Thailand is a different place – and I don’t mean just physically. I’m not even talking culturally, either. Half a world away from where I spent the first quarter century of my life, I am encountering a completely different spiritual environment. In Latin America we struggled against witchcraft, distorted Catholicism, and a sense of hopelessness. We became in some ways experienced in fighting these things. We became accustomed to the fight there. Here there are different forces at work – and here the deception is so much stronger, and the darkness so much darker, that it feels like an entirely different struggle.
False gods and idol worship, along with the intensely sexualized night life, are just the obvious works of darkness. Despair, resignation, confusion and miscommunication are only a few of the spiritual strongholds we’re setting ourselves against as we hold out God’s light in this place. I have seen the strength darkness holds over the Thai people by the deep and profound sadness in their eyes, even as they bow in prayer to the buddha statues and shrines that litter the landscape. There is a deeply entrenched battle being waged here that we wandered into almost unsuspectingly, and it has sapped our strength more than once as we have gone about one ministry or another. As hard as it is to see the children in the slums cling to my leg when their own mother comes yelling at them to leave us alone, to quit getting us dirty, to go home and stop being so bothersome to us (and not even knowing why she’s yelling until our translator explains it, and grasping the situation too late to even explain why we’re there to her retreating back) it’s some nights more hard on me to see my team of strong warriors coming home from the bars or the coffee shop totally exhausted. The battle here is intense – we are attempting to help turn towards the light a region that has since the beginning of time had little truth shed on it. Satan has a grip on Thailand and he will not easily let it go. We are attacked with distraction, discouragement, confusion, our past and our future, worry, and even our health.
Servants of a lesser cause might have trouble seeing hope. Servants of a lesser call might seriously consider going home. Servants of a lesser god might abandon the field entirely.
That is not who we are.
We are servants of the Living God, and He has called us to bring His Kingdom, in all its light and hope and life, to every corner of the world. No matter how dark, now matter how terrifying the opposition, we are called to live above the lies, to shout louder than the silence, and to hold up a standard so bright no darkness can exist in its shadow. This is our calling, and no amount of spiritual or physical assault can do anything but to strengthen our conviction.
I speak not only of the incredible women of God on my team. I speak not only of the men and women on V squad – not even of that band of hundreds of ferocious warriors called World Racers. Those people have seen first hand what the battle is all about, and every single one of us is right now wholly invested in bringing the Kingdom. I am speaking to the rest of my generation. How many of you out there reading this have heard that our generation is the one called to make a difference? That our generation is the one that is going to set the world on fire? That our generation has in it the potential to effect such a sweeping change on this entire world that not one person can remain unaffected?
It’s true. All that might be said of the key point in history we occupy, the pivotal moments in the struggle between Dark and Light that we are placed at, the crossroads of immense destiny that we alone are heir to – all of it is accurate. My generation, we have the power within us to usher in a world unlike anything seen since the time of Adam and Eve – have you heard that? Do you know that?
And do you know that the same thing could have been said about every. SINGLE. generation before us?
We are, in all truth, positioned carefully and specifically by God to make incredible things happen on His behalf. But that is no different from any other generation before us. God has called every human being since the time of Christ to go and make disciples, and so far only a tiny fraction of any given generation has answered that call. So far, only a tiny fraction of MY generation – OUR generation – has answered that call. Time is slipping away from us, people. So it’s time to make the decision: are you committed to the fight? Do you believe in the truth of Jesus Christ, and do you believe it enough to actually start living unashamedly? Are you at all interested in actually living up to the capabilities God has given our generation?
Or are you content to sit back and wait until we’re the ones saying these glowing inspirational things about our kids?
I am part of a squad of more than fifty men and women who have decided for the cause of the Kingdom. I am proud to set myself alongside these incredible men and women – each one raised up from MY generation – and stand against the darkness. I will be, for the rest of my life, working with every part of my strength to do as Paul told the Ephesians: to stand firm against the day of evil, and, having done EVERYTHING, to stand. I have set my face against the darkness, and I stand with thousands of my brothers and sisters in the presence of all those who have gone on before in preparation.
WAKE UP, CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS! HEAR THE BATTLE CRY AND JOIN THE FIGHT!
Get out of your comfort zones, get out of your retreat centers, get out of your Bible bubbles, your holy huddles, your calm and dispassionate lives. If Jesus Christ is really, truly, the greatest thing that has ever happened to the planet Earth, then get out there and live like you believe it. No more compromises, no more rationalization. No more telling yourself the Jesus fish on the back of your car is enough of a contribution. Are you praying that God will send workers to the field? Are you willing to be called to be the answer to your own prayer? The time is now, the harvest is ripe, and the worker is YOU. I am not content to let one more day go by where I go to bed unconvinced that I have done my utmost for my God. I am not satisfied with only sometimes following the leading of my Father. I will no longer support my flesh when it tries to create comfortable excuses for turning away from the narrow road I have been called to walk. This is the time, God has told me, where I will be asked to put my money where my mouth is. Here and now, in the darkness of Thailand, I have made my choice.
I will stand against the night, even if I stand alone.
But I will not for one moment stop sounding the alarm. There is an army millions strong asleep in our bunks, while the enemy gathers at the walls to destroy us. “Wake, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Take captive every thought, make the most of every opportunity, and join the fight. God has a master plan that includes you in a vital action – so take your place.
Let’s be the generation they talk about for what we’ve done, not what we could have done.
