• In 2008 when my son was at Covenant College, one of the chapel speakers was Henry Luke Orombi, Archbishop of Uganda and a leader among biblically faithful Anglicans. I recently found a photo-copy of his address while cleaning my office. Near the beginning of his message he says of his boyhood village, “ my father was a medium, meaning he had demonic forces— twelve of them… he worshiped these demons, all of us did.” Orombi then goes on to tell the story of his conversion, which came after three days and three sleepless nights of internal struggle. He confessed his sin, namely that he wanted to be his own god, asked to be forgiven, and prayed he could sleep. “This good God came into my life,” Orombi says, “ gave me sleep, forgave my sin and gave me new life.”
• It’s a sweet story from a dear man. One of the things that struck me was how naturally he spoke of his struggle against the combined forces of “this present darkness” (Eph 6:12) and his own sin. Both battles are real, though in intellectually-leaning circles like our own we have an anemic demonology that reads more like Star Wars: there’s the Force and there’s the Dark Side. That’s about as far as we go.
• “Now I am not sure you follow me when I talk about demonic forces,” Orombi says. “I used to think that all the demons were in Africa, until I came to England…. ” He goes on to talk about how the enemy works in a more subtle manner in the Western world: “ he is hidden somewhere, until God gives you discernment, you can never tell. ” As his own fight against Paul’s “ powers and principalities” began to heat up, he and his wife, along with a few friends, covenanted to pray together — think about this — every Friday evening beginning at 9:00, ending the next morning at 6:00. And what he says next stuns me, “After six months, things began to happen.” Six months. Six months ago all the ski lifts at Crystal Mountain were open, the Olympics were still three months away and the lawns of Western Washington were green.
• “We would fall on our faces and ask God for intervention, for a breakthrough. We cried, and I cried desperately, more or less out of fear. I am so happy that when fear drove me to God, that was the right place.” As he describes it, the “things” that began to happen were, as you might guess, the “opening of hearts” in that particular district of London and receptivity to Christ and the gospel.
• What he offers next is admonition. He says we in the West used to call Africa, a place where the sun shines all day, the “dark continent” because of it’s spiritual state. Now “the darkness over Africa has come over America and Europe. Your country is well-lit by electricity, but the gospel of Christ is at stake in this nation.” It reminds me of a comment by another African leader that has haunted me since I heard it, “ You now deny the very gospel that you brought to us 100 years ago.”
• This is a battle best begun on our knees before God. The Church in the U.S. is a sleeping giant. Jesus said to Peter, “watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation,” that is, fall asleep. Our own prayer meeting this past Sunday was large. Come and join us, Sunday evening at 6:30, same time as youth group. Drop off your kids, come and pray. Also, join us for the Men’s Night of Prayer on Friday, November 2nd – we will begin at midnight, pray till 6 A.M., then have breakfast together.
• One personal need: Les Grommon is painting his house… with a brush. If you can help him, or if you have a sprayer, or some other solution, he needs you. Please give this some thought. We depend on one another around here. Thanks.