Waging War
With Memorial Day having just passed, i was thinking about sacrifice, as well as the costs of war.
One of the movies that depicts the intensity of war quite well is Saving Private Ryan. In the early part of that film we see the troops landing on the beaches of Normandy, France for the D-Day invasion.
It is frenetic, frightening and consuming. That scene, and others from the movie are great visual representations of life in the midst of spiritual battle, particularly the spiritual conflict waged behind the scenes in the lives of Christian men struggling with pornography addiction.
We are in the crosshairs of a wicked enemy who wants to take us out. The reality of this was evident recently as the men’s group gathered.
One of the brothers started opening his heart about some dark things, including thoughts of suicide. At first, it was almost as if he used the word but hadn’t been serious about it.
The more he spoke, and the more questions the group asked, it became clear that suicide was a major issue. He had been having chronic thoughts about ending his life, but then keeping it under wraps.
We waged war on his behalf that night. We prayed over him, and invited the Holy Spirit in. We confronted the Enemy when our brother was too weak to do so on his own.
It was a D-Day-like invasion. We were — and remain — brothers in arms.
What was becoming apparent was the fact that for years the pain which is at the root of this brother’s suicidal thoughts was being medicated by lust and porn. But now that those coping mechanisms are being taken away, the deeper issues are rising to the surface. And without the drug of porn, this brother was facing the wounds of his heart directly. The pain made him want to flee. And the ultimate escape would be suicide.
This is what it looks like when we get below the water line to the real issues driving pornography addiction.
It was a good night. i loved waging war in the company of my brothers.
Intentional Warriors 
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