From Pastor Baz:
Before I was a Pastor I worked for a corporate pharmacy company. One Friday morning at around 3am, I got up to go to the bathroom and as I walked back to my room I noticed my mobile phone which was on a cabinet was flashing in the dark. It was on silent and someone was ringing.
I looked at the number….it was not familiar. I didn’t want to answer it in case it was a wrong number but then the reality of it being a possible emergency quickly dawned on me.. I clicked the green button and my heart pounded.
“Hello, you don’t know me but you know my son. I have tried to call the Pastors at the Church but can’t get them…”
(Well it is 3am mate…that’s what I was sarcastically thinking)
“…….my son is in his room and something invisible is attacking him….”
Now I definitely didn’t want to go. It was 2005 and my experience in this area was minimal. I wasn’t a minister and I’d only ever assisted in any supernatural issues like this at Church.
After speaking to the Father for a number of minutes, I decided it was my Christian ‘duty’ to go and see this family. That in hindsight was probably not a very smart move. I was not experienced enough to discern between mental illness and true paranormal phenomenon, malevolent or otherwise. But after waking my wife, informing her of the news and getting dressed, I drove to the house unassisted, without as much as a bible.
Can I reiterate here that in hindsight that is not a smart move then or now.
When I arrived at the house, I was greeted by the parents. As I walked in the house was full of idols – Buddha, Ganesha, Krishna – an eclectic hotbed of religions and you could feel in the air that there was something palpable in the area, almost like a weighted force that nearly steals your breath and weakens your legs.
After a brief introduction, including me explaining my lack of formal training, I went into the bedroom to find the young man cross legged on his bed.
“Are you ok, what’s been happening”?
He gave me an overview – this was night three of being tormented and not sleeping. Feelings, led to inaudible voices, then to tangible oppression, the sense of being touched etc.
I put my hand on his shoulder and began to pray. “Lord Jesus we ask that you take authority over this room…”
That instigated the sound of diabolical laughter. I looked at the young man. His eyes were now black. His face pulled taught and catlike.
I was frightened. All I had was “In the name of Jesus of Nazareth come out of him”.
He began to choke and then coughed forth a stream of foam that came out like a soda fountain turned on too hard. Every time I commanded the thing to release him this happened.
And then after twenty minutes of praying, quoting scripture and not allowing this thing to speak it’s lies (which it tried to whilst laughing and mocking ), there was respite.
I spoke to young man and his family and left. As early as I could I reported the incident to senior ministers in the Church. They were both grateful that I'd helped but very stern in addressing the fact I had done this on my own, which was dangerous spiritually and pracitically. It was a big learning curve.
The battle continued for days, with other more experienced ministers involved until the young man was hospitalised. After months of medication, prayer and repentance of the things he had been involved in his life turned around. He is now doing really well in every area of his life. There were medical aspects that needed to be treated by health professionals but as I had seen and heard, there were multiple spiritual aspects attached to his condition as well.
Repentance means “Changing our mind, doing a 180 degree turn away from things”. This story I hope encourages us to turn away from things we know are sinful or just plain dangerous to our bodies, mind and spirits, to avoid false gods and the occult, and to believe that God loves us and has a plan – called Jesus – for us captives to be set free.
And I’m not just preaching that, I’ve had to learn that very much the hard way in my own life.
:O :O :O :O :O :O :O :O !!!!
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