Occultism: The Bible is a book full of miracles and wonders, we see healing, the dead raised, and see angels and demons. We see the heavens split open and see into the supernatural. Miracles are part of the daily lives of Believers, yet for those who do not love Christ, they do not see the miraculous. So they try to buy or get the spiritual gifts through the occult, just as Simon tried to, in the days when Jesus walked on Earth. This is done in a few prosperity driven churches. There is the increase of certain churches opening their doors to occultism. Occultism is contact with the spirit world. We are not to open our doors even to a tiny crack to contact any spirits and there are NO GOOD SPIRITS, only the Holy Spirit of God. If we do so, definitely those spirits will have access over our lives, some people have died sudden deaths just due to dabbling with spirits. Astrology, yoga (trans-meditation with altered levels of consciousness opens doors to spirits,, crystal balls, fortune telling, tarot cards, all fall in the category of the occult)
One night, a group of girls in a boarding school were playing with the Ouija board and suddenly the spirit wrote out on the board, “One of you will die within this week.” All the girls were terrified. And later in the week, one of the girls had an accident and died. This only happened because they opened the door to the spirit world and have it permission to rule in their lives. In fact, all the girls had a troubled life later, some had very troubled marriages, some widowed early or had sudden deaths in the family, and others had hosts of problems. Only Christ has the power to overcome and destroy the evil effects of plancheting.
Some present-day churches are using occult powers to draw people. A lady I know had a group of the leaders place their hands on her and pray for her. After that, she got nightmares, started hearing voices and seeing apparitions. She had a mighty fight and struggle with the kingdom of darkness. Praise God all glory to Him and her persistence, she prevailed and is completely free of that oppression. We learned a lot about the dark operations in some churches from many similar incidents. Witches used in satanic cults go especially to churches to curse believers and bring chaos in churches. They mutter and mummer their chants while Christians think they are praying in tongues. The Bible warns us NOT to pray in tongues in public unless we have an interpreter. The fruit of our disobedience is reaping its venomous fruit today. We can discern these people by their fruits. God will show you if you really ask Him.
One day, our lives will pass away. An eternity lies before each human being. If we live to please man and not God, whose commands are clear, then all our righteous works are as filthy rags. No one can stand before God in his own human goodness, even if he were a saint. Jesus said, “I am the way, the Truth and the Life, no man can come to the Father except through Me”. John 14:6.
Mammon spirit: We have another wrong system in Christianity. Evangelists etc., are asking strangers for money for their ministries to build a church etc. I have witnessed this with my own eyes. They talk about a church they are building for revival and want money to renovate it, but I see no mention of the word repentance when they speak of a revival.
When we ask for money from strangers even though they are Christian, it does not glorify God. It has made the ones asked of money very uncomfortable and also a further danger is an evangelist prophesying that the Lord told him to ask that person and that person never had the same thing said to by the Lord. This is a dangerous form of manipulation creeping in Christianity. Again, while we appreciate a beautifully done up church, to actually go around asking strangers to pay for it does not seem right.
Jesus stirred up a revival wherever He went, the highways, the byways, people’s homes, near the seaside, in the boat, on the hillside, in the synagogue preaching and teaching the masses all the time and performing countless miracles.
Jesus never went around asking people to build up His material world and church of stones and cement. There was an overflow in His life and we see no lack in Jesus. He had the miracle of multiplication. When we walk with Jesus, we will have the miracle of multiplication and more will be added unto us by our Heavenly Father and we will not need to ask or beg anyone.
Matthew 6:33: But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. This is the true test of someone walking with Jesus.
The Heretic: Heretics walk in strange false fire, dangerous false teachers to take Scripture out of context to build a new doctrine that contradicts the very essence of the Bible. On November 18th, 1978, a terrible catastrophe occurred where more than 900 Americans – members of a San Francisco-based religious group called the Peoples Temple – died after drinking poison at the urging of their leader, the Reverend Jim Jones, in a secluded South American jungle settlement. The scene of this dreadful event haunts us forever where even young children were made to drink poison. Jim Johnson himself was found dead with a bullet wound to his head to his own swift destruction. The story of Jonestown begins with Jones, a white minister who preached unconventional socialist and progressive ideas to a predominantly African-American congregation, called the Peoples Temple twisting the Bible out of context to prove his socialist theories.
The Heretic reframes the doctrine of the Trinity as Arius did in the third century, and the Oneness Pentecostals do today. Like Jehovah’s Witnesses, alter the Bible and turn it around making another “Bible” with a new leader hailing multitudes, like the Mormons add to the Word, or like Marcus Borg, deny the virgin birth of Christ.
Peter warned us of heretics in his second letter, who secretly bring in destructive heresies, denying the Master, bringing upon themselves swift destruction, in 2 Peter 2:1. The Heretic teaches boldly, confidently, gathering masses to him or herself, rising above the essential faith and teachings of the Bible. This person is loud, gregarious, a charismatic leader, draws crowds of people naturally and teaches just enough good truth mixed with a larger portion of lies, leading his devoted followers down the pathway of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, all evidently to their own destruction!
Flee from the heretic! Don’t even wait around to see what more he will offer. Flee!
Here are the different kinds of people who rose in the church, who did not walk in the Fire of God, but walked in the strange fire. You may see that sometimes.
The False Prophet: God has called gifts in the church and the gift of a prophet is a blessed anointed gift given by God to invoke, encourage, and ignite the Body of Christ.
The danger lies here when The Prophet uses manipulation and control in the guise of prophesy. It is often said to beware of those who use the title prophet and control people. Another spirit takes over in that control, not the spirit of Christ. Control and manipulation is a form of witchcraft. In our nation, India, we have seen several cases where people died, listening to the prophet who rebuked people, declared certain things over their lives, which did not happen, and ordered sick people not to visit the doctor where many have died and when they died, they told their family members it was because of personal sin and I personally know of such sad incidents.
The Prophet walks in a strange fire claims to speak new fresh revelation out of Scripture, in a mode to control people through his or her words of teaching, rebuke, dictating what they need to do in very draconian, totalitarian manner, which submerges God-given free will and regresses his or her followers out of fear.
The Prophet will tell people about their future in a way to intimate and control them and they will keep coming back to hear more, functioning like magic crystal ball sorcery, not out of God’s Spirit and dictate to them whom they must marry, which job to take or not take, where to go, and even where to give their money.
All of these prophesies will not ring true with the receiver, who may obey out of fear. The Prophet walks in the fire of a demonic supernatural realm to listen to voices, see visions and get messages for the people that God has not given. The Prophet does not respect the order of God, where each believer has been gifted with the Holy Spirit. Remember, in Christ, you are a spiritual human being. God has gifted you with His mighty Holy Spirit to come into your life, guide you, direct you, strengthen you and comfort you and much more.
He works mightily on your behalf, your source and force. God’s blueprint for your life is discovered as you obey and listen to the Holy Spirit where your life unfolds in His marvelous powerful plan supernaturally designed just for you. So my friend, don’t let The Prophet invade your life. Respect and honor the men and women of God but always remember you have the Holy Spirit dwelling within you and let all prophets words resonate in your spirit when they prophesy and speak always. That is a true prophet. A true prophet may bring a word to convict you, in the Holy Spirit, but never to condemn you to a place where you feel yourself spiraling downhill to the muddy marshes where you feel you could never rise again; that, my friend is the voice of Satan accusing you.
The danger of prophets who add and take away Word from the Bible is a curse. Revelation 22:18-19. This is why we have to test all the spirits, I John 4:1 for some prophets are taught by doctrines of demons.
The Charlatan: The Charlatan walks in his fire of greed and want. He is a pastor or leader, evangelist or televangelist to use the Gospel as a means of personal enrichment. They usually ask for money for some church building, demand money for the spread of the Gospel, or money for a new private airplane. They use their positions to benefit from others wealth.
In the Bible, we see Simon Magus trying to purchase of the power of the Holy Spirit in Acts 8: 9-24. Pope Leo X commissioned Tetzel to sell indulgences, where the profits hugely funded his luxurious lifestyle. In the 1990s, Robert Tilton brought in million of dollars each year by exploiting the gullible and simple vulnerable Christians to support his extravagant, palatial lifestyle and the trend goes on to today. Studies show that the greatest supporters of The Charlatans are the poor and barely struggling along Christians who give sacrificially. They are given promises that if they invest in The Charlatan’s ministry, God will bless them, so faithfully they give, out of the little they have. There is finally a rage and anger of those who felt fooled and cheated years later, who lashed out at those ministries.
The Bully/Abuser: The bully can also be called the abuser in the church. This bully walks in a strange fire of violence, lust, power and control. There is a great abuse of spiritual power in the church today. We see times where even little children are molested in orphanages and in schools by people of spiritual authority. 2 Peter 2:2 talks about this: “For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ” (Jude 4). The Abuser’s real interest is in ravishing bodies. He works his way into people’s lives, women’s lives, manipulates their confidence, homes, and beds. He domineers people to gain power, bulling them on his pathway to prominence in the name of ministry. In the church’s earliest days, there were sex cults and other depraved perversions of the faith. For centuries, the papacy was a corrupt power struggle. In today world, nearly every day, we learn of leader who has been found guilty of sexual sin with men, women, or even children. We hear terrible tales of sad survivors who have been abused and cast aside by a leader craving power.
The Divider: The Divider walks in his own fire of wickedness. He slyly sneaks in a church to share false doctrine among people to disrupt or destroy a church. Today we see many conspiracy theories planted by Bible scholars more to divide and disturb the people and put suspicion between the different races as well as in churches. Jude warned about him, “‘In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.’ It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life” (Jude 18-21). The Divider will always empty the church of love, the fruit of the Holy Spirit who draws believers together in the bond of peace (Galatians 5:22, Ephesians 4:3). The Divider will bring strife, splinter the church, and generate factions. With his malicious minor doctrinal issues that he raises, he would unseat the leadership of the church, and tear apart the church members so they would eventually split up. The Divider does this for the perverse satisfaction that comes with division and destruction.
The Entrepreneur: The Entrepreneur walks in his fire of invention and originality in a demonic realm. He is obsessed with doctrines of innovation, speculation, originality. He walks in his fire of novelty and invention of new thought and doctrine. The author of Hebrews warned his church of these “strange teachings,” while Paul told Timothy to protect the church against any “different doctrine” (Hebrews 13:9, 1 Timothy 1:3). Teaching focused on speculation displaces the sure and steady doctrine of Scripture. The Entrepreneur grows weary of the old truths and pursues originality to gain respectability.
The Entrepreneur interprets secret codes in the Bible, studies the moon and stars predicting the future which in turn never comes true, all their predictions have failed, yet they persist, up with a new doctrine to support the failure of passing of the old theory or prediction they preached. The Entrepreneur often is obsessed with the end times and keeps preaching new teachings and prophesies strange bizarre things to happen, which never would, and teaches new teachings to transcend the “old school of thought.” There is a big difference between prophetic understanding of the times in Biblical eschatology and actually trying to maneuver current world events to suit interpretations of prophesies, which have actually brought many to confusion and loss of faith.
A woman once read a book and said, “There is nothing new in this.” They always look for a few fad away from the Bible which seems more exciting to them. They have never found the Heavenly dance, flow, music, and joyous pulse of the Holy Spirit who can give them the greatest excitement above their novelty doctrines. This is because their own desires for novelty have blocked the flow of the Holy Spirit’s streams giving them His thoughts and divine insights.
Itching Ears: Itching Ears walks in his fire of rising to popularity and fame. He is the false teacher who caters to the needs and wants of people rather than what God wants, to fill and pack out his church. He preaches a sweet soothing Gospel to a huge happy church. Itching ears is a term used in the Bible to describe individuals who seek out messages and doctrines that condone their own lifestyle, as opposed to adhering to the teachings of the apostles. : Itching Ears is the man-pleaser rather than the God-pleaser. Paul thought of him as the ear-tickler: “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths” (2 Timothy 4:3-4). : Itching Ears seeks popularity and praise from the world. He never preaches the Bible in its fullness. He preaches of success, victory, joy and happiness, but leaves out sin, never speaks of hell, a lot of heaven. Like the false prophets of Jeremiah’s day, he and the thousands like him say, “‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace” (Jeremiah 6:14).
The CEO syndrome: Many Christian ministries are doing a wonderful job, reaching the unreached and touching the untouchable. In the earlier days, hospitals cared for patients unequivocally, schools gave the best education at low costs, and missionaries served with love, everything was standardly the best. Yet over the years, there is a shift of priorities. Missions are not the same, the excellent education system has dropped, hospital care is careless, rough and unconcerned. There is a rising tendency of certain evangelists and other to demand money from the people. It has grown to be part of the system.
Also arrogance and spiritual abuse is on the rise. It is of critical importance that anyone placed in authority in ministry have a servant-heart of love. The reason for the CEO syndrome (keeping the people in the church abay) is because of the roots in a Luciferian system which inculcates self worship and adoration and a ruler-ship government. Every nation and state has gods ruling them. As the Bible tells us Satan is the god of this world, and under him, he assigns his demi-gods to rule nations. Now, the gods never go personally to meet the people, but assign demons to do their dirty works.
While people spend hours appeasing their gods and worshiping them, the gods never visit them, but their demons do. In Christ, we have the Holy Spirit forever with us who connects us to God the Father. In Jesus, we see love, service, availability, but we never see this in the Luciferian system. The Luciferian system rules churches in that the pastors, leaders are not personally available to help or nurture the people. In retrospect, seeing this example, the church members also are not available to be there for each other. There are hierarchies of powers in the church, the music ministry or pastoral ministry elevated, which was never there in the Book of Acts church. While we did have the leadership of Paul and the others, they did it with a servant hearts, reaching the crowds with a personal touch. There is a sense of their availability to people and great love and service to the people, which is missing in many present churches.
We are living in a time where we have too many Leadership Conferences, but no Servant-hood Conferences. Jesus taught His disciples to be servants. He never mentioned the word “leader”, not once. Our best leader is the Holy Spirit, when we are obeying the Word and obeying Christ by faith.
If Christian leaders prayed, sought the face of God and repented, revival would spread rapidly in our land. I live in India, and the present state of Christian ministries is not good in the majority of places. There are Christian ministries which are huge labyrinth organizations with directors and leaders who reveal little love, a few prayers, and hard unrepentant hearts. Pastors are too busy and arrogance defines them, except of course for a few wonderful men and women of God in these ministries.
Sins of Secrecy: Some leaders in church positions, teachers, leaders, pastors may hide their sins. This is leading to the downfall of many. It would be better that if they fail and fall, they are honest, so that others can learn too. When they hide their sins, it will not be hidden for long. Purity and honesty is needed in the Body of Christ. God will reward us for our honesty
Missing Link with Church, Ministry and the Holy Spirit: The cause of this system is the missing link of the ministry/church and the Holy Spirit. Love has to first spill out to the people through the Holy Spirit. We cannot love with our own love, we do not have it in us. We cannot do it. We have to depend on the Holy Spirit, moment by moment, day by day. At first it seems impossible, but the more we commune and talk with God, the easier it will become. God will make the roads, the inroads, God will make a way and He will make, create something new and wonderful and make pathways for people who walk and talk to Him and obey Him. Then the people in ministry and the church will become powerful on Earth, equipped empowered, having the power to transform and deliver people and help the orphans, the homeless, and addicts, the hopeless, depressed and weary. The church stopped believing many things, so Christian NGOs and ministries stepped in and made organizations and tried to help people, they did a remarkable work, but along the way, tripped and fell because the ministry rope was very entangling and had a web of complexities that went with the package. It could never be “keep it simple.” It could never run that way because the system is devised in such a way.
Since ministries are on the go and they cannot just stop, they should aim at being small, personal, give the helpers the liberty to choose the area they feel called into. A leader should never aim for an office or a chair and want the “post” of a director with a rule rod spirit. He is finished as a man of God once that happens, he can never function as a pure-hearted child of God and a servant to the people. “Pride goes before a fall”. The love of position never fails to whet the carnal appetite of a human.
Rita F. Kurian
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