Battle Cry
By R. Cody Smith   

From Footsteps March 10, 2004

Once again I am sitting on a bus headed for Guadalajara, Mexico’s second largest city. I make this trip frequently for a little time of prayer and fellowship with my ministry partner Wayne. I’ve always found it difficult to read as this bus mostly careens around the curves, at times threatening to pitch me from my very seat. However for some reason writing seems to work, in fact there is something about this mode of conveyance that stirs my creative juices; could it be the cheaply dubbed karate videos they show?  

Today I have been reflecting on how much I have come to depend on these visits. Not only am I a foreign missionary behind enemy lines, but also seem to be a sort of point man for a very radical house church movement. Why the wartime analogies? Lets not kid ourselves, anytime we step out and challenge the gates of hell we’d better be prepared to deal with resistance from the spiritual realm, in case you don’t know it yet, Heaven and Hell are at war! 

Imagine if you will, a tourist who unknowingly stumbles in to a war zone. A pitched battle is going on be he is oblivious to all. Suddenly a bullet whacks him in the back of the head! He didn’t hear or see a thing, what a waste, what a shame, the poor boob wasn’t even facing the right direction.   

I should go on to say that there is already a formidable resistance in place against us. Our enemy the Devil is a cunning liar and deceiver, who has been hard at work weaving his lies for centuries, his strategy, to immobilize through ignorance. He is the prince of this world and to the extent that we live in this world; we are bound to be taken in. Too easily, we can loose sight of the greater battle at hand because as John Eldredge says, “The World has been pulled over our eyes to blind us from the truth.” It’s not like we’ve made a conscious choice in the matter, we’ve actually been swimming in popular culture since birth, and have quite naturally accepted its perversion of truth as our creed. We have succumbed to what C.S. Lewis calls, “the veil of familiarity.” 

It’s time to wake up and smell the napalm! As soldiers in Christ’s army we don’t need more leisure, more entertainment, nor more information. What we need is more revelation. These are days of consequence, great and important battles are being waged on all sides, and like Elisha we must pray, Oh Lord open our eyes so that we can see (2 Ki 6:17). Then we will be able to fix our eyes on the unseen, to know what is going on in our midst, and perhaps as the men of Issachar, we too will understand the times and know what Israel should do.” 1 Ch 12:32

We are the children of God, the evil one can not kill us, but that is not to say that we can’t be deceived, it may not cost us our salvation, but could easily render us ineffective, and completely out of the fray. Again, no weapon formed against us will prosper (Isa 54:17), but doesn’t this assume that we are going to be active participants in the fight? Personal discipleship needs to be a little more proactive than just cleaning up our acts; discipleship training needs to become warrior training for the battles ahead.

I am convinced that each and every one of us has destiny to fulfill in these last days, a vital task that no one else can accomplish. It’s going to depend on ordinary people, doing some extraordinary feats that will make the difference. The history of Christianity may very well hinge on what you and I choose to do with our lives today.

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By the way: My family and I are convinced that any hope of victory here in Mexico will only be achieved through a concerted prayer effort. If you would be interested to engage the enemy with us, bring heavens wrath upon his head, and set some captives free, please contact us at: prayer@walk-this-way.com

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