At War!!

Revelation 12:1-5, 7-8, 17

We’re at War!

January 12, 2020

We are living in very precarious times! You could even say these are crazy days! What should make sense - - doesn’t make sense. We hear stories on the news that for most of us really don’t make sense. Let me give you some couple of examples.

Now, let me tell you, I will show you some as headlines from the news. Please understand, I’m not making fun of them. They just don’t really compute in my brain. And this is a symptom of a larger problem that we’re going to talk about. I don’t think most of us are aware of all that goes on, it’s important to see how badly this world is changing. And how anti-Christian some of it is as well.

These are not jokes. These are not spoofs. This is real life.

The first slide is a shoe with a cross on it. There’s a shoe company in Turkey and Iraq, making shoes with a cross on the bottom. Why? So that every time the owner of the shoes takes a step, they are crushing the cross!

The 2nd slide is a headline I guess I understand, but don’t understand. It’s a matter of our changing world. The ACLU wants there to be menstrual products in men’s bathrooms. That doesn’t compute for me.

The 3rd slide is about a transgender employee at Nike was suing Nike because their coworkers didn’t refer to her as they/them.

This lawsuit was filed by a former Nike contractor making $130,000 per year, who identifies as "transmasculine" and prefers the pronouns "they/them/their," sued Nike for $1.1 million, claiming she was repeatedly "misgendered" by coworkers and that management failed to implement strict policies ensuring the use of her preferred gender pronouns in the workplace.

Now, I wouldn’t want people calling me she or her. I get that. But I don’t understand wanting to be referred to in the 3rd person plural.

4th, this is a headline from Pope Francis. Here is a quote from his speech --

In front of an unbeliever the last thing I have to do is try to convince him. Never. The last thing I have to do is speak. I have to live consistent with my faith. And it will be my testimony to awaken the curiosity of the other who says: "But why do you do this?" And yes, I can speak then. But listen: Never, never bring the gospel by proselytizing. If someone says they are a disciple of Jesus and comes to you with proselytism, they are not a disciple of Jesus.

I get his point! Live the right life and people will ask you why you live that way! On the one hand, that makes sense, but if you evangelize? You are not a disciple of Jesus? Our testimony should speak about our faith, but we often need to initiate the conversation, knowing our life shows Christ is real and present.

Lastly, I will read to you this twitter account about a couple from England.

A transgender man gave birth to non-binary partner's baby with female sperm donor.

I’ll let you figure this one out. For my mind, none of this computes. And I’m staying away from politics for other reasons. I can go on and on about what’s going on in our world. Whether you agree or disagree, there are consequences to subverting, mocking, disparaging and rejecting the word of God.

But . . . that’s really part of the plan. That’s what our enemy wants us to buy into. Our enemy wants us to believe that there are multiple ways to gain eternity - - - OR There is no eternity, so either way you can do and be whatever you want.

We’re in a beginning of the year series which is ultimately going to focus on who God is calling us to be. But to get there, we must know that we’re under attack.

There’s a problem, though - - because this isn’t a war we’re going to fight in the physical world. We may think that, but that’s part of the delusion. It’s a war unlike any we’ve ever seen, a war unlike any we’ve been part of. Actually, it’s a war we’ve already experienced, but maybe haven’t realized.

It’s actually the longest unrecorded war in human history. You see, our battle is not with one another, as much as we might look at one another with disdain, mistrust and enmity. Paul puts it best . . .

12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. - Ephesians 6:12

Do you understand what Paul is saying?