Showing posts with label witchcraft. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 25, 2017

Dabbling With the Dark Side? The Bible Clearly Condemns Halloween - BEN GODWIN CHARISMA NEWS

While I personally don't celebrate Halloween, I'm not a killjoy on a mission to rob people of fun. (neepster/Flickr/CC)

Dabbling With the Dark Side? The Bible Clearly Condemns Halloween

10/25/2017 BEN GODWIN CHARISMA NEWS

Join us on the new C-Pop podcast where Taylor and Jessilyn discuss, debate and sometimes deride pop culture with a strong sense of humor and a focus on Christ. Listen at charismapodcastnetwork.com.

Darkness is used in Scripture as a metaphor for evil to represent all that is sinful and satanic.

In contrast, light is a biblical metaphor for good to represent truth and all that is of God.

The apostle Paul instructed, "Therefore do not be partakers with them. For you were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light—for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth ... And do not have fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness; instead, expose them" (Eph. 5:7-9, 11).

It's a tricky balance for Christians to be in the world without conforming to it.

Jesus prayed, "I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one" (John 17:15).

If we imitate the world, we lose our distinction; if we isolate from the world, we lose our influence. Christians need to engage the culture if we expect to make an impact.

It's perfectly fine for a boat to be in the water, but if too much water gets in the boat, now that's a problem. This brings up the question, "How should Christians treat Halloween?"

The origin of Halloween incorporated a mixture of Christian and pagan practices.

According to World Book Encyclopedia, "Halloween developed from an ancient pagan festival celebrated by Celtic people over 2,000 years ago in the area that is now the U.K., Ireland, and Northern France. The festival was called 'Samhain' (pronounced SOW ehn), which means 'summer's end' and it marked the beginning of the dark winter season and was celebrated around Nov. 1. In the ninth century, the Catholic Church established a new holiday—All Saint's Day, also called All Hallows. 'Hallow' means 'saint' or 'one who is holy.' The evening before All Hallows was known as All Hallow's Eve, eventually shortened to Halloween.

"About 200 years later, the church added All Soul's Day on Nov. 2, a day set aside to pray for friends and family who died. People made many of the old pagan customs part of this Christian holy day. Some put out food for their deceased ancestors, or left lanterns burning in the windows so that ghosts could find their way home for the night. In England, people went house to house 'souling,' asking for small breads called soul cakes in exchange for prayers or songs (thus the origin of trick or treating)."

While I personally don't celebrate Halloween, I'm not a killjoy on a mission to rob people of fun. I do not equate dressing up in a cartoon or superhero costume and collecting candy with devil worship.

Many believers boycott Halloween because of its dark elements. The downside is Christian kids feel like they are missing out. Thankfully, many churches offer alternatives such as trunk-or-treat or fall festivals that provide wholesome fun and safe candy zones to keep kids off the streets.

Some of what happens on Halloween is harmless fun, but anyone with any spiritual discernment cannot deny that there is a sinister side.

"Abstain from all appearances of evil" (1 Thess. 5:22). Sin, like art, starts by drawing a line somewhere! It's an odd contradiction for Christians to dress their kids up as creepy characters they try to teach them not emulate.

At this time of year there is a tsunami of horror movies flooding the airwaves featuring vampires, witches, zombies, monsters, cannibals and savage serial killers. Hollywood and viewers, it seems, have an obscene obsession with and an insatiable appetite for gory violence.

You can't avoid being bombarded by the commercials even if you just watch news or sports. These shows glamorize evil and open the door to demonic influences. Some say it's all just fantasy or harmless entertainment, but, if what people watch doesn't affect behavior, then why do companies spend billions of dollars to advertise to them?

In Greek Mythology, Zeus gave Pandora a box and a key as a wedding gift with a note "Do Not Open." Curiosity overcame her and she lifted the lid releasing all the forces of evil into the world.

The point is there are some doors you really don't want to open.

"Leave no [such] room or foothold for the devil [give no opportunity to him]" (Eph. 4:27, AMP).

Don't open the door to sin's destructive influence. Slam the door shut in Satan's face!

Halloween is a showcase for witchcraft which the Bible clearly condemns (Ex. 22:18; Lev. 19:31, 20:6, 27; Deut. 18:10-14; Gal. 5:19-21), calling it an "abomination"—morally disgusting, detestable, despicable and abhorrent.

Contrary to popular belief, books and movies, there is no such thing as a "good witch." That is an oxymoron. How can someone controlled by evil forces be good?

Paul asked the Corinthians, "For what fellowship has righteousness with unrighteousness? What communion has light with darkness?" (2 Cor. 6:14, MEV).

Christians have no business dabbling in any form of witchcraft: horoscopes, crystal balls, sÃƒÂ©ances, Ouija boards, Dungeons & Dragons, pentagrams, tarot cards, palm reading, spells, fortune telling, mediums, channeling, divination, sorcery, black magic and so forth.

There are only two sources of supernatural power—God and Satan. If something is not of God, where does it originate?

If you are involved in any of these practices, I urge you to repent of it, renounce it and ask God to remove it from your life. Don't gamble with your soul. Satan uses these and other ploys to deceive the masses.

What we need to know about our future is either found in Scripture or can be revealed to us by the Holy Spirit (John 16:13).

Like bugs drawn to a light to their own demise, man has an inexplicable, magnetic attraction toward evil.

Robert Rudolph said it well: "Open minds like open windows need screens to keep the bugs out."

The air may seem clean in a house, but the air filter catches many unseen pollutants. There are many false beliefs and deceptions floating around, but the Bible is our filter. Its radiant light helps us discern and dispel the darkness.

"God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all" (1 John 1:5). Friends, it's not worth the eternal risk of dabbling with the dark side.

Ben Godwin is the author of four books and he pastors the Goodsprings Full Gospel Church. His weekly telecast, The Word Workshop, airs on TV-16 and Charter Cable No. 10 on Mondays at 9 p.m. and Tuesdays at noon and live streams on TV16HD.com. His website is bengodwin.org.

Readers are Leaders! Subscribe now and get 3 magazines for the price of 1. Get Charisma, Ministry Today and SpiritLed Woman all for $24. YES - Sign me up!

3 Reasons Why you should read Life in the Spirit. 1) Get to know the Holy Spirit. 2) Learn to enter God's presence 3) Hear God's voice clearly! Click here to draw closer to God!

Friday, July 14, 2017

Revival Touches Uganda's Oldest Tribe - CBN News George Thomas

Revival Touches Uganda's Oldest Tribe

07-05-2017 CBN News George Thomas

BWINDI FOREST, Uganda -- For the first time in centuries, a remote African tribe called the Batwa Pygmies is being introduced to Jesus Christ.

"We smoked; we drank; we performed witchcraft," said Jovanis Nyirakayanje, a Batwa Pygmy. "We were devil worshippers."

For centuries, the Batwa were rain forest dwellers who lived in caves and trees while hunting in the equatorial jungles of Africa.

"We used to live like animals in the jungle," said Nyirakayanje.

Dr. Scott Kellermann, an American physician, is studying the Batwa people.

"They are very diminutive," said Kellermann, who founded The Kellermann Foundation. "They are only four and a half feet in height typically. They hunted with poison-tip arrows or nets, collect fruits from the trees or roots from the ground."

Batwa life revolved around the Bwindi forest of southwestern Uganda.

"Actually, they were pre-stone age," Kellermann explained. "They had no stone implements, so that's a reason very few records are found of the Batwa."

Batwa Way of Life Lost

The Batwa were known as the "keepers of the forest." But that all changed in 1992 when the government in the Ugandan capital city of Kampala decided to turn their habitat into a national park and World Heritage site for endangered mountain gorillas.

There are about 750 mountain gorillas in the world and 350 live within the Bwindi Forest.

"The result was that the Batwa were evicted from the forest," said Kellermann.

After centuries of living in caves and trees, the Batwa became conservation refugees -- with no title to land, no food, no clothing, and no shelter.

Thousands of them walked out of the jungle to a world that turned against them.

Tugume Gerald and his wife, Barbara, decided to step in and help some of the homeless and destitute Batwa.

"People could not even give them work to do because they thought maybe these pygmies are like animals," Gerald explained.

Couple Brings Gospel to the Batwa

The couple moved from their home in Uganda's capital to the small village of Kisoro, located on the edge of the equatorial jungle, to begin a ministry among the pygmies.

"I began by preaching the message of hope to the hopeless," Gerald said.

The result, Gerald says, was transformational. Hundreds of Batwa pygmies heard about Jesus for the first time.

Nyirakayanje was one of Gerald's first converts.

"It was the first time anyone had ever told us about Jesus," Nyirakayanje told CBN News. "We were servants of the Devil, but then we heard Christ died for our sins and that changed our lives!"

He joined Gerald's team as an evangelist of sorts.

"Therefore my dear friends and my fellow pygmies, I'm showing you the Christ I received. I was a drunkard. I was a smoker," Nyirakayanje told a group of Batwa tribes people while sitting on a hillside.

Since then, scores of Batwa have been been baptized.

Miracles Among the Batwa

The Geralds says miracles are also happening among the Batwa. People diagnosed with HIV AIDS are getting healed, including one Pygmy girl on the verge of death -- given new life.

"They brought the child here. She was almost dead, and they started praying for her," recounted Barbara Gerald. "They prayed, prayed -- actually, they prayed for five hours! I was there; I couldn't believe it! I was there! The child got healed -- I said glory be to God!"

It all led to the founding of the first-ever Batwa pygmy church in the region.

"At times we get up to 1,000 pygmies who come to attend the church," remarked Tugume Gerald.

He and his wife also run a school for pygmy children. Parents, once animal hunters, are learning to be farmers.

But the needs here are still enormous.

"If you can imagine poverty, which exists everywhere in the world, yet these are the poorest of the poor," said Tino Qahoush, a documentary producer and Regent University graduate.

After making several trips to southwestern Uganda, Qahoush decided to get involved with the lives of the Batwa people.

Tino Qahoush, a documentary producer

and Regent University graduate

He got a handful of churches in Sweden to partner with Batwa Christians, bringing in school supplies, shoes and clothes for the kids. They are also building small homes for the Batwa.

"What I like about this ministry is that it is run by the Batwa pygmies; they have formed a board; they are caring for their own people," Qahoush told CBN News. "And we just want to empower them and give them some resources to stand on their feet."

Reaching the Unreached

No one knows for sure, but it's estimated that there are still tens of thousands of Batwa who have yet to hear the name of Jesus Christ.

"Just as Christ did for me, I believe His message of salvation is going to change the lives of my tribe," Nyirakayanje said.

In the meantime, Tugume Gerald is welcoming Christians from around the world to join him in the adventure of reaching one of the most unreached people groups in the world.

"We need people to stand with us in prayer so that God may use us more to reach as many pygmies as possible," he said.

Watch here: Uganda's Oldest tribe & Revival

Thursday, February 9, 2017

Don’t Bow Your Knee To Witchcraft - Lance Wallnau

I have been watching, with great amusement, the beginning of Donald Trump’s administration. Most people miss the sequence that set up this monumental shift. Two things happened prior to Cyrus emerging in Babylon: Jeremiah prophesied and Daniel prayed to birth the breakthrough.

As we have seen in the first few weeks Trump’s anointing as God’s spiritual Cyrus has been tearing down the progressive agenda in true wrecking ball fashion. As the body of Christ we must understand that while the governmental office is the domain of Cyrus, it is nothing less than the sustained intercession and engagement of believers that’s going to reinforce any success that President Trump will have over the next four years.

This year, 2017, is also the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. This was a period of intense shaking that produced new institutions built on principles and values that have shaped our theological foundation. Just like the time of reformation - we are now in a time of shaking and testing and the creation of new institutions. What does this mean? Here are a few thoughts:

Shaking is a promise, not a problem. Hebrews 12:26 says God has promised to “shake all things that can be shaken.” Most Christians are longing for stability at times when they should be longing for change - if necessary at the price of instability. We are taught to “pray for rulers and those in authority, that we may lead a Godly and peaceable life” (1 Tim 2:2) —that’s what Paul said - but what if the very governments themselves must shift?If you’re in a reformation—a period of history where God is shaking something—ask “What is actually happening? Why is it a good thing?” We have to start looking at shaking as a part of the promise of creating something better. Shaking may be needed to solve the problem.
Shaking puts pressure on hell. When God begins to visit us with revival, restoration, or reformation, it puts pressure on hell. Remember this: we war against the principalities and powers of the air. They are the spirits that rule in this dimension between your prayer and the answer you seek. They derive their power through agreement. Paul said that this world walks “according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now working in the sons of children of disobedience.” (Eph2:2) This means that when a spiritual power is being shaken it will manifest in the people under its influence. This is why we experience warfare when we fight in the spirit to pull something down from heaven to earth—there is resistance in both realms, spirit and natural. When God visits the earth and revives things on the earth - The earth shakes. Why? It shakes because the thrones and dominions and principalities are being pressed out. You can see how this spirit is manifesting in media and government as it is being perpetually shaken.

Donald Trump refuses to be manipulated, intimidated or controlled. What is manipulation, intimidation and control? It’s witchcraft. Trump refuses to bow the knee to the witchcraft of media. Media has had a spirit working behind it for so long it could make or break you in your career. With Trump, the arrows of media are like a pea shooter. It bounces off the armor. It’s not working. Why? Trump has authority in the realm of media and in the governmental arena. Right now Hollywood, media and government is manifesting. What’s next? Watch college campuses for protests, etc. Strongholds are being shaken and hooks are being pulled out.

In my newest teaching “The Mount Zion Mantle” I explain how God wants to place a mantle on you to ascend to a higher altitude of influence, perception and authority for warfare. Get ready to partner with heaven in order to see the shaking and the displacing of things blocking your advance. You are a new breed of kingdom citizen rising up! I am proud of the progress so many of you are making. You will reshape institutions, at the highest level.

Sometimes when I am teaching a message I can tell that it is flowing from a place of revelation that exceeds my own understanding. This is a series I myself am studying. Please join me and order it today: http://lancewallnau.com/zion

Question: Do you sense the shift? Can you see an open door? Are you ready to go to ascend the hill to a higher gate of influence? Do you want to understand the phenomena of this global shaking and what God is doing through it? Click here to comment!

As One!

Lance

Friday, October 7, 2016

End-Times Expert Tom Horn Reveals Truth About the Original Halloween Witch - THOMAS HORN/SKYWATCH TV CHARISMA NEWS

All Hallows' Eve, or Halloween, originated in the 7th century AD. (Athena's Pix/Flickr/CC)

End-Times Expert Tom Horn Reveals Truth About the Original Halloween Witch

10/6/2016 THOMAS HORN/SKYWATCH TV CHARISMA NEWS

On October 31, spooky beings and superheroes, cartoon characters and rubberized celebrities will line the streets and mall hallways of America, anticipating sugary rewards. Compelled by shouts of "trick or treat," children of all ages will tote receptacles of various size and weight harboring the result of the night's hunt. It's called Halloween, and while for most it is a harmless annual activity, its roots run deep in ancient paganism.

All Hallows' Eve, or Halloween, originated in the 7th century AD. It was celebrated on May 13 and was a night for remembering deceased saints and martyrs. The date was later changed to November 1 in order to Christianize the pagan holidays Beltane and Samhain—festivals of summer, winter and fire.

James Frazer, in The Golden Bough, said, "throughout Europe, Hallowe'en, the night which marks the transition from autumn to winter, seems to have been of old the time of year when the souls of the departed revisited their homes in order to warm themselves by the fire." Such ghosts walked the countryside retrieving offerings of food and drink (the treat) supplied by living family members. Darker forces roamed the night as well. Demons, hobgoblins, witches on broomstick—all haunting the night with acts of mischief (the trick).

Real witches were also known to revel on Halloween night. According to Man, Myth & Magic, the witches of Aberdeen danced "round an old grey stone at the foot of the hill at Craigleuch, the Devil himself playing music before them." Modern witches and Wiccans practice similar skyclad (nude) Halloween traditions, calling on Earth spirits and goddesses to visit their knife drawn circles of power.

Meet the Original Halloween Witch—Hecate

In the upcoming book by me and Josh Peck Abaddon Ascending: The Ancient Conspiracy at the Center of CERN's Most Secretive Mission, we consider, among other topics, the goddess Hecate, the Titan Earth mother of the wizards and witches, who illustrates perhaps better than any other ancient goddess the connection between Wicca, the Celtic Halloween traditions and the realm of evil supernaturalism.

As the dark goddess of witchcraft, Hecate, like Isis, was worshiped with impure rites and magical incantations. Her name was probably derived from the ancient Egyptian word Heka, meaning "sorcery" or "magical," which may explain her association with the Egyptian frog goddess of the same name. This may also explain the affiliation of frogs with witchcraft, and the various potions of frog-wart and "hecateis," Hecate's hallucinogenic plant, also called Aconite, which supposedly sprouted from the spittle of Cerberus (Hade's three-headed guard dog) that fell to the ground when Hercules forced him to the surface of the Earth.

Because her devotees practiced such magic wherever three paths joined, Hecate was known by the Romans as Trivia ("tri"-three; and "via"-roads). Later, when the Latin church fathers compared the magic of the goddess Trivia with the power of the Gospel, they found it to be inferior, and thus the pursuit of Hecate's knowledge became known as "Trivial Pursuit," or inconsequential. But the fact that Hecate's followers sincerely believed in and feared her magic and presence was legendary. This was primarily due to her role as the sorceress of the afterlife, but true believers also feared Hecate's ability to afflict the mind with madness, as well as her influence over night creatures. She was thought to govern haunted places where evil or murderous activity had occurred. Such areas where violence or lechery had a history were believed to be magnets of malevolent spirits, something like "haunted houses," and if one wanted to get along with the resident apparitions they needed to make oblations to the ruler of the darkness—Hecate.

Hecate's familiar, the night owl, announced the acceptance of the oblations, and those who gathered on the eve of the full moon perceived the spooky sound of the creature as a good omen. Statues of the goddess bearing the triple-face of a dog, a snake, and a horse overshadowed the dark rituals when they were performed at the crossing of three roads. At midnight, Hecate's devotees left food offerings at the intersection for the goddess ("Hecate's Supper"), and, once deposited, quickly exited without turning around or looking back. Sometimes the offerings consisted of honey cakes and chicken hearts. At other time's puppies, honey and female black lambs were slaughtered for the goddess and her strigae.

The strigae were deformed and vicious owl-like affiliates of Hecate who flew through the night feeding on bodies of unattended babies. During the day the strigae appeared as simple old women, and such may account for the history of Halloween's flying witches. The same strigae hid amidst the leaves of the trees during the annual festival of Hecate, held on August 13, when Hecate's followers offered up the highest praise of the goddess. Hecate's devotees celebrated such festivals near Lake Averna in Campania where the sacred willow groves of the goddess stood, and they communed with the tree spirits—Earth spirits, including Hecate, were thought to inhabit trees—and summoned the souls of the dead from the mouths of nearby caves. It was here that Hecate was known as Hecate-Chthonia ("Hecate of the Earth"), a depiction in which she most clearly embodied the popular Earth-mother-spirit that conversed through the cave-stones and sacred willow trees.

Hecate was elsewhere known as Hecate-Propylaia, "the one before the gate," a role in which she guarded the entrances of homes and temples from nefarious outside evils (talk about Satan casting out Satan!). She was also known as Hecate-Propolos, "the one who leads," as in the underworld guide of Persephone and of those who inhabit graveyards. Finally, she was known as Hecate-Phosphoros, "the light bearer," her most sacred title and one that recalls another powerful underworld spirit, Satan, whose original name was Lucifer ("the light bearer"). It was nevertheless her role as the feminist Earth-goddess-spirit Hecate-Chthonia that popularized her divinity and commanded reverence from among the common people.

Modern Symbolism

The connection between ancient paganism and the modern customs and costumes of Halloween is easy to trace. The Hecatian myths adopted by Celtic occultists continue in pop culture, symbolism and tradition in the following ways:

People visiting neighborhood homes on Halloween night represent the dead in search of food (the treat).
Masks of devils and hobgoblins represent evil spirits seeking mischief (the trick).
Those who pass out candy represent the homes visited by the dead, or may also represent worried individuals seeking to appease Hecate and other nighttime terrors.
The Jack-O-Lantern (will-o-the-wisp, fox fire, fairy fire, etc.) is, according to some histories, a wandering soul stuck between heaven and hell. Others claim the Druids left Jack-O-Lanterns on doorsteps to ward off evil spirits. Another legend concerns a drunk named Jack who made a deal with the devil. Each claims to be the true origin of the Jack-O-Lantern myth.

Harmless Fun or Doorway to the Occult?

Not long ago some 300 exorcists flocked to Poland for a week-long congress to examine the current fashion for Halloween-themed monsters like werewolves and vampires the world-over, and the apparent connection between this fascination and a surge in demonic possession.

According to the Christian scholars I worked with when writing the book God's Ghostbusters (FREE WITH ANY DONATION IN OCTOBER), this reflected how the world is experiencing an explosion of ancient occultism combined with wicked fascination for ghosts and all things paranormal. In the United States alone, there are as many as 8 million practitioners of witchcraft. On college and high school campuses, vampires, werewolves, and other "creatures of the night" are esteemed as objects of desire and idolized by young men and women who view them as cult icons of envious mystical power. Almost daily we read how Satanism is spreading to public schoolyards and elementary after school clubs, [i] city council meetings are being opened with invocations to Satan, and even church goers are being enchanted by the darkness. An article by Russ Jones for OneNewsNow.com discusses "Mysticism Infecting Nazarene Beliefs" and another by the Telegraph describes how a "surge in Satanism" inside the church has sparked a "rise in demand for exorcists" within traditional religious settings.

And then there is the recent spate of killings and Zombie-like attacks on people and animals as well as by individuals claiming to be vampires and werewolves. The arrest of a Texas man who broke into a woman's house, threw her against a wall and tried to suck her blood is one example. Another case involved a Florida teenager who was later charged together with four other people of beating a 16-year-old boy to death. The teenage girl claims to be a vampire/werewolf hybrid and investigators acknowledge that she and the other suspects appear to be part of a vampire cult.

Rise in this activity is documented in the book God's Ghostbusters (Defender Publishing) which boasts a "who's who" of conservative scholars—including best-selling authors and Christian leaders like Chuck Missler, Gary Stearman, Noah Hutchings, Gary Bates, and John McTernan—who emphasize the need for Christian leaders to take a stand and to speak out on this issue, perhaps even using the month of October and the season of Halloween as opportunity to address congregations on the dangers of occult activity.

A new program joining the web-exclusive daily broadcasts at SkyWatchTV.com is called Teens Rock and will be hosted by the company's COO, Joe Ardis. Commenting on the occult dangers to youth in modern culture, he notes: "Psychologists have long understood how women in general desire strength in men, but few could have imagined how this natural and overriding need by young ladies would be used in modern times to seduce them of their innocence using mysteriously strong yet everlastingly damned creatures depicted in popular books and films like Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse. Listing all of the related fan sites, music videos, magazines, television shows and movies currently dedicated to erotic obsession with alluring demons-in-flesh would be daunting. But these would have to include television shows like Being Human, The Gates, Underworld, The Vampire Diaries, and True Blood, not to mention the hedonistic gay-themed program The Lair, a series that plays nationwide on all major cable systems based on a vampire-run sex club."

Ardis further admonishes that, "If parents, pastors and youth pastors haven't been paying attention, they need to spend a little time looking into what their children are mentally and spiritually feeding on, because we are losing a generation to darkness. Consider as an example popular youth-oriented magazines like Rolling Stone and their article "The Joy of Vampire Sex." Look at the ménage à trois on the magazine's cover of three nudes bathed in blood with the promise to readers that vampires are 'Hot. They're Sexy. They're Undead.'"

Obviously for people like Ardis, this is a serious issue, but he acknowledges some will disagree and say that focusing on pop-culture memes as a sign of deeper, culturally relevant consequences is an over-assessment of the danger. The present captivation with dark supernaturalism by this generation will eventually fade, some might argue, so we should not worry, as the long-term effects of Harry Potter's witchcraft andTwilight's vampirism will be of no more significance in the years ahead than was the Cowboy and Indian games played by our grandparents.

But as a doctor of theology with a past in exorcism, I personally couldn't disagree more. Mass media, including the Internet, television, film, radio, and other communications systems, have traded Bela-Lugosi-like vampires of former years and silly Abbott and Costello's Frankensteins and Mummies, which could be vanquished with Christian symbols, for monsters of profound demonic character depicted as impervious to Christ's power. As a result, today's youth have exchanged yesterday's pigtails and pop-guns for pentagrams and blood covenants aligned with forces far stronger than former generations could have imagined.

It is no stretch to suggest this is one of the signs that this age is under demonic influence. If we could see through the veil into the supernatural realm, we would find a world alive with good against evil, a place where the ultimate prize is the soul of this generation and where legions war for control of its cities and people.

Whether the reader agrees completely with my assertion, with everything that is happening in culture today, Christian leaders should use the month of October and the season of Halloween to address these issues.

This article originally appeared on SkyWatch.

3 Reasons Why you should read Life in the Spirit. 1) Get to know the Holy Spirit. 2) Learn to enter God's presence 3) Hear God's voice clearly! Go deeper!

Has God called you to be a leader? Ministry Today magazine is the source that Christian leaders who want to serve with passion and purpose turn to. Subscribe now and receive a free leadership book.

Monday, August 29, 2016

Witchcraft, Islam and Humanism Are Filling the Spiritual Void Left by the Dying Church - MICHAEL SNYDER CHARISMA NEWS

Wicca is one of the fastest-growing religions in the United States. (Flickr/Creative Commons)

Witchcraft, Islam and Humanism Are Filling the Spiritual Void Left by the Dying Church

8/29/2016 MICHAEL SNYDER CHARISMA NEWS

A dramatic spiritual paradigm shift is taking place in the western world. At the end of last week, I discussed the fact that more Americans than ever before appear to be turning away from the Christian faith, and this is particularly true among our young people. And while it is undeniable that atheism and agnosticism are both growing rapidly, it is also important to point out that other faiths are on the rise in the western world at the exact same time that Christianity is shrinking. If you are a Christian, what you are about to read should concern you greatly.

Let's start with witchcraft. It has been estimated that Wicca (one very popular form of witchcraft) is now the fastest growing faith in America. Books and movies featuring Harry Potter and others that use "magic" for good have fueled a tremendous amount of interest in the dark arts these days. Just consider the following excerpt from a Salon article that was published earlier this month:

Stores specializing in metaphysical sundries (think ritual candles, blended oils, sacred herbs) like Spellbound Sky and House of Intuition in Los Angeles, while not brand-new, are suddenly crowded. In Brooklyn, Witches of Bushwick has evolved from a venue on the underground party circuit to a social collective that celebrates witchcraft as a feminist art and collaborates with fashion companies like Chromat. Of course, for those who prefer whipping up potions at home, several new witch- and occult-themed subscription boxes deliver the magical arts to the doorstep.

And social media has enabled young people interested in magic to connect with one another in a way that we have never seen before. Here is more from Salon:

Check social media: A search for #witch on Instagram yields about 2,375,000 posts—whereas one for #kardashian scores only 1,630,000. Search next time at a boutique: Tarot decks are coming back in high style, thanks to retailers like the Wild Unknown—its artful cards are in stores across the country, from upscale meccas like ABC Home in New York City to indie hot spots like Skylark in Venice Beach, California. K-Hole was right, "mysticore" is the new norm.

Yes, there are still many more Christians than witches in America.

But the ranks of those that are into the occult are growing very quickly—especially among our young people—and in many churches on Sunday morning you will be fortunate to find even a handful of young adults.

Meanwhile, Islam is on the rise in the western world as well. Much of this is due to immigration, and new mosques are springing up all over the United States and Europe.

As Islam gains ground, there has been a concerted effort in some quarters to bring Christianity and Islam together. This movement has become known as "Chrislam", and in recent years we have seen some things that many of us never imagined that we would ever see in the Christian world.

For example, earlier this year the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church USA was opened with a prayer offered to Allah:

"Allah bless us and bless our families and bless our Lord. Lead us on the straight path—the path of all prophets: Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad."

These were the words that rang out over the congregation at The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, USA meeting in Portland, Oregon. Wajidi Said, co-founder of the Muslim Education Trust, led the attendees in the prayer to the Islamic deity, a move arranged by the Ecumenical and Interfaith ministry staff at the assembly.

The prayer was part of the "first order of business" during the meeting's opening session, a time dedicated to praying for those affected by the Orlando shooting that occurred just weeks before.

And of course the Presbyterian Church USA is far from alone. As I have documented, Pope Francis has stated that Christians and Muslims both "worship the one God," and in 2014 he authorized Islamic prayers and readings from the Quran at the Vatican for the first time ever.

But despite such efforts to "bring Christians and Muslims together," the truth is that Islamic terrorists continue to slaughter Christians on a continual basis all over the planet. The most recent attack on a church took place in Indonesia on Sunday:

An ISIS suicide bomber today attacked a Catholic priest with an axe as he tried to blow up hundreds of worshippers at a church during Sunday Mass.

Priest Albert Pandiangan, 60, was holding the holy ceremony at the altar when the 18-year-old fanatic rushed towards him with a backpack bomb and tried to blow himself up.

But the bomb burned without setting off the explosives, so the jihadi pulled an axe from his bag and slashed the priest's arm at St. Yoseph Church in Medan, the capital of North Sumatra in Indonesia.

So far there have been well over 1,000 Islamic terror attacks in 2016, and ISIS appears to have a renewed emphasis on attacking churches and Christians wherever they can find them.

Without a doubt, we are also witnessing a huge increase in the number of atheists and agnostics in the western world. Europe is much farther along than the United States is in this regard, and many areas of the continent are rightly regarded to be "post-Christian" at this point.

In the U.K., the Christian faith has declined so dramatically that now we are seeing the rise of "humanist chaplains" that don't hold to any sort of faith at all:

With participation in traditional faiths at near-record lows, Britain is seeing the rise of humanist chaplains providing "pastoral" support for the non-religious.

Last month the University of Westminster in London broke new ground by appointing its first official secular advisor for students.

The move followed efforts by the British Humanist Association since 2014 to train more than 100 volunteers to go into schools, hospitals and prisons in order to provide support for those who don't believe in a deity.

Fortunately, things are much different in much of the rest of the world. In fact, the Christian faith is currently experiencing explosive growth in China, India, South America and many portions of Africa.

But in the United States and Europe people are leaving the faith of their forefathers in astounding numbers, and that spiritual void is often being filled by other faiths such as witchcraft and Islam.

So what does this mean for the future of our society?

Michael Snyder is the founder and publisher of End Of The American Dream. Michael’s controversial new book about Bible prophecy entitled "The Rapture Verdict"is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.

3 Reasons Why you should read Life in the Spirit. 1) Get to know the Holy Spirit. 2) Learn to enter God's presence 3) Hear God's voice clearly! Go deeper!

Has God called you to be a leader? Ministry Today magazine is the source that Christian leaders who want to serve with passion and purpose turn to. Subscribe now and receive a free leadership book.

Contents List

Wednesday, October 25, 2017