"Did we forget there is a battle raging for the lives and souls of men and women of all ages?

“You are My battle-ax and weapons of war: For with you I will break the nation in pieces; With you I will destroy kingdoms…”

Jeremiah 51:20

I had a morning dream picture as I was meditating on my week of mission outreaches and ministry opportunities.

It was a picture of a man bearing only a large battle axe, throwing himself upon the shields of a hoard of enemies.

It looked like a desperate but defiant act. It was a call to action within the knowledge of a seemingly impossible scenario.

I’m in a lot of different circles of mission, ministry and mentoring and one of the most concerning challenges I see is the rarity of a battle focused warrior.

“The warriors of Babylon have ceased fighting; they remain in their strongholds; their strength has failed; they have become women; her dwellings are on fire; her bars are broken.”

‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭51‬:‭30

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There’s too many men that have lost their fighting edge, 

the spirit of war has been replaced with timid pursuits, 

easy endeavors and listless lives. 

The horn of battle is sounded and few are roused to alarm.

The enemies of all that is good, beautiful and true have seized the most meaningful places of true power and lasting influence and there are few that feel hot blood boiling within them to retake the ground lost or stolen.

“The fords have been seized, the marshes set on fire, and the fighting men are terrified.”

‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭51‬:‭32

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Blades have been turned into fishing gear, 

recreation has replaced rescuing 

and entertainment has distracted the regiments.

Meanwhile the cities and communities of America are smoldering battlefields of countless lives destroyed by every type of sin and suffering.

“King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has devoured me; he has crushed me. He has set me aside like an empty dish; he has swallowed me like a monster; he filled his belly with my delicacies; he has vomited me out.”

‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭51‬:‭34‬

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The frontlines are desperately waiting for reinforcements as the war weary are being pressed to bayonet proximity.

Too many Christians have settled into a peace that’s really an illusion built out of compromise, complacency and culpability.

We need a fresh move of repentance that awaken us from lethargy and lukewarm affections and breaks through the comfortable addictions that have turned us from the causes of Christ.

I tire of roaming believers who seek churches like house hunters on HGTV instead of glory hungry soldiers seeking death defying assignments.

When did we breed out the New Testament apostolic and prophetic spirit and replaced it with shopping list religion?

The whore of Babylon is in the business of castration and hysterectomies. She reduces us to mere shifting shadows of the image of God we were created to enjoy and reveal in this dark age.

Our betraying deconstructions are not hidden to Jesus as we mimic the 

“Surely it isn’t I”

 around our Last Supper confessions like a Judas planning our great exit from the fellowship of the called and confirmed.

Doubt and even denial are not the sisters of betrayal. They are the stumblings of the faithful, not the hangings of the dead.

It is long past the time for revelry, it’s the hour of decision. Who do you serve: Self, Satan or the Savior?

“He is famous for breaking the spirit of the powers that be and the kings of the earth will know him as the Fearsome One!”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭76‬:‭12‬ 

Pastor Eric Blauer.‭

(Art: Frank Frazetta ‘The Destroyer’)