Identifying The Twisting of Witchcraft In Tragic Situations

To understand what witchcraft is, and how it affects each and every one of us each day, I thought I’d throw in a personal story.  Once someone came to a church and killed people on the property. You might think I’m going to tell you about how a gunman was operating witchcraft, but he was probably the only one who wasn’t practicing witchcraft. Not to bring up old wounds but this is my story, with my knowledge of facts and events, and the emphasis is on how witchcraft affects us all every day but we may not be aware of it. Once we can expose it we can resist it. Once we can identify it we won’t be influenced by it.

Witchcraft is control; usually via manipulation, intimidation, and domination.  It is used by one person to make another person do something they don’t want to do, either consciously or unconsciously.  There are many different ways to control; from afar via curses, or from within a situation with enticing words.  As we will see, the Hebrew words that are used for witchcraft translate in our understanding to pharmacy or pharmaceuticals. What that tells us is that there are also ways to use foods, herbs, potions, to control as well. 

The day started like any other Sunday, we all got in the car and drove to the first service at our church.  We had a guest speaker that morning, someone who had visited and spoke at our church on several other occasions.  After arriving home we all proceeded to do our own thing. Shortly the phone calls started, dear friends hoping we were alright.  After the second service a someone shot several people in the church parking lot.  Some died.  An off duty body guard for the new pastor shot and killed the gunman when he entered the building. How could something like this happen? What can we learn about what took place?  Were there warnings?

Just over a year earlier our pastor resigned and the process began to find a new pastor.  During that time we had an interim pastor and after some time the new pastor was hired.  Yet God was warning our church through prophets that we as a church needed to repent.  Several people spoke to the pastors on staff as well as the new pastor, yet all the warnings fell on deaf ears.  Apparently the pastoral staff said we were all too busy and no one wanted to hear doom and gloom prophecies.  So while many of us were surprised such a thing could happen, the leadership had been warned in advance.  Our church had hosted, and associated with, many prophecy conferences and leaders in the prophetic movement for many, many years.  So the change in attitude towards the prophetic is curious. Surprisingly we later found out that the morning of the shooting at our church, phone calls went out to area churches to warn church leaders that that very morning someone had shot a few people at a ministry in a nearby city.  Again no one in the leadership communicated the danger to the rest of the church. 

About a month after the shooting the pastor did a teaching series about prophecy.  He taught that there is no foretelling in prophecy, that was Old Testament; and that prophecy is only for edification now.  What?  Since when?  My first thought was what about those who prophesied to Paul not to go to Jerusalem.  The new pastor said that those people were wrong and that they should not have said that. What?  If Paul hadn’t gone to Jerusalem he would have been a free man to go back into Asia to strengthen the churches.   Interestingly in the same month he also decided to tell everyone we had to tithe if we wanted to be leaders because that’s in the Bible.  So now my church became conveniently dispensational.  When it suits us we will draw a dividing line between the Old Testament and the New Testament.  What a convenient way to hide the truth, cry dispensation.  When the pastoral staff was reminded of the warnings and the prophecies they used this excuse to cover for their mistake.  This is witchcraft; manipulation of the word of God and manipulation of the church body to cover for not listening to God. When the leadership in the church have to hide the truth instead of confess the truth they use deceptive means to spin stories to not show fault.  This way they look like the heroes, ministering to those who were hurt and the families of the victims rather than the responsible parties.  At the very least this incident of being given prior warning proves that there is still foretelling in the prophetic ministry. What if the leadership told everyone to go home that morning because there was a threat? What if the leadership had listened to the prophets’ warnings and had a repentance service?

I was curious as to what would make a young man want to kill.  I read his blogs on line and what I found was intriguing.  While I am sure this young man had some personality disorders; I can say I know where they came from, witchcraft.  Not to excuse his actions as somehow beyond his own control because what he did was awful. And if he were alive I would expect that he would pay here on earth for what he did, but now he will be paying in eternity.  I’m sure his parents thought they were doing the right thing but not all personality types respond equally to one form of discipline. This man’s blogs exposed his confusion growing up a Christian but not understanding or knowing God.  As a child it seemed that manipulation was used to get him to behave.  For example he was told that if he didn’t eat his peas and Jesus came back he would be left behind.  I think he heard that he would be left behind so often that he became paranoid that he could never please this harsh elusive God he was being taught about. So his mind seemed to spin in circles. He had questions such as what if I spill some peas on the floor and don’t know it, will I be left behind?  Or what if I pay my tithe into the offering basket but some falls on the floor and I don’t know it, will I be left behind?  What if I sin and I don’t know it and Jesus comes back right then, will I be left behind?  As I read his blogs, I grieved for his childhood; always taught to be paranoid and never quite knowing if he was doing something wrong.  Parents, this is manipulation.  Do not manipulate your children.  If you threaten your children and you do not follow through with what you have said, you are manipulating.  That is witchcraft.  Also if you threaten that God will do something, you had better be sure of what you are saying or you will pay a large price for your usage of witchcraft. 

As a teenager he visited my church for an outside conference.  I remember the conference when it was at our church, I remember thinking it was so dogmatic, and quite unlike the culture of our church. He said he went up for prayer and the people told him that they didn’t think he was saved.  I’m sure that threw him into a faster tail spin.  It seemed to me that he wished to be well pleasing to God but saw God as a big bully.  He led worship and joined missions’ organizations but suffered rejection over and over. Eventually he walked away from God.  It seems that he just couldn’t connect with anyone in the church and he eventually snapped.  The hurt pouring through his blogs was so deep I remember thinking I didn’t blame him for walking away from the church.  The problem was he didn’t realize that the way the church portrayed God was distorted, and it wasn’t truly God at all.  Again it all comes back to witchcraft, control him here control him there, make him paranoid until he hates God.  That is the ultimate plan of the enemy but the tools the enemy uses are the very people in the church that proclaim they love God. 

The day the gunman was killed, the off duty body guard for the pastor knew exactly where the bullets went.  Interestingly an entirely new set of manipulation started when church officials and police agreed to announce that the gunman killed himself.  It looks so much better to the public to make people think that the gunman took his own life rather than the pastors’ bodyguard killed someone in the hallways of the church.  Another spin, another manipulation.  The bodyguard was a hero but could never get the truth out because too many people agreed to the suicide story. 

Did I mention that while the shootings were going on the guest speaker was talking with people in the sanctuary while the pastor was upstairs in his office?  Why wasn’t the pastor in the sanctuary? Because he knew there was a threat that day.  Here is yet another manipulation, take cover in case something happens, while offering the lives of others as a sacrifice.    

As you may have recognized it would have been better to repent when the prophets said to, rather than enter this vicious cycle of lies and deceit.  As we have looked at in previous blogs, satan probably planned this to steal, kill, and destroy this congregation.  As in Job however God provided a way out.  Sadly the leadership did not listen to God’s voice through people, which caused a huge mess, which involved stealing people away from God, killing, literally and figuratively; and destroying a church community. When God sends a prophet, he does not send flashy, splashy, well tailored, eloquent people.  He sends humble, meek, Wal-mart shoppers, who have nothing to gain by sticking their necks out, but everything to lose when confronting leadership.  See Nathan in 2 Sam 12:1-ff; Ananias in Acts 9:1-ff.

Looking at the way witchcraft can enter a situation we can see that when one does something wrong, it seems the entry point is to figure a way to twist or spin the situation so that it does not look like it was an intentional wrong.  In my story what was done wrong was the hardening of the heart to the words of the prophets.  What would it have hurt to have a repentance service?  Nothing.  The idea that activities and performances for holidays should take precedence over repentance is ridiculous.  Also not wanting to hear about bad news doesn’t make the bad news go away.  I think about Jeremiah and the hardships he endured for being a prophet that had bad news.  Instead of being opposed to bad news it would be better to listen and plan with God accordingly.  Only if you believe you are “god” would you ignore the bad news a prophet brings and live life in your own way, because obviously you know better when you are “god”.

At this entry point, covering up a wrong, we can see that it would be far better to immediately repent, such as David did, to help restore Godliness back into a situation.  Instead, to lie and deceive opens doors for further demonic activity.  But some people are stubborn, like Saul/Paul.  He had to be physically disabled before he would listen to God.  So what happens if you miss the prophetic warning and something tragic happens.  Repentance and admittance of missing the warning from God goes a lot further than allowing witchcraft to “fix” the situation.  If our leaders could only be honest and lead by example, we wouldn’t have so much manipulation in the church.  When confronted by the prophets who gave the warning, it would have been advantageous to acknowledge mistakes, rather than try to hush everyone up and then behave excessively kind towards those who suffered. The works that were done after the shooting to help victims, amount to rubbish because the truth was never made known.  Next, the distortion of the word of God to cover for ignoring the prophets is a horrible way to pretend that nothing was done wrong.  Do we really think God doesn’t know what we are doing or what we are saying?  Do we think God is unaware of our every move? Just for fun, Ecclesiastes tells us there are angels telling on you.

Eccl 10:20 Curse not the king, no not in thy thought; and curse not the rich in thy bedchamber: for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter.KJV

Eccl 10:20 Even in thy mind a king revile not, And in the inner parts of thy bed-chamber Revile not the rich: For a fowl of the heavens causeth the voice to go, And a possessor of wings declareth the word.YLT

Those that have wings or fly will tell all you say and think, if that seems strange let’s look at this next section of Ecclesiastes. 

Eccl 5:1-8 Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil.2 Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.3 For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool's voice is known by multitude of words.4 When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed.5 Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.6 Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?7 For in the multitude of dreams and many words there are also divers vanities: but fear thou God.8 If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter: for he that is higher than the highest regardeth; and there be higher than they.KJV

Eccl 5:6-7 Don't let your mouth make a total sinner of you. When called to account, you won't get by with"Sorry, I didn't mean it."Why risk provoking God to angry retaliation? 7 But against all illusion and fantasy and empty talk There's always this rock foundation: Fear God! (from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)

You can’t get away with “sorry I didn’t mean it”; I like how plain the Message makes this.  You cannot twist, spin, or manipulate the facts to your benefit without God knowing.  Also if you are on the outside of a situation where someone did manipulate a situation and you make an allegiance with them, rationalizing it was for everyone’s benefit, God knows that too.  When the truth is made known, your reaction to it will either bring life or death.  Let’s keep reading.

Ezek 9 He cried also in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause them that have charge over the city to draw near, even every man with his destroying weapon in his hand.2 And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer's inkhorn by his side: and they went in, and stood beside the brasen altar.3 And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon he was, to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer's inkhorn by his side;4 And the Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.5 And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity:6 Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house.7 And he said unto them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain: go ye forth. And they went forth, and slew in the city.8 And it came to pass, while they were slaying them, and I was left, that I fell upon my face, and cried, and said, Ah Lord God! wilt thou destroy all the residue of Israel in thy pouring out of thy fury upon Jerusalem?9 Then said he unto me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverseness: for they say, The Lord hath forsaken the earth, and the Lord seeth not.10 And as for me also, mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity, but I will recompense their way upon their head.11 And, behold, the man clothed with linen, which had the inkhorn by his side, reported the matter, saying, I have done as thou hast commanded me.KJV

Here Ezekiel sees God sending out men, to bring judgment. These were probably not men but angelic beings, as they went into the temple, stood by the brazen altar, as the glory of God was leaving the temple.  One being was told to mark people who mourned over the abominations. To the other beings, God said go after the one marking people and kill everyone else, don’t have pity either. Yikes.  This is why who you side with or make an allegiance with matters.  One cannot claim ignorance.  If you side with witchcraft you will reap the benefits there of.  The punishment may not be as severe as in this situation but the angelic beings know who does what and when we stand before God and give an account  of ourselves we can’t use the excuse of rationalization. 

Moving onto parental responsibilities, if we use manipulation on our children we are opening them up to being controlled by real witches.  What do I mean by that?  There are those who send out curses, as we will see in future blogs, who are looking for an “open” mind.  I don’t mean a mind that listens to everyone and is more liberal in their thinking; I mean a mind that has an opening to receive curses.  How does this happen?  When one is beaten down by manipulation the individual ends up not being able to think for themselves and they cannot think clearly because everything seems contradictory. When a parent says “if you do such and such I’ll kill you”, or “I’ll murder you” or “I’ll beat the living daylights out of you”; and after such and such you are still alive you realize on some level that that was a lie.  Or if a parent tells a child “if you don’t behave Santa won’t give you any presents” and yet Santa still seems to come through no matter how poorly you have behaved, there is a lie in there somewhere. Either Santa doesn’t really know what goes on or he doesn’t care.  What parents tend to do at this point is become more vocal, or violent, to enforce their point that they want to control the child. That would be bullying, or intimidation, or domination, all accompanying tenets of witchcraft.  Control as a parent is tricky because you do not want your child to run into the street and get hit by a car, but you have to find a way to bring consequences you can follow through on, like time out.  Super Nanny has it down if you need parenting advice.  Being in authority over your children should not be done with witchcraft, but leadership.  

When a child grows up being told what to do all the time without being given the tools to think for themselves their mind is open to suggestion, which could be from a sly acquaintance or demonic spirit.  So how do we raise our children without manipulation?  We can use the Bible as a standard, for example if a child lies, we read to our children what the Bible says and explain what I just explained here, God knows everything you say and do.  Your children will understand if they see you live it as well.  What if you tell your teenager if they get a tattoo that you will kick them out of the house, and they hide the tattoo from you.  You have led them to become liars as your threat, whether followed through on or not, is just that, a threat.  All you have effectively done is teach your teen to be deceptive.  Instead of that type of conversation, one that includes what the Bible says, mixed with the love of God will get you and your teen through much more than conversations with threats.  Remembering to walk in love with your children is far superior to witchcraft. 

As we go into more detail about witchcraft we will see a clearer and more profitable way to live and to lead people.  In the example of the hero who stopped the gunman, there is never enough appreciation that can be given for stopping the chaos, however all appreciation is diminished when the truth is hidden.  So why do leaders believe that it is best to not tell the truth.  Is it possible they do not want to encourage church members to carry weapons to church? Even if something in the long run is for the benefit of the majority, not telling the truth will never be the right thing to do.  For the leadership of the church to decide what is best for everyone, thereby giving themselves carte blanche to lie whenever they feel it necessary, is witchcraft.  What gives someone else the right to decide for me and my family that we should be allowed to be put in a potentially deadly situation.  That is not the power over my life that I give anyone on earth.  And as we have seen, this situation from start to finish was mired in lies and deceit.  If it is so easy for Christians to operate witchcraft we have to wonder how long the enemy has worked to desensitize us to the written word of God so that we rationalize our behavior instead of stand against witchcraft. 

Years ago I read and listened to some very good teachings on this subject so when this situation happened I knew what I was seeing.  John Hagee did a great teaching sermon on witchcraft being manipulation, intimidation and domination.  You might be able to still purchase it from his ministry.  Francis Frangipane wrote a great book called The Three Battlegrounds which cites one of the battlegrounds as witchcraft.  Also the book called The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse by David Johnson & Jeff VanVonderen is a great work that lays out very clearly what spiritual abuse is.  This is a hard subject as we might see in ourselves our tendencies to use witchcraft in arguments or in covering for our mistakes or in attempting to get something done our way.  But it is also a good subject to help us clean up our lives so that we can live better for God. And no, you won’t be left behind if you don’t change, but you may end up with no rewards for being an overcomer, or as someone once said they didn’t want to be cleaning the back room of heaven for eternity.  Therefore it is up to us to recognize witchcraft and to stop using it on others, but to also to identify it when it is being used on us.