Fit For Engagement

By George Runyan, Jr

Fit For Engagement is a book that comes from fifteen years of teaching on the subject of Spiritual Warfare for a discipleship ministry at The Rock Church in San Diego. The book lays a biblical foundation for victorious living through the overcoming life of Christ. It identifies the enemies of every believer. It addresses the life of Christ in the believer and that the battle must be fought joined to others. It deals with evil, establishes the battle lines beginning in the Garden then address Christs battle in the wilderness. The author describes the "Agony of Gethsemane." Next the author addresses how judgment is part of spiritual warfare. You will learn of God's three-fold mandate given, first to Adam, then to Israel and fulfilled in Christ. You will learn in detail about putting on the armor of God. The question "are demons real" will be answered. Finally, what it means to be a Christian Solider. Every new believer needs to read this book as well as those wanting to know more about overcoming the world, the flesh and the devil. Fit For Engagement is a major help in the discipling process for any believer. The book would be wonderful for any small group study. The book is full of scripture to support the writing and thoughts expressed within its pages.

• Language: English
• Publisher: George Runyan, Jr
• Release date: Feb 1, 2019
• ISBN: 9781370040179

George Runyan, Jr

I gave my life to Christ in (1958). I received my calling from the Lord in 1960. I was ordained in 1973. I taught at Berean Bible College in San Diego for seven years. While there, I developed a class on healing and miracles. I hold a Bachelor of Theology and a Master of Theological Studies.I am grateful to the Lord for His calling:Planting churches – both in the United States and abroadFounding and Directing City Church Ministries and networking with hundreds of pastors and civic leaders throughout the San Diego regionFounding The San Diego Healing RoomsFounding the East County School of MinistryBeing a Faculty member of Vision International University where I serves on the Board of RegentsI have been a radio broadcaster for yearsAuthor of two books and a number of bookletsI work with ministers from other cities who carry a similar vision for a united church in the locality. My passion has been to see the walls of separation between churches, ethnic groups, and civil government broken down. The Lord has given me a strong teaching anointing and His grace to minister in the gifts of the Spirit.I have the honor to pastor and father leaders. Our heavenly Father has allowed me to lay foundations both in the life of believers, and local churches. I have the privilege of being a primary leader in the San Diego Region.I serve with numerous apostolic teams and have hosted pastor conferences at home and internationally. I have authored a number of booklets, training material, and have written two books on the Person and Work of the Holy Spirit.My lovely wife Becky and I have seven children and fourteen grandchildren. We live near San Diego, California.

Book preview

FIT FOR ENGAGEMENT

A Spiritual Warfare Manual

For The

Twenty First Century

Take up the whole armor of God

That you may be able to withstand in the evil day,

And having done all, to stand.

Stand!

By George Runyan

Fit for Engagement

A Spiritual Warfare Manual

for the Twenty First Century

by George Runyan

Copyright © 2019 George Runyan

ISBN 978-1-61529-213-4

Vision Publishing

P.O. Box 1680

Ramona, CA 92065

1 800 –9-VISION

www.booksbyvision.org

All rights reserved worldwide

No part of the book may be reproduced or stored in a retrieval system in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author except in brief quotations embodied in critical articles of reviews.

Quotations from the Bible are from: NASB: New American Standard Bible; NKJV: New King James Version; KJV: King James Version; NIV: New International Version

PC STUDY BIBLE, VERSION 5, New American Standard Bible, Biblesoft, Inc, Seattle, WA.

What Others Are Saying

More than reading the book you have in your hands, I have walked with George Runyan for many years. He is, above all else, a true servant of God and man of integrity. What matters to him, beyond family and his personal walk with the Lord is to see men and women come into the fullness of their calling, so we can walk together and fulfill the Kingdom of God mandate for our locality and beyond. Fit for Engagement is an outstanding, foundational guide to our true spiritual warfare. The biblical revelation presented here is backed with years of ministry experience, it is both strong theologically and practically. His apostolic message is that all can walk in true freedom and be fit for engagement in all aspects of life.

Dr. Stan DeKoven

Founder and President of

Vision International University

Please find attached your completed copyedited manuscript. I have enjoyed working on it. Your manuscript was a blessing to me because I learned about some new aspects of spiritual warfare that I have been able to apply to my life. I thank God that He allowed me to work on your manuscript at this particular time.

Jon Fogdall

([e-mail])

To my friend George: Thank you for asking me to read the manuscript Fit for Engagement. You have done a great job in writing on the theme of spiritual warfare. I pray the words of this book will stand up off the pages and make their home in the heart of every reader.  Powerful, engaging and strategically written!  The body of Christ needs to read this book! Spiritual Warfare is daily and will not go away until we get to heaven. Satan’s manifested schemes have undermined the body of Christ long enough. In this book, George defines the three enemies we face: the world, the flesh and the devil.  We are in a battle! After reading this book, I am better fitted for Spiritual Warfare engagement. I pray this book strengthens every reader the way I have been strengthened.

Jerry Phillips

Pastor of Scripture is Alive Ministry

El Cajon, CA

In Fit for Engagement my good friend George Runyan speaks to the very foundations of the kingdom of heaven. As one who engages the enemy every week, freeing God’s saints, I continue to ponder the things Pastor George shares with me. My books Freedom Through Forgiveness and Soul Surgeon would not have come into being were it not for George’s input into my life. 

Nathan Daniel

Author of Soul Surgeon

and Freedom Through Forgiveness

Shepherd’s Ranch, Descanso, CA

Every new believer needs to have access to Fit For Engagement early in their faith journey with our Lord Jesus Christ! How I wish I would have had it, not only for myself, but also for those I’ve been blessed to serve and minister to around the world over these past forty years! The author, George Runyan, has done an excellent job of tying together God’s plan in creation, the battle that ensued with evil even to this day and the victory that is available for every follower of Christ. This Spiritual Warfare Manual gives the reader access to the instructive Word of God on every page with the central focus being the power of the Cross! What a wonderful resource and a must addition to every believer’s toolbox!

By Richard (Dick) Dungan

Rejoice Ministries International

Co-Author of Discovering Your Core Values

This book will allow you to look through the window of future battles and prepare you for the spiritual warfare that is out ahead of you. Pastor George’s experience in spiritual warfare and knowledge of God’s word has helped me over the years to understand the power and authority of the Holy Spirit that is in me, what Jesus death on the cross meant and the new life I now have in Him. Trusting in the Lord.

Ronnie L. Holderby

Rock Church Men’s Pastor

George Runyan has provided for us a Biblical and Christ centered approach to engaging the spiritual battle that is evident in our lives and in the World. He clearly identifies the Enemy and outlines for us the armor and weapons that the Lord has provided to us in a theological yet practical way.

George has a shepherd’s heart for the church and specifically for leaders. This will be a helpful book to anyone desiring more victory for themselves and for the church, Christ’s Body on Earth.

Charles Simpson

George Runyan is a leader and shepherd in the body of Christ. His apostolic gifting is covered by a compassion given to him by the grace of God. George has a work ethic that resonates with Jesus in in Matthew 9:36: seeing the people, He felt compassion for them… and then in verse 38, George obeys, Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest. Apostolic Pastor George Runyan has been a teacher at the Rock Church San Diego in a Men’s Ministry called the Disciple’s Path. He has taught on the subject of Spiritual Warfare over the last fourteen years. Men are being transformed as God uses George as His vessel. You will be encouraged, equipped and edified as you read through this Holy Spirit filled writing. Fit for Engagement.

Rick Holderby

Men’s Ministry Coordinator for Iron Men Disciples

Path Ministries

George Runyan is a man of the Spirit and the Word, and he is also a personal friend of mine over many years. He has written a number of important books for the body of Christ over the years, but none more important than this latest book, Fit For Engagement.

Relatively short and very easy to read, Fit For Engagement is a manual or primer on spiritual warfare, and it is essential reading for all of God’s people, especially new believers. In this manual or primer Brother Runyan lays out the essential foundations for spiritual victory which are to be found only in Christ’s victory over the devil and His kingdom. In explaining these foundations he also carefully unveils the first or essential principles of effective or successful spiritual warfare over the Devil and his kingdom.

A gifted writer, a recognized apostolic teacher, and a proven minister in the body of Christ, Fit For Engagement is must reading for anyone interested in walking in ongoing victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil, especially new believers. Therefore, it is with great enthusiasm I recommend George Runyan’s book to the body of Christ.

George Kouri

Acknowledgements

I am grateful to The Rock Church in San Diego, CA, pastored by Miles McPherson, and the Disciples Path Men’s Ministry, led by Pastor Ronnie Holderby and his brother Rick Holderby, for allowing me the privilege of teaching these principles to the men of the Rock Church since 2004.

John Seymour – Father God used John to lay in my life a love of God’s Word. He was instrumental in leading me into a relationship with the Holy Spirit. He taught me the importance of rightly dividing the Word of God. Because of Brother Seymour my teaching ministry was launched in San Diego at the Berean Bible College.

Charles Donhowe, who pastored me in the seventies and helped me to learn how to navigate through some rough waters of life. Brother Donhowe is a man of principle and he taught me the importance of covenant relationship and integrity.

George Kouri – Brother Kouri was used of the Lord to stir up the apostolic calling on my life. He brought further clarity concerning the kingdom of God and the recovery of apostolic teachings. Brother Kouri continues to teach leaders as the Chancellor of the Apostles Theological Seminary.

Charles Simpson – For forty-six years Brother Charles Simpson has been impacting my thinking as he has with multitudes. He has helped me to understand the need for the Goodnews of the Kingdom of God to be proclaimed to the culture. I highly recommend Brother Simpson’s book – The Covenant and the Kingdom. Brother Charles has been my pastor for twenty years. He has had a wonderful impact upon the region of San Diego where I reside with my family.

Thanks to all those who have helped in the editing of the manuscript and for your suggestions to make it a better read. Thanks to: My wife Becky, John Barry, Jerry Phillips, Dr. Stan DeKoven, and Kathy Smith of Vision Publishing.

Thank you to all who wrote endorsements for Fit for Engagement. Each of you has sown into my life over the years. I respect and appreciate your contributions in advancing God’s kingdom purposes: thank you Charles Simpson, Stan DeKoven, Nathan Daniel, Richard Dungan, Rick Holderby, Ronnie Holderby and George Kouri.

Men like Mark and Dave Hoffman, pastors of Foothills Christian Church in El Cajon, CA have deposited more than I could every express in words of appreciation.

A special thanks to Pastor Ronnie Holderby for kindly writing the Forward in Fit for Engagement. The Lord has used you mightily to poor into the life of thousands of men over the years. Things are better because of your ministry in advancing the kingdom of God!

Dr. Stan DeKoven, President of Vision International University. I thank you Stan for your abiding friendship and all of the valuable help that you have offered me in so many areas for the past twenty years.

There are so many others that should be mentioned. All my fellow elders in the San Diego region who have been a part of building strong committed relationships in order to advance God’s kingdom purpose in this local area. And to my many friends across the nation and throughout the world who have had a part in the development and ministry to advance God’s kingdom.

Last, but not least, my wife Becky. I thank you Becky for your love and patience with me over these many years. You, more than anyone, have impacted my life for good. Thank you for all your patience and the sacrifices made in support of my calling in Christ and the raising of our children. Thank you for your input and help in learning to live out the principles of God’s word in marriage, family, and covenant relationship.

Contents

Foreword

Introduction

Principles of Truth

The Life of Christin in You

First Principles of the Doctrine of Christ

Our Three-fold Salvation

We Are to War Together and Not Along

Evil

The Garden of Eden

The Baptism of Christ Leads to an Encounter with the Devil

The Agony of Gethsemane

Declaration of Judgement

The Tree-fold Mandate

Put On the Whole Armor of God

Are Demons Real

Onward Christian Soldier

APPENDIX

About the Author

Foreword

It is always a great pleasure for the IronMen Disciple’s Path Ministry students to have the opportunity to be taught by Pastor George Runyan regarding the reality of spiritual warfare and given the truth of God’s Word. These Past 14 years my brother Rick Holderby and myself have had the opportunity to learn and receive these biblical truths through the teaching of Pastor George. The biblical principles regarding spiritual warfare and his passionate, effective, biblically and accurate teaching hits the target dead center.

Father God has used Pastor George to lay in our lives and over 900 student’s lives, the foundation for a love of God’s Word. He has been instrumental in leading us into a real and personal relationship with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Pastor George has taught us the importance of rightly dividing the Word of Truth.

For example, in his book he writes; "In a similar fashion, evil is located at the root of sin. When it comes to evil, too often we only deal with the symptoms and not the real problems. The seeds of evil need not be planted, because they are already in the soil; pre-existent in the spiritual realm and in the human heart:

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.

Jeremiah 17:9-10 KJV

What needs to be planted is what is contained in the good seed of the Gospel; that is, the goodness of God. Good must be planted, cultivated, and tended. This book will help you, the believer, understand the basic issues you face as followers of Christ Jesus."

I personally want to encourage you to take the time to read this book asking the Holy Spirit to reveal all He has for you. Imagine standing at a huge wall and looking through a window seeing clearly a battle being fought on the other side of the wall.