The children’s Sunday School class could no longer use the room. The mold was too persistent. It would be cleaned off, even bleached away, and still it would appear. Finally, the paneling and drywall were ripped out. There was the source of the problem. Holes in the outer stone wall of the old church building […]
Continue Reading... Comments Off on Discerning the DevilIt’s my practice to read through the Bible every year. This year holds two twists for me. One, I intend to use the King James Version, something I have never done. I’d like to experience the artistry of the KJV. Plus, I think the language variations will slow me down to think about and […]
Continue Reading... Comments Off on Law without LegalismLast week’s worship service at my church was well attended. But I knew this week would be different. I knew it when I started study of the next passage in 1 Thessalonians, the book of the Bible I am preaching through. It occurred to me that this is not something that Satan wants the […]
Continue Reading... Comments Off on The Sermon Satan Didn’t Want My People to HearYou can’t read Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians without detecting a bit of an edge. Understandably so. His opponents back in Thessalonica were questioning his character, his motives, and his conduct. They were trying to turn the hearts of the new believers in the church he planted there against him. It is true […]
Continue Reading... Comments Off on Satan Sightings(excerpt from Warfare Witness: Contending with Spiritual Opposition in Everyday Evangelism, Chapter 7, “The Weapon of Prayer”) Seeing how God acts in daily existence helps us to see the place of prayer. God works in two ways, immediately and mediately. When He acts immediately, God directly acts to do something. For example, when Jesus […]
Continue Reading... Comments Off on The Weapon of PrayerSpiritual opposition is part and parcel of ordinary Christian life—and a focus for our prayers, as is evident by our Lord’s inclusion of it in His model prayer for us in Matthew 6:9-13. The very brevity of that prayer shows the importance of accounting for a spiritual enemy in our daily prayer. What difference […]
Continue Reading... Comments Off on Prayeranoia(This article is the ninth and final in a series tracing the theme of spiritual opposition in Ephesians.) How do we go about standing in Christ? How do we wage war with spiritual weapons (cf. 2 Cor. 10:4-5)? If standing is our strategy, how do we combat Satan’s schemes? Satan has at least three primary […]
Continue Reading... No Comments.We’ve been exploring the theme of spiritual warfare in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. On this Christmas Eve, with the celebration of the incarnation of our Lord much in mind, we would do well to remind ourselves that Christ’s birth is couched in terms of combat. The following is excerpted from What is Spiritual […]
Continue Reading... Comments Off on Born for Battle(This article is the eighth in a series tracing the theme of spiritual opposition in Ephesians.) Spiritual Warfare Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not […]
Continue Reading... No Comments.(This article is the seventh in a series tracing the theme of spiritual opposition in Ephesians.) Field of Battle Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But sexual immorality and all impurity or […]
Continue Reading... Comments Off on Spiritual Warfare in Paul’s Letter to Ephesus (6)