Can evil spirits be suppressed by taking pills? Absolutely. They’re constrained to the chemistry of our brains just the same as our own soul is. But that’s another discussion.

As for the contentment bit, I know what you’re trying to say. What you’re talking about is a motivating factor to press into God. Longing for more of God is good, and a sense of “there must be more than this” is important — especially if God wants us to embark on a new phase of our journey and we’re not moving into it properly.

However, a general discontentment or malaise, a feeling that God’s unhappy with us or we don’t measure up, or that we’re not capable of storming Hell’s gates and proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom because we’re just weak, sinful, and frail — that’s what I’m talking about. And that’s a destructive force from the enemy intended to rob us of the victory that Jesus died and paid for on the cross. I honor Jesus’ supreme sacrifice by chasing after His blessings and spiritual inheritance that we wants to give to me. I believe every Christian can and should do likewise!

You said “and when I feel that contentment slipping away from me, I know that I’ve gone astray and need to seek God more fervently once again.”

There are several things that one can and should be discontented about in ones Christian life. The poor quality of one’s obedience to God; the church’s level of compromise with the world; the rampant sinfulness of our culture; one’s own lack of knowledge of the Bible and the God it reveals… I could go on. Discontentment is not sinful. If one has a true understanding of the level of one’s own sin (and few if any of us do), one should always be in some senses discontent.

What you describe seems to be crossing the border from contentment into complacency.

I would hesitate to attribute all instances of depression to the work of an evil spirit. Many instances of the disease are cured or mitigated by medication. Can evil spirits be removed or suppressed by taking pills?

Odd, isn’t it? I know plenty of Christians who are living a joy-filled life full of abundance, ready to face the challenges of our time, praising God with thanksgiving in the midst of circumstances both good and evil, excited about the work God has placed in their hands to bring about the kingdom of heaven on earth.

Let me be clear: depression has no place in the Christian life. I will repeat myself: depression has no place in the Christian life. If you, me, or anyone else is plagued by depression, that is the work of an evil spirit. Believe me, I have lived through this first-hand with my mom, and to a lesser extent my dad, and even myself. Depression is truly one of the most evil forces I have ever seen, and in its most virulent, life-robbing, suicidal moments, scares me far more than sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll. Thankfully, I don’t need to be scared, since Jesus has given us the power to overcome the black pit of darkness that tries to cloud our minds.

The contentment Paul describes in Philipians 4:10-13 pretty much sums this up. Describing the concern he felt from the church in Phillipi, he writes:

“I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

Paul can do all things that need to be done, because Jesus is his strength. He can face each day anew, praising God and giving thanks for who He is and what He has done. Isn’t that amazing? I live with that contentment in my own life in my spiritual walk — and when I feel that contentment slipping away from me, I know that I’ve gone astray and need to seek God more fervently once again.

Give me all the troubles and evil of the world. What are they, compared to the beauty and riches we have in Christ Jesus?

I can’t say that I know too much about Christianity in Britain, to be honest. Until somewhat recently, I wasn’t really involved in much of the Christian “scene” even though my basic belief system was strongly Christian. I do know that we see atheism taking a stronger hold there (and in the rest of Europe) than in the U.S., although this country is heading down that path too. Time for us to WAKE UP and serve our community in Love and Power instead of playing football and watching the latest TV show.

Hey, I just found out that you work for the Mozilla Foundation. That’s really cool! How did you get involved with that?

The reason I have such overwhelming joy is that I am constantly amazed that God could bless someone as sinful and weak as me. The truth of my sinfulness is a great truth, and an important one - because without it, there is no need for grace, and without it, I may become arrogant.

Without wanting to unfairly include you in a generalisation, what we see of American Christian culture here in the UK indicates that, if anything, there is an over-emphasis on the blessings, kindness, generosity and love of God and a minimalising of his authority, jealousy, zeal, hatred of sin and judgement. God is seen as happy and warm and fluffy, not awe-ful, holy and fear-inspiring. (Perhaps American observers have comments about British Christian culture too; I’m sure it’s much easier to see things when you aren’t in the middle of them.)

There is a balance to be found here - like the balance between the “now” and the “not yet” of God’s promises to us. We need to both recognise our sin and rejoice in our salvation.

Philippians is a great book for emphasizing Joy rather then negativity.

However, I’m talking about a theology which emphasizes sin, human weakness, and tragedy at the expense of the greater truths about God’s blessing, purpose, provision, and power that we as Christians have access to via the Holy Spirit. When someone is born again and baptized in the Holy Spirit by Jesus Christ, they have access to the throne room of heaven. Many Christians don’t even realize that we’re seated at the right hand of the Father, right now — why? Because they’re too preoccupied with the cares and burdens of this life and all the myriad reasons God can’t use them to change the world. I say this with authority because I used to be one of those Christians. It’s only by the grace of God I’ve since learned enough to know that’s a bad place to be, theologically. This blog’s number-one reason for existence is to share my journey out of that morass of fatalism and malaise, and I can’t even begin to tell you what a joy it is to be in this better place.