Blog

The so-called Satanic Temple is on a mission to destroy the concept of America as a nation founded upon Judeo-Christian principles. They have been successful at demanding equal time for Satan in the public square. My blog of December 17 last year (to read click here) reported that the Temple legally forced the state of Illinois to display a symbol of Satan in the rotunda of the statehouse last Christmas, right next to baby Jesus in a crèche and a menorah. This group also sued Warner Bros. films for a hefty sum, because one of the movie company’s TV shows supposedly misappropriated the Temple’s object of devotion, a half-human, half-goat hermaphroditic image of Lucifer. They also unveiled a nine-foot statue of this so-called Baphomet image of the devil in Detroit.   But here’s the crazy part. The photo above was taken at our recent Dallas seminar. Two Satanic Temple adherents walked in with a backpack full of several of my older books. The demonic duo, named Forest and Piper, have followed me since 1989 and are self-proclaimed “huge Bob Larson fans.” Forest even wore a T-shirt promoting a youth outreach organization that we started 30 years ago called The Compassion Connection. I don’t have one of those T-shirts from radio days, but Forest did. That evening, in front of a packed seminar room, we publicly went head-to-head debating Satanism v. Christianity.   Two takeaways regarding this confrontation. First, beware this friendlier, “non-theistic” form of Satanism. Unlike Anton LaVey’s leering glare, thoroughly modern Satanists put on a smile and merely demand equal time in the name of religious pluralism. The stated intent of their archetypal, anthropomorphic Lucifer adoration certainly isn’t the heinous plan of the very real devil who uses these cultural shock-troopers as pawns. Second, they may pledge devotion to the devil, but they are watching our ministry as we cast out Satan’s demons in the name of Jesus. We’re reaching those that conventional churches and ministries never reach, and for that we praise God. If Satanists are keeping an eye on us, we’re doing something right!  

An encouraging word: HOPE OF HEAVEN  

Most Christians think that idea of meeting God face-to-face is a New Testament idea (“willing to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord” – 2 Cor. 5:8). But David said in the last verse of Psalm 17, “I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness” (verse 15). The Psalmist anxiously awaited the satisfaction of living eternally in God’s presence. Before Calvary, David may not have totally understood all that heaven meant, such as the promise of “many mansions” personally prepared by the Lord himself. But spiritually he grasped the hope of heaven. Do you? What good is being a Christian without the anticipation of being awakened to eternal life in Christ?

An encouraging word: ETERNAL WEALTH

In Psalm 17:14 David comments concerning evil men who achieve temporary success, “whose reward is in this life” (NIV). It’s true by observation that those who reject God sometimes acquire immense wealth. But remember, that financial accomplishment is the best they are ever going to have. Christ compelled us to rather “store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, where thieves do not break in and steal” (Matt. 6:19 NIV). When you are tempted to feel jealous of the money accumulated by sinners, recall that eternity is a lot longer than our time on earth and it is much more rewarding for the godly.

• Christians may be spiritually oppressed and can be demonized.
• Not all generational curses are removed by salvation and baptism.
• Satan can and will attack Christians if he has the legal right to do so.

An encouraging word: GOD WILL ANSWER PRAYER

I’m afraid that too many people pray out of obligation or to have a general sense of well-being. Do they really believe God hears and answers? King David did. He wrote in Psalm 17:6, “I call on you, O God, for you will answer me” (NIV). No if, ands, or buts. God WILL answer. Isn’t that the purpose of prayer, the expectation of an answer? Otherwise, prayer is a platitude, a social grace, like asking, “How are you?” So, don’t tell someone, “I’ll pray for you,” unless you mean it and you do it!

There are so many ways that Jesus makes a difference, especially in practical terms. Leaving eternal life out of the equation, it’s worth it to follow Christ. Faith in Jesus can bring freedom from demonic bondage, addictions, emotional dysfunction, debilitating diseases, troubled relationships, financial failure, mental torment; the list is almost endless. All these benefits aren’t automatic. The follower of Christ must walk by faith, study God’s Word, appropriate His promises, claim his liberation, declare His victory. But a faithful walk with God can bring forth a life of true fulfillment and happiness. Jesus DOES make all the difference in the world. As Acts 4:12 puts it, “There is none other name given among men under heaven by which we must be saved.”

An encouraging word: ANSWERED PRAYER

I often hear people complain that God doesn’t answer prayer. You’ve probably heard preachers say that He does answer, but it may be, “Yes,” or “No,” or “Wait.” Psalm 34:4 has another take on this. David said, “I sought the Lord and he heard me.” David doesn’t define the exact answer he got, but he states something more important, that the Lord “delivered me from all my fears.” When you pray, that’s the answer you’re looking for, to be delivered from fear so you can walk in faith. When that happens, you will experience answered prayers.

An encouraging word: SURROUNDED BY EVIL

David expressed the way I feel sometimes about those who don’t like me or my ministry. “They have tracked me down, they now surround me with eyes alert to throw me to the ground. They are like a lion hungry for prey . . . “ (Psalm 17:11-12). Doubtless you’ve felt that way a few times yourself, surrounded by enemies who snarl like beasts of prey. But in verse 13 David calls on God to be his defense: “Rise up or Lord, confront them . . . rescue me.” If your life seems encircled by evil, your hope of escape is in Christ. You must trust in Him to be the one to rise up and rescue you.

When I read the article above from an issue of the “Wall Street Journal,” I knew it was time to speak out. Sadly, it took a secular newspaper to expose a new distortion of Christianity: high-amped worship bands creating a secularized rock concert atmosphere, with deafening decibels. Some evangelical churches are saying goodbye to expository teaching and contemplative prayer. In the WSJ article, an attendee at one such service described the musical environment as “louder than a lawnmower.”  

 In these churches the decibel level has sound peaks that rival secular rock concerts and runway jets. Some attendees wear noise-canceling headphones. Ear plugs are available in the lobby, for the faint of heart. The sound sometimes exceeds standards set by The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. I won’t name names, but I’ve been there and heard it. So, what’s the danger in rocking out for Jesus at headbanging volume levels? As a former professional musician, I like a good praise band, especially if they have great musicians who can jam for Jesus. But in certain megachurches, it’s lawnmower Christianity every Sunday, all the time, intentionally pushing the limits of hearing endangerment by making music as loud as possible.  

Haven’t we had enough of pastors who dress less dignified than TV sportscasters? Or preachers who sound more like a used car salesman closing a deal than a prelate with eternity in mind? There is a time and a place for loud music and Jimmy Page-esque guitar licks. But most of the audiences the “Journal” article describes have never cracked a real hymnal filled with classic poetry and well-thought-out messages.   It’s also noteworthy that not one of these over-the-top churches believes in or practices deliverance and exorcism. Personal holiness takes a back seat. Spiritual warfare, deliverance-style, isn’t on their agenda. It’s all about the emotional experience of auditory bombardment and lightly seasoned sermons. The visceral experience is what’s important. When it comes to the pastors and propagators of this trendy approach to evangelism, I make no judgments. Only God knows their hearts. But it seems that this brand I call lawnmower Christianity may end up mowing under many new, naïve Christians who never learn foundational, biblical truth. And I fear that underneath all the noise, demons can easily hide and continue their torment of young believers who haven’t stopped to hear the “still, small voice of God” (1 Kings 19:12).

An encouraging word: FEARFULLY AND WONDERFULLY MADE  

In today’s blog I quote the words of the Psalmist, “I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14). The Living Bible beautifully states verse 16 of this Psalm: “You saw me before I was born and scheduled each day of my life before I began to breathe. Every day was recorded in your book!” Wow, that sure doesn’t sound like evolutionary chance. That’s nowhere near “survival of the fittest.” The real missing link in evolutionary ideas is God, who made all that is with detail and intent.

Last year, a Dallas jury, sentenced a Hispanic, female minister to 99 years in prison for starving to death a small child in an exorcism gone wrong. Pastor Aracely Meza tortured a little boy named Benjamin to drive out his demons. Meza claimed the little boy had the demon of manipulation and starved the youngster, not allowing him to eat for 21 days until he was skin and bones. Meza eventually stopped the fast, but it was too late, and the child died from malnutrition. The baby wasn’t even hers. The boy belonged to a congregant from whom Meza had forcefully taken the victim.    

What are we to make of this? Religious devotion over the line? A mentally ill pastor exercising unreasonable authority over a family in her church? A legitimate attempt at deliverance gotten out of hand? A demonic act in the name of ridding demons?   

Perhaps what happened is a little of each. But the real problem may be the lack of established boundaries of ethical practices in ministry, which leads to dangerous assumptions about how to drive out the devil. Occasionally stories hit the press of other exorcisms gone wrong. Children beaten to death. Lye poured down the throats of victims to exorcise evil. And starvation techniques, like this Texas tragedy.   

We can blame pastor Meza or other misguided souls who are used by the devil to drive out devils. But perhaps there’s one more place to put blame: the failure of Christian leaders to speak openly and rationally about deliverance has created a moral vacuum which mentally deranged, self-styled exorcists exploit. When there is no theologically articulated standard of understanding about exorcism, false and distorted ideas of deliverance flourish, whether in Hollywood movies or cultic churches. Spiritually and psychologically sound measures of what constitutes legitimate demonic confrontation must be articulated so that distortions of deliverance do not result; otherwise, innocent victims may suffer. That’s why we established the International School of Exorcism, the public proclamation of a credible approach to casting out demons. By God’s grace we’ve set a standard by which inner healing, deliverance, and exorcism can be responsibly measured. Enroll today and learn the safe boundaries of spiritual warfare and avoid exorcism excesses.    

An encouraging word: RESPECT OLD BOUNDARIES  

There is some good advice in the Old Testament (Deuteronomy 19:14): Do not move your neighbor’s boundary stone set up by your predecessors in the inheritance you receive in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess. I have some advice for youth, based on age and experience: Be careful what you disregard from previous generations. In this high-tech time there is a bit of cultural arrogance about dismissing the past as irrelevant. It has seeped into the church and extends to worship styles, behavioral standards, and theology. Don’t too casually dismiss the old boundaries. They may have been there for a good reason you can’t yet comprehend.