Puzzled
Over the years there have been many men who have asked me for help in their personal Bible study. In many, probably most cases, those who asked did not follow through. More times than I can count men bailed out of the process. That really bothered me.
Concerned
I searched myself to see if there was something I was doing that was driving them away. I prayed, journaled, thought, and agonized over what I could do better. But consistently the result was the same. Many who started did not finish.
Dawning Light
I then went to a couple of Wild at Heart Boot Camps, I read Eldredge’s book Waking the Dead
, I listened to Ed Murphy’s messages on Spiritual Warfare, and some things began to fall into place. Then I led a study through Revelation and some more data fell into place.
Scriptural Light
In Mark 4:1 – 20, Jesus shares the parable of the soils and its explanation. In verse 15 Christ shares that one of Satan’s ploys is to take away the Word; since he is a thief that fits. I don’t remember where I read this, but in preparation for Revelation 19 – 20, I read that this is the least studied passage in the Bible. The writer surmised that the enemy does all that he can to keep us out of those chapters because that is place in the Bible that shows him utterly and completely defeated. We started that study with 30 men. When we got to those chapters there was less than 5 in the room.
Schemes
I rethought what I had experienced with men. As soon as they made a move to get more effectively engaged in the Bible, their businesses took off or started failing, things in their family became chaotic, major problems developed elsewhere in their lives, I began to see patterns of the enemy doing everything he could to get them away from the Word of God.
Why?
It makes them dangerous to him.
We Have to Fight
Now I warn men. I tell them that these things will happen. They do. But, now they are warned and more are fighting through the distractions.
The enemy of our Lord hates it when men are in the Word. He will do all that he can to keep them out. He is good at what he does. We have to learn to fight. That is one reason why Paul wrote Ephesians 6:10 – 20.
Over the years there have been many men who have asked me for help in their personal Bible study. In many, probably most cases, those who asked did not follow through. More times than I can count men bailed out of the process. That really bothered me.
I searched myself to see if there was something I was doing that was driving them away. I prayed, journaled, thought, and agonized over what I could do better. But consistently the result was the same. Many who started did not finish.
Dawning Light
I then went to a couple of Wild at Heart Boot Camps, I read Eldredge’s book Waking the Dead
, I listened to Ed Murphy’s messages on Spiritual Warfare, and some things began to fall into place. Then I led a study through Revelation and some more data fell into place.Scriptural Light
In Mark 4:1 – 20, Jesus shares the parable of the soils and its explanation. In verse 15 Christ shares that one of Satan’s ploys is to take away the Word; since he is a thief that fits. I don’t remember where I read this, but in preparation for Revelation 19 – 20, I read that this is the least studied passage in the Bible. The writer surmised that the enemy does all that he can to keep us out of those chapters because that is place in the Bible that shows him utterly and completely defeated. We started that study with 30 men. When we got to those chapters there was less than 5 in the room.
Schemes
I rethought what I had experienced with men. As soon as they made a move to get more effectively engaged in the Bible, their businesses took off or started failing, things in their family became chaotic, major problems developed elsewhere in their lives, I began to see patterns of the enemy doing everything he could to get them away from the Word of God.
Why?
It makes them dangerous to him.
We Have to Fight
Now I warn men. I tell them that these things will happen. They do. But, now they are warned and more are fighting through the distractions.
The enemy of our Lord hates it when men are in the Word. He will do all that he can to keep them out. He is good at what he does. We have to learn to fight. That is one reason why Paul wrote Ephesians 6:10 – 20.
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