Wild at Heart, Chapter 10: A Beauty to Rescue, part 4

Every beauty needs to be rescued, the question every man must answer is, "Will you fight for her?" Will you risk your life to save hers, or leave her to fend for herself in the tower? She must be rescued, and if you refuse to do it, she will look for it in someone else.

Back in college on of my RA's (Resident Assistants) told me something I haven't forgotten, "Too many guys treat the girl like a princess until they get her, then they stop. It's like once they have her they think they don't have to try anymore." When he told me that I knew that I wanted to be the guy who never stopped, sadly I can't say that I haven't.

I don't always treat my wife like the princess that she is, and honestly I hate myself for that. I hate that I've let other things take up the few precious moments we get to spend together. I hate that I am silent and kill her with it. I hate that I get impatient with her. I hate that there are times I haven't fought for her.

"And it's not just once, but again and again over time. That's where the myth really stumps us. Some men are willing to go in once, twice, even three times. But a warrior is in this for good." There is nothing that could ever make me leave my wife. Never once have I thought, "I wish I could get out of this." But there are times I've treated her like I think that way. The times I don't make her a priority. The times I let the chaos of life overwhelm me to the point of complacency. The times when I let my frustration with circumstances come out as anger directed at her. Those are the times I have dropped out of the fight for her heart.

I'm not saying a husband and wife will never fight or argue, that's unavoidable when you bring two people with two decades of separate lives together into one. I'm not saying there won't be times when things come up that demand your attention. But we do have a choice in how we react during these times. Even in those moments it is still possible to fight for her heart. I'm learning how to.

If we rescue the beauty it says so much about who we are as men. "The universe is so vast and so ageless that the life of one man can only be justified by the measure of his sacrifice." Only I can be a husband to my wife and father to our children. My goals and dreams don't matter if it costs me my family. And so the question is what will I sacrifice? Will I give up the princess for myself, or myself for the princess?

I choose her. Yes it does mean the hardships of battle, but it also means her love. That is worth every wound I will receive in the fight. And with her it opens the door to a whole new life of adventure.

"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."

To God alone be the Glory!

Strength and Honor

Wild at Heart, Chapter 10: A Beauty to Rescue, part 3

"Most men want the maiden without any sort of cost to themselves. They want all the joys of the beauty without any of the woes of the battle." Most men want to look like the warrior, but don't want to bleed like one. They want the beauty without going through the dragon, and it doesn't work that way.

A friend of mine is working on a series of novels. I'm pretty stoked about reading them, and not just because one of the characters who is alluded to in book one and shows up in book two is based on me. It's a story about an epic journey, full of battles and boys becoming men and those men becoming warriors (can't give much more than that, but trust me, you'll want to read them). He would talk with me about the series back when we were in college and as he would describe situations my character faced he'd occasionally ask if I had any ideas.

On this particular occasion we were talking about some battle and I recommended an epic speech. Every series needs to have an epic speech before a battle, it's a rule. I suggested something along the lines of "Freedom is never free. There is always a great price that must be paid for it. Those who are willing, follow me." And then it all begins. (Who else is ready to read these?)

Freedom isn't won by people who sit at home. The beauty is never yours without a fight. "Pretty women endure this abuse all the time. They are pursued, but not really; they are wanted, but only superficially. They learn to offer their bodies but never, ever their souls. Most men, you see, marry for safety; they choose a woman who will make them feel like a man but never really challenge them to be one."

This is one of the saddest realities out there. Boys who have never really become men get to the point where it is time to find a life mate. But because there has been no initiation for them, they have no strength to offer to her. We end up with lonely women left to raise the kids on their own. You have a wife who feels abandoned and who remains in the tower because the one who is supposed to rescue her refuses to. He is in this for himself and doesn't want to be challenged to be something more. And so he marries someone he thinks will make him happy without asking him to rise to a challenge.

These are the guys who can't rise to the challenge. They can't suit up and storm the fortress because they don't know how to. But then there are the guys who won't. They guys who for one reason or another find a reason not to offer what they have. "Why don't men offer what they have to their women? Because we know down in our guts that it won't be enough... This is where many men falter. Either they refuse to give what they can, or they keep pouring and pouring into her and all the while feel like a failure because she is still needing more."

This points to a reality for both them and us. "She needs God more than she needs you, just as you need him more than you need her." I never dated in middle school or high school. In college I dated one girl, and I'm really glad that ended. But as senior year came around, pretty much everyone I knew was either married, getting married, planning on getting engaged, or really seriously dating, and I was single. It was a rough and slightly depressing stage of life. But in that time God and I got close. I got to the point shortly after graduation where I realized that I didn't need a wife, that I was enough in and of myself to be able to do what God had called me to do ministry wise. Now I'll be the first to admit that having my wife makes things so much easier and that I don't ever want to have to do this without her, but before I could marry her, before I could begin to rescue her from the tower, I had to be more dependent up God, and closer to God, than I ever would be to her. And before she could ever be rescued by me, God had to rescue her.

"Do you see now that you can't bring your question to Eve? No matter how good a man you are you can never be enough. If she's the report card on your strength then you'l ultimately get an F. But that's not why you love her - to get a good grade. You love her because that's what you are made to do; that's what a real man does."

My strength comes form God, and so I offer what I have to her, knowing that I can't satisfy all her needs, knowing that I can't bring all of the healing to the brokenness. But as it says in Ephesians 5, "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself" (verses 25-28).

It is my job to love my wife, and lead her to God. I am to show her that God will protect her and fight for her as I do. I am to show her that God will delight in her beauty and be captivated by her as I am. I can give her but a glimpse of who God is, and that is the role I must play. But before I can lead her to God's strength, I must first recover mine. Before I can point her to God, I must know God deeply and intimately.

"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."

To God alone be the Glory!

Strength and Honor

Wild at Heart, Chapter 10: A Beauty to Rescue, part 2

"Just as every little boy is asking one question, every little girl is, as well. But her question isn't so much about her strength. No, the deep cry of a little girl's heart is am I lovely? Every woman needs to know that she is exquisite and exotic and chosen. This is core to her identity, the way she bears the image of God. Will you pursue me? Do you delight in me? Will you fight for me? And like every little boy, she has taken a wound as well. The wound strikes right at the core of her heart of beauty and leaves a devastating message with it: No. You're not beautiful and no one will really fight for you."

The attacks are directed directly at the image of God we bear, what else does the enemy need to take out? If he gets that, he gets it all. I really shouldn't be after reading this chapter as many times as I have, but I'm amazed at the number of women who have been hit. Many of them you'd never suspect, just like many guys who are posers, but in some way every woman has been wounded.

When asked if they will be pursued the answer is "No, I'll call you when I need something." When asked if they are delighted in the answer is, "No, you are here to please me." When asked if they will be fought for the answer is, "No, I am going to use you." This is what happened to my wife before me, and this has happened to many women that you know. So many of them are constantly hit with the message, "you are not desired; you will not be protected; no one will fight for you. The tower is built brick by brick and when she's a grown woman it can be a fortress."

And it is for this moment, this battle, that a man must be a man. He must step up and play his part. He must display the image of God that is his to bear. "She needs a lover and a warrior, not a Really Nice Guy." She needs someone who will love her passionately, something that goes far beyond sex, and who will fight for her no matter what the odds are against him.

Right before my wife and I got together she prayed for guidance, and God gave her a song, "Lead Me" by Sanctus Real. I made her a CD for her birthday with this as the first song. The chorus says this,

Lead me with strong hands
Stand up when I can't
Don't leave me hungry for love
Chasing dreams, but what about us?

Show me you're willing to fight
That I'm still the love of your life
I know we call this our home
But I still feel alone

That is the cry of a woman's heart. She wants, no needs, someone that will stand up and defend her against the attacks that are aimed at her. She needs someone to stand to her right in the phalanx. She needs someone who will love her, who will help her to see her beauty and how captivating she is. She needs someone that will fight for her. Someone who is willing to risk his life to rescue hers. And with this there is a crucial question that ever man must ask himself, "Am I willing to bleed like a warrior for her?"

As I'm writing this I'm being reminded, by God, about how often I fail in this area. How impatient I can be, and how at times I get to the point where I'm sick of fighting and wonder if it's all worth it. But it's at that point that I remember my wedding ring. My ring has groves cut into it across the middle. I picked this ring out to be a constant reminder of Ephesians 5.25, " Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her".

This is the part of the letter that is written to me, this is the part that I am to focus on. My job is to love my wife as Christ loves the church. And how did Christ love the Church? He died for her. He bled for her! "The number one problem between men and their women is that we men, when asked to truly fight for her... hesitate. We are still seeking to save ourselves; we have forgotten the deep pleasure of spilling our life for another." If I am to truly be like Christ, I must fight for her, no matter how difficult it might get. I must shed blood for her, and when I do, she will nurture my wounds. After all that is part of the image she bears.

When a man refuses to bleed women are left in the tower. "When a man withholds himself from his woman, he leavers her without the life only he can bring. This is never more true than with how a man offers - or does not offer - his words. Life and death are in the power of the tongue, says Proverbs (18:21). She is made for and craves words from him." One of the most crucial ways we fight for her is with our words. Shockingly, this is hard for me at times. Writing is easy for me, but sometimes saying things sound cliche or cheesy, and I really don't want to give that to my wife. But the lack of my words leave her feeling empty and alone. Even though I'm right next to her in the room, my silence is deadly.

"If the man refuses to offer himself, then his wife will remain empty and barren. A violent man destroys with his words; a silent man starves his wife... A man who leaves his wife with the children and the bills to go and find another, easier life has denied them his strength. He has sacrificed them when he should have sacrificed his strength for them. What makes Maximus or William Wallace so heroic is simply this: they are willing to die to set others free."

If we want to be men, we must rescue the beauty. We must offer our strength and shed our blood. The only way for the princess to be rescued from the tower is for the man to offer his strength. When he does she is given new life, and the two of them share in the deepest intimacy possible between two people, again, something so far beyond sex. They share their lives, they join their lives. But only when a man offers his strength and spends himself for the beauty.

"There under the shadow of a man's strength, a woman finds rest. The masculine journey takes a man away from the woman so that he might return to her. He goes to find his strength, he returns to offer it. He tears down the walls of the tower that has held her with his words and with his actions. He speaks to her heart's deepest question in a thousand ways. Yes, you are lovely. Yes, there is one who will fight for you. But most men have not yet fought the battle, most women are still in the tower."

On the front of the CD I gave my wife I wrote four words, "I Am, You Are". I am willing to fight for you, you are the love of my life.

So Father, give me the strength
To be everything I'm called to be
Oh, Father, show me the way
To lead them
Won't You lead me?

To lead them with strong hands
To stand up when they can't
Don't want to leave them hungry for love,
Chasing things that I could give up

I'll show them I'm willing to fight
And give them the best of my life
So we can call this our home
Lead me, 'cause I can't do this alone

"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."

To God alone be the Glory!

Strength and Honor

Wild at Heart, Chapter 10: A Beauty to Rescue, part 1

"From ancient fables to the latest blockbuster, the theme of a strong man coming to rescue a beautiful woman is universal to human nature. It is written in our hearts, one of the core desires of every man and every woman." If that is the case, then "Why do most of us get lost somewhere between 'once upon a time; and happily ever after?'

This chapter has hit me hardest to date. I've been married for almost two years, but in reading these pages, again, I've seen so many ways I need to fight harder for the heart of my princess. This is the most crucial part of the battle for me right now, and if I lose this one, I've lost so much. As with any battle, we cannot rush in unprepared or naive. Quite often there is so much more of a fight here than we initially realize. It's not her fault, it's the world we live it.

"We've overlooked two very crucial aspects to that myth. On the one hand none of us ever really believed the sorcerer was real. We thought we could have the maiden without a fight... And second, we have not understood the tower and it's relation to her wound; the damsel is in distress. If masculinity has come under assault, femininity has been brutalized."

This battle is crucial because it is brings us perhaps the greatest reward we could ever receive on this earth, the beauty that all of us long for. Men are strong, powerful and dangerous, it's how God made us, and it is the part of His image He has made us bearers of. But the woman is different. "She embodies the exquisite beauty and the exotic mystery of God in a way that nothing else in all creation even comes close to. And so she is the special target of the Evil One; he turns his most vicious malice against here. If he can destroy her or keep her captive, he can ruin the story."

Think back to Genesis 1 and 2, "Then God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.' 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 God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth'" (Genesis 1.26-28).

"Then the Lord God said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.' Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. The man said, 'This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.' For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh" (Genesis 2.18-24).

Man and woman are both made in the image of God. Initially man is formed from the dust of the earth, and in the beginning he bore the full image of God. But here we see that God exists in relationship and community, and since man is made in His image, he is created for that same existence. And so God causes him to fall into a deep sleep, He removes a rib, which in Hebrew is the word tsela`. It is a feminine noun, and refers to God removing the feminine part of His image from man and forming a woman who is now the bearer of half of God's image. It is in marriage, that the two become one, that the halves become whole, and the full image of God is displayed to creation.

This is the last thing the Enemy wants. He attacks the strength of a man so he is unable to fight for the woman. He brutalizes a woman's beauty so that she is locked high in a tower, unable to be rescued. If each half is unable to be what it was created to be, then there is no danger for the whole to be completed. He is working to prevent the full image of God from being displayed, and so his attacks are directed at the aspects of the image we each bear.

If we are to rescue the beauty, we must recover our strength. We must storm the tower, battle the dragon, rescue the beauty, and ride off into the sunset. But this mission will not be easy. Just as we have had to fight to recover our own hearts, that was simply preparation for the battle to rescue the beauty. But rescue her we must, because without her things just are how they were intended to be.

"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."

To God alone be the Glory!

Strength and Honor

Wild at Heart, Chapter 9: A Battle to Fight: The Strategy, part 6

As we come to the end of what this book has to say about battle it is crucial to note one final thing, "you will be wounded." This is war after all. And it isn't with all of the "sophisticated" technology and equipment of today where a general pushes a button and launches a missile. This is Normandy, Thermopylae, Falkirk (Brave Heart), or the opening scene of Gladiator. This is brutal, in your face, up close and personal war. And though it isn't a physical battle, there are still wounds.

"Just because this battle is spiritual doesn't mean it's not real; it is and the wounds a man can take are in some ways more ugly than those that come in a firefight... You will be wounded by the Enemy. He knows the wounds of your past, and he will try to wound you again in the same place. But these wounds are different; these are honor-wounds... 'It is an honor to be wounded in the service of the Lord.'"

Let's go to 300 one more time. After Stelios has killed the messenger and opened a path for Leonidas to throw his spear at Xerxes, arrows begin to rain down on the Spartans and soldiers move in to take them out. All of them are killed but there is a moment when Stelios, with two arrows in his chest, pulls himself over to Leonidas, who is also mortally wounded, and says, "My King! It's an honor to die at your side." Remember what he had said earlier about a beautiful death? He has given his life for his King, and his city, and it is an honor for him to be able to die next to his leader.

Scars are not sources of shame at this point, but badges of honor that we can be proud of, and boldly show off. The scars we now carry are from the battles we have fought and won. They are a reminder of what God has done and how we have been used in his service. They are nothing to be ashamed of.

I heard a story last year that I haven't been able to find on the internet and verify, but it came from a credible source so I don't doubt its truthfulness. A plastic surgeon was asked once about the strangest surgery he had ever been asked to perform, and he told a story about a Navy SEAL. The SEAL came to him and was ashamed of the fact that he didn't have any battle scars. He hated playing basketball with other warriors because when they took their shirts off to go skins, everyone had scars except for him. And so he asked the surgeon to give him a scar, something that looked like a bayonet slice across his abdomen. He wanted a scar that said, "I've been in combat, I've survived war."

All who fight in this war we are swept up in will be wounded. And because of this, we must be fierce. "'The kingdom of heaven suffers violence,' said Jesus, 'and violent men take it by force' (Matt. 11:12 NASB)... Hopefully by now you see the deep and holy goodness of masculine aggression... If you are going to live in God's kingdom, Jesus says, it's going to take every ounce of passion and forcefulness you've got. Things are going to get fierce; that's why you were given a fierce heart."

One myth that culture has placed on Christianity is that coming to Jesus solves all your problems and eliminates your troubles. As many will attest, the opposite is actually true. Coming to Christ means enlisting in His service, and it makes you a target for the Enemy. Do not be surprised when things get hard. Don't be surprise when you take hits. Don't be surprised when the Enemy strikes back, this is war after all.

But scars, my scars and yours, are badges of honor. They tell the story of what we have been through. They are reminders of the battles we have fought for the Kingdom. And scars are also a sign of the healing God has done in our lives. So wear the proudly, and don't be afraid to share the stories they carry.

"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."

To God alone be the Glory!

Strength and Honor

Wild at Heart, Chapter 9: A Battle to Fight: The Strategy, part 5

In order to win a battle we must know who we are fighting, and we must know how our enemy functions. But all of that is useless if we go into battle unarmed and unprepared for a fight. We have weapons for war, and it is crucial that we arm ourselves and train with them so that we are skilled and ready for combat.

"Against the flesh, the traitor within, a warrior uses discipline." This is all about connecting with God. To quote James 4.7 again, "Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you." Discipline and connecting with God, is all part of the submission. "Most men have a hard time sustaining any sort of devotional life because it has no vital connection to recovering and protecting their strength; it feels about as important as flossing." (Which is actually a really important part of health) "But if you saw your life as a great battle and you knew you needed time with God for your very survival, you would do it... We give a half-hearted attempt at the spiritual disciplines when the only reason we have is that we 'ought' to. But we'll find a way to make it work when we are convinced we're history if we don't."

Remember, the Enemy works to cut off our communication with God. Part of the reason that quite time and devotionals can be hard, is because the are about connecting with God. The Enemy will do whatever he can to try and prevent them. My schedule has been so busy and random the last few weeks. When I do find myself with some private moments of solitude my mind wanders and it's hard to focus. This is the Enemy working to disrupt communication with God.

No communication means no connection. No connection means no submission. No submission means no resistance. No resistance means no victory. We must connect with God, everything depends upon it. And it can actually be easier than we might think.

"Time with God each day is not about academic study or getting through a certain amount of Scripture or any of that. It's about connecting with God. We've got to keep those lines of communication open, so use whatever helps... The point is simply to do whatever brings me back to my heart and the heart of God."

In college there was a prayer room, a place free of distractions devoted to time spent with God. Since then I've tried to find solitude in nature, but certain areas of Ohio don't provide much of that. I've done a lot of connecting through this book and blog. There have been a few songs that have hit me and spoken to things that I'm going through. I enjoy times of silence, alone with God, (this is something I find most easily in nature). And of course there is Scripture. Over the last few years I've come to really see that it isn't about how much I read, or how many times I read it, but again, it is about connecting with God through His word.

"The discipline, by the way, is never the point. The whole point of a 'devotional life' is connecting with God. This is our primary antidote to the counterfeits the world holds out to us. If you do not have God and have him deeply, you will turn to other lovers." We all serve something, and if we are not submissive servants of God, we are enslaved to the Enemy. If we are not connected with God, who were are told in the Bible, is the source of life, then we are empty and searching for it. Without God, we don't really live, simply exist until we die.

"The believer is in spiritual danger if he allows himself to go for any length of time without tasting the love of Christ... When Christ ceases to fill the heart with satisfaction, our souls will go in silent search for other lovers." And these others never satisfy, they leave us empty and searching. Without Christ we are warriors with no cause to fight for. And so we must be disciplined. Every warrior is disciplined, because that is how a man becomes a warrior. Without it there is no training, there is no perfection of skills, and without those he will be killed on the battlefield immediately.

Our first weapon is discipline so that we can connect with God. And it is with this first weapon that we receive the second. First we must overcome the traitor within, they we are ready to take on the enemy outside the city. "Against the Evil One we wear the armor of God." Ephesians presents an incredible picture that I don't have the time to go into now, but will at a later date. But in this we see God's gifts to us so that we can stand firm and confident on the battle. The belt, breastplate, shoes, shield, helmet and sword are ours to use in combat. And we have a connection with the Holy Spirit that instructs us how and when to use them.

And as we go into battle we are given something more, a purpose and the authority to fight with. "And we walk in the authority of Christ. Do not attack in anger, do not swagger forth in pride. You will get nailed... All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Jesus Christ (Matt. 28:18). He tells us this before he gives us the Great Commission, the command to advance his kingdom. Why? We've never made the connection. The reason is, if you are going to serve the True King you're going to need his authority. We dare not take on an angel, let alone a fallen one, in our own strength. That is why Christ extends his authority to us... Rebuke the Enemy in your own name and he laugh; command him in the name of Christ and he flees." Submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee.

A warrior is only a warrior if he fights for someone greater than himself, we are warriors for God. It is in His authority that we advance HIS kingdom. And it is by His authority that all enemies flee. Again, submission to God is so crucial, it is the most essential part of our lives.

One final thing we have as we go off to war is each other. A fight is between two people, one on one. But a war involves armies. And so, "Don't even think about going into battle alone. Don't even try to take the masculine journey without at least one man by your side. Yes, there are times a man must face the battle alone, in the wee hours of the morn, and fight with all he's got. But don't make that a lifestyle of isolation. This may be our weakest point... a man need other men."

The Spartans were, arguably, the greatest warriors of all time. And while each one was disciplined, highly trained, heavily armored, and deadly, one Spartan on his own was nothing compared to a group of Spartan's standing in the phalanx. In my book on page 177 I have nine names written down. These are not my accountability partners, they are my brothers. they are fellow warriors who I have fought alongside of, guys who have my back. We all need that. We need a band of brothers, we need the phalanx. "The whole crisis in masculinity today has come because we no longer have a warrior culture, a place for men to learn to fight like men. We don't need a meeting of Really Nice Guys; we need a gathering of Really Dangerous Men."

"Yes, we need men to whom we can bare our souls. but it isn't going to happen with a group of guys you don't trust, who really aren't willing to go to battle with you. It's a long-standing truth that there is never a more devoted group of men than those who have fought alongside one another... We need a band of brothers willing to 'shed their blood' with us."

Earlier this week I contacted the three names on my list that I am closest to, asking them to join me in prayer, and I thanked them for having my back. They are my brothers, they have fought with me and I with them. And though I don't have the time with them that I would like due to our geographic locations, there are no three people in this world that I trust more than these men. We all need brothers like that.

With these weapons we will overcome for the glory of God.

"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."

To God alone be the Glory!

Strength and Honor

Wild at Heart, Chapter 9: A Battle to Fight: The Strategy, part 4

At this point the battle may feel like it's over, but the Enemy has one more move to attempt. It's a last ditch effort made in an attempt to turn defeat into some sort of victory. Sadly many men buy into it and are taken down. "The third level of attack the Evil One employs, after we have resisted deception and intimidation, is simply to try to get us to cut a deal. So many men have been bought off in one way or another."

Many men see the battle as over after stage two ends. The waves of heavy assault have ended, and the enemy appears to be defeated, and so they lower their guard. But though wounded, the enemy still has some fight left in him and our brothers have been taken out in the third stage of the attack.

John shares a brief account of a ministry leader who had fallen into an affair. This story is one that has effected my own life. Years ago my grandfather was pastoring a growing church. I don't know all of the details, and honestly I don't really want to, but he got involved in an affair. He and my grandmother split up, at least three of his four kids slipped away from God, and there has been issues in my family since that day.

My grandfather never planned for that to happen. I don't believe anyone starts ministry for God with the intention of ruining everything one day with something like an affair. "What man begins his journey wishing, 'I think one day, after twenty years of minstry, I'll torpedo the whole thing with an affair'?", no one. And yet it happens all the time. Why?

"He was picked off;the whole thing was plotted. In his case it was a long and subtle assignment to wear his defenses down not so much through battle as through boredom. I knew that man; he had no great cause to fight for, just the monotony of 'professional Christian ministry' that he hated but couldn't get out of because he was being so well paid for it. He was set up for a fall. Unless you are aware that that's what it is, you'll be taken out too."

As I typed that my mind thought back to the verses from 1 Peter 5 and James 4 that have been mentioned in this chapter. 1 Peter 5.8, "Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." Be so sober spirit, be on the alert. The devil is prowling like a lion, at this stage in the battle a wounded lion, just looking to take someone down with him. Don't turn your back, don't drop your guard, or it will be you. The battle is still going on, we are still at war. James 4.7, "Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you." Do you realize what a bribe is, what making a deal with the Devil means? It means submitting to Satan rather than God. And we cannot resist something we are enslaved to. The fight is still going on around us, even if a majority of it has ended, there are still enemies out there looking to take out as many as they can. We continue to fight as warriors, or we become casualties of war.

"Notice this - when did King David fall? What were the circumstances of his affair with Bathsheba?... David was no longer a warrior; he sent others to do his fighting for him. Bored, sated, and fat, he strolls around on the roof of the palace looking for something to amuse him. The Evil One points out Bathsheba and the rest is history - which, as we all know, repeats itself."

David, a man after God's own heart, was taken out by the enemy. Christian leaders, men we would call Men of God, have fallen into the same trap. It isn't just with an affair. It could be dishonest business, it could be betraying others to advance yourself. It could be an compromise of morals and integrity.

This is war, that's what all men are born into, and that is why we all must be warriors who are constantly on guard, even when things appear to get easy. "We have known many who have joined the army of Christ and like being a solider for a battle or two, but have soon had enough and ended up deserting. They impulsively enlist for Christian duties... and are just as easily persuaded to lay it down."

In one of the final scenes of 300 Leonidas and his Spartans are alone, surrounded by Persians. They have held their ground and fought valiantly, and are now faced with a choice, take a bribe, or fight to the end. Xerxes messenger extends the kings offers, "Leonidas, my compliments and congratulations. You surely have turned calamity into victory. Despite your insufferable arrogance the god-king has come to admire Spartan valor and fighting skill... You will make a mighty ally. Despite your several insults, despite your horrid blasphemies the lord of hosts is prepared to forgive all and more, to reward your service. You fight for your lands. Keep them. You fight for Sparta. She will be wealthier and more powerful than ever before.
You fight for your kingship. You will be proclaimed warlord of all Greece answerable only to the one true master of the world. Leonidas, your victory will be complete if you but lay down your arms and kneel to holy Xerxes."

Leonidas is silent. He removes his helmet, drops his shield, and after brief words to the traitor Ephialtes, he drops his spear and falls to his knees. For a moment Xerxes seems to have won. But then Leonidas calls for Stelios who runs, jumps over the king and kills the messenger clearing his way. Leonidas grabs his spear as we hear "His helmet was stifling. It narrowed his vision, and he must see far. His shield was heavy. It threw him off balance and his target is far away." He throws his spear and though it does not kill Xerxes it cuts his face and he bleeds.

The Spartans were killed that day, but they were warriors to the end. I have been to Thermopylae, and on the hill where the final Spartans were killed there is a simple monument that reads in Greek, "Go tell the Spartans, passerby that here, by Spartan law, we lie." The Spartans never ran, they returned to Sparta carrying their shields, or on them. They fought to the end, and because of them victory was ultimately won.

There are casualties in every war, but may we go down fighting. You have come too far, and fought to hard, to be taken out now by a cheap shot. Don't lower your guard. Submit to God, resist the devil to the end. Fight the good fight, finish the course, and if we do give our lives in the service of our King, we will be rewarded with the crown of righteousness.

"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."

To God alone be the Glory!

Strength and Honor

Wild at Heart, Chapter 9: A Battle to Fight: The Strategy, part 3

Stage one of the battle was simply feeling out the opposition, sending a small force seeing if any more was needed. Now that the Enemy sees that we are for real, that this is going to be an all out war, he sends in the main force. "The Enemy, once discovered, usually doesn't just roll over and go away without a fight." In James it says to "Resist the Devil" that word is anthistemi (the e is pronounced like a long a, and the i at the end is a long e sound), and it means "to set one's self against, to withstand, resist, oppose". This is a fight, this is war, and we are to be set against Satan, withstanding his attacks, resisting his temptations, and opposing his advancement.

In stage two our resistance is tested because Satan uses the tactic of intimidation. "That is the next level of our Enemy's strategy. When we begin to question him, to resist his lies, to see his hand in the 'ordinary trials' of our lives, then he steps up the attack; he turns to intimidation and fear." Once we realize that he is here and involved, he unleashes hell. "Satan will try to get you to agree with intimidation because he fears you." Or rather, he fears God in you. Remember James 4.7 says, "Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you." Before we can resist, before we can set ourselves against Satan and oppose him, we must first take up arms against him by submitting to God. It is God that he fears, and he must flee from us because of God. "You are a huge threat to him. He doesn't want you waking up and fighting back because when you do he loses... So he's going to try to keep you from taking a stand. He moves from subtle seduction to open assault... the Evil One is trying an old tactic - strike first and maybe the opposition will turn tail and run."

That is intimidation. If Satan can overwhelm us with the means at his disposal then our resistance of him fails. that is why the first crucial step to resisting him is submission to God. It is only in His power that we can stand storm the gates of Hell. A few years ago I moved to Michigan to take a job at a church. It was a big step in my life because it was moving out of state, being fully on my own for the first time. At one point I almost turned the job down because I was overwhelmed. But I really felt God leading me to go there, and to help me out He gave me a promise that I know I am not the first one to receive. " Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go" (Joshua 1.9).

Joshua was given those words before he led the people into the Promised Land, and began the conquest of the land. And God shared those words with me as I prepared to move to Michigan. My time there was short, and honestly just before it ended I did have the feeling that my job there was completed, but I did make some impact on a few lives while I was there, and looking back, I believe Satan was trying to keep me from going. I learned some things, saw some sad truths about the Church, and was able to impact a few lives along the way, and Satan didn't want that.

God is with us, no matter where we go, when we submit to Him. Looking back to Joshua, God gave him an additional promise, "Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you." Just as I was with Moses, and remember that Moses is who is first referred to as "A Man of God", I will be with you. My mind goes to 1 Timothy 6, seen on the left, where Paul calls Timothy a man of God, and instructs him to pursue righteousness. We are men of God, just as Moses was, and just as God was with Moses, God is with us. That is the promise that we have when we have submitted to God.

"How did Jesus win the battle against Satan? God was with him. This really opens up the riches of the promise Christ gives us when he pledges, 'I am with you always, even to the end of the age' and 'I will never leave you nor forsake you'... It means he will fight for us, with us, just as he has fought for his eople all through the ages. So long as we wlak with Christ, stay in him, we haven't a thing to fear." Are you getting how crucial the submission to God is? Have you picked up on how key that is? When we are submitted to God, He is with us. And when He is with us, we can resist the Devil and he must flee. And his intimidation will not work, because we know that God, who is with us, is far greater than our enemy will ever be.

In 300 (yes I do know that the movie is extremely historically inaccurate, but the scenes depicted in it portray these concepts, and our response to them, so clearly) we find a group of Spartan's building a wall to funnel the Persian army into the narrow pass of the Hot Gate. Another Persian messenger is sent to try and convince the Spartan's to give up before the battle begins. As he talks he notices the bodies of the Persian scouts he has just made reference to built into the wall. One of the Spartans, Stelios, tells about how the wall was built by their ancestors, and how the scouts have supplied the motor to rebuild it. The Persian yells, "You will pay for your barbarism!" and begins to swing his whip. Stelios leaps into action, and severs his arm from his body.

The Persian falls to the ground holding the stub that is left and yells "My arm!" to which Stelios tells him, "It's not yours anymore. Go now, run along and tell your Xerxes that he faces free men here, not slaves. Do it quickly, before we decide to make our wall just a little bit bigger." The Persian here moves to step two, "No, not slaves. Your women will be slaves. Your sons, your daughters, your elders will be slaves, but not you. No, by noon this day you will be dead men. A thousand nations of the Persian empire descend upon you. Our arrows will blot out the sun." Stelios, unintimidated, announces, "Then we will fight in the shade."

That is courage. That is strength. That is the answer given by a warrior. "When a man resolves to become a warrior, when his life is given over to a transcendent cause, then he can't be cowed by the Big Bad Wolf threatening to blow his house down... The most dangerous man on earth is the man who has reckoned with his own death... I'd rather go down swinging. Besides, the less we are trying to 'save ourselves' the more effective as warriors we will be." Earlier in the movie, Stelios, another Spartan, and another Greek solider have gone to scout out the Persian army. The other Greek, overwhelmed by the magnitude of the force against them says, "There can be no victory here." Stelios simply smiles, and the Greek asks why? Here is his response, "Arcadian, I've fought countless times, yet I've never met an adversary who could offer me what we Spartans call 'A Beautiful Death.' I can only hope, with all the world's warriors gathered against us, there might be one down there who's up to the task."

He knows there is a battle to fight, and if need be he is prepared to give his life for Greece. This section of the book ends with a quote that hit me so hard the first time I read it. "Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of a readiness to die. 'He that will lose his life, the same shall save it,' is not a piece of mysticism for saints and heroes. It is a piece of everyday advice for the sailors or mountaineers. It might be printed in an Alpine guide or a drill book. The paradox is the whole principle of courage; even of quite earthly or quite brutal courage. A man cut off by the sea may save his live only if he will risk it on the precipice. he can only get away from death by continually stepping withing an inch of it. A solider surrounded by enemies, if he is to cut his way out, needs to combine a strong desire for living with a strange carelessness about dying. He must not merely cling to life, for then he will be a coward, and will not escape. He must not merely wait for death, for then he will be a suicide, and will not escape. He must seek his life in a spirit of furious indifference to it; he must desire life like water and yet drink death like wine."

If we are to really live, we cannot fear death. We go into battle ready to die, willing to die if need be, and intimidation has no power over us. It is our submission to God, that gives us the peace to die for Him, knowing that He is waiting to welcome us into His presence for "fighting the good fight of the faith." So when Satan announces that his fiery arrow will blot out the Son, simply tell him, that you will fight in the shade, knowing that the Son cannot be blotted out because He is by your side on the front lines.

Two waves have been overcome, one final one remains. Don't lower your guard because the battle rages on.

"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."

To God alone be the Glory!

Strength and Honor

Wild at Heart, Chapter 9: A Battle to Fight: The Strategy, part 2

Chapter 8 focused on who the enemy is, but knowing that is only part of the battle. Yes, we have to know who we are fighting, but if we want to win, we need to know more. We've got to know how the enemy fights. We need to know how he attacks so that we can counter it and fight back. We've got to know how the enemy works so that we can be victorious.

This battle, like D-Day, is a crucial fight that must be won. June 6, 1944 as he closed his message to the troops about to storm the beaches of Normandy Eisenhower said, "We will accept nothing less than full victory!", and that must be our mentality as well. The battle we fight is not simply for us, but for our marriages, our sons, and the souls of the world.

The enemy attacks in three stages, as I read about them I kept thinking about scenes from the movie 300 that line up with the three of them. Near the beginning of the movie a messenger from the Persian King Xerxes arrives in Sparta and offers a simple request to King Leonidas, "Earth and water." Presenting the front that all Xerxes wants is to get along, and that if they comply nothing will change.

Our enemy begins his attack in the same manner. His first tactic is to convince us "I'm not here - this is all just you." The reason being "You can't fight a battle you don't think exists." If you don't think there is an army on the way you aren't going to train for combat. If you don't believe there is an enemy at the gates you aren't going to dress for battle. And if our enemy can get us to ignore him, to simply allow things to continue as they are, believe nothing out of the ordinary is happening, then he never meets any resistance.

1 Peter 5.8-9 says, "Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world." "What is the Holy Spirit, through Peter, assuming about your life? That you are under spiritual attack. This is not a passage about nonbelievers; he's talking about 'your brethren.' Peter takes ir for granted that every believer is under some sort of unseen assault. And what does he insist you do? Resist the devil. Fight back, take a stand... when you ignore the Enemy, he wins. He simply loves to blame everything on us, get us feeling hurt, misunderstood, suspicious, and resentful of one another."

Think about it, if we're so focused on how messed up we are, or how someone else has thrown us under the bus or screwed us over, do we even give the real enemy a second thought? It begins with a lack of communication. "Before an effective military strike can be made, you must take out the opposing army's line of communication. The Evil One does this all the time- in ministries and especially with couples... Most of all the Enemy will try to jam communications with Headquarters." Most problems arise from a lack of communication. In marriage, in ministry, in life, so many issues could be avoided if communication took place, and so the first thing the enemy takes out is our communication lines.

Things get in the way and take up the time we have just to talk to each other. Feelings get hurt for one reason or another and conversation doesn't take place to resolve it or heal it. Instead walls are built, relationships fall apart, and we are left all alone felling like we've failed and messed everything up. And that is just how the Enemy wants us to feel. If our focus is on us, it can't be on him. And if we don't have communication with God, we don't have the voice of truth speaking into us, helping us be aware of what is really going on. "Oswald Chambers warns us, 'Sometimes there is nothing to obey, the only thing to do is to maintain a vital connection with Jesus Christ, to see that nothing interferes with that."

Too often we leave the communication lines unguarded, and once they are taken out, step two of the "I'm not here" attack begins. "Next comes propaganda... the Enemy is constantly broadcasting messages to try to demoralize us... he is constantly putting his spin on things. After all, Scripture calls him the 'accuser of our brethren'."

This is always against your identity. This is why knowing your real name is so crucial. Jesus' identity is the thing that Satan attacks during the wilderness temptation. John points out how this attack is so subtle that it seems true at the time. This happens to me. I listen to other great preachers and I think, "I have no business doing that. I can't speak like they can. I can't talk as long as they do, I don't think of the stuff like they do. I'll never be able to do that as well as them, so what's the point?" And that is how the Enemy wants me to feel. Preaching is something I love. It's something I've been called to do, and I've been told that it's something that I'm gifted at, and so this is what the Enemy attacks in one way or another. I once had a lady tell me, minutes after getting done with a Sunday morning message, that I was nothing more than a teacher and that I needed to watch TV to learn how to preach, I'm not kidding that really happened, and it was a move of the enemy.

We all face things like this, but let me offer some encouragement, it's a good thing. "Follow this; so long as a man remains no real threat to the Enemy, Satan's line to him is You're fine." Difficult and painful as it is, the attack on your identity is affirmation that you are on the right path. It is affirmation that you are dangerous and a force that cannot be ignored, not because of you, but because of your submission to God. As it says in James 4.7, "Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you." Take God's side and the Enemy goes on the hard offensive, but stand firm, submitted to God, and the Enemy will have to flee. Be encouraged by the attack.

And when the propaganda doesn't work, the "I'm not here" stage makes its last attempt, "Finally, he probes the perimeter, looking for a weakness... He knows your story, knows what works with you, and so the line is tailor-made to your situation." This is where it gets personal, and difficult. This is a last ditch effort so nothing is held back. Here is a cornered animal trying to get out. "When Satan probes, make no agreements. If we make an agreement, if something in our heart says, Yeah, you're right, then he pours it on." Do not buy into the lies of the enemy. Don't agree with what he is trying to feed you, he is a liar, capable of telling nothing else. Stand firm don't give in.

After the dialogue with the Persian messenger, Leonidas considers what has been said as he thinks how to respond. He has been told, "Choose your next words carefully, Leonidas. They may be your last as king." He pauses, looks around the city, and then draws his sword backing the messenger up to a pit he declares, "Earth and water, well you'll find plenty of both down there. You bring the crowns and heads of conquered kings to my city steps. You insult my queen. You threaten my people with slavery and death. Oh I've chosen my words carefully Persian, perhaps you should have done the same." The messenger is fear and anger responds, "This is blasphemy. This is madness." Leonidas lowers his sword, pauses, and then says, "Madness?" And then yells, "THIS IS SPARTA!" as he kicks him into the pit.

"When we are under attack, we've got to hang on to the truth. Dodge the blow, block it with a stubborn refusal, slash back with what is true. This is how Christ answered Satan- he didn't get into an argument with him, try to reason his way out. He simply stood on the truth. He answered with Scripture and we've got to do the same. This will not be easy, especially when all hell is breaking loose around you. It will feel like holding on to a rope while you're being dragged behind a truck, like keeping your balance in a hurricane... but this is where your strength is revealed and even increased- through exercise. Stand on what is true and do not let go. Period."

Granted this is simply the first attack, more will follow, but as Thomas a Kempis said, "Yet we must be watchful, especially in the beginning of the temptation; for the enemy is then more easily overcome, if he is not suffered to enter the door of our hearts, but is resisted without the gate at his first knock."

We've survived the first wave, now breathe, the next blow is coming quickly.

"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."

To God alone be the Glory!

Strength and Honor

Wild at Heart, Chapter 9: A Battle to Fight: The Strategy, part 1

"She was right that reality can be harsh and that you shut your eyes to it only at your peril because if you do not face up to the enemy in all his dark power, then the enemy will come up from behind some dark day and destroy you while you are facing the other way." These words from Frederick Buechner begin this chapter and I almost passed over them because I didn't feel they were fully relevant. It's been a hectic week in life, and therefore a slow week on the blog; but that may be a good thing because I'm not omitting this first section of the chapter.

John starts by talking about D-Day and the Allied invasion of France that took place at Normandy on June 6, 1944. And he shares how this crucial battle, the turning point of World War II began the night before the beaches were stormed. Paratroopers were dropped behind enemy lines to cut off reinforcements. It took guts and as John says, "It was a moment of unparalleled bravery ... and cowardice. For not ever trooper played the man that fateful night... One group took cowardice to a new level." And then he shares this account from that night.

"Too many had hunkered down in hedgerows to await the dawn; a few had even gone to sleep. Pvt. Francis Palys of the 506th saw what was perhaps the worst dereliction of duty. He had gathered a squad near Vierville. Hearing 'all kinds of noise and singing from a distance,' he and his men sneaked up on a farmhouse. In it was a mixed group from both American divisions. The paratroopers had found [liquor] in the cellar... and they were drunker than a bunch of hillbillies on a Saturday night wingding. Unbelievable."

I am willing to make the statement that D-Day was the most crucial moment in the Twentieth Century. If the Allies fail Hitler takes over all of Europe, and who knows where he goes from there. I've read lists that place the Moon Landing, Creation of Israel, Atomic Bombings, and Fall of the Berlin Wall above D-Day, but I have to ask, without D-Day how many of those take place? If D-Day is unsuccessful, Hitler wins, and the world as we know it does not exist.

Before the invasion began, General Eisenhower shared these words, which are written on the World War II memorial in Washington DC, with the men, "You are about to embark upon a great crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you... I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty and skill in battle." This moment was crucial,and yet during this event men who play a vital role are failing to fulfill it. As the eyes of the world are upon them, desperately needing them to do their job, they act as if nothing is wrong, like the threat is non-existent, and life back to normal.

"These men knew they were at war, yet they refused to act like it. They lived in a dangerous denial - a denial that endangered not only them but countless others who depended on them to do their part. It is a perfect picture of the church in the West when it comes to spiritual warfare."

These men put the future of the world in jeopardy by their actions, and if we refuse to be men, if we refuse to initiate boys into manhood, we do something very similar. And to move this forward into the next few posts, if we deny the enemy, if we close our eyes to his actions, we do something far worse because we put the eternal souls of ourselves, and everyone else, in danger.

I'm feeling the need to change the verse I post at the end of these.

"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."

To God alone be the Glory!

Strength and Honor

Wild at Heart, Chapter 8: A Battle to Fight: The Enemy, part 5

The traitor behind the walls has been executed. The armies that have surrounded the city have been defeated. But one final enemy is still at large. We must take out the general. This final enemy is the most powerful one that we have faced, but his power pails in comparison to the God whose men we are. But never the less, the devil is very real, and a very real enemy. We cannot rule him out and ignore him, because when we do, he wins.

"The devil no doubt has a place in our theology, but is he a category we even think about in the daily events of our lives? Has it ever crossed your mind that not every thought that crosses your mind comes from you?... We are being lied to all the time."

The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis gives a perspective into the workings of the devil and his demons. In the book Screwtape, an older experienced tempter, is mentoring his nephew Wormwood in the art of temptation. Through letters Screwtape instructs his prodigy on ways to guide and influence his patient's thoughts. Though this is a fictional work I don't think it's too much of a stretch as to how the devil works.

It's got to be subtle, otherwise our suspicions are immediately aroused and the attack is stopped before it can gain any momentum (this is why denying his existence gives him an advantage.) But this attack is so effective because so often it makes us think that it's our own thoughts. As we think them we begin to think that we are worthless sinners who can do nothing but pursue what is a counterfeit desire. If we give in to this attack, if we are beaten by it, the other enemies are resurrected. But the man of God is victorious, because his strength is true.

1 John 2.12-14 tells us about the battle we fight against the unholy trinity. "I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you for His name’s sake. I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I have written to you, children, because you know the Father. I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one."

Little children have been forgiven, their hearts have been made clean and new, and the traitor has been dealt with. Young men have done battle, they are strong and victorious, full of God's word and therefore the truth. Fathers know God, and have grown closer to Him through this entire journey. All men of God are on the journey to become spiritual fathers (what is described in these verses).

When we stop listening to the voice of the traitor, when we refuse to compromise to the ways of the world, the only way for the unholy trinity to continue the attack is by filling our thoughts with false truths. At this point the enemy is desperate to take you out, and so it pulls out everything it has left. "It is the image of God reflected in you that so enrages hell; it is this at which the demons hurl their mightiest weapons."

Think about it, men bear the image of God's strength and power, and that is what every attack has been against. The enemy does not want God to be reflected to the world. The enemy does not want God to be seen, and so it attacks most fiercely against our strength, against the image of God we bear.

Think about this, the Bible says that God made man in His image, male and female. Men bear part of the image of God, women bear the other part. In marriage the two parts come together to make a whole, to give the most complete portrayal of the image of God humans are capable of displaying. Is it a surprise that traditional marriage is under attack?

"Behind the world and the flesh is an even more deadly enemy... one we rarely speak of and are even much less ready to resist. Yet this is where we live now -on the front lines of a fierce spiritual war that is to blame for most of the casualties you see around you and most of the assault against you."

It all comes down to this final enemy. "Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith," (1 Peter 5.8-9a) "Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded" (James 4.7-8).

Alone, we cannot defeat this final enemy, but if we are alert and ready, empowered by God, Satan will flee. Three down, battle over.

"Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen." Ephesians 3.20-21

To God alone be the Glory!

Strength and Honor

Wild at Heart, Chapter 8: A Battle to Fight: The Enemy, part 4

Enemy one, the flesh, the traitor within, has been eliminated, but now we face enemy number two, the world. Our enemies grow in strength as we move outside of the walls, but in order to properly combat this one, we must first identify what it really is. John asks, "What is this enemy that Scripture calls 'the world'? Is it drinking and dancing and smoking? Is it going to the movies or playing cards? That is a shallow and ridiculous approach to holiness. It numbs us to the fact that good and evil are much more serious."

Part of the reason our strength has been hit so hard and part of the reason there are so few men, is because we have watered down this enemy called the world. We've attacked the wrong enemy, a decoy so to speak, while the real threat has taken us out in droves. We must regroup and refocus on the real threat, "'the world' is not a place or a set of behaviors - it is any system built by our collective sin, all our false selves coming together to reward and destroy each other... The world is a carnival of counterfeits - counterfeit battles, counterfeit adventures, counterfeit beauties. Men should think of it as a corruption of their strength.".

The world is the "anti"-Christ of the unholy trinity we are at war against. Where as Christ is truth, and the source of our real strength. In Christ we have life, with the world, there is simply existence masquerading as life. As William Wallace said in Brave Heart, "Every man dies. Not every man really lives." Too many of us are fighting the wrong enemy. To many of us are focused just on morality and being "nice guys", and so many of us aren't really living, just existing until we finally die. The Man of God doesn't exist, he really lives from true strength.

The world would have us be mercenaries for hire, guys who fight for pay and self-preservation. The only battles are clawing our way to the top for our own gain and prestige. We become adventure addicts with nothing more than some worthless hobbies that don't really test us or fulfill our deep longings. And we focus on superficial beauty that is only skin deep. "The world offers a man a false sense of power and a false sense of security."

As I read that last quote in the book my mind went to John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress. It's the story of Christian, a man in the City of Destruction bearing a heavy burden, who, under the guidance of Evangelist, sets off on a journey to the Celestial City. Along the way he meets up with people who try to distract him and lead him astray, the one who came to mind was Mr. Worldly Wiseman.

2 Timothy 4.1-5 says, "I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry."

The world will point us in every direction to distract us from truth. It will point us away from Christ because "Without Christ a man must fail miserably, or succeed even more miserably." Apart from Christ life really has no meaning except for self-preservation, failure is devastating and success never fulfills. But with Christ "failures" are simply training exercises that teach us to be more dependent upon Him and mold to be like Him. And with success there is satisfaction because we have lived, worked, and fought for something greater than ourselves, and to Him is all the glory.

The question we must ask ourselves, often John points out, is "Where am I deriving my sense of strength and power from?" Is if from your career? What happens when you get laid off? Is it from your hobbies? What happens when you're too old to continue to do them? Is it from what your wife looks like? What happens when that outward beauty fades, or someone more beautiful comes along?

Or is your power found in Christ? I'm learning that my life is bigger than what I do to make an income. That I'm so much more than what I do to get paid and provide for my family. My hobbies are chances to escape and be alone with God, they are chances to hear from Him without all of the business and distractions the world throws at me. The adventure is not a momentary thrill, but an intimacy with God that reveals the real purpose and adventure that is life. And my wife, as beautiful as she is outwardly, has so much more to offer aside from looks. She has a beautiful spirit, a kind and gentle demeanor that really cares about people, and a humor that allows her to really enjoy everything in life.

"The world of posers is shaken by a real man. They'll do whatever it takes to get you back in line - threaten you, bribe you, seduce you, undermine you. They crucified Jesus. But it didn't work, did it? You must let your strength show up. Remember Christ in the Garden, the sheer force of his presence? Many of us have actually been afraid to let our strength show up because the world doesn't have a place for it. Fine. The world's screwed up. Let people feel the weight of who you are and let them deal with it."

"Every man dies. Not every man really lives." When we really live, when we let our strength show up and be felt, the world is defeated.

Two down, one to go.

"Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen." Ephesians 3.20-21

To God alone be the Glory!

Strength and Honor