Category: Spiritual Warfare

1/21/2025 0 Comments

The Lips of a Priest

Pastor Richard Wurmbrand was arrested and thrown in a Romanian prison for fourteen years.[1] For two of those years, they placed him in solitary confinement. A political prisoner in an adjoining room taught him Morse Code. Using this knowledge, Richard was able to share Bible verses and proclaim Christ to other prisoners. One day, a neighbor tapped that it was Good Friday. Richard found a nail in the lavatory and inscribed “Jesus” on his cell wall, hoping it might comfort someone later assigned to the same room. A guard caught him and angrily placed him in a carcer for two days.

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8/16/2024 1 Comment

Valor II

The word valor originates from the Late Latin valorem and means strength or moral worth.[1] In the sense of strength, we think of one’s mind or spirit that enables them to take on danger or engage in acts of bravery and courage. In the sense of moral worth, valor is displayed by an unshakeable commitment to right conduct and virtue. A person who honorably refuses to engage in wrongdoing despite the pressure to do so displays valor.

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3/10/2024 3 Comments

Are You Prepared?

After hearing Jesus speak about the destruction of the temple buildings, His disciples asked Him what would be the sign of His coming and the end of the age (Matthew 24:3). He shared with them the signs of the end times and what it would be like before His arrival.

An undeniable unsettledness grips the hearts of entire populations concerning these days. One must hardly look to see that all is not well on Earth. But rather than mope or cast blame, why not cope within a different frame—the frame of preparation? Zach Clinton, author of Even If, asked thousands of men attending the Ignite Men’s Impact Weekend at Thomas Road Baptist Church two questions. “Can you sleep through the storm because you have prepared? Are you training for the trial you are not in?”

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2/6/2024 1 Comment

You Must Be Quiet

I was talking to my stressed certified public accountant (CPA). It is that time of year when he prepares tax returns for all his clients. The strain on his face was palpable, so his answer was no surprise when I asked him what I could pray for him. “Ask God to relieve the stress and anxiety of this tax season.”

Eric requests prayer for Ben and Kelly’s failing marriage. Erwin needs intercession for his beloved wife, Sue’s deteriorating health. Jerry seeks wisdom in his job addressing conflicts with Iran, Russia, Ukraine, China, Taiwan, Israel, and Hamas. Nanette argues passionately for the right to see her grandson to the deaf ears of a drug-addicted daughter. Her prayer is for reconciliation and healing.

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1/21/2024 0 Comments

Purify Yourselves

My father was given a valuable porcelain Buddha figurine from an Asian antique collector. He would display it in the house until guests came over and then hide it in a drawer. He always knew where it was. Years later, my brother, Nate, was at a point in his life where he decided to follow God. He was convicted that his music collection was holding him back spiritually. So, he purged his CD collection of music worth over $1000 by breaking them apart in our parent’s garage. Seeing what Nate was doing, Dad was convicted of his Buddha figurine. He brought it out to be destroyed. While holding a bowl of eggs, he placed the antique on a stump and brought an ax head down to smash it.

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9/9/2023 1 Comment

Bent Over

Meditation
Luke 13:10—11--As He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath, a woman was there who had been disabled by a spirit for over 18 years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all.

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7/3/2023 1 Comment

"The Sparkle Creed"

Edina Community Lutheran Church, an ELCA congregation in Edina, Minnesota, celebrated Pride Sunday led by their female pastor in reciting the sparkle creed whose words state:
I believe in the non-binary God whose pronouns are plural. I believe in Jesus Christ, their child, who wore a fabulous tunic and had two dads, and who saw everyone as a sibling child of God. I believe in the rainbow Spirit, who shatters our image of one white light and refracts it into a rainbow of gorgeous diversity.[1]
This creed is a gross perversion of theology. It represents the misguided attempts of a congregation to fit God into their inclusive agenda that will spare no expense to accommodate a world fully intent on making sexual sin something to celebrate and force upon all those who take God’s warnings seriously and strive to obey Him.

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5/11/2021 0 Comments

Jerusalem

Today as I’m writing this Hamas is firing rockets into Tel Aviv and Israel is conducting counter air strikes. Seeing conflict flare up in Israel made me curious so I consulted the internet: “What city has been conquered the most?” The answers were quite interesting. Don Tano, a full-blooded Sicilian, claims that Palermo is the most conquered city in the world.[1] The Telegraph lists the top seven most conquered cities in the world as: the Northumberland town, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Palermo, Szczecin (Shcheh-cheen) and Gdansk (formerly Danzig) in Poland, Edirne (Adrianople) in Turkey, Jerusalem, and France’s Nice.[2]

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4/14/2021 1 Comment

Degraded

When the leaders of the military set as their highest priority rooting out right-wing extremists and ensuring transgender Americans can serve in the force we can be sure that our readiness is woefully compromised. Who feeds the Commander-in-Chief his information? If it is people from the Palm Center the United States is in big trouble. This organization focuses its attention on America’s LBGT population and they say focusing on transgender issues is an urgent priority for military readiness.[1] Supposedly “recruitment, reputation, retention, unit cohesion, morale, medical care, and good order and discipline” are compromised by banning transgender Americans from serving. But they do not back up their statements with evidence outside their small population group. As someone who served in the military for 36 years I can tell you from my experience that their findings are absurd.

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1/14/2021 0 Comments

Spiritual Warfare

The first evidence of physical battle dates sometime between 4000 and 3500 B.C. from the ancient city of Hamoukar located in modern northeastern Syria. Historians believe the Uruks of southern Mesopotamia invaded the region.[1]Battles around the world have been fought for a long time and their spreading evil caused God regret for even creating man (Genesis 6:6).

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3/14/2017 0 Comments

Stay Awake

Jesus in the final hours before getting arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane asked eight of the disciples to sit while he prayed. Then He took Peter, James and John with him further into the garden. Disclosing His anguish to His three closest friends, He asked them to stay awake with Him. Then He went a little further and fell face down on the ground to pray. When He returned to the three he found them sleeping. He confronted Peter, “Simon, are you sleeping? Couldn’t you stay awake one hour?” (vs. 37)

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1/28/2012 0 Comments

Convinced

There are those who scoff at the reality of demons. The whole notion of religion or the existence of God seems like relics of an antiquated belief system. Tell that to the four men who on September 20, 2011 stood around Vlad and prayed for him, watching as he writhed on the ground as one and then another demon left him. Two days later Vlad called Dad and said he was again under attack. So the two met near my parent’s home and walked together up a nearby mountain.

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7/7/2006 0 Comments

Unbelief

Meditation
Acts 2:12,13--They were all astounded and perplexed, saying to one another, “What could this be?” But some sneered and said, “They’re full of new wine!”

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3/24/2006 0 Comments

Battle

It was early in the morning and Doris was cold. She asked Dan if he would warm up the house. So he got up and only barely awake emptied the ashes from the wood stove into the cardboard box and set it behind the stove. Then he built a new fire and went back to bed. It wasn’t long before he awoke to the screams of Doris yelling his name. Their home was rapidly filling with smoke. Dan ran into the family room just in time to see flames darting up the corner wall. Quickly he found the fire extinguisher but instead of attacking the flames he sprayed directly into the box below and the blaze was contained.

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7/31/2000 0 Comments

Spiritual Concentration

We could feel the tension increase as the Willamette Star Cruise continued to struggle. What should have taken a few minutes stretched to almost half an hour. The Captain was unable to bring our boat to the dock. Jokes passed across the deck below as some from the wedding party waited to disembark. “Now you can see why I never joined the Navy.” “Hmmm, wonder what he’s been drinking.” “Must be a rookie driver.”

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6/20/2000 0 Comments

Spiritual Battle

O Lord! The smell of smoke, unending pressure, ferocious jaws of confusion and fear, ear-splitting cries of others wounded . . . adrenaline rushes like some careening jet. A quick glance around reveals that this battle is extensive and the combatants as diverse as one could imagine:

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5/30/2000 0 Comments

Struggle-Moral

Climbing the staircase to LTC Mark Armstrong’s office one cannot help but notice the words painted between steps: Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless service, Honor, Integrity and Personal courage. These are seven key values the Army seeks to instill in all its soldiers. They are values that Mark takes seriously as the Battalion Commander of the 1st Battalion of the 46th Infantry.

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2/8/2000 0 Comments

Whole

Quarantine is a condition of forced isolation often imposed upon those with a contagious disease, or to determine if someone is in fact infected. My computer has the capability to quarantine off sectors in which a virus has been discovered. This built-in protective measure is intended to keep my hard drive from crashing!

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6/1/1997 0 Comments

Spiritual Development

Bark Blowers sells bark, dirt, sand, and stones to people who have landscaping needs. I drive past their company virtually every day I am in town. Currently their parking lot is a disaster. It is a mud-rutted, quagmire in which even their large trucks are in danger of getting stuck. Twenty-four days of rain will do that.

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