To have a “warrior moment” you have to first love something so much you’ll die for it. I know I love Karen and the kids that much. I love the Lord that much and many of my friends, I think.
But a warrior moment has to be translated to action, to a point of confrontation and battle. I remember defending a woman that a group of drunk Croatians were hassling while waiting to board a plane in Nairobi. I remember the crazy act of rowing a boat across an inlet to a floating dock in Tampico and unmooring the entire dock and poling it over to transport a group on the other side. Or there was the time I loaned a sister ministry $250k so that a project could happen. Or two years ago, launching out to start the Swazi project without a budget or staff. Or standing up in front of those I was leading, knowing there was opposition and saying, “Woe to me if I don’t preach the gospel.” Or my trips to China, Cuba, India, Peru, and England, all of which represented a launching out into the unknown.
Maybe fasting every week for Leah’s healing was an act of battle. Maybe starting AIM or engaging in deliverance ministry was. Starting ASPIRE in 1982 (a ministry in the Dominican Republic) was – that felt like war. Or fighting for Karen when, before I even knew her, it seemed like I’d lost her.
But my day in-day out life seems to be all too pedestrian. The same issues loom before me daily, like a scene out of “Groundhog Day.” And chief among the battles I fight are the internal battles with myself, with my flesh. Will I compromise today? Will I love as Jesus did or will I take shortcuts? Will I hold high the banner of purity or will I cut and run?
Will I pursue and fight for the dream of raising up a generation of radically committed disciples of Jesus or will I settle for running a missions agency that impacts a few?
I love Romans 7 and 8. Paul describes this battle with precision. “I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out,” he says in Romans 7:18. The answer, that inner wooing to greatness is the voice of the Spirit. “The Spirit helps us in our weakness” it says in Romans 8:26. And verse 37 holds the promise that every would-be warrior longs to see realized, “We are more than conquerors through him that loved us.”
My spirit responds, “Yes!”
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good post daddy! This is who we were created to be!
Were we twins, separated at birth? You remind me of the movie “Twins” with Arnold S. & Danny D.(I’m probably Danny)… To have the passion & the battle all rolled up in one person, yes Romans 7 & 8! I many times feel like Wallace of Braveheart – waving the flag(cross) to those who are supposed to come and fight the battle, all to often to see them move in another direction because the battle costs, and it could mean death(to self). Keep raising the flag, Seth…we will raise the sword of truth and follow Christ! Love you bro!
No, I’m Danny – not quite that short, but barely an inch taller than the hobbit-like Tom Cruise. Still, hobbits can have big hearts! SEMPER EN HOSTIS – Forward into the Enemy
I totally agree to this post. I even wrote a song about it, called battle of the flesh, i’ll put it up on my myspace so you can hear it if you want..
Brent Bergen, aka Cross 15
http://www.myspace.com/cross15 a follower of Jesus, who raps..
Galations 2:20
set me free
set me free