Dear CIC Readers,

Sunday, March 11, I was able to preach a sermon from Ephesians 1:1-3 with little health hindrance. For that I thank God who used the prayers of His people to restore me to the work of the ministry. I thank God for the many emails and cards of encouragement that came from CIC readers.

I am very excited about preaching through Ephesians using some great help from current scholarship concerning the religious environment of Ephesus in particular and Asia Minor in a broader sense. The concerns of those who came to Christ through Paul’s preaching had to do with demonic powers and bad fate caused by spiritual powers in the heavenlies. The church was tempted to find shamans who were adept at interacting with the spirits and breaking curses. Many CIC readers email with similar concerns.

In past CIC issues we have dealt with these concerns. For example, in Issue 123 we refute the claims of Neil Anderson that we should consult our own past in order to find causes for undesirable symptoms. Anderson prescribes various prayers and renunciations to help change things for us. My claim is that blessing and cursing are relational, not symptomatic. We need not process the past; we need to believe the promises of God. The Bible expressly teaches that those who are in Christ by faith are blessed.

In another article, we cite Greg Boyd who forthrightly promotes shamanism because he prefers neo-paganism, which he dubs the “warfare worldview” to the “providential blueprint worldview.” I wrote about Boyd’s version of shamanism in CIC issue 109. What is important to know is that Paul’s teaching in Ephesians 1:3-14 were sent to believers in Ephesus who feared potential bad fate from cosmic, spiritual beings who wanted to harm them. That believers need not fear these hostile, spiritual powers was the point of this magnificent passage. Some, like Boyd, prefer an “open” future where we battle these powers using knowledge and techniques that are not revealed in the bible.

I recently received an email from Todd Bentley (previously of the famous Pentecostal/Charismatic Lakeville, Florida revival that claimed many miracles, including people raised from the dead) where he offers an private Facebook group course where people will learn “Working with Angels, Levels of Revelation, Heavenly Experiences, Visions, Third Heaven Experiences, and much more.” So we have Dr. Greg Boyd promoting shamanism for intellectual reasons and Todd Bentley promoting mystical shamanism for experiential reasons. It is ironic in a very sobering way that our current spiritual situation is very much like that in Asia Minor when Paul wrote to Colossae and Ephesus.

When preaching through Ephesians, I will deal with text in light of Paul’s concerns rather than in light of various systematic theologies that arose much later in church history. Paul wanted the saints to know that they are safe. He also wanted them to, by God’s grace, live in such a way that shows they are no longer pagan profligates or Jewish keepers of law-works. By faith each is a new man in Christ and their lives would show it if they believed God’s promises and lived by God’s powerful grace. We need to do the same and show that we believe God’s promises and serve him through by grace through faith (the same way we were saved).

These sermons will be available at ggf.church right after they are preached. I plan to continue to write and publish new CIC articles and radio shows, as well.

Thank you for your love, prayers and expressions of encouragement. They touched me deeply when I was so sick. And still do, now that I am so much better.

In Christ,
Bob DeWaay