Militant Evangelism! (29 page)

"You shall burn the carved images of their gods with fire; you shall not covet the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it for yourselves, lest you be snared by it; for it is an abomination to the Lord your God. Nor shall you bring an abomination in your house, lest you be doomed to destruction like it; but you shall utterly detest it and utterly abhor it, for it is an accursed thing."

Her attitude was a little short of what it should have been, in fact, she had nicknamed the thing "Charlie." She also manifested demons at an altar some time later.

Other things on the list which should be renounced are witchcraft,
astroprojection
,
occultic
children's games such as "Dungeons and Dragons," Masonic Lodge, numerology, wearing an Ankh cross (similar to the Christian cross but with a loop at the top), practicing yoga or practicing martial arts such as karate, etc., (some of these things are harmless to begin with), practicing automatic writing, taking LSD, or being involved with or practicing anything which is of the mystics. If you have prayed to idols or statues of Jesus or Mary, there also needs to be a total renunciation (Exodus 20:4-5).

This one is my personal conviction: I am also convinced
that men
wearing earrings has adverse spiritual connotations. They speak of rebellion and bondage, being very prevalent among homosexuals, punk-rockers, gypsies and pirates. Notice in Israel's rebellion of Exodus Chapter
32, that
the people "broke off the golden earrings," which speaks of some sort of bondage to Egypt. A young man told me that he was about to preach the Gospel on a street corner, and God spoke to his heart and said, "You are not preaching My Gospel with that thing in your ear." Another Christian was saved out of a rebellious lifestyle, and upon conversion removed the earrings from his ear. Then he was drawn into a group who began murmuring about the pastor. Back in went the earrings. When he understood from scripture that he was not "murmuring against Moses, but against God," he repented, and immediately took the earrings out again. They were in themselves harmless, but were outward indicators of inward rebellion.

I have no right to tell another Christian that he shouldn't wear earrings; that's between him and God, but he should understand that
jewelry
carries command in the spiritual domain.

Listen to these words of a converted witch, relating about suicidal thoughts she had:

"Because I still wore the rings that had been given to me on the night of my initiation, I still had contact, and they (those in the
witches
coven) were
able to contact me through my mind."

Those Christians who feel that the International Peace Movement is a worthy cause to become involved in, should take the time to study the origin of the "peace symbol." According to the historian, Nestorius, it is an inverted and broken cross. Titus' legions bore it on their shields when they destroyed Jerusalem in 70 A.D. and it then became known as the "broken Jew." It has been used by Arab commandos of the Palestinian Liberation Front. Bolsheviks painted it on the doors of the church buildings they closed in the revolution, and it was branded on the bodies of Jews killed by communists during the Spanish Civil War.

If you have had any involvement in any of these things listed, you need to not only renounce involvement, but you need to destroy the object. Don't sell your rock albums, destroy them, preferably in fire (Acts 19:19, Deuteronomy 7:25).

We are involved in a war. The enemy is trying to filter through and weaken our ranks in the most subtle of ways. Some of the things I have mentioned in this chapter may seem trivial, but I would rather be vigilant to a point of examining
any
movement among the enemy, rather
then
being careless—the stakes are too high.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN: DEVOTION TO THE CAUSE

"No man that wars entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who has chosen him to be a soldier"
(1 Timothy
2:4).

I
n the Book of Chronicles, we read of an unusual thing. The Scriptures tell us that
Amaziah
, King of Judah, did that which "was right in the sight of the Lord, but not with a perfect heart" (2 Chronicles 25:2). How could someone do something which is "right" in the sight of a perfect God, with an attitude that is less than perfect?

The word "perfect" in this case doesn't mean sinless perfection, but comes from a Hebrew word '
shalem
,' meaning 'made ready.' It means serving God with a wholeheartedness, with a "Here I am Lord, send me" attitude. I certainly don't want Sue doing that which is right in my sight "but not with a perfect heart." I don't want her to hand me my slippers saying, "Dinner is served sir," like a well-trained housemaid. No, like every husband, I want my wife to be devoted to me with her whole heart.

Sadly, much of the contemporary Church is in the state of doing that which is right, without the perfect heart God desires. We pray, fellowship, tithe, read the Word, yet so few are prepared to preach the Gospel to every creature, to be "fishers of men," to preach the Word in season and out of season . . . to report for duty and say, "Here I am Lord, send me."

This wholeheartedness is the key to the power of God being manifest in the Church. The Bible says that "the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong on behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him" (2 Chronicles 16:9). That's the same word—"perfect." Many soldiers are living in defeat because they are not serving God with a "perfect heart." The Lord is not showing Himself "strong" on their behalf. We need to be "willing in the day of (His) power."

Satan is terrified of God in the committed Christian. He knows the power that God gives to the fully consecrated saint.

Probably the most famous magician and escape artist to ever live, was Harry Houdini. Even though he defied death so many times, he didn't die trying to escape from some death-defying feat. A young man who had heard about Houdini's incredibly strong stomach muscles, approached him backstage and struck him a blow to the stomach. Unfortunately, Houdini was caught off-guard and received a ruptured appendix. Seven days later he died of peritonitis.

Satan trembles at the name of Jesus. He knows that Jesus Christ in
us,
is infinitely greater than he that is in the world. However, he also knows that the Christian can sometimes be caught backstage, and off-guard. That's why there are so many warnings in scripture about "watching" and being "sober and vigilant," because your adversary the devil walks about as a "roaring lion seeking whom he may devour" (1 Peter 5:8). Each of us needs to have the strong muscle of a holy lifestyle pulled tight to resist the blows of the devil.

None of us want to be caught off-guard on the Day of Wrath. We need to trust in the Lord for our strength, to be "strong in the Lord and in the power of His might."

Fresh Water Surfing

For years I was hooked on surfing. I don't surf now for a number of reasons. There are too many sharks off the coast of Southern California seeking that delicious, dangling, salt-water delicacy, soft and succulent "surfer's leg." Besides, if I go for
a
summer
surf and get caught in the freeway traffic, I don't get back until winter. But I will definitely take it up during the shark-friendly millennium when we will have 1,000 years before God does away with the sea, and from then on it will be fresh-water surfing for eternity.

Before surfboards became smaller and lighter, we didn't even think of tying them to the leg, as they do nowadays. If you fell off, every instinct within you would tell you to seize the board, because if you didn't, you would have a long swim to the shore to retrieve it. I had no idea how strong this instinct was, until I tried water skiing.

I took off after the boat, and things were fine for about ten seconds. Suddenly, I fell, and found myself being dragged under the water for about thirty feet. My impulse was to hang onto the rope even though I was under the water.
Dummy!
I ended up with a head full of salt water.

When we come to Christ, our sinful nature doesn't want to let go of pet sins. Habitual sin is ingrained in our nature, but if we have any sense, we will let go of the rope, because sin will do nothing but drag us down.

A 20 year old man was on a snow mobile in Colfax, Iowa in the late seventies. He was having a ball, racing around on the glistening white snow. He swung the machine around and sped at about thirty miles an hour between two wooden posts.
That was the last thing he did.
A thin, almost invisible wire between the
posts,
decapitated him.

Satan will let you have a ball. He wants you to instinctively hang on to your sins. He will let you race around and enjoy their pleasures for a season. His will is only to "kill, steal and destroy," and somewhere he has a wire strung at just the right height for your neck. All he needs is a little cooperation.

How
To
Succeed as a Thief

A popular magazine once ran an article by an
excat
burglar. He didn't steal
cats,
he preyed on the homes of those of us who are ignorant of his ways. Most of us, because of a lack of knowledge, virtually put a sign up saying, "Thieves, I'm outta town, so come in and steal what you want."

This is how we do it. We have unlit rear entrances which are enshrouded by trees and hedges. They act as a magnet for the burglar. The ex-thief said that a loud air-conditioner was an open invitation. If people could sleep through its noise, they weren't going to hear him breaking into their home.

He would even masquerade as a newspaper-subscription salesman, knocking on doors, ready to do a phony sales pitch if anyone answered. Then he would leave a card on the door handle, and if no one
answered and it was still there the next day, it was a sure sign that the family was away.

A name on the mail box gives the burglar all the information he needs to find your phone number and call to see if you are home. Even alarms don't guarantee security. Often people put the alarm sticker on the front of their house to scare away would-be burglars. All the burglars do is write a letter to the company and say they
are wanting
to purchase an alarm system. They then study the literature to become familiar with it so they can easily disarm it. Exterior alarms can be filled with shaving cream to silence them, while most locks can be simply picked. Windows can be silently broken, by putting a paper covered with Vaseline on it, so that when they break, they do so silently.

He says that most people lay their house out like a candy store. They place all their
jewelry
, wallet, etc., in the bedroom or by the kitchen sink, and if he needs a car, the keys are on the end of the counter. The man's best advice to stop burglars: "Get two dogs. Make sure they bark." He said that even a house guarded by a Chihuahua is well protected, because people wake up when the dog barks.

He advises that if you hear a burglar in the house, not to confront him. If he has a gun, he will probably shoot you and even all the family, rather than go to prison. His advice, and the advice of the law, is to call the police.

Satan knows what he is doing. He is an expert in his field. He sees many signs that tell him he is safe to make entrance. A dusty Bible is an open invitation. Lack of the light of good understanding is another open attraction. He wants us to be in the dark—to be "ignorant of his devices." He wants a sleeping Christian, someone not watching and praying, as Jesus told us to.

Don't confront the devil, call upon God for backup. If you have a problem with lust, realize that it is a weapon of darkness that will be the death of you. Call upon the Lord. Ask Him to disarm the devil. Tell Him that you don't want that creep creeping around in your property. He only comes in the dark, and you need to walk in the light to keep him away. Have the guard dog of a good conscience, and listen when he barks. He is there to protect you.