by Michael G. Mickey
(4-29-08)

Yesterday brother Ron Graham wrote to share with me the good news that he has decided to follow God's calling for his life and enter into a preaching ministry. I praise the Lord for that and am thankful to God for the role his writing for RaptureAlert.com may have played into him being led in that direction.

Ron has only been writing for the site regularly for a short time and, primarily because he's a pretty straight shooter, he's already drawn a bit of fire which I am thankful hasn't deterred him in his desire to preach the Word of God but inspired him to take up the cross which the Lord has chosen for Him to bear - no small one to say the least.

Because of Ron's announcement, I wanted to write something inspiring to him or at least try to because, as I have learned and am continuing to learn, whenever one elects to take a serious stand for the gospel of Jesus Christ, particularly in these last days, the enemy will prepare a vast array of attacks against you.

Sometimes the enemy will hit you so hard you'll be reeled back onto your heels and other times? Well, you'll find yourself dropped down to a knee thinking you should just lie on down in surrender. That last position? Being dropped to a knee by a particularly hurtful or vicious attack? It's one I have found myself in a few times since firing up RaptureAlert.com in 2003. It's a rough one.

I could talk about how fun it is to rise up from that position but I can't. The devil knows exactly where to hit you and when the Lord permits him to get a shot in on you, he makes it count for every measure of pain and discomfort he possibly can. The only upside of it that I can pass along is that the position, although painful to be in, is an excellent stance from which one can begin to ask the Lord for strength to stand back up by simply dropping the other knee down to the mat as well.

You're going to get your bell rung

Just as a boxer knows he is going to get punched in the mouth when he tapes his hands, puts on his boxing gloves and inserts his mouthpiece prior to the opening bell, it needs to be understood by all those who decide to engage in ministry of any sort in these last days that a shot to the mouth is coming...and another and another and another. The only difference between the boxer and the Christian being obedient to God's call to ministry is that the boxer's manager can't run into the ring when he starts to take a nose dive and steady him back to feet. Not true of the obedient Christian!

While a Christian serving in obedience to God will be the target of many an attack, the Lord promises that, although there may be some slips here and there, there will not be a permanent fall. Satan, although clever and tactically brilliant, is a defeated foe. None of his devices deployed against a servant of God will be victorious over the obedient and perseverant servant of the Lord.

Proverbs 3:19-26:

The LORD by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens.

By his knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew.

My son, let not them depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion:

So shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace to thy neck.

Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble.

When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet.

Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh.

For the LORD shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken.

Notice that the Scripture tells us to be not afraid "when it cometh", not IF it cometh! There is no IF in the equation whatsoever.

When you submit to living a life in obedience to God's will, an attack is coming but when it arrives, what will your response be? If you cling to the sound wisdom, discretion, and knowledge found in the Word of God, you'll rise back up, dust yourself off and get back into the fight. It may not be easy but you will.

There is what you expect - and then there is what you don't expect

Speaking from experience, I can tell you that whatever your hot buttons of weakness are, if you elect to become an obedient Christian on a mission for Christ, you may as well begin making mental notes of flaws in your spiritual makeup. Why? Because Satan and his minions are going to push every last one of those they possibly can!

And then there are the 'sneak attacks' to consider. These vary in the degree of pain they cause but you can bet on this: These will be some of the ones that will deflate your spirit quicker quicker than a roofing nail through a worn tire. They won't target your hot buttons but will, instead, target whatever aspect of ministry you love most.

Because I love Bible prophecy, one of the most effective sneak attacks that I am regularly confronted with is what I like to refer to as the last resort Christian. This is the Christian whose light seems to shine brightly in almost every aspect of their faith but when you mention the possibility that Christ's return may be coming soon, their eyes glaze over and they invariably say something like, "Well, I'll be glad to go to heaven someday but I'm pretty happy where I am now."

To your run-of-the-mill, Sunday-go-to-meeting Christian that's okay. Truly, there's nothing wrong with enjoying where you are in your life and walk with Jesus Christ but to the Christian who has their eyes on the prize that awaits us and is trying to get people excited about the glorious future that awaits the saints? It's like the sound of someone dragging their fingers down a chalkboard.

So you want to be with Jesus...but only as a last resort? Oh, dear!

But I get that a lot - to the extent that, quite frankly, it breaks me down quite a bit. It makes me feel isolated and lonely because there are very few people I can approach and just speak openly of my passion for prophecy. Let's be honest here. Bible prophecy is practically taboo in many churches today! And why is that? Last resort Christians, of course. If Jesus comes for them, fine. If not, they can keep trying to get that promotion at work. PLEASE, people!

It'll be hard but it will be worth it in the end!

In today's politically correct world, there isn't a lot of love being poured out on those who feel led to enter into a form of Christian ministry that doesn't bend whichever way the winds of the world are blowing at the moment so, if you're feeling led to enter into Christian ministry today and you like being popular instead of doctrinally correct? Don't bother getting into the game. You'll be of no benefit to the cause of Christ.

If you can't take a good shot in the mouth from everyone you expect to and half the people you don't, my advice is similar.

If, on the other hand, you take a solid shot to the mouth then open your Bible and read how right you were to say what you did, dust yourself off and keep right on preaching? Then serving the Lord is right up your alley! It's important to be able to remind yourself of that -- mostly because there are going to be plenty of times you'll need to!

The politically correct need not apply

This is not the time for those called into ministry to be patterning themselves after the popular ministers of our time with their cheesy smiles, soft voices and flowered shirts. Rather, it's time for men of God to stand up who will patiently, lovingly and sternly carry the Word of God in all its politically incorrect glory to a lost and dying world that is potentially on the verge of the Tribulation Period. Done properly, this time-proven method of evangelism saves souls from hell and, every once in a while, even converts a last resort Christian into one who can't wait for the return of Jesus Christ to occur!

It's amazing how preaching the Word of God

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