Month: April 2018

Two scriptures have been bouncing around my mind this week. The first is Romans 5:20: “Where sin abounded, grace abounded much more.” I know that Paul is speaking directly of Old Testament law, but this verse also applies to all areas of life where evil seem to be winning. The second verse on my mind is Luke 18:8, a more pessimistic perspective: “When the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” Romans speaks of good overcoming evil, but Luke suggests that at Christ’s Second Coming many will compromise their convictions and fall from the faith.

I thought of this as Laura and I saw the Christian film, “I Can Only Imagine,” the story of MercyMe’s lead singer Bart Millard, who was raised in an abusive home in which his father brutalized him. It’s a great film that leaves most people teary-eyed at the end. It’s very moving, and a movie every Christian family should see. But on the way out of the theater I was struck by the contradiction of what I had just seen and what all the posters on the walls around me were glorifying. Every advertisement glorified upcoming movies about sexual perversion, gratuitous violence and blasphemy. How could two such diametrically opposite film subjects coexist?

That’s a moral microcosm of our world today, grace abounding with great opportunities for the Gospel, compared with precipitous spiritual declension and debauchery all around. Grace and apostasy. Good and evil. Angels and demons. Righteousness and perversity; this great film being screened in the middle of demonic lasciviousness. “I Can Only Imagine” versus the hounds of hell.

“Choose this day whom you will serve,” Joshua challenged the people of Israel (Joshua 24:15). Oh, the terror that awaits those who choose wrongly and the joy that awaits those who wisely choose the Lord. I can only imagine.

An Encouraging word: HOW GOD SEES YOU

I know a fair bit about running races. In high school and college my specialty was low hurdles. For a while, I even held the conference record for lowest time. The secret to my success was speedy legs, an ability to jump, and total focus on the hurdle in front of me. In 1 Corinthians 9:24 Paul speaks about running to get the prize of an “imperishable crown” in heaven. When younger, I ran for a ribbon or a medal. But now I race for an eternal accolade. I still keep focus on the hurdle before me, not the one behind me. Overcoming obstacles in life is all about leaving the sins of the past and forging forward for the spiritual victories of the future. Do that with the hurdles in front of you today.

Bob Larson has trained healing and deliverance teams all over the world to set the captives free and Do What Jesus Did® (Luke 4:18). You can partner with Bob and support this vision to demonstrate God’s power in action by calling 303-980-1511 or clicking here to donate online.

One of the best religious films I’ve seen in years is the recent release, “Paul, Apostle of Christ.” It’s the story of Paul’s last days in a dark dungeon and under house arrest in Rome. The retrospective of his life is seen through the eyes of Luke, who tells Paul’s story in the Book of Acts. Luke visits Paul in prison and in relative freedom before Nero’s ax fall on the Apostle’s neck and ends his mission to carry the gospel to the Gentiles. Gritty, minus melodrama, and factually accurate, “Paul, Apostle of Christ” is a film all Christians should see.

Yet one thing troubles me about this movie. Its message is symptomatic of modern, North American Christianity. It guts an important part of the Gospel. (I use “gut” as a verb, “to remove essential or vital parts of something.”) The script of “Paul” is faithful to Scripture, and brilliantly weaves biblical truth into the dialogue between Luke and Paul. There is a moving portrayal of Paul’s Damascus road epiphany; indelible insights into the character of Paul the man as he grapples with life’s end. But important aspects of Paul’s life and teaching are missing.

Understandably, this movie couldn’t contain every account in Acts and every significant passage in the Apostle’s epistles. But notably absent was any reference to Paul’s great exposition in Ephesians chapter six about the armor of God and the demonic forces with which we all “wrestle.” Also, the thorn in Paul’s “flesh” is never referred to, perhaps because the idea that he was tormented by a demon is too much for evangelicals to swallow. Imagine, such a holy man oppressed by a “messenger of Satan.” And “Paul” is silent about one of the most significant events in the Apostle’s life: Acts 16:16 where Luke records the casting out of evil spirits from a demon-possessed witch/fortune-teller/psychic. Paul as an exorcist? That might require too much explaining to a movie audience of seeker-friendly Christian who think casting out demons is a medieval oddity.

I don’t mean to be picky, because I do like this film; but I suspect excising all references to spiritual warfare from Luke’s writings was deliberate. Too controversial. Perhaps not theologically acceptable to most evangelicals who are cessationists when it comes to spiritual gifts and the present-day miracle of deliverance. But casting out demons IS the gospel, and the first sign of the gospel’s integrity. (Read again Mark 16:17, the Great Commission.) To remove references to spiritual warfare and deliverance from the life of Paul is an unacceptable omission, and it guts the Gospel. In Luke’s own words (Luke 4:18), Jesus came to declare freedom to the captives of Satan. That’s the Gospel for which Paul lived and died!

An Encouraging word: HOW GOD SEES YOU

A pastor friend of mine recently made the following observation, which I’ll put into my own words: There are many ways that we think about ourselves: (1) How we see ourselves, (2) How others see us, (3) How we think others see us, (4) How we want others to see us, and (5) How God sees us. One of the most important questions in life is to ask yourself how God really sees you. Paul had that insight when he wrote in Romans 3:12, “There is no one who does good, not even one.” As sinners, God sees us as unrighteous and worthy of condemnation. As saints, He sees us as forgiven and worthy of eternal life.

Bob Larson has trained healing and deliverance teams all over the world to set the captives free and Do What Jesus Did® (Luke 4:18). You can partner with Bob and support this vision to demonstrate God’s power in action by calling 303-980-1511 or clicking here to donate online

“People are beaten, berated, subjected to psychological manipulation during an exorcism.”
“Exorcism should only happen with a collaboration of professionals such as doctors.”
“Mental health issues are treated as spiritual problems that only need prayer.”
“Exorcism is incredibly rare and should seldom be attempted.”

Each of these statements was made in a recent British news story about the rise of exorcism around the world, which the reporter called “a booming industry.” It was interesting article, but not a single, active exorcist, such as me, was consulted. Instead, a litany of critics, voicing the objections above, were cited. The sense of the article was that this idea of exorcism is out of control, practiced by ignorant individuals who should leave people’s problems to the “professionals.”

I acknowledge there is some truth to these and other anti-exorcism assertions. Those seeking deliverance are sometimes subjected to unwise intervention and are emotionally mistreated. It’s true that prayer may be substituted for proper psychiatric help. But there is another side to the story. Some seek exorcism because they’re tired of being told they’re a mental case and having pills pushed on them. They are discouraged from being turned down by one priest and pastor after another who are too busy with their religious work to help a hurting soul. And let’s get this straight! True demonic torment isn’t rare, it’s common and out-of-control! And who said that an ecclesiastical hierarchy should be in charge of who receives deliverance prayer? Not Jesus. He told a rag-tag group of fishermen, tax collectors, and those socially marginalized—the two, the twelve, the seventy– to cast out demons in his name. (“He gave them power and authority to drive out demons” Luke 9:1.)

More than anyone, I understand the need for caution and careful attention to the ministry of deliverance. I’ve seen all that can go wrong, and I’ve witnessed over-zealous people do more harm than good. I’ve known of ill-advised exorcisms and over-reaching attempts to solve medical and mental problems with a shout of “out in the name of Jesus.” That’s why we’ve so carefully pursued high academic and theological standards with our International School of Exorcism and our Advanced Academy of Deliverance. We are determined to get this right, to pursue excellence in ministry and remove the stigmas of the past. But what we don’t do is give in to naysayers, most of whom don’t even believe in a real devil and real demons. People in deliverance ministry need to do a better job, not quit the job they’re doing because some “expert” warns against errant exorcist. To my fellow deliverance ministers I say, “Don’t be intimidated. Get more knowledge every day. Grow in your understanding of God’s power and Satanism chicanery.” Get on with the job of setting captives free, no matter what anyone says to debunk deliverance!

An Encouraging word: CHRISTIANS AT DEATH

Death for a Christian is much different from the passing of those who have no faith or have an occult view of the afterlife. To the atheist life is all there is and death is the end of everything. To the Eastern mystic, death is a transition to another life form, a reincarnated transmigration into whatever karma wills. To the believer in Christ, dying is to be “absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord” (2 Cor. 8:8). Christians have the hope of heaven with no need of a second chance.

Bob Larson has trained healing and deliverance teams all over the world to set the captives free and Do What Jesus Did® (Luke 4:18). You can partner with Bob and support this vision to demonstrate God’s power in action by calling 303-980-1511 or clicking here to donate online