I want to state a disclaimer before beginning this post: though I do not accept religions other than Christianity, I love the people in them. Even if a Christian man or woman considers someone of another religion an enemy, Jesus tells us to love our enemies, lend to them, and return evil with blessing. Jesus died while we were yet His enemies. And He died FOR His enemies.
We are called to follow His example in proselytizing - die before doing evil to someone who does not know God.
Now into the article:
Recently God opened my eyes to the world’s (or the devil's, who is the prince of this world’s) lies. I was watching an extreme fishing show in which a man tries to solve deaths in rivers by fishing for the culprit. Often, the show is shot in remote and pagan parts of the world that do not know or have not accepted Jesus. The host sometimes turns to the locals for help, and this often involves participating in spiritualistic rituals, gatherings, or dances. I used to think nothing was wrong with this. Then God opened my eyes and “ruined” this show for me. I can’t watch it anymore, because I don’t want to see demonic worship playing out on my TV. That sentence may be a little shocking to you, so I’ll break it down.
In the show, the host is following the ways of the world, which say that you must abide by another's customs when in their country or you don't respect them. This may include smoking marijuana/hash, drinking a local intoxicating beverage, or participating in shamanic and other demon-based rituals. The world is blind. They don't know that these things bring sin, and sin can bring death. They want us to abide by the rituals of a world that worships lies. I now refuse to abide by that.
During the show, the host voluntarily turns to divining of spirits and spiritualistic dances to please the locals’ gods and solve the mystery. He actually seems to think that there is value to these rituals, or at least that they are harmless. Unfortunately, it has not been revealed to him that he is participating in demonic worship. It was only recently revealed to me, so I have pity on him. I grew up being taught that there was great value in spiritual practices outside of Christianity. In fact, I was taught “world religions” in Catholic high school, and at that Catholic school in the midst of regular services and prayer, I decided that I was a Buddhist. Little did I know, Buddhism does not have the truth, and is not valuable – I did not find Jesus Christ in Buddha. Only that which is in Christ is valuable.
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Going back to the shamanic worship in the TV show, we who participate in such activity open ourselves up to demons. And when we entertain ourselves by watching this demonic worship on TV, we are in fact committing idolatry. It sounds bad when you realize that when we watch "ghost" and "paranormal" TV shows hoping to see something, we are hoping to see demons. And the reason that it sounds bad is because it is bad - trust me, I know from experience.
When I was 24, I did not consider myself a Christian. I always "knew" there was something else out there, and I was enthralled with supernatural TV shows. I got extremely deep into the TV show, "A Haunting," on the Discovery channel, and I bought every season on DVD. I watched them all alone in my room. I always hoped something paranormal would happen to me. During this time, God began calling me through a dream. I basically ignored the dream, though, and I thought having the dream just meant I was already "good with God." God called me because He knew what was coming.
Several months into being obsessed with this "harmless" TV show, I had the most ultra-real dream I had had in my life. A giant, green, powerful-looking demon came to me and was standing in front of a wall of flame. It deceived me by asking me if I wanted to "become a demon." In the dream, since I was deceived and it made itself seem so powerful and desirable, I was "flattered" but just answered sheepishly, "I don't know." Because I had rejected the demon's offer, after I woke up, I began to go through spiritual oppression, ending in near-possession. When I knew there was no other way out, I called a fellow soldier (I was in the Army and stationed far from home in Korea) who I knew to be a Christian, and he instructed me to say the sinner's prayer. I threw up violently and the demon's presence left me.
The world didn't care that this happened to me and the people of the world would even deny the reality of it. They would tell me it was just psychological. That's what I was told afterward anyway, when I told my commander about it. The point of the story is, the world is blind and deceived, and it blinded and deceived me when I brought its lies into my living room.
Back to the fishing show that displays demonic worship: we open the door to the enemy ourselves when we accept these things as tolerable in our lives because we find value in other gods, or even in just the paranormal, in clear opposition to the first commandment of having no other gods besides the Lord. When we accept pagan practices and "ghost hunting" as innocent, instead of sticking to the understanding found in the Bible (that the spirits they call upon are evil, and that they compete with God for the attention of our hearts) we fall into ignorance, which is exactly where the devil wants us.
Jesus told us He came "not to bring peace on earth, but the sword" (Matthew 10:34). This is a tough verse. Why did the Prince of Peace say this? Well it must be interpreted by the Spirit and in context. Jesus was sending out the Apostles to prophesy in His name and give hope to those ensnared in sin and foreign god worship. The sword represents something that cleaves, that separates. God wanted to separate His people from foreign gods, not "make peace" with them. This is because the foreign "gods" are demonic entities making war on Yahweh and deceiving His people. Jesus tells us He did not come to bring peace throughout the entire world, and the context is "yet."
Jesus' ultimate goal is peace, since He is the Prince of Peace, but there can be no peace while we are intermixed with demonic worship. He came 2,000 years ago to separate us from devils, and when He comes again, He will bring total peace by bringing justice to the evil people from whom He separated His followers, and will being justice to the devils and demons they worshipped. He will do this because His message of hope and love will have been spread to every person on earth, and every person will have already had the opportunity to accept it or reject it.
When we give our attention to the worldly and even demonic things we see on TV that are presented as normal, we become confused and start to believe the world over God. We are giving our attention to demons. But that can change, and that is what Jesus came for. He came to bring hope to the captives and to set the prisoners free. (Luke 4). The captives are not only those who are physically held captive, but those who are spiritually captive to worldly worship and the things of the devil. If you do not know Jesus and are exposed to demonic worship or are experiencing spiritual oppression and want to be set free from it, say the following:
"Jesus, I believe you died for my sins and want to set me free. I ask forgiveness for my sins and accept you as the Lord of my life. Thank you Jesus, I love you."
If you just prayed that, you are on the journey to complete freedom - get involved in an evangelical church and tell them your history - they will help you along the way.
The Bible tells us that we are to be separate from the world. We are foreigners and aliens in this place. We do not follow its ways, if we are being true to Him. The truth found in the Bible is that there is no other God besides Yahweh, and all other “gods” who call for the attention of our worship are evil and hate Yahweh. The spirits that call themselves God are lying, and no lying spirit is a harmless, innocent, or wise spirit. They are evil, because they are deceiving those that worship them into calling them God instead of showing those people that Yahweh is the one true God. If they were good, they would point the people to Yahweh, in whom is found all good things. As it is, they call themselves God and leave the people who worship them in ignorance and eventual eternal separation from Yahweh.
Please listen and abandon idolatry. Water the seed that the Lord has planted by reading this post. Give it thought and pray on it. Ask what God wants of you. I know He'll give you the right answer. Thank you Jesus for Your faithfulness. You love us so much and You are jealous for our attention. Bring it to the readers' mind to turn our attention to You in our free time. Amen, thank you Jesus.
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