“David asked the men standing near him … ‘Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?’ … When Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, ‘Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle.’ … [David] then turned away to someone else and brought up the same matter, and the men answered him as before.” 1 Samuel 17:26-31
Hello friends and W-O-W!!! Our billboard campaign was a SMASHING success and I can’t wait to tell you all about it. You can get ALL the details in my new ONE-HOUR video “Billboard Recap: Bullied by the LGBT” at pastoraj.com. The whole ordeal along with the outcome reminds me of a Bible story in which a young David went to face Goliath in battle. But before he could do that, he had to face the insults of his own brother Eliab who questioned his motives calling him out for being a selfish child. Can you believe that!? In that moment, David had a decision to make: “Should I dig in my heals and take on my older brother or stay focused on our greater enemy Goliath?” Then, in a moment of Divine inspiration, David “turned away” from the “battle before the battle” and went on to accomplish something legendary with God’s help. Have you ever had to fight BEFORE the battle? Have you ever been tempted to sink your teeth into a distraction from the REAL fight? Well that was what happened to me during this campaign when an LGBT supporter and local business owner lobbied against our billboards to have them taken down. I explain both the outcome of this conflict and my reasoning in the decision-making process to focus on winning the greater culture war in my new video. Nonetheless, this kind of discrimination is all too common in our Western communities. Filth flourishes while God’s life-giving truth suffers vicious attacks. I KNOW this might not seem like a big deal to you. You may even look at things like this and think that I deserved this outcome because I was challenging the status quo. But before you judge too quickly remember the example of our Lord as we discovered in my series Mean Jesus, who, did these kinds of things and even worse culminating in his death at the hands of wicked men. The TRUTH is that if we want to live in a world where we have the freedom to serve God and live a lifestyle of obedience to his Word, we need to do these things and more. The church NEEDS to make the same kinds of sacrifices we see made by our examples written about in the Bible. So my message to you today is to NOT shy away from conflict. Don’t fear their threats. God will give us the victory if we are faithful to his mission. As I explain in my new video, that’s exactly what happened here. That’s also what the billboard campaign and “Mean Jesus” were all about. This was a HUGE WIN for God’s kingdom!! And there’s more to come from Pastor AJ and Gospel Ministries in this fight against our modern Philistines. So stay tuned and look for how you can make an impact in your own little way by fighting for souls, lives and people in the culture war!
Application:
Have you ever faced a “Goliath”? Were you able to trust God for the victory?
How do you view the issues of our modern culture and the church’s role in the culture war? If you are able, use Scripture to support your viewpoint.
Watch my video “Billboard Recap: Bullied by the LGBT” at pastoraj.com and name one way God is calling you to fight for him today!
