I awoke a few days ago with the old song “Rock of Ages” running through my mind; however, it was not exactly the version of the song that we sang in church when I was a kid. This was a little more contemporary with a definite flavor of southern gospel—it was good! I have quite an orchestra in my mind and I’m a pretty good arranger too; at least, my personal orchestra thinks so.
When we sang this song in olden times, my fondest wish was that they wouldn’t sing all five verses—but they almost always did. Here’s a link to a video of the Gaither Homecoming with The Martins, and then Vestal Goodman finishing the song. I think they borrowed my arrangement.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eB5Sc5vewcI&feature=related
One of the ways the Lord speaks to me is through music. When I was a boy in Canada, we sang a lot in church—and we went to church three or four times a week, so that was a lot of singing. These were real songs with real meaning….sadly, a little different from some of the “music” that has become the standard of much of the church today.
Rock of Ages was written in 1776 by an English clergyman, Augustus Montague Toplady (yes, that’s really his last name). Augustus was 36 years old when he wrote this classic hymn and I don’t think you can guess why he wrote it! Toplady, a fervent Calvinist, was in a bitter and very public dispute with John Wesley over predestination and election. Wesley was of the opposite opinion and believed that God gave men free will to choose salvation—or not. The dispute between these contemporaries went public and they sometimes used their preaching to denounce each other. Toplady wrote an article for a Christian magazine in which he supported the doctrine of election and he wrote Rock of Ages as the climactic touch to a very belligerent article.
Isn’t it fascinating that God would preserve this hymn with its timeless message? It’s even more fascinating that it would become one of the most beloved and best-known worship songs of all time, even though it was written as a part of a rather nasty argument. I am wondering if Toplady imagined the “Rock of Ages” crushing John Wesley when he wrote it?
The hymn was written in direct reference to 1 Corinthians 10:1-4:
For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.
There is no doubt that Paul had in mind the encounters that Moses and the Jewish people had in the desert (see Numbers 20 which contains a wonderful truth and also a chilling rebuke).
When the Israelites arrived at Kadesh in the desert, there was no water! I indentify with their expression of concern when they went to Moses and said, “Why did you bring us here? We are God’s people and we are going to die here because this is a terrible place and there is no water!” I have said the same kind of thing more than once.
When the people complained, they were expressing their lack of trust in God and how He was leading them (see Deuteronomy 1:31). The experience also became a stinging rebuke to Moses and Aaron because not only were the people distrustful, but so was Moses, and it cost him dearly.
After the people complained, God spoke to Moses and told him to “take the staff and speak to that rock in front of the people and they will see for themselves My power as the water flows out of the rock” (20:8).
Moses gathered the people together and spoke sternly to them, then he took the staff and struck the rock twice and the water gushed out (20:11). He struck the rock, he did not speak to it!
Some would say, “Okay, so who cares what he did wrong? They got the water!” God said to Moses after his impetuous act, “You did not trust me and you did not do what I said; therefore, you will not go into the Promised Land” (20:12). Moses dishonored the Lord by his disobedience and he short-circuited his own future.
When we don’t follow the Lord’s instructions as He speaks them into our lives, but we re-interpret them according to our own wishes, we dishonor Him. When we are disobedient, when we change His instructions, we are saying, “You are not a very good God! My solutions are better than Yours!” and we end up short-circuiting His blessing in our lives. In fact, God considered what Moses and Aaron did in not following His instructions as rebellion and punished them accordingly (Numbers 20:24).
Is He really my Rock of Ages or is that just a song written by a guy with a funny last name? Is He the Christ who is the same yesterday, today and forever? Is He our leader, our guide, our provider, our rock of safety? Or are those just the words in a well-loved hymn?
“He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he” (Deuteronomy 32:4).
Friday, February 26, 2010
Friday, February 19, 2010
A PLACE OF PERFECT SAFETY
Watching the Winter Olympics these last of couple of days has brought a flood of memories of my hometown of Vancouver, B.C. While I am now a citizen of the United States and of Texas, I will always be a proud Canuck. I was pleased to hear one of the NBC commentators speak in glowing terms of what a livable city Vancouver is. It’s a magnificent and beautiful place.
The memory of an article I read in the paper when we lived in Los Angeles came rushing back to me. A young father from British Columbia was concerned for the safety of his family. It was the end of the 1970’s and the Cold War was in full blossom, which meant there was a lot of sabre-rattling of the Soviet Empire being countered by the sabre-rattling of the West and, specifically, the U.S. and Great Britain. In public, the Cold War was a war of words with accompanying press releases on, “I have a bigger gun than you do” and “My army will gladly open a can of whup___ on you.” The frightening part of the whole time period was the build-up of nuclear weapons on the part of the U.S. and Russia.
The young father from B.C. became increasingly frightened about the future of his family. After all, B.C. lay right in the path of missiles and bombers coming from Russia on their way to Disneyland (better known as Washington D.C.).
The panic-stricken young father spent months and months trying to find the safest place on earth for his family. He wanted some security and confidence that his children would have a future. After an exhaustive search, he found what he thought was the perfect place, a British protectorate in the South Atlantic. English was the primary language, it had a small population, and immigration would not be difficult. The protectorate was largely unknown and very much off the beaten path of world affairs. This appeared to be as close to a perfect place of safety as anyone could imagine.
The young Canadian family sold everything they owned and around 1980 they moved from the interior of British Columbia to a remote island chain just to the east of Argentina known as the Falklands.
The Falklands were under the rule of Great Britain and what the young man didn’t know or didn’t take into account was that Argentina claimed that the island chain belonged to it. In the dreary corridors of international diplomacy, a war of words was being fought over this tiny piece of property.
Not long after the Canadian family moved into this isolated sanctuary, the most unbelievable thing happened. In April of 1982, Argentina decided it was done with the words and they invaded the Falklands. The British put down their cups of tea and very properly said, “Now wait just a moment, old chap!” And then the British launched a counterattack and a “hot war” was on. For two months the world watched in horror as the military might of both countries was unleashed on the Falklands. There were pitched infantry battles, jets were shot down, navy vessels were sunk and solders and some civilians died.
War had come to the Falklands and hell had come to the sanctuary! The place of peace, security and bliss was no different from living in the Russian village of Chernobyl. The unexpected happened and what that young family learned is that there is no physical place of safety on this planet except, of course, the Promised Land (better known as Texas).
I don’t know what happened to that family but I believe they survived the war. In the end, the Argentines withdrew and the Falklands continue to be a British protectorate. Recently the two nations have been verbally sparring again over the disputed territory and who has the rights to explore for gas and oil in its waters. Here we go again…?
How ironic it is that our human attempts at refuge/security can be so incomplete and subject to the whims of chance. When we attempt to build our own security, we are operating within the limits of our own intelligence and awareness. When we accept God’s security plan, His refuge, we embrace the plan that comes from unlimited intelligence and awareness, a place where grace and mercy extend from everlasting to everlasting.
Psalm 91 is, I believe, one of the great declarations of the believer’s safety as he/she abides in God’s presence. The Psalm begins with a declaration that when we stay in fellowship with Him, we are kept in His shadow—meaning that because we are under His rule, we are under His protection.
Have you ever said, “Lord, you are my refuge”? Don’t just think it, speak it aloud! Say it out loud when everything is going right. Say it out loud when everything is going wrong. Keep saying it because it’s true!
“He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust” (Psalm 91:2).
The memory of an article I read in the paper when we lived in Los Angeles came rushing back to me. A young father from British Columbia was concerned for the safety of his family. It was the end of the 1970’s and the Cold War was in full blossom, which meant there was a lot of sabre-rattling of the Soviet Empire being countered by the sabre-rattling of the West and, specifically, the U.S. and Great Britain. In public, the Cold War was a war of words with accompanying press releases on, “I have a bigger gun than you do” and “My army will gladly open a can of whup___ on you.” The frightening part of the whole time period was the build-up of nuclear weapons on the part of the U.S. and Russia.
The young father from B.C. became increasingly frightened about the future of his family. After all, B.C. lay right in the path of missiles and bombers coming from Russia on their way to Disneyland (better known as Washington D.C.).
The panic-stricken young father spent months and months trying to find the safest place on earth for his family. He wanted some security and confidence that his children would have a future. After an exhaustive search, he found what he thought was the perfect place, a British protectorate in the South Atlantic. English was the primary language, it had a small population, and immigration would not be difficult. The protectorate was largely unknown and very much off the beaten path of world affairs. This appeared to be as close to a perfect place of safety as anyone could imagine.
The young Canadian family sold everything they owned and around 1980 they moved from the interior of British Columbia to a remote island chain just to the east of Argentina known as the Falklands.
The Falklands were under the rule of Great Britain and what the young man didn’t know or didn’t take into account was that Argentina claimed that the island chain belonged to it. In the dreary corridors of international diplomacy, a war of words was being fought over this tiny piece of property.
Not long after the Canadian family moved into this isolated sanctuary, the most unbelievable thing happened. In April of 1982, Argentina decided it was done with the words and they invaded the Falklands. The British put down their cups of tea and very properly said, “Now wait just a moment, old chap!” And then the British launched a counterattack and a “hot war” was on. For two months the world watched in horror as the military might of both countries was unleashed on the Falklands. There were pitched infantry battles, jets were shot down, navy vessels were sunk and solders and some civilians died.
War had come to the Falklands and hell had come to the sanctuary! The place of peace, security and bliss was no different from living in the Russian village of Chernobyl. The unexpected happened and what that young family learned is that there is no physical place of safety on this planet except, of course, the Promised Land (better known as Texas).
I don’t know what happened to that family but I believe they survived the war. In the end, the Argentines withdrew and the Falklands continue to be a British protectorate. Recently the two nations have been verbally sparring again over the disputed territory and who has the rights to explore for gas and oil in its waters. Here we go again…?
How ironic it is that our human attempts at refuge/security can be so incomplete and subject to the whims of chance. When we attempt to build our own security, we are operating within the limits of our own intelligence and awareness. When we accept God’s security plan, His refuge, we embrace the plan that comes from unlimited intelligence and awareness, a place where grace and mercy extend from everlasting to everlasting.
Psalm 91 is, I believe, one of the great declarations of the believer’s safety as he/she abides in God’s presence. The Psalm begins with a declaration that when we stay in fellowship with Him, we are kept in His shadow—meaning that because we are under His rule, we are under His protection.
Have you ever said, “Lord, you are my refuge”? Don’t just think it, speak it aloud! Say it out loud when everything is going right. Say it out loud when everything is going wrong. Keep saying it because it’s true!
“He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust” (Psalm 91:2).
Friday, February 12, 2010
WEARING THE BADGE OF AUTHORITY
THE DISCIPLES WERE REALLY EXCITED. Jesus had just told them that He was giving them authority to cast out demons. Wow, was this cool or what! They grabbed this and wore it like a tin star on their chests because they were now real deputies with authority over demons (Mark 3:15). Watch out, powers of hell!
Everything seemed to go well until one day a father brought his demon-possessed son to Jesus (Mark 9:17). The father explained that he had approached the deputies, who told him that they had authority—(See our badges?)—and would take care of this. They certainly tried, but nothing happened and the boy remained demonized. The father then said to Jesus, “If You can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” Jesus looked at the man and quizzically replied, “If I can?” The man was questioning Jesus’ authority since His disciples didn’t seem to have as much as they thought they did. Jesus then spoke to the evil spirit and it came out of the boy (Mark 9:24-26).
Later when Jesus and the disciples were alone, they asked Him, “Why couldn’t we drive out the demon?” He responded, “This kind can come out only by prayer” (some translations say, “by prayer and fasting”).
For me, the disciples are an agony and ecstasy experience. I both love them and loathe them because they so often remind me of me. They loved the idea of being given authority, and who doesn’t like being able to put on the authority badge?
I don’t think there has ever been a people as well taught on the rights and authority of the believer as today. Jesus had taught the disciples by His words and His example how to live the life of authority. The Jewish people often expressed amazement at the authority Jesus carried in His teaching and ministry (Luke 4:31-36).
The disciples got some of the teaching but missed something very important; in fact, much of Jesus’ teaching would not come clear to them until after His death. One thing that did not penetrate at the time was the balance Jesus maintained between His public actions and His private prayer life.
When Jesus told the disciples that the reason the demon did not come out was because of the lack of prayer and fasting, I don’t believe He was talking about breaking off and having a special prayer and fasting session over that demon. I believe He was saying to them, “You have learned how to walk in the principles of authority but you have not developed your prayer life the way I have modeled it” (Mark 6:46, Luke 5:16).
To be complete, authority has to be coupled with a strong prayer life. It is not enough to know the principles of authority and faith—we must be intimate with the One who gives them to us. It is His authority we operate in and not ours!
In the late 1800’s in the American West, it was not unusual for towns to be visited by travelling entertainment shows. Entertainers would spend a few days or a week in a town and perform, for pay, in a theatre or under a tent. Many of the theatrical troupes had an orator travel with them. In the orator’s part of the show, he would give dramatic readings, quote poetry, etc.
One famous orator was so good at what he did that he travelled alone, a literal one-man road show. One night after he finished the scripted part of the show, he called for requests. A man shouted out from the back, “Do the 23rd Psalm.” This professional with a great voice immediately launched into a thundering presentation: “The Lord is my shepherd…” When he finished, the people leapt to their feet and shouted, whistled, clapped and yelled for more. The orator quieted the crowd and said, “Travelling with me right now is my pastor. He is retired but I want him to come and quote Psalm 23.”
The crowd watched as a frail, white-haired man in his 80’s slowly made his way to the stage. With a voice hardly above a whisper, the old gentleman began, “The Lord is my shepherd…” When he finished there was no shouting, no whistling, no clapping. Instead, a hush had fallen over the room. Some of the cowboys and some of the city folks had their heads bowed and a few were crying. They all were silent as the orator stepped back to center stage and said, “The difference between my presentation and my pastor’s is, I know the Psalm but my pastor knows the Shepherd.”
It is not enough to know that we have authority, we need to be on intimate terms with the One who gives it to us. The foundation of our authority is not in our understanding of who we are in Christ and what our rights are. These are important truths and not to be ignored, but the power of our authority rests not in what we know but in our relationship with Him. He is the one who validates our badge of authority.
Everything seemed to go well until one day a father brought his demon-possessed son to Jesus (Mark 9:17). The father explained that he had approached the deputies, who told him that they had authority—(See our badges?)—and would take care of this. They certainly tried, but nothing happened and the boy remained demonized. The father then said to Jesus, “If You can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” Jesus looked at the man and quizzically replied, “If I can?” The man was questioning Jesus’ authority since His disciples didn’t seem to have as much as they thought they did. Jesus then spoke to the evil spirit and it came out of the boy (Mark 9:24-26).
Later when Jesus and the disciples were alone, they asked Him, “Why couldn’t we drive out the demon?” He responded, “This kind can come out only by prayer” (some translations say, “by prayer and fasting”).
For me, the disciples are an agony and ecstasy experience. I both love them and loathe them because they so often remind me of me. They loved the idea of being given authority, and who doesn’t like being able to put on the authority badge?
I don’t think there has ever been a people as well taught on the rights and authority of the believer as today. Jesus had taught the disciples by His words and His example how to live the life of authority. The Jewish people often expressed amazement at the authority Jesus carried in His teaching and ministry (Luke 4:31-36).
The disciples got some of the teaching but missed something very important; in fact, much of Jesus’ teaching would not come clear to them until after His death. One thing that did not penetrate at the time was the balance Jesus maintained between His public actions and His private prayer life.
When Jesus told the disciples that the reason the demon did not come out was because of the lack of prayer and fasting, I don’t believe He was talking about breaking off and having a special prayer and fasting session over that demon. I believe He was saying to them, “You have learned how to walk in the principles of authority but you have not developed your prayer life the way I have modeled it” (Mark 6:46, Luke 5:16).
To be complete, authority has to be coupled with a strong prayer life. It is not enough to know the principles of authority and faith—we must be intimate with the One who gives them to us. It is His authority we operate in and not ours!
In the late 1800’s in the American West, it was not unusual for towns to be visited by travelling entertainment shows. Entertainers would spend a few days or a week in a town and perform, for pay, in a theatre or under a tent. Many of the theatrical troupes had an orator travel with them. In the orator’s part of the show, he would give dramatic readings, quote poetry, etc.
One famous orator was so good at what he did that he travelled alone, a literal one-man road show. One night after he finished the scripted part of the show, he called for requests. A man shouted out from the back, “Do the 23rd Psalm.” This professional with a great voice immediately launched into a thundering presentation: “The Lord is my shepherd…” When he finished, the people leapt to their feet and shouted, whistled, clapped and yelled for more. The orator quieted the crowd and said, “Travelling with me right now is my pastor. He is retired but I want him to come and quote Psalm 23.”
The crowd watched as a frail, white-haired man in his 80’s slowly made his way to the stage. With a voice hardly above a whisper, the old gentleman began, “The Lord is my shepherd…” When he finished there was no shouting, no whistling, no clapping. Instead, a hush had fallen over the room. Some of the cowboys and some of the city folks had their heads bowed and a few were crying. They all were silent as the orator stepped back to center stage and said, “The difference between my presentation and my pastor’s is, I know the Psalm but my pastor knows the Shepherd.”
It is not enough to know that we have authority, we need to be on intimate terms with the One who gives it to us. The foundation of our authority is not in our understanding of who we are in Christ and what our rights are. These are important truths and not to be ignored, but the power of our authority rests not in what we know but in our relationship with Him. He is the one who validates our badge of authority.
Friday, February 5, 2010
PICK A FIGHT!
One of the most memorable scenes from one of my all-time favorite movies is when William Wallace (Braveheart), wearing some rather cheesy blue face-paint, makes his grand entrance in front of the Scottish army out on the side of a hill. Wallace makes a stirring speech to the Scots about freedom (and includes a rather tacky reference to flatulence) and the warriors from the Scottish clans eat it up. I like to think that some of my distant relatives on my mother’s side of the family were there (Mom came from the Walker clan of Scotland). In the movie, the Scottish nobles then go to talk with the commander of the English army, who was prepared to bribe them with titles and land if they would abandon the fight.
Wallace and his men are left behind to watch when suddenly Braveheart breaks rank and rides toward the private meeting in the center of the field. One of Wallace’s men yells at him, “Where do you think you’re going?” and Wallace replies, “To pick a fight!” And pick a fight he did! After rudely insulting the English king, Wallace led the Scots as the two armies rushed into combat and for one of the first times in history, an English army was defeated by the clans of Scotland.
For several years I have been writing blog articles about the coming storms, and they are partly upon us. One of the manifestations of the storms is a tsunami of sickness and disease striking God’s people. The last few months have been filled with urgent prayer requests from friends and acquaintances because of the attacks of serious illness. All across the body of Christ, we are hearing about people being struck down by sickness.
To put it bluntly, the church is under attack! What are we going to do about it?
I have a suggestion. Let’s do a William Wallace and pick a fight!
We need to have a whole lot of righteous warriors stand up and say, “That’s enough. We’ll take no more of this. It’s time for war!” Right now the enemy is bringing the fight to us and we are rather passively letting him do so. Our passivity and lack of prayer have made the western church an easy target for his devices. We are fighting a defensive war, battling only when we are attacked, when we ought to be on the offensive. We need to start aggressively taking the fight to the enemy. If we are going to let him pick the time and place, he is going to decimate our ranks and keep us away from our fields of service and our destined goals. We need to break from the crowd, put on our war paint, and go “pick a fight.”
The Apostle Paul’s writings are filled with the imagery of athletic competition and warfare. Paul speaks of running the race and fighting the good fight, so it is not difficult to visualize him as a scrapper, a fighter. His son in the gospel, Timothy, was a more timid soul, less aggressive than Paul, so in his first letter to his young protégé, Paul charged him to “fight the good fight of faith” (1 Timothy 6:12). Frankly, I get a little disgusted with all the commentators and preachers who want to civilize this statement by putting a heavy athletic competition spin to it. In athletics, your opponent is your rival and after the competition, you are expected to shake hands and exchange a friendly greeting. In real life, our opponent is not our rival—he is our enemy. He is a terrorist and his goal is to dominate and destroy us. Our fight is not a friendly competition and I am not going to engage him in a friendly, competitive way. I’m going to fight him because people’s well-being and their eternal destinies are at stake.
Jesus said, “I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). We must read this verse correctly. This is not a “hold the fort” or “just hold on till Jesus comes” mentality. This is a clear statement that hell cannot hold out against an attacking church.
In Deuteronomy 20, instructions on conduct in wartime were given to the children of Israel. One of the tactics they were instructed to use was the siege (20:12, 19-20). In war the attacking force would surround the enemy stronghold and lay siege, sometimes for weeks and months—even years. The siege did at least two things. First, it confined the enemy to a specific area and, second, it eventually led to the destruction of that stronghold.
When Joshua led the children of Israel to Jericho, he had them lay siege to that city (Joshua 6). Jericho was captured and destroyed by the faithful persistence of God’s people as they were obedient to His commands. We celebrate the “Jericho March” but in doing so, we miss the point!
Let’s take the fight to the enemy. Let’s lay siege to his evil works and begin a holy bombardment that doesn’t stop until Jesus returns. Let’s raise up a standard of faith based on God’s Word and the triumph of Christ over death and hell. “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds” (2 Corinthians 10:4).
The war is coming to your front door. You can wait until it moves into your household or you can move preemptively against the forces of hell.
It’s time for us to put on the war paint and go out and pick a fight! To my Canadian buddies, “Put down your wife’s lipstick—that’s not the war paint I was talking about!”
Wallace and his men are left behind to watch when suddenly Braveheart breaks rank and rides toward the private meeting in the center of the field. One of Wallace’s men yells at him, “Where do you think you’re going?” and Wallace replies, “To pick a fight!” And pick a fight he did! After rudely insulting the English king, Wallace led the Scots as the two armies rushed into combat and for one of the first times in history, an English army was defeated by the clans of Scotland.
For several years I have been writing blog articles about the coming storms, and they are partly upon us. One of the manifestations of the storms is a tsunami of sickness and disease striking God’s people. The last few months have been filled with urgent prayer requests from friends and acquaintances because of the attacks of serious illness. All across the body of Christ, we are hearing about people being struck down by sickness.
To put it bluntly, the church is under attack! What are we going to do about it?
I have a suggestion. Let’s do a William Wallace and pick a fight!
We need to have a whole lot of righteous warriors stand up and say, “That’s enough. We’ll take no more of this. It’s time for war!” Right now the enemy is bringing the fight to us and we are rather passively letting him do so. Our passivity and lack of prayer have made the western church an easy target for his devices. We are fighting a defensive war, battling only when we are attacked, when we ought to be on the offensive. We need to start aggressively taking the fight to the enemy. If we are going to let him pick the time and place, he is going to decimate our ranks and keep us away from our fields of service and our destined goals. We need to break from the crowd, put on our war paint, and go “pick a fight.”
The Apostle Paul’s writings are filled with the imagery of athletic competition and warfare. Paul speaks of running the race and fighting the good fight, so it is not difficult to visualize him as a scrapper, a fighter. His son in the gospel, Timothy, was a more timid soul, less aggressive than Paul, so in his first letter to his young protégé, Paul charged him to “fight the good fight of faith” (1 Timothy 6:12). Frankly, I get a little disgusted with all the commentators and preachers who want to civilize this statement by putting a heavy athletic competition spin to it. In athletics, your opponent is your rival and after the competition, you are expected to shake hands and exchange a friendly greeting. In real life, our opponent is not our rival—he is our enemy. He is a terrorist and his goal is to dominate and destroy us. Our fight is not a friendly competition and I am not going to engage him in a friendly, competitive way. I’m going to fight him because people’s well-being and their eternal destinies are at stake.
Jesus said, “I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). We must read this verse correctly. This is not a “hold the fort” or “just hold on till Jesus comes” mentality. This is a clear statement that hell cannot hold out against an attacking church.
In Deuteronomy 20, instructions on conduct in wartime were given to the children of Israel. One of the tactics they were instructed to use was the siege (20:12, 19-20). In war the attacking force would surround the enemy stronghold and lay siege, sometimes for weeks and months—even years. The siege did at least two things. First, it confined the enemy to a specific area and, second, it eventually led to the destruction of that stronghold.
When Joshua led the children of Israel to Jericho, he had them lay siege to that city (Joshua 6). Jericho was captured and destroyed by the faithful persistence of God’s people as they were obedient to His commands. We celebrate the “Jericho March” but in doing so, we miss the point!
Let’s take the fight to the enemy. Let’s lay siege to his evil works and begin a holy bombardment that doesn’t stop until Jesus returns. Let’s raise up a standard of faith based on God’s Word and the triumph of Christ over death and hell. “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds” (2 Corinthians 10:4).
The war is coming to your front door. You can wait until it moves into your household or you can move preemptively against the forces of hell.
It’s time for us to put on the war paint and go out and pick a fight! To my Canadian buddies, “Put down your wife’s lipstick—that’s not the war paint I was talking about!”
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