Another interesting cultural trend took the spotlight in Scottsdale, Arizona this past weekend.  Hundreds of members of the “Satanic Temple” held a three-day convention there called SatanCon.  Reported, the Satanic Temple had filed a request to present an invocation before the City Council of Scottsdale.  They were refused the right to offer their invocation, so they decided to have a large gathering in Phoenix to demonstrate the quality of their organization in an effort to discredit the City Council for their rejection and refusal to be “inclusive.”

Although the Satanic Temple uses the satanic pentagram and its symbolism and erects statues of Satan (Baphomet) wherever possible, they declare they are not really Satanists but libertarians joining together to do noble works through social activism.  If you check their website, their mission statement sounds like the Rotary Club.  They claim that they do not participate in satanic rituals or sacrifice, but are simply having fun with the satanic symbols and the name. 

The leaders of the Satanic Temple are either whitewashing their real intent or are incredibly ignorant people playing with fire.  Satan is never more in the driver’s seat than when we don’t take him seriously or don’t recognize his activity.  It is amazing how many people, including believers, think of Satan as mythological or mere superstition.  Many main stream Christians would tell you that they believe that both Satan and hell are real, but have no awareness that there is an actual spiritual adversary scheming against their lives and families on a daily basis.  

The great majority of churches in America have no curriculum or training to address spiritual warfare (Eph. 6:12) or the use of divine weapons. (2 Cor. 10:4). Remember, Paul declared that our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against spiritual forces of evil in heavenly realms and that divine weapons are required to bring down these demonic strongholds.

If we do not view Satan as a real adversary, he will operate, disrupt, and disable without detection like the invisible man or like a cancer that has not been diagnosed.  I know of several churches that have been divided and rendered ineffective by the strategies of the enemy, but have never identified the real cause of their struggles.  Some of these churches had 2000 members a few years ago but now have only a few hundred in attendance.  They replace their staff over and over, remodel to make the building more attractive, and try to employ the “newest” church growth strategies only to continue to waste away.  Yet, it never occurs to them to enter into prayer and fasting, repentance, cleansing the property of demonic spirits or breaking curses that have given the enemy access to that church for decades.

I personally know of individuals who were former witches in our community, but have now come to the Lord and confessed that they used to sit in Sunday services at influential churches and pronounce curses over the church and the pastoral staff.  Some of those churches have since experienced moral failures by leadership, a loss of passion for the kingdom, serious divisions in their membership, and significantly shrinking numbers.  They continue to look for solutions in the natural realm, but have no idea about how to wage war in the spiritual realm.  

If the members of the Satanic Temple think that Satan is not real, but just a mythological character whose likeness and symbols can be used for fun like Santa Claus, they will soon be co-opted, demonized, and controlled for the purposes of Satan.  If you wear his name and wield his symbols, you belong to him…whether you know it or not.  If they are simply putting up a socially acceptable front, we should not be surprised.  After all, the apostle Paul warned us when he said, “And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness” (2 Cor. 11:14).

The SatanCon in Scottsdale is symptomatic of a culture who does not take evil seriously and is too “sophisticated” to consider Satan to be a real being who truly is our adversary.  It is symptomatic of a culture who no longer believes in the absolutes of good and evil.  It is a culture that no longer believers that there is a God in heaven who judges individuals and nations.  As believers, we cannot afford to be casual or ignorant about the adversary.  We do not have to be afraid because Christ has all authority, but we need to be wise and know when the enemy is involved and how to take action when needed. We all should ask the Lord daily for spiritual discernment and wisdom to know how to wield.  We must learn how to do battle, how to pray for our families, churches, and nation and how to stand against the intrusions of the enemy withthe weapons he has given us through the  victory of Jesus Christ.

As a church that has ministered deliverance to adults for years, we are often asked about children and deliverance.  The questions generally are:

• Can children be demonized?
• If parents break generational curses, are the children set free from the effects?
• Should you minister deliverance to children and, if so, how?
• What should you do if your child tells you that he/she is seeing something scary in their room?

These are legitimate questions that books on deliverance rarely deal with, so I thought I would take a couple of blogs to respond to these.   By the way, there seems to have been a definite increase in demonic activity in the last year, at least in our area, and children are being affected as well.   As many in America pursue sin and perversion and as many of our national leaders do the same, the spiritual gates have been opened wide for the demonic to be active in our nation. Because of that, we can expect demonization of individuals and demonic manifestations to be heightened.  The enemy always pursues the most vulnerable, so we can also expect children to be targeted as well as adults.  

The first question is whether or not children can be demonized.  I guess we ask that because we assume that God would protect children because he cares for them in a special way (Matt.18:10) or because they are innocent and Satan should have no legal right to afflict them.  In Mark 9, a man came to Jesus whose son had been tormented by demons manifesting as seizures.  The text says, “When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. Jesus asked the boy’s father, ‘How long has he been like this?’ ‘From childhood,’ he answered. ‘It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us’” (Mk.9:20-22). Clearly, children can be afflicted by demons. 

Demons can attach themselves to children as a consequence of generational sin, curses, or trauma. The trauma of abuse, the loss of a parent or sibling, a severe injury or illness, etc. can easily open a child up to a spirit of rejection and/or fear.  Spirits of trauma can also attach to physical or emotional wounds and hinder their healing.  

Curses spoken over the child by those who have spiritual authority over them (typically parents) can also give the enemy a legal right to afflict a child. This can happen in unplanned pregnancies where a parent might say that he or she wishes the child would miscarry or “never be born” or that this child would bring them nothing but pain and sorrow, etc.  Words like that can open the door to spirits of rejection, infirmity, death, or an orphan spirit. 

Generational spirits of fear, anger, infirmity, lying, rejection, stupor, etc. can also be passed down to a child. We have seen these show up and manifest as learning disabilities, feelings of self-hatred from an early age, cutting, extreme anger, obsessiveness, chronic lying, etc. even in young children.  Of course, all these conditions can be physiological and not demonic, but in our experience, many have a demonic componnt.

I always feel a need to remind anyone reading this that demonization is not possession. Demonization means that demons are afflicting an individual in one part of their life while the rest is fairly functional. One part can impact the other parts, but typically the person is out of control in only one or two areas and not all of the time.  The most effective demons are those that mimic physiological or psychological conditions that exist in the natural realm.  They do so without manifesting in such extreme ways that we might suddenly wonder if something beyond the natural was occurring.

We also need to remember that demonization does not nullify salvation.  Demonization effects our ability to mature spiritually or develop fruits of the Spirit, but does not affect our salvation. Sometimes, believers want to deny demonization because they think it means they belong to Satan and are, therefore, lost. Deliverance is about sanctification rather than salvation.  

So, how do we know if a child’s “issues” come from the natural realm or are a manifestation of the spiritual realm?  Sometimes, it is hard to know.  However, if everything has been tried that should help, but has not brought any lasting healing or freedom, demonic activity could be indicated.  If you see something in the child’s eye’s that seems unnatural when an issue is manifesting, it is likely demonic. If a child tells you that something or someone is telling them to hate, hurt, or be afraid, that could be demonic.  If a child has been abused or traumatized, then be sensitive to the possibility of demonization.  Before anything else, ask the Holy Spirit to show you if something demonic is in play.  If you know someone who has a strong gift of discernment, ask that person for their impressions.

Our general rule is that if we are unsure, minister deliverance. Cover the base.   If something manifests or something changes, then demons were involved. If not, keep seeking answers in the natural realm.  Next week, I will talk about appropriate deliverance for children and how to equip them appropriately for spiritual warfare.