Satan launched an all out campaign to undermine the fear of the Lord.  How?  I'm glad you asked.  

The key is to undermine the truth that God is the Creator.  When you get rid of the truth that there is a Creator then you have undermined that fact that there is "divine design."  When you undermine divine design then the truth that everyone is created with a purpose is attacked.  When purpose is destroyed then accountability is torpedoed.  Accountability means the responsibilty to answer for your choices.  When you destroy the concept of everyone giving an account for their life before an eternal God, then you have dismantled the fear of God.  Psalm 111:10 and Proverbs 9:10 teach us that the fear of the Lord is the begining of wisdom. 

There is lots of talk in the body of Christ today saying there is no need for fear because fear drives you away and does not draw you near.  That's not totally true.  There are two kinds of fear.  Matthew 25 and Luke 19 Jesus illustrates the kind of fear that drives a wedge between the servant and his master.  You remember the parable.  Three servants were given some money.  Two invested and recieved a return while one servant hid their talent out of fear.  That kind of fear that provoked inaction and missed the mark actually contributed to the seperation between the master and his servant.  (The introduction was inspired as I listend to Bill Johnson teach on "Dealing with Sexual Sin in the Church.")

There is another kind of fear based on reverence, love, respect and awe. Its the kind of fear that is found in a healthy relationship with a parent or a spouse. It is a recognition of the consequences possible through trust being violated.  This kind of fear actually facilitates intimacy and draws us near.  

Campaigns are a series of battles.  Here are a few battles I'd like to highlight to illustrate the effects of Satan's strategy with the hope that it will inspire you to engage in God's divine plan for your life.  Let's start with Satan's attack on accountability.  I like to think of it as account-ability or as, do you have the ability to count?  

If you are wondering if I was using a word play you are correct.  Do you have the ability to make a difference?  You can if you are honest and can count numerically. This is how you can introduce accountability (a count ability).   

Over the years I've marveled how often Hollywood comes out with a movie that has a title and a theme that speaks to the season that we are in.  It's happened again with Star Trek's Into the Darkness. 

Currently our nation is the weakest we've been in this modern era.  We have the most debt we've ever had, we have scandal after scandal being exposed.  We have an administration who is undermining the constitution with practices that seem more fit for a socialist or even communist form of government.  Life, family, marriage, etc. is all under attack and.... the list goes on.  We've entered into one of the darkest chapters of our nations history.  How did we get here?  Proverbs 20:20 provides perfect insight. 

One of the first steps taken towards this present darkness were taken in the 60s during the sexual revolution.  It began with dishonoring the parents.  Rebellion was in the wind and we are now experiencing the maturation of those decisions in this generation. 

We are in deep, deep darkness.  Good is called evil and evil good.  On one hand I hate this situation and on the other hand I am truly excited.  The stage is set for a great awakening.

Recently the US embassies in Egypt and Libya have been attacked, killing one ambassador and three staff members (click here for the story.) 

The rage that is coming from Islam is sweeping the globe.  It is captured in in this picture of a blogger who has come to be known as "Islamic Rage Boy."  Since 2006 he has dispensed what Wikapedia calls an exaggerated form of Islamic justice.  Lawlessness is sweeping the globe in many nations spurred on by the demonic spirit behind it.

Our own nation seems to have forgotten what the first role of government is, and that is the protection of its people (Romans 13:1-4).  Because of our nation's growing sin we've become blinded to certain truths and principles which have led to our economic decline and the weakening of our power to protect freedom, liberty and human rights. 

The excuse for this mob violence was a protest to an Egyptian Christian who created a movie in America criticizing Islam.  Many may not be aware but since the Muslim Brotherhood took over in Egypt, the violence against Christians and those who oppose that violent regime has escalated to the point where people are being CRUCIFIED (click here).   Bringing the world's attention to a human rights violation is an issue of justice.  In America we have a First Amendment which guarantees among other things, free speech.

Our embassy's first response to the mob violence and attack on our sovereign soil of the embassy was an apology.  Here is a biblical principle of government:

Ecclesiastes 8:11
Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.

Now, with all this being said, the truth is our government's response is less than half the issue.  Many do not recognize that this is a spiritual war that has gone on for thousands of years before America was even discovered.  Click here for the History of Islamic Hostility Towards the West is Much Deeper Than You Think. 

So how do we confront the "RAGE" that is sweeping the globe?

Chuck Colson said "the history of Islamic hostility toward the West goes back centuries. Radical Muslims are still smarting over the defeat of their armies south of Paris in the year 732, not to mention the catastrophic defeat of the Ottoman Empire at the gates of Vienna on September 11, 1683. That's right, September 11. Bin Laden chose his date for a reason. He was avenging the defeat of Muslim armies more than four hundred years earlier. September 11 has roots in an [ongoing long-term] irrational hatred of the West."

The truth is, it goes deeper than this.  This is a spiritual war manifesting itself on earth as it was in heaven.  This war has been manifesting itself ever since Abram fathered Ishmael and Isaac (Gen. 16-25).  It actually began in eternity.

Revelation 12:17
And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 3:9-11

For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, you are God's building. According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it.  For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. NKJV

Paul the apostle is the one who penned this portion of scripture which provides keen insight into another aspect of the apostolic gift, its role and its order.  He describes himself as a “master builder.”  The Greek word translated “master builder” literally means chief architect.  Architects are the first ones to work on a project and design plans which move a structure from vision into reality.  These plans provide the pattern from which the general contractor and all of the sub-contractors work from. 

This is why in 1 Corinthians 12:28 apostles go first, prophets second and teachers third.  It is an order of function.  God has uniquely designed this gift with revelation and wisdom to build.  This gift working with the prophet lays the foundation for all of the rest of the gifts to successfully build their part while interacting with the rest of the team.

Plans by the Spirit
Then David gave his son Solomon the plans for the vestibule, its houses, its treasuries, its upper chambers, its inner chambers, and the place of the mercy seat; and the plans for all that he had by the Spirit, of the courts of the house of the Lord, of all the chambers all around, of the treasuries of the house of God, and of the treasuries for the dedicated things; NKJV

God gave King David plans by the spirit of God.  The king served as an architect taking the vision for a house or dwelling place for the Lord and turning that into a set of plans from which his son and a very large team of builders could work from.  He built a structure that had never existed and its very design introduces some intriguing questions.

I like what Rabbi Daniel Lappin says; "if you understand the Bible, you will understand how the world works." 

Proverbs 29:12 provides us a current illustration.  It says "If a ruler pays attention to lies, All his servants become wicked."

Consider the condition of truth in this nation and what has become the accepted norm in politics.  Why even the Washington State Supreme court ruled in 2007 that lying is acceptable in politics. Lying is one of the dark roots that is undermining our nation.  1 Timothy 4:2 tells us that in the latter times people will begin to give heed to deceiving spirits and begin to speak lies in hypocrisy.  Their conscience will be seared like with a hot iron.  

Elements within our government and a small but influential element of society has been on a campaign for years to remove the Spirit of Truth, the Way, the Truth and the Life; the Lord Jesus Christ from society. This rejection has been expressed through the removal of a moral code (IE 10 Commandments, prayer, etc... ) and personal responsibility from government and education in our nation. This has begun to seep through every system in society positions a governmental system led by people with a corrupt moral code as a god.  Hence, you don't have to look far for examples of lying, from presidential candidates to the head of the Justice Department, to senators, and the list could go on down from national to state, county and city governments.  I'll never forget the election fraud that has occurred in my county gaining it national attention.  

Truth is becoming rare and justice is fleeting! Pray that God put righteous people into office with a higher moral code that reflects God's  word that we might be blessed as a nation. The bible says lying is an abomination and John 8:44 introduces us to the "father of lies," the devil.  

Proverbs 29:2 - When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. 

I received and email from Charlene yesterday.  She is a minister who had allied with us in our League.  It is a powerful testimony that involves an example of a false church,  the salvation of a racist and reconciliation.  The love of Christ delivered a person from a the stronghold of her mind worse than the bars of the prison they were in.  Here is Charlene's testimony.

Yesterday a team of 4, all non white, ministered in prison. At the end of service one of the white inmates sat crying in the back. She told a story about how everyone hated her and she had hated most people because she was a racist. She grew up in a town and was taught that if anyone was not like you, you were to hate them - even in the church she grew up in. When she walked into the service and saw blacks, Asians, and Mexican, she hated us and wanted to leave. She said several group were out to get her because of her views.