Then he said, Go out and take your place on the mountain before the Lord. Then the Lord went by, and mountains were parted by the force of a great wind, and rocks were broken before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind there was an earth-shock, but the Lord was not in the earth-shock. Editor’s note: Casey Diaz was a violent gangbanger whose crimes had caught up to him landing not only in jail but in solitary confinement. Today, Casey can’t stop sharing his story of how God saw him, knew him, and never forgot him even in a lonely prison cell. Today’s excerpt is from his book, The. DEMONIC FAITH (18,19) A. PERHAPS TO SHOCK ANY COMPLACENT READERS, JAMES REMINDS US THAT EVEN 'DEMONS' HAVE A KIND OF FAITH! They believe in God (no atheists or agnostics here!) 2. They even believe in the deity of Christ - cf.

• By Shot Shock And Faith Fellowship
• By Shot Shock And Faith Evans
• By Shot Shock And Faith Sermon
• By Shot Shock And Faith Ministries
• By Shot Shock And Faith

It sends a shock right through me I can't get enough And if you wonder About the spell I'm under Oh, it's your love Better than I was, more than I am And all of this happened by taking your hand And who I am now is who I wanted to be And now that we're together I'm stronger than ever, I'm happy and free. Par le feu, le fer et la foi (By Shot, Shock and Faith) allows the simulation of religious wars that occurred in France from 1562 to 1598. This civil war opposes, in a first conflict phase, protestants- otherwise known as Huguenots- to catholics, then royalists to League members after the accession of Henri IV to the throne in 1589.

Editor’s note: Casey Diaz was a violent gangbanger whose crimes had caught up to him landing not only in jail but in solitary confinement. Today, Casey can’t stop sharing his story of how God saw him, knew him, and never forgot him… even in a lonely prison cell. Today’s excerpt is from his book, The Shot Caller, in which he tells the shocking story of his violent youth and the miraculous moment he decided to give His life to God and become a new man. Casey’s story showcases the love of God and that no one — no one — is too far gone for the saving grace of Jesus!

*

“What’s salvation?”

The chaplain took his time explaining to me the concept of salvation, which is that Christ’s death on the Cross and subsequent resurrection saved me from God’s judgment of sin — sin that had separated me from God. Instead of experiencing the consequence of sin, which was death, I had the assurance of knowing that when I died I would have eternal life with Christ.

The chaplain seemed very excited about me. He gave me a Gideon Bible, with the King James translation. This particular Bible consisted of the New Testament and the book of Psalms and the book of Proverbs from the Old Testament.

*

When I returned to my cell, I read that Bible inside and out. If I was awake, I was reading one of the Gospels or one of the Epistles. I went to sleep reading my Bible and when I’d wake up, I’d discover that I’d slept right on top of it.

Every hour I was awake, I was reading that Bible. I’d spend five, six hours reading, then fall asleep, wake up, do some push-ups and calisthenics, and get back to reading from where I left off. I didn’t understand half of what I was reading, but that didn’t even bother me. Neither did the thees and thous that sounded so foreign to me. Even though I didn’t quite understand the message, I knew that whatever I was reading made me feel good.

Several weeks after I received the Gideon Bible, I stopped reading. I looked around my bare cell, thinking. Then I heard God’s voice speak to me. He said, When you get out of here, you’re going to gather your homies together and tell them that you want nothing to do with the gang life anymore because you’re a Christian.

“Okay,” I replied. “I will do that.”

I took God’s direction to mean that I would say that to gang leaders after I got paroled, but that was a long way off because I still had more than seven years left on my sentence.

A few days later, I was in my cell, reading my Bible. Nothing out of the ordinary. Suddenly, and unexpectedly, my gate opened, which had never happened before in that manner.

You have to understand that in the world of incarceration, there is no such protocol. The system is the system. They never break the system. They never open a prisoner’s gate until they’ve come to the wicket and told you to step all the way to the back of the cell, get on your knees, cross your legs, put your hands behind your head, and interlace your fingers. That’s how it was done every single time my cell was about to be opened.

For my gate to suddenly open like that didn’t totally freak me out, but it was weird. I looked up from my chair and saw the warden and the CO gang coordinator who greeted me when I arrived from Delano, the same two who told me they were going to make sure that I served the rest of my time in the SHU, in solitary.

By Shot Shock And Faith Fellowship

The warden spoke first. “I don’t know why we’re doing this, but we’re going to put you in mainline,” he said.

*

Mainline. That meant I would leave solitary confinement and be transferred to the main prison population to serve the rest of my sentence with other prisoners.

I didn’t say anything. I was too stunned to react because this wasn’t supposed to happen. I had been thrown in “the hole” and was supposed to stay in solitary for at least seven more years to finish my twelve-year, eight-month sentence.

“When am I going to mainline?” I asked, afraid to get my hopes too high.

“Right now.”

There was nothing to pack. I had the clothes on my back, the shortest toothbrush in the world, and my precious Bible. A few minutes later, one of the guards delivered a fresh set of state blue jeans, a white T-shirt, a pair of socks, and sneakers. I changed into the new garb, grabbed my Bible, but left my toothbrush behind.

Within twenty minutes, I was processed into the B yard and a Level IV unit with two dozen men. Two COs escorted me to my new cell, which was empty.

For a moment, I would have a cell to myself.

I looked around at my new home and thought about how much my life had changed in the last half hour. Then I remembered what God had told me: When you get out of here, you’re going to gather your guys together and tell them that you want nothing to do with the gang life anymore because you’re a Christian.

My heart was ready. I knew that declaring I no longer wanted to be a gang member meant that I was forfeiting my life. I was aware of that, but I was ready to do whatever He wanted me to do.

By Shot Shock And Faith Evans

Even if my actions got me killed.

Excerpted with permission from The Shot Caller by Casey Diaz, copyright Casey Diaz.

Hear Casey’s incredible testimony

By Shot Shock And Faith Sermon

Real Life Story Casey Diaz (Short) from Real Life Church on Vimeo.

* * *

Your Turn

Have you ever wondered if someone you love is too far gone to meet Jesus and be saved? Maybe they’re addicted to drugs, or living on the street, or partying every night, or just ignorant of how much God loves them. Keep praying! And let Casey’s remarkable, spirit-filled story of salvation encourage you in your prayers. Come share your thoughts with us on our blog. We want to hear from you! ~ Devotionals Daily

By Shot Shock And Faith Ministries

By Shot, Shock and Faith allows the simulation of religious wars that occurred in France from 1562 to 1598. This civil war opposes, in a first conflict phase, protestants- otherwise known as Huguenots- to catholics, then royalists to League members after the accession of Henri IV to the throne in 1589.

The art of war during this period of the Renaissance is rapidly changing. The great feudal landlords, steeped in morals, fight alongside mercenaries motivated by sole cupidity. The diversity of the weapons that are used offers great tactical possibilities, based on impact and fire. Gendarmes, cuirassiers, reiters, harquebusiers, lansquenets and Swiss mercenaries confront each other in a merciless fight.

By Shot, Shock and Faith is a grand tactical game which, for the first time, allows the simulation of five battles of that era :

SAINT-DENIS (November 10th, 1567): the protestant army, led by the Prince of Condé, besieges Paris. The Catholics, led by the constable of Montmorency make a sortie, in order to loosen the grip. In spite of a fierce charge by the protestants, the catholics are victorious, however they are plunged into mourning by the loss of their leader....This loss inspires Montaigne to write the following sentence : « la beauté et la gloire de la mort de cettuy-cy, à la veüe de Paris et de son Roy, pour leur service... » (the beauty and the glory of his death, in the sight of Paris and of his King, for their service...)

JARNAC (March 13th, 1569): the protestant rearguard led by the admiral of Coligny is threatened by the entire catholic army, that has passed the Charente river near Jarnac. The Huguenots, very inferior in number, lead a desperate fight. Condé, at the head of 300 gendarmes, throws himself into the battle in order to postpone the enemy's progress. At the height of the charge, he is thrown off his horse. Immobilized, he holds out his sword to a catholic gentleman as a sign of surrender. At that moment, Montesquiou, captain of the royal guard, intervenes, shouting « Tuez...Mordiou...Tuez ! » (Kill....Zounds....Kill!) and he fires his pistol at point-blank range, killing the Prince on the spot.

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LA ROCHE L'ABEILLE (June 25th, 1569): Coligny stops on the road leading to Perigueux. As he learns that the King is stationned nearby, in a humble village of Limousin, he then decides to attack, prefering « ...prevenir plutôt que d'être prévenu » * (forewarn rather than be forewarned). The catholics are surprised at first but they react rapidly, particularly with the arrival of the Italian mercenary cavalry and Strozzi's harquebusiers. The fight is on the rise until rain occurs, preventing any use of arquebus, thus ending the battle. * François de la Noüe

COUTRAS (October 20th, 1587): the protestant army crosses river Dronne at Coutras when Henri of Navarre hears of the pending arrival of the enemy army. Fearing an attack while his army is split in two by the river, Navarre decides to face the catholics, headed by the Duke Anne of Joyeuse. The Huguenots deploy their Harquebusiers in a defensive position around the village so as to be able to receive the enemy charge. The latter is stopped short and their chief is killed. During the Huguenot counter-attack, Henri of Navarre calls out to the enemy : « Rends-toi, Philistin ! » ( Surrender, Philistine ! ) in order to stop the massacre.

Click on image to enlarge

ARQUES (September 21st, 1589): Henri IV is waiting , near Dieppe, for some reinforcement and money from England. The League members, led by the Duke of Mayenne, wish to stop this landing, and they attack the royal troups embanked at the junction of two valleys. The assault breaks up on strong defences and the Royalists counter-attack. Lacking any solution to break through the defences, the League members retreat and the King is victorious. The latter will express his joy to his comrade in arms, absent on that day : « Brave Crillon, pendés-vous de n'avoir été icy près de moy... » (Brave Crillon, hang yourself for not having been here by my side...)

This is a classic game system ; « I go, You go », of average complexity, including, during the active player's phase, a sequence of reaction from the passive player, such as fire, counter-charge or tactical backstep. The maps are whith areas from 300 to 500 m by side. A color code allows to easily determine the costs of movements and the line of sight. The scale of the game is one unit for 100 to 500 soldiers or one or two guns. One game turn represents a duration of 20 to 30 minutes. A corps represents either a vanguard or a rearguard, or the main body called battle.

The combats allow to simulate charges « in wall », the merciless shocks between pikemen, the artillery fire and highlight, by a support system, the combination of iron -shock- and fire -shooting. The optional rules- caracoles, orders, lost children, looting- add even more realism to the era's battles. The rules and the five battles offered are based on a thorough bibliography and researches made into books written by (non???) contemporary authors, specifically François de la Noue for the Protestants and Blaise de Montluc for the Catholics, and also on precise topographical plans of each battlefield that is still accessible, except for Saint-Denis... Are you ready to put on the Prince of Condé's, the admiral of Coligny's, the constable of Montmorency's, Anne de Joyeuse's or Henri of Navarre's armours and to fight your enemies « By Shot, Shock and Faith » ? P3F, the new HEXASIM opus offers you this option with an innovating and elegant game.

By Shot Shock And Faith

Components

• three A2 maps (597x420 mm) (two printed out on both sides, one on one side only)
• 540 die-cut counters of 15mm (2 sheets in A4 size, 1 in A5 size)
• A rules booklet printed in full-color (16 pages)
• An examples booklet printed in full-color (16 pages)
• Play aids
• 2 dice