OCCULT
MESSAGES: A
CALL FOR
HELP
“Dear
Brother
Carrin,
Would you
please
answer a
question of
mine. Years
ago in
Memphis,
Tennessee,
you prayed
over a line
of people
for
Deliverance
from the
occult. I
was in that
line, and to
be honest,
didn’t
really
expect much
to happen.
However,
when you
took
authority
over it I
found myself
lying on the
floor and
felt
something
leave me.
When I got
home I threw
out the
Ouija Board
and never
again
touched or
read
anything
dealing with
the occult.
Thank you!
My question
is this —
How was the
Ouija Board
able to tell
me things
before they
happened?
For instance
before my
first
daughter
left for
college we
asked the
name of the
man she
would marry.
It told us
his name
(which no
one knew)
and his
address. A
year later
she met him
and they
married.
Even the
address was
correct.
This kind of
thing
happened
several
times with
no way of my
knowing the
future.
Surely Satan
doesn’t know
our personal
future — so
how could
the Ouija
tell about
details and
events
before they
happen? I
would really
appreciate
any thoughts
you have on
this. Your’s
truly, E.
F.”
My reply,
“Hopefully I
can shed
some light
on your
question
about the
Ouija Board
giving
accurate
prophecies
about your
daughter’s
future.
Since you
received
deliverance
ministry and
destroyed
the board,
you, your
daughter,
everyone
involved is
safe from
its effects.
Please
remember
that
statement
about
"safety"
because what
I have to
say could
otherwise be
disturbing
to you. The
following
article
about the
occult realm
is one I
wrote in
response to
numerous
questions
like your
own. You are
not alone. I
italicized
the lines
that explain
the Ouija
Board’s
ability to
give
accurate
prophecies.
That occult
darkness is
now in the
past and
you, your
family-all
of you–are
safe from
the danger
that
otherwise
might have
harmed you.
Blessings on
you!”
THE
DANGER OF
PSYCHIC
PREMONITIONS,
OUIJA
BOARDS, AND
OTHER OCCULT
MESSENGERS
A young man
once came to
my hotel
room seeking
advice about
a
troublesome,
spiritual
"message" he
had
received. It
was this: On
a specific,
named day of
the week, he
was told
that his
wife and
baby would
be killed in
a car wreck.
He was even
told the
location
where it
would occur.
The message
further
warned him
not to tell
anyone–not
even his
wife. When
he
reluctantly
shared that
frightening
information
with me, I
immediately
explained
that he had
received a
psychic-prophecy.
It was not
God's "word
of
knowledge"
but a
demonic
counterfeit,
such as
fortune-tellers
and
clairvoyants
experience.
I explained
that genuine
"words of
knowledge,"
I
Corinthians
12:8, are
always in
harmony with
the Covenant
of Grace. No
where does
the Covenant
provide for
car wrecks,
mangled
bodies, and
broken
homes. Read
it for
yourself.
Jesus came
to "heal
...deliver
...set
free." Luke
4:18,19.
Such
psychic-initiated
disasters
are the
works of
Hell. I
Peter 5:8,9.
Satan came
to "kill,
steal, and
destroy."
John 10:10.
Jesus brings
life "more
abundantly."
Since this
young man,
like many
other
Christians,
was
uninformed
about the
reality of
such an
experience,
his wife and
baby were in
very real
danger. As
with most of
us, he had
probably
read
horoscopes,
played with
a Ouija
Board, had
his palm
read, or
done other
things that
left an
occult
shadow over
him. Without
wasting a
moments
time, I laid
hands on him
and took
total,
absolute,
unconditional
authority
over that
psychic
message in
the Name of
Jesus Christ
and
cancelled
it. As a
believing
disciple,
empowered by
the Holy
Spirit and
speaking the
Word of God
from my
mouth--and
not in any
ability of
my own--we
destroyed
the devil's
forecast. It
was declared
null and
void,
powerless
and impotent
by the blood
of Jesus. Do
I believe
disciples
have that
power?
Absolutely.
Jesus taught
it, the
Apostles
confirmed
it, you and
I had better
learn it.
30% of
Jesus’
recorded
ministry was
spent in
direct
conflict
with unclean
spirits.
Mark
16:17,18.
Luke
10:17-20.
James 4:7,8.
II
Corinthians
10:3-5.
Matthew
10:1. Mark
6:13.
Revelations
12:10,11.
As this
young man
talked, I
remembered
my own
wife's
tragic
automobile
wreck in
which she
had 13
broken bones
and
fractures, a
collapsed
lung,
concussion
of the
brain, and
so many
injuries she
could not be
moved. That
disaster
followed a
horrendous,
month-long
foreknowledge
I had which
was
identical to
this young
husband and
father. What
I
experienced
was not
God’s "word
of
knowledge",
I
Corinthians
12: 8, but
the devil’s
deceptive
counterfeit.
But, unlike
the young
man, no one
told me what
it was,
where it
came from,
or how to
stop it. In
an almost
identical
way, I told
him of
another
youthful
Baptist
pastor in a
similar
hotel room
several
years before
who wept out
the tragic
story of a
father in
his
congregation
who dreamed
a certain
individual
would be
killed. A
short time
later the
person died
tragically.
Soon after
that, the
father
dreamed
again. This
time it was
his son who
would be
killed. He
was told to
warn the boy
about his
impending
death. The
father
ignorantly
submitted to
everything
the dream
demanded,
warned his
son about
the
disaster,
and two
weeks later
the boy died
in a tragic
automobile
wreck. The
church and
family were
both
religiously
and
emotionally
devastated.
Such
tragedies
are
needless!
God’s people
are
destroyed
for "lack of
knowledge",
Hosea 4:6,
because
denominationalism
is more
determined
to defend
itself than
to defend
its members.
During my
visit with
this young
man I
recalled the
time in
Atlanta when
another
precious
Christian
brother was
killed in a
car wreck
within
ear-shot of
my house a
few hours
after his
wife
foolishly
obeyed a
"message" to
make his
funeral
arrangements.
At the time,
he was in
robust
health.
Obediently,
she carried
out every
detail of
notifying
the pall
bearers,
selecting
the soloist
and songs,
informing
the two
ministers
who spoke--I
being one of
them--and
choosing the
Funeral
Home. She
left nothing
unfinished.
Without
realizing
it, she
cooperated
with Hell
and
in-effect
told the
devil, "Go
ahead."
Within hours
after the
final
arrangement
was made the
man was
killed in a
tragic
automobile
wreck.
Another
Christian
family came
to mind; a
mother,
father, two
grandmothers,
who were
swept away
in a flash
flood after
a relative
had a
psychic
"warning"
she ignored.
Nothing was
done to
resist the
disaster. As
a result,
lives were
lost and
children
orphaned.
That
absolutely
is not the
will of God.
It violates
every
provision of
the
Covenant.
Later, the
person, who
had the
"warning,"
received
another. She
dreamed that
her daughter
called in
the night,
shouted her
husband's
name into
the
telephone
and said,
"He's dead!"
Again, the
omen was
ignored; no
authority
was taken in
the Name of
Jesus. Soon
afterward,
the mother's
phone rang
in the
night,
exactly as
she had been
fore-warned,
her daughter
shouted her
husband's
name into
the receiver
and said,
"He's dead!"
The man had
just been
murdered.
Shot in his
office,
behind his
own desk.
Again, there
had been no
exercise of
Jesus'
authority
against the
psychic
prophecy. As
I stood at
that man's
casket, I
wondered,
"God! What
will it take
to wake up
people to
the reality
that we are
in spiritual
war?! How
long will
the church
stumble on
in its
blindness?!"
I am still
waiting. But
I am not
waiting
silently.
Years ago
God took me
from
pastoral
work, sent
me into the
field, and
said, "Go
wake up my
Church!"
Princess
Diana
Before her
death in the
Paris
car-crash,
Princess
Diana was
told by her
psychic that
"Happiness
will always
be snatched
away from
you." In
submitting
to that
horribly-oppressed
Medium
instead of
God,
Princess
Diana
surrendered
to Hell's
agenda. The
night of the
crash, her
new
engagement
ring lay
beside her
on the floor
of the
bloodied
car. It was
not even on
her hand
when she
died.
Instead,
"happiness
had been
snatched
away" from
her. "Life
and death
are in the
power of the
tongue."
Proverbs
18:21.
Soon after
my return to
Delray
Beach,
Florida, in
1978, a
friend and I
went to a
Psychic Fair
at the local
Mall, set up
our own
table and
passed out
tracts
entitled Is
It Dangerous
To Consult
Psychics?
The tract
contained
Scriptures
warning
those who
practice and
those who
receive
divination.
Deuteronomy
18:10-12. II
Kings
17:17,18.
Isaiah
47:12-15.
Ezekiel
12:24. I
Samuel
15:23. II
Chronicles
33:6. Exodus
22:18.
Galatians
5:19-21.
Acts 16:16.
Understandably,
the psychics
were
outraged,
the police
were called,
reporters
and
photographers
came on the
scene. My
friend and I
were
portrayed by
the
newspaper
(with our
photographs)
as the real
villains.
Later, the
man in
charge of
the Fair
approached
me
privately.
He had read
the tract,
was
genuinely
concerned,
but
defensive
for the
fortune
tellers.
"I've worked
with these
psychics for
eighteen
years," He
said, "and I
know that
what they
say
frequently
comes to
pass." I
agreed.
Pointing to
the parking
lot, he
explained,
"Suppose
that a
psychic
tells you
that
tomorrow at
this same
time there
will be a
green car in
that spot, a
white one
next to it,
and a red
truck
speeding
by." I
listened.
"They tell
you that a
child runs
out from
between
those cars
and is
killed. You
come here
tomorrow and
it happens
exactly like
they said
..."
The Ouija
Board
Explained
I stopped
him. "I know
what you are
saying is
true.
Psychics,
Ouija
Boards, Palm
Readers, and
other
occultists,
frequently
tell things
that
actually
happen — But
you don't
understand,
they are not
merely
predicting
them--they
are causing
them.
Through
their evil
prophecies,
they are
proclaiming
the devil's
will. If we
accept his
proclamation
as
true–submitting
to it--we
are giving
permission
for him to
bring it to
pass."
When I said
that, truth
shot through
him like a
bullet. He
slumped,
turned
slowly
toward me,
wide-eyed,
mouth open.
I will never
forget his
stare or the
terror in
his eyes.
"How do I
get out of
this?!," He
asked. "You
need to be
saved," I
answered.
"How?!" "Ask
Jesus to
forgive you.
Tell Him you
want to be
born-again,"
I explained,
"Commit your
life to
Him."
Standing
there in the
Mall he did
exactly
that,
humbly,
sincerely
praying the
salvation-prayer.
But this
raises a
bigger
question:
What about
the girl
whose
husband was
named in
advance by
the Ouija
Board? What
about such a
marriage.
Paul
explained
that the
devil’s
worst trick
can still be
turned into
the saints
greatest
good: “all
things work
together for
good to
those who
love God.”
Romans 8:28
People with
histories of
psychic
premonitions
need
deliverance.
Such
patterns
frequently
exist for
generations
in families.
If you ever
receive a
dream or
message such
as those I
described,
do not
accept it.
It may
destroy you
or someone
you love.
God gave you
the
authority to
crush its
effect in
your life.
Romans
16:20. Luke
10:17-19.
Mark
16:17-20. I
Peter 5:9.
Revelation
12:10,11. Be
alert! Be
informed!
Most
importantly
of all, be
victorious!
Know the
difference
between
God's "words
of
knowledge"
and the
devil's
"psychic
deceptions."
Life depends
on it. Don't
become
another
statistic of
Hell's
destruction.
A
Pastor’s
Wrong Choice
A Church of
Christ
pastor in
Tennessee
called, was
in great
distress and
in urgent
need of
help. We met
at the
Nashville
airport and
went to his
home where
he shared
his crisis:
"The only
power in my
ministry was
argument and
debate," he
explained,
"there was
no
manifestation
of God's
presence
like the
early church
experienced.
I became so
despaired
with my
spiritual
deadness
that I
turned to
other
sources. And
I made wrong
choices--I
went into
Eastern
Mysticism."
I listened
as he
continued.
"I found
real
power--but
power that
soon became
dark and
frightening.
The problem
was that
having
invited it
into my
life, I
could not
make it
leave. It
began to
dominate,
control, and
in a
merciless
way, force
its' will
upon me."
His story
was
familiar.
The
"spirit-guide"
that had
invaded his
life,
harassed his
sleep,
affected his
family
relationships,
and
succeeded in
separating
him from
those he
loved. In
time, it
destroyed
his
ministry. As
we talked,
depression
clung to him
in a
merciless
way. When he
finished, I
explained
that he had
"touched the
unclean
thing,"
Isaiah
52:11, which
God forbad.
The good
news was
that his
repentance
and the
power of
Christ could
free him. I
reminded him
that there
is no power
of darkness
that can
successfully
stand
against the
authority of
Jesus.
Philippians
2:9.
He sat on
the end of a
sofa, I
stood beside
him, and as
I laid-hands
on him in
the Name of
Jesus, he
began
growling,
curled into
a tight
ball, and
rolled
head-first
onto the
floor. I
knelt beside
him, kept my
hands on
him, and
commanded
the spirits
of
witchcraft
and Eastern
Mysticism to
go.
As I did, he
started
retching,
gasping for
air, and
experiencing
tremendous
pain in his
spine. A few
minutes
later, he
was free.
The
darkness,
pain, and
oppression,
that had
hovered over
him were
gone. I then
prayed for
him to be
filled with
the Holy
Spirit.
As he lay
beside me, I
thought of a
Sunday
School
teacher who
had studied
parapsychology,
palmistry,
automatic
handwriting,
and other
occult
teachings.
At the time
of her
deliverance,
she had such
severe back
pain that
she was
several days
recovering.
There were
others who
came to
mind.
Looking back
over years
of this kind
of ministry,
I realized
that many
had
undergone
painful
spasms in
their
vertebrae
during
deliverance
from
psychic-spirits.
When I
shared that
with the
young pastor
on the
floor, he
answered,
"Oh, I can
explain
that!" What
he told was
shocking. "I
was
instructed
to invite a
serpent-like
spirit to
enter my
body and
coil at the
base of my
spine. As I
progressed
in
psychic-power,
it rose up,
wrapping
itself
around my
back-bone."
We sat
silently for
a moment. He
then
explained,
"When you
cast it out,
it wrenched
my back."
I had no
difficulty
believing
his
explanation.
When Paul
cast out the
"spirit of
divination"
in the young
woman at
Phillippi,
Acts
16:16-18,
the Greek
text says
she had a
"python."
This serpent
kills by
strangulation,
wrapping
around the
victim. It
is not
coincidental
that Jesus
used
serpents as
symbols of
demonic
power. He
said, "I
give you
power to
tread on
serpents
..." Luke
10:19. Mark
16:18.
More
recently, a
young
Assemblies
of God
pastor came
to me at a
Conference
in Florida
and asked if
I would
minister
deliverance
to him. I
agreed and
we went to a
private
room. This
gentleman
was a
well-groomed
college
graduate
with a
successful
ministry and
family life.
"My
ancestors
have
practiced
Druid
worship and
psychic-powers
for
generations,"
he
explained,
"And I
experience
torment from
its
presence. I
am not
participating
in any way
with
witchcraft
but I feel
that
darkness
constantly
hovering
over me. It
torments
me." He
paused. "I
explained
the problem
to my
Presbyters
and asked
them to
minister
deliverance
to me but
they
refused. Our
doctrine
denies that
Christians
can have
demons in
their bodies
or minds." I
reminded him
that none of
us have yet
been through
the
Resurrection.
I
Corinthians
15:53,54.
Demons can
go anywhere
sin and
disease can
go. If
Christians
are immune
to demons
they are
also immune
to sin and
sickness.
Like it or
not, we are
still
vulnerable
to powers of
darkness and
must fight
as Jesus
taught.*
Spiritual
warfare is a
constant,
on-going
battle.
Ephesians
6:10-18.
A Demonic
Manifestation
In the next
few minutes,
astonishing
things
happened.
Demons began
speaking out
of him in
guttural,
dog-like
growls,
contorting
his body,
changing his
appearance
into
something
ugly and
grotesque.
Mark 1:26;
9:26. Four
major
spirits were
identified.
One of those
was the
spirit of
"idiocy."
When we
challenged
it in the
Name of
Jesus, the
man's eyes
suddenly
crossed, his
hands became
spastic, his
tongue
thickened,
turned
sideways in
his mouth,
and be began
slobbering
with
senseless
jabberings.
In a
split-second,
he became a
full-blown
idiot.
The good
news is that
he was
totally
delivered;
the mental
pain was
gone
forever. But
please be
aware of
this
frightening
truth: Had
this young
pastor not
received
deliverance,
the spirits
hiding in
him would
ultimately
have
destroyed
his sanity,
ruined his
family and
ministry,
and had him
locked away
in an
asylum.
Could that
happen to a
born-again
pastor? Yes.
Absolutely.
I have no
doubt that
asylums
needlessly
contain many
such
Christians.
Someone
asks, "How
can sincere
Christians,
such as the
ones I
described,
experience
such ominous
dreams and
devilish
messages?"
The answer
is that we
are engaged
in constant,
unending
spiritual
war.
Ephesians
6:10-18. Our
regenerate
spirit is
immune to
demons, yes,
but soul and
body, mind
and flesh,
remain their
battleground.
If
unprotected,
these areas
can be
penetrated
by powers of
darkness.
Scripture
and common
sense
confirm this
fact. Luke
9:55. II
Corinthians
11:4.
"For unclean
spirits
crying with
a loud voice
came out of
many who
were
possessed
and many who
were
paralyzed
and lame
were healed.
And there
was great
joy in that
city. But
there was a
certain man
called
Simon, who
previously
practiced
sorcery in
the city and
astonished
(bewitched)
the people
of Samaria
..." Acts
8:7-9.
I have a
reason for
quoting the
preceding
Scripture.
It mentions
Simon the
Sorcerer,
demons, and
victims in
Samaria who
were lame
and
paralyzed.
Hear this
carefully:
Though the
townspeople
held Simon
in high
regard, he
was actually
the source
of much of
their ills.
Without
realizing
it, those
who sought
his sorcery
received far
more than
psychic-predictions.
They became
infected
with
crippling
spirits that
brought
muscular
deadness and
twisted
limbs.
Simon's
presence
acted like a
magnet that
attracted
these
spirits to
himself and
then
projected
them upon
the people.
Jesus had
earlier
identified
this same
"spirit of
infirmity"
in the woman
with the
crooked
back. Luke
13:11.
While
spirits of
infirmity
cause a
variety of
ailments, it
is
significant
that
leprosy,
blindness,
deafness,
and other
diseases
common to
the day,
were not
mentioned in
regard to
Samaria.
Hear me
carefully on
this point:
Simon's
variety of
witchcraft
was uniquely
accompanied
by
demonic-problems
related to
the muscular
and skeleton
system. Why
is that so?
The young
Church of
Christ
pastor gave
the
explanation.
Read it
again.
My Own
Family
In 1933, my
family moved
into a
two-story
house in
Miami,
Florida, and
a neighbor
came
immediately
to warn my
mother. "You
will always
regret
having lived
in this
house," she
said. When
mother asked
why, the
woman
explained,
"Everyone
who has
lived here
has had
horrible
tragedies. I
know you
want to
stay--but I
warn you to
leave before
disaster
strikes." At
the time, I
was three
years old,
my brother
Van was
five, and
our oldest
brother,
Jimmy, was
temporarily
with our
grandmother.
Unfortunately,
we stayed.
In a short
time,
strange
noises were
heard, a
phantom-like
image
appeared in
the house,
and then
tragedy hit.
My father
was stricken
with total
paralysis.
Soon after
his illness,
I fell
head-first
from the
second floor
and was
paralyzed on
the left
side of my
body. My
brother Van
escaped for
a few years
but then
suffered a
leg injury
that has
harassed him
all his
life. Daddy
partially
recovered
but lived
the rest of
his life as
a cripple.
Though I
finally
regained use
of my arm
and leg,
recovered
from a
long-term
heart
condition,
but have
remained
handicapped
by a
paralyzed
eye-lid more
than seventy
years.
Today, I am
convinced
that our
house had
been used as
a site of
witchcraft,
and, like
Samaria, was
under a
curse that
brought
lameness and
paralysis.
We had moved
onto demonic
territory
and did
nothing to
protect
ourselves.
My parents
were
committed
Christians
but their
church
taught them
absolutely
nothing
about
spiritual
warfare.
That day
with the
young pastor
on the floor
beside me, I
suddenly
could see
the parallel
of demonic
work in
Samaria, my
own family
history of
paralysis
and spinal
problems in
others. I
also
realized the
reality of
"territorial"
curses and
demons who
work through
them. At
recent
group-ministries
dozens of
people have
been healed
of spinal
injury and
pain. While
I am aware
that much
illness is
not
spirit-related,
I have no
doubt that
some of
these people
had a “Simon
the
Sorcerer”
standing in
the shadows
of their
past.
A final
observation:
Though Simon
believed the
gospel and
was
baptized, he
was still
not
delivered
from all the
witchcraft-influences
of his
former life.
Acts
8:13-24.
That fact
was not
immediately
apparent;
even the
Apostles did
not
recognize
it. In some
cases, that
failure is
true of
people
today.
Demons never
leave
voluntarily;
they must be
cast out.
Many
believers
assume that
because they
have been
born-again,
their minds
and bodies
are also
clean. That
is not
necessarily
so.
Christians
who battle
addiction,
depression,
compulsive
anger,
religious
pride, etc.,
are proof of
what I say.
If these
people
"backslide"
we criticize
them for
their
failure;
frequently,
it is the
Church that
failed to
provide them
with the
full
benefits of
the Cross.
Jesus never
suggested
that the
church cast
out demons;
He commanded
it.
My
recommendation
for everyone
who has had
the
slightest
contact with
Ouija
boards,
palmistry,
psychics, or
occult
family
ancestry, is
to receive
deliverance
ministry. If
you have
medical or
emotional
problems
that cannot
be
diagnosed,
be aware,
you could be
dealing with
a demon.
Where do you
go for help?
Go to your
pastor! If
he refuses,
show him the
Scripture's
teaching on
the subject.
Mark 16:17.
Insist, that
as a
believing
servant of
God, he is
obligated to
minister
deliverance
to you. You
need
cleansing
and he needs
to learn. Do
it. If he
resists,
find someone
who will.
Don't repeat
the failure
of others.
Life depends
on it. And
by he way,
if you own a
Ouija board,
or some
other occult
material, do
like the
party who
wrote the
introductory
letter:
Throw it
away!
Protect
yourself and
your family.
* Proof
texts of
Christians
vulnerability
to demons:
Luke 9:55.
II
Corinthians
11:4.
Matthew
16:23.
Galatians
3:1.
