* Ephesians 6:12 - “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the Rulers …Authorities …Powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

* The battle is fought in the mind - it’s the war over ideas.

* God loves all people but He does not love all ideas.

* Bad Ideas infect good individuals - it’s like biological terrorism.

* How do you treat someone who has an infection but wants to get better? You help them.

* How do you treat someone who’s infected and they want to infect others? You fight them.

* Under the criminal law, a person with HIV is criminally liable for prosecution if they have intentionally transmitted the virus to someone.

* So what do we do?

* We need to reach out to all individuals with compassion while resisting bad ideas with courage.

* We’ll only do this if we have hard head and soft heart.

* We should be hard-headed toward principle (unbending), and soft-hearted toward people.

* We need to please God (soft heart), not man (hard head).

* Vs 7-9 - Ezekiel needed this to go along with the call God had given him.

* 1) Hard Head / Soft Heart:

* You want to please God and not man.

* You don’t bend on principle but you flex with people.

* 2) Soft Head / Hard Heart:

* You don't care about pleasing God and you want to please people.

* You bend on principle but you don’t flex with people.

* 3) Hard Head / Hard Heart:

* You don't care about pleasing anyone, God or man.

* You don’t bend on principle but you also don’t flex with people.

* 4) Soft Head / Soft Hear:

* You want to please everyone, God and man.

* You bend on principle and flex with people.

* BONUS - when you have a hard head and a soft heart you also need TOUGH SKIN (Brian Dixon).

* Because the arrows will fly your way!