Spiritual war: Folks, it is real, and it is a major part of our walk. Like it or not, we have an enemy who wants to kill and destroy us any way that he can, and as soon as we became Christians it put a target on us for his attacks (don't get me wrong, Satan himself has much bigger fish to fry than you or me, but his demons and nasties are all over you!). 1/3 of Christ's teachings were about spiritual warfare, and that is far to much to ignore!! As a non-believer we were slaves to sin it says in the Bible, and we were more or less prisoners of the realm of Darkness. At that point the kingdom of darkness could care less what you do because you are captured, toast. As Christians we are freed, and as I once heard it said, Satan learned your name. Before that he didn't care who the heck you were, but once you accepted Christ Satan learned your name. He knows that the only way for him to get at God is through us because God already has defeated Satan at the cross once and for all, but by getting through to the ones that God loves he can hurt God. BUT.... Don't despair, we have the authority through the blood of Christ to defeat Satan, Christ said that what we hold bound on earth He will hold bound in heaven, etc. As we are walking our Christian walk, be aware that we do wrestle (not against flesh and blood, but) against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and agaist the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of riteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addidtion to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which, you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. [Eph. 6:12-18]). Ok, Paul just said it best!! Ok, I will stop now with my little sermonette. Sorry to run so long but this is really an important concept to our walk and it is true that some people never hear it- don't even know we are in any battle. So stand firm on the Word my brothers and sisters, and I will type at you all later! -Brian "In You, O Lord, I put my trust... For You are my rock and my fortress" Psalm 31:1,3