Standing Against The Devil - Part 2

(If you haven't read Part 1, click here.) The young man's room was as dark as night. The blankets that hung over his windows did an excellent job of not letting any light in. His walls and ceiling were covered with posters - posters of rock groups. And he had just as many tapes (they're CDs nowadays!) to go along with the posters. At that point he asked me what he should do. He never again wanted to go through what he had gone through the night before. Ultimately, I wanted to pray. What else does one do in that situation? But before I prayed I told him that everything had to go. The posters, the tapes, everything. Even the blankets had to come down. If he was really serious, he needed to get right with God and give up everything that was not of Him. So he began to tear the posters down and throw the tapes into a box. It was a most humbling sight. These were this young person's treasures. He even took off the shirt he was wearing. On it was the name and picture of one of his favorite bands. He gave me everything. Before leaving, I prayed for him. I prayed for a cleansing to take place in his life and in that room. And I prayed against the enemy that he would not return. I left with at least two good-sized boxes of paraphernalia to discard. I quickly did in a nearby trash bin. ******* The devil. ******* He's not just a fantasy, my friends. He is very real. At this very moment he's plotting how he might destroy you. Do you realize that? Do you understand it?! Keep watching this blog for Part 3 to this series to come soon.

Standing Against The Devil - Part 1

The concert had just ended when I was introduced to a young person from the audience. I was immediately struck by the fear in his eyes. I would say he was maybe thirteen years of age or so and he needed help. He pleaded with me to come to his house. So I asked him what the problem was. He began by saying that he had been to an Iron Maiden rock concert the night before. It was during his time there that he related experiencing various occult-like practices not the least of which was the conjuring up of demons from the stage. It was supposedly part of the "act." He had always thought nothing of it. To him it was only a show. That stuff wasn't real. Until he got home that night. He shared how he had gone to sleep only to be suddenly awakened later by some entity near the end of his bed. (I get chills even now as I'm writing this!) He described the being as huge and dark and oppressive. And it was reaching out for him, trying to grasp his leg. He pulled away yet it kept coming. It was then that he crashed into an electric fan sitting next to his bed. He hit it so hard that it broke in it's tumble to the floor. In final desperation, he told me that he cried out, "Jesus!" and that was all it took. (He had been to church in the past.) The entity departed as suddenly as it had arrived. Well, to say the least, I reluctantly decided to go to the young man's house. I can remember thinking to myself, "O Lord, if you've ever been with me, I need it to be now." Keep watching this blog for Part 2 to the story coming soon.

Talk About Foolishness

“The fool has said in his heart, There is no God!” (Psalm 14:1a; MKJV)

On this April Fool’s day I’d like to share a thought about foolishness. It’s foolishness to think that you could have a car to drive or sitting in a garage without an assembly line or mechanic behind it. It’s foolishness to think you could have a plumbing system in your house or a toilet that works when you flush it without a plumber behind it. And so why do some think that you could have a world (let alone a universe!) and all that is in it with men and women who express feelings and emotions and can make free moral choices without a Creator behind it? Centuries ago, Thomas Aquinas talked about the “the fivefold proof for the existence of God; namely, there must be a first mover, unmoved, a first cause in the chain of causes, an absolutely necessary being, an absolutely perfect being, and a rational designer” (from the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Thomas Aquinas; http://www.iep.utm.edu/a/aquinas.htm). And it only makes sense. There must be a “first cause” to everything. No cause, no effect. Somebody had to write and upload this post for it to appear on this blog. Cause and effect. I could sit here all day staring at a blank computer screen, waiting for something to materialize out of thin air (or a “big bang” like the theory of evolution proposes things came into being!) without ever touching a key on my keyboard – but what would I get? No cause, no effect. Those who don’t believe in a Creator think there can still be effect without cause. This is the height of foolishness and absurdity.