Guest Post: Author Parker Hudson on Spiritual Warfare

If you follow my reviews in this blog and have checked out my bookshelves on Goodreads, you will have discovered I read novels that involve spiritual warfare.

I love the plot, the depiction of the biblical principles of spiritual warfare. This not only entertains but increases and strengthens my faith. It shows me how these principles are lived out in the characters and storyline. These novels also show me the background of the author on this topic.

They must know about spiritual warfare to novelise its principles, right?

Well, I managed to find (rather stumbled across) a blog post that proves my point. When I read this, I knew I had to ask Parker if I could post this.

It is one very concise and informative piece and it forms the basis of Hudson's novels. It definitely honours the Word of God.

Another reason I asked Hudson, is that too many Christians either do not know about spiritual warfare or deny its relevance. And as Hudson points out below, this is exactly what Satan wants.

So sit back and let Hudson enlighten you about the reality of spiritual warfare. We can only be better equipped to fight the enemy and know more about his tactics by doing so.

Over to you, Hudson: 

Spiritual Warfare

by Parker Hudson | Apr 29, 2017

This post is written primarily to believers. It will make little sense to others, and even believers don’t typically spend much time focused on Spiritual Warfare, which is exactly what Satan wants and makes his destructive mission much easier.

Satan particularly hates believers because we will spend eternity where he began but can never return: in Heaven with God.  He does everything he can to lie and to confuse, ensuring that as few people as possible accept Christ’s free gift of salvation.  Despite his lies, if someone nevertheless becomes a believer, Satan then does all he can to make that person feel ineffective in telling others.

His goal is to take as many with him as possible, including our families, to an eternity without God—an eternity of indescribable sorrow and pain. Our critical role as believers is to fight back, particularly for those we love.

My friend Ken Boa has a very full and concise section on Spiritual Warfare in his advanced discipleship book Conformed To His Image, which I strongly recommend.  This is a huge subject, worthy of many words, not just a short post. Some of what follows, therefore, borrows from Ken’s well-written summary.

I want to touch here on three important aspects of Spiritual Warfare.

First, Satan is real. He is a personal, created being, with intellect, emotion and will. Christ refers to Satan’s fall in Luke 10:18, and the New Testament mentions Satan 120 times.  For a believer to deny or ignore the daily reality of demonic forces at work to destroy us is to parse Christ’s teachings in a way that would not be condoned on any other subject.  If one believes that Jesus is the Son of God who died for our sins, then as a sinner saved by grace, one also has to believe in Jesus’ many teachings on Satan.

Second, there are really three separate but related aspects to Spiritual Warfare: the world, the flesh and the devil. 

The flesh is our inherent sin nature.  As Boa writes, even as believers, “no one has to be forced into selfishness, pride, gluttony, self-pity, lust or bad temper.”  The flesh can never be reformed or improved through some self-help program; it can only be overcome and buried on a daily basis by walking in submission to the rule of the Holy Spirit.  As believers, to battle the flesh we need to pray daily for the fruit of the Spirit and give Him free reign to overcome the temptations that inevitably come our way.

The world refers to the external forces which promote an attitude of independence from God, the result of all our individual sin natures working together.  As the world becomes darker and more secular, there is ever more fertile ground for indulging the flesh and pulling people away from God’s principles and truths.  Media, entertainment, education, weak families, peer pressure—all combine to make a world in which the Creator is at best a second class after-thought. And His good purposes for us are lost in constant temptations or just plain busyness.

To push back against the world’s lies requires believers to renew our minds with the truths of Scripture. Boa writes, “We need to internalize biblical values through a daily program of reading, memorizing, meditating, and personalizing Scripture.  This has a price tag:  it takes time and discipline.”

The devil and his demons then use the first two–our inherent sin nature and the ever darkening world’s enticements–as ports of entry to influence, oppress, and ultimately, in the worst cases, to control us.  Like Satan, demons are real and personal beings, with intelligence, emotion and volition. According to Boa, approximately 25% of Jesus’ ministry deals with deliverance from demonic affliction—hard to ignore!

At the first level, using both our flesh and the world as pathways, “demons seek to plant thoughts in our minds, influence our emotions, and weaken our wills.  They inject deceptive, accusing and condemning thoughts and attitudes that are opposed to the truth of Scripture.” If given freedom to continue without being checked, their work can lead to oppression and control, and they then must be confronted directly and commanded to leave, relying on the power of the Holy Spirit and the prayers of the saints.

Being saved from demonic influence—whether their influence, oppression or control—is a large subject.  But Boa lists seven conditions which are always needed for deliverance:

1. Salvation. Without Christ, there is no hope of victory over the powers of evil.
2. Willingness. We must want to be set free.
3. Confession. To reclaim any ground that we have yielded to the adversary.
4. Renunciation. Make a clean and permanent break.
5. Forgiveness. We must forgive all who have wronged us.
6. Submission. Acknowledge our complete dependence on Him.
7. Resistance. When the other conditions are met, we must use Christ’s authority to command the demonic forces to leave.

In my own life, I’ve found that I need to pray, study, and then pray some more.

Third and finally, I am struck by how the family is designed by God to be the first line of both defence and offence when battling spiritual darkness.  By weakening and destroying the family, Satan furthers all of his purposes. So it is our daily responsibility to defend and build up families, starting with our own.

Husbands and fathers, the family is our first and most important responsibility.  God has put us in charge.  What will we report about our family on the day that we meet our Judge face to face?  Can anything be more important than where our wife and children spend eternity?

We’ll look at Spiritual Warfare and the family more in a later post.  For now, there is no better place to start than on our knees.

The original post can be found here. 

Thank you, Parker, for composing this blog post about a very significant but important principle of our Christian discipleship. I pray it encourages the Body of Christ to embrace this and incorporate this in our daily walk with God.

30 Days Hath Revenge by C. Kevin Thompson

30 Days Hath Revenge

Book 1 of the Blake Meyer Thriller Series!

A Clandestine Mission. A Cryptic Message. A Chaste Promise.

Blake Meyers dreamed of a peaceful end to a dutiful career with the FBI. Married now, his life was taking him in a new direction--a desk job. He would be an analyst. Ride it out until retirement. Be safe so he could enjoy family life.

But when a notable member of the IRA is murdered in his London flat, Blake's secretive past propels him into the middle of an international scheme so twisted and sadistic, it will take everything Blake possesses--all of it--to save the United States from a diabolical terrorist attack.

The Guru's Review: 

Reading this novel gave me yet another confirmation that just because this is a debut novel it does not have to be a dud or you feel the author needs to put in more hard yards before they publish next. 

I was immediately taken in by this novel. Not just with the plot and charactersation but with the writing. Thompson writes very well. It is immediately evident. This is one very strong asset to him as an author. His command of the English language and how he constructs it for this novel forms one very solid foundation upon which the plot, pace and charactersiation rest. It did not surprise me to discover that Thompson has won Awards for his writing, the first edition of this novel was a Silver Medalist in the Readers' Favorite 2013 Book of the Year Awards in the Christian Fiction category. 

The pace in this setting is frenetic. It never lets up. It is this that keeps you coming back for more. In some novels of this genre and calibre, it can end up with the characters being in a plot driven storyline and the main character being taken for a ride with the fast paceness of the plot. Here, the reader can feel that everything is happening to the main character or characters and they have no or not much control over what is happening to them. In this novel, Thompson has avoided this pitfall. It is very much a character driven plot. This lends itself very well to Blake being able to use his extensive experience and knowledge of his field to find out answers to the terrorist threat to his present and that of the world's population.

Just as Thompson has an excellent, competent command of the English language, the same degree of expertise can be said for the construction of this novel, the characters but especially the plot. There are no thin areas of plotlines, characterisation or pace. There is depth to all these aspects. Blake is one self-made man who knows who he is and what makes himself tick. He is extremely relational and even before the events and characters of his past start to influence him, Thompson has developed him enough to have the reader endeared to him and on his side. This bides well when the events of his past threaten him and the rest of the world. You are already on his side and rooting for him. Doing it this way establishes his credibility as a character and gives the reader the confidence to continue to read without any doubt of Thompson's development of Blake. 

Another aspect of Thompon's characterisation is the layered construction of the plot and how this affects Blake. The terrorist plot that exists in Blake's past that is now affecting his present also adds layers to the professional and personal life of Blake and his family. It sets the stage for him to show how versatile and resourceful an agent he is, in simultaneously fulfilling the responsibilities his profession as an Agent and protecting his family. 

I can see why Thompson is successful with this novel. He as researched it well and applied it effectively. Clues to this success can be found from his Amazon bio: 

He is a huge fan of the TV series "24," "The Blacklist," "Blue Bloods," "Designated Survivor," and "Criminal Minds." He loves anything to do with Star Trek, is a Sherlock Holmes fanatic, and reads lots of books.

Apart from Blake, I have a soft spot for Harrison Kelly. I really enjoyed this character. It is an asset for an author's ability to successfully depict the nationality of the character. While reading the sections involving Kelly and Blake, I felt very much at home with his mannerisms and language as Thompson has depicted Kelly as pretty much how us Australians speak and behave. 

I also enjoyed Agent Julee Scarfano. She seems a more than capable operative and is very good as being a go-between for Blake and Connell when Blake needs to bypass the restrictive rules and regulations of the FBI in order to go rogue. I hope that Thompson includes Julee in the remaining 5 novels in this series. The almost love-hate relationship between Connell and Blake adds another layer of suspense that I enjoyed. This seems to be a characteristic of novels in this military, special ops genre. I never get sick of the main character thwarting and bypassing rules and regulations to get things done in dire circumstances of a mission when rules and regulations would restrict its outcomes. Connell seems to waver between sticking to the confines of the FBI operation procedures and giving Blake what he needs within this. He fails miserably and nearly loses Blakes respect for him or at least has it damaged. 

This novel is described by Thompson and others as a Christian thriller due to its exclusion of sex, profanity and other gore. I would challenge this. These exclusions make this a clean read and that does not make it Christian. Some secular authors write clean reads with these exclusions and their novels are far from being Christian. 

What makes this a Christian thriller is the inclusion of spirituality based on Biblical themes and doctrines and who God is. There is only a little of this in this novel. I felt that if it was omitted, it would not have any great impact on the overall plot or even on Blake to whom it was directed. Consequently, this omission would have made it a clean read and indistinguishable from a secular novel. However, with this inclusion, Thompson gets Blake thinking about the meaning of life (cliche not intended!), the question of evil and its effects on the human race and where he all fits into this. There was potential there for Thompson to develop this further and as a result, develop the character of Harrison who is the sole Christian character and who provides the spiritual/ biblical input to Blake. I hope that this is included more and developed further in the sequel, Triple Time, and the remaining books 3-6 that are to come over the next few years. 

Maybe I expected more of these Biblical themes and spirituality due to the fact that Thompson is an ordained minister. I have found from reading other novels from Ministers/Pastors they have no problem including Biblical themes of redemption, salvation, evil, death, spiritual warfare, sexuality and other themes concerning the ills of this world (suffering, addictions, domestic violence, to name a few) in greater detail than what Thompson has, without it being preachy or "fire and brimstone" type narrative. 

The above is the only shortcoming I see in this novel. I have thoroughly enjoyed it and the writing ability of this author. I am glad to have approached him to write a review and be part of his launch party for this series. 

Strongly Recommended. 4/5 Stars.

World Building 5/5

Characters 5/5 

Spiritual Level 3/5 

Story 5/5 

Enemy Spiritual Level 0/5

Overall Rating: 4.5/5

To buy or read a preview of 30 Days of Revenge, click on the BUY/PREVIEW icons below:

Author/Novel Spotlight: Dony Jay and The Warrior Spy Thrillers

I reviewed the debut novel of Dony Jay, in March this year. The Warrior Spy was a great read and a very successful novel in the genres of action and adventure, military, special ops, mystery and suspense. The second novel in this series, Artifacts of Conspiracy, is most anticipated amoungst Dony's fans. It is being released on May 1st, 2017. In celebration of this release, I offered Dony to have Artifacts of Conspiracy in another Author/Novel Spotlight to help promote it.

So sit back and explore the world of novelist, Dony Jay and his Warrior Spy novels, especially Artifacts of Conspiracy.

But first, a little about Dony: 

Dony Jay is a graduate of York College of PA, with a B.S. degree in criminal justice. He serves as a detective for a suburban police department in Pennsylvania. When he's not reading or writing, Dony loves spending time with his family, staying fit and cheering on the Philadelphia Eagles. Above all, he's a follower of Jesus Christ. According to Dony, the tenets of a rich & rewarding life include faith, family and freedom. In that order. He resides in south-central Pennsylvania.

Before we look at Dony's new release, here is a little about his debut novel, The Warrior Spy that gives the background to Artifiacts of Conspiracy:

The CIA has a problem. It's best clandestine operatives keep turning up dead. And now, as if things couldn't get any worse, a Defense Department scientist, specializing in high-energy lasers, has gone missing. America needs answers. And fast. 

Delta Force operator Reagan Rainey, on temporary duty assignment with a secret CIA entity known as Directorate Twelve, is tasked to do just that--get answers. But to do so, he not only has to outwit and outmanoeuvre a dangerous cabal of foreign actors believed to be at the center of it all, he must contend with a deadly assassin who is bent on destroying him.

Relying on his bedrock faith in Almighty God, Rainey is forced to race against the clock to uncover what is really going on and why, before his beloved America is pushed to the brink of war.

The Warrior Spy is the first book in the Warrior Spy thriller series. It is jam-packed with heart-pounding action, all-out spy warfare and a new American hero that is sure to please.

It's comparable to thrillers by such authors as Robert Ludlum, Brad Thor and Vince Flynn, while also containing a clear faith element. If you love for-God-and-country-type books, The Warrior Spy was written for you!.

 Amazon reviews have been very favourable. The image below from the Amazon book description page shows just how so: 

Go here to read them. My review can be found here.

Warrior Spy was so well received that readers were impatient waiting for the next instalment. This became a highly anticipated novel. Well, now it is here, Artifacts of Conspiracy.

Book Description: 

Reagan Rainey was eleven years old when CIA men came to his house and broke the news that his father was dead. And so for the past twenty years, he and his family believed just that. But when a Russian spy named Moses suddenly comes forward and teases a tightly held secret from the past, Rainey’s world is turned upside down.

As part of the ensuing internal CIA investigation, Rainey—Delta Force special operator turned CIA operations officer—is dispatched to Great Britain to find out what really happened to his father and why. After narrowly escaping gunmen in England and an ambush in Spain, Rainey mounts his own operation that will lead readers through the spy-rich streets of Vienna and Prague and to the doorstep of Moscow. And leave Rainey staring face to face with a killer.

In his most daunting mission to date, Rainey will do whatever it takes to discover the truth. For his country, his family and himself. A truth that will challenge the very fiber of his faith and just might shake America to its core.

Here is a book trailer video to further whet your appetite: 

I asked Dony what influenced the plot of this second instalment and what are its Biblical themes: 

I love the Reagan Rainey character. He is very much intended to be a modern-day George Washington, a man of honor and valor. A man of God. But he is also as deadly a killer America has in her arsenal. I think the world—especially Americans—need to see more characters like Rainey—people who are honorable and just and fearless in the face of evil, individuals with integrity and strong moral fiber, who are just as eager to seek God’s will as they are to battle the enemies of freedom and liberty. The Hand of Providence created America; it’s our responsibility as Americans to be good stewards of its ideals and founding principles. My resolution is to espouse the goodness of America and God’s love through compelling fiction that is also entertaining and inspiring.

Biblical Theme #1: Trouble will come in life and sometimes that trouble is severe and lasting, but God’s promises are true and eternal. The hope for all of mankind is that Jesus Christ has overcome every evil thing, every sin, even death itself. He has overcome the world. (John 16:33)

Biblical Theme #2: God loves us. He desperately wants us to love Him back. (John 3:16)

Here is a book excerpt for those who want to investigate this new release further:

     A burst of gunfire clamored from behind him. Rainey flinched, but still kept hold of the man and the pistol. With his left foot, he swept the man’s right leg, forcing him to the ground then looped his left elbow over the man’s extended right arm. Rainey pivoted to his right and pointed the man’s gun toward the car that was racing into the lot. A man armed with a submachine gun was leaning out from the front passenger-side window.

     BRAAAP!!! BRAAAAAAP!!!

     Bullets slammed into the cars beside him. Glass shattered. Sparks flew.

     “Get down!” yelled Saul.

     The man began to squirm within his grasp. Rainey elbowed him hard in the face then looked back up at the fast-approaching car. Both of them still locked onto the pistol, Rainey squeezed the man’s hand inside the trigger well but the gun did not respond. It was jammed. He quickly ripped the pistol from the man’s grasp, cleared the stoppage and aimed at the car. Several rounds found the windshield. Bullets spotted the hood and grille. The vehicle swerved then slid sideways, careening right for them. At the last second, Rainey released the man and leapt onto the hood of the vehicle next to him. The speeding sedan slammed into the gatekeeper full-on before smashing into the vehicles behind him, each one striking the next in a domino effect.

     Rainey jumped from the hood of the car, rolled to a crouched position with the gun up and ready.     

     “Pappy! You okay?!”

     Saul grunted. “I’m good.”

     “Stay down!” Rainey popped up. A man with a submachine gun was alighting from the back seat of the car through the broken-out rear windshield. Rainey fired three rounds, striking him in the head and neck. The man fell forward onto the trunk with a thud and hung there, dead. Rainey ducked back down, quickly scrambled behind another car. This time when he popped up, he caught the front passenger still focused on where he had just been. He fired two more rounds then dropped back down.

     The man yelled in agony then screamed, “GO! GO! GO!”

     The vehicle’s engine whined loudly. Its tires chirped against the cobblestones as the driver managed to untangle the vehicle from the ones he had crashed into and sped off. As the car slalomed through the lot, the dead man on the trunk was thrown clear. He rolled like a rag doll over the surface of the lot until he struck the gatehouse with a loud crack.

     Rainey glanced back at Saul. “Pappy, throw me the keys!”

     Saul hurriedly fished the keys from his pants pocket, threw them to him.

     Rainey jumped into the Skoda, turned the ignition and revved the engine. “Get in!”

     Saul dodged over to the vehicle. He clawed opened the front passenger door and scrambled inside.

     “Put your seatbelt on. Tight!” Rainey sped out of the lot, blew past the gatehouse and whipped down the lane in pursuit of the other car. The vehicle’s tires screeched as he slid sideways out onto Hull Road. “You okay?! You hurt?!”

     “I’m okay. I’m okay. Just drive!” Saul was breathing heavily. “He set us up, Ray. He set us up.”

As usual with any book release, there are always reviews from readers who were given advanced copies. Like The Warrior Spy, these reviews are very favourable: 

Advance Praise for Artifacts of Conspiracy

“A smart, fast-paced thriller…fans of Joel C. Rosenberg will devour this book!” —The Real Book Spy

“Artifacts of Conspiracy is all thriller, no filler. Guaranteed to satisfy the most discerning literary palate.” —Joshua Hood, author of Clear by Fire and Warning Order

“Special Forces Operator Reagan Rainey is back in Artifacts of Conspiracy, the exciting second installment of Dony Jay’s Warrior Spy thriller series. Like Joel C. Rosenberg, Jay has found the perfect balance of well-crafted military and covert operations thriller and faith-based fiction. In Rainey we see an operator true to his faith, but with the frailties and weaknesses of all of us, making a realistic character we are eager to root for. Jay has masterfully crafted a non-stop thrill ride that will keep you turning pages well into the night. This second book in the series proves that Dony Jay is a rising star in the genre.” —Jeffrey Wilson, Wall Street Journal and Amazon #1 Bestselling author of the Tier One thriller series

“Crisp, smart and loaded with action.” —Steve Wilson, author of the Michael Neill Adventures series

I also received an ARC and my review can be found here

If you want to follow Dony Jay or investigate more about his books, he can be found on the following social platforms: 

Website: www.DonyJayBooks.com

Email: DonyJay@DonyJayBooks.com

Facebook.com/DonyJayBooks

Twitter.com/DonyJayBooks

Instagram.com/DonyJay

Pinterest.com/DonyJay

Goodreads.com/DonyJay

Author Newsletter: Dony Jay’s Reader Intel Bulletin

SIGN UP HERE: http://www.donyjaybooks.com/mailing-list

Dony's WEBSITE SOON TO BE UPDATED…AND SOME COOL STUFF IS COMING…STAY TUNED!

If you want to buy The Warrior Spy or Artifacts of Conspiracy or read further excerpts of both, click on the links below: 

Readers and reviews are an author's best asset, so I encourage any reader who likes reading in the genres of Christian inspirational, action and adventure, military, special ops, mystery and suspense to consider reading The Warrior Spy and Artifacts of Conspiracy and submit a review on Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes and Noble and on Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest (or any other social media you subscribe to).