SPIRITUAL WARFARE

                  Last year, when the National Gathering took place in Sept. 2010, one of the workshops that I did at that event was Spiritual Warfare. When I sat down and began to put it together, I realized that doing an afternoon workshop on Spiritual Warfare is like looking at a tombstone and reading a short epitaph and two dates. By the way, my tombstone will probably read "Nickeled and dimed to death". Either that or "Shot dead." But I digress.

                  Out of that conference, I realized that it would take a significant amount of time to give a comprehensive study of spiritual warfare. There are so many variations and aspects of our spiritual lives that are affected. The other reason why it seemed important to do a study in spiritual warfare now is because the Great Banquet is making a significant move into prison ministry in the state of Illinois. We now have prison Banquets in Vienna, Logan, Lincoln, Robinson, and Decatur in the state of Illinois. Robinson and Decatur are brand new movements, and early in 2012 we will be starting one in Taylorville, Ill.  

                  We have also attracted the attention of the State of Illinois. The chaplain for all the state prisons has showed up in Logan, and Robinson on the actual Banquet. He also met with us as we get ready to start the women's Great Banquet in Decatur. He actually said this to some of us, "I want the Great Banquet in all the prisons in Illinois." That got our attention. Not really sure where this all leads, except that this path may be ongoing.

                   The Great Banquet by its very nature is one of the aspects of Spiritual Warfare, and the battle ground is over peoples' lives. Going into prison is foreign terrain, and really is messing in Satan's realm. It just seemed to me that Spiritual Warfare may just be the topic of the times. I started a major study of Spiritual Warfare in late August and it will be running for quite awhile. I began with an overview, and Satan, and his attacks which includes his wiles, designs, devices, and temptations. We are moving into other topics at this point beginning with the Armor of God which has to do with equipment and training in Spiritual Warfare.

                  Down the road we will be looking at various topics;   1. Battlegrounds - mind, church and world. 2. Discerning Spirits 3. Dealing with evil Spirits. 4. Church as the Army of God 5. Great Banquet as spiritual warfare. 5 Biblical pictures of specific situations - spiritual warfare for family, being God's champion by chance and by choice, David and Goliath, Gideon against Midian, Elijah against Jezebel, Nehemiah against Sanballat and Tobiah, Moses and Aaron as intercessors, Blue funks and battle fatigue, 6. Siege situations in our lives 7. Lampstand churches in spiritual warfare. And 8. The world conflict - Israel and the Church in the World.

                  This is not going to be the final word on Spiritual Warfare, but I plan it to be comprehensive in a lot of different settings, from you as a battleground to the world as a battleground, and a lot of places in between the individual and the world.

                  You can find these studies on the WEB or in iTunes as a PODCAST as we go through the different topics.

See you sometime at a Great Banquet........Jack Pitzer