Leadership Journal

The early leaders of the church dealt with what they encountered when they encountered it . Ive seen current leaders tell people with mental health and addiction issues to go away and stop doingthat after all youre a new creation... We dont have to fight so hard , we need to acknowledge the fight , the final battles are not yet fought ,just the decision is set in stone . Use the authority we have , fast pray believe , even Paul had to do that, and encourage people to repent , confess and go to the elders for prayer . I was released from addiction to amphetimine, dope, alcahol, ciggarettes ,and coffee in one session of prayer after church . I had been a christian for a year and had not been able to "just be " a new creation on my own ..

Danu Vino

August 08, 2012  9:22am

So glad the leadership journal did a whole issue on this mostly ignored topic. Being an ex-hindu, I grew up seeing demons being cast out all the time. Demonic manifestations are normal in most of the churches from where I come from. Many western churches completely ignore or do not believe in such things. Thumbs up to Leadership Journal for doing a great job bringing awareness to this. blessings

Ana Lucia Novak

July 10, 2012  3:48pm

I'm not a pastor, but I have experienced spiritual warfare but pray about everything. Even as I am experiencing anxiety and fear, I must remind myself that the devil is a liar and would very much like to see me hate the women in my church (because I've been shunned or a source of gossip) or to look at my husband through tainted lenses and consider leaving him. I realize it's a fact of life, and the solution is to remain in prayer, reading God's word and calling out to Him all day if I have to.

Because the battle is spiritual is precisely why Moms in Prayer is calling women to pray for our children and schools, to go over the head of the prince of this world to The King for the salvation of this generation. But the call to prayer is hard for this American culture to answer--they are too busy caught up in the culture's way of "doing", of dependence on self and programs instead of God. Prayer is usually at the bottom of the schedule and the first thing to be eliminated. Recently, suicides of 5 teens in a small community spured two prayer meetings in one week. About 20 people came. But 200 came to hear the suicide prevention speaker. Typical. No wonder the enemy is gaining ground. The church is failing in its priestly responsibilities. Jesus connected prayer to faith in Luke 18 and asked if He would find faith upon His return. Our culture's current fascination with the spiritual world is playing with a real enemy who wants to destroy mankind, especially "Christians."

"Mommy, after pastor Mark prayed for me, I don't wake up wanting to kill Seth (his little brother) anymore". This was said about a week ago, after I cleansed and blessed their house of a demonic presence...they thought it was the ghost of a little girl. The connection between belief in ghosts and rise in demonic activity is undeniable.I think it is Satan's favorite tactic for appearing as an "angel of light" and accellerating demonic activity. I was ordained in 1985 in the AR Presbyterian church--definately not known for demonology work. My book "Seeing Ghosts through God's Eyes" is the only biblical worldview analysis of the notion of ghosts--which has exploded in the last fifteen years, until now, one-third of Americans believe in trapped spirits. But when was the last time you heard a sermon on "the bible and ghosts"? The spiritual warfare which you speak so clearly about, is dismised by most church leaders...people are afraid to go to their pastors for help for fear they will be called NUTS. The Lord called me to this ministry to help people under demonic oppression. Five years ago I would not have dreamed I would be doing this, but now I am considered by some as an expert on the bible/ghosts/demons/ spiritual warfare. This is by default because hardly anybody else with theological training is carefully and systematically exposing basic ghost theory to the light of Scripture.And that is where much of the demonic activity is being generated. The spiritual warfare of which you speak is real, and I get calls and emails from across the country from Christians and non-Christians who are terriffied.My reformed seminary training did much to help me anlayze the demonic, but it gave me no practical training in knowing how to deal with it. I have been hearbroken over the dismissiveness of church leaders re this issue, so I am very grateful for your article. Please let me know if I can be of any assistance.I hope and pray this will awaken many pastors.