Know the Enemy Part 5

I have been taking a look this week on the blog at different ways in which our enemy, Satan, comes at us in what is commonly known as spiritual warfare.  It has been a good reminder to me looking over these things, and I hope that it has been beneficial to you also.  Paul the Apostle encourages us to stand against the tactics of the Devil (Ephesians 6:11).  We cannot stand against these tactics or schemes if we do not know what they are.

In this final post on knowing our enemy, I would like to examine the fact that Satan's plan is to destroy us.

Be serious!  Be alert!  Your adversary the Devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone to devour.  (1 Peter 5:8 HCSB)

Peter depicts Satan as a roaring lion looking for something to devour.  This is an image of total destruction.  If you've seen the National Geographic movies of lions on the prowl on the African plains (strange how most people have seen these), you know that a lion does not hunt just for sport.  A lion hunts with the intent of complete destruction.

We cannot begin to fathom the hatred that Satan has for God.  We are told in the Bible that Satan was once a heavenly host of heaven but was kicked out for wanting to overthrow God (Isaiah 14:12-14; Ezekiel 28:11-19).  Since this moment, Satan has declared war on God and seeks to destroy everything that resembles Him.  It does not take much to see why we are in the crosshairs of the Devil.  Human beings are the only thing in all of creation that contain the very image of God (Genesis 1:27).  The image of God upon each of us reminds Satan of his failed attempts of overthrowing God.

Satan will seek to destroy us any way that he can.  He will go after your marriage, your family, your finances, your health, your testimony... anything.  He is not looking to wound or hurt; he is looking to destroy.  There is no mercy within him.  It is amazing how people will toy around with this enemy.  Do not be mistaken about this.  He has one objective for your life which Jesus told us about in John 1o:10 - "the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy.

It can be a little intimidating realizing that you have an enemy that is so set on your destruction.  The amazing thing is that through the grace and power of Jesus Christ, we cannot only have peace but stand (Ephesians 6:13).  May we suit up and be ready for the war that we find ourselves in.

You can read the other parts of this series by clicking the following links: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4.

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The Family That Prays Together Stays Together

By now, just about everyone has heard about the indefinite suspension of Phil Robertson - the Duck Commander - from the show Duck Dynasty over comments he made in an interview with GQ magazine. This news has taken the news world by storm. As a fan of the show, I have been keeping a watch on this story to see what would happen.

I thought that I'd share a couple of my thoughts on the whole deal here.

Family bonds. I was so glad to hear about the statement that was released last night. It stated that the family was sticking together and would not go forward without the patriarch. It is good to see this family sticking together even if that means a wrench is thrown into their program for a little while.

A wake-up call for the church. This seems to be yet another indication that a Biblical worldview is becoming more and more unpopular. The church needs to realize that as the day of Jesus' return draws closer, a Biblical worldview will become more and more unpopular. We must remember that "you will have suffering in this world" (John 16:33).

A call to action. Tolerance is the key word in our culture. Any and all viewpoints must be tolerated. That is except the point of view that finds its origins in the Bible. Our culture is pushing as strong as it can to silence the Biblical perspective. The citizens of the United States who are Christians are protected by the First Amendment for being free to share opinions just as much as those who are not Christians. If the church just sits back and doesn't get involved in protecting and fighting for our rights, we may just lose our voice in this country altogether.

What have you learned from this whole deal between the Duck Commander and A&E?

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I Know Her

http://www.aclj.org/TrialNotebook/Read.aspx?ID=1010

This was a girl that I had the wonderful privilege of being her youth pastor for about 3 years. She was (and still is) an amazing young lady for Christ. Way to go, Michala, in standing up in a very respectful way. The light of Christ really shined through you on this one.

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Wednesday Night

I thought that I might try to keep up with all of the happenings that we do at the Crossroads Student Ministry (FBC Birmingham, Alabama) by posting about what our youth services looked like...

Series: FLIX - this was our summer series where we used video clips from movies to help illustrate God's Word and spark some discussion.

Music: "Nothing But the Blood" - Matt Redman; "I Stand Amazed" - hymn; "How Great Is Our God" - Chris Tomlin.

Message: "Not Being Lukewarm" - This message was presented by my summer intern, Casey Ortner.  He did a great job of sharing the importance of not living a lukewarm life.  We used a clip from the movie "The Three Amigos" where Martin Short draws a line in the sand and lays the challenge to Steve Martin and Chevy Chase.

Rating: It was a great night.  The musical worship was led by me and one of our youth, Teague.  Casey presented a clear message that the Holy Spirit used to bring some conviction.  I like how we ended the service by just spending some time alone with God in confession and prayer.  I would give it an "A".

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