Are Demons at Work Today?

The Bible has a lot to say about demons in both the Old and New Testament. In the Old Testament they're usually just called "evil spirits", and usually named "demons" in the New Testament. other names for them are "familiar spirits", unclean spirits, lying spirits, and principalities. Today I took a look at a great many passages that dealt with demonic possession or influence.  Once you begin reading them and writing down the symptoms each person had, it becomes very obvious that demons are alive and hard at work in our world today!  Let me give you some examples.  Remember that these are just examples and there are many more in the old Testament and even a some more in the New Testament. But this will give us more then enough to chew on for today. The Bible tells us that although all of these things can be cause by demon possession or demonic influence, they are not always caused by demons. People can get sick or do many of these things just because of our sin nature and/or because we live in a broken world. 

Demonic possession manifests itself in many ways: 

1. can’t speak, can’t hear, self harming, (Mark 9:17, Mark 9:18, 25; Matt. 9:32). 

2. can’t speak or see (Matt. 12:22). 

3. epilepsy, self harming, attempted suicide (Matt. 17:15, 18). 

4. great strength, insanity, cutting, self destruction, attempted suicide, screaming, going naked - inappropriate behavior, living in tombs or other inappropriate places, isolating, violent, (Matt 8:28–34; Mark 5:1–20; Luke 8:26–39) . 

5. convulsions, screaming, self harming, (Mark 1:26; 9:20). 

6. paralysis, screaming, cripples (like from a stroke) (Acts 8:7). 

7. high fever, Demons often manifest symptoms of diseases.. (Luke 4:38). However, not all physical problems are of demonic origin. In the Gospels illness and possession are often differentiated (cf. Mark 1:32, 34; 6:13; Matt. 4:24; 10:8; Luke 4:40–41; 9:1; 13:32).

8. harming others, (Acts 19:15–16). 

Also from the Old Testament: 

9. attempted murder, violence (1 Samuel 19:9–10 and many others). 

10. acting treacherously, (Judges 9:23). 

11. depression, (1 Samuel 16:14-16). 

12. prostitution, orgies, idolatry, murdering children, are all things that the people who worshipped idols (which are demons) did. When you worship a demon, they have a hold on you and cause you to do all these things and more. This is spoken about all though the OT, but I’m only going to list a couple that speak about it. (Deuteronomy 32:17, Ezekiel 16:15–21). 

Finally, back in the New Testament in Romans 1:21–32 we see a lot more of what demons cause in humans: 

13.  adultery, fornication, homosexuality and other perverted sexual acts, transvestites, trans genders, envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice, gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, boastful, disobedient to parents, senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless, and finally filled with every kind of evil and wickedness.  

I'm sure you noticed as you read through this list that many things are repeated over and over. This whole list, and especially the last part may have made you think of another passage like it did for me, as it's very similar. This is the passage that speaks about what people will be like in the last days... the very times we're currently living in:  “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.” (2 Timothy 3:1–5) 

So does this mean that we can blame all the horrible things that are happening today on demons and say it's not the fault of the persons themselves?  Absolutely not!  Demons can't influence or possess anyone who's not willing to allow it. Do you think that if we told people that these things could be caused by demons that the people would be horrified and quit doing them?  No, they'd just say we're crazy and continue, because they like their sins, and they like not being held accountable for them. That's why they pushed so hard for them to be normalized. I think the most we can say "in general" is that these things can be caused by demons, but also by our sin nature.  How can we tell the difference?  I honestly don't know for sure as I haven't tried to study that. What I do know though is that it doesn't matter what's causing it.  If we have a loved one that is described by these things, all we need to do is pray to our loving, and merciful God that He would save them and free them from Satan's clutches.  Another thing we can do is tell them to flee from sin like Joseph did (Genesis 39:10–12), resist it and draw near to God instead (James 4:7–8) and He will draw near to you. So we don't have to worry about figuring out whether it's demons, sin, or the world we live in that's causing these things to happen to people.  I just think it's good to know that demons are often involved when these things manifest.  Another way we could add to this study would be to look up the scriptures that speak about Satan and how he operates. That could give us more insight into what's going on today too. 

Knowing  all this, especially in the times we're living in, shows us that Satan and his demons are alive and well, and working as hard as they can to harm and kill as many people as they can, prevent people from being saved, and make as many who are saved as useless to God as they can. Mainly it reminds us that we are at war and need to stand firm in our faith and not fall prey to Satan's schemes. We can fight back by making sure we read and study God's Word daily, and so allow it to keep renewing our minds, apply the scriptures we read to our lives and pray constantly for the salvation of our loved ones and for ourselves to become more like Jesus daily. Most of all, don't allow this to cause you to fear. We have a friend who is much stronger than any demon or Satan, so we have no reason to fear as long as we know Him!  

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13). 

The Mark and 666

I was reading in John and John 6:66 caught my eye, and considering the meaning of the verse, along with it's number, and knowing that John wrote both John and Revelation, it left me with some intriguing thoughts...

John 6:66 —From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. *

Revelation 13:18 —This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man’s number. His number is 666. *

In John 6:66, in the original language, it suggests that their leaving was decisive and final. It wasn't a spur of the moment thing that they might change their minds about later. We all know that the one unforgivable sin is the sin of rejecting salvation through Jesus' sacrifice. (The Unforgivable sin is found in Matthew 12:32 —Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come. *   Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit happens when we know that the claims of Christ are true and reject them anyway, because it's the Holy Spirit who testifies to us about Christ and makes the Truth known to us. Paul rejected Christ before his experience on the road to Damascus - he sinned against Jesus.  If he hadn't accepted the Truth  when it was presented to him on that road, it would have been a sin against the Holy Spirit because at that point, he then knew it was true.)  That's what the disciples in John 6:66 had just done.

In Revelation 14:9–11 we're told too that any who take the Mark won't be forgiven. Often people fear that this is some kind of second unforgivable sin, but it's not. Because of that, there's been all kinds of fear and concern about having any kind of mark or number given to us or put on us. But this is still the same sin of rejecting salvation through Christ. The only difference is that they've also chosen to state publicly at the same time, who they are accepting as their savior instead, which of course is the Antichrist. That's why taking the Mark is unforgivable. It has nothing to do with the mark itself or with the number or anything else.  Let me repeat that:  The only unforgivable sin is rejecting Christ when you know His claims are true. Taking the Mark of the Beast (the AntiChrist) is unforgivable only because they will know that Christ is the True Savior and that they are choosing to worship someone else instead. .

Many Christians fear the Mark and are concerned about the possibility of unsaved loved ones taking the Mark unaware of what they're really doing. This simply isn't possible though, for two reasons. First, as we just said, the sin isn't in the mark itself, the sin is what taking the mark means - that the person is rejecting Christ in favor of the Antichrist. Remember, all through the Bible, God reminds us over and over again, that it's what is in our hearts that concerns Him, not what's on the outside. Secondly, God Himself will make sure that every human being alive during this time, will have heard the Gospel and will know what the meaning of taking the Mark really is and what will happen to them if they take it. God will not allow anyone to take the Mark unknowingly. (This is explained starting at Rev 14:6 among other places.) Therefore there can be no chance of anyone taking the Mark that won't know what they're really doing.  If you read the Left Behind books you saw how they handled the idea of someone being forced to take the Mark against their will. As the authors showed, this would not be an unforgivable sin, since it was done against the person's will, even if that person was unconscious.  We tend to think that God is out to get us and is just waiting for us to "mess up", at least that's how we often act.  The Truth is though that He loves us, and wants to help us, not hurt us!

With that out of the way, let's go back to John 6:66 and how it might relate to the Mark. In John, this takes place right after Jesus had again explained that He would have to die for us and told us to drink His blood and eat His flesh. Meaning of course, as the Jews of that day understood, that they were to identify with Him, His life and sacrifice, make His life, theirs. In other words, they were to submit to Him, or as He said another time, deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Him, etc. The people, who knew scripture and knew Jer 31:31–34 quite well, would have understood the concept of receiving His Word and making it part of their inner beings.

That's what caused many of the disciples to turn away from Him. Up till then, they'd been willing to play the game, but now it was starting to get dangerous. Now He wasn't just telling people to be good and play nice with each other, but was demanding that they go against the crowd, be different, and stand up for the Truth. They didn't want anything to do with that. They liked their lives just fine. While it had been fine to follow Him and be able to tell their friends they knew Him and had heard this famous man talk etc. they for sure didn't want to irrevocably separate themselves from everyone else! So they rejected Jesus. They rejected Him as their Messiah. They rejected His offer of Eternal Life in Him. Instead they chose to live for themselves and this world.

During the Tribulation, the choice about the Mark will be similar. People will be choosing to reject Jesus and live for themselves and the Antichrist who they think will be able to provide them with all they want in this life. Among those who choose the Mark, will be people who were supposedly interested in the gospel. They will probably have been meeting with real believers who have been trying to teach them the Truth. They may even have pretended to accept it for awhile. But now, knowing the Truth, they reject it. As the popular game show would say, that is their "final answer", and that is why they are condemned to Hell.

I found it very interesting and instructive though that those particular words in scripture would have been labeled as 6:66. Words that speak of those who have decisively determined to reject Jesus once and for all time. They have turned their backs on God's Truth and His Son and live for themselves. Isn't that really what Satan did, and what we all tend toward? Isn't that really why we sin even after we're saved? We want what we want when we want it, regardless of what God says. The number that has always described mankind is 6 - one less then God's number which is perfection.

Rev 13:18 seems like an additional warning, a warning not to be taken in by lies and that this man is not what he appears to be. A warning that not everyone is what they appear to be, that looks and words can be deceiving. Interestingly verse 17 links the number with his name too, and that's not the first time names are mentioned in this chapter. The whole chapter seems to be dividing people between those who truly follow Christ and those who don't, and warning folks that soon they will have to give their final answer.

Obviously the warning is for those living during the Tribulation but I think it can also be a warning to us as well. We're constantly seeing signs showing that the Tribulation is near. We know that because the Lord told us these signs would become more numerous and more destructive as time went on. Having studied the judgments during the Tribulation, we know that the signs we're seeing are like milder mini previews of what's to come. I think it's the same way with the both the deceptions of the AntiChrist and with the defection of so called Believers and followers of our Lord.

We see these milder, mini previews of the Antichrist in a number of political figures, including Obama, to the point that many have wondered if he might not be the AntiChrist. If we look back, we can see how these mini previews have intensified and happen closer together, just like the other signs. There's no doubt too that we've all seen the previews of John 6:66 and that it's getting worse and worse. God has drawn a line in the sand and many have turned back to the world, no longer following Christ. As it gets more dangerous to be linked with Christ, more are abandoning ship. They'd rather lose Him then the good will of their friends.

We've been told that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and that it's the Lord who gives true understanding, yet this beast, the antichrist, will tell people that he is wise and that he can give them the answers and save them from all that's happening. Isn't that what some are already saying and what everyone is already clamoring for? 

I fully realize that there were no verses or verse numbers in the original manuscripts and that the numbers were put in much later to help us. However, I also know that God is in control of everything and that especially goes for His Word. Therefore I don't believe it is a "coincidence" that this verse has that number, nor any other verses number for that matter. However, I do not make a habit of looking for things like this as I believe that wouldn't be correct or what the Lord intends for us to do. I do believe that it was the Lord who brought the fact of the so called "coincidence" to my attention and that it was He who guided my study about it as well. That certainly doesn't mean that all my conclusions are always correct by any means, only as I said, that the Lord guided me. I still have a great deal to learn and I know the Lord will teach me as I'm able to receive it.

The Lord teaches us that He is always in control. There is no such thing as "coincidence". And that, because the Bible teaches it, I firmly believe. I hope others are able to get something helpful from this.

 

 There's certainly a lot to reflect on with these verses!

John 6:66 —From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. *

Revelation 13:18 —This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man’s number. His number is 666. *

 

Proverbs 9:10 —“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. *

I feel like I'm reading about the US!

Wow!  As I read Judges 10, I really feel like I'm reading about the US and the rest of the world as well right now! Even the commentary which was written in the 90's is like they've somehow read today's news headlines. I can't post all of Judges 10, but let me post a few verses and a bit of the commentary for you which will give you an idea of what I'm talking about. It's amazing and scary and it makes a lot of sense out of what's happening around the world and in the US!  This is from Wiersbe's, Be Available commentary.  Just replace the word "Israel" with "the United States" and you'll see what I mean.

 
Judges 10:11–14 —The Lord replied, “When the Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines, *the Sidonians, the Amalekites and the Maonites oppressed you and you cried to me for help, did I not save you from their hands? *But you have forsaken me and served other gods, so I will no longer save you. *Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them save you when you are in trouble!” *

A nation in decay (Jdg. 10:1–18)
There were three deficiencies in Israel that gave evidence that the nation was decaying spiritually.
 

1. Israel’s lack of gratitude to the Lord (vv. 1–5). For forty-five years, the people of Israel enjoyed peace and security, thanks to the leadership of Tola and Jair. We know little about these two judges, but the fact that they kept Israel’s enemies away for nearly half a century would suggest that they were faithful men, who served the Lord and the nation well. Tola was from the tribe of Issachar, and Jair from the Transjordan tribes, the area known as Gilead.

The people of Israel, however, didn’t take advantage of these years of peace to grow in their relationship to the Lord. After the death of Jair, the nation openly returned to idolatry and once again invited the chastening of the Lord. They enjoyed forty-five years of peace and prosperity but didn’t take time to thank the Lord for what He had done for them. The essence of idolatry is enjoying God’s gifts but not being grateful to the Giver, and Israel was guilty.

Thanksgiving glorifies God (Ps. 69:30) and is a strong defense against selfishness and idolatry.

2. Israel’s lack of submission to the Lord (vv. 6–16). If the people had only reviewed their own history and learned from it, they would never have turned from Jehovah God to worship the false gods of their neighbors. From the time of Othniel to the days of Gideon, the Jews endured over fifty painful years of oppression from the enemy. By now they should have known that God blessed them when they were obedient and chastened them when they were rebellious. (See 3:7, 12; 4:1; 6:1.) After all, weren’t these the terms of the covenant that God made with Israel, a covenant the nation accepted when they entered the land? (Josh. 8:30–35)

The Lord had given Israel victory over seven different nations (Jdg. 10:11–12), but now Israel was worshiping seven different varieties of pagan gods (v. 6). No wonder God’s anger “was hot against Israel” (v. 7). What foolishness to worship the gods of your defeated enemies!

For the people to abandon God was one thing, but for God to abandon His people was quite something else. The greatest judgment God can send to His people is to let them have their own way and not interfere. “Wherefore God also gave them up.… God gave them up.… God gave them over” (Rom. 1:24, 26, 28). This was too much for the Jews, so they repented, put away their false gods, and told God He could do to Israel whatever He wanted to do (Jdg. 10:15–16).

Their hope wasn’t in their repenting or their praying but in the character of God. “His soul was grieved for the misery of Israel” (v. 16). “In all their affliction He was afflicted” (Isa. 63:9). “Nevertheless in Your great mercy You did not utterly consume them nor forsake them; for You are God, gracious and merciful” (Neh. 9:31, NKJV). “Yet He was merciful; He atoned for their iniquities and did not destroy them. Time after time He restrained His anger and did not stir up His full wrath” (Ps. 78:38, NIV).

3. Israel’s lack of adequate leadership (vv. 17–18).
The people were prepared to act, but from all the tribes of Israel, there was nobody to take the lead. Whether in a nation or a local church, the absence of qualified leaders is often a judgment of God and evidence of the low spiritual level of the people. When the Spirit is at work among believers, He will equip and call servants to accomplish His will and bless His people (Acts 13:1–4).

In his book Profiles in Courage, John F. Kennedy wrote, “We, the people, are the boss, and we will get the kind of political leadership, be it good or bad, that we demand and deserve.” What’s true of political leadership is often true of spiritual leadership: We get what we deserve. When God’s people are submitted to Him and serving Him, He sends them gifted servants to instruct and lead them; but when their appetites turn to things of the world and the flesh, He judges them by depriving them of good and godly leaders. “The righteous perish, and no one ponders it in his heart” (Isa. 57:1, NIV).

When I was a young Christian, I heard an evangelist preach a powerful sermon on the text, “Where is the Lord God of Elijah?” (2 Kings 2:14) “We know where the Lord God of Elijah is,” he said; “He’s on the throne of heaven and is just as powerful today as He was in Elijah’s day.” Then he paused. “The question is not so much ‘Where is the Lord God of Elijah?’ as ‘Where are the Elijahs?’ ”

Indeed, where are the Elijahs? Where are the spiritual leaders who can rally God’s people and confront the forces of evil?
Wiersbe, W. W. (1994). Be available. “Be” Commentary Series 

 

(originally written over two years ago) 

Coming Full Circle

I've been studying in Revelation again recently, specifically the letters to the churches. As I studied today I was struck yet again at how we as believers, the Church--the body of Christ and the world in general have come full circle since it started. Of course it makes sense that would happen at the end of an age, and I see this as yet another sure sign that the rapture is indeed very close. I've only studied about the churches in Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, and Thyatira so far today but even that is more then enough to show how much like them we've become today.

There's a lot about false teachers from within the church itself leading the people astray, and as we know that is certainly very true today! What's more amazing is that the things these false teachers taught is the same that's being taught today; it just has a different name now.

Today pastors preach for monetary gain because they're greedy and con people out of their hard earned money. They teach that God wants you to be wealthy and of course the first thing you have to do to be wealthy is give them your money. If this wasn't done under the guise of religion, they'd be locked up instantly as con artists and no one would believe them! God says they're just like Balaam and makes it clear that they will be judged as will their followers.

Today they teach people that immorality is perfectly ok, that you're still saved even though you practice it regularly and that there's no need to repent of it. Makes me think of the many threads in the Today's Teacher's forum about today's pastors doing sermons and writing books about sex and having disgusting public displays to promote it. It reminds me of the homosexual pastors teaching that homosexuality is perfectly normal and ok.

Balaam also got the Israelites to start eating food sacrificed to idols by getting them to marry aliens and accept their customs. When the Jews did that, they became tolerant of sin and began doing it themselves, because "it wasn't a big deal after all". So it is today as well. I don't know how many pastors we've posted about that claim we're to be tolerant of evil and sin and that it's even ok to do it ourselves at least to a certain extent, after all, just like the Jew's thought before God killed 24,000 of them because of it, they were just being "good neighbors" and that's what the false teachers tell us today.

The false teachers told them it was perfectly ok to light incense, affirming your loyalty to Caesar, after all, we're supposed to obey the government and we really don't worship Caesar, we worship God; it's not an actual lie because we're not actually saying that we think Caesar is a god...and God wouldn't want us to lose our jobs and not be able to work anywhere and go hungry would He? What purpose would that serve? God wants us to be able to worship Him and give money for the poor but we can't do that if we're the poor ones...and that's assuming they don't kill us for not doing it! Sound familiar to you? It sure does to me! I can't even begin to count how much as been posted here about pastors who teach that today.

In Thyatira, the Lord commends those who have not fallen for the false teachers and tells us something important about those teachers too. He says they teach the "so called" deep secrets of Satan. To me that says these teachers hooked people into what they taught by telling them that they would learn the "deep secrets about God" which is what the Gnostics taught then and still teach today. On the other hand, God tells us that everything we need to know is in His Word and that if we're obedient He will reveal His secrets to us. We don't need to go anywhere else, join any organization or listen to any teacher to learn them. The Lord tells us Himself, quite freely in His Word if we will but study it with Him.

Another similarity hit me hard too and that's was about Pergamum. That's where the great medical school was and it's symbol is still used today for doctors and hospitals: It's the symbol of a snake curled around a staff. The snake is also a symbol for Satan but it was used there for the god of healing, Asklepios. What struck me about it was that then medicine was mixed in with a lot of superstition and the superstition was all centered around the false gods which we know were and are demons. Medicine eventually cleaned up it's act, thanks in large part to God and Christianity, but today it is once again become greatly mixed with superstition surrounding the demons still worshiped by eastern religions. Those "superstitions" have gone from being consider cultist and on the outside of real medicine to being fully accepted by the medical field today.

Like I said though, God wasn't happy about it then, and He most certainly isn't happy about it now either. Another thing that struck me as interesting was the way God said He would destroy the false prophetess and her followers. He said He would give them a bed of sickness and kill them. The word used actually means "pestilence" and is also translated as "plague" in some verses. God said He wasn't going to wait to judge this particular false teacher and her followers, that it would happen soon if they didn't repent. From what we know of history, they obviously didn't repent because the city is no longer there. God indeed removed their lampstand. The point I'm getting at though is that we are seeing this again now too. It reminds me of Aides right off the bat as well as other things that even now the doctors are beginning to call a plague--like that skin eating disease or the super infections etc.

So today like in Ephesus we have people who are zealous for the Truth and doctrine but who don't have a close relationship with Christ; they've lost their first love. Like Pergamum and Thyatira, we have people who have plenty of love for Christ, but have no discernment and so go along with and are tolerant of evil. Thankfully we also have people like those in Smyrna who love the Lord and His Word, know it well and stand up for the Truth, even though it means suffering for them here and now. And last but not least, we have the Lord's assurance that He is in control and that He is coming soon! Because things have so very obviously come around full circle, it tells me that the rapture cannot be very far away!

(originally written over a year ago) 

What the first Three and a Half years of the Trib will be like

I know some people seem to think that the first half of the Trib will be peaceful but that's simply not biblical.  People generally get that idea from movies and books, but not from the Bible. Think of it this way. I wouldn't even call the way things are now entirely "peaceful" and these things aren't going to get better, they're going to get worse! If nothing else just reading the judgements that are going to happen during this time show it's going to be far from peaceful.  Think about it...between a third and half of the worlds population are going to die during these first 3 and a half years!  And that's AFTER all the people have disappeared from the rapture!  Just realizing that one fact alone should be enough to show that the world is going to be in complete chaos.  If it wasn't, they wouldn't need a "savior"; they wouldn't think they needed the antichrist!  I think another reason that causes some people to think that the first half of the Tribulation will be relatively peaceful is because Jesus called the second half of it the "Great Tribulation". You have to realize why He did that though.  For one thing, the second half will be worse then the first half for everyone, but it will be especially worse for the Jews and that's who Jesus was talking to at that time.  He was letting them know that as bad as the first half is going to be, the second will be even worse.  

Another way you could look at it is this:  Human beings might just be able to survive as a race if we only had to go through the first half of the Tribulation.  I say, "might", because honestly, with all the devastation both supernatural as well as that done by men that the earth itself is going to go through, it's also possible that we could do enough damage even in the first half that could cause enough chain reactions for the earth to be eventually uninhabitable.  But I think it's more likely that we could survive it. But there is no way humans could survive the second half of the Tribulation. If Jesus did not return and make the earth habitable again, all life would soon die off on the earth by the end of the Tribulation.  That's one reason Jesus tells us that no one would survive if the Lord doesn't shorten it. (Matthew 24:22)

The AC will get elected because the people are so afraid, so tired of being afraid and hungry and sick etc that they'll be snatching at straws, they'll be desperate for someone to help them. Of course, we know he's not going to help them, he's only going to make promises to help. The only thing he will do that will make people "think" he's just wonderful and that he CAN help, will be to sign the treaty between Israel and her neighbors. We already know he isn't going to keep that treaty though, and we know he isn't even going to totally enforce it either, even at the beginning. Like I said, that will last only long enough to get him into power.

Let's see what the Bible says will happen during that first half of the trib.

The 7 seals will come first: keep in mind that this is occurring during the FIRST 3 years of the Trib:

Revelation 6:1-17 I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.

When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay each other. To him was given a large sword. 


During the first part of the Tribulation then, we have the AntiChrist coming on the scene promising peace but giving people war instead.  That's another thing people are often mistaken about.  They think the AC will actually bring peace during the first half, but he won't.  The bible tells us that he lies to the people making them believe that he wants peace and that it's not his fault that the wars break out all over the world.  These wars will affect the entire world, not just parts of it.  Yes, that means even here in the US! No one and no place will be exempt. 

  When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, “A quart of wheat for a day’s wages, and three quarts of barley for a day’s wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!” 

Now, because of the wars and other problems, we now have famine all over the world.  This is most likely due to the economy failing as well as crops being destroyed by the wars.  The Bible says that the rich people will be OK, but the rest of the world is going to be pretty miserable and hungry.  Hungry, miserable people often start riots, loot stores, and are violent. They rob others to get what they want. (now keep in mind that a huge number of the population has recently disappeared in the rapture, and many of them are in law enforcement agencies. Plus there could be a lot of chaos left from when the rapture happened that will still be a problem.  So now we have a whole lot more crime, plus wars that are quite possibly nuclear, and a lot of hungry, scared, people all over the world, many of which will be the ones behind all the crime, with little to no police available to help stop it all.  Does that sound peaceful to you?  it sure doesn't to me!
 
When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.


Next comes disease and more death.  My guess is that due to the wars obliterating and or poisoning the crops, the animals are going to get sick, possibly rabid and begin attacking people a lot more often then ever before.  Keep in mind too that evil is on the rise.  More and more people will be giving up all restraint and doing anything that pleases them, meaning sin, no matter who it hurts. It will be a time of "anything goes" on the earth. At this point one fourth of the people who were left behind after the rapture will die.  Let's pretend there were only 100,000 people left on the earth after the rapture.  If that were true, then out of that number, 25,000 of them would die!  Now that's not taking into account the number of people who had already died from wars, famine and crime!  What do you think would be a good guess for that number on a world with little police force left?  Let's say 5% of the population which would be another 5,000 people.  So that would leave only 70,000 people left.  The reason I'm using such low numbers is because we can grasp those numbers a lot easier then the actual numbers of the population. So this allows us to at least grasp the huge number of deaths that will be happening.
 
When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed.



And now we come to the martyrs being killed and a huge number of them as well.  Yet more violence.  As you can easily see by now, the world has become a very violent and ugly place to live in.  It's nothing like what we know it as now. Well nothing like what most of us know it as.  Perhaps those people who currently live in places where ISIS is terrorizing and killing so many people can imagine a whole world like that, where there is no safe place to live. 
 
I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”



Finally, we know that a great earthquake will happen during the first half of the Tribulation as well, which will kill and maim a huge number of the population.  Keep in mind now that none of the other things have stopped happening.  There are still wars, famine, disease, crime, people being killed for their faith in Jesus, and wholesale sin going on constantly.  And we haven't even gotten to any of the Trumpet judgments yet! Scholars differ in just how many of them will happen during the first half of the Tribulation, and a few think they'll all happen in the second half.  So I'm not even going to count any of them, although I do believe that at least the first few of them will happen during the first half of the Tribulation.  So what I'll do is simply list them for you at the end so you can check them out for yourself.

As you can see, during the first 3 and a half years, that's just 42 months, millions of people are going to die! There will be wars, not peace, famine, disease, disasters, unemployment, etc. Food will be scarce and so will money.  People will be living in fear - fear that someone will rob them or kill them, or rape them or beat them. Domestic violence and crime will rise tremendously, as will riots and looting, in part because of all the stress.. This doesn't sound peaceful to me at all! The whole earth will be in utter chaos! I think I can honestly say that the only people on the earth who could be said to be "comfortable" would be those foolish souls who sell out to the Antichrist and work directly for him, staying near him all the time.  While they wouldn't be immune to the judgments, they'd have more money and be part of the rich who would at least still be eating and have a decent roof over their heads, if nothing else.

Remember what happened when Rome fell?  The same kind of things only in smaller measure, just like what's happening now really.  What did Rome do to try to control the masses?  They provided them with "entertainment".  Entertainment that was full of death in the Colosseum. They made it easier for the people to get booze and drugs, and passed laws making it legal for homosexuals to marry.  Homosexuality became the "in" thing after awhile.  Women's lib was introduced as was abortion.  Sounds a lot like us doesn't it?  I've always believed that what happened to Rome was a picture of what was going to happen not just to the US, but ultimately to the world. .

Going back to the Judgements though, if you start at the beginning, each judgment adds to the next and is carried over; in other words, things get progressively worse. How can all of these things have happened and yet everyone is still "comfortable". It simply can't be! People are falling for fantasy rather then reality in this. I think the reason for that is that it's so hard for us to imagine the world being that bad.  We think things are horrible now, but really, compared to the way they'll be then, they're not at all.   Think for a moment about what God said about the people on earth during Noah's time.  He said that every single thought and feeling they had was evil.  Not "most of them", but ALL of them.  Not most of the people, but "all of them" except for Noah and his family.  That's how it will be after the rapture.  All of their thoughts and desires will be evil, except for those of the people who are saved or are being saved. .

The first 3 and a half years won't be as bad as the last 3 and a half but that doesn't mean that people will be comfortable. One reason it will be even worse in the last half of the trib is because the people will still be dealing with the effect all of the previous judgments have had on them as well as with the next new judgments. Plus you have to take into account how things are right this minute. Even now with the problems with the economy, and with the tension in the mid east, and the current wars, and the threats of more wars, the unemployment etc. most of the people are not as "comfortable" as they were before and we know from the financial advisers and well as from the bible that these things are going to get worse, not better. Remember, that one of the things that will happen is the economy will continue to get much worse.  The rich will get richer and the middle class will become the new poor (just like is already beginning to happen) and the poor will get even poorer.  But even the rich won't be living in peace.  They're going to need that wine and booze they can afford to buy, to calm their nerves, because they'll be in constant fear; fear for their lives and fear that their money will be stolen or lost and they'll become one of the poor. 
  
So knowing how things are now and having read some of what is going to happen in the first half of the Trib, there is simply no way that people are going to be at peace and nice and comfy during the first half of it. It's not a pretty picture and certainly not something comfortable to think about, but if we tell people the Truth about it, perhaps then it will be enough to plant some seeds about salvation, and perhaps, if we face the truth about it, it will give us the courage to actually speak up to people who need to hear about Jesus.  

Finally, here are the Trumpet judgments, some or all of which may also happen during the first half of the tribulation. 

Revelation 7:1-4 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree. Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: “Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.” Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.

Revelation 8:1 When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
 
Revelation 8:7-12 The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down upon the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.

The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water— the name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter.

The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night.

Revelation 9:1-6 The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. And out of the smoke locusts came down upon the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. They were not given power to kill them, but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes a man. During those days men will seek death, but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them.
 
Revelation 9:13-19 The sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the horns of the golden altar that is before God. It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” And the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind. The number of the mounted troops was two hundred million. I heard their number. The horses and riders I saw in my vision looked like this: Their breastplates were fiery red, dark blue, and yellow as sulfur. The heads of the horses resembled the heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire, smoke and sulfur. A third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that came out of their mouths. The power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails were like snakes, having heads with which they inflict injury

Ancient Rome and the US now

Ancient Rome and the US now

When I was 12 years old, my mother and I went to Rome and I fell in love with it. I was so in love with it that I immediately began to teach myself Italian and didn't stop until I was fully fluent in it. When we got back from Rome, I got the book, "The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire" and read it from cover to cover. I was even then struck by the similarities between the US and ancient Rome and have continued to study that for the rest of my life. So it was quite natural for me when I was saved to notice how the fall of Rome came about as they moved further and further away from God. One of the area's that caused their fall and ultimately will cause ours, was the degeneration of the family which came about believe it or not, through an ancient version of "women's lib" and then "homosexual rights". Sound familiar? It's true though, and there are places in the NT that were written to people because they were getting confused because of that ancient women's lib movement and the gay rights movement. I talked about that in the study I did on What God says for women.

Obviously since I just recently did that study, that's the area I was concentrating on in scripture. I had also just finished reading a fiction book and asked the Lord what I should read next for pleasure. He brought to my mind one of my favorite series that I haven't read for ages so I couldn't wait to get started on it again. When I did though, I burst out laughing because that series talks about these very same things! LOL God is just so awesome in the ways He helps us to understand what he's saying to us!

Last night as I was reading that book, (which by the way is called, A Voice in The Wind (Mark of the Lion series) by Francine Rivers) I came to a passage that I just have to share with you all. I even read it to Bruce last night lol This book came out almost 20 years ago and it amazes me how much the US has changed to be just like the passage I want to quote you about Rome.

In this passage, a father and mother who's children are now adults, were walking in a park and saw a homosexual couple sitting on a bench kissing which was just totally disgusting to them. Now these people aren't saved, (yet lol) but seeing that upset the father so much he just had to vent and this is what he said to his wife: (any comments I make will be in parentheses)

"Marcus (their son) believes nothing is true and anything is permitted. Julie (their daughter) thinks the only thing that matters is her own pleasure. I've worked my entire life in order to give my children everything I never had at their age--wealth, education, position. And now I look at them and wonder if my life is simple vanity. They are selfish, without the least restraint upon their appetites. They haven't the smallest fiber of moral character."....
...Rome tolerated every abominable practice, embraced every foul idea in the name of freedom and the rights of the common man. Citizens no longer carried on deviant behavior in private, but pridefully displayed it in public. It was those with moral values who could no longer freely walk in a public park without having to witness a revolting display. What had happened to the public censors who protected the majority of citizenry from moral decadence? Did freedom have to mean abolishing common decency? Did freedom mean anyone could do anything they wanted anytime they wanted, without consequences?

How sad...and how sad that's exactly where the US and many other countries are now too. Even if I didn't know anything about the Bible or God, just understanding history would cause me to believe that the US will soon fall. It has undermined the very things that held it together and made it what it was, just as Rome did. Things that are good are now called evil and those things that are evil are not only called good, they are proudly and smugly flaunted everywhere we go. After my salvation when I began studying God's Word it became quite obvious to me that the end times were ancient Rome all over again.

I've talked to the Lord many times about how bad it's gotten... how I can't even go on "family friendly" sites to look for a nice graphic without having to view dozens of vulgar ones, no matter what subject I'm looking up. How if we go out for coffee or to eat that we're forced to see homosexuals flaunting their decadence, etc.

What I've also wondered is if the US would fall before or after the rapture. It could happen either way of course since nothing has to happen before the rapture. At first I was thinking it was so bad now that the US would have to fall first, unless Jesus came this very very soon, but then I realized that although we think it's very bad, it's not quite there yet... almost...but not quite. Once we're removed though (by the rapture) there will be no (or very very few) dissenting voices to let even worse things happen here. So now I tend to think that the rapture will happen first and be a kind of catalyst bringing out the worst in those left behind. I'm just profoundly glad that I won't be here to witness it!

Sometimes I hate it when my mind starts thinking of the similarities between the US and ancient Rome cause it seems like everything I see and hear is just like how it was then: women's lib, abortion, divorce, homosexuality, increase in crime, increase in disease, increase in both "natural" disasters and man made ones, corruption of politics, and the teachings about "self" and that people should put themselves first etc.

Rome actually got it's "new morality" from Greece. Well, we know it came from Satan in reality, but it was the Greek influence that brought it to Rome after they conquered it. Rome was a lot like the US is now. In the past, when people immigrated to the US (legally) they came and loved this country and learned our language and our faith and became upright citizens. All of that's changed now. Now instead of immigrating here to become American's, they come expecting and wanting to stay what they already are, Mexican, or whatever, and keep their old ways and old beliefs. They have no desire to become an American. And now instead of rejecting those "old ways" the US has decided to embrace them and insist that the rest of us embrace them as well. So those of us who are American's are supposed to now be ashamed of the heritage of our country and put off our ways and accept the ways of these other countries. Just like Rome did. And just like Rome, because we're doing that, we'll fall.

 (Originally posted on  June 18th, 2011)

Male, Female, or Other

Historically, there have been only two gender options: male and female. But popular culture is trying to change that. Facebook users can now identify themselves as a-gender, androgynous, bi-gender, gender variant, or a host of other alternatives. This comes on the heels of a feminist movement that insists that a woman's sex should not impact her role or function: Biology should not equal destiny, every woman has a right to dictate the terms of her own life, and she can decide for herself what her womanhood means.

The Bible counters these modern trends. It says that God created two sexes and wants this binary to serve a specific purpose: Gender, sex, and marriage were created to illustrate the marvelous story of the covenant relationship between Jesus Christ and His bride, the Church. Male and female exist to bear witness to an eternal, cosmic reality. The greatest display of God's glory and the greatest joy of human relationships come about when the deep, God-ordained differences between men and women are not rejected, but are embraced and celebrated.

Given the extent of gender confusion in our culture, it's more important than ever that the church uphold the beauty of God's plan for male and female and help men and women experience the joy and fulfillment of being exactly who He created them to be. 

Taken from email from Moody Publishers

Magic Charms Enchant Apostolic-Prophetic Movement

Magic Charms Enchant Apostolic-Prophetic Movement

Holly Pivec

Kits to remove curses, cards to interpret dreams, and music to heal people have become popular products in the apostolic‐prophetic movement, also called the “New Apostolic Reformation.” The movement, which is fast growing in charismatic churches, has long been criticized for its promotion of modern “apostles” and “prophets” who claim to have great authority and to speak for God. It is now being criticized for selling products that—many Christians believe—have more in common with the magic charms used in occult practices than with Christianity.

Property Dedication Kit. One organization that sells these products is the Elijah List, based in Albany, Oregon, which is founded and run by “prophet” Steve Shultz. The Elijah List e‐mails daily newsletters that feature prophecies—and advertisements for products like these—to more than 130,000 subscribers, according to its Web site(www.elijahlist.com).

One of the Elijah List’s top‐selling products is the “Portals to Cleansing Property Dedication Kit”—sold for $12—which is supposed to remove curses from houses and properties. Created by Henry Malone, a professional “house cleanser” and founder of Vision Life Ministries in Irving, Texas, the kit contains anointing oil and wood stakes, with Scripture verses on them, to drive into the borders of a property.

“Use it and make the enemy flee!” Shultz promised his Elijah List readers in an advertisement for the kit, sent on October 16, 2006. Shultz personally vouched for the kit, saying he’s cleansed his own 20 acres of land three or four times and, each time, has seen “a noticeable change in the atmosphere and circumstances.” He said curses are the only explanation for “certain sicknesses, diseases, and even death that comes upon very anointed and pure‐hearted people.”

A companion book written by Malone—titled Portals to Cleansing: Taking Back Your Land from the Hands of the Enemy (Vision Life Publications, 2002)—is sold separately from the kit. It promises to teach readers the “keys to reclaiming [their] land, home, possessions and animals from the power of Satan and his demonic forces.” (See the book and kit at: www.elijahshopper.com.) The book recommends holding a communion ceremony at the center of a property—where family and friends gather inside a circle drawn on the ground with anointing oil—then burying the unused bread and juice or wine.

After following the book’s advice, Matthew Spencer posted a review on Amazon.com saying that his home had a new “peace” and “lightness of spirit.” Spencer said, “I no longer feel uneasy walking through the house in the dark. Honestly, it is a night and day difference.”

Marcia Montenegro, author of the book Spellbound: The Paranormal Seduction of Today’s Kids (Cook/Life Journey, 2006) and founder of the Web site “Christian Answers for the New Age,” however, said Christians don’t need to worry about curses since they aren’t emphasized in the Bible. Even if curses were a threat, though, she thinks the kit would be powerless against them.

“How is that going to remove curses?” said Montenegro, a former professional astrologer and occult practitioner who converted to Christianity. She told the Journal that the kit has more in common with an occult worldview, comparing the anointing oil and wood stakes to “amulets”—objects that occultists believe have powers to protect them from evil, disease, or other harm.

“[With the kit,] it’s like you’re engaging in the occult to protect yourself from [the occult],” Montenegro said, adding that occult practices are banned by the Bible in Deuteronomy 18:10–12. She believes that a biblical response to threats is prayer to God—which goes straight to the source of divine power—rather than relying on magic charms. “What happened to regular prayer?” she asked.

Amulets have a long history, according to Dr. Ron Rhodes, founder and president of Reasoning from the Scriptures Ministries in Frisco, Texas, and author of New Age Movement (Zondervan, 1995). The ancient Babylonians, for example, wore cylinders that were supposed to ward off evil spirits, Rhodes told the JOURNAL. Today, New Agers wear crystals to ward off negative energies. The purpose of amulets—like all occult charms—is to harness and manipulate the power of a deity or the forces of nature, according to Rhodes. He sees this as the purpose behind the property dedication kit.

“It is definitely an example of paganism making its way into the church,” he said.

Third Heaven Vision Anointing Oil. Another top‐selling product for the Elijah List is “Third Heaven Vision Anointing Oil,” which is supposed to give visions of the heavenly realm. Sold by Tom Panich of Vancouver, Washington, it’s made with a base of virgin olive oil and six fragrances that are mentioned in the Bible: calamus, cassia, frankincense, myrrh, Rose of Sharon, and spikenard. A half‐ounce sells for $12.

Anointing oil often has been used by Christians on sick people—along with prayer—in accordance with a Scripture passage, James 5:14–15. Christians historically did not view the oil as having any special power, however; they saw its use simply as an act of faith in God. They also did not use the oil to induce visions or cleanse homes from evil, as it is used in the apostolic‐prophetic movement.

In this movement, different brands of oil are depicted as “anointed” and, therefore, as more powerful than other “non‐anointed” oils. For example, in the Elijah List’s first advertisement for Third Heaven Vision Anointing Oil, sent on March 22, 2004, Shultz said, “We’ve carried different anointing oils in the past. But I always try to carry anointing oil with true anointing on it. This oil fulfills that anointing ‘standard.’”

Panich—a graduate of Norvel Haye’s New Life Bible College in Cleveland, Tennessee—claims that, in 2003, God told him to make the oil. Panich said, later, he was in the shower one day when he was hit with “a lightning bolt of God’s Glory,” and the Holy Spirit gave him the name, “Third Heaven Vision.” Panich said, “Every time I mix up a batch [of the oil], a strong anointing hits me and I shake vigorously…Also, on the occasions that I have put a full box (144 bottles) of the anointing oil in the hands of two separate strong intercessors, they have been hit by the power and anointing of the Lord, almost to the point of falling to the ground.”

Panich also recommends that the anointing oil be poured over the wood stakes from Malone’s property dedication kit, something Panich said he has tried. “After I drove the first stake into the ground, I felt the Presence of the Lord come across the yard, hit me, and then I almost fell over,” he wrote on the Elijah List (Oct. 16, 2006).

Such descriptions of anointing oil (as having magical power) concern Montenegro. She said that it’s one thing for Christians to use the oil symbolically, “but it’s another thing if you think that the oil itself is somehow going to magically protect you,” she said. “To think that an object in and of itself has power is [to think according to] an occult worldview.” Such a use of anointing oil reminds Montenegro of the New Age practice of burning sage to cleanse and bless houses, she said.

Dream Cards. The Elijah List also sells “Dream Cards,” created by Barbie Breathitt of “Breath of the Spirit Ministries,” based in North Richland Hills, Texas. The laminated cards contain common dream symbols—such as numbers, colors, and animals—and their interpretations. They are sold for $10 each or in sets of 6 and 12—for $50 and $96, respectively.

Breathitt’s Dream Cards are endorsed by Patricia King, the founder of Extreme Prophetic Television with Patricia King—a half‐hour program featuring well‐known “prophets” that airs on Canada’s Miracle Channel.

“So many believers are having significant dreams but do not always understand the significance of the symbols within them,” King said. “Barbie Breathitt has done a marvelous job of preparing dream cards as a tremendous tool to help this process.”

Besides dream interpretations, one of the cards lists colors and musical keys that are supposed to bring healing to specific body parts. The use of music and colors for healing is also promoted in occult circles, as on New York psychic Ellie Crystal’s Web site (http://www.crystalinks.com/colors.html).

Rhodes said that dream cards that are similar to Breathitt’s are common in New Age stores: “The idea that it [dream interpretation] is penetrating the Christian church is kind of scary,” he said, adding that this represents a growing acceptance of mysticism among Christians.

Rhodes admits that the Bible records times when God’s people, like Daniel, interpreted dreams. He says that in those cases, however, they always made it clear that God gave them the interpretations, not dream cards.

Montenegro, who knew dream interpreters before she became a Christian, said that the assignment of meanings to symbols is subjective. “Who’s going to say what represents what? You can make anything be a symbol for anything,” she said, adding that the people she knew couldn’t agree on the meanings of symbols.

Besides being a waste of time, dream interpretation can encourage egotism, according to Montenegro. “If you start focusing so heavily on your dreams and think everything has a meaning, it leads to selfabsorption,” she said.

Prophetic Worship CDs. Another growing industry is “prophetic” worship CDs—combinations of music, teachings, and prophecies that are supposed to bring healing, visions, and supernatural encounters just by listening to them. Many of the CDs are recorded in live settings, where the musicians and “prophets” perform spontaneously, without preparation. They, allegedly, are taken over by the Holy Spirit—composing music and lyrics that come from the “throne room of God.”

One of these CDs, sold by the Elijah List for $15, is called Invitation to Intimacy. It was recorded by James W. Goll, the cofounder of Encounters Network in Tulsa, Oklahoma, while he was “caught up into another realm,” according to the advertisement. The CD contains over an hour of “prophetic, spontaneous worship and teaching with keyboard and instrumentation in the background.”

Divine encounters are offered by Ryan Wyatt’s CD, titled The Overshadowing. Wyatt—founder of Abiding Glory Ministries in Seymour, Tennessee—urges his listeners to “sit back and relax as you are taken into the Open Heavens and experience Visions of God! Rest under the wing of God as He overshadows and saturates you with His thick, weighty, intoxicating presence!”

CDs that offer physical healing include one by “prophetic revivalist” Matt Sorger of Seldon, New York, titled Healing in His Wings. The advertisement says the CD combines instrumental music and many other “heavenly sounds, healing scriptures, spontaneous healing prayers and prophetic song.” It claims to be a “powerful combination of both the biblical healing word and the manifest healing presence of Christ.” Another CD by Canadian “prophet” Todd Bentley, titled The Voice of Healing, promises to “bring the transferable, tangible healing anointing and atmosphere to your home, hospital room, or healing service.”

The concept of music or teaching that is composed directly by the Holy Spirit alarms Rhodes. “That whole idea assumes a direct pipeline to God,” he said, adding that if someone claims to receive revelation from God, then it needs to be perfectly consistent with the Bible. “But oftentimes it’s not,” he said. Rhodes also objects to the idea that an anointing can be transferred through a CD, saying, “There is definitely a pagan connection there—a transference of anointing or power or energy.”

Rhodes said that New Agers also have released music they claimed was inspired by the Holy Spirit, but they redefined the Holy Spirit in non‐Christians terms—as a nonpersonal force rather than as one of the three Persons of the Godhead. In the same way, people in the church sometimes redefine the Holy Spirit, Rhodes added. “Just because someone is talking about the Holy Spirit doesn’t mean it’s the Holy Spirit you and I know from the Bible,” he said.

Hocus Focus. Rhodes suspects that many of the people who sell dream cards, prophetic music, and similar products are motivated by a love of money—something the Bible warns against in places such as 1 Timothy 6:10. “People are capitalizing on, and ripping off, gullible people,” he said. Rhodes believes the biggest danger for Christians, however, is not being conned out of cash, but being deceived by a magical worldview that diverts their focus. “Their attention is being taken off of God and put onto objects and potions,” he said.

posted with permission

http://journal.equip.org/articles/magic-charms-enchant-apostolic-prophetic-movement

 

See also: False Spiritual Warfare Teachings: How the Church became pagan...

Is pleading the blood of Jesus biblical?