The Age To Come

There is a certain danger in commenting on something that you obviously haven’t a clue about.

This was my brief response.

Hi,
 
I just read your editorial today with some incredulity.  It seems to me that either you are woefully misinformed, or intentionally trying to mislead.
 
I’ll just make two points.
 
“For starters, marriage is a provincial matter and best left to legislatures to legislate. But when the feds did meddle in marriages in their 2005 landmark same-sex legislation, they enshrined ample protection against anyone being forced to perform ceremonies against their faith.”

This is contradictory – as you say marriage is a provincial matter, therefore it’s doubtful to say the least that federal safeguards are worth the paper that they are written on.  If you doubt me, check this: http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/nov/05111604.html. (UPDATE:  this is probably a little better http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/jul/05071403.html)
 
“But what about gay newlyweds banned from celebrating their happy union in a hall owned by an anti-same-sex church, one official wondered. Good grief. Has it really come to this sort of extreme theoretical? Besides, what happy homosexual pair would want to hold their reception in a deeply religious congregation’s hall where, aside from being a sinful coupling in the landlord’s eyes, there probably isn’t any booze allowed either?”

Sorry to say, but it’s only extremely theoretical if you’re extremely ignorant of the facts.  http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/dec/05120901.html

I could go on, but I hope you get the idea.

Peter

I remain convinced that we are currently engaged in a war.  Not the conventional sort – the protagonists are strange and the methods unorthodox.  But, a war nonetheless.

How else can you understand the de facto alliance between those who would hide behind liberal tolerance (when indeed they are anything but) and those one would expect to be their avowed enemies?  In this not more than passing strange?

Of course, Ephesians 6 says: 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

I wonder how many of us live as though our struggle was indeed against flesh and blood?  How many of us fight against this radical organisation or that activist court and fail to see what lies beneath?  Do our prayers miss the mark as a result?

That is not to say that we shouldn’t seek justice and righteousness, of course we should.  Just that sometimes it seems to me that we’re so busy fighting the immediate that we miss the bigger picture.

We fight for our charters and constitution and bemoan the fact that ‘freedom of religion’ becomes ‘freedom from religion’, that implicitly discovered rights trump explicitly written ones. But at what point do these laws become idols for us?  They are, at the end, no more than imperfect man-made laws subject to the whim of fallible humans.  They will not save us.

Indeed, a friend of mine once said that the introduction of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms would mean the end to both.  It guarantees nothing, as seen by the reality here in Canuckistan. 

Jesus said that in this world, we would have trouble.  That the world will hate us.  So it’s no surprise when it actually does.   But be of good heart – for He overcame the world.

Well, we had an interesting experience the other night.  My wife, whose spiritual antennae is a little more sensitive to some things than mine, has felt spiritually oppressed in the holiday cottage we are renting. It’s hard to be more specific in a blog without it all sounding a bit strange.

Suffice to say, if you’ve ever had that kind of experience before, you’ll know what I mean.  If you think that kind of stuff is bizarre, then nothing I am going to say here will convince you otherwise.

Neither of us belong to the ‘demons under every bed’ school of exorcism and indeed our experience of this kind of thing is fairly limited.  However, the previous few occasions has shown us firstly, the utter malice and wickedness of spiritual evil and secondly, it’s complete impotence against the cross and blood of Jesus.

Anyway, back to the other night.  We felt strongly enough that there was some kind of unholy spiritual entity within the house that a prayer of binding would be appropriate. I wasn’t (and am still not) sure whether a Christian has the authority to cast something out of a house where the owner has not given permission.  Answers on a postcard to that one please. 

However, I was pretty sure that we had the authority to bind for the duration of our stay.  So before going to bed we began a binding prayer, and as soon as we were praying, three of our children either woke up or were disturbed in their sleep.  In addition the lights started playing up.  Enough evidence to suggest to us that we were onto something.  So, we settled the kids, finished the prayer and read Psalm 91 together.  Job done – Jesus rules!

Psalm 91
 1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
       will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. [a]
 2 I will say [b] of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
       my God, in whom I trust.”
 3 Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare
       and from the deadly pestilence.
 4 He will cover you with his feathers,
       and under his wings you will find refuge;
       his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
 5 You will not fear the terror of night,
       nor the arrow that flies by day,
 6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
       nor the plague that destroys at midday.
 7 A thousand may fall at your side,
       ten thousand at your right hand,
       but it will not come near you.
 8 You will only observe with your eyes
       and see the punishment of the wicked.
 9 If you make the Most High your dwelling—
       even the LORD, who is my refuge-
 10 then no harm will befall you,
       no disaster will come near your tent.
 11 For he will command his angels concerning you
       to guard you in all your ways;
 12 they will lift you up in their hands,
       so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
 13 You will tread upon the lion and the cobra;
       you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
 14 “Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him;
       I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
 15 He will call upon me, and I will answer him;
       I will be with him in trouble,
       I will deliver him and honor him.
 16 With long life will I satisfy him
       and show him my salvation.”

So, why am I telling you this?  Well, partly because it’s an uncommon experience for us, it’s my blog, and therefore I can ramble on about stuff. 🙂

The other reason is to encourage you. While demons do not tend to reside under every bed (we checked – nope, nothing there) spiritual evil is a reality and sometimes can be attached to a particular location.  However, for a Christian this need not be a source of fear or alarm.  He that is in us is greater than he that is in the world. Indeed, you don’t need to make a whole big deal about it.  Give God the glory and chuck out the interlopers.

So why is it that we do not always take authority over the enemy?  After all we are told our battle is not against flesh and blood but against rulers, powers and principalities (Eph 6).  Why do we often live as if our battles are indeed against flesh and blood, rather than perceiving what lies behind?

I submit to you that there can be a number of reasons.  Doubt, fear, indifference, disbelief, feelings of powerlessness or unworthiness, ignorance or hearts that are calloused to God. Whatever the reason, I’m pretty sure that as long as hotboots can keep us on the defensive or apathetic to spiritual realities, he’s quite happy.  Because once Christians rise up and realise both who they are and whose they are then they become an absolute terror to him.  Against the cross and the blood of Christ, he cannot stand.

Today, above Radium Hot Springs we visited life-sized sculptures of the 14 Stations of the Cross.  Jesus is portrayed there, on a hillside above the Columbian river valley.  So who is the lord of this valley?  The question was answered again as we traveled home.  A sign boldly proclaimed Jesus is the Lord of this valley.  Amen!