Month: November 2013

Twenty-fourth letter of the Latin alphabet, X in Roman numerals, it’s known in math as an independent variable or unknown value.  It’s sometimes used, for example, as Individual X, Situation X, Factor X, or Generation X. It can replace a signature, indicate a kiss, or “mark the spot,” as we say. In spiritual warfare I use this designation to indicate what the devil has done that we don’t know. When I minister to someone, I’m constantly looking for the spiritual X-Factor. Sometimes it’s hidden in the alter-ego state of a dissociative personality. It may be sequestered in the evil deeds of an ancestor. It may have been forgotten by the person receiving ministry.

For example, I recently ministered to a woman whose life was spiraling downward rapidly into depression and suicide. Her once orderly existence and successful circumstances were in disarray. She couldn’t focus and was becoming more morose day by day. Psychologists and psychiatrists had treated her. Doctors had done CT scans and various neurological tests. They found nothing. The only answer seemed to be medication. But she came to me for an Encounter session to see what I could discover. One of the spiritual gifts God has given me is the ability to discern when there is an X-Factor beyond obvious circumstances. I don’t always know exactly what it is, but with the help of the Holy Spirit I have developed processes to find out. Sometimes an alter personality tells me as I minister inner healing. Often a demon manifests and reveals what happened in prior generations. I may be able to coax out a hidden memory of trauma that’s been buried.

Before you give up or commit someone you love to a lifetime of ever-stronger medications, let me (or one of our DWJD� ministry teams) take you through our approach to healing and deliverance. What we discover may surprise and even shock you. It could be the answer you’ve always sought for why things are the way they are.  There may a spiritual X-Factor lurking in your life that our ministry of Focused Intervention can uncover so that you can be set free.

She’s appeared in a dress made of raw meat and more recently entirely in the buff at a concert in France. Her passions are gay rights and poking fun at religion. She’s sung of having sex with Judas.  She calls her fans monsters and is determined to displace both Madonna and Katy Perry as the top pop female icon. Lady Gaga (Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta) has been a little spacey to say the least. Now she literally wants to go into space. She claims that in 2015 she’ll be aboard a Virgin Galactic spaceship (for real, no kidding) and will sing from the outer edges of the stratosphere. The gravity-less concert will be live-streamed to earth as the ultimate publicity gimmick.

She won’t be alone out there. Celestis, a Houston-based aerospace company, is now launching cremated remains into space. Apparently dumping the burned ashes of Aunt Ethel in ocean water or on a mountain peak isn’t exotic enough for some. Celestis has actually shuttled more than 1,000 bodily remains into space for $995. They put a few grams of ashes in a capsule the size of a watch battery and shoot it into space with a rocket. The container is then parachuted down and returned to the family to be kept as a memorial. For $5,000 they will put the ashes in orbit. Deep space orbit to fly around the sun costs $12,000.  Their web site declares, “From the stars we are born, to the stars we will return. Celestis makes it possible to honor the dream and memory of your departed loved one by launching a symbolic portion of cremated remains into Earth orbit, onto the lunar surface or into deep space. Join us at our launch events, and help bring the dream of spaceflight to reality by including a portion of your loved one’s ashes aboard our next satellite.” Perhaps Celestis and Gaga could join forces? They might call it a “grateful dead” concert.

I just found out about these folks, and they’re creepy to say the least: Summum. (The word is Latin for “the sum total of all creation.”) The Salt Lake City-based cult practices the ancient Egyptian religious observance of mummification. Last May, they took a case all the way to the Supreme Court, trying to force Pleasant Grove City, Utah to let them put a granite marker in a local park, right next to a monument of the Ten Commandments. The group, formed in 1975, believes in what they call the Seven Aphorisms, supposedly given to Moses on Mount Sinai. They believe Moses destroyed the Aphorisms tablet because he realized the people weren’t ready for it.  Their slogan is, “Eternal Memorialization through Mummification.” They wanted their Aphorism next to the Commandments.

Members of Summum not only plan to mummify their own bodies when they die but also offer their services through funeral homes.  They promise to preserve the body in cloth embroidered with “your personal philosophy or religion.” The mummiform  “life mask” as they call it (think King Tut here) may be inlaid with gold or jewels if that is the posthumous wish.  Each effigy is placed in a casket that can cost over a hundred thousand dollars. The 90-day mummification process itself runs $67,000. Followers of Summum insist that the process is “compatible with any philosophy or religion.” Applicants must fill out a Spiritual Will to accommodate the “transference” of their soul to its “next destination of existence.” This Will is said to be the road map to wherever you are going when you die. The Will declares, “What is your destination?  This depends on you. What are your feelings? What attracts you? You may aspire to heaven or nirvana. You may feel a reincarnation towards a certain type of life is in your destiny. You may feel compelled to unite with a clear, bright light of wisdom and understanding. We recommend you designate items to have close to your body such as incense, flowers, icons, statue of a deity, pictures, music, candles, bells, food and/or drink.”

All this is like something out of the Nile Kingdoms of Egypt, and it is. It’s the very sort of thing that God delivered his people from through the Exodus. How odd that in an enlightened scientific age such superstition would again attract people. But our biblically illiterate culture knows no better. There is so much to refute here, but the biggest lie is that you can choose your own destination after death: Hebrews 9:27 — Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment. A better way would be to get saved and save the $67,000.

“I’ve got you under my skin,” sang Frank Sinatra, stylizing the 30’s song by Cole Porter. The Nelson Riddle signature arrangement scored a lyrical metaphor expressing how one individual affects another. When someone irritates or strongly influences us we may say that the person is “under our skin,” past our exterior defenses. Today, the cremation and tattoo industries have combined to literally place an individual – a dead person – under the skin of a surviving friend or family member. The burned body ashes are mixed with tattoo pigment and inserted into the skin. Whether the remains are sterile doesn’t seem to bother those who want to carry someone with them, as closely as possible, even pets. Some animal lovers have their cats and dogs cremated and tattooed in memorial. Cremation remains have been inserted into jewels and even vinyl records. But putting grandma in a rose on your shoulder breaks new ground. The trend aptly dubbed “morbid ink” is apparently growing more popular and health officials have yet to interfere.

Should we as Christians shrug our shoulders at one more crazy trend, or is something more serious going on? In a blog September 24, 2013 (CLICK HERE to read) I reference my book CURSE BREAKING which details the unbiblical aspects of cremation (CLICK HERE to order). I make the point that Bible verses such as Lev. 21:11, Num. 5:2-3, 6:6-7, 19:11, and 19:13 warn against the consequences of “touching” a dead body. In my earlier blog I explain that in Old Testament times, someone had to remove a dead body to a separate place and bury it. A Nazirite vow of dedication to the Lord meant that such a person could not even be associated with the corpse of a family member. Cremated ashes are a corpse, albeit in burnt form. We do not live under the Old Covenant, and hygienic considerations are no longer necessary. Still, violating the spiritual intent of Moses’s Law can bring a curse. If the unwarranted touching of a dead body was considered a curse, what are we to think of allowing the departed into our epidermis?

To all those liberal/progressive types, listen up. You mocked the tea party and conservatives as paranoid, alarmist, and delusional for worrying that Islamic, Sharia Law might come to America. Well, it’s already in England and about to be enshrined in the U.K. financial world. Prime Minister David Cameron has announced plans to issue a Sharia bond in the UK, making it the first non-Muslim country to do so. Cameron also says that the London Stock Exchange will now have an Islamic index.  Cameron commented, “I don’t just want London to be a great capital of Islamic finance in the Western world, I want London to stand alongside Dubai as one of the great capitals of Islamic finance anywhere in the world.” The Prime Minister of England is effectively suggesting that his government, which I remind my readers is officially subservient to the Church of England, will subject at least a portion of its legal system to Islamic law. Who doubts that this somewhat small issuing of bonds worth 200 million British Pounds will grow from the infusion of wealth from Muslim Gulf states (undoubtedly his motive) to the point of eventually holding England somewhat hostage to Islamic political intentions? At least one former Anglican Bishop has raised his voice in opposition saying that Christianity is increasingly excluded from the administration of British law. Bishop Dr Nazir-Ali, who holds dual British and Pakistani citizenship, said of Cameron’s plans in London’s The Telegraph: “This means that the Government itself will be subject to Sharia in its dealings on these bonds. At the moment the issue is pretty modest, but how much will it grow? There’s a lot of liquidity out there and it could grow pretty rapidly, and then you may face a situation where a major part of your financial system is governed by sharia-compliant considerations.” He added: “Before we take these steps that could have unforeseen consequences we do need greater public discussion, greater explanation of what actually is being done and what it is we are letting ourselves in for.”

Let’s understand something. Sharia Law is about more than no-interest loans. It’s a religious code for politics and economics, with intrusion into diet and even sexual intercourse. Christians and Jews have no legal standing as they are considered “infidels” without rights. It is considered nothing less than the divine law of the Koran. Under Sharia a woman can be beaten for unveiling her face, immorality may lead to beheading, and becoming a Christian is a capital crime fully punishable by death. Sharia is arriving in England and Jihadists have their aim on America. Now, I ask, who is the alarmist?

When and how should Americans pray? The Supreme Court is about to decide. Two curmudgeonly women – JUST TWO DISGRUNTLED WOMEN!!! – may turn the tide of religious freedom for 300 million Americans.  Our high court is about to tell the people of Greece, New York, and the whole country for that matter, what prayers are permissible because of a lawsuit filed by Linda Stephens and Susan Galloway. These are the words that upset them:
Be Thou present, O God of wisdom, and direct the councils of this honorable assembly; enable them to settle things on the best and surest foundation. … that order, harmony and peace may be effectually restored, and truth and justice, religion and piety, prevail and flourish amongst the people. … All this we ask in the name and through the merits of Jesus Christ, Thy Son and our Savior.

Of note is that these words, delivered by a pastor speaking to the Greece Town Board, came from the opening prayer of the Continental Congress in 1774, delivered by Jacob Duche, rector of Christ Church Philadelphia. What’s been okay for 239 years may soon be illegal. The issue comes before the Court today to determine what exactly was meant by the “establishment clause” of the First Amendment:  “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” We’ve been on this slippery slope for a long time, and not just since 1963 when another Jezebel, Madalyn Murray O’Hair, had prayer thrown out of public school. In the 1971 Lemon v. Kurtzman case, the Court said that prayers associated with government must have a “secular purpose” and cannot “advance religion.” In the name of all that is rational and sane, how can prayer that is at all meaningful have a “secular purpose?” And what’s the point of praying if it isn’t to “advance religion?” It’s true that the Obama administration defends the use of legislative prayer, such as in the Greece NY situation, but only because it is “Congress’ tradition,” not because prayer is actually believed to be effectual in any real way.  As followers of this ministry know, I’ve spend a lot of time the past couple of years ministering in the former Soviet Union and Russia. The fervor for God in that part of the word, and the freedom to pray, eclipses that of America. We should be ashamed that those bound by a century of atheism now love God more than some in America, and they are willing to say so publicly without government interference.

On October 3, 2013 I reported on the discovery of an ancient curse found in Roman ruins  (CLICK HERE to read blog). Now, yet another archaeological find has revealed a similar malediction also inscribed on a lead tablet. The October blog was about a curse directed toward a veterinarian for some unspecified malady. The latest find comes from a dig in Jerusalem, unearthed in a collapsed mansion dating to around 1,700 years ago. In this case gods such as Hermes, Hecate and Abrasax are invoked, using Greek and some Hebrew words for extra effect.  The sender of this imprecation wanted to “nail down” the tongue and eyes of one named Lennys. The curse called on the powers of four religions, including Judaism, Greek mythology, Babylonian worship, and even the heretical Gnostic sect of Christianity. Scientists believe that in performing the curse the sender of the evil would likely have used an actual hammer and nails in the lead piece to enforce the curse’s consequences.  Archaeologists excavating the mansion in which the curse was found believe that the tablet of intentional evil was deliberately placed in a second floor room where the recipient of the curse might live or frequent.

Not much has changed. Those who schedule Personal Encounters with me often tell of torment from unspecified sources. Upon further investigation, and sometimes interrogation of evil spirits, we learn of deliberate curses put on their ancestors. Among recent cases I have witnessed are these; a man sprinkling the bed of his brother with small quantities of human blood to cause disease; an ancestor 20 generations ago performing a human sacrifice out of greed, resulting in the corruption of wealth; an ex-spouse going to a voodoo witchdoctor in New Orleans to curse his ex-wife with torment so that no other man would ever want her; a mother-in-law asking a psychic for help with a curse to kill her son’s new wife. These are real cases that we “unearthed” in our spiritual “digging.” If these individuals had not come to me, or someone adept in doing deliverance, their misery would have continued. But each of these individuals was set free to live a new life, free from the curse. I’m not sure the same could be said for Lennys whose effigy was nailed in lead.