Is The Devil In Your Church?

For some reason many church leaders and church members have incorrectly assumed that just because the church belongs to God the devil will leave it alone.  They are wrong.  In fact, this makes the church even more likely to be attacked because the devil is opposed to all things that are Holy, right, pleasing, and praiseworthy.  He wants to destroy your church I promise.  Others know he is there, they see him working but they refuse to confront the issue or admit that there is a problem, once again incorrectly assuming that the devil will just get tired and leave.   The fact of the matter is, the devil is either in your church or trying to get in. Scripture declares that he was present and at work in no fewer than 7 New Testament churches. Paul also indicated that there was a good possibility that he was at work in an eighth church as well.    

1)   Jerusalem Acts 5:1–10

2)   Corinth 2 Cor. 2:1–11

3)   Ephesus 1 Tim. 3:6–7

4)   Smyrna Rev. 2:9–10

5)   Pergamum  Rev. 2:13

6)   Thyatira Rev. 2:24

7)   Philadelphia Rev. 3:9
8)  Thessalonica- 1 Thess 3:5- He knew that “the tempter” (i.e., Satan; cf. Mt 4:3) had been at work among them and that God permits the enemy this activity. What Paul did not know about the Thessalonians, however, was whether or not the tempter’s solicitations had been successful, making his work and that of his colleagues “useless.”1

   If he attacked and attempted to destroy these churches why would he not attack yours?  The fact of the matter is, the devil is at work and he will destroy not only individual believers, but the churches that seek to honor God as well.  Be on your guard, help protect your church, because the enemy is on the prowl.



1. Kenneth L. Barker and John R. Kohlenberger, eds. Zondervan NIV Bible Commentary. Accordance electronic ed. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994), n.p.

CFY Kenya Mission Trip 2010

This year's mission trip to Kenya was by far one of the most challenging, and yet one of the most rewarding trips I have ever been a part of. Our team this year consisted of 8 youth – Jay Hill, Jordan Solomon, Derek Lucas, Taylor Shearrer, Josh Neumann, Shelbee Ripple, Sarah Price, and Katie Elmer- and 4 Adults – Tanner Butkay, Mike and Barbara Dickmann, and Scott Shearrer. This year’s trip was a little different then the previous years in that all of our witnessing was through our service. For the entire trip all we did was work, and when I say work, I mean WORK!!! The Kenyans bring a new meaning to the word work, because I would feel confident in speaking for the whole team in saying this was the hardest work any of us have ever done. We mixed concrete by hand, hauled dirt and rock to mix with the concrete, hauled trees for support beams, and spent a couple days cutting and bending rebar to create the support beams for the roof.

The building that we were working on is going to be the new school building for the students going into 4^th grade all the way up to 7^th grade. This is so rewarding to be a part of, because in helping get this building completed, we are a part of helping insure that these students are not only getting an education, but making sure that the students are also hearing the gospel on a daily basis. I believe that this is also a big part of why this trip was so trying. The devil knew what our mission was and was definitely at work trying to destroy it as well, by attacking our team. But our goal was not to please ourselves, or make the Kenyans happy, it was to serve God by doing whatever it was that he called us to, and by turning to him in our times of trial, we were able to overcome, through his strength and guidance, during our weakest times. One of the most encouraging things I was able to experience was that after talking with some of the workers over there, they informed us that we were the only team to ever come in for a major construction project and actually stick with it for the entire time. Usually, because the work is so hard, people can’t handle it so they end up doing something else. This was encouraging because after doing the work, and knowing that it was all through God’s strength that we were able to persevere, we were able to complete the task and finish what it was that God set before us to do, and lives will be changed as a result. Thanks again for all of your support, financial and prayer, for us for this trip. Check out the pictures below of our trip.

Tanner Butkay

Leaving Mungiki

Having worked in Kenya with Cowboy Fellowship and Operation H2O for the past six years I am very familiar with the Mungiki.  Most Americans have never heard of them but they are an extremely radical and violent group that at one time threatened to overthrow the Kenyan government and they may have had the means and ability to actually do so.  Several years ago the paper in Kenya reported on multiple beheadings each day in the countries capital of Nairobi.  The story below just goes to show how powerful our God is.  We can look at this man's conversion with understandable skepticism but I truly believe our God is mighty to save even people like this.      

Leaving Mungiki

Two decades ago, Maina Njenga created a quasi-religious sect known as Mungiki, whose young men snuffed tobacco, prayed to Mount Kenya, and took oaths of loyalty. The gang became synonymous with grisly machete killings, extortion, and organized crime.

In early December, Njenga seemed to take a step in the other direction, renouncing the group he led for 20 years and being baptized into one of East Africa's largest churches. An estimated 500 Mungiki sect members followed suit in baptism as Njenga had promised.

"Let those who were doubting know we are now moving on while they have been left behind," he said.

The leader of a sort of Kenyan mafia claimed he converted to Christianity during a 29-month detainment on murder charges dropped due to lack of evidence.

Local evangelical leaders were skeptical: past Mungiki leaders have made the same claim but stayed involved in gang activities. Most took a wait-and-see approach, praying that Njenga's baptism at Jesus Is Alive Ministries would be the beginning of a movement of God among the millions of Mungiki, all young men from Kenya's largest ethnic group, the Kikuyu.

"I am not scared to welcome Mungiki into my church," said Daniel Thiuri, moderator of the Baptist Convention of Kenya, which includes more than 4,000 congregations. "I was a sinner. God doesn't rank sin. He forgives all of us. Everyone has the right to come to Christ."

Catholic Bishop Martin Kivuva, head of the Diocese of Machakos in Nairobi, said only time will tell if Njenga and his followers have truly reformed or if they are using churches to become more acceptable to the public.

"It is only by their fruits that we shall know whether they are genuine," said Kivuva. "I will definitely not say, 'Hallelujah, they have all changed.'"

Working in a place haunted daily by Mungiki bogus taxes and beatings, Baptist pastor Charles Mwangi said he's seeing evidence of change. In the past, Mungiki gangsters would show up to his Bible study groups in the Dagoretti marketplace to steal and wreak havoc. Now, Mwangi said, more than 60 Mungiki come to learn Bible stories next to women they had previously extorted.

"Is Njenga's conversion real? Only he can answer that question," Mwangi said. "What I can tell you is that I'm seeing hardened gangsters changing their lives for Christ. Something like this is never a small thing to God."

This article can be found at http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2010/february/18.15.html

Hadley Pawelek Is Here...

In case you have not heard, our baby girl arrived at 9:27 pm on Tuesday, July 27th 2010.  She weighed in at 6 pounds 1 ounce and was 19 1/2 inches long.  Mom and Hadley are both doing great. We are all just tired.  Peter Isaac is adjusting well in his new role as BIG brother.  She will not be at church this weekend of course but I will be sure to bring some pictures for all to see.  Some are posted on my Face book, and I should have more up there sometime tomorrow as well.    Abby and I both would like to thank everyone for their prayers and support.  We are so blessed to have a church family like you guys at Cowboy Fellowship!

Pastor Pete

Police Demolish House Church in Indonesia

http://www.christianpost.com/article/20100723/police-demolish-house-church-in-indonesia/index.html

JAKARTA, Indonesia (Compass Direct News) – Public order personnel on Monday supported Bogor police officers who demolished a house where a church regularly met in a village in Bogor Regency, West Java.
Clashes broke out with church members and others as police tore down the Narogong Pentecostal Church building in Limusnunggal village, Cileungsi sub-district, and officers arrested 10 people. The structure was located on the Narogong Highway in Bogor Regency, south of Jakarta.
Those arrested were questioned and released, according to Police Commissioner Zulkarnain Harahap. Some officers and a civilian were reportedly injured.
Dozens of people tried to stop Bogor police from demolishing the building, as rumors of the impending destruction had spread far beyond the area. Church members had been guarding the building since the early morning the day it was to be demolished, but a senior police official told The Jakarta Post that he suspected many of the demonstrators were from outside the area.
Eddy Hidayat, head of Bogor police operations, said officials were forced to destroy the building because it lacked a use permit.
“The permit was for a home, but it was used as a place of worship,” Hidayat told Compass.
The building coordinator for the Pentecostal church, Hotlan P. Silaen, said police were not neutral in the dispute but succumbed to the pressure of the Muslim group.
“The clash with citizens could have been avoided if the police had been neutral and not been goaded into a situation that caused bodily harm,” Silaen said.
Area residents, including non-Christians, had accepted the presence of the church, said local Block Captain Junaedi Syamsudin. He said local people had no objections to the church and there had never been any problems with its presence.
“It was named a house of worship, and there was no problem,” he told Compass, adding that conflicts may have arisen because the church was located in a house rather than in a traditional church building.
The church met without incident until the emergence in 2008 of an opposition group calling itself the Forum of the Muslim Brotherhood of Limusnanggal, Syamsudin said. This group worked persistently to have the church eliminated, and three months ago its members went to Cileungsi offices to object to its presence.
The Islamic group “met with regency officials and had an audience with the regent,” Syamsudin said. “In the last meeting with the regent, he promised that his orders would be carried out on July 19.”
Deputy Senior Police Commissioner Tomex Kurniawan maintained that the police presence had been positive and kept the conflict from spreading.
“Hundreds of people were blocking the way and prepared to fight when the house of worship was demolished,” he said, asserting that officers were able to calm emotions and forestall further violence. “We worked to keep the hundreds from being drawn in to fighting against officials.”
Kurniawan said two of his men were injured while trying to maintain peace.
The Rev. Rekson Sitorus said the more than 200 people who attend the church, which has existed since 2006, have lost their place of worship. The nearest venue for worship is far away for the congregation, many of whom work in the Bantar Gebang garbage dump, he said.
The church is in the process of applying for a permit for a church building, he said.
Sitorus said the church will take legal action against those responsible for demolishing the house, including the Bogor administration.

Do it all... Genesis 6:22

 Genesis 6:22 NIV   Noah did everything just as God commanded him.

From the Life Application Study Bible:
 Noah got right to work when God told him to build the huge boat. Other people must have been warned about the coming disaster (1 Peter 3:20), but apparently they did not expect it to happen. Today things haven’t changed much. Each day thousands of people are warned of God’s inevitable judgment, yet most of them don’t really believe it will happen. Don’t expect people to welcome or accept your message of God’s coming judgment on sin. Those who don’t believe in God will deny his judgment and try to get you to deny God as well. But remember God’s promise to Noah to keep him safe. This can inspire you to trust God for deliverance in the judgment that is sure to come.



Life Application Study Bible, Accordance electronic ed. (Carol Stream: Tyndale House Publishers, 2004), n.p.

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Brokeness Nehemiah 1:4

 “When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.” Nehemiah 1:4 (NIV)

This text calls attention to several questions every true believer must dare to answer.  First, what breaks your heart?  Nehemiah was not just moved when he heard about the plight of his country and countrymen, he was broken.  His heart was not just touched, it ached with pain.  His spirit was not just stimulated, it was shattered.  He sat down and wept bitterly over the things he had just heard.  The Hebrew text implies that this horrific news caused him to abruptly become torn and broken before God.  Have you experienced this same brokenness as you passed a homeless man on the street or witnessed a single mother struggle to feed her children?  Has your heart been shattered at the news of children who drink contaminated water, die of hunger, or remain uneducated in third world countries?  What have you seen or heard that caused abrupt and sudden brokenness in your life?
             The second question is what will you do about that which breaks your heart?  Nehemiah sat down and wept, he prayed and fasted continually for some time, through his shattered heart.  He was immediately moved to become spiritually involved.  His spiritual involvement then lead him to approach the king for permission to become physically involved in the situation.  Brokenness is worthless if we refuse to act.  Your shattered heart is God’s prompting for action.  Certain cases will demand only spiritual action such as praying and fasting for that which breaks your heart.  However, at times God will demand that you act physically as well.  This may entail going, giving, recruiting, fund raising, leading, serving, or even moving among other things.  There is no greater tragedy in all the world then a broken heart that is wasted when one refuses to respond with the action that God desires.