Jim Lites: suiting up to kick a 33-year smoking habit.

On January 4, 1999, Jim Lites launched the Worldwide Armor of God Stop Smoking Ministries Home Page to share with the world how the Ephesians 6:10-18 passage helped him kick his 33-year smoking habit. Since then, approximately 13,000 people representing 52 countries have visited the Web site--http://www.angelfire.com/ar/armorof god/--to explore this smoking cessation option.

But Lites, 53, is not polishing his halo. Instead, he compares himself to Saul, the biblical character who mercilessly persecuted Jews until God changed his heart and his name to Saint Paul on the road to Damascus.

"I was fairly obnoxious about my smoking," Lites says. "I belonged to 'smokers' rights' organizations and ranted and raved to other smokers about the attempted social engineering of antismoking groups."

Then, in 1998, his father-in-law needlepointed the passage about the armor of God next to the image of a knight on horseback. Lites hung the handmade gift on the back of his front door so he, his wife, Monica, and their son Caleb, now 14, could consider it before stepping out into the world.

That pause, he says, ultimately changed his life.

"This is a story not of a Bible-thumper, but of a 'quiet Christian' and a renewal of spirit," explains the Little Rock, Arkansas, businessman. "All this is an application of the Word of God on a personal level, I had to let go and let God take over. The armor helped me."

The New International Version of the passage reads: "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

"Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

"In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints." *

Lites put the words to work by relating the imagery to his addiction. For instance, the belt of truth reminded him to reconsider the truth about cigarette smoke--that it causes cancer and death. He also visualized the shield of faith not only "extinguishing the arrows of the evil one," but the temptation of lit cigarettes. And the section about feet fitted with the gospel of peace reminded him that with God's help he would someday find peace from his tobacco-related struggle.

"When things come crashing around you, there's a little demon inside you saying, 'Feed me. You'll feel better,'" he explains.

He got dressed with God's Word instead and discovered newfound power--power he could have used during his three previous quitting attempts between his first cigarette in 1963 and his last cigarette in 1998.

"I started experimenting at age 13," Lites recalls. "But by age 15 it had gotten its hooks into me."

In 1971 he briefly quit during a military tour in Vietnam. However, the stress of combat combined with the standard cigarette pack insert with food rations sabotaged those plans. He tried again in the early 1980s in anticipation of having children and again in 1986 after going through a divorce.

"I'm a type A, someone always trying to get out the door, but I noticed Monica and Caleb pausing to put something on that I didn't have," Lites explains. "Without cigarettes in my life it's like I have reencountered God, like I have been reborn."

* Texts are from the Holy Bible, New International Version. Copyright [c] 1973, 1978, 1984, International Bible Society Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers

Pam Mellskog is a freelance writer based in Lafayette, Colorado.