Spirits of the Lie BY T.A. McMahon
http://www.thebereancall.org/Newsletter/html/2003/nov03.php
It's disturbing, but not surprising, that humanity is so vulnerable to
lies.
Moreover, the bigger or more outrageous the lie, the more effective it
seems
to be. Evolution is a prime example of a lie that is received
enthusiastically. Then there is psychology's teaching that humans are
innately good; the growing conviction that homosexuality is simply an
alternate lifestyle; the propaganda that Islam is a religion of peace and
that there is a legitimate, historic Palestinian people; and the belief
that
humans have infinite potential and can become gods. The "accepted frauds"
list seems to be endless.
Mankind's penchant for being duped can be traced back to his beginning in
the Garden of Eden. Satan, speaking through a serpent, seduced Eve into
believing she could become like God through rejecting God's will in favor
of
her own (Gn 3). This was the devil's own prospect, which he, as Lucifer,
deceived himself into believing (Is 14). Lies are most appealing when
baited
with ways and means of improving one's situation. Incredibly, Lucifer and
Adam and Eve, while in a perfect state and in perfect environments,
desired
something more for themselves. The self-serving thoughts of Eve's heart
are
revealed as being in opposition to what God had specifically forbidden:
"And
when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was
pleasant
to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the
fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and
he
did eat" (Gn 3:6). Adam and Eve's acceptance of a lie from a spirit
speaking
through an animal brought death and destruction into God's perfect
creation.
Satan's scheme began by encouraging Eve to doubt what God had said,
followed
by a flat denial of what He indeed had commanded. He then left her with
the
impression that God withheld from her something that would enable her to
be
like Him: in other words, God's only interest in humans is to keep them
from
realizing their god-like potential. That lie has been the devil's basic
appeal in seducing mankind down through the ages. The Bible characterizes
Satan (whose name means "adversary") as the father of lies, who deceives
the
whole world (Jn 8:44), and his fellow demons as his co-workers in the
same
game plan. Although God'sWord doesn't go into great detail about the realm
of spirit entities, it clearly warns us of the deceptive and destructive
nature of demons. We're to "be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary
the devil [and his demonic minions], as a roaring lion, walketh about,
seeking whom he may devour" (1 Pt 5:8). Having rejected that warning,
mankind is more involved today in ways that open one up to contact with
spirits than at any time in history.
Introduced to the West in the last century under the banner of the New Age
movement, Eastern mysticism has provided a veritable marketplace of
methods and techniques for "communing with the gods," with drugs and
meditation as the common vehicles. Today, temples for interacting with any
of the millions of Hindu gods are found worldwide, including the suburbs
of
many U.S. cities. I visited a very large temple outside Chicago, one well
attended by upper-middle-class suburban dwellers, with many of its
worshipers arriving in late model Mercedes and SUVs. Yoga meditation,
which
opens one up to spirit beings, is standard fare at YMCAs and athletic
clubs;
numerous evangelical churches have started their own classes under the
oxymoron, "Christian Yoga." The so-called science of Transcendental
Meditation (TM) has initiated hundreds of thousands throughout the West,
giving them mantras for calling upon Hindu deities. Religions such as
Santeria, Vodoun (voodoo), and Macumba, in which ritualistic sacrifices
are
made to gain favors from the spirits, have attracted increasing numbers of
those not usually given to superstition, e.g., doctors, lawyers, business
executives, college professors, etc. Occult visualization, perhaps the
most
effective technique for obtaining a spirit guide, is taught in hospitals
for
healing purposes, in natural childbirth classes, in sales and business
management seminars, by local golf pros, and in kids' basketball and
soccer
camps (see Dave Hunt's Occult Invasion). It is a favored technique among
those who practice "Christian" mysticism, known within evangelical circles
as the "contemplative movement." Inner-healing teachers professing to be
Christians recommend visualization for communicating with Jesus, who they
claim "will appear."
Contact with nonphysical entities claiming to be extraterrestrials is so
accepted today that the tragic event of the suicides of the Heaven's Gate
cult members, who died "in order to be taken aboard," is seen as an
anomaly.
UFOs, which are nonphysical, are regarded by millions as vehicles of
higher
intelligences who will save humanity from destruction. The promises made
by
these nonphysical "ETIs" are the same throughout the world no matter who
contacts these so-called space beings. Furthermore, the various methods of
contacting spirits, whether through drugs, meditation, visualization,
chanting mantras, ouija boards, or simply a desire for communication by an
act of the will, always produce a similar antibiblical message.
One of our staff members had a recent encounter with the owner of a
business
near our ministry. Since he heard her use the phrase "Praise the Lord," he
asked her if she were a believer. Her response startled him: "Yes.I'm a
shaman!" She explained that she believed in many "lords." The term
"shaman"
comes from the language of the Tungus tribe in Siberia and refers to the
tribal medicine man, or witchdoctor. The shaman's main function is to
contact the spirits in order to gain assistance for his people.
Anthropologists are intrigued by the fact that in every part of the world
where shamanism is practiced, it is basically the same. That consistency
among diverse people groups (who have never had contact with one another)
is
compelling evidence for the reality of the spirits with whom they
interact.
It also supports the biblical claim that there is a central, and evil,
source for the content and power obtained from the spirit realm.
Today we have shamans of all kinds from Bend to Beverly Hills and all
points
east, west, north and south. Our national park guides are delighted to
introduce visitors to the sweat lodges, vision quest, and other shamanic
trappings of Native Americans. White, middle-class "shamans" are popping
up
all over the place, much to the disdain of those who see their pursuit as
"inauthentic" and the "exploitation of Native American culture."
Evidently,
the spirits are not cultural purists, given the glowing reports that
multitudes of non-indigenous Americans have contacted their "power
animals,"
or spirit guides, simply by reading the books and following the techniques
and directions of the less-than-authentic shamans! Rarely, if ever, do you
read in such books that problems may arise, or that the spirits may not be
as all-wise and all-wonderful as advertised.
I recently interviewed a man who had spent most of his life communing with
spirit entities. There is no doubt as to his "authenticity." He was a
shaman, a medicine man and chief of his Yanamamo tribe, which resides deep
in the Amazonian rain forest of Venezuela. At odds with the lie promoted
in
anthropological circles-that the lives of primitive tribes-people are
pure,
natural and Eden-like and therefore best kept from outside influence-Chief
Shoefoot and his people's violent, fear-filled existence is documented in
a
book titled The Spirit of the Rain Forest, written by Mark Ritchie
(available from Island Lake Press - 1-800-245-1022).
As a young boy, Shoefoot was singled out as one sensitive to the spirit
realm and subsequently initiated into the sorcerer's world. Again, a
shaman
is one who, through knowledge and power obtained from the spirits, heals
and
guides his people. Although the initial process of enabling him to contact
the spirits was brutal, involving days of food and water deprivation and
having someone force hallucinogenic drugs into his system by blowing them
up
his nose, the spirits he met were at first benign and curiously
captivating. His initial impression was that many of them inhabited and
spoke through plants and especially through animals (reminiscent of the
ploy
first introduced in the Garden of Eden and supportive of the lie of
evolution that all living things are related and equal). Shoefoot's desire
in all of this was to serve the needs of his tribe; therefore, he followed
the counsel of the spirits, even when to do so seemed at odds with common
sense.
At the beginning, help from the spirits was somewhat encouraging, yet it
always seemed tainted with unresolved problems, or worse. For example,
sicknesses among the Yanomamo children, which the spirits too often had
trouble healing, were usually blamed on powerful curses placed on the
village by a rival tribe.The usual spirit-provided solution to offset the
curses was to murder, rape and pillage the suspected foes. The abduction
of
women was commonplace for such raids. Yet whether it was to retrieve their
stolen women or simply to exact revenge, violent payback was only a matter
of time. The knowledge supplied by Shoefoot's spirits often proved to be
less than trustworthy, causing his tribe to live in confusion and constant
fear of their enemies.
Not only did Shoefoot grow weary of the excuses from the spirits when
their
counsel went awry, but some spirits were of such a vicious nature that
they
wrought mayhem and death among his people. During drug-induced rituals
where
these spirits might make their presence known, the men needed to hide
their
weapons to prevent the spirit-controlled warriors from killing one
another.
At one point of near hopelessness concerning his inability to improve the
deteriorating condition of his people, Shoefoot increased his drug intake
in
order to go deeper into the spirit world to find more trustworthy and
benevolent spirits. That led to even more wicked spirits (Lk 11:26),
greater
frustration, and intense despair. However, during his dark spiritual
journey, he was made aware of a powerful Spirit, who, he was told, was the
enemy of his spirits and his people. Ironically, the location where this
Spirit, Yai Pada, dwelled was a beautiful place of abundance and peace,
the
very blessings Shoefoot desired for his tribe and for himself. Since he
had
been lied to so often by his spirits, he was driven to know if they were
telling him the truth about Yai Pada.
Fulfilling His promise given to all humanity through the prophet Jeremiah,
"And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all
your heart" (29:13), the Lord led Shoefoot to a missionary named Joe
Dawson,
one of the very few foreigners able to speak the Yanomamo language. Joe
taught Shoefoot about Yai Pada, the God of the Bible. He taught him that
sin
made us all God's enemies, yet Yai Pada loved us so much that He sent His
Son to pay the full penalty for our sins, and by admitting our sinfulness
and putting our trust in Jesus and our faith in what He accomplished for
us,
we could have peace with the God of Peace. Moreover, he was told that all
who believe in Jesus will spend eternity with Yai Pada. Shoefoot's
testimony
(found in detail in Spirit of the Rain Forest and in a rough but powerful
video, "I'll Never Go Back!" A Shaman's Story from Don Shire
Ministries -715-484-2017) of how Jesus delivered him from his bondage to
sin
and to his spirits is a testimony to the truth of God's Word.
I asked Shoefoot through interpreter Mike Dawson, Joe's son, who grew up
among the Yanomamo, how he would answer a skeptic who thought his
experiences with the spirits were nothing more than hallucinations brought
on by the drugs he took. Shoefoot's 70-something-year-old eyes sparkled at
the question; he enjoys responding to challenges by skeptics, especially
when he speaks to university anthropology students. It's ironic that this
"primitive" man considers the highly educated anthroplogists who study his
people naïve at best, deceived at worst. He told me of knowing shamans who
had many of the same spirits he had had, yet, unlike him, they did not
come
to know them as a result of taking drugs. Whether the contacts were made
with a clear mind or in a drug-induced state, descriptions and details
were
nearly always identical-they all communed with the same spirits.
Mike added that we of the sophisticated West have trouble relating to a
culture in which spirits, i.e., demons, are a real, everyday part of life.
However, that doesn't mean they're necessarily exclusive to the dense
jungles of the Yanomamo. He said that on one autumn trip to the U.S. with
Shoefoot, he was shocked as his friend, the former shaman, continually
pointed out representations of spirits he had known being featured across
America as it celebrated its most financially successful holiday:
Halloween.
Some time later, Shoefoot was given a sampling of TV's Saturday-morning
cartoon characters and power figures. It was more of the same. He was not
aware of the worldwide popularity of the Harry Potter books, which
introduce
children to sorcery and encourage them in the practice of witchcraft. As
Mike explained this series of books to him, he was grieved that so many
young people were being set up for the suffering and bondage that had
tormented his own people.
Shoefoot's subjective experiences in a culture dominated by lying spirits
are readily substantiated when compared with other demon-driven
lifestyles
throughout the world. Furthermore, they are consistent with what God's
Word
says about such spirits. The prince of "the rulers of the darkness of this
world" (Eph 6:12) is a devourer of human souls, who also delights in their
physical destruction through depravity and disease. The technologically
advanced societies on this planet may be able to ward off the latter, but
they will reap the far worse temporal and eternal bondage of their souls.
The culmination of this will take place under the demon possessed and
empowered Antichrist. However, the preconditioning for that event, which
began in the Garden of Eden and has become widespread in our day, will
manifest itself in an increasingly demonized society and an apostate
Christianity, as the Apostle Paul warns: "Now the [Holy] Spirit speaketh
expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith,
giving
heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils" (1 Tm 4:1). The world,
blinded and bound by "the god of this world," is ripe for every form of
contact with spirit entities and will reap its horrendous consequences.
Lord, give us a love for the truth, and a heart to rescue those in bondage
to the lie. TBC
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