The armor of the Darkness is lies. I discussed that in a previous post. If we take away the armor, then we can "rob the house." We must recognize lies and confront them so people can recognize their sins and perhaps repent.
I have been frequenting a particular coffee shop and have talked about it in updates to my Worship and Pattern posts. It is a big part of my life right now because it is where The Spirit has me working.
The coffee shop is mainly run by women, and it is women who I mostly get to talk with. That's fine, but where are the men? I crave talking to anyone about spiritual matters, and it is men who I really want to talk with. Iron sharpens iron, and there are a lot of dull blades in the shed.
I am going to be frank about my job. At the risk of exalting myself, my job is to say, "You have sin in your life; and this is the direction we have to go." I try to do that as lovingly as I can, and with discernment, but sometimes bluntness is necessary. Go read Matthew 23 if you are in doubt.
The lie I am talking about is women can be in authority over men, and Jesus is okay with that. It is a lie permeating our culture like tendrils of a disgusting fungus in our refrigerator. It is everywhere, and we don't even notice it.
The Book is clear about this from start to finish, but many people take bits and pieces out of context to justify the lie. In some cases, they don't even get their notions from The Book. I have heard women mention "the unconditional love of God" many times in the coffee shop, but that adjective does not appear anywhere in Scripture.
Paul was very clear about it in 1 Timothy 2:12, and he had good reasons...
I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet. (NIV)
I care deeply about the people I have gotten to know in the coffee shop, and it grieves me to see what I see:
- Women teaching men.
- Women leading "seekers" astray with erroneous and incomplete "gospels."
- Women censoring what men can say and do.
- Women acting as though men are not necessary and are irrelevant.
- Women who are afraid of men.
- Women disrespecting men.
- Women running everything.
- Women who have divorced at least once.
I do not see men leading people in the coffee shop, and believe it is because:
- Men are working for corporations as SLAVES.
- Men are in their garage or in their "man cave."
- Men are watching sports.
- Men are in the woods hunting, or getting ready to be in the woods hunting (or fishing).
- Men are too sick and disabled to do much of anything.
And this is what I see the church doing:
- Operating as a corporation.
- Promoting derivative books, pamphlets and programs that displace public reading of Holy Scripture.
- Supporting the coffee shop financially, but being almost entirely absent from any meaningful discussions.
- Using the coffee shop as a meeting place for their religious club cliques.
- Promoting "following Jesus" as accepting and "loving" everyone without eventually sharing actual Truth.
- Closing shop on Sundays so they can go meet in their clubhouses.
I am grateful for the coffee shop, and I know the Godhead (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) is responsible for its continuing existence. It will be there as long as He wants it to be there. And so will I. This is a season.
I am looking for people who want to actually do what is in The Book. I am looking for people who will listen to me and take me seriously, who want to see The Kingdom and actually do the work Jesus has called us to do, and that he is desperate for us to do. I want to see people healed and set free. I want to see people full of joy that the Bible is real, that miracles are real, and that Jesus is real.
We cannot do those things if we believe the lie. If we do, we will continue to wallow in sin, ... until we die.
All glory to God.
UPDATE, September 22, 2023...
The Darkness promotes other lies, such as confusion about "gender." The Book says...
...male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:27 NIV)
... so the actual Truth is clear.
Of course, we should have compassion for people who are deceived about this, but validating that deception by trying to justify it with bits and pieces of The Book is just reinforcing the lie.
The Holy Spirit will help us help people, if we actually have Him and if we are listening to Him.
UPDATE, September 24, 2023...
One of my managers told me a humorous story. There was a guy who got a new job, and when he showed up at his new office he found his predecessor had left a note and three envelopes in the desk. The note said, "When things get difficult, open an envelope." Each envelope was numbered: 1, 2 and 3.
The guy smirked and thought, "Ah, I'm not going to have any trouble."
And he didn't. At first. About six months into the job, however, he started to realize there was more to it than he had anticipated. He remembered the envelopes, opened the drawer and took out the one labeled "1." He opened it.
Inside was a single piece of paper, and on it was written, "Blame your predecessor." So, he did. He blamed his predecessor for all the things that were not going right, and things got better. For a while.
About six months later, he decided to open the second envelope. It said, "Reorganize."
So, he hired some consultants and they helped him to reorganize his department. And things got better. People were happy and productive, and he received a decent job performance review from his boss.
But, eventually things started to become difficult again. He remembered the third envelope. When he opened it up, it said, "Make three new envelopes."
My manager and I laughed, and he pointed out in the business world there are few things we can do to improve our circumstances. Reorganization is something visible that people can see, and it can improve things if the previous organization was poor, but for the most part it is simply a way to take the attention off of our problems and distract everyone with excitement. If the fundamentals aren't there, a new organization is not going to fix anything.
I have a friend who is passionate about their faith, and they left Michigan to pursue their calling. They care deeply about people and have been working very hard to help those they care about in their community. I share their empathy about the topic and would like to help, but my friend is doing things their way.
I wrote the previous update to this post two days ago, and I used the word "compassion" in what I wrote. Later that day, I noticed my friend had just renamed their business with the word "compassion" in it. As I woke up the following morning, I realized this apparent coincidence was a 'four-drachma coin.' I smiled, and wished I could share this experience with my friend, but they are not talking to me right now. I believe it has to do with what I discussed in the post I wrote today.
I pray the LORD will allow my friend to eventually understand me and let me help. It would be so much fun. 😊