I remember the feeling that came over me last year when my husband asked my son who is in the Army and was preparing to deploy to Afghanistan what their mission objective would be. My son replied, "Winning the hearts and minds of the people." My first thought was that this objective was VERY inappropriate for our military! It sounded more like a public relations job. The military is to protect our country! The military is to show strength! The military is for war!
I am sure you can imagine my displeasure when I read the following article after my son was deployed about the "tightened rules of engagement" that are endangering our soldiers and causing unnecessary deaths!
"Obama’s Afghanistan Surge was coupled with tightened Rules of Engagement aimed at winning the hearts and minds of the locals. The ROE’s restricted how soldiers could fight the Taliban and cost plenty of lives, but it appears that ISAF’s Hearts and Minds project has hit a new low.
When reading this keep in mind that half of deaths in Afghanistan under Obama were caused by IEDs.
Soldiers were ordered not to open fire on Taliban fighters planting mines in case they disturb local people, it has been claimed.
U.S. military chiefs ordered troops to exercise ‘courageous constraint’ and even warned them they could be charged with murder if they shot any Taliban without permission from above.
The claims were made by a former Royal Marine who spoke out following the inquest into the death of Sergeant Peter Rayner last week.
Father-of-one Craig Smith, 36, who quit his job with 40 Commando in January and now works for a Newcastle security firm, documented the ‘outrageous’ orders issued to troops in a diary of his six-month tour of Afghanistan’s Helmand province last May, according to the Sun.
His notebook cites several examples and claims troops were ordered to stand and watch when they spotted a Taliban fighter as the sound of shooting would ‘wake up and upset the locals’.
He also reveals how they were told not to shoot or use mortars for illumination when they came across Taliban soldiers in an area full of hidden explosive devices.
He told the newspaper: ‘In Kajaki I saw Taliban digging in IEDs and was denied the chance to do anything about it for fear of upsetting the locals. Permission to open fire was denied as it would alarm the population.’
The real story of the 2,000 dead in Afghanistan is that the majority of those deaths happened under Obama because his surge was linked to a complete disregard for American lives and compulsive appeasement of the locals."
Political correctness is killing our soldiers, it is killing our country AND quite frankly, God showed me that it is killing the Church!
The Lord reminded me of this article last week after I listened to a message Pastor John Kilpatrick gave at a pastors mentoring session that Dean and I attended in 2009. Pastor Kilpatrick stated that there would be a changing of the guard. He said:
"Guard in the Bible means watchman. Watchman is a military term that means guard, a commander who stands on a fortress and watches over walled cities. God calls spiritual watchmen in his church to watch over His people, guarding sound doctrine, guarding from internal and external enemies. Watchman implies something must be protected. Apostle Paul told Timothy, he said, guard the deposit. He's saying an adversary is present to steal something of value. Today's watchmen are really distracted."
This is what God told Ezekiel about being a watchman...
"And it came to pass at the end of seven days, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at My mouth, and give them warning from Me. When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul." (Ezekiel 3:16-19)
As you can see, God calls watchmen and takes the position VERY serious. The Lord is "the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever" (Hebrews 13:8). He appointed watchmen in Ezekiel's day, He appointed watchmen in the Apostle's day and He has certainly appointed watchmen for today. Is a watchman supposed to go along with the crowd? Are they to politely and quietly try to warn people without causing a commotion? NO! They are supposed to sound the alarm!
"Set the trumpet to thy mouth. He shall come as an eagle against the house of the LORD, because they have transgressed My covenant, and trespassed against My law." (Hosea 8:1 KJV)
"I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the LORD, KEEP NOT SILENCE, And give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth." (Isaiah 62:6-7)
"Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and SOUND AN ALARM in My holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand;" (Joel 2:1)
"Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong." (1 Corinthians 16:13)
"I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; PREACH the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But WATCH thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry." (2 Timothy 4:1-5)
PREACH (kurruso) - To herald (as a public crier), especially divine truth (the gospel):--preacher(-er), proclaim, publish.
The position of watchman is needed now more than ever because we are living in the last days that Jesus warned would be full of deception!
"And as He sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto Him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in My name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many." (Matthew 24:3-5)
"And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many." (Matthew 24:11)
"For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect." (Matthew 24:24)
"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth." (1 Timothy 4:1-3)
A watchman is called to know God's written Word (doctrine) and warn if he/she hears or sees anyone who calls themselves a Christian teaching, preaching or practicing something different (internal enemy). The Apostle Paul said, "But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed." (Galatians 1:8) ACCURSED! (And people think that Dean and I preach too strong!) Apostle Paul understood the seriousness and the danger of veering away from the true gospel of Jesus Christ even a little bit. It has and will shipwreck lives and entire churches and send people to hell!
A watchman is also supposed to have a good understanding of what is going on outside the city walls (church) and warn of coming danger (external enemies). In these last days we are living in this is a challenging task because so much in the world is shifting quickly to fulfill Bible prophecy! The tension and coming war in the middle east, the mounting tensions between the U.S. and Russia and China, the explosion of radical Islam around the world, the technology that has been developed, the growth of the United Nations, the election of the first ever Jesuit pope! (Jesuit is an order within the Catholic Church that was formed in 1540 to stamp out the growing Protestant movement...what they called the counter-reformation) The stage is being set for the final seven years before the return of Jesus Christ and most Christians are living in habitual sins and oblivious to the coming danger! Why? Because the majority of the Church has bought into a corrupted gospel and the watchmen have been silenced so they won't "upset the locals."
Just as our American soldiers have been ordered not to open fire on the enemy they can clearly see planting dangerous IEDs; the world and now many Christians are ordering the watchmen not to open fire with the Truth on the enemies inside and outside our walls!
Do any of these statements/accusations sound familiar?
· Don't judge!
· You are not showing love!
· They will know we are Christians by our love!
· You are too mean and harsh!
· You have a religious and critical spirit!
· You are legalistic!
· You are going to make people run from Christianity!
· Pointing out sin is not love, it's judging!
· Everyone sins...all sin is the same in God's eyes!
· Deal with your own sins and don't be worrying about the sins of others!
· You are self righteous!
· You cause strife and that displeases God!
· You are paranoid!
· You are a conspiracy theorist!
It used to be that Satan and the world wanted to silence gospel preaching and teaching Christians (the watchmen), now it's politically correct Christians! Our brave soldiers are being told to exercise "courageous constraint" as if not doing what is needed to wage a successful war against the enemy is an admirable quality. No! It is a crime against those who will pay the high price of lost limbs and even their life because the watchmen were silenced! Likewise the watchmen of the Church are being fed the same lies of "courageous constraint" but it is twisted into the claim of love. If a watchman sees someone about to step on an "IED" that the devil has planted, he is told not to speak of it because it might upset them or make them have a bad opinion of Christians or Jesus. Instead of being concerned with saving a person from eternal death, the church is on a campaign to "win the hearts and minds" of the lost without really converting them to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Guess what! God doesn't care as much about your heart (feelings) and mind (thoughts) as He does about your spirit inheriting eternal life instead of eternal death and torment!
As I read where "troops were ordered to stand and watch when they spotted a Taliban fighter because the sound of shooting would ‘wake up and upset the locals'," I gasped in unbelief of the parallel God was showing me! "Permission to open fire was denied as it would alarm the population." The watchmen of the Church are being ordered to stand down and watch in silence as the enemy takes more and more ground!
The Church is asleep and seemingly content to stay that way! A watchman who preaches and teaches what God says about the end times and how it is coming to pass is tagged as a "doom and gloom preacher" or an alarmist...even though it is all spelled out in God's written Word! "Do not alarm the population!" is the constant cry.
Politically correct Christians say not to be aggressive, not to debate the gospel and not to focus on what the enemy is doing. They are using the tactic of appeasement to "win the lost" but it only brings forth more and more politically correct, ineffective Christians who are satisfied sitting around talking about love and peace and ignoring or denying the spiritual war that wages around them. God says we are in a battle...a war! Appeasement does NOT win a war! Silence does NOT win a war!
And just as our soldiers could be falsely accused of murder if they shoot any Taliban without permission from above. Our watchmen are being accused of "murder" of the lost (chasing them away from salvation) and not having orders from "above." The watchmen face constant false accusations from those who prefer peace and quiet in the war zone. If a watchman tries to use "illumination" ("Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." Psalm 119:105) to expose what the enemy has or is doing, they are criticized and called legalistic, accused of having a religious spirit or even falsely accused of twisting Scripture. Why? Because the position of the enemy cannot hold up under God's illumination so it has to be stopped. I have seen Christians who flock to false teachers and preachers (or at least compromised ones) and are led by their false doctrines, feelings and thoughts get angry when Scripture is used to expose their error. They refuse to even consider what the Word of God says wanting to remain in their spiritual slumber...SSHHH!...SILENCE WATCHMAN! WE DON'T WANT TO HEAR YOUR HARD TRUTHS...TICKLE OUR EARS!
But just as with the war in Afghanistan, the real story here is the thousands of deaths...spiritual deaths both inside and outside of the walls of the Church. And what God told Ezekiel about the watchman who does NOT warn the sinner still holds true... "his blood will I (God) require at thine hand." I will NOT have blood on MY hands!
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