Late to the Strongholds Par-Tay?

Gents:

I have had around 10 men inquire about joining the Strongholds class (which begins the evening of April 22nd, a Wednesday, at 7pm in Crossroads' Kids' area, room 154, for 13 weeks, ending July 15) who didn't make the December meetings.

As it is, I have no plans on repeating this class, so I want as many guys as want to be involved to get in on it.  I didn't do the December classes to raise the bar for entry; what I intended to do with those meetings was to make sure we were all on the same page before getting into the nitty gritty of specific spirits' tactics and how to deal with them.  We have to be on the same page with foundational issues like:

- Are demons real?  Did they just go away?  Isn't it just kooky folks who believe in goblins?

- If the kind of demons that Jesus dealt with (and taught his followers to deal with) are still out there, how are they arranged?  Where do they get their assignments from?  What's their goal?  How do they operate?

- Do these demons attack people at their core?  If I'm a believer, can one still come after me?  

- What business do I have talking to a demon?  Who's more powerful, me or him?

- I've heard people blame illness on 'spiritual oppression' or some other kind of spiritual mumbo-jumbo.  Is that kind of talk legit?

WE WILL NOT BE ANSWERING EVEN ONE OF THESE QUESTIONS IN THE CLASS.  THAT's why we did the December classes.  The classes starting in April will assume we're all in agreement to the answers of the above questions.  

So what I'm REQUIRING of guys who didn't make it to the December classes is that you listen to two lectures and get notes to study.  You can find it all here.  This isn't just so that you agree with me; it's so that everyone in your small group will be on the same page.  It will NOT be okay for the small groups to get bogged down, for instance, in minutiae about how Jesus cast out demons, when we're trying to deal with your personal history of addiction.  The small group times are crafted to do very specific things (namely, be a place for you to confess and be ministered to), and canNOT be a discussion board.  If I sound a lit-tle protective, it's because I am.  A lot protective, actually.  

Again, I'm asking any guys who want to join in to listen to the MP3s, STUDY the notes (not just a cursory glance), and THEN get back to me.  AFTER you've done those things, email me and tell me you want to be in the study, and I'll happily add you to the roles and make sure you have a small group.

Hope this makes sense to everybody.  Email me with problems.

Here's the schedule

April 22- Week 1- Bitterness, envy, jealousy lecture
April 29- Week 2- Bitterness processing w/small groups

May 6- Week 3- Accusation lecture
May 13- Week 4- Accusation discussion w/groups
May 20- Week 5- Occult lecture
May 27- Week 6- Occult discussion in groups
June 3- Week 7- Rejection lecture
June 10- Week 8- Rejection discussion in groups
June 17- Week 9- Unloving, Addictions lecture
June 24- Week 10- Unloving discussion in groups
July 1- Week 11- Fear lecture

July 8- Week 12- Fear discussion in groups
July 15- Week 13- Walking Out lecture

Here are the guys

As stated previously, if you're not on this list, then you're not in the class--at least in my mind.  So this is the list for checking: 

1) Am I here?

2) Which of these guys might I like in my small group?

Aaron Morgan   Adam Elrod   Andrew Peters   Andy Rittichier   Bill Patterson   Brett Cassidy Brett Little   Bryan Kaiser   Carroll Roberts   Chris Browning   Chris Heiert   Colin Manly   Darin Yates    Dave Richey    Dave Shay    Dave Stansbury    David Githuku    David Russell David Schuster    David Valentine    Don Hunter    Geoff Ranson    Greg McElfresh    Gregg Wells    Jason Eads    Jason Singh    Jay Schneider    Jeff Holland    Jeff Schlaudecker    Keith Harper    Kyle Ranson    Lucas Cole    Mark Botto    Mark Matson    Matt Bonne    Matt Wilhelm Michael Beausejour    Michael Kuremsky    Michael Lake    Nathaniel Wildstone    Paul Argenta Paul Caron    Paul Owens    Peter Zimmer    Ray Stolarski    Rob Rendle    Rob Seddon    Ross McLain    Sam Hills    Sasha Grieco    Seth Sanborn    Seth Williams    Steve French    Steve Rose Steven Hromadka    Tait Paul    Tal Richards    Tim Kaiser    Tim Senff    Tom Hagerty    Will Skillman

Miraculous Deliverance Through Blood Healing!

Three Friday nights ago I was with our Bible Study.  One of the group members got a text about the 13-year-old son of a friend.   He had a strange rash and fever, and was rushed to Children's Hospital.  Our group members sent texts out to folks to pray right then.  I felt prompted to go be bedside with him.  At 2:45am I was allowed to go back as the boy’s minister.  I prayed over the boy and was prompted specifically to pray over his blood.  So I did.  His fever broke right then… the first time in days that it was normal.  The family (aunts, uncles, friends, grandparents) and I prayed together.  A peace fell on us all.  An intimate circle of strangers for me.   But a brotherhood in Christ for everyone around.

 

The hospital brought in an infectious disease person to evaluate the situation the next day.  The news was that the boy had contracted a very rare Mena Caucus that has been known to kill in a matter of hours.  Three days later the boy was at home receiving treatment.  The next Sunday, I was at church services when a woman came up to me and gave me the biggest and warmest hug ever.  It was the boy's mother!  She said that she'd made a promise to God that if her son came home alive she would find a church, and now she was doing just that.  God Be Praised!! He has risen and risen the dead in me.

-Dave Shay