SBC Convention - 08- Pictures

Spiritual Attack after SBC Convention--part 2

Spritual attack after SBC Convention—part 2

It’s been over 10 years since I’ve faced the kind of direct attack mentioned in the previous post. I’ve wondered over those years what changed that I no longer received them. From 1991-1996 they only came while on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin; nowhere else. Was it just a matter of location? Was I on the front lines in Austin, but not in Ft. Worth at seminary or in the other ministries my wife and I were involved in?

Had I removed myself from the front lines? Was I not having significant impact for the Kingdom of God? Did Satan not think of me as a factor anymore thus leaving me alone? Was I falling for Satan’s deceptions and discouragements? I wondered those over the years.

I still don’t have good answers for those questions. I’m also wondering, what has changed to bring it back now? Why would this happen after so long? Is this going to be an isolated incident or will it be a recurring event?

Another set of questions: what does Satan hope to accomplish in this attack? Intimidation? Fear?

How would you answer those previous questions? Do you have any insights into what may have changed to bring it about just after the SBC convention?


Pursuing Him,

Kelly

Oh, and just so you know... nothing has happened since.

Spiritual Attack after SBC Convention

The 2008 SBC convention in Indianapolis was a retreat for my wife and I. Two church members came with us and they enjoyed themselves greatly. We loved seeing good friends, talking to people, hearing great music and messages. It is typically a recharge for us. There were a few frustrating things that I'll get to in another post. I wanted to share what happened after we got home.

We got back yesterday about 4:30 and things were normal. But something unusual happened during the night. We had stayed up so late every night at the convention that I couldn't sleep. I stayed up to about 1:45 looking at and working on several things--several mental temptations came my way that God provided a way out for, but as I was going to sleep, I was spiritually attacked in a way that I had only heard about from a friend in college at UT-Austin.

I was in that semi-dream state where your still kinda controlling the direction of the dream but this time it was being pushed into a very dark direction which I was literally fighting to come out of. I was lying on my left side. As I was waking up, a presence and weight pushed my face and my right shoulder down into the pillow, trying to smother me. It was heavy, there was some semblance of a voice but it was very faint and I couldn't determine anything. I was startled immediately prayed, "get off of me in Jesus name! Get off of me in Jesus name!" It retreated down my body (I could feel it) and I began continued prayer for protection, for my wife and kids, for my house to be emptied of demonic presence.

I sat up, the hair on my neck and arms was standing up. This was not a dreamy confusion. I was confident in the blood of Christ. I was also confident this was real--I've experienced similar moments before, just not like this. (link to testimony)

In all honesty, I haven't experienced such an obvious & direct spiritual attack since I was in Austin going to college (1991-1996). There, it was while I was awake on campus. Not long before I graduated, a friend I was having lunch with reacted to something I was used to ignoring.

I woke Vicky up so we could pray together for our kids and house as well as those who had gone with us to Indianapolis. That was about 2:40 am after I had tried to go to sleep about 45 minutes earlier.

Like I said, that hasn't happened to me that strong in over 10 years. It makes me sure that that battle here is stronger than ever. I would appreciate your prayer.

Pursuing Answers to Questions of Faith & Life,

Kelly

SBC Convention Update--Tuesday

This is my first post from the Southern Baptist Convention. Let me say that I greatly enjoy coming to the convention with my family. For the first time, we put Gabriel in the children’s activities and he seems to have greatly enjoyed it. He even made the main photo on the front page of today’s Metro section in the San Antonio paper along with his good friend Lisa Arce. I’m still trying to find a copy of that photo to post.

I greatly enjoy meeting new people and catching up with old ones. The Arce family is truly a joy to see again. James Eagan was a brief catch up opportunity. Vicky and I were even able to share a few words with our former pastor Claude Thomas.

Overall, I’ve enjoyed the convention. Though, the food situation is not very good. There are not enough faster food places in close proximity to the convention. The other restaurants have long waits and long service—so we’ve been late to every session after eating.

President Frank Page has moderated a great convention and shared his spirit of how we are to cooperate for the sake of the Kingdom of God. Morris Chapman, the Executive Committee Chair shared a great message about uniting around the Baptist Faith & Message 2000 to fulfill the Gospel Mission while not dividing or excluding over issues that we can disagree on and still be Christians and Baptists.

The spirit of cooperation and unity felt lost by the time the report from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and Paige Patterson came around. The crowd was worked up and jazzed for the report. Paige definitely knows how to work a crowd. Third Tier issues were specifically discussed and used as dividing issues in what came across to me as a very superior tone. It’s one thing to be confident in one’s conviction, it’s another to dismiss the possibility of another interpretation and exclude and dismiss those who are brothers in Christ.

Then came the questions. Even I was tempted to ask one, but upon seeing every mike with at least one and often 2-3 people by it, I didn’t bother. I expected some good and challenging questions that needed to be asked. A total of 4 questions were asked. Only one could be considered a fastball—the other three were softball questions with “home run” written all over them. It’s almost like they were placed to prevent harder questions from coming up. The first question was about homemaking being offered at the seminary as a degree class. I missed whether this was at the college or as a Master's level course. Either way, I find it embarassing for a prestigious seminary and insulting to the nature of ministry our women are capable of. If the class is anything like what I've seen in the Handbook for Minister's Wives, then it will not connect nor be realistic for the vast majority of families in real churches. The first softball did let me know of a good policy that faculty are required at least every 4 years to take a mission trip to a third world country however there was no discussion about the Klouda situation, the declining masters level enrollment, accreditation concerns, or several others. This was highly disappointing and not characteristic of the larger meeting.

Dinner went long and the kids needed some sleep so we missed the evening session. I’ll hopefully find out about what happened regarding some important decisions.

Pursuing Him,

Kelly