Month: July 2019

An encouraging word: THE COMBAT ZONE

David called upon the Lord to, “Hide me in the shadow of your wings from . . . my mortal enemies who surround me” (Psalm 17:8). The once-shepherd boy was keenly aware that adversaries were out to destroy him. Peter put it this way: Your adversary the devil, as a roaring like, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8). If you aren’t aware that Satan is out to get you, you’re living with a false sense of security. The truth is that Christians live in a combat zone. The only way to spiritually survive is to be battle-ready. Don’t be lulled by the kind of comfortable Christianity that ignores the real demonic warfare we all face every day. Denying the reality of demons and the devil only increases the risk of danger.

During a recent one-on-on Personal Spiritual Encounter we ministered to a woman whose family was deeply involved in the occult. There were many things to be renounced and multiple curses to be broken. But after considerable time, we still hadn’t achieved the breakthrough we needed. It was then that the woman said, “You know, my mother talked a lot of how she could see into the spirit realm through her third eye.” BINGO. That was it. In Eastern religions, the third eye “chakra” (psychic energy center) is seen as the key to spiritual awakening of the individual’s soul. It’s considered the sixth chakra (sometimes seventh) in the brow area between the eyes, sometimes in the center of the forehead, the eye of the mind or the soul, the gateway to higher, inner consciousness. The yogi who develops this chakra is said to be freed from time-bound consciousness and transcends the personal ego self to achieve super-consciousness, god-consciousness. This is why you’ll see devout Hindus wearing a jewel (women) in this location of the forehead or having a mark of holy ash from a Hindu temple, known as “tlaka.” The third eye is awakened by meditation and is believed to be the dwelling of the Hindu god Shiva, Lord of Destruction.   During ministry, I have often been able to call forth the demon(s) connected to this eye, simply by placing the edge of my Bible, as a spiritual sword, piercing this demonic locale. This raises a question: Do demons sometimes reside in specific body locations? Yes. Even though they are non-spatial, spirit beings, once they inhabit a physical body, they are bound by the time/space confines of that body. Thus, they may dwell in a specific area. If an individual opens the door to demons by a spiritual practice, such as yoga or meditation, the evil spirit may lay claim to that body part which has been used as the spiritual source of invocation.  

All non-Christian meditation techniques should be avoided, even if awakening the third eye is not a specifically stated goal. This is also true with yoga, even so-called “holy Christian yoga.” The posturing positions have been specifically developed over millennia to evoke third-eye awareness, whether that is the intended goal of the yoga follower. The ultimate lie of third-eye consciousness is two-fold: 1) that the path to spiritual awareness is through focus on a specific body location, rather than the biblical truths of Christ’s blood atonement and resurrection, and 2) that the goal of spirituality is the dissolving of one’s ego for immersion in the oneness of god consciousness, rather than harmony with Jesus Christ by repentance of personal sin and submission to His Lordship as the only Son of God.

An encouraging word: THE COMBAT ZONE

David called upon the Lord to, “Hide me in the shadow of your wings from . . . my mortal enemies who surround me” (Psalm 17:8). The once-shepherd boy was keenly aware that adversaries were out to destroy him. Peter put it this way: Your adversary the devil, as a roaring like, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8). If you aren’t aware that Satan is out to get you, you’re living with a false sense of security. The truth is that Christians live in a combat zone. The only way to spiritually survive is to be battle-ready. Don’t be lulled by the kind of comfortable Christianity that ignores the real demonic warfare we all face every day. Denying the reality of demons and the devil only increases the risk of danger.

An encouraging word: GOD IS RIGHTEOUS

“The Lord our God is righteous in everything He does,” Daniel 9:14 declares. Yet how often do we mere humans question His design for humanity? “Why does He permit such evil?” we say of wars and natural disasters. “Why doesn’t God just destroy Satan?” some argue, when they probably don’t even believe there is a devil. God gets blamed for a lot – disease, suffering, bloodshed, and even prayers that are assumed to be unanswered; but GOD IS RIGHTEOUS. He can do no wrong. We may not see His purpose or understand His ways, but we dare not conclude that He is somehow off course with his intentions toward mankind.

A week ago last Friday, we held a seminar in Detroit, Michigan. When it came time to open the doors to the meeting room, I was shocked at what I saw. Standing in line first to get inside were about two dozen members of the local chapter of The Satanic Temple. Many were all black-clad, some in long, flowing robes, and festooned with an array of demonic paraphernalia, including ubiquitous, devil-worshiping, goat’s-head pentagrams. The leaders seated themselves on the front row, giving horned, two-fingered salutes to Satan.   For those not familiar with this cult, I’ve covered their activities in previous blogs: “Satanic Temple at Seminar” 04/01/19 (To read click here.); “Satanic Merry Christmas” 12/17/18 (To read click here.): “Satanism Triumphs” 02/22/16 (To read click here.) This demonic organization is the newly gussied-up face of Satanism. Unlike the secretive-nudes-on-the-alter brand of Anton LaVey (author of “The Satanic Bible”) or the Temple of Set (which believes in a real devil), the Temple is in the public, in your face. Instead of the standard satanic glorification of sensual desires, they emphasize First Amendment rights, putting half-human, half-goat Baphomet demon statues in public place, and file lawsuits to open official governmental meetings with invocations of “Hail Satan.”   That night in Detroit they were respectful, for the most part, minus a few obnoxious interruptions. Mostly they were polite, waiting to take selfies with me and proclaiming they were my biggest fans—no kidding. They proved it by bringing with them personal copies of my books, including older ones out of print like “Satanism: The Seduction of America’s Youth” which they implored me to autograph. So, what was their real point, and why did I allow them to attend?   Who else is going to bring them the gospel and demonstrate the power of Christ? We are to love our “enemies” (Luke 6:27) and preach the gospel to “every creature” (Mark 16:15). More importantly, that night they witnessed up-close-and-personal a violent, unmistakably authentic exorcism of a young mother, possessed by demons because of Freemasonry in her bloodline. The Temple leaders were just a few feet away from seeing the chilling, demonic manifestations of an otherwise loving, Christian woman.   Pray for the Satanists who were there in Detroit, that the demonstration of God’s love and power over a real devil will prevail. More than ever, we need an army of Warriors for Christ, highly trained in fighting the forces of Hell. If there was ever a time to enroll in our International School of Exorcism and Advanced Academy of Deliverance, it’s now. Polite, smiling sermons and cleverly marketed religious relevancy will not win the showdown with Satanism in these last days.

An encouraging word: DON’T MAKE GOD MAD

In Psalm 18:7 David paints a picture of God that doesn’t sit well with our American seeker-friendly style of Christianity. “Then the earth shook and trembled; The foundations of the hills also quaked and were shaken, Because He was angry.” NKJV Wow! If I were you, I wouldn’t want the Lord to be upset. Yes, He is loving and gracious, and He maintains “love to thousand, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin” (Exodus 34:6). But God is also holy, and just, and no sin can be tolerated in His presence. Don’t be deceived by today’s easy believism to the point that you upset God’s righteous character. Don’t make Him mad!