Chapter Three:
Comfort Almost Killed Me; Is It Killing You?
I’m going to tell you a story that is truly embarrassing. I have done many stupid things in my life, but, as you will hear, this one towers above them all. And, yes, it’s another military story. After I entered my infantry battalion, which I told you about in the last chapter, I wasn’t immediately assigned to lead a rifle platoon. Instead, I was assigned to be assistant S4. In a battalion, the S4 unit is responsible for equipment and resupply. Rifle companies on operations in the field would radio in their needs for food, water and ammunition. When an order came in, I had a little team of men who would pull it all together and load it onto a helicopter which would fly out and make the delivery.
Let me tell you, it was a great job. I would hop on the chopper and take a pleasant flight to visit our guys in the field. At five thousand feet with the doors open all the sweltering heat was left behind. Vietnam was a pretty country when you didn’t have to slog through the jungles and swamps. These were not long flights. We would land and I would jump out. While the supplies were being off-loaded, I’d go and talk to my friends, the officers in the company. Then I would fly back. What a nice way to spend a morning.
The startling reality was that from the time I arrived in November of 1967 all the way into January, our rifle companies had no contact with the enemy. They would go out on missions and find nothing. So, while I knew that there were vicious battles taking place far away, there were none around us. So, day after day, I would enjoy our little resupply flights. I don’t know when I made the decision, but the thought came to me that carrying my M16 rifle and six magazines of ammunition on those flights was just too heavy. And what was the purpose of it? It was a fast jump out and back. It was ridiculous to be burdened with all that weight. So I stopped carrying it. As you might imagine, this was not a good plan.
Everything went fine for a number of flights. Then, one day we landed in the middle of our rifle company. I jumped out as usual and went over to talk to my friends. Suddenly, from the surrounding jungle we came under the crossfire from two automatic weapons. All of us dropped to the ground and my helicopter escaped straight up into the air leaving me behind. So there I was. I could imagine that the other soldiers were staring at me thinking, “Look at that jackass lieutenant. He doesn’t have a butter knife to fight with.” I cannot tell you how stupid I felt. Terror and stupidity go so well together. Thankfully, the attack didn’t last long. After a few minutes, the enemy faded into the jungle, and no one was hurt. The helicopter returned and I went back with it. Do I need to tell you that I never made that mistake again?
One of the most coveted awards that a U.S. infantry soldier can receive is the Combat Infantryman’s Badge. It is awarded for the first time an infantry soldier comes under enemy fire. So that’s how I won mine, without a weapon, feeling like an absolute fool. Why had there been so little contact with the enemy? He had pulled back and was preparing for the huge Tet offensive that came in early 1968.
Over the years, I have thought a lot about my stupid choice. What prompted me to such idiocy? The answer is clear. It was my deep commitment to being comfortable and feeling good in every way at all times. For a year and a half, I had gone through rigorous training to prepare me for combat. But none of that mattered. In our culture we have been taught from earliest childhood that feelings are the guideposts for all of life. Feeling good means that everything we are doing is right. Feeling bad demands that we make drastic changes so we can feel better. Our most serious decisions are made on the basis of feelings. And, let’s be honest, too many of those decisions lead to disaster. We want the easy road.
And that is the exact opposite of the road that Jesus calls His servant warriors to follow. In Luke 14:26-28 he said these fearful words. “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.”
What did He mean by hate? Not hate the way we think of it. He meant that following Him wherever He might lead had to be the top priority of your life. Nothing else, even pleasing the dearest people of all, or yourself, can come close. Hard words. That’s why there are so few servant warriors.
What do we have instead? The exact opposite. Almost the entire Christian church in America and elsewhere in the world has been poisoned by a lie known as the Prosperity Gospel. It is constantly promoted by wolves who mask themselves as TV evangelists, prophets, faith healers and pastors. They tell you that if you just follow certain rules, and send them money, God will guarantee success in your life. You’re going to be blessed. It’s a promise. A recent survey revealed that 70 percent of American “Christians” believe that God wants them to be successful. Which means comfortable. So just as my desire for ease and comfort unprepared me for the war that was going on, millions are unprepared for the real war that is all around them. They get attacked and blame it all on people, never realizing that the poor destructive souls who attacked them are nothing but slaves of a far greater enemy.
If you are going to be a true servant warrior for Jesus, the King, you must be clear about who your real enemy is. If you don’t understand that, you are just as unprepared as I was that day in Vietnam and the outcome is going to be far worse.
The human race is in the middle of a vast invisible war that has been going on for eons. And it is moving quickly toward its conclusion. The Apostle Paul wrote about it in his letter to the Ephesians, chapter 6:10-13. These are his words to servant warriors, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For 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.” By the way, welcome to the world of UFOs.
When Paul uses the word “wrestle”, he doesn’t mean a short competition in which one person pins another and it’s finished. He means lifelong, vicious, hand-to-hand combat against an enemy who does not give up. Hand-to-hand is the very worst kind of fight. Who are we fighting against? It isn’t against flesh and blood. That means people. It is not easy to remember this because there are so many people who need to have their butts severely kicked.
When I wrote episodes for the 1980s TV series, The Equalizer, it was such a joy. I got to create evil antagonists then have them utterly destroyed in the most creative ways. I’ve wanted to do that in real life so many times. But here is the reality, so many people spend their entire lives emotionally battling those who have wronged them even if those people are dead — the violent, abusive parent, the unfaithful spouse, the tyrannical boss, the false friend, the evil church leader, stupid idiots who insult you on social media, politicians, jerks who steal your parking place, and on and on. How much of your emotional strength is being drained away hating and battling those people in your mind? The greatest frustration comes when you have no way of retaliating against someone who has done something terrible to you.
Paul is saying that when your entire focus is on them, you are fighting the wrong war. And as you do that you become a tool of your real enemy. All of the people who have wounded you are just slaves. The servant warrior deeply feels the agony they inflict. There is no escaping it. Let me tell you, I understand. During the long years of my life there have been many who have done terrible things to me and my family. There has been brutal rejection. There have been false friends. There have been thefts. There have been personal attacks that caused great damage. And much more. As long as all of your attention and emotions are focused on a human enemy you will be blind to the real one who laughs at you as your strength drains off into an emotional sewer. Your enemy has a long-term strategy for your destruction and knows that as you succumb to each attack you are more vulnerable to the next one. People who think they are invulnerable are the weakest of all.
Because your enemy is supernatural, your physical body is no barrier to him. He can put words in your mind that you believe are your own thoughts but are not. All he has to do is use the first-person pronoun “I”, then he whispers into your head, “I am worthless, no good for anything. I can’t do this. It’s asking too much. I should be treated more fairly. That person stole from me. I can’t let him get away with that.” And on and on. What comes out of it? Hurt, rage, self-pity and the thirst for revenge. When you accept the enemy’s whispered lies about you as your own thoughts, when you start echoing them with your own words believing they are true, you are under his control. Step by step he will destroy you.
But I can hear someone say, Coleman, that is ridiculous. Something being inserted into my mind from outside that totally fools me? That can’t happen. Oh, really? I am a mentalist and a past member of the Academy of Magical Arts at the world-famous Magic Castle of Hollywood. As a mentalist, I am well-versed in fraudulent psychic phenomena. For a number of years, Carel and I toured with a program entitled Beyond Reality. In it, I would predict the future with absolute accuracy and tell you things about yourself that I couldn’t know. I could appear to read your mind and put thoughts into it.
But halfway through the program, I would stop and tell the audience that everything they had seen was a trick. I had no more psychic ability than they had. I just knew secrets of mental manipulation. Then I would tell them about Jesus, the source of real supernatural power. Do you know even after I told them all of that, people would come up to me and say, “I know you said it was all a trick, but I could feel you entering my mind.” I assured them that no matter what they imagined, they were seriously mistaken. But often, it did little good. Just a suggestion, bolstered by a few startling tricks, allowed me to control their thoughts.
Humans are stunningly vulnerable. I have spent almost 50 years studying supernatural manifestations. If you haven’t done so, I invite you to watch our YouTube series Patterns of Supernatural Phenomena. In it you’re going to see some unusual reports. Right now, your only hope is to acquire a supernatural defense that is far stronger than anything your enemy can do or say. We have that and far more when we truly confront our sins and ask Jesus to forgive us and be Lord of our lives. The Bible says when that happens, we are totally cleansed of sin and God’s Holy Spirit enters into us. Your body becomes His temple where He will pour into you His amazing love and compassion if you will let Him. He gives you the greatest weapon that a servant warrior for Jesus can ever receive and one that is absolutely essential in the battle of your life, the power to forgive.
We’re going to talk about that in depth in the next several chapters. In preparation, here is your challenge. Make a list of the five people who have done the most damage to you. If they are still alive, each day start praying that God will save, heal and bless them. If they are dead, lay them before the Lord. It’s time to start fighting the real war, my friend. Through the power of Jesus’ Holy Spirit, you can stop letting the enemy control your mind. And start doing damage to him. But just remember one thing. Don’t go into the battle of your life each day unprepared. Every day, along with a time of prayer, read a chapter from the Bible. If you have finished the Gospel of John, start back at the beginning of the New Testament with the Gospel of Matthew, always asking Jesus to teach you what you need to know to be a servant warrior for Him. He will do it.
Bible Study and Small Group Discussion Questions
- What does this chapter reveal about the danger of choosing comfort over readiness?
Passage: Luke 9:23, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”
Question: Where do you see this same temptation in your own walk with Christ? - Jesus demands that loyalty to Him outrank every other attachment. How does that confront modern Christian assumptions?
Passage: Luke 14:26–28
Question: What relationships or desires most compete with your obedience? - How has the Prosperity Gospel shaped the expectations of Christians today? Even for those who reject it?
Passage: II Timothy 4:3–4, people will gather teachers who tell them what they want to hear.
Question: Where do you see this mindset in yourself or your community? - Paul says our real battle is not against people. Why is this so hard to remember?
Passage: Ephesians 6:10–13
From the chapter: “As long as all of your attention and emotions are focused on a human enemy you will be blind to the real one.”
Question: Who do you tend to treat as “the enemy,” and how does that distort your spiritual life? - Coleman describes the enemy whispering lies in the first person (“I am worthless…”). How do you discern the source of your thoughts?
Passage: II Corinthians 10:3–5, taking every thought captive.
From the chapter: “He can put words in your mind that you believe are your own thoughts but are not.”
Question: What lies do you most often find yourself believing? - Coleman says humans are “stunningly vulnerable.” How does that truth shape your dependence on God?
Passage: Psalm 73:26, “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart.”
Question: Where do you see your own vulnerability to deception or discouragement? - Why is forgiveness described as “the greatest weapon” a servant warrior can receive?
Passage: Matthew 18:21–35, the parable of the unforgiving servant.
Question: How does forgiveness weaken the enemy’s influence in your life? - Coleman ends with a challenge: pray daily for the people who have wounded you. What emotions rise up when you imagine doing that?
Passage: Romans 12:17–21, overcoming evil with good.
From the chapter: “Make a list of the five people who have done the most damage to you… pray that God will save, heal and bless them.”
Question: How would doing this change your interactions with people over the next week? - How does daily Scripture reading function as “armor” in the invisible war Paul describes?
Passage: Psalm 119:105, God’s word as a lamp and guide.
From the chapter: “Don’t go into the battle of your life each day unprepared… read a chapter from the Bible.”
Question: What excuses do you use for not doing it?
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