Spiritual Battle After Sexual Sin

In a CT article adapted from a message he gave at Passion '07, John Piper gives gospel-grounded instruction in withstanding Satan's onslaughts after sexual sin:

The problem is not just how not to fail. The problem is how to deal with failure so that it doesn't sweep away your whole life into wasted mediocrity with no impact for Christ.

The great tragedy is not masturbation or fornication or pornography. The tragedy is that Satan uses guilt from these failures to strip you of every radical dream you ever had or might have. In their place, he gives you a happy, safe, secure, American life of superficial pleasures, until you die in your lakeside rocking chair.

I have a passion that you do not waste your life. My aim is not mainly to cure you of sexual misconduct. I would like that to happen. But mostly I want to take out of the Devil's hand the weapon that exploits your sin and makes your life a wasted, worldly success. Satan wants that for you. But you don't!

What broke George Verwer's heart back in the 1980s, and breaks mine today, is not that you have sinned sexually. It's that this morning Satan took your 2 A.M. encounter—whether on TV or in bed—and told you: "See, you're a loser. You may as well not even worship. No way are you going to make any serious commitment of your life to Jesus Christ! You may as well get a good job so you can buy yourself a big widescreen and watch sex till you drop."

Read the whole thing.

Classic Works on Spiritual Growth

The folks at Reformation Theology and Monergism Books have compiled a top ten list of books on piety, sanctification, and spiritual growth but don't expect to find any of these on the best-seller shelves of your local Christian bookstore. Come to think of it, they're probably not on any of the shelves! I wonder which contemporary Christian books will be counted as classics by future generations.

Demons Coming to a Theater Near You

Christianity Today reports:

Ralph Winter—producer of the X-Men and Fantastic Four films—is a well-known Christian in Hollywood, and Walden Media has scored one of the biggest box office hits in recent years with their adaptation of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, by beloved Christian author C. S. Lewis.
Now these two forces are joining for another Lewis adaptation—this time, his cherished spiritual warfare novel, The Screwtape Letters. Variety reports that Winter will produce the adaptation in association with Walden Media.

The adaptation—described as a "midbudget," mostly live-action film—is slated for release some time in 2008. The novel, first published in 1942, is written as a series of letters between two demons, the elder Screwtape and his young nephew, Wormwood, with the seasoned demon offering his young protégé advice on undermining Christian faith and spreading wickedness.

Lewis' stepson, Douglas Gresham—who supervised the production of Wardrobe—will be producing alongside Winter.

I first read about this at Gene Veith's blog and, like him, wonder how well the book can be adapted to film. Based on what Walden did with The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, I have no doubt that there will be some spectacular visual effects. But the Narnia tale is a narrative whereas The Screwtape Letters is considerably different.

In order for it to work, I think the film will have to have a lot of narration - perhaps Screwtape giving dictation while images depict young Wormwood carrying out his uncle's instructions. Part of the intrigue of the novel is that what Lewis describes is all going on in the unseen realm as we carry on our daily routines. How can a movie capture this and still hold an audience's attention? Will this be an instance of the medium obscuring the message? I hope not.

A Screwtape Letter for the Media Age

Erik Lokkesmoe imagines what kind of advice C. S. Lewis's Screwtape would give his neophyte nephew today:

Good news! The latest commendations have arrived from the Council of the Pit. You impress the lower-downs, my zealous Wormwood. They have heard of your schemes on the Noise Proliferation Committee (NPC). Indeed, places of solitude and moments of silence grow ever more scarce in the Enemy's vast and vulgar dominion. Oh, what euphoria to see his insufferable creatures rush to fill the dead air with a cacophony of cell phones and muzac, leaf blowers and manipulated car exhaust pipes, 24-hour news and I-Pods. Those nauseating humans cannot escape their self-made dungeon of din!

My pride bubbles like brimstone, Wormwood.

It is down-wrong delicious that you are able to entice your assignments into believing that quiet and solitude are a waste of time, even harmful to their pursuits. We must be the demon in the whirlwind, invading their private space, cluttering their innermost being with commotion.....

I trust you understand what is at stake. If allowed to contemplate the empty pursuits and hollow activity that often fill their days, there is no telling what horrific changes they may make in their lives. As long as the volume is high and the lights are flashing, there is little danger of this. But when allowed to face things as they really are, stripped of the comfort provided by our dizzying distractions, our subjects often choose against our ways.

Read the whole thing.

Reclaiming Spiritual Warfare

Phil Johnson's excellent, myth-busting series of posts about spiritual warfare (which began here and wraps up here -but be sure to read the intervening posts) reminded me of what I think is one of the best contemporary books on the subject - David Powlison's Power Encounters: Reclaiming Spiritual Warfare (Baker, 1995). In it, he critiques what he calls ekballistic modes of ministry, offering the following explanation:

I will describe the demon-deliverance movement using an invented term that might seem awkward at first glance. But it will carry the freight and highlight the distinctives that most need serious debate within the body of Christ. I will use the term "ekballistic mode of ministry," with the acronym EMM for short. Ekballistic comes from the Greek word ekballo, which means to "cast out." From ek--out--we get "exit." And from ballo--to throw or cast--we get "ballistic."

In the gospels when someone suffered an unclean spirit, Jesus showed mercy by casting it out. The practice of casting or driving out spirits captures the most distinctive feature of contemporary deliverance ministries, or EMM. Proponents say that Christians and non-Christians often require an "ekballistic encounter" to cast out inhabiting demons that enslave us in sexual lust, anger, low self-esteem, substance abuse, fascination with the occult, unbelief, and other ungodly patterns.

Powlison later makes an important distinction between moral and situational evil, noting that demonization is consistently portrayed in the gospels as belonging to the latter category:

"All those who had afflictions [the sick and demonized] pressed about Jesus" (Mark 3:10, NASB). Demonization is in fact recognized and identified by its expression through miserable conditions, such as blindness, deafness, paralysis, dementia, and seizures. Sins, such as unbelief, fear, anger, lust, and other addictions, point to Satan's moral lordship, but never to demonization calling for EMM. People are victims of demonic sufferings, just as they are victims of lameness, blindness, or purely physiological seizures.

As Powlison notes, demons were consistently cast out in order to alleviate suffering, not to morally improve people "except as the miracle prompt[ed] grateful faith in Jesus." Powlison also notes the different stance Jesus took toward those who were demonized and those practicing sin. Those in the former category he healed. Those in the latter, he called to repentance.

Unfortunately, Power Encounters is no longer in print. Why? My guess is that it was too biblical and not sensationalist enough for the Christian market. Unlike many popular treatments, Powlison puts the activity of Satan and his minions in its proper context--a universe governed by an absolutely sovereign God. That alone is enough to cut sales. Now, had he thrown in a few "warfare prayers" and a guide for how to put on the armor of God each morning, I'm sure the book would be sitting on the shelf of your local Christian bookstore. Anyway, if there's any way you can acquire this volume, I urge you to do so. This is a potent antidote to all the superstition and sensationalism surrounding this important topic. Apparently, I'm not the only one who thinks the book is valuable.