That's how I would describe the spiritual battle in my church right now.  As YP said, it's like we have a snake by the head, and it's thrashing around desperately trying to strike at us.

Yesterday, a lady in our church (one of my most valuable workers - I just love her to death!) went up to YP and said, "God is really telling me that I need to urgently intercede for you and the rest of the pastoral staff.  I don't need to know why, but if you want to talk, it's not going to go anywhere else."

YP told her what was going on with CA and her cronies, without naming names, and said that yes, we are all under extreme spiritual attack and have basically been leaning on each other (i.e. when one of us is feeling a little "less" under attack, we'll support the others!).  This lady shook her head and said, "_________'s going to do it again, isn't she?"  She named the CA, another woman, and a third couple, who had driven out the last two pastors with all of their nastiness.  She explained that she hadn't known anything about it until it was too late, and that she was glad she knew in enough time this time.  She also went up to DH (she would have found me, too, but I was busy and she didn't get a chance!) and said, "I apologize to you on behalf of the members of my church for the way people have been treating you.  I just want you to know that I support you 100%, I'm going to be praying for you, and if I have anything to say about it, this is NOT going to happen again."

We have been praying for God to move the antagonistic people out, and one of them (one of the three that was named by my worker, no less!) all of a sudden - we're talking within the past week - has received and accepted a job offer out of the country.  She leaves in two days.  One down...

But we all feel a tiny bit of relief that one person has been raised up to intercede for us. 

SP also called us all into his office yesterday before church and, in tears, apologized to us for not backing us and standing behind us in regards to CA (and some other people who have been nitpicking at YP).  He looked at all of us and said, "You are my staff and my responsibility, and I'm going to take care of this."

To add to all of that, YP, DH, her husband and I were preached at 4 TIMES yesterday about not giving up.  First, we flipped channels and landed on TBN, where a pastor was on there preaching about how it is tempting to give up, and we think we're going to be happier, but we're not...YP looked at me and said, "This is not really on."

I answered, "Yeah, I bet if we called someone else and told them to turn on TBN, they'd find Benny Hinn or something!"

The next person on was T.D. Jakes.  He was preaching about how the most dangerous people to the devil are those who are making a comeback, and that if we've been kicked down by the devil, there's nowhere to go but up.  We still insisted that this wasn't really on t.v. - that God had just put it there for us!

If that wasn't already enough, the next person was Joyce Meyer, who was preaching about how to speak the truth in love...

We then got up and went to evening service, where there was a missionary speaking.  He preached about not giving up, and not loving the world more than the calling of God, and how we need to press on and finish the race.  At the end of the service, we just looked at each other and mouthed "4 TIMES!"  We pulled aside the missionary's wife and told her that her husband's words were anointed by God, and apologized that they had come to our church in the middle of a war.  She said she knew; that God had impressed upon her to do a prayer walk around our sanctuary several times before the service. She took our names and promised to be in prayer for us and our church situation.

So that was my Sunday.  I just wanted to write it all out to gain some perspective.  I told DH when we got home, "I guess God has made it pretty clear: we're not going anywhere!"  I asked him if he thought our SP would leave, and he said no, that he had pulled our PW aside and talked to her, asking her if SP was really all right, and she said yes, he's in it for the long haul.

Please continue to be in prayer for this situation.  There's a board meeting Tuesday night, and SP is going to try to have a meeting with CA (possibly with YP present) during the day to confront her.  We're all nervous, even though we know God is winning, and that we're obviously doing something right to get the devil so ticked off at us.  I'm reading through the epistles right now in my devotions (just finished Colossians today), and am finding that all of these problems are nothing new - the early church dealt with all of them. 

But we believe we, as a staff, were sent to our church "for such a time as this," and that no other pastor who has been driven out had the stubborn ragtag band that is us behind him.  It could be coming to an end, but it may get worse before it gets better...keep praying - I really feel the difference when I'm being prayed for!!

(Okay, so now THE meeting may be postponed until Thursday.  CA's husband was just in the hospital with chest pains.  I'd feel sympathetic, except it turned out he was just dehydrated.  Yeah.  So he doesn't drink his water and now we have to wait a couple more days.  But on the plus side, CA #2 will be officially out of the country by that point, so CA #1 will have one less person to call and try to stir up trouble with!!)