Angels and Demons and You

Mike Hosey, An Elder

You may not realize it, but if you call yourself Christian, you are in a very real battle. If you do not yet call yourself Christian, then you are the cannon fodder for dark forces engaged in that same battle.  The apostle tells us that the war we are in is not against people. Battles against people are much easier.  Instead, it is against supernatural forces (Ephesians 6:12). Most of the time, you can’t see them, but just like the invisible radiation that rains down on us from space every moment of every day, those forces are very real, and have a measurable impact on the world around us.

This battle began long ago. In fact, it began even before Adam and Eve first walked in the Garden of Eden. Satan was God’s highest angel. He wanted to make himself like God (Isaiah 14:13-14), and in his pride and arrogance attempted to do that very thing. So God cast him from Heaven.  When Adam and Eve were placed in the Garden, Satan wasted no time seducing the first two humans to commit the same sin he did.  “Here, eat this fruit,” he told them, “and you’ll be like God (Genesis 3:4).” This, of course, ruined the human race, but thankfully, God has been redeeming it since then.  This redemption has come at great cost, and in the midst of a great war.

God’s desire is to save every willing human being (2 Peter 3:9). It is Satan’s desire to prevent that willingness (1 Peter 5:8, Luke 22:31).  This war is so real that we are instructed to be like soldiers (2 Timothy 2:3, Philemon 2, Philippians 2:25). We are also taught to put on the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18).

Putting on this armor is vital to your effectiveness as that Christian soldier. Without it, Demonic forces will launch attacks against you in the dark, and in the light.  They will tempt you, they will oppress you, and if you are not saved, they can possess you. The battle is so fierce, and so serious, that Satan shapes and moves the very social structures of the world and the environments around you to conspire against your faith, and to put the full brunt of his powers against any Godly desires you may have.

But take heart. Christ has overcome that world (John 16:33). And he has already won the war (Colossians 2:15). So be wary of the dangers of war, but know that in the end those who belong to Christ have victory!

Profanity on a Dark Night

Mike Hosey, An Elder

Many years ago, when I was still a very young man, I stomped through a lightless night as a soldier doing soldier things. Sometimes soldiers get a little salty with their language. In those days, I was no exception. Apparently, my friends and I did not consider a sentence to be grammatically correct unless it contained a subject, a verb, and at least one profanity. In fact, profanities often replaced subjects, verbs, adjectives, and other more traditional parts of speech.

At the time I considered myself a Christian, but had not given a great deal of thought to how I saw the world around me. On this particular night, my mood was not the best and my colorful grammar was reflecting it. As soldiers are often wont to do, I was complaining.  Someone came up to me in the darkness and started a conversation. The dimness of the night prevented visual recognition, and I responded to the man’s cheerful attempt at engagement with a string of words I would be ashamed to use today. Although I did not recognize his face in the obsidian night, I did, after a few moments, recognize his voice. I had heard it before.

In the chapel.

On Sunday mornings.

From the pulpit.

The point of that story is that we sometimes miss important things because we are not looking for them. In this instance, I was not looking for a world that might be influenced or unduly offended by my use of language, or my Christian representation.  The disciples have a different, but very similar problem in Mark 6:41-52.  They had just witnessed Jesus perform a miracle by feeding thousands of people with just a couple of fish and a few loaves of bread. They were having difficulty wrapping their head around that, and never really understood it (Mark 6:52). Later, when they were in a boat on stormy waters, Jesus walked right past them on the water (Mark 6:49), but they thought he was a ghost.  They didn’t recognize him!  There are probably many reasons for this, but one of them may be that they weren’t looking for him! Thankfully, he got in their boat and calmed their storm.

Is Jesus walking anywhere in your life? Have you looked for him? Are you missing what he’s doing? Are you going to let him in your boat?

The Strongest Motivator

Mike Hosey, An Elder

One thing that I’ve learned over the years is that properly placed belief is one of the most powerful motivating forces in all of the world.  Belief, or faith, is far more powerful than fear, or money, or lust, or fame, or pride, or any other common human motivator. For instance, people who truly believe in a cause will go to very great lengths to further that cause.  Often, they will risk or give their lives for the furtherance of the cause they believe in. The vast majority of the world’s people would never even think of giving their lives for those things, but they will act on what they believe in. 

Whenever I train or teach someone something new, I notice that those who believe in what I’m teaching will follow my instructions to a T. Those that are unsure about what I’m teaching, will usually attempt what I am instructing with only half-hearted fervor.  This is true even of myself.  Whenever I find myself doing a lackluster job at work, or anywhere else, I almost always notice that I have questioned the worth of what I’m doing. In those moments, I either don’t believe in the job, or I don’t believe in the benefits of the expected outcome, or I don’t believe that what I’m engaged in will be successful. My lack of motivation is rooted in unbelief.  Sometimes that unbelief is characterized by an unhealthy dependence on what the rest of the world has influenced me to believe. 

This phenomenon is illustrated well in Mark 6:41-52.  In that passage the disciples see Jesus miraculously feed 5000 men with only 5 loaves of bread and two fish. By the way, since ancient societies only counted men, the crowd was probably much, much larger – perhaps greater than 20,000.  After the miracle, Jesus sent the disciples to a town on the other side of the Sea of Galilee while he goes to pray.  Later in the evening, the men are struggling against the wind in their boat.  Jesus takes note and approaches them by walking on the water. They all saw him, but they didn't recognize him.  Instead, they saw him as a ghost, even though they'd just seen him perform an amazing miracle.  They were terrified, but Jesus tells them to take heart as he identifies himself, and steps into their boat. The wind ceased.   

Take heart, he told them. To do this, believe that God is in control, that he works miracles, and that he wastes no event to further his good purposes. If you are able to do this, your struggle will not be as difficult because you will recognize Jesus when you see him! However, if you don’t take heart and believe, then you will be like those disciples in the last verse (Mark 6:52). Their hearts were hardened even though they had just seen a multitude miraculously fed, and a man walking on water.