More attacks are coming

My son, Stephen, texted me this morning with the words “You were spot on dad.” So I replied “What do you mean?” “Another church was set on fire,” he responded. “It was on Yahoo news. When I read that, I immediately thought about what you said on Sunday.”

Stephen was referring to the comments I made at our church, Grace Christian Center. I went back and listened to what I had said and decided to transcribe it with minor editing and share it. It’s sobering.

“I asked pastor (Dr. Jim Martin) for a minute or so to talk about something that’s been on my mind since Friday. I started thinking about this and things just started jelling for me.

“Satan – the bible says we’re not to be ignorant of his devices. I was thinking about Emanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston, SC and when it happened one of the first things that was talked about was the need for gun control.

“Do you remember the story in Acts 16 where the young lady (who was possessed by a spirit of divination) followed Paul and, I believe it was Barnabas, saying “These are the great men of God”? She was saying that these men are just like us, like me. But they were not just like her. 

“Satan is a master of misdirection and so when this happened in Charleston and politicians and news media started talking about gun control that was a misdirection.

“Then the news media started talking about racism, and I’m not denying racism wasn’t part of it, but racism is a misdirection. Ladies and gentlemen, you have to understand that and Satan’s been using that to keep us from seeing him in action and he uses it very well.

“And the third thing the news media talked about was the attack being a hate crime. That’s a misdirection also.

“I’m not saying any of the three are not true. What I’m saying is that they’re keeping our eyes off of what’s really happening.

“Satan is a master strategist. So he takes this young man and he uses him like a pawn on a chessboard. So he (Satan) takes this young man and attacks a black church. He (Satan) attacks a black church. So the first thing we think about is racism. Right?

“Ladies and gentlemen, the attack was on the Body of Christ. The church just happened to be black because Satan chose a black church. He doesn’t want us to think about this as an attack on the Body of Christ.

“It’s the first shot ladies and gentlemen. More is coming.

“I wanted to say this because it’s very important that we’re not ignorant of how Satan operates. He will use whatever is at his disposal and, in this case, it happened to be a troubled young man who he had been feeding thoughts of racism for years and years until it finally came to fruition.

“But racism is only on the surface. What’s really happening – we are being attacked. Next time it could be Grace Christian Center. Now the salvo has been launched and I say this (to help you understand that the attack was on the Body of Christ), like the Father helped me understand this. Our Father wants us to keep things in the perspective they should be in.”

Epilogue

The last text I sent to Stephen: So Satan is going to attack enough black churches so that when he starts attacking white and black churches he’ll already be undercover (more invisible).

Satan will sit back and watch his demented plan unfold. The Body of Christ will be wounded and possibly becomes prisoners of fear while we talk about gun control, racism and hate crimes.

Before he went to bed every night, my father would get on his knees and pray. I think it high time we spent more time on our knees and less time believing any misdirection that we hear and see.