Now lest you take one glance at the title and decide to turn the page, convinced that this is just the ranting of some war-movie obsessed teenage girl, please stop a moment and listen to what I have to say.

WAR. The dictionary offers many synonyms for this word. Most of them go along the likes of "fighting", "combat", "attack" and everything else that remotely alludes to bloodshed, gore, pain and suffering.

Swords slashing, the sound of metal upon metal, stabbing, wounded, crying, dying. Some people call that war.

People hating people they don't even know, super powers, bombs, terror, destruction, pillaging, devastation. Some people call that war.

What do you call war? What is your personal definition of this very short but extremely loaded word? Is it a fact or fiction to you?

These are questions more important than a if-you-had-one-wish-in-the-ent ire-world-what-would-it-be question in a Miss Universe pageant. And the answer is much more labyrinthine than the all too clich "World peace" answer.

War, whether we like it or not, is an impending circumstance. No amount of ignoring this fact will make it go away. The Bible clearly tells us that before the second coming of our Jesus, there MUST come a time of great distress and sorrow. In other words, War. And God has called each and every of His children to be ready for battle, to fight alongside Him.

And this war is not just the mere physical clashing of bodies that we envisage. No, it is far more profound than that.

Ephesians 6:12 says, "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."

The world tells us "You have to be strong to win. It's a dog-eat-dog world out there. Just do it!" It tells us that as long as we are smart, strong and mean, we will rule.

But the Bible says something else! God says that the real war is against satan the enemy. It is a spiritual battle we're talking about here. And when God enlists you and me into His army, He means business! This is no ordinary battle my friends, no ordinary battle indeed.

The Bible says that before the final war what we know as Armageddon comes, the Antichrist will appear. He will be the instigator of "peace", which ironically will cause the world to erupt in war. The devil is a smart war strategist; that we need to recognize. But even more vital is that we remember God is

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