Showing posts with label spiritual warfare. Show all posts
Showing posts with label spiritual warfare. Show all posts
Monday, March 17, 2025
Saturday, March 26, 2022
Tuesday, April 13, 2021
Tuesday, April 6, 2021
Wednesday, December 23, 2020
Friday, December 14, 2018
Death of a Guru
When I became a Christian in 1974 I had a voracious appetite to learn as much as I could about my new faith and the beliefs of those who challenged it.
I read the book "Death of a Guru" in about 1977 when it was first published.
It is still in print.
It opened my eyes to the spiritual world that is in opposition to Jesus.
This link is to a talk by its author.
.
He was brought up a as Guru and then Jesus broke into his life.
I recommend anyone searching for truth buy the book which Rabi mentions in this talk and please watch the video..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmsAlKA8lvs
Wednesday, February 14, 2018
The Invasion of Planet Earth
This was the message I bought to the 2 Renmark Uniting Church congregations recently.
3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.
9 And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
13 And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
The word of God is one,and a very important one,
of God's mighty weapons.
The word of God!
And from Ephesians 6.
"17 And you will need the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit—which is the Word of God."
Note the "helmet of salvation".
We do need to have the question of our salvation settled before we can go into this battle, against our invader, and use “the sword of the spirit” the “word of God.”
Ephesians 6:17 says this.
"17 And you will need the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit—which is the Word of God."
We do need to have the question of our salvation settled before we can go into this battle with satan.
17 When the seventy disciples returned, they joyfully reported to him, “Even the demons obey us when we use your name.”
18 “Yes,” he told them, “I saw Satan falling from heaven as a flash of lightning! 19 And I have given you authority over all the power of the Enemy----------20 However, the important thing is not that demons obey you, but that your names are registered as citizens of heaven.”
Let us take on the invasion of planet earth in our part of the world.
Amen
21 Jesus and his companions now arrived
at the town of Capernum and on Saturday morning went into the Jewish place of
worship—the synagogue—where he preached. 22 The congregation
was surprised at his sermon because he spoke as an authority and didn’t try to
prove his points by quoting others—quite unlike what they were used to hearing![h]
23 A man possessed by a demon was present and began shouting, 24 “Why are you bothering us, Jesus of Nazareth—have you come to destroy us demons? I know who you are—the holy Son of God!”
25 Jesus curtly commanded the demon to say no more and to come out of the man. 26 At that the evil spirit screamed and convulsed the man violently and left him. 27 Amazement gripped the audience and they began discussing what had happened.
“What sort of new religion is this?” they asked excitedly. “Why, even evil spirits obey his orders!”
28 The news of what he had done spread quickly through that entire area of Galilee.
It is slightly different to how it was delivered.
The order of service and main Bible passage is after the sermon.
The Invasion of Planet
Earth
What a title!
No! We are not talking about Martians.
We will find out who,what ,when and where shortly.
How did the world get in this mess that it is today?
How come it’s getting into an even bigger mess?
You look at our society in Australia and the rest of the world over say
the last 50 years and it is remarkable how much evil and moral decay has set
in.
Things that were once considered very immoral are now dismissed as a
fair mode of doing things.
The world is full of people demanding their freedom to do whatever they
like and they are winning these freedoms.
At their own cost and those around them.
Drug taking is rife and now we are having marihujana being made a legal
drug in many parts of the world when medical evidence points quite clearly to
its danger.
There are epidemics of things like “ice”.
Families and relationships are crumbling.
People rejoice when they win their so called freedoms but in reality
they are putting themselves in bondage( to the devil).
And of course we have the rise of the pure evil of terrorism.
We have been invaded!
By the devil!
So who is the devil?
From the outset I will say it is 100% positive there is a devil and he
is alive and active on planet earth.
How did he get here?
How has he got such a foothold and is doing so much damage?
Lucifer, meaning angel of light, was one of God’s created angels who
decided he would try and usurp God as the ruler of the universe.
Lucifer is the devil(Satan).
He is not a guy with horns, a forked tail and a pitchfork.
We would soon run if we saw one of those.
He usually tempts us in the same way he did Adam and Eve.
“No harm will come to you. You will enjoy this.”
He is the one behind the temptation of Adam and Eve in the Garden of
Eden and is still our tempter.
Yes, Adam and Eve were our real initial parents created by God.
All people are descended from them.
Until the devil,the serpent, tempted Adam and Eve they had an idyllic
life.
They were in direct fellowship with their creator and were thoroughly
enjoying His creation and going about the jobs He had given them.
You can read about this in Genesis.
The whole scene is a blessed picture of peace.
We do not know how long this state of divine communion and mutual love
continued.
All we do know is that the heart of God found a unique joy with those He
had created.
Then out of nowhere appears this creature.
The invasion begins.
The serpent.
He may have looked like a snake.
This is recorded in Genesis Chapter 3.
Genesis 3King James Version (KJV)
3 Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which
the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman,
Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
2 And the woman said unto the
serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.
9 And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
13 And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
Satan challenges Adam and Eve in a very beguiling way to disobey what
God has asked of them.
They eat the forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge and immediately
they are afraid and realised they are naked.
“I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid….and I hid myself”
Genesis 3:10
Guilt and fear had simultaneously entered the world.
They hid themselves from God.
This word fear is the word for the emotion that has the whole world in
bondage.
At that point the devil had invaded planet earth and considered the invasion of planet earth was a great
success.
Fellowship was destroyed
between man and God , man was driven out into the agony of existence,outside of
the garden.
God was lonely and all of Satan’s
accomplices rejoiced.
Now there are many questions about why God would allow the devil and
evil to enter the world.
The devil wanted more than the power and authority God had given him.
He wanted to be like god and worshipped as God.
We don’t know the answers to these questions.
The Bible however tells us what we need to know, not what we want to
know.
We do know that for any creature to return God’s love they need to be
given freedom to say yes or know.
The devil had been given this freedom also.
Before Jesus came,after the fall, God had not given up on mankind and
still, as we read in the Old Testament, He gave instruction on Godly living and
spoke through His prophets.
The Old Testament clearly foretells the coming of the Messiah, Jesus,
and then He arrives on earth as a baby born of a virgin.
We heard about that again in our Christmas services.
In the NT we learn of His miracle working life and His death on the cross
and His resurrection.
The dying for our sins, the shedding of His blood as a sacrifice in our
place.
The victory that He has won over the devil.
We learn of the authority, His authority, He gives to us to deal with
evil and sin and the devil.
His authority over the devil is clearly shown in today’s Bible reading.
Now while we need to know much how to use the weapons ,spiritual
weapons, God has given us, so that we are not ensnared like Adam and Eve were,
I just want to focus on one of those weapons today.
The devil does not want the world to seriously consider he exists.
He does not want the world to understand that the Bible is God’s
revelation of His plan of redemption.
The word of God is one,and a very important one,
of God's mighty weapons.
The word of God!
“Hebrews 4:12King James Version (KJV)
12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”And from Ephesians 6.
"17 And you will need the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit—which is the Word of God."
Note the "helmet of salvation".
We do need to have the question of our salvation settled before we can go into this battle, against our invader, and use “the sword of the spirit” the “word of God.”
So we have been hearing today of how the devil invaded the earth and the
minds of men and women.
The devil who is the driving force behind all the evil and rebellion in
the world.
So one of the simple ruses of the evil one is to convince people that the
first 3 chapters of Genesis, where we read about this invasion, are a myth.
In Genesis 3 we see the plan and purpose of satan in his attack in the
garden and his unique pattern he follows in all his assaults on mankind.
Now the theory of evolution is a neat package to help further the
devil’s cause.
It is used by many to attack the credibility of the Bible.
If people can be convinced the true story of creation and the temptation
by the devil is a myth, then why wouldn’t they accept the rest of the Bible’s
message as a fairy tale.
Now just a personal note and for consideration.
I was still believing in evolution when I became a Christian.
I thought at first that God had caused evolution but the more I looked
into it the more I came to dismiss that theory.
It is still a theory, not a fact.
Folks evolution is the fairy tale.
I am not knocking science.
There is true science and false science.
If it were not for medical science I possibly wouldn’t be standing here
today.
One fairy tale we know of is of the Frog Prince who is awakened from his
curse by the kiss of a beautiful maiden.
The only difference between that
fairy tale and the theory of evolution is several million years.
No amount of years, however how many millions, will turn a frog, a fish
or a monkey or any other creature into a man.
The much maligned Charles Darwin was one of the main culprits behind
getting this theory off the ground.
He started off a Christian but became agnostic much to his Bible
believing wife’s despair.
According to the book,”The Kiwi’s Egg”she believed the Genesis account
of creation.
They remained faithfully married to each other all their lives but you
can read about their conflict in the book.
Christians,
believe the Bible!
every word of it!
It is a matter of life and death.
For all of us.
Take it at Faith value.
So the one thing?
The one weapon of God we can all use.
The word of God.
The Bible.
We should read it and study it.
If you are challenged by today’s
message take some steps to thoroughly investigate the evidence for the truth of
the first chapters of Genesis.
Then share what you find whenever you can,
even though some may ridicule you.
A caution though,
share it when you have thoroughly studied the subject.
Know what you are talking about.
Become a champion for the Word of God.
The Bible.
You need to study your Bible thoroughly.
The devil knows the word of God,
the scriptures,
and tried to trick Jesus by misquoting
it when Jesus was tempted for 40 days and 40 nights in the wilderness by the
devil.
Jesus countered all his arguments with scripture in correct context.
Promote the Bible as the whole truth,
including the story in Genesis of our creation,
and the part the devil plays in the fall of man.
So folks, particularly the younger people, study the word of God.
Find out that reputable scientists also believe the Bible and its Creation
account rather than Evolution.
We are not here by chance but by a deliberate act of God.
There are many fine books and Christian documentaries on this subject.
Older people here, it is equally as important no matter how old you are
to make sure you are right with God.
Don’t allow your faith to be nullified by the devil’s lies.
Just last weekend at the Parkrose Village Church service I was sitting
next to a little lady,
she is 94,
who told me that this,
meaning Christian fellowship and the Gospel message,
was what she had been longing for.
I think it was her first day in our church service.
A new resident.
She told me she had done much wrong in her life and did not think herself
worthy to be in the same room with all the other worshipers there.
She said she desperately needed to do something about being forgiven.
I prayed with her and assured her that the first step to getting right
with God is repentance.
I also assured her she would be accepted by the people present.
I also assured her she would be accepted by the people present.
I arranged for her to have a follow up meeting with the Village chaplain
who had been leading the service that day.
What surprised me was that this was a service attended by about the same
amount of people as here, many in their 90’s.
It was just a simple service like this.
We did have communion incorporated into the service which always reminds
us of Jesus and His sacrifice on the Cross for us.
There were no bells and whistles, people leaping and praising God, which
is the impression you can get in some modern churches.
Obviously the Holy Spirit was working in her life at the late age of 94.
Where 2 or 3 are gathered in Jesus name then He is in the midst of them.
He was there speaking to this lady.
Ephesians 6:17 says this.
"17 And you will need the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit—which is the Word of God."
We do need to have the question of our salvation settled before we can go into this battle with satan.
Maybe the Holy Spirit is speaking to someone here today who may over the
years may simply have been going through the outward motions of being
Christian.
The outward motions but no inner stirring or change.
No recognition that we are all sinners and need to be reconciled to God,
and seeing the need to share that with others.
If young or older people here today are stirred by
God’s Holy Spirit, don’t delay making a decision for Jesus or a rededication
and re affirming of your faith.
Folks don’t allow the devil in his subtle ways,to steer you away from Jesus.
Jesus has all authority over the devil and defeated him once and for all
on the cross.
When Jesus lives in us we have that same authority.
We do need to exercise it and not just keep the seat warm in Church.
I close with this reading.
Luke 10:17-20
Living Bible17 When the seventy disciples returned, they joyfully reported to him, “Even the demons obey us when we use your name.”
18 “Yes,” he told them, “I saw Satan falling from heaven as a flash of lightning! 19 And I have given you authority over all the power of the Enemy----------20 However, the important thing is not that demons obey you, but that your names are registered as citizens of heaven.”
Let us take on the invasion of planet earth in our part of the world.
Amen
Order of Service for Renmark 28/1/18
Call to worship and Opening Prayer.
Hymn: “How Great thou Art”
Prayer of confession praise and thanksgiving
Hymn: “Jesus the name
high over all” AHB 150
Bible readings: Mark 1:21-28
Offering and Prayer: Geoff
Hymn: “Be thou my guardian and my guide” AHB 498
Bible reading: Genesis 3:1-13
Sermon: “Invasion of Planet Earth”.
Hymn: “I will sing the
wondrous story” AHB 173
Benediction: and Vesper
May or Lord God of Peace, bless and keep you
forever.
Bible Reading: Mark 1: 21-28
23 A man possessed by a demon was present and began shouting, 24 “Why are you bothering us, Jesus of Nazareth—have you come to destroy us demons? I know who you are—the holy Son of God!”
25 Jesus curtly commanded the demon to say no more and to come out of the man. 26 At that the evil spirit screamed and convulsed the man violently and left him. 27 Amazement gripped the audience and they began discussing what had happened.
“What sort of new religion is this?” they asked excitedly. “Why, even evil spirits obey his orders!”
28 The news of what he had done spread quickly through that entire area of Galilee.
Wednesday, November 15, 2017
Satanic Accusation:Satanic Oppression by Frank Hunting
The attached podcast was part of a School of Prayer conducted by Frank Hunting at the Church of Christ at Grote Street Adelaide in the 1970's.
Frank was visiting the Church prior to taking up a part time appointment alongside his good friend Pastor Harold Long.
I had never heard anything like this and was privileged to sit under Frank's teaching for the next several years.
I may be able to post the whole school on this site progressively.
It was not recorded professionally but you will benefit if you concentrate on this.
I have notes on his school of prayer that compliment this podcast.
Contact me if you wish to have a copy pertaining to this subject.
Unfortunately many Christians and most non Christians are ignorant about the devil.
In this message Frank distinguishes between satanic accusation and satanic oppression.
As CS Lewis remarked, along these lines anyway in his preface to the Screwtape Letters, mankind makes 2 main mistakes about the devil.
They are either totally disbelieving about any such thing or tend to see the devil being responsible for everything that goes wrong.
Sunday, February 28, 2016
Group Praying in Agreement and Authority when someone is addicted to Drugs. Part 2
Group Praying in Agreement and Authority when someone is addicted to Drugs.
Part 2 BY FRANK HUNTING.( YOU WILL NEED TO READ PREVIOUS BLOGS ON 10/8/11 AND 18/8/11 TO APPRECIATE THIS PART OF THE PROCESS AND AUTHORITY INVOLVED TO SET SOMEONE FREE FROM DRUG ADDICTION)his si a transcript from a tape.
This tape deals with how to pray to release someone from the addictive power of drugs.
The power of addiction in drugs is either satanic or demonic.
If it is demonic, then the addiction comes through demons that are in residence in the person.
In other words , there are demons within the person, and those demons are causing the person to take drugs.
They are binding the drug taking to the person with the purpose of destroying that person.
If the addiction is satanic, then the drug taking is the result of an attempt to alleviate certain emotional feelings.
The emotional feelings being in the realm of feelings of depression,
feelings of inferiority,
a very poor self image that is, feelings of insecurity,
or feelings of rejection or jealousy.
Feelings of that nature which cause the person to feel very gloomy, or bored, or dull or depressed. or uncertain and the drugs are taken to alleviate that emotional feeling .
Now the drugs at the beginning may be taken to alleviate an emotional state, but satan will take control of the person through the drug taking, perhaps through the chemistry that responds to the drugs, the chemistry in the body that responds to the drugs, and he will begin to use the states of the person, their depression, or despondency , or insecurity.
he will begin to use these feelings to cause the person to continually take the drug .
And in the end the person becomes,in our terms,"hooked" or dependent upon the drug to be able to-- well, live any sort of a life at all.
life becomes impossible to be lived without the support of the drug.
Having said that, in this satanic area, we can pray in a way that will enable Jesus , to break the power that satan has in the life of a person who is addicted to drugs in this way.
The redemption of Jesus means that Jesus Christ can put into any man the disposition that ruled His own life.
And all they standards that God gives are based upon that disposition.
in other words, Jesus is able through His atonement to put into the life of any person, the disposition of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now that means in the area that we are dealing with that Jesus in place of say, the sense of rejection, can give a very wonderful realisation of acceptance.
The person's acceptance by himself and as he realises that Jesus has accepted him and he begins to accept himself he begins to realise that other people are accepting him too.
And so that sense of rejection goes.
Insecurity, he begins to realise that God will never leave him.
God will never forsake him.
He has no reason to be afraid, and, he will not be.
And so it goes on with inferiority.
The person comes to see that they are a "worth" person because they are of worth to Jesus, to God.
That they have their right to play their part in life as only they can and that God is very happy with them, with them as they are,and therefore they can be happy with themselves.
And so as Jesus is really able to take over in the life of a person so is He able to set them free.From the emotional feelings that cause them to turn to things like drugs to give them a support to make life, as they would put it, have a few kicks in it.
To make life possible to live what they would think high above the depression and the gloom and the boredom and the inferiority and insecurity that they feel.
So we 're going to look now at how you are going to pray and we are going to take each of these things that could be in -------'s life, jealousy, depression, inferiority, insecurity, rejection and we 're going to pray about them in the victory of Jesus, but we are going to pray from the stance of the victory of Christ.
That we have the victory, that we have the authority, that we are not asking but commanding, we are not pleading but insisting, we are asserting Christ's victory and are honouring Him.
It is His victory, and we are not going to allow one of His children to be bound by the devil whose power was taken from him at the cross when Jesus shed His blood and God raised Him again from the dead .
Now the first thing you are to do is to protect yourself and your family and your possessions,
protect yourself with the blood of Christ.
and you will do it something like this;
"Gracious Heavenly Father, I come to you to protect me fully from any onslaught, from any way whatsoever that the devil can reach me,or touch me or any of my loved ones or anything belonging to me.
I place myself under the protection of Cross of Jesus Christ my Lord.
I protect myself and all of my loved ones and all of my possessions with His shed blood.
I ask you gracious God to place around my mind, around my body, and around my comings and goings, around my thinking, around my deciding, a circle of light through which no evil can penetrate, and in the innermost depths of my being,I ask that I will be protected by your glorious light from all evil.
Thank you Lord, thank you, in the mane of Jesus I am before you."
Now the way that you are to pray is something like this.
Take the time and the trouble to realise the presence of Jesus.
Take the time and the trouble to realise you are in the presence of the living Lord Jesus.
The all victorious Lord and Saviour who, at the cross, disarmed satan of all his power when He died, shed His blood and rose again. Because in these prayers you are going straight to Jesus,
you are coming to Him and you are going in His victory to give to Him the faith to deliver-------------from the bondage that he is in.
So, you will pray somewhat like this, and you will take each of the things I have mentioned,
jealousy,
depression,
inferiority,
insecurity,
rejection,
boredom if you like,
you will take all of these and pray for each one of them in a manner similar to what I am going to suggest.
Here is the suggestion.
"Lord Jesus , in the power of your victory over all the power of the devil,
when you died on the cross and shed your blood and rose again,
I deny to satan any power to satan to bind to -------drugs as a compensation for jealousy."
Now if you have fully protected yourself by the cross, by the blood of Christ you may continue thus.
" satan, in the name of Jesus you are to release ------from all the power drugs have over him.
He is Christ's child, I deny to you on the authority of His cross any right of any kind, to any hold or power over him."
Now you will pray that prayer as I have said putting in the end as a compensation instead of jealousy,
you will say depression,
and then again instead of depression inferiority,
insecurity,
rejection and so on.
And then you may pray
"Lord Jesus, drugs come from the evil one,
in your name and in the victory of your cross and resurrection I am asserting your power to set-------- free from drugs.
I thank you Lord for your victory,
I thank you that you are greater than any power of evil that I can see,
I am praising you and giving to you the victory,in the life of -----------.
Thank you Lord. Amen."
Now as the group, those of you who are gathered here,today, as you begin to make this a special prayer project, for --------, and you pray this prayer,each day as you bring him in this way,
and you assert the victory of Jesus over all the power of the evil one we can expect -------to be set free.
We can expect him to be capable of breaking the power in his life that drugs have over him.
I have also given you a gold sheet under the title of "overcoming satan".
This sheet was specifically prepared for someone who was demonically afflicted but you can very easily adapt it in your praying to the need that is in -----------'s life.
Actually if you have a look at the sheet and you go down to the 4th paragraph where it says "you loose your grip on me and go to the pit where you belong"
All you need to do is to change that from "you loose your grip on me to "on ----------- and go to the pit where you belong".
"On the authority of Jesus word I command it."
you will be able to use this sheet quite effectively in your quiet time.
END
"
Part 2 BY FRANK HUNTING.( YOU WILL NEED TO READ PREVIOUS BLOGS ON 10/8/11 AND 18/8/11 TO APPRECIATE THIS PART OF THE PROCESS AND AUTHORITY INVOLVED TO SET SOMEONE FREE FROM DRUG ADDICTION)his si a transcript from a tape.
This tape deals with how to pray to release someone from the addictive power of drugs.
The power of addiction in drugs is either satanic or demonic.
If it is demonic, then the addiction comes through demons that are in residence in the person.
In other words , there are demons within the person, and those demons are causing the person to take drugs.
They are binding the drug taking to the person with the purpose of destroying that person.
If the addiction is satanic, then the drug taking is the result of an attempt to alleviate certain emotional feelings.
The emotional feelings being in the realm of feelings of depression,
feelings of inferiority,
a very poor self image that is, feelings of insecurity,
or feelings of rejection or jealousy.
Feelings of that nature which cause the person to feel very gloomy, or bored, or dull or depressed. or uncertain and the drugs are taken to alleviate that emotional feeling .
Now the drugs at the beginning may be taken to alleviate an emotional state, but satan will take control of the person through the drug taking, perhaps through the chemistry that responds to the drugs, the chemistry in the body that responds to the drugs, and he will begin to use the states of the person, their depression, or despondency , or insecurity.
he will begin to use these feelings to cause the person to continually take the drug .
And in the end the person becomes,in our terms,"hooked" or dependent upon the drug to be able to-- well, live any sort of a life at all.
life becomes impossible to be lived without the support of the drug.
Having said that, in this satanic area, we can pray in a way that will enable Jesus , to break the power that satan has in the life of a person who is addicted to drugs in this way.
The redemption of Jesus means that Jesus Christ can put into any man the disposition that ruled His own life.
And all they standards that God gives are based upon that disposition.
in other words, Jesus is able through His atonement to put into the life of any person, the disposition of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now that means in the area that we are dealing with that Jesus in place of say, the sense of rejection, can give a very wonderful realisation of acceptance.
The person's acceptance by himself and as he realises that Jesus has accepted him and he begins to accept himself he begins to realise that other people are accepting him too.
And so that sense of rejection goes.
Insecurity, he begins to realise that God will never leave him.
God will never forsake him.
He has no reason to be afraid, and, he will not be.
And so it goes on with inferiority.
The person comes to see that they are a "worth" person because they are of worth to Jesus, to God.
That they have their right to play their part in life as only they can and that God is very happy with them, with them as they are,and therefore they can be happy with themselves.
And so as Jesus is really able to take over in the life of a person so is He able to set them free.From the emotional feelings that cause them to turn to things like drugs to give them a support to make life, as they would put it, have a few kicks in it.
To make life possible to live what they would think high above the depression and the gloom and the boredom and the inferiority and insecurity that they feel.
So we 're going to look now at how you are going to pray and we are going to take each of these things that could be in -------'s life, jealousy, depression, inferiority, insecurity, rejection and we 're going to pray about them in the victory of Jesus, but we are going to pray from the stance of the victory of Christ.
That we have the victory, that we have the authority, that we are not asking but commanding, we are not pleading but insisting, we are asserting Christ's victory and are honouring Him.
It is His victory, and we are not going to allow one of His children to be bound by the devil whose power was taken from him at the cross when Jesus shed His blood and God raised Him again from the dead .
Now the first thing you are to do is to protect yourself and your family and your possessions,
protect yourself with the blood of Christ.
and you will do it something like this;
"Gracious Heavenly Father, I come to you to protect me fully from any onslaught, from any way whatsoever that the devil can reach me,or touch me or any of my loved ones or anything belonging to me.
I place myself under the protection of Cross of Jesus Christ my Lord.
I protect myself and all of my loved ones and all of my possessions with His shed blood.
I ask you gracious God to place around my mind, around my body, and around my comings and goings, around my thinking, around my deciding, a circle of light through which no evil can penetrate, and in the innermost depths of my being,I ask that I will be protected by your glorious light from all evil.
Thank you Lord, thank you, in the mane of Jesus I am before you."
Now the way that you are to pray is something like this.
Take the time and the trouble to realise the presence of Jesus.
Take the time and the trouble to realise you are in the presence of the living Lord Jesus.
The all victorious Lord and Saviour who, at the cross, disarmed satan of all his power when He died, shed His blood and rose again. Because in these prayers you are going straight to Jesus,
you are coming to Him and you are going in His victory to give to Him the faith to deliver-------------from the bondage that he is in.
So, you will pray somewhat like this, and you will take each of the things I have mentioned,
jealousy,
depression,
inferiority,
insecurity,
rejection,
boredom if you like,
you will take all of these and pray for each one of them in a manner similar to what I am going to suggest.
Here is the suggestion.
"Lord Jesus , in the power of your victory over all the power of the devil,
when you died on the cross and shed your blood and rose again,
I deny to satan any power to satan to bind to -------drugs as a compensation for jealousy."
Now if you have fully protected yourself by the cross, by the blood of Christ you may continue thus.
" satan, in the name of Jesus you are to release ------from all the power drugs have over him.
He is Christ's child, I deny to you on the authority of His cross any right of any kind, to any hold or power over him."
Now you will pray that prayer as I have said putting in the end as a compensation instead of jealousy,
you will say depression,
and then again instead of depression inferiority,
insecurity,
rejection and so on.
And then you may pray
"Lord Jesus, drugs come from the evil one,
in your name and in the victory of your cross and resurrection I am asserting your power to set-------- free from drugs.
I thank you Lord for your victory,
I thank you that you are greater than any power of evil that I can see,
I am praising you and giving to you the victory,in the life of -----------.
Thank you Lord. Amen."
Now as the group, those of you who are gathered here,today, as you begin to make this a special prayer project, for --------, and you pray this prayer,each day as you bring him in this way,
and you assert the victory of Jesus over all the power of the evil one we can expect -------to be set free.
We can expect him to be capable of breaking the power in his life that drugs have over him.
I have also given you a gold sheet under the title of "overcoming satan".
This sheet was specifically prepared for someone who was demonically afflicted but you can very easily adapt it in your praying to the need that is in -----------'s life.
Actually if you have a look at the sheet and you go down to the 4th paragraph where it says "you loose your grip on me and go to the pit where you belong"
All you need to do is to change that from "you loose your grip on me to "on ----------- and go to the pit where you belong".
"On the authority of Jesus word I command it."
you will be able to use this sheet quite effectively in your quiet time.
END
"
Group Praying in Agreement and Authority when someone is addicted to Drugs. Foundations
Group Praying in Agreement and Authority when someone is addicted to Drugs. Transcript from tape. Side 1: Frank Hunting
This is a study on group praying for for those afflicted by drugs prepared on july 27th 1978.
In this study we are going to look at how we can pray as a group for those who are afflicted by or addicted to drugs.
In the first place we know our enemy.
No. 1 We know our enemy.
If you would turn to or write down and look it up later,
if you turn to Ephesians Chapter 6 verse 12, in the Living Bible there you have it set forth for us very clearly and very plainly.
It says. "For we are not, we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood but against persons without bodies, the evil rulers of the unseen world.Those mighty satanic beings and great evil princes of darkness who rule this world and against huge numbers of wicked spirits in the unseen world .
Now let's have a little look, just for a moment at how the devil is able to rule us in this world.
It says there "The great evil princes of darkness who rule this world."
In the case of drugs something like this happens.
The person feels depressed, maybe Christian or otherwise, may feel insecure, they may feel rejected,they my feel inferior.
Now those feelings have become strong, and there may be plenty, as they look at life, as they've seen life, as they have reacted to life there may seem to them to be plenty of good reason why they have these emotional feelings.
Now nobody likes to feel depressed, nobody really likes to be insecure, and none of us are particularly happy at feeling ourselves to be inferior to everybody else and certainly none us enjoy feeling that we have been rejected, we are being rejected by people.
Now to compensate this and easy way that is being taken today to try to compensate or to try to combat or change, or to make different these feelings is to turn to drugs.
And the very words that are used explain this.
That on drugs you go "high" , on drugs you have good ,lovely feelings, while the effect of the drug lasts.
So that's the reason why people turn to drugs and when they do, the evil one, because drugs and all those sort of things associated with them belong to his kingdom.
And when they do, instead of turning to God for the answer, to their depression or their inferiority or their security, or their rejection, instead of turning to God for His answer to these things, turning to drugs they do in fact, without knowing it in most cases, open their lives to the control of the evil one.
And through their minds, through their bodies, sometimes through the chemistry in their bodies, he is able to control them in the way that we call addiction and is often able to do what he is always seeking to do, destroy them.
We in the first place know our enemy!
In the second place we know our victory!
Number 2 . We know our Victory!
And you will find this given for us very clearly, in the 3rd chapter and verse 8 of John's 1st letter.
1 John 3:8
This is what it says.
"The reason the reason the son of God was made manifest visible , the reason why the Son of God came to this earth and lived among us as a human being was to undo, destroy, to loosen and destroy the works of the devil, the works the devil has done. "
Now the reason Jesus came to earth in one area of our living was to undo the works of the devil through drug addiction.
The power that the devil comes to have over people through their turning to drugs to alleviate some feelings that they have had some time or other.
So we know our victory.
Jesus came to undue those works, that power that the devil has.
If we look again we see where He did this,where the victory of Jesus took place.
And its found in Colossians and other places too for that matter,but a verse that sets it forth very clearly, is in Colossians Chapter 2 and verses 14 and 15.
I am reading to you now from the Revised Standard Version.
It says in verse 14. "Having cancelled the bond which stood against us with its legal demands,this He set aside, nailing it to the cross."
That's simply saying that everything in your life and mine,everything about us that would separate us from God, that would mean we are unable to come to God, these have been all of them set aside.
They have all of them be nailed to our Saviour's cross.
And then he goes on to talk about the devil, "He disarmed the principalities and powers and made a public example of them,triumphing over them in Him, in Jesus or, in His cross.
Now Moffatt translates that this.
It's a good thing to look up the various translations because they are really needed to get all the meanings that are encompassed , contained, in the Greek.
This is what Moffatt says verse 15, "When He nailed them to the cross, when He cut away the angelic rulers and powers from us.
The angelic rulers and powers, Jesus cut them away from us exposing them to all the world and triumphing over them in the cross."
That's Moffatt's translation.
Now the same wonderful truth comes out in Barclay's translation.
"He stripped the powers and authorities of all their power, at the cross."
Now the devil claims to have power, he bullies that he's got power, he threatens that he has power, he lies and deceives and makes people believe he has power, he gets us looking at the situation, in this case he gets us looking at the person, and he'll say "that person is addicted, there's no power on heaven or earth that can set that man free.he is addicted! There's nothing you can do about it!"
And so we believe his lie.
And our God shrinks to the size that you could put him in a match box.
And we believe the devil's lie.
Not God's truth.
"He stripped the powers and authorities of all their power.
and publicly put them to shame and through the cross led them captive in His triumphal train."
No2. We know our victory.
Number 3. We know our authority.
This is made very clear in chapter 10 of Luke verses 17-20.
And this was a battle that the Disciples had in a head on confrontation with the powers of the evil one in the form of demons.
"The seventy returned with joy saying "Lord, even the demons", the demons from very hell itself, the demons who are the slaves and servants of the devil,the demons who are evil,evil active agents of the devil in this world,"these demons are subject to us, subject to us in your name "
" In your name" and He, Jesus said to them " I saw satan falling like a lightning flash from heaven.Behold I" who? Jesus! " I have given you authority and power to trample upon serpents and scorpions and physical and mental strength and ability over all the power, all the power that the enemy possesses and nothing in anyway shall harm you."
There we have our authority delegated to us by the Lord Jesus Christ but only made to operate as we believe the Word of God as we assert our authority.
As we in our assertion of the authority, make the devil submit to what is true, that he is defeated, he must yield, he must give way when the power and the victory of the cross is brought down on him.
Number 3 . We know our authority!
Number 4. We know our weapons!
We know our weapons!
And we turn now to 2nd Corinthians Chapter 10, verses 3 to 5, and it's very admirably spelt out for us, what this passage is saying,in the Living Bible.
Here is what it is saying. Now this ought to give you a lot of comfort what it is saying and teaching.
'It is true that I am and ordinary, weak human being,(now I guess you're feeling that way about yourself, that you are an ordinary weak human being, so was Paul, but the difference between him and so many other Christians was this) but I don't use human plans and methods to win my battles.(He knew he wasn't fighting against flesh and blood so he didn't use human plans and methods) I use God's mighty weapons , not those made by men, to knock down the devil's strongholds.(Now we are concerned about the stronghold that the devil has in the life off a human being through drugs) These weapons can break down every proud argument against God and every wall that can be built to keep men from finding Him.With these weapons I can capture rebels and bring them back to God, and change them into men whose heart's desire(the deep down desire) is obedience to Christ."
Well as far as I know there are 8 of God's might weapons.
You may use one singly at one time or several or all of them according to the need.
Hère they are.
God's mighty weapons.
1. Faith that brings God into the situation.Faith that brings Almighty God into the situation.
2. The Word of God. The Living Word of God.
3. The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit controlling, leading and giving insight.
The Holy Spirit.
4. Intercessory prayer.Now intercessory prayer is prayer that identifies with God's will, God's purposes in the life of that person for whom we are praying.And in the case of someone afflicted by drugs is God's will that that person be free from the power that drugs have in the person's life.
We are in intercessory prayer to identify with God's purposes in the life of the person for whom we are praying.
5. The realisation of and the exercising of our delegated authority and power over the devil.We've already had a look at that in Luke 10: verses 17-20.
6. The word of our, or my testimony.Revelation Chapter 12 v11.now in this case if you are a bit baffled as to what the word of your testimony is to be it is this.
The word of your testimony is to be in this case, is to be the actual power of God to set this person free.
That Jesus is victorious that whatever the power,that the devil has in this life through drugs,Jesus has defeated the devil , Jesus has made the devil yield his power,and we are declaring that.
We are saying that, we are believing that and we are saying what we believe.
7.
The 7th mighty weapon that God has given us is the Cross and the Resurrection of the lord Jesus Christ.
The Cross and the Resurrection of the lord Jesus Christ.
Brought out in passages like Hebrews ch2 v 14.
Colossians ch2 v 14 and 15,
Revelation Ch:12 v11,
1st John 3:8 , passages that you have already had.
8. And the 8th mighty weapon that God has given us is The Power and Authority of Jesus name.
The Power and Authority of Jesus name.
And the passages that we are to soak right in to very depths of us are John 14:13,14.
John 15:16,
Ephesians 1:21,22.
Phillipians 2:9-11.
So in the 4th place we know our weapons.
We know our weapons.
The invincible weapons of God.
And in this case as we apply them,to somebody afflicted by drugs we are learning how to use the weapons God has put into our hands.
5. We know God's power.
God's power is greater than anything we see.
It is greater than the power of evil in any life that we see.
God's power is greater than any circumstance, any situation we see.
It is greater than anything that we look at.
All to often, all to often, when we look at some person who is being controlled by some evil,when we look at some person who in one way or another is being pushed around by the devil, or by their circumstances or by their past life or whatsoever, we get to looking at the person and we look so hard at the person,and their problems and their needs becomes so big that we cannot see God and our God shrivels up into a tiny little God that you can put in a matchbox.
And the devil wins his victory.
We cannot exercise the faith , we do not exercise the mighty weapons that God has given us.
Now one of the contributing factors to that is,usually we can only see one or two or three ways at the most that God can do anything.
Noe God has a million ways we know nothing at all about,whereby He can exercise His power.
What He needs is not us knowing how He is going exercise His power but our Faith.
When we give Him our Faith then He works in ways of which we may know nothing.
So we are to give Him our Faith and let Him work it out in His way.
I'm going to turn over now to the other side(cassette tape) and we are going to look specifically at the one for whom we are going to pray.
What I've said are the general principles , the general basis from which we operate.
The foundation, foothold if you like Victory from which we are to operate in the life of particular persons who are afflicted by drugs.
Foot note: Please see my earlier blog introduction to this topic.
http://geoffthompsonsblog.blogspot.com.au/2011/08/group-praying-in-agreement-and.html
I will be presenting side 2 of the tape on how we actually are to pray in this situation as soon as I can set aside the time to transcribe from the tape with my 2 finger typing. I welcome any emails from people if they want more information about this subject and other relevant subject matter.
Side 2 link
http://geoffthompsonsblog.blogspot.com.au/2011/08/group-praying-in-agreement-and_27.html
geoff thompson
This is a study on group praying for for those afflicted by drugs prepared on july 27th 1978.
In this study we are going to look at how we can pray as a group for those who are afflicted by or addicted to drugs.
In the first place we know our enemy.
No. 1 We know our enemy.
If you would turn to or write down and look it up later,
if you turn to Ephesians Chapter 6 verse 12, in the Living Bible there you have it set forth for us very clearly and very plainly.
It says. "For we are not, we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood but against persons without bodies, the evil rulers of the unseen world.Those mighty satanic beings and great evil princes of darkness who rule this world and against huge numbers of wicked spirits in the unseen world .
Now let's have a little look, just for a moment at how the devil is able to rule us in this world.
It says there "The great evil princes of darkness who rule this world."
In the case of drugs something like this happens.
The person feels depressed, maybe Christian or otherwise, may feel insecure, they may feel rejected,they my feel inferior.
Now those feelings have become strong, and there may be plenty, as they look at life, as they've seen life, as they have reacted to life there may seem to them to be plenty of good reason why they have these emotional feelings.
Now nobody likes to feel depressed, nobody really likes to be insecure, and none of us are particularly happy at feeling ourselves to be inferior to everybody else and certainly none us enjoy feeling that we have been rejected, we are being rejected by people.
Now to compensate this and easy way that is being taken today to try to compensate or to try to combat or change, or to make different these feelings is to turn to drugs.
And the very words that are used explain this.
That on drugs you go "high" , on drugs you have good ,lovely feelings, while the effect of the drug lasts.
So that's the reason why people turn to drugs and when they do, the evil one, because drugs and all those sort of things associated with them belong to his kingdom.
And when they do, instead of turning to God for the answer, to their depression or their inferiority or their security, or their rejection, instead of turning to God for His answer to these things, turning to drugs they do in fact, without knowing it in most cases, open their lives to the control of the evil one.
And through their minds, through their bodies, sometimes through the chemistry in their bodies, he is able to control them in the way that we call addiction and is often able to do what he is always seeking to do, destroy them.
We in the first place know our enemy!
In the second place we know our victory!
Number 2 . We know our Victory!
And you will find this given for us very clearly, in the 3rd chapter and verse 8 of John's 1st letter.
1 John 3:8
This is what it says.
"The reason the reason the son of God was made manifest visible , the reason why the Son of God came to this earth and lived among us as a human being was to undo, destroy, to loosen and destroy the works of the devil, the works the devil has done. "
Now the reason Jesus came to earth in one area of our living was to undo the works of the devil through drug addiction.
The power that the devil comes to have over people through their turning to drugs to alleviate some feelings that they have had some time or other.
So we know our victory.
Jesus came to undue those works, that power that the devil has.
If we look again we see where He did this,where the victory of Jesus took place.
And its found in Colossians and other places too for that matter,but a verse that sets it forth very clearly, is in Colossians Chapter 2 and verses 14 and 15.
I am reading to you now from the Revised Standard Version.
It says in verse 14. "Having cancelled the bond which stood against us with its legal demands,this He set aside, nailing it to the cross."
That's simply saying that everything in your life and mine,everything about us that would separate us from God, that would mean we are unable to come to God, these have been all of them set aside.
They have all of them be nailed to our Saviour's cross.
And then he goes on to talk about the devil, "He disarmed the principalities and powers and made a public example of them,triumphing over them in Him, in Jesus or, in His cross.
Now Moffatt translates that this.
It's a good thing to look up the various translations because they are really needed to get all the meanings that are encompassed , contained, in the Greek.
This is what Moffatt says verse 15, "When He nailed them to the cross, when He cut away the angelic rulers and powers from us.
The angelic rulers and powers, Jesus cut them away from us exposing them to all the world and triumphing over them in the cross."
That's Moffatt's translation.
Now the same wonderful truth comes out in Barclay's translation.
"He stripped the powers and authorities of all their power, at the cross."
Now the devil claims to have power, he bullies that he's got power, he threatens that he has power, he lies and deceives and makes people believe he has power, he gets us looking at the situation, in this case he gets us looking at the person, and he'll say "that person is addicted, there's no power on heaven or earth that can set that man free.he is addicted! There's nothing you can do about it!"
And so we believe his lie.
And our God shrinks to the size that you could put him in a match box.
And we believe the devil's lie.
Not God's truth.
"He stripped the powers and authorities of all their power.
and publicly put them to shame and through the cross led them captive in His triumphal train."
No2. We know our victory.
Number 3. We know our authority.
This is made very clear in chapter 10 of Luke verses 17-20.
And this was a battle that the Disciples had in a head on confrontation with the powers of the evil one in the form of demons.
"The seventy returned with joy saying "Lord, even the demons", the demons from very hell itself, the demons who are the slaves and servants of the devil,the demons who are evil,evil active agents of the devil in this world,"these demons are subject to us, subject to us in your name "
" In your name" and He, Jesus said to them " I saw satan falling like a lightning flash from heaven.Behold I" who? Jesus! " I have given you authority and power to trample upon serpents and scorpions and physical and mental strength and ability over all the power, all the power that the enemy possesses and nothing in anyway shall harm you."
There we have our authority delegated to us by the Lord Jesus Christ but only made to operate as we believe the Word of God as we assert our authority.
As we in our assertion of the authority, make the devil submit to what is true, that he is defeated, he must yield, he must give way when the power and the victory of the cross is brought down on him.
Number 3 . We know our authority!
Number 4. We know our weapons!
We know our weapons!
And we turn now to 2nd Corinthians Chapter 10, verses 3 to 5, and it's very admirably spelt out for us, what this passage is saying,in the Living Bible.
Here is what it is saying. Now this ought to give you a lot of comfort what it is saying and teaching.
'It is true that I am and ordinary, weak human being,(now I guess you're feeling that way about yourself, that you are an ordinary weak human being, so was Paul, but the difference between him and so many other Christians was this) but I don't use human plans and methods to win my battles.(He knew he wasn't fighting against flesh and blood so he didn't use human plans and methods) I use God's mighty weapons , not those made by men, to knock down the devil's strongholds.(Now we are concerned about the stronghold that the devil has in the life off a human being through drugs) These weapons can break down every proud argument against God and every wall that can be built to keep men from finding Him.With these weapons I can capture rebels and bring them back to God, and change them into men whose heart's desire(the deep down desire) is obedience to Christ."
Well as far as I know there are 8 of God's might weapons.
You may use one singly at one time or several or all of them according to the need.
Hère they are.
God's mighty weapons.
1. Faith that brings God into the situation.Faith that brings Almighty God into the situation.
2. The Word of God. The Living Word of God.
3. The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit controlling, leading and giving insight.
The Holy Spirit.
4. Intercessory prayer.Now intercessory prayer is prayer that identifies with God's will, God's purposes in the life of that person for whom we are praying.And in the case of someone afflicted by drugs is God's will that that person be free from the power that drugs have in the person's life.
We are in intercessory prayer to identify with God's purposes in the life of the person for whom we are praying.
5. The realisation of and the exercising of our delegated authority and power over the devil.We've already had a look at that in Luke 10: verses 17-20.
6. The word of our, or my testimony.Revelation Chapter 12 v11.now in this case if you are a bit baffled as to what the word of your testimony is to be it is this.
The word of your testimony is to be in this case, is to be the actual power of God to set this person free.
That Jesus is victorious that whatever the power,that the devil has in this life through drugs,Jesus has defeated the devil , Jesus has made the devil yield his power,and we are declaring that.
We are saying that, we are believing that and we are saying what we believe.
7.
The 7th mighty weapon that God has given us is the Cross and the Resurrection of the lord Jesus Christ.
The Cross and the Resurrection of the lord Jesus Christ.
Brought out in passages like Hebrews ch2 v 14.
Colossians ch2 v 14 and 15,
Revelation Ch:12 v11,
1st John 3:8 , passages that you have already had.
8. And the 8th mighty weapon that God has given us is The Power and Authority of Jesus name.
The Power and Authority of Jesus name.
And the passages that we are to soak right in to very depths of us are John 14:13,14.
John 15:16,
Ephesians 1:21,22.
Phillipians 2:9-11.
So in the 4th place we know our weapons.
We know our weapons.
The invincible weapons of God.
And in this case as we apply them,to somebody afflicted by drugs we are learning how to use the weapons God has put into our hands.
5. We know God's power.
God's power is greater than anything we see.
It is greater than the power of evil in any life that we see.
God's power is greater than any circumstance, any situation we see.
It is greater than anything that we look at.
All to often, all to often, when we look at some person who is being controlled by some evil,when we look at some person who in one way or another is being pushed around by the devil, or by their circumstances or by their past life or whatsoever, we get to looking at the person and we look so hard at the person,and their problems and their needs becomes so big that we cannot see God and our God shrivels up into a tiny little God that you can put in a matchbox.
And the devil wins his victory.
We cannot exercise the faith , we do not exercise the mighty weapons that God has given us.
Now one of the contributing factors to that is,usually we can only see one or two or three ways at the most that God can do anything.
Noe God has a million ways we know nothing at all about,whereby He can exercise His power.
What He needs is not us knowing how He is going exercise His power but our Faith.
When we give Him our Faith then He works in ways of which we may know nothing.
So we are to give Him our Faith and let Him work it out in His way.
I'm going to turn over now to the other side(cassette tape) and we are going to look specifically at the one for whom we are going to pray.
What I've said are the general principles , the general basis from which we operate.
The foundation, foothold if you like Victory from which we are to operate in the life of particular persons who are afflicted by drugs.
Foot note: Please see my earlier blog introduction to this topic.
http://geoffthompsonsblog.blogspot.com.au/2011/08/group-praying-in-agreement-and.html
I will be presenting side 2 of the tape on how we actually are to pray in this situation as soon as I can set aside the time to transcribe from the tape with my 2 finger typing. I welcome any emails from people if they want more information about this subject and other relevant subject matter.
Side 2 link
http://geoffthompsonsblog.blogspot.com.au/2011/08/group-praying-in-agreement-and_27.html
geoff thompson
Friday, November 13, 2015
A Challenge for the Christian Church
When I look at the world today, especially as we have just this
morning heard of more terrible terrorist attacks in Paris, and the
changes in morals world wide, the spread of drug addiction and it's
horrors and the continual attacks on Christians ad Christianity by the
media at large and many individuals it causes me to reflect once again
how come the Church is not a more positive influence in this world as it
was in the reformation.
I picked up a book the other day by Helmut Thielicke called "The trouble with the Church".
It was published in 1965.
I haven't read it all but can say amen to some of his points.
He probably was feeling like I do today.
I am disturbed in this day and age by lots of things I see happening in the Church and things I don't see that should be happening
I firmly believe the Church is the Bride of Christ and still has a huge role to play in the Drama of the Ages.
However I think we may well be like the Church in the book of Revelation that it is said of
15 “I know you well—you are neither hot nor cold; I wish you were one or the other! 16 But since you are merely lukewarm, I will spit you out of my mouth!"
Here is the passage in context.
Are we the Church of Laodicea?
Are we lukewarm?
Revelation 3 Living Bible
13 “Let all who can hear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.
14 “Write this letter to the leader of the church in Laodicea:
“This message is from the one who stands firm,[f] the faithful and true Witness of all that is or was or evermore shall be,* the primeval source of God’s creation:
15 “I know you well—you are neither hot nor cold; I wish you were one or the other! 16 But since you are merely lukewarm, I will spit you out of my mouth!
17 “You say, ‘I am rich, with everything I want; I don’t need a thing!’ And you don’t realize that spiritually you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.
18 “My advice to you is to buy pure gold from me, gold purified by fire—only then will you truly be rich. And to purchase from me white garments, clean and pure, so you won’t be naked and ashamed; and to get medicine from me to heal your eyes and give you back your sight. 19 I continually discipline and punish everyone I love; so I must punish you unless you turn from your indifference and become enthusiastic about the things of God.
20 “Look! I have been standing at the door, and I am constantly knocking. If anyone hears me calling him and opens the door, I will come in and fellowship with him and he with me. 21 I will let everyone who conquers sit beside me on my throne, just as I took my place with my Father on his throne when I had conquered. 22 Let those who can hear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.”
One of those who challenged us in Australia and overseas to look with discernment about spiritual things,in particular spiritual gifts, was Rev Bryce Hartin.
Quite rightly of course he will argue as the Bible tells us "we do not fight with flesh and blood, but the evil unseen rulers of this world."
I have many of Bryce's tapes in my collection including the one you are about to listen to if you follow the link.
So listen if you will with discernment.
http://blessedassurancepromisebox.com/MP3D/G0930gt%20-%20Bryce%20Hartin%20-%20AnAnalysisOfTheCharismaticMovement-1Tim%204.1%201Jn4.1%20Rom16.17-Tape2-8.25Mb-70m35s.mp3
I have put this link here rather than create my own online audio of his tapes.
There are many other audio links to many other speakers I have never heard of so I cannot recommend the site per se at this stage.
It is unlikely that you or I will agree with everything on that website.
We do, however, need to be challenged and not just passively sit back and let the unseen rulers do their thing.
I picked up a book the other day by Helmut Thielicke called "The trouble with the Church".
It was published in 1965.
I haven't read it all but can say amen to some of his points.
He probably was feeling like I do today.
I am disturbed in this day and age by lots of things I see happening in the Church and things I don't see that should be happening
I firmly believe the Church is the Bride of Christ and still has a huge role to play in the Drama of the Ages.
However I think we may well be like the Church in the book of Revelation that it is said of
15 “I know you well—you are neither hot nor cold; I wish you were one or the other! 16 But since you are merely lukewarm, I will spit you out of my mouth!"
Here is the passage in context.
Are we the Church of Laodicea?
Are we lukewarm?
Revelation 3 Living Bible
13 “Let all who can hear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.
14 “Write this letter to the leader of the church in Laodicea:
“This message is from the one who stands firm,[f] the faithful and true Witness of all that is or was or evermore shall be,* the primeval source of God’s creation:
15 “I know you well—you are neither hot nor cold; I wish you were one or the other! 16 But since you are merely lukewarm, I will spit you out of my mouth!
17 “You say, ‘I am rich, with everything I want; I don’t need a thing!’ And you don’t realize that spiritually you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.
18 “My advice to you is to buy pure gold from me, gold purified by fire—only then will you truly be rich. And to purchase from me white garments, clean and pure, so you won’t be naked and ashamed; and to get medicine from me to heal your eyes and give you back your sight. 19 I continually discipline and punish everyone I love; so I must punish you unless you turn from your indifference and become enthusiastic about the things of God.
20 “Look! I have been standing at the door, and I am constantly knocking. If anyone hears me calling him and opens the door, I will come in and fellowship with him and he with me. 21 I will let everyone who conquers sit beside me on my throne, just as I took my place with my Father on his throne when I had conquered. 22 Let those who can hear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.”
One of those who challenged us in Australia and overseas to look with discernment about spiritual things,in particular spiritual gifts, was Rev Bryce Hartin.
Quite rightly of course he will argue as the Bible tells us "we do not fight with flesh and blood, but the evil unseen rulers of this world."
I have many of Bryce's tapes in my collection including the one you are about to listen to if you follow the link.
So listen if you will with discernment.
http://blessedassurancepromisebox.com/MP3D/G0930gt%20-%20Bryce%20Hartin%20-%20AnAnalysisOfTheCharismaticMovement-1Tim%204.1%201Jn4.1%20Rom16.17-Tape2-8.25Mb-70m35s.mp3
I have put this link here rather than create my own online audio of his tapes.
There are many other audio links to many other speakers I have never heard of so I cannot recommend the site per se at this stage.
It is unlikely that you or I will agree with everything on that website.
We do, however, need to be challenged and not just passively sit back and let the unseen rulers do their thing.
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