THE FIGHT
The Works of Mark Edgemon from All-Creatures.org

Mark Edgemon has been writing for 30 years. He writes and publishes short stories, articles, poetry and scripts, as well as, produces audio comedy productions for over 700 radio stations nationwide.

Contact Mark through his website, Creator and the Catalyst.

THE FIGHT

Within the spirit realm, is a world of the unseen, where a war rages that will determine the final destiny of every soul who has ever lived.

It was the followers of evil who sought revenge against their Creator, who’s only provocation, was not allowing evil to unseat His Authority. Evil offered the children of God, lying promises of temporal pleasures in exchange for their allegiance to evil’s dark purposes of sedition. Igniting their unholy passions, the Creator’s children chose to join with the spirits of those who were once God’s angels, who rebelled against the Righteous Power that had created them.

Predetermined by their own choices, the once chosen of God, relieved themselves of their reflective power, given to them by their Creator for the purpose of magnifying His glory, instead of their own, who are now themselves dark, cold and isolated, separated from the only Father they have ever known. Souls once created in the image of God, now walk in shadows of defiled disobedience, tainted from their once perfection, no longer able to remember the time they were once one with Him.

These dark and vacant souls roam wantonly within the time allotted them, searching for purpose to their existence, but finding none.

But there are some, who have come through the trials within life’s journey, so they might stand before the power that sanctioned their calling and receive the due honor, ordained for them, having overcome the evil urgings from the banished angels now in torment. They allowed their daily hardships to tear away their pride and rebellious nature, to reveal the reflective power that was predestined before the world began.

But it was the Creator Himself who fought the battle in the heavens, vanquishing His enemies and casting them out of His Kingdom, in a fight that was waged long ago. But He allowed the fight to continue in the world once known as Eden, for the souls of his good and perfect creations for the purpose of determining their allegiance and their eternal destinations.

And so continues the greatest fight in the history of mankind…the fight for the soul of man.

Emerging from the darkness is the figure of a man, who enters what appears to be a boxing ring, surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. The dead watch with fascination the lives of the living, waiting for someone to exercise the power within themselves against the evil one, whose purpose is to extinguish the world’s remaining light. The dead watches the fight with great anticipation, while the living hardly pays attention.

The ring announcer walks into the ring of life and heralds to the witnesses who surround it.

“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Lifetime Golden Crown boxing match between the challenger, Man and the ever present enemy of man’s souls, Satan!

In this corner, weighing in with the full weight of the world on his shoulders, often referred to as the hope of mankind, what the dead are dying to come back as, what the angels marvel at, I introduce to you, the one and only…Man.

In the opposite corner, weighing in with crushing oppression, known as the enemy of man’s souls, the ruler of darkness, the great deceiver, I introduce to you, the god of this world, Satan”.

As the ring announcer leaves the ring, we now hear from the fight announcer, who begins to announce the fight.

“Good evening ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the fight of a lifetime. This looks like this will be an exciting conflict.

Before we get started, we are joined by Dr. Samuel Scribe, a religious intellectual, who understands the original Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic languages and claims to know God’s original intent for every scripture written, especially on scriptures that differ with his personal beliefs.

We are certainly glad to have you with us Dr. Scribe”.

Dr. Scribe replies pridefully, “I know you are. It must be a real pleasure for you to have me interpret the religious implications of this eternal conflict”.

The fight announcer asks, “Dr. Scribe, can you give us some insight into the purpose of this conflict”.

Dr. Scribe replies, “Of course I can, but first, I would like to inform your audience about my latest book of commentaries, translated from the original Greek language called, “It’s Greek to Me. It and the rest of my recorded study helps can be purchased where religious intellectual materials are sold.

Now, the origin of this conflict began with the first star cluster, where God created the earth, which is about 3 million light years from the Milky Way and about 167,000 light years from the sun, which by the way, the original Greek word Alpha is the first letter in the Greek alphabet. I know that because the first part of alphabet is alpha”.

“What has that got to do with the purpose of this fight?” the fight announcer says annoyed.

Dr. Scribe replied, “Nothing, I just like to tell people that, so they will see how much I know about the Greek language”. Now, I will research through my 1,200 pages of hand written notes on the subject and over the next several hours, I will elaborate over and over the elements that came together to create…

The fight announcer interrupts, “You’ve told us enough Dr. Scribe, let us move on and take a look at the referee of this fight.

The referee has never taken a stance on anything, but has decided to remain neutral in this great conflict of life. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, Mr. Luke Warm. Luke, do you think man has a chance against the devil”?

Luke responds, “Well it depends on many factors. How devoted this man is to God? Does he have a teachable spirit? How prepared is he to go up against the wiles of the devil? I would have to say in my expert opinion…he doesn’t have a prayer”!

“While we are waiting for the fight to begin, the fight announcer says, we will pause for commercials and a station identification”.

From the darkness, you can hear the station identification announcer.

“You are watching channel 6, your Live Eye Big Brother Network. When you’re watching us, we are watching you”!

As the voice of the station announcer fades out the voice of the commercial announcer fades in.

“There is a new perfume on the market. Its alluring and provocative scent belongs only to the women of the world. Its scent will transform you into a temptress that no man can resist. Its name says it all…Sin.

Sin brings about your darkest desires. Allow Sin to fill your soul and add excitement to your life. Sin only cost a little…Now”!

A few seconds after the commercial, a news announcer can be heard.

“And now its time for News Brief brought to you by Demon Liquor Stores, where we’re always in the spirit of things to come. And now, here is John Anchorman”.

As the light shines on the anchorman, it appears as if he emerges from the darkness as he begins to speak.

“Israel is now claiming to have found their Messiah and are at peace for the first time since their regathering as a nation.

The world banking system is preparing to set up identification centers around the world to number the world’s population with a laser inscriber, which will place an invisible permanent identification number on the forehead or hand of every citizen on the earth. All banks and areas of commerce will be equipped with scanners that can read the ID numbers. They will not only be able to debit the consumers account for all purchases, but can pull up the person’s medical, criminal and personal information.

We will have more on these stories after the fight”.

The face of the fight announcer presses out of the darkness as he speaks

“There’s the bell with the beginning of round one.

Both opponents seem to be confident of victory in this fight. Satan is sizing the man up, while the man doesn’t seem to be concerned. Satan is shadow boxing taunting the man, daring him to throw punches.

Satan is now throwing punches to man’s head, causing him to daydream, which is throwing the man off balance. While man is having romantic thoughts, the devil is setting him up; oooh Satan just hit the man with a punch to the forehead, which has sent him reeling.

The man, dazed but angry has started to go after Satan, throwing punches, but not landing a blow. The more man misses, the angrier he becomes.

It is obvious to this spectator that the devil is getting man to waste his energies early in the fight. This just goes to show you that getting angry just gives Satan more room to fight.

The man is still the aggressor in this fight but he hasn’t scored any points. Satan is setting the pace, but hasn’t taken the offence. It could be that he is toying with the man. It appears that man has exhausted himself in this first round by fighting in his own strength.

And there’s the bell for the end of round one.

We have with us a spiritual warrior, who will commentate on the events of this round.

As the spiritual warrior settles into his seat, he makes the following observation.

“The key word is imaginations. The devil is a fighter who fights his opponents from the inside out. If he can get man to fight within himself, then he has won half the battle. In this case, Satan planted a temptation in the man’s mind to use his imagination to enjoy a situation he would not normally act on, but gives the man the opportunity to experience the behavior without suffering any consequences.

But Satan is deceiving man into believing there are no consequences to his imaginations, when obviously there were. Man was set up with a temptation to distract his attention, so Satan could land a blow when the man least expected it.

Man must capture each imagination and conquer it, by throwing it down and out of his mind, and to remain vigilant as he fights the enemy, who is ever ready to take advantage of any and all distractions”.

The bell rings as the fight announcer begins to commentate on the action.

“There’s the bell for round two. Many thanks to the spiritual warrior for his insight into round one.

The man appears to be tired and lacking form.

Ladies and gentlemen, Satan is taking the offense for the first time in this fight. He is landing punches to man’s head. The man has been knocked down on the canvas where Satan is kicking him. He is after all, the original snake in the grass. This is man’s first trial and if he doesn’t recover soon, it will be all over.

The referee is counting him out, five, six, seven. The man is attempting to get to his feet. At the count of nine, the man is up, but confused.

A wealthy man has just entered the ring and is walking over to the fighter. From this angle it looks as if he is offering the man money to throw the fight. As the man is counting the money, Satan walks over to him and hits him, knocking the money out of his hands and once again sends the man to the canvas. The devil not only wants to win the fight, but he wants to humiliate the man as well”.

“And there’s the bell for the end of round two. The fight will continue after a word from our sponsor”.

A doctor, dressed in a white coat moves out of the darkness and speaks.

“Hello, my name is Dr. Fetal and I am the Chief of Staff at The Disposable Baby Clinic.

We are here to help you live a life free of responsibility by eliminating unwanted mistakes. Romance is to be enjoyed without the hassle of rearing up children, especially the unwanted ones.

So if you ever have a mistake and you don’t want it to get in the way of having a good time, come and see us, your friends at The Disposable Baby Clinic. We’ll nip your problem in the bud”.

As the doctor disappears into the darkness a beautiful woman of the world walks out of the darkness.

“Hi, my name is Delilah and I am an escort with The One Night Stand Escort Service. Lonely? Need a friend?

I will be your true closest friend all night long for only $200.00. It will be a night you will never forget.

You can tell me your deepest, darkest secrets and I won’t tell a soul, I promise. We have special rates on Sundays for church goers”.

As the woman dances past the ring of life a disco mirrored ball is lowered and begins to reflect colored lights, turning the area into a nightclub. A greasy nightclub owner walks out and says the following.

“Where is the wildest place in town to party when you want to party wild? Come to The Slaughter House located downtown, past the First Satanist Church, across the street from The First Christian Church. If you get the two mixed up, just follow the sounds of revelry.

There is pleasure for a season and the season is now. Bring your date, not your mate to The Slaughter House tonight.

The Slaughter House, where the pleasure never stops…till it stops.

The fight announcer begins to set up round three with the following dialogue.

“We’re at the top of round three. The man is tired and confused and only now realizing how difficult it is to defeat the devil. Man has fought Satan in his own strength and is now afraid and fast approaching discouragement, because he knows he is out matched.

Satan is now pursuing man, chasing him around the ring, waiting for him to grow weary. Man is beginning to ask for help, but he is asking all of the wrong people, everyone except God.

Satan has just landed a one two punch of doubt and confusion and opened a cut on man’s forehead and now despair is bleeding down the side of man’s face. Man is dazed and his fear is paralyzing him.

Satan has dropped man to his knees. The unresolved problems of man’s life are now coming to the surface. He is ill equipped to face Satan and he now, for the first time realizes it.

Man is beginning to see his life as an epic story that needs a hero. He can see the faces of all the people who know him and are close to him, their expressions frozen in time, revealing their disregard for the spiritual things in life. He knows that if he is going to win the fight, he needs help from a more powerful being and the only person that comes to mind is…The Creator.

There’s the bell ending round three. We’ll be right back after these commercials”.

A nicely dressed religious man steps from the darkness.

“Hello, my name is reverend Sam Worldly, pastor of the Main Street Denominational Church and I would like to invite you to our services on Sunday.

We have a great ministry here. Let me share with you some of the many services we provide at the Main Street Denominational Church.

We have Bingo parties on Thursday night and ping-pong on Saturdays. The chess club meets on Mondays and we also have social clubs for singles. We have cookouts and potluck dinners, wine tasting and eating contests.

We carry a large variety of books and cd’s, as well as other religious merchandise you can purchase in our bookstore.

We show movies, hold dances and teach classes in basket weaving.

I preach sermons on topics like “How to live in the world without offending anyone” and occasionally read from scriptures on Christmas and Easter.

So if you have nothing better to do, come and join us at The Main Street Denominational Church. Oh, and I almost forget…God bless you”.

As the pastor slips back into the darkness, a voice is heard along with video sound effects in the background.

“From the makers of “Utter Destruction” comes a new video game that lets you be God! The “I am God” video game allows you to breath life into your very own digital created beings. Once you have created them, you can set up rules on how they should live.

When they get into trouble, you can get them out of it.

It comes with instructions on how to die for your creations after they rebel against you”.

The bell rings as the fight announcer begins to call the fight.

“That’s the bell and the beginning of round four.

Man has been unconscious since the end of round three and the referee is now giving him to the count of ten to get on his feet or he’s finished. It has been a predictable fight as Satan has used his tricks of the flesh…”

As the fight announcer’s words begin to fade, man is having a face-to-face conversation with God in his half unconscious state.

I’m sorry; I thought I could do this in my own strength, God. But the devil is too powerful and I am over whelmed by his deceitful ways. If you can hear me, please help me cause I don’t have the strength to regain consciousness.

As peace covers his body, he is filled with the knowledge that the very person of God is filling his spirit with Himself. It is as if his spirit and God’s Spirit has merged without him losing any of his own individuality.

He learned without words that life was all about God’s Will and that merging with God was the only way for him to fulfill the purpose God had set for him.

He didn’t have to learn the truths of God with his mind. All he had to do was walk with God and the knowledge of God was his by way of the merging.

He could hear the sound of his heart beating and the voice of the referee counting four, five, six which was becoming louder every second.

The man was lifted to his feet by invisible hands by the count of seven and the referee approached man and looked into his face to see if he was able to continue the fight. Man just smiled with a confidence that unnerved the referee, but proved to him that the man was ready to go on with the fight.

The referee nodded his head toward the great cloud of witnesses and waved his hands for the fight to continue.

The fight announcer continued where he left off.

“Man has risen to his feet, seemingly without effort. He is standing, waiting for Satan to come to him, which is baffling the devil. Satan has seen this confidence before and he doesn’t like it.

Instead of moving toward man, the devil has summoned demons who are now in the devil’s corner. Demons who have charge over pride, lust and greed are ready at the devil’s command to come against man.

The devil has maneuvered man into his corner and the demons have entered the ring of life and are now working on man from every direction. The demons are pounding the man’s eyes with lust, pounding his stomach with guilt and pounding his heart with fear.

Some demons are transforming themselves into the man’s friends and family and making false accusations against him. The demons are ridiculing and persecuting the man for his past sins.

The man is being hurt by these multiple attacks, however instead of fighting back he is just standing. The man is beginning to show some faith and…excuse the interruption fans but time is now standing still. I don’t know if this will be a problem for man or work in his favor.

The man is now being punished by Satan’s two most trusted demons, Cruel and Inhuman. As they begin to inflict more punishment on man, man’s faith increases.

And now from among the great cloud of witnesses, out steps an intercessor, who is pleading with The Creator on man’s behalf. As it appears that the intersession is having no effect, a second intercessor has stepped out of the crowd and has joined the first intercessor and are both seeking God for the man.

Without lifting his hands, the man speaks to the demons to leave him and as he does, the demons heads are knocked together and they both fall to the canvas.

The man considered this victory over the demons and realized that ignorance of the Truth is actually self-induced, so there are no excuses. A man does not study Truth; he walks in the One Who is Truth.

The intercessors are joined by a third and then a fourth intercessor, who are strengthening the man with every prayer.

The remaining demons are continuing to hit the man from every direction. He feels the pain from within and yet the pain just presses him closer to God, which is not the effect that Satan wanted.

A new fighting style has been given to man from his Creator and he is now plummeting the demons with the intercepting fists of life. By speaking Truth, the man reinforces his bond with The Creator and commits the fighting into His Hands.

With every word of Truth the man speaks, he plows through the demons, flinging them in every direction. The bruises and wounds on the man’s face and body are healing now before our very eyes.

In order to stop man from taking the advantage, Satan walks over to him and begins to oppress him, but winds up unexpectantly getting hit in the eye. He didn’t see that coming. Satan is stumbling backwards holding his hands over his face. As he lowers his hands, we can see that man has given the devil a black eye. You know that Satan felt that one.

Now that man is prevailing, Satan is fighting like a roaring lion, because he knows he only has a short time left in this fight. With every punch that Satan throws, they are blocked by words of Truth from man’s lips.

The man begins throwing verbal punches of Truth to Satan’s face with his hands still to his side. The man strikes a left hook of oneness with God to Satan’s chin and then a right cross of faith, which…wait just a minute…Satan is down. I can’t believe it. I haven’t seen Satan defeated since…well…you know who beat him in the desert.

While Satan is trying to get up, man double fisted pounds him to the side of his face with…I can’t believe it…love. Satan is out! Knocked out cold!

This was an unexpected victory for man over Satan.

The crown of life is now being placed on the head of man as the intercessors are surrounding him and all are filled with the presence of God, who would not have missed this ceremony for the world.

Man has proven himself victories over his enemy, not by study or physical preparedness…but by surrender to God! This is your fight announcer signing off saying; I’ll see you at the next Golden Crown Fight of a Lifetime, when it will be Satan…versus YOU!

Copyright © 2007 Mark Edgemon

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