Category Archives: Spiritual Warfare

Restoring the Ministry of Deliverance to the Church by Jake Kail

 

“And He went into their synagogues throughout all Galilee, preaching and casting out the demons.” (Mark 1:39 NASB)

You don’t have to dig very deep into the New Testament to discover that casting out demons was a normal practice for both Jesus and His followers. The above verse puts deliverance side-by-side with preaching. Think about that: It was as common for Jesus to cast out a demon as it was for Him to preach a sermon.

In stark contrast, you often have to search far and wide to find Christians, churches, or ministries that believe in and actively practice the ministry of deliverance. Even many churches or ministries that affirm the reality of evil spirits and how they can influence people, often do not openly teach about or minister in this area. Why is this the case?

Removing the Obstacles

There is a great need to restore the ministry of deliverance to the church today. If Jesus spent such a great deal of time and energy freeing people from demons, why does it seem so uncommon in much of the church today? If it was basic training for the disciples of Jesus, why is it so rarely talked about and practiced in modern Christianity?

I have found that the need for deliverance is much greater than many people suspect. But there are some roadblocks that keep us from recognizing this need or actively engaging in casting out evil spirits. In my book Keys for Deliverance, I outlined three obstacles that must be removed in order to see deliverance restored to the church.

1. Ignorance

The Bible says that God’s people are destroyed for lack of knowledge (see Hosea 4:6). This is certainly true when it comes to the reality of demonic influence and the need for deliverance. Many believers have simply never received any solid teaching in this area. Time and time again I hear people say that they have never heard the topic of evil spirits or deliverance taught in their church. At the same time, people have been exposed to extreme and disturbing Hollywood portrayals. And on top of that, some ministers practice bizarre and unbiblical methods in the name of deliverance. This all leads to much confusion, misunderstanding, and ignorance in the area of deliverance from demons.

In 2 Corinthians 2:11 the apostle Paul says, “…lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his de-vices.” We are not to be obsessed with learning about the kingdom of darkness; our primary aim should be knowing God and walking with Him. But neither are we to be unaware of the devil and his workings in the world. The point is clear: if we are ignorant of Satan’s devices, he will take advantage of us.

Proverbs 11:9 says that “through knowledge the righteous will be delivered” (emphasis added). Many people remain under demonic influence, captive in certain areas of their lives, simply because they do not realize the truth that what they are dealing with has a spiritual root or element to it. They have simply never learned about demons and deliverance and how understanding these realities is relevant to their lives. And especially in the Western culture, there tends to be a worldview that denies spiritual

realities, only looking at things from a logical, medical, or scientific perspective. While certainly not all problems are demonic in nature, in many cases there is a need for deliverance that must be discerned and dealt with.

2. Fear

On the opposite side of ignorance is fear. For some, the topic of demons and deliverance conjures up nightmarish images. We might think of horror movies, ghosts, wild demonic possession, or other frightful scenarios. It seems easier to put our heads in the sand than face the reality of an active kingdom of darkness and evil spirits that need to be driven out. Or, fear of the spiritual realm can push some people not to ignore the demonic, but to become overly obsessed with it. Instead of making Jesus the primary focus, we can take on a paranoia about evil spirits and give them too much attention and power. This fear of evil spirits comes from the kingdom of darkness itself, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7).

We need to take on a healthy and balanced approach to spiritual warfare and deliverance, where we are aware but not afraid. We must not be ignorant of the works of the enemy and our need to destroy them, but we must keep intimacy with God as the highest priority. We must be open and ready to receive deliverance, and equipped to minister it to others, without allowing it to make us paranoid or afraid. This is not always an easy balance to walk in, but with the help of the Holy Spirit and instruction of the Scriptures we can maintain it.

James 4:7-8 gives us some great wisdom in this regard: “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” Notice that two out of the three commands are God-focused while one is focused on resisting the devil. That is a good ratio. We focus on submitting to God, drawing near to Him in relationship, and fulfilling our purpose in His kingdom; all the while ready to resist the devil so that he will flee. And notice it does not say “ignore the devil and he will flee” but “resist the devil and he will flee.” There is a responsibility to take an active stand against the devil and his demons.

3. Stigma

Another obstacle to seeing the ministry of deliverance fully restored and active in the church is that there is often an unnecessary stigma associated with it. Because of misunderstanding and fear, the thought of needing deliverance from an evil spirit sounds alarming, embarrassing, or shameful. And if you come from a background that inclines toward skepticism and resistance to anything supernatural, the concept of deliverance from demons can easily be seen as primitive, foolish, or superstitious. Without proper understanding, to suggest that a person might need to be set free from the influence of an evil spirit seems insulting or downright crazy!

But this stigma need not be the case. In the New Testament, deliverance from evil spirits was practiced and spoken about openly and plainly. Consider Luke 8:2: “and certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities—Mary called Magdalene, out of whom had come seven demons.” Notice first that being freed from evil spirits is paired side-by-side with being healed of infirmities. This is often the case in the New Testament (see for example Matthew 8:16-17, Luke 6:17-19, and Acts 5:16). There is no need to be ashamed if you need healing from the flu, the common cold, cancer, or some other disease. In the same way, there is no shame in needing deliverance from evil spirits. Mary Magdalene was

identified as someone “out of whom had come seven demons.” This was spoken of matter-of-factly, and not something that needed to be kept secret or hidden.

Needing deliverance from evil spirits is much more common than you might suspect. And it does not make you an evil person to need freedom from the torment or oppression of a demon. Jesus ministered deliverance to everyday, synagogue-attending Jews like a man in Mark chapter one and like the woman He called a “daughter of Abraham” in Luke 13:10-17. Even children needed to be delivered from evil spirits (see Mark 7:24-30 and Mark 9:14-29). There is no need to be ashamed if you need deliverance.

Let’s remove the ignorance, fear, and stigma that is often associated with the topic of deliverance from demons. As we do this, we will pave the way for many more captives to be set free!

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About Jake Kail:

Jake Kail was called to ministry in college after a life-changing encounter with God. He is the author of multiple books, and he speaks at churches, conferences, retreats, and other events. His ministry is often marked by encounters with God, healing, and deliverance from demonic oppression. Jake lives with his wife and family in Lancaster, PA where he serves as the lead pastor of Threshold Church. Check out his books, blog, and podcast at www.jakekail.com.

 

The Boy and His Sword–Freedom From Addiction

This is an article reposted from Mystic Mama Storm, a good friend who tends to write a lot about her visions, dreams, and other spiritual encounters with Jesus and various aspects of the heavenly realms.  This article is a testimony of Jesus setting someone free from addiction.  Read on and be encouraged!

 

The Boy and His Sword

There were approximately 20.6 million people who suffer from addiction in the United States over the age of 12 in 2011. Addiction can be such a large hurdle to cross. Countless people in this world have grown up with a mindset that they are going to hell, because of their continued struggles with addiction. What is not realized by most is that often addiction goes hand and hand with Mental Illness or some trauma that occurred in the person’s life. Addiction frequently is passed down a family line.

As a child, I saw first hand the effects of addiction. There was a constant cycle of trying to get free, feeling better, getting worse, relapse, and rehab or hospital stays. This often left my family feeling hopeless and longing to find freedom from the effects of it. I have also seen people with this struggle in the church being shamed and pushed out because of their failures and relapses. Often these people are blamed for being weak and in some cases pushed out of the church until they repent. They walk away with shame feeling like they are hellbound or disqualified to be loved by God. These situations cause my heart to cry out for justice and healing for these people. The enemy cannot have them anymore. These agreements and mindsets have them in prisons and bondage. I say no more!

Although overcoming the addiction is a big part of the being healed. I believe that the healing goes much deeper. Trauma and wounds from a person’s past or even present situation can be a big part of what causes this addiction to have such a hold in a person’s life. This also can attribute to pain and sickness. Sometimes the solution is much deeper. Sometimes healing needs to take place on a deeper level at the root of what is causing this struggle in a person’s life.

Here is an example of a recent breakthrough with someone struggling with addiction (I am sharing this with permission):

A friend of mine called and asked that I pray for her brother and his wife. Just to be clear, her brother asked us to pray and gave us permission to see what was happening around him and remove anything demonic. To protect the identity of this couple and their circumstances, I will not go into the details of what was happening in their life. However, I will say that a heroin addiction and violence were involved.

As my friend and I prayed, I saw a picture of my friend’s brother; we will call Judah. He had this large demon that was attached to his back. The demon had his claws in his neck his left shoulder, and his mouth was right at Judah’s ear. When we saw him, I asked Papa what we should do. He said, “Ask his name and assignment?”

I asked him these questions, and the demon became very angry that we were there. He wouldn’t respond but rather decided to get bigger and was hissing and seething with anger. He grew in size trying to look like a threat. The entire time I felt a complete peace and confidence that he had no ability to hurt us. As he continued his fury and showing off, I again commanded him to reveal his name and assignment. I also threatened that if he didn’t cooperate there would be consequences. With this, he revealed his name as Volatility and that he was assigned to bring threats, addiction, and violence to the mind and soul of Judah.

Normally, my response would be to bind and restrain the demonic and cast it out of Judah, but I felt the prompting of the Lord to do something I have only done a few times. I spoke to him and said, “Volatility, I remind you of who you are, and you were created to be.” As I said these words, I saw him stumble backward and saw him transform. The transformation was only temporary, but he was a glimmer of a redeemed form of an Angel. At this moment, I heard the Lord say his name, and I began to speak to him, “Your name is Cadence, not Volatility. You were created to speak life to people. Your words and assignment were not meant to corrupt but to bring healing and life. I remind you of who you are!” As I said this, he was very disoriented and completely left go of Judah.

To be honest, because of my lack of understanding, I was a little taken back by what was happening, but yet I knew that God has a reason for this. I would love your thoughts on this.

As this happened, I knew there was nothing more God wanted me to do with this demon so one of my angels removed him from where Judah was, and we placed a wall of fire around him that no harm could come to anyone. I believe Volatility/Cadence was left somewhere safe to sort out what he had just experienced. It was time to get back to ministering to Judah and his wife.

We began ministering to his wife whom I will call Ann. Although she was not healed completely, we worked with several areas in her life and ministered to a young fractured part of her that had struggled with potential child abuse and deep trauma. We worked with this younger part and brought her to Jesus and left her with Him in the garden of her heart. Although this was a wonderful story, I want to concentrate on Judah’s story.

Then we saw a little boy who was a fractured part of Judah that was watching what was happening. He had been peeking around a corner watching intently as we ministered to Ann. We sensed that he wanted to have the same freedom. Then I saw two smaller demonic bullies, and he was afraid of them. Once we removed the bullies who were demons, we began ministering to this little boy. Removing fear, pain, and other strong, painful emotions and we watched as these painful emotions were replaced with joy, courage, and peace. He had a wooden sword, and he wanted to just play with us. It was like he had been so shut down by fear and intimidation that suddenly he came alive with this new ability to have fun.

First, we removed him from the room he was in and collapsed the old room and placed him in the garden of his heart. There were cool rock formations that he was able to climb on and explore and just be a kid. Although some parts of his garden still needed work, the area we went to was full of life and provision. For a little while, we played back and forth with swords as well as a game of hide and seek. It was a lot of fun. Who knew healing could include playing in the spirit.

After a few minutes, I asked him if he would like to meet Jesus as He could play with him and hang out with him. He did, and Jesus came. Out of safety from a potential false Jesus, I asked him to check Jesus’ eyes to make sure it was filled with Love.

Jesus got down on His knees in front of him. Little Judah in a very curious and in an innocent manner got face to face with Jesus and looked closely. Then taking his fingers, carefully played with Jesus’ eyelids, pulling them up the whole way and looked super closely as Jesus smiled big. Then Judah responded, “Nope, I don’t see anything bad. All I see love!” With a lot of laughter, Jesus hugged him, and Judah hugged him back, and we knew he was at a great place to allow Jesus to minister and play with him until we could pray again.

The Boy and His Sword

THE FRUIT/TESTIMONY:

We are not done praying for Judah or his wife. However, from this prayer session, He has seen significant change, and His Mother even reported a big change. I received this message from his sister two days after our session:

Hey Susan, so I talked to my mom yesterday. She said that Judah is doing really good. He was saying things like even the trees seem different and food tastes different. He said he doesn’t have any cravings and that he can’t believe he’s wasted so much time on drugs. He’s been arrested before, and he has never said anything like this. Mom said that they have laughed like they haven’t done since he was a kid. I’m like oh my goodness. Pinch me. It’s one of those things that seems too good to be true. It really is amazing. Like major miracle! My mom wanted me to tell you thank you so much for your help. She just cried when I told what the Lord had shown us. I think just having someone else helping is such a relief. She’s carried a heavy burden for Judah. Anyway, it’s going really good for them. Thank you so much!!

I then received this message a few days later:

Just got off the phone with Mom. Judah told her that something profound is happening with him. He can’t explain it. He said that even time has stopped or something like that. That he looks 10 years younger from when he went into jail until now. He has been an addict since 18. He’s 33 now. This is a huge miracle! That boy is set free. Papa is so good.

I don’t know about you, but I am so excited to see how simply following God’s leading can bring such healing. I am so excited to see more breakthroughs like this.

 

 

About Mystic Mama Storm:

My name is Susan Melanie Storm. I am a mother of two beautiful girls and a wife to a handsome tall husband who proudly considers himself a computer/Star Wars/superhero geek.

Along with being Mystic Mama Storm (my pen name), I am also a musician who loves to write and worship. I have a degree in graphic design and a heart for the creative arts.

My heart is for people to experience God in a real way daily as a Father, Savior, Friend, and Bridegroom. I am a spirit-filled Christian Mystic. I use the term mystic because my relationship with God is based on complete union and intimacy with Jesus, the Father, and Holy Spirit and my desire is to bring healing, life, restoration, and love to others through an intimate relationship with God and to inspire others into a similar relationship.

Check out and like my Facebook page:  Mystic Mama on Facebook

Check out and subscribe to my YouTube:  Mystic Mama Storm YouTube Channel

 

Journey Into the Spirit Realm and Going Before the Throne of God – Howard Pittman’s Near-Death Experience (1979)

On August 3, 1979, Rev. Howard Pittman, realizing that he was about to die, prayed that he would be permitted the privilege of going before the throne of God to ask for an extension on his life.

He was granted this privilege and much about the nature of demons, God, as well as the condition and future of humanity was revealed to him during his journey through the spirit realm.

The following is a reading of Howard Pittman’s NDE Testimony as Recorded in Placebo (YouTube):

 

Brazen Faith that Raises the Dead and Cures Every Disease — Four DVD’s Posted!

In a world filled with unbelief and sharing a common experience marked by disease, suffering, depression, confusion, and death, there are some unique people who see healing, peace, joy, clarity, and life spring up every place they set foot. The distinguishing mark of these people is brazen, stubborn, unrelenting belief in the word of God.

One of these believers might read a scripture regarding Jesus Christ such as 1 Peter 2:24 that says “by his wounds you have been healed” and take those words literally. He would believe that Jesus’ wounds have secured our healing from any disease.

Another person would say, “no, no, that refers only to our spiritual healing.”

Why do they say that? Was Jesus merely spiritually wounded? No!

So, why would someone say that the healing is only spiritual?

There are two reasons:

First, the person cannot believe that all the suffering and disease in their world is unnecessary. They can’t accept that their suffering could go away if only they would put their faith in Christ’s suffering and being wounded on their behalf to bring them peace and healing.

Another reason that so many people try to spiritualize everything is because spiritual things are invisible and cannot be proven false. In essence, they are trying to protect God from being proved incompetent. No one can prove that someone is not spiritually healed. But anyone can prove whether someone is physically healed or not. People who are not sure if God is able to keep his promises want to let Him off the hook by making sure that He is only held accountable for what happens in the invisible, untestable, spiritual realm.

The person who is filled with BELIEF will experience life and see results much different than the common experience of those who tend to doubt the word of God and try to twist the word of God to fit their own experience in the world of unbelief.

We have churches full of Christians who are convinced of the truth of the Gospel (Jesus Christ’s and the apostles’ message of good news) but not converted by the Gospel. What I mean is that they will agree that it makes sense and that the evidence is strong. But they will not allow the Gospel to absolutely and completely and irreversibly transform them. They want to maintain the safe place of standing aloof from the Gospel and making judgment on it and the right to change their minds about it anytime a new doubt presents itself.

To throw your lot in with the Gospel… To fully give your life over to the Gospel… To open yourself to allow the Gospel to entirely change your life… THAT is too much for many people to commit themselves to. Full acceptance of the Gospel brings responsibility for exercising dominion over disease, demons, and death. Full acceptance means allowing the wind of the Spirit to blow you wherever it pleases — perhaps away from your nice pretty home, perhaps away from your comfy career, perhaps away from your lifestyle.

Only a small number of American Christians are brave enough to allow the Gospel to actually convert them — to irrevocably and entirely CHANGE them.

Today, I want to feature the testimony and teaching of one such brave Christian who gave himself over to the powerful Gospel of Jesus Christ. Did the Gospel change him? Did the Gospel take him away from the comforts he was accustomed to? Did the Gospel force him to take on responsibilities most people would like to shrink away from? Did the Gospel put him in situations where impossible things had to happen for not only his success but also the survival of him and his family?

Yes. That all happened when he let the Gospel CONVERT him. But more importly, let us ask: Did the Gospel live up to all its promises? Did the Gospel let him down? — isn’t that what the Convinced-but-Not-Converted-Christians are afraid of?

Let me assure you that the Gospel has never let him down. He has seen demons conquered, diseases vanquished and death overcome on many, many occasions. In fact, he has personally seen over two dozen people raised from the dead! He and his family have not been destroyed and they are happier and more fulfilled than just about any other family on earth. They know what they believe and know that it is the truth and they witness the power of the Gospel every single day.

Furthermore, the people they minister to have received the message of Christ and are seeing God powerfully respond to their prayers so that they in turn have seen an additional 280+ people raised from the dead as well as many freed from physical and spiritual oppression. Their testimonies are wonderfully encouraging to anyone who wonders if there is truly power in the Gospel of Christ.

It was after watching the testimony and teaching posted below from David Hogan of Freedom Ministries that I decided to stop allowing doubts to undermine my confidence in the Gospel of Christ. I began barring doubts from my mind and treating them with the same contempt that I would treat a demon from the pit of hell. And my wife and I immediately began seeing amazing miracles. We were both teachers at the time and before we had finished watching this series of ‘Faith to Raise the Dead’ videos a healing revival had broken out among our students so that every day each of our classes began with testimonies and healings and even our co-workers received healing by the power of God, which was no longer being held back by our personal doubts and misgivings.

I hope that you also watch these videos and I pray that you would also make the choice to make a stand and completely and uncompromisingly give your mind and life over to the Powerful, Life-Giving, Death-Defying Gospel of Jesus Christ so that God’s grace of Life — and That Abundantly — would pour through you to change the world.

 

Faith to Raise the DeadDVD 1/4

 

Faith to Raise the DeadDVD 2/4

 

Faith to Raise the DeadDVD 3/4

 

Faith to Raise the DeadDVD 4/4

Furious Love – God’s Love Prevailing in Darkness

A while back, I shared video clips from a documentary featuring God’s miracles around the world: The Finger of God

Today, I want to share video clips from the follow up film, Furious Love, documenting God’s love prevailing where evil and darkness tend to be strongest. The film puts God’s love to the test and finds out just how powerful His love really is.

The entire film can be ordered on DVD or accessed and watched online.  A Deluxe Edition is available on Amazon as well.

Here are some random clips from this spectacular film. Please understand that these clips should only be considered a sampling — They do not represent the entire film and are placed in no particular order (although I tried to keep clip sets together). Also, it should be noted that the clip from the former Satanist may have come from the bonus material or even the Deluxe Edition as I don’t remember seeing this much of the interview when watching the film.

 

Furious Love Trailer

 

Furious Love Clip 1

 

Furious Love Clip 2

 

Furious Love Clip 3

 

 

I hope you found the above clip samples interesting, remember that you can watch the entire film online. If you want to get a copy of this powerful DVD you can get it via the Rising Light Bookstore.