“This is exactly what wars of the future will look like”

The story reads like a Tom Clancy novel: Ukrainian intelligence agents launched 117 attack drones last Sunday from trucks covertly placed near Russian air bases. Their so-called “Spider’s Web” operation struck 34 percent of Russia’s strategic cruise missile carriers, destroying what Ukraine claimed to be $7 billion worth of Russian equipment.

According to reports, the drones were smuggled deep inside Russia and hidden inside trucks in mobile log cabins. The cabins’ roofs were opened remotely, allowing the drones to launch their attacks on Russian military bombers.

“It’s also good news to the United States”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country’s agents managed to work for months inside Russia under the nose of the Russian FSB domestic security service. One of their offices was located next to FSB headquarters in one region, for example. The agents who set up the attacks were withdrawn before the operation and are safe.

A Ukrainian official said the planes that were attacked were used by the Russian military for air strikes on Ukrainian cities. One attack deep inside Russia was staged more than 2,670 miles from Ukraine. The operation was carried out exactly twenty-nine years to the day after Ukraine delivered dozens of the same strategic bombers to Russia, along with up to two thousand strategic nuclear warheads and 176 ICBMs, in exchange for a promise not to be attacked.

John Herbst, former US ambassador to Ukraine, said that “Russia’s ability to strike into Ukraine will be severely limited” because of the attack, adding, “It’s also good news to the United States, because those long-range bombers are nuclear weapons-capable.”

However, the attacks could be bad news for the US if our enemies utilize a similar strategy against us. The Defense Department warns, for example, that China could be developing a launcher that can fit inside a shipping container and be used against our vessels. With as many as seventy-two million shipping containers around the world, it would be impossible to identify and neutralize all such threats.

Chinese interests have been buying large amounts of farmland next to important US military bases; they could be staging grounds for drone swarms that would make the Ukrainian attacks pale by comparison. According to one defense expert, it’s “only a matter of time” before Ukraine’s tactic is taken up by Russia and other hostile state actors.

Ukraine claims that the operation was personally overseen by President Zelensky and Vasyl Maliuk, head of the SBU domestic intelligence agency. A top official in Zelensky’s government stated, “This is exactly what wars of the future will look like.”

Beware the “unwarranted extrapolation” fallacy

According to President Zelensky, the “Spider’s Web” attack took “one year, six months, and nine days from the start of planning to effective execution.” Last Saturday, no one in Russia knew what would happen to their military the next day.

This fact illustrates the “unwarranted extrapolation” fallacy that assumes the future will be like the present. The reality is that unseen factors are always at work today that will change the world tomorrow. This can be a negative or a positive reality, sometimes at the same time.

For example, I could have pancreatic cancer right now and not know it. If this is the case and I die from this disease at some point in the near future, this would presumably be considered a negative outcome. For me, however, it would be the door from this fallen world into God’s perfect paradise.

In the same way, Ukraine’s surprise operation last Sunday is either a “brilliant” success (from the Ukrainian point of view) or a “terrorist attack” (from the Russian side). However it is seen, it reminds us that tomorrow is largely dependent on factors we can neither know nor control today.

This is why Scripture warns, “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring” (Proverbs 27:1).

Your prayers today can change the world tomorrow

The only way to prepare ourselves for such an unpredictable future is to align our present lives with the will and purpose of God. Here’s why.

The God who created time and transcends it can see tomorrow better than we can see today (Psalm 90:2; Exodus 3:14). In his “perfect” will for us (Romans 12:2), he incorporates factors unseen to us and prepares us for the day they affect us. He redeems the bad for good (Romans 8:28) and uses all things to advance his kingdom in the world (cf. Daniel 2:44).

When we are aligned with his will today, we position ourselves to participate in his providential and sovereign rule of the universe. As Jesus warned us, this does not mean that bad things will not happen to us in this broken world (John 16:33). But it does mean that even the bad that comes to us is used by our omniscient and omnipotent Father for his glory and our good.

Our problem is that we want to be our own kings ruling our own kingdoms. Our “will to power” is at the heart of our fallen human nature (Genesis 3:5). We deceive ourselves—and we are deceived by Satan—to believe that we have agency and control over our lives that we do not.

But when we dethrone ourselves and enthrone Christ as our king (Matthew 6:33) by submitting our lives to his Spirit (Ephesians 5:18), he uses our present faithfulness, though perhaps unseen by others, to change eternity.

For example, because God is not bound by time, he knows tomorrow the prayers you are praying today and is responding to them in ways you will not see until Thursday. He even knew yesterday what you would pray and do today and responded on Tuesday to your obedience (or lack thereof) today.

“There is no failure in God’s will”

Corrie ten Boom encouraged us, “Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.” When she was trusting and serving Jesus faithfully while imprisoned in her Nazi concentration camp, she could not know that her obedience would lead one day to a global ministry that has influenced millions.

But God did.

The famed pastor George W. Truett observed,

“There is no failure in God’s will, and no success outside of God’s will.”

Will your life be a “success” today?

Quote for the day:

“God doesn’t work on our timetable. He has a plan that he will execute perfectly for the highest, greatest good of all, and for his ultimate glory.” —Charles R. Swindoll

Our latest website resources:

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• Ask us anything: The pope, Christian nationalism & sharia law unpacked
• Pornography isn’t just a personal problem: What the Swedish “OnlyFans” ban and the US “Take it Down Act” reveal about the problem of pornography

Denison Forum

There are days when I like my work more than others. Today is not one of those.

Pride Month comes around every June. Accordingly, Sesame Street is once again seeking to influence children with LGBTQ ideology. This year, their characters form a rainbow as they clasp each other’s hands beside the post, “On our street, everyone is welcome. Together let’s build a world where every person and family feels loved and respected for who they are. Happy #PrideMonth!”

As usual, their message is worded so as to make objections feel irrational or even hateful. And LGBTQ advocates are quick to disparage anyone who disagrees with it. There will be parades and rainbow flags across the month; corporate and sports logos will display rainbows as well.

We must breathe out to breathe in

We can try to ignore all of this. Those of us who believe in biblical sexual morality can shrug our shoulders and wait for the month to be over. I would certainly rather do that than respond to this subject again today. I have gay and lesbian friends and do not wish them harm. I believe heterosexual sexual immorality is just as sinful as homosexual sexual immorality.

But not to speak biblical truth to such a pervasive cultural issue feels wrong as well. All people, whatever their sexual orientation or gender identity, deserve to know what God says about the issues we face. We need to counter the secularizing influence of the broken culture with our children and grandchildren as well.

The more people reject God’s word, the more they need God’s word.

If we keep our salt in the saltshaker and our light under a basket, those who need biblical truth won’t hear it. Those who need the compassion of Christ will not feel it.

But there’s more to the story: You and I experience the abundant life of Jesus to the degree that we share that life with others (John 10:10). We must breathe out to breathe in. We cannot love our Father without loving our neighbor.

The reason is simple: In Christ, God was “manifested in the flesh” (1 Timothy 3:16). Now he manifests himself through us, the “body of Christ” for whom Jesus is the “head” (1 Corinthians 12:27; Colossians 1:18). As St. Augustine noted, “The body as a unity cannot be separated from the head.”

Just as Jesus met the needs of his day, so he meets the needs of our day through us (cf. Hebrews 1:2). If we will not share his love with our world, we will not fully experience his love.

As I noted yesterday, partial obedience is Satan’s way of keeping us from experiencing the victorious life available only to those who belong fully to Jesus. Loving and serving others as holistically as he loves and serves us is vital to biblical Christianity.

This fact was reinforced for me recently through a painful conversation I am still reflecting upon today.

“And where were you?”

I met an older man last Sunday morning as we walked into the church sanctuary together. I noticed that he was wearing a jacket with a US Army insignia. Pointing to it, I thanked him for his service and added that my father had fought in the Army in World War II and his father in World War I.

He nodded and asked, “And where were you?”

I was immediately taken back. I said something about the answer being complicated and that I have often wished I had served in our military. But his question stung and provoked emotions in me that I later sought to understand.

My first realization was that by pointing to the military service of my father and grandfather, I was subliminally trying to claim their service as my own and thus a status of equality with this veteran. He was right to respond as he did. No one forced me to bring up his service as we walked into the sanctuary, but once I did, I had no right to suggest any personal equivalence to the years he gave up and the sacrifices he made for our nation.

In his essay “Why I’m Not a Pacifist,” C. S. Lewis describes the consequences of choosing not to serve in the military: “A continuance of the life you know and love, among the people and in the surroundings you know and love. It offers you time to lay the foundations of a career; for whether you will or no, you can hardly help getting the jobs for which the discharged soldiers will one day look in vain.”

I have no idea where this man served or what his service cost him, but no matter the answer, he paid a price for his nation that I have not. To suggest vicarious equivalence on my part demeans his sacrifice.

A war we cannot evade

My second thought turned immediately from military warfare to spiritual warfare. This is a conflict in which every person is engaged, whether we know it or not: “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).

There is no evading this “draft” or refusing this service. We are all part of this spiritual war, either on the side of the Lord or the side of the enemy.

If I am to wage this war on the right side, I need to remember that every lost person I know deserves to hear the gospel. The hurting people I meet deserve to experience the compassion of Christ in mine. If Christians are the only salt and light in the world (Matthew 5:13–16), its preservation from decay and darkness is my responsibility.

There is no vicarious equivalence here. It isn’t good enough to say that my wife teaches Bible studies or that my sons have served the Lord or that my church sends missionaries around the world. One day, I will be held to account by my Lord: “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil” (2 Corinthians 5:10).

Said differently, my Lord will ask me, “And where were you?”

I want to have a better answer for him than I had for my fellow worshiper last Sunday.

How will you answer your Father’s question one day?

Quote for the day:

“Sympathy is no substitute for action.” —David Livingstone

Our latest website resources:

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• Ask us anything: The pope, Christian nationalism & sharia law unpacked
• Pornography isn’t just a personal problem: What the Swedish “OnlyFans” ban and the US “Take it Down Act” reveal about the problem of pornography

Denison Forum

A man yelled “Free Palestine” and hurled an incendiary device into a group at an outdoor mall in Boulder, Colorado, yesterday. Demonstrators for an organization called Run for Their Lives had gathered to raise visibility for the hostages remaining in Gaza. Eight people were hospitalized with burns in what FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino called an “act of terror.” One victim was in critical condition, according to police.

According to Leo Terrell, head of the antisemitism task force at the Justice Department, “This antisemitic terrorist attack is part of a horrific and escalating wave of violence targeting Jews and their supporters simply for being Jewish or standing up for Jewish lives.”

If such violence is intended to deter the Jewish community, I predict it will have the opposite effect. After leading more than thirty study tours to Israel over many years, I can testify that the Jewish people I know, both in the US and in Israel, are deeply resolute, courageous, and determined. They know the power of fighting for a cause greater than themselves.

Therein lies my point today.

 “It brings into focus what’s important to you”

Climbing season at Mount Everest ended Saturday. Every year, between seven hundred and one thousand people attempt the climb; between 60 and 70 percent succeed. It takes about two months to make the climb; the experience costs between $35,000 and $100,000. Most mountaineers train specifically for Everest for at least a year. More than 340 climbers have died attempting to reach or return from the summit.

What draws people to sacrifice so much to do something that offers so little by way of practical return?

It’s not the height itself. If you’ve flown on a passenger jet, which typically cruises at 35,000 feet, you’ve likely exceeded the height of Mt. Everest. It’s not seeing the view; you can do the same by watching this video or others like it.

Alan Arnette, who summited Mt. Everest in 2011, explains its appeal: “It brings into focus what’s important to you. There are a thousand reasons to turn around and only one to keep going. You really have to focus on the one reason that’s most important and unique to you.”

Knowing and doing are not the same thing

Whether we’re planning to summit Mt. Everest or not, in a very real sense you and I are climbing mountains of our own. We are on a path to a destination, a goal, a reason for living. Unlike those who reject faith in a Creator who has a purpose for our lives, we believe that our Father loves us and has a design for us.

Fulfilling this purpose should be “the one reason” for living “that’s most important and unique to you.” We should each seek and follow God’s will for our lives, beginning each day by submitting to his Spirit (Ephesians 5:18) and measuring success by our obedience to his purpose. People who read (and write) articles like this one know this already.

But if you’re like me, knowing that we should obey God’s will and actually doing so are not always the same thing. People who climb Mt. Everest are obviously convinced that this is a triumph worthy of all it costs. Some of us are less sure that the same is always true with regard to the will of God.

Even though we wouldn’t admit it to others, we sometimes harbor unstated questions as to whether complete obedience to his word is worth it. We know of missionaries martyred for their faith. We’re aware of the cultural animosity waiting for anyone who declares and defends biblical truth on sexual morality and other sensitive subjects.

And, quite frankly, we have goals and aspirations for our lives that we’re not sure God fully shares. If we choose to obey his word and will in every dimension of our lives, we’re not convinced that we would be as happy and successful as we want to be.

We’re content to trust in Christ as our Savior, so we’ll go to heaven when we die, and then obey him in all the ways that are obviously beneficial to us. We want him to bless us, so we read his word, pray, worship, and serve (at least to a degree). We’re grateful for his sacrificial love for us, so we seek to love him and others in return.

But if we have to stop doing something we really want to do, or start doing something we really don’t want to do, we discover whether we truly trust that his will is better for us than our own.

“God’s ultimate purpose” for your life

Optional obedience is one of Satan’s subtle strategies for people like you and me. He did not successfully persuade us to reject the gospel. The time you have given to reading this article shows that you want to think biblically and live redemptively in our culture. So he entices us to moderate our commitment to Christ, to “put it in its proper place,” to serve Jesus while serving ourselves.

This is because he knows what we need to remember: a victory far more glorious than climbing Earth’s tallest mountain awaits those who follow Jesus unconditionally today.

When we remember that “God is love” (1 John 4:8), how could it be otherwise? How could his will for us be anything but what is best for us?

His desire for us is that we become like Jesus (Romans 8:29). As Oswald Chambers noted, “God’s ultimate purpose is that his Son might be manifested in my mortal flesh.” How could any purpose be more perfect than becoming like the only perfect person who ever lived? Think of the impact of Jesus’ life on history and ask yourself: If even a few Christians truly manifested Christ in our world, how could our world remain the same?

If it’s still hard to make Christlikeness our highest purpose, we can ask the Spirit to help us. We can pray for the desire to desire this. We can ask for the strength to choose our Father’s will over our own. And we can take our next step into the character and joy of Jesus.

Timothy Keller observed,

“If God is not at the center of your life, something else is.”

Who or what is at the center of yours today?

Quote for the day:

“I was not born to be free—I was born to adore and obey.” —C. S. Lewis

Our latest website resources:

• Is Dr. Jordan Peterson a Christian? New video of him debating atheists goes viral
• Is Joe Rogan going to church? An update on Wesley Huff, Joe Rogan, and how God is at work
• Ask us anything: The pope, Christian nationalism & sharia law unpacked
• Pornography isn’t just a personal problem: What the Swedish “OnlyFans” ban and the US “Take it Down Act” reveal about the problem of pornography
• How can a Christian deal with anxiety?

Denison Forum