The Mediterranean, Paul and I!

I want to thank the wonderful saints of Hope Center of Redlands for honoring my wife and I two years ago on our 25th anniversary as Pastor's of our church. Not only did they honor us but sacrificially gave us the funds for the trip of a lifetime. That trip included a visit to Europe (Brussels, Paris and Rome) and a Mediterranean Cruise (Greek Islands, Athens, Istanbul and Ephesus in Turkey) with our best friends, Pastor and Sis. Phil White of Burbank.

Today I'm at sea on the Celebrity Cruise "Equinox" in the Mediterranean Sea. This ship is one of the newest of Celebrities ships. For the last two years it has ranked the highest of their fleet. There are 2850 guests and 800 employee's on this trip! The ship is 1,041 feet long and weights 122,000 tons!


You have 10 restaurants to visit for your meal. At the main restaurant, which is a buffet, you select from choices which are from around the world. The food is of the highest quality.

Not only are you pampered with service but your room is spotless! Our king size bed is as comfortable as you can get!

As I stand in my room's balcony surveying the horizon of Sea, I am flooded by the thoughts of Paul sailing on this Sea on three Missionary tours (Acts 13:4,13; 14:26; 16:10-11; 18:18, 21; 20:6,13,15,38; 21:1-8) On each trip he is not sailing for pleasure but for the expanding of the church. He is preaching the gospel for the purpose of seeing people converted and become disciples . He desires that each church would impact the citizens of their city and turn them from pagan God's to the One True God, Jesus Christ!

Most likely while sailing the Sea as a passenger on a ship there were some of the comforts of home. He had food, bed and the companionship of Barnabas, Silas, Pricilla and Aquila, Timothy and Luke (Acts 14:26; 18:18; 20:13-15; 21:1-8). As they sailed they talked of the journey, shared their stories, spoke of the victories, conversed about the scriptures, and made their future plans.

Yet that was not the only times he sailed these waters! He also traveled as a prisoner (Acts 27:1-8). Now the comforts of home could not be found in the belly of the ship. He was alone without any friends. Food was limited. He could be found at the end of a oar rowing when the winds had died! Storms from the north came hurling at the ship! Fear griped the sailors! The ship had to be helped to stay together! Ropes were used to undergrid the construction integrity of the ship! Overboard went cargo and foods to lighten the load. The tackling was thrown overboard! The clouds caused darkness to cover the sky and water for three days (Acts 27:14-20)! The ship collapsed and Paul found himself in the waters of the Mediterranean Sea clinging to a piece of board (Acts 27:41-44).

This was not the only time Paul was shipwrecked. In 2 Corinthians 11:25 Paul states he was shipwrecked three times! He states that he was in "perils" of the sea (11:26)! He was adrift in the deep for a night and a day (11:25)!

Yet through every trial of the sea Paul stayed full of faith! He never allowed the storms to rain on his parade of faith! He is not fearful as the sailors but confident in the Word of God that he has received. Dearly he held onto the words of past that came from Ananias:

But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen
        vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and
        kings, and the children of Israel:
For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my
        name's sake.
(Acts 9:15, 16 KJV)

Paul will not be overcome by the waters of the Sea for he has been chosen to stand before the Roman King, Caesar! He does not know how God will save him from the Sea but he knows that the author of his faith is also the finisher of his faith (Hebrews 12:2). His God has a plan already in place. He will make a way of escape for each temptation (1 Corinthians 10:13).

But he also understood that God's will might come with personal pain! Yet he must not pain stop him from fulfilling the purpose of his life! The shipwrecks and their suffering are the fulfillment of God's spoken Word to Paul! He realizes that he is in the will of God and the problems are merely stepping stones to his reward!

He is blessed that he also receives a Word from God during the present trial. First the Word from God comes by the Gift of Spirit as the Word of Knowledge. Before the journey is to continue after the stop at the city of Lasea (Acts 27:8) Paul admonishes the  centurion that he perceives that if they start again on the trip at this time, there will be loss of cargo, the ship and lives (Acts 27:10). The centurion does not listen to Paul but to the master of the ship and the ships owner and precedes forward.

As they begin to sail again toward Rome, the massive storm hits the ship just as Paul had predicted! The sailors fight the storm! It will not be a fight for cargo or the owners ship but for their very lives!

Once again in the middle of the trial, Paul receives a Word from God by the visit of an angel in the night. The angel reminds Paul of the words given to him from Ananias: "you will stand before kings", thus you must be brought before Caesar! You will not die from this shipwreck, in fact, none on the ship will lose their life. Paul passes on the message to the ships crew and encourages them to be of good cheer and believe God's Word as he believes it (Acts 27:23-25)!

As we read this biographical event of Paul's life, we can learn many lessons. First we must understand that this event is not a battle of spiritual warfare with Satan but is a battle between Paul and his flesh. Will he trust God and His Word or will he allow his emotions to be controlled by the circumstances of the moment? This is the great battle for every child of God, the battle between flesh and the Word of God! The battle is always fought within the mind.

Even when it is an attack between Satan and child of God, it will always be lost or won in the realm of the flesh, that is the mind. It will always come down to your belief in God's Word or to your believing the words of Satan. Whatever report you believe will be the winner of the battle.

You might be asking, how do I win the battle to believe the Word of God? You should place in your mind scriptures that you can recall that speak of everlasting sureness of God's Word. Scriptures as of:

1 Peter 1:24, 25 KJV

For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of
        grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:
        But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word
        which by the gospel is preached unto you.

Psalm 119:89 KJV

Forever O Lord, Thy word is settled in heaven.

Mark 13:31 KJV

        Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass
        away.

Secondly we must come to grips with suffering. We must understand often it is in the trial of suffering that we will receive a Word from God! God is speaking to us at various time. The problem is not God speaking but us hearing. Our lives are very busied and full of demands. These demands scream very loud and drown out the voice of God that is speaking to us. Often it is only when we are in trial of wilderness that we are quiet enough to hear His voice. The trial causes us to still ourselves and open our spiritual ears.

In every trial we ask ourselves the questions of who and why. Who is doing this? Satan? God? or ourselves? Why is this trial happening? Is it an attack from Satan? Is God punishing me? Did I make a wrong decision that led to this moment? We must examine our lives looking to see if we have sinned and take care of that sin if we have. Then we must examine our attitudes to purge ourselves of negative thoughts and feelings about people and life in general. Once we have done this we will have stopped voices that are speaking to us and turn our attention to God's voice. God will be in every trial with us (Matt 28:20). We must put full attention to finding His voice, listening to it, and then obeying it.

Thirdly we must become like Paul and in every situation look for God! Searching for God will cause us to have an attitude change. This search gives purpose for the suffering which causes our attitude to change. Often in suffering we think we are the only individual who is suffering. We compare our suffering with others and come to God with the question of why. We should be taking personal accountability and speaking to God the question: What do I need to do? I am limited in changing the attitude and actions of others but have complete control over my attitude and actions. God is present in every trial to give strength to help us go through the trial and/or to give us wisdom to learn and grow from it.

The prayer of Jesus for His disciples was not for deliverance from the world and its trials and pain but that the Father (Spirit) would keep them from evil (John 17:15). Paul's prayer for the church at Ephesus was that the Father would strengthen the church with might in their inner man. This strength would come by the Spirit (Ephesians 3:14-16). Both understood that the handling of suffering in a positive manner is one of the greatest testimonies that can be given by man to other men as a display of God's power.

Yes, Paul would suffer but the suffering had purpose. It was part of the baggage of the trip of doing God's will of standing and testifying to kings. Perhaps God is wanting to use us to testify of His greatness as we confound others with the manner we handle suffering.

My Tribute to Kenneth Haney

My final semester of college was coming to an end. Only one thought filled my mind, the same one on the minds of all the others students of "where do I go from here"? My goal has always been the same: Just Do the Will of God! Like Samuel in a youthful state I was not familiar enough to know the sound of His voice neither understanding the importance as a servant of watching the glaze of the masters eyes to realize what He wanted and what I should do (1 Samuel 3:3-10; Psalms 123:2 ).

I was married to a wonderful young women. She, like myself was from a broken home. She showed the wonderful character of being a woman of God. She came to God from the streets of Modesto, riding a bus to church since the age of twelve without the support of a godly mother or father. Yet her desire and belief in the importance of the spiritual resonated within her heart.

We had worked hard for me to finish Bible College. She worked full time in the day and I worked full time at night. We sacrificed time and money to make it. She loved, believed and trusted in me. That was a weight upon my heart!

I said I had a call! Was that really true? The theme of the college was: "A man's gift will make room for him" (Proverbs 18:16). That meant that if you had a "gift" or "calling" there would be a place for you! Would there be a place for me? That also was a weight on my heart!

My desire was great but my abilities were few. Great passion but little knowledge. A servants heart but limited talents. A common sparrow desiring to fly in the heaven to the highest of heights of the eagle but limited in the God given physical abilities of high flight and the lifelong training needed to accomplish my dreams. A young man struggling with inner turmoil of low esteem that was founded upon physical handicap and emotional struggle of being the product of a divorce. That was also a weight on my heart!

I felt the pain of loneliness. No father to open doors, no name recognition to fall on, I wrestled with self inflected negative thoughts of self pity. Who would want me on their staff? Would anyone give me a chance?

Someone did! Who? Kenneth Haney, a great man gave me a chance! He saw something within me that I did not see in myself. He saw potential and acted upon what he saw. His vision for me was greater than I had for myself.

For two and one half years we were together on a daily bases. He believed in me, encouraged me, and challenged me to grow. The lessons he taught me are still with me today! Often I catch myself passing them on to others. His lessons about the leading the church and working with its people are priceless. Many times I've thought of his words that he spoke to me from Proverbs 14:4 "Where no oxen are, the crib is clean: But much increase is by the strength of the ox."

He let me know that I was never to look at people as problems but as the source strength for working in the kingdom. Do not let the mess of humanity stop you from reaching for more people to come into the church.

He led me by example. Since I was the low man on the totem pole I had to open and lock up the church. Each air conditioner had to be turned on and off by hand. I had to climb to the top of the balcony and then to the baptismal area to complete the project. I had to be the last one to leave the building. Yet the majority of times I was never alone. Though the church congregation was large he always had time for people. He would be counseling after preaching letting others go home but always fulfilling his duty. We walked to the empty parking lot together our cars sitting alone.

His example of being frugal was widely known yet it was not that he was fugal for others but also for his own family and self. He taught me to be a good steward of the funds of the Lord.

He taught me to organize, to have a to do list, to allow others to strive for their dreams.

The lesson of always having a time in each service for the people to come to the altar was priceless. He told me, "You might not feel the anointing in the worship, you might not feel it when your preaching but always have an altar, it could hit you then"!

I'm sure I frustrated him often yet he was patient and kind. His kindness was evidenced by all. He always took time to greet you, never ignoring you as you walked by.

Perhaps the greatest treasure I have was that he taught me to reach for others. After being in the ministry for a few years I seen that many churches to do not reach out to their community in an organized fashion in fact it is never be mentioned. Or if they do often there is an absence of Pastoral participation. That did not happen in the world of Pastor Kenneth Haney. There was never a Saturday that we did not reach for others. He always came to the Saturday outreach service when the bus ministry would meet. It might be a handful but it was always important to him. He led the church in evangelism reaching out for other in his personal life and bringing them to God.

He was a true Christian. He lived what he preached.

As I write this today, tears are streaming down my face. I'm deeply indebted to a man who took a chance on me. What did he see in me? He told me one day. I saw you in the prayer room reaching out to God! Little did I know that when I was crying out to God in self pity at the lack of a father, my heavenly Father was directing a man to help fill that role. Fathers are teachers. Kenneth Haney has been one of my life long teachers. I love him and will miss him greatly!

What Should We Teach Our Children?

Recently an individual approached me with the following question?

In your opinion what is the greatest challenge that the church faces?
In my opinion the greatest challenge of the church today is the passing down of biblical truths to the next generations. We are seeing an eroding of our biblical mandate to be distinct as the people of God from the our present day society. This is being happening in all area's from actions, words, thoughts, and appearance. This is happening because of the failure of parents to assume the responsibility to teach their children the Word of God. Today's parents are trying to place this on the church when in reality it is their calling (Deuteronomy 6:1-7). When we look at the biblical mandate of Deuteronomy 6:1-7 we see that the parents are to teach. What are they to teach: First they are to teach Doctrine (Vs 4), especially of One God which is the theological mark of the people of God. Secondly they are to teach a passion for the things of God (vs 5). This passion is represented by the thought of "love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might! This is to be done "diligently" (vs 7) that is, when ever there is an opportunity (vs 8) when you are interacting with your children!
The importance of these verses can be understood by the response that Jesus gives to a scribe when He is asked the question of "Which commandment is the first?"(Mark 12:28) He responded with the scriptures we have quoted above in Deuteronomy 6:4-5! It is interesting that He does quote one of the "Ten Commandments" of Exodus 20! In fact He will state that all of the Law the hangs on two principals: The first is that " God, who is one, is to be loved with the total being" and "to love your neighbor as yourself"! (12:32) There are no commandments greater! (12:31).

It is not the first generation child of God who is coming out of a life that was influenced by a world of Godless values, by fleshly desires and sin who are struggling with understanding the importance of being a distinct individual from this societies values. But those who have been never been involved in a life of sin, who have been raised in the church are turning away! This was the same problem of Israel when they desired to be like other nations and have a king (1 Samuel 8:5, 20). They are replacing the leader of their nation from the King of the Universe who has unlimited wisdom and power to an earthly human king who very limited in wisdom and power. Thus the battle has not changed!

What is a nation? They are groups formed on the basis of political or social interests or on kinship /Elwell, W. A., & Beitzel, B. J. (1988). Baker encyclopedia of the Bible (1527). Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Book House./. The people of God wanted to be defined as a nation by their political ruler! They wanted a ruler who would be visual! The people of God desire to be like other nations not understanding they are to be not like a nation (people) but like God (1 Peter 1:15-16; Lev 11:44-45)! When we are like others we feel that we will be accepted by them! We do not understand to be accepted by God not people is what we should strive for!

What should we being our children? Parents should be teaching their children the doctrine of the church and what passion for God looks like!

Key to Building the Kingdom: Working Together

One of my passions is the development of leaders. I have realized that more can be accomplished when others are involved. Though I have understood this I have had to fight against the call of the urgent! The "urgent" is a seductive siren and tries to keep me from the "important"! The urgent is the daily phone calls and duties that steal my time and energy. They stream for attention. The "important" is the items that make the greatest impact. They are the praying, reading, dreaming or planning which silently wait for my attention.

Throughout my Pastorate I have tried to take the time to develop leaders. I have used numerous methods always trying to improve. For years we have had a leadership night in which we prayed together, ate together and then I would teach a leadership lesson. This past year I have realized that the need of our leaders was more communication. Because of that I have changed the agenda from being heavy in teaching to a time of communication with a minor in teaching. This has led to better team work between ministries along with getting all the leaders
on the same page.

This journey stated with teaching on the subject of "Silo's" in the fall of 2009.

What are silo's?

As of 2010 the phrase "silo effect", popular in the business and organizational communities, refers to a lack of communication and common goals between departments in an organization. It is the opposite of systems thinking in an organization. The silo effect gets its name from the farm storage silo; each silo is designated for one specific grain.

A notable example of a silo's can be seen in the attack of soldiers at Fort Hood in November of 2009 when Maj. Nidal Hasan, a Army psychiatrist and U.S.-born Muslim killed thirteen individuals and wounded many other soldiers.

After the shootings there were numerous reports of Hasan's outspoken opposition to the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and to Muslims killing Muslims. Hasan was days away from shipping out to Afghanistan at the time of the shootings.

Also, Hasan reportedly had communicated by e-mail with radical Yemeni cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, something U.S. government agencies apparently knew about but did not tell the military /http://articles.cnn.com/2010-11-09/us/army.fort.hood.report_1_army-report-army-agents-nidal-hasan?_s=PM:US/. This failure of communication led to the death of American soldiers on their home soil.

A lack of communication causes departmental thinking to lack ideas and information from other departments. This creates feelings of self importance and keeps the power of synergy from working. Synergy can be understood by the following scripture:

One can put a thousand to flight, but two can put ten thousand to flight (Deuteronomy 32:30).

Synergy is not addition of 1,000 plus 1,000 in which the sum is 2,000 but the multiplication of resources such as information, talent, intelligent and prayer for a common goal. This working together has a greater result than working alone.

When you apply this principle, we could say that every time you add one person to the group who is in agreement with what you're working for and toward the effectiveness of the group increases 10 times. So . . .

1 can put 1,000 to flight.
2 can put 10,000 to flight.
3 can put 100,000 to flight.
4 can put 1,000,000 to flight.
5 can put 10,000,000 to flight.
6 can put 100,000,000 to flight.
7 can put 1,000,000,000 to flight.

We can see what could happen when every ministry is pulling together for a common goal and understand that each ministry and leader is valuable to the Kingdom of God! Remember that working together demands communication!

The Means for Salvation for Children, Teens and Young Adults

As I've continued to read the article by George Barna "Evangelism Is Most Effective Among Kids" it has led me to the following question:

Since the greatest opportunity for salvation happens in most individuals life before the age of 21, who or what is the means for salvation for this age group?

Barna addresses this question as he continued his research. The following graph gives his answer for those who are ages 4-12:




The means of salvation for children under 13 are:

• Parents 50%,
• Friend or other relative 20%,
• Minister prompting 7%,
• Special event (kids revival, youth camp, etc) 12%
• Media evangelism 1%.

This informs us that the family unit, home and individuals parents must take the responsibility of teaching their children the values of the Word of God, prayer, giving, faithfulness to the house of God and participation in service to others and not to hand off religious training to the church and especially to the children's ministry! The church as the means to salvation is only 19% (Ministers prompting 7% plus special events 12 %). The church and in specific, the children ministry, do not have the influence that the home has! The church can support but is limited in its influence!

Here the results of Barna's study for those 13-21:

The means of salvation for children who are 13- 21 are as follows:

• Friend 20%,
• Parents 20%,
• Special event 20%
• Other Relative 16%
  
• Minister prompting 10%,
• Media evangelism 1%.

The influence of the parents drops as to the means of salvation from 50% under the age of 13 to 20% when the child reaches the age of 13-21! Yet friends and other relatives (brothers and sisters etc) gain more importance from 20% to 36% (Friends 20% plus other relatives 16%)! The special event gains in importance from 12 % before 13 to 20% after 13. Minister's prompting has a slight improve of 3% while media evangelism stays the same.

What do these figures speak to me?

As a parent they speak the following:

You have a window of opporutunity that is huge to influence your child to salvation! (Barna says that after the age 21 that the percentage for parents being the means to salvation for their children drops to 8%!!) You might think they are young and do not totally understand but they are watching your life and hearing your comments about God and the church! When they are under 13 you must give yourself to leading your family in prayer and having a family devotion. You must give rewards not just for good grades but the memorization of key scriptures! Even though you are tired you must be at every church service and prayer meeting teaching them the importance of House of God! At this age they will not fight you but will follow you in your walk with God because of your great influence! This is not the job of the church but your highest calling as a parent!


Your influnance will drop as your child approaches their teenage years and the influnce of friends will increase! You must know who your childs friends are! Are they Godly? What is their home like? The chances that their friends will be Godly will be better if you are making sure that they are going to the special events of the church! Sacrifice for them to go to the Youth Camps and Conventions! Limit their involvement in events at their public school! You don't know the spiritual lives neither the homelife of the students your children rub shoulders with at public school! It will influence their salvation!

Look at the spiritual lives of your own family, that is, your parents, brothers and sisters. Are they Godly? If so allow your teen to spend time with their cousins etc but if your family does not live for God then you are going to have to limit and control their time with your family. If your family is Godly it will be a great support for the salvation of your child.

Understand that media is not the answer for the spiritual teaching of your children. They need the interaction with their parents. The reading of the bible books and answering of questions not the babysitting of the television or computer. They need to hear and learn the songs you sang when you were a child in the church. The media is limited in influnancing for salvation!

How do I look at this as a Pastor?

I understand that I must do all I can to teach and provide resources for family to have family nights and family altars. What do they do during a family night? What lessons should be taught? How do you make it enjoyable?

I've got to make sure there is a night during the week that there are no events at the church neither ministry responsibilities so that family can have a night at home for a spiritual training.

Our youth program must have spiritual events yet they must be exciting! As a church we must have youth revivals, camps, retreats and youth mission trips! I've got to make sure our youth are particapting in events where they are mixing with other like trained young people. These events will influence the teens more than when they were children. At these events they will be mixing with friends by faith who are Godly!

I've got to understand that my influence grows during these years of an individuals life. I can not be a specator of the youth ministry but need to rub shoulders with them attending their events and understanding that they have something to give today! I've got to provide opportunity for ministry even as teenagers!

Settle the fact that media is not the means to salvation for this group! They will be attracted to it but as a means of salvation it is limited. I must continue to preach against the dangers of it because the dangers outweigh the benefits!

As a pondering pastor I come to these conclusions:

• I must pray and ask God to help me to develop family ministries in the church by providing resources and protecting a week night for spiritual training in the home.
• I must do all I can to make our children's and youth ministry the best they can be with leadership, funds, buildings and program never letting the leadership think that they and their ministry are unimportant.

Thinking about our Focus!

Recently I read an article that was very thought provoking. It has impacted me greatly! The title is Evangelism Is Most Effective Among Kids by George Barna. The insight that Barna states comes from a research study from The Barna Group, based on interviews with 992 born again Christians nationwide. Of this research Barna found the following information concerning the age of conversion for Christians:



77% of Christians became followers of Christ before turning 21! 67% were converted before the age of 18 while 43 % before the age of 13! Only 23% were converted after 21!

As I absorbed this information it made me realize that children and youth ministries are two of the most important ministries of the church! They should not be thought of as babysitting neither as entertainment! These two ministries must receive funds, man power, and the support of the Senior Pastor!

These figures demand that these ministries be actively pursuing those that they minister to!They must be evangelistic!

Next we will examine the means by which these two groups were influenced to conversion.

June 6, 1944 was the day that the Allied armies invaded the territory that was controlled by the tyrant Adolf Hitler! The preparation of invasion had been worked on for years! There was 9 battleships, 23 cruisers, 104 destroyers, and 71 large landing craft of various descriptions as well as troop transports, mine sweepers, and merchant ships, in all, nearly 5,000 ships of every type were used to transport the invasion force. 100,000 troops would be transported in the first wave of the invasion. The last week before "D" Day, the US had a fighting force of 1.75 million men in Great Britain. But the US Military was not the only needed piece in the invasion, the manufacturing might of the US, which was civilian, would out produce the factories of Germany. More than 16 million tons of supplies would be needed to feed and supply US forces and their allies: six and one-quarter pounds of rations per day per man; 137,000 jeeps, trucks, and half-tracks; 4,217 tanks and fully tracked vehicles; 3,500 artillery pieces; 12,000 aircraft; and huge stores of sundries everything from dental amalgam for fillings to chewing gum and candy bars.

The beaches of Normandy became the beachhead for the 2 million plus army of the US, Great Britain, Canada and the underground forces of France. Those beaches were important because through them the needed reinforcements and supplies would be able to land and help continue the advancement of the Allies! The eyes of the world were on that day! We had to get a toehold somehow!

Christmas means different things to different people. To some it is a day of family, friends and food! Others gage the day by the gifts that they receive. But to me Christmas is: Heavens "D" Day!

The plans had been made in eternity (He was to be "lamb slain before the foundation of the world" Rev. 13:8). The creative "Word" logos would become flesh (John 1:1, 3, 14). The One who had created Heaven and Earth would become the Savior of humanity! The One who was rich would be come poor (2 Cor. 8:9).

That is why the eyes of Heaven were on the cradle at Bethlehem!As you read the accounts of the birth of the Lord in the gospels, you will notice the presence of angels throughout the birth. In the Word of God the Birth of the Lord is the event where we see more angels on this earth than any other time in scripture! Angels came to Mary, Joseph (twice), and Zacharias (father of John the Baptist). Shepherds experience a multitude or "great number"(TDNT) of "angels" of the army of heaven (Luke 2:13)! In the New Testament angels are "divine messengers and heavenly representatives" (TDNTA, p. 13)! Heaven is well represented at this birth!

Why is this so important? The birth of the Lord is the start of the invasion, the day the Kingdom of God invaded the Kingdom of Satan! How did it happen? It happened because God came down! The beam of light of heaven pierced the darkness of sin! And darkness no longer held people by fear (Hebrews 2:14-15). Jesus describes the invasion best as he speaks to earthly foes, the Pharisee's:

But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you 11 When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace: 22 But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils. (Luke 11:20 , King James Version)

Jesus came to the house and went in! Whose house was it? The house of Satan! The earth was under the control of Satan! Satan was the God of this world(II Cor. 4:4)! The Prince and power of the air (Eph. 2:2)! Yet Jesus invaded Satan territory! He was stronger so he took the Satan's armour! But not only his armour but his spoils! Satan's spoils was the blind, lame, the deaf, and the dead! Jesus opened the blinded eyes, and unloosed the tongue of the dumb!He destroyed the armour of death and took the keys of death and hell (Rev. 1:18)! But not just the psychically dead but the spiritually dead! He distroyed sin and its controling ability by forgiving our sins and the debt that sin produces. He took our sins, blotted them out and nailed them to the cross (Col. 2:13-15)!

He came uninvited but not unannounced! The army of heaven announced it! They praised God on earth at the Birth of Jesus and then return to heaven (Luke 2:14) watching Jesus constantly and coming to assist Him in His battle to regain lost humanity! They were the reinforcements that should accompany him at high points in his life and ministry: his birth, temptation, passion, and resurrection (Lk. 2:9ff.; Mk. 1:13; Lk. 22:43; Mt. 28:2).

As I listened to the songs of the season I kept hearing the word "angels"!

Hark the herald angels sing, Glory to the new born king!

Angels we have heard on high

Oh, come all ye faithful Joyful and triumphant,
O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem.
Come and behold Him,
Born the King of Angels;
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.

These song writers understood that heaven was watching the birth of our Lord! They placed them in their songs! Why? To help us remember the importance of this event!

The Lord's birth began the invasion and this invasion will end in total victory for Jesus with everything under His feet (Eph. 1:20-23)!