ConvergeUSA Blog

Spiritual Warfare: Relational Viruses by Gary Rohrmayer

Over the next couple of months we are setting out to answer the following question: How does God’s enemy come after His people and His leaders for the sole purpose of distracting, disrupting and derailing them from being involved in God's great mission?

As we survey Pauline literature we will discover fourteen tactical strategies that the enemy will use to come after God's people along with specific antidotes in addressing that problem.  See the introduction to this series to receive an overview of this subject.

1.  Relational Viruses or Relational Strife

"Suspicion is like a cankerworm that slowly eats away at relationships."

Text: Romans 16:17-20 – “I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people. Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I am full of joy over you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.”  (NIV)

Problem: "Satan upsets Christians’ inner life attitudes, taking away peace due to divisions in the church." J.Robert Clinton

Antidote: "Strive for unity and maintain inward peace, as God works through your relationships. Learn to speak the truth in love.  Look behind the divisions.  Surround yourself with people of spiritual wisdom and discernment."  J.Robert Clinton

Reflective Questions:

• Who in your church are you having negative thoughts about? Members? Leaders? Staff?
• Are these negative thoughts based in reality, rumor, personal bias, or cultural prejudice?
• Are these negative thoughts being generated out of some sense of insecurity on your part?
• What are specific action steps that you can take to change these negative thoughts and feelings into peaceful thoughts and feelings?

Prayer: Heavenly Father, grant me the inner strength and mental toughness to fight for the unity of the church, relational harmony and the progress of the gospel.  Help me to live securely in Christ who is greater than my insecurities.  May I continue to walk in the spiritual blessings that Jesus Christ has achieved for me through His death, resurrection and defeat of the evil one. Grant me the ability to admit when I am wrong, speak the truth with love and promote peace even when it involves personal sacrifice.  Grant me the courage to take positive steps towards protecting my relationships with my spouse, my children, my partners in the gospel and within the church.  Father of Peace we rejoice in your victory over the father of lies.  Amen.

Next: Sexual Immorality & Addictions

To view the entire series of posts on Spiritual Warfare

My Life with Jesus

Paul Urban, pastor of The Journey Community Church, Muskegon, MI has a great blog...check out the following one:

Hi, my name is Paul, and I'm selfish...

That's the truth.  I think there's probably some of that in each of us.  We want what we want.  We get frustrated when things don't go our way.  We get irritated when we have to change our schedule or our plans for someone else.  We even hear people say "I've got to look after myself, because if I don't, no one else will."

Yet, flying in the face of this innate selfishness is my life with Jesus.  My life connected to Him calls me to be unselfish, to put others first, to look for ways to serve, and even give my money away.  That's not easy.  There are lots of times I don't want to do that, and lots of times that I don't.  Even when I do, I have moments of frustration "how come no one else served, or put that person first, or gave their money away.  That can also lead to pride.

That selfish part of me will always be with me, like some unwanted mark on my body, I presume.  But, the more that I walk with Jesus, the less dominant it's becoming.  Don't be fooled, it's still pretty prevalent.  But, not as much as it used to be.  And, isn't that the point of this journey with God.  It's a journey, it's a process, and we're simply taking steps in the right direction.

What in your life is getting better than it used to be, the longer you walk in relationship with Jesus?

Yet, flying in the face of this innate selfishness is my life with Jesus.  My life connected to Him calls me to be unselfish, to put others first, to look for ways to serve, and even give my money away.  That's not easy.  There are lots of times I don't want to do that, and lots of times that I don't.  Even when I do, I have moments of frustration "how come no one else served, or put that person first, or gave their money away.  That can also lead to pride.

That selfish part of me will always be with me, like some unwanted mark on my body, I presume.  But, the more that I walk with Jesus, the less dominant it's becoming.  Don't be fooled, it's still pretty prevalent.  But, not as much as it used to be.  And, isn't that the point of this journey with God.  It's a journey, it's a process, and we're simply taking steps in the right direction.

What in your life is getting better than it used to be, the longer you walk in relationship with Jesus?

What If? - Ignite 2010 - March 24-26 in Phoenix, AZ

ConvergeUSA is a network of organizations and churches that has seen over 500 churches planted in the last 20 years, thus making us one of the few fellowship of churches that has a positive growth rate.

• What if every church that was planted in the last 20 years gathered in one spot?
• What if every church that planted a church in the last 20 years were in the same room?
• What if all these leaders joined for worship, prayer and fasting?
• What if all these leaders gathered together to hear God's voice?
• What if all these leaders declared a dream...a multiplication dream?

It would be explosive! It would be historical!  It would be life changing!   So this is a call to every leader within Converge to gather March 24-26, 2010 in Phoenix, AZ for Ignite 2010 as we kick off our new five year multiplication campaign: Ignite a Church: Transform the World.

• Are you a pastor with a multi-site dream? This is for you!
• Are you a planter looking to launch a new church? This is for you!
• Are you a pastor looking to start your first daughter church? This is for you!
• Are you a leader looking to build a church planting network? This is for you!
• Are you a pastor seeking to become a Church Multiplication Center? This is for you!

Register Here

Scholarships are available through your regional leaders

Free Church Planting Webinar by Gary Rohrmayer

Mark Your Calendars!

Tuesday, January 12, 2010 at 2 pm Central (3 pm Eastern/12 pm Pacific)

Over 400 people have signed up for these free Church Planting webinars and the response has been encouraging.

Join us for Part 5 of the FirstSteps webinar series with Gary Rohrmayer as he provides a deeper look at another critical step of planting a missional church: Designing Your Worship Service and Initial Ministries. We will be providing insights on:

• Eight Basic Elements of a Public Worship Service
• "Response Filter" Principle
• First Impressions
• Childrens Ministry Insights

Register Here

Learn More About the FirstSteps Network

FirstSteps for Planting a Missional Church