Shia LaBeouf and Spiritual Warfare

On October 29, 2014 I decided, perhaps somewhat foolishly, to smack a hornet’s nest. There’s, for whatever reason, a little boy inside most men, and that little boy loves to tempt fate. He loves to say, “Hey, I wonder how far I can go before the danger hits, and the pain arrives.” That was me after my wife informed me about an apparently newsworthy article proclaimed that Hollywood actor Shia LaBeouf had become a Christian was excitedly posted on former evangelist, now pastor, Greg Locke’s Facebook page. Let me first say, before I go any further, that I’d be included with the most excited if Shia indeed did repent and accept Christ. My concern, however, is that he is just one of an incredibly long line of imposters, who have fooled many for a very long time. Other such notables from this long list of supposed Christians include big names such as Constantine the Great, Napoleon, Beyonce, Barack Obama, Eminem, and whatever celebrity who has just won a shiny award. Again, I would love it if all on this list were truly born again, but when they’re lined up against God’s standards in the Old Testament, as well as Christ’s standards in the New Testament they’re found lacking. That should be apparent, but the truly depressing thing is that those professing Christ as well as following in His sound doctrine, cannot tell when someone is still lost in sin.

So, I smacked the hornet’s nest with these thoughts in mind. I knew what the outcome would be. Pain. What I’ve learned, through my own foolishness, is that slowly smacking a hornet’s nest brings about greater pain. The best way to smack a nest is to quickly, purposefully, with utmost intent do the intended action. Be bold, one will still receive pain, but it won’t be as great as if done slowly. This seems to hold as true with hornets as it does with people. This is why at times a full frontal assault into enemy lines is the best course of action. It will hurt, but in the end the job will have successfully been done. Maybe the Holy Spirit had this in mind when He had Paul write these words in II Timothy 2 –

1Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

2 And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.

3 Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

4 No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.

5 And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.

6 The husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits.

Being nice in a battle can, and often does, get one killed. It’s been my experience that when dealing with a religious crowd, both saved and lost, that being “nice” when exposing issues of doctrinal error or sin leads to much the same outcome figuratively. It does no good to dance around the serious issues of life/death, heaven/hell, sin/repentance. Such a weak approach allows the person in question to take charge of the conversation and steer it away from the issues at hand. The lost always bring up non-issues once they’ve been convicted of sin. The religious lost do so too, but add venom to their statements. (If you don’t believe me, fine. But I’d challenge you, reader, to go find a religious group that disagrees with you, and show them from the Bible that they’re one heartbeat from Hell. Let me know how it goes. If you don’t want to do that, repent of your fear of man, and go. If you still refuse, then at least look at how the religious crowds in the Bible treated Christ and His followers). It is a battle. A violent battle.

In warfare the side who has the best reconnaissance can plan the most decisive and devastating attacks. Once a soldier knows who the enemy is, and how to defeat him, the soldier can accomplish his mission with aggressive celerity. On the other hand, if the soldier knows his mission, but does not know who his enemy is or how to handle him, he’ll be doublemined and cower. On the battlefield, doublemindedness will render a soldier inept at best, and dead at least. With that in mind it is of the utmost importance to know who is in your army. He must be identifiable. If he’s not, then either you or the soldier next to you could suffer serious casualties. God knows this, which is why He not only gave the marching orders, but also gave a clear description of who the enemy is. Further, because He knew that communication is of the greatest importance in a battle, He repeated His orders and His details many times. Consider the orders found in just a few places – Matthew 28:19-20, Mark 16:15, Luke 24:44-47, John 20:21-23, Acts 1:8. Then who consider we’re fighting – Ephesians 6:12, 2 Corinthians 11:14-15, 1 Peter 5:8 – just to name a few. Finally, what characteristics illustrate those on the enemy’s team – Romans 1:18-32, Galatians 5:19-21, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, 1 John – again, just to name a few passages. God never sent us into a battle unprepared. He does expect us to know the difference between saved and lost (eg. Matthew 13, Sheep/Goats, Wheat/Tares; John 3 Light/Darkness). We should not be ashamed of knowing this truth. (Romans 1:16).

Yet Satan has a goal, he wants to keep the lost lost. Knowing this plan, we, as ordered soldiers of Christ, must move boldly and swiftly to defeat Satan’s plan by definitively convicting the lost of transgressing God’s Law, and encouraging them to repent and put faith in Christ to save from sin. Those are clear marching orders. The problem that so often occurs is that Satan tries to play with the communications delivered from above. He and his followers attempt to operate as double agents, and infiltrate in such a way that they’re often undetected by the soldier who has not clearly understood or heard the God-given orders and descriptions. Those who are found to be double agents are swiftly, and boldly handled (Matthew 18, 1 Corinthians 5, 2 Thessalonians 3). Having such a person remain in your camp will destroy it from the inside out. This is why such actions are to be taken seriously, and done swiftly, as commanded in Scripture. (Do note that anyone can be fooled, and can be fooled for some time, for instance Paul with Demas). Once that person has been revealed; however, he must be boldly, and often emphatically handled, such as how Paul handled Alexander the Coppersmith, or how John called out Diotrephes. Was it pretty? Was it nice? Conversely this is why it appears that Christians were so cautious in the New Testament. They understood that if one were truly born again then the fruits of the Spirit would be genuine proof of conversion. Further, did they hate sin the same way God does. Did they desire fellowship with the brethren? Did they desire the things of God? Did they remain entangled with the things of the world? Did they desire to spread the warning of sin/judgment and the Gospel? If no to these things, then the Christian knew that true conversion did not take place. Satan wants to frustrate this, but in the end, he cannot replicate a truly converted person. He can only blur the lines to knowing who is truly converted. He’s been blurring those lines for quite some time now, and sadly, with success.

With this understanding in mind I stood against the assertion that Shia LaBeouf is a genuine convert. I’d love to be wrong, believe me. Alas, it appears that he fails the tests above. Let me explain it another  way, those who are doing the things of God “shall suffer persecution” John 15. Christ promised that. Granted Americans don’t suffer Roman-style persecution, let alone Soviet, Nazi, or other Religious persecution that many others do, and are suffering. But Americans do not tolerate, even if they don’t feed Christians to the lions, Christ’s message of sin-death-Hell unless one repents. If Shia were truly born again, we’ll see this happen to him very soon. We’ll also see the 9 fruits of the Spirit evidenced in his life very soon, as well as the other things listed above. I honestly, and wholeheartedly, pray we do see this. If not, proclaiming that he’s saved, and never dealing with the very real and serious issues of sin-death-Hell and repentance, then we’re only creating a very staunchly religious lost person. He still goes to Hell. Such action is equivalent of treason in the spiritual sense. In warfare, treason is punishable by death. As such, God pronounced a curse against those who preach another Gospel (Galatians 1:8). These matters are to be taken with utmost gravity. When someone deviates from the marching orders, serious rebukes must be given in order to save the life of the soldier, as well as those with whom the soldier may come into contact. Ask a soldier who has been rebuked if his punishment was nice. If the punishment was not well received, an even harsher punishment could be given. If still not received, the soldier may be subject to court-martial or shot in a time of war. In spiritual terms, that person is to no longer be fellowshipped with. He may well have been a transformed angel of light wreaking havoc within the body of Christ.

I sincerely hope that those offended at my rebuke do not fall in the latter camp. My fear is that they are not enduring sound doctrine, and are not receiving sound rebuke – as evidenced by their name-calling after my sharp rebuke. That’s what the religious crowds did to Christ before Christ lambasted them with a bombastic reply in Matthew 23. That’s what Paul endured in Acts. All of those crowds thought that they were doing God’s service, but they had no scriptural backing for support. My greatest fear, however, is that this crowd has been duped by an infiltrator, and are in fact marching under a different flag. If this be the case, please, examine yourselves whether ye be in the faith. (2 Corinthians 13:5) There’s no time to lose.

As for Shia LaBeouf. He had this to say about his apparent conversion. Maybe Greg Locke others did not see it. Maybe they did, and are holding out hope. That’s fine. If you want to hold out hope, great, but do so based upon Biblical lines. I said what I did, the way I did it, because a lost life is a serious thing, and bad doctrine keeps people lost. One may take offense at how I said it, fine. But no one on that thread attempted to answer my comments with scripture. That being the case, I infer that the issue with my comments was not one of scripture or doctrine, but one of feeling or emotion. If that be true, then repentance of pride is necessary, and a steady searching of the scriptures like the Bereans in Acts 17 is absolutely needed in order to not be counted as the Laodiceans in Revelation 3. I earnestly pray I’m wrong.

So, I hit the nest. The hornets are now buzzing about. Now I know who are hornets, and who are not. I did not want to offend, but felt it necessary in order to help maybe just one save some eternal pain. 

*Nota Bene: Greg Locke has blocked my from his page and unfriended me since this encounter. I cannot see any new comments that have been posted to the thread.

Kyle Ford's "Spiritual Warfare in Evangelism" (From NeedfulExhortation.blogspot.com)

Friday, April 11, 2014

Spiritual warfare in evangelism

One of my passions in life is to share the gospel with the lost and to stir up Christians to do the same. I truly believe there is no other activity we can do on Earth which is more dear to the heart of Christ. However, if you're doing it Biblically, you can guarantee that you'll be on Satan's radar too. Preaching the gospel to the lost is an act of spiritual warfare and Christians should be aware that much of the fear and nervousness they feel about witnessing is normal, and should be expected. To make this point and give tips on fighting through it, I'd like to share my recent experience. Hopefully, if you read this and find yourself nervously sitting on an evangelistic fence, this will encourage you to hop off the fence and join the fight!

For a week, I had planned a time to do some evangelism on the UIUC quad. This is nothing new. It's been my favorite 'fishing hole' for years, and though I'm out of practice due to the long winter, I've surely done this more than a hundred times before. Yet, as I'm gathering my tracts before I leave, I'm overcome with a wave of nervousness. This is nothing new either, but is as strong as I've ever felt, forcing me to take a deep breath before I push myself out the door.

As you go through these feelings, you should immediately recognize them as spiritual warfare. You're going out there to steal members from Satan's family – of course he's going to fight! The demons tend to use the same tactics. They're predictable, but can still be very effective. They'll pull on every desire, weakness, and heart string that will take you away from your destination.

As temptation arises, the thoughts enter my mind as I drive toward the campus. “You're really tired, should just go home and rest.” “You're sick, maybe you can push through, but you'll feel even worse later.” “You're alone again. Who could blame you for quitting?” Wherever the thoughts originate from, I swat them aside and try to push through some prayers for strength and wisdom. I feel my chest tightening the whole time.

In times like these, you have several weapons at your disposal, and it pays to be prepared. Prayer is always a good option, but don't just wait until you're in the battle. You know the fight will happen, so pray beforehand as well. Scripture is great for encouragement and conquering temptation. Read it and memorize it. Songs can help as well – yet another reason to know some strong hymns. There's no magic formula for each situation, you must simply fight on. The Lord never promises to completely remove temptation, but he does promise that we will be able to handle it and that there will be a way out.

As I park my car, I'm hit with a wave of strong and completely irrational fear. I can't find it in me to open the car door. I pray a little more, then sing to myself a few lines of “Lord, send me anywhere”, a hymn that has often comforted me. I ask myself out loud, “Is your love for Christ so weak that you can't overcome this?”. Now it's on. There's no way I'm going to let a challenge like that stand. I collect my tracts, get out of the car, and walk toward the quad. On the way there, I see my first face and the crippling fear melts away instantly, replaced instead by love and concern, surely a mere fraction of a shadow of what Christ has for these lost sinners. I smile and cheerfully hand him a tract, “hey man, a free gift for you.” The next couple of hours are enjoyable and relatively easy.

I've found that this pattern repeats itself almost every time that I go out to preach the gospel. As I've talked to others who share the same convictions and act upon them, they report the same struggles. Though preaching the gospel is incredibly enjoyable and rewarding, there's nearly always a huge up-front energy barrier that must be overcome, usually in the form of fear/nerves. To be clear, as a scientist, I've done important presentations to superiors, public speaking at conferences, etc. Those things are work – not as enjoyable as sharing the gospel, but there's less fear associated with those things. However, when it comes to doing this thing that I really enjoy, there's a huge barrier of nerves/fear before I get started. Isn't that interesting? This can only be explained by spiritual warfare. Recognize this, and fight back! As I related in my story, the biggest struggle is overcoming that initial barrier, but it gets easy after that. Remember, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).

Finally, I recommend taking some time to debrief after you are done. This is obviously useful with regards to content (What objections were raised? How can I handle them better? What do I need to study? What verses should I memorize?), but it's also useful when it comes to handling spiritual warfare. Sometimes you won't be able to see the whole picture, but often you can. For example, you'll likely find that spiritual battles are more intense than normal if you are about to walk into a big opportunity. As you begin to recognize these trends, it teaches you to fight harder, recognizing that if the enemy is opposing you strongly, it might mean that this is a particularly important battle. In the example that I gave above, it turned out that there was a softball game that just ended, so there were many more people at the quad than normal. I was able to have several conversations, one which ended in great clarity, and hand out ~150 tracts, several times more than I'm able to do on an average day at the quad. That's certainly a good cause for the devil to want to keep me away from there. Was it the number of tracts? Or maybe the conversation with a pair of professing Christians where I pointed out that they are obviously not yet converted – and related their need of repentance, faith, and the new birth. Maybe both. Most of the time, you won't know how much difference your efforts will make, but the stakes are heaven vs. hell! If you could make that kind of difference, even for just one soul, would that not make every battle worthwhile? The point is, recognize the enemy's tactics, and don't forget what you're fighting for!

In conclusion, I've related this personal story with some commentary in the hopes that it will be an encouragement to others who are struggling through the same thing. Really, we have it quite easy in America, let's make use of our freedom. From the immature Christian struggling with the idea of sharing the gospel with strangers, to the battle-hardened elder, may we all be refreshed in our understanding of the importance of this great battle, and be encouraged to work harder for the Lord.