...Spiritual Warfare Strongholds & Strategies Bob Burns “Everything is permissible for me-but I will not be mastered by anything” 1 Corinthians 6:12 1 The Bible tells us that we struggle not against flesh and blood, but against demonic forces. Ephesians 6:12, "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." Often the enemy uses life controlling problems as a means of attack. “Life-controlling problems are anything that master our lives and block our spiritual growth.” Other description include: life-controlling struggles, addictions, dependency, stronghold, besetting sin, slavery, and compulsive behavior. 1 Almost everyone has something blocking his or her spiritual growth in Christ. Some strongholds may be something that people consider positive such as sports or ministry. Others that are considered negative include drugs, gambling, sexual addiction and more. Perhaps a person is consumed by another persons problem, trapped by grief, depression, anger, envy, lust and etc. 2 In this paper we will discover the three tools Satan uses to keep people trapped which are delusion, secrecy, and isolation. Secondly we will learn about three resources God provides to confront the enemies attack. These include the Word of God, the Spirit of God, and the People of God. Delusion or deception means to make another person believe...
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...Spiritual warfare is real. Because God’s love for people is so great, Satan is determined to destroy, if possible, every single person and take them with him to hell for all eternity. This invisible and tremendous battle begins, for me, at conception. The Devil will do whatever it takes to prevent a person to be save and, will do whatever it takes to stop a believer to reach others for Christ. Satan uses several devices to stop us to evangelize: 1) Denunciation, Accusation, Condemnation: He will put in our minds that we cannot do it, that people will not listen to us, that God won’t use us, that we are not good enough. 2) Defilement: He will tempt us and if he succeeded, he will use guilty to prevent us to testify. 3) Deception: He is a liar and will tell to us that people does not need God, that won’t be any difference if they listen or not, that people will think that you we a religious nut or that they will not talk to us again. 4) Distraction: He will do everything that gets our focus on non-eternal things. How can we fight the spiritual warfare? First we need to acknowledge that we are the Church because Jesus defeated Satan and his devils at the cross and that victory is ours. Second, spiritual warfare is a battle that can only be won if we are on our knees. Therefore, pray is vital if we want to succeed reaching others for Christ. Third, the Word of God empowers us with all we need to defeat the devil. Reading the bible, meditating on it, learning...
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...Liberty University Discipleship Ministries Project A paper submitted to Dr. Zabloski In partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the course DSMN 500 Liberty Theological seminary By Jonathan L. Keene Lynchburg, Virginia Sunday, May 12, 2009 Table of Contents Introduction 4 Diagnosis of Need 5 Target Group 6 Vision Statement 6 Goals 7 Lessons Gleaned from Scripture 8 Formulation of Objectives 12 Competencies Expected of Disciples attending Recovery in Refuge 12 Selection of Content 13 Setting Captives Free 13 Life Principles for Worship from the Tabernacle 14 Celebration of Discipline 14 Shatter the Darkness 14 Scope and Sequence Plan 15 Phase 1: Repentance, Redemption, Recovery 15 Phase 2: Regeneration 16 Phase 3: Rescue-Reaching Out 18 Phase 4: Real Life 20 Partnership with the Refuge Counseling Center 20 Conclusion 21 Self-Assessment of How the 5 Essential Activities of an Education that Produces Disciples Was Incorporated and Integrated 22 Resources to be used in Recovery in Refuge 25 Bibliography 26 Works Consulted 27 Introduction At Crossroads Community Church in Nampa Idaho the catchphrase is ‘Refuge.” The church has developed what it calls a “Theology of Refuge.”[1] They state, “Crossroads is built around the idea of being a church...
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... The song “this little light of mine” is a source rom Matthew 5:16, "Let your light shine before men, they may see your fine works and give glory to your Father who is in the heaven. This is a gospel children’s song written by Harry Dixon Loes (1895-1965) in about 1920. “This little light of mine” inspired millions. People still sing the famous well-known song today and they don’t really have a clue what is means. “This Little Light of Mine” is a traditional Negro spiritual about the importance of unity in the face of adversity. The first spirituals were inspired by African music even if the tunes were not far from those of Christian hymns. Some of them, called “shouts,” were accompanied by dancing, hand clapping and foot tapping. Drawing on the Bible for inspiration and imagery, most spirituals instruct listeners in how to live with the Spirit of God. These songs often had multiple meanings. The literal interpretation reflected the personal relationship between the slave singer and God. However, the spirituals also translated to code for slaves looking to escape to the North to freedom. For example, as part of the spiritual’s lyrics, “home” can mean Heaven, but it covertly means a free country and haven for slaves. The refrain of “This Little Light of Mine” refers to the light inside each individual and how, whether standing up alone or joining together, each little bit of light can break the darkness. The song has since been applied to many struggles. It was especially popular...
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...Presented to Dr. Jon Bishop Liberty Theological Seminary _____________ In partial fulfillment Of the requirements of PLED 520 __________ By John Smith, Jr. January 27, 2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 2 Author 2 Book Summary 2 Book Critique and Evaluation 6 Personal Application 9 Resources 10 Introduction One of the most intriguing things about the Christian faith is the lack of participation that each believer exhibits in the spiritual discipline of prayer, all though they are constantly reminded that it is the pathway toward a more intimate relationship with Christ. There are a multiplicity of spiritual disciplines that the believer is expected to practice, however, the one that is most pervasive across the varied spectrum of Christianity is the spiritual discipline of prayer. Most believers are encouraged to spend vast amounts of time participating in prayer, although the average spiritual leader spends less than 15 minutes each day praying. As this writer was growing up he would consistently hear people in his home church state, “much prayer much power, little prayer little power, no prayer no power.” Author Dr. Dave Earley is currently is Chairman of the Department of Pastoral Ministries and Church Expansion at Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary. He also serves as Director of the Center for Ministry Training at Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary, and the Director of the Center for Church...
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...1. What is your personal view of the Philippines today? I think our country today is in its dented form. Philippines is in a bad shape because crime rates are going up, more people are becoming HIV-positive every day, the government, despite its promises to change is still corrupt, foreigners are scared to visit our country and less people go to church. Our current state is saddening. We have a dented reputation because of the ugly things that happen here every day – and the world knows about it. It’s shameful that we allow these tragedies to come about – it’s as if we are not a Catholic country. 2. How can you contribute for the betterment of the country? As a concerned Christian who wants to make a difference, I can start by praying, not for my personal wishes but for the good of my country. I should also influence people around me by telling them to be selfless in prayers and pray for the improvement of our poor nation. Prayer makes a big difference, but the Philippines have such enormous problems that it also needs enormous prayers. I believe in the power of prayer because I grew up seeing how it made our family overcome problems and trials – we only have to call on to God and he will lead us to His plan – at the end of day, everything has become well. I believe that it is not too late for the Philippines, that there is still hope, but there is work to be done. We should start proving that we are a Catholic nation – we should learn to pray and call on to God,...
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...Stefanie Cortes Yoga Research Paper Yoga is an ancient, Indian art and science that seeks to promote individual health and well-being through physical and mental exercise and deep relaxation. Although known to be at least 5,000 years old, yoga is not a religion and fits well with any individual's religious or spiritual practice. Anyone of any age, religion or life condition can practice yoga and derive its benefits. Yoga is the practice of putting the body into different postures while maintaining controlled breathing. It is considered to be a discipline that challenges and calms the body, the mind, and the spirit. By focusing on the breath entering and leaving your body, you are performing an exercise in concentration. After learning the history and practicing the throughout this fall semester, I have a new found respect and outlook for yoga. I would like to share with you an experience my family and I had to endure and probably how I was lead to signing up for this class. I come from a very close-knit family and, as such, all my life, so far, my cousin has always been more like a sister to me. We had children at the same time and always remained close. Last fall her son, Mikey was diagnosed with cancer. I can't even begin to describe the overwhelming devastation and complete sadness this brought to our family. My cousin was on an emotional roller coaster, and I can remember asking her how she stays so strong and how she got through all the treatments and still...
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...would you improve the spiritual aspect? | Weight | Most of the time | More exercise | Remind myself I am beautiful no matter what I weigh | Pray for the strength to stay on track to accomplish all of the goals | Blood Pressure | Always | Continue the path I am on | Make sure I deal with situations in the appropriate manner without getting worked up | Learn to talk to God on a daily and help me guide myself down the right paths | Eating Habits | Most of the time | Research and better understand what I am putting into my body | Feel better about the choices | Pray for the strength to avoid things that may taste very good but not very good for me | Drinking Habits | Always | Control the amount I drink socially | Realize that drinking does not in any way help or solve situations | Turn more to prayer than liquid to help clear my head | Activity Level | Always | Continue to stay positive that everything I am doing is for the right reasons | The more active I am the better emotion state I can maintain | Pray for the health and support from friends and family to keep my head going in the right direction | Support System | Most of the time | Positive state of mind will help to continue help with support | Emotionally having support will maintain positive | Turn to prayer when extra support is needed | Spiritual Vitality | Most of the time | Stay positive and strive for the best situation | Staying positive | Turn to the power of prayer | Spiritual Habits | Sometimes |...
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...The Gifts of the Holy Spirit. * Introduction: I am primarily going to refer to the gifts of the Spirit as spoken in 1 Corinthians 12-14. Would be cool to work through these three chapters verse for verse, but time will not allow this. Before I am even going to touch on the gifts of the Spirit, I do think its important that we look at the context of the book. Why did Paul find it necessary to discuss these gifts with this specific church. So important context pointers (which we read about in Acts and 1 and 2 Corinthians): * It was rebuild by Julius Caesar in 44 BC, after being a waste for about 100 years. * It had a lot of economic advantages, because of where the city was build. (BETWEEN TWO TRADING ROOTS; one land route and one sea route; NOT NECESSARY RICH GROUND; also had unlimited supply of water). Strategic place for a city – the wealth attracted people from all over. * Also known as a place where free slaves came to live, after they received their freedom, and many of them worked their way up into society. Roman soldiers also settled their – less Gentiles, Jews also immigrated to that place. * Temple of Aphrodite (goddess of love) was a famous temple in the city – had over 1000 cult temple prostitutes. * Greeks had a famous proverb in that time, namely, “to act like a corinthian” – referred to the moral decay in the city. * The situation in Corinth have been viewed as a hopeless situation – you do not want to go there as a minister of the...
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...The Fully Realized Hot Tub Human -Marilyn Owen Poet and speaker, David Whyte, likes to sprinkle his talks about poetry, creativity, and philosophy with wry references to the “fully realized hot tub humans in California”. (1) I understand the stereotype he gently mocks; those who believe enlightenment will come easily through the pursuit of pseudo-spiritual states of ‘bliss out’. The remark never fails to make me smile and wince, because I am one of those humans. Sort of. Here’s the case for my thesis. You be the judge. My love affair with hot tubs started, appropriately, with sex. Not just any sex, but passionate, sensual, first-of-its-kind cosmic sex in a backyard Jacuzzi. You don’t have to be a brain scientist to imagine the neurological frenzy that ensued of mapping the erotic pleasuring of the body with heated water and air jets. Scientifically speaking, repetition of the experience created a finely tuned sequence of synaptic firings that ensured a conditioned response. In other words, just dipping my toe into hot water began to make me feel happy. And this was good. Then came the first visit to Esalen, where I went to look for myself during my early 30’s. I was transfixed by the nirvana of those mineral baths, perched above the cliffs, full of contentedly naked people. Being considerably “plus-size”, it took a lot of courage to bare all in order to join the Esalenites in their sacred spring. But this act of bravery proffered the most important gift of that...
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...naturally, we call it a gift. But God also gave us another special gift. These gifts were assigned to us so we can help spread the gospel and further fulfill our duty within the church. They are called spiritual gifts. "The term charisma ("spiritual gift")... signifies redemption or salvation as the gift of God's grace (Rom. 5:15; 6:23) and a gift enabling the Christian to perform his service in the church (1 Cor. 7:7), as well as defining a special gift enabling a Christian to perform a particular ministry in the church." (Elwell, 2001) The spiritual gifts include: Woking of Miracles, Gifts of Healing, The Gift of Helpers, The Gift of Governments or Administration, The Gift of Faith, Apostleship, Prophets, The Gift of Discernming of Spirits, The Gift of Teaching, The Gift of Exhortation, The Gift of Wisdom, The Gift of Knowledge, The Gift of Tongues, The Gif of Interperetation of Tongues, The Evangalist, Service, Contribution, Acts of Mercy, and Giving. According to Galatians 5:22-23, "...the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law." Personally, I believe spiritual gifts are no good without the fruit of the Spirit. Because one can have the fruit of the Spirit without spiritual gifts, but the gifts are useless if one does not do it out of love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindess,...
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...How to balance Love and Studies Ang pagiging estudyante ay isang bagay na kailangan mong paglaanan ng oras at ng panahon .Alam natin na bilang kabataan marami pa tayong bagay na dapat na maranasan isa na nga dito ay pagkakaroon ng taong mamahalin o iibigin . paano nga ba natin ma babalanse ang pag ibig at pagaaral . Gawin mo siyang inspirasyon hindi distraksyon Sa edad na 10 – 17 nagsisimula ang pagkakaroon ng tinatawag na crush at mula dito unti unti umuusbong ang tinatawag na pagmamahal . Bilang kabataan nararapat lang na tingnan natin ang pag ibig bilang isang inspirasyon na magtuturo sa atin na pahalagahan ang pag aaral . Alamin ang prayoridad mo. Mahirap alamin ang kung ano uunahin mo lalo na kung parehong mahalaga sayo. Dapat mong isipin na ang pag aaral mo ang susuporta sa inyo pagdating ng panahon. Matuto kang balansehin ang oras mo. Hindi ka dapat mawalan ng oras sa pag aaral subalit mahirap ding mawalan ng oras sa taong mahalaga sayo. Kailangan mong hatiin ang oras mo hindi pwedeng sabay,dahil maaring may makulangan na magiging sanhi ng pagkasira ng isa sa dalawa. Kailangan mong mabuhay sa realidad. Isipin mo na hindi lahat ng bagay ay hanggang katapusan. Lahat ay nagbabago. Tanggapin ang katotohanan na hindi pwedeng pagsabayin ang pag aaral at pag ibig. Kailangan mag kahiwalay sila. Higit sa lahat, kailangan nyo ng bukas na pag uugnayan. Mag plano kayo ng oras sa isat isa kapag may problema sabihin mo sa kanya at ganun din sya sa iyo. Maiintindihan...
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... 2 The Charismatic gifts of the Holy Spirit have been in debate among the Christian Community since the emergence of the Charismatic movement: An expression used to refer to a movement within historic churches that began in the 1950’s. In more recent years it has frequently been referred to as the “charismatic renewal movement”. Therefore members are known as “charismatics”. The background of the charismatic movement is “Pentecostalism” dating from the early twentieth century with its emphasis on baptism with (or in) the Holy Spirit as an endowment of power subsequent to conversion, speaking in tongues as the initial evidence of this baptism, and the initial evidence of this baptism, and the continuing validity of the spiritual gifts (charismata) of 1 Corinthians 12:8-10 (W. Elwell 2001). “For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues.” (King James Easy- Reading Study Bible). The debate is: Are sign gifts for today or have they ceased? What is the purpose of the sign gifts, and if they are being...
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...of terrorism, the psychological dimension assumes great significance, as terrorists use violence as a psychological weapon by terrorising the multitude, rather than physically affect a few, and in this sense, they fight a psychological war also. The relevance of psychological operations is much greater than the successful conduct of tactical operations. This article is an attempt to conceptualise the term PSYOPs in the Indian context. The changed dynamics of international relations following the end of the Cold War and changes in the South Asian strategic landscape, postSeptember 11, have made PSYOPs more relevant for the region. It is also important to know that differences between various related concepts like Propaganda, Information Warfare, and Perception Management are waferthin, and may lead to contested perceptions amongst various agencies working under the overall ambit of national security, if not viewed in the current perspective. Therefore, clarity of the concept will set the stage for an effective implementation of policies and help in setting up of a policy structure in India (which does exist today in loosely knit shape) for national level coordination of PSYOPs. Alongside the need for a disciplined, trained, and well-equipped manpower to combat national security challenges, it is also essential to have a comprehensive and effective machinery to conduct psychological operations. Such a machinery must then cover the entire spectrum of the socio-psychological threat...
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...Evangelism Evangelistic Method #1: Four Spiritual Laws The four spiritual laws are an “intellectual” method. These laws are a guide to what you need to do to accept Christ as your Lord and savior. These spiritual laws help us manage and strengthen our relationship with God. The first spiritual law is “God loves you and offers a wonderful plan for your life” (Campus Crusade for Christ, 2007). The second spiritual law says that “Man is sinful and separated from God. Therefore, he cannot know and experience God's love and plan for his life” (Campus Crusade for Christ, 2007). The third spiritual law is “Jesus Christ is God's only provision for man's sin. Through Him you can know and experience God's love and plan for your life” (Campus Crusade for Christ, 2007). The fourth and final spiritual law is “We must individually receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord; then we can know and experience God's love and plan for our lives” (Campus Crusade for Christ, 2007). The four spiritual laws allow for Christians to be more effective witnesses for Christ. Believe This method has a couple of advantages. First, these laws start out in a positive manor. It lets everyone know that God loves you and wants you to come to Him as you are no matter what stage of life you are in. Secondly, it attracts to a group of people that rely on a principle model to explain life around them. These laws give direction, meaning and purpose to life with God. The spiritual laws are the stepping stones or building...
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