Devil

A family visiting Yellowstone National Park learned a valuable lesson: bears are smart. While driving in the park, they spotted a black bear on the side of the road and decided to take a few pictures from inside their car. Something they didn't think about? Locking their car doors.

The bear approached the vehicle and "managed to grab ahold of the door handle." Amidst the screaming of the kids in the backseat, the father managed to shut the door, "but not without effort."

Thankfully, no one was hurt—but stories like these are helpful reminders that sometimes, even when we feel safe, the dangers surrounding us are more complex than we can understand. Peter tells us that we should "be alert and of sober mind," because our "enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour" (1 Pet. 5:8).

At first glance, Rolf Klasson, a gray-haired Swede who hobbles around on his walker, looked like an easy target. At least that's what two would-be robbers thought as they accosted him at a cash machine.

One of the thugs waved a knife while the other thug told Klasson to turn over his wallet. They didn't know that their victim was also the former European light-middleweight boxing champ.

Klasson warned them, "This isn't going to go well." When the men scoffed at his warning, he knocked one of them to the floor with a sharp right hook before laying the other out with a left jab. A police officer later said, "They came after the wrong guy."

Possible Preaching Angle:

This is a great little story to open up a sermon on the victory of the cross or spiritual warfare.

The Internet can be a dangerous place, and a new global survey is revealing that billions of people have likely been the target of cybercriminals at some point in time. The survey found that nearly half of all respondents have fallen victim to a cyberattack or scam.

In a poll of 20,000 adults from around the world, 45% reported that their personal data, such as banking or email account information, has been compromised by a hacking attempt or scam.

According to respondents, online scams and phishing attempts have become more sophisticated and successful due to artificial intelligence. Half of respondents (50%) disclosed that they’ve been exposed to a cyberattack at work in the last year. Of those whose personal data has been hacked, 20% reported that a cyberattacker successfully hacked one or more of their personal accounts, including bank or email accounts.

Delving into the layered side-effects of successful hacks and scams, 22% lost money as a result and 30% said they have doubts that their personal information will ever be safe again.

Possible Preaching Angle:

Cross; Easter; Satan; Spiritual Warfare - Cyberattacks can inflict significant financial harm. However, there exists a less visible but even more critical vulnerability that affects every human being. The Bible speaks of Satan as "a roaring lion seeking someone to devour” (1 Pet. 5:8), who orchestrates spiritual attacks against all of humanity. These attacks target not our bank accounts or personal data, but our very souls, seeking to separate us from God's love and purpose for our lives. On the cross, Christ won our victory over Satan (1 Cor. 15:57; Col. 2:13-15). Only through faith in Christ can we find protection and true spiritual security.

On a June afternoon in 2018, a man named Mickey Barreto checked into the New Yorker Hotel. He was assigned Room 2565, a double-bed accommodation with a view of Midtown Manhattan almost entirely obscured by an exterior wall. For a one-night stay, he paid $200.57.

But he did not check out the next morning. Instead, he made the once-grand hotel his full-time residence for the next five years, without ever paying another cent.

In a city where every inch of real estate is picked over and priced out, and where affordable apartments are among the rarest of commodities, Mr. Barreto had perhaps the best housing deal in New York City history. Now, that deal could land him in prison.

The story of how Mr. Barreto, a California transplant with a taste for wild conspiracy theories and a sometimes tenuous grip on reality, gained and then lost the rights to Room 2565 might sound implausible. Just another tale from a man who claims without evidence to be the first cousin, 11 times removed, of Christopher Columbus’ oldest son. But it’s true.

In jail before he was released on his own recognizance, Mr. Barreto said he used his one phone call to dial the White House, leaving a message about his whereabouts. There was no reason to believe the White House had any interest in the case or any idea who Mickey Barreto was. But you could never quite tell with Mickey — he’d been right once before.

Whatever his far-fetched beliefs, Mr. Barreto, now 49, was right about one thing: an obscure New York City rent law that provided him with many a New Yorker’s dream.

Possible Preaching Angles:

(1) Satan; Temptation - Like a bad tenant who won’t leave an apartment, we allow sin to overstay it’s welcome in our lives; (2) Resentment or Anger—People in recovery often say, “Don’t let that person live rent free inside your head”—which means don’t hold on to your resentments over people who have hurt you. Let the hurt go.

Dozens of people crowded a warehouse in Northwest Portland, lured by a sign promising free items, including furniture. The sign, however, wasn't posted by the business owner, and the items weren't free. Carl Sciacchitano, a local resident, noticed the commotion around 9 a.m. and asked a woman if people were selling items. She replied, “No, it’s all free.”

Portland Police Bureau spokesperson Mike Benner revealed that the sign was allegedly posted by 51-year-old Shannon Clark, asking for volunteers to distribute the warehouse's contents to people in the neighborhood. Clark was arrested on suspicion of second-degree burglary, theft by deceiving, and aggravated burglary, but prosecutors declined to file charges. He was released the same day. Elizabeth Merah, spokesperson for the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office, mentioned that the office had requested more information and that charges might be filed later.

Sciacchitano observed that the situation escalated quickly, noting, “It just got bigger and crazier.” One person even brought a U-Haul to take items from the warehouse. When police arrived around 3 p.m., they estimated 50 to 70 people were present, with some believing the items were part of a business liquidation.

Police are still determining the number of items taken and by whom. Sciacchitano found the incident baffling, saying, “Even now I’m trying to figure out how it makes any sense ... Orchestrating this crowdsourced looting seems like such a strange and elaborate thing for that guy to have done without it benefitting him.”

Possible Preaching Angle:

Deception; Deceiver; Devil; Satan – Pranks like this illustrate how easily some people can be misled. The ultimate deception is that of Satan who has deceived the whole world (Rev. 12:9).

A shocking video captured the moment a fisherman was bitten by a shark that pulled him overboard into the murky waters of Florida’s Everglades—seconds after he shrugged off his friend’s warning.

The frightening ordeal unfolded after the man leaned over the boat to rinse his hands in the water as his pal cautioned him of the dangers. “I wouldn’t put your hands in there,” a person off-camera says.

“Ah, two seconds won’t do anything,” the man replies as he bends over the side of the boat and dips his right hand into the water. Almost instantly, a shark chomps onto the fisherman’s right hand and drags him head-first into the water as he screamed. The shark releases its grip and the man tried to grab onto the boat with his injured hand, leaving a bloody handprint behind.

“Get him! Get him!” the friend screams in a panic. The man was able to get himself back onto the boat with the help of his friends.

His friend, Michael Russo who caught the attack on camera, said the group sped back to the dock and park rangers came to the victim’s aid. “He was airlifted to the hospital and is in the best care possible.”

Russo shared the video as a warning to others. He said, “Today was one of the scariest days on the water I have ever had. After releasing a fish, Nick washed his hands in the water and was immediately bit by a large shark. The sharks are no joke in the Everglades and the warnings about keeping your hands out of the water are not an exaggeration. Please take this as a lesson and keep your hands out of the water because this could have been prevented.”

You can view the terrifying video here.

Possible Preaching Angle:

Many people also ignore the Bible’s warnings about Satan, who “prowls around seeking someone to devour” (1 Pet. 5:7). “Ah, just a moment of yielding to temptation won’t do anything! I’ll be fine.” Sadly, some never escape his clutches.

In an interesting piece of science, Nautilus looks at what happens to our brains when we don’t tell the truth. It turns out that the more you lie, the more truthful it seems. Because while a lie might initially appear to the brain as a lie—a fabricated memory sets off your brain’s alarm bell—over time its “source-monitoring” fatigues with each fib. Lying cements the false details at the expense of the real ones.

Psychologist Quin Chrobak said that if a lie or fabrication provides an explanation for something, it’s more likely to become confused with what’s true. He said, “People are causal monsters. We love knowing why things happen,” and if we don’t have an explanation for something, we “like to fill in the gaps.” The pressing human need to fill those gaps, might also pertain to beliefs we hold about ourselves.

Another important factor underlying this effect is repetition. Psychology professor Kerri True explained, “If I tell the lie to multiple people, I’m rehearsing the lie.” And rehearsing a lie seems to enhance it. “The more you repeat something,” Chrobak said, “the more you actively imagine it, the more detailed and vivid it becomes,” which further exploits the brain’s tendency to conflate detail with veracity.

What’s at stake here is more than a scientific explanation for the pathological liar in your life. This process is at work in every self-rationalization and self-justification we tell ourselves.

If falsehood fatigue could explain how people can fall down the rabbit hole of online echo chambers. It’s also a glowing advertisement for a daily/weekly reminder that we cannot trust ourselves. That the devices and desires of our heart—what we believe to be true about ourselves—are all plagued by faulty wiring.

Regularly confessing one’s frailty in this regard might just reset the brain’s falsehood fatigue and bring you closer to the Truth that sets you free.

Possible Preaching Angle:

While this primarily applies to a person’s personal life, it also applies to politicians and governments. Hitler and his henchmen famously said, “If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed.” Quoting from the book The Crown of Life (1869). Ultimately all lies can be traced to Satan for “he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44).

Would you invest with someone who guarantees a 50% annual return with no risk of loss? Would you reply to an email offering you a share of a lost treasure in a far-away country, in exchange for sending just a little bit of money to kickstart the recovery effort? Would you buy a Picasso or a Dali from a late-night infomercial?

We didn’t think so. But many people do fall for scams like these. Why? Are the victims uneducated, unintelligent, or constitutionally naïve? Unfortunately for all of us, the answer is no. Even people at the top of their professions can be taken in.

Several former cabinet secretaries were convinced to join the board of Theranos, whose founder, Elizabeth Holmes, was convicted of criminal fraud. Wealthy art collectors bought phony paintings from a famous Manhattan gallery. According to the FBI, phishing scams led to losses of more than $43 billion between 2016 and 2021.

In their book Nobody’s Fool: Why We Get Taken In and What We Can Do About It, two researchers write:

Frauds are ever evolving and can be complex and sophisticated, but even simple ploys can take us in … Most of the scams people fall for today are not really new; they are remixes and mashups of tricks that have worked for generations … Taking steps to avoid deception means we have to abandon the myth that only the gullible can be taken in. There are scams out there waiting for each of us, no matter how sophisticated we think we are. Rather than “it can’t happen to me,” your mantra should be “accept less, check more.”

Possible Preaching Angles:

1) Money; Finances – Even the financially savvy can be taken in by a lack of vigilance or a desire for quick profits or a slick sales pitch; 2) Deceiver; Deception; Satan – This is especially good advice for our defense against our spiritual enemy, Satan. He has thousands of years of experience in deceiving people and we must keep our grip on the shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit (Eph. 6:10-17).

A Florida man was bitten on the leg by an unexpected visitor: An alligator waiting right outside his door. Daytona Beach resident Scot Hollingsworth was watching TV when he heard a bump at the door. He said, “I jumped up and headed over and opened the door, stepped out while trying to reach the lights and barely got out the door and got my leg clamped on and (it) started shaking really violently. I suspect I surprised the alligator as much as he surprised me.”

He was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries from the nine-foot gator.

The Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said that people should keep a safe distance from alligators at all times. You should also keep pets on a leash, swim only in designated areas during daylight hours, and never feed an alligator.

The commission also explains on their website that Floridians can anticipate seeing more alligators than usual as the weather warms up. The reptiles are also most active between dusk and dawn.

Florida is home to a total of around 1.3 million alligators, according to the commission’s website. The agency routinely euthanizes so-called “nuisance” gators, which are four feet long or larger and pose a threat to people or wildlife. The commission says relocated alligators will usually try to return to the site where they were captured and continue to create problems, so they must be euthanized or rehomed to zoos or wildlife rescues.

Possible Preaching Angle:

Satan also lurks in the shadows and is ready to viciously attack any unsuspecting Christian. Our defense is similar, be on guard, and be prepared to resist him by putting on the full armor of God (Eph. 6:10-18).

Travelers on a boat tour in the Bahamas were relieved after witnessing an incident on the waters. Witnesses say they saw a twelve-foot-long hammerhead shark swimming in the waters, a rare treat for tourists. But their delight turned to horror when they witnessed a dog jump into the water from a nearby dock to confront the shark.

In a video posted to social media, onlookers can be heard shouting anguished warnings for the dog to get away while the dog and the shark are circling each other. But inexplicably, the shark turns around and swims away. One man exclaimed, “I don’t think the shark is going to mess with him!”

The tour reservations manager Rebecca Lightbourn says she often sees the dog running along the shore to greet the boat, but had never seen it dive in like that. She said, “I guess this time the dog decided he wanted to protect his house or play with a really big fish in the water, so he went after it.”

When the shark swam away from the pier, the medium-sized dog scrambled back onto the rocks and loped away like it was no big deal.

Possible Preaching Angles:

1) Devil; Satan; Spiritual Warfare - When God is with us, we can be bold and confident against our vicious enemy Satan (Jam. 4:7). 2) Boldness; Prudence - God honors good judgment and wisdom as well as bravery. So, we do not completely ignore danger.

A new study is giving new meaning to the phrase “this city would eat you alive.” Scientists from the University of Miami say sharks are not avoiding the local shoreline. Instead, these predators are spending plenty of time quite close to the sights and sounds of the city.

On a global scale, the world’s coastlines are urbanizing at a rapid rate. So how is that impacting local aquatic life? Researchers decided to investigate by tracking the movements of sharks around the Miami shoreline. Considering the loud noises, chemicals, and bright lights, the research team fully expected the sharks to avoid South Beach like a bad habit. That’s not what they saw.

Researcher Neil Hammerschlag said, “Since other studies have shown that land predators are urban avoiders, we expected sharks to be too. We were surprised to find that the sharks spent so much time near the lights and sounds of the busy city, often close to shore, no matter the time of day.”

Plenty of animals, like pigeons or raccoons, thrive in cities. Meanwhile, “urban adaptors” spend some time in urban areas, but still largely rely on the great outdoors. On the other end of the spectrum, we find most land-based predators like wolves. These animals, called “urban avoiders,” want nothing to do with civilization.

Study authors once thought that sharks are urban avoiders, but ultimately concluded they act much more like urban adaptors. Sharks are closer to the beach than you might think.

Possible Preaching Angle:

Satan, the roaring lion, is also closer than you might think. He constantly prowls looking for the unwary to devour (1 Pet. 5:8) and we need to be aware of his schemes (2 Cor. 2:11).

Nobody likes to be lied to. It is generally agreed that lying is a sin or is not socially acceptable and potentially harmful. Some people believe they are smart enough to spot a liar and have no worries about being duped. Current research on the subject plainly shows that they are not giving credit to man’s master ability to distort and deceive.

Researchers list a surprising 102 possible nonverbal cues that are alleged to expose a liar. The most prominent ones are: “averted gaze, blinking, talking louder … shrugging, shifting posture and movements of the head, hands, arms or legs.”

Numerous studies have found people to be overconfident in their perception and judgment. A study at Texas Christian University revealed that no student volunteers were only able to pick true from false statements better than 54 percent of the time—just slightly above chance.

Even experts who are trained in this area are failing. Studies found police officers no better than 50/50 in recognizing true and false statements told during recorded outbursts by emotional family members who later were found to have committed horrific crimes.

Psychologist Ronald Fisher, who trains FBI agents, warns that good liars are good liars. “Liars do feel more nervous, but that’s an internal feeling as opposed to how they behave as observed by others.”

Possible Preaching Angle:

The devil is a liar and a murderer and the father of all liars. He began his career lying to Eve and has continued to use this deception ever since. His “children” (John 8:44) follow his example when they teach deceptive doctrine and worldly philosophy that deceive so many (Col. 2:8).

In his book, Creatures of Habit, Pastor Steve Poe writes:

When I was in grade school several of the kids in the neighborhood walked to and from school each day. We walked down a street where a man had a large dog, a boxer. It had a very intimidating bark and was tethered to a long chain in the backyard. When we would walk past this house that dog would start barking and come running after us. Of course, the chain would eventually stop him, but we are were always worried that one day he would break loose and attack us. I would start worrying about that dog blocks before I ever reached the house.

One day the owner of the dog was in the yard and watched this entire scene unfold. The next day, as we walked by the house, the man was once again outside, only this time he had the dog on a leash. When he saw us, he began to motion for us to come over to him. We didn't know if we were in trouble or if he was going to let his dog bite us, but either way we were not walking over to him.

Then he started walking over to us. The entire time the man kept saying to us, "You don't need to be afraid of my dog." Then he knelt down and pulled back the dog's upper lip to reveal he had no teeth! Seriously, there was not a tooth in that dog's mouth. The man said, "Even if this dog were to ever get loose and try to bite you, it wouldn't hurt." All of us started to laugh. And we were never afraid of that dog again. When that man told us the truth, all of the fears and worries we had about that dog were instantly gone.

Possible Preaching Angle:

The most common tool in Satan's toolbox is to lie to us. Satan wants to bring worry and fear on you by whispering into your ear a whole lot of what-ifs about things that may not even be true. But what you will find is, like that dog, the devil has no teeth, and his bark is worse than his bite (John 8:44).

If anyone in Hollywood is looking to reboot Crocodile Dundee with a person of color in the lead role, 26-year-old Eugene Bozzi won’t have to send in an audition tape, because he’s already got an alligator-hunting viral video under his belt.

When Bozzi was notified by his children that an alligator had wondered onto their suburban property, he went outside to investigate. He told USA TODAY that he assumed it was a baby alligator and was prepared to let it go, but when he saw its real size, he knew he needed to act.

Bozzi, a US Army veteran, said “I'm removing it because he's probably hungry. The only thing that came to my mind was to protect my kids and the other children outside." His heroic exploits were filmed and posted to Twitter, where it’s been viewed at least six million times.

When the video footage of him begins, Bozzi has a dark-colored trash receptacle tipped over on its side, lid up, mouth open, and he’s pushing it toward the gator. “Let me know when the head goes inside,” he implores the onlookers who are filming him. Then, once the gator is close enough, Bozzi swings the lid over, striking the gator on its head. As the gator violently thrashes around, he slowly tilts the can upward, trapping it inside as onlookers whoop and holler in joyful disbelief.

Bozzi said, "I used the front like a hippo mouth. I saw that he was timid, and he was backing down, so that's why I knew I had the advantage.” Afterwards, Bozzi released the gator into a nearby waterway. He said, "I feel like I was just doing what I was supposed to do at the time.”

You can view the video here.

Possible Preaching Angle:

We sometimes need to put ourselves in harm’s way to protect the weak and innocent. This is what Jesus did when he took on Satan to protect us from spiritual death.

When Duke Energy officials got to the bottom of the power outage, nature was to blame. It wasn’t wind or rain, or thunder or earthquakes … or even, as is sometimes the case, human nature. Like Adam and Eve in the Garden, it started with a snake.

A snake got into the electrical equipment in a local substation, which ended up causing an electrical fire that created the outage. By 10am that morning, more than 1,400 people had lost power.

Duke Energy Spokesperson Jeff Brooks said,

This is one of the reasons we are making electric grid improvements in the region. We often think of storms and trees which are the leading cause of outages, but other items like cars hitting utility poles and snakes and squirrels getting into equipment also cause a number of outages for electric utilities. That’s why it’s so important we make these improvements to strengthen our electric grid and protect it from a variety of disruptions.

Power in the region was restored later that day.

Possible Preaching Angle:

All it takes is one agent of sin and destruction to bring dishonor and harm to many in the community. The same is true in the spiritual community. The “ancient serpent” brings havoc and harm to the entire world.

Texan Jeremy Sutcliffe required 26 doses of anti-venom after he was bitten by the severed head of a diamondback rattlesnake. He was working in the garden when he saw the serpent and decapitated it. When Sutcliffe picked up the snake’s remains to dispose of them, the head bit him. A snake’s bite reflex can be triggered up to several hours after death.

He was airlifted to hospital where he was treated with the anti-venom. More than a week after the incident, the man was in stable condition, with some weakened kidney function. Leslie Boyer, an anti-venom doctor at the University of Arizona VIPER Institute, warned against attempting to kill snakes, particularly by cutting them.

Possible Preaching Angle:

At the Cross, Jesus dealt a death blow to Satan--the enemy of our souls. He is a defeated foe. However, he will spend every last breath in attempting to harm Christians and thwart the work of the church. Peter warns: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Pet. 5:8).

Two Spanish conmen attempted to sell a forged Goya painting but it backfired spectacularly after their client, supposedly a rich Arab sheik, paid them in counterfeit bank-notes worth 1.7 million Swiss Francs (approx. 1.9 million US dollars). The middleman who had brokered the deal then vanished with the only genuine money in the affair--over 363,000 dollars.

Finally, the two conmen themselves were arrested. The two men found out that the 1.7 million Swiss Francs were counterfeit when they attempted to deposit them in a bank in Geneva. They were then detained by French customs, who discovered the fake Swiss Francs in their suitcase, and informed the Spanish authorities.

Possible Preaching Angle:

Adam and Eve were tempted by Satan the deceiver. He promised that their eyes would be opened. They bought the lie. Satan is the king of counterfeiters.

Travel blogger Matt Karsten was sightseeing on a small dinghy during a trip to Antarctica with his wife and some friends when they happened to notice some commotion in the water. The video they took of the experience went viral.

We were heading out for a scenic Zodiac cruise between icebergs when a large pod of orcas showed up playing in the water besides us. They swam right up to the camera and said hello. Suddenly the orcas started chasing a penguin trying to eat it.

Left with no other options for survival, the penguin tried to jump into the boat. The first time it bounced off the side, but in a show of resiliency the penguin’s second attempt landed it safely inside, to the shock of everyone on the boat. The orcas gave chase for a bit, but eventually gave up and moved on. Karsten said, “After cruising for a little bit, the penguin said goodbye to the boat and hopped back into the icy water.”

Possible Preaching Angle:

Often when danger rears its head, pride causes us not to take it seriously. But the enemy of our souls is just as dangerous as a hungry killer whale. There are times for careful thought, and there are times for urgent action. May the Lord guide us so that we can know in the moment which is which.

Hearing your phone’s notification sound can trigger a rush of dopamine. “Who’s calling me?” you wonder. It could be a friend, a partner, or even your boss saying you can take the day off.

You think the possibilities are endless—then you see it’s just junk, and the smile slips from your face. The average American gets about 15 spammy text messages per month, according to research from Statista.

Scams (calls, texts, emails, and all the rest) are never-ending … because it works. Scam calls alone lost Americans $19.7 billion in 2020, up from $9.2 billion in 2019. If you’ve just given up on answering, you’re not alone. A new survey from antispam company Hiya says 94% of unknown calls go unanswered.

Some other numbers:

• Americans received an average of 144 spam calls in 2020. Of those, 58% were some form of fraud.
• Scam call victims lost an average of $182 last year.
• Texas was the most targeted state. Dallas, Houston, Austin, San Antonio, and Fort Worth all rank in the top 10.

Possible Preaching Angle:

Satan is also unrelenting in sending temptation our way. He never stops or takes a day off. While we can’t prevent it, we can refuse to answer his call, and “not give the devil an opportunity” (Eph. 4:27).