Fight! Fight!

Friends,

As we close out this week, I'd like to reflect a bit on Pastor Benji's comments that were shared towards the end of the sermon. In essence, Pastor Benji asked us to consider the reality of demonic oppression and how the realm of darkness presents itself in this twenty-first century.

In Bible times, demonic oppression was connected to physiological manifestations. So, we read in Scripture about people who were mute, or deaf, or blind, or prone to psychotic behaviors.

But is it limited to that?

In past blogs, I called for fasting and prayer concerning the actions and intents of Governor Paterson (for a sampling, see my blogs from 10/28/2009 and 12/3/2009). And I asked for fasting and prayer because I believed that certain decisions, if made law, would ultimately undermine both our society and our religious liberty. Do you think that some legislative endeavors are diametrically opposed to the advancement of the kingdom of God? I do. Would you go so far as to say that some legislative decisions are driven not by economy or politics, but by unseen demonic forces? I would.

So, what do we do when we recognize a spiritual force that is undermining the work of God's kingdom?

-We pray.
-We fast.
-We declare the word of God fearlessly.
-We inform and warn our community.

Speaking the truth occasionally lands us into trouble, especially when we have a microphone in our hands while we're speaking that truth. (Yes, I'm referring to that incident where some "dominion-of-darkness-supporter" person complained to headquarters about our senior pastor. As if that's going to stop us from speaking the truth.)

Guess what? We are in a war. Not a war against people or systems, but against principalities, powers, and unseen rulers (see Ephesians 6:12).

So fight on, my friends. Just make sure you're fighting on behalf of our victorious Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Never be found fighting against Him.

See you next week!