Genesis

1 - Since the challenge is living my faith inside out and most of my life isn't spent in the walls of WLC, I always find it interesting to explore cultural topics and doing so with biblical or literary examples mostly helps to build my foothold.

I interact with people all day long, many of whom check their horoscopes, consult psychics, read tarot cards, a couple my friends from high school announced they were studying wiccans (which I don't really understand and didn't have enough time at home to ask) There's the whole Llewlyen (sp?) woodbury thing that was brought up when the mayor spoke at our leadership class (didn't even know what they were talking about there either)

To be honest, I get an e-mail horoscope daily at work which makes me chuckle but doesn't make or break my day, my cousin reads tarot cards and its been eerie what she's said has come true, and sometimes these things that errode our community seem so harmless and yet become distractions. So if you aren't planning on discussing them in a sermon, it might be good to have some discussion on this board or a "go deeper" sort of direction? (Wasn't there a topic this summer in the sanctuary bible study on some of this?) BTW: For the record I don't miss school, but appreciate the new sharing of "go deeper" ideas.

On an aside - I was at Barnes & Noble friday night and its always interesting to me how the New Age and Christian books all just merge into each other. I'm not sure if its some sort of dewey decimal thing or just a marketing idea that anyone interested in a higher power probably would like to know about tarot cards and witchcraft? (Comment this)

2 - A part of me is torn because I'd like to know more about these cultural topics because they tend to be distractions. However, maybe the scriptural and other readings might equip me better as the person I'm trying to be? What keeps me up at night hasn't been a fear of demons per se but rather a fear that my belief isn't strong enough, hasn't been nurtured enough so that I can fight this battle through actions that are based solidly in a strong faith. It troubles me that I have these thoughts. (Comment this)

3 - The focus this next week is going to be "Discernment". I'm currently planning on addressing many of the things mentioned above. Though, for time's sake we will only be able to address a few of them well. Any thoughts on what would be the most interesting to you? Any experiences are common things you have seen people being drawn to? (Comment this)

4 - Choosing to do, think, feel “the right thing” is challenging when some of the above topics seem to appear in culture as quite tame for their entertainment value. I’d agree part of my struggle in answering your question until now was that I didn’t really know how you could cover everything else in one sermon and do it justice.

My inclination is to narrow topics towards those that disguise themselves better in not being so bad… (Astrology, Tarot, Ouiji) I think in my own world I run across this more often than I do a warlock/witch and the challenge is not to just discount exposure to these things as a lark or justifying it as not harmful, when exposure leads to complacency and I’ve wondered if playing around with this stuff isn’t just as bad as any other bad thing?

From what I understand there was quite a rumbling some years ago when Llewellyn Corporation set up shop in Woodbury. In reading the other bloggers concerns – they have run across witchcraft and warlocks so perhaps there might be more of an inclination to focusing on that extreme.
 (Comment this)

5 - I had several a-ha's Sunday
1. Our Natural Tendancy is to try to hide from God when we sin -just like Adam and Eve. We need to run TO him, instead of away, but we do not want to confront our own sin. My sin instinct says run away, but my faith says run toward our creator. Wow.

2. We are to have faith and defend our ground - ourselves, family, friends maybe, but our own ground with spiritual and sometimes physical protection from God. Since the battle has been determined by God, we have our relationship with our Savior to worry about, we must leave the rest to him.

Others look to the dedicated evil of witches, but they have no power over us. What concerns me is their polluting our culture with their toxic waste of tarot and Ouiji games you can buy at Toys R and Wall Mart. Simple indoctrination into the world of evil. I hope we can protect our children, but it is not a great world for them (or us for that matter). It seem that now it is "OK" to be a public witch, but not a public Christian. Does that not disturb anyone else?

Personally I am much better at striving FOR something than fighting against something. Is there a way we can help others also gain Faith in our Saviour? Or does God want us to try to convert witches from their public sin?

This is where I look forward to Discernment discussions. I do think as Christians it helps us to talk about how to handle situations before we really have to, so we can stand our ground. But how? (Comment this)

6 - I had the thought in respect to God walking through the garden asking 'Where are you?' to Adam as a rehtorical question. Something along the lines of a parent asking their own child 'what are you doing?' when they can see clearly that they are drawing on the wall with permanent marker.
It is not so much that God needs to ask the question but that He needs to make evident to us the error of our own ways and bad decisions though we may or may not have a clue that we have done wrong in some instances (or until after the fact). just a passing thought. (Comment this)

7 - Discernment topics: Junior High observation. For young men to believe that women are to be used and discarded-not created by God to one day be a mate. For young women to buy the lie that they are only good enough when being treated as such, and it is a good thing. This degrading (if you will) of each other is painful to watch. The fallout is terrible. This also plays out in adult relationships, but Jr. High I see every day. (Comment this)

8 - Seems like eons ago, one of the reasons I returned to my relationship with God was because of an encounter with a christian so clearly kind, who wasn't spouting verse and didn't question me, but just took time to get to know me and as we spoke through weeks and months, I thought to myself, what would it be like to have an ounce of whatever made them tick? Why didn't I have it?

I'm a firm believer that God put that person in my path not to preach at me or convert me but to be a reflection, like a mirror on a sunny day and maybe a distration from the distrations keeping me from God? Believe me, it wasn't that neat and tidy.

My thought is we aren't here to fight any battles or convert evil to good but rather to be present in relationships with each other, and as faith is strengthened in our own heart, and relationships are built with those in our path, we become the reflection and God does the converting? Can people who clearly worship the devil be converted?

I think its good to know the enemy and understand why evil spirits are behind things in current culture. Why does the occult seem to have such a loud voice? How do we handle situations/encounters with our own loud voice? Is that what discernment is? Is this a similar situation of loving the sinner, hating the sin? (Comment this)

9 - I think it is really wonderful the pastors are preaching on spiritual warfare. For too long the church has ignored this topic. This is the first time I have ever heard it being preached.

There is nothing new under the sun. Look at Deuteronomy 18:9-12 "thou shalt not learn to do after the abomination of those nations. There shall not be found with thee any one...that useth divination (fortunetelling), or an observer of times {soothsayer}, or an enchanter (black majic), or a witch (sorceress), or a charmer (hypnotist), or a consulter with familiar spirits (medium possesed with a sprit guide), or a wizard (clairvoyant or psychic), or a necromancer (medium who consults the dead). For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord!

There are but two sources of hidden information and knowledge, or supernatural help, guidance and healing--God or Satan. One may, through prayer in Jesus' Name seek such help from God. But there is another way to obtain the desired guidance or help -- occultism. Behind this door stand Satan and the powers of darkness who work through the occult media of fortunetelling, black magic, spiritism, and false religious cults. The Scriptures forbid man to seek help from or contact with these sources, for it is tantamount to calling upon another god (Exodus 20:3-5)! Satan is called the "god of this world" II Corinthians 4:4. Although Satan often accommodates the victim with hidden knowledge or help through these sources, this individual has opened a door of access to demonic oppression in many ways.

The seriousness of occult participation is seen in the judgment of God which fell upon King Saul who died for seeking help from a medium! Read I Samuel 28 and I Chronicles 10:13-14.

A number of years ago a college student approached me and told me she was having alot of anxiety and could not sleep at night. I asked her what was going through her mind that she couldn't sleep and what she was doing about it. Someone had given her tapes to listen to before she went to bed. I said start up one of those tapes and I will listen to it over the phone. (I prayed silently to the Lord for the gift of discernement (I Corinthians 12:10-11).
The Lord revealed to me this was from satan's kingdom. The tape told the person to visualize a spirit guide. The girl was a Christian and I told her that before she began to listen to the tapes to pray and ask God for the gift of discernment. She did. She called me several days later and told me that after she prayed that the Holy Spirit revealed to her that the tapes were evil and that she threw the tapes away. Like it says in scripture "Greater is Jesus who is in me than Satan who is in the world.

I told her she had the Sword of the Spirit which is God's Word and to do II Corinthians 10:3-8 to have peace of mind.
"For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world." The weapons of the world are guns, bombs, nuclear weapons, etc., but we have divine weapons to fight spiritual battles. The divine weapons are God's Word, The Blood of Jesus, the Name of Jesus and praise songs to our Lord. "On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds." Strongholds of Satan is false truth, example no one likes you, you are ugly, you will never amount to anything, a heavy oprression, hatred, jealousy, excessive worry, etc. verse 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, (satan did this in the garden of Eden), and we take every thought captive to the obedience of Jesus Christ.

I have taught people to pray, " In the name of Jesus I cast down any vain imagination that sets itself up against the knowledge of God and I take captive every thought to the obeidence of Jesus Christ I claim the blood of Jesus over me."

Jesus conqueored Satan and his demons on the cross through his death and resurrection. Jesus said, "It is finished." He paid the price for our sin and defeated Satan on the d oss. All we have to do is to use the spiritual weapons he has given us and to walk in holiness. (Comment this)

10 - Do you think everybody has the gift of discernment? If not, is this something that can be learned? If a person has consulted these spirits/mediums/whatever do they just remove themself from this and consider it done and repent and ask for forgiveness for straying? I also ask this very respectfully but i imagine part of discernment is the perception or understanding of obscure things. When people have said to me that the Lord revealed or the Holy Spirit spoke - how was this done? Was it just a feeling or how did you know for sure? (Comment this)