The Danger Of Psychic Premonitions, Ouija Boards,
And Other Occult Messengers
A young man once came to my hotel room seeking advice about a troublesome, spiritual "message" he had received. It was this: On a specific, named day of the week, he was told that his wife and baby would be killed in a car wreck. He was even told the location where it would occur. The message further warned him not to tell anyone–not even his wife. When he reluctantly shared that frightening information with me, I immediately explained that he had received a psychic-prophecy. It was not God's "word of knowledge" but a demonic counterfeit, such as fortune-tellers and clairvoyants experience. I explained that genuine "words of knowledge," I Corinthians 12:8, are always in harmony with the Covenant of Grace. No where does the Covenant provide for car wrecks, mangled bodies, and broken homes. Read it for yourself. Jesus came to "heal ...deliver ...set free." Luke 4:18,19. Such psychic-initiated disasters are the works of Hell. I Peter 5:8,9. Satan came to "kill, steal, and destroy." John 10:10. Jesus brings life "more abundantly."
Since this young man, like many other Christians, was uninformed about the reality of such an experience, his wife and baby were in very real danger. As with most of us, he had probably read horoscopes, played with a Ouija Board, had his palm read, or done other things that left an occult shadow over him. Without wasting a moments time, I laid hands on him and took total, absolute, unconditional authority over that psychic message in the Name of Jesus Christ and cancelled it. As a believing disciple, empowered by the Holy Spirit and speaking the Word of God from my mouth--and not in any ability of my own--we destroyed the devil's forecast. It was declared null and void, powerless and impotent by the blood of Jesus. Do I believe disciples have that power? Absolutely. Jesus taught it, the Apostles confirmed it, you and I had better learn it. 30% of Jesus’ recorded ministry was spent in direct conflict with unclean spirits. Mark 16:17,18. Luke 10:17-20. James 4:7,8. II Corinthians 10:3-5. Matthew 10:1. Mark 6:13. Revelations 12:10,11.
As this young man talked, I remembered my own wife's tragic automobile wreck in which she had 13 broken bones and fractures, a collapsed lung, concussion of the brain, and so many injuries she could not be moved. That disaster followed a horrendous, month-long foreknowledge I had which was identical to this young husband and father. What I experienced was not God’s "word of knowledge", I Corinthians 12: 8, but the devil’s deceptive counterfeit. But, unlike the young man, no one told me what it was, where it came from, or how to stop it. In an almost identical way, I told him of another youthful Baptist pastor in a similar hotel room several years before who wept out the tragic story of a father in his congregation who dreamed a certain individual would be killed. A short time later the person died tragically.
Soon after that, the father dreamed again. This time it was his son who would be killed. He was told to warn the boy about his impending death. The father ignorantly submitted to everything the dream demanded, warned his son about the disaster, and two weeks later the boy died in a tragic automobile wreck. The church and family were both religiously and emotionally devastated.
Such tragedies are needless! God’s people are destroyed for "lack of knowledge", Hosea 4:6, because denominationalism is more determined to defend itself than to defend its members.
During my visit with this young man I recalled the time in Atlanta when another precious Christian brother was killed in a car wreck within ear-shot of my house a few hours after his wife foolishly obeyed a "message" to make his funeral arrangements. At the time, he was in robust health. Obediently, she carried out every detail of notifying the pall bearers, selecting the soloist and songs, informing the two ministers who spoke--I being one of them--and choosing the Funeral Home. She left nothing unfinished. Without realizing it, she cooperated with Hell and in-effect told the devil, "Go ahead." Within hours after the final arrangement was made the man was killed in a tragic automobile wreck.
Another Christian family came to mind; a mother, father, two grandmothers, who were swept away in a flash flood after a relative had a psychic "warning" she ignored. Nothing was done to resist the disaster. As a result, lives were lost and children orphaned. That absolutely is not the will of God. It violates every provision of the Covenant. Later, the person, who had the "warning," received another. She dreamed that her daughter called in the night, shouted her husband's name into the telephone and said, "He's dead!" Again, the omen was ignored; no authority was taken in the Name of Jesus. Soon afterward, the mother's phone rang in the night, exactly as she had been fore-warned, her daughter shouted her husband's name into the receiver and said, "He's dead!"
The man had just been murdered. Shot in his office, behind his own desk. Again, there had been no exercise of Jesus' authority against the psychic prophecy. As I stood at that man's casket, I wondered, "God! What will it take to wake up people to the reality that we are in spiritual war?! How long will the church stumble on in its blindness?!" I am still waiting. But I am not waiting silently. Years ago God took me from pastoral work, sent me into the field, and said, "Go wake up my Church!"
Princess Diana
Before her death in the Paris car-crash, Princess Diana was told by her psychic that "Happiness will always be snatched away from you." In submitting to that horribly-oppressed Medium instead of God, Princess Diana surrendered to Hell's agenda. The night of the crash, her new engagement ring lay beside her on the floor of the bloodied car. It was not even on her hand when she died. Instead, "happiness had been snatched away" from her. "Life and death are in the power of the tongue." Proverbs 18:21.
Soon after my return to Delray Beach, Florida, in 1978, a friend and I went to a Psychic Fair at the local Mall, set up our own table and passed out tracts entitled Is It Dangerous To Consult Psychics? The tract contained Scriptures warning those who practice and those who receive divination. Deuteronomy 18:10-12. II Kings 17:17,18. Isaiah 47:12-15. Ezekiel 12:24. I Samuel 15:23. II Chronicles 33:6. Exodus 22:18. Galatians 5:19-21. Acts 16:16. Understandably, the psychics were outraged, the police were called, reporters and photographers came on the scene. My friend and I were portrayed by the newspaper (with our photographs) as the real villains.
Later, the man in charge of the Fair approached me privately. He had read the tract, was genuinely concerned, but defensive for the fortune tellers. "I've worked with these psychics for eighteen years," He said, "and I know that what they say frequently comes to pass." I agreed. Pointing to the parking lot, he explained, "Suppose that a psychic tells you that tomorrow at this same time there will be a green car in that spot, a white one next to it, and a red truck speeding by." I listened. "They tell you that a child runs out from between those cars and is killed. You come here tomorrow and it happens exactly like they said ..."
The Ouija Board Explained
I stopped him. "I know what you are saying is true. Psychics, Ouija Boards, Palm Readers, and other occultists, frequently tell things that actually happen — But you don't understand, they are not merely predicting them--they are causing them. Through their evil prophecies, they are proclaiming the devil's will. If we accept his proclamation as true–submitting to it--we are giving permission for him to bring it to pass."
When I said that, truth shot through him like a bullet. He slumped, turned slowly toward me, wide-eyed, mouth open. I will never forget his stare or the terror in his eyes. "How do I get out of this?!," He asked. "You need to be saved," I answered. "How?!" "Ask Jesus to forgive you. Tell Him you want to be born-again," I explained, "Commit your life to Him." Standing there in the Mall he did exactly that, humbly, sincerely praying the salvation-prayer.
But this raises a bigger question: What about the girl whose husband was named in advance by the Ouija Board? What about such a marriage. Paul explained that the devil’s worst trick can still be turned into the saints greatest good: “all things work together for good to those who love God.” Romans 8:28
People with histories of psychic premonitions need deliverance. Such patterns frequently exist for generations in families. If you ever receive a dream or message such as those I described, do not accept it. It may destroy you or someone you love. God gave you the authority to crush its effect in your life. Romans 16:20. Luke 10:17-19. Mark 16:17-20. I Peter 5:9. Revelation 12:10,11. Be alert! Be informed! Most importantly of all, be victorious! Know the difference between God's "words of knowledge" and the devil's "psychic deceptions." Life depends on it. Don't become another statistic of Hell's destruction.
A Pastor’s Wrong Choice
A Church of Christ pastor in Tennessee called, was in great distress and in urgent need of help. We met at the Nashville airport and went to his home where he shared his crisis: "The only power in my ministry was argument and debate," he explained, "there was no manifestation of God's presence like the early church experienced. I became so despaired with my spiritual deadness that I turned to other sources. And I made wrong choices--I went into Eastern Mysticism." I listened as he continued. "I found real power--but power that soon became dark and frightening.
The problem was that having invited it into my life, I could not make it leave. It began to dominate, control, and in a merciless way, force its' will upon me." His story was familiar. The "spirit-guide" that had invaded his life, harassed his sleep, affected his family relationships, and succeeded in separating him from those he loved. In time, it destroyed his ministry. As we talked, depression clung to him in a merciless way. When he finished, I explained that he had "touched the unclean thing," Isaiah 52:11, which God forbad. The good news was that his repentance and the power of Christ could free him. I reminded him that there is no power of darkness that can successfully stand against the authority of Jesus. Philippians 2:9.
He sat on the end of a sofa, I stood beside him, and as I laid-hands on him in the Name of Jesus, he began growling, curled into a tight ball, and rolled head-first onto the floor. I knelt beside him, kept my hands on him, and commanded the spirits of witchcraft and Eastern Mysticism to go.
As I did, he started wretching, gasping for air, and experiencing tremendous pain in his spine. A few minutes later, he was free. The darkness, pain, and oppression, that had hovered over him were gone. I then prayed for him to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
As he lay beside me, I thought of a Sunday School teacher who had studied parapsychology, palmistry, automatic handwriting, and other occult teachings. At the time of her deliverance, she had such severe back pain that she was several days recovering. There were others who came to mind. Looking back over years of this kind of ministry, I realized that many had undergone painful spasms in their vertebrae during deliverance from psychic-spirits. When I shared that with the young pastor on the floor, he answered, "Oh, I can explain that!" What he told was shocking. "I was instructed to invite a serpent-like spirit to enter my body and coil at the base of my spine. As I progressed in psychic-power, it rose up, wrapping itself around my back-bone." We sat silently for a moment. He then explained, "When you cast it out, it wrenched my back."
I had no difficulty believing his explanation. When Paul cast out the "spirit of divination" in the young woman at Phillippi, Acts 16:16-18, the Greek text says she had a "python." This serpent kills by strangulation, wrapping around the victim. It is not coincidental that Jesus used serpents as symbols of demonic power. He said, "I give you power to tread on serpents ..." Luke 10:19. Mark 16:18.
More recently, a young Assemblies of God pastor came to me at a Conference in Florida and asked if I would minister deliverance to him. I agreed and we went to a private room. This gentleman was a well-groomed college graduate with a successful ministry and family life. "My ancestors have practiced Druid worship and psychic-powers for generations," he explained, "And I experience torment from its presence. I am not participating in any way with witchcraft but I feel that darkness constantly hovering over me. It torments me." He paused. "I explained the problem to my Presbyters and asked them to minister deliverance to me but they refused. Our doctrine denies that Christians can have demons in their bodies or minds." I reminded him that none of us have yet been through the Resurrection. I Corinthians 15:53,54. Demons can go anywhere sin and disease can go. If Christians are immune to demons they are also immune to sin and sickness. Like it or not, we are still vulnerable to powers of darkness and must fight as Jesus taught.* Spiritual warfare is a constant, on-going battle. Ephesians 6:10-18.
A Demonic Manifestation
In the next few minutes, astonishing things happened. Demons began speaking out of him in guttural, dog-like growls, contorting his body, changing his appearance into something ugly and grotesque. Mark 1:26; 9:26. Four major spirits were identified. One of those was the spirit of "idiocy." When we challenged it in the Name of Jesus, the man's eyes suddenly crossed, his hands became spastic, his tongue thickened, turned sideways in his mouth, and be began slobbering with senseless jabberings. In a split-second, he became a full-blown idiot.
The good news is that he was totally delivered; the mental pain was gone forever. But please be aware of this frightening truth: Had this young pastor not received deliverance, the spirits hiding in him would ultimately have destroyed his sanity, ruined his family and ministry, and had him locked away in an asylum. Could that happen to a born-again pastor? Yes. Absolutely. I have no doubt that asylums needlessly contain many such Christians.
Someone asks, "How can sincere Christians, such as the ones I described, experience such ominous dreams and devilish messages?" The answer is that we are engaged in constant, unending spiritual war. Ephesians 6:10-18. Our regenerate spirit is immune to demons, yes, but soul and body, mind and flesh, remain their battleground. If unprotected, these areas can be penetrated by powers of darkness. Scripture and common sense confirm this fact. Luke 9:55. II Corinthians 11:4.
"For unclean spirits crying with a loud voice came out of many who were possessed and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. And there was great joy in that city. But there was a certain man called Simon, who previously practiced sorcery in the city and astonished (bewitched) the people of Samaria ..." Acts 8:7-9.
I have a reason for quoting the preceding Scripture. It mentions Simon the Sorcerer, demons, and victims in Samaria who were lame and paralyzed. Hear this carefully: Though the townspeople held Simon in high regard, he was actually the source of much of their ills. Without realizing it, those who sought his sorcery received far more than psychic-predictions. They became infected with crippling spirits that brought muscular deadness and twisted limbs. Simon's presence acted like a magnet that attracted these spirits to himself and then projected them upon the people. Jesus had earlier identified this same "spirit of infirmity" in the woman with the crooked back. Luke 13:11.
While spirits of infirmity cause a variety of ailments, it is significant that leprosy, blindness, deafness, and other diseases common to the day, were not mentioned in regard to Samaria. Hear me carefully on this point: Simon's variety of witchcraft was uniquely accompanied by demonic-problems related to the muscular and skeleton system. Why is that so? The young Church of Christ pastor gave the explanation. Read it again.