Month: April 2014

By now you may have heard. A topless woman in St. Petersburg, Florida, wearing only a string, barged into a McDonalds fast food restaurant and proceeded to trash the place. The scene above is taken from a security camera capturing her one-woman melee. (I chose the most discreet photo possible; that’s her behind the glass door throwing refrigerated food on the floor.) The rampage lasted a little over two minutes, but the topless and brainless woman managed to create some serious havoc. With her bare hands she tore apart the kitchen, throwing everything in sight and then toppled what she could. Employees stood by amused and later posted the uncensored footage. Before she’s done, she puts her hands under the ice cream dispenser and sucks in her fill of the frosty. She then grabs a handful of fries and heads out the door.

Insane? Psychotic? High? Pranking? Who knows; but it’s the reaction of those who watched and those who posted their reactions that is most telling. On a web site featuring the full video of mayhem, a McDonalds’ employee writes, “This woman is my new role model.” Another observes, “She engages on her terms and doesn’t play by the rules.” Yet another web site viewer ads, “I could see this easily being me.” Huh? An act of vandalism and destruction of private property is somehow turned into a social commentary and a display of heroic individuality? Like those U. Conn. idiots who rioted Monday night after their team won the NCAA basketball title game.  These “students” started fires, knocked over lamp posts, smashed windows of businesses, and flipped cars. All this because their team WON. The topless trasher and the rioting students have something in common. Over-indulgence, narcissism on steroids, a sense of entitlement, and an IQ forged with an obsession for Mortal Kombat and Assassin’s Creed (extremely violent video games for the uninitiated). Their brains have been fried on Facebook and their morals warped on hip-hop. Their attention span is the length of Snapchat and their respect for God and country somewhere between “Hangover” and a Che Guevara T-shirt. Only a massive spiritual awaking will alter where all this is taking America. And it needs to start with a return to demonstrating God’s power instead of seeker-friendly sermons. Anyone say, “Amen?”

Two years ago, ABC-TV journalist Dan Harris flew from New York City to Phoenix to interview me and the Teenage Exorcists for feature reports on ABC-TV’s Nightline and Good Morning America. He spent a day watching us cast out demons and minister to hurting people. As one of America’s premiere television hosts and reporters, Harris has covered everything from the mass shootings in Newtown, Connecticut to the Haiti earthquake. I suspect one of the reasons ABC sent Harris to do our story is because he has often focused on faith issues, including evangelical Christianity. Needless to say, he got an eyeful of the supernatural when he witnessed me and the Teenage Exorcists casting out demons.

Harris has just released a new book 10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Really Works – a True Story. He tells how motivational gurus and various religious leaders encouraged him to meditate with positive results. Harris admits that the pressure of his job lead to self-medicating with recreational drugs, including cocaine. What pulled him out of that negative spiral was “secular mindfulness meditation.” Since one of the people he says influenced him is former NBA coach Phil Jackson, we can assume there was a heavy dose of Zen. He now advocates meditating at least five minutes a day to be at least 10% happier.

I have met many of the most popular and successful television hosts and journalist, from Diane Sawyer to Dr. Phil, Oprah to Anderson Cooper. Harris is one of the genuinely nicest, friendliest, and least pretentious. I’m sad he had such a battle with his “demons.” But if those “demons” were real DEMONS, then he’s seen firsthand the real solution to peace of mind from spiritual bondage – deliverance. If you want to know more about what’s wrong with secularized meditation, read the extensive analysis of that issue in my 575-page LARSON’S BOOK OF WORLD RELIGIONS. (To order CLICK HERE.) Most meditation, that isn’t Christ centered, is a temporary emotional bandage at best and the pathway to demonization at worst. My advice to Mr. Harris is this: Don’t settle for a 10% increase in happiness. Centering your mind on Jesus the whole day gives 100% peace!