Beyond the Pall (Part 3): Fellowshiping with Darkness?

Should I have said that I would pray about it? Should I have asked for advice from my ministry peers, and considered their wisdom first? Should I have weighed out the factors, and considered how it might look to other Christians? I don't know. But I did do what I usually do. I saw a door crack open, and rushed through it headlong.

"I would love to teach a workshop!"

It was set in motion, and I, an evangelical Pastor was headed to being one of the workshop presenters at a festival with 1,500 Pagans. In turn she hoped to give my name to some national coordinators, and wanted to see if she could get me connected at a national level, taking my message on the road.

It was the end of my friend's memorial service. My friend the Witch had died, and I became a larger part of the lives of his friends who were left behind. Speaking at his service, I hailed back to the Celtic Christians, and referred to the Thin Places where Heaven meets earth. The death of a friend is a Thin Place, because it blindingly reminds us of our own mortality, and captures our fears, and our hopes, our joys, and our sorrows in one anarchic clash, and we meanwhile squint in the light of eternity. I ended my short message by calling everyone to consider making their own lives a Thin Place where people could capture Heaven through interacting with us. It was not a Gospel message, but it was one rooted in the source of my faith, and it reverberated gently among the Pagans in attendance that night. You see, I am convinced that what we give people is often indicative of where we are headed. If we show them heaven by treating them graciously, then it is heaven which is flowing from our hearts. On the other hand, if we give people Hell by treating them poorly, that speaks for itself. I was encouraging people to live in such a way as to give away pieces of Heaven.

After the memorial I worked on developing a workshop idea for this Pagan festival. Over the next couple weeks this is what developed:

The Circle and The Cross Talk:  Re-visioning Pagan/Christian Relationships

"Looking back to the Caesars, and to the Burning Times misconceptions and urban myths have had deadly results for both Pagans and Christians.  In our own times, though mild in comparison, Pagans have been on the receiving end of the religious persecution.  Some have chosen to remain in the broom closet, and others have faced the struggle head on - sometimes to bitter disappointment with family, friends, and work associates.  This workshop is designed as a deeper look into the worldview differences between Christian and Neo-Pagan thought with a focus upon deconstructing, and re-visioning some of the beliefs which cause the greatest pain.  Come learn to navigate this battlefield of philosophical tension. Topics of frustration to be covered include judgment, conversion, spiritual dissonance, and sexuality."

I am going to be giving a workshop discussing Heaven and Hell, Salvation, Spiritual Warfare, and Sex from a Biblical perspective at a Pagan gathering, and people are excited about it. Someone pinch me and wake me up.

Paul spoke of his love for the Jews. I have this same deep appreciation, and love for Neo-Pagans. Over the last 12 years of getting to know them, I have learned that this much-maligned group is filled with beautiful people. In our Christian tendency to reduce every person to simply a sinner, we sometimes lose sight of the imago dei which simmers gently in the every person. In our tendency to demonize cultural and religious groups we do not understand, we sometimes loose sight of legitimate critiques they may have against our own culture, and our ways. I have found my Neo-Pagan friends to be among the brightest, and the most concerned, and also the ablest critics of our own Christian culture. Yet, here I was being accepted as a voice of legitimacy on their own turf, and I am a man of the cloth they choose not to weave their garments from.

Did this support the old adage that it is not what you say, but how you say it? Has my work in deconstructing, and redefining Christian doctrine missionally for alternative spiritualities had its effect in making me a more gentle Christian to those I really loved? Had I found a way to express Jesus to people who seemed to have no problem with Him, but struggled mightily with His followers? Perhaps it was simpler than that. Perhaps it was that when my friend died, I showed myself true - as a friend to him, and to his friends, and did so without worry of whether my reputation would be sullied by hanging out with Witches.

Perhaps I am actually compromising my faith, as my detractors warn, or I am being subtlely deceived by the wiles of the devil, and moving into unprotected territory where I would be subject to the devil's attacks and deceptions. One pastor had suggested as much when he asked me the rather sophmoric question, "Have you ever heard the term fellowshiping with darkness?"

"Uh, yeah..." 'Gee, It's not like I haven't been a Pentecostal Pastor for 20 years,' I thought.

"Well what does it mean to you?" He querried deeper, as though he was trying to mine some deep-seated unrepentant condition from my heart.

I wanted to answer, "It looks like sitting in a room with a bunch of cowards screaming at demons, while people who need Jesus are out on the streets during Halloween. That looks like fellowshiping with darkness to me," but I held my sarcasm, and remained gentle before his inquisition. Halloween in Salem is a month long, and while we made friends, served the community, and shared our faith, this man had critiqued our outreach projects, while he sat in holy huddles inside the safety of the church.

I guess if Halloween outreaches have been a problem, teaching at a Pagan Festival is going to be a bigger problem for some people, but for now I will prepare, and see what the upcoming months moving toward the conference bring.

As I draw deeper into the culture of these people I love, will I find deeper expressions of the imago dei? Will I find people earnestly seeking authentic spirituality? Will I find other Christians who are willing to join me in a quest to share Shalom? or will I find myself fellowshiping with darkness, turmoil, and succumbing to deception? I think I know the answer, but who can read the map of the untrod paths of the an adventure yet untried?

Only one Person can read that future which does not yet exist.

Spiritual Warfare and the Desert Fathers by Shahrokh Afshar

Shah is a buddy of mine. He's the guy on the right. We entered our former denomination within about a year of one another, and exited within about a year of each other. He used to work in the Missions Dept. as head of Middle East Missions. This guy is cool, and he wanted to send a spiritual warfare post So this is it. I have told him to get his own blog. So hey Shah - time to open a blog and join the ranting with us bro. He has tons of good things to say, so here is the first installment of much more to come.

Spiritual Warfare and the Desert Fathers

As a Pentecostal, I was taught that spiritual warfare was directly related to the binding and loosing of Matthew 16:19 where Jesus said:

"I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."

As Christians, I was told, in Christ’s name we have the power to come against Satan and bind him and all his demons preventing them from operating in some particular circumstances. And by the same token, we had the power to loose the power of the Holy Spirit to operate in the said circumstances. So, you put on the full armor of Ephesians Chapter Six and off you went to bind Satan and his cohorts.

Like many, for years I followed this formula. However after a while I came to the conclusion that, like the many other formulas my mentors had taught me, this one didn’t work either. I was perplexed by the fact that if indeed this verse is referring to binding Satan, then why is it that as much as we have bound him, he is still running around freely and creating so much misery in this world? And if this is not the way to do spiritual warfare, then how does a follower of Christ conduct such warfare?


The answer came to me over ten years ago while sitting in my Early Church History class at Fuller Seminary. Quite in passing, my professor, Mel Robeck, mentioned something about the Desert Fathers, “who went out to do spiritual warfare, but not the way we do it today.” That certainly caught my attention and I began to study the so-called Desert Fathers and Mothers.

Around the end of the third century, when Rome was becoming Christianized and the Church was becoming more and more Hellenized, a group of godly men and women said, “now that the world is no longer persecuting and waging war against us, WE are going out to wage war against the world or the spiritual darkness”. Having believed that Jesus faced Satan in the desert, they also went to the desert to face the enemy, thus the title, Desert Fathers.

If I was to ask a room full of Christians, “how did Jesus over come Satan?” the majority would say, “by the word of God”. Yet, we all know that we can quote the scriptures till the cows come home and still give into whatever temptations we face. Which brings me to the conclusion that the word was only a tool and not the means by which Jesus defeated Satan. Jesus defeated Satan by defeating temptation.

But where do temptations originate? Our thoughts. No man wakes up one morning and says to himself, “today I am going to commit adultery.” No, the act was the end result of something that had started with a simple thought long before the action took place.

So, these men and women of God came to the conclusion that in order to defeat Satan, one has to overcome temptation in himself. And in order to overcome temptation one has to control his thoughts or as Paul says, “bringing them into captivity”. For the Desert Fathers, the spiritual warfare was an ongoing inward discipline and not something that is accomplished by yelling at Satan and attempting to bind him.

Pagans, Witches, and Spiritual Warfare

Today is SynchroBlog 2 Day. There are thirteen of us who are blogging on the subject of spiritual warfare. Whoa - maybe I should have found another person. Thirteen is the complete number of a coven, and it is a demonically empowered evil number. Okay I'm being silly, and I am pressing your superstition buttons, so let's forget that and move on to the real blog.

I developed, and run a discussion list between Born-again Christians and Pagans of various types called Circle and Cross Talk.

In preparation for SynchroBlog 2 I asked the list what they thought about the subject of spiritual warfare. I wondered whether it was a subject they were familiar with, and if so what they thought that it was. Some of the Neo-Pagans on the list (these are people who are Witches, Druids, Shaman, and such) responded, and I wanted to let you see what Witches think of when they hear the term "spiritual warfare."

Before passing these thoughts from my Pagan friends on to you I should give you a definition of Spiritual Warfare. Spiritual Warfare is a term which has its primary Biblical source from Ephesians 6, where reference is made to a battle "not against flesh and blood...but against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places." There are other verses which are used to create the theology which swirls around the subject, but here are some basic thoughts: Spiritual Warfare is occuring because demonic forces are battling for control of human hearts. Temptation is a primary tool of Satan and His hordes, and the thought life is a place where the battle is waged. There are other views of Spiritual Warfare which consider issues such as demonic possession, and this possession is sometimes even considered to be something Christians and non-Christians might experience. This last view is held by more extreme groups. Often those involved in the occult are viewed as pawns of these dark forces, and it is believed by many that they do his bidding to call curses upon Christians. Praying against the forces of darkness is a common practice in many Pentecostal Circles. Most often this is benign toward individuals, but sometimes it becomes more aggressive, and people doing things which do not fit Christian ethical and moral views are prayed against. Generally the more aggressive views of Spiritual Warfare are rejected, but these practices can rise up due to fear and superstition among well meaning Christians. Spiritual Warfare is traditionally understood to be a battle against unseen forces. The Twentieth Century has seen a rise in this terminology greatly due to the influence of Jesse Penn Lewis' book War on the Saints, by the fictional work of Frank Peretti This Present Darkness, and by the influence of C. Peter Wagner.

Having set the stage, here is how my friends from another worldview see this topic Spiritual Warfare, and its impact upon their own lives, or society at large:

It was seen as a political rallying point for Paula a Jewish Wiccan:

"Interesting you should ask because I was doing research on this all day yesterday. I was researching something I read about "fear based persuasion"....Terminology like "spiritual warfare" and others like that seem to originate with the evangelical Christian movement. Ralph Reed (who took a big fall from grace for his role in the Jack Abramoff scandal) was known to have used just this sort of terminology in his political lobbying."

Furthermore she stated:

"American political leaders with religious agendas who promote theocracy emotionally stoke the fires with rhetoric that uses fear based persuation in order to get the American public to suspend their disbelief. And then one by one, for our own good, they take away constitutional rights in the name of a "war" on whatever they want to declare war on. Terror, abortion, illegal immigration....In order for there to be a war on anything there has to be an enemy. This is how leaders create a mob mentality. This is how Hitler managed to murder 6 million Jews.

At another point she questions the rhetoric "spiritual warfare" and asks:

"Look at the two words together.

Spiritual
Warfare

Thinking critically, what do the two words have in common? How does one word change the context of the other word? Do these words really belong together? Why would anyone want you to connect the two words and what contexct are they wanting you to see those two words together for? If rhetoric is the art of persuation, what might the creator of the term "spiritual warfare" be wanting to persuade you to believe or think? And is there another way to convey the message without combining two rhetoical and emotionally charged words?"

Mike a Shaman weighed in with some experiences, and a balanced approach to Christians who had not been kind to him:

"Well undoubtedly I have been the target of some peoples idea of spiritual warfare. Needless to say (or IS IT?) I took the opportunity to explore Ephesians 6 with those who were engaged in said activity. Sadly, without any success in some cases. :( I also have no doubt that there are some Christians who pray that I will be freed of the demons that keep me from meeting Christ. I don't actually have a problem with that. If that is what they believe and they're not attacking me then that's ok."

Mike also referred to Christians who take actions against professional Pagan leaders:

"But there are other activities some 'Christians' feel come under the heading of spiritual warfare. Activities that include interfering with peoples capacity to obtain a livelihood because those 'Christians' deem the spiritual path others are on to be demonically inspired."

Joseph chimed in with concerns which made him nervous:

" I was listening to National Public Radio last week, and there was a journalist who had been speaking with fundamentalist Christian groups who believed that "demons could jump into your body" if you went to places like New York City - regardless of "how good" one was, this was the justification used to explain Ted Haggard's sexual activities - this brought home the whole idea of how much fear, intolerance and hate, in my opinion, drive this idea that one is surrounded by forces of evil that are malevolent and set on doing harm to human beings. This whole concept is so strange to me - I understand that not all Christians invest in this philosophy - but I can't help but feel very anxious when I hear people talking about spiritual warfare - I find myself conjuring images of intense human suffering such as the Salem Witch Trials, The Holocaust, Pogroms, ethnic cleansing, persecution of different faith systems by other faiths, The Crusades and profound social injustice - all justified under that banner of God, all justified by the claim that the "causes" were a manifestation of "spiritual warfare"."

I hope these three views from some friends of mine in the Neo-Pagan world give you an insight to how the term, and practices of spiritual warfare look to those looking in at Christianity from the outside. It causes me to rethink the terminology I use, and the prayers I make for other people. Hearing what those outside the church think of what we do gives us a new perspective, and hopefully one we can learn from.

May God grant you peace my peacemakers.

Pastor Phil


Below are my fellow SynchroBloggers who are discussing the topic today. We are not a group who all believe the same thing, we are simply a group who are challenging conventional church life, and looking for a better way to live like Jesus. The opinions below may vary, and that's part of the fun.


John Smulo - Portraits of Spiritual Warfare
Mike Crockett - Sufism: How the Inner Jihad relates to Christian Spiritual Warfare
Steve Hayes - Thoughts on Spiritual Warfare
Marieke Schwartz - Grace in War
Cindy Harvey - Spiritual Warfare. (?)
Jenelle D'Alessandro (with one L!)- The Militancy of Worship
Mike Bursell - Spiritual Warfare: a liberal looking inwards
David Fisher - Spiritual Warfare: Does it have to be loud and wacky?
Brian Heasley - Something from Ibiza via Ireland
Webb Kline - Webb Kline's Blog
Sally Coleman - Sally Coleman's Blog
Mike Murrow - Mike Murrow's Blog

Everything but the Garlic

A few years ago five of us from the leadership of The Gathering were at a large church conference in Philadelphia. During the conference our Southern New England District had a meeting in a restaurant near the hotel convention center.

We sat at a table with a lady pastor, and her husband. They also were attending with a couple who were in the leadership of their church. We small talked about church life, and what was happening in our congregations. Their church was fairly active in community outreach, and so we had this element in common. So we thought.

We discussed upcoming events surrounding the Halloween season in Salem, and how we were organizing our stage, our free hot cocoa booth, and our outreach counseling tents. At some point during the conversation things turned remarkably surrealistic.

I think the room suddenly turned to black and white like an old silent horror movie. Okay not really, but it should have.

At the mention of Halloween, the lady pastor and her husband suddenly formed a cross with their fingers, leaned forward to threateningly brandish their spiritual weapons at in our faces, and hissed. I thought to myself, "Wow, this is like a bad vampire flick." I probably laughed, which would not have helped defuse the moment, but that is usually how I respond to bizarre circumstances such as this. Heck, they had everthing arranged for warding off evil except the garlic garland around the neck.

Do pastors actually teach their congregations to behave in this manner?

Spiritual Warfare Starts with Me

"Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.
Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures." (James 1:12-18)

This was the text for the morning service at The Gathering. We considered a new year of living with God, and placed this text dealing with the temptations of this life into the context of our struggle for relationship with God.

I believe this is the beginning point of the struggle which we have called spiritual warfare in Pentecostal and evangelical circles. My greatest enemy is myself. My thoughts, my philosophy of living, my passions, my desires, my anger, my impatience, my fears, and my greeds are the frontline struggle in my life. If I can overcome these things, any other enemy will be comparatively far weaker than the enemy which is myself.

I do believe there is a personage called Satan. I do believe that there are demons of varying degrees of power and influence in this world who are fighting against those who love God. I do not believe that I need to know their names, figure out their strategic plans before I can be an overcomer, or that I should spend a significant amount of time considering the works of these dark angels.

My first task in following God, and living for him is to "keep my heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life."

This is true in respect to how I think of my own life, and in how I treat other people. If I have lost the struggle of living for God in personal life, and in respect to my social interactions, then I am losing this spiritual warfare, and any amount of rebuking, binding, and loosing will be worse than empty efforts, they will be utilized to further the cause of my impotent Christianity.

That's my cursory thinking on this subject. What do you think?

Is Warfare the Spirit of Christ?

Dave (who wears a pleated skirt) mentioned the point of this post in a comment to my last post on spiritual warfare. Concurrently JJ the Smu is running a series on spiritual warfare.

"But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem. And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?" But He turned and rebuked them, and said, "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them." And they went to another village."

Now there is some question whether the response by Jesus is to be found in the text, or whether it was added later, but as Dave (who loves Haggis) mentioned it certainly appears to identify the heart of Jesus. We know that He rebuked the disciples for wanting to call down fire.

Their plan was to toast the heretics. His plan was to seek and save the lost. He spent His ministry breaking down the barriers which man-made religion created - those barriers which kept people from experiencing God. They perceived the rejecting community of Samaritans as heretics who could not scale the walls of true religion to make it in. The disciples saw an us versus them scenario. Jesus saw people He would be willing to give His life for.

Any sense of warlike behavior which identifies other people as enemies needing a violent spiritual remedy, does not appear to be the heart of Jesus to me. Anyone who falls prey to the us versus them thinking appears to have lost some kind of battle already. They perhaps are unnecessary casualties of their own fight, and are taking down other people with them. When we should be helpers together with the rest of the human race to find the way toward God, it seems to me that creating a spiritual war which includes identifying other people as part of the enemy system is something worse than friendly fire - it is almost a kind of treason.

In my city, the enemy is sometimes perceived by Christians to be working closely with the Pagans who live here. I believe in devils, but I do not believe that devils work closely with any human, rather if any work happens they work against all humans. I will not be treasonous, and treat other casualties of any trouble evil spirits cause as enemies themselves.

I believe that Jesus must have said these words, and that they speak to us today as much as anytime in human history. "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them."

Those Who Pray Together Slay Together

I am convinced that the manner in which we pray has a significant impact upon the manner in which we speak to, and about the people of our prayers. If we pray in grace, and gentleness, then I am convinced it will spill out into our vocabulary about the situations, and individuals who fill up our prayers. If we pray with aggression this too will spill out.

Haven't we learned this same lesson from watching fundamentalists in the middle east? Their speech has reached their actions, and it has been the death of their enemies, and sometimes themselves.

Could it be that a form of spiritual warfare which identifies people as servants of the devil, and curses their actions, also causes the Christian praying in that manner to see people as their enemies at worst, and unwitting pawns of evil at best?

This concerns me in regards to the mission of the church. How can I expect to see the movement of the hand of the God of love with the prayers of Hell? Our task is not the curse, but it is the blessing. Hatred, fear, superstition, and estrangement are not our method; but love, acceptance, peace, and joy are.

So I would anticipate that the prayers which have spiritual power, and overcome the works of the wicked one are prayers which model the heart of God for humanity. Prayers of grace, love, and blessing. These kinds of prayer drive the devils out of me, and call for the hand of God to move in blessing upon others.

"Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace."

I have seen the attitudes of aggressive spiritual warfare kill relationships, and drive people away from Christianity.

Of course, the natural point of debate to what I have seen is that those who are driven away are servants of the devil, and until they repent, or the devil is driven from them they will continue to reject Christianity. I am not convinced that is the answer. Instead I believe that as long as we pray with aggression those who pray together will slay together, and people we should be developing redemptive relationships with will be the victims.

JJ the Smu (aka John Smulo) is blogging about this topic as well here

The Target of our Prayers?

I just had to buy this beer the other day. I really was out for a Guinness. Even in bottle I prefer a Guinness. Beer just doesn't do it for me generally - except in some fine micro-breweries. I think there is something about the carbonation in beer which makes it feel like a bad soda to me. But Guinness...Okay I've digressed before I got started.

So here's my non-nitrogenated post:

I'm returning to my spiritual warfare thoughts from previous days.

In my city many Christians have gathered over the last twenty to thirty years to pray against the spirit(s) which rule over the city. Typically the "spirit of witchcraft" is cast out. Demons are wrestled in prayers of tongue-talking Pentecostals (I speak as being one), people see visions of clouds in the sky opening up to allow God's Spirit to move, revival is prophesied, and the businesses of local Witches are cursed with such words as "dry up their business! drive these foul spirits from our city!" A little shouting, and a few prophecies later people pat themselves on the back, and remark on the powerful gathering. The saints are pleased with some unseen window in heaven which has been opened, now allowing the Church to prosper.

Prayer walks have covered the streets of our city. Prayer mapping has attempted to identify the spiritually significant places which hold the keys to breaking the bondage of Witchcraft in our city. Witchcraft shops have been anointed with oil.

Since those prayers began Halloween has increased in size. The number of occultic events have increased. Some Witchcraft shops have closed only to make room for others to take their place.

So the meetings continue, and leaders gather to talk about the need for more prayer, more warfare, and more unity being the only hope for our city to return to its goodly godly destiny.

It seems to me that more of the same which has not worked is a little like a rich man throwing more money at his children when what they really need is time and love. Am I missing something?

I believe that the way we act in the prayer closet sets up our hearts for how we behave in public toward those who are the target of our prayers - and "targets" they have been too often. What are they being targeted for? For cursing? For being publicly branded as transgressors? For being driven out like heretics in an inquisition hearing? How close is a prayer of cursing to a public flogging, or a burning? Is it possible that prayers of cursing carry the same seed of fear, superstition, and maybe even hatred which fomented the Burning Times, the Inquisition, and the darkest hours of the Crusades?

Could it be that the answer to touching people's hearts with the love of God is found in another prayer, another attitude, and another set of actions altogether?

What do you think?

Dreams, Tarot Cards, and Other Weird Moments of Direction

She turned over the first card, and said to her customer, "You've lost your faith." The lady sitting across the table nodded, and began to pour out her story of false accusations, treachery and abuse at a local church on the South Shore of the Boston area. She was an evangelical Christian, and most evangelical Christians would not consider going ot a Tarot Reader at a Psychic Faire, but here she was pouring out her story to a Witch.

The Witch brought her to the Confessional Booth we were operating. The Psychic Reader knew we could help her. We did.
______

The Young man stood in line with his friends for a Dream Interpretation. He was dressed in the regalia of the season - full length black cape, and large chains with amulets around his neck. His long hair cascaded into the hood of the cape. He leaned upon a tall wooden staff.

We talked about what he believed, and he discovered I was a Christian. He was a Neo-Pagan of the eclectic variety, but then again most Neo-Pagans are these days. They draw their sources of practice and belief from any number of places which interest them. He and his friends were visiting Salem for the days coming up to Halloween. He believed that the unseen realm of spirits, gods and goddesses was benign, which meant that any spiritual experience must by necessity be beneficial. I'm not so sure he came to his conclusions, because he philosophically considered the consequences of his beliefs, or if he simply trusted his spiritual experiences, and thereby came to the conclusion that everything must be nice in that place he couldn't see.

"Do you do these dream interpretations also?" he asked as we were talking.

I was monitoring the line this time, as others were interpreting dreams inside the tents. "I do."

And we were off.

He began to share his dream. He and his friends were at Red Rocks, a natural amphitheater in Colorado. Over the hills behind him black helicopters appeared. Realizing that these helicopters were not friendly, he and his friends began to run. Some of his friends were wounded by the helicopter fire, and some even were killed. He and one other girl escaped into a cave, and hid out until it was safe.

As he finished his dream I responded with one simple sentence. "The unseen realm is not benign, it is often malignant."

His eyes opened wide. His silence lasted a moment, and then he said, "Wow, you're right."

We talked for 20 minutes longer about lies, deception, and oppression coming from spiritual beings. We talked about both lies and truth coming from beyond, and the necessity of listening to the right voices. These concepts were new to him. He had been convinced that the other side was all good.

I could have tried to convince through Bible verses that his philosophy was messed up. In our discussion before he asked if I interpreted dreams, I could have gone preachy on him. But this young man rejected the voice of scripture as a true guide for his life.

His dreams on the other hand - he believed his dreams, and he walked away with a world view a touch more biblical than he previously possessed. He took away a few Bible references which backed up this new philosophy as well.

"Can I get in touch with you if I ever return to Salem?" he asked.

"You bet. You're always welcome to hang out with us."

Only One Year Left to Blog? and more on raising little Inquisitors

If you haven't read this prediction about blogging coming to its peak by next year you should. You especially should because you are reading this blog right now, and that makes you a blog savvy person.

So I guess we only have a year to change the world. From there on out we'll have to meet real people.

One more story on the concern over Last Days: Eternal Forces video game. Some people seem to be thinking that this game could create a few more Matthew Hopkins in our generation. Now that's something we don't need here in Salem!

Teaching Kids to Go on Bloody Crusades: Christian Warfare for Christmas

Raise a little Constantine! Your kids can learn to conquer little Pagan children by the sign of the cross, and this Christmas is the time to give them the skills. Step over deTorquemada! Here comes the end time fighting crew!

You might not be able to get this video game at WalMart this Christmas, but your local Christian Book Dealer will certainly help you out.

Even if your kids are Left Behind, they will at least be ready to wipe out the heathen hordes. Of course, your children could pray for people and make special 'spirit points,' but what little boy wouldn't want join the anti-christ side just to shoot a gun?

Yep, this is my idea of discipling little kids. I really want to raise a little "Hellraiser."

Territorial Spirits and The Strange God of Real Estate

I thought that God was in search of the humble human heart for His dwelling place, and that the cathedrals, and temples of this world were hollow attempts to make a place for God to live. But I must be wrong. I was sure I read something about that in Isaiah 66, and in Stephen's last message to the Sanhedrin, and in Peter's message about "living stones." But apparently I was wrong.

I thought that it was foolish to get over concerned about angelic, or demonic beings. But apparently naming them, and fighting them is the right thing to do, I thought Colossians reference to "going on in detail about visions,puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind," or as the KJV puts it, "intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind," was talking about an imbalance in connection to the unseen realm. But apparently I was wrong.

It appears that demons want to take the land from us. They are battling to hold the hills around our cities, and the entry points to our towns. It seems that if they do that they will be victorious.

So, I guess God is into real estate. He is going to use us to take the land beneath our feet before Jesus returns.

Since God likes real estate, He will need the most important places. High mountains, busy street corners, influential buildings, historically significant places, and beautiful edifices. As the end times draw nearer we will need to spend our "talents" on such important purchases.

Now I know that Early Church was a failure because they didn't have any property. The church in China is laughable because they have been hiding away in dingy little corners, and backrooms for decades. Saint Patrick, and Saint Francis were loosers too.

Do you know how I know this is true? Well, because someone told me that I needed to battle against territorial spirits. Until now I thought God was after human hearts. All along he wanted a really cool piece of Beachfront property.

Sheesh, how could I have gotten things so backwards?

Spiritual Warfare: Yelling at - Who Knows What?

How did we get to the place of yelling at demons? Even trying to wrestle them down? When are we told to study the history of a locale, and by that history discover the evil spirits which hold authority over cities, counties, and countries? Did I miss that book in the Bible where Jesus, or Paul prayed against territorial spirits in order to assure a free proclamation of the Gospel? I can not find that book.

Where does it tell me that my subjective experiences, which include the strange adrenaline rush of fear which comes each time I am confronted with something I don't understand is actually the Spirit of God telling me that some evil force is at play? Where am I to find the methods for naming demons, and identifying the spirits at work in people who are involved in the occult? Where am I told to avoid contact with people involved in the occult until I have bound the evil spirits working through them?

I appear to have missed these books. Maybe that explains why I pastor small church. I didn't read that book in the Bible.

If you find these passages in the Bible, please enlighten me. I am sure that I will be more fruitful then.

My tongue is deep in my cheek, could you help me remove it please.

What's so Spiritual about Warfare?

Yes it is true. I am a Pentecostal boy - sorta, kinda.

The idea for the movie Jesus Camp creeps me out, but I have a feeling that I will like the movie when I see it. I think that I will be certain that all Pentecostals should see it. It might give us an idea of how we look to the world around us.

The concepts of Spiritual Warfare are presented in the movie, and we are allowed to see ourselves through the eyes of others. The strangeness of it all captures my heart, because it is here where we establish many of our Christian superstitions. I do wonder what is so spiritual about war.

I have recently been questioned, and presented with the traditional Pentecostal ideas of spiritual warfare from a few different avenues, and thought I should write about it. Besides my new buddyJohn Smulo is writing about it too.

So here are my first thoughts about spiritual warfare in Salem, MA where I live.

1. Yes there are demons causing trouble for the saints. The spiritual realm is not benign. It is malignant often.
2. Demons may hang out in Witchcraft shops, but I'll bet there are more in many churches.
3. I will not assume every little difficulty which comes my way is demonic.
4. If a curse comes my way Jesus told me to bless in return.
5. Don't curse things, cursing is not my job.
6. Love people, seek to serve them.
7. Draw near to God.
8. Stay Simple.

Sure there's more, but that's all I can think of this late.


oh yeah - I've got a really cool big sword. The church gave it to me. They are even cooler than the sword. Cymru am byth! and all that.