This Present Darkness

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Jan 24, 2004 | by PAUL ASAY THE GAZETTE

Back when Nikita Khrushchev was pounding shoes on podiums and the Soviet Union still was jazzed about communism, Colorado Springs had a big bull's-eye painted on it. NORAD headquarters and nukes just didn't mix well: Springs residents figured that, in the event of nuclear war, they'd have just enough time to grab a quick burger.

The U.S.S.R. is no more. But, according to some Christians, Colorado Springs still is at the center of a bull's-eye. And the enemies taking aim make Cold War-era Soviets look like a middle school marching band.

We're talking demons, forces of darkness. They're mad as hell -- literally -- at Colorado Springs' thriving evangelical community. And they're certainly not pleased that many leading spiritual warfare experts call the city home.

These demons, experts say, will tempt, distract or even injure people to further their goals. They're hungry for power, and experts say they get that power by staking claim to everything, from individual souls to whole cities and nations.

Considering Colorado Springs' standing in religious circles, it would be quite a prize.

"There is a great warfare for this city," said the Rev. Dutch Sheets, pastor for Springs Harvest Fellowship and an authority on spiritual warfare. "And there's no doubt in my mind that Satanic forces would be doing everything possible to hinder (the work done here)."

Sheets will be one of several local Christians speaking at the Strategic Intercession and Warfare Congress, Thursday through Jan. 31 at New Life Church. The congress, run by Springs-based Global Harvest Ministry, will help teach, among other things, how to become a potent spiritual warrior.

Attendees will come from around the nation, and the congress seminars are intended to offer a global perspective on spiritual warfare. C. Peter Wagner, president of Global Harvest, said he expects some local revelations, as well.

"We expect God to tell us what he desires," Wagner said, "what he wants to happen in Colorado Springs."

Spiritual warfare is an ancient concept. Adherents draw inspiration from the Bible.

Ephesians 6:12-13 says: "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places."

Not all Christians see those spiritual forces as literal. According to Barna Research, a Christian polling institute, 58 percent of Christians say Satan is a symbol of evil, not a being.

Belief in supernatural darkness is more prevalent in charismatic and Pentecostal traditions, said David Weddle, a professor of religion at Colorado College. People in more mainline denominations aren't as accepting, with Catholics generally even more skeptical, he said.

Wagner, a former professor at Fuller Theological Seminary, used to be a spiritual warfare skeptic. He's a believer now, has authored several books on the subject and is considered an authority.

"I had to understand the invisible world was a real world," he said. "And there were such things as angels and demons and supernatural forces we can't see."

People can see the havoc these forces cause, Wagner said.

They also can see the success that spiritual warriors have over evil forces.

According to Wagner, New Life senior pastor Ted Haggard was instrumental in creating an evangelical-friendly environment in Colorado Springs, partly by using a technique called "prayer walking." Wagner said Haggard and members of his ministry would walk through town in the early 1990s, praying as they went, establishing beachheads for a spiritual rejuvenation.

Haggard's work here was one of the things that persuaded Wagner to move his ministry to Colorado Springs in 1996. Global Harvest operates out of the World Prayer Center on the New Life campus.

Most of the congress' speakers have connections with the Springs, and the city was at the center of an ambitious prayer effort with strong connections to spiritual warfare.

It's called the 10/40 Window and involved intercessory prayer, in which a person or group prays for another person, group or region.

The movement asked Christians to pray for whole nations and regions between the 10th and 40th parallels north of the equator. Specifically, 10/40 adherents wanted to open countries up to Christianity, thereby whittling down Satan's earthly real estate. New Life and Global Harvest were major players in the 10/40 Window movement, which ran through the 1990s and -- for New Life -- continues today.

"The spiritual atmosphere has measurably changed, with the possible exception of the Middle East," he said.

Although spiritual warriors feel they've made gains abroad, they've lost ground at home. According to a 2002 FBI report, Colorado Springs had worse murder, rape and assault rates per capita than the rest of the nation.

That, Wagner says, is a sign of demonic influence.

"We know there are principalities and powers that have too much influence on Colorado Springs," he said.

But, in spiritual warfare, that bull's-eye is part of the business.