Responding to a friend worried about gangs of muslims in the streets...

Mate if you're walking around Birmingham city centre after 10pm you're not seeing the best of British.

You're not seeing the hard working types who head to the gym at 6-7am for an hour or two before working a full day.

You're not seeing the tough builders & scaffolders who are getting early nights as they're up at 5am to be on site an hour from home for 8am.  You're not seeing the many who are sparring  or training in the martial arts clubs, one of my best friends is the top jujitsu instructor in Derby, he gives sparring practice to special forces guys. At 60 he's the fittest guy I know, a former church leader/youth pastor/school governor/former physics teacher who's now a village church warden to several rural churches in retirement, studying for ordination as there's noone else available to preach so he's already doing  it, and having supernatural experiences and seeing a revival among 15 year old school girls from the big local school nearby who just decided they were going to go to church and showed up in his village church!  They now lay on special services for them.

You're not seeing our current military or our battle hardened veterans (except the homeless ones, and I bet they're not the ones drinking).

What our politicians have been ignoring for decades is the silent majority of strong, hard working, decent people too decent and hard working to complain who just get on with it and are the backbone of the nation, but who are now starting to murmur and stand up and protest as they've had enough of our women being unsafe to walk the streets, of stabbings and rapes on a weekly basis.  I think that poor 17 year old lad in France is  one of the worst cases, but there have been similar incidents in Germany or rape and murder of youngsters that went unreported before the media focus shifted to these now frequent events.

All of Europe is waking up.  The Spanish have been taking matters into their own hands more and more, and they're a proud race who built a mighty Empire before we did.  We'll see a 2nd Reconquista (the 1st was when the Spanish through out the muslims that had ruled over half of spain for a period back back in earlier times).

The Poles at the siege of Vienna turned back muslim hordes which came against them - one of the leaders received a word about eating their enemies like bread - so they baked their bread in a crescent  shape, the symbol of islam being the crescent  moon, and waved their newly invented croissants on the ramparts at  the enemy to symbolise this - yes that's how the croissant was invented!

As for do we need to train - by all means.  It's the responsibility of us men to provide for and protect our families and communities, and for that we must stand shoulder to shoulder, not think we can do it ourselves, in real life the Rambos are easily picked off and neutralised as they're easily outnumbered.  

Turning the other cheek means we don't respond in kneejerk fashion to provocation, we remain calm and collected and peaceful when provoked, we don't lash out in anger or rage, but remain self  controlled, a fruit of the Spirit.  

But it doesn't mean we back down.  

We're called to stand when we have done all else, not sit or lie down like lazy indolents, no, to stand courageously.  God raises up leaders and rulers, and they don't bear the sword in vain, God puts them there to punish wrong doers.  And if our leaders are the wrong doers, then we the people have every right to take back the reigns of power we've entrusted to them.  

Jesus himself when he was arrested one minute said put aside your sword, as he knew it was his destiny to die, but the next minute said the time was coming to sell your shirt and buy a sword.

And if you're not trained in warfare, well... anyone can train in martial arts, if only just for self defence.  My experience of doing judo was to use your attacker's energy against them with deft movements to wrong foot them - it's a safe sports version of jujitsu which has moves to at least imobilise/paralyse/render unconsious an opponent if not kill them, but the mentality behind many traditional martial arts is that of peaceful warrior monks defending themselves without weapons, not as violent attackers, certainly Kung Fu is like this. (Ok there are Samurai warriors using swords/numchuks etc.)  Just learning to punch properly will disable an opponent without killing them.  

Being strong and capable and able to defend yourself is not violent, it's a man's duty and response to violence.  

The Holy Spirit comes to give us boldness, courage - Winston Churchill said courage is the most important virtue, as it's the one that guarantees all the others.  It takes courage and strength to be kind, patient, long suffering and loving in a violent evil world - Eric Liddel in a Japanese prison camp in China worked himself to death caring for his fellow inmates because he was strong and they were weak.

In the civil war in this country, they said 'have faith in God, but keep your powder dry', ie be prayerful and do the sensible practical things, be prepared (your musket wouldn't fire if your gunpowder was damp).

I grew up in the forces, and I'm telling you there is a far higher proportion of believers in the armed forces than in the general population - they are pushed to their limits in training, a guy I once knew got saved doing P company with the Paras (basic training) as the course is designed to break you and cause you to work as a team in order to get through - in his case he cried out to God to get him through, he ended up as a chaplain to the Paras (and those chaplains have to be able to do all the physical challenges the troops they are serving do - you can't be a chaplain to the Paras without having their stamina and being able to do a parachute jump - there are amazing stories of heroism of the chaplains during the normandy landings - one brought his communion chalice and plate and it stopped a bullet that would other wise have killed him, I read the book 'The Longest Day' as a 13 year old at school in the school library!

I was training last year with a missions organisation that was mostly ex military taking the gospel/trauma counselling into post conflict zones where people were crying out for the gospel - I'd hoped to go on their mission to Ukraine but my health and divorce prevented me finishing the training and going with them last summer.  But during that training we had remote training from a General that had been our head  of the army in Bosnia, who'd been a captain in the first Gulf war, and aide to the General commanding the British army in that war.  That general, a christian, asked his aide what he thought they should do when the received intel that Saddam was thinking of using chemical weapons against them, to see what he would say (a training opportunity, knowing probably this guy might be a future general!).

He said he didn't know, so that general said to him this is what we're going to do - we're going to go between these armoured vehicles and get on our knees and pray...!

So there you are, the weapons of our warfare are indeed spiritual not carnal - stay prayed up, walking with the Holy Spirit, as he'll show up in amazing ways in whatever situation you find yourself in - and we have the sword of the spirit, the word of truth - islam is a lie!  The joy of the Lord is our strength - there is no joy in Islam, only fear. That's why a few hundred knights templar (warrior monks) could rout Saladin's army of 20,000.

They that are for us are more than they that are against us bro!  Look over the enemies heads to the angelic hosts who are for us, like Elisha urged Gehazi to do!

Read Billy Graham's book Angels if you want to read jawdropping accounts of angelic intervention in both  world wars, stuff you won't read in the history books - stuff that happened in the Battle of Britain when King George VI ordered a national day of prayer - planes with dead pilots continuing to fly and fight... biblical stuff happening!  A company of angelic soldiers showing up in no man's land in WW1, dressed in heavenly WW1 uniforms.

When I was in ministry/bible school in Toronto 20 years ago, I heard former US Marines on the stage who'd served in the gulf war giving live testimony of seeing angels swatting scud missiles out of the sky above them in the heat of battle...!

We serve a miracle working God, who is mighty to save...

Fear not, for I have redeemed you, I have called you by name! This is a command, not a suggestion from God!

Isaiah 43:1-5 NKJV

[1] But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine. [2] When you pass through the waters, I will  be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you. [3] For I am the Lord your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I gave Egypt for your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in your place. [4] Since you were precious in My sight, You have been honored, And I have loved you; Therefore I will give men for you, And people for your life. [5] Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your descendants from the east, And gather you from the west;

Joshua 1:9 NIV

[9] Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

Hearing your stories of how bold and courageous and quick you are to share the gospel all day long mate, I don't think you need to fear, I don't think you'll be found wanting when and if it comes to it.  God will show up in ways that will amaze you - remember when Saul of Tarsus with a band of armed men bent on murdering christians in Tarsus encountered the living Christ, those soliders fell to the ground as dead men.  The same Jesus lives in you bro - when you're weak, he is strong, no weapon formed against you will prosper...!! Shabbah!  The lion of the tribe of Judah HAS prevailed, the battle is already won, we fight on our knees with our hands lifted high in surrender to our mighty champion!!