Tag: Spiritual Warfare

An Appeal for a Clear Conscience

February 16, 2024

This exposition of 1 Peter 3:18-22 emphasizes a spiritual battle between good and evil forces, urging Christians to be aware of this cosmic struggle. It highlights the role of Jesus in overcoming evil and calls for believers to resist being manipulated by worldly powers. The text also stresses the importance of having a clear conscience before God, rather than pursuing selfish desires or political victories. … More An Appeal for a Clear Conscience

The Enemy of Our Soul

August 12, 2020

“Every step closer to my soul excites the scornful laughter of my devils, those cowardly ear-whisperers and poison-mixers.” -C. G. Jung “We are not unaware of the Devil’s schemes” (2 Cor. 2:11). In 1978, spiritual writer Richard Foster wrote: “In contemporary society our Adversary majors in three things: noise, hurry, and crowds. If he can keep … More The Enemy of Our Soul

Q&A: Why do prayers go unanswered?

April 30, 2019

Repost from 2018. -JB “Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages of that area, TEACHING in the synagogues…and he HEALED every kind of disease and illness” (Matt 9:35). My sermon text for this Sunday is Mark 1:29-39 which displays Jesus’ powerful healing ministry, first with Simon’s mother-in-law, and then “the whole city was gathered … More Q&A: Why do prayers go unanswered?

When Darkness Wins a Battle, We Still Win the War

May 24, 2017

Suicide is an all too common thing these days — especially among adolescents and younger adults. I thought I’d repost an older piece from around 2009 for a Christian perspective on such tragedies. Some of these words also give perspective on the evil of recent events. -JB The forces of darkness are always around us.  Most of the time, if … More When Darkness Wins a Battle, We Still Win the War

Halloween and the Sexualization of Evil

October 3, 2011

Here’s a repost from many years back. -JB “Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light” (2 Cor 11:14). Christians have always had a tough time with Halloween. The danger usually associated with the message of Halloween was its association with the occult — the glorification and celebration of evil, death, Satan, witchcraft, blood-sucking vampires … More Halloween and the Sexualization of Evil

A Picture Is Worth a 1,000 Words (& Millions of Dollars)

June 23, 2009

From the DI archives.  A while back I was researching the ways our brain processes messages in preparation for a series of messages I gave at a weekend youth retreat based on “The Matrix” movies. Here’s some of my reflections on our image-based culture. -JB “What we’ve introduced at MTV is nonnarrative form…We rely on … More A Picture Is Worth a 1,000 Words (& Millions of Dollars)