Adapt, Improvise and Overcome

“He who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death….I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it… I will give authority over the nations….I will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels…I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; I will also write on him my new name…I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat with my Father on his throne…”
(Rev 2:11,17,26, 3:5,12,21)

The Bible is filled with scripture describing overcoming struggle (consider the fact that the very name of God’s chosen nation is Israel which means “struggles with God”). We are familiar with the idea that our lives are full of struggle. Some would even say that it is struggle that makes life worthwhile. Consider James’ words on this topic,

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete not lacking anything.”

The Apostle Paul expounds the benefits of our fight with struggles in life in Romans 5

“Not only so but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”

There is a time honored saying in the Marines, “Improvise, Adapt, and Overcome.” It is something that Marines are supposed to do. It is another way of saying that failure is not an option; you must deal with any situation.

Imagine yourself an 18 year old at Marine Corps Boot Camp. You forget to bring your camouflage face paint to field training. There is no way you can hike the 10 miles back to your barracks and back in time to get it, besides which you dare not leave the immediate area for fear of being shot on site or worse having a drill instructor catch you (you are never allowed to go anywhere without permission during the entire 3 months). You know that without something on your face you will be more easily seen, not to mention it will be obvious to your drill instructor that you have forgotten your face paint. If he finds out that you disobeyed that direct order you know that he will “wear you out” a term used to describe the physical exercise intended for punishment (akin to “drop and give me 20! Only much more severe and painful than a simple 20 pushups). Okay, so most people would simply ask to borrow a friend’s kit. For the sake of my example let’s say you forget to ask and you decide that you are going to make some face paint using mud. You pour some water on the ground and mix it with the dirt. You apply the mixture liberally to your face. Seconds later you are running to get into rank and file formation to receive the day’s instructions.

There you are, standing in formation, the drill instructor is inspecting the camouflage face paint of each recruit. The drill instructor passes you and stops dead. A smile breaks out on his face that shows his sadistic delight and you fear that you will soon be ‘making a puddle’ (a term used to describe the amount of sweat you will cause while you are being “worn out”). He grabs you by the sleeve and drags you to the front of the platoon. He calls the platoon’s attention to you and now you are really embarrassed.

The drill instructor addresses the platoon, “I want all of you to look at this recruit. He has a terrific lesson for all of us. I could get upset with all of you for letting him come out here like this. You were all responsible for making sure that he was prepared. Instead, I want to show you an example of a Marine who has improvised, adapted and overcome. He knew that he didn’t have what was required but instead of simply rolling over and being a wimp, he decided that he would do his best with what he could find. When you are at war you will not have the perfect gear. In fact, you seldom have the right things. Uncle Sam makes sure that the Army, Navy and Air Force have all of the things that they need because he trusts the Marines can survive. You will have to improvise, adapt and overcome. You are not allowed to fail. Failure is simply not an option allowed to Marines. Therefore you will have to figure out how you will overcome. This recruit has shown that type of spirit by using what was available to get the job done.”

Turning to you the drill instructor mutters in a gruff whisper, “Now you get that slimy goop off your face and get back into my formation in 5 seconds or I will wear you out.”

Christians are in no less the same predicament. Failure is not an option in the mission for God. We must take the attitude of Christ, “What is impossible with men is possible with God.” There is no heart too hard, no sin too deep, no person out of God’s range of help. We have no excuses for not having faith in God. When we find ourselves lacking faith, we must improvise, adapt and overcome.

In the movie, Heartbreak Ridge, Clint Eastwood plays the part of Gunnery Sergeant Highway. He is tough as nails and seems to mercilessly lead his troops. Throughout the training Gunny Highway (‘Gunny' is acceptable shortening of the title Gunnery Sergeant in the Marines, ‘Sarge’ is an inappropriate shortening of the title sergeant, don’t ask me why, I still don’t know but I found that out the hard way). Gunny Highway challenges the Marines to think outside of the box. He wants them to be prepared to fight under any conditions not just participate in pre-determined war simulations that follow textbook attack procedures. Later in the movie we see why Gunny Highway trained the men so hard. This same group of Marines, lead by Gunny Highway is part of the landing force that rescued American medical students on the island country of Grenada[1].

In the movie, Gunny Highway’s Marines encounter resistance and find themselves cornered in a small building. An opposing tank sits outside blasting holes in the walls, spelling certain doom for the Marines inside. Unfortunately the radio person has been killed and the radio destroyed. Without the radio the Marines inside have no means to call for backup from helicopters or other anti-tank support. This is a hopeless situation. It would appear that the Marines will either surrender or die as shells from the tank wreak havoc on the small building. In a stroke of brilliance one of the Marines realizes that there is a phone line in the building. After a heroic mission to reconnect the severed line the Marines make a pay phone call to the US (using credit cards of course). They are connected to the base command in North Carolina and ask the operator to relay a message regarding their location back to the air support. The message works and the helicopters arrive to destroy the tank and save the Marines.

My point to telling you this is to help you to see that in that situation the Marines were able to save themselves when they were left without the proper equipment. They were able to do this because they improvised (deciding to make a phone call to the US from a battle in Grenada), adapt (fix the phone line and use a personal credit card) which allowed them to overcome.

As a Marine for God, every person that you meet and every situation that you run into will never be perfectly described by a textbook. No one can tell you all that you need to know about being a Christian. The Bible itself is limited in the amount of information specific to you that it contains. It is a training manual not a movie script.

The biggest area that I have seen this attitude needed is in regard to time. Disciples of Christ are doing our best to be ‘fishers of men’, ‘ambassadors of the gospel’ and ‘workers in the field of God.’ (Matt 4:19, 2 Corn 5:20, Luke 10:2). Meanwhile we are lawyers, hairstylists, parents and citizens. Our lives are filled with chores, soccer games and school plays. Even those of us who are students have responsibilities to ‘work with all our hearts, as working for the Lord, not men’ (Col 3:23). This fills our time up. Not to mention our responsibilities to the body of Christ (which is the church). So when we sit down to have a spiritual conversation or help someone make decisions about becoming a Christian, we may not be perfectly prepared. Of course it would be wonderful if we had all of the answers and all of the time in the world to prepare for each spiritual conversation. As Marines for God we feel compelled to follow Paul’s command, “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Corn 10:5)” We want to be used by God to demolish the demons of insecurity and sin that plague the lives of our friends. But what do you do when you aren’t completely prepared? What will you say to that person who is caught in the grips of elevating their religious dogma above loving God? You know that they need sound teaching from the Bible and so that we can ‘avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless (Titus3:9). You want to be ‘prepared to answer’ (1 Peter 3:15). But you didn’t go to seminary or spend years preparing as an evangelist.

In a situation like that you have two options, Give up and decide to drive the conversation away from spiritual topics, which of course your friend won’t mind because he doesn’t want to deal with changing his spiritual life. Of course you know that this is simply handing yourself and your friend over to Satan. If you have the opportunity to help someone and you cower to your fear of being unprepared to handle the situation, then Satan has won, his flaming arrows of lies and deception (John 8:44). The other option is to improvise, adapt and overcome. Improvise with faith in God (for you know that it is God that works in the hearts of men and He can use any of us to communicate to them). We must adapt our hearts and minds; resolving ourselves with our imperfections. Often times we had a plan laid out for our day that included a time to prepare for a Bible study or for a deep conversation. But often that plan is thrown off by some unforeseen event in the day. We must adapt. We will feel frustrated and disappointed with our inability to ‘stick to the plan.’ We may feel ignoble since we know that a ‘noble man makes noble plans’. However we can adapt our hearts to the situation and live out the completion of the prophet’s words. We adapt our hearts and overcome the temptation of fear, thus standing ‘noble by the noble deeds’ (Isaiah 32:8).

Let’s use an appropriate quote from The Art of War by Sun-Tzu:

If you know the enemy and know yourself,
you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.
If you know yourself but not the enemy,
for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat.
If you know neither the enemy nor yourself,
you will succumb in every battle.

Know Yourself: Strengths and Weaknesses
If you know what areas you are weak in you will focus on improving those. Romans 3:9-20 states clearly and unequivocally that we are all sinners, condemned to the wrath of God for our heinous acts of betrayal and adultery in his eyes.
Second, know that you are not weak in everything. You either have lots of Biblical knowledge, lots of worldly life experience or some combination. You are young and idealistic or older and wise. You are a minority and understand the feelings of glass ceilings, oppression and limitations or you are a member of the majority and you feel uninhibited by the world. You are well educated and your knowledge of the scripture is steeped in deep study. You are uneducated and you are able to simplify the complex scriptures and give them daily practicality. You are wealthy and understand the temptations of money or you are poor and have a daily experience in humility and sacrifice.

This is what Paul sees when he envisions the unity of the body of Christ, the church. He states, “If one part suffers every par suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. (Corn 12:26).” Everyone has a gift to bring, everyone is needed. When you know yourself you know what you need to change and you know what you have to give.

Know Your Enemy
The enemy is out there. “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8).” Do not be deceived that think that the war is over and the good guys have won. Christ died for the sins of all but it is up to each individual to accept the gift. The war is still on and the bad guys are gaining ground. Know the weapons of your enemy: lies, deceit and false teachings. Know how the enemy uses the weapons. In other words know his strengths. Work with other members of God’s Marines to determine the strategy of the enemy. Discuss his tactics and his favorite weapons.

Also know his weaknesses. Know that the greatest defeat of the devil exists in the outpouring of unconditional love. Love is the eternal trump card! Nothing outlasts love, nothing defeats it. Satan’s greatest weakness is love. Know the power of truth.

Do you see how Sun-Tzu’s message is powerful? When you know yourself and the enemy, you will not fear the battle. You will not fear in your faith. You will continue to persevere in every situation. You will not fear the result of battle because despite defeat you will not lose your strengths and despite a victory you will not lose your weaknesses.

If instead, you are selfish (only thinking of yourself and your weaknesses; which by-the-way is the recommendation of so many self-help books) you face a wide range of emotions for every battle. In victory you feel success and in defeat your feel the agony. You feel this because despite your selfish efforts you still have weaknesses.

Finally, if you are apathetic, your life is full of negatives. With your sardonic attitude it won’t matter that you won a landslide victory, you will be too busy concentrating on your weaknesses. It also won’t matter that you experienced a horrible defeat because you will remind yourself that you expected it.

Remember that despite the outcome of the battle, you will never be perfect, you will never earn salvation, you will never stop needing God.

[1] Actual landing in Grenada happened on October 25, 1983. a force of 1200 US Marines met heavy resistance from Grenadian and Cuban army units. http://www.historyguy.com/Grenada.htmlaccessed on Aug 15,2003

Leadership Traits - JJDIDTIEBUCKLE

Got a little sidetracked on updating the blog weekly with the Leadership Traits thing.... Here is the final list with scriptures and definitions that we used in class. Overall the PreTeens did great with the lessons. I was worried that there were too many words and that the words themselves were too much. It turns out that it caught on with half of them. The other half couldn't really stay interested but still tried hard in class. Will keep you posted on the next class plans.

Judgement - Leaders use good judgement. Proverbs 10:21 (also see 10:13 and 11:12)

Justice - Leaders have a sense of justice and see that their actions are just. Proverbs 29:4 ( also 13:5 and 16:8)

Decisiveness - Leaders don't get lost in a decision or second guess themselves. Proverbs 3:24-26 (also (12:26, 14:8, 14:17)

Integrity - Leaders are honest and trustworthy, do not lie, cheat or steal. Proverbs 10:9 (also 11:3, 11:1, 13:6, 14:5, 16:3)

Dependability - Leaders are dependable. Proverbs 13:17 (also 13:7, 25:13)

Tact - Leaders chose their words and actions carefully. Proverbs 11:2 (also 18:2, 12:23, 13:3, 14:16, 14:29, 17:27)

Initiative - Leaders take the lead and set the example. Proverbs 6:6-11 (also 10:26, 10:4)

Enthusiasm - Leaders lead with all their heart. Proverbs 10:26

Bearing - Leaders remain in control of themselves. Proverbs 4:24 (also 6:16-19, 12:16)

Unselfishness - Leaders are selfless. Proverbs 18:1 (also 11:24-25)

Courage - Leaders do something even when they are afraid. Proverbs 28:1

Knowledge - Leaders seek knowledge to improve themselves. Proverbs 1:7 (also 28:2, 12:15, 13:16)

Loyalty - Leaders are there when you need them. Proverbs 17:17 (also 11:13, 27:17)

Endurance - Leaders are ready for long, hard challenges. Proverbs 13:4 (also 10:4, 12:11, 12:24, 12:27, 13:4)

Enjoy and send me and please post any thoughts

Civilian Affairs

“No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs – he wants to please his commanding officer.” – 2 Timothy 2:4

“Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgement on disputable matters.” – Rom 14:1

We must recall that Paul was a military man. He was part of the ruling class in Jerusalem and had a mind for organization and administration. There was certainly temptation to get wrapped up in the politics of the age. Especially by rationalizing that he could impact change by becoming a part of the authority. Instead he considered himself a soldier for Christ, or a Marine for God.

When I was serving, most of the Marines kept their political beliefs to themselves. There is somehow a perceptaion in the media or popular civilian culture that suggest that the military is associated with one particular party or issue. The truth is most military men consider it a matter of professionalism to remain silent in their political beliefs. Many refused to vote while serving on active duty in order to keep their minds focused on servitude to the country, rather than gauging their level of commitment based on who was leading the country.

I have no doubt that Paul had a similar experience in the Roman military. He likely felt as he stated above, military men ought not get caught up in civilian affairs such as politics.

Does this mean that Christians should isolate themselves from their communities and refuse public service or that a person is sinning by holding public office? No. Certainly not. But it does have implications as to how we view devicive issues which proport having the support of "all Christians."

Follw my logic in this, lets assume that polls are correct and 85% of Americans consider themselves Christian. If this is true, why do Christians need to have laws created by the secular state to help them hold to their own proclaimed religious morals? This would be the equivalent of college students pushing for a law to require themselves to study! Or a law that forced us to exercise three times a week. The greatness of this nation and of democracy in general is the following of God’s will to grant men their options in life. Some might claim that the Protestant reformation paved the way for the eventual separation of Church and state. These scholars would argue that there is some way for a democracy to divorce itself from its religion completely. I disagree. I believe that concept of separation of church and state is a wise moral decision by our founding fathers, setting a tremendous precedent for democracies world wide, however it doesn’t come naturally.

Many argue that without a religious foundation we are a chaotic society, "a ship without a rudder." It did contribute to disorder and chaos. I certainly think that society is less safe, less organized, less efficient and less productive under freedom (in all of its manifestations). Yes freedom for all is messy. On the other hand there is nothing more powerful than a nation that chooses to act collectively. When the people of a nation chose right over wrong the outcome is spectacular.

Despite all of this there is a bottom line. A soldier does not get involved in civilian affairs! Christians should vote and vote their conscious. America is not a Christendom, nor a theocracy of any kind. No single political candidate or political party has a stronghold on the principles of the Bible. The Marine of God does not get involved in civilian affairs. Let me site some examples:

Are you against gay marriage? Great, so is the Bible. You want to do something about the travesty of marriage in the country? Here are some quick tips: don’t marry gays in your church, don't attend churchs that break your moral laws, counsel those who are married on how to stay happily married, counsel those who are not married on how to have strong spiritual relationships that lead to strong marriages (relationships based on complete purity and respect), offer counseling and workshops for the community on marriage and relationships. These are but a few of the many options.
It is completely backwards for Christians to appeal to the secular government to enforce a religious law or protect a religious establishment. Marriages are sanctioned by God through the blessings of the church not by the State. To the churches that have let go of the authority in marriage I say shame on you! Let the state develop its own concepts for taxation, estate settlement, patient rights and powers of attorney. Meanwhile give the power of marriage back to the church. Let it once again be in the presence of God and witnesses not at the will of the state. Many of us with mixed race marriages are not even technically legal in many states!

Are there more moral issues that plague our nation? Abortion, teen-pregnancy, drug addiction, proliferation of pornography, workaholicsm, child abuse, domestic violence and gangs? Where are the 85% of Christians? Is it only 15% of America that is perpetrate all of these evil deeds? No! Our moral compass has shifted to follow the ever changing magnetic north of the state. We have allowed the state to poison us, not because the state is evil but because we are lazy. The state did not choose Christianity we did! We chose to follow Christ, let us now live up to to that commitment and set our moral compass on the one who can save us.

Politics is a disputable matter best left without judgement by our Chritian brothers and sisters. We may argue and debate but in the end we must resolve that secular influences will not divide our eternal fellowship.

JJDIDTIEBUCKLE - Courage and Decisiveness

With the preteens I am concentrating on using specific books of the Bible to reinforce a series of lessons. While there are examples of each of these character traits everywhere in the Bible I am trying to stick to just the book of Proverbs. I hope that using just one book will encourage them to read more on their own. The best possible scenario is that their curiosity is peeked just enough to get them comfortable with researching on their own.

Courage - courage is confidence in spite of fear.
Decisiveness - quick, consistent and firm decisions.

A Marine for God must make good decisions but we must also face our fears or doubts. It seems over dramatized to make such a strong example (fighting a physical war) with a seemingly mundane activity like religion. The religious struggle is waged within the details of our lives. You could walk through a hail of bullets once but you face the fear of insecurity almost every minute of every day. Courage is not the only trait we need. We must also face temptation with the ability to act quickly and decisively.

The most important part in the implementation of violent force is the full commitment on the part of the perpetrator. If you have decided to shoot, then shoot to kill. If you have decided to strike, then strike with enough force to ensure victory.

There is no time for warning shots in our struggle with sin. We must act quickly and firmly. You might say that courage and decisiveness are the foundations of commitment.

One of the enemies of courage is laziness. Why face your fears when you can defer the fight to another day. It doesn't feel like failure, just postponement. You can always quit smoking once you finish this pack. You can quit drinking when you finish this beer. You can be more loving, generous or spiritual starting tomorrow. It is this reason that we must make quick decisions. This is not a rushed or hasty decision but rather a quick decision. Gather the information, double check your thoughts both long and short term effects against your first opinion, then make the decision.

Here are some proverbs that I used with the preteens for these two traits:
3:24-26, 12:25, 22:13, 28:1, 29:25.

Anti-Terrorism

“Be self­-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” 1 Peter 5:8

In the past few years we have become more familiar with the ideology and destructive nature of terrorism. Until this time most places in the world seemed safe (at least from the American point of view). The attacks of September 11th will haunt our generation for the rest of our lives. Although, not many of us know someone who survived the attack, it still impacted us personally. This, collateral effect is the true destructive power of terrorism; one event that evokes fear in hundreds of millions. What we fail to recognize it that our lives spiritually are no less perilous. We may feel safe in our spiritual situation but the truth is we have many enemies. As Peter writes in the quote above, our enemy is hunting us. In this chapter we will formulate the connection between physical anti-terrorism measures taught to Marines and the link to anti-Satan tactics that a Marine for God can employ.
Terrorism is defined as the use of violence or the threat of violence to achieve political or ideological goals. Terrorists rely on surprise and hysteria. A terrorist target must be unaware of the threat and unprepared for a tragedy.
Satan is a spiritual terrorist. Some debate Satan’s role (prosecutor, tempter or bitter, ostracized angel). Regardless of this debate Satan exists, the sinful nature of man exists and the battle of the Christian is ultimately fought in their own hearts in the effort to obey God. For whatever purpose, testing, maliciousness, destruction or opposition to God, Satan attacks our hearts. Like the terrorist of the physical world this terrorist of the spiritual world has the same goal; fear. In the spiritual realms we become afraid that God’s salvation is insufficient for our situation. This is atheism. In our atheism Satan finds success.
Consider the account of Job. Satan responds to God’s praise of Job with the comment, “Does Job fear God for nothing?”(Job1:9) It is evident that Satan wills to challenge the authority of God through our fears.
Terrorism is more psychological than physical. Consider the recent killing spree of John Muhammed and John Lee Malvo. Their crime is heinous for the ruthless killing but also for the fear that it created. Remember that the state of Maryland was locked down for a week. Millions of people were afraid to leave their homes because of two men. That is how powerful fear is. Satan’s attacks are meant to cause fear of faith because that fear is much greater than any physical attack he can possibly contrive.
What do we do in the face of terrorism? We have two options. One is give into fear; becoming weak in our spiritual convictions and losing sight of God’s plan. The other option is to train ourselves in ‘anti-terrorism.
What can you do to fight Satanic terrorism? What do the Marines do to combat physical terrorism? Here are the recommendations straight out of the Handbook for Marines:

Terrorist preventative measures:
-Vary transportation methods, routes and times.
-Park in well lighted areas with multiple exits
-Lock unattended vehicles
-Report unusual activity
-Avoid traveling alone
-Travel only when busy, well-traveled thoroughfares
-Avoid establishing a pattern of attendance at certain events or locations
-Know how to use the local phone system and carry change or a phonecard
-Know the location of the US Embassy and other safe locations

Overall you see that there are two main keys to preventing terrorist attacks; first avoid a pattern or routine behavior, second, stay close to (or in contact with) other people who can help you. Notice that these two keys are effective for spiritual warfare as well. We could re-write them as: first, love is not a routine, in order to love God it must be genuine and from the heart, avoid letting your heart grow hard from routine time with God (1 Corn 13:1, Matt 15:7-9), second, stay close to other disciples of Jesus, “stay in the vine” (John 15), “remain in the body” (1 Corn 12:27).
Now maybe we can extend this to some practical examples. Every Christian has experienced some stagnation in their walk with God at some time or another. In fact it is something that is inherent to human behavior. Small children become easily bored with toys that they couldn’t imagine living without. Sometimes we call this maturity, as in, “I have already read the Bible several times, I don’t need to read it daily to feel close to God, I just need ….” Wrong answer! Jesus said, “I tell you the truth unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself like this child is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt 18:3-4). In order for us to achieve this level of humility and innocence we must find ways to make our relationship with God seem new and exciting to us every day. In this way you will not lose your spriritual fervor, your zeal, your excitement to serve God.
Recall some explicit warnings;
“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?” (Matt5:13)
“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” (Rom 12:2)

Here are some practical examples of spiritual counter-terrorism. These are broken into the two overall categories listed above. I hope that it inspires you to think of your own examples.

1)Avoid routine behavior.
Example 1) I know that I have made the following comment before, “I only have one hour in the morning to read my bible and I need to eat breakfast while I read so that I can make it to work on time, How can I keep things new and stay out of a routine?” If you are like me then; Remember that this is spiritual warfare, not physical warfare. To avoid a physical terrorist attack, the US Marine would simply drink coffee at a different coffeehouse every morning and change his route to work. As spiritual Marines we can simply change our routine by making things fresh in our own minds. A few suggestions that I have picked up over the years are:
- read a bible translation that you haven’t read before
- read the Bible in a different language and translate it
- memorize a verse while you go for a walk instead of reading
- write an article or book based on some theme or experience in your life
- write a fictional account of a parable
- follow a character through the Old Testament
- buy or go online to find a commentary to learn more deeply
- find supplemental books written by Christians or even written against Christianity and develop your own arguments
- write a song, a psalm, a letter to God, a letter to a non-Christian neighbor or co-worker

Example 2) Another issue that I ran into particularly in graduate school is captured by this comment, “I fall asleep when I read for too long”. I approached myself as if I was my own drill instructor and thought of the following – stand up, keep a journal, read short passages at a time and think deeply about them, make a hot drink, go to a coffee house or restaurant so that there is some activity around you.
Maintaining a relationship with God should not be a laborious chore. Nor should it have some sort of guilt associated with it. You ought to want to get up and spend time with God. If you don’t want to then there is something off in your spiritual compass. Find a friend who can help you. Get open with that friend and work on it together until you have your motivation back. “Two are better than one…Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” (Eccl 4:9-12) Friends in the gospel are the greatest asset that a person can have. Your friends are there for you no matter what. Of course this gets us into the second form of combating spiritual terrorism.

2) Remain in contact with others who can help (1Corinthians 12:12-31)
The Bible is filled with scriptures about friendship, comradeship and interpersonal relations. It is filled with these because that was God’s plan. We are meant for interdependence. We cannot and will not make it through life on our own! A popular phrase states, “There is no Lone Ranger Christianity!” Despite this we will all try to operate on our own. Even at this moment we are deceived to some degree about our ability to handle ourselves.
Interdependence is the key to the Marines in fighting physical terrorism and it is also key to the spiritual Marines fighting spiritual terrorismPaul summarizes the benefit of friendships in combating Satanic spiritual terrorism. “See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. (Heb 3:12)” Sin creeps into our hearts when we are not involved in each others lives. In the scripture, “sin’s deceitfulness:” refers to the weapons that Satan is using on us. It is this deception that snares us into a death trap. In the Marines we were never allowed to spend time alone in a foreign port of call. It was not allowed for good reason, you could easily be abducted and held for ransom. Recently we have seen the gruesome capture and murder of US citizens and troops. A 19 year old in the middle of a foreign country is a ripe target for a terrorist. The same is true for us. We are vulnerable when we are alone, especially in uncharted territory like a new job, children or marriage. I don’t mean that being a Christian means that I call up a friend every time I go to the grocery store, nor do I call my minister every morning to consult on my fashion decisions. Spiritual fellowship means deep relationships that rely on one another to deal with emotions, hopes, dreams, disappointments and tragedies. Satan is not going to literally pick us up off of the street and torture us but he will plant the seeds of doubt in our heads and hearts. Satan will also cause us to second guess our moral convictions on purity, righteousness and morality. When we have a small close-nit group of Christians surrounding us we have the ability to get help and the ability to fight deception.
Being a Marine for God is not a license for independence, it is the responsibility to remain strong and the call to utilize the help that God has provided to be as strong as possible!

Armor Bearer Mentality

In 1 Samuel 14:6-15 - Jonathan says to his young armor-bearer, “Come let’s go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised fellows. Perhaps the Lord will act in our behalf. Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few.”
“Do all that you have in mind,” his armor-bearer said. “Go ahead; I am with you heart and soul.”
Jonathan said, “Come, then; we will cross over toward the men and let them see us. If they say to us, ‘Wait there until we come to you,’ we will stay where we are and not go up to them. But if they say, ‘Come up to us,’ we will climb up, because that will be our sign that the Lord has given them into our hands”.
So both of them showed themselves to the Philistine outpost. “Look!” said the Philistines. “The Hebrews are crawling out of the holes they were hiding in.” The men of the outpost shouted to Jonathan and his armor-bearer, “Come up to us and we’ll teach you a lesson.”
So Jonathan said to his armor-bearer, “Climb up after me; the Lord has given them into the hand of Israel.”
Jonathan climbed up, using his hands and feet, with his armor-bearer right behind him. The Philistines fell before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer followed and killed behind him. In that first attack Jonathan and his armor-bearer killed some twenty men in an area of about half an acre.
I have often heard this scripture in the context of describing the heart of a learner. The emphasis on the response of the young armor bearer, “Go ahead; I am with you heart and soul.” Truly this is the response that Jesus wants from us. He wants us to put more than trust in him, he wants our faith. He wants us to be ready to do whatever it takes to accomplish the mission. So too our leaders want this attitude. We can cite this type of heart among the great relationships in the Bible.
Consider the role of the second in command. There was a John the Baptist for Jesus (the one to prepare the way). There was Timothy to Paul, (the man trained to strengthen and encourage). We see the power of having two people fighting side by side (Ecclesiastes 3:9). We also walk away considering the blessings associated with taking the humble road. We idealize the victories that come from submitting yourself to be second in command to someone.
However consider this, Johnathan’s armor bearer is not second in command. In fact, he isn’t in command of anything. We are familiar with the practice of midievil knights that hired stable hands called pages. These were young men. In fact the New Living Translation of 1 Samuel uses the word ‘youth’ instead of armour-bearer. Historians descibe the page as a boy of 7 or 8. It is likely that Jonathans armor bearer was not much older than 12 or 13. Now consider how much command was given to 12 year olds? How much command do we give to today’s 12 year olds? Certainly exceptions exist, the Bible describes the righteousness of young kings (Joash was 7 and Josiah was 8 years old at their respective coronations;2 Kings 12:1 and 2 Kings 22:1 respectively). However, the fact remains most young men started their military career as armor-bearers.
Today the role of Private is the lowest in the Marines. In the civilian world, we commonly joke with one another at work or on the bastketball court, “Drop and give me twenty, Private!!”. The bottom ranks are everywhere in life and all of us have to go through them. Whether we cleaned the French fry grease at the local Mickey-D’s or we actually wore the “slick-sleeve”uniform.[1]
I was a private in the Marines for 6 months. It sucked! You spent the whole time doing everything that everyone told you to do. You hardly get to think freely, or at least that is how it felt. Jobs are menial, trivial and monotonous. There is no one below you so you end up with all of the rotten jobs. Ever clean a backed up toilet? How about when that toilet was on a boat rocking back and forth, while standing in inches of bio-effluent? Gross, right? Have you ever had to give up your seat because there weren't enough seats and someone who outranked you wanted to sit? Pretty messed up, but it happens. You get the idea.
A better way to describe the relationship between Jonathan and his armor-bearer is that of a General and a Private, or the CEO and the fresh-from-college new-hire. Notice that this is vastly different from the glorious role of “second in command.” The “second in command” to a general is another general or a colonel, not a private. The second in command is able fill the role of the leader. Notice that the knight- armor-bearer relationship is also different than the teacher-mentor relationship of Paul and Timothy. Although certainly Jonathan could have been training the armor-bearer, it was more akin to a master-servant relationship. In this situation, there was one person who was the prince and one who was the peon. As I stated earlier, the armor-bearer has no power. His only job in life is to carry the armor around for the general (Johnathan), the prince of Israel .
This role lends itself to some awkward interactions, trust me. I spent the majority of my time in the Marines as a crewchief of an amphibious tractor (Amtrack)[2] As the crewchief I was responsible for the maintenance and operation of the vehicle. My two crewmen and I kept the vehicle working and supported the infantrymen (“grunts”) that rode inside. Whether by blessing or a curse, our platoon’s officer, Lieutenant Larry chose me as his crewchief. Without going into too much detail this meant that my vehicle became the command tractor for our platoon of 12 vehicles. Wow! All of a sudden I am a part of the leadership of our entire 40 man platoon. At that time I was in the rank of Lance Corporeal (2 ranks above private). All of this meant that I drove the vehicle and saw, heard and understood all of the decisions that were made by my lieutenant and the infantry commander (a captain). Occasionally the commader for our entire Marine Expeditionary Force (a lieutenant colonel) would arrive and speak to the infantry commander and my lieutenant. In addition to these people our vehicle was filled with radio operators who communicated with all of the artillery and air support. The gist of it all; I knew everything that the leaders knew. The knowledge gave me a sense of responsibility. I felt responsible for the entire platoon. The problem was that I had none of the power that comes with that responsibility. I couldn’t affect the decisions.
Imagine Jonathan’s armor-bearer. As he sits at Jonathan’s side polishing the breastplate or something, one of the Israel’s generals is conversing with Jonathan about the next day’s battle plans. The armor-bearer sits within earshot of huge decisions. He has all of the knowledge but none of the power. He sees the evidence but doesn’t sit in judgement.
Unfortunately, I know from first hand experience that knowledge of events is nothing without the power to act on the information. You only fill up with anxiety and anguish. At all times you clearly see how small and insignificant you are. You also become critical of the leaders. The worst part of your criticism is that you have all of the information whereas your peers might be critical without understanding the big picture.
Consider now the armor-bearer’s tasks are done for the day and he is eating dinner in the company of other armor-bearers. They tell jokes and share stories about being back on the farm at home. They idealize the one-day when they are in charge. Much of what they say sounds sarcastic and accusatory toward the current leadership. “If I was in charge we wouldn’t… That was the stupidest decision when…” Among them sits Jonathan’s armor-bearer. He sits quietly smiling and laughing in comradeship. He listens to them complain and feels the pain of their confusion. He desperately wants to tell them that they are wrong. He desperately wishes to defend the Johnathan’s decisions. He wants to tell them how the Johnathan cried and prayed before he sent out those who died in that day’s battle. He wants them to see it from the view of those on top. However he knows that they can’t understand. He knows that they won’t be able to understand all of the events and how it has all come together over several months. Jonathan’s armor bearer knows that the unity of the army and the friendships he has with the others will be jeopardized by his divulging the information that was not intended for their ears. The young armor bearer fills with anxiety, tortured by the knowledge of the prince while having to endure the criticism of the soldiers.
At the same time the other armor-bearers joke with him and poke fun at his ‘easy’ job. They lament how they ‘wish’ they were in his shoes and could have the opportunity to be around the army’s leaders. They don’t know that he bears all of the responsibility with none of the authority. So the young armor bearer feels distant, removed from the group of peers by his position and the responsibility. Yet unlike the prince he has no group of peers that share his position. He feels overwhelmed, anxious, and alone.
All military units have callsigns that help to distinguish them from one another. Our unit was ‘Rhino’. From this name the various ranks are given numbers. The commander is always the number 6. Therefore the Lieutenant Savarese’s call sign was “Rhino 6”. One night around dinner I was sitting with a group of my friends (most were crewmen on other vehicles, while I was a crew-chief on my vehicle). One of my friends says, “You know what you are Harris, you are the little bird that rides on the back of the rhino and picks the poop out of his butt-crack. (or something like that).” Another chimed in, “Yeah you are a Woodstock!” I am not sure if the character in the Peanuts cartoon is the same species as those that appear on PBS specials about the African Savanna but any ornithological indiscretions were ignored and the name stuck. From that point on my ‘official callsign’ and nickname was “Woodstock.”
How humiliating and unfair! If they only knew all of the things that I had done behind the scenes that had benefited them! If they only knew how their comments hurt me. How what they said made me feel more isolated and alone. How their comments made me feel more anxious about all of the information that I kept from them and how much more I felt the weight of responsibility upon my heart.
The comments that they made were inevitably harmless and the group of friends that I had in that platoon were a true band of brothers (as I will talk about later in another chapter). The fact was, the insults hurt. Having them poke fun at me because of my position hurt my feelings. It made me feel isolated on two sides. At work I was allowed to hear and understand all of the information but not able to provide input to the decision. On the other hand my peers ostracized me in small degrees because they were jealous and ignorant about how much their comments hurt and how much I needed their friendship.
The challenge is for each and every one of us to become armor-bearers for the Kingdom of God. Do you feel like your talents aren’t being utilized because you aren’t in the church structured lay leadership? Are you going to refuse to fight the spiritual fight until you are asked to lead? If this is the case, you are looking at leadership with the wrong motives. You must follow before you lead. No social organization can exist for long if there are more leaders than there are followers. Additionally despite the good intentions every organization has social politics. Will you refuse to carry someone else’s armor because you don’t like them? Because they don’t lead the way that you would? Be an armor bearer! Revel in that role. Pray to be used.
The Marine for God will take on the role of armor-bearer. It takes a great deal of strength and courage to withstand the challenges of being an armor bearer. You have to keep your mouth shut about the leadership information. In a church bible study group this isn’t for reasons of security like it was for us in the Marines, in a bible study group the reason that the armor bearer stays quiet is simply out of respect for the leader. They are the leader let them lead! Let them give the plan of action to the group. Let the leader decide when inform the group that their group has been asked to host a canned food drive or that the pastor has asked them to prepare the children’s Christmas pagent. Even if you were at the meeting with the leader and the pastor! The armor-bearer must also listen to the comments of the group without becoming defensive. Your role is to listen. Don’t agree with the bitterness of others. Don’t affirm a bad attitude in one of the members of the group. But don’t argue either. Don’t judge at all. Your reply should be that of the servant or slave, “I don’t know about what you are saying but I am going to follow the leader.” Rather simply listen to the feelings of the group members.

Recall these two things:

1 Samuel 16:21 “David came to Saul and entered his service. Saul liked him very much, and David became one of his armor-bearers.” - If you revere the heart of David, as God does. Inspect the path of his life. He started out at the bottom. He knew the role of servant.

Phillipians 2:6-7 “Who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped. But made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant.” - Christ came to serve. Christ humbled himself to service despite the talents for leading that he possessed. Our attitude should be the same.

[1] “Slick-sleeves” was a derogatory term in the Marines that refered to the dress uniform with an absence of insignia. We are used to seeing a corporal or sergeant with stipes on the upper arm of their uniform. Privates have nothing on their upper arms, thus the sleeves are barren or “slick”
[2] Amtrack or Tracks, are the amphibious vehicle used by the Marines for beach assaults. They consist of a crew of 3-4, carry a squad of infantrymen. Together the infantry and the tracks are a “mechanized infantry company”

Prepare for War!

“Proclaim this among the nations: Prepare for war! Rouse the warriors! Let all the fighting men draw near and attack.”– Joel 3:9

If you are a Marine this passage should raise the hairs on the back of your neck! You ought to be immediately nostalgic to the 12 weeks that you spent at Boot Camp. You ought to remember the times that your unit went ‘on alert’ while you were serving in ‘the fleet’. If you had the opportunity to deploy overseas you remember what it was like to know that you were on watch. That at any moment you could be in the midst of a firefight. You knew that if our country needed the military, you would be the first one on the scene. “The World’s 911 force, The US Marines”

We had a joke about the speed that we could be deployed, “We are always the first to go and last to know.” That is the life of a Marine. The truth is there hasn’t been very many years in the history of the country that there hasn’t been some small uprising or major campaign that has put young Marines into the middle of explosive and dangerous situations. I served along side of men with purple hearts and bronze stars from the 1st Persian Gulf War and Somalia. During my 4 year enlistment (1993-1997; a time of ‘peace’), there were armed conflicts in Bosnia, Somalia and Haiti. A barracks in Saudi Arabia was bombed (just one day after we pulled out of port there). The United States launched tens of tomahawk missles into Iraq one week after we had been training in the desert just 3 miles from the Iraq border in Kuwait. We did not live with only the threat of war but the reality of combat.

There are two things that a person can do when they know that they are so close to fighting in battle: turn in fear or stand and fight. Only one of these responses is acceptable and beneficial. What does it take to overcome fear? Is it genetic? I believe that it is a matter of training. The better trained you are the better prepared you are for the fight. An old Marine saying goes, “The more you sweat in training; the less you bleed in war.” I believe this is true spiritually as well. We will never escape suffering in war, nor will we walk through life without hardship as a result of our sins or the sins of others. Training will never make us perfect but spiritually it will put us in step with God’s love. At those times of hardship only God’s love and our knowledge of his love provide us with hope.

It is likely that you have seen video of Marines running and chanting cadence. One of the chants that we would sing while running went, “One…. Two…. Three…. Four……Everyday I pray for war…” Of course I don’t think spiritually, that God is calling us to pray for war, certainly not in the context that we meant in the Marines. However, this chant served to keep the reason for our physical training fresh in our minds. Like the comfortable American Christian, we were easily distracted from preparing for war. Our home base was on a beach in California. We surfed after hours. There were no IEDs, no hostility, no immediate need for us to prepare for a war. In order to remain alert we had to think like those planning, preparing and as we put it ‘praying for war’! Consider Paul’s words, “I beat my body and make it my slave… (1 Corn 9:27)”. God is calling us to put in the time to train, beating our sinful nature into submission so that we are ready to fight.

If the analogy of the Marines doesn’t sit well with you, I don’t blame you it is pretty gruesome. But realize that we are in a spiritual battle. Everyday we fight off temptation and sin. Everyday we wrestle with the hearts of lost souls around us. We take on demons and the forces of evil (Eph 6:12). There is a battle to fight and we should prepare for war.

Preparing for war is all about training. Spiritual training is not US Marine Corps training. We are not planning to kill men but the forces of evil and the demons of Satan. 2 Corinthians tells us, “though we live in the world we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Corn 10:3-5)

Every action, every conversation and in fact every thought is to be made obedient to Christ. Our discipline and training should focus on self-control of action and thought. We must be able to train our hearts to love in spite of what others say. Whether at the office or at school the calling of 2 Corinthians is the same. We must train ourselves to respond in humility when we are in the wrong. Train to admit when we have lost control and repent of every wrong with the godly sorrow that God commands (2 Corn 7:9-11).

How do I spiritually train? Our relationship with God is the key to training for spiritual war. This may seem trivial but consider that we forget all the time. We think that there is no way that reading our Bible or praying could give us the kind of self-control that starting a workout program could provide. We may not believe that kindness to those less fortunate pays a better dividend than the wisest financial investment. The building of relationships in God is a house that will last longer than our appliance warrantee, new roof shingles, exterior paint and plasma television combined. There are certainly great things to learn and hard physical work to do but Paul argues in his first letter to Timothy, “For physical training is of some value but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come (1Timothy 4:8).”

How does a person train in godliness? I can’t go to Home Depot for a class on applying godliness to my guest bathroom in 4 easy steps. I can’t go to the gym and benchpress bibles instead of iron to grow closer to God. How can I make a training regimen for godliness?
Peter recommends the following:
“…make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.” (2 Peter 1:5-7).

Let’s examine each quality in more detail and determine a means for training in it.

Goodness – This is that quality of a person’s character that is completely based on their actions. Goodness is really not worth anything until there is someone or something that is benefiting from your goodness. Although the Bible is not explicit on this definition, I submit to you that goodness encompasses a multitude of positive and Godly acts: Compassion, fairness, mercy, empathy, humility, politeness, cordiality, nobility, generosity and many others. This is the list of traits that every parent hopes to instill in their children. Parables like the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37) and the Sheep and Goats (Matt 25:31-46) demonstrate the qualities a ‘good’ person in the eyes of God. Take a moment to read over those parables and consider the goodness that is displayed in them. Now ask yourself how can you train in goodness?

Certainly there are those in your community that are less fortunate than you. An entire host of other needs exist in this world as well and it would be good to help any that we are capable of helping with any need that they have. Volunteer at the food bank or coach a little league team. However consider all of the needs that exist.

Consider that even reading this means that you are in touch with your faith and working on your relationship with God; you are rich spiritually. There are those in spiritual need all around you all day long. You are likely surrounded by many people who are not working to strengthen their bond with God or have given up on God altogether. There is no greater need than that of a full and right relationship with God. There is no greater prize than heaven and no better life to be lived than an eternity spent in the presence of God. A great many people with the best of intentions have lost the focus of the spiritual needs in place of meeting the temporary physical and emotional needs around us.

Training in goodness is conditioning yourself to have a heartfelt reaction to every single person you come across. Consider the life of Jesus, he knew that every person that he came across was, “harassed and helpless” (Matt 9:35). No matter what they said or did he knew that they needed him and the relationship that he would allow them to have with God. The church is the living body of Jesus and therefore we too must approach the world around us as a place in need. We may stumble across a homeless person on the street and generously offer them money or a meal, however it would not be goodness in the eyes of God until we have felt in our heart the need for this person to have a right relationship with God.

Now maybe you are tempted to argue with me that who am I to judge who has a “right relationship with God.” How about if we, like Jesus begin with the assumption that no one has a completely right relationship with God? Then we aren’t judging we are simply looking at everyone as equal, equally deprived, equally in need. From Bill Gates to the penniless street waif everyone needs acts of goodness to build them up emotionally, physically and most importantly spiritually.

Training in goodness is simply a matter of perspective. You must try your acts of goodness. It is not mutually exclusive to meet the physical and spiritual needs. Stay and talk for 5 min with the person begging for money or food outside of the grocery store, get to know them and have an emotional bond. Listen wholeheartedly to a co-worker or roommate without thinking about the ‘waste of time’ that their story is to you, and resist the temptation to divide your attention. Write cards with words from your heart, share your emotions with those close to you… The list is endless and the opportunities for goodness are boundless. These acts of goodness must be followed by moments of prayer and hope that the act of meeting physical and emotional needs will blossom into meeting the spiritual needs. Your training in goodness is complete when you are performing acts of goodness wherever you go without thinking twice about it.

Knowledge – Goodness is supported by knowledge. Just as a person with knowledge of medicine or psychology is better equipped to provide physical or emotional support, a person with knowledge of God is better equipped to meet the spiritual needs (Matt9:12).
Training in knowledge is very straightforward for us. We spend most of our formative years training in knowledge (school). Our school years are full of several types of learning that are just as critical to our training in knowledge of God. In school we learn from books, examples and interactions. With God our knowledge comes from the reading the Bible, sermons and fellowship.
Knowledge of the Bible is fundamental in the Christian walk. No other resource supersedes it and no other source is more definitive. Training in biblical knowledge should be a daily occurrence.

Knowledge is also gained through example. We don’t have to participate in the SuperBowl to appreciate the level of commitment it takes from the players. We don’t have to perform in the movie to gain insight from the experience of the characters. In our education we diligently study history as a means of providing example of past situations. We attempt to draw knowledge from the experience of others. So too may we see the spiritual impact from the examples of the lives, characters and situations around us.

Knowledge is also gained from our interactions. We learn from our mistakes and successes. We learn how to effectively share God’s message with our friends and co-workers by trying different approaches. We learn how to teach a non-believer to believe by leading individual bible studies. All sorts of Godly interactions are learned from experience: counseling, bible study leadership, songleading and preaching. This is why Paul instructs the Corinthians to seek the greater gifts of the spirit. We must strive to grow in our capacity for knowing God’s character.

Self-control –As I mentioned above, Paul describes this in 1 Cor 9:24 as “beating his body and making it his slave so that he will not be disqualified for the prize (heaven, eternity with God…)” Of course he doesn’t mean a physical beating but rather this spiritual connection between the desires in him and control of himself.

Peter listed these qualities in an increasing order for a reason. We must remain self-controlled to grow in goodness and knowledge. Self-control allows us to stay disciplined in our training. Self-control puts the goodness and knowledge in action (especially when these activities are no longer new or

How do we work out the self-control muscles? Should I go and put myself in situations that require my complete self control. Of course many eager young people have fallen into the deepest of sin because of a curious desire to see just how much they could handle before they caved in to their desires. I stipulate that we shall not learn our lessons in this way. We don’t need to go on sinning so that grace may increase and we don’t need to go looking for sin to test our resolve against it. Temptation has no problem finding us. What we often lack is the ability to see the temptation. Do not be deceived, the devil is prowling lion but his methods are deception and lies. One of the greatest deceptions is for us to think that we can handle temptation with no problem, “Oh don’t worry about the rated R movies, the nudity just doesn’t make me struggle.” Or “I know that I am in real debt but I will open this credit card account just for emergencies.” So the same goes it would be silly to think that in order to grow in controlling your lustful desires that you should go a strip club and not look, or to control your eating habits you should go to an all-you-can-eat buffet and “just get salad.” NO! “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch! (Col 2:21). Although Paul penned those words in reference to the worldly traditions and religions of the Gentiles in Colosse, it also applies to us today. We are a new creation in Christ. Obviously we are not perfect and the waters of baptism washes our sins away but not our sinful desires. There is a need for self-control since there is still a sinful person who lives inside of us trying to take control. Don’t feed the temptations that are already there.

We are faced every day with something that God has given us to train us. Will we step up to the challenge or will be run and hide like Jonah? A later chapter is dedicated entirely to discipline. For now let’s trust that self-control requires us to apply our knowledge and goodness to guide our choices.

Pereseverance - like self-control, perseverance is a long-term quality. It is what helps us to fight the fight for our whole lives not just part of the time. Perseverance is toughness, patience and inner peace all at once.

Toughness is our resolve in the moments of testing. Tough men climb mountains and run marathons. Tough men also fight injustice, work hard, coach youth teams and spend quality time with their families. Tough men don’t cry out in pain or complain about disadvantages. Spiritual toughness is in the same vein. Spiritually tough men don’t turn from God when times are hard (Job), hold back on a pledge (David vs Saul) or give into temptation (Jesus). Toughness is a key part of perseverance. It takes a tough soul to remain faithful over a whole life.
Patience is easy to understand but hard to put in practice. Patience simply requires an absolution of self. When we are concerned about ourselves our ability to deal with the choices of others shrinks. When we are focused on ourselves we lack all pretenses of patience and become walking time-bombs. If you want to be convicted about this watch the line at the bank for a couple of minutes. People are so impatient when they are only concerned for themselves. Of course we make up incredible excuses to justify to ourselves why we are not really impatient but rather busy, too important to stand in line, tired or wasting precious time that could be spent solving the world’s problems. This may be redundant but the only way out of our impatient lives is a focus on the truth. The truth is found only through Jesus. He is “the way, the truth and the light.” When a person stands in line at the bank in the light of Jesus they are not aware of themselves at all. They are ‘self-unaware’. When a patient person stands in line at the bank they are no longer aware of their own life’s needs, instead they are ‘in humility considering others better than themselves (Phil 2:3).’

Too many men consider patience as a sign of weakness. I consider that instead we are gentlemen and ladies of the utmost nobility. We are walking and talking ambassadors of God, who as you remember is patient enough to save your sorry butt (and mine). This is the type of patience that the Holy Spirit, fed on the word of God, and brought forth by our willingness to submit to the will of God, will bring forth in our lives. Training in patience is a matter of consistently remembering God’s patience and giving that patience to others in our day to day interactions. The more that we remember God during our routine activities, the more we will exhibit patience.

The third component of perseverance, peace is linked explicitly to the cross of Christ. We are at peace when we realize that we have died to our old self and have been reborn to serve God. We have peace in this because we realize that there is no need for worry. When we are in touch with the cross we are in touch with this death to self and the worries of the world no longer matter. Our lives are consumed with doing the will of God. Your resurrection from the waters of baptism allows you to work at your job “with all your heart as though serving God and not men (Col 3:23 paraphrase).” Everything from traffic jams to teenage children can be peaceful when we understand that we are doing God’s will.

How do I train in peace? Actually training for peace is like getting a good night’s sleep, you have to be willing to stop doing everything else and concentrate. “Come to me all who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls (Matt 11:28-29).” You have to practice self-control. You have to stop doing all of the things in life and make room for Jesus. You have to remember that you are under his yoke and working for him. A scholar will tell you that this passage refers to Jesus offering to take from us the burden of the world, our worries and our troubles. In exchange we are to take his yoke, like and oxen, then work in his field for him. This is the meaning of peace, rest for your soul. Train yourself to turn off the voices in your head and listen to God. Train yourself to commit each moment of your work day, each moment standing on the sidelines of your daughter’s soccer game, each moment in physics class as a moment dedicated to God and in the fulfillment of his purpose. Often times we can fall into the fallacy that unless we are reading our bibles, sitting in church, singing, sharing our faith or studying the bible with a non-Christian that the time is not dedicated to God. This is very far off from the truth and will only cause you to become unsettled and lack the peace that Jesus promises to all who submit to his authority.

Godliness – Of this list I believe Godliness is the least common quality. We understand all of these others to one extent but Godliness has lost much of its meaning today as it has likely phased out of our increasingly secular society. I returned to the greek root for a more clear definition. The word ‘eusebeia’ is used in 2 Peter 1:6-7. Eusebia is respect directed toward God or for a child to a parent. I think that we commonly use the word reverence to describe this type of respect.

That is all fine and well but how do I act reverently and how do I grow or train in reverence? Not surprisingly the answer is similar to above. Reverence is something that is caught up in the minutia of life. Much like patience it isn’t the one big act of patience as it is the small daily acts that develop our characters. We grow more reverent to God when we consider God in each action.

In many ways this is part of our internal conscience. Although not necessarily supported in scripture, many believe that it is God’s Holy Spirit that speaks to us through our conscience. We chose whether we will listen to that ‘inner voice’ or not.
I think that the training takes several steps. First pray every morning for the ability to hear the spirit. Then try to remember each day to listen for your conscience. I feel that I am listening when I stop and think about a decision. I consider whether buying a coffee in the afternoon is a good use of my money and my conscience asks when was the last time I gave a meal or cup of coffee to a beggar? Respect for God doesn’t say that we should never buy cups of coffee in the afternoon until all homeless beggars have meals but rather it asks us to consider whether we are living in a respectful way toward God.

Brotherly Kindness – Nothing is more universally taught than kindness. No society on the planet trains its children in any other moral more than it does in training them to be kind. All you need to do is travel among the nations of the world to see acts of kindness performed by the poorest to the richest. The truth is that governments may disagree and people may quarrel but on an individual level kindness is the most common action performed by mankind. I hope that inspires you to realize that it is second nature to you. Even when you were living that empty life that you are now ashamed of, you were kind. Now that you are a disciple of Christ and a co-heir with him in the kingdom of God you have the full motivation for extending kindness to anyone you meet. I think that for us the kindness muscles of greeting people on the street are the best ones to exercise. Be the person who says hello to everyone that they come across. For those old enough to remember the movies Crocodile Dundee, an Australian winds up on the streets of New York City. He, simply out of his habits from Australia, makes a point to try to say hello to everyone passing him on the street. This is a rather ridiculous scene in the movie and makes the point that small town cordialness isn’t always practical in the big city setting. However the truth is that New York City and the urban areas of the world that I have visited are some of the most kind places I have ever been. So I guess there is an extreme end to greeting everyone that you come across but there is certainly room for to us to all grow in being more kind. Other steps in kindness training can be our sarcasm, cutting words, bad attitudes and evil thoughts (Eph 4:25-5:21). The training is the elimination of these things from our lives. The training is over when this counter-attitude has become second nature to us. In the Marines it is not enough to simply pass on the knowledge of gun maintenance or proper shooting technique. Instead these qualities and many more must become habit, instinct, second nature. The trained Marine doesn’t hesitate to do his duty. On the battlefield of war this is the difference between life and death. It is no different for us on the spiritual battlefield, we must train until it is instinctual to be kind in all situations.

Love - the most critical and essential part of our Christian life. God teaches us through Paul that without love we ‘are nothing’ (1 Corn 13:2). Depending on how you see yourself this statement can be encouraging or very discouraging. If you feel that you lack love how do you grow in it? Isn’t it just a God given trait and therefore God must have been running a little low on the day that it came to give me some. Not even this joke makes sense and is an insult to God. Could he possibly run low on love? No and neither can you. Your love muscles may have atrophy. You may have faced or are facing some serious challenges in your life. You may feel emptied and worn out, unable to give another ounce of yourself to another soul. How do you start training to love? Just like anything else you have to start slowly and stay consistent. When I need to remember how to love I go to the professionals, toddlers. Stand out side of a day-care or go to a park with a jungle-gym on a weekend. I guarantee if you spend 5 min in the presence of children you will remember what love looks like. Make a card, serve someone, call a friend, pray. Love training is associated with getting back space for love by removing burdens more than it is associated with defining love.

The war for the hearts of mankind has already begun. If you are reading this you have already chosen sides. How effectively are you achieving victory? How effective are you at helping others join God’s army? How effective are you at training the new recruits to fight?