Spiritual preparation for the end times -- Part II
June 1995
In the last newsletter, we discussed the importance of preparing for the End Times from a spiritual perspective. There are many good newsletters and publications which discuss the preparation for the End-Times from a physical perspective, but very few which take time to deal with spiritual preparation.
With this issue, we have chosen the cover the issue more deeply than we did last time. As a result, this issue will be quite a bit longer and more detailed. This issue will start dealing with some of the spiritual forces Satan is using in these last hours to attempt and bring destruction to the Body of Christ.
However, to begin this issue, we feel that a clarification needs to be made that has been absent from previous issues of the letter. That clarification is the difference between true Christianity and the Christian Religion.
Christianity and the Christian Religion - An Overview
History is replete with examples of how people have sought to have a relationship with God. The multitude of religions which exist in this world are clearly evidence of this. However, as one studies the world religions, you begin to understand that all of them have one thing in common: they are all designed to assist man in reaching out to some form of divinity, whether it is a god (or devil) in some given location or just to find some kind of divinity within themselves. Religion, properly defined then, is mankind's desire to reach out for a form of divinity which will make him a greater, more powerful being, who is in control of his destiny and the destiny of those around him.
These desires cause mankind to act in many strange and various ways, some of these behaviors we would call fanatical. Satan and his hordes of devils have used these desires quite to their advantage, almost from the beginning of time. Consider the serpent's comment to Eve: "Ye shall not surely die: For G_d doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." (Genesis 3:5, emphasis mine)
Ever since that time, people have desired the power that would make them gods, allowing them to control and manipulate their life's situation and lives of others.
When Karl Marx called religion, "the opiate of the people", he was making a very accurate statement. For religion as Satan has designed it controls and manipulates people. It matters not whether the religion is Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam or even organized Christianity. Every one of these religions is designed to manipulate people into a system and allow other beings (either devils or devils possessing people) to control and manipulate their activities.
The major difference between Christianity and religion in general is simple. Christianity is simply G_d reaching out to mankind, offering him eternal life in exchange for a personal life commitment. The interesting thing is that G_d offers this plan openly to anyone who believes. Even more interesting is the fact that when someone makes a life commitment, G_d does not take control of their lives, but rather, He sends His Holy Spirit to guide and direct their life. (Which means you do have the freedom to disobey!) This is quite a difference from the world religions which require their adherents to come under the control of a hierarchical system of devils which then control human beings, who in turn control other human beings who then control the adherents.
Accordingly, we must be careful to do is make sure what we are doing is what G_d wants us to do and not just what some other human being (or even a devil) wants us to do. Other brothers and sisters can be helpful to the process of developing your Christian lifestyle, but the final decision on any activity must come from the individual. (Except that in a marital situation, the final decision must come from the husband in consultation with his wife.) If people would do this, a lot of problems common to the Body of Christ would quickly disappear. Sometimes, it is important to receive confirmation on important situations, but the final decision must come from the individual. As one Christian leader once bluntly described it, "G_d wants to talk to you!" I would suggest you stop here and pray to make sure you are truly in touch with G_d.
Dealing with the Evil System which Confronts Us.
In the last newsletter, we warned you of the importance of making spiritual preparations for the end times. Most people do not have a clue of what this means. We discussed the importance of the Authorized Version (King James) and the need to maintain a personal relationship with G_d, but these are only preliminary steps in the preparation process.
When we read the Bible, we learn very quickly that we must know our enemy. We must understand how he works and understand what he plans to do, "Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices."(2 Cor 2:11)
The trouble is, that we moderns are almost totally ignorant of his devices. Since Paul wrote those words in the first century, Satan has upgraded his system considerably in an effort to prepare for this end time battle. The Satanic preparation has been the design of several new religions and the upgrading of several older religions.
These new religions and the older upgraded systems have worked in tandem to form a new premise: a) that mankind wants power for himself and b) he wants to control his situation (some are fond of using the word "fate") to achieve results and benefits which he has previously determined to be desirous. They achieved this goal by upgrading witchcraft, applying several new spiritual technologies to their system. The most prolific of these technologies is the religion called Voodoo. Designed in the jungles of Central Africa and transported around the world via the slave trade, Voodoo, simply stated is the use of incantations, hexes, vexes, curses, and other related technologies to achieve an end which logically could not be reached using normal procedures.
A classic example of this comes from the time period when Haiti won its freedom from Great Britain in the 18th Century. No historian will question the fact that Great Britain was the most powerful nation in the world at that time. Yet it was the Haitians who outwitted the British to win their freedom.
When the Haitians maintained their freedom from France, the French leader at the time was none other than Napoleon Bonaparte I. Most historians would also agree that Napoleon was one of the shrewdest military geniuses of all time. The Haitian military leader at the time was a man named François Dominique Toussaint L'Ouverture. (tÉsán' lÉ vértür'), (c.1774-1803) Despite being a self-educated, freed slave, he joined the black rebellion (1791) to liberate the slaves. With Generals Dessalines and Christophe, he forced (1798) the British to withdraw from Haiti, quelled (1799) a mulatto uprising, and resisted a French invasion (1802), slickly outwitting Napoleon Bonaparte I. Some religious historians have suggested that the Haitians sold their nation to a devil in exchange for winning their freedom from Britain and maintaining it against France. This could very well be the case, as the country certainly seems to have come under some kind of curse. Haiti is a very poor country which is desolate from one end to the other. However, the other side of the island of Hispaniola (the Dominican Republic) is not poor at all. In fact, it supports itself and exports to the rest of the world.
Haiti proved to be a very good location for selling Voodoo to the rest of the world. Since Port Au Prince was a main port in the early slave trade, the religion could be imparted to the rest of the Caribbean Sea area with little problem. As a result, Voodoo is now a religion common throughout the western hemisphere.
The main conduit for the Voodoo religion was the Roman Catholic Church. Since there was a surprising number of similarities between the two religions, Voodoo could be passed along beside the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church without much problem. In Latin America, missionaries report that Voodoo is quite commonly practiced in the Roman Catholic church buildings.
But in the last few years, Voodoo has come to the United States in a very powerful way. The most prolific example of Voodoo is the election of Bill Clinton as president of the United States. Just a generation prior, a man like Bill Clinton would have never even been considered a serious contender for dog catcher. Here we find a man with a spotty track record at best. His sins have been well documented for many years. Even though he was a womanizer (by his own staff's admission) he survived the primaries without much problem. One might remember that four years prior, another womanizer, one Sen. Gary Hart of Colorado, was blown off the political stage for just one affair!
Some might contend that Mr. Clinton won because he had the backing of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Bilderbergers, etc. who controlled the press strings. Unfortunately, elections are not won because of press support or the support of world government organizations. Something had to be done to convince people to support the likes of Bill Clinton.
When you realize the power of Voodoo, suddenly it becomes almost apparent what caused people to vote for Bill Clinton. It was interesting to note that many of the people who voted for Bill Clinton could not even give one good valid reason why they were voting for him. Instead, their vote was more an emotional move rather than a logical one. They were sold a bill of goods called "change", packaged with some kind of incantation which would caused people to vote for Bill Clinton. A similar case could be made regarding the election of Jimmy Carter in 1976.
As Christians, we have to understand the power of Voodoo and learn to discern its presence. Once we discern its presence, we can then take action to counteract its work.
Dealing with Voodoo - Attacking the Enemy on Solid Ground
The main problem dealing with the enemy has never been one of power, but of identification. It is extremely difficult to identify the workings of Voodoo. Even the Apostle Paul had his problems with a similar type to soothsaying.. You can read about it in Acts 16:16-18.as follows:
" And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying: The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high G_d, which show unto us the way of salvation. And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour."
There are a few notes which one should make about these events. The first note is the fact that the soothsaying girl actually went around and supported the work of Paul. Ever wonder why so many politicians like to say they are Christians. A further note: it took Paul a while to recognize the workings of an evil spirit and deal with it. Since Voodoo is a type of divination, it, like most types of witchcraft, operates in the emotional realm of man, and as a result, is difficult to discern its presence. Many times, it will operate in your realm for some time before you can discern it for what it is and begin dealing with it.
The other item to notice in these verses is the difficulty Paul had in casting out the spirit. The King James Bible makes is clear that it took some time for Paul to get the job done. We will not find it any easier, but rather, we may find it much more difficult than Paul did. It is not that Paul was some kind of Super-Christian, but rather that the kingdom of Satan has upgraded their spiritual technology considerably since the first century. Therefore, unless you have the discernment of the Holy Spirit and the power of Jesus Christ behind you, it will be rather difficult to discover and deal with these devils.
If you continue reading in Acts 16, you will also find that when Paul did cast the devil out of the damsel, the men behind her retaliated. Their reason brings up another issue in dealing with Voodoo. These is a lot of money involved with the religion of Voodoo. When you attack and destroy the goose that lays golden eggs, you can expect a lot of trouble.
We see the evidence of this in the presidential elections we discussed earlier. However, the science of marketing using Voodoo has become rather common. It is not uncommon for companies to use incantations and other procedures to sell their products. Even the Defense Department got into the act by nicknaming their Stealth Fighter the "Blackbird" supposedly for their color. However, any student of Voodoo will tell you that the blackbird is one of the most common symbols in Voodoo.
However, Voodoo has moved into another realm in the past few years. Starting in California a few years ago and continuing to this day, people started seeing black helicopters and planes doing all sorts of secret recon missions. While the Pentagon and other government officials dismiss these sorties as "training missions", one has to wonder just what these people are really up to. If you see them, I would suggest you pray and bind the evil spirits working with them. Sometimes I wonder if they are not carrying some kind of devilish incantation with them.
Anyone who has desired the destruction of the United States has pointed out that this destruction can only be achieved by the elimination of the spiritual base upon which this country stands. Voodoo has been the element which has done this work. It not so much that we have imported witch doctors which are doing the work, but rather the Christian preachers which have often unwittingly adopted and used Voodoo teachings as their own.
Whether it is Mormonism. which teaches that man can become a god, the prosperity gospel which teaches that you can become a little god and turn the G_d of Heaven into your personal Santa Claus, or the feel-good folks who suggest that your godliness is dependent upon a good self-image, the result is the same. Suddenly, it is man that becomes a form of divinity, able to control and manipulate the world for his/her own gratification. The goal is no different than the teachings of Voodoo.
Voodoo even moves a step closer to the interchange when you see what happens in many of the Charismatic and Pentecostal meetings as compared to the Voodoo rituals. In both types of meeting, people seek to be filled by spirits. In the Voodoo meetings, they seek to be filled by spirits they called loahs which are supposed to energize their life. The Christian Religion counterpart comes when people wrongly seek the gift of the Holy Spirit. Many times, they want the spirit to come in and energize their life.
Unfortunately, they get something else and the results are deadly. (Ed. Note: This is exactly what has happened at Brownsville Assembly of G_d, in Pensacola, Florida and the Toronto Vineyard Church. However, one cannot say that what is going on there is totally evil. Just the leadership has not been careful to discern what is going on.)
Part of the spiritual preparation process now must become one of evaluation. The first evaluative test is a very simple one. Are you truly a born-again Christian? There are a lot of folk around the world who practice the Christian Religion, but very few who are true Christians and who have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. If you do not have that relationship, get down on your knees and get it before it is too late.
One of the curses of this modern age is the multitude of Christian Religious organizations which sell themselves as being Christian when really they are not. (In the legal world, they call it "false advertising"!) These churches can have a choir, the people can sing religious songs, and the preacher can even teach people about the Bible. But the worst thing they do is suggest, either directly or vaguely, that if people are members of their organization, they are automatically Christians. The King James Bible does not teach this in any way, shape or form. You can only be born again one way: by repenting of your sins and following Jesus Christ the rest of your life.
Once you have that straight, you can expect G_d to send you his Holy Spirit to start cleaning up your life. It will not be an easy process, but it will be a necessary one if you are to get ready for what is coming.
One more thought regarding speaking in tongues. One of the most unfortunate disasters in all of Christianity has been preachers who have centered their ministry around getting people to speak in tongues. They spend their time selling it as the answer to all of life's problems. As a result, they have unwittingly gotten people to desire speaking in tongues more than receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit. As a result, the people who sought to speak in tongues got a devil who happened to speak in tongues and their lives were messed up as a result.
The King James Bible teaches us to desire all of G_d's gifts, but to let G_d be the one who gives the gifts. While I will agree with Paul that "I would that ye all spake with tongues", (1 Cor 14:5) it is far more important that you desire to receive the Holy Spirit. When you have truly received the Holy Spirit, you will speak in tongues. When we let G_d do the giving, we receive the right gifts at the right time.
When man tries to take the place of G_d by dictating to G_d what he wants, he practices Voodoo. People who accept that kind of leadership become unwitting participants in a Voodoo-type religion.
Pray about these things and write if you have any questions. These things are important so please be serious!
A Note on the Oklahoma City Bombing
Nothing has grieved the Foundation more than hearing about the bombing of the Oklahoma City Federal Building. The abject cruelty and hatred which shadows this act can only make a normal person sick. But the greatest mockery in all of this remains the media's insistence upon bedeviling various groups of people over this act. Their actions in this regard are counter-productive and quite self-serving. Even worse, such rhetoric creates a high level of confusion which, in the end, serves to make finding the real truth almost totally impossible.
Some people have even suggested that the government was in some way involved in this. Considering the government's previous acts of murder in Ruby Ridge, Idaho and Waco, Texas, it is sad to think that this cannot be ruled out. Some commentators have even paralleled this act to the Reichstag Fire in Nazi Germany in 1933, right after von Hindenburg appointed Hitler chancellor of Germany. History now tells us that the fire was used by Hitler to neutralize his opposition prior to World War II. The Clinton Administration has clearly tried to do the same thing. But when it comes to tactics and strategy, Bill Clinton is no Adolph Hitler, and there is nobody on Mr. Clinton's staff with the ability of Dr. Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's Propaganda Minister. As a result, the desired effect the Clinton Administration wanted did not come about. It will take more... a lot more.
One is taken back to the old book and movie, The Scarlet Pimpernel, written by the Baroness Orczy. The background was Lord Grenville's ball (the then British Minister of Foreign Secretary). To set the scene, the Prince of Wales had just joined the party and was greeting some of the guests when the Countess deTournay (whose husband was sitting in a French jail for the government-determined crime of being "an aristocrat") approached the Prince of Wales. She used her time to plead with the Prince of Wales to do something to rescue her husband from the notorious French prison he was in. The prince responded with the following words: "When a country goes mad, it has the freedom to commit any horror within its borders!"
Our caution would be to first, ascertain the true facts, second analyze those facts with knowledge relevant to the subject, and thirdly, develop conclusions which will fit all of the facts and knowledge which you have previously developed. When one follows this process, the truth can be reached. What we have seen in Oklahoma City may only be the beginning. I suggest you pray seriously about this.