“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds” 2 Corinthians 10:4. Speak with a military officer regarding an enemy and you’ll find that they fear enemy strong holds the most because once established, they are increasingly difficult to infiltrate or demolish.

Afghanistan is a perfect example of military might being put to shame by enemy strong holds. And ignoring them won’t do. They must be quickly and decidedly dealt with. Disregarding an enemy only embeds that enemy’s determination and strengthens his resolve. People have been ignoring this enemy for thousands of years now, and he is just about to unleash the full brunt of his minions of evil on an unsuspecting, foolishly ignorant, and very complacent world.

Increasingly, mankind is given occasion to observe, through the actions of others, the manifestation of supernatural forces. In the person who occupies the Oval Office, for example, we can see pure evil at work. And in many cases those who surround this man as his advisors are also manifestations of this same evil. God does not allow us to visually witness the behind the scenes goings on of the supernatural realm because if He did we would certainly die of fright. But He does give us eyes, ears, and brains to discern truth from lies.

There is one supernatural being, though, that when ignored, as is the case presently in the U.S. of A, civilization deteriorates to a morally debased culture devoid of all semblances of godliness. There is no uncertainty of the consequences involved when nations turn against their Creator God.

When a nation as affluent and blessed as America begins to allow the enemy to build strong holds, and dismisses them as nonexistent, she will experience catastrophic sequences of events almost on a daily basis as God attempts to bring the foolish back from their self-imposed stupor. This goes for any and all peoples of the earth.

God’s enemy is our enemy, and we as God’s children must take responsibility for allowing our enemy to erect strong holds within the boundaries of not only our lives but that of our nation also. We, the Christian citizenry of America, are not responsible for the lack of discernment of other peoples of other nations, but we are responsible for dropping our guard and allowing the enemy to build strong holds in our land.

Yes, it’s true that we as believer’s in Christ are to spread the Gospel to all nations, but we aren’t responsible, by any means, for their continued rejection of the truth. And that goes for the populace of the U.S. also. The gospel has been spread throughout our land but is now being rejected on a massive scale.

Here in America Christians fight and bicker amongst themselves like children, this bickering is not of God our Savior but of the enemy (Satan). Satan has effectively built a strong hold in America which pits brother against brother. It isn’t that the Body of Christ can’t get along, but that they won’t get along. This constant bickering amongst the brethren is just one strong hold, of which there are many, held by our enemy.

Christians should realize that our fight is against a well entrenched enemy, but instead we, the Body of Christ, connive and plot against our own brethren. Christians are becoming more and more like Islam’s Sunnis and Shiites as we war amongst ourselves. How can a non-believer look at all this bickering without being thoroughly disgusted?

When believers in Christ begin to realize that our fight is not “…against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” Ephesians 6:12, then we might start to fully realize just how deeply-rooted those enemy strong holds are.

Satan and his fallen hoard of minions bent on evil have been on this planet for 6,000 years give or take a day or two or a couple of years. America has been here for 234 years. The enemy is smarter, stronger, and worst of all he never stops attacking.

Many believers allow the enemy’s erecting of strong holds in their lives. This is something that is avoidable but is tolerated. You might ask yourself, “What enemy strong holds have I allowed in my life?” Well let’s see just how many fall into one or more of the following areas where the enemy loves to reside.

Pride, lust, hate, envy, strife, despair, loss of joy, accumulation of materialism, lying, alcohol abuse, drugs, and one of the most prolific of all is pornography, and this is just to name a few. These are all strong holds which, if allowed to fester, grow into huge problems which become increasingly difficult to combat.

Strong holds can become addictions and when finally realized can be next to impossible to eradicate and can lead to death. “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Do not err, my beloved brethren.” James 1:16.

Strong holds erected by the enemy in a believer’s life will bring about a whole lot of unwanted circumstances. Interestingly of late I’ve receive numerous letters regarding various sins that the brethren are stuck in and which are draining them spiritually.

Many profess thoughts of being not only out of fellowship with God but unsaved altogether. They can’t seem to kick the addictive sin they are involved in and thus believe they can’t possibly be saved. The enemy loves to move a believer into this camp.

To some of you this may seem to be just a trivial matter, perhaps just a lack of faith, but in all actuality it is tearing these individuals up inside. They profess to me their love for God, they tell me they believe He died for them on the cross, and they are sure His word is true.

Yet, they find themselves fighting daily just to keep their head above water in a world where they seem to be drowning in unending distractions which have disastrous consequences. I believe programmed television is one of the main distractions available and highly accepted by believers in Christ, and yet completely promoted by Satan himself. This is a stronghold that many, certainly the majority, of Christians are addicted with.

Encouraging believers to hold fast to the faith and to help them cope with besetting sins has now become the main part of my response ministry. The majority of questions that I receive are from folks who find themselves dwelling in an arena that seems escape proof. Simply put, the enemy has become entrenched and he isn’t moving out anytime soon.

I’m convinced that there is a huge shortage of sermons on the subject of eternal salvation these days which is in part the cause of so much negativity regarding a believer’s security in Christ. Of course a good Bible study program would be much more beneficial to believers than most Sunday sermons.

As a people of the Book, the Body of Christ, and a nation built on Christian principles we’ve certainly allowed the enemy a huge platform for disseminating his agenda. We are now a nation that produces and distributes the filth of pornography worldwide. Children at a very young age are now able to access this vile Internet filth and their minds are being filled with images that will never be erased.

This goes for the majority of television programming as well. This is a huge, ever entrapping and completely engulfing enemy strong hold. America is also the biggest supplier of legal abortions to the world. Another enormous strong hold held by the enemy.

We teach and encourage atheism in our public schools and then we send our graduates off to achieve excellence in higher academia where they get fully grafted into this atheistic culture. We allow the perversion of homosexuality to be condoned and those who practice such perversion to assimilate into our culture as if this lifestyle was natural.

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; …Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools… For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.” (Romans 1:18,22,26-27)

The word “meet” here means “it is necessary”. God says “it is necessary” for these men and women to pay for their offense against Him.

“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6. Our very young are easily swayed so they are taught that this horrible evil of perverted lifestyle is fully acceptable and they are even encouraged to participate in this perversion.

“Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.” (Romans 1:32)

Yes, enemy strong holds are well established and flourishing in America today, and not only in America but across the entire globe. I receive letters from folks in many different nations who are currently in horrible battles with the enemy and they feel they are losing. Instead of turning away from their addictions through prayer and fasting they’ve allowed the enemy to have his way.

Satan affects the life of all the world’s citizenry because each human being is influenced in some adverse way by the enemy’s strong holds. Here in America these strong holds are affecting believers by the score because of their perceived attractiveness.

But unlike many Americans who are defenseless against such satanic strong holds, believers have a weapon of immense portion that they are free to access at will. It is a very powerful weapon which stands ready to be deployed at a believer’s beck and call. We have God Almighty on our side. We have His word and we have been covered by the perfect shed Blood of His only begotten Son. He supplies us with the protection we need.

As America moves ever closer to completely rejecting God as their provider and granter of blessings, this nation becomes more vulnerable to the enemy’s entrapments. More and more as we watch our society’s failings because of the perverse nature of our surroundings we will see God’s hand of restraint being lifted. Enemy strong holds will increase as God is decreased.

Like I said, most military officers schooled in warfare will tell you how difficult it is to eradicate an enemy entrenched in their own strong holds. Again Afghanistan must come to mind, but unlike the Taliban and Al-Qaeda our enemy commands many more strong holds and which are far better established. To eradicate this enemy is going to take an ultimate commander, the King of Kings, to do battle for us.

Only God can remove this enemy’s strong holds but He will not act without our willing participation. Folks I’ve said it before, only through God’s intervention will our country survive and only through the ardent prayers of God’s children will He act. You and I are the voices God wants to hear; His own children voicing their concerns through the only mode of communication He’ll accept.

“Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” (Ephesians 6:11)

As we put on our armor which God so graciously provided, our huge and protective piece of armor is prayer, fervent unfettered prayers of a righteous people called by His name.

It is our responsibility as believers in Christ to act and to ask God for help. If we stay silent we will reap what we’ve sown through our silence. The silence of the believers sows enemy strong holds not only in our individual lives but across our nation and around the world. The enemy is already here and entrenched and it is up to us to mount a counterattack against those “principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12).

Whether it is individual believers being attacked or the Body of Christ as a whole we are all equally capable as a part of that Body in being proactive participants in a battle that rages 24/7. We are not many bodies all working apart from one another but one Body in Christ. What affects one of us affects all of us. If one of our brethren is being attacked and destroyed by the enemy, we are all being attacked and if we do nothing we will all learn a most horrible lesson.

But if we become involved as a body, as a force wielding the power of God against strong holds, God will command His Holy angels to fight our battle for us. The only question now is will we give God the proper motivation to unleash His Holy army on the much inferior enemy, or will we stay silent? I’m for speaking up, how about you?

God bless you all,

Ron Graham

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6)

What could Jesus Christ, the Creator of the universe, have possibly meant by proclaiming such a statement so completely exclusive as to thoroughly eliminate any other way of obtaining eternal life? Do you suppose He was only referring to those people who’ve heard the gospel and made their choice to either believe in Him or reject Him?

Surely He couldn’t have been considering the 1.5 billion adherents to the religion of Islam, right? And what about those people who live in the deepest regions of earth’s most obscure locations? How do they fare in regards to that verse above? Would it be fair of God to punish those who’ve never heard the Gospel or who’ve been taught another way to paradise?

“Well God is a fair God; surely He wouldn’t send someone to hell for an eternity just because they weren’t given the opportunity to hear the gospel message, or they were taught completely contrary to what the gospel of Christ teaches.”

Let’s get something straight right now before we venture any further into this seemingly controversial subject. “Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:” (Matthew 25:41)

God created hell for Satan and His angels, not for man. When people end up in hell it’s by their choice, not God’s.

“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)

Never has it been God’s choice to send people to Hell, nor will it ever be. It is always each individual’s choice. That’s what love is; God loves us so much He gave us a way to avoid Hell but He won’t interfere with our choice if we decide to choose Hell over an eternity spent with Him.

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” (Romans 1:16)

This is the theme of Paul’s entire letter to the Roman Christians. Paul gladly proclaimed it as God’s panacea for mankind’s spiritual need. Paul indentified the gospel of Christ as the “infinite resources of God” applied toward the goal of salvation in the life of everyone who believes regardless of racial background.

“And there is only one stipulation to obtaining God’s infinite resources and that is all people on earth no matter who they are or where they are must, individually, believe in the Gospel of Christ. “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved…” (1 Corinthians 15:1-2a)

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness.” (Romans 1:18)

Humans have a very difficult time grasping in their finite minds the meaning behind the “Wrath of God.” God’s wrath is not based on His emotions or anger, which is a human trait. Humans are motivated by selfish personal reasons and wrath in human terms would fall into a category of a need to punish or get back at someone – such as a need for revenge.

But God is not motivated by human emotions. He is completely righteous in His character, and the fairness which is derived out of the minds of men is insufficient as far as God is concerned. What we believe is fair is subjective. Everyone has different motivating factors when it comes to their concept of what fairness is.

Man’s subjective ideas of what fairness represents isn’t a quality that God considers when it comes to judging whether or not a person is born again. Fairness can’t save anyone. Just because you don’t think God is being fair won’t change His character. He’ll still do things His way. His way is just and perfect.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9)

So what do we do about all those people who don’t have Bibles and can’t read even if they had a Bible? What about the Muslims who are not taught about Jesus as Savior and Lord? Many people on this earth are taught that evolution is true and there is no God and that human beings evolved from pond scum.

This lie has been taught in public schools as truth for decades; many of these folks may never hear the truth of the Gospel. What is God to do with these folks? To be fair in men’s minds He would need to place these people under some other type of judgment that would uniquely pertain to them and their circumstances.

Unlike the rest of those who’ve heard the gospel yet still reject the truth, those who’ve accepted evolution and the lie that there is no God should get a more fair shake from our Creator, right? Wrong!

What about those who’ve been taught some other religion, something which is completely contrary to the Bible and God’s provision for salvation? Will they go to Hell because they’ve been taught erroneously yet believe that lie? Yes. Every individual on the face of this planet is held accountable to God to seek the truth.

“Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.” (Romans 1:19a)

Some want to believe that this verse is referring to God manifesting Himself into the conscience of every man, but that’s not what this verse is saying. Verse 19 refers to the fact of His revelation and the next verse, verse 20 will explain the process by which that revelation takes place.

“For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:” (Romans 1:20)

Paul wrote this verse as a condemnation to all those who reject God. “Clearly seen” means just that, clearly seen. And “understood by the things that are made” means that what God has made is not only clearly seen but understandable by observing the things which He alone has made.

People of earth can’t say they didn’t know God nor can they say they’ve never had a chance to know God since God has made even the invisible things of Himself known to man through His creation, “even His eternal power and Godhead; so they are without excuse.”(Romans 1:20b)

God never said He inserted who He is into the brain (conscience) of every human; He said He showed it to them through His creation. They either accept that revelation or they reject it. Their choice.

Paul simply explains that we are all held accountable by God to know He exists, and that knowledge of His existence is evident by the fact that we can observe His creation every day. But, and this is imperative that everyone fully understand, the knowledge that God exists will not save anyone, including the people in darkest Africa who have never heard the gospel message. Paul never refers to salvation in verse 20, only that they who reject God are without excuse.

“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17)

Anybody who has a question about how the people in darkest Africa, or Muslims for that matter, are to hear the gospel, Jesus has the answer:

“And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, ‘All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.’” (Matthew 28:18-20)

How many of you reading this commentary have stepped up to the plate so to speak and preached the Gospel to others? How many of you have ventured out of your comfort zone to make sure everyone you know has heard the gospel message? Where is your heart? Is there a burden on your heart for the lost and perishing? Charles Spurgeon says “If you don’t have a burden for the lost you may be lost yourself.”

If there is one person on the face of this earth who hasn’t heard the Gospel message, who does that put at fault? Who did Jesus give this commandment to? Was it not given to all those who claimed to be His disciples? Perhaps you’re one of those who believe that, that commandment was meant for only a select few and not Christ’s Church in its entirety.

Again, speaking of the fairness of God, our God is a just God and what you and I might consider fair may not even be a part of God’s attributes. Humanity’s idea of fairness is always going to be based on skewed emotions.

For a moment, let’s give fairness some real hard human thought. In our human estimation of fairness, just how fair was it that God had to endure watching His only begotten Son being scourged – tortured like a criminal almost to the point of death, while being mocked, scorned, and even spit upon?

How fair was it that God had to stand idly by watching as His Son endured the most extreme humiliation? How fair was it that after God created man that His creation would rebel against Him and need reconciliation so we wouldn’t all end up in hell?

Finally, was it fair that God would be subjected to watching while His only begotten Son was nailed to a cross, naked to the world, and finally die while hanging there still being verbally abused? We serve an awesome and just God; human ideals and human concepts of fairness have nothing to do with Who we serve and how He dispenses His justice.

“And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.” (Matthew 26:39)

Jesus paid the full price for our sins, He didn’t deserve what He went through, but we humans do deserve punishment – we deserve God’s wrath. Every last human being on the face of this planet is guilty – born guilty – awaiting to face God’s judgment. Because God did not allow the cup to pass from His only begotten Son we know that there is no other way for a person to obtain salvation and eternal life than through believing in Christ and His death, burial, and resurrection.

In verse 16 of Romans chapter 1 where Paul speaks of salvation, he also mentions what we are being saved from. It’s the wrath of God. Those of us who are born again have dodged that bullet by placing our faith, trust, and hope in God’s only begotten Son and what He accomplished on that cross. The gospel message is imperative for coming to that conclusion and making a decision for Christ. No gospel message taught in darkest Africa? No salvation is possible.

“Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3.

The Creator of the universe tells us that we must be born again to see Heaven. According to Jesus this can only occur when we believe that He died for the sin of the world, that He was buried, and that He’s alive today because the grave couldn’t hold Him. The resurrection of our Lord and Savior is true, and documented by His disciples who saw the empty tomb and who watched as He entered the room where they were all hiding.

Then some 500 others bore witness to the fact that He is alive and that He had been resurrected. The Gospel message is essential to the salvation of mankind and Christianity is built on this Gospel and no other. Just believing that there is a God through His special revelation (creation) won’t get you into heaven. God is adamant in His Word that salvation comes through no one or nothing else.

“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Acts 4:12. That name is Jesus the Christ. The Messiah of Israel – mashiyach nagiyd, Messiah the King – the anointed of God. There is no other NAME under heaven given among men, whereby we MUST be saved.

My wife mentioned something the other day I thought was quite profound. She said “People play cards and board games and they, for the most part, play by the rules set down by the designer of that game. But when it comes to God’s rules (our Creator) people always want to make changes that better fit their lives and emotions – their concept of fairness.” Amen!

That is exactly what we observe in the erroneous explanations of how the people of the deepest jungles and recesses on planet earth will be accepted by the Father in lieu of salvation through His only begotten Son. When people feel the need to placate the masses through politically correct means concerning some 1.5 billion people who worship the god of Islam the same logic is used.

Here’s a newsflash for all those who like to think the Muslims are not part of the equation when it comes to following Jesus Christ and Him alone for salvation. They are all condemned to hell. They play by a totally different set of rules than Christians who worship the only true and living God and designer of the game, and they have already lost.

Unless someone tells the Muslims the truth – the gospel message – and they repent and place their faith, trust, and hope in Jesus Christ and Him alone for salvation they will remain on the broad way that leads only to destruction, as will the natives of deepest darkest Africa. “…for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:” Matthew 7:13.

How many is many? We aren’t told but in contrast in the next verse Jesus mentions that few will enter in through the strait way and narrow gate. Both words representing many and few in the Greek are used denoting numbers. We can only guess at what number the Creator of the universe was trying to convey, but I suggest He’s quite serious about the fact that many will perish and few will be given everlasting life.

Many of us are guilty of redesigning God into an image that falls more in line with our humanistic thinking. But what we should be doing with our self-made God is comparing him to the reality of the God of the Bible. Then we should make the appropriate alterations to our thinking which will put us in tune with our Creator and His truth and remove any foolish inclinations.

The fact that salvation comes through Jesus Christ alone is true and biblical and that truth can’t be skewed even a little for those who wish to distance themselves from the fact that perhaps they’ve never really committed to following Jesus’ commandment concerning preaching the Gospel to the world.

in the Bible are we told that there will be some who will be exempt from the necessity of hearing the gospel and believing, nowhere. This concept is, in its entirety, a man made doctrine built on man’s emotions and ideals. God has never changed His mind about salvation. The Old Testament believers were looking to and believing in faith that their coming Messiah would be their salvation.

Today we look back at the cross, at where our Messiah was hung and where He died. Then we look to His resurrection as our hope for eternal life. Without the Messiah, Jesus the Christ, without believing in His death, burial, and resurrection our hope is in vain. “And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. …And if Christ be not raised… ye are yet in your sins.” (1 Corinthians 15:14, 17)

“…No man cometh unto the Father but by me.” (John 14:6b) Let me just add, period.

God bless you all,
Ron Graham