February 15, 2026

What if the real spiritual battle isn't about dramatic demonic encounters but the subtle daily distractions keeping you from God's will? This message unpacks spiritual warfare in modern American culture, revealing how Satan's tactics are far more strategic than we might imagine.

Starting with Jesus's wilderness temptation in Matthew 4, we explore how Satan attempted three times to derail Jesus from his earthly mission. Despite being fully God and incapable of sin, Jesus allowed himself to be tempted to model resistance for us. The contrast is striking: Adam failed in paradise, while Jesus triumphed in desolation, proving our choices reflect character, not circumstances.

The discussion moves to contemporary challenges—how Satan tempts believers to doubt God's provision through career anxieties, church planting decisions, and financial fears. (Personal stories from youth ministry transitions illustrate this beautifully.) One crucial warning emerges: Satan has infiltrated Christianity itself, distorting its meaning through prosperity gospel teachings that suggest you can serve both God and wealth.

The message challenges American Christianity's obsession with comfort and church attendance numbers, emphasizing that God calls us to faithful service using our spiritual gifts. By examining our calendars and finances, we reveal our true priorities.

Listen now to discover how examining your schedule might expose where spiritual warfare is winning in your life.

February 8, 2026

Battling the Real Enemy: It's Not What You Think

Most Christians completely misunderstand spiritual warfare. While demonic possession exists (Paul literally cast a demon out of a fortune teller in Acts 16), that dramatic stuff is rare. The real battle happens somewhere far more personal: your mind.

Paul teaches in 2 Corinthians 10 that spiritual warfare means taking every thought captive to Christ's obedience. Those mental and intellectual strongholds represent the primary battlefield we face daily. A single thought becomes consideration, then attitude, then action, habit, and finally a stronghold—a power base for the enemy built on lies opposing God's truth.

When Paul wrote to the Corinthians, he wasn't fighting demons but false teachers judging his ministry by worldly metrics: wealth, influence, baptism numbers. (Modern churches still fall for this trap.) These teachers promoted a comfortable Jesus divorced from repentance, the same diluted gospel culture prefers today.

What lies are keeping you from God's calling? Satan's greatest weapon is deception about what success means. He uses three tactics: denying his existence, intimidation, and offering comfortable compromise through busyness or retirement mentality.

The battlefield is your thought life, and victory comes through God's truth, not worldly methods.

Discover how to identify and demolish the strongholds holding you back from God's purposes.

Sunday School

February 8, 2025

When Church Splits Leave Lasting Scars

Have you ever witnessed a church split? Larry opens up about a painful childhood memory when a legalistic pastor's ultimatums drove forty to fifty people—including his parents—to leave and start Calvary Bible Church. The wound lingered in the community for years, even after most people moved forward.

Drawing from Matthew 5:23-26, Larry explores what it truly means to be a peacemaker (something he admits struggling with himself). Jesus's teaching connects to the "therefore" in verse 23—genuine righteousness must flow from inward conviction, not just outward performance like the Pharisees displayed.

At age 23, Larry experienced a traumatic church conflict involving two women with strong feminist views that led to his resignation and a five-year nervous breakdown. The confrontation came after he shared a Tim Tebow abortion video on Sanctity of Life Sunday. Despite his non-confrontational nature, he learned that being godly sometimes requires delivering difficult truths.

Larry emphasizes examining your heart first—like removing a plank from your own eye before addressing someone else's speck. After genuine attempts at reconciliation, if restoration isn't possible, believers must release the need for approval and entrust situations to God's timing. Don't let unresolved conflicts become spiritual strongholds.

Listen to hear Larry's complete journey toward healing and his practical wisdom on biblical reconciliation.

Sunday School

January 18, 2025

January 11, 2025

Spiritual warfare isn't what most of us picture. Drawing from David's Psalms and the account of Jesus healing the demon-possessed man in Gadarene, this message reveals how believers face constant spiritual battles that often go unrecognized. While we're freed from Satan's power, we remain vulnerable to his tactics of distraction and discouragement.

Larry identifies critical battlegrounds: fleshly temptations, busyness (yes, that's a choice), peer pressure that never really goes away, and excessive media consumption. He shares a striking observation from missionary friends in Indonesia—demonic activity is far more visible outside America, where our comfort and prosperity may have spiritually blinded us. In one powerful moment, he recounts how his pastor stopped a service mid-stream after sensing a demonic presence, then led the elders in prayer to cleanse the church.

What does Satan actually attack? Your personal holiness, your family relationships, and your church's mission. Larry illustrates this through Jesus's instruction to the healed man: return home and testify, even if you're standing alone. (That must have been terrifying for someone just freed from a legion of demons.) He emphasizes that dating choices matter eternally, sharing how one twin sister who married an unbeliever later divorced and regretted ignoring biblical counsel about being equally yoked.

Here's the uncomfortable truth: Satan's strategy isn't dramatic possession—it's subtle obstruction. He works to make believers ineffective by creating strongholds that distract us from God's purpose. The church itself has gradually tolerated sin, evolving from preaching tolerance to celebrating what Scripture condemns.

Are you recognizing the spiritual battle happening around you right now?

Tune in to understand how to guard your mind and fulfill God's purpose despite spiritual opposition.

Sunday School

January 11, 2026

January 4, 2026

After years of focusing on expository teaching, Larry tackles a topic he can no longer avoid: spiritual warfare. Why now? Because too many evangelical Christians doubt Satan's existence—a dangerous misconception that hands the enemy his greatest victory.

Larry traces Satan's origins from Lucifer, a high-ranking angel who fell from grace due to pride, drawing from passages in Ezekiel and Isaiah. Satan's greatest strength has always been deception. (That's precisely how he led countless angels into rebellion.) He explains that Scripture divides humanity into just two categories: children of God and children of the devil, with believers caught in the spiritual warfare between these opposing forces.

Can Satan actually possess Christians or be everywhere at once? The answer reveals his clear limitations. Since Satan cannot be omnipresent like God, he operates through legions of demons cast out of heaven with him. Modern churches often avoid discussing Satan and hell to seem culturally relevant, yet this avoidance has inadvertently weakened believers' understanding.

Through personal examples—from grocery store checkout line struggles to a youth group member listening to explicit music his parents unknowingly gave him for Christmas—Larry illustrates how Satan exploits our natural sinful desires through cultural temptations. The battle begins in our minds, making it essential to guard what enters our homes through media and take every thought captive.

Listen to understand how to recognize and resist Satan's influence in your life.

Sunday School

January 4, 2026

December 28, 2025