58 Sermon Illustrations on Occult

"Mama Alice" had followers attack Ugandan government. Rubbed magic potion on them to ward off bullets. Hundreds were killed. Followers were armed only with sticks and stones. Alice Lakwena is leader of Holy Spirit Movement. At least 8,500 rebels have been killed in 1987. She fled on a bicycle.

A group of pagan worshippers called the "Pagan Coven" is a recognized student organization at Grinnell College. Believes in goddess worship, nature veneration. Has sacrificed a pumpkin on Halloween to "draw down the energy from the full moon." They say they are not the same thing as Satan worshippers. Many students have expressed curiosity.

Satanic murder in Morris County, New Jersey. See #82

One of the most hideous satanic-motivated crimes occurred only a few miles from here. It received wide local coverage, and was a major part of Geraldo Rivera's sensational documentary on Satanism.

On January 9, 1988, fourteen-year-old Tommy Sullivan, Jr., killed his mother, then committed suicide. Tommy grew up in a devout Catholic family. He went to Catholic schools.

For one project he studied Satanism and wrote a paper. In the paper he said it was interesting but not for him. Within one month he changed radically. He took a cross his mom gave him, broke it, and wore it upside down. He made gruesome drawings of satanic rituals, including one showing himself burying a severed head in the ground.

And he wrote a pact with the devil. In the pact he promised Satan he would try to recruit others, then take his own life. He failed to gain any converts but he kept his vow. Police were astonished at how brutal his mother's death was. [With his sharp Boy Scout knife he almost decapitated her, then he tried to cut off her face. She may have come upon him during a ritual. Her face had multiple stab wounds.] And in committing suicide he completely cut through his own neck. [He cut all the way through his sarcophagus and police suspected someone else must have done it, but there was only one set of tracks in the snow.]

There was no evidence of drug use. Police say it was sheer determination and his commitment to the occult that empowered him. [After murdering his mother he ran in circles in the snow outside, showing he was in a frenzy.]

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Examines Pastor Cho's healing ministry, which draws on occult practices like

"visualization." Healing is largely responsible for Cho's church's remarkable

growth.

#769

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The "Psychic Friends Network" is mostly a scam. "Joan Cook" (not her real name) of Broomfield, Colorado, was a counselor for six months beginning in 1991. She said she is no psychic. She was recommended for the job by her teacher in a counseling class, who said Cook would be free to do traditional counseling on the network. But she quickly discovered that her callers didn't want basic, common-sense advice. They wanted supernatural insights.

When women called to ask if they were pregnant, Cook tried to get them to contact their local chapter of Planned Parenthood for a pregnancy test. Most rejected her advice. They "weren't about to do something to cheap and common-sense UNLESS I told them I read in the cards that the cards said they should go to the doctor and get their health checked out," she said.

On January 8, 1992, she got a call from Tonia in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Tonia wanted to know whether her husband was going to beat her. Cook tried to convince her to call the emergency number 911. She also gave Tonia the names of churches that might provide counseling. The woman's reaction: "I called for a READING. I want my READING!" So, Cook says, she concocted a tarot reading to back up her recommendation. "Only when Tonia was thoroughly convinced the advice came from the cards and not just some ordinary individual did she seem inclined to access the FREE resources ALREADY available to her in her OWN community," Cook explained. Why was Tonia's husband so angry? Cook says he had discovered that Tonia had racked up a $5,000 phone bill talking to "psychic" counselors.

Psychics earn $18 to $24 an hour, while the network takes in a total of $240.00. One service said it tried to start a network of professional counselors but no one called in. Cook says although "the sort of superstition these people are promoting is dangerous beyond belief, I will have to admit one thing: I got paid better at that job than at any other job I ever had before or since. Isn't it too bad that people pay legitimate counselors so poorly, but will shovel millions of dollars into hands of quacks like that."

One of their infomericals tells story of "Giacomo," who was told by his psychic to avoid an important business meeting. "I see darkness and destruction," the commercial quotes his psychic friend as saying. "Whatever you do, don't go to this meeting." He avoided it, and that day (Feb. 26, 1993) terrorists detonated a bomb in the World Trade Center in New York City. In the commercial, Giacomo says the business meeting he was supposed to attend was held in the New York Vista Hotel in the World Trade Center. "That call," he says, "saved my life." In fact, no one in the hotel was killed or even injured; all the casualties were below the hotel.

#967

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Police say most desecrations in Morris county, New Jersey, are pranks.

(Detectives Darren Burns and Ed Williams, sheriff's office)

a) Religious statues have been toppled in a county cemetery.

b) Animal sacrifices have been found in a variety of places.

c) Abandoned Catholic retreat center in Washington Township.

Pentagon-shaped building, large iron caldron.

Police found satanic symbols on walls.

"666," "Evil is good," inverted crosses.

Later that building, and others, mysteriously burned.

Police suspect owner as much as kids.

#1037

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Analysis of the surge of Satanism in America. Much is hype. There are

four categories of Satanists:

1. Experimenters.

2. Self-styled Satanists.

3. Religious Satanists.

4. Intergenerational Satanists. (Each generation passes it down.)

Many claims of Satanist activity are exaggerated, but police are often not

aware of Satanic evidence in crimes. Most experts agree it is a growing

phenomenon.

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Author neglected Satan for a long time, just as society and the church does. The movie “Broadcast News” shows a modern version of the devil, who is “attractive, nice, and helpful. ... But bit by little bit, he’ll lower our standards where they’re really important.”

Our devil is too small if...

1. He is merely a personification.

2. He is consigned to long-ago times and faraway places.

3. We assume he leaves Christians alone.

4. We decide he is not capable of performing miracles and feats of power.

5. We think we can recognize him without God’s help.

6. We think we are smart enough, quick enough, strong enough, or holy enough to resist him on our own.

Halloween is not harmless fun but celebration of occult. Gives history of various Halloween traditions like the jack-o-lantern. "Your local public elementary school cannot teach the true meaning of Christmas, yet they spend over a month on Halloween songs, stories, crafts, and decoration." Ouija boards and "Dungeons & Dragons" need to be discarded by Christians. Churches should make positive substitutions like Fall Festivals.

A letter received at the office of the Skeptical Inquirer magazine:

Dear CSICOP [Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims

of the Paranormal]:

I was hoping you could send me some info on reports, abductions

and just facts about aliens. I am doing a project on OFO [sic]

phenomena. I believe with all my heart. I am 14 years old and

live in Louisville, KY... I was convinced that I was a [sic]

alien when I was a child. My family told me I was put in there

[sic] home by the government and they get paid to keep me.... My

sister still says I am part of some big government experiment to

see if aliens can be like humans. I guess that is why I am such

a believer...

The editor is disturbed that paranormal popularizers have so effectively spread their propaganda that alien abductions are this firmly rooted in the culture.

Sermon on psychics and Christianity. Deuteronomy 18:10-15

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YOUR PSYCHIC FRIENDS

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I. Email from beyond.

II. Psychic religion defies God.

A. Occult is rejected.

B. It is a violation of first commandment.

C. Spiritual warfare.

III. Psychic religion doesn't work.

A. Nebuchadnezzar and psychic hacks. Dan 2:5

B. Scientific doubt.

C. The rare exceptions.

IV. Why people believe in psychic ability.

A. Accuracy is exaggerated.

B. We want to believe, and accept anecdotes as facts.

C. Fitted to human nature.

D. Satan behind it?

V. Can skeptics believe?

A. Arguments against psychics can be used against Christians.

B. Real messages from God.

C. Test all visions. 1 Thess 5:21; 1 Jn 4:1

VI. We can know Who holds the future.

The London Daily Telegraph, ISSUE 1449, Friday 14 May 1999.

US Army recruits witches to guard pagans' rights, by Ben Fenton in Washington

The United States army has recognized white witchcraft as a religion and has appointed chaplains to oversee pagan ceremonies on at least five bases.

A Pentagon spokesman said yesterday that there were believed to be at least 100 witches attending covens at Fort Hood, Texas, the army's largest base with more than 42,000 troops. So respectful has the army become of the pagan rites that security was increased at Fort Hood's Boy Scout camp, where covens are held.

The move is to deter members of Christian groups from intimidating the group. The pagans, called Wiccans, are accorded the same privileges as practitioners of Christianity, Judaism and Islam. They are encouraged to have their religious preference stamped on the metal dog-tags each soldier wears.

Lt. Col. Donald Troyer, the Seventh Day Adventist army chaplain who has been given responsibility for Fort Hood's coven, admitted that he was not overjoyed with his job because fellow Christian pastors disapproved and had been "cool" towards him. He said: "It's such a volatile subject. It just sparks a fury."

The Pentagon says it has received several requests for a posting to Fort Hood because it has such a large pagan congregation. A spokesman said yesterday: "We are obliged by the Constitution to respect and make provisions for the religious needs of members of the military and not to pass judgments on their beliefs.

The Covenant of the Goddess, which claims to represent most American Wiccans from its base in Berkeley, California, says there are about 50,000 followers of the faith in America. They celebrate earth-spirits such as the "great goddess Freya" and on their altars give blessings to water, bread and salt, the three essentials of life, while the congregation holds hands in a circle around a large bonfire.

Their main festivals are at the vernal and autumnal equinox and at midsummer. However, sacrifices, either human or animal, are not tolerated. One Wiccan said: "It is not something we do."

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Note: Chick Publications are not always reliable in their research, methods of quotation of sources, etc. Details of this article should be confirmed by independent sources.

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What are kids saying about Harry Potter? Here are some samples:

"I want to go to wizard school and learn magic. I'd like to learn to use a wand to cast spells." Dylan, age 10.

"If I could go to wizard school, I might be able to do spells and potions and fly a broomstick." Mara, age 12.

"It would be great to be a wizard because you could control situations and things like teachers." Jeffrey, age 11.

"I'd like to go to wizard school and learn magic and put spells on people. I'd make up an ugly spell and then it's pay-back time." Catherine, age 9.

"I feel like I'm inside Harry's world. If I went to wizard school I'd study everything: spells, counterspells, and defense against the dark arts." Carolyn, age 10.

"I liked it when the bad guys killed the unicorn and Voldemort drank its blood." Julie, age 13.

"The books are very clever. I couldn't put them down. When I was scared I made myself believe that it was supposed to be funny so I wasn't so scared." Nuray age 11.

These are the comments of young readers of the Harry Potter wizard books quoted on a new video by Jeremiah Films. On the video, called Harry Potter: Witchcraft Repackaged, Making Evil Look Innocent, author Robert S. McGee explains: "Children as young as kindergarten are being introduced to human sacrifice, the sucking of blood from dead animals, and possession by spirit beings."

Courts have banned the teaching of Christianity in public schools but Wicca, which is recognized by the U.S. courts as a religion and given tax-exempt status by the IRS, is taught freely. Harry Potter has become the method of introduction of Wicca to the very young.

Harry Potter materials have become much more than a hand full of children's fantasy books. Warner Brothers, Coca Cola, Minutemaid, and Mattel have used the Potter materials to launch games, puzzles, toys, backpacks, and every possible merchandizing product.

Scholastic, Inc., a major supplier of public school teaching aids has added the Potter literature to its line of curriculum materials. When the name "Harry Potter" is keyed into the Scholastic.com web site search engine, it returns 268 matches. "Jesus" returned only 23.

And now, a major movie is about to break on the scene called "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone." Millions of dollars are being spent on pre-release hype.

Once introduced to the world of wizards, spells, and dark arts, readers of Harry Potter can advance their knowledge and skills in witchcraft and paganism by visiting the hundreds of web sites available on the internet.

Or, they can purchase more books on the subject from the well stocked Wiccan sections in local book super stores. Or, they can find over a thousand volumes on witchcraft available at Amazon.com.

Harry Potter books have taken the world of children's fantasy literature by storm. Over 200 million have been sold in 40 languages. One study shows that over half of the children in the western world have read at least one of the Potter books. Many reported rereading each book several times.

But is it just fantasy literature like Snow White and Cinderella? In the Harry Potter video, cult expert Caryl Matrisciana points out that in the older stories, evil never prevails.

There are no absolutes in his world. What is right depends on the situation.

Witchcraft now has a complete package. Starting in kindergarten with Harry Potter and TV witch shows, children are led on to the horror movies and hundreds of Wicca and pagan web sites. When they thirst for more power, high school and college Wicca covens are available. In the adult world, corporations are hiring New Age practitioners to provide seminars in sensitivity training, stress relief, and self improvement for employees.

Former Satanist William Schnoebelen points out in his book, Wicca, Satan's Little White Lie, that, "I finally learned in the most graphic fashion imaginable that the difference between witchcraft or Wicca and Satanism is actually non-existent."

Before he was saved he found himself cruising the streets looking for a lone female to assault, not for sex, but to drink her blood. [See also Schnoebelen, Lucifer Dethroned, chapter 18.]

The bottom line is a hunger for power. Harry Potter and the rest of witchcraft promises that power. But in the end they discover that Satan is really in charge of the power and only uses it like cheese in a mouse trap.

Harry Potter provides a basic initiation into witchcraft for a whole new generation. Imagine what the world will be like when they grow up.

The supposedly “ancient” stories on which Wicca is based are almost certainly bunk, historians say.

Wicca, or witchcraft, and similar “neopagan” faiths are among the fastest-growing religions in the country, with as many as 200,000 adherents, says Charlotte Allen, writing in The Atlantic Monthly magazine.

Many who practice Wicca, also known as the goddess movement, are white, middle-class, highly educated, and involved in environmental and liberal causes, Allen says. Two-thirds are women. Wiccans say they practice a harmless magic and do not worship Satan.

Many adherents come to Wicca after reading the history of the faith, its teachings, and rituals in The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess, a book by Starhawk, also known as Miriam Simos, a California witch, the Monthly reported.

Simos says in her book that the religion began more than 35,000 years ago. Its early adherents worshiped a female deity, she said, making images of the goddess all over prehistoric Europe, and lived for thousands of years in societies that were egalitarian, attuned to nature, and focused on women.

Then invaders swept across the region introducing warrior gods and patriarchal society, the book says. This was followed by Christianity, after which religious and secular authorities began a 400-year campaign to eradicate the Old Religion, as it is also known, the book says. Nine million people, most of whom were strong, independent women including midwives and herbal healers, were exterminated, it claims.

Stories about the goddess today not only infuse the neopagan movement, but inform the philosophies of modern feminists such as Gloria Steinem, the Monthly reports.

But probably not a single element of the Wiccan story is true, the magazine reported. Scholars say they have concluded that Wicca is not an ancient religion at all, but “a 1950s concoction” influenced by Masonic ritual and the occult, according to the Monthly.

They have concluded that Wicca was created by Gerald B. Gardner, an English civil servant and amateur anthropologist who died in 1964. Gardner was influenced by the German Romantics of the 19th century, the occult, and Freemasonry, according to Philip Davis, professor of religion at the University of Prince Edward Island. In 1950, Gardner claimed to have rediscovered a religion he called Wica, with that spelling, but in fact copied rites borrowed from occult rituals, Davis said. Ronald Hutton, a University of Bristol historian, also concluded that Gardner’s “ancient” religion was concocted from modern sources. The ancients did not worship a single goddess, but were polytheists, building shrines to many gods and goddesses, he said.

The debunking of the official Wiccan narrative has not fazed adherents of the religion. They say they are not concerned that their understanding of the origins of Wicca may be mistaken. Instead they consider the stories inspiring legends and continue to follow the faith because it gives them a sense of connection to the earth’s cycle of birth, growth, and regeneration, and affords a sense of the spiritual.

Some Unitarian congregations are moving closer to Wicca. A year ago, Pleasant Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Garland, Texas, became more “earth-centered,” holding rituals in which members lit candles for the elements of earth, air, fire, and water. Sermons focused more on natural themes, and worship leaders began using the words god and goddess, The Dallas Morning News reported. Although some members left, the church decided to “go pagan,” the first such Unitarian Universalist congregation in Texas and the third in the nation to do so.

“We respect the earth we live on and seek to live in harmony with all who share it,” the church’s literature reads. “We believe that there is no ‘one true way’ to spiritual enlightenment and invite all gods to share their wisdom with us.”

Millions of people observe Hallowe'en as a time to have fun, kick up their heels, go to costume parties, dress up as ghosts, mass murderers, goblins, ghouls, witches, warlocks, demons, and send their children "trick or treating." But WHY? What is behind this major holiday, whose commercial importance grows year by year? Is it all so innocent as millions assume? What does the Word of the Living God say about it?

According to the comic strip "Cathy," in the Sunday, October 29, 1995 Pasadena Star-News, in the past ten years Hallowe'en has tripled in size, and one out of every three adult men and women will dress up in full Hallowe'en costumes this year. Hallowe'en parties now rank third, right behind New Year's Eve and the Superbowl, and Hallowe'en is second only to Christmas for home decorations. "Cathy" asks, "What's going on here?? Can a generation raised on therapy find no better way to cope with stress than to put on a Batman suit??" She goes on, "Are we so repressed that we need to create a $400 million holiday to act out our fantasies??" Good questions!

Where did Hallowe'en come from, anyway? Why do so many people enjoy it, and dressing up in bizarre, ghoulish, and grotesque costumes? Is it all just innocent fun and games, and nothing to worry about? Or is there an occult, sinister, dark side to Hallowe'en that few people today suspect, or know anything about?

In the November issue of a religious magazine called The Plain Truth ... there is an article on Hallowe'en in a section called "Questions." The question they attempt to answer is: "How should a Christian view Halloween?"

Notice how they tippy-toe around this question in their answer. First of all, they admit: "Halloween, or All Hallows' Eve, falls on Oct. 31. It immediately precedes All Saints' Day on Nov.1. All Saints' Day celebrates the memory of Christian martyrs who suffered and died for the sake of the gospel [sounds like they are endorsing its observance, doesn't it?]... the Roman Catholic Church did not order the UNIVERSAL OBSERVANCE of All Saints' Day on Nov.1 until the ninth century. "In ancient Britain and Ireland, Oct.31 marked the eve of the new year and the pagan Celtic festival of Sambain (sic, it should be "Samhain") ... "At Sambain (sic), the souls of the dead were thought to come back and visit their homes. Bonfires were lit to scare evil spirits. Sinister figures -- witches, ghosts, goblins, and demons -- supposedly roamed about" (p.10).

It almost sounds as if they are admitting that the origin of Hallowe'en is distinctly PAGAN. But they also seem to be admitting that it is a "Christian holiday," now, and assert, "The pagan practices gradually swayed the celebration of All Hallows Eve."

Is it all right, therefore, for Christians to observe it? Or should all people steer far clear of this pagan celebration? The article concludes, in a weak-kneed, insipid, compromising stance, giving no advice whatsoever and never answers the original question! Rather, the magazine says: "Because of the pagan elements that long ago became attached to the evening, many devout Christians choose to avoid trick or treating and other Halloween customs. Christian parents often steer their children away from taking part is what they see as a celebration of darkness and mischief" (emphasis mine, throughout).

How quaint. How sweet. The implication, of course, is that the decision is yours to make -- that God's Word says nothing really about it one way or the other. The article concludes, "A dedicated Christian will not knowingly celebrate evil. With this in mind, many Christians avoid participation in the dark practices associated with the celebration of Halloween" (ibid.). Really? Is that all there is to it? The idea seems to be that you can celebrate it if you wish, so long as you avoid any purely "evil" or "dark practices" connected with it, whatever they may be. The message I receive from this is that you can go ahead, and have fun, but just "remember Christ" and don't do anything that would constitute a "dark practice." I suppose that means, don't murder, rape or kill somebody, dismember, or hurt anybody.

I found the Pasadena Star-News article far more informative and helpful, in exposing the true origin of this popular holiday. In an article "Unmasking Halloween traditions," Christopher Nyerges writes: "The roots of Halloween go back to the Celts. To the ancient Celts, there were six significant fire ceremonies during the year. The greatest of these were Beltane, the first of May, and Samhain, the last day of October. "The feast of Samhain (meaning `summer's end'), marked both their Feast of the Dead and the Celtic New Year. This time of the year, half-way between the autumnal equinox and the winter solstice, was a time of decay and death on the earth. "Samhain ushered in the darkest and most barren time of the year, a time fraught with ghosts, witches, demons, and fairies. "Fire rites, during which HUMAN AND ANIMAL SACRIFICES were made, were performed in the belief that they'd protect the crops and flocks from demonic influence" (Saturday, October 28, 1995).

The Celts believed that on the Feast of Samhain, the spirits of their ancestors would rise up from the cold fields and graves and come into the warm homes and cottages of the people, and had to be greeted with decorations and festivities, parties and acceptance, in order to get "protection" for the household from evil spirits during the coming winter months. Offerings were made to protect the household from malicious spirits or demons.

Says Christopher Nyerges: "Thus, in its origin, the Feast of Samhain was a rite designed to protect humans from the `evil' activities of the dis-incarnate. It was, if you will, a BARGAIN WITH THE DEAD so they'd stay away and cause no trouble during the next year."

The World Book Encyclopedia describes the origin of this holiday in these words: "The Celtic Festival of Samhain is probably the source of the present-day Halloween celebration. The Celts lived more than 2,000 years ago in what is now Great Britain, Ireland, and northern France. Their new year began on November 1. A festival that began the previous evening honored Samhain, the Celtic lord of death. The celebration marked the beginning of the season of cold, darkness, and decay. It naturally became associated with human death. The Celts believed that Samhain allowed the souls of the dead to return to their earthly homes for this evening. "On the evening of the festival, the Druids, who were the priests and teachers of the Celts, ordered the people to put out their hearth fires. The Druids built a huge, new year's BONFIRE of oak branches, which they considered sacred. They burned animals, crops, and possibly even human beings as SACRIFICES. Then each family relit its hearth fire from the new year's fire. During the celebration, people sometimes WORE COSTUMES made of animal heads and skins. They told fortunes about the coming year by examining the remains of the animals that had been sacrificed" (article "Halloween," p.25).

This Celtic holiday entered the Roman Empire after the Romans conquered the Celts in A.D. 43 and ruled Great Britain for about 400 years. During this time two Roman festivals of the autumn were combined with the Celtic Festival of Samhain. One of them, Feralia, was held in late October to honor the dead. The other honored Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruits and trees. Apples probably became connected with Halloween because of this festival. Says the Encyclopedia Britannica, eleventh edition, of Hallowe'en: "Hallowe'en and its formerly attendant ceremonies long antedate Christianity. The two chief characteristics of ancient Hallowe'en were the lighting of bonfires and the belief that of all nights in the year this is the one during which ghosts and witches are most likely to wander abroad. Now on or about the first of November the Druids held their great autumnal festival and lighted fires in honor of the SUN-GOD in thanksgiving for the harvest.

Further, it was a Druid belief that on the eve of this festival, Saman, LORD OF DEATH, called together the wicked souls that within the past twelve months had been condemned to inhabit the bodies of animals. Thus it is clear that the main celebrations of Hallowe'en were purely Druidical, and this is further proved by the fact that in parts of Ireland the 31st of October was, and even still is, known as Oidhche Shamhna, `Vigil of Samhan.' On the Druid ceremonies were GRAFTED some of the characteristics of the Roman festival in honor of Pomona held about the end of November, in which nuts and apples, as representing the winter store of fruits, played an important part. Thus the roasting of nuts and the sport known as `apple-ducking' -- attempting to seize with the teeth an apple floating in a tub of water -- were once the universal occupation of the young folk in medieval England on the 31st of October.

The custom of lighting Hallowe'en fires survived until recent years in the highlands of Scotland and Wales. In the dying embers it was usual to place as many small stones as there were persons around, and next morning a search was made. If any of the pebbles were displaced it was regarded as certain that the person represented would die within the next twelve months" ("Hallowe'en, p.857-858). But what happened? How did this ancient Druid, Celtic festival in honor of the "Lord of the Dead," and celebrated in worship of the "Sun-god," ever creep into the practice of the "Christian Church"?

Hallowe'en Enters "Christianity":

Many ancient pagan practices became incorporated into the practices of the early Church, including virtually every pagan festival known to the Romans and the inhabitants of the Roman Empire. Hallowe'en was no exception. The World Book Encyclopedia relates: "Many of the customs of the Celts survived even after the people became Christians. During the 800's, the church established All Saints' Day on November 1. THE PEOPLE MADE THE OLD PAGAN CUSTOMS PART OF THIS CHRISTIAN HOLY DAY. THE CHURCH BEGAN TO HONOR THE DEAD ON NOVEMBER 2. This day became known as All Souls' Day."

Writes Christopher Nyerges, in "Unmasking Halloween traditions": "In the 700s, the Roman Catholic Church authorities accepted the fact that they had failed in their attempts to eliminate the Samhain observations, which were considered `PAGAN.' Thus, as has often occurred when New Religion clashed with Old Religion, the names of the holy days were changed. Nov.1 became All Saints' Day, and the day before became the Hallowed Eve, or Holy Eve, which we today call Halloween. THIS WAY, THE OLD RELIGION PRACTICE OF SAMHAIN COULD CONTINUE, BUT NOW IT WAS A CHRISTIAN [sic] HOLY DAY. As a result, the members of the Catholic Church increased, everyone way happy and things went on as usual." How blatant! How plain! How clever and odious!

The Church could not conquer or stamp out the paganism in the hearts and traditions of the people, so it did the opposite -- it embraced, and took to its bosom, the paganism of old, and "baptized" it, and then called these pagan practices "CHRISTIAN"!

But what does Almighty God, and Jesus Christ, our Saviour, say about this sort of thing? Is it all right in God's sight if any of His people worship Him with the practices of ancient pagan religions? It is acceptable with God if we follow pagan-derived practices and call them "Christian"? Christ never observed Hallowe'en. None of the apostles observed it. None of the early churches in the first century observed it. It did not even become an official "Catholic" holy (sic) day until the NINTH CENTURY -- over 800 years after the time of Christ! The fact that Hallowe'en is making a huge successful comeback, today, and is observed by MILLIONS around the world, shows that paganism is itself making a tremendous leap forward under the guise of the modern "Christian" religion. Should any true Christian, or believer in the Messiah Yeshua, observe the popular holiday?

What the Word of God Says:

Jesus Christ very plainly said that man should not live by bread only, but by every word of God (Matt.4:4; Luke 4:4). All Scripture is given by God's inspiration and is profitable for doctrine, correction, reproof, and guidance in our lives (2 Tim.3:16-17). God's Word is truth -- truth to live by (John 17:17). What then does God's Word say about adopting and "baptizing" pagan practices and calling them "Christian" and following them? Is it all right to combine PAGAN religion -- the "old religion" -- with God's truth?

God's Word says:

"Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you" (Deut.4:2).

God thunders in His Word: "Observe and hear all these words which I command thee, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee for ever, when thou doest that which is good and right in the sight of the LORD thy God. When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations [pagan nations] from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land; take heed to thyself that thou BE NOT SNARED BY FOLLOWING THEM ... and that thou inquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise. "THOU SHALT NOT DO SO UNTO THE LORD THY GOD: for EVERY ABOMINATION to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the FIRE to their gods. "What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it" (Deut.12:28-32).

The prophet Jeremiah plainly tells us in straight language which brooks no compromise or misinterpretation: "Thus saith the LORD, learn NOT the way of the heathen ... For the customs of the people are VAIN . . ." (Jeremiah 10:2-3). The pagan origin of Hallowe'en, no matter how the Roman Catholic Church tries to whitewash it, or colorize it, or "Christianize" it, is plainly obvious for all to see. The real question is: Whom are we going to obey? The true God of heaven and earth, our Creator? Or the "god" of this world, Satan the devil, the real "god" behind the mask of Hallowe'en? The Scriptures tell us forcefully that Satan is "the great dragon," "that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which DECEIVETH THE WHOLE WORLD" (Rev.12:9). He is the master of subtlety and deception. He calls good evil, and evil good. He says, "What's the harm in observing Hallowe'en, and having a little `innocent' fun?" It is his purpose to delude, deceive, and destroy mankind by leading them into sin, lawlessness, and disobedience to the laws and Word of Almighty God.

When Caesar invaded Britain, he found the Druids leading the Britons in the worship of the sun-god and his consort, the queen of heaven. This was the same age-old "mystery" religious system that originated from ancient Babylon and Egypt. Samhain, the "lord of the dead," was none other than that old idolatrous figure Nimrod.

Says Alexander Hislop in The Two Babylons:

"The Druidic system in all its parts was evidently the BABYLONIAN SYSTEM. Dionysius informs us, that the rites of Bacchus were duly celebrated in the British Islands ... and Strabo cites Artemidorus to show that, in an island close to Britain, Ceres and Proserpine were venerated with rites similar to the orgies of Samothrace. It will be seen from the account of the Druid Ceridwen and her child, afterwards to be noticed -- that there was a great analogy between her character and that of the great goddess-mother of Babylon. Such was the system; and the name Dryw, or Droi, applied to the priests, is in exact accordance with that system. The name Zero, given in Hebrew or the early Chaldee, to the son of the great goddess queen, in later Chaldee became `Dero.' The priest of Dero, `the seed,' was called, as in the case in almost all religions, by the name of his god; and hence the familiar name `Druid' is thus proved to signify the priest of `Dero' -- the woman's promised `seed'" (p.81, footnote).

Hislop further tells us:

"The worship of Bel and Astarte [Nimrod and Easter] was very early introduced into Britain, along with the Druids, `the priests of the groves' ..... From Bel, the 1st of May is still called Beltane in the Almanac; and we have customs still lingering at this day among us, which prove how exactly the worship of Bel or MOLOCH (for both titles belong to the same god) had been observed even in the northern parts of this island ... every year, at Beltane (or the 1st of May), a number of men and women assemble at an ancient Druidical circle of stones ... They light a fire in the centre, each person puts a bit of oat-cake in a shepherd's bonnet. One piece has been previously blackened, and whoever gets that piece has to jump through the fire in the centre of the circle, and pay a forfeit. This is, in fact, A PART OF THE ANCIENT WORSHIP OF BAAL, and the person on whom the lot fell was previously burnt as a sacrifice. Now, the passing through the fire represents that, and the payment of the forfeit redeems the victim" (p.103-104).

One of Nimrod's names under which he was worshipped as a god, was "Molech," the god of fire. Molech was the god of barbarity, cruelty and blood. The name itself is a form of the Hebrew word `melek' which means "king." Nimrod was the first man after the Flood of Noah's time to become a "king" and to carve out for himself a "kingdom" on the earth (see Genesis 10:8-10). At first he was worshipped as the "revealer of goodness and truth," but gradually his worship was made to correspond to the darker and more forbidding side of his nature. The horrible rites associated with the worship of this fiend have made the very name a symbol of cruelty and terror, such as is associated with Hallowe'en. Only it was very read, not just pretend.

Says Hislop:

"In almost every land the bloody worship prevailed; `horrid cruelty' hand in hand with abject superstition, filled not only `the dark places of the earth,' but also the regions that boasted of their enlightenment. Greece, Rome, Egypt, Phenicia, Assyria, and our own land under the savage Druids, at one period or other in their history, worshipped the same god and in the same way. Human victims were his most acceptable offerings; human groans and wailings were the sweetest music in his ears; human tortures were believed to delight his heart" (p.151). Hislop relates that the Druids "offered human sacrifices to their bloody gods." He adds: "We have evidence that they `made their children pass through the fire to Molech,' and that makes it highly probable that they also offered them in sacrifice; for from Jeremiah 32:35, compared with Jeremiah 19:5, we find that these two things were parts of one and the same system.

The god whom the Druids worshipped was BAAL, as the blazing Baal-fires show, and the last cited passage proves that children were offered in sacrifice to Baal. When `fruit of the body' was thus offered, it was `for the sin of the soul.' And it was a principle of the Mosaic law, a principle no doubt derived from the patriarchal faith, that the priest must partake of whatever was offered as a sin-offering (Numbers 18:9, 10). Hence, the priests of Nimrod or Baal were necessarily required to eat of the human sacrifices; and thus it has come to pass that `Cahna-Bal,' the `Priest of Baal,' is the established word in our own tongue for a devourer of human flesh" (Two Babylons, p.232). Thus our word "cannibal" comes from the word "Cahna-Bal," meaning originally "priest of Baal." Also, Molech, the name for "King" Nimrod, another appellation of Baal, or Bel, was obviously connected with the "bon fires" that were lit by the ancient Celts in their celebration of "Samhain," "lord of the dead."

Thus the origin of the holiday we know as "Hallowe'en" is incredibly ugly, vile, and an abomination in the sight of Almighty God, and Jesus Christ. God Word says of this inhuman and vile pagan religion: "And they built the high places of BAAL, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this ABOMINATION . . ." (Jer.32:35).

God thunders: "They have built also the high places for BAAL, to burn their sons with fire for BURNT OFFERINGS unto BAAL, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind: Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that this place shall no more be called Tophet, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of slaughter" (Jer.19:5). When we consider the horrible ancestry of this modern celebration of Hallowe'en, and its gruesome and grotesque connection with darkness and evil, how can a true Christian even imagine to have anything whatsoever to do with this hideous, horrible, and macabre eve of pagan glorification of Satan, witchcraft, demons, ghouls, sorcery, and diabolical Satanic deception? What should a true Christian do about such "holidays"?

God's Word clearly commands and instructs us: "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with DARKNESS? And what concord hath Christ with BELIAL (Satan the Devil)? Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with IDOLS? ... Where-fore, COME OUT FROM AMONG THEM, AND BE YE SEPARATE, saith the Lord, and TOUCH NOT THE UN-CLEAN THING; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty" (2 Corinthians 6:14-18).

*

Coming from an alcoholic home, with an agnostic father, and believing Christians to be hypocritical and superficial, young Marcia Montenegro sought refuge and cerebral satisfaction in the world of the occult. By the grace of God, after nearly 20 years of being associated with spirit guides, astrology and witches, Montenegro finally found what she had spent so many years seeking.

Before she found real peace and spiritual contentment, however, Montenegro had taken a dark and rebellious path to spirituality. While in high school, she became disillusioned with Christianity, which to her seemed "defined by sermons, going to Sunday school and doing good works."

"I was missing out on something," she recounted. "Also, I never fit in during my high school years. Being someone who wrote poetry, being in an alcoholic home, and having no real roots all combined to make me feel different and unlike other people."

Throughout her college years, Montenegro studied Eastern philosophies and delved into paranormal experiences. "One bright, sunny Florida afternoon, as I rested on my bed fully awake with eyes partly closed, I felt myself floating. I opened my eyes and was stunned to see my body on the bed below me as I hovered near the ceiling. This was my first out-of-body experience."

Her odyssey into this psychic world continued through the '70s and '80s, entailing astrology, Hindu and Buddhist beliefs and the paranormal. Passing a seven-hour exam on astrology to qualify for a business license, she became a professional astrologer and eventually began teaching astrology. "I wrote for New Age journals, gave lectures, and sat on the board of astrology examiners that gave and graded exams," Montenegro recounted. "In June of 1989, I became president of the Metropolitan Atlanta Astrological Society."

Yet, with all the knowledge and success she achieved in her chosen field, she struggled with doubt and apprehension. "I would try to chase away these fears by meditating or chanting.... I sought peace in Zen Buddhism.... But I noticed that the peace I had felt with my initial meditations had decreased, causing me to meditate more in an attempt to recapture that elusive peace.

"I also learned that the nature of occult and New Age thinking is that there is no one answer. There is no one single truth, and there is no one reality. But these teachings gave answers that only raised more questions."

Then, in 1990, Montenegro was gripped by a compulsion to go to church. "Since I hated Christianity, churches and Christians by now, this made me angry. After struggling against it for a while, I decided to give in, hoping it would go away. It was probably from one of my former lives as a priest or monk, I reasoned.

"In the opening minutes of a service in a large church in downtown Atlanta, I felt a love I had never known wash down over and through me so powerfully that I started crying. I knew this love was from God ... that love was the real thing."

Thus began Montenegro's walk with Jesus. By the end of 1990, she had given up astrology altogether and accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior.

"Reading the Bible put me in touch with something pure. I felt as though I was being cleansed from the inside out as I read it," she recounted.

"I realized that the only way to be forgiven, the only way to be reconciled with God was through Jesus. I knew that the truth and the answer to all my questions were one and the same: Jesus Christ.

"Jesus was different from the masters I had studied," Montenegro said. "He was more real than the spirit guides, the ascended masters, the higher self -- all those airy, elusive things that gave no evidence of their existence -- because he came to earth in the flesh. No sorcerer, no spiritual master, no Buddha, no shaman, no witch, no psychic has conquered death, but all still lie cold in their graves. But Jesus has power over death and is living today. And so I gave myself to Christ, the Savior, and knew I belonged to him from that moment on."

But after her life-altering decision for Christ, Montenegro found that her association with the occult was far from over. Slowly the Holy Spirit began convicting her to reach out to others caught in its seductive world.

"The Lord just started opening doors for me. I never set out to have a ministry. I resisted going fulltime, but after encouragement from others and prayer on my part about it, the Lord convicted me in 1996 [throughout the year, not at one point] to go fulltime. So in 1997, I was interviewed by a mission board, Fellowship International Mission in Allentown, Pa., and was appointed. I am still working on my support, which is not at 100 percent yet."

With the release of this year's most anticipated film, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," Marcia said she believes Ouija boards, psychic readers and other forms of misleading supernatural entertainment will become popular fads -- and it is a mistake to take such activities lightly.

"The occult incorporates beliefs that are often subjective and experiential rather than based on any moral ground," she said. "In fact, there is no absolute good and evil in the occult, and there is no standard for morality.

"I think [American] culture does not recognize or believe this, and may not even care," Montenegro added.

"The thing is, occult practices have become widely accepted as forms of entertainment. For example, cable channels are loaded with TV psychics, tarot card readers, etc. I do not know if they are real psychics. There are some who are con artists, but there are also serious people who are in the occult as part of a belief system. But I think most of the people who answer the phones are simply trained in how to talk to people who call in.

"Deuteronomy 18:10-12 forbids contacting mediums and spiritists. I believe that if a Christian consults a psychic or astrologer, he will be affected. I can't predict how -- I think it's different for different people. But one thing I've noticed is that they lose interest in going to church, reading the Bible, praying. Their walk with God is weakened."

When speaking with someone who is toying with psychic revelations, Montenegro said, "I try to lead to a discussion of Christ and if they had ever trusted him. To someone who is not proclaiming Christianity [such as a New Ager or an agnostic or atheist], I ask them how they think the psychic is getting answers. I attempt to use this as a discussion of their beliefs and try to introduce the gospel."

Asked if she feels God will punish America for its involvement with the occult as entertainment, Montenegro responded, "No. I don't think God is punishing anyone until Judgment Day. He sent Christ for salvation and is giving the world a chance to know Christ, then judgment comes. I think God will just let us suffer the consequences of whatever actions we take, whether as individuals or as countries."

As ardently as Montenegro urges against getting involved with the occult, she is just as concerned about loving those who are involved in such practices, reminding that Christians are called to share the good news, to be salt and light in a dark world. The focus of her ministry is to educate Christians about the occult so they can be discerning.

"The occult is here and it's growing," Montenegro said. "Let us respond to it with truth, love and the light of Christ. Let us shine the light of Christ on the darkness of the occult, so that those who need Christ see the darkness they are in and their need for Christ."

Today, Montenegro is at peace. "The difference is that I am spiritually satisfied. There is more to learn and much room to grow, but the learning and growth spring from Christ as the foundation, not from a search outside him. The search has ended; the thirst has been quenched; the hunger within has been filled."

___________________________

http://cana.userworld.com/cana_spiritualjourney.html

For several years, our offices were located on the third floor of an old factory building. An alley ran behind our building, and there was an antique elevator that was useful if you had to transport things to that third floor. Now, if you parked back there, you had to walk by this big old electrical thing that was surrounded by a chain link fence - with a sign that had these words in big print: "High voltage. Do not touch." I never knew anybody who disregarded those instructions.

Well, I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A WORD WITH YOU today about "God's Big 'Do Not Touch' Sign."

When there's something really hazardous, there's often a "do not touch" sign on it, put there by people who know how much harm it can do. God has put a sign like that on some things that may not appear harmful on the outside, but which carry deadly spiritual voltage.

One of His "do not touch" signs is in our word for today from the Word of God in Deuteronomy 18, beginning with verse 10. God says, "Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son in the fire, who practices divination." By the way, the dictionary says that divination is "attempting to foretell future events or discover hidden knowledge by supernatural means." Then God says, "There should be no one who practices sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead." Then, just in case you think God takes any of this lightly, the Bible has this sobering conclusion: "Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord." Strong language!

It's obvious that God hates this stuff - because all the non-God approaches to the supernatural are controlled by the devil. Now as you heard that list, you may have thought about how much those "do not touch" things are all throughout our culture, with a sign on them that says, "Touch me. I'm harmless. I'm exciting. I'm just something to do for fun."

It can be a slumber party séance, a ouija board, consulting a horoscope, or crystals. You can find sorcery and witchcraft in compelling fantasy games, in best-selling books, in popular TV shows, and in blockbuster movies that are a "must" for every child to see and every parent to take their child to. We're told it's good for the imagination and it's harmless fantasy.

Read those verses again and see if God agrees. He calls all the supernatural stuff that isn't from Him "detestable." And having dealt with a lot of young people who have ended up unwittingly trapped in occult darkness, I know some of why God hates it. He knows how Satan works. He doesn't ever tell you about what's in his deadly package - he just gets you interested in his bright and seemingly irresistible wrapping paper. The devil is simply looking for a foot in the door - and for many, that opening has been just an "innocent" curiosity about the other side, a little fantasy experience or simple experimentation that opened a door that should have always remained locked. That's why God says in Ephesians 5:10, "Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness."

The occult, the dark side, the "supernatural without God" - they're just not something to flirt with or to mess with. We have nothing to lose from avoiding them and so much to lose potentially by exposing ourselves or our children to them. It is spiritual high voltage, no matter how interesting or inviting it looks. And when God says, "Do not touch," He means it!

________________

Copyright © Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc., PO Box 400, Harrison, AR 72602. Used by permission. Written by Ron Hutchcraft. 'Practical Answers to Real Life Issues'

*

"Can a bokor (witch doctor) put a person's soul in a bottle?" That was the question the pastor put to a workshop at the Danda clinic in Haiti. Some of the participants giggled and whispered to each other. By the low murmur from the group, obviously there was a difference of opinion among them.

For a large sum of money, the local bokor will prepare a concoction in a bottle, which can be used either for protection or to attack someone. The bokor will even come to the house to make sure the spell is cast properly (for another fee, of course).

One of the counselors at the workshop remembered the story of a young woman who sought revenge against a neighbor for stealing a T-shirt, after the two had argued. The bokor was hired and the potion prepared. However, the woman's mother intervened and the bokor left without doing his work. The woman later found the T-shirt behind the bed. A rat had dragged it there to make a nest. The fears, the arguments, the money wasted were for nothing. The woman immediately sent for the local church leaders to pray with her. She accepted Christ immediately, thanking God for delivering her from evil.

The pastor pointed the participants to Ephesians 6 and the armor God has for us. As servants for the Living God, we are protected. We can put our souls in God's bottle for sure protection.

Some twenty-five years ago, a Stanford astronomy professor surveyed members of the American Astronomical Society. The subject: UFOs. About 1,300 astronomers responded — and what they said sheds light on the kind of people who believe they encounter UFOs.

Although nearly all so-called UFOs can be explained by natural causes, a small percentage can't be. Hugh Ross, himself a Christian, an astronomer, and the author of a book titled LIGHTS IN THE SKY AND LITTLE GREEN MEN, says researchers call these unexplainable phenomena “residual UFOs.” In the Stanford study, sixty-two astronomers, or 5 percent, said they'd seen residual UFOs. But here's the interesting part: Astronomers with just a few observation hours per year witnessed UFOs, while those logging more than a thousand hours per year saw nothing.

This reverse correlation “demonstrates that something besides observing time determines who sees” UFOs and who does not, Ross writes. The most important factor, according to Ross, appears to be the activities these astronomers pursue. Those who are deeply involved in cultic, occultic, or certain New Age pursuits often see UFOs, whereas astronomers who avoid those things do not.

Twenty years of study have led Ross to believe that the principle is universal. Whenever he says this on television or on the radio, he hears from people who claim they're the exception. But upon deeper investigation, Ross writes, it turns out the person actually IS mixed up in some way with occultic or New Age activities.

To support his thesis, Ross points to documented cases in which several people are together at an event, but only some of them witness the UFO. Some will see the UFO and react both physically and psychologically, Ross writes, while others “see nothing and experience nothing.”

According to Ross, these UFO encounters “strike witnesses with intense fear, distress, and anxiety.” Others experience nightmares, visions, hallucinations, and personality changes. Significantly, Ross writes, “Many who have had close contact with a residual UFO adopt new belief systems.” He points to the many UFO-related cults and religions — cults whose teaching deny the divinity of Christ and the need for a Savior.

For these reasons and many others, Ross is convinced that the so-called UFOs are actually evidence of demonic activity. He points to Scriptures that warn that demons can attack only those who, through their pursuits and friendships, invite them. This, of course, is exactly what the victims of UFO phenomena do.

Skeptics often claim that UFO events are simply hoaxes. Ross agrees. But humans may not be the perpetrators. The nature of these UFOs, and the impact they have on people, are far beyond human capability. Witnesses instead appear to be the victims “of a hoax perpetrated by superhuman authors,” according to Ross.

You might want to read Ross's fascinating book LIGHTS IN THE SKY AND LITTLE GREEN MEN. It gives a rational look at UFOs. And then, the next time your kids watch a film about “friendly” aliens, or read about the latest UFO sighting, share Ross's concerns with them. If Ross is right, there's nothing friendly about these so-called aliens.

FOR FURTHER READING AND INFORMATION:

• Hugh Ross, Lights in the Sky and Little Green Men (NavPress, 2002). Ross also has a companion video and DVD to the book.

• Judy Tarjanyi, “Astronomer links UFOs to occultism,” Toledo Blade, 4 January 2003.

• “UFOs Mystify Scientists,” BBC News, 1 July 1998.

• Visit the PBS pages “Hunt for Alien Worlds“ and “Kidnapped by UFOs.”

• Michael Gleghorn, “UFOs and Space Aliens,” Probe Ministries, 2003.

• Ravi Zacharias, Can Man Live without God? (Word Books, 1994).

• See past BreakPoint commentaries: “The Cosmic Drama,” “'Maybe We're All Martians,'“ “Lunarians, Venusians, and Martians,” “Is It E.T. — or a Goose?“, “The Real Culprits,” and “UFOs, Little Green Men, and Cloned Babies.”

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Copyright (c) 2004 Prison Fellowship Ministries. Reprinted with permission. "BreakPoint with Chuck Colson" is a radio ministry of Prison Fellowship Ministries.

*

Magic -- even magic associated with witchcraft -- has become one of the most popular subjects for teen entertainment in America. Of course, few Christians would condemn the magic of Hans Christian Andersen, C.S. Lewis or J.R.R. Tolkien -- in fact, those writers wrote about magic in a way that reinforced Christian worldview and doctrines.

But the magic that is such a hot topic today with teenagers is connected with Wicca, a modern witchcraft movement that embraces a revival of ancient pagan traditions. Christian parents today must be aware of this growing phenomenon, because while Wicca does attract adults, the vast majority of new Wiccans become involved as teenagers. Informal groups of Wiccans called covens have popped up in most cities in the United States.

In understanding Wicca, parents should be aware that witchcraft is not harmless fun, but an explicitly anti-Christian worldview and a collection of fundamentally unbiblical practices. Without delving into Wiccan history, here is a summary of Wiccans' beliefs and what parents should know to protect their children from this movement.

WHAT WICCANS BELIEVE

Wiccan ethics. Hexes, curses and black magic surface in any discussion of witchcraft, but modern Wicca claims to promote positive social values, such as peace and good will. Wiccans follow a creed called “the Rede” which states: “As you harm none, do as you will.” Or more simply: “As long as you don't hurt anyone, do what you want.” This is different from the satanic creed: “Do what thou wilt is the whole of the law” or “Do whatever you want -- period!” Wiccans also hold to the “Law of Return” also called the “Law of Three,” an idea related to karma: “For good or for ill, shall be returned to us threefold.” Again, in plain- speaking terms: “Whatever you do will have consequences for you three times over.” While this might seem close to the Bible's admonition, “A man reaps what he sows” (Galatians 6:7), the big difference is that the consequences come from God's authority. The universe doesn't have to “compensate” for good or bad things we do, but our relationship with God is affected.

Sexual liberation. No-rules sexuality is a hallmark of Wicca; anything that doesn't harm anyone and is consensual is okay. Wren Walker, one prominent Wiccan, proclaims: “We have no rules which prohibit homosexuality, nudity or pre-marital sex. Sex as the generative force in nature is seen by most pagans as something utterly sacred.” Sexuality is holy -- but not in the sense that Wiccans intend.

Christians believe that God created sex as a part of the marriage relationship and the boundaries He placed around it are for our own good, not to prevent people from having a good time or expressing themselves, as detractors might say.

Feminism. Feminists and disaffected women have been drawn to witchcraft throughout history, and Wicca is no exception -- the majority of Wiccans today are women. Wiccans have been effective in capitalizing on what they believe is Christendom's poor track record on the treatment of women. Wiccans are offended by thinking of God as God the Father and have come up with a counterpart they call Goddess. They even worship other female deities rooted in pagan mythology like Ishtar, Isis and Hecate. Some of the female deities worshiped by Wiccans are condemned by name in the Bible.

Nature worship. Wiccans revere nature. They have created an affinity link with ancient druidism and other nature-centric pagan movements. They are concerned with the changing seasons and the cycles of the moon. They are looking for harmony with nature rather than dominion over it. In fact, Wiccans believe that there is a goddess above everything, and there is a goddess in everything. That means that killing animals for any reason is wrong to many witches. It is common to find witches who are animal rights activists, vegetarians or environmentalists. One Wiccan claimed arrogantly: “If you take the Christian Bible and put it out in the wind and the rain, soon the paper on which the words are printed will disintegrate and the words will be gone. Our Bible IS the wind and the rain.”

Satanism and the new age movement. Calling witches “Satanists” or “devil worshipers” is not accurate, because Wiccans, by definition, do not believe in God or Satan, since they reject most traditional Christian teachings. Wiccans would not deny being occultic (having secret, mystical teachings and practices), but they reject the worship of evil, animal sacrifices and anything else associated with harming others. However, Aleister Crowley (the father of modern Satanism) remains one of the most important influences on “neopagan magick” -- the spelling preferred by Wiccans to set themselves apart. Likewise, the New Age movement holds many tenets in common with witchcraft, yet witches reject many of the practices and beliefs common to New Age practitioners. Wiccans might scoff at spirit-channeling but embrace reincarnation or karma.

SIGNS OF WICCAN INVOLVEMENT

How can you tell if your teens or their friends are involved in Wicca? Here are some things to watch for:

Withdrawal from church. Some teens may want to skip church in favor of an “alternative meeting,” possibly in a home or even another church. Some Wiccan groups are affiliated with Unitarian Universalists.

Internet networking with Wiccans. The Internet revolution means that people who would never be able to meet are able to create relationships. Wiccans have mastered this, so monitor your teenagers' participation in suspicious chat rooms, instant message buddies, e-mail newsletters and websites.

Dress and appearance. Wiccan teens often wear black or “natural colors” like dark green and brown. They also may wear silver jewelry like necklaces and earrings with occult symbols like pentagrams or goats' heads. They also may want tattoos with mystical symbols, especially Celtic patterns.

Reading habits. Books for teens on witchcraft are very popular -- not just fiction, but “how-to” guides like the “Book of Shadows,” “A Witch's Bible” and even the “Complete Idiot's Guide to Wicca and Witchcraft.”

New language. Look for new vocabulary especially in occult terms or religious terminology that seems “off.”

New interest in alternative issues. Radical environmentalism, radical feminism and the Goth subculture may be jumping off points into Wicca.

WHAT TO TELL OUR TEENS

Why are teenagers drawn to Wicca? The appeal of “magick” is “inside information” on how the world works behind the scenes, and getting power that others don't have. Some teens feel powerless and alone and seek to gain some kind of advantage over their peers. For others, Wicca is simply a fad, a fun secret shared with close friends. Regardless of the motivation, Wicca continues to be effective in drawing in new recruits.

Encourage your children to reach out to the lonely before they are even drawn to the occult in the first place. Wicca has become the ideal haven for “Goths,” loners, drug users and those struggling with homosexuality or depression. So, if you believe your child is dabbling in witchcraft or hanging out with Wiccans, enlist the help of your church's youth minister, pastor or counselor. Christian parents have a threefold duty where witchcraft is concerned: to understand the nature of the threat, protect their families from its influence and, most important, reach out to Wiccan teens to prevent the loss of a whole generation.

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William G. Wells is a writer based in Richardson, Texas. Reprinted with permission from On Mission magazine, a publication of the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention.

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In our civilized, scientific culture, we tend to think of paganism as something distant, lost in the world of developing nations. In those places, ignorant medicine men seek to chase off disease through spiritual rituals when they would find better results with a tub of bleach water and penicillin. The word “pagan” often brings to mind half-clothed natives dancing around the missionary in the pot, druids chanting inside Stonehenge, human sacrifice, and barbarism in general.

However, today there is a form of paganism spreading that looks surprisingly modern and has followers among intellectuals. While Judeo-Christian morality is increasingly seen as outdated and 'puritanical' in our Western World, the human need for spiritual fulfillment has not disappeared. Instead, updated forms of the old pagan religions are spreading once again. Modern, neo-Paganism takes on many of the ancient pagan beliefs about nature and the universe, fitting them to modern society. College professors, screenplay writers and the leaders of many ecological movements have delved into modern Paganism, and their ideas come home to us through our college students and our children's movies.

It is important that we recognize this neo-Paganism for what it is, and understand how greatly it comes in conflict with Biblical Christianity. This article will explore the basic beliefs of neo-Paganism. With a better understanding, we can help prepare our families to deal with the lure that Paganism has.

Paganism in general, no matter which local flavor, is characterized by reverence for nature and usually involves a number of gods, goddesses, or spirits. Shamanism, Druidism, and the local religions of hundreds of cultures can all be considered pagan. The most prevalent form of modern Paganism is Wicca, or witchcraft, which is an occult form of Paganism that includes casting spells and seeking 'hidden knowledge'.

Modern Paganism is a religion that reveres Nature as divine. Pagans see every plant, animal, man and woman as part of that divinity. Unlike the God of the Bible, who is separate from and greater than His creation, the natural world itself is considered divine and holy. While the God of the Bible created us in His image, the god and goddess are made in our image - in the image of created things.

To the Pagan, the divine is both female and male, so that Pagans worship both the goddess and the god; loving, wise figures who are seen as completely equal. There are also other lesser gods and goddesses called pantheons. Since Nature is seen as female - Mother Earth or Gaia - the goddess tends to be emphasized. She is seen as our mother, the creator and sustainer of life. Since she is responsible for all living things, the other creatures on our planet are seen as our brothers and sisters. For this reason, Pagans are highly environmentally conscious people - sometimes to extreme measures.

Pagan rituals and celebrations follow the cycle of life through the year - birth, maturity, aging and death, spring, summer, autumn and winter - in a continual, never-ending cycle. Even the universe is in a continual cycle. When this world ends, another will begin. The God of the Bible calls Himself the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End (Rev 1:8). However, Pagans deny any beginning or end, but see a constant cycle of death and rebirth. For this reason, they tend to affirm some form of reincarnation.

Sex and nudity are seen as part of nature, and Pagans have no qualms about sexual activity outside of marriage. In fact, Pagans have much in common with the ancient fertility religions and the high place worship that was done in groves of trees thousands of years ago (Ezek 6:13, Jer 3:6). In that respect, it is interesting that on May 1 Pagans celebrate Beltain, the marriage of the goddess and god, when the god becomes Oak King.

Pagans do not believe in sin or Satan. They are often upset when they are seen as Satanists or satanic, since Satan does not enter into their worldview. Rather, they accept concepts of karma and positive and negative energy. They have no rules or guidebook and no leader. Each pagan follows his or her own spiritual path. The single solid rule of Paganism is: “If it harms none, do what you will.” They seek to do 'good' according to their individual understanding of good, to help their communities and take care of the environment and create positive energy. They are responsible to themselves alone, and have their own values and ethics.

Paganism offers spirituality without any rules or regulations, and connection with the spiritual world without requiring submission to the will of the one true God. Paganism teaches that the individual is god, free to choose his or her own path, his or her own boundaries for morality. This is very appealing to those wanting to throw off what they see as oppressive patriarchal religions in favor of the more 'compassionate' female goddess of Paganism. It has had a great deal of influence in the intellectual world, as well as among teenagers. Teens who love nature anyway, and who don't want to be told what to do, find Paganism an attractive form of religion.

Unfortunately, while Pagans see their religion as harmless and good for the environment and community, they do not know the spiritual forces that are truly at work behind it (Eph 6:12, 1 John 4:1-3). Denying the problem of sin is self-deceptive and dangerous (1 John:1:8). And by denying sin, Pagans reject their need for a Savior. Whether or not Pagans believe in Satan has no bearing on the reality of his existence and his ability to influence their lives. Paul warns that even Satan can be transformed to look like an angel of light (2 Cor 11:14). A good con artist never looks like a con. Instead, he offers you what you want, in a most appealing package, so that when you buy into his lie and accept what he offers, he can pillage you and strip you bare.

RELATED LINKS:

Christian Answers for the New Age (By a Former Occultist):

Ex-Pagan 4 Christ:

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Here is one story I will share from my own experience:

The year was 1966 and I was a freshman at Lancaster School of the Bible (now Lancaster Bible College), in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. I was a dorm student in the lower level of Esbenshade Hall. I was right off the farm with very little knowledge of the Bible. Most of us young men at LSB were preparing for pastoral ministry.

One day during my first semester one of the guys brought a Ouija board into the dorm. I had heard of Ouija boards before but knew little of the spiritual dangers associated with their use. A number of us gathered in a room around two who sat down and placed their hands on the triangular, movable piece called a planchette that sets on top of the board. The hope is that some spiritual being will be conjured up to answer the questions by moving the planchette over the letters of the alphabet. Our desire was to disprove this and show that it is just subconscious manipulation.

When we began, there was no response to a number of inquiries. However, after a long period of no response, the planchette began to move and even began spelling out answers to questions posed to it. One of the guys finally asked the unseen power to identify itself. It spelled out its name (which I have since forgotten) and stated that it was a spirit from WWII. We were all skeptical that this was actually a spiritual force, so we asked questions to which no one in the room knew the answer to test it; for example: the middle names of girls in the girls' dorm. We asked what the middle names of certain girls were and, after the planchette spelled out names, we checked the veracity of the answers by going to the girls dorm lounge and inquiring of their middle names. The answers were correct! Well, by this time we were beginning to wonder what was really happening here.

While this was going on, one of my friends in that room, Jim MacFarlane, sensed the danger here, and having some previous knowledge of what could happen, he quietly left the room while this was taking place, walked back to his room at the end of the hall, and prayed to God to stop this before it got out of hand. He walked back into the room while we were still there watching the two guys asking questions and getting answers. However, the moment Jim walked into the room, the planchette immediately stopped moving and would answered no more questions.

After repeated questions with no response one of the guys asked it - “Why won't you answer us any longer?” Immediately the planchette began to move and spelled out these letters: “G-O-D W-O-N-T L-E-T M-E”. When that happened Jim informed us that he had just prayed in his room for this to stop.

Well, we all freaked out. At that point someone noticed on the board that it was manufactured in Salem, Massachusetts, where the witch trials took place in the 1600s. The owner of the board broke it in two and threw it in the trash. The Dean of Students, Tom Figart, found out later what happened and gave those involved in operating the board a thorough reprimand for being involved in such dangerous behavior and that such activity would not be tolerated at LSB.

Later, while a student at Grace College in Winona Lake, Indiana, I told this story to a youth group at a church in Columbia City, Indiana, and informed them of the dangers of opening oneself up to demonic activity. I found out later that those in that youth group who had Ouija boards brought them in to the next youth meeting and destroyed them.

Since then I have learned that a number of people involved in occult activities today got their start either from the influence of a relative or from playing with a Ouija board. It appears to be a portal through which demonic activity can came through and open a person to their influence. I will have nothing to do with them and strongly advise all others to do the same.

I verify that the above story and all details are true and not exaggerated.

Rev. William S. Davis

Senior Pastor of the Annville United Christian Church

245 West Church St.

Annville, PA 17003

717-383-1624

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James A. Pike, a noted and controversial lawyer-turned-minister-turned-church-dropout, was devastated when his oldest son committed suicide. Shortly after this tragic event, he began experiencing a series of psychic events which eventually led to a major change in his beliefs.

Previously denying any existence after death, Pike came to believe that the spirit of his son had lived on. He began consulting one of England’s most celebrated mediums, Ena Twigg, who urged him to contact an organization in the United States that would give him access to other mediums.

Each medium he used gave predictions of the future that proved to be true. Pike became hooked, absorbed with the subject of life after death. He increasingly sought contact with the other side; and unfortunately, millions of people followed his search and also entered a dangerous and forbidden realm of darkness. Pike’s obsessive search ended with his mysterious death in 1969 in Israel, in the arid desert near the Dead Sea.[1]

Ironically, centuries earlier in Israel - less than a hundred miles away from the scene of James Pike’s death - a king’s son, Ahaziah, also sought a forbidden source of comfort. And it cost him his life too. [Can also be applied to King Saul and the witch of Endor]

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1. Merrill F. Unger, THE MYSTERY OF BISHOP PIKE (Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, 1971)

It was bad enough when the TV and lights inexplicably flicked on at night, Misty Conrad says. When her daughter began talking to an unseen girl named Nicole and neighbors said children had been murdered in the house, it was time to move.

Put Conrad, a homemaker from Hampton, Va., firmly in the camp of the 34 percent of people who say they believe in ghosts, according to a pre-Halloween poll by The Associated Press and Ipsos. That’s the same proportion who believe in unidentified flying objects - exceeding the 19 percent who accept the existence of spells or witchcraft.

Forty-eight percent believe in extrasensory perception, or ESP. But nearly half of you knew we were about to tell you that, right?

Conrad, now 40, lived in Syracuse, Indiana, when her family was scared from the house they rented.

“It kind of creeped you out,” she recalled this week. “I needed to get us out.”

To put the roughly one-third who believe in ghosts and UFOs in perspective, it’s about the same as, in recent AP-Ipsos polls, the 36 percent who said they are baseball fans; the 37 percent who said the U.S. made the right decision to invade Iraq; and the 31 percent who approve of the job President Bush is doing.

A smaller but still substantial 23 percent say they have actually seen a ghost or believe they have been in one’s presence, with the most likely candidates for such visits including single people, Catholics and those who never attend religious services. By 31 percent to 18 percent, more liberals than conservatives report seeing a specter.

Those who dismissed the existence of ghosts include Morris Swadener, 66, a Navy retiree from Kingston, Washington. He says he shot one with his rifle when he was a child. “I woke up in the middle of the night and saw a white ghost in my closet,” he said. “I discovered I’d put a hole in my brand new white shirt. My mother and father were not amused.”

Three in 10 have awakened sensing a strange presence in the room. For whatever it says about matrimony, singles are more likely than married people to say so.

Fourteen percent - mostly men and lower-income people - say they have seen a UFO. Among them is Danny Eskanos, 44, an attorney in Palm Harbor, Fla., who says as a Colorado teenager he watched a bright light dart across the sky, making abrupt stops and turns.

“I knew a little about airplanes and helicopters, and it was not that,” he said. “It’s one of those things that sticks in your mind.”

Spells and witchcraft are more readily believed by urban dwellers, minorities and lower-earning people. Those who find credibility in ESP are more likely to be better educated and white - 51 percent of college graduates compared to 37 percent with a high school diploma or less, about the same proportion by which white believers outnumber minorities.

Overall, the 48 percent who accept ESP is less than the 66 percent who gave that answer to a similar 1996 Newsweek question.

One in five say they are at least somewhat superstitious, with young men, minorities, and the less educated more likely to go out of their way to seek luck. Twenty-six percent of urban residents - twice the rate of those from rural areas - said they are superstitious, while single men were more superstitious than unmarried women, 31 percent to 17 percent.

The most admitted-to superstition, by 17 percent, was finding a four-leaf clover. Thirteen percent dread walking under a ladder or the groom seeing his bride before their wedding, while slightly smaller numbers named black cats, breaking mirrors, opening umbrellas indoors, Friday the 13th or the number 13.

Generally, women were more superstitious than men about four-leaf clovers, breaking mirrors or grooms prematurely seeing brides. Democrats were more superstitious than Republicans over opening umbrellas indoors, while liberals were more superstitious than conservatives over four-leaf clovers, grooms seeing brides and umbrellas.

Then there’s Jack Van Geldern, a computer programmer from Riverside, Connecticut. Now 51, Van Geldern is among the five percent who say they have seen a monster in the closet - or in his case, a monster’s face he spotted on the wall of his room as a child. “It was so terrifying I couldn’t move,” he said. “Needless to say I survived the event and never saw it again.”

The poll, conducted Oct. 16-18, 2007, involved telephone interviews with 1,013 adults and had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

Oprah Winfrey told her television audience that the book, A Course In Miracles, was one of her favorite books, and that she had already bought a thousand copies and would be handing them out to everyone in her studio audience. Oprah’s endorsement skyrocketed the book to the top of the New York Times bestseller list.

This new revelation began in 1965 when Helen Schucman, an associate professor of Medical Psychology at Columbia University in New York, began receiving channeled messages from a speaker who would later identify himself as Jesus Christ.

One day Schucman heard an “inner voice” stating, “This is a course in miracles. Please take notes.” So Schucman, an atheist Jewish psychologist, began writing and for the next ten years the voice is said to have dictated “in an inaudible voice” over 500,000 words contained in A Course In Miracles. This was done through the process called automatic handwriting, (in which a spirit entity guides the hand) and clairaudience (hearing from a disembodied spirit).

The primary reason for the Course is the “Correcting of the errors of Christianity.... To foster spiritual development through the study and practice of A Course In Miracles, a set of three books channeled by Jesus. ...to teach the Course’s reinterpretation of traditional Christian principles such as sin, suffering, forgiveness, Atonement, and the meaning of the Crucifixion....” (Foundation for A Course In Miracles, “Forgiveness,” p.3-4). The Workbook includes 365 lessons, one for each day of the year.

From its inception the Course has no qualms saying it is to challenge the word of God written down by the apostles who personally knew Jesus. Here is a quote from the book:

The journey to the cross should be the last “useless journey.” Do not dwell upon it, but dismiss it as accomplished. If you can accept it as your own last useless journey, you are also free to join my resurrection. Until you do so your life is indeed wasted. It merely re-enacts the separation, the loss of power, the futile attempts of the ego at reparation, and finally the crucifixion of the body, or death. Such repetitions are endless until they are voluntarily given up. Do not make the pathetic error of “clinging to the old rugged cross.” The only message of the crucifixion is that you can overcome the cross. Until then you are free to crucify yourself as often as you choose. This is not the gospel I intended to offer you. We have another journey to undertake, and if you will read these lessons carefully they will help prepare you to undertake it.