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An encouraging word:  WHEN THE WICKED RULE

“When the wicked rule, the people groan.” (Proverbs 28:2) They groan because of the moral decay that brings instability and economic collapse. Of course, the question raised is how to define “wicked.” Clinton’s escapade with Lewinsky? Bush’s mistake of WMDs in Iraq? Obama’s easy stance on pot smoking? Each particular political persuasion will have its own opinion. One thing is clear: America is in steep decline and we must make changes before our lament becomes a death rattle. The one thing we must pray for is godly leaders who cause us to rejoice. . . not groan.

Yesterday was a very busy day for me with the media. My phone rang off the hook with national media requests to discuss the horrible murder of two children in Germantown, MD. A mother killed her one-year-old boy and two-year-old daughter in an exorcism gone wrong. The mother, who had previously been treated for severe mental illness, believed she was driving the devil out of her children, as she stabbed them to death. Intervention by the police prevented her from killing two other children. Much of my day yesterday was with CNN, which will air a special report with my interview on Anderson Cooper’s show AC360 (10:00 PM ET, 7:00PM PT).

There were so many requests for interviews I could only do one. The Dr. Drew show wanted me, but I was unavailable so they asked for my daughter Brynne, one of the Teenage Exorcists. She joined a panel of mental health experts to talk about what this crime was all about. I’ve always liked Dr. Drew for his no-nonsense approach to dealing with issues of bad behavior, especially addiction. Dr. Drew, and his guests, did a great job of discussing the mental health issues related to this gruesome crime. Brynne chimed in noting that this was not an exorcism, and that none of the deliverances she has ever done resulted in someone being harmed, let alone dead. But I was disappointed that all the attention of Dr. Drew and his guests, except for Brynne Larson, was on the psychological aspects. Not one person brought up the subject of religious delusions and bad theology, as well as a distorted understanding of exorcism, that was a factor in this crime. As I told CNN today (and hopefully you’ll hear tonight), if the devil was in anybody, it was the mother, not those innocent children. Someone needed an exorcism, all right, and it was the mom and her accomplice who did the work of Satan by killing their kids. The murdering mom will likely be locked away for life and because of her mental condition, perhaps she should be lest she be a threat to other children. But they’ll also lock her up with her demons, never to be free, allowing Satan to win twice. Like the Dr. Drew discussion failed to do, as a society we need to own up to the work of the devil in our midst and stop trying to always explain away with a behavioral explanation the evil of demonized minds.

An encouraging word:  THE WORLD WILL NOT UNDERSTAND YOU

When you walk as a believer in the ways of God and the will of God, don’t expect the people around you to “get it.” 1 Cor 1:18 (AMP) says, “For the story and message of the cross is sheer absurdity and folly to those who are perishing and on their way to perdition, but to us who are being saved it is the [manifestation of] the power of God.”  Outside of God, tithing makes no sense, loving your enemies is even more absurd! (Let’s not even talk about performing exorcisms.)  But with God, doing these things puts you in His will and hooks you up to the most powerful force in the universe.  Just because the world doesn’t understand it, doesn’t mean you should change anything to make your Christianity more palatable to those around you. (See Romans 12:2)

An interview this past week with mega church pastor Rick Warren in The Wall Street Journal caught my attention.  I have great respect for Pastor Warren regarding his biblical stands and the great work for Christ he’s done worldwide. Few pastors have so effectively had an impact on their generation. His grace under the pressure of having lost his son to suicide this past year has been a remarkable witness to faith in action. His bold stand for orthodox Christianity is to be admired, considering what so many prominent preachers have done with their public platforms to dishonor the Gospel. This interview was to promote his new book about weight loss, The Daniel Plan. In an age of rampant obesity, good for him to set an example of leadership on the issue of healthy living. But in spite of all the great things Rick Warren has done he has a blind spot. In the Journal interview he is quoted as saying, regarding the need for a more nutritional approach to eating, that one of Jesus’ three key tenents was “healing,” and that, “One-third of His ministry was health care.” Great. What a wonderful way to present the importance of a healthy lifestyle. I presume that Pastor Warren is implying that another third of Christ’s ministry was preaching the Good News. And the other third? Please, Pastor Warren, you’re a courageous man, so don’t skirt the issue because it’s a “politically incorrect” topic with evangelicals — casting out demons! In the synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, one third of the chapters contain an instance of Christ encountering demons. Preaching, healing, and deliverance are the three emphases of Christ’s ministry. To quote the classic work In the Name of Jesus by Graham H. Twelftree, Ph. D University of Nottingham and distinguished professor of New Testament at the School of Divinity at Regent University:”. . . all healing involves God’s adversary being defeated. As exorcism was included in Luke’s use of the phrase ‘signs and wonders’  . . . readers would assume that exorcism was included in the ‘signs and wonders’ of his [Luke’s] followers . . . Also since exorcism and the kingdom of God were so closely tied in the ministry of Jesus, readers could assume that exorcism was involved when Luke says that the early Christians proclaimed the kingdom of God.” Pastor Warren, after The Purpose Driven Life and The Daniel Plan, both great books, I can’t wait to see your next tome entitled The Purpose Driven Exorcist – Jesus of Nazareth.

An encouraging word:  KEEP YOUR FOUNDATION STRONG

God is limited. That statement might be shocking, but the fact is that God is limited by what we humans do with the world he has given us. “When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?” David asks in Psalm 11:3. We may expect God to bless us as a nation, as a church, as a family, or even as an individual. But if collectively or individually we allow moral foundations to be destroyed, we hinder the blessing God would otherwise give. Make sure that your foundation of character, ethics, honesty, and morality are not destroyed so God continue to work in your life.

A fascinating article in the Science section of USA-TODAY yesterday reported on research into the V-formation of birds in flight. Since I was a kid, like most of you probably, I wondered at the graceful way birds in flight followed the leader in the shape of a V. Growing up in Nebraska, I’d watch the Canadian Geese make their way south every fall, and back north in the spring, flying high overhead in perfect V symmetry. How and why they did it fascinated me. Was there some secret training camp that all young geese attended to make sure they mastered this feat? Until recently not even scientists understood what was going on. A study published in the journal Nature says that birds know how to minimize their energy expenditure on long flights by monitoring subtle changes in the flights pattern of their windmates. Each individual bird flies in the V-configuration to catch the rising air generated by the flapping of the bird in front of it. Their bird brains have some kind of internal “computer” that detects the slightest alterations in wind flow and they automatically make adjustments; the V-pattern is the best way to do this. Of course, there is no bird “flight school” they all attend to learn this. It’s built in to being a bird. And how did this knowledge get there in the first place? To survive, the very first birds had to know this as part of their created order. There was no chance for evolutionary survival of the fittest to figure it out and teach all the other birds. The more we know about the world we live in, the more all things point to a Creator. Only a bird brain would conclude otherwise.

An encouraging word:  A GODLY HERITAGE

What were your ancestors like? My latest book CURSE BREAKING (click here to order) emphasizes the importance of spiritually confronting any part of your heritage that was ungodly. Perhaps you can say with David, “I have a goodly heritage” KJV. Wonderful, if that is your case. If not, then you need to carefully renounce what was not “goodly” but ungodly. Be as specific as possible and put the generational effect of ancestral sins under the blood of Jesus, and determine that your children onward will have a worthy heritage.

Gloomy, laughable, majestic, radiance, hurry, generous, frugal, critical, courtship, zany, undress, rant. A dozen words you use in conversation and communication all the time. Nouns, verbs and adjectives that fill our speech without a thought. But until the middle of the sixteenth-century, they were unknown and unspoken — until William Shakespeare came along and invented them. That’s right, the most brilliant writer of English history simply made up words. At least he was the first to write and officially use them. “Majestic” he took from “majesty,” meaning “greatness.” “Critical” came from the Latin “frugi” meaning “honest.” And so on.

But the invented words of the Bard of Avon isn’t the only occasion that we use words in common speech without understanding their origin and significance. Here are a few examples:

REPENT – It is used casually as a vague reference to feeling sorry for actions. But the biblical sense of repenting is far more serious, beyond mere contrition. The KJV Bible didn’t invent the word but gave it new force as an expression of a conscience-smitten decision to change and avoid the judgment of God.

ATONE – In popular reference it is a way of making amends. In the Bible it’s far more serious. Christ atoned for our sins; He paid the price for our rebellion and it cost Him His life on the cross.

SANCTIFY – Once again, the term has been dumbed-down in everyday usage to mean respect. But its theological intent speaks of the sacred act of consecrating something, such as our lives, to the Lord.

Inventing words is a unique art. Changing what words really mean can be spiritually dangerous if one invents a meaning that loses theological significance.

An encouraging word:  WATCH YOUR WORDS

“Death and life are in the power of the tongue” (Prov. 18:21 KJV). This verse has been over-applied and misapplied by prosperity preachers, but that doesn’t demean its significance to what we say. This is especially true in the family. What spouses say to each other and parents say to their children is significant. Many times I’ve counseled an adult in mid-life who was wounded by the caustic comments of a parent (“You’ll never amount to anything!”). Wounding words set the tone for later bad decisions that were driven by the fulfillment of the negative prediction. Watch your words and speak life and hope to those you love.

This week, the body of Israel’s former prime minister Ariel Sharon was laid to rest in a grave at his family’s ranch near Sderot, Israel. Monday, international leaders paid tribute to the ex-military leader who went on to lead his country through difficult times. Sharon died last Saturday at age 85 after being in a coma for eight years following a stroke. Among those gathered were former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Vice President Joe Biden. Sharon’s flag-draped coffin, flanked by an honor guard, lay in state at the Knesset before being transported to its final resting place. There are two words in this paragraph I want you to note: “coffin “and “grave.” Sharon was buried, not cremated as are so many today.

My latest book CURSE BREAKING (CLICK HERE to order) deals in detail (pages 106-108) with curses than can be attached to cremation. I’ll not restate here what you can read for yourself, in fuller explanation. Historically Jews have strongly opposed cremation. Jewish law firmly states that the dead must be buried in the earth (“to dust you will return” – Genesis 3:19). Jews believe that the body belongs to God. Even after the Holocaust, many godly Jews actually gathered the ashes from death camp crematoria and buried them in Jewish cemeteries. In Deuteronomy the law commands that the dead are to be buried (Deuteronomy 21:23). Cremation destroys the body making it impossible to obey this biblical injunction. Furthermore, Jews consider the body to be created in God’s image, and to violate that deliberately by burning is an affront to God himself. (This principle also applies to self-injury and tattoos.) Cremation is nothing less than a violation of the sanctity of the body. Orthodox Jews hold that cremation is a rejection of the concept of resurrection and an emulation of pagan practices. Read CURSE BREAKING for more information about the historic Christian position on cremation and reconsider any ideas you have had about being burned at death.

An encouraging word:  FALSE GODS

“The sorrows of those will increase who run after other gods” (Psalm 16:4). Whatever you allow to take the place of the Lord in your life is another god. Such “gods” in our culture aren’t necessarily images of wood or stone, they are often the things that replace religion, such as pleasure, money, lust, or inordinate entertainment. The reason sorrows increase is that the real power behind any false god is a demon (1 Cor. 10:20) and such evil forces come to kill, steal, and destroy (John 10:10). Beware running after false gods lest you pursue a demon in disguise.

Okay, I’m giving away my age. “Sioux City Sue, Sioux City Sue, your hair is red your eyes are blue, I’d swap my horse and dog for you.” Those were the words to a popular country song when I was a kid. I may be the only one who remembers; but the “sue city sue” I’m talking about today is the litigious city called America in which we all live. And no one epitomizes it better than the guy above, Sirgiorgio Clardy, a pimp living in Portland, Oregon. (With a name like that he should sue his parents!) Sirgiorgio, a pimp, brutally beat a man who refused to pay one of his clients – and then robbed the man. (He also beat the 18-year-old woman he forced to sell sex. She was so severely injured she bled from her ears.)

But after that, this preposterous pimp attempted to take the moral high ground. Representing himself, from behind bars in the Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution, he filed a $100 million lawsuit against Nike. Not following me? Why Nike? Sirgiorgio beat the prostitute and the John with his Nike Jordan shoes, and now claims he should have been warned by Nike that their shoes could be a weapon and should have been labeled as such. In the words of this plaintiff, the Jordans were a “potentially dangerous product.” Only in America! One look at those eyes tells it all. You can see the devil staring at the mug-shot camera. This is one angry man, likely filled with demons of Hate, Anger, or even Murder. He needs an hour with an exorcist, not a day in court. Nikes are a threat to no one, but anything in the hands of someone such as Sirgiorgio, filled with such evil, is potentially lethal.  Let’s pray he stays locked away for a long time before he can get his hands on one of those seven-inch heels women wear today.

An encouraging word:  GOD IS JUST

“Does God pervert justice?” So said Bildad the Shuhite (one of “Job’s comforters”) with a rhetorical flourish. Of course not. God is just, but when His justice is not enacted forcefully and quickly, evil flourishes. Today it seems that the balance of justice all too often tips in favor of criminal rights, rather than public good. But all who do evil will someday answer to the Supreme Magistrate, the Lord himself. Be sure that you act justly, because the Lord judges in righteousness by the measure of his Son, Jesus Christ. And only His grace will stay the hand of condemnation for what we all deserve for our unrighteousness.

Ever make a faux pas? A completely unintentional, awkward act or utterance? A miscue, saying or doing something that didn’t come out quite right? Last week I was in California for a seminar, and I saw the bumper stickers above on the car I was following. At a stop sign I quickly grabbed my camera and took a picture. You can’t make this stuff up. As you can see, there where three bumper stickers that said, in progression:

Even Democrats can get a chuckle at the unintentional irony. And Republicans must be howling with laughter. One has to wonder if the owner of the car had been smoking some of that new Colorado weed or was politically clueless as to the implications of linking those three messages in succession. A mistake of this sort isn’t fatal, just embarrassing – a least we hope it would be. But spiritual unintentional ironies are a lot more serious. Take, for example, some things that people link in the same breath:

The irony of being a mental patient and voting for Obama makes us grin at the oops factor. The suggestion that an individual may dismiss Christ’s claim of divinity and still inherit an afterlife of eternal bliss is damningly deceptive. Be careful what you put on your bumper, and be a lot more careful what you believe in your heart. There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death, declares Proverbs 14:12.

An encouraging word:  HONOR FROM THE LORD

Psalm 15:4 notes that God honors those who “fear the Lord.” That’s how I want to be known. I don’t fear what people say, but what God thinks. Do you? As Paul said, “If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ” (Gal. 1:10). Through my years of ministry I’ve had some very ugly things said about me. Of course it hurts, but it doesn’t deter me. It’s the honor of the Lord I strive for, He who really knows the inner motives of my heart. Don’t be concerned about the accusations of men. Seek honor from the Lord and you’ll be spiritually successful.

It’s a dirty habit and a deadly habit. And it’s an addiction — legally promoted, government subsidized, and widely advertised. It’s costly. The average price per pack of cigarettes in the U.S. is $6.03, but the health-related costs per pack are $35, according to the American Cancer Society. Over a year, those added costs can amount to $12,775 for a pack-a-day smoker. It causes one-third of all heart attacks and raises the risks of 14 kinds of cancer. That should end the argument for any Christian who smokes, without even looking at the repulsive pictures above. Worldwide it kills 100 million annually, and by the end of the century it will kill one billion! A lot of attention has been given this week to this issue as America commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Surgeon General’s Report that starting turning the tide against tobacco’s dangers.

And yes it can be compelled by a demon. I know, I’m an exorcist. The demon usually doesn’t go by the name of Smoking, though I have encountered that garden-variety demon, but it generally calls itself by the names Addiction or Death. To be clear, smoking isn’t itself a demon, but a demon can attach to or facilitate the habit. Satan is in the business of killing and destroying (John 10:10) and what better way to do it. Sadly, in my early days of ministry I preached in Southern Baptist churches in the tobacco-belt and watched deacons light up on the front steps after the Sunday morning sermon. Things are a bit more enlightened now, but the biggest problem with Christians, especially in the south (including a lot of born-again Texans), is chew, which is just as bad and just as demonic.

The pictures above of chewers say it all. If you smoke or chew, you definitely have an addiction and you could have a demon. Get deliverance and trade in your Marlboro Man for a Newly Delivered Man in Christ.

An encouraging word:  HONOR YOUR WORD

Scripture tells us that God blesses a man who speaks the truth and honors his word, even when it is hard to do so (Psalm 15:4 “keeps his oath even when it hurts” NIV). We’ve all been disappointed by Christians who promised things and didn’t come through or said one thing and did another. We have high expectations of our brethren in Christ, and rightfully so. We expect them to be different from the “world” and so does God. Think of what you’ve said to your fellow Believers and make sure that you’ve followed through. It’s a great way to keep friends and a certain way to keep God’s favor.

A lot wrangling has been going on lately at meetings of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. And it’s all about the cross. It’s not the first fight over whether or not the Christian cross would appear on County seals which are displayed on flags, vehicles and written communications. From 1957-2004 the cross was above a rendering of the Hollywood bowl. Since the new seal replaced the Bowl with a depiction of a Catholic mission, paying tribute to Catholic missionaries who were early settlers of the area, some wanted the cross included as an accurate “historical” portrayal. Said filmmaker John Newcombe, “Our mountain ranges, our valleys, and our hills, all these things are named after Catholic saints.” Good point. Do the Supervisors now bow to the whims of atheists and the ACLU to start renaming everything in the state with a religious reference? As for now, the vote is to keep the cross in spite of threatened lawsuits. Good for L.A. and one small victory for religious freedom.

I can tell you who’s behind efforts to remove the cross – the devil and his demons. Satan fears the cross of Christ. In every exorcism, when I whip out my special Cross of Deliverance, the demons recoil in fear. Not because the metal object I hold has any power in itself. It is a visible expression of my invisible faith, an objectification of a metaphysical, spiritual reality. It forces the devil to face a visual emblem of what is in my heart. That’s why we put crosses on the steeples of our churches, and Mormons don’t, by the way. It signifies ownership, authority, identity and submission. Without those early Christian missionaries there would be no California as we know it today. Even Hollywood owes its ultimate founding to the cross (gulp!). Satan fears the cross so let’s put it everywhere we can. It exposes who is really behind the atheists and the ACLU when they get bent out of shape over a simple, symbol.

NOTE: To get your very own replica of my special Cross of Deliverance, used in thousands of exorcisms all over the world, CLICK HERE. Each cross has been anointed and consecrated by prayer.  Proceeds go to support our international missions worldwide. Thank you.

An encouraging word:  LOOK TO THE CROSS

“The preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness,” Paul told the Corinthians (1 Cor. 1:18). Sadly today it sometime adorns the bling of gutter-language rap artists and the cleavage of erotic Hollywood starlets. But such demeaning of the cross never takes away what it really represents. Thousands of cathedrals place it at their apex and stained glass windows glow with its hope. The cross is truly, as Paul says, “the power of Christ.” In His crucifixion there is hope. In His death there is life. And in His resurrection there is immortality. Thank God for the cross.