On May 20th some people from our church are going to do some street preaching & pass out Ray Comfort tracts. This town has satanic book stores...people walking around in all black with white make-up. Humanism prevails, witchcraft, ect... This is a blackhole.
Any wisdom in confronting humanism???
Please pray!!!
Is that the same town I drove through with Greg and without you even telling us about it we said, "wow, there is something about this town. It town seems very demonic"?
Hi brentw,
A few thoughts before you venture out there.
1) Seek the Lord about exactly where, geographically to concentrate your efforts, and then, having prayed through all possible scenarios, on the day, DO THAT.... not something else on the day.
2) Consider doing a walk - a reccy (reconoitre, that is). I have mixed feelings about 'prayer walks' because I don't think they are scriptural. I feel the praying should be done out of the public eye, for real liberty in the Spirit, and for God to be have your full attention to speak to you all.
Those who feel able can go on their own during the day - sometimes after dark is a useful exercise (when I would not go in less than twos) - and see what the Lord brings to your understanding, [i]then
3) [b]Unity
Greg posted a thread 'Lauging in Downtown Toronto', which brought up some useful points. One of the things which went wrong, was that on the day, people did not stick together physically, there was dissention about what to do and who should do it, and having moved off an excellent plot, it was soon occupied by the opposition.
The outing was not a compelete disaster, but, you need to be aware that it is these little things, like splitting up in to twos or groups which were not [u]pre[u]battle plan
Apart from overt mockery from hecklers, if he can make you look disorganised, listless, confused, lacking in confidence, disunited, frightened even, he has gone a long way to overwhelming or undermining your purpose.
4) In God's Smuggler, in a tricky spot, the Christians prayed for confusion to overcome the authorities who came to search their car. Parked in the same lot as a local car, they watched in wonder as the police made everyone in that other car take everything out (and put it back in) and then drove away, leaving them unmolested.
Since reading that, I prayed for confusion to interfere with the activities of someone in the hospital where I was working (which were going on at night), and it was quite remarkable how the next time I saw the person, it was clear to me they [i]knew
5) Brethren should confess sin and pray for one another, or, consider not taking part, so that those who go are not being hindered by their duplicity - or embarrassed by it.
One thing about the powers of darkness that I realised some time ago is, they spontaneously link up with each other because they're all not for God or Jesus Christ. That's one of the reasons that Christian unity can be [i]so
I will pray that the Spirit shows you where to pray against, for maximum disruption to the enemy's activities on the day you go out.
Jesse.....yes this is the same town.
Hi brentw and everyone else.
Brent, I have been thinking back through my own experiences to see if there is any thing I can share with you that might help. As I have thought about this, there are two themes that stand out: being prepared and the armory of God's Word.
I've thought of some recent encounters in one2one evangelism with people who claimed to be witches or some other such and what I recall being most difficult is what I would call the 'surprise effect' of some of the things they say.
An example might be helpfull: recently I had an encounter with two young men that were into some sort of occult belief and when I presented to them the Biblical warning that it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this the Judgement, they both, seemingly almost together, responded that they thought that would be great, to finaly die becuase they supposedly were dying regularly. Now whether they meant that they believed they were like the 'highlander' movie characters or that they were having out of body experiences I do not know. The point though, is that this sort of response can really throw you, expecialy when you've never heard anything like it and are not expecting it.
The way I dealt with thier claims was firstly not to dispute them. Whatever their experiences were, was, at this point, irrelevant, and I pressed them to consider that they were going to die, finally, and have to stand before the Lord Jesus to give an account. This leads me to the second issue, the armory of God's Word.
Some time ago in my Bible readings, I felt to give special attention and notice to John chapter 5, and then specifically to verses 22 and 23 which read...
For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.
A short while after this, I found the opportunity to draw upon these verses in talking about the matters of eternity. I firmly believe in using the Law before sharing the Gospel. However, I have found it nescessary and effective to unsheath these other swords from the armory as well. For instance, these verses from John may be usefull to make clear the essence of the 1st and 2nd commandments for those who otherwise believe they love and obey God.
Another brief example may be usefull. This past sunday I went downtown to share the Gospel and happened upon a rather large homosexual gathering being held there. After talking with people for a while I was engaged in conversation with a small group of women, at least three of whom claimed to be Christians of some sort. Before too long one of the women was challenging me concerning what I had said and another spoke up about the fact of God's 'love'. When the opportunity presented itself, I pressed her on the Biblical nature of God's love and it was then that a verse that had been mingling in my mind and spirit the past week rose to the occasion
For the righteous Lord loveth righteousness
I have found now by repeated experience how valuable and usefull these various swords of His word are, at the appropriate time.
This works the other way too though. The adversary has his pernicious words that he will attempt to sow into our hearts, which is what I was thinking of in the first point. Others may disagree, but I choose to disregard these attempts to carry away my attention and focus. Here we can use the shield of faith to knock aside the thrust of the enemy's spear point, or if we hessitate, we can rest assured that it will not penetrate the breastplate of righteousness.
These are two things which really stood out to me in meditating upon this. And especially to be ready for the unexpected and perhaps unsettling words of various sorts, that come.
Grace and peace be with you.
Satan can no longer attack those that are in Christ Jesus and who are seated with Christ in Heavenly Places. "For the gates of Hell will not prevail against His Church the Body of Christ." Satan can attack you from outside sources that he still controls because of unbelief. Put on the full Armour of God, which you already have by the Christ that is in you.
Ephesians 6:10-12 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
WE do stand against the wiles of the devil by the Christ that is in us. We can't stop the wiles of the devil using unbelievers which still worship this spiritual wickedness in high places, not heavenly places, that is us by the Holy Spirit that is in these temples, The full Armour is Christ in you the Hope of Glory, The Holy Spirit Comforter, and God the Father. Nothing can stand against Them. Every thought must be in captivity of our minds when entering Satan's stronghold. 2Cr 10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; This is the Key, to the obedience of Christ, Don't go without a sure knowledge that you are in obedience to Christ.
Go in His Strength, not just, this is a good work for God.
In Christ: Phillip
This discussion is locked.
