I think the problem is the opposite.  Not that we should give satan "credit."  But I think often times Christians just ignore the fact that the devil does exist.  We need to be prepared and ready for spiritual warfare.  If we just sit back and act like the enemy isn't even there, we are not as protected as we would be if we were armed and ready for battle.  If we can recognize and know his schemes, we can defeat this evil foe in our own lives.

Just a thought...

If satan was the problem, then why does God require US to grow mature to overcome him (satan)? 

without the church there is no body of Christ & we hear the Gospel through the His body. without the body of Christ you cannot hear the Gospel with clarity.  perspicuity of the Gospel presupposes you are imbedded in the body of Christ.

u are right that the pulpit is not infallible, but the man on the pulpit is also part of the body of Christ, the pulpit + the rest of the Body speaks the Voice of Christ.  u alone in a room by yourself with your own dreams/vision and the bible may contain a bit of truth, but it is no more infallible than the man on the pulpit u criticize.  p.s. go back to church. no man is an island.

yes, there is a time for everything and exceptions to every rule. but the point remains, a Christian is a healthy Christian when she is in correct relation to the rest of the Body.  and as beautiful and poetic it may sound to hear stories of devout ones going into the wilderness to hear the voice of God, 99% of the time, you hear what you want to hear and come out like David Koresh. 

 who knows maybe you are the next Moses or Elijah and you all called to do something EXTRAordinary, then kudos for you.  just be forwarned, there a lot of spoiled, immature Christians who know nothing of self-sacrifice, suffering, love, and community posing as some "authentic" mystic with profound revelations critiquing faithful Christians as "Pharisees" having "herd" mentality.  if that isn't you, i apologize.

I know it's easy to get caught up in the details of Christian living, but I think Charlie is really on to something with the devil in mind.

It is true he is a worthy adversary and we must be diligent and informed to overcome him.

However, I am fully pursuaded that most claims made against him are false, because the real culprit is usually our own flesh, not specific attentions from the wicked one.

So I have found that most of my efforts are spent in overcoming my own flesh so that I can become a spiritually mature man that can begin to focus on good deeds and overcoming the wicked one in Christ. 

This is a wonderful dialogue.  I appreciate everyone’s input thus far, and invite others to chime in.  Just remember this: our Christian life is a journey and it is also a growth process..therefore it is not stagnant.  We are called to no longer live by our life, but God’s eternal, life-giving life within us which supercedes our puny, fickle life.

Another analogy for Christ’s body is family.  We all have the same Father and mother (Jerusalem from above) and multitudes of brothers and sisters (most of which we have yet to meet) that vary in age from newborn babes to elderly and divinely seasoned saints.  In such a large family no one would expect everyone to be at the same place in their walk, growth or understanding.

There’s so much I would love to comment on, but time forbids (due to our limited “earth suits”).  I will say that the key to realizing the body of Christ with it’s complexity and practical functionality is to realize, as has been mentioned above, that the one true and living church is in Spirit! 

I appreciate Jonathan bringing us back to the original topic once more.  I agree that our real adversary is the world, the flesh, the devil.  All of which have been fully dealt with from God’s eternal view through Christ and His obedience with all it’s ramifications when He bowed in Gethsemene saying, “not MY will, but Thine be done.”

After reading the book of Job, I came to this conclusion: Satan is God's watchdog and spiritual workout trainer.

Satan himself has no relevant in the Bible, other than his role.  The word Satan means "Prosecuting Attorney".  He doesn't even have a name we are told about.  Micheal, the Archangel, is important enough to have a name and a title, Satan just has a title.  I know this will come up.  Lucifer is a Latin translation of the phrase "son of the dawn".  It wasn't a name in the original Hebrew.

I like to go fishing (I apparently don't like to catch fish, because I never manage to do so).  I always look over bridges to see if any fish are in the stream.  I've noticed the biggest fish are always in the swifter current.  A trout has to be at least 60% muscle.  Why?  It spends it's entire life swimming against the current.  Without the current, the trout isn't healthy.  Without opposition, my life as a Christian isn't healthy either.  That's what God uses Satan for.

Should we be concerned about Satan?  Sure we should - the Bible says so.  Should we chase after him, rebuking him from our milkshakes?  No, the Bible doesn't say that at all.  James 4:7 says I should "resist the devil, and he will flee from you".  The amplified version states that resisting the devil is "standing firm against him".  That isn't chasing after him, that's standing firm.  The very next verse states I should draw near to God.

Full context for James 4:7

James 4:1-8
1  WHAT LEADS to strife (discord and feuds) and how do conflicts (quarrels and fightings) originate among you? Do they not arise from your sensual desires that are ever warring in your bodily members?
2  You are jealous and covet [what others have] and your desires go unfulfilled; [so] you become murderers. [To hate is to murder as far as your hearts are concerned.] You burn with envy and anger and are not able to obtain [the gratification, the contentment, and the happiness that you seek], so you fight and war. You do not have, because you do not ask. [I John 3:15.]
3  [Or] you do ask [God for them] and yet fail to receive, because you ask with wrong purpose and evil, selfish motives. Your intention is [when you get what you desire] to spend it in sensual pleasures.
4  You [are like] unfaithful wives [having illicit love affairs with the world and breaking your marriage vow to God]! Do you not know that being the world's friend is being God's enemy? So whoever chooses to be a friend of the world takes his stand as an enemy of God.
5  Or do you suppose that the Scripture is speaking to no purpose that says, The Spirit Whom He has caused to dwell in us yearns over us and He yearns for the Spirit [to be welcome] with a jealous love?
6  But He gives us more and more grace ([a]power of the Holy Spirit, to meet this evil tendency and all others fully). That is why He says, God sets Himself against the proud and haughty, but gives grace [continually] to the lowly (those who are humble enough to receive it).
7  So be subject to God. Resist the devil [stand firm against him], and he will flee from you.
8  Come close to God and He will come close to you. [Recognize that you are] sinners, get your soiled hands clean; [realize that you have been disloyal] wavering individuals with divided interests, and purify your hearts [of your spiritual adultery]

Had to delete my last comment to Jack. I made a mistake in it. I should have asked what about what Jesus said to at least one of the seven churches that he who overcomes will not be hurt of the second death. It sounds to me as if you are being hurt by the second death--I mean if that's what it is. I wondered how you understand that.

Isaiah 14:12 in different translations.

King James:

"How art thou fallen from heaven,
  O Lucifer, son of the morning!
  how art thou cut down to the ground,
  which didst weaken the nations!

New King James:

"How you are fallen from heaven,
  O Lucifer, son of the morning!
  How you are cut down to the ground,
  You who weakened the nations!

NASB:

"How you have fallen from heaven,
  O star of the morning, son of the dawn!
  You have been cut down to the earth,
  You who have weakened the nations!

Amplified:

"How have you fallen from heaven,
  O [1]light-bringer and daystar, son of the morning!
  How you have been cut down to the ground,
  you who weakened and laid low the nations [O blasphemous, satanic king of Babylon!]

Footnotes (to Amplified version):

   1. Isaiah 14:12 The Hebrew for this expression--"light-bringer" or "shining one"--is translated "Lucifer" in The Latin Vulgate, and is thus translated in the King James Version. But because of the association of that name with Satan, it is not now used in this and other translations. Some students feel that the application of the name Lucifer to Satan, in spite of the long and confident teaching to that effect, is erroneous. The application of the name to Satan has existed since the third century A.D., and is based on the supposition that Luke 10:18 is an explanation of Isa. 14:12, which many authorities believe is not true. "Lucifer," the light-bringer, is the Latin equivalent of the Greek word "Phosphoros," which is used as a title of Christ in II Pet. 1:19 and corresponds to the name "radiant and brilliant Morning Star" in Rev. 22:16, a name Jesus called Himself. This passage here in Isa. 14:13 clearly applies to the king of Babylon.

Don't forget this commentary, from the Amplified Bible:

This passage here in Isa. 14:13 clearly applies to the king of Babylon.

Are you saying I raked your soul over the coals?

Here's where I'm coming from.  I'm just kind of frustrated with the situation: I want to understand what is posted.   If a post is stated with too many metaphores, or if it includes many colorful phrases (meaning nothing but good), I get lost.

Just my feeling here, but when I see reams and reams of teachings churned out by one man, I start to wonder...

Generally,  God gives revelation only in certain areas to individuals. I've taken a look before at the writings of J. Preston Eby and have had this sense. It's not that the teachings couldn't have a ring of truth, but they seemed filled with so much crypto-doctrine, almost like the Kabbalah teachings. There is no simplicity of the faith. After dissecting the scriptures to death so that nothing means what it looks like it means, you start to wonder what your own mother really means when she says, "Good morning." The only logical conclusion to the conflicting ideas of crypto-thought is that there is no order left in the universe, no God and no truth. (Not saying I hold to that.)

There is a book with seven seals in Revelation that no one can open except the Lamb. Each seal when opened gives only a certain amount of revelation and no more. The Lamb opens each seal when it is time to open it and not until. When He opens it, He opens it for a time and for a people He has prepared for that day.

It's really nice that people study the scriptures and all that. It's even good that we have a nice exchange, though we might not all agree. Is the point of sharing to reach a consensus or to come to a truth? And do we get completely wrapped up in peripheral truths to the exclusion of the One Thing Needful, which is Christ Jesus Himself? After so many reasonings, I find that I have to lay down my own mind and imagination in order to find my spiritual center again. Practically speaking, I just need the fellowship of Jesus more than I need to know all of His secret mysteries.

I sure do know about going "outside the camp" into seclusion because I've done it myself. Sometimes you just can't get fed in the organizations. But again, if we are really to be the next Moses or Elijah, as Dude said it, the same kind of supernatural credentials should express themselves in our lives as the authority of God behind it. People do, indeed, come out messed up by being too alone with their own minds and imaginations. But if the spirit drives them there, then who am I to say? I only know my own heart and scarcely that.

The simplest doctrine in the universe: Jesus loves me. That is essentially what this walk is all about. We can't love enough until we really know His love. We can't be faithful until we know His faithfulness. Our whole lives are nothing more than object lessons until we finally "get" all this. How can we worry overly about what we've never seen when we scarcely understand what we already know? God is love, my friends. The rest is gravy.

Jack, I'm certainly not going to criticize where you are at right now. I have also read some of Elaine Cooke's writings and some I like and some I'm not that sure of. Honestly, though---there are some saints who have seen some of the same things for centuries and others who have seen other, opposite things for centuries.

Is it that the Holy Spirit doesn't lead them? Sometimes not. Sometimes they get different things at different times. And other times I feel quite certain that with many truths that rest on a fine line, we are simply apt to slide off more visibly too far to the issue on this side or that.  

 In the end I have to ask, what has God really revealed to me? See, I have been aware of the manifest sons doctrine and the Revelation 12 saints a good long time now. I'm quite aware of the remnant principle. I just don't see everything identically to all the other saints who hold to a remnant identification. I left a group that was heavy into that.

In the end, I searched my heart to see where God was really leading me. And in my quiet way, I said nothing and did according to my conscience. Even if I am destined to be a doormat in the house of the Lord, better to be in the place of His choosing than to reach for something He didn't fit me for.

And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. (Mal. 3:17)

I trust God to make up His jewels--the precious stones in the walls of the New Jerusalem, whether I pass someone else's idea of what it means to be an overcomer, a member of the remnant, etc. To have this peace is very good news indeed.

Some of them even grow up to be humble little people who, knowing nothing and being poor, make many rich. :)