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In 2011, in the city of Dnepropetrovsk Pastor Bob did an exorcism on a man named Dmitriy. At time we reported: Among the many people responding to Pastor Bob’s message in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine, was a huge, 6′-6″ Russian named Dmitriy.  Six strong men struggled to keep him and the demon of Murder under control. Dmitriy, who became a Christian two months ago, suffered anger and addiction going back seven generations to a curse of murder. We have now learned that Dmitriy also had a dramatic turn in his life. He now attends the New Generation Bible College in this city, Pershotravensk, and is involved in the Christian Media department learning a new skill to witness for Christ!

Pershotravensk is the city where the New Generation Bible College is located. The local congregation of the New Generation movement hosted Bob and the Teenage Exorcist for two Sunday services to kick off three days of intensive training in spiritual warfare. Nearly 3,000 people attended the services, including 500 students from the College. Sunday evening the Teenage Exorcists performed a remarkable exorcism on a violent man named Alexander. When Bob first approached him in the audience, he fell to the ground convulsing violently. He was brought on stage and had to be restrained to prevent harm coming to anyone. Eventually, Brynne, Tess, and Savannah uncovered a four-generation curse of a demon of Death and cast out the evil spirit. Afterwards, the exorcists were informed that Alexander was married to a young woman named Natasha and both were attending the College to study for ministry. They were the proud parents of a new child. But the story gets more interesting. Natasha was delivered when Bob was in this same city three years ago. At that time she had been involved in prostitution because of childhood molestation. After her deliverance in 2010 her life dramatically turned around and now she and Alexander have a wonderful Christian family.

At the end of the Sunday evening in Pershotravensk, Bob invited youth under to come on stage and learn exorcism. Out of the hundreds who manifested that evening, Bob picked about 40 special cases for the College students to work with. The Teenage exorcists guided the students for special hands-on-in-action experience in deliverance.

Thirty hours after boarding a plane in Phoenix, Arizona, we arrived at our first destination — Kharkov, a city of 2 million souls, plus half a million college students. It’s a few miles from the Russian border and the educational center of Ukraine. Our plane landed in Kiev, the northern capital of the country. We were met by our organizers who supplied a van to take all of us to Kharkov, five bumpy hours on less-than-smooth Ukrainian roads. We made our way across the countryside with spring in full bloom. This bitterly cold country in winter is beginning to come alive. Crops are being planted, trees are budding, and the temperature is warm in the 70s. (After here it’s on to Siberia so I’m grateful for the respite.)

Why come halfway around the world when there are plenty of opportunities to bring the message of salvation and deliverance elsewhere? After more than three decades of ministry in 100+ countries I can honestly say that Russia and Eastern Europe are the most exciting places for spiritual breakthroughs anywhere on the planet. Fervor for the Lord is more intense here than anywhere I’ve been, and this is my fifth journey here in four years. The reason is simple. This part of the world is getting a fresh breath of freedom since the fall of the Soviet Empire in 1991, just 22 years ago. Other parts of the world have had decades, even centuries, to experience the fruits of the Gospel. But Eastern Europe has been dominated with atheism for half a century, Russia for a century.  Evangelical Christianity is exploding with intensity like nowhere else. The music and worship are bold and intense. The preaching is uncompromising. Very young pastors with youthful constituents are seeing congregations grow into the thousand, sometimes in a matter of months.

But challenges remain. After so many years of Hitler’s Nazism and Stalin’s Communism there’s a spiritual vacuum. That was evident as we drove across the countryside on our way to the first meeting in Kharkov. We slowed down to pass through a small farming village. There, in the main square was a 15 foot tall, imposing statue of Lenin, architect of Communism and murderer of millions. Why it is still there is anyone’s guess. Tradition, apathy, irrelevance, fear of reprisals from still-loyal Communists? That statue is a visible symbol of the shadow of institutional atheism that still lingers over this land. That’s why I’m here, with the Teenage Exorcists; to spiritually dismantle what that statue stands for by bringing the hope of Christ and the message of deliverance from the bondage of unbelief. To all those who have helped to support this mission, thank you.

Three years ago I stood next to North Korea.  I walked over a wooden bridge to a wire fence that delineated the border between North and South Korea. I peered over into the no-mans-land of the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone). I saw no soldiers, but they were there, somewhere in those hills and behind those trees. Not far from me, tourists milled about. A South Korean amusement park hummed with activity nearby; but within the scope of my sight, the might of North Korea’s army, the fourth largest in the world, was ready. It was hard to imagine that just a few miles away was the metropolis of Seoul and its 12 million souls. Days before I stood at this vantage point, North Korea had lobbed rockets on a small island nearby. The international community shrugged its shoulders at the insane actions of Kim Jong-il. Now we are faced with the possibility of nuclear warheads lobbed by his irrational son, Kim Jong Un. The Korean war of the fifties killed 2.5 million people. This time a conflict on the Korean peninsula would be far more deadly.

I remember so well basking in the warm sun of that spring afternoon, thinking that I was standing on a spot that was just one irrational act away from unthinkable horror and bloodshed. I strained my eyes peering into the distance, wondering what telescopes were fixed on me as a target. It was surreal, but today, three years later, it is downright deadly. It has been 70 years since the world has seen a mushroom cloud of atomic proportions, but if the maniacal ruler of North Korea has his way, we could see it again.

Is it time for a surgical strike to knock out North Korean missiles before they sail toward Seoul or Tokyo? Perhaps. It certainly will do us no good to threaten more hollow sanctions. Without any easy options for world governments, Christians need to realize that some kind of tribulation, if not the Great One, may lie around the corner. This is not just one more international crisis. This is a big one. And if Iran acts somehow in concert, we’re on our way to WW III.

Yesterday’s blog referenced USA-TODAY’s Wednesday article entitled, “Young celebs pipe up for pot.” Entertainment artists such as Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake, and even Justin Bieber were cited as extolling the benefits of weed.  In addition to the information I cited yesterday, here are a few more facts:

1. The psychoactive ingredient in pot, tetrahydrocannabinol, stays in the body a month or more and can impair users for days or week. Who wants to be driving a two-lane road, headed toward a pothead who toked two days ago, let alone someone who just downed a six-pack.
2. Other risks include lung cancer (just like cigarettes), distorted perception, paranoia, reduced libido with men (that got the attention of 50% of those reading this), depression, and short-term memory loss. (I can see you potheads rolling your eyes, but it’s all true, and gets worse with continued, heavy use.)
3. In case you’re wondering, yes, you can get demons from drugs – including pot. I see this confirmed countless times in my Encounter sessions. Recreational pot also falls under the condemnation of Revelation 9:21 (“sorceries” in the Greek refers to mind-altering drugs), and is in the same league as murder (according to Revelation 9)!

Revelation 18 also says that the End Time regime of Satan, “Babylon the Great,” is inhabited by every kind of “foul spirit” (demon) and that by “sorceries” (drugs, pharmakeia in the Greek) were “all nations deceived.” [Note-even Wikipedia observes: Pharmakeia is the Greek word for pharmacy  . . . [and] refers to the making of  spell-giving potions, or alchemical potions (or elixirs) believed to have transforming powers, such as the power to extend life, boost energy, or enhance the mind.

Don’t be deceived by pop stars or other entertainment heroes who promote pot, as Revelation 18 warns

A moral sea change is taking place in America. Nowhere is this more evident than the growing acceptance of marijuana use. USA-TODAY, in today’s entertainment section, features a lengthy article entitled, “Young celebs pipe up for pot.” The increased usage of pot is noted, courtesy of artists like Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake, and even Justin Bieber.  In the face of this cultural onslaught, let’s get a few facts straight.

1. Unless you live in Washington state or Colorado (and there possess small amounts for personal toking), weed is still illegal by Federal law. That may change, but it hasn’t as of now, and every pothead not getting a Rocky Mountain High or Seattle buzz is breaking the law. Plain and simple, smoke pot anywhere else and you are a criminal
2. Lighting up may be a PR way to “age” the Bieber brand, but it sends a terrible message to the average teen who won’t be able to afford the kind of expensive drug rehab that Bieber will need someday if he continues. Wise up, youthful pothead. You’re being taken for a high ride and the Biebs won’t be there to pick you up when you fall.
3. I do more than cast out demons as an exorcist. I spend hundreds of hours every year counseling young people hooked on serious drugs. As old-school as it may sound to today’s hipsters, almost all got started on pot. It was the gateway, and it did get these youthful addicts on the slippery slope to drug bondage.

Don’t be fooled by the likes of Rihanna, who sports a weed leaf on her performing wardrobe and a tush tattoo promoting pot. Remember, she’s the same woman who is now back with the boyfriend who beat her.  And Lady Gaga whose perversions and blasphemies are myriad is no role model of moral rectitude.

Tomorrow, three more reason to avoid being a victim of pot propaganda.