Recently Capital Hill Prayer Partners sent out the following, which we submit to you for prayer and intercession.
Blessings,
Dana on behalf of Martha Lucia and http://www.WatchmanNetwork.org
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A PROPHETIC WORD FOR THIS HOUR |
CAPITOL HILL PRAYER PARTNERS
PARTNERS IN PRAYER FOR THE NATION
P.O. Box 5152, Herndon, VA 20172
Email: chpp@patriot.net
Sunday, August 19, 2004
A PROPHETIC WORD FOR THIS HOUR
Dear Friends,
In all of the eleven years that we have been publishing "On Capitol
Hill This Week," we have never yet published a prophetic word for
the Body of Christ.
Tonight, we are making an exception.
The following word was released by Francis Frangipane on
August 13, 2004. We share this
with all of you now as a word of encouragement for this hour. May
you be blessed as you take the time to read, and to ponder, these
thoughts.
Sara Ballenger
Capitol Hill Prayer Partners
_____________________________________________________________________
THE WAR MODE
Francis Frangipane
http://frangipane.org
I was seventeen years old, a senior in high school, and was
slouching into my desk when an angry student easily twice my size
entered the room. Suddenly he saw me, and in a storm of spit and
fire, burst toward where I was sitting, grabbed me by my neck and
began rearranging my facial features.
It seemed that a prankster had written a derogatory remark about him
on the inside cover of his notebook, and then signed my name to it.
Obviously, there was more going on in the Big Guy's life than anyone
was aware of. Whatever other frustrations had been accumulating in
his heart, his immediate goal was to release his fury on the last
offender, which he was sure was me.
I should also mention that at the time I was 5' 9" tall and my
weight was 135 pounds. So, it was logical that I would instinctively
turn the other cheek to avoid a fight. Of course, the turning of my
cheek was not born of character, but cowardice. My quest for peace
with potential enemies was the result of my fear of being hurt. In
fact, I had developed some clever ways to avoid confrontation and
still appear relatively cool among my friends.
However, it does not matter what one's philosophy is concerning
conflict when you are actually in a fight with an angry giant. Big
Guy wasn't looking to talk, he was looking for blood. I was in a
fight, and the sole awareness that now flooded my mind was that he
was not going to stop. If this assault was going to end, it was
because I put my whole heart into fighting back.
Once I accepted the situation as it was, something amazing happened
inside me. Instead of my fear getting worse, it actually left me.
The energy that was being dissipated through terror and concern
about being hurt was recycled and was now enlisted for my defense.
Unexpectedly, I discovered another dimension of my soul: the war
mode.
Frankly, I didn't even know I had a war mode, but when Big Guy
reached down to pick me up for "round two," my fight instincts
clicked into action. It had been easy for him to throw me around
when I wasn't resisting. Now, I sprang upward with a punch that
landed squarely on his nose and he fell back a step. I hit him again
two or three times and then jumped on him while he was off balance,
knocking him to the ground. It's possible he stumbled over a chair
and my punch had nothing to do with his fall, but it didn't matter.
When his back hit the floor, there was a 135 pound Sicilian on top
of him.
By now, students were pulling me off him. He had blood pouring from
his nose and I was being called a bully by his friends. When the
teacher entered the room, it plainly looked like I was the aggressor
and Big Guy was the poor victim, cowering beneath my relentless
assault. I nearly didn't graduate because of the incident, but I
didn't care. Something inside of me had grown up and changed. I
found the war mode. I still didn't look for a fight, but I wasn't
afraid anymore.
Islamic Terrorism
Why am I telling you this story? First of all, its not because I
think physical violence is the answer to our problems. However, I
realize that many Christians have not been praying because they have
not accepted the reality of war in which we find ourselves. There is
a spiritual war mode that we must appropriate. It is an aggressive
stance that we take against evil. It is governed by love for people,
but it is fearless and uncompromising with the powers of darkness
that manipulate people to fulfill evil plans.
Since 9-11-01, Islamic terrorists have been bullying nations
throughout the Middle East and beyond. Even the USA was intimidated
and overly cautious, hesitant about retaliating against the repeated
attacks Islamists made against our nation. Radical Muslims had
stormed into our consciousness time and time again, grabbed us by
the heart and threw us and many other nations against the wall. For
years we accepted their tactics and let appeasement guide our
actions. Our prayer was hardly more than a whimper: "Please make
them leave us alone."
But Islamic terrorism didn't go away. The spirit of terror hovered
over us; it wormed its way into the thought-life of nations,
taunting and threatening even moderate Muslim cultures. In the
secret recesses of our collective memory, we acknowledged that Islam
sought world domination, but we couldn't openly come to terms with
this reality. We blamed their fury on poverty, ignorance or the
exploitation of Arabs by the West. The truth was that there is a
primeval vision guiding the actions of radical Islam: to conquer the
world for Allah.
The terrorists represented the very worst kind of humanity: they
were evil and religious. Their unholy quest was to reduce the world
to the size of their shriveled, miserable souls. But regardless of
what his critics say, I thank God for President George W. Bush. He's
not a perfect man, but with moral conviction he stood up to the
intimidation and challenge of radical Islam. Nations that were held
hostage to terrorists threats were finally going to be freed. He
looked Islam in the face and separated the common and honorable from
the terrible, and went after the terrible. Additionally, the
American President said plainly that any nation that used terrorism,
or harbored or supported terrorists, would themselves become a
target for international justice and even war led by the USA.
Now some will argue that it is wrong for a predominantly Christian
nation to go to war. They point, of course, to Jesus as their model.
Would Jesus go to war? I honor the sincerity of their concern.
However, Christ, sets the pattern not for governments, but for His
disciples. In obedience I follow Him in the way of mercy and
redemption. However, God's command to governments is that they
fulfill justice. I am not only speaking of Old Testament examples,
but New Testament Scripture. Speaking in reference to "governing (or
civil) authorities," Paul writes that secular governments, to the
degree that they execute their courts fairly, still serve as "a
minister of God." Paul then warns,
"But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for [government] does not
bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger
who brings wrath on the one who practices evil" (Rom 13: 4).
Because I follow Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, it is not my place
to be "an avenger who brings wrath." However, national governments,
in respect to the exercise of punishment against evil, do serve as
"a minister of God" when they bring wrath up on the "one who
practices evil." The individual who says that "Christian"
governments should turn the other cheek, that they should not punish
evil or that the wicked should be free to fulfill evil without
consequence, is asking nations to not minister justice. This
mentality leads to anarchy.
God calls governments to fulfill His standard of justice and He
requires of the church to reveal the standard of mercy. Both unveil
aspects of the nature and will of God.
Thus, President Bush, along with Prime Minister Tony Blair of the
UK, as well as the leaders of Australia, Italy, Poland and over
fifty other nations went after the Islamists. I believe their
actions were motivated by the will of God an avenger "of [those] who
practice evil." Honorable men and women in the armed forces of many
nations drew upon the courage of these national leaders and set
their hearts to go to Afghanistan. In spite of the relentless fear
mongering of the liberal press, in less than three months the
liberation of Afghanistan was secured: the Taliban and Al Qaeda were
humiliated.
President Bush, with the international Coalition of the Willing,
then confronted Saddam Hussein. This was the dictator who rewarded
Palestinian suicide bombers for their carnage and death against
Israel, giving each terrorist's family $30,000. Saddam was a state
sponsor of terrorism. President Bush pleaded with the U.N. to take
firm action against Hussein and stop their endless appeasement of
the Iraqi bully. This was the dictator who fashioned himself the
next great Nebuchadnezzar; the madman attacked Iran, Kuwait and his
own Kurdish people, leaving millions of people dead and maimed. Did
Saddam have weapons of mass destruction? Yes. The mind of Saddam
Hussein was itself a weapon of mass destruction. It was the will of
God that Saddam's government be removed from power.
With another coalition of over 40 nations, President Bush and Tony
Blair led the war against Iraq. The first stage of this offensive
was over in less than two months. However, enforcing peace has been
costly. Remember, Iraq is the area on earth where Lucifer first
slithered up to Eve in the Garden of Eden. It was also from this
region that ancient Babylon was first planted, and then spread its
influence into the rest of the world. One might say that Iraq holds
a unique place for the devil. It's his childhood home.
Where We Come In
Those who know me, know I am a man compelled by mercy. When I make a
decision that involves people, I choose to err on the side of mercy.
Thus, be assured that I am not an advocate of physical war. However,
I am not a coward either. We must not confuse false peace, which is
the result of compromise born of fear, with real peace, which comes
from winning the fight against evil.
Today, many are weary with world events. Part of this weariness is
because hearts are divided: we are trying to maintain a peacetime
mentality during a time of war. Since 9-11, our souls have secretly
longed to return to 9-10. Yet, we cannot hide in the past. We are at
war and our role as Christians is to stand up and pray for our
leaders, support our troops and intercede for mercy to fall upon the
Muslim people. I am not saying we must become political, but truly
spiritual and engage in the intercessions of Christ. And, we must
fearlessly follow through in spiritual warfare, praying aggressively
against terrorism and the demons that drive terrorists to fulfill
evil.
In the grand scheme of things, the Bible tells us there is even a
legitimate "time for war" (Ecc 3:9). This time is now. The sooner we
switch to the war mode, the faster we will tap into the moral
strength to defeat personal oppression. Self-pity and passivity will
diminish; we will find God's grace to prevail. Beloved, it is
conceivable that we will experience one or more major terrorist
attacks in the near future. I am not resigned to this possibility; I
am aggressively praying against it. However, if it happens, if I am
knocked down by the suddenness of the assault, I will quickly stand
back up. I will rise with the attitude of one who has entered the
war mode.
Beginning September 24th through
November 2nd, 2004, thousands of churches and ministries will be
engaged in 40 days of prayer and fasting (see Intercessors For
America's Website for more information at:
www.40daysusa.org
_____________________________________________________________________
If you wish to contact Francis Frangipane with comments or questions
about this word, you may do so by writing to: comments@frangipane.org.
A service of Frangipane Ministries, Inc. Copyright (c) 2004 All
rights reserved. Used with permission.
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