Month: July 2019

On July 21, 1861, Union forces led by Brigadier General Irvin McDowell and Confederate forces led by Brigadier General P.G.T. Beauregard met just north of the city of Manassas, Virginia to engage in the first major battle of the American Civil War, the Battle of Bull Run. The battle was a Confederate victory, and that victory was sparked not by weapons but by what would later be called the “rebel yell.” Following an attack by the Union Army, General Beauregard ordered a counterattack. It was during that attack that the Confederate Army raised a battle cry, screaming as they advanced toward the Union troops. With that battle cry, the Confederates managed to break the Union line. The Union troops retreated across Bull Run in a panic, leading to a victory for the Confederates. That cry, the “rebel yell,” was intended to intimidate their enemy and boost the morale of the Confederate troops. In the Battle of Bull Run, it did just that. Recalling the Confederate battle cry, one Union soldier said that it would send “a peculiar corkscrew sensation that went up your spine when you heard it.” Years after the war was over, a Confederate veteran noted that, “If a recruit had nothing at hand but the ‘rebel yell,’ he could at least help to intimidate an adversary.”

The Bible mentions several war cries. One of the most famous examples is found in Judges 7, in the story of Gideon. God called Gideon to free the Israelites from the Midianites. By God’s command, Gideon took with him just 300 men, divided them into three groups, and led them toward the Midianite camp, each man carrying a ram’s horn and a clay jar with a torch concealed in it. Let’s take a look at Judges 7:19-24 to see what happened next:

¹⁹ It was just after midnight, after the changing of the guard, when Gideon and the 100 men with him reached the edge of the Midianite camp. Suddenly, they blew the rams’ horns and broke their clay jars. ²⁰ Then all three groups blew their horns and broke their jars. They held the blazing torches in their left hands and the horns in their right hands, and they all shouted, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” ²¹ Each man stood at his position around the camp and watched as all the Midianites rushed around in a panic, shouting as they ran to escape. ²² When the 300 Israelites blew their rams’ horns, the Lord caused the warriors in the camp to fight against each other with their swords. Those who were not killed fled to places as far away as Beth-shittah near Zererah and to the border of Abel-meholah near Tabbath. ²³ Then Gideon sent for the warriors of Naphtali, Asher, and Manasseh, who joined in chasing the army of Midian. ²⁴ Gideon also sent messengers throughout the hill country of Ephraim, saying, “Come down to attack the Midianites. Cut them off at the shallow crossings of the Jordan River at Beth-barah.” So all the men of Ephraim did as they were told.

Did you catch what happened in verses 20 and 21? The Israelites, as they had been instructed by Gideon, raised a battle cry, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” And, just as the “rebel yell” of the Confederate Army at Bull Run caused the Union Army to flee in a panic, so the battle cry of the Israelites caused the Midianites to panic and flee. But look at what happened next. In verse 23, we read that the 300 Israelites sounded their ram’s horns and, in total confusion, the Midianites began to fight each other with their swords. God defeated the Midianites without the Israelites having to draw their own swords.

As believers, as the body of Christ, we are in a battle. But unlike the Battle of Bull Run and unlike Gideon’s battle against the Midianites, our battle is not an earthly battle. It is a spiritual battle. As Paul tells us in Ephesians 6:12, it’s not a battle against “flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.” It’s a battle for souls. And when you look at the state of the world around us, you’d probably say that, right now, the enemy is winning. We are living in a time where things are turned upside down, when evil is called good and good is called evil (Isaiah 5:20). And as the body of Christ, we need to step up the battle. But, although we are human, we don’t fight our battles as humans do. As Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 10:4, our weapons are not worldly weapons. The weapons that we must use to tear down the “strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments” are God’s weapons. In Ephesians 6:10-17, Paul outlines the battle gear that we are to employ, the armor of God. While most of the components of that armor are defensive components, there is one that is an offensive component, the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. Armed with that word, we can “destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God” and “capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:5)

In this spiritual battle that we are in, there is only one ultimate victor, Jesus Christ, and He is described for us in Revelation 19:11-16:

¹¹ Then I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there. Its rider was named Faithful and True, for he judges fairly and wages a righteous war. ¹² His eyes were like flames of fire, and on his head were many crowns. A name was written on him that no one understood except himself. ¹³ He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his title was the Word of God. ¹⁴ The armies of heaven, dressed in the finest of pure white linen, followed him on white horses. ¹⁵ From his mouth came a sharp sword to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod. He will release the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty, like juice flowing from a winepress. ¹⁶ On his robe at his thigh was written this title: King of all kings and Lord of all lords.

In that battle between good and evil, good will prevail. Referring to the forces of evil, Revelation 19:21 tells us that, “Their entire army was killed by the sharp sword that came from the mouth of the one riding the white horse.” Jesus is the Word of God, and it is through that Word that the enemy will ultimately be defeated. Until the day that the final battle is fought, we, the body of Christ, need to step up the battle. God will give us the victory. We must lift our voices and proclaim the gospel to this fallen world and raise our battle cry. And what is that battle cry? Jesus!

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Toward the end of her life as she penned her final love letter to her husband, George Burns, famed comedienne Gracie Allen wrote, “Never place a period where God has placed a comma.” Another way of putting the thought behind what Gracie Allen wrote is, “Don’t put God in a box!” When things look bad, when we are facing a crisis of some sort, our reaction, based on our human way of thinking, can quite often be resignation, defeat, or hopelessness. We don’t see any way out of the circumstance or crisis we are in and we’re ready to give up. And, truth be told, if it depended on our own human strength, it would be right to look at it that way. But in Ephesians 3:20, Scripture tells us that God is “able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.” We can’t, but God can! God can place a comma where we would place a period.

In Mark’s gospel, we read about Jairus, a leader of the synagogue, whose daughter has fallen gravely ill. Jairus went to Jesus to plead with Him, asking Jesus to come and lay hands on his daughter so that she could live (Mark 5:22-23). Jesus went with Jairus but, on the way to Jairus’ home, messengers arrived with the news that Jairus’ daughter was dead and told Jairus that there was no use troubling Jesus with this now. The girl was dead. Period. Hearing this, Jesus told them not to be afraid but to have faith (Mark 5:35-36). In other words, erase that period from the end of the sentence and replace it with a comma.

Jesus continued on His way to the home of Jairus. Arriving there and seeing much commotion and weeping, Jesus went inside and asked, “Why all this commotion and weeping? The child isn’t dead; she’s only asleep.” The crowd of people just laughed at Him. They were basically saying, “Look, Jesus, we know the difference between someone being dead or asleep, and this young girl is dead. Period!” But Jesus knew that God had not placed a period on this girl’s life but a comma. He went in to the room where the dead girl lay, held her hand and said, “Little girl, get up!” The girl immediately got up and began walking around (Mark 5:38-42).

When a crisis has you ready to throw in the towel, when you are feeling defeated or hopeless, don’t look at your own human limitations, or the limitations of others. Look at the limitlessness of God. Remember that what may be impossible for you is not impossible for God. With God everything is possible (Mark 10:27). Don’t place a period where God has placed a comma.

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Yesterday, as a nation, we celebrated the day on which we declared our independence from Great Britain. With the signing of the Declaration of Independence, we were telling King George III, and the rest of the world, that we were no longer to be a colony ruled by another country. Rather, we were to be a new nation, free to govern itself, free from the burdens placed upon us by Great Britain. And it is that freedom that we celebrate every year on July 4th. But we must never forget that freedom comes at a cost and that cost is high. We must never take that freedom for granted.

The American Revolution, the war that secured for us the independence that we declared on July 4, 1776, resulted in the loss of about 25,000 lives, some through battle, some through disease and other factors. Another 25,000 American soldiers were wounded, bringing the total casualties to about 50,000, a high price to pay for the freedom we sought. Our nation is now 243 years old, and throughout those years, many more Americans have willingly paid the price, through death or injury, to help us maintain the freedom that we so love. From 1775 through 2019, the total casualties of war are estimated to be over 2,852,901. There is a high cost to freedom!

There is another freedom that we must never take for granted, another freedom that came at a high cost. That freedom is the freedom from the penalty of sin, a freedom that came at the cost of one life, that of Jesus Christ. The Son of God, Jesus was sent into our world over 2,000 years ago to take upon Himself the cost of freedom from our sins. Although He Himself was without sin, He went to the cross and gave His life so that we could be set free from our sin. He took upon His shoulders the sins of every person who has ever lived on this earth and willingly gave His life to provide the way for each of us to be set free from the penalty of those sins (1 Timothy 2:6). Each and every one of us is a prisoner of sin, but we can enjoy freedom from that sin. How? By believing in Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:22).

Jesus gave His life to free us from the sin that enslaved us. All that we need to do to receive that gift of freedom is to believe in Him, to believe that He is the Son of God, that He died for our sins. The cost of our freedom was high and we must never take that freedom for granted. We must turn from sin and not use the freedom that Jesus paid for as an excuse to continue to satisfy our sinful nature. Rather, we must use our freedom to serve one another in love (Galatians 5:13). When we stay true to Jesus’ teachings, when we serve one another in love, we are truly His disciples and we can live in the promise that He made in John 8:36: “So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.”

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.