An untitled post.

If you think this post is a load of crap, then you're probably not the intended audience. Sorry about that. Try not to clutter up the comment box.

Today I was baptised with two girls at our church, Chloe and Rosie. You would be amazed at how much went through my mind was absolute rubbish, e.g. fearing that the water was cold (it felt almost too hot, actually). Apparently, Chloe actually had a dream where absolutely nobody turned up to the baptism and she was the only one there. Knowing how everyone really is (enough people knew that we were coming that someone would have said something if either of us were running late), this is a very blatant lie, primarily to instill fear.

I seem to have thought that I might not have been good enough, but with the absolute hammering I've been receiving today, I feel like there's something out there which views me as a threat to be silenced. I can recall 3 or 4 times I have tried to pray and been interrupted. The first time was this morning, and people were making an awful lot of noise, so I shut my door and prayed with earmuffs on... then both my grandparents came in and said something. Maybe the timing wasn't brilliant, but the last time I was interrupted, no-one was here, so I started praying...

...and then the truck pulls into the driveway. And then my parents call out my name, telling me it's tea time. I took that time to quickly pray for some time where I could actually pray properly. That time was spent in the shower, and I tell you what, there were no interruptions at all. Hallelujah!

I'm posting this here because we are in the middle of a very real spiritual battle. Something doesn't want us to succeed and is pulling out the stops (I was chatting to an exchange student last night about what this means, actually - here's a brilliant example) to screw us over. I say "us" because it would be a fair assumption that all three of us are being attacked, and there's suggestive evidence there.

Those of you who are thinking that there's nothing really going on would have to explain why I got a public comment on YouTube saying "Idiot, plain and simple." this very day (I deleted it and replied in private as the other user had comments turned off - I at least tried to be civil).

I also forgot to bring the sheets of paper with my testimony on it; thankfully, someone was able to run me home and back to pick it up.

So, I'd like to make a prayer request. If you're willing to pray for us three, then please do (I'm Ben, the other two are Chloe and Rosie). Even if you feel incompetent, you can still approach the Lord with a humble heart and the admission that you don't really know what to pray for. If you're one of us who got baptised, feel free to include yourself in the prayer - I did when I prayed for you, as I've been suffering myself.

Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication - something you might want to keep in mind.

And finally, some things to assist you from my little notebook... "The Devil wins when you let chaos take over." If you're in a confusing mess and can't think, you'll need to step back a bit and find some direction. I usually pray a rather desperate request for sanity at these times, and then pray a longer prayer to loose the demons and bind them back to Hell. There's another thing which is in The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis, where Hell is referred to as the Kingdom of Noise (explicitly referenced in XXXI/31, explained in XXII/22):

Music and silence—how I detest them both! How thankful we should be that ever since our Father entered Hell—though longer ago than humans, reckoning in light years, could express—no square inch of infernal space and no moment of infernal time has been surrendered to either of those abominable forces, but all has been occupied by Noise—Noise, the grand dynamism, the audible expression of all that is exultant, ruthless, and virile—Noise which alone defends us from silly qualms, despairing scruples, and impossible desires. We will make the whole universe a noise in the end. We have already made great strides in this direction as regards the Earth. The melodies and silences of Heaven will be shouted down in the end. But I admit we are not yet loud enough, or anything like it. Research is in progress. Meanwhile you, disgusting little——

[Here the MS. breaks off and is resumed in a different hand.]

This book is fiction, of course, but it was written to portray truth about the tactics of the armies of Hell so we would be aware of them.

Actually, someone blogged about this in more depth.

In fact, I managed to obtain a second-hand copy for $5, so if you would like to have a look at it, then feel free to ask.

God bless.

- Ben