C.A. Pettit's Blog, page 4

Coffee with a Devil Part Two

coffee with a devil

A Story in Serial - Part Two

This is part two of the serial story I’m currently writing. If you have not read part one , you might want to go check that out first. Click here to read it now. This is a story you get to help me write by providing your feedback in the comments or by sending me a message through my Contact page . If I like your ideas, they might just end up in the story, or I might name one of the characters after you!Part Two:The Demons

“The human grows weaker, lord.”

 Seated comfortably, looking into the bloodshot eyes of Viggo Moretti, Abaddon didn’t bother to acknowledge, Corsis, the imp who had whispered in his ear. He smiled, draped his arm over the back of the chair and crossed his slender but powerful legs.   

“Does he truly know you are here, lord?”

Abaddon let the smile fall into a frown and raised a hand to silence Corsis. “He thinks he does, but he doubts. Even as he speaks to me, he doubts whether it is real or all in his imagination.”

Viggo set his mug down far enough in front of him so that he could fold his arms on the tabletop. “Why don’t you just leave me alone?”

Abaddon tilted his head back and laughed. When he had gathered himself once more, he sighed before responding. “Me? Or all of us?”

“No, lord!” 

Corsis stepped forward, and Abaddon backhanded him across the cheek. The imp would have been thrown across the diner with the force of that slap had he not fluttered his small wings. Abaddon heard the sound of the wings and turned in the direction of the sound. Corsis was sulking back to the table, back to his master’s side. Abaddon gave an approving nod but didn’t bother to acknowledge the other demons in the room.

“Why do you torture me?” 

Abaddon turned his attention back to Viggo. The poor creature’s face was twisted in anguish. His balding hair was a tangled mess, and the stubble on his chin added to the careless look of the overburdened, sleep-deprived man. Abaddon rose from the chair and walked around the table. He gently caressed Viggo’s neck with his sharp claws, drawing a shudder. He bent down and whispered into his ear.

“You know why.”

Viggo’s reply was difficult to interpret, choked up as it was when the man began to weep. “I know you’re here. Please, just leave me alone.”

Abaddon stood and let his hand slide away from Viggo’s neck. As he rose to his full height once more, his eyes met with the one at the back of the room. Standing behind the counter, in front of the kitchen window, he was surrounded by demons ranging in size and class from nearly insects to almost human in appearance to what man had come to consider giants.

Abaddon’s confident smile was erased along with his sense of absolute power when he saw the one. 

When the one saw him.

To be continued…

This is part two of my newest short story, “Coffee with a Devil,” a story I’m writing publicly. This is the unedited, rough draft. All feedback is welcome. Tell me where you think the story might be going, and make sure to follow the blog so you can be the first to read part three. What would you like to see happen next?

If you enjoyed this rough draft, you might also enjoy my finished works in the Journey of Fate series. Check out the prequel short story now by signing up for the mailing list!

Coffee with a Devil Part One

Coffee with a devil

A Story in Serial - Part One

The Diner

Viggo wavered on his feet in front of the Last Chance General Store. A hot, stale breeze sprayed one side of his face and neck with tiny grains of West Texas sand, but he ignored it. The general store that also doubled as a diner looked abandoned. He knew it wasn’t. With a heavy breath that nearly brought back his convulsive coughs and dry-heaving, he plodded up to the door. He didn’t bother looking down at the rusted door handle as his calloused hand absently twisted it open, and he shoved himself through as if he were carrying a heavy bag on his sweaty back.

Most people imagining the West Texas stretch of plains and endless oil fields expect a certain atmosphere when they enter these one-stop shops miles from anything resembling civilization. Hank Williams on the radio. Men in multiple gallon hats drinking sudsy ounces of cheap beer. The residual smell of fried bacon and crude oil mingled together, repulsing passers-through while soothing the locals. People are mostly wrong. Viggo expected nothing and was not disappointed.

The long traveler sensed only their smell. Felt only their ever-watching eyes fixed upon him as he limped through the doorway. His mind might have heard the bell above the door jamb before he reached behind and pushed the door shut. He heard their breathing. Heard their whispers, the never-ending taunts, and lies. Ignoring them, he walked past the carousels of five-dollar sunglasses and ten-dollar postcards in front of an old-timey cash register surrounded by rock candy and road maps. Turning to his left, he saw a young, pale man with messy black hair leaning against the window of the short-order kitchen. 

The two of them exchanged nods and then the white shirt and apron-clad man lifted his chin in the direction of table and chair sets. Viggo didn’t bother to acknowledge this with another nod. He scratched the sand-riddled stubble of his jaw and aimed his plodding steps toward the table at the back of the diner, nearest the window. Two chairs. Opposite of one another. Viggo pulled out the chair on the window side and sat down so that he was facing the kitchen. He barely noticed the waiter coming up to the table; his eyes were fixed on the chair across the little round table. 

“Coffee?”

Viggo motioned twice with his right hand. Yeah, come on. 

The waiter set a plain mug down with a thud and then filled it halfway up with hot, fresh-smelling Columbian roast. Viggo didn’t bother to look up when the waiter asked if he wanted to order anything. He swiped the mug toward himself like a gambler collecting his chips after a winning hand but without the smile.

Viggo had no more smiles. 

“If you need anything, all you have to do is ask.” The waiter had said it with his back turned as he was walking back toward the kitchen. 

Viggo scoffed and lifted the steaming mug to his cracked lips. He took a sip that stung his top lip and made him suck a quick blast of air in through his teeth, but the bitter drink went down like a good memory, and Viggo felt a soothing chill run down his spine. 

“Guess we’d better get started,” he said without having ever shifted his gaze from the chair across from him. 

There was a chuckle and then a deep voice said, “Don’t you mean we’d better finish?”

Viggo sighed and took another sip of coffee as the demon’s dark, reptilian form appeared, sitting calmly in the chair.

To be continued…

This is part one of my newest short story, “Coffee with a Devil,” a story I’m writing publicly. This is the unedited, rough draft. All feedback is welcome. Tell me where you think the story might be going, and make sure to follow the blog so you can be the first to read part two. What would you like to see happen next?

If you enjoyed this rough draft, you might also enjoy my finished works in the Journey of Fate series. Check out the prequel short story now by signing up for the mailing list!

Coffee with a Devil

Coffee with a devil

A Story in Serial - Part One

The Diner

Viggo wavered on his feet in front of the Last Chance General Store. A hot, stale breeze sprayed one side of his face and neck with tiny grains of West Texas sand, but he ignored it. The general store that also doubled as a diner looked abandoned. He knew it wasn’t. With a heavy breath that nearly brought back his convulsive coughs and dry-heaving, he plodded up to the door. He didn’t bother looking down at the rusted door handle as his calloused hand absently twisted it open, and he shoved himself through as if he were carrying a heavy bag on his sweaty back.

Most people imagining the West Texas stretch of plains and endless oil fields expect a certain atmosphere when they enter these one-stop shops miles from anything resembling civilization. Hank Williams on the radio. Men in multiple gallon hats drinking sudsy ounces of cheap beer. The residual smell of fried bacon and crude oil mingled together, repulsing passers-through while soothing the locals. People are mostly wrong. Viggo expected nothing and was not disappointed.

The long traveler sensed only their smell. Felt only their ever-watching eyes fixed upon him as he limped through the doorway. His mind might have heard the bell above the door jamb before he reached behind and pushed the door shut. He heard their breathing. Heard their whispers, the never-ending taunts, and lies. Ignoring them, he walked past the carousels of five-dollar sunglasses and ten-dollar postcards in front of an old-timey cash register surrounded by rock candy and road maps. Turning to his left, he saw a young, pale man with messy black hair leaning against the window of the short-order kitchen. 

The two of them exchanged nods and then the white shirt and apron-clad man lifted his chin in the direction of table and chair sets. Viggo didn’t bother to acknowledge this with another nod. He scratched the sand-riddled stubble of his jaw and aimed his plodding steps toward the table at the back of the diner, nearest the window. Two chairs. Opposite of one another. Viggo pulled out the chair on the window side and sat down so that he was facing the kitchen. He barely noticed the waiter coming up to the table; his eyes were fixed on the chair across the little round table. 

“Coffee?”

Viggo motioned twice with his right hand. Yeah, come on. 

The waiter set a plain mug down with a thud and then filled it halfway up with hot, fresh-smelling Columbian roast. Viggo didn’t bother to look up when the waiter asked if he wanted to order anything. He swiped the mug toward himself like a gambler collecting his chips after a winning hand but without the smile.

Viggo had no more smiles. 

“If you need anything, all you have to do is ask.” The waiter had said it with his back turned as he was walking back toward the kitchen. 

Viggo scoffed and lifted the steaming mug to his cracked lips. He took a sip that stung his top lip and made him suck a quick blast of air in through his teeth, but the bitter drink went down like a good memory, and Viggo felt a soothing chill run down his spine. 

“Guess we’d better get started,” he said without having ever shifted his gaze from the chair across from him. 

There was a chuckle and then a deep voice said, “Don’t you mean we’d better finish?”

Viggo sighed and took another sip of coffee as the demon’s dark, reptilian form appeared, sitting calmly in the chair.

This is part one of my newest short story, “Coffee with a Devil,” a story I’m writing publicly. This is the unedited, rough draft. All feedback is welcome. Tell me where you think the story might be going, and make sure to follow the blog so you can be the first to read part two. What would you like to see happen next? You might end up getting your ideas into one of my stories!

If you enjoyed this rough draft, you might also enjoy my finished works in the Journey of Fate series. Check out the prequel short story now by signing up for the mailing list!

Goodbye, Instagram!

* This post was originally sent to my email subscribers as part of my weekly devotions, “Starlight Reflections.” If you’d like to receive these free devotions, please sign up . I’ll also send you a free ebook copy of my short story, “Angel of Fate,” the prequel story to my Journey of Fate series.

I said goodbye to Instagram. It had to happen, and I'm not sorry to see it go. It wasn't a major hindrance in my life; I rarely paid it much attention. Still, it was one of those things that I didn't need in my life, so it's gone.

Here's the thing: The Lord told me to cut some things out of my life a while ago, and I had every intention of doing just that but didn't. I kept saying this thing needs to go, and once I hit some "certain point" I'll get rid of it. Navigating this journey of being an author is not easy, but I've made it harder on myself than it should have been.

Let me back up. I had one of those "only-God-can-do-this" kind of moments a couple of months ago. I was trimming a tree, and the Lord showed me how much I needed to be pruned just like the tree was being pruned. I asked the Lord what I needed to cut away, and He showed me some things. I got serious for a while, but it became one of those things that falls to the wayside if you're not deliberate about it.

So I listened to a podcast about a week ago, and it was all about pruning, trimming things out of your life in order to be more fruitful in the most important areas. I listened to the hosts of that show talking about how stressed they were and how they'd finally come to a place where they'd both decided there were some things they needed to let go. I listened to that, reminded of my tree pruning experience, and realized how much I had in common with them.

And then I went about my business and made no changes.

Well, Fate of the Redeemed releases soon (October 1st), and I'm starting to stress because it feels like I've done nothing to get the word out about this book. The Lord has made it clear to me that most of the tactics I'm using to market my books are pretty much a waste of my time. So, I've been doing some research, and I came across some authors who write books similar to mine and are finding some success. I reached out, and the responses were strange.

One man basically told me I was right but offered no valuable advice. It was actually super negative coming from a Christian author. Only one other person responded, and he said pretty much nothing about marketing. Instead, he kind of rebuked me and then spent four or five paragraphs encouraging me to renew my walk with God and trust Him.

Um, wow.

I don't know if you've ever had your spirituality called into question by a complete stranger or not, but it's unpleasant. It's equally uncomfortable for that stranger to then basically preach to you and inspire you. Why am I telling you this? Because he was right.

I spend a lot of time on social media trying to market my books even though I know how ineffective social media marketing is. Lately, I've wondered why I'm getting almost no engagement, but now I know. A year ago I made a lot of connections on social media with some people who have become fans of my books. The way I made those connections was by posting encouraging things and trying to spread the light. Now, all I've done for the most part is a post here and there trying to be an encouragement that I felt obligated to post and information about my books.

Well, no more. I'm not making any more attempts to use social media to market my books. Sure, I'll let people know when my books are available and where to get them. I'll post my progress in writing, but only because that's me talking about what's going on in my life. Other than that, I'm going to get back to ministering truth. I'm also going to eliminate that huge drain on my time. I still have my FB page, but I don't plan to do much with it.

This frees me up to focus on my writing. Imagine if JRR Tolkien had spent hours a day on Instagram. We never would have gotten The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. That's just not a world I want to live in. The Lord has shown me what I'm supposed to be writing next, and I want to focus on that. I don't want to write the Journey of Fate series because I feel like I'm obligated to people. This journey is about my relationship with God, and He is also thinking about what others need that He can give them through me. To that end, it's time for me to take this pruning thing seriously.

Less social media time equal more blog posts that provide biblical insight and encouragement to the saints. It equals more time with my family. More time in prayer and the Word of God. More time to live life and really feel like I'm living it. Maybe I won't sell a lot of books. Maybe I will. I don't know. I'm looking forward to getting out in the real world and meeting readers, talking to people.

I'll do my part and leave the results up to God.

Ironically enough, I write about spiritual warfare. The characters in my books are under attack from evil forces trying to steer them off course from following the Lord. You'd think I would've seen the same evil forces trying to use my good intentions against me for the same purpose. Maybe my own weaknesses and humanity are what make Lester so real to me. The battles he faces are not so different than my own, just in a different context.

How about you? What's keeping you from fulfilling your full potential and purpose for the Lord?

Can Satan Control the Weather?

who controls the weather?

Can Angels and Demons?

When I was writing Fate of the Redeemed, one of the things I studied was how much power Satan and his devils have. What I found is somewhat surprising and absolutely disturbing. For this post, I will be focusing on the answer to the question: Can Satan control the weather? The next obvious question is whether Satan’s devils (demons if you prefer) can control the weather.

There are a lot of opinions on this and a lot of different takes on what the Bible says. I won’t spend any time talking about what everyone else believes. Rather, I’m just going to focus on what the Bible says in order to get a better understanding of this topic. My hope is that this will give us all better insight when we start trying to rationalize through disasters with questions like, “Am I being attacked?” and “Am I being punished by God?”

Attack or Punishment

I basically see two common arguments taking place when extreme weather causes major damage or, worse, death. There is the mentality that says I’m under attack, and there’s the mentality that says I’m being punished. Many preachers, Bible scholars, and even conspiracy theorists love to get behind and fuel these fires. Some of these are well-intending people who want to bring about revival or provide comfort to those facing adversity. Some of these are corrupt instigators who want nothing more than to cause strife. I’ll leave it at that, but the unfortunate truth is that both parties have created a paranoid population, and only truth can free us from the fear and undo anguish they’ve caused.

Am I Under Attack?

Yes. 100% yes. Every time something bad happens to you, it’s the devil. You are the most important person in the world, so when the tree hits your house, it’s because Satan is camped out at your doorstep, plotting ways to crush you.

That’s sarcasm, folks.

The reality is that you might be under attack, but you might not be under attack. Who can know? Job never did, and he was absolutely the target of that old serpent, the Devil, which is Satan. There’s no question that Satan was unleashing havoc on Job’s life; but Job never once attributed it to the devil. In fact, scripture plainly shows us that he named God as his adversary:

“Oh that one would hear me! behold, my desire is, that the Almighty would answer me, and that mine adversary had written a book” (Job 31:35).

Throughout the book of Job, he acknowledges that true power comes from God. His so-called friends are accusing him of sin and telling him that he’s being punished and needs to repent. Well here’s a real dilemma. Was Job being attacked? Yes. Was he being punished? No. Was Satan his attacker? Yes. Who allowed it? Was God allowing it in order to force Job to repent of his sin?

Oh.

See the problem? We can’t just jump to conclusions. I don’t think some of these preachers and teachers realize how much influence they have over people. The average follower of Christ is not getting his or her theology from personal Bible study; it’s coming from the pulpit, podcasts, or the thirty second snippets on K-LOVE in between songs. That means what some man or woman says becomes the gospel truth in the minds of the listener.

Major Disasters

For years now I’ve heard people blaming major hurricanes on the sins of America. They show the date a new law is passed and then show the date of the disaster. For example, some have said that Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans because the city was planning a homosexual rally. Like I said, I’m not going to focus on these people or their claims, other than to show the error in thinking.

Almost every time one of these claims are made, verses from the Old Testament are quoted. Every time that happens, those verses are ripped out of context, and common sense is tossed out the window. Deuteronomy is quoted, verses pronouncing blessings on Israel if the nation follows God’s commands and curses if the nation disobeys God’s commands. That all sounds good, but there’s a couple of problems:

America is NOT Israel. We are not the new Israel. We did not replace Israel. We are not God’s newly chosen nation. Israel is God’s chosen nation. America isn’t in the Bible. Sorry, that’s just the way it is. You can try to force it all you want, but Israel is Israel. For that matter, the Church of Jesus Christ is NOT Israel. The church is not the new Israel and did not replace Israel. That line of thinking has to stop because it has no foundation in scripture. God is not done with Israel. This is the time of the gentiles, but there will be a full restoration of the Jews in the Promised Land.

The curses pronounced were droughts or unfruitful crops and flocks, not storms. The warning was that another nation would come and destroy them and take them captive. Guess what? All of that happened! It didn’t happen to America or the church because it was pronounced on ISRAEL! Even so, God gave plenty of space to repent. He sent judges and prophets. He took down their enemies each time they repented until they were past the point of repentance.

This misapplication of scripture does so much damage. It gives us false license to take every promise in the Bible and apply it to ourselves, and that’s just not possible. It also paints a false picture of God. It saddens me to hear people broad brush the Bible like this:

“The Old Testament is law. The New Testament is grace.” NO IT IS NOT!

This is why people think the New Testament has nothing to do with the Old Testament. This is why people think God is a tyrant and can’t wrap their minds around Jesus Christ being God. In this warped interpretation of scripture God is waiting to destroy people and entire nations while Jesus is some weak caricature that represents kindness and peace. Absolutely not. God is balance, and that same God of grace is clearly evident all through the Old and New Testaments.

You know, we can say God destroyed Egypt when He set the Jews free, or we can say that He gave the Egyptians an opportunity to repent and turn to God. He showed them His power and, even though He sent plague after plague, He didn’t just wipe them out. He gave them chance after chance to turn from their ways, and scripture points to the fact that it was effective for some. Why? Because when the nation of Israel left Egypt, they went out as a mixed multitude. There were some converts among them! Have you ever closely read the books of Moses? God clearly laid out what Israel was to do when someone from another nation came seeking to follow God. In fact, the Jews were supposed to tell the other nations about God; they just dropped the ball about a million times.

I’ll rest my case on this one example and move on to the focus of this post. Who was the pagan king who took Israel captive? That would be King Nebuchadnezzar. He was an idol worshiper who then turned himself into an idol and demanded that the people worship him. He was evil and a tyrant. Few in history have more blood on their hands than that man. Yet, we read in scripture that he turned to God before his death. God drove him to madness in order to allow the king to see how weak he really was and how powerful the true God is. When the king came to his senses and acknowledged God, he was restored. That’s grace, friends. Grace to a man who deserved a painful death, and that’s why we call it grace because none of us deserve it.

So are we under attack when major disasters strike? Maybe. Maybe not. Ask the islanders who experience so many hurricanes and tsunamis that it’s almost like just another Tuesday what they think. That’s right. There’s a world outside of the United States, and very few people think like we do. People in third world countries don’t look at missing a meal or an entire day without food as punishment. They call that Saturday.

There’s another aspect that we need to think about, and that’s the fact that the Earth is not static. There are plates constantly moving beneath the surface. The tides are affected by the moon. Changes in heat and cold cause all sorts of problems. Polar ice caps are melting (they are; it’s a fact that is physically being measured). That creates more water and a whole new set of issues. We’re not on a perfect planet, and we won’t be until God restores it.

Can Angels and Demons Control the Weather?

Now that we’ve established the fact that bad weather is not necessarily the wrath of God or some demonic attack, let’s just take a look at some things the Bible has to say. Will this give us clear answers for all of the weather related problems we face? No. I don’t think that’s ever going to happen. And hey, not all adverse weather is bad. We need heavy rains, sometimes. I live in Texas, and I appreciate some strong, cool winds every now and then.

Honestly, I’m not sure why people push back when I suggest that Satan can in fact control the weather. I referred to the book of Job earlier in this post. Sometimes I wonder if the people who disagree with my position on this have ever read that book. Here’s what the Bible says:

“And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD” (Job 1:12)

“While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee” (Job 1:16).

“And, behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee” (Job 1:19).

All I did just now was quote verses. Someone is going to say that I’ve lifted them from their context. By all means, please go read Job chapter one and come back to this post when you’re done. I don’t mind waiting.

Welcome back! The context of those verses is this: Satan challenged God, saying that people only bless God when He is blessing them. I’ll briefly point out that God brought up Job, not Satan. Anyway, God gave all that was in Job’s possession into Satan’s hand, but he told him not to touch him. Satan left, and he sent people, fire, and wind to destroy Job’s livelihood. In chapter two, God gives permission for Satan to afflict Job’s body but not kill him. Satan gives him a skin disease.

That’s not out of context. That’s just plain scripture. Satan controlled people, the elements, the weather, and had the power to make someone physically ill. There’s more, though. Until Calvary, Satan also had the power of death according to Hebrews 2:14. Had, as in doesn’t have anymore. But, Satan had that power for a long time. None of it, however, was without God being ultimately in control. God gave permission. Satan is not the creator, God is.

There’s no argument here, and by that I mean I’m not going to argue with anyone over this. This isn’t my private interpretation, just the verses the way they are. We don’t have to agree. These matters don’t affect our salvation, so it’s one of those things we can have a friendly discussion about, but it’s absolutely crazy to allow strife and contentions over such things.

Not Just Satan

I’m sure there have been a lot of wilderness survivors throughout the years who wished they could have called fire down from heaven. It sure would have made things easier! But, Chad, man can’t do these things. Unless man can. Elijah called down fire from heaven a few times. The beast spoken of in the book of Revelation will be able to call down fire from heaven. So there we have examples of the elements being controlled by someone other than God.

Pharaoh’s magicians were able to mimic the signs and wonders that Moses performed. They turned their staffs into snakes. They called up frogs out of the water. They turned water into blood. That’s going to happen again during the Great Tribulation. 2 Thessalonians 2:9 warns of one coming who will perform signs and lying wonders. We’re being desensitized to this now with many false prophets claiming to possess the power of healing and miracles. I’ll believe them when they show up to Johns Hopkins Children’s Hospital without an offering plate. Those men and women are fakes, but one is coming who will actually be able to do these things.

Revelation chapter seven sheds an interesting light on this subject.

“And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.

And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea,

Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads” (Revelation 7:1-3).

Angels, not God, not Satan; angels controlling the four winds of the earth. Please don’t mistake me. There are countless verses making it clear that God is the Creator ultimately in control. He has storehouses of ice, hail, etc. Let’s not forget who sent the waters that covered the earth, and let us also realize that no being was capable of stopping it.

What I am pointing out here is that God has clearly granted permission over the elements to beings other than Himself. The comforting part of these verses is that these angels do not have free reign. They can’t just unleash violent storms on the earth. God has set boundaries, and I’m thankful for that. Notice though, that the power of the wind wasn’t isolated. These angels have the ability to “hurt” the seas and much more.

I’ve always been fascinated by the princes referred to in the book of Daniel. Daniel has been praying for three weeks, but in Daniel chapter ten, a unique being shows up and says that he has been fighting with the prince of Persia. I’ve written in previous blogs how these are not monarchs but supernatural beings. This man’s appearance is very unique including his “face as the appearance of lightning.” Now, that doesn’t say that he has the power of lightning, but it does allude to the fact that there are extremely powerful beings fighting in the unseen realm, and I’m pretty sure the appearance of lightning comes from somewhere. I’m not dogmatic on this because the verses won’t allow it.

I am, however, very intrigued by it. In fact, I use this as a plot point in my upcoming release, Fate of the Redeemed. In that fictional novel depicting spiritual warfare, an angel with the power of wind battles a demon with the power of lightning. I fully admit that I am taking creative license with that story, but I also think I’ve demonstrated that it’s not entirely impossible.

Many stories exist of gods and goddesses in various cultures possessing power over the elements, such as lightning and rain. I am not saying that these stories are true because they have obviously been shrouded in myth upon myth. However, it is interesting that, at a time when cultures rarely had communication with far away cultures from other continents, these cultures have strikingly similar stories and even similar names for these gods and goddesses. This is really me just stirring the pot, but we know from several portions of scripture that thousands of angels fell from heaven with Satan. Could these be the origin of those stories?

Conclusion

God is the Creator. He alone is all powerful. He does, in His wisdom, grant permission over aspects of His creation. There have been and will be times that man is granted these powers but only within the boundaries set by God. There have and will be times when supernatural beings (whether angel or demon) has the power over the elements but only in line with God’s purpose and plan.

The Earth is not a static entity. It is shifting and has been subject to changes for the worse since the ground was cursed back in Genesis. As a result, there will be earthquakes and storms. Jesus Himself said these things would increase as we draw closer to the end of days.

These disasters may or may not be a punishment from God to various nations, but it is very difficult to discern whether this is the case. People who take a dogmatic approach to these things misapply scripture to situations as a means of justifying their opinions and positions, but this is a dangerous mistake. Such claims stem from a misinterpretation of the nation of Israel now being either the Church of Jesus Christ or some present nation on earth, which is corrupt and arrogant.

Ultimately, we can only see what the Bible says, but we are given no clear guide as to what causes storms or bad weather that causes destruction and death. We are in a dying world, and our hope is in Christ alone for the salvation of our souls.

Unveiling Satan's Strategy

UNVEILING SATAN’S STRATEGY

Satan’s Sniper Attacks

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I think the most terrifying experience I have ever been through was being engaged by a sniper. Depending on the skill of the sniper, you were at his mercy. He could take you out in the blink of an eye, and there was nothing you could do about it. If he had you in his sights, and he wanted it, you were dead. Here is a terrifying truth: the victim of a truly skilled sniper dies without ever knowing it. Alive one second; dead the next.

That’s not nearly as terrifying as this truth: Satan is a master sniper with the highest kill count in history. And, just like a sniper, he sets his sights on his victims without most of them ever knowing it. Don’t believe me? Here is what Paul had to say to Timothy about this:

“In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will” (2 Timothy 2:25-26).

Did you see that? “At his will.”

What’s sobering to me is that Paul is talking about Christians in that passage. Some might say that he’s talking about the unsaved because the devil can’t touch God’s children. That’s not only false doctrine; it’s dangerous theology. Timothy is a letter addressed to a pastor, and he is clearly teaching the young man how to take care of the disciples of Christ in his care. It’s not talking about possession; that’s a subject I covered in a previous blog. People love to claim all kinds of things that amp up a crowd and get people to shout, fill up the offering plate, and send in their money. However, just because it sounds good doesn’t mean it’s true. Fools love to make claims of how they can beat up the devil like he’s nothing, never realizing that Satan is laughing at them whilst destroying their lives.

So how do you survive a sniper attack?

You have to anticipate potential attacks

You have to see what you can’t see.

You have to find an egress (escape route)

Anticipating Potential Attacks

There’s a misconception among people who have never been to war that snipers are just people with a single target. This is the Hollywood perception of a sniper:

Orders are received either face-to-face or through some secret communication

The sniper spends weeks scouting a location and practicing a shot

The sniper gets into position by pretending to be someone else, then stashes the fake clothes in a trash can before getting into position

The target arrives, has a good time doing whatever, and then the target is down and the sniper disappears into the crowd, perfectly concealing the weapon

That makes for good television, but it’s not exactly accurate. Snipers have many roles. Sometimes they get their mission and have little time to prepare. They’re taken to or they go to a location, and they stay there for hours, days, or weeks. Often times they don’t move for hours at a time. They may even use the bathroom on themselves if they have to. They go hungry and dehydrate. It’s not glamorous. Other times their missions are quick. They may have a single target or no particular target. They may have a no kill order; their job is to cause confusion, and their target might be equipment. A single shot from a sniper can cause an entire convoy of vehicles or a foot patrol to stop. Then there might be an explosion from behind that takes out part of the convoy or patrol. Then there’s something to the front, and the rest of the patrol or convoy is pinned down in what’s commonly known as a kill box.

The sniper’s job in that situation? Cause enough confusion for the others to attack with deadly precision. There may be more than one sniper, and they work in unison to trap their shared target. In that sense, the task of a sniper is to be the operator of a well laid snare. Hunters use this when they trap game. Lay the bait, disguising the wire, rope, or whatever contraption will be used to trap the animal that takes the bait. The only way to avoid these traps is to anticipate them.

Satan uses simple snares, really. The trap is to draw a person away from God. The bait is a person’s own lust. Most people walk into the trap willingly, some fully knowing they’re making a mistake. The full measure of the consequences, however, are rarely known until it’s too late for the victim. But by then, the sniper has already disappeared into the crowd.

To avoid this scenario, identify potential traps and avoid the routes you know are convenient for a sniper. We thought a lot about snipers before we drove down narrow streets in Iraq. Spiritual warfare should be approached equally with care.

Married people should not allow themselves to be alone for a long time around single people or people they may find attractive. You can’t avoid everything, and you can’t walk through life blindfolded, but you don’t put the murder weapon in the enemy’s hand and then hope for the best. You’re a fool if you think you’re not susceptible to sin. People don’t come out of the womb hoping to be adulterers, and only a few, sleazy people go into marriage knowing they won’t be faithful. Even if you trust yourself, you should not ignorantly trust the intentions of everyone else.

The principle here is simple: Do your best to avoid a potential ambush. Don’t hang out in bars if you’re a recovering alcoholic. It’s incredible to me that a lab rat will keep going to the feeder bar regardless of how many times it gets zapped. We want our cheese, and we’re willing to take the shock in order to get it, but one day that shock is going to be a sniper’s bullet.

The mentality of a combat soldier is that snipers could be anywhere, at any time. In order to fight the battles of spiritual warfare, we must know that Satan’s snipers could and are everywhere, all the time.

Seeing the Unseen

Imagine a portion of a wall exploding next to you. Less than a second later, you hear the echo of a shot ringing out. On instinct you duck and then look for cover. Having no alternatives, you move behind the wall that just exploded, hoping that section is now between you and the enemy. Everyone, including you, is screaming “sniper” to alert anyone nearby to take cover and to let the sniper know that you’re aware of his presence.

Now comes the assessment. No wounded, full rations, and everyone is looking to you for a plan of engagement. You close your eyes, and everything slows down. You can hear the sound of your breathing, your heart beating. You feel the blood pumping through your temples like a drum. You have to figure out where the sniper is. You open your eyes and inspect the portion of the wall. The lower half of the exploded section is larger than the top, and the side closer to you is wider than the other.

Assessment: The sniper is above you, probably in the second story of a building across from you at a forty-five degree angle.

Problem: You still don’t know which window the sniper is shooting from, or if he’s still there. The solution is fairly simple. You have to signal to your troops to form two teams, one for over watch and one for flanking. That done, you visualize the area to try and understand the layout of the buildings, mentally going through scenarios of the best concealment and fastest egress routes.

What the soldier in this situation is doing is looking at the available information and then analyzing what can’t be seen. It’s similar to those of us engaged in spiritual warfare. We can see the results of attacks, but it’s not so easy to see where the attacks are coming from or anticipating the next ambush. It’s so easy to see drugs, pornography, scientific and philosophical slights on the Bible, immorality, and so on. It’s not so easy to see the subtle attacks that do far worse damage.

The Bible is clear that we are not fighting a carnal battle.

“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12).

Principalities (rulers)

Powers (authority over mankind)

The rulers of the darkness of this world (ignorance of the divine; beings of darkness who hold sway)

Spiritual wickedness (evil purposes and desires)

Rulers make laws and decrees that pin God’s people down. These rulers are influenced by hidden powers that thrive on mankind being ignorant of true evil. The hidden powers have their desires fulfilled, and mankind is plunged further into darkness. What many fail to consider is that this is happening in plain sight. But why is Satan operating behind the scenes? Why not out in the open like he did with Adam and Eve in the garden in Eden?

I can’t say for sure, but somewhere along the way that world was hidden to mortal sight. Sure, people have had visions, and the Bible tells us that we have entertained angels without knowing it, but we’re not supposed to see everything. Satan is the prince of the power of the air according to Ephesians 2, and he’s blinded the minds of man according to 2 Corinthians 4. I don’t have all of the answers. I know that he lost the power of death according to Hebrews 2, and the book of Job shows us that God—not Satan—has set the boundaries.

But who can see these things? Only the spiritually discerned.

“But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (2 Corinthians 2:14).

One of my favorite portions of Scripture is 2 Kings chapter 6. In that chapter, Elisha and his servant wake up and are surrounded by an army. The servant, Gehazi, is obviously afraid, but Elisha is quite calm. Why? Because his eyes were open to the spiritual realm. He prayed and asked God to open his servant’s eyes, and God did. Gehazi looked around and saw that the enemy army was surrounded by horses and chariots of fire.

I don’t know why there’s push back for this. People don’t like the fact that I suggest there are angelic beings watching over the affairs of men. Well, I’m actually not suggesting it at all. I’m saying it’s a fact according to Zechariah chapter one. Angelic princes war in the heavens. Not my suggestion. That’s Daniel chapter ten. There’s a war going on. Satan’s mighty men are working to influence the leaders of this world to remove God from every culture. They’re working behind the scenes, whispering in the ears of mankind to steer us toward our own fleshly desires. Not my opinion. Bible.

So what are the unseen hiding places of the sniper? They hide in the actors and musicians that become increasingly vulgar and antichrist. They hide in the laws that seek to silence Christians. They hide in the checkout counter at the supermarket. They hide in plain sight. Perhaps the most deadly sniper is the one hiding in the pulpit, the wolves in sheep’s clothing.

And no, I haven’t gone too far. I firmly believe that demonic forces have put on the clothes and personas of ministers, and they are leading the church of God astray through their messages of humanism and the occult. False Christs rise up and lead people into apostasy, immorality, and death. Fewer and fewer so-called “ministers” open a Bible or encourage their congregations to even bother bringing the sacred text to their faux worship services. Many churches have become social gatherings, human institutions where Jesus is standing outside, knocking and asking to be let in.

These “ministers” are nothing more than snipers, obeying the orders given them. It is indeed sad to think that many of them are unaware that they’re holding rifles in their hands and aiming at their own people.

But how do you see the unseen? How do you know if something is an attack?

You can’t anticipate everything. Despite all of our planning, despite having intelligence to guide us through the areas we traveled, attacks still took place. There was no avoiding it. When I was in Iraq on my first tour there was a sniper who was gaining quite a reputation in Baghdad. It was unnerving to go into certain sectors because the attacks were ramping up, and there didn’t seem to be a way for us to avoid them.

Imagine the terror I felt when my patrol ended up on foot and pinned down one day. My team handled it fairly well, all things considered, but that day I had a crutch that made the situation worse. With me was someone who didn’t travel out in sector very much. Add to this the fact that he outranked me, and you can imagine the awkward moments that took place when he attempted to handle the situation. He attempted to act without knowledge, and he nearly got himself killed. That day, his rank didn’t matter. My experience gave him orders and he reluctantly obeyed. We got out of that situation without injury. Don’t ask me how; most of it is blurred from my mind and I’m fine with it staying that way. The point is, I recognized the type of attack we were under, and my actions followed my knowledge of the situation. It became instinct.

Yes, avoid the attacks if you can. Plan your route. Avoid known hazards and dangerous areas. But you will be attacked. Recognize it for what it is. Once you’re under fire, here are the steps you need to take:

Get down FIRST and THEN seek cover

Assess the situation

Based on your assessment, decide on:

Counter attack or

Tactical withdrawal

Never try to counter or defend yourself in the open. History has a long list of fools who thought they’d win the battle by charging toward the enemy in an open field or on a street. No. Get down. Once you’re down, move as quickly to cover as possible.

Spiritually, this could be as simple as literally lowering your eyes when you see something tempting. You could be in a conversation with someone when things go in a sinful direction. Stop talking, and remove yourself from the situation. There’s a million ways to approach this, but hopefully you get the idea. Eliminate yourself as a target as quickly as possible.

Once you’re relatively safe or covered, evaluate whether there has been any damage. Did you say or do anything you should not have done? Address that then and there. Don’t make it worse by hiding it because that’s a snare. Are the people you’re with going to continue down that path without your consent? Maybe you need to separate yourself from them if they won’t respect your wishes but definitely if they’re going in the direction of sin. Why? Sin always leads to death.

Your assessment will tell you whether or not you need to attack the aggressor or remove yourself from the situation. Understand, a threat to your family needs to be attacked in some situations. Someone trying to woo your spouse or hurt your children needs to be confronted. Someone spreading lies about you? You may be better off not confronting that person sometimes. You may be better off letting the truth come out on its own rather than falsely incriminating yourself by allowing anger to prevail. As the saying goes, a guilty dog will bark. Don’t bark if you’re not guilty.

There is nothing wrong with getting away from an attack when your life is in danger. In the military, we didn’t like to use the word retreat. That just means running away. We had tactical withdrawals. Why? It’s not a pride thing. It’s because you remove yourself fully from the attack, survive that battle, and regroup in order to win the war. It’s neither brave nor admirable to get killed because you don’t want to seem like a coward. It’s foolish and unnecessary to die that way. The war is more important than a single battle.

Escape

Thankfully, God’s angels are battling for us. They strengthen and comfort us, and they show us the way out of the sniper’s attacks. We have the Holy Spirit leading us. The Word of God lights our path and guides us through temptations.

“There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).

How do we escape? We must open the Scriptures, see the true layout of the battlefield, and find the way of escape. If we walk in the spirit, we eliminate the sniper’s ability to trap us. I didn’t say we eliminate his ability to shoot at us or get us into a trap. Remember, the devil takes us captive at his will. However, when we’re guided by the Spirit of God and the Word of God, we can see the way through the attacks and the way out of the traps. And of course, we can avoid many of the snares. We have an advantage over the enemy the rest of the world does not.

First, you’re going to have to let God show you who you really are. Everything. In every way. Your strengths, weaknesses, vulnerabilities, all of it. Have you ever heard of a man named General George Armstrong Custer? How about an infamous battle named Little Bighorn? See, Custer gets almost no credit for his success in his war exploits. He’s known for foolishly leading his men to their deaths in a battle against Sitting Bull’s warriors. Custer didn’t make it to brigadier general based on his amazing tactical skills or military prowess. No, he was just a risk taker whose gambles got him through some victories, but his luck ran out. The truth is that Custer graduated dead last in his graduating class, and his behavior nearly got him expelled several times. He should not have been where he was, so maybe it wasn’t all on him. Regardless, if he had been honest with himself about who he was, things may have gone differently.

Many of us fall into traps and ruin ourselves because we’re not honest about who we are. That’s why we need an honest assessment, and that comes through the scriptures. God’s Word is like a mirror, one held up to our faces by the Holy Spirit. As we read about God’s righteousness, we see our own lack of righteousness. As we read about God’s holiness, we see how unclean we are. As we read about the mistakes of people throughout the Bible’s history, we see the same flaws in ourselves. This is the two-edged sword of truth that shows us who and what we really are.

Trust me, if my report comes back from my soldiers that we’re low on ammunition and water, we’re not settling in for a long fight if we don’t have to. We’re getting out of there and going to a resupply point as quickly as possible. Similarly, if I know that I have a problem with some sin, I’m not going to stand there and try to fight it toe to toe. Absolutely not. I’m getting out of there. Remember, the spirit may be willing, but the flesh is weak.

Second, you’re going to have to let God lead you. You want to know what one of the most incredible sounds a soldier on the battlefield can hear is? The chopping of the air that the rotors of a helicopter makes or the distinctively crisp sound of a pilot’s voice over a radio transmission. Those sounds have nearly brought tears to my eyes because of the relief I felt knowing I had someone watching over me. Not only that, I had someone who could cover my movements and direct me to safety while suppressing the enemy. That’s the Lord. He is watching over the battlefield. He knows where the enemy is, where you are, and how to get you to safety. And, He can take out the enemy much more easily than you can.

Too many people travel out in a war zone without a plan and without someone watching over them. We didn’t always have air support, but we knew how to quickly call for it. Once we discovered how valuable it was, we didn’t hesitate. Too many Christians go to the Lord as a last result. They call on the Lord when it’s too late to recover themselves out of the snares of the devil. Listen to me: wounds from a battle never go away. They may heal, but those scars are permanent. I don’t care if they completely disappear; there is a mental, emotional, and spiritual scar associated with every wound received in combat. Some of those are unavoidable, but some happen as a result of foolish pride. They happen because someone wanted to stand his ground and fight an enemy he could not defeat. Many good men and women fell to an an enemy they underestimated in Iraq and Afghanistan.

If you want to survive and win the war, you need the over watch and guidance that only God can give you. You need his angels fighting for you because you are no match for the devils. You, we, I need the Holy Spirit to teach us who we are and who God is. We need His Word, and we need to seek Him early.

Conclusion

Satan has been setting traps for thousands of years. The Earth is his battleground, and he knows the terrain very well. He relishes the chance to ensnare God’s people and destroy their lives. He wants nothing more than to stagnate the Church of God and blind the lost to the way of salvation. He seeks the throne. He desires to rule, and he does not care how many millions he destroys in his war for supremacy. He is an enemy we cannot afford to underestimate. His snipers are in place, and they are dangerous.

However, we, the saints of the Most High God, have been given the intelligence report of the enemy. We know what’s in his arsenal, and we understand the likely places he has set snipers and ambushes. We are aware of his devices, and we have been given the armor of God to withstand his arrows of deception, lust, and pride. We are not alone in the battle, for we navigate the terrain in constant communication with our eternal air support. We are prepared, and we know what to do in case of an attack. Should we be trapped or ambushed, we know exactly what to do.

We will survive. We will win the war.

Angel of Fate Cover Reveal

Today, I’m excited to reveal the cover of “Angel of Fate,” the prequel short story to Fate of the Watchman!

In my debut novella, Fate of the Watchman, the world was introduced to Lester Sharp, a callous man who had wandered away from God and his guide, Draven, an enigmatic angel tasked with showing Lester the pain and suffering in the world.

We don’t learn much about Draven in that book, but there is far more to him than one might think. Where Fate of the Watchman freezes time to show us Lester Sharp, “Angel of Fate” takes us back in time to show us Draven and answer some of our pressing questions about him. There is also a new character who will appear in my upcoming novel, Fate of the Redeemed, which is scheduled for a fall release.

About the story

Hidden among the rooftops of a dark city, the archangel, Orac watches as a lone vehicle travels into the night. Armed with his fiery sword and orders to protect the driver of the vehicle at all costs, Orac takes flight. He seizes on the element of surprise to defeat the demon, Talnuc, but soon discovers that the demon is not alone.

When the archangel’s defenses are penetrated by the spirit of fear, he must rely on the help of a powerful watcher named Draven.

The archangel, Orac, battles the spirit of anger, Talnuc on a moving vehicle in “Angel of Fate.” I commissioned this artwork from the extremely talented Christopher Aaron. You can see more of his work on his Instagram or at his website.

But, when an even greater and more sinister threat is revealed, drastic measures must be taken by Orac and Draven; and the remnant of the heavenly host must follow unprecedented orders for the sake of mankind’s future. As eternal forces collide, the journey of fate will begin.

What readers are saying

“What a fresh and exciting take on angels and demons. I'm hooked. Bring me Fate of the Redeemed!”  - J. Reese Bradley

“It will engage you and have you wanting to investigate more of these issues in Fate of the Watchman and its sequel Fate of the Redeemed.” - Perspective by Peter

I fully expected to enjoy a good read, but have been deeply inspired and moved by this snapshot of the unseen realm and the reality of warfare. In a CS Lewis / Charles Sheldon fashion, Chad somehow manages to take a mystical idea and make it quite tangible, using plenty of suspense and great literary finesse.” - Jennifer K Woodard, Author 

 Okay, are you ready?

And here it is…

   

I love this cover by Oliviaprodesign! It captures one of the best moments from the story, which is so critical to the series. I gave Olivia the basic idea with typical confusing input from an author, and she came back with this. There was one slight change that I asked her to make from the first proof, but this is basically her first design. The feathers and the birds were all her creation. I love the typography she used for this, and the storm rolling in adds the element of suspense I wanted to convey. Let me know what you think in the comments.

Like everything else in this series, it has taken on a life of its own, all guided by the divine hand of the Lord. At times, I don’t feel like I’m writing the story; I feel like it’s writing me. I’m excited about where this is going, and I’m thrilled to share this next installment of the journey of Fate with you. If you’ve read Fate of the Watchman, this will take you further into the character of Draven. If you haven’t read Fate of the Watchman yet, this story is a perfect introduction to the series.

If you want to “pull back the cover” and find out what happens in this exciting story filled with supernatural battles, suspense, and some surprising twists, subscribe below. It will be delivered to your inbox in a few minutes.

Not only will you get this exclusive story, but I will send inspirational devotions directly to you every Monday to help you start your week the right way. You’ll also be the first to hear about my upcoming projects and be a member of my V.I.P. Club, which gives you insider deals and offers.

Thank you for being part of this cover reveal, and I hope you’ll take the “Journey of Fate!”

  














 

Can a Christian be Possessed?

can Christians be Possessed?

A Practical Analysis

It’s a legitimate question that doesn’t really have a perfect answer, but the short version is: no. A saved, born again believer cannot be possessed by the devil or any of his angels (devils). Notice I didn’t say a Christian. Sorry to burst some bubbles out there, but you’re not automatically a Christian just because you’ve been born again, and you’re not automatically born again just because you manage to pull off some “Christ-like” qualities (Christian). Christian means Christ-like. To be saved is to be redeemed from sin through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Let’s just be clear. We’re talking about people who have been redeemed by the crucified and risen Savior through faith in Him. Everyone else is wide open and susceptible to possession. I’m not saying that’s happening or that it isn’t. That’s for another post. I am simply lining out the facts according to the Bible, and the facts are:

Christ defeated the strong man

Believers are one with Christ

Believers are sealed by the Holy Spirit

Background Information

The question of whether a saved person can be possessed comes from both brand new believers and people who have been in the faith for many years. There’s no way around it: As you read your Bible, you are bound to see story after story of people being possessed. The most obvious and, seemingly, frequent are during the ministry of Jesus Christ before His resurrection.

Jesus cast devils out of people many times throughout the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

Not only did Jesus cast devils out of people, but He granted the same power to His apostles.

The infamous “Maniac of Gadara” was possessed by a legion of devils. When Jesus cast them out of the man, they went into a herd of swine.

Upon His return from the mount of transfiguration, Jesus found that His disciples could not cast the devil out of a boy. He cast the devil out and said that some can only be overpowered through prayer and fasting.

Before Judas went to the high priest, the Bible clearly says that Satan entered into him.

This ministry of casting out devils continued after the resurrection and ascension of the Lord. Paul, throughout the book of Acts, cast out devils. In Acts 16, Paul was in Philippi. There was a woman with a spirit of divination. Paul commanded the spirit to come out of the woman.

But there is definitely reason to believe that this was occurring prior to that time and even as far back as the time of Genesis. The book of Job occurs chronologically during the events of the book of Genesis, making the events that took place among the oldest documented stories in the Bible. Job’s livelihood was utterly decimated, and he found himself quite alone before his so-called “friends” arrived to “comfort” him. However, the way his wife speaks to him is very interesting:

“Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die” (Job 2:9 KJV).

Apart from the fact that a man’s wife just told him to kill himself or at least allow himself to just die, her words exactly replicate what Satan said to God. See, all of the things that happened to Job derived from the hand of Satan but only after permission was granted by God. Satan wagered that Job would curse God if he were to be pushed far enough. God knew better, so He allowed Satan to attack Job. Satan’s promise to God was that, if Job was pushed far enough, he would curse God. So, when Job is still giving glory to God, even after losing his children, his herds, and his health, here comes his wife; and she asks him if he still holds fast to integrity.

In Job 2:3, God told Satan that Job had held fast to his integrity. So it’s very interesting that she used the specific words that God and Satan had both said during a conversation that Job and his wife never heard.

So people were possessed by Satan or some other devil all through the Bible. By the way, I use the term devil for both Satan and any of his angels as these are the terms used in the King James Version of the Bible, which I read and study. I may randomly use demons instead of devils because of familiarity, but the terms are synonymous.

Now that we’ve established that people CAN be possessed, let’s look at why that’s not true of those born again through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Christ’s Defeat over the Strong Man

In Matthew twelve and Mark three, Jesus casts a demon out of a man whom was previously deaf and unable to speak. Once the demon is gone, the man is able to hear and speak. That was the point when everyone should have shouted for joy…but those Pharisees!

They came along and said that Jesus was casting out devils by the power of Beelzebub, prince of the devils, and Jesus gives them the iconic statement that “a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand.”

He goes on to say that you cannot enter a strong man’s house and spoil his goods without binding the man first. It’s worded a little differently in the book of Luke.

“When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace: But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils” (Luke 11:21-22 KJV).

The reference here is clear. Satan has a kingdom, one that exists in two realms. One, he is the prince of the power of the air (Ephesians 2:2) and the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4). Adam gave up dominion of the earth when he partook of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and Satan has been wreaking havoc ever since. But, another kingdom, the kingdom of man’s heart and spirit, had been under the control of the devil as well. All of that changed when Jesus came.

He was the promised seed of Genesis 3:15 that would crush the head of the serpent. When he came, he brought the power to bind the strong man and take back possession of man’s hearts, minds, and souls. When Christ died on the cross, His blood purchased everything, including those that follow him by faith. Satan’s go to is man’s sin. He is the accuser of the brethren, but Jesus took that card from him. He bound up the strong man and spoiled his house. Some day, He will return and take back possession of the earth. For now, it is a battle in the spiritual kingdom.

Believers are One with Christ

This shouldn’t be complicated, but it is by no means simple. God exists in three persons. These three are one. It is not three Gods; it is one God who is triune.

Good so far?

Okay, now wrap your mind around this: all those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ are one with God, which means we are one with each of the ones…which makes us three…but not separate…which is…huh?

Let’s just have Jesus explain it because, you know, Jesus.

“At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you” (John 14:20 KJV).

Simple, right? No. This is where faith comes in. I don’t fully understand it, but I know the Bible is true. I know the words of Christ are true, so this is true. This verse comes from a passage where Jesus is explaining that He is one with the Father, but He will send the Holy Spirit once He has ascended. He tells His disciples that the Holy Spirit is dwelling with them but will be in them after his resurrection. He then tells them that He will come to them. The key to understanding this is the title Jesus gives the Holy Spirit in this particular passage: The Comforter. The Holy Spirit is called The Comforter, and Jesus says that The Comforter will come and take up residence inside the disciples. He then tells them that He will not leave them comfortless; He will come to them.

Okay, so Jesus and the Father are one. Got it. Jesus and the Holy Spirit are one. Got it. They are three persons. Got it. They are one. Kinda got it. Look, I know it’s a difficult concept, but at some point you have to take it by faith.

Why does it matter that I’m one with Christ? It matters because He cannot be possessed, and I am one with Him. I’m off limits, safe and secure. I don’t know about you, but that brings me comfort. Hmm. I’d say Jesus knew exactly what He was talking about when He called the Holy Spirit The Comforter.

Believers are Sealed by the Holy Spirit

I grew up in a basically rural community. It wasn’t the backwoods; there was a busy highway in front of my house, but there were also corn fields and farms surrounding us. Because of that, I got to see some really cool things that help me understand the nature of God and my relationship with Him. Have you ever watched someone can something? I don’t mean “can it” as in rudely telling someone to be quiet or throwing your efforts out. Those are colloquial idioms. No, I’m talking about preserving various food items in pressure sealed jars. Hmm. Wonder why they don’t call it jarring. Maybe because jarring means to cause shock. Okay, let me get back on track.

The point is this: My mom would prepare the food she wanted, usually peaches and stewed tomatoes because, you know, who doesn’t need a year’s supply of peaches? Once she’d prepared it, she would put the food in jars and then put those jars in this big pot that looked like something out of a B-rated Sci-Fi movie. That pot had water that was a certain temperature, and she would leave those jars in there for a certain amount of time. Once they came out, they were sealed. Forgive me if I don’t know the exact process, but boys weren’t welcome in the kitchen during canning season. Usually my grandma or one of my aunts would be in town, and that was a no-fly zone. But anyway, those cans were sealed.

I had the task of taking them into the back pantry in our house and then going to collect the cans whenever my mom wanted to use one. I was always disgusted when I retrieved those cans because they were quickly covered in mold. I grew up in the Pacific Northwest, and we had an old, drafty farm house. When I say mold, I mean mold. They were covered in the stuff, but my mom always assured me the stuff inside was perfectly preserved. She would rinse the jar, clean it thoroughly, break the seal, and reveal the food to be perfectly intact and just as good as it was the day she’d sealed it. That’s what it means to be sealed and preserved until the day you redeem the goods you’ve laid up in store.

So it was easy for me to understand my position in Christ once I read the Scriptures on it many years later.

“ In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory” (Ephesians 1:13-14 KJV).

This would take up an entire article, but the truth is that when I heard the gospel and trusted Christ as my Savior, I was placed into Christ. At the same time, the Holy Spirit came to dwell in me and sealed me until the day of the redemption. That is the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Need to see it again?

“And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:30).

I preached in a jail one time about the preservation of the saved, and one of the inmates used this verse to say that a person’s salvation isn’t permanent. He asked how many times do you have to be sealed? Um, look at the verse. It says, “unto the day of redemption.” Once sealed you’re sealed until Christ redeems you. He’s the redeemer. He paid the earnest money for you and he will redeem his reward. No one else gets to claim you. You are bought with a price (1 Corinthians 6:20).

Hey, if it offends you to be God’s property, I don’t know what to tell you. Would you rather be on the free market? That would mean Satan could have his day with you. Truth be told, he can still trip you up. The Bible says he takes people captive at his will. There are still traps laid. Plenty of ways to ruin your testimony and wreck your life, but when you trust in Christ, you are sealed. That seal cannot be broken by you or any other person, devil or creature. How do I know that? Because it was sealed by the hand of God, and no one can pluck you out of His hand (John 10:28).

So it doesn’t matter how much dirt and grime from this world collects on you. When the Lord Jesus returns and redeems you, that seal will be broken and a perfectly preserved soul will emerge.

Conclusion

The Bible makes it clear that a person can be possessed. Before the time of Christ, and definitely during the time of Jesus’ ministry, people were possessed by devils. After Christ left His disciples faced demon-possessed people. There’s no reason to believe it has stopped. However, the Bible makes a clear case that a redeemed believer in Christ is safe from that sort of oppression. Satan is powerful, but his power is limited by an all-powerful God. The almighty sent forth His Son to die for our sins, and when Jesus arose from the dead, he made a way of redemption through His blood. When a person believes that and puts his or her faith in Him, that person is placed into Christ. At the same time, the Holy Spirit takes up residence in the believer and seals him or her until the day of redemption. The strong man cannot manipulate you from within anymore. He has to rely on his cunning to ensnare us by our own lusts. And he can. Don’t mistake that. However, what God has purchased is your soul, and it is pure and one with Christ.

I pray these words comfort you, and I pray all of my articles bring you into a closer walk with the Lord Jesus Christ. If there are other topics you would like for me to discuss or additional resources you’d like, please mention those in the comments. Thank you.

Christian Fiction Guidelines

Christian Fiction guidelines

The Rules That Divide Us

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There’s a strange phenomenon among Christian circles. It’s the fact that there are Christian circles. Some lessons, apparently, take thousands of years to learn. The “how not to have division among you” lesson Paul taught the church at Corinth nearly two thousand years ago has yet to sink in for many of the disciples of Christ. Paul prescribed a simple solution:

“Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (1 Corinthians 1:10).

Paul said to be the same in three ways:

The way we speak

The way we think

The way we judge

There is only one way to accomplish unity in those three things, and that is to have the same guide. Thankfully, the Lord provided that for us in His word. If we’re all speaking the scriptures, thinking on the scriptures, and judging things based on the scriptures, we’ll be the same. Now, I’m not going into a series of doctrinal statements here. I’m simply going to address something I see as an author and reader of Christian books because that is an area where I have noticed a lot of unhealthy division. I’m not talking about rightful division, as in rightly diving the word (2 Timothy 2:15) or having separation between the world and the church; I’m talking about divisions that hurt the body of Christ.

Guidelines for Christian Fiction

I find it strange when I read reviews of books in the Christian market or read the posts and comments in groups dedicated to Christian books that there are several sets of “rules.” We just can’t help but divide ourselves, can we? I’m not talking about genre. Hey, everyone has a preference, and there are plenty of options to choose from, but that can be a source of division, too, unfortunately.

The lists of rules vary, but here’s a few commonalities:

No inappropriate language (even when putting it in a negative light; major cause of division)

Little to no violence but definitely no gratuitous violence

Clean (no sex, especially not between unmarried people)

Christian characters either do not sin or they suffer consequences and then repent of their sin

Forgive me if I stop there, but lists of rules have never been my thing, and this stuff gets frustrating. I’m not saying I disagree with everything in that list. My problem is that creating the list of rules is what automatically starts us down the road of division. Sure, publishers need guidelines, and I’m all for that. When you put your name on something, you had better make sure that it aligns with your values. I’m more focused on the way people treat books that don’t line up with their values, and the way they speak about the authors of those books. Let’s look more closely at how these rules are handled.

Language

Often, when the language “rule” is violated, the reader who mostly designates Christian fiction by that rule goes on Amazon, Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, and everywhere else to call the book trash. He or she then bashes the author. It’s usually posted with anger, and then there is a discussion between people who think the same way, and a few more books and authors get thrown on the fire. The problem with that is the fact that those readers are of the wrong spirit. That should sound familiar, if you know your Bible. In Luke 9, when Jesus wasn’t received by a village of the Samaritans, James and John wanted to call down fire from heaven to destroy those people. Jesus rebuked them, saying He had not come to destroy but to saves lives. Paul warned the Corinthians to restore a fallen brother in the spirit of meekness.

Does the Bible say your speech should be always seasoned with salt? As in making it pleasing to the hearer? Yes it does. That goes for you when you’re upset about the language someone uses. Have you read Matthew 18? It never says blast your brother or sister. It says that if you have something against them, go to them and handle it discreetly. I’ve known plenty of people who didn’t use curse words, but they weren’t Christians. If that’s your mark of being a follower of Christ, something is wrong. Of course, our speech should be holy, but don’t tell me you’re upset about language and then post on Facebook how great the latest Marvel movie was. What? Do you have Christian eyes and secular ears?

I think a person has a right to read and watch things that line up with their values, and they shouldn’t be taken by surprise or set up. A simple disclaimer at the front of the book or a note from the author would give every reader the option to choose whether to continue reading. Now, if you choose not to read the book because it violates your rule, leave it there. Don’t go blast the author or publisher that was gracious enough to warn you. I’m going to be real here. You can say all you want that you don’t want those words in your mind or before your eyes, but you don’t live in a bubble. You can’t live in this world and not hear those words. Jesus prayed in John 17 that we not be taken from this world but that we are separate from the evil of this world. We are in it, not of it. And, honestly, relax. I can’t understand people getting so bent out of shape over a word. If you say use substitute curse words, you’re just as wrong. I find that hypocrites tend to be the loudest about the things they supposedly are against.

* I do not condone foul language, and you will not find it in my books or stories. I simply want people to stop decimating the character of their brothers and sisters over something so petty.

Violence

*Insert sigh

No, I’m not about to condone violence. I detest it and believe there is almost always another solution. This rule, though, puts me at a loss for words. Readers complain about a book not being authentic, not realistic, but then they get upset when there are real depictions of violence. I feel like this is a no win situation for authors of Christian fiction. How do you decide what is “too much” or “tasteful” violence? How do you decide if it’s necessary or if it won’t upset the reader?

I’m just going to be blunt. If you think there should not be violence in Christian books, never read your Bible again because it violates your rule for being “Christian.” God led the armies of Israel to many battles. Those were bloody, horribly violent times. The apostles were beaten by the Jews in the book of Acts. Paul was stoned and left for dead. Stephen was stoned to death. Ehud, in the book of Judges, stabbed a king, and the whole thing was graphically described. Otherwise, how would you know dirt came out? Jael killed Sesera by driving a tent peg into his temple, which was described in detail. In fact, the book of Judges is violent almost through and through. It ends with a man cutting a woman up and sending her body parts to the twelve tribes of Israel. You probably didn’t learn about that in Sunday school.

Again, I see the same people on their soap box saying there shouldn’t be violence in these books posting about Star Wars, Marvel movies, Game of Thrones, and The Walking Dead. Come on, man. You’re not offended by violence. You just want to argue.

I think the spirit in which we do things is a lot more important than the content itself. For example. When Jesus was taken in the garden of Gethsemane, Peter took up a sword and cut off the servant of the high priest’s ear. That was clearly described. Jesus rebuked Peter and restored the man’s ear while giving Peter a lesson. That’s violence treated well. A few verses later, Jesus is being spit on and smacked in the face. A few verses later, he’s being mocked and getting a crown of thorns shoved through his skull. He’s beaten and marred so badly that the Bible tells us he was almost unrecognizable. When He was on the cross, the men being crucified on either side had their legs broken, brutally. Jesus was stabbed in the side after He died. A man stabbed His body, and the Bible plainly describes the blood and water coming from the wound. You could not show that on a program designated for children. That show would be preceded with a warning for graphic violence and disturbing images.

That’s the Bible. That’s the reality of our guide book; it’s filled from cover to cover with violence. Yet, we go into Sunday school and water down the message.

I’ve been to war, and I would be offended if I read a book depicting combat that downplayed the violence. You know how I keep my kids from fighting? I tell them what could happen to a person if they get hit too hard. I warn them how dangerous violence really is. I don’t hide them from the world, and when they see violence on television I take the time to explain what the actors are doing and the dangers of trying those things in real life.

Again, I think people should be warned if they’re about to read something violent or graphic. I just think people have the right to tell their stories without being held back by the angry judgment and slandering of people who read one of the bloodiest books ever written and then act like they can’t handle it when it’s a fictional setting.

* I do have scenes with violence and some very graphic descriptions of difficult situations in my stories. For the context of those scenes and the stories, I do not feel that any of it is gratuitous. I plan on doing a better job of giving my readers fair warning.

Clean

This is another one of those “how realistic do you want the story to be?” sort of things. We live in a world convinced that sex before marriage is perfectly fine. In fact, we live in a world that thinks it very odd for people to wait for marriage before losing their virginity. That’s unfortunate, but it is the way things are in our society, and it’s been that way for a long time. I guarantee that you and I probably know some people who are living with someone they’re not married to, and some of them are professing Christians. I don’t agree with them living together, I absolutely am not advocating for people committing fornication, but it is a reality.

Cleanliness does not equal godliness. I don’t know who came up with that mess, but it’s those foolish idioms that have non-believers believing that sort of thing is in the Bible. It’s right beside the three wise men, Paul’s horse, love the sinner but hate the sin, and come as you are.

Sorry, but clean does not equal Christian. Want proof? There was this one time some pharisees were all sorts of upset with the disciples for eating without washing their hands. They questioned Jesus about it, and He told the pharisees that the outside of a person doesn’t defile a person; it’s the heart. You’re not holy because you appear to be holy. I challenge you to name some of the most notorious cults out there. The people in those groups are probably living a much “cleaner” life than the average Christian. That doesn’t make them godly.

To be clear, I think the Bible is plain about sex before marriage. I think there are real consequences for sex outside of the sanctity of marriage, and I am a firm believer in the union between a man and a woman as an institution established by God. I also think people mess up. I also think many people are ignorant, either willfully or because they’ve been taught wrong.

Here’s where I think we have a clear distinction, though. God uses discretion. We read several accounts in the Bible where people engage in sexual activity in an immoral manner. Lot’s daughters, for example. Amnon and his half-sister is another case. None of these are described, and they don’t need to be. God says in Hebrews that the marriage bed is undefiled. When a man and a woman come together in the union of marriage, God respects that time as something private. I think we should be the same way. You can imply something without going into detail.

Why use discretion and avoid description for this but allow some for violence? I’m just following the example set forth in scripture. See? A guide for us all to follow.

No sin for Christian characters

I don’t get this rule. Not even slightly. Are you serious? Have the people who came up with this “rule” ever read 1 John? I’ll just leave this right here:

“8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” - 1 John 1:8-10 KJV

I know there are people out there who say that once a person is saved, he or she cannot commit sin. That doesn’t stand up against scripture. This post isn’t about that, so I’m not going into the doctrines dealing with it, right now. What I will say, to anyone reading this, is that common sense has to prevail at some point. You know you. You’ve lost your temper and lashed out. You’ve walked past plenty of people without sharing the gospel. You’ve coveted something. You’ve neglected your Bible and prayer. You’ve lied, even if that lie was to yourself. You can act sanctimonious in front of whomever you like, but you know just as well as I do that you need the mercy of God because we all mess up on a regular basis.

There should be a distinction between good and evil, and those lines should be clear. There should be consequences for sin. Even in fantasy fiction, there needs to be rules founded in reality. Wrong needs to be made right. Characters should not be able to do the wrong thing and get away with it. The apostles made a lot of mistakes, but those things were dealt with.

Another aspect to think about is setting forth examples for readers to follow. I think you should have heroes that people want to be like, but they should be realistic. It’s far more powerful to have a character readers can relate to than an impossibly perfect character. A character that never makes a mistake will only make the reader feel worse about himself. A character that messes up but recovers gives the reader hope of being able to do the same thing.

Being Realistic

We are all so very different. We have different likes, dislikes, personalities, and interests. We’re supposed to be. God made us unique. That doesn’t mean we can’t come together and agree on some basic things, but we have to set aside our version of right and wrong to allow a more accurate gauge to be our measuring tool. The problem with the world right now is everyone is advocating for this idea of “living your truth.”

NO!

There is no “your truth.” Either it’s true, or it’s false. The world has tossed the Bible out and thereby lost absolute truth. That’s why the people of this fallen world are searching for truth and end up settling for a narrative they agree with, rather than unshakable facts. Those narratives have dominated culture, from books and movies to reality television to social media. Now, unfortunately, those narratives have become the truth we want to believe. Many preachers don’t preach the Bible. They get up and quote scripture but then spend fifteen, thirty, or forty-five minutes spouting some philosophy that doesn’t line up with what God says. They tell you to follow your heart. They show you an always positive God who made this universe just for you.

Someone comes along and gives the context for the verses these false prophets are using to mislead people, and everyone wants to attack the person who pointed out the truth. We don’t like truth. We like our own sense of reality. That’s why so many people spend so much time escaping into made up worlds, and those worlds need to match exactly what they want in their reality. They want their perfect world, and anyone who introduces something they’re uncomfortable with into their reality is evil. I hate to state the obvious here, but if you spend all of your time in a false reality, you’ll start to believe it is reality. Hence, the rules. Those books become the scriptures for the people who escape into them. They spend all of their time in that reality, only coming away to make a quick trip to the grocery store, a doctor’s appointment, maybe work, or a church service where everything matches their reality.

How many times have you sat in a church service, and the sermon was directed toward people who weren’t there? The preacher rails against some sin that no one in the building is committing, so it’s safe. You can talk about that, preacher. That fits my reality.

It makes me sick. But, we should have seen it coming. Paul warned us way back in the first century. He said:

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears” (2 Timothy 4:3 KJV).

Conclusion

No matter how I say the things I’ve said here, someone will attack me. I’ll be labeled falsely. Someone will say that I’ve violated some sacred trust, that I’ve told people they should just go do whatever they want and God will forgive. Someone will say that I’m for wild living, cussing, partying, and living by no rules.

I’ve done nothing of the sort.

I’ve simply stated the obvious. We make rules that fit our comfort zone and call them biblical principles. Anyone who doesn’t line up with our set of rules must be ungodly, and therefore should be avoided. We create division in the body of Christ that should not exist. The truth is that God wants us to be in a relationship with him. He wants to guide us into truth and show us the perfect way. Our purpose is to honor Him in all that we do.

You won’t find foul language in my Christian fiction books. You won’t find graphic descriptions of sex. If my characters sin, they will face the consequences but be shown the way of forgiveness through the power of God. There will be violence, but it won’t be gratuitous. There will be graphic depictions of some difficult things, but only as far as is needed to drive the story forward and solidify the message. There will be a clear line between good and evil.

But those are my rules that I’ve decided based on my relationship with God. I feel comfortable following those basic guidelines, but they’re mine. Obviously, my publisher has guidelines as well, and I respect those parameters and enjoy my partnership with them. I believe that represents unity in the body of Christ. We come together and agree on the way we’re going to do things in order to get the message to the world and glorify God through our art. If I see a Christian writer doing things in a book that I think are a clear violation of Scripture, I choose whether to keep reading or not. I don’t blast that author, and I certainly am not about to slander him or her. I’m far from perfect, which is why I need the Lord and why I extend the same grace to authors that I want for myself from readers.

I pray we can all love one another and respect our differences.

A Third of the Stars in Heaven

a third of the stars of heaven

Understanding Angels in the Bible

Are angels real?

Ever since God put a man and a woman in a garden in Eden, the devil has been trying his best to undermine scripture and turn the word of God into a fairy tale. If he can do that, he can convince the world of anything. Get rid of the Bible, no devil to worry about. Get rid of the Bible, no God to be judge and authority over morality. No Bible=no heaven and no hell. No consequences for our actions.

But how does Satan go about this task? The same way he always has: He frames questions over the validity of scripture, and that small question mark at the end of a sentence plants the seed of doubt that can then be nurtured by more questions, arguments of so-called science, and emotional appeals.

Don’t believe me? Look at the pattern in Genesis three:

The serpent re-frames what God commanded them and turns it into a question: “Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” (Genesis 3:1).

The woman corrects the serpent: “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die” (Genesis 3:2-3).

The serpent counters with some false truth, telling Eve that she won’t die but will become like the gods (interesting that she didn’t say there was no such thing as other gods).

The woman listens to these “facts” and then gives in to her desires.

That’s the pattern, folks. But the devil can’t stop there; he has to bring every bit of scripture into question. So, naturally, the only people who claim to have seen angels are ridiculed, and their intelligence and sanity are called into question. Am I saying that the people claiming to have seen angels really did? No. Maybe, maybe not. But the fact is that angels are real, according to the Bible. Satan just perfected steering people away from Biblical arguments. Someone says angels to you, and your mind goes to some Hollywood version, romanticized and ridiculous. Someone says they’ve seen angels, and you get nervous and think they’re nuts. None of that changes what the Bible says.

What does the Bible say about angels?

It’s not really possible (or profitable to you) to list what the Bible “says” about angels. The truth is, just like many doctrines of the Bible, once you start looking through scripture, the references are everywhere. Let’s try to categorize these and make sense of angels.

Angels are stars

I know that sounds crazy, but remember how we prefaced this whole thing: Satan wants to convince you that the Bible is a joke. He wants you to use your own reasoning (engineered by the seeds he has planted in Hollywood and books) instead of sound, Biblical truth.

Let’s look at a few places in the Bible to see if my claim holds water:

The Morning Stars

The book of Job has some very interesting moments, but one of THE most interesting is when God appears to Job and begins to describe how powerful he really is. He asks Job if he was there during the creation of the world, and something very revealing is said:

“Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof; When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” (Job 38:4-7).

God said there were morning stars, and they were singing. Jesus is called THE Morning Star, Revelation 22:16.

The angels of the seven churches

When the Lord appears to John in the book of Revelation, someone appears to him “like unto the Son of man.” That man is holding seven stars in his right hand. The bible doesn’t make you guess as to what they are; it tells you that they are the “angels of the seven churches” (Revelation 1:20).

The star that guided the wise men

When the wise men from the east came looking for the king of the Jews, they follow a star to the house (side note: this proves that the wise men didn’t appear on the night that Jesus was born, but that’s for another post). They follow the star, which moves and then STANDS over the house where Jesus is. The Bible says it stood, not me. Also, moving star, just saying. Not shooting, not falling. Moving on purpose, guiding these men to Jesus.

Not all angels are on the Lord’s sideThere are “fallen” angels

This can get a little tricky, but if we simply allow the Bible to interpret itself, there will be no confusion. As we’ve established, angels are sometimes referred to as stars. This doesn’t necessarily mean that every star you see in the sky is an angel. It just means that sometimes, when the Bible refers to stars, it is actually speaking about angels. One such instance is of great significance to prophecy and our present world.

“And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born” (Revelation 12:4).

Revelation is difficult but not impossible to interpret. The above verse takes place in the midst of a vision John sees. The vision begins with a woman “travailing in birth.” There is a dragon, and that dragon’s tail draws stars from heaven, and they fall to earth. The woman gives birth, and the dragon is poised to devour the child. The woman represents the nation of Israel. The child is Jesus, and the dragon is Satan, ready to destroy the “seed of the woman.” The child is caught up to heaven (after his death, burial, and resurrection), and then there is war in heaven. You can learn more about these warring factions of angels, here.

The “third of the stars” here are the same as the dragon’s angels who fight against Michael and the angels with him. When Satan fell from grace (Ezekiel 28), he took others with him. You might think a third is not so bad. After all, there are still two-thirds on God’s side. Well, that’s true, but you have to consider the fact that the angels are an innumerable company, Hebrews 12:22. How many is a third of a number so high that it can’t be listed in scripture?

What’s significant about these fallen angels?

The fact that they’re fallen is one thing. We could probably live with that, right? Unfortunately, that’s not all the Bible has to say about them. We know that they will join with Satan to fight against the archangel, Michael, and have a war in heaven one day. But what about now? What are they doing on earth, presently?

I can’t tell you, for sure. I can only give you what the Bible says. Fortunately, it has quite a few things to say. In my post on Satan’s Mighty Men, I discuss some of these things, which you may find interesting, if you’d like to learn more about the war going on behind the scenes. Let’s look at some of the activity of these fallen angels.

Reserved in chains of darkness

Further proof that angels actually followed Satan, rather than being accidentally knocked out of heaven by his tail, is what the Bible has to say about their future. The Bible says they are kept in chains, in darkness, and are waiting for the coming judgment:

“And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day” (Jude 1:6).

To eliminate confusion and prevent us from thinking that these angels are condemned to this fate for taking a vacation, 2 Peter 2:4 tells us that they sinned and were cast down to hell. In fact, this is who hell was created for, according to Jesus in Matthew 25:41.

OK, great. All safe, then, right? Those angels sinned, and they’re in hell awaiting judgment. Well, true...for some of them.

Ministers of Satan

In Second Corinthians, Paul warns of false apostles, saying they are “transformed into the apostles of Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:13). The next verse says that Satan can transform into an angel of light, and the following verse warns that his “ministers” can do the same thing. You can spiritualize that verse, if you want, but the fact is that the Bible just told you Satan and his angels can appear as angels of light. This wouldn’t seem like such a problem, if Paul hadn’t warned about an angel from heaven preaching a false gospel in Galatians 1:8.

Honestly, ask yourself: Have you ever heard of any religions, after the New Testament was written, that were formed after an angel appeared to someone and gave them “another gospel?” That is exactly how Mormonism started. According to Islam, an angel appeared to Muhammed and gave him revelation, as well. So, if you think these were not literal warnings from the Apostle Paul, I wonder how you justify that? There are two religions that literally base their beliefs on an angel appearing and preaching another gospel. And, if you just want to count these men as crazy and say that angels didn’t appear to them, I wonder how you justify that, as well.

Listen: If the Bible says that Satan has angels, and those angels can appear, why not just believe that they can appear?

There is a story about Martin Luther, and I don’t know if it’s true or not, but I don’t doubt the possibility that it could have happened. When he was translating the Bible into German, Martin Luther famously began to understand its truth and to live according to the word of God. On one of those nights, there is a story that he was visited by someone who simply appeared in his room, claiming to be Jesus Christ. Luther, allegedly, threw his ink well at it and told it to be gone. He had been reading the Bible, and knew two things:

Jesus is seated at the right hand of the throne of God and won’t return until his actual second coming.

Paul had warned about the appearance of angels preaching another gospel.

What about the angels who are on God’s side?

It can’t all be doom and gloom, can it? I mean, no matter how dark it gets, the Bible still tells the story of God’s greatness! Part of that greatness is countless victories, many of which are yet to come. So with that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the angels that are are still faithful to the Lord.

Angels are warriors for God

We’ve already looked at this, but the Bible makes it clear that there will be a war in heaven, and it will be fought between angels. We don’t have full battle descriptions in major detail, but there are plenty of occurrences in the Bible that tell us about angels fighting battles. Daniel chapter ten and Revelation chapter twelve are examples of angels warring. 2 Thessalonians 1:7 tells us that, when the Lord returns, Jesus will come with “his mighty angels.” And, of course, no one wanted to tangle with that flaming sword wielding angel God used to seal the way to the garden in Eden.

In the book of 2 Kings, chapter six, the King of Syria has sent an army to get Elisha because the prophet has been warning the King of Israel of Syria’s plans. One morning, the servant of Elisha wakes up and sees that they are surrounded by the horses and chariots of an army, and he is afraid. When he calls out to Elisha, the prophet prays that God will open his servants eyes. God does, and his servant sees that the army of the Syrians is surrounded by horses and chariots of fire (2 Kings 6:17). Few are allowed to see these things, but God uses this moment to show his people that he is fighting on their side. Let us not forget that Elisha was taken up into heaven by a chariot of fire (2 Kings 2:11).

Angels are God’s messengers

You almost have to ask yourself: If we were to remove from the Bible all the places where an angel delivered a message to God’s people, how much would we actually know? I won’t discuss every time an angel appeared as a messenger. Instead, I’ll just provide a few examples.

When God was about to deliver the children of Israel from their bondage in Egypt, he sent the angel of the Lord in a burning bush to tell Moses he would be their deliverer. The angel of the Lord also appeared prior to this to Hagar, the handmaid of Abraham, and Abraham when he was about to slay his son, Isaac. The angel of the Lord appeared many more times as the messenger of deliverance. The angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, first telling him to take Mary to be his wife and, second, to warn Joseph to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt.

There are many more verses that tell of times either “the” or “an” angel of the Lord appeared. This is only meant to show that angels have been used by God as messengers. Coincidentally, there is an argument that at least some of these appearances of The Angel of the Lord are actually God speaking through an image or similitude of God. Some could be what is often called a Christophany, an Old Testament appearance of Jesus Christ. But, these are things to be discussed in a more extensive post.

Angels are ministers

Several times in the Bible, an angel appears to someone, strengthening that individual. The Bible makes it clear in the book of Hebrews, chapter one, that angels are “ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation” (Hebrews 1:14). Here are just a few examples:

When Elijah defeated the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, he ended up on the run from Jezebel. Alone in the wilderness, he asks God to end his life, but God sends an angel of the Lord to give him food, instead.

When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were cast into the fire, an angel appeared and had the appearance of the Son of God.

When Jesus was led of the Spirit into the wilderness, he was tempted by Satan. After Satan left him, angels came and strengthened him. Before his crucifixion, Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, and he was under such distress that the Bible says and angel appeared, strengthening him.

Angels are among us

It may be uncomfortable for some people to acknowledge this truth, but there are angels among us. To deny the fact that there are angels throughout the earth is to deny the Bible as truth. However, it should not be a fearful thought that angels are among us. In fact, we should be comforted by this. If Satan’s angels are among us, isn’t it a glorious thing that God’s angels are also among us? Moreover, God’s angels far outnumber the fallen ones.

It would have been difficult for an angel to disturb the waters at the Pool of Siloam if there was no angel.

When Jesus was resurrected, that fact was made known when an angel appeared to Mary and the other women at the tomb.

The Apostle Paul said that the apostles were made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men, (1 Corinthians 4:9).

Paul said that the church would judge the angels, (1 Corinthians 6:3).

The writer of Hebrews said that we should entertain strangers because we have entertained angels without knowing it (Hebrews 13:2).

I’m glad I won’t be here to see most of the events in the book of Revelation, but there are some parts that would be amazing to witness, like the loosing of the four angels that, apparently, are bound in the river Euphrates and will come forth when the sixth angel sounds his trumpet.

We’ve covered a lot of material here and learned quite a bit about angels. First, they are real. They are referred to in many ways, including stars, and this helps us to understand more about them. There are, likely, millions of angels, and not all of them are on the Lord’s side. Many of them fell from heaven when Satan led a rebellion. Satan and his angels are at war with God and his angels. The angels on God’s side are ministering spirits, sent to strengthen and deliver God’s people. They are among us, and this should be a comforting thought.

This post has barely scratched the surface of all the Bible has to say about angels, but it is my hope that you will provoked to do as the Bereans did and search the scriptures!