Steve Farrar - Battle Ready: Prepare to Be Used by God

BATTLE READY

Published by David C Cook

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Colorado Springs, CO 80918 U.S.A.

David C Cook Distribution Canada

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David C Cook U.K., Kingsway Communications

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All rights reserved. Except for brief excerpts for review purposes, no part of this book may be reproduced or used in any form without written permission from the publisher.

The Web site addresses recommended throughout this book are offered as a resource to you. These Web sites are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement on the part of David C Cook, nor do we vouch for their content.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version . Copyright 2000; 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible , Copyright 1960, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission; KJV are taken from the King James Version of the Bible. (Public Domain); NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved; PH are taken from J. B. Phillips: The New Testament in Modern English , revised editions J. B. Phillips, 1958, 1960, 1972, permission of Macmillan Publishing Co. and Collins Publishers; MSG are taken from THE MESSAGE . Copyright by Eugene H. Peterson 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group; and NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version . NIV . Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. The author has added italics to Scripture quotations for emphasis.

LCCN 2009929672

ISBN 978-1-4347-6869-8

eISBN 978-0-7814-0349-8

2009 Steve Farrar

Published in association with the literary agency of WordServe Literary Group, Ltd., 10152 S. Knoll Circle, Highlands Ranch, CO 80130

The Team: Don Pape, Larry Libby, Amy Kiechlin, Sarah Schultz, Jack Campbell, and Karen Athen
Cover Design: The DesignWorks Group, Jason Gabbert
Cover Image: iStockphoto

First Edition 2009

To

Ken Sibley

and

Willie Hornberger

In appreciation for their stellar friendship

Contents

Good friends are hard to come by. I am especially grateful that I get to publish with some of my best friends. To work with Dan Rich and Don Pape at David C. Cook is a flat-out pleasure. These guys are absolute pros, and working with men of their caliber and character makes the entire process nothing less than a first-class experience. Larry Libby is another guy who can make the sometimes-grueling experience of writing a joy. What an editor and what a friend. This is our ninth book togetherI hope we get to do nine more. And a special thanks to Jack Campbell for his excellent work in the often underappreciated task of copyediting. His eagle eye saved me much grief!

I was born for a storm and a calm does not suit me.

Andrew Jackson

T hese are the times that try mens souls.

Thomas Paine penned those words in 1776 in a pamphlet he titled Crisis.

It was an appropriate title for his day. The young American colonies certainly faced a great crisis, feeling the oppressive weight of the English king and his invading army. Men who spoke out for freedom found themselves in serious danger.

Take Joseph Warren, for example. Gathering his courage, he dared to speak out about the situation his country was in. And for so doing, he was beheaded by British officers at Bunker Hill, who then presented his head to their commanding general.

I am writing these words on December 1, 2008. Never in my fifty-nine years on this earth have I seen so many men so deeply troubled. It is accurate to say once again, These are the times that try mens souls.

Joshua and Caleb, two heroes from the pages of the Bible, will figure prominently in this book. But Im not going to start with Joshua and Caleb. Im going to begin with Samuel Adams and John Hancock.

Contrary to popular opinion, Samuel Adams did not run a brewery. And John Hancock did not sell life insurance.

These men were both friends of Joseph Warren, and like Warren, they were not afraid to speak out against tyranny. They knew very well that they could be beheaded just as Warren had been. But that fact did not curb their tongues or their pens. In fact, when the British general Thomas Gage attempted to quell the revolution and offered amnesty to every man in the colonies who would lay down his weapon, two men, and two men only, were excluded from the offer of amnesty and forgiveness. Those two men were Samuel Adams and John Hancock. These two bold leaders would not be forgiven under any circumstancesso great was their opposition to the king and their influence in the colonies.

Samuel Adams was the most popular columnist in all of New England, and John Hancock may have been the wealthiest man in all of Massachusetts. Though differing widely in personality and style, these men had something profound in common that formed the bedrock of their friendship: They were deeply committed to Jesus Christ and His inspired Word. Thats what made them the Joshua and Caleb of their generation. They were absolutely fearless in the face of a giant invading army and the worlds largest navy. But the foundation of their courage was their hope and trust in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He was their Father, their Foundation, and their Hope.

Even as other men wilted under pressure and feared for their very lives, Adams and Hancock stood firm. Dont imagine it was an easy thing to do; its never easy to hold the line when you live in soul-trying times.

Our Times

In the course of my ministry, I have had the privilege of speaking to men all across the country. And its very clear to me as I interact with men that once again these are the times that try mens souls.

If there is a verse that speaks to the condition of men in our day and time, I believe it is Psalm 42:5 ( NASB ):

Why are you in despair [sunk down], O my soul?

And why have you become disturbed within me?

Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him

For the help of His presence [saving acts].

Everywhere across our land, men are discouraged and depressedand some verging on outright despair. So lets answer the question of the psalmist. Notice that he is talking to himself instead of listening to himself. When we are panicked and fearful, we are listening to ourselveslistening to the killing worries and anxieties that fuel our negative imaginations like a windblown forest fire. The psalmist, however, attempting to fight off the fear that has become epidemic in his heart and mind, speaks to himself instead of listening to himself.

In the process, he asks himself a significant question:

Why are you in despair, O my soul?

If most men today were to answer that question, I believe their answer would center in a fearful giant named Uncertainty. This giant, of course, has been around since the beginning of time, sometimes more visible and sometimes less. In recent days, however, it has been stalking our land with a vengeance. Why? Because

there is giant uncertainty over the meltdown of the economy; and