Holy Smoke?

The most dangerous prayer you can pray in church is "Come Holy Spirit, come." Because when He shows up He goes right for the throat of carnality. Whenever the Holy Spirit moves there is warfare in the church - Graham Cooke.

     

     This quote raises some eyebrows and gets people thinking. First of all I don't believe there is any part of the Holy Spirit that is violent, but I think what Graham is saying is that He is going to go after carnality right where it takes in oxygen and food. It's not how He is going after it as much as where He is going after it. He's going for the jugular.  He may very well be trying to kill the old self in us.
     In my thinking and conversations this morning the definition of spiritual warfare has taken on many definitions. I had to look at how my definition has changed over the last year. There was a time when I saw Spiritual Warfare as God and Satan facing off with lightning bolts and earthquakes, but now I see it as God calmly focusing on changing and growing and teaching us to love and be more like Him. The warfare comes from the enemy trying to stop the process. 
     This morning as I looked at this subject, read and talked to God about it, He brought to mind a Tavern, I never dared step foot in for many years. To be honest, I can't remember for sure, because of my drinking days, but I don't think I ever went in that tavern. The tavern was or maybe still is called the Holy Smoke Tavern. It was a church at one time. This just doesn't seem right to me. What God did was use this as an example to me this morning.
     The building was made for God and for His glory. But somewhere along the line it fell into the hands of the enemy. As I see it, a drinking establishment is a demonic playground. It's a place where inhibitions are lost, lies are told, marriages are lost, cheating, gambling, and the list goes on and on. People fight about things they don't even really care about. Addictions start, addictions are fed and very rarely die in a bar. It's a place where people go to laugh, forget their problems and find temporary relief from stress. If I had a penny for every time the words, "Just one more" were spoken in just one bar, I think I would smile on my way to the bank. So what would it take for God to take back this building? He would first have to change the atmosphere to be less attractive to the demonic presence that whispers in the ears of the people who gather there. 
     I had to compare this building built for God's glory to my body, meant to be a temple. I have been told on several occasions that a demon was probably assigned to me from birth, which I don't clearly understand if the enemy doesn't know what God has in His plan for a specific individual. But let's just say that somewhere along the line, the enemy took over as much as I allowed, I guess. Really, we have to sell the building to the person who wants to create a tavern. We choose who we follow. So the enemy started moving his furniture in with abuse, addictions, abandonment and broken family. He filled the building with everything it would take for the atmosphere he wanted to carry out his plan. Make sense? 
     So it's time for God to step in and take back His temple, by my invitation. First thing He does is throw out the tables and chairs, right? I have to admit that I am facilitating the enemy's atmosphere and throw out the tables and chairs with Him. This takes a little work. So then I have to replace those with pews. Then He says let's get rid of the alcohol. It fuels the bad behavior. Shoot I probably have a bad behavior for every type of alcohol sold in a bar. As the bar owner I sit and sweat in almost a panic as God takes each bottle and dumps it down the drain. What if I change my mind and want to go back to the bar? How can I live without alcohol? So we give Him permission to dump out the rum and the vodka, but we decide to hold onto the whiskey. We replace it with scripture.
     I see this as spiritual warfare. One thing at a time, He cleans up our lives starting from the inside and working His way out. When He shows us why and how to dump out the whiskey, then we are able to go to the next person and help them dump theirs. The healthier we get the more warfare we can do outside of our own building. I believe the majority of spiritual warfare occurs in our minds. Basically the closer you get to God and the more dependent you are on Him, the less of a hold the enemy and our flesh has on us. Who are you going to allow to put their furniture in your building. 
     Just like a church, our bodies are still vulnerable to demonic spirits. I have sensed demonic presence in a church just as much as in a bar. The difference is: In the bar nobody seems to care if they are there and in a church nobody seems to want to admit they are there. Spiritual warfare is basically saying, I know you are here and it's time for you to go.


“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.”
― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity