Suiting Up

Do you have a favorite football team?

I’m a New Orleans Saints fan through and through. I get excited when football season starts.

Maybe, just maybe, the Saints will win the Super Bowl again.

I bet your own favorite team is probably coming to mind right now.

Here’s a question.

Have you ever tried to imagine yourself in their shoes?

Pretend you’re a football player

All 250 pounds-plus of you is getting ready to go into the game.

Now, imagine there’s a rule that says you can’t wear any protective gear.

That means no helmet to protect your head.

No shoulder pads to prevent shoulder-to-shoulder collisions.

Nix the gloves too, so your hands are now vulnerable to impact.

Your neck roll is not allowed to prevent whiplash.

You can forget about the mouth guard.

And, finally, all knee, thigh, and hip pads, plus any of the protective wear to cover your privates must go.

Sound a little scary?

Now, your coach says, “Get out there on the field.”

You’d think your coach was crazy, right?

No way coach, give me my gear back!

Spiritual Armor

As Bible-believing Christians, how can we, likewise, go into spiritual battles without our spiritual armor?

The whole world now seems like one big spiritual battle – those of us who believe in the one true God, and those who do not.

No doubt, those who mock our faith are very loud and aggressive.

Are we really prepared for this?

It is hard to imagine anyone suiting up for the (football) game without an awareness of the sometimes bloody struggle that is about to ensue. But I have yet to see a player remove his helmet and head for the stadium exit because he finds it all just too rough.
Yet when it comes to Christian living, the field is evacuating quickly because the players have never read the rules nor understood the game plan.

– Alistair Begg, Christian pastor and author, Truth For Life Teaching Ministry.

Questions to ponder:

• Are we actively reading and studying the Bible?
  
• Are we attending a church that teaches the authentic Word of God?

We’ve all seen the apostasy starting to infiltrate churches – the dumbing down of Scripture, false teachers, fake signs and wonders, false conversions, the list goes on.

If you’ve looked into an Apologetics study, but then gave up, please reconsider.

You just never know when you’ll be in a situation where you need to defend your faith in our contentious world.

Two excellent books in my iPad library that I can recommend on the subject are:

1. “God’s Crime Scene” by J. Warner Wallace.

2. “Tactics”” by Gregory Koukl.

Both are highly rated, helpful books, to add to your spiritual armor.

Let’s not forget our identity in Christ

It’s easy to get into heated debates (especially on Facebook).

Our intent to peacefully share the Good News on social media can take a wrong turn when the attacks against our faith get publicly ugly. There’s absolutely no reason to respond in kind. That’s not who we are.

Remember Who we belong to!

This short video emphasizes it well.

 God bless…

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*Alistair Begg quotation, of Truth for Life teaching ministry. Reference: Made For His Pleasure, Moody Press, 1996, p. 108. https://gracequotes.org/author-quote/alistair-begg/