Spiritual Warfare and Missions

by Jerry Rankin, Jerry Rankin

The mission of God to “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19, HCSB) is a major target of spiritual warfare today. In this new book by International Mission Board president Jerry Rankin and
noted missiologist Ed Stetzer, the authors call out Satan’s ongoing strategy to convince Christians that the Great Commission is optional. Through deceit, he is eroding the authoritative mandate of Scripture, leading believers to tell themselves that international discipleship is a task better left to denomination
and mission agencies—not the sort of kingdom work that every believer can do.
But for every evil success, Rankin and Stetzer point to where Satan is failing, thus encouraging readers to renew their passion to declare God’s glory among the nations. Indeed, by taking up the call to action here, we can be sure that the kingdoms of the world will become the kingdom of the Lord.

Genres: Christian, Christian Living, Nonfiction, Prayer, Christianity, Spirituality, Faith

333 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 15, 2009

Reviews

[Joshua · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was well written and absolutely able to prove its’ thesis. With personal anecdotes, missionary stories, and sound Biblical theology, Rankin was able to show that we are in a spiritual war and the western Christian need be awaken to this reality. With passion and clarity Rankin was able to keep the reader engaged and interested. We are in a war and the threat is real. The world is attempting to destroy our families, attack our faith, and change our converts. The Devil is attempting to chew up our ministers, steal our little ones, and shut down our churches. The flesh is continually selfish, thinking only of immediate gratification and self-glorification rather than the eternal importance of Christ and the glory of Christ’s Father.
Not only was the author able to prove his thesis he was also able to actively encourage the reader to become active in this war. Throughout the reading of this book I began to consider my own life and ministry. How have I allowed the fiery darts of the wicked one to pierce my armor and affect my heart? How have I been drawn in by the allure of the world, forgetting that I am not of this world but a citizen of another kingdom, and a devotee to another Potentate? How have I allowed my flesh to control my destiny when the power of the Spirit of Christ rests in me when I have full access to say no to the flesh and live in the Spirit?
Rankin clearly leaned heavily into the thoughts of C.S. Lewis. However, I believe this was done successfully. It is a dangerous thing to so tightly fit your work to another’s for many may think that your words are not your own or the thoughts are not original. Yet, Rankin does not fall into this trap. Instead of stealing Lewis’ ideas he simply borrows them and builds upon them with up-to-date wording and references.
One portion of the book that stood out to me was the explanation of Satan’s use of adversity. When Rankin teaches that praising the Lord in the midst of adversity was a way of defeating the Devil and bringing glory to God, I was amazed. Yes! This point was so well expressed and delivered. As Paul and Silas sat in the prison singing praises to God in the midst of a very terrible ordeal it seems as if Satan had won, the world was succeeding, and the natural reaction of the flesh would be to grumble and complain. But instead, the men of God did just the opposite. They sand praises to God in the darkest moment of their lives and in doing so brought tremendous glory to God. The songs of praise declared that believed that God was fully in control and that God’s plan would end in victory. What glory this must have brought to the Lord. So much glory that the frightened jail keeper, upon the earthquake and opening of cell doors, came trembling before the apostles ready to take his own life but was instead gloriously saved. This salvation, and the subsequent salvation of his entire clan, would bring further glory to God simply because these two men chose to praise God in the midst of the adversity, What an amazing thought this is.
One area of critique that I had with the book was near the end. I do not believe the author did himself any favors by being so scattered in his thinking. Chapter ten felt like less a conclusion to a wonderful book as much as smattering of last minute ideas. I wish he had better edited this last chapter for I felt like he was reexamining thoughts already covered in previous chapters and touching on other thoughts he had not enough time to fully develop

[Yonasan Aryeh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rankin's content is a very interesting read. He presents several fascinating viewpoints regarding spiritual warfare. Reviewing his information, I do like that he addresses the reality of spiritual warfare. He shares several tales of his experiences to help validate, in a way, the content he is sharing. I do feel, however, that he does over share in some instances, unnecessarily lengthening the book. The information may, no doubt, be needed by those who are struggling with the concept of spiritual warfare, but my personal view is that it makes the book less interesting by being too long. The content he shares could easily be covered in a single church sermon, which would be the length of a blog post or short essay – not a full length book. His definition of spiritual warfare, as addressed previously in this critique, is excellent. It is open enough for many denominations to receive and approve the definition, yet succinct enough to adequately address spiritual warfare without watering it down.
I appreciate his consistent use of Scripture throughout the book to help support his assertions and claims about spiritual warfare. Scripture is not over quoted, either, which lends support that Rankin does not feel he needs to persuade an audience to believe his theory, but rather that he fully believes what he is writing about and earnestly believes that his audience agrees with them. In this regard, his book is more or less a short primer on the world of spiritual warfare. He addresses all the topics that are needed, and maintains a healthy viewpoint of the enemy: not underestimating him, but not giving him too much power either. Rankin fully relies on the power of Christ to overcome Satan. He is not charismatic in his approach, yet also shares experiences that would invalidate the standard "the spirit realm is dead" viewpoint of many Christians and the modern West.
Rankin correctly portrays the enemy and his goals, as well as the purpose of our existence, in his book. Other than the length of his chapters outweighing the applicable content in the chapters, Rankin fully addressed the topic at hand and provides a definitive read on spiritual warfare for the believer today.

[Matt Horne · Rating 5 out of 5]

At first, I was disappointed because it was not what I expected from a book on Spiritual Warfare. I was expecting list like "5 ways to kill sin in your life" or "3 reasons you should be fasting," but there were no clickbait style chapters with bullet point answers.

As I continued to read, I saw some of the life experiences of a missionary on the field doing God's work, while being attacked both subtly through an exploding todo list (like we all have), government bureaucracy run amok just to get a car registered for another year, hatred from other religions, and other spiritual warfare. He was in the trenches sharing the gospel and he was under attack.

There were definitely some twitter worthy quotes, but my favorite part was in the last chapter where he opened my eyes to something new that I've never seen in the armor of God from Ephesians 6. I've read, studied, taught, and prayed over this chapter countless times, but Jerry showed me that it could be that to put on the armor of God, we are to put on God; that he himself is the armor. He says, "Throughout the New Testament we are told to 'put on the Lord Jesus Christ,' 'to be clothed in Christ'; time and time again the Bible refers to Christians as being 'in Christ.'"

So to put on the belt of Truth - God is truth.
To put on the breastplate of righteousness - Jesus is our righteousness.
To put on the helmet of salvation - Jesus is our salvation.
To put on the shield of faith - our faith is in Jesus Christ our Lord.
To put on the sword of the Spirit - John called Jesus the Word of God.
To put on the shoes of the preparation of the gospel of peace - God is our peace.

If the rest of the book was one-star, chapter ten would have made it a five star book. The rest of the book is not one-star, but it is all useful in the fight against the powers of darkness. Five stars all around.

[Meredith · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

Book read for Seminary course.

Decent book but not what I expected. I didn’t agree with quite a few statements made, especially in regard to some comments about missions. He clearly values missionaries and felt at times if one is not a overseas missionary they aren’t obeying the great commission (see Ch. 2, paragraph 5). Dangerous and not true.

This book felt like more of a “here is what you can do in spiritual warfare” than about spiritual warfare. I had hoped for a more in-depth study of spiritual warfare in scripture, demons vs. angels, demon possession, fall of Satan, rulers of the earth, etc. While those were mentioned, it was not the focus nor discussed in depth. Much of the book was about how to have victory in Jesus, everything works for God’s glory, and the surface level tactics the enemy uses as our tempter, adversary, accuser, and enemy. Rankin also has the theological stance that nothing happens apart from God’s permission, which greatly influences his understanding of victory and the enemy.

Overall, not my go to book on the subject. Left me wanting more and felt too much like a self help book on spiritual warfare. Heiser’s works are much more comprehensive and helpful on this subject.

[Rod · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of the more than six thousand languages in the world, fewer than a thousand have the entire Bible in their own language. Only about twelve hundred others have the New Testament or some portion of scripture. This book is filled with both practical, obvious examples of satan's methods and supporting scripture as well that point to one thing. That there is yet much work to be done to share God's glory with the millions living and dying lost in their sin. If you need a good challenge on why we should get out of practicing routine religion and get busy sharing in the world, then this book is a good place to start...

[Lacie Ernst · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, powerful read with many practical examples and real life experiences mentioned throughout. This book teaches Christians how to recognize the deceitful lies/tactics of the enemy so we can live victorious and glorify God. I'll definitely be referring to this book in the future.

[Victoria]

Another excellent book, highly recommend it.

[Byron · Rating 3 out of 5]

So far so good!

[Joshua Lay · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok. I didn't really agree with some of his theology, but his zeal is appreciated.

[Christopher Julian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I believe this is a valuable resource for everyone who considers themselves a follower of Christ. I actually thought the book would be stuffy and boring. I was wrong.

[Brent · Rating 2 out of 5]

Somewhat fantastic accounts and understanding of spiritual warfare rooted in rather poor theology.

[Blake · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you believe in the Spiritual War, like I do, this amazing book only compounds it and opens your eyes further. To what the enemy, the devil truly is, and his tactics, simultaneously showing you how God fights against and protects you.

Giving real facts and examples as a missionary in Africa and Indonesia, and events happening in his life that read like a movie. Not meant to scare you, but educate you on exactly what war is raging around and within you.

This book, showing both the devil and God will stretch your beliefs and most certainly initiate many discussions, and even disagreements from the source material from within.

[Cathy Demorest · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting view of Chritianity in terms of the world view. There are many people who have never heard of Jesus Christ. I found the biblical references by the author quite helpful in understanding his perspective of biblical truth and the teachings of Jesus. The personal experiences of the author and his fellow Christians gave deep insight into why many Christians will take great risks to spread the word of the Gospel, just as the first disciples did.

[Blanca Rosa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Este libro está muy bueno para aquellos que quieran abrir miciones

[Megan Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book that has challenged me to do better in my faith. Every chapter kept learning more and kept teaching me.

[Greg D · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall this is a decent book but a little dry at times. This book is specifically written for those who are contemplating going on the mission field, but aren't sure if they are supposed to or not. The premise behind this book is that Satan is doing everything in his power to thwart the Gospel from being spread to the nations. He does this by setting up oppressive governments and regimes, and by closing off borders so missionaries cannot come in to share the Good News of Jesus Christ. Satan has also infiltrated the church by spreading the lie that only a select few are called to missions... those special people with a special calling. This is contrary to the fact that as Christians, we are ALL called to missions. There is no deciding, no waiting for some special moment or calling. We must GO! And, this is the primary message of the New Testament to all believers, and the message of this book.

There were many places that I glossed through the book as there seemed to be many dry spots and ramblings. And, I was taken a bit back by the president of the IMB and co-author of this book, Jerry Rankin whose explanation that many missionary agencies don't qualify or allow some people into missions because they don't fit a particular criteria (page 205). The IMB does the very same thing themselves. I know. I was one of them. Thankfully, Pioneers extends grace where the IMB doesn't.

Needless to say, this is a good book overall. And I highly recommend it to those who feel led to go into missions, but are also a bit apprehensive for whatever reason.

[Nathan Grimm · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some very good information in here.

I greatly disliked that the author, multiple times, shamed the missionaries his organization commissioned by using them as examples of Christians who were not fully dedicated to the work of God.

[Kaylee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was exactly what I needed right now in our journey overseas. The personal examples mixed in with solid truth from the Bible made it a great read and very applicable.

[Ben Moser · Rating 3 out of 5]

4 stars for content but 3 stars because it was way too wordy and redundant. It’s content is important but really left my reminded of spiritual warfare spin on piper’a let the nations be glad.