Looking to start a group...

[Amadeus]

For a while now, I have been very interested in the world of the supernatural (Ghosts, hauntings, occult, psychics, etc...). Now don't get me wrong. I am no spiritist or occultist.

What I want is to start a club of sorts, which will involve the study of these subjects in a Christian manner. The main target: Demons. Demons are the masters at tricking the human mind into believing that there are ghosts, UFOs, etc. My passion is to bring Spiritual Warfare to a new level. There is a world of darkness that surrounds every one of us, and I believe we must fight that darkness. Demonic activity is ever present, manifesting itself in countless ways, and I can't believe we just sit around and do pretty much nothing about it, even mocking it or being skeptical about it. The truth is, there ARE such things as "Ghosts" "Haunted Houses" "Poltergeists" and all the such, and I believe that Spiritual Warfare is more than just fighting the personal demons that haunt your life. There are numerous people out there activly invlolved in demonic activity, and they are clueless to what is really going on. Even some of you may be clueless to such a power in your lives.

Post me on your position/conclusion to this idea.

My website is in my profile, so please take a gander.

I am looking for fellow Christians who will join me in this.

 

[MsAnne]

I would strongly encourage you to be very careful in starting such a group. I admire your enthusiasm, and understand the desire to strengthen your beliefs as well as those around you. I absolutely believe in Spiritual Warfare, and the reality of the entities you want to discuss in your group. I just know that dabbling in some things is not for everyone - in fact it can be harmful if not approached carefully. I would ask the Lord for wisdom before proceding any further.

Just 2 cents worth from an older believer.

 

[Amadeus]

Thanks for your advice. I know how extreme this idea sounds.

 

[Pseud]

I would discourage this.

James 4:7 ...Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

I think that sums spiritual warfare up well enough.

 

[wonder111]

James 4:7 says it all!

 

[Amadeus]

And what about all those people who are living their lives, haunted and oppressed by REAL DEMONS. You can't flee from that! I think most christian take it for granted that they don't wake up in the middle of the night FLOATING 6 FEET ABOVE THEIR BEDS, or being PHYSICALLY ATTACKED by INVISIBLE ENTITIES. I'm not talking about compromising with the Devil, I'm talking about resisting him. Resisting him doesn't mean moving away everytime he sends an attack on your home and family. You can't just walk away from that. You must stand AGAINST Satan! That's the meaning of RESISTING him! Jesus Christ empowers His believers through the Holy Spirit, and by our faith, to literally fight these demons by His authority through us. Maybe you don't understand what my point was earlier. Don't discourage something out of fear.

 

[TravellingGrace]

"He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover." Mark 16:16-18


I'd still advise you to be careful, since spiritual warfare is no game. A friend of mine and I were talking about this verse before and it's very unfortunate that not very many Christians do this kind of stuff anymore...

**Disclaimer** I do not believe we should go looking for this sort of thing, if we are meant to deal with it, we'll encounter it.

 

[Sharky]

"Maybe you don't understand what my point was earlier. Don't discourage something out of fear."

If it is out of fear, it is for fear of you and your safety. Do not start doing this because you think you can. Make sure you pray about it. I really doubt God will put you through this. That' up to Him tho.

"Not everyone who says to Me Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father Who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord have we not prohesied in Your name and driven out demons in Your name and done many mighty works in Your name? 23 And then i will say to then openly, I never knew you; depart from Me, you who act wickedly [disregarding My commands]."

 

[Amadeus]

So I'm guessing no one really supports such a ministry.

 

[Amadeus]

For the record, this is the reason I want to start a group for this practically untouched area of Spiritual Warfare. There is power in numbers, and the more who are into fighting the power of Satan, the less dominion he shall have in our world.

Let me hear something more positive on the matter. There must be someone with maybe a little EXPERIENCE to share? Or am I just to be shooed away by closed-minded people who are too comfortable in their little sanctuaries of peace and comfort, wowie-pops and bunnies and fwowers and buttewfwies.

There is a more gruesome, more terrifying world out there than you think, and if you have the power of faith, and the Lord by your side. What's to stop you? Hmm?

As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear NO EVIL. For He is with me. His rod and staff, they comfort me. He prepares a table for me in the presence of my enemies.

Sorry to sound a little offensive, but I am beggin for some better feed-back. I don't feel very 'edified' right now. Not to say there are a few of you who's replies I didn't appreciate, but for the majority, there must be some more deeper purpose, and some LOGIC to support it.

 

[Angelface007]

I would certianly pray about this, and I would talk to your preacher or pastor, or priest.
I would say its hard enough in my life to keep satan out! I can not imagine open new doors, that will give him more will power! Maybe my faith is not as strong as it should be! but I am still growing spiritually, day by day! Now I do not believe in ghost, but I do believe in Angels! I believe and have seen before my eyes, that God sends his Angels to protect us, in times of troubles! All of this other stuff, my faith I do not believe! I am sorry! Maybe I am misunderstanding what your saying, but I feel thatn this is one that should be between you and God! It would be on you, if something should happen! You would not want to take a chance of anothers blood being on your hands now would you? What i mean by this, if you open up doors for Satan to come through, theres alot that could take place, not only could but would!!!! satan does not care who he hurts! He wants only one thing!! And thats our soul! So maybe you should reconcider this and pray really hard about it!!!

Read Joshua Chapter 1 verse 9
also read mark 8 verse13-21
Jesus warns against wrong teachings!!!

Beware when you pray that its not Satan giving you to advice your longing for!!! Read Gods word, and search for answers before you approach this!!!!

My prayers are with you, and good blessings to you in what ever you decide!!!!!!!!!

 

[KleinerApfel]

Let me hear something more positive on the matter. There must be someone with maybe a little EXPERIENCE to share? Or am I just to be shooed away by closed-minded people who are too comfortable in their little sanctuaries of peace and comfort, wowie-pops and bunnies and fwowers and buttewfwies.

There is a more gruesome, more terrifying world out there than you think, and if you have the power of faith, and the Lord by your side. What's to stop you? Hmm?

Your bad attitude to anyone not wholeheartedly applauding your interest may reveal a weakness, which you need to deal with before stepping deliberately onto enemy territory.

For the record, this is the reason I want to start a group for this practically untouched area of Spiritual Warfare. There is power in numbers, and the more who are into fighting the power of Satan, the lessdominion he shall have in our world.

It's good to have prayer support, and essential for anyone in ministry to have people who you are accountable to.
However, you are suggesting that the power to resist the devil or cast out demons lies in numbers. It doesn't.
Jesus is the only power who can send the devil packing, and He is sufficient whether you have numbers of people with you or not.
The most important thing any of us does in this regard is to resist the devil in our own lives - not giving him a foothold.

As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear NO EVIL. For He is with me. His rod and staff, they comfort me. He prepares a table for me in the presence of my enemies..

You are right here - it is because Jesus is with us that we can "fear no evil." But that doesn't mean we go looking for trouble by investigating evil.

C.S. Lewis said:

"There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight."

For your safety and that of anyone you intend to be ministering with or to, I hope you will seek guidance from a strong, mature Christian, who is experienced in the area of deliverance, rather than setting up on your own.

Blessings, Susana

 

[Amadeus]

I guess my imagination IS my condemnation as I have always expected in the back of my mind.

Maybe if the Lord knows I am only setting myself up for trouble, and somehow straying from the Light, He should make what I have more enjoyable, and not letting me see new opportunities for excitement, new frontiers for the Christian Soldier, new battle-grounds for the Spiritual Warrior.

I myself am sometimes like a sheep in wolves' clothing.

 

[Ceris]

I'll tell you right now, the most powerful thing we can do (in spiritual warfare) is pray. Notice the 2 verses in my sig. Well the Armor of God passage goes as follows:

13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

Notice how the last verse tells us that after putting on the entire Armor of God, we don't necissarily go out and fight: we pray.
Something to keep in mind.

 

[scott29]

About 5 or 6 years ago I had the same ambition to launch spiritual warfare against demons, thinking God was right there with me. I felt invincible, and I also thought I had license to do whatever I wanted. After all, Big Brother (God) was standing behind me. I could pick any fight I wanted to and then quickly run behind God and let him fight my battles for me. I realized fairly quickly that God doesn't work that way.
I started with a serious interest in the supernatural (ghosts, haunted houses, etc.). Before I knew it, I was delving into "white magic" (there's no such thing, but I was naieve at the time) and spiritual guides, candles, you name it. I visited cemetaries because I could feel the spirits. I was in a constant state of awe at the supernatural. Keep in mind that I was a Christian the entire time, confident in my Savior. I didn't realize that Satan was reeling me in like a fish. Soon I started feeling like a warrior of sorts, ready to do battle with whatever came my way. I had God in my corner, I had my bible, and I thought nothing could get to me. I was wrong. On one of my visits to an old cemetary that housed an abandoned crematorium, I was absolutely paralyzed with fear all of the sudden. Every step I took felt like I was walking through molasses. The air was thick and I could hardly breathe. On a sunny day, everything looked darker. I prayed, and I prayed. The presence of darkness remained, more powerful than ever. And that was just the beginning. After that day, that darkness became a part of my life. It was in my apartment from time to time. And through all of this, I prayed to God for his protection. Even then, I was arrogant and still taunted at Satan. I still pushed my 'warrior' ego. At one point, my mom called me to see how I was doing. I told her what was going on, how I was in a war with demons, and she got extremely worried about me. Just as she started to try and talk me out of what I was doing, she was attacked herself to the point where she wasn't able to breathe. She had to hang up on me because the demon attacking her wouldn't allow her to draw breath unless she hung up with me. Satan wasn't about to allow someone to talk any sense into me, not when he had me right where he wanted me.

After a long battle, God finally delivered me from my interest in the supernatural. He did it overnight, and ever since I have had the full armor of God. I learned that God isn't the Big Brother that you take to a fight that you got yourself into. I also realized that taking on warfare with demons is foolish. God allowed me to go through my torment to teach me that, although He was always there with me, the battle wasn't mine to wage. I was stubborn enough that the only way the message was going to get through my head was if He allowed the demons to wreak havoc with me for a time. I know it may be hard to hear, and I don't mean to insult you at all, but it takes arrogance to launch a war against demons. I was absolutely arrogant when I played the spiritual warrior. I told all of my friends "if you have any trouble, you let me know. I'll be there, day or night." Oh, how Satan must have laughed as he saw me stumble blindly into a world I couldn't possibly understand.

I appreciate your desire to serve the Lord as a spiritual warrior, it just isn't necessary. Jesus already fought that battle. Don't go into enemy territory unless you want to get ambushed. And you WILL.

God bless you, brother,
Scott

 

[indonesianpalmtree]

Hey Amadeus.

(draw sword)

I usually try to be positive in life, but there is nothing i hate more than demons. Nothing i hate more than evil claiming rights on miracles. People accept the possibility of magic, hauntings or possession easier than healing or tongues. I know a lot of you probably stand fast in the gifts of the Spirit, but i feel we don't embrace the power the Lord has given as much as we can.

Have any of you read books about the persecuted churches of China or Communist Russia? Those experiences are enough to freak out anyone who don't believe in the supernatural. The folks are right about being prepared though. It get VERY tricky when these guys get you in your mind. Lots of weird cooky things. Also, we must be careful not to mess up our daemon-radars. Believe me, not a lot of people want to hear they're possessed. Not a lot of people even like the concept of dark powers. Sometimes, they believe that their lives aren't affected by evil. That is so misleading because the existence of this life is a CONSTANT battle. To be apethic is dangerous. Very dangerous.

After i was exorcised i blamed the devil for a lot of things that came on my way. I realised that sin isn't neccesarily brought by evil. The devil has 1/3 of the angels, but he cannot be EVERYWHERE at the same time. He has a Caddilac but God has the Enterprise-transporter The thing is, they do attack, and you're ALWAYS sure when tey do.

Heck, count me in. I have some payback.

God bless

(sheath sword)

I'm ready to kick ***. This is God's land, and i'll do my best to protect it. This is true patriotism.

Cheerio

 

[indonesianpalmtree]

Yeah, i hear you, Scott. It's very dangerous to just dive in. The one thing we must ALWAYS keep in mind is that we are only for show when it comes to spiritual warfare. God and the angels do the actual fighting. We just expose them to eachother. The thing is, they do affect this realm and the effects are sometimes VERY physical. I'd say, i'm like the home-guard. To look for trouble is stupid. Those guys sit in offices all day strategising how their going to ambush you, so it's better to stay in our own territory.

What really ticks me off though, is when they bother me when i want to be presented in purity before God. The other night JUST before i wanted to start praying, it got horrible. I'd rather not talk about it in open forum, but they key weapon they use is fear. Fear is a tough obstacle. Need lots of faith.

Also, to think the Bible is a spell book isn't such a good idea either, as you've experienced by researching the other manifestations. To know our enemy isn't neccesary here. To know our frontline is.

In God's power,

Cheerio

 

[scott29]

Fear is definitely a powerful weapon of the enemy. It's so important to tread lightly when dealing with this subject. It seems like a noble thing to do, barreling forward for God, determined to face the enemy head-on. Imagine being on the front lines and charging the enemy's position without first being ordered to do so by your commanding officer. Your fellow soldiers may admire your zeal, but it's a good way to get yourself killed. As with all things, we have to follow God's lead instead of our own. If the desire is to deal a blow to Satan, do it by being a good Christian. Bring someone to Christ. Show kindness to someone in need. Evangelize in a rough part of town. Become a prayer 'warrior', interceding on the behalf of others. Now that will inflict some damage to the enemy!

 

[Amadeus]

Finally, some people with actual insight!

 

[Amadeus]

I found myself admiring you Indo, and Scott, your mistake was trying to use the tools that the enemy supplied, not to insult you or anything. I understand what you are saying, and yes, I do feel very Gung-Ho about fighting the Devil. I find any strange and unusual experince as a blessing from God, because He knows I love that stuff.