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Christian Women in Spiritual Warfare

A few years ago at a Methodist women's conference, a group of Goddess worshipers managed to insert their beliefs into the meeting. The mother Goddess Gaia and earth worship were presented as being of interest to Christian women. New Age (which is really old age Paganism) has been slowly creeping into various church teaching and church worship, An old military tactic says "Know your Enemy." As we are engaged in Spiritual Warfare with the beings of earth and some heavenly places it is important to know who that enemy is. The first tactic the enemy uses in Spiritual Warefare is to be invisible. Its impossible to fight against something you can't see. You see the destruction the army does, but you never quite see how it was done or who did it.

Who is the Enemy?

Ephesians 2: 1-2 says Satan is the ruler (or Prince) of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient (New RSV). Perhaps we have met him or seen him in action, but this brilliant leader is a prince and very cunning; we can never get his picture on "Americas Most Wanted Criminals." Truth is this handsome prince is a Pal to the rich and famous and friend of some of our government leaders in this country and in foreign nations. He has the ear of the most powerful people in the world. His troops are loyal and masters of disguise and intrigue. People do his bidding without any clue to the fact he has manipulated them. In fact most would deny he even exists. Nothing is too cruel or despicable for this prince and ruler to do, if it enlarges or protects his kingdom. The troops of this stealthy army have only one allegiance and that is to their prince (whom they worship as a god). They are experts at guerilla warfare; hiding in plain sight and suddenly appearing when you least expect them. So good at this kind of warfare, that a good soldier sometimes has trouble identifying them from an array of saints. This prince of the dark army sends his legions to infiltrate every church, synagogue and school in every land. Any meeting always has one or two of his representatives to make sure nothing is really done to endanger his scheme to be supreme ruler of heaven and earth.

The Enemy's Goal

This prince understands us (his enemy) completely. It could be to our benefit, as women, to understand him and his goals and tactics. His goal is to be worshiped above the one true God. He aims to amass an army of angels and humans to overthrow God and His Son, the Holy Spirit and the heavenly angels. The battle has raged for centuries and may soon be coming to a conclusion. As women of God we must be sure we are identified with the army of Jesus Christ, as the end of the age winds down and the fierce battle begins to show signs of a victor. Fortunately we already know who the victorious army is, however, in his pride and vanity, the prince of darkness, the former angel of light will not admit he has lost the battle. In his rage and pain he thrashes about trying to destroy everything that is good, innocent and holy. Have we let this corrupter infiltrate our worship meetings, dwelling places and personal time? Of course we have, because he is a master of trickery and deceit. We constantly rationalize our behavior, when we let this creature influence us to compromise with the world (which he rules). Although, as new persons with the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, we have the ability to resist the temptations of evil: we often ignore the "still small voice" that now lives within our spirit and mind. The mom, who lets her teenage daughter wear a bikini to the beach or pool and hears a little voice or maybe a "big voice" from Grandparents saying "this is immodest and conductive to lust", but ignores it in favor of fashion and pride; has just let the enemy into her home. She may justify putting her soul and her daughter's soul in danger by saying to herself "Hey this is the 21st Century". Nice people wear bikinis, no one thinks anything about it. Its the style and I want my daughter to be popular." Is this compromise?

What is Compromise?

Everyone knows the story of the little frog in the pan of water. The pan looks a little scary, its different from the usual puddles, the frog sits in. The frog rationalizes and thinks, "But, this pool is deep and clean and feels so good." Soon the water begins to heat up, as some creature turns on the heat under the pan. However the warmth feels good to the frog and she likes to "feel good". As the humans often say, "If it feels good. Do it!" After a while it begins to be a little too warm; the frog could still jump out of the pan, but she doesn't. She likes her new environment. She sees no enemies and she knows she has strong legs, with which to hop out if anything goes wrong. Soon the delicious warmth has spread all through her body. She knows something that feels this good can't be wrong. Soon laziness and stupor overcome her. She forgets all about the joy of basking in the sun; catching fat flies and hopping into a nice pond with the other frogs. As the water starts to boil, she becomes alarmed and decides maybe she'd better get out now. Unfortunately she has become weak and flaccid and unable to escape. As her eyes begin to close in death, she wonders why she didn't see the danger, why some wise old frog didn't warn her. Somewhere in the dim recesses of her tiny mind she remembers the old frog saying, "Never go into the camp of the humans there are seen dangers there." How she wishes she had listened to the warning from the ancient frog tales. Are we, like Ms. Frog, becoming tolerant and compromising as things begin to "heat up". As the fire rages around us, threatening our homes and families, do we say, "Everything is OK, we're happy. I don't listen to ancient myths of desert patriarchs, who wouldn't understand the 20th Century".

How do We Recognize the Enemy?

Uniforms? That is one of the first ways., However, we just heard about the enemy who doesn't wish to be identified. so insisting we all wear similar clothing, as women of God, doesn't work because the bad guys" may shop at the same store where you buy your clothes. A popular comedian has a character named "Church Lady". He dresses as he perceives women do who attend church. The character is dowdy and with no taste in clothes or hairstyles. The worst part is how the guy portrays "church ladies" character; smug, hypocritical, self-righteous and without a glimmer of humor or compassion. Unfortunately that is the picture many pagans have in their minds. Yet even if the enemy has infiltrated, that is not a reason to start copying the dress and customs of the enemy. Unless of course one is spying or infiltrating "their" camp. How does our Supreme Commander of the Universe tell us to dress as we go about our tasks on earth? B-i-b-l-e (Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth), that's our survival guide.