Blog

The American mission in Afghanistan has not succeeded as expected. That’s an understatement. And Afghanistan isn’t the only place marred by failure. In Iraq, just last week, twin suicide bombings killed 32 and wounded 110. Iranian backed factions still cause havoc in Iraq. In Afghanistan we all witnessed last week’s tragedies. All this instability is about more than Islamic fundamentalism. That part of the world is known for Muslim militancy, but the historic legacy of witchcraft may be an even more destabilizing influence. Babylon, centered in today’s Iraq, was the historic center of Mesopotamian idolatry more than 4,000 years ago. It was the cradle of earth’s witchcraft. Similarly, Afghanistan has a history of witchcraft and black magic curses. I have ministered to many Afghan emigres. They came to me as a Christian exorcist for help to break curses on their lives that their Muslim Imams, spiritual leaders, couldn’t cancel. Everywhere one goes in Afghanistan, especially in the countryside, fortune tellers operate. They often locate at Islamic shrines, such as the Hazra Ali Shrine, and even at the entrances to Muslim mosques.

All cross the Middle East psychics offer advice on a larger scale larger than in America. In Saudi Arabia divination is considered sorcery and is punishable by death. But in Afghanistan people constantly see to get rid of “jinns,” the Muslim word for demons or devils. These devils are believed to be intermediary beings with the will to choose good and evil. When evil they are under the control of Iblis (Satan). They can even shape shift as animals. Witches are known as “Jinn catchers.”

To get rid of their jinns, people wear amulets, perform animal sacrifices, and even seek out Islamic exorcists. Imams are called upon regularly to use supposedly magical quotations from the Koran to heal illnesses, acquire power, and bring good luck. They read dice, cards, palm leaves, and coffee grounds to ward off evil spirits. In next door Pakistan, astrologers have their own TV show. The leader of Pakistan, Afghanistan’s neighbor, is said to sacrifice a black goat every day to protect himself from black magic.

To expel a jinn, sorcerers in Afghanistan advise a diet of bread and black pepper along with sleeping on the ground. Some even bury themselves in earthen mounds.

Here’s the real spiritual issue Americans have faced in Iraq. Our military arrived with the idea that politics and guns could solve the country’s problems. Non-westernized Afghans see all difficulties as spiritual matters. The Taliban and their ilk have emphasized a worldview of supernaturalism, of Allah and jinns, and that is one reason we’re in the mess we’re in over there. It isn’t the Taliban who have won, the jinns have.

The scenes are seared in our memories. Our embassy in Saigon falling to the Viet Cong, a last minute attempt to destroy valuable documents, and desperate Americans being airlifted from the roof. Iran tormenting and torturing 66 Americans for 444 days in Iran. Now, desperate Afghans clinging to the sides of an airplane, some falling to their deaths thousands of feet in the air.

And there are more tragic images. Women lying bloody in the streets because of some Taliban infraction. Thousands of Americans fearing for their lives and wondering what their fate will be if left behind in Afghanistan. After hundreds of billions of dollars spent to stop Al-Qaeda and make them pay for 9/11, will we see new terrorist attacks in America? What will happen to Christians in Iran? What is the Christian response to thousands of Afghan refugees flooding America? Does this have any significance in Bible prophecy?

Hillsong, the Australian-based religious conglomerate, operates in 28 countries with more than 150,000 weekly attendees. It is now in the midst an explosive scandal. Founder, Brian Houston, faces charges in an Australian court of covering up the pedophilia of his late father, Frank. One of Frank’s victims, aged seven at the time, says the sexual abuse happened around 1970 and that his son, Brian Houston, knew about it and covered it up. The victim further alleges that he was “raped, choked, and brutalized.” It is also claimed that Frank, and later his son Brian, tried to buy off the victim with $10,000 in Australian dollars. Brian says the victim insisted, years ago, that the abuse not be made public. A criminal sentence could put the powerful pastor behind bars for five years.

Hillsong, as we know it today, grew out of Frank Houston’s megachurch in the 80s. At the time the elder Houston was also head of the Australian division of the Assemblies of God denomination. All this comes after Hillsong had to oust celebrity-obsessed pastor Carl Lentz from its New York City congregation after Lentz admitted to adultery. In Dallas, Hillsong had to close a church due to the pastor’s “failure to uphold the standards of Hillsong leadership.” In New Jersey, another Hillsong pastor resigned after texting a photo of himself to a church volunteer while wearing white exercise tights with nothing left to the imagination. Some say that this and other Hillsong scandals are endemic to the church culture of Hillsong.

Perhaps the whole truth isn’t known, and we must be careful about judgments without knowing all the facts, especially when the case against Brian Houston has yet to go to court. But some things we do know. Outlandishly extravagant lifestyles of Houston and other church leaders have been documented, based on the Hillsong’s prosperity gospel message. And more bombs of indiscretions may yet explode. But my concern is what’s going to be done about all of this. One thing is certain, deliverance and exorcism isn’t an option.

Brian Houston and Hillsong adamantly oppose the idea of Christians having demons and suffering from generational curses. On my last ministry tour of Australia, the word went out, I was told from the top-down, that no one in Hillsong leadership would be allowed to cooperate with or attend our meetings. But it’s now clear that, whatever the final truth about all this may be, there is a demonic problem at Hillsong, especially with the late Frank Houston. As an exorcist I can tell you, child molestation is demonic. Almost all perpetrators are demon possessed. Frank Houston needed an exorcism, but his theology kept him from it. And this curse may have passed on to Brian Houston. And if he doesn’t believe in curse breaking and deliverance, how will he and Hillsong get free from the curse?

I’m not saying that pastor Houston is like his father, but that the demons of his father are likely trying to destroy the good work that Hillsong has done to reach people for Christ. I may not agree with all that Hillsong does, but as the Apostle Paul commanded in Philippians 1:15-18, I praise God where Christ is preached. We must fervently pray for Hillsong during this trying time. Pray that those in the organization who sincerely follow Christ will be granted grace and patience for His will to be worked out. And pray that the leadership of this megachurch will wake up to the need of embracing deliverance and casting demons out of those in power who may be possessed.

Want to know if someone you care about has a demon? Are you concerned that you might have a demon? Don’t take your cues from Hollywood and look for spinning heads and levitation. Not everyone with a demon goes into screaming rages, foams at the mouth, speaks in strange languages, or becomes violent. In fact, the majority of demon possessed people act normal most of the time. Behavior that you might suspect is demonic may last only for a few minutes or seconds. The rest of the time, the demons are submerged doing their evil in stealth, waiting for an opportunity to deliver a lethal, spiritual blow.

So, how doyou know if you are demonized? For starters, go to www.demontest.org and take our free computerized analysis of whether you might have a demon. This will give you quick insights into previously undetected demonic dangers you might face in the future. If your score is high, immediately go online to www.boblarson.org and schedule an in-person or virtual encounter. When you do, here’s what you’ll discover as we’re face-to-face, in the flesh or on the screen.

After more than four decades of deliverance/exorcism ministry, I’ve learned to determine with reasonable accuracy if a person has a demon within the first 10-15 minutes of speaking with them. Most people that I detect have demons have already had some deliverance and were told that they didn’t have demons or that they could be delivered by healing prayers without interrogative commands to demons. In other words, even if demons were suspected they weren’t confronted and made to verbally and physically manifest.

How can I be so certain that someone has a demon? Here are a few key indicators. The more of these markers in a person’s life, the greater the chance of demonization. I look for a combination of at least two or more of these factors: illegitimate conception; a dysfunctional or abusive home life; ancestral history of drug abuse, violence, or occultism; personal involvement in New Age spiritualism; sexual abuse; drug addiction; loss of time; patterns of broken relationships; erratic behavior inconsistent with their normalized faith position; unreasonable amounts of chronic diseases; uncontrollable, episodic anger outbursts. No single factor itself indicates demonic possession, but if several of these negative indicators occur repeatedly, I

likely determine a demon is present. Assisting this process is the operation of spiritual gifts including “discerning of spirits” and words of “knowledge” and “wisdom” (First Corinthians 12: 8-10). This combination isn’t perfect, but it is spot on most of the time.

My book “Dealing with Demons” gives more insights into the forensic procedures I use to detect demons. Our International School of Exorcism and Advanced Academy of Deliverance teaches how to operate in these realms of information and revelation. There is no need for anyone who is demonized to continue suffering in bondage to Satan. Detecting the presence of demons is possible on both a practical and supernatural basis. Begin your road to freedom today by contacting our ministry to start the deliverance process. Your demons can be detected, and they can be cast out through the power of Jesus Christ.

Check out Amazon or wherever books are sold, and you’ll find scores of books on heaven. Many are about heaven, and many more about people who claim they’ve been there, at least temporarily. Some of these claims are from people involved in the occult and the New Age, often associating their heavenly encounter with near-death-experiences, referred to as NDEs. But some Christians say they have gone to heaven. These claims range from slightly ambiguous encounters with the angelic to full-blown meetings with apostles and prophets—even Jesus himself! Others offer to teach how any Christian can go there, almost at will. This is my personal take on this phenomenon.

Let me first state that as a Bible-based Christian I believe in Heaven. What I don’t do is take my cues about the reality of heaven from contemporary sources, no matter how well-intentioned they may be. I neither fully accept or reject personal NDEs or Christian claims of having gone to Heaven. Such assertions are highly personal and unverifiable. They also contain accounts that are largely extra-biblical, by that we mean they can’t be authenticated with Scripture. And I’ll take it a step further. When it comes to Christians who claim to have gone to Heaven, I have never read their books, never listened to their interviews, and never watched their internet sites. This personal choice is deliberate. As I approach the waning years of my life, I want what I believe about heaven to be based solely on Scripture, not influenced by an unproveable description of Heaven, no matter how sincere that account may be.

You may argue that there’s no harm in hearing these stories. But that’s my point, they are just someone’s subjective story. For example, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and the Apostle John all had a visitation of Heaven, and they didn’t describe it casually. They recorded words such as “I fell on my face,” “woe is me, I am unclean,” “no strength was left in me,” and “I fell at his feet as though dead.” As for dying and coming back to life we also have Scriptural confirmation: Zarephath’s son (1 Kings 17:17), the Shunammite woman’s son (2 Kings 4:18), the widow of Nain’s son (Luke 7:11), Jairus’s daughter (Luke 8:52), Lazarus (John 11), various holy people (Matthew 27), Tabitha (Acts 9:36), Eutychus (Acts 20:7) and Jesus himself (Mark 16:1). Do we really need to know more than this?

And if you want to know all that’s necessary to live for Heaven and long for Heaven, check out 2 Corinthians 5:8—to be absent from our present bodies is to be home with the Lord, and Philippians 1:22—to die is gain. There are streets of gold and angels in Heaven. There are loved ones there. Heaven is inhabited by the saints of the age. But one thing is absolutely certain. Demons don’t go to Heaven. As Revelation 21:8 declares, “The cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” That’s where the demons are, along with the unrepentant people they possessed. But this much we know from the Word of God, there are no demons in Heaven.

He murdered two sisters as a sacrifice to Satan. This isn’t a conspiratorial hoax. It’s not some ancient ritual. It happened last year in London, England, and the trial was just completed. Danyal Hussein, age 18, of Iraqi-Kurdish heritage, took a kitchen knife and stabbed two young women to death after signing a demonic pact in his own blood.

He had previously exhibited violent tendencies with an interest in the occult. But instead of being sent to an exorcist he was referred to an anti-cult “de-radicalization program,” whatever that means. It didn’t work. He became increasingly obsessed with satanism and eventually wrote out his agreement with the devil in his own blood. The satanic contract was addressed to “Lucifuge Rofocale,” supposedly the demon in charge of Hell’s government. Only someone deeply steeped in black magic would be familiar with this name. He also made another pledge to Queen Byleth, the wife of the king of Hell in order to get women to have sex with him.

Danyal agreed to perform a minimum of six human sacrifices every six months for as long as physically capable. He would murder only women. In return he would win the Mega Millions Super Jackpot. The devil would also agree to keep him from being suspected by the police. Neither happened. Instead, police arrested him outside his mother’s home. He was tried and convicted. The judge said, “There are no deals to be had in this court with the devil.”

The mother of the two girls responded to the court’s guilty verdict by saying, “As a follower of Christ, losing two of my girls this way could have been enough to shake a person’s faith, fortunately it didn’t.” Ironically, this mother was also an ordained priest in the Church of England and had an assignment to work with people involved in the occult and said she sometimes cleared houses of evil presences.

I don’t exactly why the devil was able to kill these two Christian girls with a cleric for a mother. Was there a generational curse in the family that went undetected? Was it random, like the tower of Siloam Jesus spoke of in Luke 13:4 that fell and killed 18 people? Jesus used this story to illustrate the dangers of perishing spiritually, but gave no deep, theological explanation as to why it fell. Some things the devil does are shrouded in mystery. But there is no mystery as to why Danyal Hussein murdered. He made a deal with the devil and will spend the rest of his life behind bars as his end of the bargain. Whatever the devil promises, he only delivers sin, sickness, suffering, and an eternity on Hell. That’s a deal you don’t want to make.

This blog is a word of caution – not a prohibition – on dream interpretation. Some self-appointed Christian leaders have gone rogue writing books, giving prophecies, and getting “words from the Lord” about people’s dreams. Some are right on. Others are misguided. Certain individuals are crassly exploitive. First, let me state where I stand biblically. God did speak through dreams in ancient times such as Joseph in Genesis 37 (the sheaves of wheat) and Genesis 40 (the baker and the cupbearer). In Daniel there was the dream of Nebuchadnezzar regarding a statue and a fallen tree. Daniel himself dreamed of four beasts in chapter seven of the book bearing his name. God spoke to others in dreams and visions, Mary the mother of Jesus, Joseph her husband, Jacob and his ladder, and the Apostle Peter, recorded in Acts 10.

Dreams are simply the continuation of soul consciousness during sleep, a normal brain function. So-called “lucid dreaming” occurs when an individual interjects himself deliberately into dream events and actively participates. This isn’t evil per se but is often encouraged today by occultists as a way to manipulate reality. So-named dreamcatchers of Native Americans (circles of beads and feathers) are believed to capture bad spirits attacking the sleeper. On the positive side there are many stories coming from non-Christian countries, such as Islamic nations, where people have come to Christ because of visions and dreams, much like Cornelius in the book of Acts.

But words of caution are in order with the rampant dream conspiracy that has taken over some Christian circles in America. Beware these warnings:

1. My many decades of experiences in this realm have taught me that Westerners are not good dreamers. Their dreams shouldn’t be trusted as much as those of African and Asian cultures. Our rationalistic way of processing information makes it harder for us in the West to be objective about our dreams.
2. Those who haven’t had deliverance and curse breaking prayers are especially susceptible to inaccurate and misleading dream interpretations. In general, get spiritually free first before going on dream tangents.
3. Beware sexual dreams which may also include severe, non-neurological sleep paralysis. My book “Jezebel” has an entire chapter on the subject of incubus and succubus sexual demons that operate through dreams. These dream experiences range from feeling a presence to touching and actual intercourse.
4. If offered food in a dream, DON’T eat it. This is a common spiritual connection made by ancestral spirits and the dreamer. Indians and Africans understand this better than Americans and such dreams are common in their world.
5. Don’t be a victim of fears and premonitions related to dream warnings. They may or may not be from God and are a common way people are drawn into the occult. The dreamer may seek more information about their dreams by consulting a psychic’s interpretation.

There is much to say on this matter, but I lack adequate time in this blog. In summary, be wary of dream interpreters, especially preachers who know nothing about you but offer online to interpret your dreams. It’s often a scam. The same is true with New Age dream diviners. There is even a “Dream Bible” that claims a database of over 350,000 dreams. Stay away from such. I do believe in in occasional supernatural intervention by dreams. I have personally heard the audible voice of God once in my life. I also once had a demonic dream of a Leviathan spirit attacking me, a warning from the Lord. I don’t disregard all the unusual ways that God can communicate with His people, including dreams.  But be wary of those who offer to interpret your dreams. Dream authenticity is a matter between you and the Holy Spirit, not an internet evangelist.

Can playing a video game get you demons? It depends on the game and how obsessed you are with playing it. I have cast out demons from people who were possessed because of video games. Of course, all video games aren’t evil. But many of the most popular ones are. It’s all part of a $70 billion industry often built on emotional attributes of aggression and dispassionate murder. Here is what’s really dangerous. The demons you may get from video games can hide undetected for months, even years. Consider the recent case of Adel who became possessed from the game RuneScape.

RuneScape isn’t as popular as it used to be, but 200 million accounts of the game have been created. At least one million still play it regularly. It’s the world’s largest and most updated free MMORPG—Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game. The name is taken, in part, from the Nordic divination practice of using runes, small stones engraved with occult symbols, to tell the future. To Adel, ten years ago, RuneScape was just a way to pass time. One of her game creatures was a dragon. As a young teen, she didn’t understand spiritual warfare and didn’t know that the dragon is a symbol of the devil, as biblically stated in Revelation 12:1-9. Adel’s transgression, though in ignorance, was an open door for Satan to enter. But until she came to me for an encounter, because of troubling issues in her life, she had no idea that her problems were demonic.  A dragon demon, Leviathan, had been hiding all those years, seeking ways to spiritually derail her life. Think of it. We cast out a demon that secretly inhabited this young woman for a decade, all because of the video game RuneScape!

Here are the common spiritual mistakes gamers make.

1. Obsessive playing may lead to neglect of real-life relationships. I have counseled many troubled marriages where one partner, usually the husband, spent inordinate amounts of time gaming which caused negative relational and financial effects on the home.
2. Excessive emotional investment in the identity of evil characters/creatures. To some gamers, their emotional connection to evil characters provides an open door for demons based on virtual soul-ties.
3. Using demonic characters with names of occult mythological beings. A shocking number of Christian gamers think nothing of adopting characters such as witches and sorcerers or taking the side of mythic demon-gods like Poseidon, Thor, Zeus etc. These players sometimes commune with evil spirits inadvertently.
4. Violent behavior by game characters is encouraged to win at any cost. Gaming violence may include impaling, spearing, decapitation, disemboweling, and desecration. Gamers may argue that such behavior is fictional but imagine Christ playing a gaming screen and annihilating a virtual character with incinerating eye lasers.
5. Committing fictional acts of virtual sin which fail the standard of Matthew 5:28 “Whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart,” Jesus said. Sin always begins in the mind first as a vicarious enticement. Our thoughts are to be held captive to the obedience of Christ (1 Corinthians 10:5). James 1:15 warns, “When desire has conceived [in the mind], it gives birth to sin.”

As I said, not all games are equally egregious, but few of the most popular ones are free from demonic intrusions. Obsessive gamers who play without spiritual discretion, run the risk encountered by Adel and need to quit NOW! Gamers beware! You may be tormented by a demonic creature or character that you aren’t aware is satanic. Play indiscriminately if you will but play at the risk of your soul.  

The ministry of exorcism and deliverance has an ambivalent past. As documented in our International School of Exorcism (ISE), it was biblical in the time of Christ, prevalent in the apostolic age, and common in the early Church. Today, it’s a neglected and often ignored component of Christian life. Those who believe in deliverance for Christians are often marginalized, ridiculed, and even persecuted. I know. Been there, done that for decades. But today I sense a shift in attitudes. COVID was part of that. People weren’t attending churches where pastors occasionally railed against the idea of Christians having demons. They were seeking spiritual help on the internet and finding people like me with more than 30 million overall YouTube views. They witnessed demons indisputably being cast out on our Exorcism Channel, and the channels of other deliverance advocates. One of our recent posts on Tik Tok went viral overnight and in less than a month has 15 million views! To quote Bob Dylan, the times they are a-changing.

As result of this surge of interest in deliverance, those of us who emphasize the need of liberation after salvation face a new challenge: meeting the need of so many people who are now seeking prayer for freedom from demonic attack. Many of them want deliverance and they want it NOW! They realize that they’ve been spiritually short-changed for years, and they hunger to be free, YESTERDAY. But these seekers must realize that true deliverance is a process. In most cases, demonic oppression comes in layers and, like an onion, has to be gradually stripped back. But if you are seeking freedom from the torment of the devil, I have good news. There are ways to fast-track your deliverance.

• Fast first. Jesus said in Matthew 17:21, “This kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.” ISE gives a much fuller explanation of this.
• Do your homework. Read as many of our books as possible, especially “Curse Breaking” and “Jezebel.” Get all the resources listed on our web site, as funds allow.  
• Be wary of deliverance ministers. I know many who got worse after deliverance prayers by certain so-called apostles and prophets. Check the track record of anyone who prays for you including their longevity, published literature, posted teachings, and theological persuasions.
• Be willing to “sow a seed.” Bless the ministry that God uses to encourage your process of being freed from demons. Remember 2 Cor. 9:6: “He which sows sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he who sows bountifully shall reap also bountifully.”
• Make a serious commitment. I have often observed that those who commit the most and sacrifice the most get the most. Remember the Syrophoenician woman of Matthew 15 with a demon possessed daughter. She had traveled a considerable distance and was relentless in her pursuit of deliverance for her child.

I’ve said many times that exorcism and deliverance isn’t rocket science. It is a spiritual art requiring devotion, dedication, patience, and determination. Don’t focus on the length of time to get fully free. Start the process now. Contact me for an in-person or virtual encounter today. We also have associate ministers ready to help. And our Do What Jesus Did prayer teams in scores of cities are back in action to meet your need. But if you really want to accelerate the process of getting free and getting on with life, fast-track your deliverance by the tips I’ve given. Take action today to GET FREE, STAY FREE, AND LIVE FREE!

Millennials never experienced role-playing games of the eighties, such as Dungeons & Dragons, indulged in without the aid of computer-generated graphics. Back then I did many exorcisms on D&D players. They so invested themselves in their characters, such as the Druid, the Sorcerer, or the Wizard, that they became demon possessed. In today’s gaming world of human interaction with visual feedback on a computer monitor, it is even worse. There is no violent or immoral theme too evil for the gaming industry to exploit. One observer remarked that “the combination of low culture and high technology” provides “the instruments for libidinal extravaganzas devoid of any socially productive component.” The American Academy of Pediatrics sums it up this way: “Playing violent video games is to an adolescent’s violent behavior what smoking tobacco is to lung cancer.” And no game franchise is worse than Mortal Kombat.

Mortal Kombat is the second best-selling fighting game franchise. Its media universe includes movies, a TV show, a stage show, comic books, and a game – all with a satanic Leviathan dragon as the branded symbol. The Kombat theme centers on martial artists with supernatural powers out to save the world by violent bloodshed. Gruesome combat scenes finish with moves known as Fatalities, murdering one’s opponent. This can include bashing an opponent into pieces, impaling them on a bed of spikes, or disposing of them in a pool of acid. Or the loser may choose to exit by suicide, depriving the winner from murdering his opposition.

The latest Kombat movie, released in April, is still packing theaters. It is also the most successful film to-date on HBO Max. The plot features occult themes of souls being saved by a god of thunder, a soul-eating sorcerer, and dragon-marked saviors of humanity who have a power known as “arcana.” This is a play on the word “arcane” which refers to secret occult abilities. In the movie, arcana gives those who possess it the power to shoot a laser from one’s eyes, teleportation, supernatural strength, and the belief that touching the blood of a departed fighter allows the dead man’s spirit to fight alongside the current combatant.

The occult and witchcraft aren’t the only dangers to movie fans of Mortal Kombat. There are moral and psychological effects as well. Aggression, less control over personal behavior, an inability to direct one’s thoughts with inhibitions – all this is the result of the national obsession with gaming. This past year, 63 of the largest 66 police jurisdictions saw increases in at least one category of violent crime, including homicide, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. Should we blame the game? Not entirely, but today those ages 15-24 account for 14% of the population but are responsible for 40 percent of all arrests. And I believe that the nearly $200 billion gaming industry is driving a lot of these statistics.

If you are a Christian and watched the 2021 version of the Mortal Kombat movie without spiritual discernment, you have contributed to the looming age of the Antichrist. The battle that should concern you isn’t that of cage fighters with arcana or shaolin temple, Buddhist kung fu martial artists. It’s the war being waged for your soul by Satan. As Ephesians 4:27 says, “Don’t give place to the devil.” Don’t immerse yourself in a movie based on a satanic worldview of good and evil, God and Satan, or you may find yourself in mortal combat with demons inside your own soul.