Month: February 2023

Three-time NFL-MVP Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers is off on another spiritual journey to nowhere. Twice he has jetted to Peru to take part in witchcraft ceremonies involving the hallucinogenic drug ayahuasca. A shaman witchdoctor guided Rodgers’ mental journeys into so-called “higher states of consciousness.” (Read that as the description of a demon possession ritual if you understand biblical spiritual warfare.) Several times last football season, after throwing touchdown passes, Rodgers celebrated with teammates in the end zone by mimicking drinking ayahuasca brew. This psychoactive drug apparently didn’t help his on-the-field performance. Last season was the worst of his career. So much for spiritual enlightenment.

As I write this blog, Rodgers is considering leaving the Packers, the only team of his NFL-lifetime. He must convince the next team that his athletic skills haven’t aged in 17 seasons. But before making his final career decision Rodgers is heading off to a four-day, dark room meditation retreat.

What’s that? Dark room meditation retreats are the latest New Age fad designed to find one’s true spiritual essence. Complete sensory deprivation is the goal. Days on end in a sparse room, often with little or no furniture. Total darkness. No glimmer of light. Food delivered once a day. No sound. A simple bathroom if the participant can find it. The experience can last several days or a week. Some try it longer, up to 40 days! Many darkness advocates report seeing strange floating lights and orbs in the total blackness. Others speak of visitations by beings of a “higher spiritual order.” Where did this concept come from?

Though New Agers are making dark meditation a popular stop on the trip to spiritual enlightenment, the concept has been around for centuries. Many pagan spiritual traditions have used the practice to alter consciousness. One origin is in Tibetan Buddhism, which my research has shown to be the most highly developed of all non-Christian religions claiming supernatural powers. Dark retreats are an advanced spiritual practice of the Dzogchen lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. Spontaneous religious, visual experiences are the goal, seeing with mind rather than the eyes. Yogis claim that dark retreats can lead to visions of deities including shining goddesses. Body energy channels are said to be opened so the powers of these demon deities can flow through the participant.

Another dark retreat purpose is to understand how to navigate between death and the next reincarnation, a state known in Buddhism as “bardo.” In brief, dark rooms seek to lead one into the intermediate spiritual existence leading to the reincarnated state of another life form. To students of the Bible, this is blasphemy and the ultimate lie of Eden’s serpent. While tempting Eve to eat the forbidden fruit, Satan said, “You shall not surely die. Your eyes will be opened, and you will be like god” (Genesis 3:4-5).

Aaron Rodgers like other new age seekers today, may aspire to deeper spiritual understanding in a dark retreat. But the end of such quests may lead to an even deeper blackness, the outer darkness of Hell. Jesus warned of this in Matthew 8:12, when He declared that Hell would be a place of “weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Wherever Rodgers plays next season, if he doesn’t repent of his dark retreat evil, he and those who follow his pursuit will eventually end up in the darkness of eternal separation from God.

The demon Jezebel has many forms and prototypes of evil. These are alternate identities with different names that have emerged throughout history.  My book “Jezebel—Defeating Your #1 Spiritual Enemy” lists some of them: Isis, Artemis, Ashtoreth, Astarte, Kali, Delilah, Diana, Athena—it’s a long list. Each has the basic characteristics of Jezebel, which are sexual lust, control, manipulation, spiritual murder, seduction, and so on. Each of Jezebel’s adaptations of evil has a slightly different motif of deception and operation. 

One of the most vicious is Jezebel in the form of the pre-Christian Greek goddess Medusa. She was depicted in ancient Greece as a human female with poisonous snakes protruding from her hair. According to legend, one look at her and her venomous vipers can turn a person, usually a male, into stone. In one version of the Medusa myth, she is seen as a marine spirit with whom Neptune/Poseidon, Greek god of the seas, had sex in the temple of Athena. As punishment for this profanation, the beautiful hair of Medusa was changed into frightening snakes. This hideous demon has been featured in several TV commercials, including a promotion for Amazon Prime. 

I have faced this demon as a variant of Jezebel many times. Recently she manifested in a woman who had struggled for many years with relationships. She had been married three times and added to that a string of lovers who violently abused her. This led to extreme immorality and many abortions. When the demon first manifested, I thought it was Jezebel. The demon played coy and finally said, “I’m Medusa.” The demon revealed that each of the seven men in her life was one of her “snakes.” As she went from man to man, each previous soul-tie relationship added yet another snake spirit to Medusa’s coiffure. 

If you have a sexually checkered personal history, Medusa might be involved. Begin fighting back by renouncing every soul tie with each partner. One by one, cut off the spiritual snakes each individual represents. Declare the purity of Christ over these past indiscretions. Receive healing and cleansing according to the promise of Isaiah 1:18-19: Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land.” And if you sense you need deliverance, contact us immediately. We’ll show you how to cut off the hair locks of Lucifer and send the snakes of Medusa slithering back to Hell!

You’re likely reading this blog because you suspect that you might have demons. Perhaps you are tormented in supernatural ways. Possibly a friend or loved one who has shown an interest in the topic of deliverance. Maybe you’ve come across our online teaching or other social media exploring the topic of demons. Whatever has piqued your interest in the idea of certain people having demons, don’t brush this urging aside. It could be curiosity. It might also be the Holy Spirit prodding you to seek this kind of spiritual help. Your problem may need a solution deeper than the advice most churches offer. If there is a possibility that you might have demons, where do you start to address the issue?

First, engage in focused, well-informed curse breaking.  Second, find an individual or a prayer group that knows how to take you through what is called “inner healing.” Third, take spiritual inventory of your life. Make a list of your damaged relationships, your interest in non-Christian views of spirituality, and any trauma you’ve experienced, especially during your developmental years. These three steps won’t necessarily resolve your situation, but they will lead you to further explore biblical solutions. If you want to learn more about ways to understand deliverance and exorcism, go immediately to boblarsonuniversity.org and enroll in our online educational track about spiritual warfare. You can also check online at boblarson.org and explore our library of books and opportunities of virtual or in-person ministry. In the meantime, let me further explain these three things you need to do immediately.

#1 – CURSE BREAKING: A curse is an evil intention invoked over your life or your bloodline. It may have been deliberate like a voodoo doll or a satanic ritual. It may have been consequential.  By this I mean that an ancestor committed some terrible evil and the consequences of that sin continue down through the generations to affect you now. Deuteronomy chapter 28 in the Old Testament speaks of what we call generational curses. You can learn very precise ways to address this matter in our book entitled “Curse Breaking.”

#2 – INNER HEALING: This a prayer process that involves discovering what emotionally disturbing events may have traumatized your life to some degree. It could be some abuse you suffered as a child. It could be something like rejection, neglect, a broken family system, or emotional instability in your past. These memories and negative, life-defining moments need to be reframed with a perspective of Christ’s healing and grace. It’s what I call redefining the point of the pain, viewing the emotional wounds of your past in the perspective of God’s mercy. In the absence of inner healing, Satan can exploit these previous mental injuries as an opening for demons

#3 – PERSONAL SPIRITUAL INVENTORY: Make a list of all the ways that you may have opened doors to the devil. These include past involvement in cults, alternative religions, New Age practices, and any non-biblical beliefs. List all your past sexual partners with whom you may have formed a soul-tie that needs broken. Include any evil actions or indulgences such as drug or alcohol abuse, illegal or criminal behavior, or immoral indulgences. In addition to seeking the forgiveness of Christ you should ask the Lord to show you what demons might have entered by these deeds of disobedience. Repent of each spiritual rebellion in your inventory and ask the blood of Jesus to close every opening that demons might have used because of your past sins 

Doing these three things isn’t an end-all to spiritual liberation, but it’s a start. It likely won’t fix all your spiritual problems. But it moves things in the direction of a solution. It’s a direct, introspective way of getting free from the bondage that you’re experiencing. Do what you can on your own, and then contact us for further guidance by referral to one of our ministry teams or a qualified associate minister. You can also explore the possibility of meeting with me personally. If you have demons, it’s not a situation that you can put on hold or mentally shelve for reconsideration at a later time. Take action now, if you think you have demons.

Are you a hoarder? You can have your living environment perfectly pristine, and still be a hoarder. I’m speaking about being a spiritual hoarder.  A hoarder in the commonly understood sense is someone who hangs on to things they don’t need long after these items have served their usefulness. It’s a mentality that says, “What if I need it someday?” The hoarder just can’t discard unnecessary objects. Eventually, the obsession of keeping things can become unsafe and unhealthy. Personal relationships are damaged because no one wants to be around all that junk. Hoarding is an obsessive attachment to objects and things that provides a false sense of security. The hoarder feels safe with all their stuff even though others may find it nauseating.

Spiritual hoarders do the same thing. I will list some of the things that spiritual hoarders hang on to that make them feel safe spiritually.  First, spiritual hoarders are attached to unhealthy people in their lives that they associated with before they became a Christian. They can’t let go of these damaged individuals. This happens to those bound by alcohol and drugs. The individual comes to the Lord and gets delivered from their addictions, but they still hang around the addicts they once knew. They hoard these people, sometimes even in their own living situation. To break the bondage of spiritual hoarding, cut the soul ties with every person with whom you’ve had previous demonic attachments. Delete all their text messages, emails, and photos. If you have a toxic ex-friend or ex-lover, stop spiritually hoarding them and anything that represents them.

Second, stop hoarding demonic items in your surroundings. Get rid of all the things of your former life that represent witchcraft. Throw out those crystals you believed had spiritual energy. Get rid of every book that exalts non-Christian beliefs, unless needed for official research. Trash the dream catchers, sage, amulets, yoga mats, bongs, and Buddhas. Don’t hoard anything that could keep an open door to the devil  

Finally, you can hoard old emotions and evil desires in your mind. Get rid of anything that was tied to a pornography addiction and triggers lustful thoughts. Kick out memories of old relationships that were spiritually poisonous. Don’t keep hoarding all the feelings of worldly pleasures from excessive gaming, gambling, social media cravings, the thrill of clubbing, and sexual fantasies of the old life before Christ. I could keep going, and for some you what you’ve hoarded could be a long list. Just remember that what you are hanging on to could be damaging to your present spiritual condition. James 1:21 admonishes, “Lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness.” That’s a good description of spiritual hoarding. If you are overwhelmed by things which you’ve hoarded from the old life before Christ, then do as Hebrews 12:1 says, “Lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” You can’t take it with you when you’re gone, so clean your spiritual house now and repent of your spiritual hoarding.