Destroying Strongholds

For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses (2 Cor 10:4).

News

May 3 Talk: The talk that Dr. Michael Lewis gave on Christian nonresistance, war, and America's salvation story on May 3 can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKXA15P5nrU

Essay: Obedience: This is an essay I wrote back in 2014 as a response to the messages I was hearing that only emphasized God's love with nothing about what God demands from us. The essay is found here.

Essay: Christendom - A Betrayal of Christ and His Gospel: This is an essay I wrote in response to David Bentley Hart's article in First Things (No Enduring City). Hart's essay is very good as expected and very surprising given that he is Eastern Orthodox. However, his negative critique of Christendom does not have a proper conclusion – Christians must not assume the power of the state. My essay is found here.


The Christian is tasked with building God's kingdom, destroying strongholds, and contending for the faith once delivered to all the saints. These tasks are accomplished in a variety of ways. In this site we provide many resources to assist in carrying out these tasks. First are listed four books. Church and State is a comprehensive defense of Christian nonresistance. Christianity, War, and America's Salvation Story is a companion volume to Church and State. The goal for this book is to convince Christians that Jesus' commands to live nonresistantly and love enemies is the way of, not only obedience, but wisdom. Suffering and Difficulty affirms the Biblical truth that God, in His wisdom, uses this trials to transform our character in order to become more like His Beloved Son. The Doctrine of God examines the various aspects of God's nature.

Essays on various topics comprise the other aid. The visitor will find many essays in the categories presented in the sidebar to the right.

The desired end to which these things are directed is the Glory of God as we are transformed by the renewing of our mind.


CWA

Jesus commanded His people to live nonresistantly and love enemies. What does this mean for Christians living in America? Christianity, War, and America's Salvation Story explores this question by considering Jesus' commands, the witness of the early church, the horror of war, why America has gone to war, how America has fought its wars, and America's salvation story, built largely on WWII.

The impact of war on civilians, and soldiers, and first hand accounts of the horrors of combat are presented in horrific detail in order to disabuse us of our sanitary view of war's horrors. The real reasons why America has gone to war is examined using historical data provided by historical documents, and first hand accounts. We find that the real reasons differ greatly from what we are told. We will also find that America has fought its wars with excessive violence and unnecessary killing. Special attention is given to WWI and WWII, the core of America's salvation story. After reading you will see the wisdom of Jesus' commands to live nonresistantly and love enemies.

CnS

What is the relationship of the Christian to the state? What does Jesus’ kingship mean for us living in 21st Century America? What is the status of Jesus’ kingdom, and how does Jesus’ commands constrain our activity in the kingdoms of this world? May Christians kill for the government? Is Just war theory reasonable? What is the nature of the state and what are its legitimate activities? Did Jesus really mean that we must not resist the evil man, and love enemies, doing good to those who hate us, blessing those who curse us, and praying for those who spitefully use us?

Church and State delves into these questions and provides a theological foundation for Christian nonresistance. It is a foundation that will change the way you live. Using Scripture, it shows that Jesus’ kingship, the reality of His kingdom, and His kingdom law teaches that God's people, being priests and temples, have no place employing violence or killing. Jesus really did mean what He said. The state (those not in Christ) has been given the sword to protect the innocent and punish the evil, while Christ's kingdom citizens have been given the ministry of reconciliation.

CnS

By carefully considering the Scriptural context of trials, this book seeks to show that Christians can realistically count it all joy when various trials come upon them. This is not a natural response, but it is the only response God permits. However, it is not commanded without good reason; there is tremendous Scriptural support that would convince us to so respond. From a personal perspective, it is one of the most important means that God uses to conform us to the image of His Son, enabling us to more effectively glorify Him, and drawing us close to Himself. If we believe that knowing God is of the greatest value, we will value the trials He brings. From a corporate perspective, that is, the kingdom of God (the Body of Christ, the church), we find an even larger context in which God uses trials. The church is powerful as it expresses love, seeing to it that there are no needy within it. The needy are those in trials and as the church loves its needy by caring for them, it bears witness to God's care and love to those in need and witnesses to those outside the church in a powerful way. So we see that God is truly at work in trials, both personally and corporately, glorifying Himself, conforming us to the image of Christ, witnessing to the world, and building His kingdom. It is a picture of God at work in a particularly powerful way.

CnS

Theology, the knowledge of God and our duty before Him, is the most important knowledge we may possess. Contrary to popular belief, theology is anything but boring or irrelevant, indeed it is our life. True knowledge of God coupled with a confession of Jesus as Lord changes a person's life to the very core. We are so changed that Paul tells us that we are a new creation; all things become new.

Unfortunately the knowledge of God is no longer common. A.W. Tozer says it best. "It is my opinion that the Christian conception of God current in these middle years of the twentieth century is so decadent as to be utterly beneath the dignity of the Most High God and actually constitute for professed believers something amounting to a moral calamity."

The reason true knowledge of God is necessary is that we must worship and follow the true God and not some idol made in the image of man. Tragically, there are now many idols named after the Christian God and His Son. Today, a very popular idol is an indulgent God who just loves, never makes demands and seldom judges; a God who is all about our happiness, and fulfillment. Such a God is an abomination and does not exist. To follow such a god is to take the wide path to destruction. Idols such as this must be cast aside.

It is hoped that this book causes us to see God high and lifted up and worshiped in truth, causing us to walk before Him in awe and fear, seeking Him with all our heart, and careful to obey all His commands, pleasing Him in all respects.