I had an unconventional business meeting late yesterday afternoon. There person and I had been trying to connect for some weeks, but you know how the schedule thing goes. So I asked the person would they be willing to try one of my unconventional meetings, and the person said yes. We did a walking meeting.

Two things were achieved. We exercised and completed our business. At the close of the walking meeting, the person asked, “How long did we walk?” I looked at my pedometer on the right side of my waist and replied, “7.25 miles.” There was silence by the other person.

One non-business thing I shared was it’s extremely difficult to identity Christians from non-Christians on any day of any week of any hour. We Christians have chosen so many times to blend in, we are now hardly, if at all, identifiable. Thus, there goes our salt, our savor, our ability to draw the unsaved. So, what are we going to do? Will we continue to choose to operate daily with no power?

II Timothy 1:7 paraphrased reads, For God gives you a spirit of power.

Are you a Christian who chooses to remain politically correct in your neighborhood – a primary place to be a light?

Are you a Christian who chooses to remain quiet at work repeatedly when others choose to be vocal repeatedly in sharing non-Christian values?

Are you a Christian who chooses to be too busy daily to learn 1 thing by studying in the Bible?

Are you a Christian who chooses to remain passive by not signing petitions that will uphold Christian values in our communities?

Are you a Christian who continues to choose to mismanage His time He allows you each day, which directly affects His kingdom business being achieved in your family, your church, your relationships, and your spheres of influence?

As Christians [who do not have children] and as Christians parents, it is our responsibility to provide safe boundaries and safe environments for our children and the children in your local church body.

John 10:10 paraphrased reads, The thief comes to steal, and to kill, and to destroy your children.

How does satan plan to steal, kill and destroy your children?

One way he strategizes on YOUR children in your home and the children in your church is he looks for open gates.

Two open gate he, satan, commonly uses are the eye gates and the ear gates of your children and the children in your church.

Taking YOUR children to see the new Harry Potter movie is a very sly, entertaining, deceptive way you can introduce your children in your home, in your community and in your church to the occult, which is directly controlled by the demonic. And the demonic is directly controlled by satan.

Many of you know that I’m certified in integrated, biblical healing and deliverance. It is my heart’s desire and my colleagues desire around the world who labor in integrated, biblical healing and deliverance to see less parents before us who weep and wail over their children.

One way we can see fewer parents pained over our children, is for parents to make better, educated, Christian choices early and repeatedly in the lives of your children and the children in your church.

John 10:10 paraphrased reads, I come that you might have life more abundantly.

Beloved reader, may I share two ways I employ as a Christian to live the more abundant life I’m entitled too.

One, I choose to live life on the offense daily.

And two, I choose to not willingly open gates in my life to invite the demonic, which are directly controlled by satan.

As a Christian, you are aware of the biblical fact that demons are active 24-hours a day just as the Holy Spirit is.

You are aware that Christ can be everywhere at the same time.
You are aware that satan cannot be everywhere at the same time.
You are aware that since satan imitates Christ, his substitute for being everywhere at the same time is his minute-by-minute use of demons.
He dispatches his demons and specifically assigns them to you, your children, your family, your community, your church, your company, your institutions and your city.

Would you consider, please beloved reader, not willingly opening the door to the occult in YOUR children’s lives in your home and in your church by taking them to see the new Harry Potter movie?

Consider, please, setting a precedence and planting a seed in the mind of your child(ren) and the children in your church of how to make godly decisions. After all, as a Christian parent you are responsible for training them up in the Lord. If you’d like them to make godly decisions later, they are watching you and learning how you make godly decisions for them as a child(ren).

Please read the two movie reviews below, beloved reader. Every time there is a reference to the occult, I’ve inserted the word [occult] in the appropriate place.

Thank you for reading this article. If you are not a member of Healed People, Heal People, I invite you to join and invite others to be a part of this online Christian community. There are weekly updates of encouragement.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – movie review no. 1
What Parents Need to Know
www.CommonSenseMedia.org

Parents need to know that this is no PG movie -- in all ways, it's very similar to the previous two movies, which were rated PG-13. This film continues the series' trend toward darker [occult] , more intense material. For young children, the death of a major beloved character could be extremely upsetting. Other characters are bloodied, kicked, and cursed in frightening [occult] ways, and a very scary scene involving scary, skeletal [occult] characters is sure to scare the pants off of little kids.

There are also some big emotional upheavals and scary [occult] attacks. And there's notably more [premarital] sexuality -- albeit playfully [plants seeds of sexual immorality in your children’s minds to premarital sex and seeds do grow] depicted -- than in the past movies. Because the characters are now teens, much of the interaction between them and their friends centers on getting a boy or girlfriend, and there's plenty of [premarital] snogging [making out]. While Harry and his friends continue as strong positive role models, other characters' motives and plans become more ambiguous.

And there are also a few scenes that include alcohol consumption [plants seeds in your child’s mind, please consider if there are generationally any alcohol drinkers on either side of your family] -- including one in which a professor serves his students [person in both and authoritative and leadership position leading children, students to engage in alcohol, it is no coincidence that liquor stores advertise signage that read SPIRITS, and this is not the spirit of the Lords, notice the word spirits is plural with an S] .

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – movie review no. 2
By Christa Banister, Crosswalk.com Contributing Writer

Cautions

Drugs/alcohol: Harry, Hermoine and Ron drink butter beer.

Language/profanity: A few uses of mild profanity including “hell,” “damn” and “piss off.”

Sex/nudity: Romance is definitely on the brain in Hogwarts this time around. There are a few kisses between different teen couples, but nothing more.

Violence: “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” has an even darker [occult] tone than any of the other “Potter” movies to date. And the first scene definitely sets the pace when the Millennium Bridge is destroyed and several civilians are thrown off. A couple of fights break out between Harry and Draco, and their faces are bloodied.

There are violent exchanges between the Weasleys and the Death Eaters, and more precarious spells [occult] are concocted than ever before, especially when one of Harry’s classmates is possessed [occult] and nearly dies. The last 20 minutes are the most violent and action-packed of them all when Dumbledore and Harry make their way to the cave. What eventually goes down is different than what actually happens in the books, so I won’t spoil it here.

Be forewarned, however, this isn’t stuff for younger children, despite the PG rating.

Please consider printing this article and doing one or several of the following.

1) Give a copy of this to people in leadership at your church.

2) Give a copy of this to parents you know.

3) Use this as a Vacation Bible School topic.

4) Use this as a topic in your youth group.

5) Place copies on the windshields of your church members.

6) Consider using this as an insert in your church bulletin.

7) Place a copy of this article on several of your church bulletin boards.

8) Tape a copy of this article on the inside door of bathroom stalls in your church.

9) Tape a copy of this article near the exit doors of your church.

Thank you, Beloved reader, for being active in your Christian walk and 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. There are regular updates of encouragement wrapped in biblical truths.

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.

I know the title of this article is "You got these people in your life?" Bare with me please, and keep reading. Some ground work needs to be established first in this article, before we get to are these people in your life?

WHAT'S GOING ON AT YOUR PERSONAL ALTAR?

In the history of the tabernacle, the same altar was used for 270 years.

II Kings 16: 10 - 18; Isaiah 7: 3 -9

Do you have a personal altar in your life?

If you're sliding or drifting from God, it starts with you drifting away from your personal altar.

If you don't protect the altar in your life, you'll begin to replace your personal altar with carnal things.

Is your prayer life's standard set according to the world i.e. like a hybrid, watered-downed religious activity?
Or, is your prayer life's standard according God and of heart-wrenching transparency and honesty before the Holy Spirit?

Once you loose the personal altar, you loose your direction.
Once you loose conviction in your life, you begin to pick up the very things the Holy Spirit has delivered you from.
Once you loose your personal altar, your begin to slowly lower your standards.
Once you loose your personal altar, you choose to shut the door on the Holy Spirit convicting you.

The altar is not a place where you simply inquire when you are in trouble.

The altar in its ultimate purpose, is a place where you die to your flesh and you die to yourself, where you die to your own will and your own desire.

When you little-by-little remove your altar, your prayer life [which should include praying in your heavenly prayer language] and killing the flesh is no longer a priority.

You and I need the altar, the old fashioned altar of God, because as long as you and I breathe, the following will be continuous:

a) your flesh continues to try to override your spirit.
b) another part of yourself will always need to die.
c) you and I will always need to pray constantly, specifically when we don't feel like it.

Every Christian believer needs the following three types of people in your life.

YOU got THESE PEOPLE IN YOUR LIFE?

Who are the Paul's in your life? These Paul-type people are above your spiritual level, they can check you and hold you accountable? The Paul-type people in your life are a very select, few people that you'll rearrange your schedule for when they call you up because they have heard from the Holy Spirit specifically for you.

- the relationship with these Paul-type people should NOT be codependent
- the relationship with these select Paul-type people should NOT have a trace of manipulation
- your relationship with these few Paul-type people should NOT have any trace of fear in it

Who are the Timothy's in your life? These are people that you pour into their life spiritually? Your spiritual maturity is more developed than theirs. This select group of people seeks you out, they respect you, your character draws them.

- the relationship with these Timothy-type people should have boundaries established up front
- the relationship with these Timothy-type people should NOT have a trace of control from you in their lives
- the relationship with these few Timothy-type people are usually for a season
release and conclude the relationship amicably when the season ends with each of these people

Who are the Barnabas' in your life? These are your spiritual peers, you all are on the same level of maturity. These are people you sharpen and they sharpen you. You need to hang out with these like-minded people because you all are of like faith.

When you show signs of loosing the altar in your life, REMEMBER the Paul-type, Timothy-type and Barnabas-type people are in your life from God -- so do not resent these chosen people. When these people speak, correct, challenge, irritate and admonish you about the "its" in your life, don't shun them, please beloved reader.

- these Paul/Timothy/Barnabas people can be any age in your life
- these Paul/Timothy/Barnabas people should NOT represent any form of temptation in your interaction
- the character of these Paul/Timothy/Barnabas people should show evidence that they thirst and seek God regularly
- these Paul/Timothy/Barnabas people should themselves be surrounded with people who hold them accountable

GET YOUR PERSONAL ALTAR BACK IN YOUR LIFE.
GET YOUR FAMILY BACK AT THE ALTAR.
GET YOUR MARRIAGE BACK AT THE ALTAR.
GET THE YOUNG PEOPLE IN YOUR LIFE BACK AT THE ALTAR.

Beloved reader, I derived the contents of this article by listening to a teaching by Jentezen Franklin titled "All Directions Come From The Altar." If you have any interest in having and transferring generational blessings to those in your life, I encourage you to listen to this teaching in its entirety. You can view this video teaching on this Healed People, Heal People Web site.

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

Signed,

The Cross, A Place of Exchange

Other Healed People, Heal People. articles you may be interested in reading

A Glimpse At Integrated Healing And Deliverance

Soaking Songs I listen To To Enter The Presence Of Abba Father.

Why This Online Community is called Healed People, Heal People.

Success with Bladderwrack!

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Psalm 118:8

It is better to trust in the Lord, than to put confidence in man. Help me sweet Jesus to write this article. Okay, beloved readers, a part of this Healed People, Heal People community. Why am I stammering at the keys on my keyboard today? The Holy Spirit taught me a lesson about 10 years ago that I will never forget. It’s about s-o-m-e people, good people, Christian people, loving people, those who love you, those who surround you on a regular basis, or those who may even be in your corner.

Psalm 118:8 declares it's better to trust in the Lord, than to put confidence in man.

Okay, here goes.

We all have churches that are headed by pastors and leadership teams.

We all have family members, some of which we love, some we don’t care for too much – and some we just can’t stand [sorry, but it’s a reality for some].

We all have confidantes.

We all have those fun-to-hang-out with partners.

We all have those let-your-hair-down with friends.

We all have those kicking-it with buddies.

And we even have those select Christian people we like being around who will not check us when we are clearly stepping outside of the boundaries and principles of the Lord.

We even have accountability people -- we still have a choice in how much we disclose to them.

We all had or have secrets, some are not-so-big secrets, some are closet secrets, some are in-the-dark secrets, some are go-to-your-grave secrets, some secrets just cripple the hell out of you.

You decide what you do with your secrets. I can tell you this, the Lord never intended for us to carry the internal weight of the secrets. Many of our illnesses come from keeping secrets. Some of our constant mind racing comes from not being able to still the secrets.

Much of depression spurs from buckling secrets that people try to keep the lid shut down on. Many of your spiraling urges come from trying to holster your secrets. Many things we do to escape, including sleep, is to not deal with the harshness of our reality -- the secrets, the impending, unnecessary, illegitimate weights.

We all have those ride-and-die friends – no matter what, these friends will be there for us. Make no mistake about it, this is an extremely short of list people – it may even be one person – it may only be the Lord Himself.

But, beloved readers, you know what our Lord taught me 10 years ago that I’ve n-e-v-e-r forgotten?

Don't ever put anyone's word, advice, counsel, approval, consent, guidance or direction above what I say, says the Lord.

This was a very hard lesson for me to learn and live by.

Why?

Because some of those Christians who loved me, then, and still love me, now, gave me advice, counsel, guidance – that didn’t line up with the Word of God.

Did they love the Lord and do they love the Lord? Yes, these Christians did and do love the Lord.

Did I own a Bible? Yes, I did own a Bible, then, and; yes, I do own several Bibles now.

Did I know the Word? Yes, I knew the Word and; yes, I know even more Word now.

Did a little flicker go off inside of me when these loving Christians told me what I wanted to hear? Yes, the Holy Spirit pushed that flicker button inside of me. But, I knew what some of the loving Christians said to me over the years did not line up with the Word. [I'm not being sarcastic when I use the words loving Christians; I'm sincere.]

They padded their advice, lined their counsel and justified it with scripture – I think the Bible calls this itching ears, on my part. And let's mention this, there are a lot of Christians, even Christians in leadership positions, who are so wounded they believe life's experiences more than they believe the Word of God. And accordingly, they give advice, counsel, approval, direction based on experience. It's your responsibility to know the Word for your life. It's your responsibility to know when scriptures are being misaligned.

Now, what each of us reading this article knows, is that we tell people, even Christians exactly what we want them to know. An ole' pastor once told me, it’s just human nature to do this – tell folk o-n-l-y what you want them to know.

Beloved reader, do you disclose every single, slither of information to the people you’re seeking input from? I’ll leave that for you to answer.

I always flinch, in particular, when Christians say, “Follow your heart.”

Excuse me, beloved readers, I am not trying to be disrespectful, but that statement above is just plain dumb.

“Follow your heart.”

Do you know when I graduated from undergrad, I did a Bible study for two years just dealing with the different conditions of the human Christian heart.

You know what’s an even better question, beloved reader, Do you know what’s in your heart?

If so, how do you know what's in your heart? What have you done about the contents of your heart?

How often do you inspect your heart?

How often do you present your heart to the Holy Spirit?

Do you know what to do once the Holy Spirit has revealed the contents of your heart?

Well – I offer several versions of the scripture below.

Jeremiah 17:9 [NIV]
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?

Jeremiah 17:9 [NASB]
The heart is more deceitful than all else, And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?

Jeremiah 17:9 [KJB]
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

Jeremiah 17:9 [AKJV]
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

Jeremiah 17:9 [ASV]
The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly corrupt: who can know it?

Jeremiah 17:9 [Bible in Basic English]
The heart is a twisted thing, not to be searched out by man: who is able to have knowledge of it?

So, beloved reader, help me understand again why so many people, especially Christians, throw out the statement so casually, “Follow your heart,” or “I just follow my heart.”

I’m choosing to believe based on the Word of God and based on my experience in integrated healing and deliverance and based on the experience of veterans in the ministry of integrated healing and deliverance – that people, Christians, are simply making this statement, “follow your heart,” out of ignorance.

I used to wrestle with the following questions when I really respected and esteemed some Christians who gave me counsel. Now keep in mind these were internal thoughts I had in my mind about these Christians. I am still in relationship with the majority of these Christians.

Thoughts I had after receiving advice, counsel, direction from some respected Christians

- but, look at their position in the community, they are so visible
- but, look at how much they study the Word of God
- but, look at their leadership position in the church
- but, look at how much influence they have
- wow, I really need to stay in their good graces, they can help me
- but, they seem to be pretty close to the Lord, do what they say
- I know they wouldn’t tell me wrong, I’ll do what they say
- but, look at their walk with the Lord [what’s visible to me]

Beloved reader, what I have painfully learned from our Lord is this scripture, It is better to trust in the Lord, than to put confidence in man. Psalm 118:8

Why do I use the phrase painfully learned? Because I had to go around the darn mountain over and over – I sound like the Israelites, right? The first time I realized the advice from the respected, respective Christians landed me in hot water, why didn’t I confess to the Holy Spirit, “I’m sorry for not listening to Your whisper in my ear.”

Each time, beloved reader, I remember the Holy Spirit placing that little flicker inside of me saying, ”That’s not the way to go;” “Don’t ignore Me.” But I yielded again and again, beloved reader, because I respected Christian people more than I esteemed the Word of God. These respective, respected Christians said what I wanted to hear and what they said aligned with my desires, my will -- a recipe for impending disaster.

Now, in Psalm 118:8 the end of the scripture says, … than to put confidence in man.

Well, who is man?
Man is any human being breathing who is in your life, male or female.
Man is any human being, Christian or non-Christian.
Man is any human being in any income level.
Man is any human being on any status level.
Man is any human being in every rank of the Christian church.
Man is any human being in your family.
Man is any human being who is your friend.

The beginning of Psalm 118:8 says It is better to trust in the Lord …

Yall, I’m literally b-e-g-g-i-n-g you, trust the Lord.
If you don’t know how to trust Him, just tell Him, He already knows.
If you’re scared to trust Him in an area of your life, just tell Him, He already knows.
Wherever you’re deficient in trust, ask Him to build that in you for you since you’re not able to do so.
If you’ve not dealt with the issues preventing you from trusting the Lord, would you consider asking the Holy Spirit to reveal these things to you.
Would you consider receiving ministry for integrated approach to healing and deliverance for these issues?
Why?
So, you can experience freedom in this or these areas of your life.

Don’t have itching ears like I did; ask the Holy Spirit to remove your itching ears.
The Holy Spirit knows that we all have desires and dreams and wills.
He truly has better plans for us than we’re able to muster up for ourselves.
His plans for you don’t even involve manipulation and maneuvering and dodging.

Yall, I guess by now, you know I’m a born and breed [USA] southerner – that’s fine.
Let's ask the Holy Spirit to reveal our spiritual blind spots.
Let's ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the areas of our lives we’re in denial about.
Let's ask the Holy Spirit to reveal areas in our lives where there may be self hatred.
Then when He reveals, please, please, take action to do something about it.
If you don’t know what to do, I’m willing to find a resource to help you, if I can’t.

Yall, I understand that you may not disclose everything to people, but please, don’t lie to yourself. You desire the abundant life the Lord speaks of so often in scripture, right? Well, the abundant life is short circuited when we choose to do the following things:

- pretend you don’t know the Holy Spirit is nudging you
- cut corners to try to get what you want
- only disclose so much information and purposely conceal other pertinent information to those you seek counsel from
- you choose to turn a deaf ear to the Holy Spirit
- you choose to forget that some blessings and some promises of the Lord are conditional; Have you met the
condition(s) without compromising?
- wrongly use scripture, people, situations, [conditional] prophecy to justify something you want
Please remember that satan and his demons have strategy too for your life.
And his strategy is presented very nicely, not in a questionable fashion.

Whatever word, advice, counsel, approval, consent, guidance or direction you receive, even from Christians, put it before the Lord, please, before moving forward. And wait for His confirmation or His denial and His instructions.

Now, let me share this with you. I know the respective Christians throughout the years didn’t provide advice to hurt me on purpose. Although we’re Christians, we are humans. We have good days. We have days when we’re not as sharp, when we’re not on point. Well-meaning, God-loving Christians have been and can be used strategically by demonic in your life -- even without them knowing it and you knowing it.

We all recall when Jesus spoke to Peter in Matthew 16:23. Jesus was very aware that the demonic was working through Peter. Yes Peter, a man who literally was chosen and walked with Jesus. I'll keep this brief by simply asking these questions. Are your spiritual tools keen enough to discern when God-fearing Christians are off kilter who give you advice?

Do you even know what your spiritual tools are? What do you do to improve your spiritual tools? How often do you use your spiritual tools? Spiritual tools are similar to the physical muscles in your body. They becomes stronger the more you exercise them and use them on a regular basis. Spiritual tools become stronger they more they are stretched out of their comfort zone.

People ask me and you for advice in areas that we may be weak in. When you realize that a person is asking you for advice in an area you're weak in, do you disclose that this is one of your weak areas, up front? Do you or have you chosen to do what's in the best interest of the person by stopping the conversation and sharing in integrity that this isn't an area you're strong enough and disciplined enough to provide counsel, advice, consent, approval, direction or guidance.

You and I ask people for advice in areas that they are weak in, but we don’t know that because they don’t disclose it [the majority of the time]. And even when we see -- through people’s repeated actions that they’re weak in certain areas, we sometimes still choose to seek their advice, their counsel.

This is not wise, beloved reader. So this begs the question, why do we ask them? Because they’ll tell us what we want to hear. This is a clear sign of spiritual immaturity and/or lack of exercising godly wisdom in this particular area of your life.

Psalm 118:8 reads, It is better to trust in the Lord, than to put confidence in man. Please do not esteem man, woman or Christians words higher than the Word of God for your life, please.

Thank you for taking your time to read this article, beloved reader.

If you’re not a member of this Healed People, Heal People, community we invite you to join for free here. You'll receive regular updates of encouragement wrapped in biblical truths. If there are others who’d benefit from this article, please send them the link to this article.

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.

We’ve all seen people out of control with [habitual] anger – they drive dangerously, they start fights, they are out of control at home. Some of you may remember the famous basketball coach Bobby Knight who was fired because of his top temper – in other words he was out of control, a-n-d he was out of a job. Maybe you are this person who has the anger stronghold residing in your life daily. The Bible tells us that anger rests in the bosom of fools.

We are all unified in a sense because each of us has been good and angry before, but in Ephesians 4 we are told when angry, do not sin. So this means it is possible to be angry without sinning – this would be called righteous anger. Jesus Himself was livid with anger when he saw the hardness in the hearts of people in Mark 3. God is angry with the wicked everyday as written in the Psalms.

What’s important for you to know, Beloved, is that anger distorts your perception – of everything including all of your relationships. What’s a fact – is that – anger – if left unattended – will, can and presently manifests itself in disease and illness in our bodies, in our families’ bodies and in our church members’ bodies. Former U.S. Surgeon General Everett Koop said anger is the number one health problem. Did you know that one-third of all women who come to emergency room or doctors’ offices for immediate care is because they’ve been battered – that’s irrational anger.

The goal of an abuser [anger as a spiritual root] is to continually destabilize his or her victim – emotionally, spiritually and physically. The goal of satan as the source of all of the anger stronghold is to destroy and kill you [even if that means you kill and destroy other people literally or figuratively through your words, actions, lack of action or silence.] We can easily and logically conclude that any person [Christian] who has the stronghold of anger definitely has problems in all relationships [eventually].

How can we experience the abundant life God intended for us to have when we keep getting tripped up by the stronghold of anger. Here are a few other strongholds intimately attached and intertwined with the anger stronghold that keep a person [Christian] bound:

* the stronghold of injustice can be attached to the anger stronghold;

* the stronghold of resentment can be intertwined with the anger stronghold;

* the stronghold of shame can be a friend of the anger stronghold [1 example: growing up in poverty];

* the stronghold of rejection most often is tied to the hip of the anger stronghold [1 example: one person being favored over another];

* the stronghold of passive-aggression just sits in the lap of the anger stronghold [1 example: take your time getting ready for church when you know someone in the home wants to be on time]; and,

* the stronghold of powerlessness seeks to make itself acquainted with the anger stronghold as early as possible in any relationship [1 example: a child who is molested by a parent, guardian, neighbor, family member or church member].

24 SYMPTOMS OF ANGER - Take The Assessment Now

There are 24 symptoms of anger [covered in this article]. Please understand there are thousands of symptoms of anger that are not listed here. You are very aware that on this Healed People, Heal People Web community, we’re completely focused on the Holy Spirit identifying & destroying the roots of any stronghold or recurring issue in your life [which is integrated healing & deliverance]. So, with that in mind, below are only 24 symptoms, but the spiritual root is anger.

Anger can definitely be passed down generationally [as can any other stronghold]. This anger stronghold is especially more applicable with people who have step parents and it is also very likely to be passed down from your biological parents [even if you were adopted]. So basically, if you are breathing, this stronghold could have been passed down to you.

If you’ll be kind, Beloved, to get a sheet of paper and a pen to answer the following questions. Please put a check mark on your paper for each statement that applies to you.

1 – I feel relatively happy and then I’m struck with a mood change.

2 – I raise my voice loudly to communicate something that I’m emphatic about.

3 – I’ve expressed impatience with others and oftentimes play this out in exasperation asking, Why can’t they get a clue?

4 – I often anticipate another person’s predictable behavior and I become angry when I see that anticipation being fulfilled.

5 – I become angry when others people can’t read my mind.

6 – I become angry when I’m not recognized for my contribution.

7 – I become angry when I feel that I’m being disrespected or my words are not being taken seriously or when I feel like I’m not being heard. [This is real issue with the prophetic community, them feeling like they’re not being heard. One of the surest ways the enemy comes at prophetic people is to make them feel like they are not being heard or respected.]

8 – I know I’m angry because of the language inside of my head.

9 – I know I’m angry when I don’t want to hear what the other person has to say.

10 – I get angry when others do not make me a priority.

11 – I get angry when I do not have what I need.

12 – I get angry when people don’t do what I say.

13 – I get angry when I can’t control a given situation.

14 – I get angry about suggestions that I’ve done something wrong.

15 – I get angry when I feel added pressure on my job or with finances or pressure with personal responsibilities or even expectations others might have of me.

16 – I easily become defensive about myself and about others.

17 – I see the faults in others quickly.

18 – I look for opportunities to bring up old, hurtful subjects. In other words, I keep beating that old dead horse.

19 – I find myself speaking negatively or critically of others.

20 – The phrase, I don’t deserve this, goes through my head frequently.

21 – I say I’ve forgiven, but I continue to reprocess the same subjects.

22 – I get frustrated easily about the perceived faults and mistakes of others.

23 – I become impatient easily.

24 – I feel like my life is harder than everybody else’s and it’s probably because I’ve been given a raw deal.

Now Beloved reader, total you marks.

If you have 1 – 6 checks for anger, you’re in the low percentile range of the anger stronghold.
If you have 7 – 12 checks for anger, you’re in the average percentile range.
If you have 13 – 18 checks for anger, you’re getting up there.
If you have 19 – 24 checks for anger, you and the anger stronghold are extremely well acquainted.

Did you know that most anger is masked, even in you? You don’t even have any idea how much anger is in the person sitting next to you at work, at church, at home, in your family or at the gym.

Beloved, there are many things in this world I don’t know, but one thing I do know is anger. Why do I write this and share it with you so authoritatively? Because anger owned me for a long, long time. As a fact, as I’ve typed this article the Holy Spirit answered a question I’ve been wondering for a real time. Thank You Holy Spirit.

Now, back to my former anger stronghold. I can recognize anger in its prettiest forms in the most gracious Christians. I can recognize anger on planet Pluto. I know mannerable anger in Christians.I know, I'm ticked offf anger and I don't care if you know. I know, I'm watching you, anger. I tell you, passive anger is so common it's like air, it's everywhere among Christians and non-Christians. I can recognize anger in the most agreeable, God-fearing people. I even know respectful anger, particularly from adult children to parents. I know indirect anger that's turned inward to harm oneself. And, I too am affiliated with the violent sides of anger – from death to threats to cat fights to murder to corruption to let me plan your demise. But, you know what, I probably know anger best in the workplace – even amongst evangelical Christians. Lord have mercy.

Christians are very, very good at trying to justify their anger. For example, some parents show their anger in the form of being incredibly strict – so strict that some have quoted scriptures to their children in the process of being overboard in their seething inward anger.

Beloved, would you simply ask God, Am I angry? He will answer you. If I can help you with other resources, my name on this Web community is, The Cross, A Place of Exchange.

VICTORY OVER ANGER AT THE CROSS

I very clearly remember the night the Holy Spirit removed the roots of this anger stronghold from me. It was such an unexpected experience. I sat on the edge of the bed and asked, Lord, why am I so angry at _________. And He answered me just audibly thereafter. I had been searching and wondering for decades and He finally ended it in less than two minutes. You know how a bath tub has a drain. The Holy Spirit put two drains on me, one on the bottom of my right foot, the other drain on the bototom of my left foot. The Holy Spirit supernaturally drained every ounce of anger physically out of my body. It was the most Holy, quick experience I've had. I simply tilted over on the bed and had the best sleep that I've experienced in decades. And in my mind as I lay on the bed, I said to myself, "It [the anger] is finished." Beloved, do you know when I walked out of the door the next morning and interacted with people, people noticed the absence of anger in me immediately. Now -- they didn't know to call it anger, but the difference was immediate. Thank you Holy Spirit. I like this side of anger much better, now. Remember Beloved, our God [who was Jesus in the flesh] is not a respector of people. He can and will remove your anger too.

RECOMMENDED BOOK IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN GETTING RID OF ANY STRONGHOLD
Biblical Healing & Deliverance by Chester & Betsy Kylstra
You can order this book at the following link.
http://www.alibris.com/booksearch?qwork=8940465&matches=11&...

A FEW CHARACTERISTICS OF CHRISTIANS WHO ARE WOUNDED AND NEED HEALING & DELIVERANCE

- self focused
- easily offended
- easily hurt
- wants control
- are fearful
- insecure
- easily threatened
- riddled with shame
- never can be transparent
- critical
- intolerant
- argumentative
- very religious
- feel alienated
- has no place of belonging
- hard time receiving correction

A FEW CHARACTERISTICS OF CHRISTIANS WHO HAVE SOME DEGREE OF WHOLENESS & HEALING

- secure
- at peace
- transparent and open
- graced based
- forgiving
- tolerant
- encouraging
- easily bless others
- trusting
- positive
- able to love
- able to receive love
- submit to one another
- able to listen well
- able to receive correction without taking offense

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. There are regular updates of encouragement. If you think this article would be helpful to other Christians, please send them the URL.

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Sources for this article

Dr. Erwin Lutzer's series Why Good People Do Bad Things

Teaching at Belmont Church, Nashville, TN, Summer 2009 – Sandy Powell

Restoring The Foundations International

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.

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Wow, this is a subject that tugs close to my heart strings, how about yours? Do you know how many people have blocked emotions? I do. Guess I kinda used to be one of them. I remember saying, I just really don't like crying -- especially not in front of people.

Well, why not? The Lord created emotions, actually in the book of Genesis. There must be a reason He created tear ducts, and even biologically and physiologically there's a reason for them. I've typically preferred crying alone, you know, it's private, no one sees you and if it messes up your make up, you can straighten it up. Right now, my mind rolls back to two crying episodes I had where I just couldn't control the tears.

First crying episode

I was on a business trip in South Carolina and I was tired after landing at the airport.
I was exhausted emotionally and mentally.
I decided, I'm not going to work today, instead I'll eat lunch and rest, after all, I don't know anyone in this city.
I ate lunch and when I finished, a stranger in the restaurant walked up to me and said, "Baby, the weight on you is so heavy, I felt it across the restaurant and I've been sitting over there praying for you."
I remained quiet, I didn't know her.
She asked while standing at my table, “May I pray for you?”
I said yes and she began to pray while touching my hand [the waitresses are now looking because they know we didn't come in together].
Bear-sized tears began racing from my face because this woman called out everything that was wrong with me and I didn't know her.
Yes, people in the restaurant are really looking now.
After praying the lady said, do you have car, did you come here in a car.
I said yes, my rental is outside.
She said, go in the car, roll up the windows and cry as hard as you need to.
I did just that.
I exited the restaurant, drove across the street to a bookstore parking lot, went way in the back of the parking lot -- and baam, I wailed like an animal in the forest who was wounded and no one was there to rescue them.
I'll never forget that cry.

Second crying episode

I'm now in another state years later and I spontaneously decided to have a meal with a lady I'd met like about two days prior.
I'd been doing some reflecting on my life and thought I was fine.
The Lord was dealing with me on an issue I really didn't want to talk to people about.
After all, nothing is ever going to change, so why bother even addressing it.
Sometimes you just have to accept things the way they are right?
No, wrong!
Why is that wrong, because what I believed DID NOT align with The Bible, the Word of God.
If what I believe doesn't align, then what I believe is not true.
The Word of God is true, it is the truth, which meant what I believed was a lie.
Yes, it had been a reality for a long time, but it was a lie I believed because the situation had been that way for so long.
Well, let me tell you.
I sat at that meal table with just about a perfect stranger.
We were eating.
And I tried to be civil and talk, do the small talk exchange.
Lord, that didn't last for two minutes.
The tear ducts RIPPED and there was no way I could conceal the tears.
This wasn't a simple cry, the veins in my soul had ruptured and here I am with a complete stranger.
It's a beautiful thing when you can communicate with a person -- human spirit to human spirit -- without using any words.
Really in this particular situation it was the spirit of the Lord in me connecting with the Spirit of the Lord in her.
That lady rubbed my right shoulder and the top of my back.
She didn't say a word.
Underneath my breathe I eked out the words repeatedly, "They are not better than me."
I just kept repeating that because that had been my inner struggle that started centuries before I was born.
I just bought into the lie because it had been passed down generation to generation to me -- and in ignorance I accepted it.

Well, Beloved reader, I simply share with you today, you have the freedom and are released to cry.
Cry in public.
Cry in private.
Cry with friends.
Cry with enemies.
Cry with your spouse.
Cry with the Lord holding you.
Cry in your car.
Cry in the bathroom stall at work.
Cry in your woman's lap.
Cry on your man's shoulder.

It's okay; you are now released and have the freedom to cry.

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Free at last, free at last … thank God Almighty I’m free at last! I clearly remember that sunny Saturday almost 15 years ago. It was the day my 20-year masturbation addiction finally died.

Instead of sleeping in I got up early, determined to rake and bag a yard full of leaves. Around noon I was sweaty and tired, but felt accomplished as I finished twist-tying and hauling the last heavy bag to the sidewalk for pickup.

Afterward a much-needed shower, my thoughts turned to relaxing in bed with a book or even dozing off. As I lay there reading, my still-damp hair cooling the back of my neck, that old familiar urge to satisfy myself suddenly visited. Quickly I thought of how many times in the past weeks I had said no to the urge and how good I had felt about these victories. Not wanting to lose any ground I had gained, I cried out to God for help and just as quickly I heard His still, small Voice, Take a walk.

Much as I didn’t want to go back out into the heat and humidity after feeling so cool and clean, I knew that I needed to obey because the conditions were ripe for a fall. I forced myself up, put on some clean, comfortable clothes and called my dog who was always up for a walk. I don’t remember anything exceptional about that walk except that later I realized it really was my final victory lap in a very long and frustrating race. Yeah! The enemy of my soul had finally lost in yet another area and God and I had finally won!

So how did masturbation get such power over me that I was hooked for two decades? Well, it all started when I was a kid -- where many life-controlling habits, good and bad, have their roots. As a pre-teen a friend loaned me a XXX-rated paperback and I, unwisely, read the raunchy rag. It planted some really rotten seeds in my mind and heart that years later sprouted into a garden of weeds. One of those weeds was masturbation.

Nothing happened for five years. Then one day while I was alone -- and lonely -- [not a good combination, to say the least] the pornographic words [and resultant images] that had been imprinted on my mind revisited my thoughts and I bought their dumb lies! I listened to the thoughts telling me to just try it and rationalized what could just trying it’ hurt? A lot.

Almost instantly I got high on a feeling [as the song goes], which led to another good feeling episode, then another and another till this little secret became a monthly, then a weekly, and sometimes a daily routine. I wanted it yet I hated it, always fearful of getting caught. Then what?! I couldn’t bear the thought! But then I couldn’t stop either ‘cause the urge was too strong by now. Yuk! I was stuck!

And wouldn’t you know it, this insatiable lust brought its friends who soon became part of my persona [or so it seemed]: depression, roller coaster emotions, sarcasm, mocking, self-hate, and a bunch of other unsavory emotions. Yeah, right, just try it! Forget that! Try it and get hooked - by a crook [The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy John 10:10 reads.] is more like it!

Sometime after I got hooked I overheard someone say that the woman who used to live in the room where my addiction began What I didn’t know when I had engaged in some really perverted sex acts. started this supposedly innocent, feel good habit is that I, who had already been seeded with porn trash five years earlier, had unknowingly walked into a major trap/ambush that further stole my innocence and other beautiful gifts God meant for me to enjoy -- plus take heaps of humility to shed.

So now you know how I got hooked. Let’s move on to the good part - how I got free - and how you can too! In a word: accountability. I remembered the power of this amazing tool from when I attended an Anonymous program that helped me dump another bad habit -- overeating.

The leader at one particular meeting I attended told the group that if the urge to pig out came, the solution was to phone someone in the Anonymous group. Wouldn’t ya know it, a few days later I needed that advice. I bravely got up the courage to call the number and guess what? It worked! With my pig out food in front of me and my anonymous friend on the line, I told her what I was about to do and sort of challenged her to talk me out of it.

She didn’t freak out or get offended, she just asked me what had recently happened. [Later I learned it was to reveal what triggered my binge so that she could help me avoid future set-ups and upsets]. Then she listened, which helped a lot. After dumping a bunch of pain into her ear, I suddenly realized that I was breathing more easily and no longer wanted to stuff my face with junk food when I wasn’t even hungry! It was amazing! I couldn’t care less about pigging out now because I was feeling something far better -- self respect! Cool! So I told her that then thanked her and threw the rest of the junk food away.

It wasn’t exactly that way with getting free from masturbation, but the whole ‘blowing the lid off the shame thing’ was almost identical. I had said I wanted to get free for quite awhile, but when the temptation to satisfy myself came - usually around the time of my monthly cycle - I would make excuses and once again fall.

It seemed like fantasy had a lot to do with it too, and not always sexual fantasies either. Sometimes living-in-the- future-fantasies, like day dreaming about what a fairytale life I was going to have … some day. But once I climaxed, the fantasies and the good feelings both disappeared and I went back to my roller coaster life with some exciting ups, but also a ton of painful downs.

Then I got into relationship with a person -- who later became my spouse. While he also had a bunch of addictive habits -- this wasn’t one of them and he didn’t judge me -- at least not in this area. [Now between us, unless you’re married to someone who won’t condemn you, make sure your accountability partner isn’t someone [male or female] who is going to tempt you to sin sexually or in other ways].

So one day after falling … again, I decided to try the accountability thing that had worked with overeating. And guess what? It worked! Now, please understand, it took a lot of courage to admit to him what I had just done [masturbated], but I really wanted to get free. Because of this strong desire for freedom, I became willing to pay the price [of exposing my shame] and I did.

When I confessed that first time I was really embarrassed and I sheepishly used a code word that I knew we’d both understood. Inside I braced myself for a look [of condemnation], a sarcastic remark [I sure had said a bunch of them!] or a lecture, but instead received a gift. Very simply and kindly he said, I forgive you.

Wow, did that feel good! Before he could change his mind or say anything else I simply accepted his gift, got up and joyfully went on with my life. Wow, I remember thinking, I could get hooked on that feeling!

As good as that high was, it only lasted a few days and then the M-demons returned to tempt me again. Yup, I gave in … again. Sigh. Bummer! But, inside I knew that I was gaining ground. Why? Because I knew I had a tool [accountability] that I could use to win -- if only I would use it. So, the next time the urge came, I told myself that if I gave in I would have to confess. I did fall … but I also confessed! And you know what? It worked!

The urge to masturbate became less and less with each passing month because I used this have to confess approach, which made me think twice before falling again. Then finally I was able to confess before falling and then eventually not fall at all! I strongly believe that because the demons in me knew that I was going to expose them to the Light [Jesus said in John 8:12, I am the Light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.

Like scattering roaches that hate being exposed to the light, they hid [quieted down] and eventually left. They had lost their captive [me] because they saw that I wasn’t giving them any more agreement or legal ground. From that sunny Saturday to today -- almost 15 years -- I AM FREE!

I have to give God and my forgiving, patient accountability partner a lot of credit as it took me about 10 years from the first time I first confessed this shameful habit to finally get and stay 100% free. Another really big help in overcoming this and other addictive behaviors was praying A LOT in the Holy Spirit or praying in tongues, [aka one’s heavenly prayer language].

Here’s some really good scriptures you can look up about this wonderful gift: Luke 11: 9-13; Acts 2; I Corinthians 14: 2, 18; and Jude 1:20. If you don’t have this awesome, powerful gift, I HIGHLY recommend you seek God to receive it because when you pray in the spirit, you pray beyond your own understanding [read Romans 8:26 - 28] and you allow the Holy Spirit to pray through you. He gives you all sorts of help in overcoming this and any other shameful habits because God doesn’t want you addicted to anything or anyone but Him. He’s so awesome!

Also, I know that some Christian leaders say that masturbation is not so bad and they downplay its effects, but if you’ve ever been hooked, like I was, you know it’s such bondage! One leader, however, whose words really did help me said this, I’ve never known anyone who wanted to move on in the things of God who didn’t have to deal with this issue [referring to masturbation] if it was a problem for them. I agree.

There are all sorts of rotten spirits that come with this package. One of them is independence: I don’t need men or women. I can satisfy myself is the attitude. Wrong! God made us to be interdependent, not independent. We do need each other -- a lot more than we sometimes think. Some of the other trashy spirits that often hang out with masturbation are uncleanness, lust, shame, self-hatred, mistrust, fear, fantasy lust, perversion, self-pity, sarcasm, mocking and the victim and predator spirits. Yuk!

You don’t want that mess and God sure doesn’t want it for you either! So get honest with yourself and Him and confess the fantasy and selfishness [lust is selfish; love is selfless] as sin and ask Him to show you if there is anyone [including yourself] that you need to forgive so that you can really be really free. Forgive? Yes, forgive.

You see, what I realized is that I could have gotten free a lot sooner if I had known that “the axe is laid unto the root of the trees” [see Matthew 3:10]. But I do now and so can you!! Also, ask Him to guide you to at least one other trusted human being who can help you as an accountability partner. He will and you too can get and stay free!

Also, there are some really helpful books. One that rocked my world is The Broken Image [ISBN: 0-8010-5334-X], by Leanne Payne. On pages 77 - 81 she shares about a man named Randy, an artist, who struggled with habitual masturbation and how it inhibited not only his personal life, but also his artistic endeavors.

This really made sense to me because soon after that sunny Saturday when I got fully and finally free [although it was the many coming clean times before that wonderful day that eventually led to my final freedom], I started writing poetry and joyfully dancing before God. And it was really cool ‘cause an artist friend of mine told me that she saw a real increase in my level of creativity. Another book that some friends highly recommended, but which I haven’t read is, Single, Saved and Having Sex by Ty Adams, [ISBN: 0-9740132-0-X].

Another place where you can find help is L.I.F.E. Inc., Box 353, New York, NY 10185, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , 212-768-2366.

The Shame, Fear & Control, a CD series can be purchased here .

I know it’s not easy to fess up, but it is so freeing and so necessary if you want to really enjoy your life and not be in bondage to this or other addictive habits. May I pray for you?

Lord Jesus, you know everything about this person and you love him/her deeply. You know that he/she really wants freedom from this addiction or he/she wouldn’t be reading this right now. You set me free and You “do not show favoritism” [read Acts 10:34] so I ask you to give them this marvelous gift of freedom too. Help them recognize that You’re a good God, a loving Daddy and a Friend who wants to help them to be all they can be. Daddy, you gave me the courage and ability to obey I Corinthians 6:18, which reads flee from sexual immorality.

All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. So please give them the peace of God, which passes all understanding too [read Philippians 4:7]. Would you also guide them to people and places where they can find one or more trusted accountability partner(s) so they too can get and stay free and then help others do the same? Thank You, Lord! I love and trust You to do what you promised in Your word: … and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.” [read John 6:37].

In the might and marvelous name of Jesus Christ,

Amen! [which means, So be it!]

Victim and Predator Spirit Prayer That You Can Pray

I give you permission God, to remove any and all traces of victim and predator spirit and I declare to you God that I need your strength and guidance to change.

I repent of any actions on my part of submitting wrongfully to any predator spirit in any person.

I repent of giving them authority over me. Lord Jesus, please forgive me.

I fire every authority figure and person, who has preyed on me.

Every teacher, mentor, boss, pastor, peer, babysitter and family member.

I forgive everyone who has used me as a victim.

I declare today that I am no longer a victim, or a predators’ puppet.

I sever myself, body, soul, and spirit, from every ungodly attachment that has been made between myself and any predator.

I take back from any predator, all wrong power and authority that I gave them over myself, that would determine a wrong identity in me, or any ungodly response. I give that authority back to the Lord Jesus, who really determines my identity and destiny.

Where I have been a predator, I repent of any action and loose any control I have had over anyone in regard to that area. Please forgive me Jesus.

I place You Jesus back on the throne of my heart.

I declare victory over failure. I declare that I shall have dominion over my life, my circumstances and my responsibilities as appointed to me by the Lord Jesus, amen.

Thank you for taking your time to read this freedom from masturbation article on Healed People, Heal People. If you have questions regarding this article on masturbation, place a comment here. If you are not a member of this online community, you can join for free here. You'll receive regular updates of encouragement wrapped in biblical truths.