When a horrific, inexplicable act of intentional evil is carried out by someone, should we always blame it on ‘mental illness’? I think we need to examine the reality more closely in many cases and acknowledge that we are engaged in a battle with spiritual wickedness in high places.
1 Peter 5:8 – “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” (KJV)
Here are four famous quotes on the subject.
C.S. Lewis (The Screwtape Letters, 1942):
“There is no neutral ground in the universe: every square inch, every split second, is claimed by God and counterclaimed by Satan.”
John Piper (Desiring God):
“Life is war. That’s not all it is. But it is always that. Our weakness in prayer is owing largely to our neglect of this truth.”
Charles Spurgeon (sermon on The Christian Soldier):
“Satan always hates Christian fellowship; it is his policy to keep Christians apart. Anything which can divide saints from one another he delights in. Since union is strength, he does his best to promote separation.”
A.W. Tozer (This World: Playground or Battleground?):
“People think of the world not as a battleground, but as a playground. We are not here to fight; we are here to frolic. We are not in a foreign land; we are at home. We are not getting ready to live; we are already living. And the idea that this world is a battleground has now been rejected by the great majority of Christians.”
Child of God, husband, father, grandfather, rabblerouser, songwriter, pot stirrer, waiting for the King.