I
received an email this week from a pastor friend and thought I would share part
of it with you. Pastor Andy Anquoe, from FBC Sperry wrote...
"I
don’t know if you’ve heard but this Sunday, September 21 at 9 PM in the
Oklahoma City Civic Center Music Hall, there will be a satanic black mass held.
Some satanic followers from New York have legally rented the venue & will
perform this ritual to a sold out audience. Thus far, nothing has been able to
stop this event legally because it is in essence a free speech issue. But
during this black mass, it will mock a traditional catholic mass, desecrate the
Lord’s Supper, and the devil will be summoned. Messing with the spiritual realm
is a very scary thing.
A
new church plant, OKC Community Church, will meet in the same building, as it
does every Sunday morning, before the mass happens that night. OKC Community
Church has prayerfully decided to respond in love in order to try to be salt
and light to the Satanists instead of responding in anger and fear. Catholic
churches in the area are holding prayer vigils during the event also.
Mark
my words, more incidents like this will happen as our culture moves farther
away from God. This is the world that we live in now. It will get worse. Yet
somehow, someway, we must learn to effectively minister & engage people in
the midst of it for the sake of the gospel.
What
can we do to counteract such things when they happen? Prayer is first and best
place to start. As we pray we must:
·
Rely on God’s Power – We have no means within ourselves to win this
battle for it is a spiritual battle. That’s why we must turn to God. Let us
remember that we’re not fighting against flesh and blood (Eph. 6:12) and the
battle is the Lord’s (2 Chron. 20:15).
·
Rebuke in Jesus’ name – If Heaven’s mightiest angel, Gabriel, rebuked
the devil in the Lord’s name (Jude 9), we must do the very same thing.
·
Recite God’s Word in prayer – Every attack that the devil brought
against Jesus in His temptation was thwarted by Jesus’ use of Scripture. God’s
Word is powerful! That’s why we must use it as a double edged sword (Heb.
4:12). It’s our major offensive weapon.
·
Retrieve our Spiritual armor – God has given us all the armor we need to
engage in Spiritual battles (Eph. 6:10-18). We just need to put it and keep it
on every day.
·
Remember the devil’s fate – No matter what the devil may do, he will be
defeated and cast down into the fiery pit one day (Rev. 20:10).
A
similar event was abruptly cancelled at Harvard earlier this year as local area
churches got together and prayed. Maybe the very same thing will happen here.
If there was ever a time our great state needed us to pray, it is now."
