Spiritual Warfare

Wow. It is week 8 already... we are almost 2/3 done DTS! I am so sad. Time needs to stop going so fast!!!

This week is Spiritual Warfare week. Beryl, the ministry director, is teaching us this week. She specializes in Spiritual Warfare, and apparently has written a pretty good book on it, which movie producers keep wanting to make a movie of, but she keeps refusing. She is a really cute little kiwi lady. She told us her testimony today. Wow. She has had such a crazy life!!! I was not expecting that story from her. She became a Christian in her early twenties. Her first husband was killed in a plane accident, and her second husband, Bill, passed away in 2010 from cancer. I just can't even believe how positive she is and how faithful she is to God after having been widowed twice! But she is very lucky and has 6 kids and 16 grandkids! So I am sure they keep the memories of their fathers alive!

The memory verse for this week is:

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. - Ephesians 6: 12

In spiritual warfare, it is important to remember the following:

Warfare is lifestyle - Purity in everything (clothing, entertainment, politics, music).

Warfare is language - No coarse jesting or crude talk. Resist the enemy with your speech.

Warfare is honesty - Being truthful in everything we say and do (business, relationships, taxes)

Warfare is tithing - Giving to the poor and God.

Warfare is standing in righteousness - Speaking out when others stay silent. Opposing contentious issues (abortion, euthanasia, homosexuality).

Warfare is moral purity in ALL things - Marriage, relationships...

These are necessary because Satan's kingdom is weakened by Godly living. I guess the only part of this that I question is the opposition of homosexuality. I have always understood that homosexuality is not a choice, it is just the way that a person is. But I always thought of it as a biological thing, like there was some sort of differential brain function happening in homosexuals vs. heterosexuals. And there is some research to support this - there have been studies suggesting that the brain of a gay man is more similar, both in terms of structural shape and size and in terms of connections, to the brain of a woman. And that the brain of a homosexual woman is similar to that of a straight man.
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1815538,00.html
But I see that some of the people here see homosexuality as a spiritual thing, and that the 'homosexual spirit' can be told to leave the body of someone who is controlled by it. I have to admit I don't really know what to think anymore. My science brain is really not agreeing with this whole spirit thing...

Anyways, spiritual warfare is basically recognizing strategies of Satan, and refusing to cooperate and aggressively cutting them off. And the good news is that through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, Satan has already been defeated! So we can't lose in a spiritual battle against sin!

So... this week could be a bit weird.... I am trying not to be too critical/skeptical, but you know how I am...

But I was very productive today! I got my journal (CIR) for last week done and handed in AND my book review done and handed in! YESSSSSS. This is the first time in quite a few weeks that I have handed anything in on time! Woot Woot. I have to admit, I wrote less than usual because my brain did overtime last week with all that craziness that Goldie put me through! And... I may or may not have actually read the entire book for my review... Shhhh. Don't tell!!!

Other than that, life is good. Last week I asked Kitchen Rick if he could start feeding me salad all the time because I'm getting too fat. He was quite happy to do this because it makes his life easier, and my waste is no longer expanding by the day! Woohoo good work Rick! (And good work me because I have been eating less chocolate between meal times!)

For small groups tonight we had a nice pic-nic in the field. Johanna and Kat made some lovely German pudding with soy milk... it was interesting. It had chunkies in it and didn't really taste like pudding... but it all got eaten!!! And we just chatted about everything from abortion to graduation speeches to geese (geese are evil, I hate them) to Fiji. It was a good chat. We also made fun of Johanna for how she says OK - it sounds like (HOOOOOK-EEEEHHH) in a German accent. Baha so cute! <3 But it was kinda cold out, so Kat and I came back to our cottage and found Carly and Anne here, so we had a chat in the bathroom standing under the heater. How nice. And Brent even was able to join us!!! (For some reason we have a passport sized photo of him, which looks an awful lot like a mug shot, and I found it the other day and decided it needed to be hung up - it is now on the bathroom mirror with a note that says "BRENT IS WATCHING (From his jail cell)") So we had a good chat with Brent watching.