Victory Over Violence
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Evangelical Leaders React to the Killing of Charlie Kirk
Victory Over Violence
This article was originally published on September 12th, 2023. It is being rerun in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, the murder of Iryna Zaputska, and the Colorado school shooting.
She was climbing the stairs out of a New York City subway station, leaning on her cane. She and a man became engaged in an argument, and words spun out of control; he wrenched her cane from her and then used it to beat her viciously about the head and body, for some three minutes. (We know the beating lasted that long, because it was filmed — though no one intervened.)
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A Frontier Airlines flight was forced to land 700 miles from its destination because of a fistfight that broke out onboard between two female passengers.
A father in Maryland was beaten to death by two adults and three teens who were seeking his 14-year-old son after a schoolyard dispute over $30.
These are just three of the all-too-many incidents of brutality that have scrolled across news screens in the summer of 2023.
Some started with a verbal assault or a bump while passing in an aisle, but quickly escalated into outsized rage resulting in a maiming or even death. Distressingly, much of the violence is launched by small groups of two or three people who pile on a single victim. Even as I write this, an aggressive driver has shot a couple because he wanted their parking spot at a Home Depot in Brooklyn, N.Y., while another couple knifed a man outside a Whole Foods store on New York City’s East Side of Manhattan.
Ironically, in New York City, where I live, some crime statistics have fallen from 2022. But across America, crime rates still outstrip pre-pandemic levels. In New York City, a small but telling poll reports that more than 40% believe crime is the worst it has ever been.
New Yorkers are not the only ones fearing increased crime. Across the nation, perceptions of danger are increasing. Depending upon who you talk to, the reasons cited range from increased numbers of violent perpetrators, to the availability of guns, to “stand your ground” laws, to sensational media coverage of violent episodes. Often the cited causes are split along political party lines.
My husband, Rich, also a contributing writer for IFA, and I live not far from Times Square, which is usually filled with a dizzying array of tourists traveling haplessly among mentally ill drug addicts, professional criminals deploying children to pickpocket, and gang members waving guns around. As an intercessor, I am particularly sensitive to spiritual influences as well — demonic spirits of fear and violence are thick in the spiritual atmosphere here. Undergirding all of the evil is a great idolatry of self. The love of self is more than a sin; at its worst, it is a demonic dominion of considerable power.
Clearly, we have a call to war against the demonic entities we discern. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I regularly bind, gag, cripple, blind, and render unable to operate all demonic spirits, dominions, and principalities of fear, violence, hatred, malice, and whatever others the Lord may bring to my mind. I complete the work by casting all such spirits into the abyss, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by asking the Lord to fill all the vacated spaces with His Holy Spirit.
Additionally, I often ask the Lord to dispatch angels to secure the ground and to continue the battle as other demons struggle to regain the lost territory. Because the battle is the Lord’s, I know this warfare is effective.
But “pre-believers” are constantly walking through our world, carrying their sin, fear, and expressions of violence. Because they do not yet know the Lord, they are helpless against these forces. Their sin opens the door to the devil, granting permission for evil to operate. When you have millions in this condition, you have a spiritual morass — a true “sin city” and Satan’s playground.
In the face of this, I have been tempted to feel that the battle is futile. Instead, though, I have turned to the Lord and asked Him for His strategy to overcome this spirit of violence we are seeing in America.
“Please, Lord,” I’ve begged. “Give us an effective strategy.”
Never one for a half-way solution, the Lord has directed me to a somewhat surprising passage of scripture: John 12:20–26. In prayer, the Lord made clear that He was emphasizing the question the gentile Greeks had brought to the disciple Philip” “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Here’s the full passage:
Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.”
This passage comes at a critical point in John’s Gospel: Jesus has entered Jerusalem for the Passover feast that will precede the events of His passion week. He was met with acclaim and rejoicing by those gathered for the celebration.
This incident of Greek gentiles wanting to meet with Jesus marks a turning point in His ministry. His salvation ministry will now reach beyond the Hebrew people, out to the entire world. Accordingly, then, Jesus begins to speak of the violence He will endure in order to secure eternal life for all who will receive Him as Lord and Savior.
Life for millions will spring from that violence — a brutal death on the cross.
Jesus uses the powerful agrarian example of the wheat seed to create a word picture of how the Lord will redeem a world of violence.
The Greek word psyche, translated into English as “life” in the passage above, embraces body, soul, “self,” if you will. Jesus is calling His own people to put their “self” to death. The love of self is what spawns sin — and the excessive response to other people’s offenses against us. Genesis 4:23 shows this clearly: Lamech said to his wives: “Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; you wives of Lamech, listen to what I say: I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me.”
Lamech suffers, as do all unredeemed people, from a fatal focus on his own welfare, his own desires, his own will. Only the destruction — the death — of self can free Lamech and others from the prison of self-focus. And that death is achieved by joining Jesus in His death.
This is where Jesus calls His disciples and intercessors. We must follow Him out of the self, through the cross, and into His resurrection life. This process, painful and slow, is in my view wondrous. We crucify ourselves and our idolatry of self and receive instead the abundant life of Jesus Christ. We join in His life more freely, more completely as we yield up our desires, our choices, our wills to the Holy One.
When the Lord pointed me to this scripture as heaven’s response to the spirit of violence, I admit that I struggled. I sort of wanted to present to the IFA intercessors a three-point prayer plan: bing, bang, bong.
Instead, our call is higher.
We have the opportunity not just to say the prayer, but to be the prayer. We are invited into the messy but effective strategy the Lord Himself used to redeem violence. As John the Baptist said of Jesus and himself, respectively: “He must increase, but I must decrease.”
The Lord is calling us to show the violent, the lost, the self-absorbed ones Jesus in us. They must see Jesus’ compassion in us, and experience the presence of the living God through us.
Join me in praying now:
Father, we lay down our selves before the cross. We desire to enter into Jesus’ death and to be raised once again with Him. Let us bear much lasting fruit. We choose Your plan — which is more thorough, more effective — to eliminate the violence of self and sin. We will do the warfare, binding in the name of Jesus the spirits of violence and toppling the principality of “self” from America. All these we consign to the abyss, in Jesus’ name. Fill all resulting vacancies with Your Holy Spirit. But victory over violence is won by the cross; bring Your warriors forth to exchange their “selves” for Jesus’ life. In Jesus’ name. Amen and amen.
Post your own prayer of surrender below.
New York City–based Joyce Swingle is an intercessor and a contributing writer for IFA. With her husband, Rich, also a contributing writer for IFA, Joyce shares the gospel of Jesus Christ around the world through theater, speaking, writing, and film. Prior to going into full-time ministry, Joyce worked for about 20 major magazines and now works in pastoral ministry and Christian counseling. Read more about Joyce’s work at www.Richdrama.com. Photo Credit: ATOM1Productions/Getty Images via Canva Teams.
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Comments
Since it is incumbent upon me to make decisions regarding my own level of contributing to or decreasing from the rebellion and violence in this world, Lord, please help me to diligently die to self moment by moment, day by day. It is an act of the will. I cannot make that decision for others, but perhaps You can use my life and Your presence within me to call others into that same decision.
Wow, how prophetically written Joyce’s article was. Two years ago this article couldn’t be more timely in quoting John 12:24. And the examples of violence back in 2023 paralleled so much those that happened in 2025. Let’s keep praying.
I am so appreciative of Joyce’s article. My current focus is to live in God’s presence all day, every day. Just another way of “living out Jesus”. Our hearts are sinful above all and, even when we trust Jesus to be our Savior, we continue to battle our sin nature. Dying to self is a moment by moment task but nothing is more worthwhile as we proclaim the gospel message to “pre-believers”. I resolve to keep this focus and pray for others to adopt it for their lives.
I just want to thank Joyce Swingle for her rich words of wisdom. I feel strengthened but at the same time I realize I have a lot of work to do in myself. Your words give me hope that God is at work and I can see that now. Bless you Dear Prayer Warrior. Thank You for sharing your wisdom.
“Love your neighbor as yourself” is the second great commandment. But its wording is formal and begs the question of how to do it. Jesus gave us the “how” by re-stating it as a functional command: “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.” This functional command–the Golden Rule–is no longer widely taught. My heart sank in the 1960s when I first heard its ultimate replacement, given by a comedian in his act: “If it feels good, do it.” I knew his words–which I call the Plutonium Rule–would sweep through my generation and help people justify the militant selfishness we see today. The only hope for society is a wide-spread and public return to the Golden Rule. And the only power strong enough to free individuals and society from the selfish revenge culture of the Plutonium Rule is Jesus Christ.
YES AND AMEN!!! Time to “crucify our flesh” and ” take up our cross” and follow HIM!! Lord God fill us fresh with your Spirit ! Fill us with your fearless LOVE and boldness to speak your truth everywhere you lead and guide us. May we unite together as your fearless , loving warrior bride to gather the harvest of souls in this ” Last days” season!!
I just want to comment that Amanda Grace at Ark of Grace ministries prophesied that this would be a “September of surrender. “
Thank you for sharing again your post from two years ago. The message is the bullseye for where we find ourselves this week in the wake of the brutal killing of Charlie Kirk. Did you pick up on your use of “turning point” at the start of your commentary on the John 12 passage? That and the original date of publication strike me as a prophetic utterance to strengthen, comfort and encourage the Church.
Heavenly Father, You the great “I Am”, the Alpha and Omega, and the Light of the world ! You are Almighty God and the Lord of Hosts! Most importantly right now, You are America’s Deliverer from evil and any enemy who is against us (2 Timothy 4:18). Lord, You are our rock and our fortress and our deliverer (2 Samuel 22:2). It is written that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds that Satan has built in our minds. America comes against the enemy by the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God! Lord, You told me that this September I need to use the Word of God to break the veil between Your Kingdom and Earth to allow the flood of Your Love to invade the atmosphere. I ask that you now assemble the Hosts of Heaven to fight off the powers and principalities in the second heaven, and rip open the veil between Heaven and Earth, to clear a way for America to receive your Divine and glorious Love! father, our nation needs healing and our nation needs Jesus! I bind all powers that are stopping America from receiving Jesus as their Lord and Savior! I know that America was born from a state of rebellion, and as a result a spirit of rebellion is over America today! I come before Your throne to repent and ask that You forgive the past generations who have rebelled. By the blood of Jesus, we are redeemed out of the hand of the devil. By the blood of Jesus, all our sins are forgiven. By the blood of Jesus, we are continually being cleansed of all sin. The blood of Jesus cries out to You in heaven continually on our behalf! In the name of jesus, I bind all spirits of rebellion in America! I cast you out in the name of Jesus! I cast you away and I rebuke you in Jesus name! You have no authority in these people or around these people. Be gone and do not return in the name of Jesus! now Father, please send St Michael the Archangel and the rest of the army to fight off any powers in the way between Your Kingdom and Earth. I rebuke and repel all rebellion in the name of Jesus. please Father replace all of these gaps where the enemy had been inside and outside of people in America, replace those gaps with the flood of Your Love Lord. I thank you that you are baptizing us in the love of Holy Spirit! We thank you that this Revival is just around the bend, and we look forward to that day when there is the Awakening! We want our nation to declare that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior! The Lord will deliver America from every evil work and preserve us for his heavenly kingdom. to Him be glory forever and ever. in Jesus Most Holy Name I pray, Amen.
Lord, please help our nation to see you are the only way, the truth and the life. Soften hearts, give us your peace that passes all understanding as we trust in you. Heal our land as we repent and turn to you our creator. In Jesus name I pray.