Evil – Flesh or Spirit?

A clarifying post—before delving more deeply into how and why demons play key roles in emotional and physical disease and why, particularly, transgender issues are with few or no exceptions “demonic”—Satan’s intent being that of separating a person from God and their family and ultimately preventing that person from entering the Kingdom of God. Don’t believe in Satan? Not a problem, you will aftler reading this and especially the next post which I will call “The Big Picture”—the gist of which is that without the presence of evil and the need to make choices we would all be zombies and God would take no pleasure in our choosing to trust Him and His Word. Free will demands choice. Don’t believe the Bible is His infallible Word? Again, not a problem, you will understand why it must be by appreciating the need for clear communication between us and God—not to mention the mathematical and other proofs that the Bible is in fact His true Word. Anyone interested in these proofs is invited to read my latest book: Mind, Matter and God: Exploding the Myth of Evolution (available through Amazon). I’ll probably write a future post explaining these proofs, cuz I know how easy it is to assume an author is biased or deceived. That said, if you accept the biblical promise that by faith alone you are a new person in Christ—“having the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21), you are with this and follow-up posts likely to experience a personal miracle, an epiphany of life-changing proportions because that is what is available in the biblical promises of God. Short of this, you will be incapable of grasping how negative emotions, some deeply repressed, are actually “demons.” Indeed, one of Satan’s greatest victories is twofold—(1) the lie that his meddling does not apply to Christians who have been “purchased by the blood of Jesus,” and (2) that the term “demon” applies only to a previous culture; that we now have a more accurate, more up-to-date, psychological understanding of “evil. ”Hogwash, as you will see.

As noted in the first posting of this series, it is important to appreciate that any attempt at defining the line that separates the demonic from the emotional is doomed to failure. I have reached the conclusion that it is unproductive to even attempt to understand such a separation. Emotions were referred to in the Bible as “spirits” and Jesus gave his disciples authority over any and all of them, period. They spent their days healing and casting out demons—with healing almost never, if ever, occurring in the absence of demons coming out. Were they in some instances casting out “biochemical imbalances,” “emotional complexes” or some other contemporary version of evil? Not likely, and it is a meaningless differentiation since those of us with actual experience in this ministry are well aware that successful deliverance has common physiological manifestations: crying, sneezing, sighing, yawning, etc., and, yes occasionally, but rarely screaming or some other more violent reaction—all the logical, physiological result of the breakdown of intellectual or emotional strongholds in the cortical and limbic centers of the brain and the need for the energy thereby released to go somewhere–logically through anatomical pathways where it won’t do further damage. You would be shocked at the sighs, coughing, screams, groans and moans  that follow upon a minister casting demons out of his flock! Power of suggestion? Perhaps, but then suggestion, belief and faith are inseparably entwined.  And according to the Bible, “we can only pease God with faith.”

Look at it this way, if you should attempt to cast something out that you think might be a demon but it turns out  NOT to be a demon—big deal! On the other hand, if you believe something is not a demon that is a demon, you have lost the battle. I believe that whatever its spiritual nature, God is pleased when we come against and take authority over something, anything, that can be described as evil—which is why I think any thought or emotional stronghold which can be discerned and identified as evil is in truth a demon! We have according to St. Paul “the power to demolish every stronghold in our mind that goes contrary to the knowledge of God” (2 Cor. 10:4). And this promise fits best with the frequency with which the disciples of Jesus cast out demons, e.g., “many at sunset.” (Not to mention the otherwise difficult-to-explain connection between thoughts and emotions as an “emergent” function of a physical brain.) Furthermore, if you read my latest book, you will discover why, given a more complete and deeper understanding of an image, mind unequivocally precedes the creation of matter. It is surely not coincidental that the one great remaining mystery, referred to as the “hard question” of science, is how consciousness itself arises from a  physical brain. It doesn’t “arise from.” That is a presumption deriving from a belief in evolution. To the contrary, insofar as the momentary absence through time of an anticipated state (an image) regressively releases and channels energy into creating or sustaining that state, mind necessarily precedes and transcends matter; and must then be the very presence of God, in whom “we live and move and have our being.” This God must be a Person, exactly as biblically defined, given that every image requires an observer.

Of all world religions, Christianity is the most despised and most persecuted. That should tell you something about where the truth lies—including the belief that “Satan is the god of this age.” How better to explain the worldwide persecution of Christians? (Luke 21:17) If Satan truly does exist would he not make every effort to nullify the one religion that exposes and opposes him? Could Christians, I mean the true, Bible-believing kind, be the only group of people to have to have come up short with what appears to the world to be bigotry and hatred–just coincidentally? Unlikely, given the big picture and a Savior who died for our sins and warns us that we will be similarly persecuted if we preach the same message that He did.

You are about to be exposed to a new way of looking at what is referred to as “emotion,” in a way that will expand your possibilities and choices—whatever your problem or concern. Yes, you are about to discover that a “demon” is anything you can verbally give a name to and identify as being hostile to your well-being and personal sense of worth, with one huge caveat—you must acknowledge that in Christ you are the “righteousness of God.” It won’t work otherwise. And, wow, does this ever open the door wide to new possibilities and, most of all, to victory over evil however defined! For example, you are about to discover that gender conflict is completely and utterly demonic—with roots in parental hatred toward God, however disguised or repressed. It doesn’t matter how nice your parents are, how politically correct they are, or whether or not they are leaders in their church or community. In fact, in my experience (30+ years in this ministry), the more politically correct they are (and therefore likely to be chosen for leadership positions) the more likely they are to have hidden anger and related problems–in other words, “demons.” Political correctness is essentially a synonym for evil.

For those who might have an interest, the phrase “to have a demon” is from the Greek demonizomai (to have or be oppressed by a demon). The actual word “possession” is nowhere to be found in the original Bible manuscripts–suggesting that translators were heavily influenced by cultural considerations. Consider the words of Jesus when his disciples were frustrated that they couldn’t get some demons to come out: “This kind [deeply embedded] will come out only by fasting and prayer” (Matt 17:21). Indignation is the key—the direct result of knowing who you are in Christ by faith in the finished work of Calvary.

In the next post, we will chat about why evil exists at all and why, given that God, not matter, is fundamental, evil is necessarily “demonic.” And we will eventually get to what must be done to get rid of them! Hint: they must be identified and victims must be repentant and willing to forgive those who have hurt them (Matt 6:14-15). In other words, a biblical perspective is required. We must be indignant even though our enemy is spiritual and therefore unseen. Passivity is indeed an open door to the devil’s meddling. We must be warriors (Ephesians 6)–indignant by virtue of knowing who we are in Jesus. We must be convinced that we are a King’s kid.

You won’t need an exorcist! Exorcism—a formal rite found in churches drowning in pagan mythology (consider those pointy fish hats its leaders proudly wear!)—is what I call “display deliverance” the intent of which is to frighten as many people away from this ministry as possible. We are, on the other hand, talking about incisive “spiritual surgery” using the Word of God as our scalpel—“sharper than any two-edged sword for discerning the intents and purposes of one’s heart” (Heb 4:12).

After a victory, the enemy will invariably counterattack. Be ready. As with any battle, You will need to outflank your opponent. If you are not willing to be a steady warrior and persist in the fight, read no further. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard someone say, “I have tried casting something out but this just doesn’t work for me.” Before getting discouraged, keep in mind that success is determined by one’s intimacy with God, learned in the setting of one’s home in relationship to one’s earthly father. When all is said and done, the deliverance ministry is all about furthering one’s intimacy with God, the Father. God is love and the only way to experience this love (agape unconditional) love) is through Jesus, our Creator and Redeemer. Without this intimacy with Jesus and God, one cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven. We are speaking of eternity—which is a very long time!!!! “No one comes to the Father except through Jesus” (John 14:6)—for which claim there is good reason: without having to make a choice, we would be mindless zombies–not at all “in the image of God.” By contrast, God desires that we love Him with all of our heart and with all of our mind

Stay tuned! In the meantime, you might want to wait before casting anything out until you have finished this series of blog postings and have a better understanding for how to persist in battle and outflank the enemy. That said, hang in there. Among other things, you will understand, contrary to the direction the world is going in, exactly how and why thought, emotion and behavior “going contrary to the knowledge of God” is generated by unseen demonic intrusion. Prepare, upon seeing the “The Big Picture” to forego justifying what is perverse or evil (as defined by the Word of God) or to stray under the delusion that you have to give up any lifestyle, or anything of value, in order to be a good Christian. It may seem that way, but in fact God “withholds no good thing.” Also, keep in mind that healing and deliverance from evil is for the purpose of achieving a happier, more peaceful and productive life here on Earth, not to mention becoming a better witness to those many troubled souls who need healing but persist in believing that “emotion” is an emergent property of the brain.