War Zone

I have never been in war. I have seen the movies and news clippings. It looks horrific. I have visited historic battlegrounds. Places where thousands lost their lives in the cause they fought for. War is brutal. You see the scars from those come back. Some have missing limbs. Others lost an eye. Some lost their minds in war zones. PTSD troubles many combat veterans and impacts every facet of their lives.

It appears  to me increasingly the United States is a war zone. The news reports I read are hard to believe. A Satanists recently killed two people and buried them in his backyard because he was convinced he was a demon. A young teen confessed to killing multiple people. Mass shootings barely raise an eyebrow unless you have political aspirations. People kill or harm one another because of the color of their skin or their religious and political views. Adultery is pandemic at this point. Sadly, many who fall into this trap of Satan are professing Christians. They justify their sin with phrases like, "I am no longer in love with you. Now I love this other person." Or, "This person makes me happy." As if those things change the law of the LORD.

Confused teens and children are encouraged to turn to transgender and the LGBT community to solve their identity issues. For me to even write such a thing could be considered hate speech. I could get banned from social media if I did not ban myself years ago. A former homosexual who met Jesus and was delivered told me himself the homosexual community is immoral. He reported some homosexuals have hundreds of sex partners. He even told me about a friend who, knowingly with the AIDS virus, intentionally has sex with as many men as possible so as to infect them. In essence, with each of those acts, he is committing murder. He doesn't care and his multiple partners are so in lust they throw caution to the wind.

I just heard about another teenage suicide. This one barely a teenager. One recent report I read said suicides are up in rural communities. How do these young people get to the point where they have no more hope? They choose a permanent solution to temporary problems.

The church goes on business as usual week after week and year after year. How few times the church gathers to pray. I mean to really pray. How few times the members fast and pray to combat the evil in their communities and families. It is easier to plug in another program to put behinds in the pews. It's much harder to take on a war zone mentality.

For weeks I have been praying for God to share His heart with me for the church I serve, our community, county and country. To feel what He feels. To love like He loves. To fiercely oppose evil the way He opposes it. Those kind of prayers do not take place in five or ten minutes. He is requiring more prayer from me than every before. I don't want God to ever be able to say He could not find someone to intercede in a place I serve or live. It does happen. There are places where the intercessors cannot be found.

Isaiah 59:16 (NASB)
16  And He saw that there was no man, And was astonished that there was no one to intercede; Then His own arm brought salvation to Him, And His righteousness upheld Him.

Why doesn't the church take spiritual warfare more seriously? Why do we bury our heads in the sand and call for another self help sermon series? Why do we neglect fighting against evil through spiritual war.

I received an interesting text today that inspired this post. My friend wrote, "I have been fighting in the spirit realm against evil for the past 5 days. Committed to 7!" I think that possibly means my friend is fasting for spiritual breakthrough.

What am I doing writing about this? Enough already. Back to the prayer closet.