The Analogy Behind the Memphis Belle Battle Scene
Dr.
John Maxwell in his book PARTNERS IN PRAYER said this:
"Early in my ministry, I was naive about how much Christian leaders have
to battle the devil. But as I continue in my ministry, I find that I have
to fight Satan more and more, and the battles usually occur when I'm making
major decisions. I believe the evil one watches for the right
time to attack Christian leaders, and he is especially active before an
advance for God's kingdom, after a victory, and when a leader is just
plain tired. [This fits a physical parallel seen in World War
II: B-17's came under heaviest attack from Me109's and FW190's and also
flack just before they got near the target, or just after hitting the
target--on the way home. Also, the German's would especially
go after crippled aircraft or ones separated from the formation. Talk
about why Christians shouldnt be loners, having no church
to attend. Loners dont survive. Germans hated attacking
a tight box formation of B-17s, each having 13 fifty caliber machine-guns
to train out on their respective side of the box.] John Maxwell continues.
Any time a person is doing positive things for God, Satan
will try to stop it. The higher you go up the ladder of Christian leadership
[or accomplishment], the higher you go on Satan's hit list. That means
pastors and other church leaders are going to be under continuous spiritual
attack because they spend the majority of their time working to build
God's kingdom." [That was a quote from pages 83-84 PARTNERS IN
PRAYER, by John C. Maxwell, my remarks in brackets [ ] .]
I made the same observation as a result of the attacks that have been
leveled against me whenever I was about to make a quality addition to
my site. These attacks would become the heaviest as I made significant
changes or additions to the Christian unity website the Lord was inspiring
me to create. These well-timed attacks continue to this day, often when
I least expect it. This site utilizes the talents I have been blessed
with, so that I am fulfilling Romans 12:1-2 to the very fullest in my
life. (The site is now nourishing an average of 500 persons a month with
high quality sermon transcripts and topical Bible studies on prayer, Christian
growth, faith, evangelism, concepts of ministry and church history.) That
is why I started using the battle analogy that the work I was doing was
like a spiritual "Memphis Belle" (a famous B-17 bomber in World War II)
heading for a spiritual target over enemy territory. Once I made the analogy
though, I started saying to myself (kind of doubting) "this is crazy".
Then the Lord started backing up the analogy, and he did so well over
seven times in two short years, twice by actually bringing the B-17 bomber
that was used to film "Memphis Belle" to our local airport! The other
two major signs were the mailing of two large zipfiles of B-17 nose art
to me, unsolicited, by a former shipmate. Contained in the second zipfile
was the actual file photo of the Memphis Belle and her crew being congratulated
by Army high brass after their 25th mission (just before their return
to the United States). These signs would come within weeks of my doubting
myself and this analogy and whether the Lord was really backing it up.
They occurred over a two year period. After the sixth sign from the Lord,
I stopped questioning whether he was really doing and inspiring me to
do this work I have started to undertake. Now it's just a given to me
that this is what he wants me doing, and that I'm going to get shot at,
and I'm going to be flying into spiritual "flack storms".
The analogy behind the battle scene is that the work the Lord has given
me to do is like a spiritual Memphis Belle (B-17), carrying a spiritual
bomb-load against Satan's evil empire. The bomb-load is aimed at bringing
spiritual health and nurturing to the body of Christ, thus bringing a
degree of spiritual unity to the body of Christ (not doctrinal or organizational
unity). Spiritually, this creates spiritual fire-storms in the midst of
this evil world Satan holds sway over, the same as our B-17s would do
on enemy targets. The bomb-load itself is the content of the website,
and the Belle is the website itself. The crew are the people who work
on the site, myself, and right now Sue and Mike who are web designers
and run the server the site is on. This may all sound nuts to you. But
the attacks I have been under were real enough, and so were the signs
I received over a two year period, often received just after I entertained
major doubts about the Lord's backing up this crazy sounding analogy.
Ive been a Christian long enough to recognize attacks from Satan,
subtle as some are, as compared to the result of my own carnality mixed
with time and chance. Satans attacks are usually timed just before,
or after a major advance has been made for Gods kingdom. And the
major symptom is that their effect is like all hell breaking lose in ones
life, and then suddenly everythings back to normal [much like an
enemy fighter-plane attack on a B-17-the fury of a firefight, then theyre
gone-and youre left flying onward, hopefully, licking your wounds].
If you cant picture this, rent the movie Memphis Belle
and watch it.
But back to the spiritual analogy of a B-17 bomber with its bomb-load.
When people are enlivened spiritually by reading any of these studies,
it lights them up spiritually. You might say it lights their fires. This
may sound screwy, but according to a pastor Ive talked to who has
spoken to demon possessed people, the demon possessing the person has
remarked that it hurts being around a real Christian because the indwelling
Holy Spirit is painful for them to look at, like looking into an aircraft
or naval searchlight--its blinding. We humans cant see it,
but we do light up the world wherever we are. Satans demonic world
hates this. The stronger the body of Christ grows, and the more people
drawn into real relationships with Jesus Christ--possessing the indwelling
Holy Spirit--well, its like setting the demons evil world
on fire. Yeah, we cant see the fire, but its there nonetheless.
So if this site is doing the equivalent of lighting spiritual fires wherever
it drops these studies, its the same as what our bombers did in
WWII when they fire-bombed industrial cities behind enemy lines. Its
just an analogy, but I think its an accurate one. In WWII, with
just 11 percent of the military budget, our bomber force virtually destroyed
the enemy behind the lines before his army collapsed. Their army ground
to a halt from lack of supplies and fuel long before their physical ability
to wage war ceased. The apostle Paul had a lot to say about spiritual
warfare. Be sure to look up the section on Ephesians 6 on this website
to see what Paul had to say about spiritual warfare. Also an excellent
resource on spiritual warfare is Brian Brodersons booklet SPIRITUAL
WARFARE, which can be ordered from The Word For Today, PO Box, 8000, Costa
Mesa, CA 92628. The cost is $3.50. Its just 73 pages long and gives
a good outline of all the major facets of this fascinating subject. Yes,
Johnny, there is a devil, and he walks about as a roaring lion, seeking
whom he may devour.
Right now my site is almost complete as far as the content required to
effectively draw a non-Christian to Christ, as well as strengthening the
walk of Christians. The material on it has the ability to nourish Christian
readers, drawing them into a closer and more relevant relationship with
Jesus Christ. The more interesting but superficial areas of the site,
like prophecy and church history, are actively linked via hypertext links
to sermon transcripts and topical studies that are of the caliber required
to actually draw non-Christian and Christian alike into a deeper relationship
with Jesus Christ. The topical studies on prophecy are also linked by
hypertext links to the topical section on evangelism, leading Christian
readers to articles that will instill a desire to fulfill the job Jesus
gave us all to do until he returns (Matthew 28:18-20). The specific goals
of the website are that the site exists for the benefit and spiritual
enrichment of all genuine Christian denominations and fellowships by helping
to nurture all Christians of all denominations online. It is not my desire
or intent that this site draw Christians from one denomination or fellowship
into another. Instead, it is my strong desire that Christians remain in
the Christian denomination or fellowship they are in and help strengthen
it by their enlivened presence and service. Right now I live in a house
with my two children, one age 15 and the other age 19, somewhere in central
Massachusetts, working as an electronics tech. For further material dealing
with the subject of spiritual warfare be sure to click on the section
on Ephesians and scroll to the sermon transcripts dealing with Ephesians
6. Also in the What is Evangelism? section, click on Principles
of War: A Strategy For Evangelism. During this church age that spans
the time from Jesus ascension to Gods throne to the time of his
return in glory, we find ourselves living in a cruel world where Satan
and his demonic forces hold unseen sway over all of mankind. His deceptions
reach out to all of mankind, as clearly stated in Revelation 12:9. As
Romans 13:11-14 states, And that, knowing the time, that now it
is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than
when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore
cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not
in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on
the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill
the lusts thereof. And if you think were not closer to Jesus
return, then you must have been sleeping during the events of September
11, 2001. Enjoy the site,

Peter F. Benson
editor, UNITYINCHRIST.COM
P.S. Again, for a very good study on the subject of spiritual warfare,
write to The Word For Today, PO Box 8000, Costa Mesa, CA 92628
and order SPIRITUAL WARFARE by Brian Brodersen (Cost $3.50). Pastor Brian
Brodersen of Calvary Chapel Westminster, England brings biblical balance
and practical insight to the subject of spiritual warfare. To look this
booklet up online log onto http://www.thewordfortoday.org .
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Flying a B-17 in not usually attempted by one person, this heavy aircraft requires a pilot and co-pilot. I am looking for a qualified spiritual wife/co-pilot, with similar spiritual background, to assist in this ministry. |
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