The Plan


"But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led away from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ."
- 2 Corinthians 11:3

"The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons."
-  Timothy 4:1




A very good friend of mine sent me a subscription to " Tabletalk" from Ligonier Ministries.  Much of it is pretty deep, but I am fascinated by the current issue I am reading.  It' s titled " A Field Guide from the Abyss, A training Manual for Demons".  Each article is written from the perspective of a trainer for Satan, to help his army wreak havoc on Christians and Chriatianity in general.  The articles refer to God as ' the Enemy'.  Holy cow. It asks the reader to keep this manual available at all times, and try to move against churches as a whole rather than individuals.  Here are some of the ideas presented.

  • Encourage the belief that evangelism and missions are unnecessary
  • Try to water down the church's doctrine of sin
  • Cultivate cowardice and worldliness
  • Tempt the church to compromise its stance on biblical ethics, particularly the family, sexuality,family, and abortion
  • Devalue baptism and the Lord's supper
  • Make pastors eager to feed their egos and coax them into becoming entertainers 
  • The slow death of families
  • Frustrate fellowships, and pulverize the pastor's family
  • Emphasize works over grace
  • Attack assurance about salvation
  • Downplay the Bible's use and importance.

And on and on and on.  Honestly, it is a review of many of he things that are happening to us now.  When I was younger, I really thought the gloom and doom the older people and some preachers professed was ridiculous.  I don't think that any more.

Most of you that read this blog are like me -family raised and gone, working part time or not at all, in the fall/ winter of our lives.  Our influence over things is much more limited than it used to be.  Our kids and grandkids may be right where I was years ago .....thinking the older ones are ridiculous.  It is hard, if not impossible, to get some of them to listen at all.  But there is one very powerful thing we can do right in our own rocking chair.

PRAY, PRAY, PRAY
Of course we need to stay in the Word on a daily basis.  That's an 'always'.  But in this station of life, not only is prayer our greatest weapon, for some of us it's our only option.  But what an option! Pray for that teenager who is making wrong choices!  Pray for that 'tiff' going on between members of your church.  Pray for your pastor and his family. Pray for your children's marriages.  You see, we have weapons that are so much more powerful than our enemy's .  But we have to pick them up.  And for us, that's daily, fervent prayer.  Head to your War Room....urgently.  The clock is ticking.








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