I just wanted to share with you some things that I have been learning from reading "Wild at Heart", just like I shared when I was reading "Captivating". I have been in the refiners fire, as I 'm sure you all have too, and now I know more about the enemies attacks (see the quote at the bottom by William Gurnall-when silver is refined in the refiners fire, it is not ready, or perfected until the refiner can see His (God's) image in the silver (the silver being me and you). Thus when the enemy see's His (God's) image in you, the attacks are on). I quoted directly from the book from this point forward and it is amazing, eye opening knowledge and confirmation about how the enemy works.
In Chapter 8 there is a section called "The Devil". Since we all have recently studied on "Know Your Enemy", it was a great addition to this teaching John is talking about an incident that happened between him and Stasi: "My wife and I were driving home the other day from an afternoon out and running a bit late to get to our son's last soccer game of the season. I was in the driver's seat and we were enjoying a lingering conversation about some dreams we have for the future. After several minutes we realized that we were caught in a traffic jam that was going nowhere. Precious moments slipped by as tension mounted in the car. In an effort to be helpful, Stasi suggessted an alternate route." "If you take a right here and go up to First Street, we can cut over and take about five minutes off the drive." "I was ready to divorce her. I'm serious. In about 20 seconds I was ready for separation. If the judge had been in the car, I'd have signed the papers right there. Good grief--over a comment about my driving? Is that all that was going on in that moment?"
"I sat at the wheel silent and steaming. On the outside, I looked cool, inside, here is what was happening: Geez, doesn't she think I know how to get there? I hate it when she does that. Then another voice says, She always does that. And I say (internally--the whole dialogue took place internally, in the blink of an eye), Yeah, she does...she's always saying stuff like that. I hate that about her. A feeling of accusation and anger and self-righteousness sweeps over me. Then the voice says, John, this is never going to change, and I say, This is never going to change, and the voice says, You know, John, there are a lot of women out there who would be deeply grateful to have you as their man, and I think; Yeah--there are a lot of women out there........You get the picture. Change the characters and the setting and the very same thing has happend to you. Only, you probably thought the whole thing was your own mess."
"The devil no doubt has a place in our theology; but is he a category we even think about in the daily events of our lives? Has it ever crossed your mind that not every thought that crosses your mind comes from you? What I experienced in the midst of traffic that day happens all the time in marriages, in ministries, in any relationship. We are being lied to all the time. Yet we never stop to say, "Wait a minute...who else is speaking here? Where are those ideas coming from? Where are those feelings coming from?" If you read the saints from every age before the Modern Era--that pride-filled age of reason, science, and technology we all were thoroughly educated in--you'll find that they take the devil very seriously indeed. As Paul says, "We are not unaware of his schemes." (2Cor 2:11). But we, the enlightened, have a much more commonsense approach to things. We look for a psychological or physical or even political explanation for every trouble we meet.
Who caused the Chaldeans to steal Job's herds and kill his servants? Satan, clearly (Job 1:12, 17). Yet do we even give him a passing thought when we hear of terrorism today? Who kept the poor woman bent over for eighteen years, the one Jesus healed on the Sabbath? Satan, clearly (Luke 13:16). But do we consider him when we are having a headache that keeps us from praying or reading Scripture? Who moved Anania and Sapphira to lie to the apostles? Satan again (Acts 5:3). But do we really see his hand behind a fallout or schism in ministry? Who was behind that brutal assault on your own strength, those wounds you've taken? As William Gurnall said, "It is the image of God reflected in you that so enrages hell, it is this at which the demons hurl their mightiest weapons." There is a whole lot more going on behind the scenes of our lives than most of us have been led to believe."
In honor of 6/6/06, Mike and Jeremy proudly displayed their team shirts! Here are some shots from last night. The games were great! The guys are playing better and better every game! We were actually ahead 2 to 0 until the 4th inning of our second game! Chaz on the Pitcher mound, Matt on the move, JJ off and running to first and the guys coming in to..... Batter Up! We rocked to Queen, Journey, The Darkness, and of course..........Chuck Norris! Softball games will never be the same now that Sumner Life is there! The other teams brought their version of a Boom Box and some songs..........which pales in comparison to ours I might add! We set the standard and forged the trail! And our guys have the best cheering section ever!
