How Do I Deny Like Peter?

On Sunday my Pastor asked, “How do we deny the Lord, like Peter did?”

He’d just preached on the differences and similarities between Judas’ betrayal and Peter’s denial of Jesus when he posed the question.  It was an excellent sermon with several thought-provoking details about the motives and the lead-up to Easter services this next week.  The ultimate question was “Where do we deny Christ in our own lives as Christians?”  Do we minimize our relationship with the Lord when we aren’t in church? What does it look like when we deny Christ at work? At School? With Strangers?  Or with our own families?

The question created a scenario where I was reflecting for hours about a flippant comment that I’ve often made about the seven years I practiced wicca between 1998 and 2005.  I’ve often said of that time, “I denied Jesus, just like Peter.”

Let me be very clear, that seven years of deliberate disobedience was a blatant denial of Jesus and what He had already done in my life.

But there was more to the denial…three very distinct areas of denial that sit in my memory bank.

Exhibit One:  I was scheduled for my first knee surgery and while waiting to be rolled back to the Operating Room, I surprised myself by starting to pray.  I quickly “corrected” myself by telling myself that God was too busy to worry about my knee surgery.  Instead, I reminded myself that I’d burned sage in my dorm room and had “healing crystals” waiting at my bedside, which would take better care of me than a God who was too far removed from me. God denied.

Exhibit Two: I walked into my promotion test at Travis Air Force Base with the weight of a rock in my pocket that was promised to bring success and wealth into my life.  When I sat down and picked up the #2 pencil, I prayed that God would bring the knowledge to the front of my brain while taking the test.  Then I reminded myself that God was not for me and that the success rock in my pocket was what I truly needed.  God denied again.

Exhibit Three:  On the long stretch of Interstate 40 outside of Amarillo, I saw a horrific car accident with several first responders working frantically.  I prayed out loud, “Jesus protect the people in these vehicles, be with those working to save them.”  I immediately berated myself and switched that prayer from Jesus to a goddess over healers.  God denied thrice.

Each of these three examples is one where I denied the Lord.  Were there other examples of denial while I was involved with wicca?  Yes.  But these three are very specific ones that I remember.  Instances where I specifically chose to turn away from God, when in my heart and soul I had initially reached out to the one true God. 

Why do I remember these three more than any other example?  I can only tell you that in each three, I had a very distinct moment of conviction that I can now acknowledge as the Holy Spirit working on me. 

During the first example, I had a moment of doubt that included thinking “Do you really think a stupid crystal has anything to do with the beauty of God’s healing hands?”  Conviction.

During the second example, I had a moment after testing that I thought, “A rock is an inanimate object—a ridiculous thing to believe in when God is longing for you to return to Him for promotion.” Conviction again.

And after passing the car accident in example three, I specifically remember starting to cry.  Partly in solidarity with the families involved with the car wreck, but more because I specifically thought to myself, “You just changed a prayer from Jesus to a non-entity-goddess.  You are denying Christ.  You are no better than Peter in the courtyard.”  Conviction was delivered a third time.

It wasn’t long after the car accident conviction that I returned wholeheartedly to a walk with Christ and denounced all things wiccan. 

In our denials of the Lord, we are impacting our current relationship with God.  We are potentially turning others away from the Lord.  We are grieving the God who loves us so much. 

And yet, He loves us so much that He will take those moments of denial and turn them into “teachable moments.”  He loves us despite the denials. He uses the denials to catch our attention and bring us closer to Him. 

Think about Peter. Three times he denies Jesus in the courtyard area, even after Jesus had predicted that someone would deny Him and Peter refused to acknowledge it could be him.  As he was issuing his third denial, the rooster began crowing.  In Luke 22:61-62, we read that Jesus’ eyes met Peter’s.  An acknowledgment that the denial three times had occurred, and that Jesus knew who had done it. 

Verse 62 records that Peter went out and wept bitterly. 

Why? Because of the conviction of his heart. He knew then what he had done.  Denied the Lord.

In the week leading up to our celebrations of Good Friday and Easter, take some time to reflect on how you are like Peter in denying Jesus.  And know that whatever you uncover, the Lord will walk you through forgiving yourself for the denials.

~Emily

Anxiety and Halloween

It’s that time of year again: the weeks leading up to Halloween. 

I’m the 1^st to admit that Halloween drives my anxiety through the roof. 

It starts with the big box stores overflowing with fake spiderwebs and pumpkin decorations.  It’s the time when everyone starts asking for candy donations churches start hosting Fall Festivals.  It’s the time when the school sends out detailed narratives about appropriate costumes. 

It’s also the time when my past of practicing wicca seems to be thrown in my face constantly. 

If you’ve read my other blogs about wicca (Post Halloween Lack of Awareness: Spiritual Warfare or Fun vs Folly: The slippery horoscope away from God) then you know a little bit about my past.  If you haven’t read the blogs, I’ll give you the cliff notes version.  I was a practicing wiccan high priestess for 7 years before giving my life over to Jesus Christ.  As a result, I’m hyper-aware of pagan and/or satanic influences over me, my family, and my closest friends.  Daily there are occurrences where I pray for protection against pagan items…you may not realize it, but there is so much occult presence in our society, that I literally have to be constantly on alert for fear of sliding back into that lifestyle. 

I just said that I’m on alert daily.  So what makes this time of year any different than the rest of the calendar days?

Easy answer.  Occult influences are much more overt at this time of year.  Much more overt.

Halloween and the weeks leading up to it can be some of the best celebration times for the person practicing pagan religions. They believe the veil between the living and the dead is thinnest then.  There is less questioning of strange “devilish” types of behaviors. In public locations there are cauldrons/witches/ghosts decorations, ouija boards sold as board games in the toy section, incense and black candles, costumes of ghouls and zombies…and the list goes on and on. 

We face subtle pagan influences each day.  For instance, daily we can choose to not read a fortune cookie slip of paper, or turn the page past the horoscopes.  Each evening we can choose to admire God’s creation of the moon and the stars, or we can succumb to alternate pagan meanings of the celestial objects.  There are crystals/rocks, goddesses, pentagrams, enneagrams, and other small objects of pagan meaning that are around people’s necks and on their shirts.

As Christians, we must realize that the enemy never, ever, ever takes a break from trying to seduce us away from the Lord.

“Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.  So resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brothers and sisters who are in the world. After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” ~1 Peter 5:8-10 (NASB)

Every day, we participate in spiritual warfare whether we know it or not.  I’ve got anxiety and I’m hyper-alert during the weeks leading up to Halloween, but we all need to be aware daily.

At the time of year when the occult activity seems to escalate, we should be steeped in prayers of protection over our children, our marriages, our churches, our family & friends, and ourselves.  Step out in faith and remember that our enemy is prowling around waiting for us to make a misstep.

~Emily

Falsehoods and Other Schemes of the Enemy

Jesus tells us in John 8:44 that the enemy “is a liar and the father of lies.”  Knowing this scripture allows us to expect Satan will use falsehoods, lies, and omissions against each of us.  These lies can be about our relationships, our self-esteem, our careers, or our churches.

Often our own thoughts can contain those falsehoods.  For instance, I recently had a thought that I wasn’t as good at something as another person.  How often have you had a similar thought? I’m not as good as so and so…or at such and such.  As soon as I thought about comparing myself to another person, I prayed to God that it would be gone.  That prayer was answered so completely, that I can’t remember the actual thought or the person. 

However, thoughts aren’t the only concern regarding falsehoods from Satan.  He is capable if deceiving us himself or with his own servants.  In 2 Corinthians 11:14, scriptures states that the chief demon of darkness (Satan) will “disguise himself as an angel of light.”  In this scripture Paul is teaching about false teachers and specifically about Satan.  Those false teachers pop up in all areas of our lives, but most especially in churches or on Christian stages.  In modern America, we’re seeing more and more false teachers cloaked in the disguises of being prophets, pastors, and influencers. 

Paul proclaims that the false teachers are agents of Satan.  While they disguise themselves as righteous, they are actually masquerading under the command of the enemy.  It’s logical.  If Satan lies, then so would his minions.  Furthermore, Paul also teaches that these liars are destructive to the church.

“No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore, it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.” 2 Corinthians 11:14-15 (NASB)

In order to fight the spiritual battle in our churches and in our homes, we have to confront discrepancies in Truth.  We need to use the spiritual weapons God gave us, such as the Word of God, faith and prayer.  Word of God.  Faith.  Prayer.  Then we must trust that the Lord will overcome when it is His time. 

In the next week, engage in serious consistent prayer that the error of Satan’s falsehoods would be removed from your home, you family, and your church.

~Emily

Down In The Dumps

I’m four weeks past having had a major surgery and I’m exhausted from laying around doing nothing.  And yet, doing nothing is all the energy I have.  Recovery is tough for someone like me, who has an extremely busy schedule.  It makes me feel “down in the dumps” when I can’t do everything that I want to do…or that I normally do. 

Have you ever noticed that when you are out of your comfort zone or doing something hard that your spiritual life becomes more important?  I’ve also noticed that more often than not, my spiritual life also becomes less apparent in my life when the times are most hard. 

When facing struggles, we often believe that it’s a natural battle; one that may be a result of surgery or an altered schedule.  The reality is that it may be a spiritual attack that has been launched at a time when you are least expecting it.  One of the primary tactics of the enemy is to deceive us to the point we don’t really realize what is taking place.  These spiritual attacks are often a series of events that have us disbelieving the promises of God, oppressing a believer, or circumventing our faith.

In 2 Corinthians 2:11, Paul reminds us, “lest Satan should take advantage of us.  For we are not ignorant of his devices.”

Throughout the Bible, we are told that the devil uses various schemes and lies to get us to a place where we question our faith and fall away from our walk with God.  It’s important to remember that Satan is smart and he’s been studying humans since the beginning of time.  He knows exactly what will tempt us. 

How have I been identifying spiritual attacks over the last few weeks?

-Frustration Increases: The enemy works to oppress my mind and create chaos, which in turn, creates frustration.  It leads me to feel anxious and panicky.

-Lack of spiritual passion: Perhaps our prayer life slows down.  Our faith is tested, but we feel like we’re failing the test.  In particular, I feel like I’m going through the motions of my Christian walk. This leads to…

-A Sense of Confusion About Purpose: Laying here in bed for weeks upon weeks, makes me question what my purpose is in sharing the Gospel. Am I using my spiritual gifts? Am I doing enough?  Am I doing what God wants me to do? Questioning my role in the Kingdom leads to…

-Unrest:  The continued temptation to give into negative thoughts steals my sense of peace and causes me to have unrest.  It leaves me exhausted mentally and quite frankly, irritated. It leaves me frustrated, which is the first thing I identified.

Thus the cycle continues, over and over again. 

While I have felt like I’ve been down in the dumps over the last few weeks, I’ve also realized that Satan has used this time to mess with my mind.  I’ve been distracted, anxious, irritable, and just plain grumpy.  I’ve allowed Satan to overwhelm me, which has impacted my walk with the Lord.  Hebrews 11:6 tells us that “…without faith, it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.” 

Once I acknowledged I was faltering, I turned to James 4:7. “Submit therefore to God.  Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”  A simple prayer, in which I told the Lord that I was turning this over to Him in submission. At once, I felt peace and was no longer “down in the dumps.” 

My circumstances have not changed.  I was still post-op from major surgery with pain, medications, restless nights, and physical therapy. However, my negative attitude and doubt about my faith had turned around and I felt aligned with God again.

If you’re facing a scenario that has you feeling “down in the dumps” please know that you are not alone.  God is with you always.  And the ladies of the Iron Porch are willing to pray for you, so comment if you need us to pray!

~Emily

Post-Halloween Lack of Awareness: Spiritual Warfare

Once upon a time, I was a practicing Wiccan.  I acted like a rebellious teenager and turned my back on God.  I participated in pagan religious activities for seven years.  There was a time that I was in Wiccan leadership positions, I was an advocate for military chaplains, and I was even involved in Congressional Legislation regarding Wicca being acknowledged as a religion. 

After leaving Wicca and re-aligning myself with a Christian walk, I have been very deliberate about pagan influences in my life.  I’ve stopped associating with those who were in my life during my pagan days.  I am careful about what my family is exposed to.  I avoid sections of bookstores.  I try not to notice full moons or solstices.  I don’t want to slip back into a pagan walk, so I guard myself very carefully in this regard. 

Each year, in the weeks leading up to Halloween, I pray extra hard and pay closer attention to the occult/pagan/satanic/societal influences that are happening around me.  Over the last few years, I’ve noticed apologetic Christians shining light more on the testimonies of former witches and Satan worshippers.  The time of year lends itself to others…and me being more aware. 

But in the weeks after Halloween, I often found myself letting my guard down.  It’s as though I’m relieved to be passed Halloween and able to focus on the coming celebration of Jesus’ birth. 

So here I am. A week after Halloween. Relieved.  Guard down.  Then I was confronted with a scenario where my pagan past was thrown in my face while I was at work.  Something I influenced while practicing Wicca, coming back to a military item that is being considered for display in the museum where I am employed. 

I was relieved and yet, I should not have let my guard down.  We, as Christians, absolutely must be constantly aware of the spiritual warfare that is always going on around us.  Scripture tells us that the enemy is on the prowl….he is always looking to create chaos and destruction in our lives.   1 Peter 5:8 (NIV) says, “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”    

In regard to spiritual warfare, is your guard up for you and your family?

Or are you like me and it’s up sometimes, but also falls down occasionally?

In the coming days, I will be concentrating on specifically praying about our post-Halloween awareness of pagan practices in America.  Will you join me?

~Emily

Planting The Fall Harvest

For the last several weeks my husband has actively been planting food plots in preparation for deer season. It has required deliberate planning for locations, tilling plots, research of specific crops, and sowing seeds.  After that, lots of prayer for rain to come and birds to not eat the seeds sown.  All these plans to entice deer to come to a pre-arranged buffet location.

One of the things we’ve discovered through this process is that we had to repeatedly till up the land because there are residual weed seeds at multiple layers of the soil.  Each time we disked it up we had to wait a while to watch the weeds take hold…then till again.  Repeat, rinse.  It’s been quiet the process to get up all the weeds in order to plant the food plots.

Interestingly enough, this isn’t the process that Jesus told us to do in regards to the evil weeds of the world.  Jesus told the parable in Matthew 13:24-30 (NASB) that we should let the weeds grow up with the wheat.

“Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and left. And when the wheat sprouted and produced grain, then the weeds also became evident. And the slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ And he said to them, An enemy has done this!’ The slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’ But he said, ‘No; while you are gathering up the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and at the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the weeds and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn.”

Jesus goes on to explain that this field represents the world, that Jesus is sowing the seeds which are the Word of God, and the enemy is Satan who has planted the poisonous weeds.  Yikes.  Both the church and the enemy are sowing seeds…one is worth harvesting, and one will be burned. 

While believers are game to spread the seeds of the Good News, we try in vain to stay away from sin and evil.  Of note, most of us want to pull up the weeds by the roots and be done with the enemy and evil that he sows.  But that is not our job.  According to Matthew 7:5, the only evil we are required to root out, is the evil in our own lives. 

That does not negate our calling to sow seeds generously in the harvest fields (Matthew 13:1-23).  We need to keep sharing, keep praying, and keep planting the seeds of the Gospel.  We speak truth.  We vote according to our beliefs and we work against injustces that we see happening around us.  We continue to work for the Kingdom as the hands and feet of Christ. 

The weeds in the food plot planting for deer season must be dealt with through continuously tilling the soil.  But the weeds sown by Satan?  We leave those alone…let God deal with them on Judgment Day. 

I pray you have a fruitful week spreading the seeds of Christ’s true love.

~Emily

Spiritual Attacks

If you are a believer, you won’t go long without encountering spiritual warfare.  The enemy would love nothing more than for us to forget that there is constantly a spiritual battle going on amongst us.  We may not always see it and we may tend to forget that it’s going on, but it continuously brings chaos, turmoil, discouragement, fear, stress, and even defeat. 

The Bible reminds us that we should stay aware of Satan’s schemes, while staying close to the Lord. We’ve been armed for battle through the Armor of God (Ephesians 6:11-17), and also with the entire Word of God.  When we are able to pray God’s Words back to Him, we are utilizing a powerful weapon against Satan, as it’s the Truth being spoken out loud. 

Here are scriptures to read, pray, and memorize in regards to Spiritual Warfare:

Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. ~Luke 10:19 

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. ~John 10:10 

Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith.  ~1 Peter 5:8-9

Submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  ~James 4:7

For You have girded me with strength for battle; You have subdued under me those who rose up against me.  ~Psalm 18:39

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. ~2 Corinthians 10:3-5

No weapon that is formed against you will prosper; and every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their vindication is from Me,” declares the Lord. ~Isaiah 54:17

Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For 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. Therefore, put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.  Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. ~Ephesians 6:11-17

Remember sweet readers, when we belong to Christ, Satan never has the final word over our lives. We are fully in God’s hands.  Our responsibility in spiritual warfare includes being ready to pray, meditate, and speak the Word of God.  This battle belongs to the Lord, and He has the final victory…so fear not.

~Emily

When Liars Become A Distraction

The enemy engages with us when we are least expecting it.  Often the enemy uses those around us to “get into” our head.  Occasionally, the circumstances seem genuine. Sometimes red flags are raised.  That’s how spiritual warfare works…sometimes subtly and other times overtly.

A “friend,” who I hadn’t heard from in years, contacted me via social media. This is a woman who I have had a challenging past with.  It’s also someone who thinks she has a vested interest in knowing about my life. Furthermore, it’s a gal who is very much into pagan paths of spiritualism.

Despite that past and her religious thinking, I wanted to believe the best of her intentions.   I chatted via emails over the course of a couple days.  Then she wrote something about one of her recent accomplishments, but it just didn’t make any sense to me.  I asked several questions, to which she had some interesting answers that also didn’t sound right.

God bless my Spidey-senses. God bless the Google-machine.  God bless a best friend who listened to my thoughts, helped investigate, and agreed with my assessment.  I reached the conclusion that her story was false. It was a farce. An untruth.

This seems like a fairly small and possibly benign daily encounter.  Except it interrupted my day. It took up space in my mind.  It made me question her motives.  And it frankly took time away from my family and my own endeavors.

Satan wants our minds to be cluttered with nonsense so that we lose focus on what is most important to us. I could have been reading with my son, exercising, cooking, or studying.  Instead, I was surfing the internet to investigate this woman’s claims.

A subtle form of spiritual warfare.

Exodus 23:1 (NIV) states, “Do not spread false reports. Do not help a guilty person by being a malicious witness.”

What can you do if there is a liar in your midst that is causing a distraction?

1. Pray. There’s nothing better than prayer to calm a troubled heart or mind. Bring the situation to the Lord and allow Him to work on your behalf.  When we bring our angst to the Lord, He opens our eyes and our ears to truth.
2. Create Distance. This may require a few days away from the individual. It may require a social media break. It may require a complete severing of the relationship. Distance allows us to evaluate a situation and it allows us time to spend with the Lord.
3. Evaluate Yourself. Ensure that you reflect on your role in the situation or scenario. Have you encouraged or discouraged behavior?  Perhaps there is nothing you have done…perhaps there was.  God will help you with that self-reflection and the conclusions you come to.

I don’t need a false friend, nor do I want to condone untruths.  Yet, I didn’t want to assist the negativity by confronting her or escalating the situation.  I didn’t want to become a malicious witness.  I simply deleted the conversation.  I blocked the individual on social media.

This scenario is one small example of how we can discern if the interaction is glorifying to God.  Or if it’s one that the enemy is using to distract us.  I choose to be focused and undistracted.

I pray that God continues to allow the gift of discernment to work in my life. I pray it works in your life as well.

~Emily

 

 

Spiritual Battles

Last Friday, I made good on a ridiculous commitment I made while my husband and I were dating.  I had casually and thoughtlessly agreed that sometime in the future I would attend a heavy metal concert.  I dodged that bullet for years.  But Friday, I finally went to my first and last head-banging-metal concert.  I am free of that commitment from this point forward.

I may be free of the commitment to go, but I’m not free of the overwhelming pain my heart felt leading up to the event, while being at that concert, and in the days afterward.

True confession #1:  I hate…seriously hate…heavy metal music.  It’s so freaking loud.  And repetitive…every song sounds like exactly the same yelling.  I don’t understand 80% of the lyrics and the few phrases I can discern I don’t believe are in concert with my Christian faith.  I despise that many of the bands in this musical genre utilize symbolology that I deliberately avoid, as a result of my own pagan past.  In truth, in the weeks leading up to this concert I was praying that something would happen that would prevent our attendance.

As it became apparent that I was going to have to actually attend, I engaged my prayer warriors to form a hedge of protection around my family while we attended the concert. I was fervently praying for God to close our ears to the enemy, to open the hearts to the non-believers, and to assist with protecting us as we entered a spiritual warfare battlefield.

I prayed as we drove to the venue. I prayed in the parking lot. I prayed in the concession line. I prayed in our seats.  I prayed for God to be with us and that Satan would get behind us. I prayed for complete and total intercession.  I prayed specifically for my family, but then I prayed for those in my row, in our section, and in the entire audience. I even prayed for all of the band members.  I prayed that everyone present would know God…would know His love…would profess Christ as their Savior.

I was praying super big prayers.

True confession #2: I was surprised at how pleasant everyone was around us.  Between sets, folks were chatting with us and offering ear plugs (little did they know I had packed several sets of plugs in my purse!).  No one was cursing. No one was fall-on-their-face drunk.  No one was spouting off about Devil worship.

Everyone was nice.  No one was directly threatening towards me or my family.  I felt God’s arms around us.

And that’s when I let my guard down.  I had prayed through most of the afternoon into the evening, but by dusk I had relaxed a little.

The sun went down.  The drunks became rowdy.  The smell of weed was prevalent.  All around us, people were super excited to hear the first beats of the drum from the headlining band.  I stood up to see the stage and when the curtain fell I was in absolute shock.  There were images that were blatantly disrespectful of Christ.  There were huge areas of literal fire balls.  When pentagrams began bouncing all over the screen, I literally burst into tears and fell back into my seat.  I know I was the only person in that arena sitting down, but I may have been the only one that was crying and praying out loud to the one true God.

Satan made his presence known.

True confession #3: Spiritual Warfare in America is real and I am fearful that many Christians are turning a blind eye to this fact.  I know it’s real because it’s a slippery slope I’ve tumbled down.  I know it’s real because I see it in daily aspects of our society.  I know it’s real because I just pitched a book about it.

It scares me to death to see how spiritual battles have influenced American society.   And yet, I took my family on a trek to see the battle field in action.   You read that correctly… “my family.”

True confession #4:  My 7-year-old son was with us.  He was one of a dozen kids that I saw in attendance.

After that confession, you would be partly justified in asking about my parenting skills.  If spiritual warfare scares me so much and if I was so concerned that I dispatched my prayer warriors, why on God’s green earth would I introduce my son to such a scene?

Why?  Because I’m raising a prayer warrior.  I’m raising a child to someday become a head of household.  I’m raising a young man who is in love with the Lord.  I can’t shield him completely from the world.  But I can teach him how to hold onto his faith, his beliefs, and his focus on God.

Do you know who was praying with me in the weeks up to the concert?  My son.

Do you know who prayed in the car that God would protect us?  My son.

Do you know who was praying that just one person would come to know the Lord that night? My son.

Do you know who shielded his eyes from the fire on stage and also prayed out loud? My son.

Spiritual warfare is alive and well in our country.  Christians are doing a disservice to the next generation if we aren’t allowing them to become equipped to fight a battle that they may not understand.  Shoot, that many of us don’t understand!

Some will say that a heavy metal concert wasn’t the place for a child.  I agree.  It wasn’t an ideal situation.  But because it was one that occurred, I used it as a teaching tool for my child to understand that God listens.  He will defend us.  He will equip us.  He will protect us.

I’m free of the commitment to ever attend another one of these concerts…but I will continue to be vigilant to the spiritual battlefield all around us.

~Emily

“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” ~1 Peter 5:8 (NIV)