A guest blog post by Laurie Christine. Any of you raising boys know that boys are different from girls. Boys, in general, are more active and less social than girls. They communicate with their fists more than their words, need to be active in order to learn, and are drawn to anything that has to do with weapons and battles and danger.
Some parents, moms especially, feel like this natural tendency of boys to turn every stick into a sword is bad. While it’s essential to teach our boys kindness and compassion towards others, I think we have a unique opportunity to help our boys channel their desire for battle, into a passion to fight in God’s army.
The Bible is clear that God is a warrior God. Throughout the Old Testament, we see God leading his people into battle against their enemies.
The Bible refers to God as the “Lord of Hosts”— Yahweh Sabaoth—over 300 times! The New Living Translation translates the term “Lord of Hosts” as “God of Angel Armies.”
In the New Testament, several passages use the metaphor of warfare and battles.
The well known passage in Ephesians 6 says that our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against spiritual forces of evil. The passage then instructs us to put on the armor of God so that we will be able to stand firm against the attacks of the evil one.
I think God was intentional about giving our boys a natural desire to wield weapons and fight battles because every boy wants to know if he’s got what it takes to be a man. He longs to be part of something bigger, something worth fighting for. He wants to prove he is a courageous warrior.
But since our battle is not against flesh and blood, we need to teach our boys that other people are not the enemy. Jesus commands us to love our enemies and do good to those who want to harm us.
So the question for us as parents is this: how do we train our boys to use weapons of warfare to fight our spiritual enemy? How do we channel our boys’ god-given energy and desire for adventure into fighting for the kingdom of God?
Sometimes our boys get bored with reading the Bible. But I think if they truly understood God’s character, that he is a warrior God, they would be excited about joining the army of the King of Kings.
There’s a battle raging in our world for the hearts and minds of our boys. The enemy is working harder than ever to deceive our sons and distract them from the truth of the Gospel. As parents, we need to equip our boys for battle.
I have written a new devotional book for preteen boys that will help them learn to put on spiritual weapons of warfare and defend themselves against the attacks of the enemy.
Rise of the Enemy, Book One of the Dragon Slayer Bible Series, will inspire boys to join the armies of the Dragon Slayer in the epic battle of good vs evil. Through action-packed stories, inspiring scripture, and challenging devotional readings, boys will be trained to stand firm against the invisible enemy, and to use weapons of warfare to deflect the lies of the Evil One.
This part contains an adventure-packed retelling of a Bible story. My desire is for boys to experience the thoughts and emotions of the main biblical characters in the story while gaining a clearer picture of our glorious God.
In Rise of the Enemy, Michael never expected his comrade, Lucifer, to rebel against the King of Heaven, let alone turn into a dragon. But Lucifer will stop at nothing in an attempt to overpower the throne.
Can Michael and his army of angels defeat the enemy, or will Lucifer’s evil plan succeed?
This part is a call to action that reads like a devotional. The archangel Michael, captain of the angel armies, invites boys to join the armies of the Dragon Slayer. He explains The Message part of the book and encourages boys to fight courageously in the battle against the evil dragon.
Lastly, this section contains five daily devotional readings for you to complete one day at a time:
Let’s channel our boys’ God-given passion into a cause worth fighting for and train them to be strong, courageous warriors for the Kingdom of Heaven. You can learn more about the book at www.DragonSlayerBible.com or go straight to Amazon.
