One of the most intriguing accounts in the gospels is the account of the Gadarene demoniac. The story appears in Matthew 8, Mark 4, and Luke 8. Any account that shows up three times in the gospels should be given a closer look.

You know the story. The apostles and Jesus got into their small boat to cross the sea of Galilee at night. The area is subject to sudden storms and so during the crossing a severe squall came up, waves were washing over the boat, and the disciples were terrified. Jesus was asleep, they woke him, and he rebuked the storm. The wind and waves ceased immediately and they were astonished that Jesus could command even the storm. As if that weren’t “weird” enough, as soon as they arrived at their destination, a man who lived in a shoreline cemetery and was tormented by demons ran to Jesus. This was a man who was naked, scarred by him cutting himself with stones, dirty, manic, and who had displayed supernatural strength when townspeople had tried to bind him. He ran to Jesus and the demons within the man cried out for mercy. The commanding spirit identified himself as Legion because there were so many demons afflicting the man. They asked Jesus to allow them to enter into a nearby herd of swine. As they left the man and entered the pigs, the entire herd rushed down an embankment into the lake and were drowned.

The Gospel of Mark then states, “Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man—and told about the pigs as well. Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region. As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed” (Mark 5:14-21)

Notice that the “possessed” man was now dressed and in his right mind. The supernatural flavor of all that had happened frightened the people who lived nearby. The supernatural quieting of the storm on Galilee the night before had the same affect on the twelve. Now the people asked Jesus to leave their region. Predictably, the man who had just been set free from terrible torment did not want to be separated from the one who had freed him.

If I had been that man, I would have been terrified that those same spirits who had made my life a living hell would return and take possession again once Jesus was out of sight. Jesus, however, told the man that he could not go with him but should simply go and tell people what God had done for him. A close friend recently pointed out that the story raises several questions. First of all, Matthew records that there were two demon-possessed men who were living in the tombs who ran to Jesus, but the gospels quickly focus on only one. Why? What happened to the second man? Secondly, what prevented the man from being “repossessed” after Jesus left? He did not have the Spirit of God living in him because the Spirit had not yet been given. He apparently was not part of a great “spirit-filled” synagogue where he was prayed over and discipled. He, in fact, knew very little about the man who had just set him free.

What we do know about this man is that he immediately became a Christ-follower and was obedient to Christ. Jesus told him to go and tell his family what God had done for him. Mark tells us, “So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed” (Mk.5:20-21). We have to speculate, but perhaps the second man left as soon as he was delivered to go back to the life he had known before his demonization. The other stayed close to the one who had set him free. His heart was turned to Jesus because of what Jesus had just done for him.

As his heart was turned to Jesus, he was willing to do what Jesus asked him to do. In this case, it was to go and tell others. Jesus said, If you love me you will keep my commandments” (Jn.14:15). Those who love Jesus are known and remembered in heaven. He was remembered in three gospels while the other man simply disappeared. Love and obedience also garner heaven’s protection and provision. I believe that is why the man was not lost again to the enemy. We can’t be sure about his friend.

There is a maxim among those who minister in spiritual warfare. “The first battle is to get free. The second battle is to stay free.” The Gadarene demonstrates that the second battle is won by loving Jesus and walking in obedience. A life of love and obedience provides no open doors for the enemy. We have delivered hundreds of people from demons. Those who draw close to Jesus afterward with a heart to obey, stay free. Those who drift back to old lifestyles and sinful relationships, find themselves worse off than in the beginning. Some of them, like the second man, have simply disappeared from the life of the church. Jesus give a stern warning in Matthew 12 when he said that if a man is freed from a demon, and does not fill the vacancy with the Spirit of God and the things of God, that spirit will return and bring others with him. Then the man will be worse of than before. I think the two Gadarenes may be an illustration of that truth.

In our own lives and ministries, we need to be very aware of that principle and keep ourselves close to Jesus, in love with him, and obedient. We must also warn those to whom we minister, of the spiritual risks involved if they receive healing or freedom from Jesus and then go their own way. The fruit of the Gadarene’s obedience is that when Jesus returned to the area, after first being asked to leave, multitudes were waiting to hear him. Sometimes, we don’t need a sermon of even a great deal of theology, we simply needs to share our own story to bring others to Jesus.

We do a number of house cleansings each year in our area. A house cleansing is needed when demonic spirits inhabit the house (or the office). They are not attached to the people but the location. They harass any people who come into their territory. When they are present they affect the atmosphere and often enforce curses over the residents. These spirits can be present as a result of past activities in the home such as sexual immorality, violence, or occult activities. But they may also be present as a result of objects in the house. That’s what I want to discuss briefly in this blog because I think his source of demonic activity is often overlooked.

Can objects in the home open doors to demons?

As people brought up in western culture, which tends to either reject the spiritual realm altogether or highly separate it from the spiritual realm, the concept of demonic spirits being attached or attracted to inanimate objects may be a bit of a stretch. But I believe this is a biblical principle and my experiences agree with that principle.

There is a great deal of emphasis on spiritual objects in the scriptures especially when God was speaking to Israel. The warnings were frequent because the tiny nation was always surrounded by cultures that were heavily immersed in occult activities. For example, God told Israel, “When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess and drives out before you many nations…you must destroy them totally. Make no treaty with them and show them no mercy…Do not intermarry with them…for they will turn your sons away from following me to serve other gods…Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones, cut down their Asherah poles, and burn their idols in the fire. For you are a people holy to the Lord your God…the images of their gods you are to burn in the fire. Do not covet the silver and gold on them and do not take it for yourselves or you will be ensnared by it for it is detestable to the Lord your God. Do not bring a detestable thing into your house or you, like it, will be set apart for destruction” (Dt.7:1-6, 25-26).

Let me add two other verses. “They made him jealous with their foreign gods and angered him with their detestable idols. They sacrificed to demons which are not God” (Dt. 32:16-17). “Then you will defile your idols overlaid with silver and your images covered with gold. You will throw them away like a menstrual cloth and say to them, ‘Away with you’” (Isa.30:2).

Now, let me connect some dots. Idols, graven images (handmade objects), embroidered representations, paintings, etc. that were in any way connected to the worship or the honoring of false gods were to be totally destroyed. In most cases these objects were to be burned or ground up. Scripture is clear that idol worship is worship to demons. In the Isaiah 30:2 passage, God’s people were instructed to throw those kinds of things away and say, “Away with you!” The Hebrew is literally, “Come out!” or “Be gone.” Those are the very words most often used in the New Testament when people were being delivered from demons.

The principal here is that anything that is an object of worship or that honors something detestable to God can invite the presence of demons. If an object has been dedicated to a demon that object may have a demon attached or assigned to it. If not, these objects will still attract demons. Having something “detestable” (something God hates) in your house is a welcome sign to the enemy. For the Israelites to have something in their homes that honored a demonic spirit was to invite that spirit in. When a spirit is invited, he has a right to operate there and to enforce curses in that home.

Why were marriages forbidden to foreign wives and husbands and why were people groups eradicated in the Old Testament? I believe demonization is the core of the issue. The Deuteronomy 7:25-26 passage above says that those objects, if not destroyed, would ensnare or trap the Israelites. Those words are also used to warn believers of Satan’s activities in the New Testament. Those objects, if not destroyed, would give demonic spirits a continuing right to inhabit the land and afflict Israel.

As for the neighboring tribes, the entire bloodline of those tribes that had worshipped demons for generations was polluted and demonized. The influence of those demons would eventually draw God’s people away and subject them to judgment. Before Jesus began his public ministry which lead to the cross, there was no spiritual cure for demonization. Before the cross, God’s people were to insulate themselves from demonic sources rather than commanding and casting out demons.

Even under the New Covenant we’re are told, “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? … ‘Therefore, come out from them and be separate,’ says the Lord. ‘Touch no unclean thing and I will receive you’” (2 Cor. 6:14-17). Even after the cross, the Lord draws a line between things and people that are of Him and things and people that are of Satan. He instructs his people to touch no unclean thing and he connects unclean things to darkness, Satanic influence and idols.

God is not an egotist who simply is angry because we develop some affection for an inanimate object. That would still constitute unfaithfulness but the bigger issue is that our possession of such things invites the devil and activates curses. God told Balaam that he was not to curse what God had blessed. God wants to bless his people and keep us free. Opening our homes to “detestable things” not only dishonors God but also opens the door for demons and subsequent curses.

Even when we treat these items as art or souvenirs and have no heart to worship them…they still invite demons. We may leave food out on the countertop or on the kitchen floor with no intent of inviting roaches or mice into the house, but the presence of the food that has been carelessly left around will draw them regardless of our intent. Once mice or roaches have found a way in they will multiply. In order to get rid of them, we must not only do away with the food sources that drew them there in the first place, but we must then take steps to get rid of the mice as well. In the same way, in a house cleansing, the objects that attracted demons must be destroyed or removed and the demons themselves must then be commanded to leave in the name of Jesus. Otherwise, the house cleansing will be only a temporary fix.

So what kinds of objects do we need to be concerned with? Obviously, anything that has an occult background or that is associated with false worship must go first. Many people go to Africa, Asia, South America or the South Pacific (or even Mardi Gras) and bring home tribal masks, carvings of fertility Gods, statues of Buda, devil dogs, etc. as souvenirs from their trip. To them they are historical or art pieces but these objects have most likely been dedicated to demonic spirits. They are an open invitation into the homes where these objects rest. Some people will have Ouija Boards, horoscopes, crystal balls, and Tarot cards in their house as curiosities. These are invitations to the enemy as well. There is currently a real fascination with eastern religions, philosophy, music, and yoga. For centuries, all of those things have been designed to put the practitioner in touch with demonic spirits posing as gods. American Indian artifacts that were used in worship or that were dedicated to a spirit (bows, arrows, knives, tomahawks, clothing, etc.) can have insignia’s on them that honor a spirit that Indian’s worshipped. New age signs and symbols, some jewelry, or Masonic signs and symbols have the same effect. There are a host of items like that in Christian homes that we don’t associate with the spiritual realm because we make such a separation between the spiritual and material realms.

Books, movies, music, etc. that celebrate violence, death, immorality, witchcraft, vampires, sinful life styles, etc. honor the things of Satan rather than God. These are detestable things and can be open doors to the demonic. I don’t want to be hyper-charismatic here and have you carry out every item in your house but there are obvious objects that need to be dealt with and the leading of the Holy Spirit may point you to others. I invite you to seriously consider the possibility that demons may take up residence in a home or office if certain objects attract them and give them a right to camp there. If you are serving God but still experience sickness more frequently than normal, always struggle financially, have children who seem to be more rebellious than the average child or teen, or if prayers of faith still seem to be hindered there may be a curse operating in your house because of some object.

If you have demonic manifestations in your house, pray and ask the Holy “Spirit to lead you to any object that has given unclean spirits access to you and your family. When you find it, destroy and then command the enemy to leave in the name of Jesus. If this sounds like superstitious nonsense to you, pray about it. Ask the Lord to speak to you about and see what he says or what he puts on your heart. We have literally seen lives and families changed almost overnight by house cleansings and many of those had objects in them that clearly needed to be removed. We simply need to be wise in the ways of the devil and practice godly principles that the Father has established for his people since the days of the patriarchs. Blessings in Him.

Words Matter (Part 5) – More About Curses

Biblically, there are two sources of curses. One is the result of persistent and unrepented sin on the part of a person, a family, or a nation. The other source is a spoken curse established by our own words or the words of another. If you read through Deuteronomy 28, you will see that God established certain consequences for obedience and disobedience to the covenant he established with his people. Obedience brought an array of blessings while disobedience triggered an array of curses. Those curses manifested in the form of crop failures, financial woes, oppression by others, health issues, problems with pregnancies, drought, defeat, mental illnesses, and so forth. God also established a principle that the children would experience the punishment of their Father’s sins to the third and fourth generation (see Ex. 20:5).

These consequences are called curses and some of those curses may be attached to families for generations. I do not believe that God is the source of these evils since by nature he is good and he is light and in him is no darkness at all (1 Jn. 1:5). Since Adam turned his dominion, planet earth, over to Satan, God’s people have lived behind enemy lines. Satan is always poised to kill, steal, and destroy anything or anyone that God loves. There are times when our persistent sins, our rebellion, and our pride force God to lift his hand of protection that has restrained Satan because our actions have given Satan a legal right to come after us. We experience Satan’s attacks as curses. Paul expressed that reality in his letter to the Galatians. “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.         The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life” (Gal.6:7-8). Consequences operate in the spiritual realm as well as in the natural realm. God warns us and even pleads with us not to open ourselves up to curses. The biblical pattern for breaking these sin curses is to acknowledge our sin or the sins of our Fathers, repent of our sins, renounce the sins that have brought the curse, and then to nullify those curses in the name of Jesus who became a curse for us that we might be blessed. There is an entire chapter on curses and vows in my book Born to Be Free if you want more detail on that.

In addition to sin curses are word curses. In a sense, the words of man have creative power. God spoke the universe into existence with words. Man is made in his image and although that image has been diminished by sin, remnants of his nature are still reflected in all men. Our words can create by setting forces in motion that establish the very things we spoke. We pray and we declare God’s word over situations and people with faith that he will establish what we prayed or declared when our words express his will. That is true because God has given his people authority. But Satan can also give authority to those who walk with him. In my last blog, I mentioned Balaam who had the capacity to inflict curses on others. We are told in Joshua 13:22 that Balaam practiced sorcery or divination. In other words, he called on demonic powers to enforce his curses.

We have no need to fear curses. The bible tells, “Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow, an undeserved curse does not come to rest” (Prov.26:2). In other words, curses spoken by others don’t have the power to affect us if we walk with the Father and keep our hearts and words aligned with Him. However, most of us have seasons where our walk is more of a stagger and in those seasons we may be open to a curse spoken by others. Since we have authority, our own words may act as curses when we pronounce judgments and negative outcomes over ourselves. If we have opened ourselves up then repentance, renouncing the sin or the words, and the blood and authority of Christ is sufficient to nullify any curses. Each time Israel fell under a season of cursing because of disobedience, repentance and renouncing broke the curses and opened up a season of God’s blessings again. As our hearts turn to the Father, he is able to place his hand of protection and blessing over us again.

What we need to remember, however, is that we can be aligned with God in 90% of our lives but if we have reserved 10% for the flesh, secret addictions, unforgiveness, etc. that 10% makes us vulnerable to curses spoken by others. Our own words always have authority to establish curses. Again…I don’t believe that a single utterance will open us up to a curse but if we persist in sin or negative words we may find ourselves being oppressed and afflicted by the enemy. Words matter and so we want to speak only as Jesus would speak and always speak life over others and ourselves. Be blessed!

Well, it’s about that time again.  Halloween is about eight days away and cable channels are gearing up for Friday the Thirteenth specials, zombies, vampires, and witches.  I just checked Amazon to see how many books on witchcraft and casting spells they were posting and found quite a few – especially casting spells for beginners.  The Walking Dead series seems to be a huge favorite in America and, of course, Ghost Hunters, is always good for a few goose bumps.

For a culture that celebrates men who argue against the existence of God, question the historical reality of Jesus, and write the Bible off as fiction, we have a strange obsession with the spiritual.  We are especially obsessed with the dark side of the spiritual realm and the resurrection of grotesque entities along with those who look good but have no body temperature and suck blood.  Maybe these are all metaphors for politicians but I really think it goes deeper than that.

In some way I think our culture is locked into a paradox, a fleshly spirituality.  Paul reminds us in Romans 7 that our flesh (the natural man) wars against our spirit (the redeemed or spiritual man). This flesh is focused on self, earthly things, power, immediate gratification, possessions, etc. and is fueled or amplified by demonic spirits.  On one hand you would think the flesh would deny the spirit and the spiritual realm because it represents competition. But in the last few decades it and the demonic realm seem to have changed strategies.

Now the flesh pushes everyone toward the spiritual or the supernatural realm but in ways that continue to draw us away from Christ.  The emphasis isn’t new.  Sorcerers have practiced their craft for millennia. But, the volume and cultural acceptance is what has changed. If you think about it, witchcraft and notions of the undead are simply cries for power and immortality.  Actually, both are offered by Christ to those who follow him but there is a difference.

The flesh wants the perks of power and immortality but doesn’t want to answer to anyone or submit to any God.  Christians are promised power, authority and eternal life but only as those things are directed and submitted to Jesus and his righteousness.  Dante suggested that Satan would rather rule in hell than serve in heaven because he did not want to submit to anyone. Willing submission is a quality of heaven but won’t be found in hell.

I think the spirit of anti-Christ is really at work here because there are no debates about the existence of Satan, just about the existence of God and the reality of Christ. In a twisted way, Satan is offering eternal life without the Lordship of Jesus. Vampire romances abound in movies and books. Witches cavort with demons and, of course, there are now good witches and good demons to be had. Zombies are ugly and dumb but they still live forever and answer to no one.

In part, my simple theory comes from counseling sessions with people who had recently been involved in witches covens and satanic groups.  Each one confessed that they had gotten involved in these covens because their lives felt powerless and out of control. Each one had met a person who suggested that they might be able to find that power and control by being part of a group that could get what they wanted out of life through spells and “prayers”. At first, curiosity drove them to the meetings. Later they began to believe in the power of spells and incantations to control demonic forces to do their bidding. But later, the power they had been promised to them was being exercised over them by the very demons they thought they could control.

The occult is like drugs. It promises much, gives pleasure in the beginning and can even be governed at first. Eventually, however, it begins to rule everything in the cult member’s life. Power and control is an illusion. Satan takes orders from no man and he will rule over the life of anyone who walks onto his playground.

The other demonic aspect of our culture is this fascination and romance with death that is displayed in books and movies. Even Christians are participating in zombie walks and heading for the theaters to see Twilight sequels. But our God is a God of life not death.  He is the God of the living not the dead and death is portrayed in the book of Revelation as the last enemy. Of course, if we die in Christ we are immediately in the presence of Jesus which is a wonderful thing. But death, by God’s standards, is not the way we were supposed to come into his presence. Death is a result of a curse and us not something God celebrates. In fact, death is one of the things that Christ died to destroy.

In all of this cultural shift, Christ and the truth about spiritual realities is being marginalized.  People begin to identify with these characters of darkness rather than identifying with the Son of God.  These vampires and witches are painted as having greater power than the King of Kings. In the old movies, when the vampire hunters produced a cross, the vampire cowered and ran.  Now the vampire just laughs as if the cross has no more power against evil.

I’m not a person who thinks every Harry Potter book should be stacked and burned or that watching old episodes of Bewitched will send you to hell.  But I do believe that our culture is under a great assault by demonic forces and that Satan is orchestrating something very sinister with this onslaught of fleshly spirituality and the romance of death. I know that Satan is real and demons afflict more people than you think. But I also know that Jesus has defeated Satan and his troops and that we as believers operate in that victory with his authority.  But I also know that Satan is the consummate liar who draws people away from God and into destruction with half-truths and fictions. We are surrounded by those now.

So this Halloween, I want to invite you not to participate in the Zombie Run or watch Romance of the Vampires or whatever and especially with your children. I believe we can tell stories about witches and magic and trolls and dwarves and keep those stories in the realm of fiction while we teach our children about the reality of Christ, his angels and demons in this real world. But there is something more going on here and I encourage you to be wise and not lose perspective on good and evil because Satan loves to blur the lines. They will be blurred a lot in the next two weeks.