One of the benefits and burdens of living the Christian faith in community is that we are called to bear each other’s burdens, which means that at times we must hold others accountable. The “how” and “why” of that accountability matters greatly for the restoration of a fellow believer and the relationship we have with them. (2nd Corinthians 1:23 - 2:4)

This episode of MMCS is devoted to the development of a basic demonology as presented in the Epistles of the New Testament. By looking at the testimonies of Paul, Peter, James, and John we can see how they viewed demons and the devil by pinpointing their evil work in the church and outside of it to the full scale deception of humanity...the deception of the believers and the unbelievers alike!

This discussion deviates from our expected topic of "demonology" to explore our contemporary cultural moment. America finds itself at the crossroads of an ideological and political intersection, and where it goes next can largely be decided by Christians due to the nature of our moment. Today, we discuss some of the elements and variables surrounding our current context as well as some issues and points to avoid.

*We are currently experimenting with mics and recording setups to make this podcast better because we record in a multi-use space; today was not a good setup so we will try something new next week!

Many of us fear going ALL IN for Jesus because we are desperately afraid of what people will think about us, how they will judge us, and that we might fail the Gospel if we ourselves fail. The GOOD NEWS of the Gospel is that even when we fail and ask God to forgive us, His answer is, “YES!” The redemption and restoration offered to us by the God of the “YES!” is a powerful counter-agent to our instability and insecurity!

Today's discussion comes from the book of Acts where we explore the New Testament development of demonology after the ascension of Jesus. We address issues such as names, typology, and the mysticism surrounding the contemporary use of such passages that leads to an almost witchcraft type of approach to spiritual warfare...just with Christian overtones!

Miss you Miles and Martha!

Be safe on the road Pike Family, Darren, and Trevor!

It is very easy for us to apply years of study and religious devotion to the message of the Gospel for unbelievers making it needlessly complicated and hard to understand; we are also guilty of doing the same thing for new believers. We need to remember that the beauty of the Gospel for the world and the message of obedience for the church is miraculously simple because of God’s grace.

Today's conversation explores the narrative, historical, cultural, and theological development of demons from the Old Testament into the New Testament. We will address questions like, "why a sudden spike in demonic activity," and, "where did all these demons come from?" This conversation will setup next week's examination of demonology from a New Testament perspective.

A significant factor in our decision to be ALL IN is our connection to the local church. When we disconnect from the local body, we will soon find ourselves disconnecting from Jesus. We were meant to live in a relationship with Jesus that is strengthened and empowered by our relationship with His bride…the local church!