Warning: contains graphic descriptions of violence.
“Have you guys ever heard of General Butt Naked?” I asked our friends at the dinner table the other evening. Lifting his eyebrows and holding back a laugh, Danny said, “Are you about to tell us a joke?”
Friends, what I am about to tell you is no joke.
Who is General Butt Naked? He is our hope for what God can do with terrorist leaders!
An African warlord who terrorized the nation of Liberia, he got his name from the African tribe he led. They only wore boots and a weapon in combat. They believed that their nakedness supernaturally protected them.
He was considered their tribal priest and leader, and they followed him in everything.
He forced thousands of children into his army. They brutally massacred over 20,000 people. They were cannibals who would eat human flesh to appease their gods.
His deities told General Butt Naked that they would be protected in combat after sacrificing a young girl. He practiced sorcery to gain military powers.
His real name is Joshua Milton Blahyi.
One day, with bloodstained hands after a sacrifice, he heard a voice behind him. He turned to look, and there was Jesus Christ glowing in radiant glory so bright Blahyi couldn’t even look. Forced to bow his head, he saw Jesus hovering five feet in the air.
“My son, why are you living like a slave?”
Blahyi was stunned. At the time, Blahyi thought he was the king for his people. Yet Jesus called him a slave. Yet Jesus called him son!
“How do you call me a slave? I’m supposed to be a king,” he argued proudly.
“You are supposed to be a king, indeed. But you are living like a slave.” Jesus went on to explain how Blahyi wasn’t leading right. He continued, “Drop that servant of yours and enjoy your kingship. Repent and live, or refuse and die.” Then Jesus disappeared.
Notice, Jesus didn’t rebuke his crimes; He rebuked him for not living in his proper destiny.
Shortly after, God told Pastor John Kun Kun what happened. He sent John to the general’s barracks, a place nobody could enter without permission. He boldly walked right through the gate, into the apartment, up the stairs to the third floor and to Blahyi’s door…right past all of the soldiers. God must have made him invisible because nobody saw him.
Nobody was permitted to knock on this door because it is where he does incantations. But there was this pastor. He prayed for Blahyi and left. Blahyi was dumfounded. He shot his commanding officer four times for allowing a stranger to come in.
This pastor came in and did the same exact thing 54 days in a row. On that last visit, General Butt Naked gave his life to Jesus Christ. Ironically, it was his birthday, 9/30/96.
Blahyi’s life was radically transformed in that moment! He quit fighting and left the tribe because he found a new master to follow. People he hurt tried to revenge him. His tribe tried to kill him because their law said they couldn’t have a new priest until he was dead.
Over the next 14 years, his tribe tried to kill him 140 times; yet God protected him. They finally gave up and sent men to plead with Blahyi to return as their priest. He denied them.
They said, “If we cannot access our god, we have no protection. And we see that you are protected by a new God that you are worshipping. So why don’t you bring the new God to us so that we worship Him.”
Blahyi got to tell them about Jesus. He told them to renounce their god and stop pagan activities, such as sacrificing children and cannibalism. He explained that Jesus became the ultimate sacrifice for us so we don’t have to sacrifice. He told them that they don’t need to eat flesh and blood anymore. Instead, they can have communion.
They couldn’t believe that it could be that simple. They invited him to his hometown, and he offered them Jesus. The entire tribe accepted Jesus and renounced their gods except for one person! They revoked the curse that was upon them and gave him 3300 acres of land so he could build schools, hospitals, and develop the community for them.
Now Blayhi is doing relief work for his people, preaching the gospel, pleading with warlords to end violence, and repenting to the families of those he harmed.
It’s a modern day, “Saul on the road to Damascus” story. If God can do it for Saul…if God can do it for General Butt Naked…He can do it for any evil person in the world. Let us pray for godly justice to be served in war-torn places, which means transformation even for these people. His glory is not withheld from anyone!
