If you want to fight demonic activity live holy lives, study God's word, lead people to the Lord, and pray, pray pray. Never seek it out or take pleasure in it.
It is very possible that some have been gifted to deal with that arena. While I am against Catholic Doctrine, I do not presume that Catholicism is bereft of sincere believers, and often wonder about the rites of exorcism that have been carried out through the millennia. It would not be unreasonable to expect that within those experiences a truly born again believer went toe to toe with demonic forces.
I agree with what you say above, and think that for the most part believers are unaffected by demons, and that the best way to exorcise demons is leading men to Christ. However, I don't think we can say that no Christian ever confronts demons directly, because I think they do. And for me, the above (your advice) is the sure way to be prepared in the event that we do come face to face with demonic forces.
I believe that I deal with demonic forces when I am witnessing with some people. I believe I have the gift of discernment. Maybe I am fooling myself, or maybe my belief is correct.
Once while witnessing to a man who attended a Mormon fellowship, I had no doubt this man was at the least under the power od demon or demons. It was one of the most overpowering sensations I have ever experienced. And I get this to some extent often when witnessing. The fervor of certain unbelievers and adherents of certain religions can, at times, be discerned as an evil that goes beyond mankind's evil.
Darrell, it appears to me that you are the most honest poster that has responded to my O.P for you are certainly headed in the right direction. May the Lord greatly use you for His honor and glory.
Oh please...others aren't honest because they don't believe your outlandish stories? Give me a break.
I don't think anyone here doubts that we deal with demonic influences throughout our lives. I don't doubt that individuals can be possessed by demons. What is being called in to question (and I'm flat out saying you are lying or have a mental issue) are the claims such that people's skin is stretching off their faces.
You find a demon everywhere and those demons demonstrate themselves to you in ways that only a delusional person could be witness to. You live in the fantasy land that you criticize others for watching movies or playing games about. You need to criticize your own over active imagination for putting such fantasies in your head.
*בְּנ֣וֹת יַֽעֲנָ֔ה*וּשְׂעִירִ֖ים*יְרַקְּדוּ־ שָֽׁם׃
NAS: there, and *shaggy goats* will frolic
KJV: shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance
INT: first Ostriches and shaggy will frolic there
7 And they shall no more offer their sacrifices unto devils, after whom they have gone a whoring. This shall be a statute for ever unto them throughout their generations.
Exactly. And the truth of those verses is remphasized by Paul in
1 Corinth 10:21 Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils.
The behavior and actions of the heathen at the yearly Ballo del Doge (I previously mentioned) comes to mind. Christians are admonished to stay away from such revelry. But devils are indeed involved in such activity and sometimes they appear physically.
I have a question for all posting here.
What happened to the content of our TV viewing?
It started out with one very tame program called "Bewitched."
And then came "Charmed" with three witches, and a whole host of others from the "underworld" or spirit world, with their spells and incantations.
From then onward the fascination with the occult and paranormal has simply taken off and continues to multiply, with such horrendous programs with "Grimm" which I would not allow any child to watch. Space channel is full of them. There are all kinds of programs--some seem harmless like "Haven" but others are full of the occult and paranormal on an alarming scale. Whatever happened to simple TV viewing.
And all this is without sex and violence.
The word is also used to speak of actual goats as well. It is the context we use to help us define the intended meaning. The two I posted show we cannot, as has been done, negate a reference to demons, but at the same time we also point out other uses, and goat being used 24 times as the translation in the KJV, as opposed to only two references clearly designating demons.
31 And they took Joseph's coat, and killed a kidof the goats, and dipped the coat in the blood;
...and interestingly enough it is "a kid," not "of the goats" which implements the use of sa`iyr.
In the passage in 2 Chronicles 11 it is very interesting to note that the Levites returned to Jerusalem that they might continue their Service, which was abolished by Jereboam. This passage helps to debunk the mythology of the "Ten Lost Tribes."
But this is how Hollywood has deceived for years. We can also ask...what happened to the good guys? Use to be the good guys were distinguishable from the bad guys (white hat/black hat), but, these days it's bad guy/worse guy. Riddick is the perfect example. An atheistic "hero" for the new mentality.
If we pay attention we will see in the so-called harmless shows of yesteryear the agendas of liberals and atheists. M*A*S*H, for example, ridiculed Christianity by making the "Christians" of the show characters everyone would revile. Adulterers, hypocrites, and just ugly people. The "heroes" were drunks, despised authority, self-willed, and supposedly the ones who had a right mentality.
But the fascination with the supernatural is something that has always been, and always will be interesting...even to unbelievers. The recent movie "Maleficent" is another good example of making a good guy out of the bad guy, or girl, as the case is in that.
But we can, unlike the unbelieving, look at shows and movies like this and I think it gives us a platform of witness. Movies like "Gods and Kings," horrendously unbiblical, are possible doors of discussion with those...who buy into this kind of propaganda.
You mention Underworld, movies like that which create good guys out of historically evil creatures have created people who have a twisted view, even as those who think Lucifer is the good guy.
How we define what is good to watch may be different from believer to believer. Myself, I think some of this stuff is great for the purpose of witnessing.
Here's one that might surprise you: Dirty Harry.
Yep, one of America's favorite heroes. What was he? A lawless man. He takes the Law into his own hands. We would, in reality, put a cop like that under the jail.
And saw an old Clint western while at my father-in-law's, where he rapes a woman. Some hero. High Plains Drifter, I think. He is supposed to be, I guess, the Devil or a demon taking vengeance on murderers. So this movie actually casts Satan or a Demon...as the good guy.
It's been going on for years.
But if we can point out the difference between the good guy and the bad guy, we can also point out the bad guy from the worse guy, and point to the poisoning of perspective Hollywood has been engaging in, even in the so-called "decent" movies of years ago.