During our recent Leadership Summit, Wayne Grudem, Ph.D., who is a professor at Phoenix Seminary and a gifted author, began to write what God revealed to him concerning the strategy and effectiveness of the enemy. He outlined the enemy’s tactics and contrasted them with the will of God as it relates to many issues of deep concern to everyone who understands the importance of faith, family and freedom. The information he shared was sobering, but true.
With God’s help, believers can defeat the enemy’s plan. We must join together to see hearts changed and fulfill the will of God. We can and must defeat the enemy’s strategy. Remember, we are not warring against flesh and blood, but against spiritual powers and hidden sinister forces of darkness and deception. Satan is the father of all lies.
I pray you will read Dr. Grudem’s notes and share this commentary. We have a choice in this hour, but we must take action!
Topic |
The enemy’s desired result |
Means to reach that end |
By contrast: God’s desired result |
|
1 |
Life |
Death of babies |
Abortion |
More babies born, not aborted |
2 |
Sexual morality |
Increase in homosexuality |
Same-sex marriage laws; hate speech codes |
Healthy marriages between 1 man and 1 woman |
3 |
Sexual morality |
Gender identity confusion in children |
Teaching in schools that homosexuality is normal |
Boys and girls confident and secure in their own distinct gender identities |
4 |
Israel |
Destruction of Israel |
International condemnation of Israel; UN opposition to Israel led by Arab nations |
Israel secure and strong in its own land with defensible borders |
5 |
American system of government |
Destruction of American democracy by destroying the heart of the system that governments must derive their “just powers” from “the consent of the governed,” and that “the laws of nature and of nature’s God” should guide government actions (Declaration of Independence, para. 1–2) |
Government power taken over by activist judges who are not accountable to voters and who legislate from the bench rather than being bound by the original public meaning of the Constitution and laws |
Government power held in check by representative democracy with separation of powers to protect citizens from the government; laws made only by elected officials, not judges; government is by “the consent of the governed”; government guided by “the laws of nature and of nature’s God” |
6 |
Defense |
America attacked and crippled or even destroyed by hostile countries |
Disarmament; weaker and weaker national defense |
Strong national defense; military able to defeat any potential aggressor nation |
7 |
Defense |
Islamic terrorism killing thousands of people; citizens living in constant fear |
Depending only on negotiations and not using sustained, superior military power to stop terrorist groups and attacks |
America secure from terrorist attacks |
8 |
National debt |
America bankrupt, unable to pay its debts |
Deficit spending to get votes; entitlement mentality in society rather than individual responsibility |
Balanced budget every year; eradication of national debt; America living within its means |
9 |
Moral standards |
Moral breakdown of society |
Teaching of evolution, with implication that there is no God to whom we are morally accountable; teaching of moral relativism in universities |
Belief that all people are accountable to God for their actions; belief in some moral absolutes |
10 |
Patriotism |
American citizens ignorant of the goodness and greatness of America; citizens not proud of country, even hating it |
Revisionist, anti-American teaching of history; obsessive repetition of past American mistakes |
Renewed patriotism; America’s renewed belief in its own goodness; balanced, truthful emphasis on America’s good actions along with acknowledgment of mistakes |
11 |
Children |
Parents unable to control what their children are taught |
Government monopoly on K–12 education funds; “experts” rather than parents determining what is taught |
Parental control of education |
12 |
Children |
No teaching in schools that God exists or that people are morally accountable to Him |
Court-imposed overly-strict view of “separation of church and state” that distorts original meaning of First Amendment |
Freedom of religion protected for everyone, but teachers also have freedom to express their own beliefs; local school boards free to decide what is taught to children |
13 |
Children |
Poorly educated high school graduates, unable to read or write well, trapped in low-income jobs or on welfare |
Government monopoly on K–12 education funds; teachers unions putting interests of teachers ahead of best interests of students |
All children well-educated so as to be able to support themselves |
14 |
Children |
Rebellious, disrespectful children with no respect for legitimate authority |
Laws against any physical discipline of children; social agency regulations that remove children from a home if parents physically discipline them |
Obedient, respectful children |
15 |
Racial differences |
Continuing racial animosities, distrust, alienation |
Minority children trapped in failed public school systems; unable to get enough education to have high-paying jobs |
Minority parents have freedom to send children to public or private schools funded by tuition voucher program; racial disparities in income disappear |
16 |
Freedom |
People in economic bondage and slavery to government; little freedom to decide how to use their time and money |
Excessive government taxes and regulations; government taking over more and more industries |
Individual freedom; free enterprise system allowed to flourish |
17 |
Prosperity |
Poverty |
Taxes that penalize productivity, reward non-productivity; condemnation of wealth-producers (as “the rich”); entitlement mentality |
Prosperity |
18 |
Natural resources |
Fear and panic about using the earth’s resources; poor people trapped in subsistence-level living |
Radical environmentalist warnings and lawsuits; global warming alarmism; lawsuits that oppose all development of energy or other resources |
Joyful and wise use of earth’s resources |
19 |
Belief in God |
Belief that there is no God who created universe |
Evolution presented as only viewpoint in schools, and the only explanation for life |
Teaching that God created universe and human beings |
20 |
Freedom of religion |
Oppression of churches; Christian preaching driven out of public places; prison sentences for those who teach “objectionable” parts of the Bible in public |
ACLU lawsuits, based on wrongful claims about “separation of church and state” and that people have a right not to feel “offended” |
Freedom of religion and freedom of speech in public places |
21 |
Freedom of religion |
Christian speech muzzled on campuses |
Hate speech codes in colleges and universities |
Freedom of speech on college campuses |
22 |
Freedom of religion |
Silencing of evangelism |
Hate speech codes |
Public evangelism protected by law |
23 |
Freedom of religion |
No new churches planted |
Laws preventing churches from renting schools, public buildings |
All religions have freedom to rent schools and other public buildings for meetings |
24 |
Freedom of religion |
Pastors prohibited from speaking about political issues |
IRS restrictions on pulpit speech; Johnson Amendment 1954; excessive fear of preaching on politics as result of misleading ACLU and Americans United campaigns |
Complete freedom for pastors to teach about God’s Word as it applies to politics and government; moral standards of Bible influencing government for good |
In Matthew 16 after Peter’s great confession, Jesus announced that the forces of hell will not prevail against the church that hears and accomplishes the Father’s will. Preachers and pastors who proclaim the truth along with believers who demonstrate its transforming power are the only hope of overcoming the enemy’s deceptive and deadly strategy. Now is the time to put a trumpet to our lips and take a bold stand for truth and righteousness.
Compiled by Wayne Grudem, June 28, 2011. For further discussion on specific topics, see Wayne Grudem, Politics—According to the Bible (Zondervan, 2010)
Although I agree with a lot of this, there are a couple problems that don’t seem to add up…
5 – American system of government
There are just a lot of factual problems with this…judges making laws? I am a government major in College and I have seen none of this occuring anywhere…some examples and evidence would be nice next time.
6 – Defense
Although I agree that it’s important to have a strong national defense, when a spending crisis requires spending cuts, military is the first area that needs to be cut. The US is top military spender in the world, spending roughly $698 billion every year. Followed by China with $119 billion and the UK with $59.6 billion. There are many many problems with our military system, but right now, the best option is to cut spending.
7 & 8 – (see above)
10 – Patriotism
I agree with this one 100%. Anyone living in America has nothing to complain about compared to the systems of government and standards of living in less developed countries. However, I think this logic can be applied to a lot of what this article seems to be complaining about. It seems a contradiction to complain about the American Government system, then say that it is the enemy’s plan to doubt the current Government system.
11 – Children
Why is “experts” in quotations? It implies that these experts don’t really know what they are talking about, while no evidence of this is given. This scenaria (parents controling what their children are taught) is both illogical and impossible. Clearly, experts are appointed this position for a reason. Putting every child’s education in the hands of parents is a horrible idea. But even if this idea (in theory) was a good idea, it could never be put into effect. Parents would disagree on so many different levels that nothing would ever be accomplished. This is close to the most illogical point made on this post.
12 – Children
I am skeptical of this one. This claims “teachers also have freedom to express their own beliefs” but I imagine that the same demographic that supports things like this would be outraged if a Muslim or Athiest teacher taught his beliefs in school. If all religions shouldn’t have this right, then neither should Christians. (we don’t deserve special privilages. That’s entitlement, which is a sin.)
15 – Racial differences
Although I agree that the income and education gaps between minorities (particularly the white-black gap) is pitiful and humiliating, there are many tuition voucher programs available at almost every inner-city school system. However, minority children are often discouraged for fear of being bullied by their peers for participating in such programs. It is seen by their peers as “acting white” and many times can result in violent retaliation. It’s unfortunately a vicious cycle, but just so you know, many of these voucher programs are more than plentiful in inner-city schools.
17 – Prosperity
I would just like to point out the clear contradiction here. It says that the enemy uses the “entitlement mentality” to reach his goals. Apply this logic to my point made on “12 – Children”.
19 – Belief in God
I would first like to point out that this hugely contradicts the next four points. “Teaching that God created universe and human beings” in school is clearly not providing an atmosphere of “Freedom of Religion.”
20 – 23
Once again, I challenge you to apply this logic from an alternative religion’s point of view. I’m sure many people would be outraged if Muslim or Hindu teachings were taught in public places (schools, college campuses, prisons, etc.) Once again, go back to my entitlement point. If you don’t think other religions deserve this right, then neither do Christians.
24 – Freedom of religion
This article seems to be much more political, than religious. When politics and religion are mixed, it always ends badly. People become convinced that their political affiliation is “God’s plan” and justify it by any means. Mixing politics and religion almost inevitably ends in hate and anger. This is the opposite of what we should want as Christians.
For the record, I am a Christian. I am strong in my faith. I love God, and I agree with a lot of this. But a lot of it is also just factually…wrong.
Please James, I have so much respect for you, and I agree with so much of what you do. A lot of people feel the same way and will listen to whatever you say. So please, don’t post any more articles like this that contradicts itself and misrepresents information, with little factual evidence.
Hey Barb,
I’m with you on the right-wing stuff. I think that it becomes a dangerous dance when Christians start to get too cozy with politics. But I think that goes for left-wingers, too. It’s just that there seems to be more of a history of Christians mixing their theology in with the right.
So was George “cut taxes, increase spending, balloon the national debt” Bush working for the “enemy”? (Another conundrum: He oversaw the deregulation of the financial industry that gave us the collapse of 2008. So was he a good guy for fighting gov’ment regulation or an agent of the enemy for setting the scene for our current economic troubles?) Man, this stuff is confusing. Won’t someone just tell me what to think?
After reading through this graph from a so called PhD, I’m still at a loss to figure who would have been his mentor and to what end. But I though a few of the lines were true but I thought I’d give a better idea of my idea of christians.
Common lies Christians tell that are ABSOLUTELY FALSE!
I deal with Christian lies on a daily basis. These lies range from the myth that Einstein was a theist, to the claim that there is conclusive evidence for Jesus’ existence. I had to make this page so that I could collect some common lies told and present the truth behind the matter. There are hundreds of things I feel compelled to discuss but I shall limit it to a top five list. The top five lies Christian’s tell:
Darwin recanted on his deathbed. This is completely fabricated and has no foundation in truth whatsoever. A woman named “Lady Hope” spoke to a church group shortly after the death of Charles Darwin. She claimed that she was at Darwin’s bedside on the day of his death. She also claimed that Darwin recanted on evolution and accepted Jesus on his deathbed. Her claims are not only unsupported, but are directly opposed by Darwin’s daughter, Henrietta. Henrietta stated “I was present at his deathbed, Lady Hope was not present during his last illness, or any illness. I believe he never even saw her, but in any case she had no influence over him in any department of thought or belief. My father never recanted any of his scientific views, either then or earlier. I am upset that the U.S. Christians have fabricated this conversion nonsense. The whole story has no foundation whatever.” February 23, 1922.
Evolution has been proven false (is only a theory). Evolution can be divided into two parts, macro and micro. Micro evolution is a fact, where as macro evolution remains a theory due to debates on the exact steps of the evolutionary process. EVOLUTION DID HAPPEN we simply can’t trace the exact evolutionary steps of the of the 3 trillion plus species on earth. Considering there is no way that we can even prove if we have located all the species on earth, this may always remain a theory. We can prove though, beyond a doubt, that humans have evolved. We can trace it back conclusively 3.6 million years. 97% of all scientists accept evolution (so does the Catholic Church). Christians have spread lies about this excessively, they especially like to say evolution preaches that Humans evolved from monkeys. Evolution does not state that humans evolved from monkeys, that idea is completely absurd. Science states that monkeys and humans evolved from a shared forefather and are hence relatives, (all primates are) but we are in no way direct descendants of them.
Atheists have no morals. All one has to do is take a look at the American prison system. Nearly 76% of violent criminals are Christian and NO, most of these Christians did not convert after conviction, they were Christian at the time of the crime. The greatest genocides in human history stemmed from the Christian faith. If you examine secular societies in comparison to religious societies; secular societies will consistently have less crime, unemployment, corruption and more freedom, share of wealth and a higher standard of living. Nearly EVERY single advancement towards morality (I.E: ceasing native genocide, freeing the slaves and women’s suffrage) was OPPOSED by the church and Christian organizations.
This United States is a country founded on Christianity. This is the biggest sack of [expletive removed] and only an EXTREME MORON would believe something this retarded. The VERY FIRST AMENDMENT of the constitution is based on the Separation of church and state. The paramount reason why the forefathers came to this country was for religious freedom. They listed it as their top goal in forming America. Matter of fact most of the fore fathers weren’t even Christian, but deist, atheist and agnostic. I could site thousands of quotes which piss on this lie from Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, Paine, etc. but I shouldn’t need to, considering the reading of the constitution is a 4th grade curriculum requirement.
There are no atheists in foxholes. I hear this one on a weekly basis and it never ceases to amuse/disgust me. One third of the world’s population does not believe in a deity. The largest concentration of free thinkers is found in Asia, which participated in each world war and have been feuding over territory with the surrounding regions for thousands of years (especially Japan and China). My father is an atheist and served during the Berlin Crisis. I am an atheist and though I wasn’t in a fox hole, I faced death while giving birth and I tell you that the thought about God NEVER crossed my mind when I heard my condition could be fatal. I have had the privilege to meet hundreds of atheists who served in WW2 and Vietnam, each of whom sat in fox holes and said the last thing they think of is god because actually they really wonder, where is this god if they do think about it.
Seems to me that fundamentalist preachers and extremist evangelicals are the worst enemy to our faith. Christians were never attacked in this country like we are now until so many decided to mix politics with their faith. All you conservative Christians have done is turn people off to religion instead of winning them over. Had I not been grounded in my faith I myself would have been disgusted with Christians after the last 30 years of right-wing pastors trying to tell the rest of us how to vote and implying that we aren’t true Christians if we are not Republicans. This so-called ‘enemy’s plan’ comes out when there is a Democrat in the White House. You people never criticize your own party for the vile things they do. It was fine for them to destroy our economy and take us into a war based on lies because they were Republicans. One more thing, if you think God is pleased that you believe the wealthy in this country should run things and get welfare like they are getting at the expense of the poor and middle class then maybe you should read the words of Jesus again!
I agree with several of the items on this list. Personally, I’d have put number 24 as number 1.
Other points seem to firmly keep Christians’ focus on abortion and homosexuals, while allowing them to think there is nothing wrong with the way government is operating…and that all corporations are good.
Many religious leaders, politicians and corporations are having a figurative love affair with government, the IRS and money.
Last time I checked, the catalyst for Jesus’ crucifixion was his challenge of governmental authority.
If you preach compassion, you’ll be slapped down. If you stand up to tyranny, you’ll be crucified.
These are lessons Jesus taught us. We’ve had 2,000-plus years to catch on and still haven’t got it.
It’s ugly, but it’s time to start looking at the true cause of our problems. To start, let’s all look in the mirror and repent for doing nothing to prevent the loss of our great Republic.
When the debt ceiling finally hits the wall, it will be too late.
PS — It wasn’t abortions and gays that caused that problem.
Thanks James for writing the list given to Wayne Grudem by God on the differences between the enemy’s strategy and desired result and God’s will or desired result. I found this list very revealing, interesting and informative. I believe the enemy is doing similar things in Australia. I pray that America and Australia will not end up in the enemy’s clutches doing what he wants, but instead will go towards God’s desired result or will.
L.Agius (Sydney, Australia)