By Rick Renner
Have you ever received a word from the Lord that gave you the exact direction you needed? If so, let me guess what happened next. Suddenly — BOOM! It seemed like all hell broke loose! The craziest circumstances erupted, seeming to directly challenge and assault that word you had just received from God!
We live in interesting times. While, Christians witnessed an outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Asbury college in Kentucky, CBN reported on an unusual counter event that will be taking place in Boston at the end of April. Called ‘SatanCon 2023,’ the event is being hosted by The Satanic Temple (TST) based in Salem, Massachusetts and is billed as “a weekend of blasphemy and remembrance in Boston.” According to TST’s website, the event has already been sold out and promises to be the largest satanic gathering in history. This will be the second convention sponsored by TST and this year’s event will mark the group’s tenth anniversary. The event, which will run from April 28-30, will coincide with an ancient German holiday called Hexennacht or ‘witches night’ a two-day event that typically runs from April 30 to May 1. During this festival, witches across Germany gathered at Mount Brocken to revel with the devil. Mount Brocken has been associated with the demonic since the Middle Ages and the popularity of the celebration is growing among …
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not wage battle according to the flesh, 4 for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. (2 Corinthians 10:3-4) We are involved in a spiritual battle, and sometimes it is easy to forget this important fact. Yet, when we look at the Bible, warfare is perhaps its central message and that comes through in one of the names of God, the Lord of Hosts, Yahweh–Sabaoth, which literally means the Lord of armies. God is referred to by this name 290 times in the Bible, more than the total of all other names of God combined. These include the names we are more familiar with such as, Yahweh-Rapha, the Lord is my healer or Yahweh-Jirah, the Lord is my provider. Even the name, Yahweh-Nissi, the Lord is my banner, had military implications as flags or standards were also used to rally troops. The name showed up in Exodus 17:15-16, when Moses used it to describe the altar …
In his record of Jesus’ birth, Matthew reports that magi from the East came to Jerusalem looking for the newborn king, because they had seen His star. Bible versions have translated the Greek word, magos, used in this verse in different ways. Most translate it as ‘wise men’. The Message translates it as scholars. J.B. Philips translates the word as astrologers. The New American Standard Version uses Magi, with this footnote, “A caste of educated men specializing in astronomy, astrology, and natural science.” They were an interesting group and Wikipedia provides this definition of the magi: Magi (/ˈmeɪdʒaɪ/; singular magus/ˈmeɪɡəs/; from Latinmagus) were priests in Zoroastrianism and the earlier religions of the western Iranians. The earliest known use of the word magi is in the trilingual inscription written by Darius the Great, known as the Behistun Inscription. Old Persian texts, predating the Hellenistic period, refer to a magus as a Zurvanic, and presumably Zoroastrian, priest. Thayer’s Greek dictionary adds that they were also influential advisors to the Kings of Babylon and Persia: 1a) the name …
The vicar of a church in Bramshaw, England claims his church is being targeted by Satanists, the Daily Mail reports. Reverend David Bacon of St Peter’s Church made this statement after members of his congregation, who had come to the church to decorate it for Christmas, found a cat hanging from the church’s flagpole. Reverend Bacon described it as being horribly hanged. A few weeks earlier, a fox was found dead on the doorsteps of the church built in the 12th century, and it is highly unlikely it died from natural causes. The vicar’s claim has some recent history supporting this belief. In 2019, several dead sheep were found around the village with satanic pentagrams spray-painted on their dead bodies. In one instance, an upside-down cross was found laying against a dead sheep that had been stabbed with a spear. Inverted crosses are a common satanic symbol. That same year, St Peter’s church also had occultic symbols sprayed on its outside wall. READ: Vicar of church targeted by ‘Satanists’ who ‘stabbed sheep and sprayed them …
The nativity scene at a church in Ipswich, England has been vandalized just four days after it had been set up at the 13th century All Saints Church. The display was torn apart with the life-size figurines scattered around the site. Many of the figurines were damaged and will require a significant amount of repair to make them suitable for display. The model of Joseph had also been decapitated. “Why would someone have so much hatred and desire to ruin and destroy something that is not their property, and something that is there to express someone’s belief?,” The Rev Danny Morrison who serves as the church’s vicar told the Daily Mail. “What state might their life be like if they find pleasure in doing this? I am trying to make sense which I really can’t.” The church has been putting up the Nativity scene for the past five years. It has a message beneath it that reads, “Jesus came to save us all.” Unfortunately, the nativity was also vandalized several times in 2018, the first …
By Keith Hazell
“Where are you going?” I was often asked this question, as a child, in the little village where I lived. Usually, I answered with conviction “nowhere”, since I had no real direction in my daily meanderings through the paths and woods where I wandered.
Today the Church is facing a crisis of morals. More and more, society has no stomach for spiritual or moral absolutes. Pastors and spiritual leaders who decide to “take a stand” and preach the Gospel in its pure, unadulterated form are derided as irrelevant and intolerant hate-mongers.
Do you remember the movie “The Exorcist”? Did you watch it? That film is a horror movie from 1973. I am old enough to remember when everyone was watching it, and talking about it. Strangely, I have never seen the movie, but all my friends did. For a few weeks, they all became religious. To help us remember, here is a video trailer: That is scary! The whole point of a horror movie is to entertain us and to make a lot of money for the producers. I’m sure “The Exorcist” did both. It was the first horror movie nominated for an Academy Award, and the highest-grossing horror movie, until 2017. We are still entertained by exorcism stories. Recently, a news story came from a Bible Camp in Saskatchewan, Canada. At least one adult, and some boys at the camp, did an exorcism on one boy. So far, the police have investigated, but they have not brought criminal charges. Apparently, exorcism is not illegal in Canada. Some people from the Camp claim that they did …
A Bolivian man, Víctor Alvarez, recently told the incredible story of how he escaped after allegedly being buried alive as a human sacrifice to Pachamama, the goddess of fertility and earth, in early August, The Daily Mail reports. Some Bolivians believe that the goddess Pachamama opens her mouth for offerings at the Mother Earth Festival and those participating will make sacrifices including sweets, cocoa leaves, sheep fetuses and even live animals. Stories have even circulated of human sacrifices in the ancient past. Alvarez, 30, who was attending this year’s festival held on August 5, 2022 is convinced that he was buried alive as a sacrifice to Pachamama after he passed out from drinking. Because when he awoke, Alvarez found himself inside a coffin buried in the ground. Fortunately, he was able to break through the coffin and dig his way out. The Bible mentions several instances of human sacrifice. When the Egyptian Pharaoh ordered the killings of the Hebrew baby boys while in their Egyptian captivity, he did a very unusual thing. Instead of killing …
In his vision of the end times, the Apostle John saw a time coming when the people would openly worship the beast, which of course is none other than Satan, the god of this world. 8 All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world. 9 Whoever has ears, let them hear. (Revelation 13:8-9 NIV) It is difficult to imagine how the world could be so deceived, that humanity would be enticed into worshiping this false god. But a bizarre thing happened at the Commonwealth Games held in Birmingham, England in August 2022. As part of the opening ceremonies, a massive (six-story high) bull with flashing red eyes and smoke pouring out of its nostrils was dragged into the main arena. As strange as that was, this wasn’t even the bizarre part. When the mechanical bull entered the arena, a woman walked in front of it, to calm it down. After this happened, dancers …
Since the US Supreme Court overturned Roe vs Wade and returned the authority for abortions to state legislatures, there have been dozens of reactions by pro-abortionists that included throwing Molotov cocktails at pro-life centers. READ: Wisconsin anti-abortion group targeted in Molotov cocktail arson attack: police But perhaps the most revealing involved a group of Satanists and witches who launched spiritual attacks against a group of believers who had gathered to pray for peace across America outside the US Supreme Court after the ruling. These attacks included summoning demonic forces to come against those who were praying. Mike Staver, the CEO of Liberty Counsel, a Christian legal nonprofit that was actually a part of the court case that saw Roe vs Wade overturned, described the scene. “Black-robed men and women began arriving on the scene, screaming obscenities over the prayers,” Staver reported. “A pro-abortion demonstrator brought a wagon carrying a large boom box blaring satanic ‘music’ and noise. A woman walked right up to our podium and stood next to the pro-life speaker.” “Every time the pro-lifer spoke, …
In a recent interview with The 700 Club, child-actor Keith Thibodeaux, 71, shared how his involvement in the occult led him to become suicidal and how this was broken after he received a vision of Jesus, CBN reports. Thisbodeaus, who later changed his name to Richard Keith, is best known for playing the role of “Little Ricky Ricardo” on the 1950s TV hit series I Love Lucy. He would later go on to have roles in The Luci-Dezi Comedy show and the Andy Griffin show. I addition, Keith played in a secular band, called David and the Giants. At the age of 5, Keith was already earning $2,000 a month playing drums for a band called Horace Heidt Orchestra, when His father took him to an audition for the I Love Lucy Show. In his interview, Keith shared two stories that dramatically impacted him and sent him on a downward spiritual slide. It started when his mom and dad divorced after his father had an affair. Keith said the divorce made him extremely angry not …
CBN recently reported on a social media post where Christian actress Candice Bure stated that because of strange things that were happening in her home, she believed her family was under spiritual attack from Satanic forces.
by Becky Van KoeveringI am not a seer or a visionary like my husband David is, but in crucial times I have been led by the Holy Spirit to intercept what the enemy has meant for evil in his efforts to kill, steal and destroy everything God has for us.
Don Nicely
Has someone ever twisted the truth into a lie about you? Maybe someone saw something that you were doing and misread your intentions. Has a talebearer ever distorted what you said or did? Have you ever been told something which you allowed the enemy to twist your mind until it was no longer the truth when you retold it?
By C. Peter Wagner Warfare prayer, as I have been describing it, is a new concept to the great majority of American Christians. Many are beginning to ask whether given their traditions and training it could ever be integrated into their ministry. But Americans are not alone. Even Argentine pastors struggle with some of the same theological practical issues. Learning the Lesson I greatly enjoyed talking to Pastor Alberto Prokopchuk of the Los Olivos Baptist Church in the city of La Plata, Argentina, because I could identify so closely with his background. His traditional Baptist ministerial training had not included a course in Spiritual Warfare 101. His ministry at Los Olivos Baptist was not much different from what we observe in so many typical churches in our American cities: good, solid Bible teaching ministry; a relatively high moral standard; the fruit of the spirit manifested to a reasonable degree and church members who pray, tithe, attend service, and witness to their neighbors when the opportunity presents itself. All this, and no growth! Under Alberto’s …
Premier Christian News reports that in the letter that Rev Vlasenko, head of the Russian Evangelical Alliance, wrote to the World Council of Churches, he specifically apologized for the actions of the Russian government and asked for forgiveness: “Today, as a citizen and as General Secretary of the Russian Evangelical Alliance, I apologize to all those who have suffered, lost loved ones and relatives, or lost their place of residence as a result of this military conflict.”[…] My prayer is that you will find strength from the Lord to extend your hand of solidarity and forgiveness, so we can live as the people of God to our world.” It’s an interesting request that may have broader implications when it comes to spiritual warfare. The role of forgiveness in spiritual warfare In the Book of Daniel, we see definite indicators of spiritual warfare in Persia. Israel had been taken into captivity by Babylon and after it was in turn defeated by Persia, Daniel sensed a time of change was coming that would involve a great conflict …
What many of us don’t realize is that the Lord often uses angels to answer our prayer. And because of this, one of the most important elements of successful prayer is perseverance. Never giving up. Continuing to pray even though nothing seems to be changing.
A curious story emerging out of the Russian invasion of Ukraine involves a Roman Catholic priest in Ukraine who is performing a ‘ritual’ exorcism on behalf of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Father Tykhon Kulbaka, who made the announcement on Facebook on Feb. 25, 2002, believes an evil spirit is influencing Putin and the priest has committed to performing this exorcism daily during the war. Faithwire reports that there are two levels of exorcism in the Roman Catholic Church, major and minor. Major exorcisms are intended for people whose bodies have been possessed by an evil spirit, and minor is for those who are being unduly influenced by an evil spirit. It seems, that the priest is performing the latter on behalf of Putin. I have no doubt that evil spirits can influence political leaders. In the book of Daniel, we read after defeating the demonic spirit over Persia (Prince of Persia Daniel 10:12-13), a godly angel took a position in the spiritual realm beside the Persian King to strengthen and protect him (Daniel 11:1). This …
Several years ago, I had the opportunity to attend a service at a Ukrainian Orthodox church. Having come from an Evangelical background, there was one thing that I found very unusual. Even though the church was based in North America, as the priest performed various rituals, he prayed for the military at least three or four times during that one service. I can’t remember a time during an Evangelical service when someone actually prayed for the military. This is not to say it didn’t happen, but it never caught my attention like it did that morning. But it shouldn’t surprise anyone. For a church that finds its roots in Ukraine, it reflects the country’s deep insecurity, as it has been the target of war and occupation by megalomaniacs and tyrants for centuries. People still remember Josef Stalin’s forced starvation of millions of Ukrainian farmers under the country’s brutal occupation by the former Soviet Union after it supposedly rescued Ukraine from its occupation by Nazi Germany. So, the church prays for the country’s military. And today, …
Faithwire recently reported on comments that actress Joey King, 22, made in her appearance on “The Drew Barrymore Show” concerning what happened to her while filming the supernatural horror movie, The Conjuring, which was released in 2013. The movie revolved around demonic events that took place at a farm owned by Roger and Carolyn Perron. King played the role of one of the family’s daughters, Christine. Though it happened over nine years ago, King added there are times she still has a slight shudder about what took place. During the 38 days it took to film the movie, King came down with a serious blood disorder. It required daily medical treatments at the hospital before the start of filming and then immediately after because of concerns it could cause serious internal bleeding. They diagnosed the blood condition after bruises started appearing on King’s body. Coincidentally, these bruises showed up as they were filming the scene when bruising appeared on the body of the family’s mother, Carolyn, after she was possessed by an evil spirit. Initially, …
By Dr. Michael L. Brown
Is there something to COVID-19 that is beyond physical? Is there an additional assault on the mind and emotions, producing an inordinate fear of death?
By Rick Renner Neither give place to the devil. — Ephesians 4:27 Have you ever felt like you were under spiritual attack or that the devil was trying to wage a vicious warfare against your very existence? Today I want to talk to you about doing all you can to keep every door shut to the enemy so he is unable to find easy access into your life. I can personally testify to many attacks that have come against our ministry and family as we have pressed forward to take new territory for the Kingdom of God over the years. I have learned that the enemy is always looking for ways to sabotage anything that is of significance to the overall plan of God. Therefore, we have had to stand our ground and fight many times. Part of a long-term protection plan against the enemy’s attacks has been making sure that we left no open doors for the enemy to find easy access to us or our ministry. Believe me when I tell you that …
We are living in perilous times as governments of all political stripes seem intent on restricting people’s liberties and freedoms, either under the guise of protecting us from COVID or banning speech that some consider offensive, because it disagrees with their beliefs. In this podcast, I discuss the Septuagint’s odd translation of a Bible verse in Deuteronomy that may help explain why this is happening.
In a recent interview on BBC Radio 4 podcast, a geneticist, who said he ‘doesn’t believe in ghosts,’ described his encounter with an ‘evil spirit’ while attending Queen’s University in Belfast, Ireland during the 1960s.
In a recent article on God TV, Rhoda Gayle discussed a sermon by John Kilpatrick who is head pastor of Church of His Presence in Daphne, AL. Pastor Kilpatrick shared that there are signs that spiritual attacks against Christians are increasing. He told his audience, “The level of warfare is definitely increasing. You can think back to when you were much younger, you can think back to whenever you have a much simpler life… Today, everything has changed.” We know from the book of Revelation, that Satan’s attack on believers will become more overt and aggressive in the end times. But out of this heightened warfare will emerge a group of believers who conquered or overcame satan: 11 And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even[a]when faced with death. (Revelation 12:11 NASV The Greek word translated ‘overcome’, ‘enikēsan’, speaks of such an overwhelming defeat, that according to the Pocket Lexicon to the Greek New Testament, it means …
By Rick Renner Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season… — 2 Timothy 4:2 In the book of Second Timothy, the apostle Paul gave a long, detailed description of the things that would become more and more prevalent in the last of the last days. Later in that same letter, Paul gave this charge to the younger minister: “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season…” (2 Timothy 4:2). The word “instant” is from the Greek word ephistemi, and it means to stand at your post. The word ephistemi is a military term. That’s important because standing at your post entails engaging in spiritual warfare. I won’t delve into a deep study of the subject of spiritual warfare here, but I will say that declaring the Word of God in faith is the highest level of spiritual warfare there is. That’s why it’s especially important for a preacher, or any believer who has God’s Word planted deeply in his heart, to stand and to keep on standing at his post …
This is something we should all do: decide. Do you believe that spiritual things exist? … or not? If we believe in God, who is a spirit, we should accept that other spirits also exist. The Bible is full of stories about God, and other spirit beings. That includes angels who work for God, and angels who are the enemies of God; demons. I want to add a disclaimer; this is not about mental illness or dramatic Hollywood movies. I have met people with mental health problems, that can be managed. That is an interesting topic, but it’s not the topic here. Also, we probably all know the movie where the little girl spits at a priest exorcist, and spins her head around. That is entertainment. The actual influence of demons, including possession, was a scary topic before the movie came out. A few days ago, I learned something that is real, and scary, and close to me. We had a neighbor, a few years ago. She seemed like a nice person, and a good …
While most communist regimes are considered officially atheistic, in this podcast I ask the odd question, Is there a demonic root to communism?
Strange things are happening in Australia. And it appears that ABC News, an Australian media outlet, was caught up in it. One of its TV stations was doing a feature on police dogs, when it suddenly threw in a clip displaying what appears to have been a satanic ritual.
Bob Burckle serves as the president of the Eastern European Mission, whose primary goal is to print and distribute Bibles throughout Eastern Europe. Burckle has served as the organization’s president for 20 years. In an op-ed for the Western Journal, Burckle shared his miraculous recovery from COVID. The first hint that he was sick started with a complete loss in energy. He found it difficult to even stand up. After he went to the hospital, the nurse was shocked that he walked in, because the oxygen level in his blood was only 73%. His COVID test came back positive and along with that, doctors also diagnosed him with bacterial and viral pneumonia. He was immediately admitted to hospital and put on oxygen, a step below intubation. He was extremely sick, and Burckle felt that death was a very real possibility. But he sensed something else, Burckle also believed he was under spiritual attack from satanic sources and immediately put out a call to supporters for prayer as he lay in his hospital bed. So, can …
My experience with covid has been five weeks of struggling, and now I get to be a long hauler. I had most of the symptoms including respiratory problems, fatigue, coughing, aches and pains, and a general emotional and spiritual upheaval. I also developed two cases of pneumonia, one bacterial and one viral. So, I was really ill with three severe respiratory illnesses at the same time Even now, as I start back into my daily activities, I am struggling with chest pain, hurting lungs, tiredness, loss of breath, and small bits of brain fog. Although it has been years since the last time I was really unwell, I experienced a difference with COVID. It wasn’t that it was fast. I mean really fast! Literally one day I was fine and within two days I was struggling to breathe. It wasn’t the severity or the wide range of symptoms that came with the virus that hit me the hardest. What really struck me as the most significant issue of this illness was the darkness that accompanied …
In his vision of the end times, the Apostle John reported two interesting incidents taking place that would have a profound impact on the end times. In the first few verses of Revelation 9, the Apostle John saw a star falling from heaven with a key that unlocked the abyss releasing a horde of demonic locusts on the earth. These creatures described as having human faces were allowed to torment the world for five months. In verse 11, we are told that the king of this army of locusts was Abbadon or Apollyon that literally means ‘the destroyer’. Many suspect that John’s reference to Apollyon referred to the ancient Greek god Apollo, that had the locust as its symbol. Ironically, many of the ancient Roman emperors such as Caligula and Nero looked upon themselves as human manifestations of Apollo. It suggests that this particular demonic spirit focuses on influencing political leaders and both Caligula and Nero initiated horrific persecutions against Christians. Then in verses 13-16 at the sounding of the sixth trumpet, John saw four …
The Book of Daniel provides an interesting perspective on the spiritual battle that took place between two godly angels and a demonic angel, known as the Prince of Persia, for control of this ancient kingdom (Daniel 10:13-14). As a result of this successful spiritual conflict, one of the Godly angels took a position beside the King of Persia: “And as for me, in the first year of Darius the Mede, I stood up to confirm and strengthen him. (Daniel 11:1 ESV) Because of this, a godly angel was able to protect and influence the Persian Kings for the next several decades, leading to the passing of an edict allowing people taken into captivity by the Babylonians, including the Jews, to return to their homelands. But this story also provides another important detail. If the godly angel held a position of influence over the Persian government, this meant that prior to this the demonic Prince of Persia (called a territorial spirit) was in a position to influence Persian leaders. This is why the Apostle Paul calls …
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