SPREADING

THE

Gospel Truth

MINISTRY

                        www.thegospeltruthministry.com

 

Home / Up / Occult II / Occult III

A Member's Bulletin Board. In most cases items posted here originated as email, except as noted.  As a Member you are free to submit items to post here.  Send to webmaster)

Foreword from

The Occult Trap

Doris M. Wagner
Global Harvest Ministries
International Society of Deliverance Ministers
Colorado Springs, Colorado

Way back in the 1980s when Peter and I began to become involved in spiritual warfare, power ministries, intercession, and deliverance, we had to formulate vocabulary for what God was leading us to do and teach.

"The Third Wave of the Holy Spirit" was on the minds and tongues of our circle of friends and colleagues. We began to pray for the sick and see people healed! We began to pray fervently for groups of people who had not yet heard the gospel and saw how "power encounters" proved our God to be real and powerful -- the healer, the savior, the provider, the giver of peace, and so on. Prayer for the sick and power encounters were new and powerful tools added to the arsenal of equipment of many Christian workers.

But we weren't praying for the sick very long, nor were we evangelizing out on the front lines much before we discovered the reality of demons, principalities, and powers. We had to find out how to deal with these dark angels. It was agreed upon that we were waging war out there on three different levels, which we called "ground-level," "occult-level," and "strategic-(or cosmic) level."

"These Signs WILL Follow Those Who Believe . . . "
We defined "ground-level" as the casting out of demons from individuals. This was also called "deliverance." We see this again and again in Scripture. But over the course of the centuries, it seemed that the evangelical wing of the Church of Jesus Christ had lost the art of how to recognize when it was needed, and how to actually do it. At least it was totally absent from any pre-service training available to Peter and me before we headed for the mission field in the 1950s. We landed in enemy territory without the full inventory of equipment needed for spiritual warfare. Interestingly enough, because of our naiveté, we just didn't see demons, hence there was no need for the tools. Just as an aside, Peter and I saved up for a trip back to the places where we had served for 16 years in Bolivia. We made that trip to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary, back in 1990. We were appalled by what we saw. All we could think of was, "How could we have been so blind as not to have seen this?"

However, we could do much better now; so our passion is to better equip the body of Christ to work boldly in deliverance ministry and spiritual warfare. After all, Jesus did tell His disciples: "These signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues, they will take up serpents, and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick and they will recover." It goes on to say, "And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs" (Mark 16:17-19, NKJV).

To me, the interesting phrase in that passage of Scripture is "those who believe." There does not appear to be a time limit on those words, so I choose to believe that the description of Christians back then should also apply today. We have seen literally thousands of people healed and delivered. Victory breeds encouragement and enthusiasm.

Our group of colleagues then discerned that there were two other levels of demonic activity that seemed to be more organized and powerful. "Occult-level" warfare dealt with the demonic activity occurring in things like Satanism, witchcraft, shamanism, curanderos, Freemasonry, and the like. Worship of certain demonic beings seemed to be included with this level. It would take a little more understanding to deal with those who had been deeply involved with these systems. Often a very deep level of inner healing is required to bring people into total freedom. But freedom is possible. Some of the finest Christian workers I know have come out of the occult, and today are totally fearless because they know how much more powerful Christ is than the demons that once held them captive.

"More and More Souls Will Be Snatched from the Kingdom of Darkness into the Kingdom of Light . . . "

Then, of course, strategic-level spiritual warfare deals with powerful principalities and powers that hold territories, people groups, and systems under their sway. Those who combat these powerful spirits are specialists who are few in number and like our "special forces" in the military. Not many are needed, actually. They pray prophetic prayers and do battle in the heavenlies accompanied by prophetic acts and spiritual warfare.

These warriors are in touch with God on a special level and we don't talk a whole lot about this because, frankly, most Christians do not understand it -- nor do they need to. Special forces are rather private in nature. But if the other foot soldiers ("those who believe") keep busy with what they are supposed to do (casting out demons) the governmental structure of evil will continue to be weakened and more and more souls will be snatched from its kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light.

"The Intelligence Contained in this Book Can Deal an Enormous Blow to the Kingdom of Darkness . . . "

Literature in the field of ground-level spiritual warfare (casting out demons) is plentiful, if you know where to look for it. But, we were always shy on books having to do with the occult-level warfare. There are some, but we needed a basic text in the field that we could recommend. And now the book you hold in your hands is a very good start. I was delighted to get the manuscript from Jim Wallace. I immediately liked it because it was written in an organized, scholarly (but not ponderous) manner. I felt a kindred spirit with Him because he came from much the same theological tradition Peter and I did, and he learned much of what he knows from practical experience on the mission field. We sort of wound our way through the same pilgrimage and came out at the same place. Of course, my prophet friends would say something like: "Well, what would you expect -- it's what the Spirit is saying to the churches."

I wish every deliverance minister out there could get a copy of this book. Pastors, youth ministers, and parents would greatly benefit from reading this also. Fear is a weapon of warfare from the enemy. It is often the only thing that keeps God's people from coming against the demonic, especially the occult level. Actually, friends, the demons fear equipped Christians a whole lot more than we can possibly fear them because we have the power to undo them.

Understanding the strategy of the enemy and his modus operandi is the first step in defeating him. The intelligence contained in this book can deal an enormous blow to the kingdom of darkness if put to use.

The clear step-by-step examples to assist both deliverance ministers, and even those who can't find help from a qualified deliverance minister, are excellent! Thanks, Jim, for placing in order this rather unsavory topic so as to better equip the body of Christ for war.

Saints, let's get with the program and put this valuable material to use. We can be an integral part of the prayer Jesus taught us to pray: "Thy Kingdom come."