The parallels and comparisons to much of today’s western church are really quite remarkable – with one important exception.

Much of today’s western church is sleeping with the enemy, yet it has no interest in trying to escape. Rather, having come under the strong delusion predicted by Scripture, the church is content, comfortable and “has need of nothing.”

The “seeker-friendly” movement has, by all estimates, been adopted by an alarming number of churches. As a result, the church has willingly handed over its spiritual power and authority mandated by scripture. Recovering that which has been lost may prove to be extremely difficult, if not altogether impossible.

The original command given by Jesus to “go and make disciples of all nations” has been updated and modernized to read “go and make members” so that the church can grow.

Churches that remain true to the original mandate are few and far between. Not only that, the process of making disciples usually results in a decline, rather than an increase, in members.

There are a couple of specific instances that I want to reference before moving on to what I consider the more serious issue confronting us today – the disobedience of the church.

Appealing to the “itching ears” of the masses are a couple of movements that are generally viewed as being fairly modern concepts but in reality their roots are well described by Scripture.

First, we have the gospel of prosperity that preaches that Jesus came so that you could have Your Best Life Now – in other words, to make you wealthy, healthy and wise. Just a bit contrary to what Scripture tells us when we are told to “take up our cross daily” and “whoever shall lose his life for My sake shall find it.”

The other instance centers around the gospel of self-esteem. This particular movement tells us that Jesus came so that we could have a higher self-esteem. Further, should you question this particular interpretation you are considered to be a malcontent and you should be removed from the church.

This particular movement was effectively described by the title of an obscure book that I ran across – “Are You Purpose – Driven or Spirit Led?”

Take some time and do a little research on your own. If you’re a member of a church that is a part of either of these, you need to get enlightened while you still have time.

The Disobedience of the Church

Most churches today are pretty ineffective and powerless when it comes to spiritual matters. Every so often a movement comes along that seems to show “signs & wonders” and it captivates us, at least for a season.

Regrettably, most of these “movements” generally die off of their own accord as the real source of the spiritual forces behind them begin to show their true nature.

By and large, today’s church has either forgotten or chooses to ignore the mandates of Scripture. In some instances, the church leaders put a “spin” on these mandates by saying that the Scriptures don’t really apply to their church, or worse.

I’m referring here to Paul’s message in Ephesians. More specifically – Ephesians 3:10, which states:

To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, (KJV)

A couple of years ago I was led to this passage and just couldn’t get it out of my mind without doing some extensive study and heartfelt prayer in seeking just why this section of Scripture weighed so heavily upon me.

The result of this was a study that led to putting together a guide for those interested in exploring this topic further.

You can download the PDF version here.

The file contains three different versions of Ephesians, Chapter 3, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on this chapter, excerpts from Wink’s Commentary, a number of quotes from Dr. Ed Murphy’s The Handbook For Spiritual Warfare and information gleaned from the teachings of Derek Prince.

In the interest of brevity, I’ll forgo a complete review of this subject here and just offer you the following from the study:

Here, in the ‘heavenlies’, the church has committed its most serious act of disobedience to the Lord. In choosing not to engage the powers and principalities, the church has, instead, fallen into collusion with the enemy. This is the major cause of powerlessness in the spiritual battle before us.

And, this excerpt:

Just as believers can take authority over demons through Christ’s authority, Paul here explains that the church, through Christ, is to do the same with powers and principalities in the heavenlies. Through this ongoing proclamation, the powers and principalities are weakened and ultimately brought into submission and defeat. The church’s role is not just to inform, but to enforce.

Now, please understand that I make no claim to being an expert in these matters. As I was led into this study, I merely drew upon the works of others that are far more knowedgable than me.

The resulting study was simply an exercise in bringing together these separate elements into a single (and, I’m sure – incomplete) document.

Upon completing this “assignment,” I shared the findings with a close friend that pastors a church in another area. With further study and prayer on his part, he began to embrace and then put into practice the message that these verses command.

The results of his leading the church in obedience to these commands were far more than we could envision or imagine – miraculous healings, an outpouring of deliverance and a continuing increase in the sincere conversion and salvation of those hearing the Gospel.

I hope you’ll take a few minutes to download the file and read through it. Do some research and get the answers for yourself.

I know it changed my view of what this aspect of the “church” is supposed to be about.

So, in the interest of keeping things “fair and balanced,” I want to present you with one that falls at the other end of the spectrum.

Having been on the site for some six months now, this particular video has been viewed a rather paltry 2,000 times as compared to the previous video having received over 8 million views.

I think part of the reason for this less-than-popular showing is due in no small part to the scripture contained in 2 Peter: 6-8 where we learn that the message of the cross is an offense to the unbelieving.

And, it would seem, it is also an offense to many that claim to be believers.

This video, after all, deals specifically with that message – the message of the cross.

Does it present the entire story? No, not by a long shot.

But what it does present is a short, and powerful, message.

The video itself was put together by a professional editor and uses clips from a number of movies to get its message across – Jesus of Nazareth, The Greatest Story Ever Told, and The Passion of the Christ.

It may or may not be a video that you want your young children to watch – some of the scenes used from The Passion of the Christ are a bit graphic.

The purpose of the video, as presented on the site, is to encourage Christians in their faith and to nudge the un-believer into asking questions.

From sharing this video with friends and family, I can say that it accomplishes this purpose quite well. It has a way of giving us a renewed awareness of the work accomplished through the sacrifice Jesus made.

One final point, and then I’ll leave you to enjoy the video – continue watching the video until it comes to a complete stop. Just when you think it’s over – it launches into a new song and video segment (sort of like another story you may know).

In case it doesn’t play for you, here’s the direct link .

The video is entitled: Via Dolorosa/Revelation Song.

My original intent was to present you with a single post and highlight a few sacred cows that seem to be fairly commonplace in churches, however, it grew to be such a large article that I’ve decided to split it up.

Today we’re going to take a look at one of the videos from tangle.com. You may be familiar with the site’s previous name – Godtube. This site has become really popular in the Christian community as it really is a great resource for Christian music videos and messages.

Like any popular movement, it is also subject to infiltration.

Before discussing this particular video, I want to point out that if you haven’t read the first installment of this series, Spiritual or Soulish, I suggest you do so now. It provides the foundation for today’s discussion by dealing with our natural tendency to slide from the earthly to the soulish to the demonic.

This particular video is one of the site’s all-time favorites, having recorded over 8 million viewings and over 8 thousand comments, most of which are complimentary.

Without further ado, here’s the video. We’ll take up the discussion after you watch it.

(If, for some reason it doesn’t play for you, here’s the direct link)

One of the site’s favorites, I’ll also mention that the church I attend put on a similar version of the skit not too long ago.

In general, most of the comments on the video site, and the reception that the skit received in my church, were almost identical.

Fawning and gushing out phrases like “powerful,” “wonderful,” “excellent,” the skit, in general gets nothing but rave reviews.

So, just exactly what’s wrong with it?

First of all, let me say that yes, God has the power to use anything for good. And this is one instance where the word anything really applies.

You may need to take a second look at the video. Pay close attention to what actually takes place – specifically look at how the skit portrays Jesus as being pushed around by demonic forces and then having to struggle with them.

This particular skit serves to illustrate the lesson from the last installment about our tendency to view things from an earthly and soulish perspective.

This skit is some person’s worldly (earthly)  idea of trying to re-make the Christ into what people can relate to (soulish) and then to invoke our  (earthly, soulish) emotions on the outcome of the skit.

The danger, as I see it, is this:

Such a portrayal is not spirit-inspired (then again, maybe it is – but what spirit?) and it certainly doesn’t follow what scripture tells us about Jesus Christ.

From scripture, we learn that “even the demons believe, and tremble” (James 2:19). In other words, they shake because of their fear of the LORD.

Now, if they are so afraid of the LORD that they tremble in their fear, what makes you think that they can push HIM around and then fight with HIM?

Am I being too nit-picky about this? I don’t think so.

If you’ve ever had occasion to confront evil directly, then you already know, beyond any doubt whatsoever, that evil can’t leave fast enough in HIS presence, much less stick around and try to fight.

While the originators of this skit, and all who would seek to imitate it, may have good intentions, the bottom line is this:

It is a really sorry attempt by someone to “let us make GOD in our image.”

It dishonors the power and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. It forgets that we are talking about the Lord of Hosts, the Lion of Judah, the Ancient of Days, the great I AM that has the power to part the Red Sea, whose enemies melt before HIM like wax in HIS consuming fire.

And it is an affront, an insult, to the Spirit whenever we paint such a false picture.

In our feeble man-made attempts to entertain rather than preach the true Gospel, we violate Paul’s warning when he told us “do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God” (Ephesians 4:30). When we grieve the Spirit, rest assured that he will withdraw from us.

The Spirit-led preaching of the true Gospel has the power of God behind it. The message of the cross is offensive to the unrepentant (1 Peter 2: 6-8) and has the power to convict, to transform and lead to salvation.

In our (earthly, soulish) justification that “some good has come from it,” once again we fail in our obedience to Paul’s admonition that “this persuasion is not from Him who calls you, ” and  that “a little leaven leavens all the lump” (Galatians 5: 8-9).

Our acceptance and allowing “a little leaven” is nothing less than welcoming in the Trojan horse of the dumbing-down of the Gospel.

As we welcome in  this “leaven” with open arms, we will truly see the scriptures come alive, for “they are vanity, the work of delusion; in the time of their judgment they shall perish” (Jeremiah 10:15) “And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie, so that all those who do not believe the truth, but delight in unrighteousness, might be condemned” (2 Thessalonians 2:11).

My personal suggestion would be for us to stop this (earthly, soulish) worshipping at the false altar of entertainment (idolatry)  and start preaching the unaldulterated truth of the scriptures.

Satan fears the Word of God. From a personal perspective, I’ve been blessed to have seen the power of the Word of God change lives, heal the sick, cast out demons and to set people’s hearts on fire with purpose and power.

In the early church, people were drawn to the Lord because they witnessed

• the power of God

• miracles

• plain truth, cutting through men’s hearts

• urgency of the message

• the authority of those who preached

• the call to abandon all for Him

Today’s church draws people because of:

• gimmicks

• movies, media & more!

• convenience of the message

• you don’t have to change to belong

Is it just me, or do you see something wrong with this picture?

The Word of God really doesn’t need our feeble and mis-directed embellishments.

For some time now, I’ve been observing how many of today’s “christians” have willingly swallowed the deception that is rampant in today’s world.

And, for the most part, the church has been the first to belly up to the trough. There are exceptions, of course, but they’re getting harder and harder to find.

I’m going to admit that this particular subject is one that I’ve really been avoiding and just didn’t want to address. Things just finally got to the point where I couldn’t avoid it any longer.

The only way I can describe it is to call it a “restless and troubled” nagging in my spirit.

This particular post will be the first in a series dealing with deception in the lives of today’s believers, deception in the church and the disobedience of the church.

So, without further ado, let’s start killing off a few sacred cows.

A Little Background

I recently re-read Derek Prince’s teaching sheet titled “Spiritual or Soulish,” and that’s when things finally started to come together. In this installment, I’ll be borrowing from his most excellent treatment of this subject so that we can have some common understanding.

In the original pattern of creation, there was a descending relationship. God moved upon man’s spirit; his spirit moved upon his soul; and his soul directed his body. The spirit of man comes directly from God and relates directly to God.

Through man’s rebellion, however, his spirit was set aside and his soul took over control. As a result, unregenerate man is controlled by the three functions of his soul: the will, the intellect and the emotions.

When God reconciles man to Himself, His purpose is to restore the original order, by which He once again relates directly to man’s spirit; man’s spirit in turn moves upon his soul; and man’s soul moves upon his body.

This explains the words of David in Psalm 103:1: Bless the Lord, O my soul. Through faith, David’s spirit had been reunited with God and was eager to worship Him. So his spirit stirred up his soul to move upon his vocal organs to utter the appropriate words of worship.

So long as man remains in submission to God and his soul remains in submission to his spirit, man functions in harmony with God and with himself. But whenever man reasserts his rebellion against God, his soul is no longer in submission to his spirit and the harmony is broken.

The Greek of the New Testament has a special adjective, formed directly from the word for soul, psuche, which describes action initiated by the soul. The adjective is psuchikos. In English, the natural way to render this would be soulish. Unforunately, there is no English for such a word.

As a result, different English translation of the New Testament have used a variety of different words and phrases to describe this word: natural, sensual, worldly, unspiritual, worldly-minded, without the spirit, and “to follow their natural instinct.” All of these translate into one and the same Greek word.

For our purposes, we’ll use the word soulish.

So What Does All This Mean to Us?

For understanding spiritual things, the soul is dependent upon the spirit. If it is out of harmony with the spirit, the realm of spiritual truth is closed to it. In order for the truth to be revealed to us, it is important that we approach spiritual things with the correct attitude – our soul submitted to our spirit and our spirit submitted to and in union with God.

Whenever the soul of a Christian is not submitted through his spirit to God, he becomes a channel through which every kind of carnality (earthly, sensual, worldly, and unspiritual) and division can infiltrate his life and infiltrate the church.

A Serious Warning

In James 3:15, the apostle speaks about a form of wisdom which does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual (soulish), demonic.

James has given us a clear depiction of a downward slide in three successive stages:

from the earthly to the soulish to the demonic.

In the first stage, christians become earthly and lose the true vision of eternity. Unable to see beyond the things of this life (success, pleasure, wealth, health), they are only interested in what their faith can do for them in this life.

Paul has a message for such people. 1 Corinthians 15:19: If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.

Christians that are like that often consider themselves prosperous and successful – God considers them pitiable.

From earthly, the next stage is soulish. To be soulish is to be ego-centric, self-centered. For such people, the Christian faith is a way to get what they want out of life. They suppose that godliness is a means of gain (1 Timothy 6:5).

The soulish opens the way for the demonic. This is one of the main ways in which demons infiltrate the church and man.

A really common question I hear asked a lot is: “Do Christians ever need deliverance from demons?”

James has given us a clear answer to that one.

This downward progression from the earthly to the soulish to the demonic exposes both the individual believer and whole congregations to the activities of demons.

In many instances today, the church is an ungodly mixture. No clear line is drawn between the spiritual and the soulish. As a result, there is no barrier whatsoever to the demonic.

Genuine manifestations of the Holy Spirit are interlaced with manifestations that are clearly demonic.

Lies, half-truths and outright deception are interwoven and wrapped up and packaged in messages and entertainment that are supposedly presented in the name of Jesus Christ.

All too often, we just swallow these half-truthful exercises in claptrap by the (earthly, soulish)  justification that we “got some good” from the message

We conveniently forget (or, perhaps, we choose to forget) Jesus’ admonition that a little leaven corrupts the whole lump.

If we were to practice some real discernment, we would realize that we are placing ourselves in danger of participation in the fulfilling of one of the most terrible warnings in scripture:

2Thessalonians 2:11-12:

And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie, so that all those who do not believe the truth, but delight in unrighteousness, might be condemned.

Now I don’t know about you, but I believe that’s a pretty scary scripture.

Should God choose to send strong delusion, you’d best believe that it’s going to happen.

In the next installment – a few of today’s sacred cows that need the same treatment Elijah gave to the false prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel (1 Kings, Chapter 18).

Some of you may not be too pleased.

It’s certainly no secret to anyone that attempts to live the Christian life that there will be opposition. And that opposition may show itself in some of the most unexpected ways.

Family disputes, a sudden onset of illness, an unforeseen financial setback, problems with our work or business, depression, anxiety – this list can seem endless.

The really sad part of it is that we generally fail to recognize the real source of the problem. It seems that we’re programmed to respond to the symptom and ignore the underlying cause.

If you’re one of the few that are sincerely trying to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, you know full well what I’m talking about. The troubles can seem pretty overwhelming.

One of the first things we tend to forget is Paul’s warning from Ephesians 6:12 -

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

We just forget that things are not what they seem. We forget that just maybe, there’s someone else in the room.

In these troubled times, we would do well to remember this. We would also do well to change our thought process so that this is the first alarm that sounds whenever we do encounter trouble.

In my conversations with other Christians, I’ve often encountered a general sense of helplessness and a sense of resignation in trying to deal with trouble. All too frequently I see others being totally weighed down by these troubles.

One of the more common answers that I get whenever we start to explore these issues usually goes something along this line:

“Well, I’ve asked the Lord to lift these burdens, but….”  You fill in the blanks. Chances are, you’ve been there. We all have.

The first thing we simply must do is to learn the lessons given to us in Scripture.

Dan Edelen, over at Cerulean Sanctum, had a recent post that pretty much sums up why it is that we so often are unable to fully cope with the trouble that is thrust upon us.

He refers to a bible study group that he attends and the particular scripture is Genesis 15: 11 -

And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away.

As Abram prepared his sacrifice to God for sealing the most important covenant, that offering came under attack. You will note – he didn’t ask the Lord for protection or help in defending the offering.

He fought off the attack himself.

What so many of us fail to realize is that we have been charged with the authority to defeat this enemy that works relentlessly against us.

Now, before you run off and start trying to fight this enemy on your own, there are a couple of things you need to know.

First of all, we need to understand the authority that we’ve been given and the source of the power behind it.

Our authority, and the power to enforce it, comes only from the Lord Jesus Christ. On our own, we really are helpless, we just don’t have a chance.

And that brings to mind another of the common answers that I frequently hear whenever I’ve explored this with others.

“You know, I tried to bind satan, but……” you probably know the answer to that one, too.

Whenever we asked the Lord Jesus Christ into our lives, we were given citizenship in a realm other than our citizenship on this earth. At that point, Jesus gave us the power and authority to overcome all the power of the enemy.

That’s the point where most of us just stop. And that’s our mistake. You see, that power and authority is wasted and is useless if we don’t learn how to use it.

Imagine, if you will, that you have just joined the military. Imagine, also, that you’ve never seen a gun before in your life. That gun you just got is not going to do you any good at all until you learn how to use it.

And so it is in this struggle we face against the powers of darkness.

A Few Specifics

Perhaps the most powerful weapon we’ve been given is the Sword of the Spirit – the Word of God.

As we read the word of God, we can learn just how we are to engage this enemy we face.

First of all, we learn that much of the fight we’re in is our fight. Having been given the authority and power to battle, it falls to us to fight the enemy. Yes, there will be times for us to call for help.

We can also learn just how we are to use the weapons given to us. One of the best examples given in Scripture reveals our failures to be obedient to God’s Word:

In Jude 1:9 we read:

“But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you.”

This particular scripture is most revealing in that it demonstrates to us just how we are to invoke the power and authority that has been given us.

Notice, first of all, that Michael didn’t say “I rebuke you,” he said, “The LORD rebuke you.”

Secondly, whenever we presume to pronounce such a rebuke on our own, it is considered to be a blasphemous judgment. Just how far do you think that sort of approach will get you?

In yet another instance from scripture, we are all familiar with the words of Jesus when He commanded satan, “Get thee behind me.”

Again, this is another area where we too often are disobedient and presumptious in our attempts to fight the enemy. We try to do the same thing by saying, “Get thee behind me.”

And then we wonder why it doesn’t work.

You see, there’s another word for this type of presumption on our part. Arrogance. It’s something we’re all born with and it’s probably one of the hardest things for us to let go.

So I’m going to offer a couple suggestions for how to begin your next counter-attack against this enemy we face.

Taking what we’ve learned so far, I have found that the following usually produces some rather quick results when used as the opening portion of prayers in spiritual warfare.

Bear in mind that when I say quick results, I mean just that. Sometimes there is an instant sense of relief. At other times there is an equally opposite reaction. That’s when it’s time to call in reinforcements. (And that’s a subject for another time.)

So the next time you’re under attack (as in, maybe now?), try beginning your prayers in this fashion:

The Lord rebuke you, satan. The Lord rebuke you. Thank you, O Lord, for having granted to me all power over the enemy through the Lord Jesus Christ. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I claim that authority here and now and in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I command thee satan: get thee behind me.

In following this format, we invoke the authority given us through the Lord Jesus Christ, and, in effect, we stand in His shadow as we do battle. Straying from His shadow invites disaster and is a sure guarantee of losing the fight.

Say it as many times as you need to get results. Wimpy and mild-mannered just won’t work here. You’re in a fight with  the prince of the powers of this world – you’re  not chastising a petulant 3-year old.

As you say it, pay attention to the portions emphasized. Continue to repeat it, putting more and more authority into it each time until you can say it with real authority and belief.

It’s a simple prayer – but in saying it you are calling forth the power and authority of the Ancient of Days, the Lord of Hosts, the Lion of Judah, the great I AM. Lay waste to this enemy that has come to steal, to kill and destroy.

Above all, expect results. Expect an answer and you won’t be disappointed. Remember:

Judges 6:12  And the Angel of Jehovah appeared to him, and said to him,

Jehovah is with you, mighty warrior.

The attack itself began, as it almost always does, very subtly and almost unnoticed. Building into a major battle.

I want to spend a few minutes exploring what actually turned into a fairly strong spiritual battle in the hope that you might gain some insight into how to combat this should you, or someone close to you, experience something similar.

I’m going to talk about a couple of (unfortunately) common issues that affect all of us:

Depression and Anxiety.

A Little Background

First of all, I want to relate to you a brief history of my own first-hand encounter with this particularly aggressive and vile attack that our enemy seems to relish.

It was during a particular period of time late last year – -

I had been talking quite often with my good friend Tom ( you can read about Tom here ) and in the course of our conversations we had both begun to remark about how we each had begun to suspect that we were under some kind of spiritual attack.

Both of us were being influenced by an attitude and general mindset that could only be described as depression with a big dose of anxiety thrown in.

The actual realization that we were under attack hadn’t occurred to either of us. It was only after we started talking about it and realized that we were both experiencing the same thing at the same time.

That’s when the light came on. After all, how else would you explain the fact that two people, separated by hundreds of miles, would be having the same identical experience simultaneously.

So we resolved to join together and fight back.

We tried both prayer and turning to scripture to find ways to drive the enemy away. At the best, it seemed that all we were able to accomplish was to just ‘hold our own.’ The attack just continued and even grew in its intensity.

Over time, I’ve learned that whenever we enter into these spiritual battles we usually get one of two possible results.

Either the attack is beaten off, or it gets worse.

Regardless of the result, either good or bad, the simple fact that there was, in fact, a result, leads me to conclude that the underlying cause was, without a doubt, a spiritual attack. And that is always enlightening.

Just knowing what’s actually going on is more than half the battle.

In this particular instance, it seemed that the more we prayed (in the context of spiritual warfare) the more intense the attack became. We both concluded that we at least knew the source of the attack – things clearly were not what they seemed.

Our prayers were obviously stirring something up – they seemed to just enrage this relentless and almost overwhelming force that we were up against. We were really wearing down.

Breaking Through

This attack continued for week after week. And, I’ll be the first to admit, it was really starting to take a heavy toll on us. We constantly reinforced each other that no, we weren’t going crazy – this attack was as real as a physical assault.

We were both drawn to a particular section of scripture – Isaiah 61 -  verses 1 – 4:

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek;

he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;

To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;

To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.

And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations.

The most significant revelations about this particular scripture were in the facts that, first and foremost, this was the scripture chosen by Jesus when He announced to the world why He had come to this earth.

Secondly, I finally recalled having read a teaching article by Derek Prince in which he talks about his personal battle with depression.

This particular scripture not only addresses the issue of depression, it gives us the solution for fighting back and then goes on to promise that we can prevail and restore that which has been stolen from us.

Specifically – the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. The spirit of heaviness. What we, in our feeble attempts at intellectualism, today call ‘depression.’

If you’ve ever encountered depression then you know that the word ‘heavy’ is a most appropriate description. There is a sense of some ‘heavy’ and unseen weight that is constantly and relentlessly pushing down upon you.

So – now we know. Depression is not always just a ‘chemical imbalance’ to feed the purses of those who specialize in treating ‘clinical’ depression.

It is a spirit.

An unsettling revelation. Yet, at the same time, an encouraging one.

Which brings us to the next question – just how do we combat this spirit of heaviness?

The answer lies in the first section of this verse - the garment of praise.

Fighting Back

Now that we were armed with this knowledge, we began to start to formulate a battle plan. We continued to pray in the context of spiritual warfare. And we began to add more and more praise to our arsenal.

Praise when we prayed. Praise throughout the day. And an almost constant playing of all sorts of Christian music to accompany not just our prayers but to constantly feed us with encouragement and uplift us.

While this battle had gotten to the point that it seemed to have no end in sight, once we began to purposely add in the element of praise there was a noticeable shift that took place. And it happened rather quickly.

Encouraged by these results, we continued and each day would add an even greater intensity of music, prayer and praise.

In the end, this attack did not lift in the same manner in which it came.

It had come slowly, and almost imperceptibly at first, gathering momentum and strength over time. By the time we started to realize that it was present, it was almost overwhelming.

It had lasted over 3 months.

It was only in retrospect that we could actually start to discern how it came in at first as a creeping trickle only to grow into a tremendous flood.

No, when the attack lifted, it was an abrupt and immediate event – here one day and gone the next.

In these troubled times we live in, we would all be well advised to understand the schemes of this enemy that is set against us.

Depression and anxiety will frequently come as a double-edged attack. Recognizing that this is a tactic of the enemy to take us out gives us the ability to not only fight back but to also overcome.

We also need to understand and recognize that it can be a long, hard fight.

In Conclusion

When I began this post, I referred to the fact that some of those that are close to me were under attack.

Of those, two are committed to following the Lord Jesus Christ, and one is not.

As I write this, the one who is not a follower of our LORD is headed off to get another prescription for meds.

The two that follow the LORD are now free from the grip of this attack.

Having been through this same scenario before, when we fought back we launched an all-out attack using the full armory of praise, music and spiritual warfare prayer. And, at least in this instance, the fight was over rather quickly.

Should you, or someone close to you, become a target for a similar attack, I sincerely hope that this article will offer both encouragement and guidance for the battle you face.

And should you have the need for someone to draw swords with you, get in touch.

Both of them have been freely sharing the changes that they are undergoing as a result of this experience.

To help understand the change that’s taking place, I want to share a story. It’s a true story, and it gives us some physical parallels to the spiritual changes that these men are undergoing.

Years ago, when I was an enthusiastic participant in martial arts, we had a particular student named William.

William was a classic underachiever – in everything he did. Saddled with the additional burden of a verbally abusive father, he seemed destined to a life of mediocrity at best.

About two months before the state karate tournament was to be held, he approached me and mumbled, almost imperceptibly, that he wanted to compete in the tournament. After drilling him on the amount of preparation needed, it fell to me to begin training him.

He was quite a tall boy at the time. Thin. Uncoordinated and awkward. But he sincerely wanted to do this.

Watching him in class, the only really good technique he had was the classic karate side kick. But it was pitifully slow. And so, that was where we concentrated for those months leading up to the tournament. After a while, he reached the point where we could also add in a 2nd technique – the backfist.

And so we drilled. And drilled. And drilled. And he actually improved. With each passing week he got stronger and faster.

On the day of the tournament, I glanced up into the stands and spotted William’s father. Twisting and turning in his seat, his annoyance at being there was obvious.

When William stepped into the ring for his first match (and what I reluctantly thought would be his last), the eyes of everyone in the gym were focussed on him.

When the command to “fight” was given, everyone, including me, was shocked at what happened.

William literally exploded off the line and nailed his opponent on the chin with the fastest, most accurate sidekick I’d ever seen. Before the poor guy could blink, a thundering backfist caught him on the forehead.

But the true spectacle was taking place in the stands. Looking up, I saw William’s father. He sat bolt upright in his seat, as if a great electric charge had just gone through him.

William made short work of the remaining competitors in his division and went home as the state champion that day.

3 months later, he took the gold medal in the AAU Junior Olympics.

There were two people that didn’t make it home on that day. The abusive father somehow just disappeared – the man who had verbally abused William for all that time was transformed into a loving and supportive dad.

And the underachiever went on to earn a full academic scholarship to one of the country’s top-rated engineering programs.

Now – there are a couple of reasons that I wanted to share this particular story with you.

First, we all love stories (especially when they’re true) where the loser turns into a winner. William earned his spot. He worked for months and spilled gallons of sweat to get there.

And second, for my two Christian brothers that are in the midst of their change, the spiritual battles they are fighting are all the more difficult. And they are on a journey that is not all that dissimilar to the one that you’ve just read. It will take determination, sweat and a lot of prayer to cross that line.

The journey will be tough, dangerous and it will take everything they’ve got to get there.

For Theo and DW – this one’s for you.

Some of you may have caught glimpses of Bob here and there. The primary thrust of his ministry is to make use of the secular media in publicizing his ministry and exposing the work of the enemy. As a result, he has come under a lot of criticism from both the secular media as well as the church.

I leave it up to you to make your own judgments about Bob and his ministry. Just be sure to think for yourself and don’t fall victim to what other people say. Remember your scriptures -

Matthew 5:11- Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.

Since my wife was off work the day of the conference, we decided that we would go. One of the areas that she had never personally seen was an actual deliverance. Since Bob’s conferences are usually centered around deliverance, we both felt that there was a better than average chance of her getting to see one.

We weren’t disappointed.

As the conference began, we were both struck by the numbers of hurting people who had come in the hopes of getting relief – it was that obvious.

Bob began his conference by asking all who were there for help to stand. Fully 75% of the crowd stood up ( I would estimate some 80-90 people). He and his team went around the room and anointed each person from vials of oil that he had prayed over.

We were sitting in front and one man directly behind me had stood up. I noticed my wife watching as Bob approached the man. Throughout the rest of the service, she continued to glance over her shoulder at this particular man. While I thought this a little curious, I didn’t pay much attention to it.

It wasn’t until after we had returned home that she told me what had drawn her attention. Whenever Bob had anointed this particular man, he had started hissing at Bob.

Well now – that was probably a clue that something was going on. Perhaps an indication that things were not what they seemed.

After the service, the man was asked to come up to the front. Bob began to pray and command the foul spirit to show itself.

Nothing. No response – at least at first. Bob persisted.

And then it started. First of all, the man’s face began to change. It started to contort. Still – silence. Whatever was at work was being quite stubborn.

Finally it began to speak. In a deep whisper. Defiant. Resistant.

Bob continued in his efforts to force this entity to the surface and to try and drive it out. In the course of this confrontation, the demon uttered something that I found quite revealing.

It said, “We have no rights.” So – there was more than one in there.

Still, it was quite stubborn. Bob’s attempts to expel it seemed to be weakening it, but he was not able to get it expelled.

After some 30 or 40 minutes, Bob turned to one of his team and asked them to follow up with this man.

Later that night, when we had returned home, my wife went to bed before I did.

Shortly after she had gone to bed, she called me to come in there. Asking her what was going on, she told me she was experiencing fear.

I remembered quite well my own experience with this right after attending my first conference. This seems to be a recurring tactic of the enemy – try to scare people off early on. I also remembered the prayer that I had been led to pray whenever I had encountered this.

Leading her in this prayer, she experienced instant relief. It was gone!

As God lifts these veils, we are called into a realm that defies our ability to fully describe. Entering into this realm is at once fascinating, breathtaking, dangerous and rewarding.

This is a realm that defies our feeble attempts at logic. Our minds, our intellect, our thought processes are incapable of grasping this. And yet, it is a reality that cannot be denied.

2 Corintians 5:7 – For we walk by faith, not by sight:

It has been our great blessing that as God lifts these veils, we have been given no more than He has prepared us for. Yet, with each encounter we are forced to stretch – to increase our faith. To draw closer to Him.

As I see it, it’s just one of the ways that Jesus Christ takes us further up that mountain.

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Footnote:

Some time back, we developed a habit of giving our Bibles away. It started when we worked together at the car dealership. We had bought a case to give away in our work.

Whenever a believer would buy a car, we’d give them a Bible. And, whenever a non-believer bought from us, we’d stick one in the glove box, usually along with a tract.

Once we ran out of these give-aways, we would occasionally give away our personal Bibles to those in need of one. I had last given mine away some months ago.

A few days after attending this conference, I got a clear message -

You need a new sword.

Guess we’ll have to buy some more for give-aways.

When I told my wife about this, her initial reaction was – “Uh-oh. I wonder what’s about to happen.”

I have to confess – that was my reaction as well. Not fearful, mind you…. just a little curious.

And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will show to you today: …

A little over a year ago, we had gotten the bad news that a dear family member was diagnosed with cancer. The prognosis was not good as this particular type was highly aggressive.

Radiation and chemotherapy were begun in an effort to combat the effects of the disease. The initial reports following this treatment were encouraging but cautious.

Just a few short months later, the news turned grim.

It was back. It had spread. The worst possible scenario was suddenly upon us. A new round of therapy was planned. Short, intense and not without great danger. To buy time – without it the prognosis was grim – maybe 6 weeks. If the therapy was effective – maybe 6 months.

The therapy was completed in quick order. Improvement. But still, a heavy cloud over everyone.

And then – an overwhelming sense of urgency was upon me. It was obvious – God was telling us to go. Go NOW! Speak of Salvation. Time is short.

God was with us on that trip. Leading. Directing. Speaking.

The enemy showed up, too. As he always does. Unexpected spiritual battles unfolded. Questions, doubts and a nagging, smooth voice that kept suggesting things were fine and nothing needed to be done.

A quick prayer for guidance produced an instant answer – “That’s not My Voice.”

Time to get back to business.

As we prayed together, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. Brokenness, repentance – and then the overwhelming peace and soaring of the spirit that comes with salvation. You could almost hear as the angels rejoiced.

Luke 19:9 – And Jesus said unto him, “This day is salvation come to this house…”

On our trip back home, the Lord impressed upon me just what had taken place. Those scriptures at the start of this post were literally thundering through my thoughts.

And along with it, that unforgettable and dramatic scene that accompanies those scriptures in the movie “The Ten Commandments.” (Yes – the one with Charlton Heston)

You know the scene – the fiery column holding back the enemy, rendering him powerless while the seas are parted by the breath of God for us to cross over.

The Israelites were allowed to “see” the Salvation of the Lord that day.

Sometimes, He does the same for us today.

And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;

Patrick had first come into our lives about 2 years ago. Visiting us at the dealership we worked in, he was in need of a new car.

Over the course of a couple of weeks, we managed to get financing for him and put him into a car. He didn’t get to keep it long. He lost his job – then was forced to move from the house he had been living in.

The situation quickly went from bad to worse. He made several visits to us during this time and our conversations eventually turned to faith (as they always seemed to do). Yes, he had faith. Yes, he believed in God and seemed sincere in wanting to draw closer to Him.

One of the comments he repeatedly made was something like this: “Why is this happening to me? I just can’t believe it.”

His underlying attitude was one of “poor, pitiful me.”

We attempted to try and minister to him throughout this time. Arming him with prayers, praying on his behalf and giving him financial support so he could feed his family. Not much seemed to work.

And then, he sort of drifted away. Not showing up very often. Maybe once every 3 or 4 months stopping by when he needed more money, but for the most part – out of touch.

Then he re-appeared. By then, I wasn’t working with my wife any longer so she had the thrill of dealing with him alone for a while. She gave him some solid guidance and he seemed to be sincerely convicted that just maybe he needed to change some things.

She arranged for him to visit our church, along with his wife. Both of them at that time re-committed their lives to Jesus Christ and were baptized. And then, he faded away again. But not for too long.

Calling me, he related how he had been evicted, his family was now split with his kids living all over town and he and his wife were living with his wife’s sister. With his previous track record, I really didn’t have any great interest in getting involved with him again.

But then I realized – God puts people in our path for a reason and I had to do my part.

I was led to go visit him and start acting as his personal taxi in order for him to work out his problems with the state’s welfare system. He would get benefits for a while, then lose them. Usually his fault.

So – that was the first area we worked on. And worked on, and worked on. Until he finally started getting his benefits again. But there was something else going on here and I really couldn’t put my finger on it.

On the second or third occasion that we went to visit him, I had prayed beforehand asking for guidance and asking what to do. I was led to talk with him about the book of Hosea.

Hosea? Yep. I’ll confess up front that I really didn’t understand. And then I was led to Henry’s commentary and it became clear. Patrick had been listening to some really bad advice from others.

We went to their apartment and I spent about 30 minutes talking with Patrick and his wife about “listening to wooden posts.” Taking advice from people instead of turning to God for answers. And he broke down.

It was amazing to actually “see” the sword of the spirit pierce someone and then be witness as they prayed for forgiveness. As John the Baptist said, “The Lord loves a repentant heart.”

But we weren’t finished just yet. My wife loaded Patrick’s wife and youngest daughter in the car and took them shopping. The little girl needed shoes.

I stayed behind with Patrick. Something was leading me to spend a little time with him. I sure had no idea about what we were in for.

Patrick was still wallowing in his self-pity. After a while, it sort of starts to grate on your nerves. And then, I recalled having read in one of Derek Prince’s books that he had discovered that self-pity may be spiritual in nature. In other words – demonic.

So I started to coach Patrick through a series of prayers. He was more than eager, and that was encouraging. The prayers were some that I had learned over time – their purpose was to cause any demonic spirits to manifest. Nothing happened.

That was when God showed up. It suddenly came to mind to lead him in a simple prayer – “Lord, reveal to me the true enemies of my heart, my soul and my life.”

Patrick had trouble with the prayer. Tongue-tied is the only way to describe it. Couldn’t form the words. So we tried – again and again.

Finally, he got it right. And started to shake and shiver. As if he had stepped into a howling blizzard.

He jumped (yes, jumped) from his chair. Still trembling, his eyes were like saucers. “What was that?” he asked. I suggested he pray it again. At first he didn’t want to, then he started it over.

Same reaction. Jumped out of the chair and was shivering – uncontrollable shivering. I realized that we were on to something – and told him so.

I told him I wanted to try it again – and as he would say the prayer, I was also going to be praying. I just didn’t tell him what I was going to pray. So he started once again. By now he had the prayer down pat and didn’t need any coaxing.

As he prayed, I started to pray – aloud, but quietly. My prayer was – “Father in Heaven, I thank you that you have given me all authority over the enemy and all his works in Jesus Christ. In the name of Jesus Christ, I now claim that authority. In the name of Jesus Christ, I speak now to this foul spirit that is tormenting Patrick and in Jesus’ name I command you to leave.”

Patrick’s reaction was instant. His whole body started twitching and jerking. On the verge of convulsion. He was jumping around the room now. He let out a loud and painful moan – “Ooooooooo.” He wrapped his arms around his torso, his eyes and mouth wide open.

And then, it stopped. As quickly as it had begun. Patrick was rubbing his arms. “Something had hold of me! Something had hold of me! Oh, oh, oh! What just happened? Oh – it’s gone! It’s gone!”

The transformation in Patrick was instant and noticeable. Overnight, he was a changed man. Within a matter of days, he had gotten a new job, found him a place of his own and was truly trying to walk with God.

And – no more self-pity. Confident, assured and happy. Enjoyable to be around. The personality change was startling.

I count it as a true blessing from the Lord Jesus Christ to have been given the privilege of being a witness and participant in this man’s miracle of deliverance.

Unfortunately, I have to say that all has not worked out well.

As a footnote to this incident, I want to mention that it has now been about 6 or 7 months since these events took place.

Once again, Patrick has returned to his old nature – slipped under the radar again. We’ve seen him a couple of times and he’s still free from the “poor pitiful me” attitude. Working in his new job, moving up in the company and providing for his family.

My wife and I occasionally discuss Patrick and his family. There’s still much work to be done and we are sorrowful that he apparently hasn’t continued on the path that he had begun. We also recognize that these things are beyond our control.

I just have a strong feeling that we haven’t heard the last from him.