“Do no harm. Do good. Stay in love with God.” J. Wesley
In the first part of this series, we looked at who exactly we are fighting. We examined the fact that we are not fighting people but fighting against spiritual satanic forces. The enemy uses people, but they are not the enemy. In this part I am going to look at the wicked weapon of despair, and how God has given us a powerful weapon to defeat that weapon in worship.
There has been a lot written about spiritual warfare. Most discussions focus on the celebrated passage in Ephesians 6 concentrating on the full armor of God. That is a remarkable passage, but I think the Scriptures give us far more than defensive armor and one weapon. As powerful as the …
Continue reading "Weapons of Spiritual Warfare: Part 1 – Who Are We Fighting?"
What makes the New Covenant superior to the Old Covenant? The writer of Hebrews makes a bold claim in chapter 8:6. “But Jesus has now obtained a superior ministry, and to that degree he is the mediator of a better covenant, which has been established on better promises.” He is claiming that a New Covenant …
Why did Jesus wait four days before visiting Lazarus? When a loved one or a friend is on their deathbed, the usual response is to go immediately to them and be with them in their final hours. When Jesus received word that his dear friend Lazarus was sick (11:3), he delayed going to visit him. …
What was it about the “tax collectors and sinners” that caused such angst among the Pharisees, but who were the object of much of Jesus’ ministry? Luke 15 presents an interesting confrontation between the religious leaders and Jesus. Since the beginning of his ministry, Jesus spent the most time with those who were outside …
Recently there was an article that came my way that challenged me in the way I think about how Christ followers should react to people that are transgendered. The article can be found HERE and relates how Korn guitarist and devoted Christian, Brian Welch, prayed for a young person who is transgendered. He made this …
Continue reading "Brian Welsh and ministry to a transgendered person"
Why do the two questions in 42:5, "Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me?", lead the writer to refer to geographical locations? The writer of the Psalm is in deep despair. He began to answer his questions first by a declaration of hope. "Put your hope in God, for I …
"Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees[e] were fasting. People came and asked him, “Why do John’s disciples and the Pharisees’ disciples fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 19 Jesus said to them, “The wedding guests cannot fast while the groom is with them, can they? As long as they have the groom with them, they …
Continue reading "Bridegrooms, unshrunk cloth, and new wineskins"
This concept of spiritual growth is faulty for several reasons. First, it neglects the second of the most important commandments, to love others as we love ourselves. Loving is a doing verb – it implies, in fact, necessitates action. Loving others requires us to go outside of our spiritual bunker. By loving others, we can …
This threw me at first. Aren’t disciplines something we should seek to do? Aren’t they actions that we do to develop our spiritual lives? Well, yeah, they are. And when I have read that suffering is a spiritual discipline, it took me a while to think and ponder on it, but it made sense. Disciplines help to …
“Consumer Christianity” does not offer deep answers to deep problems. Fast food offers a quick fill up of the belly with little to no nutritional value. In fact, eat fast food with regularity and you will find that your health will fail. The same is true with our spiritual life. Having a life of transformation …
The Wandering Wesleyan 