Study on Spiritual Warfare at Pastor’s Gathering this Fall
The Fellowship Community is pleased to announce a Bible Study on Spiritual Warfare for Pastors led by Rev. Dr. Tracey Davenport, Pastor of Chula Vista Presbyterian Church.
“Bring up spiritual warfare at any pastor’s gathering,” Walter Wink humorously quipped, “and you will be quickly appraised for signs of pathological violence, and then quietly shunned.” And yet we know many complex problems in our world have a spiritual component. We see evil daily in mass shootings, increasing anxiety and depression in our young people, white nationalism, the opioid epidemic, homelessness, human trafficking, systematic oppression of people of color, and the crisis along the border. People sense the darkness and have no way to name it. How can we heal that which we won’t name or talk about?
Jesus won the decisive battle against the powers of darkness, but that does not mean we can sit back and relax. Evil has not yet admitted defeat. Those who call Jesus Lord must join him in the fight. Thankfully, the New Testament not only acknowledges this evil, but gives believers in Jesus Christ both spiritual and physical tools to fight it. Studying Ephesians 6:10-18 and Romans 12:9-21 together will remind us of the great but seldom used resources we have been given. Pastors can lead our congregations to name, face, confess, and resist evil faithfully, prayerfully, and proactively, based on reformed Christian theology and practice.