An Aggressive Church, Fully Willing, On the Battle Field

1. Long has Satan fought, resisting
 Faithful sons of God,
 So the fighting church should notice,
 Spread the message broad.

 God ordained us as His soldiers,
 Bearing sword and shield,
For His purpose fully willing
 On the battle field.


 2. Hosts of darkness now are gathered,
 Conflict has begun,
So the fighting church must gather
 Those who’ll fight, not run.

 3. Are there rebels still in God’s court
 Who still love this age?
If the church is not aggressive,
 Battle we’ll not wage.

 4. Who’s afraid to fight the devil,
 Dare the enemy?
If the saints shrink from Christ’s kingdom,
 Shameful they will be.

 5. “He not with Me is against Me,“
 There’s no other choice.
 Where’s the fighting church, God-fearing?
 Fealty we must voice.

 6. Lo, God’s Conqu’ror still is conqu’ring;
 Rise, assume His might!
Fighting church, on Calv’ry’s hillside
 He did win the fight!

 7. Once He fully faced the devil,
 We must face him too,
 Else the fighting church can only
 Other troops review.

 8. Christ is calling overcomers.
 Who would please the King?
 Now the fighting church should put on
 Armor threatening.

 Source: http://www.hymnal.net/hymn.php/h/8649#ixzz2I9SKHPza

 "If the church is not aggressive"?? Somewhere we've lost sight of this mindset. We've become tolerant, politically correct, soft, weak, selfish, and just plain out don't love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, strength!

God ordained us as His soldiers, Bearing sword and shield,
 For His purpose fully willing On the battle field.

This is what we were saved unto, called unto! If we don't live it, it's not just that we are being disobedient, we are missing out on the very thing that would fulfill us and bring the knowledge that we are doing what we were created to do.

 It's also sad that we don't sing hymns like this more often. The meter of this hymn is one that is extremely rare. In fact, I could only find a couple hymn tunes in all my searching, but none were at all familiar, except the tune written by J. H. Burke, usually song to "Yesterday, Today, Forever Jesus is the Same" (without the chorus).

 Perhaps if our churches and our children were singing more of this kind of song, and less of the "5 words repeated 5 times" kind, we would be in a different place today.

"I never meant for it to go that far"

Temptation.

Sin.

Shame.

Secrecy.

More shame.

Fear of being caught.

Obsession.

Still more shame.

Depression.

Desperation.

Yet more shame.

I NEVER meant for it to go this far.

But satan did. He meant for it to go this far from the moment we were born. He hooks us in with just a little bit, a small thing, a tiny compromise. And before we know it, we are in so deep over our heads, it is controlling our lives, our time, our thoughts, sucking the life out of us. Whether it ends with us burning in hell, or our bodies and souls destroyed, he always intended for us to go that far-and further.

Today God showed me a flip side of this painful scenario. He showed me that satan is saying the exact thing about those who God has rescued and delivered out of the very same thing referred to above. Satan NEVER meant for our salvation to go this far! He never meant for us to be delivered from the addiction, the fear, the shame, the defilement, the lies he had enticed us to become slaves to! He intended from the very beginning to kill, steal and destroy us. John 10:10 What a powerful picture to think of him lamenting and wailing because of what we have allowed God to do in our lives!

So at the end of the day, and at the end of my life, satan or me - who will be saying -

"I NEVER meant for it to go this far!"?

Adoption

Last week, our van had decided to take a vacation from running us all around this side of the world, so we were stuck at home, unable to all get to church.

Instead, David found a sermon by Voddie Baucham about Adoption, so we all settled down on the couch in the living room to hear what he had to say about it. I don't have much experience with Mr. Baucham, so I had no idea what he might have to say on the subject.

As it turned out, I was so encouraged, refreshed, and blessed by the loving things he had to say. Not only did he make possibly the strongest case for adoption I have ever heard from the Bible, but he also spoke from his own life experiences of being an adoptive parent.

Never in my life have I heard preached or thought of Genesis 48 as an "adoption ceremony". We laughed and cried as we identified with so many of the things he spoke about. Take a few minutes to listen to it, even if it's while you're cooking or cleaning.

http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=113101250246