That’s how ministry is at present. We are bang in the middle of our Chelmsford Christian Festival, my responsibility being to oversee the prayer ministry. In the run-up and since it has started, an avalanche of pastoral problems has hit, like no sequence since coming here. Without being hyper-spiritual, I shouldn’t be surprised. I can’t go into detail here, but it has involved people being hurt, people falling out, people imagining hurt, people facing enormous crises, all in quick succession. I am no demon hunter, but I believe in the reality of the demonic, and believe that at present there is a concerted effort to move my focus away from the festival.
Dave Faulkner. Musings of an evangelical Methodist minister.
Big Circumstance 
Like you I don’t believe in looking for demons behind every bush, but also acknowledge that we do indeed have an enemy who is interested in disrupting mission.
The bad news about Chris came in the same week as various financial troubles and other difficulties at home and in the Circuit. This was just prior to Tim and I being involved in a week of evangelistic focus….
Our prayers are with you for a good and fruitful week.
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Sally,
Thanks for your encouragement and prayers. There is more that has gone on, too, but here I’m thinking of an incident related to my family and me that I’d better not allude to here.
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Dave,
Thank you for bringing this to light. I have been reading your blog for awhile and you’re always very insightful. The evil one is here, and he’s pretty good at his job, unfortunately. I hope things work better for you soon.
Dan Smith
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Dan,
Thanks for your kind words and encouragement. Much appreciated.
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You have my prayers in these testing times. This is where the Lord’s Prayer kicks in -‘Do not bring us to the test, but deliver us from evil.’ It has been my experience that these testing times always seem to come hard on the heels of a peak experience (like your ‘Gobsmacked’ post.
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Olive,
Thank you. I’m sure you’re right. Some of the stuff has been going on since before what I talked about in ‘Gobsmacked’, and much involves pettiness or – well, no, I’d better not say! Email me privately if you want to know. (That’s not a general invitation to all readers of the blog, I’m afraid – just those of you I’ve got to know better.)
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Sadly, I’ve never seen more pettiness than the pettiness of the religious. I don’t know the situation, but I have been involved with helping coordinate week long meetings of this sort… *shaking head* The enemy is probably most active in the religious institution, in my experience. God’s Grace and Wisdom to you.
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Yes, it reminds me of Jesus’ arguments with the religious leaders (not that I’m Jesus). I remember John Stott commenting on the ‘New Perspective’, saying that ancient documents might well suggest a belief in grace, but the practice was probably very different!
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