
The Call To Arms
We are at war. I am not talking about Iraq, Afghanistan, the conflicts in Syria and potentially in North Korea. This war is bigger than the the War on Terror. It is bigger than the Cold War. It is bigger than World Wars I and II combined. It has lasted longer than recorded history. It is a war on the grandest of epic scales. It is the ultimate showdown between good and evil. This war is a spiritual war. The battlefield is both further away and closer than any of us realize. It is off in some distant land on the other side of the planet. It is numerous cities throughout the world. It is also in our own city. It is in our backyard. It is in our homes. And it is within each and every one of us. The object of the war; the reason this war is being fought, is us. We are the sought out prize: the spoils of the war. Satan is out to destroy us so he can spit in the face of God. But God is not content to just let us go and be victims of Satan's accusing, destructive schemes. He has fought back and continues to fight. Now, God and Satan are not on equal levels. The two will never be equals. God is always above Satan and when God fights, he always wins.
But God doesn't always win. Why is that? Why does it seem that evil is getting more and more powerful? If God is all-powerful, why doesn't he stop all this evil going on? Here is why. God wants a relationship with us. That was how he created mankind back in Genesis. But sin put a huge rift in that relationship. God has fought back to make it possible to close that gap. This was done by sending his son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross. God is not just a loving God. He is a Just God. Sin must be punished. It must be dealt with. God cannot be called either loving or just if he just allows sin to fester. God loves us so much he will do what it takes to clean us. He is jealous and he will not tolerate us going after other gods in the same way a husband will not let another man take his wife. What is more is that God wants us to learn to trust him more in the same way a child trusts his parents. If God did everything behind the scenes, we would not pick up anything from it. Nor would we appreciate what he is doing. But here is yet another reason God chooses to work through us. It is the ultimate smack-down to Satan. Satan thinks he has victory because he was able to deceive us and trick us into sinning and rebelling against God. But God gets the last laugh because he uses the weak, the pathetic, the poor, the uneducated, the few, and the defenseless to defeat that accuser.
Here is the problem. Those God wants to use to defeat evil are not fighting. It does not matter whether we fight for God or not, Satan still treats each and every one of us as an enemy. His goal is to steal, kill, and destroy. He will seek to be friendly and seek our friendships, but his goal is our destruction. God knows this. So not only did God give his Son to us so that he would pay the price for our sins, he has given us armor and equipment to rise up, make a stand against the forces of darkness and beat it back. Not only just beat it back, but to take the offense and drive it out. The major pieces of this equipment is the Armor of God. That will deserve its own posts. But this Armor is just accessible to just anyone. To use it, you need to be born-again. You need to renounce your citizenship to the sin in your life and claim Jesus Christ and your King. A lord in the Medieval days would never allow a soldier from an enemy army to don his knights' armor. How would he so that solider would not just betray him? It's the same reason why in order to wield God's equipment, you need to be loyal to him. But as Christians we have the equipment necessary to win our battles in this war.
But having the equipment does not address the problem. It only makes the problem worse. It is bad enough that the people are not fighting. It is worse that people have what they need to fight and aren't. Satan loves having people enlisted in God's army step to the side and not fight. That makes his job easier. We are in the battle whether we want to be or not. We cannot claim to be neutral and watch the war from the sidelines, cheering God's army on. Too many think they are doing that. No, in this war, if you aren't fighting, you are in the middle of the battlefield taking crossfire from both sides. You are like a player on a basketball team that is doing nothing to help your team score and doing nothing to help prevent the other team from scoring. You are making the few that are fighting have to fight harder because you are not doing your job. God is calling us to take up his arms, to follow him and to take the battlefield. But God is not a mere general that stands on the hillside from afar to watch and direct the battle. He is willing and wants to come and fight by our sides. He goes before us. He stands behind us. He covers our flanks. God fights for us and with us. And when we join him in the battle, we will not lose. The battle is only going to get harder because Satan knows his time is running out. He is getting ready for a final offensive front that will be carried out in the End Times. Are we going to be ready to make the stand we need to take? The spoils of this war is no trifle. It is not just your soul at stake. So is the soul of every person you encounter. And not one of us who are born-again and know Jesus personally as our Lord and Savior would be here if someone did not make a stand and fight for us.
How do we fight? What will be involved in the battle? How do we use this equipment God has given us? I'll be going into detail on this shortly. I'm raising a Call to Arms. To take up the Armor and the Weapons God has given us and to put them to use. It is a call to get off our seats and make our lives productive and useful for a purpose greater than ourselves. It will not be easy. It will be difficult. But the prize, the spoils of war, are valuable beyond measure. Will you join me?
But God doesn't always win. Why is that? Why does it seem that evil is getting more and more powerful? If God is all-powerful, why doesn't he stop all this evil going on? Here is why. God wants a relationship with us. That was how he created mankind back in Genesis. But sin put a huge rift in that relationship. God has fought back to make it possible to close that gap. This was done by sending his son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross. God is not just a loving God. He is a Just God. Sin must be punished. It must be dealt with. God cannot be called either loving or just if he just allows sin to fester. God loves us so much he will do what it takes to clean us. He is jealous and he will not tolerate us going after other gods in the same way a husband will not let another man take his wife. What is more is that God wants us to learn to trust him more in the same way a child trusts his parents. If God did everything behind the scenes, we would not pick up anything from it. Nor would we appreciate what he is doing. But here is yet another reason God chooses to work through us. It is the ultimate smack-down to Satan. Satan thinks he has victory because he was able to deceive us and trick us into sinning and rebelling against God. But God gets the last laugh because he uses the weak, the pathetic, the poor, the uneducated, the few, and the defenseless to defeat that accuser.
Here is the problem. Those God wants to use to defeat evil are not fighting. It does not matter whether we fight for God or not, Satan still treats each and every one of us as an enemy. His goal is to steal, kill, and destroy. He will seek to be friendly and seek our friendships, but his goal is our destruction. God knows this. So not only did God give his Son to us so that he would pay the price for our sins, he has given us armor and equipment to rise up, make a stand against the forces of darkness and beat it back. Not only just beat it back, but to take the offense and drive it out. The major pieces of this equipment is the Armor of God. That will deserve its own posts. But this Armor is just accessible to just anyone. To use it, you need to be born-again. You need to renounce your citizenship to the sin in your life and claim Jesus Christ and your King. A lord in the Medieval days would never allow a soldier from an enemy army to don his knights' armor. How would he so that solider would not just betray him? It's the same reason why in order to wield God's equipment, you need to be loyal to him. But as Christians we have the equipment necessary to win our battles in this war.
But having the equipment does not address the problem. It only makes the problem worse. It is bad enough that the people are not fighting. It is worse that people have what they need to fight and aren't. Satan loves having people enlisted in God's army step to the side and not fight. That makes his job easier. We are in the battle whether we want to be or not. We cannot claim to be neutral and watch the war from the sidelines, cheering God's army on. Too many think they are doing that. No, in this war, if you aren't fighting, you are in the middle of the battlefield taking crossfire from both sides. You are like a player on a basketball team that is doing nothing to help your team score and doing nothing to help prevent the other team from scoring. You are making the few that are fighting have to fight harder because you are not doing your job. God is calling us to take up his arms, to follow him and to take the battlefield. But God is not a mere general that stands on the hillside from afar to watch and direct the battle. He is willing and wants to come and fight by our sides. He goes before us. He stands behind us. He covers our flanks. God fights for us and with us. And when we join him in the battle, we will not lose. The battle is only going to get harder because Satan knows his time is running out. He is getting ready for a final offensive front that will be carried out in the End Times. Are we going to be ready to make the stand we need to take? The spoils of this war is no trifle. It is not just your soul at stake. So is the soul of every person you encounter. And not one of us who are born-again and know Jesus personally as our Lord and Savior would be here if someone did not make a stand and fight for us.
How do we fight? What will be involved in the battle? How do we use this equipment God has given us? I'll be going into detail on this shortly. I'm raising a Call to Arms. To take up the Armor and the Weapons God has given us and to put them to use. It is a call to get off our seats and make our lives productive and useful for a purpose greater than ourselves. It will not be easy. It will be difficult. But the prize, the spoils of war, are valuable beyond measure. Will you join me?
Saturday, June 1, 2013
Becoming a Warrior for the Kingdom of God
The last two months have been a life-changing process in my life. I am only scratching the surface of it right now but I am feeling God moving in my life in a far greater degree than I can recall at any one point in time. God is a GOOD God. He is loving and kind, but he is a God of Justice. He loves me so much that he want to work out every area of shadow, of darkness, in my life .I have to admit that for the last few years, I have pretty much been on cruise control in my walk with Jesus Christ.
The last time I experienced a life-changing moment remotely to this caliber was six years ago this July. I was working at a small grocery story witnessing to a co-worker and in the process, I stirred up a dormant demonic stronghold in his life that soon manifested itself through my co-worker. It was the most intense and brutal spiritual battle I have encountered to date. My faith grew to a new level with that battle. I came out on top, but my co-worker refused to surrender his life to Jesus Christ. That battle was part of a new stage in my life where God called me into writing. I used that battle as a key plot point in a spiritual warfare novel that is now between contracts with publishers. More on that on a later post.
But in the last few years, I have seen a little growth spurt here and there but nothing that would qualify as going to a deeper level. Until the last two months. It began with a sermon at my church, Restoration Fellowship. My church in the last ten years has grown but lately has started to wane. And my pastor gave a stirring message that has begun a movement to step it up. The very next day, my brother introduced me to another pastor/speaker, Eric Ludy, via a few of his YouTube clips. Eric Ludy, most well-known for his books and talks on dating/marriage relationships and courtships, is now leading a leadership training program called Ellerslie in northern Colorado. His short sermon: "The Gospel" awoke me to something I had never seen. The clip is posted here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPIOkdNL-QQ&list=PL0AD28844A82EDD10&index=2
This presentation is not about "How to get Saved" but rather, what is the "Good News" and what does it mean? I have 22 years of missions experience and I have never seen what the Christian life should be summarized so simply and yet so deep. I'll go deeper into what that all has entailed at another time. To make a much longer story short, I began to listen to other short sermons and even some of his full-length ones. I also began to listen to some of Paul Washer, Leonard Ravenhill, David Wilkerson, and a few others. And a lot of what I have been hearing from these men is a great lacking of spiritual fervor in the American church. We don't have great men of faith anymore. That's not a God-problem. That is a church-problem. But some men are rising up and saying, "We need what the church was meant to be." Ludy is one of them, and he has inspired me to join him.
Things got even more interested two weeks ago when I attended the Colorado Christian Writer's Conference in Estes Park, Colorado. While there, one of the authors/speakers addressed the need for the church to get ready for spiritual warfare. The US has not endured times of harsh persecution but it is coming and it is coming fast in order for the End Times Prophecies to be fulfilled. This author asked me and a few others to help him work on a massive scale project God has called him to design.
The concept is "What if there was a role-playing game that helped you deal with your problems before your problems deal with you?" One of the ideas of this game/project is "Every army in the history of the world has use "war games" to prepare its soldiers for war, except one: The Church. Why? It is a spiritual battle and how can you "war game" a spiritual battle? This game is one way we can do. We can practice testing what the enemy would do and how we would respond to such situations. My job in helping him with this game is to develop the "warrior's order". In Star Wars' terminology, I would be not only creating the lightsaber but establishing the Jedi Order. My job is to dig deep into the Armor of God and come up with a martial arts tactic system on how to use that Armor in a metaphor of the spiritual battle.
As I have thought about this, I came back to my spiritual warfare novels. I now have a contract offer from OakTara Publishing for my first book and the sequel which is now with beta readers. I did not realize I did this, but my books do exactly what the game above intends to do: War Game. My book is a very practical covert spiritual warfare training manual put in through a fiction story, and yet reveals some of the ways we can and do engage in spiritual warfare. I have more books to come but this is a potentially HUGE thing God may be doing.
God is calling me to sound the "Call to Arms". For the church of God to rise back up. He is taking me to a brand new level so I can come back and bring others with me to that deeper level. The foundation is laid. It is time to start digging. There is too much to say in one blog post and I intent to be blogging a lot more frequently that I have been lately so I have a means of getting my thoughts down and sharing what God is giving me. I need prayer in this time. Prayer that I will have the strength and the courage to expose my areas of sin to my Father so he can clean them out. I need prayer for the endurance and the drive to dig down to this level. And I need prayer that I will be alert to the whims of the enemy as he seeks to keep me back or knock me down. What is going to come from this process will be bigger than I can imagine. Bigger than I can contain within myself. And I believe it has the potential of changing a generation. I have lived a life of the impossible where God shows up bigger and mightier each time. What I am about to take on is bigger than my abilities, but it is not too big for God to carry it through me. War is coming. And I intent to rise up to meet it head-on. More to come later.
Charlie
The last time I experienced a life-changing moment remotely to this caliber was six years ago this July. I was working at a small grocery story witnessing to a co-worker and in the process, I stirred up a dormant demonic stronghold in his life that soon manifested itself through my co-worker. It was the most intense and brutal spiritual battle I have encountered to date. My faith grew to a new level with that battle. I came out on top, but my co-worker refused to surrender his life to Jesus Christ. That battle was part of a new stage in my life where God called me into writing. I used that battle as a key plot point in a spiritual warfare novel that is now between contracts with publishers. More on that on a later post.
But in the last few years, I have seen a little growth spurt here and there but nothing that would qualify as going to a deeper level. Until the last two months. It began with a sermon at my church, Restoration Fellowship. My church in the last ten years has grown but lately has started to wane. And my pastor gave a stirring message that has begun a movement to step it up. The very next day, my brother introduced me to another pastor/speaker, Eric Ludy, via a few of his YouTube clips. Eric Ludy, most well-known for his books and talks on dating/marriage relationships and courtships, is now leading a leadership training program called Ellerslie in northern Colorado. His short sermon: "The Gospel" awoke me to something I had never seen. The clip is posted here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPIOkdNL-QQ&list=PL0AD28844A82EDD10&index=2
This presentation is not about "How to get Saved" but rather, what is the "Good News" and what does it mean? I have 22 years of missions experience and I have never seen what the Christian life should be summarized so simply and yet so deep. I'll go deeper into what that all has entailed at another time. To make a much longer story short, I began to listen to other short sermons and even some of his full-length ones. I also began to listen to some of Paul Washer, Leonard Ravenhill, David Wilkerson, and a few others. And a lot of what I have been hearing from these men is a great lacking of spiritual fervor in the American church. We don't have great men of faith anymore. That's not a God-problem. That is a church-problem. But some men are rising up and saying, "We need what the church was meant to be." Ludy is one of them, and he has inspired me to join him.
Things got even more interested two weeks ago when I attended the Colorado Christian Writer's Conference in Estes Park, Colorado. While there, one of the authors/speakers addressed the need for the church to get ready for spiritual warfare. The US has not endured times of harsh persecution but it is coming and it is coming fast in order for the End Times Prophecies to be fulfilled. This author asked me and a few others to help him work on a massive scale project God has called him to design.
The concept is "What if there was a role-playing game that helped you deal with your problems before your problems deal with you?" One of the ideas of this game/project is "Every army in the history of the world has use "war games" to prepare its soldiers for war, except one: The Church. Why? It is a spiritual battle and how can you "war game" a spiritual battle? This game is one way we can do. We can practice testing what the enemy would do and how we would respond to such situations. My job in helping him with this game is to develop the "warrior's order". In Star Wars' terminology, I would be not only creating the lightsaber but establishing the Jedi Order. My job is to dig deep into the Armor of God and come up with a martial arts tactic system on how to use that Armor in a metaphor of the spiritual battle.
As I have thought about this, I came back to my spiritual warfare novels. I now have a contract offer from OakTara Publishing for my first book and the sequel which is now with beta readers. I did not realize I did this, but my books do exactly what the game above intends to do: War Game. My book is a very practical covert spiritual warfare training manual put in through a fiction story, and yet reveals some of the ways we can and do engage in spiritual warfare. I have more books to come but this is a potentially HUGE thing God may be doing.
God is calling me to sound the "Call to Arms". For the church of God to rise back up. He is taking me to a brand new level so I can come back and bring others with me to that deeper level. The foundation is laid. It is time to start digging. There is too much to say in one blog post and I intent to be blogging a lot more frequently that I have been lately so I have a means of getting my thoughts down and sharing what God is giving me. I need prayer in this time. Prayer that I will have the strength and the courage to expose my areas of sin to my Father so he can clean them out. I need prayer for the endurance and the drive to dig down to this level. And I need prayer that I will be alert to the whims of the enemy as he seeks to keep me back or knock me down. What is going to come from this process will be bigger than I can imagine. Bigger than I can contain within myself. And I believe it has the potential of changing a generation. I have lived a life of the impossible where God shows up bigger and mightier each time. What I am about to take on is bigger than my abilities, but it is not too big for God to carry it through me. War is coming. And I intent to rise up to meet it head-on. More to come later.
Charlie
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