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Month: January 2013

Stopping the Violence

We all want to stop killings like those in Newtown, Columbine, Aurora and Virginia Tech. There is no shortage of ideas, such as more gun control and arming teachers. But little is said about the root causes. Why has there been such a sudden escalation in this kind of mass violence? Commentators on TV have offered suggestions. Some are well-meaning, others laughable. But something important is being overlooked – what the killers have in common. They all either killed themselves, or wanted to die and were caught before they committed suicide. The consistent denominator is a death wish, the ultimate way any human desensitizes themselves to the suffering of others. It’s the supremely arrogant act of selfishness. There are no consequences to mass murder if you kill yourself in the end, setting aside the final consequence of Hell (which holds little credibility in our culture).

A USA-TODAY editorial (January 29, 2013, p. 8) points out that the final solution of suicide is gaining momentum worldwide. One million Americans try to kill themselves every year, and every 14 minutes one of them succeeds. The suicide rate among returning Iraq/Afghanistan veterans has killed more soldiers than died on those battlefields. Globally, suicides are up 60% in the last half century. We don’t have a gun problem, we have a people problem, people wanting to die and take others with them in a final act of rage. We don’t face a crisis of ammunition clips, but rather a crisis of hope.

And at the root of this loss of hope is a loss of religion. It is faith in God that sustains people in difficult times, the belief that everything somehow has a higher purpose (Romans 8:28). Take that away, and you have a society that fears no Divine retribution and embraces no reason to believe God’s grace will get them through life’s difficulties. We teach our children they have no origin in God and no final answer-ability to a Creator. Eventually, that emptiness takes a toll and there’s not enough Ritalin, Valium, and Prozac to stop the inevitable.  Maybe the time has come to hire armed guards for our schools. But before we spent more time on what we want to keep out, we should concentrate on what we didn’t leave in – prayer and the Bible.

Biblical Deliverance Part II

Matt 4:24 Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them. NKJV

Yesterday I addressed the topic of biblical deliverance as found in Scripture, namely in the synoptic gospels.  Matthew, Mark, and Luke give clear indications regarding how demons responded to the presence of Christ, and the responsibility of the disciples to confront these evil beings. I pointed out that:

  1. Demons make their presence known apart from the consciousness of the host.
  2. Physical maladies are not the same as demonically induced behavior.

Today, I add to this appraisal of biblical deliverance the following observations:

  1. Jesus spoke directly to demons as distinct entities, and they answered. He told them to be quiet, to leave, and not to return. Was Jesus deluded? Was he merely accommodating a primitive lack of understanding mental illness and thus went along with the ideas of the day? If so, He was misleading people and was a charlatan who misrepresented his mission.
  2. If we cannot trust Christ to have accurately executed His encounters with evil entities, then how can we trust anything else that He said? Clearly, the disciples responded to His command to perform exorcisms as He did. If Christ was playing along with some metaphysical charade He is no one to be trusted regarding His claims to be the Son of God.

If some choose not to believe in demonic activity do they also believe that angels are mystical contrivances? Do the angelic instances of intervention in the Bible merely accommodate a primitive view of the cosmos, not to be taken seriously today? The answer to these rhetorical questions is obvious. Biblical deliverance was commonplace, frequent, and a significant part of Christ’s ministry.  It demonstrated his authority over Satan and provided a model for what He would later require of His disciples.

Biblical Deliverance Part I

Matt 4:24 Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them. NKJV

Biblical deliverance is not hard to discern. The model is there in Scripture for all to read. Sadly, most don’t want to know what Jesus did and why He did it. They prefer to explain the miraculous of exorcism away. But this passage tells us the consequences of Christ’s miracles. His fame spread rapidly. Mathew tells us they brought to Jesus those where were demon-possessed; not those they suspected of being demon possessed. The diagnosis was specific. How did people know this? Because the behavior of the individuals they diagnosed as experiencing possession had obviously included objective manifestations; they had exhibited erratic, destructive behavior consistent with an indwelling evil.

All this happened immediately after the temptation of Satan. Jesus wasted no time fulfilling his mission.  He healed the sick and cast out demons. To negate the clear meaning of this scripture, the critic must conclude that the gospel writers were using the language of the day to describe those afflicted with depression, epilepsy, or what we’d call schizophrenia. The public also brought some who were sick, but Matthew makes a distinction between the sick and the possessed. Some brought to Jesus those who suffered physically and some who suffered spiritually.

Consider these arguments regarding the validity of how demons presented themselves and how Christ and the disciples dealt with them.

  1. The beings causing torments spoke and exhibited behavior consistent with an identity separate from the tormented person. The entities asked questions, gave answers and indicated supernatural knowledge of who Christ was.
  2. In this passage, epilepsy is treated as a separate condition to be healed.

Tomorrow, more on what we learn from the Bible about the nature of demonic possession, and how it was handled by Jesus and His disciples.

Christ’s Temptation

Matthew 4:1 has profound significance for spiritual warfare: Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. This is the first mention of Satan in the New Testament. We’re introduced to the Evil One by Matthew’s account of Christ confronting the devil. And how did Matthew come by this information? He wasn’t there. It could only have been by the Lord relating to his disciples what happened. Imagine a cool evening by a fire on the shores of Galilee with Jesus personally describing how he dealt with the Adversary. As kids say today: “AWESOME!”

Jesus wasn’t telling them a parable. It wasn’t an allegory. It really happened, just like Jesus said it happened. You’ve probably heard many sermons about this event, so I won’t restate in detail the obvious: the devil tempted Jesus thrice and our Savior answered each chicanery with a statement from Scripture. He showed us that the way to deal with temptation is to stand on God’s word. Now, I want to take you a little deeper into this account.

First, Matthew says Jesus was “led up by the Spirit.” That’s right; the Holy Spirit led Jesus straight to an encounter with the devil. If we too are led by the Spirit we shall also go head-to-head with Satan. Deliverance and exorcism are Spirit-driven, biblical compulsions to face down the devil. If you haven’t faced the devil lately maybe you aren’t letting the Spirit lead you. Second, Christ was “tempted,” that means “tested.” All deliverance ministry is a contest of our will being exerted against Satan’s purposes. Those unwilling to be “tested” in this way are not walking fully in the footsteps of Jesus. Finally, though we may not meet up with the Serpent, that Dragon, himself, we certainly may meet those called by his demonic names. I have had countless encounters with demons going by designations such as Satan, Beelzebub, and even Lucifer. Like a military rank, they have earned the right bear that name in Hell’s hierarchy; and as Jesus did, we have overcome by the power of His Word and the presence of His Spirit.

Yoga in Airports

As someone who travels a lot, usually 2-4 days a week in airports and on airplanes, I can testify to the stress of modern transportation. If the cramped seats don’t get you, the food they don’t serve will. Jet lag from pressurized cabins, smelly ill-kept bathrooms, junk food when you really want a salad, and people, people, people. People with disgusting tattoos, smelly bodies, unkempt hair, and unruly kids. Seats that won’t recline, the person behind me who won’t let it recline, the flight attendant in a cynical daze, the suitcase that falls out of the overhead bin, the overhead bin already full with someone’s overstuffed bag, noisy headphones blaring rap loud enough to pulverize the eardrums of the person next to me. Should I stop now? One more observation. The all-day stranded in an airport experience, watching the flight information screen constantly adding one more hour to my already-delayed departure.

But now, the wonderful state of Vermont has a balm for my pain, if I ever fly through Burlington (which I have). At taxpayers’ expense they are adding yoga rooms. The good liberal, progressive folks of the Northeast have provided a light, airy space with mossy green walls, bamboo floor, and yoga mats to stretch out my stress. Those who know me, also know I won’t be using the yoga room any time soon. Read my LARSON’S BOOK OF WORLD RELIGIONS, the chapter on “Yoga,” if you wonder why.

Now in addition to all the indignities I described above, travelers to and from Vermont can add a few demons for the trip as they tune their chakras before takeoff. This latest invasion of Eastern, mystical occultism is one more sign of our post-biblical culture. In times past, the public servants of Vermont would have placed a chapel for prayer and meditation instead of a yoga room. Sadly, as a culture we put more value on a demonic discipline than we do Christian contemplation.

Christian Killer

He wanted to kill more, and he planned to go to a populated area so he could do just that. He had already brutally shot to death his mother, father, and three siblings ages 2, 5, and 9. But Sunday, January 20, 2013, before he could carry out his entire murderous scheme, 15-year-old Nehemiah Griego got caught. He might have perpetrated more mayhem if he hadn’t inexplicably taken photos of his dead mother and emailed them to his girlfriend who called 911.

It all came down in a home just outside Albuquerque, NM. And here’s what’s really chilling. Nehemiah was a Christian. His father had been on the pastoral staff of a large local, Pentecostal church and currently served as a chaplain for a detention center. The dead father, once a gang member, had turned his life around, but he apparently couldn’t do the same for his son. I don’t know the senior pastor of Calvary, Skip Heitzig, but I’m sure that he and his staff are doing everything possible to cope with this tragedy. I’ve been to Calvary’s web site and they have every conceivable kind of program to reach every single kind of person, and that’s great. Their mega-church agenda is obviously designed with concern for a variety of issues that people face – women in despair, parenting skills, cool teen stuff, family life ministry, men’s identity quest, jail ministry, pro-life, etc. It’s impressive, except for one thing. No mention of deliverance. So whatever your issue, they offer help, and that is commendable. They have obviously committed enormous resources to reach every kind of need – except one. If you have demons, there doesn’t appear to be a deliverance ministry, at least not one they’ll openly tell you about.

In this time of crisis, our prayers go out to pastor Heitzig for wisdom and strength. But I have to ask a “what if” question. What if Nehemiah’s father, Greg Greigo, had demons left over from his gang-banging days and passed those on to his son? What if a generational curse was at the root of this horrible crime? Could that curse have been broken, and would five people would be alive today? It’s a hard question to ask at a time like this, but it has to be broached. What other explanation is there for a preacher’s kid murdering with such abandon. I don’t have all the answers, but I am willing to ask some tough questions. And by the way. Once again, we see that Christians can have demons. And those demons can push them to the edge of murder.

Demons in Hongzas

Hongza in Chinese (Cantonese) it simply means haunted house. And in Hong Kong a house that is believed to have evil spirits, a hongza, is considered hard to sell. Enter Ng Goon Lau, a real estate agent with no fear of demonic dwellings. For more than a decade, Ng has braved supernatural residences to buy and sell apartments where there has been a murder or a suicide. He normally pays at least a third less than the market price and later sells at a good profit. How? He avoids catering to locals and sells to foreigners, especially non-Chinese, who aren’t so superstitious.

Hong Kong is so supernaturally-minded that it’s not uncommon for people to leave some of their dinner available for dead ancestors. In the summer the city hosts a Hungry Ghost Festival when spirits are fed and entertained. The city’s main English newspaper even hired Buddhist monks to cleanse their offices because someone on staff said they saw a demon in the bathroom. All this in a city of more than seven million souls, an Asian economic powerhouse.

Houses can be haunted. Demons do sometimes frequent dwellings where acts such as suicide and murder have occurred because such evil deeds grant a spiritually territorial right. The solution is not to sell at a loss or to burn Buddhist incense inside the building. I’ve done hundreds of dwelling exorcisms and expelled the demons haunting there. If the legal occupant breaks the legal right of the demon and asks the Holy Spirit to fill the place, the devil can no longer spook the occupants. What Hong Kong’s hongza need is exorcism,  not a real estate price reduction.

Imperial Presidency

To anyone who saw the Presidential news conference on Monday this week, as I did, you may or may not agree with my assessment that it was the worst display of hubris I’ve ever seen publicly by any President of these United States. For some time I have watched an increasingly imperialistic attitude on behalf of Mr. Obama. It’s no secret that I disagree with many of his moral policies, but that isn’t the issue. It’s the attitude. He has a right, case in point, to invite whoever he wants to pray at his inauguration. But to dis-invite an evangelical pastor, Louie Giglio of Passion City Church in Atlanta, because of a 20-year-old sermon on homosexuality is arrogant, considering the logic behind the cancellation. Addie Whisenant, the spokesperson for the Presidential Inaugural Committee explained the awkward situation by saying that Giglio didn’t properly celebrate the strength and diversity of our country. Yet President Obama listened to the sermons of his pastor, Jeremiah Wright, for more than a decade as Wright used God’s name in vain to damn America, and Obama never flinched, until Wright’s statements were outed. The President might at least have had the courtesy to ask Giglio how he feels now about what he said 20 years ago and requested that he not express those particular views in his anticipated Inaugural prayer. That would have been reasonable. To imperially declare Giglio guilty without a fair hearing is unacceptable.

Alexis de Tocqueville was the 19th century French political thinker who is reputed to have said, America is great because America is good. He also commented on his anti-monarchial views by decrying imperial despotism, even in a democracy. He loathed a nation such as America degenerating to a government driven by a network of small, complicated, painstaking, uniform rules that destroy individual incentive by making ordinary citizens nothing more than a herd of timid and industrious animals of which the government is the shepherd. We’ve all seen it with the EPA, Obamacare, entitlement society, building codes, IRS, and the endless red tape of any honest citizen trying to start or run a company. Perhaps we need to remind our President and all those in Congress that they serve us, we don’t serve them; and that we have a right to our Christian conscience and the freedoms “endowed” upon us by our Creator.

Ingersoll’s Insight

He was a noted 19th century infidel, though raised in a devoutly Christian home. Robert Ingersoll, an illustrous GOP orator during civil war days, turned against religion because of the harshly bigoted treatment of his abolitionist father. He first rejected austere Calvinism (who can blame him), but then jettisoned Christianity in general and became known as the Great Infidel. He was single-handedly responsible as a lawyer for the move to overturn the country’s blasphemy laws. Perhaps the greatest speaker of his time, he lectured for as long as three hours entirely from memory. He was famous for his disdain of Hell, and once said, “All the meanness, all the revenge, all the selfishness, all the cruelty, all the hatred, all the infamy of which the heart of man is capable, grew, blossomed, and bore fruit in this one word–Hell.” Whether or not he is there now is in God’s hands, but here is what’s interesting.

Ingersoll was also a staunch financial conservative, and it was a quote in this week’s Wall Street Journal (01/12/13 p. A13) that caught my eye: The government does not support the people, the people support the government. The government is a perpetual pauper. It passes round the hat and solicits contributions. The government produces nothing. It does not plow land, it does not sow corn, and it does not grow trees. The government is a perpetual consumer. Now, the idea that the government can make money for you and me to live on, why, it is the same as though my hired man should issue certificates of my indebtedness to him for me to live on. And this was said before the New Deal, the Great Society, and Obama’s unprecedented expansion of entitlements.

Strange that such economic wisdom should come from an unbeliever. The President who claims to be a Christian takes an entirely opposite view. Remember. You didn’t build that?It’s odd that more wisdom about personal, economic responsibility should come from an enemy of the faith than one who claims to embrace faith. Perhaps common sense knows no theological boundaries, and Satan can as easily blind the eyes of those who say they believe as those who believe not. The next time you hear a Senator or Congress person advocate more taxes and more government intrusion in our lives, remember the astuteness of an agnostic.

Youthful Egoism Gone Wild

In an article published by foxnews.com, Dr. Keith Ablow, psychiatrist and Fox contributor, has spoken out on what he calls a “generation of deluded narcissists.” Ablow points to the face that today’s college youth think they are gifted and driven when, in fact, their test scores are going down and social media has turned them into psychologically sick children who are narcissistically challenged.  Ablow writes:

False pride can never be sustained. The bubble of narcissism is always at risk of bursting. That’s why young people are higher on drugs than ever, drunker than ever, smoking more, tattooed more, pierced more and having more and more and more sex, earlier and earlier and earlier, raising babies before they can do it well, because it makes them feel special, for a while. They’re doing anything to distract themselves from the fact that they feel empty inside and unworthy.

Wow and AMEN! And what does this generation get from its leaders? A President who has never held a meaningful job outside of government largess and has the gall to lecturer those who got rich because of real hard work. A congress that can’t give up its pork and won’t face the facts that we’re rapidly becoming a second rate nation economically. When an “entertainment” company like Apple has more money in the bank than the government, what does that say? (Yes, I have an iPhone, but it’s for functionality not games and social media.)

Too many youth have overdosed on egoist, inflated self-worth and need to be told that more Monster drinks and Facebook postings don’t automatically lead to success. And to fix this problem, Obama is now floating the idea of an executive order to take guns away from Americans.  I have a gun, and I’m in no danger of shooting up a theater. But the those like James Holmes,  who are infested with the narcissism that Ablow describes, are a danger to all of us, and not because they have an assault rifle. It’s because they are self-absorbed with first-person shooter games and inflated egos drive by demons. The answer is simple: a return to the work ethic, political leaders who lead us because they’ve proven by business success that they are qualified, and preachers who are willing to cast out the demons that infest this national, narcissistic obsession.

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