The Gates of Hell Shall Not Prevail . . .

One of my favorite stories from World War II is one told about General Patton (see picture of him conferring over strategy). I can't confirm if it is true, or not, but knowing his hard charging, no nonsense, get the job done attitude that made him loved in war (and, I have heard, hated in peacetime) it fits. It is said that one time he had the enemy running backwards hard. His tanks were rushing forward so fast that they were outrunning their fuel supply of trucks. He was faced with stopping his advance until the trucks could catch up. Knowing that this would give the enemy time to rest and dig in and fortify he made the decision, instead, to stop half of his tanks and transfer their fuel to the other half, choosing to remain on the offensive at half strength rather than simply hold ground at full strength—the proverbial, "The best defense is a good offense." Unfortunately, the enemy, in this spiritual war we are in, has convinced Christians that we are supposed to hunker down and dig in and simply hold ground and hold on until He comes back instead of being a mighty army advancing in the authority of Christ Himself.

The Bible says we are to pray for His Kingdom (the domain of His rule) to come to earth as it is in Heaven, and it says of His government (rule) there shall be no end. He is a God at war, and a Lord of armies. He has already defeated the devil—we are to collect the spoils of victory. Yes, in the big picture, the world is heading toward catastrophe, and yes we lose some battles, but in the realm we are given, each of us and the church as a whole, there should be some tremendous victory simply because of who we are in Christ and what He has already done.

I know that this is not always a popular position, and I could never explain the full basis for it here, but suffice to say that when a Christian comes in to a room (as I believe Bill Johnson says) the entire equation changes because the Holy Spirit of God comes in with Him. We should, I believe, be more surprised when darkness and its work doesn't fall than we should be when it does. We have the God on our side who breathes out stars so big that, as Loui Giglio says, if the earth were the size of a golfball, one of those stars would be as far across as Mount Everest is high! That is our God—the God of David and Elijah and Moses!

But, we are becoming a church in retreat. A church trying to simply hold on to the ground it has rather than trying to aggressively expand and take more ground. We often act and think like the devil is bigger than God! I have been having this offensive, high expectation attitude build in me more and more over the years, but it was really rekindled for me reading Derek Prince's book War in Heaven. In that book he points out a verse which has often confused me, and shouldn't have because of my military training and background. I think I probably missed it because I had been buying in to this defensive church mentality so I was trying to interpret the verse from that perspective.

In that book Derek talks about Matthew 16:18 in which Jesus says: And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. We, the body of Christ, are the church. The gates of hell shall not prevail against us. Now, until last night, I've never really understood that verse. I've used it, and held to it, knowing somehow it meant that the devil wasn't going to win, but I never "got" what it was saying (it's great that a gate of hell won't overcome me, but how does a "gate" attack, anyway?) Well, I should have thought more about it. This is an offensive, not a defensive verse for US, not the devil! As Derek points out, the gate of a city is its weak point—it is the point an ATTACKING army focuses on. For it to say that the gates of hell won't prevail against us is to mean that as we attack the devil's strongholds HIS gate won't hold out against us! We will break through his gate! But, for this to work, we have to march to where he is and carry the attack to him! This is the only way the verse makes sense—that it is in the context of our offensive—because gates don't attack, they ARE attacked!

Where has the enemy built strongholds in your life or the lives God has placed you around? Do you expect victory or defeat in those areas? Have you taken your thoughts and expectations and faith captive to the truth of our victory in Christ and the authority we exercise in Christ as His children? I want to encourage you, as I need encouraging as well, to go on the offensive. Expect that marriage to not just survive, but to prosper. Expect that physical ailment to be defeated. Expect that addiction to be defeated. We may not see every victory, but we can't water down our expectations to protect ourselves. Faith is, ultimately, the expression of the trust we have in God's love, Word, promises, goodness, and character. He has showed us His perfect heart and will in the Garden before the fall, in Jesus while on earth, and in Heaven. In all places it is good. Really good! We have a mighty God who will never leave us and who has left us to show Him to the world, as Jesus showed Him to the world when He walked here, and as He now walks here in us.

Photo Credits: National Archives

Captives Don't Obey or Submit Easily!

I am reading a book by Derek Prince called War in Heaven and in the early chapters he is making the case that we are a people at war within the spiritual realm. Did you know that the Hebrew word for "hosts" which is "tsaba" has as its primary definition "that which goes forth, army, war, warfare, host" or "a mass of persons (or figuratively, things), especially reg. organized for war (an army)". Thus, when the Bible calls Him the "LORD (or GOD) of hosts," which Derek says it does over a hundred times, it is saying He is the LORD or GOD of armies. As Derek said, when a country goes to war its citizens are automatically at war, the individuals do not need to make that individual decision. Thus, because our "government" and our "country" (God and Heaven) are at war, we, as its citizens, are also whether we like it or recognize it or not—and the Bible identifies our enemy as the "...rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places." (Ephesians 6:12).

In making his case Derek uses a multitude of warfare scriptures, one being the following passage (2 Corinthians 10:3-6) which says: For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ . . .

As I read that passage I was struck by something I had never really seen or thought of before, but which really adds an important piece to my June 30, 2009 post on "cages" or taking thoughts captive. In that post (and that two that followed it in early July) I talked about the essential need to take our thoughts captive, and the "cages" which I constrain my thoughts to. As I read the Corinthians passage above suddenly I saw the word "captive" in the verse "...and take every thought captive to obey Christ..." in a way I hadn't seen it before. I don't know if I can explain clearly the difference, but I'll try.

In the past I have seen the passage there to simply be that I take my thoughts and I make sure that they are consistent with God's Word or Promises, His character, and His testimony (see the June post). That still holds true, but I saw a dimension to the word "captive" that I hadn't seen before. I saw it as it truly is, an unwilling prisoner. I need to take my thoughts captive so that they obey Christ—but they aren't going to go easily or willingly. They are going to fight me the whole way and if I don't keep vigilant guard over them they will disobey or sabotage or even escape and wound me at the first chance they get.

When I was at West Point I spent one summer in a school where it trained us to evade behind enemy lines and, if captured, how to resist. It included being incarcerated in a mock Prisoner of War camp where an enemy tried to break you and you tried to resist. The next summer I went back to the same school—this time as an instructor . . . an interrogator to be specific (see my photo from then above). My job was to get as much information as I could from the prisoners. I can tell you that a prisoner will do all they can to resist, deceive, and if possible escape and wound you. As the "capturer" it requires constant vigilance and rest and warfare to keep them prisoner and obedient.

What this showed me, as it clicked for me last night, was that taking my thoughts captive to obey Christ is part of my warfare, and it suddenly made sense why it is so hard to take them captive and to keep them captive. I am in a war and there is a very real enemy trying to stir up my thoughts to rebellion and escape. I must TAKE them captive, MAKE them prisoners, and MAKE them obey Christ—and then, doing so, I must be vigilant to keep them there as they fight me, seek to resist and deceive me, and ultimately try to escape. It is, truly, a living, active, dynamic battle to keep my thoughts in captivity and obedience to Christ—making sure that all that I think and believe and expect is consistent with my Lord and His character and His heart and His Word. It is not a game. It is war. And the cost of dropping our guard in a war can be deadly. The lion paces about, looking for the one who has dropped their vigilance and given him a slight opportunity or advantage.

Same Evidence, Two Views . . .

We just finished watching The March of the Penguins tonight with the girls. What an amazing documentary which chronicles the incredible story of the Emperor Penguins and their journey 70+ miles across the ice to find the exact spot they started from, how they find each other, how they take care of their young, how they take turns moving to the inside of the "pack" to stay warm, etc. It was a truly fascinating look at them which showed, also, the amazing mind of man that he could film and document them in such a detailed way, including undersea shots and other footage that was simply stunning.

It was also sad. Multiple times Morgan Freeman, the narrator, would say something to the effect of, "We don't know how..." or, "We don't know why...". He even, one time, said something to the effect of, "They do this in a way designed to...". And yet, no mention of the designer, no recognition of a Creator.

Romans 1:20 says: For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. The "they" here is man. Us. God says we are without excuse when we can see the most amazing things of Creation and deny Him. That is a scary statement. It is very final. "Without excuse." That pretty much says it all and doesn't leave any room for hedging or hope apart from it.

I found it so sad that the same brilliant mind of man that could track and film these creatures amidst nature's harshest environment could, at the same time, see and study it all and miss the very One it points to, the designer of the design. I think that this struck me with such contrast because, just a few weeks ago, we watched as a family the amazing DVD series, Incredible Creatures that Defy Evolution. In this series they, too, chronicled the Emperor Penguin (among many other creatures), but they showed how so many facets of the Emperor Penguin's life and journey and internal knowledge base could not have evolved, but how they had to be in place, all at once, for the species to survive. They watched and chronicled the exact same march, the exact same habits, the exact same species, and they, to the contrary, gave the glory to God and showed so clearly how these amazing creatures point to the Creator who created them. It was, coming just weeks apart, a stark contrast.

It is a clear sign of the depth of blinding that the enemy has accomplished that we can look at creatures like these, and miss the One who made them. How do they find their way 70+ miles to the same spot when the landscape has changed and shifted and altered their route? How do they take turns keeping each other warm if only the strongest are supposed to survive? How do they "know" when to go, and when to return, and that they are supposed to return and find their same mate and same baby? What is the source of this knowledge? How does it come about and how does it get transferred? How would this species have survived and reproduced if, at one time, they had less information in their minds than they do now, and could only find their way half way, or do half their job?

I could go on and on, listing more and more questions—questions that "brilliant" men struggle so hard to explain any other possible way than to simply recognize and acknowledge that One greater than they made it that way. To God be the Glory.

(Thanks to M/Y/D/S Animal Graphics for their royalty free clip art of the Emperor Penguin. I have not explored the site fully so I do not endorse any other part of it.)

The Family of Christ . . .

When the transmission went out on our van a week and a half ago we thought our planned camping trip was over. Instead, we were blessed beyond measure (the only regret is that we missed seeing a special family at Hume Lake where we were going to go originally). We had three people offer us vehicles (two from our church, and one from our homeschool group who we had just met that day) and a family in our church loan us a luggage roof rack for the vehicle that we did borrow. Not sure where to go as camping was out for space reasons, we kept hearing about Shaver Lake (we wanted to do some fishing and some homeschool outdoor science time). On a whim, Saturday morning, I did a search for Shaver Lake and found the link for The Church of Shaver Lake. I thought that maybe some brothers and sisters in Christ could give us some advice about the area and where we might stay for not a lot. I called the number and one thing led to another and we were heading up there on Monday morning to meet some new "family". We were so absolutely blessed by the hospitality of the fellowship, from their amazing pastor Jim and his wife Debbie, to the family we stayed next to who live at the church, to the rest of the fellowship that we met. The trip was a beautiful balance of being outdoors, having fun, and that fellowship in the love and Spirit of Christ that is so beautiful. We were completely at home in the family of Christ there and we felt the sweet presence of the Spirit there. It was so wonderful and blessed to be a part of their family for a short time, and we know that we have made friends for a lifetime.

We got to fish (even had Warner in their fellowship take us out for a day and teach us fly fishing), go out on Jim's boat, see giant Sequoias, swim, BBQ, go to some high mountain lakes, relax, laugh, love, and just be blessed. I think that it must so make our Lord happy when His children love one another, open their arms and homes to one another, and embrace one another as a true brother and sister, sharing their hearts as well as their "talents." We can't thank all the people who seeded in to our time with their prayers, loaners, and hospitality. We can't thank God enough for His love and goodness. It was truly wonderful and amazing to feel so at home and loved and welcome among a group of people you had only met hours before. There is, indeed, a sweet love and bond and fragrance among those who love the Lord.

Pictures: The chapel used by The Church of Shaver Lake, Mary Ann fly fishing with Warner teaching, our family at Dinkey Creek, the "girls" and their donuts (and bagel) at Dinkey Creek (really roughin' it!). If you are on my Facebook page I posted other pictures there as well.