All posts tagged: Strongman

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Satanic counter attacks

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One aspect of spiritual warfare that we must be aware of is satanic counter attacks. So often we can see great things happening spiritually and even politically, but suddenly things can take a turn for the worse. There is a reason for this — satanic counter attacks. When Jesus cast  out the evil spirit of the man in the synagogue in Capernaum (Mark 1:21-27) what followed was essentially a revival (Mark 1:28 – 2:15). There were healings — Simon’s mother-in-law (Mark 1:29-31), the leper (Mark 1:40-43) and the paralytic lowered through the roof (Mark 2:1-11). Demons were cast out (Mark 1:32-34). Many became disciples of Christ, including one very prominent tax collector called Matthew (Mark 2:13-14). To explain what was happening, Mark talks about Jesus’s teaching on the strongman: “But no one can enter the strong man’s house and plunder his property unless he first binds the strong man, and then he will plunder his house.” (Mark 3:27 NASV) When Jesus cast the evil spirit out of the man in the Capernaum synagogue, He had bound …

The people of North Korea need a real reason to celebrate. Credit: Roman Harak/Wikipedia

How I have been praying for North Korea

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For the past couple of weeks I have been praying that God would bring down the spiritual strong man presently controlling North Korea. I believe it is this evil principality that is propping up the regime of the country’s current brutal dictator Kim Jung-un. And I am not alone, Christians around the world are praying for North Korea. So how have I been praying? I have been asking God to send a band of Godly angels to bring down North Korea’s spiritual strongman. As we study Israel’s miraculous exodus out of Egypt we often miss the angelic involvement in that deliverance. The Psalmist writes that God sent in a band of “destroying” angels into Egypt whose job was to battle and even defeat the satanic stronghold in place at that time. He sent upon them His burning anger, Fury and indignation and trouble, A band of destroying angels. (Psalm 78:49 NASV) We also read how an angel led Israel in the wilderness (Exodus 14:19). Angels played a key role in Israel’s deliverance from Egypt. In …

Schiltach in the Black Forest of Germany Credit: Harke/Wikipedia

Pulling down the strongman in Germany’s Black Forest

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Christians need a major shift in perspective. It seems many have taken up a defensive position, holding out until Jesus returns. We need to standup, shake off our fears and refocus, because God wants us to take up our battering rams and go to war. There is a verse in Matthew that for years I misinterpreted. When I first read it, for some reason I believed that the church was under siege and that somehow Christians needed to hang on until the end. But in fact it said the exact opposite. God intends the Kingdom of God to be the aggressor and taking the battle to the enemy. In Mathew 16:18 (NKJ), Jesus said to Peter, “I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” The Greek word for Hades, ‘hadou’, refers to what we know as hell. The place of torment (Luke 16:23). And the gates guarding hell would not be able to hold up against …

Territorial Spirits: The bay of pigs

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In my series on Territorial spirits, I have been talking about the hierarchical structure in the demonic realm where satan has put evil spirits over countries and even provinces or states within a country and I suspect cities as well. In his classic explanation of spiritual warfare, Mark says to plunder a house you must first bind the spiritual strongman (Mark 3:22-27). As we explained earlier, the region of Palestine ruled by Pontius Pilate was broken up into three provinces or states ruled by a Tetrarch. Having just dealt with the ruling evil spirit in Capernaum (the Tetrarch of Herod), the next encounter with a territorial spirit takes place in Mark 5: 1-20 in a region called the Gerasenes. In a very unusual way, this second encounter shows the demonic’s connection to territory on earth. The story actually starts a few verses earlier. The disciples were on the shore of the sea of Galilee, when Jesus said “Let us go over to the other side” (Mark 4:35). By crossing over, the disciples had actually entered …

Bodian Castle, East Sussex, England Credit: Antony McCallum/Wikipedia

Territorial Spirits: Plundering the strongman’s house

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In our series on Territorial spirits, we are discussing how satan has a hierarchical structure in the satanic realm and has put evil spirits over countries (Daniel 10:13) and I suspect provinces or states within those countries and even over major cities. These evil spirits often align themselves with natural political divisions as they seek to influence the political agenda throughout the nation. Both Mark (Mark 1:21-27) and Luke (Luke 4:31-37) talked about Jesus delivering a man of an evil spirit in a synagogue in Capernaum, a major administrative center for the District of Galilee, a state within Palestine. It was an unusual encounter because it was only one of a handful of times that an evil spirit spoke to Christ during a deliverance. I suspect this ability to speak represented its power in the demonic realm. I am also convinced that evil spirits represent higher ranking fallen angels while demons represent the foot soldiers. But the word demon is also a generic term that describes the satanic realm, much in the same way the …

Manila, Philippines Credit: Patrick Del Rosario/Flickr/Creative Commons

Territorial Spirits: The strange case of Clarita Villaneuva

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In the early 1950s, the Lester Sumrall (1913-1996), an American evangelist, sensed God prompting him to go to the Philippines on an evangelistic mission. He was impressed by the Holy Spirit that God would move in a powerful way while he was there. During the early days of his ministry attendance was low. At times, the only ones that showed up were Sumrall’s family members and servant girls. After he decided to build a church, Sumrall experienced some growth largely through transfers from other churches, hardly the powerful evangelistic thrust that he anticipated. But that would change almost over night. While he was there the local media broadcast a story of the perplexing phenomena surrounding a new inmate in the Bilibid prison in Manila. In his book, Bitten by the Devil, Sumrall told the strange story of Clarita Villaneuva. The front page headline of the May 13, 1953 edition of the Manila Chronicle read, “Police Medics Probe Case of Girl Bitten by Devils.”  The convict’s name was Clarita Villaneuva. According to reports, some mysterious creature …