Spiritual warfare has led to a prolific printing of books about Satan’s opposition to Christians as they seek to live and serve the Lord. Stanley Gale has written to help believers develop a mindset about their call to serve as fellow warriors extending the Kingdom of God. Christians are urged to understand that we are not living in peacetime, but in a great conflict between two kingdoms, that of Satan and God.

There are three main sections to the book. In the first entitled “Enlistment,” we are reminded that we have a divine commission and that we are called to active duty as long as we live on this earth. He describes the hostile environment of this fallen world. Even though this is Satan’s territory, Gale warns that it does not mean as some sensationalist writers like to describe it that it is divided into territorial regions under demonic landlords. We are not called to identify such beings.

Gale develops the Kingdom conflict by contrasting the Kingdom of God with Satan’s kingdom and the victory that is won through Christ. The very nature of the growth of the Kingdom comes through evangelism. Christians cannot bear a peace mentality when it comes to proclaiming the gospel of reconciliation and emancipation.

In the second main section addressing the “Equipment” Gale gives a good description of the spiritual weapons to be used in the battle of what he calls “plundering Christ’s spoils.” The most powerful weapon he describes is the Holy Spirit, and he follows that up with an indepth study of the weapon of prayer followed by how to wield the weapons of prayer and the Word of God.

The third main section is “Engagement.” Here Gale does a very good job of encouraging and challenging those who believe to take the gospel into the world and make contact with those who are still captive to the kingdom of Satan. He does it in a manner that will cause you to see there are more opportunities than you might realize. He provides a good chart for a believer to record how many relationships he has in different locations. He calls it “life-sphere mapping.” The chapter on Rules of Engagement is excellent in that it stresses relationships and the importance of communication, which includes listening. We shouldn’t just talk at people, but talk to them especially in a manner as the Apostle Peter says, with “respect and gentleness.” He again emphasizes the importance of prayer in that we “talk to God for people, and we talk to people for God.” A believer does this while being in step with the Holy Spirit of God. The believer engages with communication, and the Spirit, in his own time and way, engages with conversion.

Gale writes in a warm and winsome way that will touch your heart with a desire to re-enlist in the great warfare between the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan. You do not have to do it with a sense of winning a victory, but rather realizing the victory is already won by Jesus Christ.

- Dick Aeschliman, Director of Resources