Ministry and Spiritual Warfare

This morning at church my pastor announced that he will be stepping down as senior pastor to take on a missionary position in the SE Asia. God has put a burden on his heart for Japan specifically and with this position he will be able to impact missions in Japan. When I first heard about this I was so happy for him and the ministry because I could see it coming and he is setting a great example for our church body. I feel as if my church has needed a revival of some sorts and I believe that this could be it.

Another thing that makes this even more interesting to me was the spiritual presence I felt during the service. A couple of years ago I would have made excuses for weird things happening but there came to a point where I began to see that there are powers at work beyond what we as humans can see. That angels and demons are battling on earth for something greater than anyone can comprehend. Before I go on I must say that Satan does not want us as Christian to go into the ministry, to follow God's will for us. He will try to do whatever he can to disrupt, distract and dismantle the lives of anyone going into ministry for God. Anyway, when my pastor was speaking and pouring his heart out to us, the church started creaking loudly and it was somewhat distracting. This is normal on windy days because the church was constructed in a way that makes it prone to creaking. But today was not a windy day, at all. I could feel a burden on my heart to pray at that time and I prayed for protection and for God to work through my pastors wonderful opportunity as well. Did I say that Satan will go to any lengths? Well later in the service after the creaking, out of the blue a kid just threw up, so loud that it made my pastor stop talking. And he paused so they could deal with it and get it all cleaned up. I'm not saying that this kid had a demon or anything like that, but there was something at work in that room this morning that I still can't explain. As if I could feel the good and evil battling. I could imagine that Satan was trying hard to embitter the church body toward the pastor to make this transition go badly. Especially considering that my pastor is an extremely Godly man of whom I have utmost respect and praise for. Satan doesn't want him going to Japan and having an impact there because Japan is one of the most spiritually lost nations in the world. But I have faith that God will protect him and prayer is the best way I can help.

This was really eye opening for me too, because I have been noticing more spiritual warfare than I ever and even though I couldn't see it, I could feel it. My mom and I have also been talking more about it and it's been really cool to see how God is at work in both of our hearts. And I think this is God's way of preparing me for the ministry in some way. Some of you may know that I want to go to college to study to be a pastor. What happened today made me even more ready for that day to come. I know that Satan will come at me and attack me because he wants to repel anyone who wants to go into God's work. But God has opened maybe not my eyes, but my heart to this. It is not a war over flesh and blood, but over the spirit and the soul.

There are powers at work in our lives that we cannot see, but they are there. And there is a battle over your soul. Satan wants to rattle you, to discourage you. But...

"This is what the Lord says to you: 'Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God's.'" - 2 Chronicles 20:15

"When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city, 'Oh, my lord, what shall we do?' the servant asked. 'Don't be afraid,' the prophet answered. 'Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.' And Elisha prayed, 'Oh Lord, open his eyes so he may see.' Then the Lord opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha." - 2 Kings 6:15-17

Stand strong in the faith, and do not lose heart.

The Christian Cliche

So often I find myself getting frustrated with Christians becoming complacent, and being ungrateful. If we serve a perfect and fulfilling God, why are we settling for something less? Why are we as Christians not letting God work in our lives? If we truly believe He is good, then why do we not let Him rule our lives? I want to see others serve Christ be just as passionate about God as I am. 

The reason for the title is because in our world today, Christians are often looked down upon because we are seen as fanatics and old fashioned. I don't blame people for thinking this because the face of Christianity is now Westboro Baptist Church and that pastor who keeps trying to predict when the world will end. Then the typical Christian is seen as one who goes to church on Sundays and maybe midweek, and lives their life contrary to what they say they should do. But as the song "Jesus, Friend of Sinners" by Casting Crowns says, "why don't we put down our signs cross over the lines and love like you did?" That hit me hard because I too often will find myself not loving, not living like Christ. I also see in America the decline of acceptance of Christianity. Some may find that disheartening, and at first I did. But after thinking and praying about it, I realized that this may be something that can spark Christians into living it out. David Platt said that Satan will use suffering to discourage us but God will use suffering for our sanctification. It will make people become unashamed of the gospel. It will make you buy in to the gospel, or sell out. It will force us Christians to break these cliches. I have so much on my mind, part of it is frustration with what Christianity has become to so many people, but another part of it is I want this passion inside me to spread to those around me. I am tired of seeing those around me not worshiping God and I want that to change. And I want those around me to see that God is the most important thing in everything, whether it be relationships, school, work, or anything else. God comes first and everything else is less. Maybe if we started acting like Christ commanded us to in the Bible, and put God first, maybe those Christian cliches wouldn't become so cliche, but rather real life living.