Semper Gumby ... Spiritual Warfare

By Reverend Mark Hunnemann

"Be polite....be professional....be prepared to kill everyone you meet."  (advice given to new platoon leader in Afghanistan's city of Shkin, which was described as "the evilest place in Afghanistan"...swarming with undercover al-Qaeda.

"Always be on guard." (Jesus, dozens of times)

I like to read, but it occurred to me that, without any intent on my part, I had  recently bought/read (dollar store) two volumes on being an infantryman in Afghanistan--The Unforgiving Minute, by Craig Mullaney, and War, by Sebastian Junger.

Compared to Iraq, little attention is given this site of war..which is unfortunate and unfair..Anyway, when done with both, I was overcome with various emotions. The horror these 18-25 year old Army infantry went through was unspeakable.The harsh sounding advice (be prepared to kill everyone you meet) reminded me of Viet Cong tactics in Vietnam...blending in with the crowd. Think.of how emotionally frazzling it must be to have to live with such instructions, if one wanted to stay alive? Is it any wonder, so many of these vets have a difficult time adjusting to non-combat environments, not to mention civilian life?

The first principle of spiritual warfare is the REALITY of it.

When  God sovereignly Called you into a personal relationship with Him, at great cost to Himself, the Lord also commissioned .you into a great spiritual war..I  have in my hand the Lt. bar that my dad wore in Europe during WWII. There are no pacifists in this war. There is a saying, "We may not be interested in war, but it is interested in us." That is certainly true of spiritual war.Nothing profound or new here....just a reminder that these filthy spirits hate you, and we must be on guard.

In Afghanistan, when the bullets, mortars, and RPG's were not flying, there was the tedium of everyday life in a hostile climate and environment. From Alexander the Great up to the Soviets, all attempts to tame/conquer this wild terrain were unsuccessful. Sand....sand....and more sand--as well as rocky cliffs is their harsh reality.

Slogging...slogging...and more slogging was the soldiers routine.I think it is very important that we realize the brute fact of slogging as part of the Christian life...including spiritual warfare. Especially in the front line battles in dealing with demonic oppression, there is a tendency to "super-spiritualize". I have seen God do extraordinary things in oppression combat, but most days are slogging ahead. Dealing with our own brokeness, as well as the "sand" of our own flesh--weakness, and indwelling sin....the drag of the world--all these conspire to make slogging an inevitability. To be forewarned is to be fore-armed. Life is a battle and not a circus.

That may not sound earth shattering to you, but romantic or unrealistic views of spiritual warfare can cause serious harm. Unrealistic expectations of the "normal Christian life" has often led to varying amounts of disillusionment. We wonder what is wrong with us if we "lose the fire"of emotion, but warfare is HARD."The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak." Jesus said to His disciples.

Others will quote a favorite verse, and forget the larger context of the bible. I suppose what I have come across the most from my minister friends who don't understand why I needed to write my book is this-- if we walk closely with the Lord, then we do not have to worry about Satan/demons. My reply is that many people have found themselves under demonic oppression--so that advice is cruel to these folks (just walk with God and everything will be ok) During Jesus' ministry He didn't give that kind of shallow advice...and He was frequently exorcising demons. So, there is a kind of "false-triumphalism" that plagues many pastors. Many of you know exactly what I'm saying or talking about.

SEMPER GUMBY is a term I got out of the "Unforgiving Minute". Captain Mullaney was a West Point grad, Rhodes scholar, Army Ranger, etc...and he does a marvelous job of describing his education into warfare.When he first arrived in Afghanistan, he was convinced that he was able to plan for every variable for each activity his platoon did. Until the haunting day on Losano Ridge, when he and his men were ambushed and one of his men was killed.You simply cannot be in absolute control of the situation--only God is.The death of one his men shook Captain Mullaney to the core of his being--and he wept.

This dawning of awareness is what gave rise to their principle of "Semper Gumby"..being flexible to move with the flow, and realize that fighting battles is often done in a fog of unknown variables.This reminded me of the trials of Job, in which supernatural reality was invisible to Job. He suffered, not knowing why. We too need to be Semper Gumby--always flexible to follow our Lord, and change course if need be.There is so much about spiritual warfare that I do not understand. And I am certainly not privy to Satan's plans...and God's will is often shrouded in mystery, as to WHY certain things happen.

These are only a few principles of spiritual warfare, and I have left unsaid many important realities...chief of which is that Christ is Victor...and of this I AM certain--God is good, all the time.

"Seeing Ghosts through God's Eyes" (also in a Kindle edition)...please consider purchasing my book which uses science, logic, and the bible to analyze the true source of power behind paranormal activity.

Bash the Muslims--Go to Jail; Bash the Christians--Get Rewarded

By Kirby Robinson

You can walk any spiritual path you desire, as you have the free will to do so. You can serve the spiritual master you choose, have faith in any eternal reward you wish, and read whatever holy book you want--because that’s your freedom.

What you don't have a right to do is lie to others about what the spiritual path has to say about something. Nor do you have the right to go on the warpath when someone questions your path and the creator of your spiritual path. You have no right to twist the Savior, Our Lord Jesus Christ, into something or someone He is not. When that takes place, the creator of that path isn't getting a message from the GOD above all other GODS. That message is straight from the father of lies, the serpent of old.

Most of you have heard and seen the news out of the Middle East concerning the uprising and riots conducted by people in various Arabic nations over an anti-Islamic movie that was on the Internet. Buildings were burned, compounds stormed, and four Americans were killed over a movie that was critical of the Muslim faith.

Yes, you have the right to freedom of religion and people have the right to challenge that religion – it's called freedom of speech. This freedom is practiced everyday when it comes to the question faith. We constantly see our Bible spit on, its messages misinterpreted, whether Old Testament or New. The Bible is made fun of, and we can't engage in public displays of prayers in schools or on public property. Our Savior is ripped from the cross on a daily basis, yet do you see Christians gathering in a mob storming buildings, burning property and killing people?

Is there now an unspoken rule to not defame the Muslim faith? Yet it's fair game to defame the Christian faith? Yes, there is. The liberal media, the new age movement, the anti-Christian groups and the forces of the antichrist try to keep it from public view or discussion.

I'm so tired of the distortions by the Muslim faith when they try to placate us by saying: "WE RESPECT JESUS HE IS A PROPHET!" And everyone is to feel good. Because they are partially correct, Jesus is a Prophet—but He's so much more—he's a Savior. However, the Muslims don't tell you their other beliefs:

1 Jesus is not the Son of GOD.

2 They don't think He was without sin.

3 His name won't get you into heaven.

4 He didn't die on the cross, descend into hell, nor did he rise at the end of the three days, ascend into heaven and sit by GOD in heaven.

5 Their Prophet Mohammad never has done the following: raised the dead, healed a sick person, cast out demons, made food to feed the hungry, walk on water, or do any of the things that our Lord and Savior has done and still today does in the spirit.

http://www.islam-watch.org/AliSina/MuhammadMiracles.htm

6 Ask them how to get into heaven? Is it by Grace or is it by The Law? And ask them is it the same heaven as the Christians envision?

7 They never speak that why does the Muslim faith exist? It's because their GOD [which is a lesser GOD] claims the Jews got it all messed up, so GOD started the Christian faith. And Christians also messed it up, so now the third time with the Muslims He got it right.

8 They say Christ will return to earth--not to offer peace--but to kill Jews and bring the world to the Muslim faith.

http://answering-islam.org/Authors/JR/Future/ch06_the_muslim_jesus.htm

You never hear or read about those things, do you?

The public is told that the Muslim faith is one of peace, not war. The Muslim sects in this nation only want peace and don't stand behind what is going on in the Middle East. Yet we never see the Muslim leaders gather their followers and go to the nations of Afghanistan, Pakistan or even Iran and tell them to stop the war, do we?

If you’re a non-Muslim try to visit Mecca and see if you can get in. And, in many Middle Eastern nations they have religious police who hunt down anyone with non-Muslim feelings.

Check out this article:

 http://www.americanthinker.com/2005/08/top_ten_reasons_why_sharia_is.html

If any representative from Christian church even talks about such laws, people would protest, churches would be burned, and leadership jailed.

For years when I was asked if the Muslim faith was the one world religion that we must endure in the End Times I used to say no. Yet the more I see and learn, it just might be. You have to remember it's an antichrist religion. It removes Christ from the cross, promotes a false prophet, a false god, and a false heaven in its place. Does that sound familiar?

What next? There will be laws proposed to outlaw criticisms of a religion as CNN called for last week. In some way, the Christian faith will be blamed. It's already happened when a talking head from MSNBC informed the viewers that the man behind the controversial anti-Muslim movie was Christian. This newscaster said it with a smile. The forces of darkness gather but no worry our GOD [the dude who is Most High] has our back and I keep reminding myself on the last page the devils lose and GOD wins.

[The above is not meant to imply that all Muslims hearts are filled with bloodlust and hate for the Jews, Christians and Hindus. The sect of Sufism within the faith teaches peace].

Keep current and follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/eyeonparanormal

EARN EXTRA MONEY! If you have a website, forum or blog you can set up an Amazon Associates Affiliate Program link and sell the Kindle version of INVESTIGATING PARANORMAL STATE, PARANORMAL STATE EXPOSED and PARANORMAL TEACHINGS: THE BEST OF SHEDDING SOME LIGHT and earn money. You can also sell other books and products that Amazon offers. Here's the link https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/