Issue 62 - From the Editor

Photo by Shelby Miller on Unsplash

By Jonathan Ho

Dear readers,

In 1942, C.S. Lewis published The Screwtape Letters, a fictional set of letters between an experienced demon named Screwtape and his demon trainee nephew, Wormwood.

Written with the backdrop of World War II, the letters gave insight into humanity’s condition and the ways to tempt and attack humans.

While we are not living in the time of World War II, we are in a time of great turmoil in the world and we felt God calling us to publish a similarly styled set of letters. Instead of Uncle Screwtape we have Uncle Hemlock and instead of his nephew Wormwood we have Hemlock mentoring his nephew Hogweed. We believe these letters can help us see just a little more clearly in order to thwart the enemy and his plans, especially in this difficult time in history. Not only is there an ongoing pandemic, but in the United States there is a growing divide between an older and younger generation and growing racial and political tensions. Fear and anger abound and it feels like the Church has been caught out of position. All that’s going on makes me wonder if we the Church are struggling not at finding a solution but at seeing the problem accurately.

G.K. Chesterton, an English writer and philosopher, once wrote, “It isn’t that they can’t see the solution. It is that they can’t see the problem.” While he wrote this in the context of a mystery novel, his words ring true today.

The way of Christ is simple yet difficult, and when we look back to the time of Jesus’s first coming, we see Jesus chastise the religious for their spiritual blindness and for neglecting the more important matters of the law: justice, mercy and faithfulness.

We are in a pivotal time where the Church must stay awake and vigilant. Our gaze has been averted from Christ to the turbulent waters around us, disturbing our faith, causing us to sink into fear and unrighteous anger. This is a time when we must act as Peter wrote, “Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:13 NKJV). [1] Or as the author of the book of Hebrews wrote, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith” (Hebrews 12:1-2a). This is a time when sin and the things that hinder us need to be put aside so we may be ready to fight for our King.

Ken Blue writes that Jesus’s first coming could be considered D-Day (when the Allies landed in Normandy during WWII), while his second coming inaugurates V-E Day (the day Germany surrendered). The world is not what it should be and is full of the works of the flesh: wrath, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, and many more while our enemy stalks us like a lion. We live in an age of spiritual warfare where this Present Age battles with the Age of the Kingdom. I pray the Holy Spirit will convict us of our great need to fall on our knees in prayer, to set ourselves apart for our consecrated calling, and to fight.

Yet, we do not fight as the world fights but as our King has shown us. We read this of our King: “for the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart” (Hebrews 12:2b-3). Jesus persevered and endured the cross, a symbol of shame and failure, giving up His right to life for our sakes to the Father’s glory. This battle will not be won on prayer alone but with sacrifice and steps of faith as our Heavenly Father leads. To live as God calls in this day and age will not be easy but we must walk as those who have nothing to lose, those who know the war has already been won.

Working on and editing these letters has been an arduous task and one that could not be done without God’s grace and strength and our amazing team. Through this time, God highlighted my need for sober mindedness and alertness for prayer.

I pray God will take these letters and shine a light into your heart as God has into mine. May God give us insight with humility, realizing our neediness will always remain no matter how much we claim to see. We will always need to depend on Christ Jesus.

Written and edited by a cohort of people including Brandon Morgan, Jessica Tang, Julia Ho, Matt Reffie, and some others who wish to remain anonymous, we pray God will use this work to open our eyes to the spiritual things and help turn us from our ways to God our Father.

We offer these letters to you with some trembling, trusting God will take our feeble efforts to speak His will into your hearts.

Jonathan Ho

P.S. Please remember these letters are written from the perspective of the demons. The letters refer to God as “the Enemy”, Jesus as “the Man”, and the Bible as “that Book”.

[1] Girding up your loins was to pull up your tunic and tie it around your waist so you could move more freely for situations such as a fight.