Don’t Let Satan Block Your Punch

When I was in middle school, Rodney was our neighborhood “Karate Kid.” Although he was only in high school, he held multiple black belts and could work nunchucks like nobody’s business.

I remember asking him to teach me some karate moves. After he agreed, he calmly told me to punch him in the face as fast and hard as I could.

I pretended that I wasn’t going to, and then suddenly I threw my 12-year-old fist of fury right toward his nose.

His arm went up in a flash, and he barely blocked my punch. I missed his face by a mere inch.

Then, like a karate sensei, he leaned in and whispered my first lesson: “Greg, you don’t need to use all your energy to block a punch. You just need to divert it by a few degrees.”

Lesson learned.

SATAN’S SUBTLE DEFLECTIONS

What’s true of karate is true of our attack against the kingdom of darkness.

How much of the church’s punch has been diverted by Satan by a few degrees?

Instead of advancing the Gospel, we advance the latest programs.

Instead of equipping the saints to go and make disciples, we challenge them to go to more meetings.

Instead of intercessory prayer for the lost, we pray only for our own lives, families, and agendas.

Instead of seeking to play our part in the Great Commission, we rely on missionaries to do it for us.

Instead of reaching out to co-workers, neighbors, family, and friends with the Gospel, we meet in small groups to talk about it.

HOW TO FIGHT BACK

We’re not here to just exegete the mission. We’re here to execute it.

We’re here to “equip God’s people for works of service,” which includes evangelism and disciple-making (Ephesians 4:11-12).

We’re here to “punch Satan in the nose” and rescue the lost people all around us that Satan has taken captive to do his will (2 Timothy 2:26).

Brothers and sisters, don’t let the devil block your punch.

Hit him hard, fast, and in the power of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 6:10-12).

And then be used by God to rescue every lost soul you can (Jude 23)!

Read more from Greg Stier »

This article originally appeared on gregstier.org and is reposted here by permission.

Greg Stier
Greg Stierhttp://Dare2Share.org

Greg Stier is the founder of Dare 2 Share, and has published over 20 books. His upcoming book is Radical Like Jesus: 21 Challenges to Live a Revolutionary Life (Tyndale).

Ohio Church Makeover

This move would not only give them room to grow, but also would enable them to do a lot more to fulfill their mission of being a church focused on “building the kingdom, one life at a time.”

How Much Tech Do You Actually Need?

Because you cannot do this alone, you are going to have to trust the right individuals who know more about tech than you do. Your calling is to shepherd. Do that.

Gene Appel: Do Less Ministry; Reach More People

None of the programs at our church were bad in and of themselves. The volume of it just prevented us from being focused on building relationships with those who are far from God. So, we had to do less ministry to reach more people. It sounds funny, but people had to be trained in how to do life with nonbelievers or people spiritually disinterested.