If you are going to do business with God, the currency is forgiveness.

Hello Beloved reader. I decided to write this unforgiveness article for you because it helped me. A few months back I attended an open-to-the-public ministry session where these questions were asked. I think many of us Christians were surprised at how many times we answered yes. Remember now – be honest with yourself. No one will see your paper but you.

Unforgiveness is one of the most powerful enemies in the body of Christ today. Do you know how many illnesses or infirmities are directly related to unforgiveness? One thing all people who are called to work in healing and deliverance should know when dealing with illnesses is to learn if the person standing or sitting before them has an issue with unforgiveness.

It is critical to learn if there is a single person that they’ve not forgiven. It is necessary to ask the person when exactly in their life were they diagnosed with the illness. Proceed to ask the person what life events were going on at or near that time. Often, the following are typical responses a person might give.

I've experienced betrayal. I lost my job and the boss could have let another person go because I was there longer. These are two of many reasons any person could share as to why they’ve not forgiven someone.

Now listen, beloved reader, do you know that sometimes people have instantly been healed of their infirmity on the spot once this unforgiveness has been taken care of spiritually. Keep in mind this is one of four things that must be addressed in an integrated healing & deliverance ministry session.

Will you get out a piece of paper and a pen, pretty please? Now, read the statements below. Each time the statement is true for you, make a check mark on your paper. Once you’re done reading each statement on the unforgiveness stronghold, you’ll talley up your score.

Answer these unforgiveness questions honestly

1) I find myself holding grudges.

2) I retreat into isolation from others.

3) I erupt in anger or I boil inside.

4) I think of ways to get even with others who hurt me.

5) I just bury the wrongs done to me without really addressing them.

6) I pity myself.

7) I carry bitterness and anger towards those who have hindered me or willfully, purposely wronged me.

8) Instead of stating the truth, I make excuses for those who wronged or hurt me.

9) I often feel sorry for myself.

10) Occasionally I think I truly am some kind of martyr.

11) Nobody has had it as bad as me.

12) I want to get even with people who’ve cause me pain.

13) I insulate or protect myself behind the walls of defensiveness.

14) I don’t trust others.

15) I just can’t forgive [which really is you want forgive].

16) I’m anger with God for allowing bad things to happen to me.

17) I act like nothing happen instead of confronting issues that have hurt me.

18) I can’t get over my past.

Please talley up your check marks to see how you scored.

If you have 1 – 4 check marks, you’re in the lower percentile [25%] of operating in unforgiveness.

If you have 5 – 9 check marks, you’re in the middle percentile [50%] of operating in unforgiveness. This is average for most Christians. Now, we all know what the Bible clearly states about any unforgiveness, right? So even if you scored in the lowest percentile, it needs to be taken care of.

If you have 10 – 14 check marks, you’re in the upper percentile [75%] of operating in unforgiveness. Yep, you betcha – this sure enough has to be addressed because you’re in bondage beloved.

If you have 15 or more check marks, you very likely have the stronghold of unforgiveness. If you don’t know how to break this stronghold and remove the demons holding it in place in your life, learn or go receive ministry please. What book would I suggest that’s a must read, Biblical Healing & Deliverance: An Integrated Approach to Biblical Healing Ministry by Chester & Betsy Kylstra.

Beloved reader, you already know the key to forgiveness is releasing the debt. By forgiving, you are not justifying what the person did to you is okay. By forgiving, you are not minimizing the devastating impact what they did has had on your life.

Well, here's the age old question – why is it that it’s so darn hard to forgive some things, some people. It is because the one time hurt or the repeated hurt has wounded your soul or wounded your spirit or wounded both. Usually the hurt(s), even though they can’t be seen, have really crippled you inside. The crippling could be mentally and/or emotionally and/or physically. Some hurts have downright debilitated some of us to the point that illness occurs.

And if we're transparent here, not forgiving the person make some Christians they have a [false] sense of power over the person [especially if the person wants to be forgiven]. As long as we choose to not forgive any person for any thing, we literally carry that person with us daily. What do I mean? You have a shackle attached to a ball-and-chain at the bottom of your ankle.

The weighted ball-and-chain is directly attached to each person you've not forgiven. You literally carry their body weight around with you all day long. In the shower, to bed with you, in the car with you, to the grocery store with you. More importantly, you carry those you've not forgiven with you mentally and emotionally every day, which is yet another reason you're weighted down internally. Although we still respond to people saying, "We're fine, blessed, highly favored."

So beloved reader – we’re at a crossroads here. The Bible says to forgive and that forgiveness is non-negotiable. Well yeah, this is true. What’s been learned in integrated healing & deliverance is sometimes we first have to have the Holy Spirit take care of the hurts at every spiritual and emotional level before the forgiveness can even be approached. And in very extreme cases, the forgiveness takes times, like in layers, which is better than not at all.

Please know if you are a person who works in ministry or if you are a leader of any kind, people will violate you. You cannot afford to allow this unforgiveness to place you in bondage. Let’s look at Joseph’s life in the Bible. He had so many reasons to not forgive his brothers. What did Joseph do [Genesis 39]? He stayed before the Lord, and yes, he forgave his family. Even though Joseph was a grown man, he sobbed like a child.

What is forgivness?

Is a spiritual decision to release the person, entity, institution or group who hurt you, betrayed you

Is cancelling someone from the consequence of falling short of God’s standard in your life

Is releasing resentment toward the very person who exacted very real hurt on you

Is dismissing our demand that the person owes us something

Is releasing the right to be bitter

Is releasing the right to get even

Is of God

Is releasing the right to hear the words, “I’m sorry.”

Is an act of our spiritual will

Is a process especially for those who’ve been abused/deeply hurt

What forgiveness is not

Is not a feeling

Is not an emotion

Is not being a doormat

Is not conditional

Is not stuffing your anger

Is not based on what’s fair

Is not excusing the wrong done to you

Is not justifying the wrong done to you

Is not you executing God’s wrath

Is not repentance

Is not based on what a person deserves

Is not you waiting for time to heal all wounds

Is not reconciliation [requires a minimum of two people] [forgiveness only requires 1 person]

Is not enablement [a form of people pleasing and repeatedly having no boundaries]

Is not letting the guilty off the hook, you are placing them on God’s hook

Is not denying that the wrong happened to you

The characteristics of an unforgiver

Danger - If you persist in resisting and disobeying God by being unforgiving [or whatever the sin is], you can eventually to given over to the influence of evil, satan and immorality. Acts 7:42

does not agree with God that sin is sin

delayed or even the prevention of spiritual growth

heart is turned away from God

go through verbal acts of repentance

an unforgiver often has diseases & functionally sick

is limited in hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit

an unforgiver can have psychological problems

an unforgiver can be a person laden with stress

elevate yourself above your offender

you’re emotionally stuck to your offender

you share negative information about offender

automatically open the door to satan and his demons

a hardened heart, a condemning heart

tend to be verbally abusive

blind that you’re becoming like your offender

an unforgiver ages faster

being an unforgiver affects your body’s ability to fight disease by weakening your immune system

an unforgiver can have emotional instability – fly off the handle easily or show very little emotion

Define the spirit of unforgivness, which is a stronghold

A simple word to describe this spirit of unforgiveness – hurt, a person who is deeply hurt.

A spirit of unforgiveness goes beyond temporary unwillingness to forgive.

The spirit of unforgiveness is a spiritual acid that eats through the spirit within us.

The spirit of unforgiveness is a supernatural cancer that slowly and deliberately eats you up.

There is a long time period between the time you are hurt and the time you forgive the person who hurt you.

When does unforgiveness become a stronghold?

When you refuse to forgive and the unresolved anger develops a fortified place in your mind and heart; you become mentally captive to do the enemy’s will. Ephesians 6:16

The three parts of forgiveness

Part 1 |Horizontal line of The Cross -- Forgiving others and others forgiving you

Especially needed toward family and church members because this is where most hurts come from

Part 2 | Vertical line of The Cross -- Receiving God forgiveness and us releasing God

Part 3 | Circle or halo where The Cross intersects -- Forgiving yourself and receiving forgiveness from self

Why do Christians have the most difficulty forgiving themselves than any other person?

Lie no. 1 - Sin we committed, the offense is too big to forgive

Lie no. 2 - We knew better and committed the sin anyway

Lie no. 3 - It’s a habitual sin and we continue to do it, it doesn’t deserve grace

Lie no. 4 - We’re so shamed by the sin, we should not exchange the shame for forgiveness

Lie no. 5 – You believe you don’t deserve forgiveness because of who you are

Here, it’s effective to say your own name.

For example, “Your name goes right here, I forgive myself for ____.”

So why do you not forgive when you know to do so

What was done to you or by you was too big

The hurt was planned, intentional and/or repeated

No modeling of forgiveness from our parents

They didn’t forgive me, I will not forgive them

You deny it never happened

Don’t understand God’s forgiveness

You believe the lie that bitterness is a normal response because God knows how you feel.

The pain is so deep [even though it may be simple to others] you just don’t know where to begin.

It is here where you allow the Holy Spirit to heal the pain completely first, then you’re able to forgive.

How does unforgiveness affect your prayer life?

blessings are withheld from us

our prayer life is blocked

we are spiritually dim

God doesn’t forgive us

God resists you

What is unforgiveness?

unforgiveness is a form of pride

is of satan and his demons

grieves the Holy Spirit

showcases a godless heart

keeps us in bondage to sin

is an offense to God, which makes us an offender to God

Forgiveness scriptures

Ephesians 4:30 – 32

Matthew 18: 21, 34 – 35

II Corinthians 2: 10 -11

Matthew 6:12

Mark 11:25

Luke 17: 3 – 4

Luke 23:34

James 4:32

Acts 10:43

Acts 6:4

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Audio Teaching | Why We Fight With Those We Love

You're all too familiar with how we can sometimes be kinder to people we don't know -- at work, at church and in the community -- than we sometimes are to our own family, children, siblings and spouse.

Why? Because they know more about us than anyone. And, yeah, sometimes they tend to not forget even when we've confessed and the Lord has forgiven us. The consequence -- quarrels and fights that others are usually exposed to. Darn.

Please click the audio file above [where the blue text is] and download this pdf, Why Do We Fight With Those We Love, that includes study notes with scriptures to accompany the audio.

Thank you for taking your time to listen to this audio and work through the study notes. If you're not a member of Healed People, Heal People, we invite you to join for free here. You'll receive regular updates of encouragement wrapped in biblical truths.

Do you take prescription meds? Does someone you love take prescription meds? Did you know prescription meds is the number three cause of death in America according to the Journal of American Medicine?

Are birth control pills safe? Any drug that artificially manipulates the natural hormonal activity of the body will have negative implications and side effects.

What is the birth control pill? How Does it work? Is it Safe? by Paul Weckenbrock, R. Ph.

The birth control pill is any drug which uses artificial hormones to keep a woman from getting pregnant or from staying pregnant by interfering with her normal fertility.

Are all forms of the pill the same?

No. There are several types of the pill on the market, but they basically break down into two groups: combination pills and the progestin-only minipill.

The combination type contain two artificial steroids that mimic the effects of naturally occurring hormones, estrogen and progesterone. Some pills work in a monophasic way, keeping the dosage of hormones the same throughout the pill cycle. Others work in a biphasic or triphasic manner which alters the dosage of artificial hormones two or three times respectively through the cycle of pills, attempting to produce fluctuations similar to what a fertile woman would undergo naturally.

The progestin-only minipill uses only one artificial hormone, progestin, which is a steroid that has a progestational effect similar to natural progesterone.

How does the pill work?

The pill is designed to interfere with several normal functions of fertility in order to make a woman 1) unable to conceive due to temporary sterility or sperm immobility, and/or 2) unable to carry a pregnancy to term [an early abortion].

This process can be accomplished in various ways.

Suppressing ovulation: When a woman ovulates, hormones released from the pituitary , a gland located at the base of the brain, stimulate her ovaries to ripen and release an egg. The combination pill usually interrupts the release of these pituitary hormones resulting in no egg being released from the ovary, thus preventing pregnancy from occurring. With no egg available for fertilization, the woman is chemically sterile. The progestin-only pill, however, has a weaker effect. It generally does not suppress ovulation.

1. Inhibiting Implantation: Another important aspect of fertility is the process by which the lining of the uterus is replenished and maintained. After an egg is fertilized, it normally implants in this lining [endometrium], drawing nourishment and sustenance. The progestin component of the combination pill and the progestin-only minipill cause the inner lining of the uterus to become thin and shriveled, unable to support implantation of the embryo [newly fertilized egg].

2. Impeding Sperm Migration: Preceding ovulation, a woman’s cervix produces a watery mucus through which sperm swim to meet the egg. The mucus also provides nourishment to sustain the life of the sperm cells. This mucus thickens under the influence of a progestin and so impedes sperm migration.

3.There are two other factors in a woman’s fertility that may be affected by the pill.

Making changes in the Fallopian Tubes: Progestins lower the efficiency with which the fallopian tubes propel eggs from the ovaries toward the uterus. This can cause the embryo not to reach the uterus in time to implant successfully.

4. Stopping a Pregnancy: After an ovary releases an egg, the woman’s cycle is controlled by a gland that is formed from the now-empty egg sack, the corpus luteum; this normally functions long enough to give an embryo time to implant in the uterus and for the placenta to begin to support the pregnancy.

However, hormones from the pill can cause the corpus luteum to function inadequately, allowing the lining of the uterus to be shed before the embryo can successfully implant.

In summary, a woman’s natural fertility requires several systems and organs to coordinate smoothly. The synthetic chemicals in any type of birth control pill interfere with this coordination, adversely affecting her normal fertility and any accidental conceptions.

How effective is the pill?

In theory, the pill reaches an effectiveness of over 99%, but in practice the rate is much lower. Between 1.9% and 18.1% of women will experience an unplanned pregnancy in the first year of using the pill.

Surprise pregnancies with the pill are due to a number of factors. Interactions between the pill and some other medications interfere with the proper blood levels of hormones necessary for their birth control effect. These drug interactions may be significant with the commonly used low dose pill where slight alterations in hormonal blood levels can result in more frequent ovulations and hence unplanned pregnancies. Another factor in pill pregnancy rates is not following directions, sometimes due to the lack of motivation, especially in younger women [ages 15-24].

Is ovulation always suppressed?

No. Ovulation occurs in 2% to 10% of cycles of women taking the pill. If 60 million women worldwide are on the low-dose pill, there would be 1.2 to 6 million ovulations per cycle. This is known as breakthrough ovulation, and it is even more frequent with the progestin-only pill.

What happens when ovulation does occur?

When the pill fails to prevent ovulation, the other mechanisms come into play. Thickened cervical mucus may make it more difficult for the sperm to reach the egg; however, if the egg is fertilized, a new life is created. The hormones slow the transfer of the new life through the fallopian tube, and the embryo may become too old to be viable when it does enter the uterus.

If the embryo is still viable when it reaches the uterus, under-development of the uterine lining caused by the pill prevents implantation. The embryo dies and the remains are passed along in the next bleeding episode which, incidentally, is not a true menstruation even though it is usually perceived as such.

Does this mean the pill can cause an early abortion?

Yes. Preventing the newly conceived life in its embryonic stage from being transported to the uterus and preventing implantation in the wall of the uterus are the abortifacient properties of the pill.

Why haven’t I heard about this before?

The Pill manufacturers and many in organized medicine are mainly concerned about the pill’s medical side effects and its effectiveness in preventing pregnancies and are less concerned about how the drug achieves its effectiveness.

Unfortunately, many otherwise pro-life physicians and pharmacists find it hard to admit that these abortifacient properties exist because they would have to discontinue prescribing and dispensing the pill if they were to remain consistent in their respect for life at all its stages of development.

Pro-abortion organizations and their lawyers readily admit the early abortion potential of the pill. In February 1992, writing in opposition to a Louisiana law banning abortion, Ruth Colker, a Tulane Law School professor, wrote, "Because nearly all birth control devices, except the diaphragm and condom, operate between the time of conception ... and implantation ..., the statute would appear to ban most contraceptives." In 1989, attorney Frank Sussman argued before the U. S. Supreme Court that " ... IUDs [and] low dose birth control pills ... act as abortifacients."

Is It Safe? What are the common side effects of the pill?

There is a range of risks from serious or fatal to minor and trivial. The following is a list of the most common side effects experienced by women taking the pill. These effects are dose related and not every woman will experience them, but the risks still exist. The synthetic estrogens of the combination pill cause many of these; the progestin causes others and is the only risk factor in the progestin-only pill.

Heart and blood abnormalities

Blood clots can form, restricting or blocking the flow of blood to critical organs and other body systems, possibly causing permanent damage. For example, a blood clot in the heart would cause a heart attack; in the brain it would cause a stroke or brain hemorrhage; a clot which moved from elsewhere in the body and lodged in the lung would cause a pulmonary embolism; in the kidneys a clot would cause a renal artery thrombosis and kidney damage; in the retinal arteries it would cause temporary or permanent blindness.

Studies continue to indicate approximately a 2-fold increased risk of fatal heart attacks among users of the current low-dose pill when compared to non-users. This risk is lower than the risk experienced with the older high dosage pill, but it continues to be significant. Similarly, the risk of a fatal brain hemorrhage is increased 1.4 times when comparing users to non-users. Among women who smoke, there is a 12-fold increase in fatal heart attacks and a 3.1-fold increase in fatal brain hemorrhage.

High blood pressure and alterations in the blood clotting mechanisms may be seen in women on the pill. This may contribute to a 3-11 times increased risk of developing blood clots in Pill users compared to non-users. The risk is especially great for women who smoke and/or are over 35 years old.

Cancer

Breast cancer has been repeatedly associated with using the pill.

Breast cancer has been increasing at an alarming rate in recent years, especially among young women. Breast cancer will kill more than 44,000 American women this year alone, a 1991 report noted, predicting 175,000 more new cases, especially among young women.

Why is there such an increase of breast cancer among younger women? Note first that women rarely develop breast cancer shortly after they start taking artificial hormones. It is generally not until ten or more years after usage was initiated that women develop breast cancer. Then note that in the United States, since the mid-1970s, it has been common for the pill to be prescribed for girls in their teen years.

Common sense connects the link between giving the pill to young girls in the 1970s and the later increase in breast cancer 15 to 20 years later among women in their late twenties and thirties. This conclusion was demonstrated in a study which found that Swedish women who took the pill in the 1960s incurred a five times greater increase in breast cancer when compared to non-users.

The increased risk of breast cancer is seen in younger, nulliparous women [never having borne children], and in long duration groups [greater than five years] of pill users. Large tumors and a worse survival rate are associated with the pill’s use at an early age.

Will the newer formulated low-dose pills decrease the incidence of breast cancer? A consensus of understanding has not been reached, and another 10 to 20 years of experience with women using this form of the pill must be gained before more definite conclusions can be reached.

Breast tenderness, enlargement, lumps, and milk secretions also may occur in women using the pill. Doctors are warned not to prescribe the pill to women who are known or suspected to have breast cancer. It is difficult to say what aggravating effect the pill’s hormones would have over a truly random sample of women taking the pill.

Cervical cancer and cervical dysplasia increase among women who use the pill. How long the pill has been taken, how many sexual partners a woman has had, at what age she began having intercourse, whether she smokes, the hygiene of sexual partners and the transmission of the human papillomavirus [HPV] are also factors in cervical abnormalities. Because of these several factors, the connection of the pill and cervical cancer may be clouded over. However, there is no doubt that the promotion of the pill has resulted in early intercourse which may be the more direct cause of cervical cancer.

Endometrial and ovarian cancer appear to have a lower incidence in both women on the pill and in those who have been previous users of the pill. Much of this data comes from studies of women who were using the higher dose estrogen/progestin pill. Currently the low dose monophasic and triphasic pills [less than 50mcg of estrogen] are the only birth control pills available on the U.S. market. It is not known if a similar protective effect will be experienced with the currently used pill. More time is needed to study this issue, and the slight protective effect is hardly a reason to take the Pill at the risk of so many other side effects.

It should also be noted that these forms of cancer are rare and primarily occur among postmenopausal women in their fifties and sixties. Second, these cancers tend to occur in those women who had long cycles [i.e., with a prolonged estrogen-dominant phase] or those who have a family history of these types of cancer. Third, extended breastfeeding amenorrhea offers the same type of protection against these cancers since the menstrual cycle would be suppressed and therefore the exposure to estrogen suppressed.

Liver tumors in younger women [15 to 40 years] have increased as the use of oral contraceptives has increased. Almost unheard of in this age group before the use of synthetic hormones became commonplace, liver tumors usually do not occur until the sixth decade of a woman’s life.

A study by the American College of Surgeons’ Commission on Cancer found a large peak in the 26-to-30-year age group which corresponds with the increased use of oral contraceptives in this age group. Liver cancer in women on the pill is typically associated with those over 30 who have used it more than four years, but cases of liver cancer in younger women have been cited.

Other cancers: Skin cancer [melanoma] has also been found to increase among women on the pill. Naturally occurring estrogen is involved with maintaining healthy skin tissue. It is reasonable to suspect that exposure to the more potent synthetic estrogen in the pill increases the risk of this type of cancer.

Cycle irregularities

Women who take the pill have been reported to experience bleeding or spotting in mid-cycle, changes in menstrual flow, and even loss of menstruation, which can lead them to wonder if they are pregnant. For some, painful menstruation [dysmenorrhea] has been reported to worsen, even though many women take these hormones in an attempt to relieve the problem.48

Although some women are given the pill for irregular cycles, it does nothing to improve the underlying problem causing the irregularity. Often the irregularity returns when the pill is discontinued, sometimes more severely.

Are there other side effects?

Yes. Some side effects are minor while some may be more severe and call for discontinuing the drug.

The following adverse effects have been experienced by women on the pill:

Headaches, migraines, mental depression [even to the point of suicide and/or suicidal tendencies], a decrease or loss of sexual drive, abdominal cramps, bloating, weight gain or loss, and water retention; nausea and vomiting [in about 10% of users]; symptoms of PMS, vaginitis and vaginal infections, changes in vision [temporary or permanent blindness, and an intolerance to contact lenses]; gall bladder disease and either temporary or permanent infertility, when discontinuing the pill, in users with previous menstrual irregularities or who began the drug before full maturity. Several of the symptoms, such as migraine headaches, contraindicate the use of the pill because of life endangering complications.

Consult the Physicians’ Desk Reference at your public library or consult your pharmacist for a more complete list of the pill’s harmful effects.

Is the pill safer than pregnancy?

No. The health risks of the pill outweigh by far the risks of pregnancy and childbirth to a woman’s health, and any claim to the contrary is based on erroneous comparisons between healthy women on the pill and women who do not receive normal care during pregnancy.

A precondition for obtaining the pill is routine medical care and checkups. For example: if such a woman on the pill is diagnosed as precancerous, or if some other side effect is exhibited, she has the advantage of early detection. However, many pregnant women do not receive routine medical care. A clearer picture of the safety of the pill compared to the safety of pregnancy would be made if healthy women receiving routine medical care during pregnancy and delivery were compared with women receiving routine medical care while taking the pill.

The mortality statistics of childbirth have continuously declined since the early part of this century, mostly due to better maternal healthcare. Most of the high risk pregnancies and deliveries occur to women who have not sought proper medical attention. This is most evident in the third world where adequate health care is sparse.

Mortality statistics of pregnancy and delivery, usually called maternal mortality, include the mortality rates due to abortion. Abortion is clearly used as birth control, preventing the birth of the child; therefore it must be included with the mortality statistics of birth control methods. In one study, 25% to 50% of the reported maternal mortality was a result of deaths from abortion.

Fifty percent of woman taking the pill discontinue it within the first year because of side effects, the development of benign breast disease, or some abnormality of the sexual organs. Studies of pill usage do not include these women, and the result is an unbalanced picture of only the healthiest of women who tolerate the pill. This is compared with the general population of women who are pregnant.

The fact is that there are 13.8 million women in the U.S. and 60 million women worldwide who use the pill [conservative numbers]. And there are 7.9 pill-related deaths per 100,000 women ages 15-44.

Therefore, one can calculate that there are over 1090 deaths each year in the U.S. alone simply due to the pill.

But I’ve heard there are no side effects with the pill I use.

All drugs, including all brands of the birth control pill, have potential side effects. There is no telling in advance how any particular woman will react to the pill, but there is a good chance of some type of reaction. It is possible that a woman will be unaware that there is any connection between the reaction and the pill especially if it takes years to manifest itself.

Aren’t there any therapeutic benefits from the pill?

The only indication, or use for the pill that is approved by the Food and Drug Administration is the prevention of pregnancy in women ... as a method of contraception. Some unapproved uses, considered experimental, include its use as a morning after pill [causing an early abortion], and for relief from the symptoms of mild endometriosis.

I’m breastfeeding my baby; can I use the pill?

No. Artificial hormones pass from breast milk to the baby; the pill also decreases both the quantity and protein content of the milk produced.

What is my alternative to using the pill?

Natural Family Planning is safe, healthy and effective and it’s also inexpensive. A woman observes and records changes in her basal body temperature, the normal flow of cervical mucus, and if she wishes, the physical changes in the cervix itself. She then cross-checks these signs of fertility to follow, day by day, the natural course of her fertility cycle. No drugs, no devices, no surgical procedures, no threat of death, no side effects, no chemical abortions!

Does NFP really work?

Yes. Married couples can achieve a 99% effectiveness if they learn the method, correctly interpret the fertility signs, and follow the rules. One positive side benefit for couples who are committed to making this method work is the potential for a healthier marriage — psychologically, physically and spiritually.

How can I find out more about Natural Family Planning?

Contact the national office of The Couple to Couple League, P. O. Box 111184, Cincinnati, OH 45211; toll-free (800) 745-8252, local (513) 471-2000.

Thank you for taking your time to read this article on Healed People, Heal People. If you are not a member of this online community, we invite you to join for free here. You'll receive  regular updates of encouragement wrapped in biblical truths.

http://www.exministries.com
Minister G. Craige Lewis

I listened and watched several videos videos by Minister G. Craige Lewis. Below, I've typed notes from the revelation the Holy Spirit has given him. I thank God for imparting different callings and revelation to people within the body of Christ. Enjoy and please send a link to this article to as many Christians as you can. Thank you.

HIP HOP MUSIC -- There’s something that’s now rocking America; it’s worst than a bomb. It’s now created a bunch of young [Christian and non-Christian] people who totally defy order. The churches have now embraced it, hip hop, and the whole world is being rocked by the impact of it. The enemy started planning this demonic hip-hop strategy in the Zulu nation in Africa and even all the way back to Pharaoh. The enemy began to prepare something to catch and captivate the minds of young people to pull them straight into his own belly. This is the hip-hop culture. This means church youth [and adults] will and are beginning to worship the devil through hip hop music. It’s plain and simple. Our youth [and adults] need deliverance from this because the music and videos have created an open door into their young lives.

Why do Christian parents allow their children to buy clothes that promote godless, perverted artists – like Sean Jean, Rocawear. Biggie Smalls, when he was living, had a group called The Junior Mafia – it was broken into three groups. Each group was called a 6. The entire junior mafia was called 666. Right before Biggie Smalls died, he was preparing to start a clothing line to be named 666. And had this come to fruition, would Christian parents have allowed their children to purchase these clothes and wear even wear them in the house of God. Of course, 666 is the mark of the beast. So what’s a simple strategy the devil uses to promote the anti-Christ agenda, he raises up superstars – like Biggie Smalls, like Beyonce, like Jay-Z.

Russell Simmons [former husband of Kimora Lee Simmons] is the owner of Phat Farm clothing line. His house looks like a gym and in his basement he has a statute of Kali. Kali is the Indian yoga goddess of death and destruction. He prays to this statue every morning. Kali had followers that would worship her stature back in the 19th century. They sacrificed money, jewels and possessions to this goddess. When people came into the temple to worship Kali, men came into the temple to beat up whoever was worshipping Kali. They were robbers and thieves. These men would put the jewels in their mouths and hide all of the possessions they stole. These men were named thugs. Russell Simmons is pegged as a godfather of hip-hop and he worships the goddess that rules over these thugs. The word thug is synonymous to the hip-hop culture. Many people in hip-hop refer to themselves as thugs. There is a new show getting ready ready to air [at the end of 2009] about Tupac titled Thug Angel.

These artists in the hip-hop culture begin to take on thug characteristics and conjure up and channel these very demonic spirits of the thugs back from the 19th century. [There are pictures available to compare facial expressions of body mannerisms so you can see how identical.] 50 Cent, Slim Thug, Mike Jones, Young Buck, Lil John – these guys are glorifying being thugs. This is demonic worship or familiar spirits as scripture calls it. Notice the facial expressions of these hip-hoppers [view videos on YouTube by Minister G. Craige Lewis]. In the form of entertainment, satan is using these hip-hoppers to promote the anti-Christ agenda. Yes, they even put their extravagant jewelry in their mouths, just like the thugs from the 19th century that stole from those who worshipped the idol god Kali in the temple.

Jay-Z calls himself jehovah god. He believes he is god. He does not believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He believes the Black man is god. His clothing line is Rocawear. And why are Christians buying these clothes and even sporting them to church? He has an album called The Black Album and there’s a song on there that you have to play in reverse. These are the lyrics when the song is played in reverse – 666, murder, murder Jesus, 666. [The video of this song being played backwards is posted on this site for you to hear.] Yes, these are the subliminal messages Jay-Z is sending to those listening to this song. And why are Christians supporting him again? Have you noticed that hip-hop clothing is in every department store now. Wake up saints! We wonder what's wrong with our youth and young adults. We wonder why the atmosphere in our homes are not peaceful. Well -- this hip-hop music and the videos create many open doors for you, your children and young adults to invite the demonic right on in to your home, car and life.

Remember the old song, Another One Bites The Dust. When that song was played backwards or in reverse, it said, I like to smoke marijuana. When kids were interviewed, the kids said, they just wanted to get high, they wanted to smoke weed. The kids and adults didn’t have any idea why these thoughts and urges were coming upon them. Christians, saints, believers -- there are only two forces in the world -- God who was Jesus in the flesh and satan. God who is available to us now through The Holy Spirit is omnipotent. As we know, satan can only be in one place at a time. So, what does satan do? He uses demons to do his work. He has assigned demons everywhere. To you, your family, your community, your church, your denomination, your city, your country, your institutions, your governments, your companies, your vocations, and, of course, the media, education and entertainment industries.

The following article is property of EX Ministries' Web site. The information that Charisma did not publish!

A few months ago we were approached by Charisma magazine to do an interview. We have been asked by several national talk shows and publications to give interviews. We always pray and proceed with caution. EX Ministries is not in the business of seeking to promote our cause or message through nationally distributed magazines, however when we were approached by Charisma, we agreed to do the article. We agreed partly because, Charisma has a reputation of being edgy and also they informed me that they were doing an article anyway, whether I agreed to the interview or not.

So I gave them the whole story and answered their questions only after they promised that they would print exactly what I said. Further more, I found that just a year or so prior to this, they had released an issue with a very lengthy cover story on holy hip hop and its use in the black church. I hoped that they would give us the same consideration and print the information we gave them so that it would answer questions and warn others about the dangers of hip-hop.

In the February 2007 issue, they printed the article about us, and much to my surprise, they were very reserved with editing my answers and hardly printed any thing that we addressed in our interview. Although we do not feel the article was directly negative towards our stand, we do feel that the meat of the matter was never really dealt with. I would think that this information would be important enough to discuss with as much intensity as the article they did on holy hip hop, but once again, the booty shaking, grilled mouthed, inmate mimicking, embarrassment to our race, hip hoppers, were lifted up and the truth behind hip hop was snubbed.

Since Charisma didn’t print our interview in its original format, we decided to give you the full list of questions and answers uncut and unedited, as I corresponded with their journalist. This is the information that the 700 Club, Gospel Today, Charisma, and many others will not print for whatever reason.

Charisma Magazine Artical Uncut

JB of Charisma Magazine -What is the goal of your DVD series The Truth Behind Hip Hop?

G. Craige Lewis - Actually, we have no goals for the DVD because we never pursued or planned to record a DVD. One of the most dangerous things that I believe has infected the body of Christ is self-promotion. Yet, this is what most pastors or traveling evangelist are told they must do to get the word out. If the word they were trying to get out was their own then promoting it would be fine. However, if its God’s Word then I believe that God is responsible to promote it. The Truth Behind Hip-Hop is definitely an example of that. The series came about as a result of my traveling and preaching The Truth Behind Hip Hop for two years prior to the DVD. The 1st DVD was recorded in 2002 at the request of a ministry in my area. Initially, I turned them down, because I didn’t want to change the way God was getting the message out. However, after I prayed, the ministry approached me again and the Lord told me to let them record it. The recording didn’t cost me a dime of my own money and besides that, we never mass-marketed it, signed a distribution deal, or tried to promote it ourselves. Yet, through word of mouth and just making them available on our site quite a few people have ordered the DVD’s. What are my goals and desires for the DVD’s? I never planned for DVD’s in the first place. Simply put, I want what God wants and that is for every believer to deny himself and follow Christ!

JB of Charisma Magazine -Your message on secular hip-hop is clear, however, I didn't see where you offered an alternative or solution to what our young people should be listening to. Could you please explain further on this?

G. Craige Lewis - This is dealt with in our 3rd DVD, Antichrist Superstar. We believe that God is not an alternative! He should never be put in the position to replace something that should have never been there in the first place. Consider this, a young person is saved and delivered from an addiction to drugs and the church gives them holy drugs as an alternative? This is absurd. Yet this what so-called holy-hip-hoppers are doing. That young person doesn’t need an alternative drug; the drugs should have never been in their lives in the first place. We teach young people that Jesus Christ is the WAY! Seek him and find him and you will know then what is good and acceptable according to the unction that is within you, called the anointing! We are here to push people into the face of God not by offering replacements, but rather using the written word of God and exposing the darkness and deception that exists in their lives whether through music, or any other form of idol worship. God is first. Once you seek him, you will know in your heart what is good for your mind and soul. Some people think that I am anti-music. As a musician and former producer, I have recorded plenty of music; I have friends who record good Christian music; and according to some trends in ministry, I should be taking the bad stuff and then selling them my stuff—but God has not told me to do that. I preach the message that God has told me to preach and let the Holy Spirit, PASTORS, YOUTH PASTORS, and parents do the rest.

JB of Charisma Magazine -What are your feelings toward the holy hip-hop movement?

G. Craige Lewis - Holy hip hop is ridiculous. It makes no sense. It's just another tool of the enemy to make our young black males act, dress, and behave in a manner that is only beneficial to a rap star and those that profit from it. Although, these antics may be entertaining to some, to the average black man, these behaviors are roadblocks that halt their forward progress in the true culture we live in called the American culture! Dressing like gang members, wearing your hair like women, sagging your pants like inmates, and speaking broken English is, by the American standard, unacceptable behavior and will continue to be a hindrance in the future of our generation. Why would a church embrace that? Why would a church promote that? Out of desperation, many churches are resorting to holy thugs and gospel gangsta's to entertain their youth while the adults are worshipping. You see, you can't minister to teens about self-love, self-promotion, self-empowerment, and all the fluff messages that our new mega-church era is overrun with. Kids won't sit through, what I call the top-pop sermons of the neo-penecostal movement: Miracle, season, harvest, breakthrough, favor, destiny, and purpose. Only adults will chase that stuff. Kids want it real. Therefore, to keep them entertained without a true heart for their souls, you must do what is popular to them. You must mimic the world, follow the world's lead, and subscribe to the current trends and fads if you don't have a true call to minister. Therefore, the holy hip hoppers have found a way to masquerade as the answer while they sell their music and promote themselves. They sound just like the secular stuff. They look just like the secular stuff. They even listen to the secular stuff to get their sound and flavor. So, all they really do is build the desire for the kids to go out and get the real stuff but just do the imitation while at church, cause that's what is available!

JB of Charisma Magazine -Jesus translated the gospel into terms that people could understand [i.e. parables and storytelling]. Do you feel this can be OK for our culture as well? Can hip-hop be used in this way? Why or why not? I think of it as the same as different publishing companies providing different translations of the Bible. I also think of Paul's verse that said he is all things to all men [1 Corinthians 9:22], except a backslider and unrepentant sinner, of course!

G. Craige Lewis - First of all Jesus didn’t translate the Gospel He was the Gospel, the Gospel is the record of His life, death and resurrection. Secondly, He didn’t speak in parables so that people could understand. Ironically, it was just the opposite: He spoken in parables so that the truth would be hidden to those who thought themselves wise and prudent.

Matt. 11:25 At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.

Matt. 13:10 And the disciples came and said to Him, Why do You speak to them in parables?

Matt. 13:11 Jesus answered them, To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted.

Matt. 13:12 For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.

Matt. 13:13 Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.

If anyone has seen any of our DVD’s or have ever heard me speak, they will know that we teach and preach that hip-hop is not just a genre of music. Hip-hop is a lifestyle. It is a manner of life. When a person comes to Christ He changes his lifestyle. Furthermore, hip hop's origin causes it to be useless when it comes to ministry. The word hip hop, according to the founders of the culture and the pioneers of the music art form, was first used in the clubs by the Sugar Hill Gang. Remember that song that said, hip hop, hippy to the hop, don't stop rocking ...? Well, that song was using the two words hip hop to describe women's booty's shaking to their beats in the club. Basically, in it's simplest form, hip hop means booty shaking! Your hips hop to the beats. Just look at the last twenty-years of hip-hop videos: the clothes changed, the music changed, even the lyrics changed but one thing that always remained the same is the gratuitous camera shot of girls hips hopping. We can quote “I became all things to all men …” all we want to; but I don’t think Paul ever meant that he would make the people’s booty shake to win them to Christ. Moreover, how in the world can you have holy booty shaking? Sure, the youth will come to shake their butts and throw up their hood signs, but will they be changed? We have seen millions of youth saved, set free, and delivered, and we have never used any kind of music to draw them.

JB of Charisma Magazine - Since I have begun to research this article I have come across some interesting observations. If it is OK, I would like to explore these with you. It is said that hip-hop culture can be looked at the same as American culture. Both have their up sides and their down sides. If you showed someone from another country all the American strip clubs, bars, jails, and ghettos, perhaps they would see America in a terrible way. But if we showed that America also had churches, good will and charity organizations, sports, great universities [that is up for argument, but anyway] :-)), one would see American in a more realistic light. It has been said that the hip-hop culture is also the same way. The bad is very bad, but there are very positive things that come out of the culture -- creativity, holy hip-hop, political voice, a point of connection to express and release the pain of this generation. How do you feel about such comments/observations?

G. Craige Lewis - Hip-hop is a sub-cultural movement, and cannot be compared to an ethnographic or demographic culture. A subculture is defined as a group with distinctive characteristics within a larger culture. This is why we say that hip-hop is at best, a subculture. Furthermore, its not a movement based on it's own concepts but it is a subculture that uses basic deconstruction of words and concepts to cause those that are apart of it to strive to be more visible in our present society. Initially, hip- was created out of lack and fatherless-ness. Young boys whose father's were absent began to adhere to the streets rather than abiding by the rules that govern success in society. The streets life became their expression and selling drugs, murdering, and fathering illegitimate children became their motes operandi since they had no authoritative male figures to look up to. This birthed the clothing, the language, and the social rejection that gave way for this subculture to emerge. All that we see now is a result of lack and fatherless-ness. Should we adapt to that? Or should we show a better way? Should we promote Christian gangsta's and holy thugs? Or should we teach them that the street life is not the only way there is? There is no way to compare the American culture with a street life subculture that was birthed out of rebellion and recklessness. You can't rebel against a culture that you are apart of and expect to excel in that cultures system. So, if you are not a rapper or DJ or some other occupation that is financed by the subculture of hip hop, then you won't make it in the true American culture. Rebellion will only label you an outcast or reject and cause you to be ridiculed and immobilized.

JB of Charisma Magazine - Another thing I would like to better understand is that you mentioned that hip-hop comes from the devil and that it is satan's trick to cause people to worship him and receive his mark. Did you mean all hip-hop?

G. Craig Lewis - Please allow me to restate your question referring to my earlier definition: Did I mean all booty-hop came from the devil? Hmmmm … ultimately yes. However, before I answer where hip-hop came from, let me clear up where it didn’t come from. Obviously, booty-hop did not come from God. I hear a lot people [mostly holy-hip-hoppers] trying to refer to hip-hop in its purest form. Referring to hip-hop as a pure form is like trying to refer to crack as a pure form. crack in itself is a hybrid of cocaine and other chemicals used to cut it. Yet the reason holy hip-hoppers try to make this quantum leap in logic, is so they can somehow say that hip-hop is a gift from God. One very popular Grammy nominated Holy-hip-hop group suggest that on judgment day God will judge us based on what we did with Hip-hop. God has nothing to do with hip-hop. The founding fathers of hip-hop all readily admit that men created hip-hop out of rebellion. So technically, man created hip-hop, but rebellion inspired it. The Bible clearly states that rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft. What spirit governs rebellion and witchcraft? The devil. So what about holy hip-hip? Surely, they distinguish themselves from the rebellious element of hip-hop don’t they? No, they can’t. Jesus said a kingdom divided against itself can’t stand. Holy hip-hoppers dress like secular hip-hoppers; behave like secular hip-hoppers [throwing up gang signs] and even listen to secular hip-hop so they can emulate them. At one of the holy hip-hop awards shows, a fight broke out east coast against west coast just like secular hip-hop.

When most holy hip hop artists rap, they never refer to it as Holy, but just hip hop. Why is that? Because, there is only one subculture of hip hop and it is not holy! KRS-ONE, the lead prophet and spokesperson for hip hop says that Biggie was [the counterfeit] John the Baptist and Tupac Shakur was [the counterfeit] Jesus Christ and they died for our sins! He is revered and looked up to as the father of holy hip hop. He says in hip hop there are no gods and goddesses, we are the gods and goddesses! He even has T-Bone and BB Jay on his CD called Spiritually Minded, which is sold in Mardels, Family Christian, and all major Christian bookstores. He says he is a prophet and is here to teach the truth about Jesus. He says we are all Jesus Christs and should not worship him or call his name out, but be Jesus. He has Temples of hip hop all over the country and is meeting with holy hip hoppers to join together in efforts to promoting hip hop in the church! In our discussion with Ambassador of the Cross Movement, we urged him to call what he was doing Christian rap and not subscribe to hip hop culture. We asked him why couldn't he just rap for the Lord and use his ability to create rhymes for God without giving credit or props to hip hop. He said he couldn't. He is apart of the hip hop culture and would not denounce it. All rappers believe that rap is the music, but hip hop is the lifestyle or the way of life. This tells us that all hip hoppers have an agenda. Not to just rap, but to promote a rebellious way of life! Hip-hop takes what was once seen as bad and makes it good. Thugs, pimps, and gangstas was once seen as bad but hip-hop says that its good. Holy hip-hoppers are governed by this fundamental element and try to sanctify hip-hip by adding one word holy to everything. Now they say holy thugs, and gospel gangstas as if this will change the essence of hip-hop terms.

JB of Charisma Magazine -And also, what did you mean when you later said that satan can't create anything, that he is anti-God and anti-creation? Just to clarify, it appeared that there was a contradiction in that point. Could you explain your complete thoughts on that?

G. Craige Lewis - Satan did not create hip hop, but he used man to create it. Man has a unique ability that was not giving to satan. Man has God's attribute of creation. The devil took the music, the fatherless-ness, and the false god worship of the Zulu nation, and fused it together to form an anti-Christian movement of Hip Hop. I don't believe the devil created all the things that make up the movement, but he did mastermind the culmination of them all.

JB of Charisma Magazine - Also, how would you respond to the argument that people may bring up from Colossians 1:16-17: For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist? I have heard this text used to defend that use of hip-hop to glorify God and to win people to Christ.

G. Craige Lewis - There is NO biblical example of music ever being used to win souls to Christ or to evangelize. Music as a unique ability to coerce your mind and physiologically causes the release of pleasure chemicals in your brain. Because of this, it's hard for a person to make a good sound decision for Christ with the emotional trappings of music involved. Their decision will be based on feeling rather than fact. I believe that this accounts for much of the schizophrenic Christianity of the modern Church. Many churches heavily use music during their altar calls and people make a decision for Christ without being soberly minded. This leads to a conversion that is based on their emotions rather than their sound judgment. When they go back to their former environment and their emotions change they turn away from God. There is no biblical account of music being listed as a fold in the five-fold ministry or used by the apostles to draw a crowd. Jesus said no man cometh unless the Spirit of God draws him. If you notice, the only people that are really pushing hip hop in the churches are those that profit from it. Since when did the resale industry's method become our model for winning souls? When I speak, we never use music and hard core gang members, pimps, whores, drug dealers, drug users, etc. have come to Christ by the thousands without hip hop or any music!

JB of Charisma Magazine -What do you think of holy hip-hop churches and ministries?

G. Craige Lewis - What's next? What is the church going to do to reach the red-light district? Or the strippers? Are we going to dress up like whores and start whore ministries to reach them? Are we going to dress up like pimps to reach pimps or cross dress to reach homosexuals? [Believe me, some are probably behind the scenes trying to set up these movements even as we speak.] People need the power of the Holy Ghost to change them, not our methods. These are the purpose driven churches that are really people driven! They want big numbers and large offerings, so they turn to fleshly methods and the promotion of their own ideas rather than preaching the truth of the Word of God without compromise. If the holy hip hop churches and ministries were really affective, they would be in the streets with their kind and not in some building acting street! I want all pastors and ministries that are holding on and not giving in to this perverted move of carnality by embracing this demonic sub-culture to know something. You are not alone!

There are hundreds of thousands of churches and ministries out there that are not giving in and just because you see the mega pastors and conferences trying to push this hip hop agenda, stick with what God is telling you. There is something wrong with boys sagging their pants and tattooing their bodies. There is something wrong with girls dressing and acting like prostitutes and hookers. There is something wrong with gospel gangsters and holy thugs wearing grillz and speaking broken English. Stay true to what you know God is saying. Teach the parents and they will effectively minister to their children. Don't sideswipe their authority by bringing in the very images and lifestyles that parents and the education system of America is trying to change.

JB of Charisma Magazine - Thank you Elder Lewis for your responses. I see in one of your answers that you asked to one of the members of Cross Movement to call their music Christian rap. It appears from this dialog that you do not have a problem with someone rapping Christian lyrics -- just not subscribing to the hip-hop lifestyle. Is this assumption correct? Also, what style of music would you say is appropriate for Christians to listen to? Or maybe you wouldn't tell someone what to listen, but how would you teach someone to choose the kind of music that truly glorifies God?

G. Craige Lewis - I am not against rap, or any style of music, but I do not believe that Christian music should exalt the performer at all. If it's Christian, or Christ-like, it should exalt only Christ. The holy hip hoppers promote themselves all in their music because hip hop is self expressive and self serving. That is against the plan of Christ, self denial! I believe a Christian should seek God in every way possible and deny their flesh in every way possible. This includes selfish music that causes us to move in an inappropriate manner or songs that lift up people as idols and do not lift up Christ. Self denial is the root of Salvation and must be practiced as Paul said, daily. So, with our investigative estimations of the gospel music industry being over 95 percent homosexual, self worship is being promoted in music and self promotion is key in being successful as an artists. The only example of this in the Bible is Lucifer, the angel that the bible says iniquity was found in him because of his much merchandising! It also states in Ezekial that the iniquity of his traffic [self promotion] got him cast out and labeled profane.

Thank you for taking your time to read this article on Healed People, Heal People. Please send this article to other Christians, especially pastors and youth pastors of all races. If you're not a member of this online community, we invite you to join for free. There are regular updates of encouragement wrapped in biblical truth as it relates to integrated healing & deliverance.

By Redge Peifer

People everywhere carve out pumpkin faces, hang skeletons on their walls, buy costumes … getting ready for devil’s night and, of course, halloween. Do you know where halloween originated?

Halloween

The een in the word Halloween refers to the een or evening before the day known as All Saints Day. But, what kind of saints were these? The saints of the Bible. No, All Saints Day was originally a festival honoring the druid priests who were into the occult and who were priests of satan.

The Druids And Human Sacrifice

Halloween has clear connections with their primitive and savage rituals in 2 BC [the pre-Roman, pre-Christian Celtic communities of northern and western Europe, especially in France [Gaul], Britain, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. They were the builders of Stonehenge where they would bring humans to be sacrificed in Britain.

The druids worshipped pagan gods that included the sun god, the earth mother goddess and Sambain [lord of the dead]. Stonehedge was constructed to calculate the sun’s movements and then determine the most suitable day to worship the earth mother goddess – by the sacrifice of a human! The date selected was October 31, halloween! Think about it.

Reincarnation

The druids believed in reincarnation that is contrary to the teaching of the Bible. Hebrews 9:27 reads, And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment. According to their religion, the god Sambain judged the souls and decreed in what form their existence was to continue whether in the body of a human or in an animal. They believed that sinful souls of those who had died during the year had been relegated to the bodies of animals and through various gifts and sacrifices, their sins could be forgiven and the souls freed to claim a heavenly reward. It was common for horses to be sacrificed, but there were also a lot of human sacrificed.

Men, mostly criminal, but not all – were imprisoned in wicker and thatch cages shaped like animals or giants. The druid priest set fire to these cages and the men were burned to death. They eventually included women and children in their horrible sacrifices.

Sacrifice Of Children

Please note from the Bible that Molech is the demon directly associated with the sacrifice of children. Molech was the Canaanite god of fire. To bring this more current, beloved reader, Molech is the demon directly associated with abortions. In the Bible, Molech was a demon god, that’s still active today, who demanded the sacrifice of living children. As Christians, we understand that children are living at the moment of conception. Thus, abortions are the killing or sacrifice of living children.

They not only sacrificed unto false gods, but the druid rituals included eventually direct human sacrifices to the devil. They acknowledged him and worshipped him and multitudes of men, women and the little children were murdered.

Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.
Exodus 20:3

And he ordained him priests for the high places, and for the devils, and for the calves which he had made.
II Chronicles 11:15

And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom; also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger.
II Chronicles 33:6

The Pumpkin

The men, women, or children to be sacrificed on halloween would simply be selected by the druids. They would leave a pumpkin on the doorstep of the house to replace the victim and to let the other members of the family know that no one else would be harmed. Now, every time you look at a pumpkin on somebody’s front porch, you’ll know what it really represents.

If you, your family, your friends or your church members have engaged in these occult practices, you should know you have opened the door to the occult. No one said that that satan or his demons play fair. If you open the door to the occult, then the respective demons enter. Demons do not leave because you come into knowledge. The Bible is very clear on how to break strongholds. The Bible is very clear about how to take of care demonic oppression in Christians. I strongly suggest you do so ... else you, your family, your friends or your church members are living with the presence of demonic influence. I'm more than pleased to answer any questions you may have. Please post your comments.

Thank you for taking your time to read this article on Healed People, Heal People. If you are not a member of this online community, we invite you to join for free. There are regular updates of encouragement wrapped in biblical truths. If you know parents who would value this information on halloween, please forward this article link to them.

By Dr. David Kyle Foster

1. Masturbation can be the vehicle whereby the inhibited person maintains their propensity to remain self-contained and in need of no one. It deepens the trenches of loneliness, self-pity and self-centeredness.

2. Masturbation is a turning in on one's self -- a narcissistic neurosis that feeds introspection and other dysfunctional directions. This kind of inwardly focused life robs people of the fullness of life that Christ came to give.

3. Masturbation can become a gateway for demonic strongholds to develop. This becomes more and more likely as one delves deeper and deeper into pornography and perverse sexual fantasies.

4. This behavior serves to program the mind to focus on fantasy as the source of pleasure rather than the biblical model of union with one's spouse. People come to be seen as objects rather than real people. It is an elaborate scheme of the enemy [satan and his demons] to keep us from learning how to be intimate with our spouse and our God.

5. When someone takes up the practice of masturbation, they are programming themselves to turn to solutions that block or hide problems rather than solve them. This immature life-pattern for problem-solving is highly dysfunctional and is the foundation upon which is laid a lifetime of addictive behavior.

6. Masturbation has a physically addictive side to it that serves to block pain. The chemicals that are released into the brain serve to medicate pain much like any addictive drug. God wants us to bring our pain to Him. He wants us to grow through it and receive the blessing of sharing in the sufferings of Christ.

7. Masturbation is a task master that demands the continual plumbing of new and more perverse depths of lust. On that treadmill, the mind is programmed to more and more highly delineated sexual fantasies, which the marriage bed can never match. Normal marital relations become a disappointment and the design for sex thwarted. The body also becomes programmed to achieve release quickly, which serves to frustrate the patterns of healthy sexual intercourse between spouses.

8. A clutching at the genitals by infants is often a manifestation of separation anxiety, but that same behavior in childhood is often a sign of sexual abuse or some other cause for significant internal anxiety in the child. If the child uses a mirror during the act, that is a scenario that can result in homosexual confusion, as the child programs their mind to associate sexual pleasure with the sight of their own body. [In such cases, other factors that lead to homosexual neurosis are probably also present, such as molestation or failure to bond on an emotional level with the same-sex parent]. Adolescent experimentation at puberty is normal and not a cause for alarm unless it becomes habitual.

What does the Bible Say?

One of the most prevalent rationalizations that people use is that the Bible never mentions masturbation and that it must therefore be alright. Is that logical? Is child molestation alright then? It's not specifically forbidden in the Bible. How about shooting heroin? Or how about torturing someone? Not mentioned! You see how illogical the argument quickly becomes.

How do we know that smoking dope is against the will of God, for example? We discover the answer by uncovering the principles found in scripture - most specifically those concerning the body being the temple of the Holy Spirit and those commanding us to obey governmental authority. We also know sin by the witness of the Holy Spirit within, provided we haven't quenched that witness through ongoing rebellion.

The most obvious biblical principle that is applicable to masturbation is found in Matthew 5:28 where Jesus indicates that lusting after someone in the heart is the same as actually doing it. I am violating whomever I am picturing in my mind during the act of masturbation. It really doesn't matter whether it is a picture from a magazine, [Those are real people!], or someone I've met or a memory of some act committed in the past.

And if I can discipline my mind to think of no one, what of that?

Attainment of such focus only serves to make obvious the desperation and obsession that drives us to such lengths. The principles found in I Corinthians 6:12; II Peter 2:19; and Romans 6:14 clearly emerge as foundational to our plight -- that we are slaves to whatever masters us. When we get truly honest about the habit of masturbation, it is clear that it is a behavior that controls us -- one that we use to medicate pain, to alleviate stress or to forget rejection. In that way, it is similar to a drug habit -- just one more vehicle to avoid turning to God.

Why won't we turn to God? We may be ashamed. We may believe that He's going to judge and punish us. We may not trust Him. Or, it simply may never occur to us. We don't normally see God as being involved in the fulfillment of our sexual lives. He's a Spirit after all and we are physical creatures. And yet, He is in fact the answer to every problem. He can quench our unholy desire and He can teach us to respond to problems by working through them rather than from running from them.

Confessing the Right Things

It is important that I discover the root sin issues so that I can repent of them. If I am unaware of one or more of these strongholds, I will inevitably remain bound because my unrepented sin will continue to give Satan ground to hold me in bondage. Much of the transformation process involves discovering where Satan's ground is and removing it with the tools that God has provided. What then are some of the root sin issues that need to be confessed?

1. Unbelief

Unbelief Is the doubt that God is really good. When I sin any sin, I am in that moment doubting that God is really there for me, that He cares, and therefore, that He is good. I am re-enacting the first sin committed in the Garden of Eden, when Eve became convinced that God was keeping from her something that was good.

The truth is, God has something better than the coping mechanism of masturbation -- even for the single person. He has something higher, something that will bring completion and satisfaction to one's sexual self. It is this truth that is most effective in being persuaded to forsake the sin.

2. Idolatry

Ephesians 5:3-5 clearly teaches that sexual immorality is a form of idolatry. Often masturbation becomes a source of life and peace, especially for those who have lived through great pain. It becomes a substitute god. Should the Spirit come to offer freedom, many will recoil in terror at the realization that they are being asked to live without something that has been a primary source of peace in their lives - something that has kept them from falling apart. The behavior becomes so entrenched in their sense of being that life without it becomes unimaginable.

Like the worship of any god, masturbation has its own fetish objects and rituals -- times, places, triggers, ritual objects, and ritual patterns that draw the person into an almost trance-like progression toward the peak experience and denouement. Confessing the ritual worship and removing or renouncing its various components is key to seeing its power broken.

3. Rebellion

Sometimes we simply refuse to listen to the Holy Spirit or pretend not to hear Him. The self-care of masturbation often cloaks anger and distrust of God, who never seemed to be there when we needed Him. Often in childhood, when God doesn't rescue us or change us upon demand, we judge Him in our hearts and develop a root of anger that must be removed through confession and repentance. That means we acknowledge our rebellion and make concerted choices to love Him and to believe that given the context of human free will, God operates with complete integrity and love.

4. Love of Sin

This one is often buried under mounds of rationalizations. We pretend that we need to practice the sin, we deserve to practice it, it's the least God can do to allow it considering what we've gone through, etc. But the truth is, we love it more than we love God. In order to change this, we need to discover how to love God more. Greater love for God comes as a fruit of taking the time to know Him intimately. A lifestyle of worship is important. The demonic realm cannot stand that. Meditating on the Cross is also a major key. As we gain a deeper appreciation for our Lord's suffering, we become more willing to jettison the things that have charmed us most [as the old hymn says]. When tempted, we only need ask ourselves, Who do I love right now - the sin that is tempting me, or the One who loves me so deeply that He died on the Cross for me? Put that way, the choice becomes far easier to make.

5. Self-deception

It is a humbling thing to realize that over the years we become masters at deceiving ourselves into believing we want freedom from something that we will not give up. Like an onion, we lay down layer upon layer of self-deception, saying the right religious words and thinking the right religious thoughts, while still refusing to forsake the desire for the sin that lingers in our hearts. We need to acknowledge before God the ongoing impurity in our motivation, the depravity in our heart, and our need for Him to give us the true heartfelt desire to be holy and pure.

6. Performance-righteousness

Most of us, even those who know better, continually fall into this trap. Though we talk of grace alone and being able to do nothing without Christ, our fallen nature continuously seduces our minds into believing that we must earn God's love and acceptance and that we must develop our own righteousness. Over and over again we try to make ourselves holy and pure rather than suffer the humiliation of the flesh and truly become dependent on God for the power to live the kingdom life that He won for us on the Cross.

The Long and Winding Road to Freedom

It would be nice if God would just zap us and make us permanently free from sin and bondage. But the process of sanctification is often arduous. Through it we learn to value the end result, depend on Him, love Him, trust Him, hate evil and give all glory, praise and honor to God and God alone.

The foundational principles by which our Lord sets us free from masturbation are no different than those for any other sin and bondage. Simply put, set your focus on Him [rather than your problem] and let His Spirit guide you the rest of the way. In moments of intimacy with Him, God will lead you through a complete shift in your priorities. He will transform your affections and belief systems. He will deepen your desire and determination to be liberated. He will expose and heal the hidden emotional and sin problems that have fed your bondage. And He will strengthen your willingness to believe and to act on His promises.

1. Learn to give yourself grace. It took you a long time to develop the problem, so in moments of failure, turn and receive the love and grace of God. He is pleased with you because of Christ's sacrifice on your behalf and because deep in your heart, you loved Him enough to commit your life to His Son. God has grace to spare. In fact, it is His grace in the midst of our failure that ultimately yields the fruit of obedience [Titus 2:11-14].

2. Permanently set your heart and mind to turn to God at the first moment of temptation and with acknowledged weakness and dependency, cry out to Him for His power to quench the fiery darts of the enemy. Commit to being ruthless with temptation -- giving it no place. Let Christ answer the door when it comes knocking!

3. Remove every influence that leads you into desiring and repeating the behavior. Ask God to show you what these are. Break the ritual patterns and remove the ritual objects as God reveals them to you.

4. Practice believing that God has something better -- that He can indeed fulfill the needs that are temporarily being met through the illegitimate means of masturbation.

5. Spend significant, quality time with God in praise, worship, prayer and scripture reading. Pour out your heart to Him. Develop the same intimate relational knowing of God that you would with a spouse. Ask Him to implant within your mind a healthy view of sex and the sexuality of others. Ask Him to give you a love of purity, seeking Him passionately in the beauty of His holiness [Psalm 96:9]. Listen to Him as He unlocks for you the unique keys to your transformation. Listen with a heart set on obeying His direction no matter what He may suggest.

6. Refuse to submit to Satan's barrage of self-condemning thoughts when you fall. There is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus [Romans 8:1]. Call any thought or feeling to the contrary the lie that it is and reject it. Repent and then run back into your Daddy's arms.

7. Learn what God really thinks of you by meditating on the Cross. Reject the lies of self-hatred, loathing and shame that are in actuality, elaborate challenges to the Cross of Christ and the promises of God.

Know that God has the will and the power to set anyone free from anything. Go for the free indeed promise. Seek not the maintenance program of the world, but the transformation program of the kingdom of God!

Thank you for taking your time to read this article on Healed People, Heal People. If you're not a member of this online community, we invite you to join for free here. There are regular updates of the encouragement wrapped in biblical truths.

Keep the trash cleaned out of the body. Don't give the virus or germs a place to live. Keep the bowels clean. Please promote and allow at least two and preferably three easy and complete movements per day.

One to four capsules of the Pure Herb Cascara Sagrada each night. Start with capsule and increase if needed. Or one teaspoon of the Pure Herb C.C.E.-W each night.

Get rid of the virus flu and colds | Do not get dehydrated. Keep your body well supplied with plenty of natural vitamins, minerals and trace elements. Take one teaspoon of the Pure Herb Formula Max or the Pure Herb Formula M, three to four times per day. Drink plenty of fluids. Peppermint tea is great using one teaspoon of the Pure Herb Peppermint to a cup of hot water. The Pure Herb I.V.-H [Infection & Virus] for relief of flu suffering, one teaspoon two to three times per day.

Get your rest.

Use an herbal antibiotic. Choose any of the following: Strengthen the immune system. The Pure Herb IM.S.-W one teaspoon three times per day. Fight the flu. One teaspoon or more of the Pure Herb Bee Propolis and one teaspoon of the Pure Herb Olive Leaf every four hours while awake and one teaspoon of the Pure Herb Astragulus and one teaspoon of the Pure Herb Boneset taken the same way devastates viruses.

Also use 3,000 mg of the Pure Herb Vitamin C plus the Pure Herb Pleurisy Root every four hours and one teaspoon to one tablespoon of the Pure Herb C.C.-E.-W [Cleansing Corrective Extract] every four hours while awake. Also, 10 drops of the Pure Herb Sutherlandia every four hours while awake is very powerful.

Apply any of these Pure Herbs to a handkerchief and breathe deeply as needed -- Oil of Cajeput, Wintergreen Oil, Eucalyptus Oil, Peppermint Oil or Five Oils. Apply these oils to the chest to breathe easier and break up congestion. Avoid chills.

When you eat, make sure you get some protein to build natural body defenses. Try yogurt, natural peanut butter, almond nut butter or ground sesame seed, also known as Tahini. These can be put on puffed rice crackers. You can also supplement with protein. Use any of the following Pure Herbs for protein: Bee Pollen, Five Good, Protein extract. One teaspoon to one tablespoon three times per day. Prevent the flu, one teaspoon of the Pure Herb Sweet Root per day.

Keep the immune system strong. Nourish the adrenal glands. This can make up more comfortable and get you well quicker. Choose any of the following Pure Herbs: Bee Pollen, Siberian Ginseng, Licorice Root, Sarsaparilla, Ashwaganda, Formula III, Stillingia, or especially for women, Three Bees. Take these at the rate of one teaspoon every four hours while awake. If you must be around sick people, take 40 drops of Pure Herb Juniper Berries per meal to avoid sickness.

The Pure Herb Formula F & F, if flu and fever or the Pure Herb Black Cohosh if chills and fever 10 to 40 drops hourly as needed. Also apply to spine.

I walked another three miles this evening with my cross training instructor after class. One thing I shared with him is that if a person is breathing, they have some issues to be dealt with, especially if they've never had any healing and deliverance. Earlier today I was asked to explain what the integrated approach to biblical healing and deliverance is.

Let me see if I can explain it in simple terms. A lot of times, we deal with our symptoms and not the root of the issues on our lives. Most people's entire thinking process, including society, is geared toward symptoms.

For example, if a person has a gall bladder problem, doctors take out the gall bladder. Well the root of most gall or kidney problems originate in the liver, but doctors don't address it in most cases. Now, I am not a physician and know that, so I know MDs know that. Or the better question is, why don't they go to the root of the issue?

Now, allow me to shift to a common family dynamic. Many of us have one person, if not several people, in our families who are addicted to drugs. Normally, our family members’ make comments like, he/she ought to know better; I don't know why he/she won't fulfill his /her responsibilities.

My dear, beloved people of God, those are all symptoms. I remain quiet when I hear comments like these because my interest is in only dealing with eradicating, putting an axe spiritually to the root of the issue. That way, the symptoms are forced to die.

In simple terms, that's what integrated, biblical healing and deliverance looks like. We deal with the root(s) of an issue on all levels -- historically, cognitively, legally, emotionally and spiritually -- and it must die.

I'll tell you this, this has changed my life. The Lord has allowed me some great opportunities in my life. But as the scriptures say clearly, only what we do for Christ will last.

I've seen the Holy Spirit heal and deliver people before my eyes and He's used me as a tool. The school I was trained at was an international training center that specializes in the integrated approach to healing and deliverance. I wouldn't trade the experience for anything. The qualified teams in the Healing House Network have provided ministry to people, churches and businesses all over the world.

You name a profession, and we've had someone come.
You name a level of society, and they've come.
You name a status level, and they've come.
You name a denomination, and they've come.
You name any problem or issue, and many have come.
You name any case of hopelessness, and many have come.
You name any stronghold or addiction that's gripped a person's life, and the people have come.
You name a secret that people have lived with for decades, and those people have come.

I will never look at any human being the same.

Another beauty about the integrated approach to biblical healing and deliverance is that the green light comes on for people. Now what do I mean by that? You know how we all have wondered things about ourselves, our own families and about other people. You know that why, those searching questions that just never seem to get answered.

In the ministry room, the Holy Spirit shows us and we show the person coming for ministry the strategy satan [really the demons dispatched and assigned to the person's life] has used to steal, kill and destroy them in their life. There's nothing like when we see that the green light comes on for a person.

So, what does this mean? It means satan's strategy is exposed, and the freeing process begins. Now, how satan trips people up, many times for decades, is he [really the demonic assigned to the person's life] makes the person think: a) something is really wrong with me; or, b) I'm so ashamed I can't let anybody know; or, c) I have to keep this hidden; or d) I'm the only one, I am flawed in this area.

They are all lies, my dear beloved people of God.
And you know who the father of lies is, yes satan.
I tell you, I tell people satan seriously has a low intelligence quota.
It's sad and even simple, but it's true.

Remember I started this blog off by sharing I walked another three miles with my cross training instructor after class. Well, he asked the ultimate question. "So yall just do the inner healing stuff right?" I looked at him out of the corner of my right eye as sweat is drenching down my face and already-soaked t-shirt, and I answered, we do "healing."

Let's think about it people. What did Jesus do the majority of the time here on earth, heal. Does the Bible not clearly say that we, His dearly beloved, will do even greater things than Him. So yes, absolutely, we've seen the Holy Spirit heal people of many physical issues/illnesses/pains when they came for integrated, biblical healing and deliverance ministry. You can imagine the look my instructor gave me. His eyes said it all as he towered above me in height.

Now, my two degrees are in business and my career has been spent in the business arena both nationally and internationally. The Holy Spirit simply amazes me every week. Do you know these same revelatory biblical principles that integrated healing and deliverance teams apply to people are also applied to businesses?

It’s very simple and makes sense. Businesses are made up of people, right. People bring there personal, life issues to work and companies have to deal with them. They prohibit productivity. How do they affect work?

Well, we know about employee theft, we know about office affairs, we know about manipulation, we know about lying, we know about greed, we know about injustice, we know about sexism, we know about racism, we know about the glass ceiling, we know about substance abuse, we know about overweight people, we know about employees who just aren’t motivated, we know about people going through divorces at work, we know about unethical people, we know about favoritism, we all know about the inevitable bosom buddy called stress.

Well, Beloved reader, every single thing listed above, plus many other things I didn’t name all have spiritual roots. It will not take long to show this to you. So, can you connect the dots to see how having a person or people within companies go through healing and deliverance can significantly impact the workplace. And this is not a temporary fix either.

We have case studies [we call them testimonies in the body of Christ] of believers who have applied this to their businesses and companies, and the Holy Spirit has turned departments, business units and companies around. I’m not pulling your leg here.

As in the business world, these same biblical principles are applied to help businesses and organizations Transform Their Business.

Thank you for taking your time to read this blog. If you have any questions, please just post them here. The team at Healed People, Heal People is pleased to answer them. If you're not a member of this online community, we invite you to join for free here. You'll receive regular updates of encouragement.

Pure Herbs can be applied to the infants abdomen, chest and soles of the feet. But you should only apply the Pure Herbs to one area, not all three. This will give the same effect as taking them internally. You only need apply a small amount to cover the area. Please use a little Vitamin E with Selenium along with the herbs.

Pure Herbs to Calm children | All Cells Salts, Chamomile, Fenugreek

Pure Herbs for Colic | Ginger, Fenugreek, Thyme, Papaya Mints, Indian Tobacco [externally on the abdomen]

Pure Herbs for Croup | Externally rub Oil of Cajeput, Garlic & Mullein Oil, Indian Tobacco on chest. The combination of these herbs will give relief.

Pure Herbs for Iron Source | Bilberry, Chickweed, Mullein [dark grape juice and black cherry juice], HI.I.-W

Pure Herbs for Mucus Infection | Cleansing Corrective Extract-W [can be rubbed on the chest] and Oil of Cajeput can be rubbed on chest, F.V.E-W

Pure Herbs as Liquid Multi-Vitamin | Alfalfa, Chlorella, All Cells Salts, Formula M, Vita Lixir, V.M.-W, Spirulina

Pure Herbs for Whooping Cough-Type Problems | Black Cohosh, Evening Primrose, Gravel Root, Pluerisy Root, Kava Kava Combination, Knitbone & Fenugreek, Wild Cherry Bark, Yerba Santa Combination

Children's dosage

For children 25-50 pounds, use 1/3 of the dosage given.

For children 51-75 pounds, use 1/2 of the dosage given.

For children 76-100 pounds, use 2/3 of the dosage given.

For children above 100 pounds, use full dosage given.

For infants and small babies

Usually, a practitioner works with one drop on the tongue at a time, then the affect is noted before administering more. Wait a few minutes before you give more and, in general, do not exceed 5 to 10 drops at a time.

External use for everyone

If using the herb externally, use whatever is necessary to cover the area, such as the soles of the feet, the length of the spine and back of the neck, on the chest and/or abdomen.

This information is about historical observations and historical information relating to herbs. This information is not intended to be a substitute for medical advice by licensed physicians. A person should consult a physician regularly in all matters relating to medical problems, especially in matters of diagnosing, treating or curing diseases or other physical or mental conditions. This information has not been verified by the American Medical Association or the Food and Drug Administration.