Straight From Pastor Ey

Image credit The devil is “the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:2b) He wants to blind people to keep them away from God. According to 2 Corinthians 4:4, “In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” He hides the truth about God from people. He wants people to believe in his lies. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. (John 8:44, emphasis added) Ever since, his tactic never changed.Look at how he tempted Eve. First, he questioned the Word of God.   Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God ...

Sun Tzu, ancient Chinese military strategist and author of “The Art of War.” Image credit In the 5th century B.C., ancient Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu  wrote “The Art of War.”[1] In this military treatise, Sun Tzu explained the importance of knowing our enemy. So it is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be put at risk even if you have a hundred battles. If you only know yourself, but not your opponent, you may win or may lose. If you know neither yourself nor your enemy, you will always endanger yourself.[2] When we know our enemies, we would have a better chance of winning against them. When we don’t know our enemies, we would probably lose against them. Image credit As far as the Bible is concerned, we have three enemies, that is, the devil, the world and the flesh. And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, [#1 The World] following the prince of the...

Image credit Those words bring up mental images of exorcism or faith healing. But spiritual warfare is not merely about demon possessions. There are also fanatics who see a bad spirit in every vice like gambling and smoking. The problem with such blame-it-on-the-devil mentality is that people tend to use that as an excuse for engaging in those vices. They make it appear that they were victims instead of admitting that they were perpetrators or co-conspirators. Image credit Pastor Thabiti Anyabwile of Anacostia River Church in Washington, DC decried the lack of awareness regarding spiritual warfare among Christians nowadays. It seems to me that many (most?) theologically conservative Bible believers (which includes me) don’t think very much about spiritual warfare.  Maybe it’s because there are some wacky Christians who seem to only talk about spiritual warfare, the way some young wacky Calvinists only talk about predestination and election.  Or, maybe it’s...

On December 26, 1944, Lieutenant Hiroo Onoda, an intelligence office of the Japanese Imperial Army, arrived in Lubang island in Occidental Mindoro. He was ordered to do all he could to hamper enemy attacks on the island, including destroying the airstrip and the pier at the harbor. Onoda's orders also stated that under no circumstances was he to surrender or take his own life. [1] Hirō Onoda. Image credit Not knowing that World War II has already ended, Onoda remained in the jungle. Though he already got wind of the news that the war was over a month after Japan surrendered to the Allied forces on September 1945, Onoda thought it was just a propaganda. Since his commander gave him a standing order, he stayed put.  Before and during the war, Japanese were taught absolute loyalty to the nation and the emperor. Soldiers in the Imperial Army observed a code that said death was preferable to surrender. Onoda refused to give up, despite at least four searches during which fa...