Satan’s Snares

There is a wonder in God's word that goes far when combined with music. I'm personally thankful for songwriters who were motivated out of their love for God and His word, which helped to provide the Church with singing. Harvey Cox, professor of theology at Harvard stated in his book, Fire From Heaven that Pentecostals have always been at home singing their theology rather than writing about it. How true. Yesterday a phrase came to mind as I was thinking about church life, the challenge of reaching out to a pluralistic and post-modern culture, and the literal aging of the church. It would seem upon reflection that all churches in Western culture are in the fight of their life to stay alive. The church- going population has decreased, new generations of believers are rather ambivalent about faithful local church attendance (though in an odd way nevertheless committed to Christ), and the siren song of secular media threatens to drown out the voice of God. Except of course, we have the BEST NEWS IN THE WORLD! What's the phrase? It comes from a salvation history song entitled "O I Want to See Him"…here goes. "Satan's snares may vex my soul, turn my thoughts aside, but my Lord goes ahead, leads what ee'r be tide". Hallelujah and amen. As bleak as things look with the natural eye, God's church is marching on. In 2 Corinthians 2, the apostle Paul challenges the Corinthians to exceed expectations in terms of forgiveness. He concludes with 2 Corinthians 2:11 where he acknowledges being aware of the realities of Spiritual warfare. There is a Devil. Yet, the Church is the Bride of Christ, His glorious treasure and the apple of His eye. He has promised to build it, empower it and use it for His glory. I'm convinced that we are living in a time that has the potential to be the Church's finest hour. All we need to do is take our eyes off the negative voice of the world, face up to the enemy, and put our trust in the One who can be trusted. O! I want to See Him!