In my column today, I want to consider an idea that came to me after reading an article in The Dillon Herald on June 8, 2023. The article was entitled, “Dillon Manor Apartments Host Empowerment in Action.”
The article contained and expressed every point that I will briefly emphasize in greater detail.
There is a very sinister and subtle force at work in our culture to disarm and silence every voice, vehicle, and vessel that embraces the absolute and time-tested truths that are contained in the Word of God. Those who are possessed by this dark force will never be content to just be accepted in the culture in order to practice and pursue their own lifestyles and practices. They will not be satisfied until those who oppose them, due to their own Judeo-Christian convictions and practices, become weak-kneed and cave in to their demands that we not only accept their right to be wrong, but God forbid, that we come into agreement with their unbiblical and immoral practices and ways.
Right here, I must be straightforward with you. There are signs of submitting to these dark and sinister powers showing up in places that once held their ground as guardians of Judeo-Christian beliefs and practices. No place or institution is off limits, exempted, or impenetrable to the aggressive ways of the enemy that we are fighting. In the same way that they took prayer, Bible reading, and the traditional reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag out of the public schools, there is a move to integrate the teaching of alternative lifestyles and the embrace of transgenderism that is growing and gaining both momentum and support in political and religious high places. That being said, I will present to you the intent of my article today which is to present to you a strategy that will give us a means of confronting this evil force that is growing more frequently and with greater intensity in our locale.
Intercession
When Mr. Moses Heyward stressed the importance and enlistment of prayer during his speech during the Empowerment in Action gathering at the Dillon Manor Apartments, he hit the nail on the head of what must be our main attack and strategy against the forces of darkness that we are contending with.
Whether some can see or admit it, we are fighting principalities, powers, the rulers of the darkness of this age, and a host of spiritual wickedness in the heavenlies under the sway of Satan (Ephesians 6:12). It does not matter to Satan whether you believe this to be true or not. As a matter of fact, he would prefer that you regard this as superstition, old-fogeyish, and not suited for this day of technological advancement and rational and scientific thinking when everything must be accepted or rejected based on visual and physical facts and proof. This type of ideology and approach that rejects and denies the supernatural and spiritual realm, gives him an advantage that he is exploiting to the fullest degree. He does not want you to know (especially those who believe in Christ) that he and his almost innumerable legions of evil spirits are the unseen influence behind most of the evil that is rampant in the human culture. Furthermore, he is especially fearful of the fact that more Christians and churches are going to wake up from their apathy and begin to confront and subdue him and his minions through prayer in the name of Jesus Christ.
Intervention
In the course and strategy of warfare against an adversary and his army, there must be an implementing or launching forth of the attack plan. Every great military battle that was won in both the European and Pacific theaters of World War II were won not just by planning and tactics alone. The D-Day Campaign in Europe, as well as the Island-Hopping Campaign that ultimately brought the Japanese empire to its knees, had to be implemented. It is completely futile to strategize and not carry out the strategy with confronting and engaging the enemy. In regard to what we are considering today, intervention is our means of engaging and confronting the rulers of darkness that we are fighting for the sanity and survival of our culture and communities. There are quite a few ways that we can fight back in order to suppress and subdue the forces of evil, violence, and even murder in our locale. To their credit, a few well-meaning groups have sponsored events in the park, at housing projects, and a few other selective and strategic sites. These events have brought some exposure and public awareness to the enemy that we are battling and by all means are to be encouraged and supported. Nevertheless, the real enemies (as have been stated) behind the evil, violence, gangsterism, and murder are satanic and spiritual in nature, who know that only those who have been commissioned by the One who dethroned them can suppress and subdue their evil tactics and influence.
Impact
If we are going to experience a forceful and dramatic effect on helping to suppress and subdue the escalation of evil in our locale, it is incumbent upon the churches and Christians in to awaken from our apathetic sleep. We must beat our plowshares into swords and our pruning hooks into spears and engage the enemy through our prayers, godly lifestyles, and greatest of all, through loving one another. I am convinced that then we will experience a divine healing of our land.
