Spiritual Weapons

After four years in the Air Force working with the bomb navigation system of the B-52, my father, a career airman, was given the opportunity in 1959 to be trained as a team member for a new cutting-edge air-to-surface strategic missile called the “Hound Dog”. Designed to be carried and launched from under the wing of a B-52, this self-guided missile could deliver a four-megaton nuclear warhead to a target over 500 miles away. Its purpose was to destroy an enemy’s air defense installations to clear the way for high-level bombing attacks.

Dad spent months in a specialized school to learn about the operation and maintenance of this new weapon and served for the next 13 years in a squadron dedicated to keeping these missiles ready to go at a moment’s notice. Dad’s hangar housed a room full of computers that used the old “punch card” system to communicate and store information, as well as its own wind tunnel for testing the onboard computer guidance system of the Hound Dog missile. The small nuclear warhead delivered by the Hound Dog was stored in a separate secure site elsewhere on base while the missiles themselves hung on racks inside the hangar waiting for the opportunity to be the “one” missile each year that was actually launched from a B-52 for a live test run, ending in its crash after successfully reaching the given target. That was a lot of work and investment in a weapon that was never used in combat!

In a similar manner, the church has been given gifts and spiritual empowerment through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. Along with that indwelling is the call to be vigilant and prepared to give an answer to “any who ask” concerning the hope that comes through salvation in Jesus, our Lord. Many times, like those missiles stored on racks, the potential of our strength as followers of Christ is taken for granted as we go through the motions of spiritual warfare without really engaging the enemy! We need to be ready to deploy our spiritual weapons when the call goes out!

The church fights for the souls of men who have been blinded to the light of Jesus’ truth. We must not be content with just our own relationship with God, but work tirelessly to use the “weapons of our warfare” strategically, to invade the darkness of the world’s domain and vividly display the reality of God’s love and hope to all they encounter!

How exciting to be His people,
Pastor David Vanderpool