Spiritual Warfare and Missions

By Jerry Rankin and Ed Stetzer

The mission of God to “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19, HCSB) is a major target of spiritual warfare today. In this new book by International Mission Board president Jerry Rankin and
noted missiologist Ed Stetzer, the authors call out Satan’s ongoing strategy to convince Christians that the Great Commission is optional. Through deceit, he is eroding the authoritative mandate of Scripture, leading believers to tell themselves that international discipleship is a task better left to denomination
and mission agencies—not the sort of kingdom work that every believer can do.
But for every evil success, Rankin and Stetzer point to where Satan is failing, thus encouraging readers to renew their passion to declare God’s glory among the nations. Indeed, by taking up the call to action here, we can be sure that the kingdoms of the world will become the kingdom of the Lord.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BH Publishing Group
• Release date: Jun 1, 2010
• ISBN: 9781433671753

Jerry Rankin

Jerry Rankin and his wife, Bobbye, spent twenty-three years as missionaries in Asia until he became International Mission Board president in 1993. He now leads the IMB with a vision of missionaries, churches, and volunteers partnering to take the gospel to all people. Rankin earned a bachelor’s degree from Mississippi College and his master of divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. The Rankins live in Richmond, Virginia.

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PREFACE

We share a passion for the mission of God! Both of us have sought to be obedient to God’s leadership in our lives with regard to personal involvement in reaching a lost world. From the perspective of our own witness and ministry in positions of denominational leadership, our callings have taken divergent paths. We come from different backgrounds and experiences, but all that we have done reflects a shared focus on the Great Commission. We believe God is moving in providence and power toward that coming day when representatives from every tribe, people, language, and nation will be gathered around the throne of God. Praise for the Lamb that was slain and the ushering in of the kingdom of God will result in the worship and praise of the One to whom all glory is due.

Our conviction is always that the task of discipling the nations is not the responsibility of an elite group of missionaries sent out on behalf of the church, but this is a mandate given to all the people of God. No one is exempt from the task of bearing witness to the ends of the earth, of the salvation that can be found in Jesus Christ alone. We have each sought to mobilize and channel the potential of local churches toward fulfillment of the Great Commission. In recent years our roles have merged at times as opportunities for coordinated collaboration in meeting this challenge have surfaced.

God is moving in unprecedented ways to penetrate nations and peoples long deprived of the life-changing message of the gospel. As we move further into the twenty-first century, a sovereign God is using global events to open doors of opportunity in response to the pervasive spiritual hunger of a sinful and fallen world. Yet an enemy exists who is jealous of God’s glory and is doing everything he possibly can, using his devious and evil schema, to barricade the spread of the gospel and hinder the proclamation of God’s glory.

Satan is identified as the deceiver of the nations. His subtle tactics as an angel of light are powerful as he seeks to weaken and distort the witness of God’s people. The powers of darkness create distorted religious worldviews, cause totalitarian governments to restrict a Christian witness, and seek to squelch the advance of the kingdom through persecution of believers. However, proving to be even more successful is Satan’s ability to use our self-centered, fleshly nature and inclination to compromise with worldly, carnal influences that continue to divert God’s people from the priority of God’s mission.

I (Jerry) wrote an earlier volume, Spiritual Warfare: The Battle for God’s Glory. This was an effort to expose the tactics of our enemy who is seeking to rob Christians of the victory and life of holiness we have been given in Jesus Christ that God might be glorified in our lives personally. Because Satan’s success demands secrecy and anonymity, we have sought to expose his strategies that are designed to deprive God of His intended purpose of being exalted among the nations and all the peoples of the world. Satan’s most effective strategy is not the opposition to the kingdom on mission fields around the world but the indifference of churches and God’s people who have become self-centered and lost a passion for reaching a lost world.

As I (Ed) travel and speak among God’s people, I also pray that God will awaken them to the spiritual battle that is taking place around us. If God’s people, especially in North America, would become energized about reaching the nations with the gospel, then God’s glory would be proclaimed like never before. The reason—God’s people in North America have the resources, both the people and money, to make a significant impact. We hope that in the days ahead we will see such a movement. It is the reason why we have partnered together to write on this subject in particular. We see the unlimited potential that resides in the body of Christ.

We are grateful for the widespread influence and support of colleagues at the International Mission Board and LifeWay Christian Resources, who are an inspiration in their commitment to the Great Commission. Thousands of missionaries serving faithfully around the world are our heroes; they are on the cutting edge of pushing back the frontiers of lostness. Our vision of the ultimate victory of our Lord is stirred by their reports and the testimonies of the powerful way God’s Spirit is moving to engage the peoples of the world with the gospel and turn hearts to Jesus Christ in saving faith.

However, the message of this book has grown out of seeing thousands of churches beginning to catch the vision and be shaped by a passion for involvement in global missions. What could happen if every church and every Christian became obedient to what God has called us as His people to do? The potential of the kingdoms of the world becoming the kingdom of our Lord is evident. But Satan doesn’t want that to happen. We pray this book will expose our enemy’s tactics and challenge the people of God to become focused on declaring His glory among the nations.

We want to express appreciation to many who provided resources for our writing, including the communication staff and Global Research Department of the International Mission Board and LifeWay Research. We are grateful for the editorial service provided by Russell Rankin. It has been a joy to work with Thomas Walters and the staff at B&H Publishing Group; their encouragement and support of this project has encouraged us to prevail in our collaboration and effort to share these insights and challenges with you.

—Jerry Rankin and Ed Stetzer

CHAPTER 1

GOD’S PURPOSE: TO BE EXALTED AMONG THE NATIONS

I had been traveling for almost eight hours over winding dirt roads, sections of which were more appropriate for an all-terrain vehicle. The rainy season had left the narrow motorway a gully as water from the surrounding hills converged into cascading streams, washing away the gravel and leaving a patchwork of potholes in the occasional sections of deteriorating pavement. Ten-wheel, open-bed trucks, heavily laden with goods being transported to the isolated market towns of the interior, had left deep trenches, which the driver of our lightweight sedan found difficult to navigate.

It was 1982, and I (Jerry) had been in charge of creating a growing network of indigenous partners throughout India to expand mission initiatives in the country. We envisioned volunteer teams and itinerant missionaries making connections for the sake of ministry through humanitarian projects, training church leaders, and facilitating church growth. Contacts with Baptist leaders in other parts of the country had alerted me to a remnant of Baptists in the Khond Hills of the State of Orissa. Subsequent communication with this group resulted in an invitation to come and speak at their annual associational gathering.

I had taken a flight from Calcutta south to Bhubaneswar, a city I had never heard of and could not even pronounce. The remote location and isolated landing strip gave me the impression that I had arrived at my destination, only to be met by my hosts and informed we faced an eight-hour drive to the site of the meeting.

Crammed into the overloaded vehicle with my traveling companions, I had images of riding in Jehu’s chariot as the driver asserted total authority over the roadway and anything that dared to infringe on his right-of-way. Approaching a village, he seemed to accelerate with horn blaring as chickens, goats, and children scattered. The populated communities grew sparse as the road wound higher and higher around barren hills that for generations had been stripped of trees out of necessity for fuel and land for farming.

As we would dip into an occasional valley, the road would be totally enveloped in a jungle canopy of overhanging trees. Monkeys scurried into the underbrush as we rounded a bend, and we found ourselves braking to avoid running into the back end of an elephant ambling leisurely with his mahout perched high on his swaying shoulders.

Three flat tires lengthened the trip as each time the inner tube had to be removed, the puncture found and repaired, and then the tire reinflated through arduous efforts using a malfunctioning hand pump. I began to get a little anxious as the shadows began to lengthen and the security of civilization seemed to be left far behind. A pastor, who was to be my translator, told me about the Kui people with whom we would be meeting.

A generation ago they had never heard the gospel. They were among tribal groups so isolated that they had never been reached with the message of God’s love and salvation until some British missionaries established contact soon after World War II. In fact, these people were so pagan in their syncretistic Hindu and animist beliefs, I was told, that they would sacrifice one of their children and sprinkle his blood on their fields at planting time, believing the gods would give them a favorable harvest.

I began to see half-clothed people with scars and tattoos on their faces and bodies, unlike I had seen elsewhere in my travels throughout India. I have been many places in subsequent years that could be identified as the ends of the earth—remote villages in Mali, West Africa, indigenous Indian enclaves in the Amazon jungles of South America, the desert of southern Algeria, and isolated valleys of the Himalayas in Nepal. I have found myself incredulous to be standing in places like North Korea, Afghanistan, and Iran, but never had I sensed we were reaching beyond the fringes of the Great Commission as I did in penetrating the Khond Hills of India.

Topping a ridge, we suddenly caught sight of a massive crowd milling around an intersection ahead. My initial impression was that there had been a terrible accident, but then I was informed we had finally arrived at our destination and the crowd had come to welcome us. We disembarked from the car and walked the final kilometer to the sight of the annual meeting. We were escorted by a band of men adorned in grass skirts and feathers in their headdresses, dancing to the beat of drums and bamboo flutes. Their tongues trilling in traditional greeting, women lined the side of the road in saris of bright tribal colors of yellow, orange, red, and chartreuse.

More than three thousand people had gathered from every village in the Khond Hills. With their families and village clans, they were camped all across the hillsides surrounding a huge brush arbor. They weren’t very time conscious, waiting for us to arrive to gather and begin the program. They sat on the ground underneath a lacy pattern of sunlight and shadows dancing through the leaves and branches laid across low-hanging poles.

When everyone was settled, the man who seemed to be in charge shouted something, and all the people responded with a shout. Once again the leader shouted, and in antiphonal response the people replied. Not understanding the local dialect, I presumed this was simply a customary way of beginning a public ceremony or perhaps a way of greeting us as the honored guests.

My interpreter nudged me and asked if I knew what they were saying, which, of course, I didn’t. He said, The leader is shouting, ‘Who is the Lord?’ And all the people are responding, ‘Jesus is Lord.’ As this was repeated several times, goose bumps appeared on my arms, and a chill went up my spine. Here were a people that were not a people, a people who had lived in darkness but had now become the people of God. This is what Paul referred to as he quoted the prophet Hosea in Romans 9:26, You are not My people, [but] they will be called: Sons of the living God (Hos. 1:10). These were a people in darkness who had now come to the light as Isaiah prophesied, Darkness covers the earth, and total darkness the peoples; but the LORD will shine over you. . . . Nations will come to your light (Isa. 60:2–3).

As I heard the Kui people of the Khond Hills declaring Jesus is Lord, I immediately thought of Philippians 2:10–11 and the awesome implications of what I was witnessing. So that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow . . . and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Just as these Kui people, geographically isolated and separated from God, living in spiritual darkness, had now become the people of God, one day all people will recognize Jesus as Lord. God will be glorified by the confession of praise being declared by every tongue, Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father!

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Everything created in the world should be seen in the context of existing for God's glory.

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God’s ultimate purpose and desire is clear: to be glorified through His redemption of the nations. He alone is worthy of all praise and honor. His purpose is to be known and worshipped and exalted by the nations and peoples of the earth. The culmination of His divine activity in the world is expressed in the book of Revelation: Our Lord and God, You are worthy to receive glory and honor and power, because You have created all things, and because of Your will they exist and were created (Rev. 4:11). Everything created in the world should be seen in the context of existing for God’s glory. Every activity and endeavor should be to glorify Him not only in our lives and community but among all peoples, even to the ends of the earth.

Unwinding from the Triumphant Conclusion

The movement and mission from God can be traced through a linguistic thread woven throughout Scripture. The thread began under the rebellious circumstances in Babel and became the platform for God’s mission through Pentecost and His glory in Revelation. By following the linguistic thread, we can better understand our mission with Him and for Him. The thread throughout the biblical record also traces God’s relentless pursuit of a people for His glory. Rewinding God’s story from Revelation 7, a picture of the missionary heart of God is clear. As people gather at the end of the age, we read in Revelation 7:9–10, After this I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were robed in white with palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: Salvation belongs to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb! What will that sound like? Will everybody praise in a different language? Our information about the details is limited, but we do know it will be one voice. In unity brought about by God’s presence and kingdom, from distinct people groups, His people will worship in the many languages they spoke during their mortal lives, giving praise to the Lord and glory to the Father.

Perhaps God retains languages in heaven because of their usefulness during the mission to deliver people there. When the Holy Spirit arrived to indwell believers in Acts, we see a picture of the beginning of the end in God’s plan. For God’s purposes, the early church was given the supernatural ability to speak in tongues (foreign languages), and thus, they were understood as the gospel was proclaimed at Pentecost. Through the person of the Holy Spirit, God’s purposes were accomplished like no other time in history. When God’s power is manifested, no arguments of man or principality can stand against it.

God’s supernatural power and purpose were at work for the church in perfect harmony. The incredible aftereffect was seen through transformed lives: at least three thousand saved and baptized in Acts 2. God’s ultimate glory is best manifested when people from every tongue, tribe, and nation sing praise to His name. At no other time in history has the power of God been experienced by representatives of the known world in such an intensely multicultural incident. Notice the linguistic thread.

The birth of the Christian movement was multiethnic and multicultural. Our current experience of Christianity in America is painfully monocultural. We can have the knowledge and practice of Christianity perfect. But until there is a clear embrace of the multicultural, multiethnic roots of Christianity, we will miss the greater blessing of God and cover of God’s glory. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. called the eleven o’clock worship hour on Sunday morning the most racially segregated hour in America. The picture that was bothersome to Dr. King, in light of Pentecost, should be equally appalling to missionary Christians. When God’s supernatural power is evident, no segregation exists. He speaks a singular message to diverse people, and they embrace the true God when hearing of Him in their heart language.

Globalization was at its finest hour at Pentecost. Globalization is commonly used as an economic term. Mainly due to the rapid growth of technology, geography is no longer an obstacle to buying and selling. The result is a more competitive environment. When the world competed for positions of power, God produced global Christians at Pentecost by producing level ground for all people. God was glorified by this amazing, supernatural act of tongues. If only one nation had experienced Pentecost, that one nation could have felt favored. But God favors every tribe equally. There is no one guardian of special faith, knowledge, or mystical experiences. No skin color or people group can elevate themselves over the rest. God is the great gift giver partially because all of us are the blessed receivers of His gift. Luke described the scene in Acts:

There were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven. When this sound occurred, the multitude came together and was confused because each one heard them speaking in his own language. And they were astounded and amazed, saying, Look, aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? How is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites; those who live in Mesopotamia, in Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own languages the magnificent acts of God. (Acts 2:5–11)

The purpose and desire of our missionary God is demonstrated again through the linguistic thread.

Millions were in Jerusalem for Pentecost. God appointed a gathering place three times a year for His people to appear before Him (Deut. 16:16). The Holy City, established by King David, was the place for pilgrims to experience deeper life with God. Small, diverse people groups experienced the power of God through an encounter with Jesus Christ at Pentecost. Priests who witnessed the historic event of the temple veil being torn in two a few months earlier would experience more history. Suddenly a sound like that of a violent rushing wind came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were staying. And tongues, like flames of fire that were divided, appeared to them and rested on each one of them. Then they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different languages, as the Spirit gave them ability for speech (Acts 2:2–4). God miraculously reversed what happened at Babel for the moment. Tongues once again appear but in everyone’s heart language. Pilgrims experienced the power of God for the first time. Immediately they became colaborers in the mission of God.

Before Pentecost the mission of God was given exclusively to Israel. Being chosen bore an incredible worldwide mission responsibility to be a light to the nations. In Isaiah, God makes clear the missionary purpose of Israel. God’s people struggled with the mission because of their contempt for people other than their own. I, the LORD, have called you for a righteous purpose, and I will hold you by your hand. I will keep you, and I make you a covenant for the people and a light to the nations, in order to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the dungeon, and those sitting in darkness from the prison house (Isa. 42:6–7). God’s promise to Abram, to bless all nations through him, is further fulfilled at Pentecost. No longer is the mission of God through Israel only. No tribe is more called or less called than the other. Christians in Africa have as much responsibility for the mission of God to the nations as Christians in Asia. North American Christians have as much responsibility for the mission of God as do Christians in Europe. We are all called to go to the nations. Why? To live out the missionary heart of God who is telling all Christians, everywhere, to go some place else with the gospel!

Peter rewound the story further by connecting the event with a prediction from Joel the prophet of the pouring out of the Spirit. Miracles seen long ago were demonstrated once again. The miracle of seeing and embracing Jesus among a diverse people with diverse belief systems is undeniable. As told to Joel by God, the sign would be a great outpouring on all flesh. The power of God is not limited to Jewish flesh or Gentile flesh. Without the power of the Spirit of God, it would be impossible to engage the diversity of the world and its many languages. Global conversion to Christ does seem impossible. Suddenly we see the only way to touch the diverse nations of the world with the gospel of Jesus is through the power of the Holy Spirit. Everyone had equal access to all of God, instantly. Priests or institutional religious ceremonies were no longer obstacles to a love relationship with God.

Jerusalem was a sacred place to those who sought the God of Abraham. As we trace the linguistic thread throughout the story of God, we see two forces around the Holy City. Until Pentecost the epicenter of life with God was the pilgrimage to the temple and the Holy City. Pilgrims went up to Jerusalem to find and follow God. Centripetal force pulled inward. The nations came up to Jerusalem. Historians estimate more than two million people visited for Pentecost. Much to the disappointment of God, pilgrims would not only abuse the journey, but they would reduce God and their experience with Him to one place. The pilgrimage itself led to moral and spiritual abuses of the commands of God. Pentecost literally released the Christian movement from an inward movement around a geographical location to an outward movement to every tongue, tribe, and nation. Now from Jerusalem, divine centrifugal force would move missionary Christians from everywhere to everywhere. Pentecost was a centripetal force or action that led to a centrifugal explosion.

The world is now flat. People travel from people group to people group with the gospel. The testimony of God’s power and purpose is left every place they go. We often use Acts 1:8 as an inspirational message to explain the geographical responsibility of every Christian. If you are looking for a missions begins at home text, try the Great Commandment or the story of the Good Samaritan. Although the principles may be supported in Acts 1:8, a larger story is often missed. Any desire to evangelize that causes someone to focus only on their own type of people is the greatest hindrance to the multicultural, multiethnic vision of God. Acts 1:8 is first prophetic in nature. Jesus informed disciples of what was about to happen before their eyes. Jesus explained to them exactly what a movement of God would look like. The Holy Spirit with incredible centrifugal force would thrust them outward. The same Holy Spirit who drew them into the kingdom would send them to the nations. Progress can be traced through languages. Jim Slack, a research strategist in global evangelism and church growth, addressed the danger of misunderstanding Acts 1:8:

To see Acts 1:8 as ‘my own kind first’ would lead the follower to make the same mistake that Israel made over and over again—Israel first in ministry and maybe the others after them. To treat Acts 1:8 as meaning ‘go to my people first’ would run the risk of committing Jonah’s ethnocentric sin over again.¹

Pentecost displayed the missionary heart of God. People who experienced the power of God became one. Diverse cultures experienced God in identical ways. God is revealed as one God. One God is talking; one God is working. The reality described in Ephesians is demonstrated at Pentecost: There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope at your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all (Eph. 4:4–6). Often we struggle in churches of the same tongue, tribe, or nation. Disunity is a clear sign that God is not involved. How much more does racial prejudice or bigotry become anti-God? God loves diversity because He created diversity.

Satan does not want us to know how eager the nations are to hear God’s message, so he builds attitudes of racism, bigotry, and superiority in our hearts. Yet people all over the world are much more willing to hear than we are to tell. God had to change the heart of Simon Peter in Acts 10. He was to be a missionary to the Gentiles. Peter was influenced by a religious background that did not like Gentiles or consider them equals. The barrier to the gospel was not the ignorance of the Gentiles but the prejudice of Peter. God was already at work in the life of an Italian military leader named Cornelius. God began to change Peter’s heart through a vision. The vision (a blanket with animals considered unclean) was God’s way to reveal the prejudice in Peter’s heart. The story in Acts 10 is filled with dramatic twists, but there was a turning point and a sincere confession. Peter visited Cornelius, his family, and his friends who were eager to hear the gospel. We read, When Peter entered, Cornelius met him, fell at his feet, and worshiped him. But Peter helped him up and said, ‘Stand up! I myself am also a man.’ While talking with him, he went on in and found that many had come together there. Peter said to them, ‘You know it’s forbidden for a Jewish man to associate with or visit a foreigner. But God has shown me that I must not call any person common or unclean’ (Acts 10:25–28). Peter went to a people of another tongue. At Pentecost, Satan witnessed the linguistic thread that foreshadowed his ultimate defeat. The tongues that praised the Lord at Pentecost would praise the Lord in celebration after his final defeat. The ultimate barriers of hatred and superiority used to divide mankind and hinder the gospel were removed for the glory of God.

Everyone at Pentecost knew something extraordinary happened. When God puts His glory on display, the enemy goes on the attack. All of us who have benefited from Pentecost have one purpose: to extend the invitation of God to every nation. Nation does not designate governments or geographic borders. Nation refers to ethne or ethnolinguistic people groups of the world. If nations were city-states, we would have about 240 places to go and fulfill the Great Commission. Considering how many years we have been at it, we should not have many nations left to take the gospel. But ethne refers to languages and cultures or ethnic identities. The latest Ethnologue research catalogued 6,909 living languages in the world. When broken down by dialects and alternative language names, the list swells to more than forty thousand.²

Satan understands that his post-Pentecostal mission must change the focus of his opposition to the advance of God’s kingdom. He only needs to accomplish one thing: cause us to depend on ourselves to fulfill God’s missionary task. If Satan can accomplish this, nothing else matters. His most believable lie is you can do this. Try harder, think smarter, send more people. The miracle at Pentecost that caught the attention of so many was more than an attractive mass evangelism meeting. Pentecost was an encounter with the power of God. The incredible barriers overcome on the birthday of the church could only have been overcome by God Himself. The barriers to evangelize our own neighbors are great enough, but even greater are the barriers to evangelize a remote village on the other side of the world that speaks another language. Perhaps this is why Jesus described Satan this way in John 8:44: When he tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of liars. He convinces us of our ability and great commitment to the cause. We go out to make a name for ourselves as missionaries and fail miserably. The native language of our adversary is deception, duplicity, and lying. Whereas God always speaks the language of truth because it is His nature, Satan always speaks the language of falsehood because it is his nature.

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The language of our adversary is deception, duplicity, and lying whereas God always speaks the language of truth.

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The final rewind of God’s story goes back to Genesis 11. The episode was the Tower of Babel. The scene was the birth of heathenism (self-glory) as the result of one tongue among men. Satan is alive and well. His desire for fame and glory is passed on to man. God’s postflood plan was for the descendents of Noah to scatter and populate the earth. Genesis recounts God’s plan: God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth’ (Gen. 9:1). Yet the nature of man was seen in his desire to create another plan: And they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the sky. Let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise, we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth’ (Gen. 11:4). In only two chapters after the Flood, man began not only to sin alone but to sin in groups. God, as before the Flood, and in the garden found Himself set aside by humanity. God was distant from the minds and hearts of self-absorbed men yet relentless in His pursuit of them.

What was the issue? Notice this—Let us make a name for ourselves. The very thing rightfully belonging to God, man immediately claimed for himself—a famous name. Man wanted the glory only belonging to God. Man, since the garden, chose to go east, away from God, setting his own course. But God’s fame is seen as every tongue, tribe, and nation returns to His name, His glory, and His worship. It was lost at Babel but returns via Pentecost and is consummated at the end of the age in the book of Revelation. God scattered the people of Babel, changing one language to multiple languages. Man’s desire to make a name for himself had terrible consequences. Was God intimidated by the potential of man to accomplish things with one tongue? God is omnipotent, which means never intimidated. God knew that Babel would become a civilization of frustrated, godless people if He did not intervene. Never for a moment did He fear their potential to overthrow Him and actually supplant His glory.

Notice the fingerprints of Satan all over the crime at the Tower of Babel. Satan wanted to be equal to God. He tempted Eve with equality with God. Although Satan is not specifically mentioned, the people at Babel desired to reach heaven and make themselves famous. Like taking something away from children because of the damage they can do to themselves, God took away man’s ability to communicate freely with every other person on the planet. Language is God’s gift to man. Different languages are a demonstration of God’s relentless love of man. Every time you hear a conversation in another language that you cannot understand, praise God for His love. God saw that man would destroy himself and attempt to live life apart from Him. He lovingly

Reviews for Spiritual Warfare and Missions

[true54blue · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I have rated this book a 2 because I expected much more from it. Rankin's book on Spiritual Warfare (without missions in the title) is much more focused on spiritual warfare and includes probably more examples related to missions. This book seems to be confused about its audience - sometimes implicitly addressing missionaries, sometimes laity and sometimes pastors. It is also overly negative in blaming Christians for not acting as they should. Given the positions that both these men have held surely the finger needs to be pointed at the leadership of the SBC and IMB? Is it satan's activity or a lack of leadership that results in the apathy against which they rail?

[gdill-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Over all this is a decent book but a little dry at times. This book is specifically written for those who are contemplating going on the mission field, but aren't sure if they are supposed to or not. The premise behind this book is that Satan is doing everything in his power to thwart the Gospel from being spread to the nations. He does this by setting up oppressive governments and regimes, and by closing off borders so missionaries cannot come in to share the Good News of Jesus Christ. Satan has also infiltrated the church by spreading the lie that only a select few are called to missions... those special people with a special calling. This is contrary to the fact that as Christians, we are ALL called to missions. There is no deciding, no waiting for some special moment or calling. We must GO! And, this is the primary message of the New Testament to all believers, and the message of this book.There were many places that I glossed through the book as there seemed to be many dry spots and ramblings. And, I was taken a bit back by the president of the IMB and co-author of this book, Jerry Rankin whose explanation that many missionary agencies don't qualify or allow some people into missions because they don't fit a particular criteria (page 205). The IMB does the very same thing themselves. I know. I was one of them. Thankfully, Pioneers extends grace where the IMB doesn't.Needless to say, this is a good book overall. And I highly recommend it to those who feel led to go into missions, but are also a bit apprehensive for whatever reason.