30 Missions for Victorious Warfare
E-Book, Englisch, 384 Seiten
ISBN: 978-1-4245-6008-0
Verlag: BroadStreet Publishing Group, LLC
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark
ADAM DAVIS is a former police officer as well as a husband, father, small business owner, speaker, and writer. He is the author of Amazon best-seller Spirit & Truth: 52 Encouraging Messages for America's Law Enforcement and a contributor for Entrepreneur Magazine and The Huffington Post and was featured on FoxNews.com and The Blaze Radio Network. Adam and his wife, Amber, reside in southeast Alabama with their three children and two dogs.
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Introduction
Did we in our own strength confide,
Our striving would be losing; Were not the right Man on our side,
The Man of God’s own choosing. —“A MIGHTY FORTRESS IS OUR GOD” BY MARTIN LUTHER (1483–1546) This is a book about spiritual combat. It is intended to stand on its own, but it can also work in conjunction with On Combat by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman. On Combat has been “issued” in the DEA and US Marshals academies, and it has been “required reading” in police academies and fire service academies worldwide. The US Marine Corps’ “Commandant’s Required Reading List” includes On Combat (and On Killing), courses and academies of all branches of the US Armed Forces have the book on their required or recommended reading lists, and publishers have translated it into five languages. The point here is that On Combat has established itself as a seminal resource in the realm of physical combat, drawing from a host of authors and experts, and bringing together an array of scholars and studies into a useful and valuable resource. It is our hope and intention, we humbly pray, that On Spiritual Combat is to spiritual warfare what On Combat is to the physical battlefield. At the end of each chapter (or “mission”) in this book, you will find some recommended reading from my book On Combat. This reading is not essential or required. The book you hold in your hands stands on its own. But, by tying in this recommended reading from On Combat, you will gain a greater depth of understanding of this battle that rages around us in the physical, psychological, and spiritual realms. Highlight lines and make margin notes in On Combat in the same way that you do in On Spiritual Combat. In several cases the recommended reading at the end of each Mission is a repeat. This is intentional, and if you have already read that chapter in On Combat, just skim it again and see how this insight into physical combat can reinforce our understanding of the spiritual battlefield. Also, it is highly recommended that you work the Holy Bible into this study in the same way that you weave in On Combat, but even more so! Read the passages cited in each chapter of this book, and then read it in your Bible. This will give you the greater biblical context for each passage. I also suggest that you make highlights and annotations in your Bible. These three resources—the Bible, On Combat, and On Spiritual Combat—will work together to help you understand and effectively fight against the evil spiritual forces arrayed against you. Rooted in God’s Holy Word
You will find many books on every possible subject that seem to operate in a vacuum. These may be worthy endeavors, but at one level, many fall flat from the very beginning. They are fundamentally flawed by the authors’ failure to incorporate other works into their books. The best books on any subject are those that “stand on the shoulders of giants” and build on that which others have already achieved. By skillfully weaving past wisdom with new information and new insight, the author creates a book that is greater than the sum of its parts. That is what the authors strive for in this book: incorporating, applying, and recommending some of the great minds that have previously written great works on this vital subject. All of this is, of course, ultimately and definitively founded upon and rooted in God’s Holy Word, the Bible. I will bracket each “mission” (each chapter) with a passage and a prayer. But don’t give up, and don’t give in. We not only prevail; we also overcome every attack. Remember, the flip side of victory is warfare, and the flip side of warfare is victory. Either way, you win. —The Rules of Engagement by Cindy Trimm For Such a Time as This
We have never needed this book more than we do now. Our civilization is striving to survive in tragic, dark, and violent times, and ultimately “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood” (Ephesians 6:12 ESV). I will be the first to tell you that On Combat and all of our worldly striving are ultimately doomed if we fail to address the spiritual aspect of the challenge that is before us. Throughout this book, I will include hymns in the form of poetry. Don’t just scan these poems. Read them with new eyes. Read them again, catch the rhymes, and feel the flow. Look at the names and dates of these authors, and get a sense of these wonderful old souls from past centuries. They are looking over your shoulder with pleasure as you are inspired by their words. Take these noble, powerful, beautiful old lines and apply them to your life and to your spiritual battle. The Jewish faith has the concept of “midrash.” Midrash is (from one very limited perspective) a set of commentary that surrounds God’s Word, established and sustained across the generations to give us a deeper understanding of Scripture. I would humbly submit that these hymns and the poetry within them, which have sustained and survived across the centuries, are a form of Christian midrash worthy of respect. Worthy to illuminate and enlighten us about God and his Word. I encourage you to say these poems aloud (for poetry was meant to be spoken) or, if in a place where that is inappropriate, to whisper them to yourself. If you know the music for the hymn, then sing that aloud (or whisper), and let these words come alive through your own voice and spirit, and let them bless and empower you. A good example is the short piece from Martin Luther’s “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” at the beginning of this introduction. Go back again to that opening piece and read it with reverence and purpose. These lyrics have given strength and solace to believers for centuries. Let these words roll off your tongue and prayerfully dwell upon them as you read them. I encourage you—I exhort you—to do the same with all the other poems and hymns that have been carefully and prayerfully woven throughout this book. I also encourage you to keep a journal as you read this book. Jot down key thoughts and points that you want to retain and apply. Think of how you can begin to modify your life to fight victoriously in spiritual warfare, and then write down those thoughts. Or, highlight and underline portions of the book and write in the margins. However you choose to do it, find a way to preserve key phrases and Bible verses that inspire you to do future exploration of God’s Word and his place in your life. “Do Something”—Striving for Spiritual Safety
In Matthew West’s song “Do Something,” he talks about shaking his fist at heaven and asking God to do something about all the bad things in this world. God replies, “I did, I created you.” Wherever you are as you read these words, you can probably look up and see some of the things our society has done to prepare for the threat of fire. Some form of fire code has influenced the building you are in right now. You can probably see smoke alarms, fire sprinklers, and, possibly, fire-exit signs. A fire extinguisher or a fire hydrant may be within sight. By some estimates, half the construction costs of a modern building will go into meeting the requirements of the fire code. Fireproof or fire-retardant materials for the structure of the building and internal furnishings versus the cheapest alternative. Bringing the electrical system up to fire code. Doubling the electrical system in some buildings to run wiring to all fire-exit signs and smoke alarms. Keeping the fire sprinkler system under pressure for the lifetime of the building. The fire alarm in many buildings is an amazing expense all by itself, with a separate network of wiring running through our communities from every building to the local fire station. Don’t even get started with the cost of that fire hydrant and all those huge pipes running under every city. From our youngest days, we did fire drills, and perhaps someone taught you to “stop, drop, and roll” in case you ever caught on fire. Vast amounts of money, time, and effort go into preparing for fire. In the United States every year, around thirty-four hundred people are killed by fire, but approximately seventeen thousand are murdered in acts of violence. If we can spend all this money and time to prepare for fire (and we should), how much more so should we prepare for violence? And yet, the comparison between fire and violence completely breaks down when we consider the psychological effects of this virus of violence, because it is man-made. During the 9/11 attacks in the United States, terrorists murdered over three thousand citizens. The stock market crashed, the US invaded two nations, and our world changed dramatically. That same year, over thirty thousand Americans died in traffic accidents, and it didn’t change anything. Because they were accidents! The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association (the Bible of psychiatry and psychology) tells us that whenever the cause of a traumatic event is human in nature, the degree of psychological trauma is “usually more severe and long lasting.” Ask yourself how you would respond to these two...
