The Satanic Pincer (part 2 of 2)

I remember sitting down as a kid listening to a tape with my sisters. It was an audio cassette (remember those things?) and it was about a man who was heavily into the occult and who had seen and talked with Satan…and stuff like that. My parents had been averse to TV, so we didn’t watch a lot of it – we read books! Anyway, after hearing him go on and on about the occult, blood, abduction, demons and sacrifices, there was a power cut! The living room went dark, my sisters went off and I sat down in the now-sinister-looking living room trembling with fear – but too ashamed to admit it.

That might be a familiar scenario for many, but we all grow up and lose our fear of the dark. (Hey, don’t feel bad if you still sleep with the light on.)


My point is, fear is a powerful emotion – and once a person understands that most of the time, emotions are the foundation for decision making (and not logic), it becomes easier to communicate effectively with individuals through connecting with their emotions. Marketing companies are growing in their understanding of this reality, but the devil, who is a skilled tactician, knows this very well – and that’s why I’d like to talk about certain tools he employs to fight the church. His plan is to cause her to implode, weaken, and be hated by the world so that her ranks will diminish – but heck, we all know who wins in the end!

It is my hope that those who read this article will see and understand these powerful tools which are already at work in the world and around the Christian, whether or not he is aware. It is also my hope that this understanding will bring about what is of utmost importance to the God-seeker in these dark last days we live in: A genuine walk with God and an extremely deft grasp of the scripture.

The first tool is Disinformation: Disinformation is an intentional spread of lies as truth and often this happens in two forms. You have direct agents of darkness with their lies, like the new-agers who may sound smart and knowledgeable, but spread lies. I wrote an article called “Spot the difference” which gives a practise run and can help you realise if you are easy prey to well-crafted lies. God is all-powerful but certain things happen outside his control – and it becomes important that we grow in the word.
WAIT A SECOND!!!

The line you just read above is a lie: God is all-powerful but certain things happen outside his control -   and that is how disinformation works. It comes after a lot of truth and when you trust the liar and let down your guard. That is why no matter how sound or knowledgeable ANY preacher or leader appears to be, it is up to YOU to check if their words align with Scripture.

And this leads right on to the other type(s) of disinformation, which, I must confess sadly, have been very effective in the Nigerian church. This is disinformation via an ignorant person – and this is also a known military technique. An example is well-meaning preachers who preach concepts not in line with scripture, just inspiring fables. In addition, like the story I was talking about above, there are also many tales from people who were witches, wizards and involved in the occult. A lot of these people have come out with testimonies and honestly want to expose the darkness. However, what a lot of people do not realise is that the devil’s aim is to deceive – and he is very aware that like anything in life, people come and go from the occult – and they tend to “testify”. So he feeds them with lies and mistruths.

So these people HONESTLY recount events, but they are unaware they have been lied to and that the demons they thought they controlled were using them all along – and some events were just well-staged drama to deceive. That’s why you hear stuff like “praying in the night is powerful and scatters meetings of demons” forgetting that night and day are merely regional and physical occurrences; “cover yourself with the blood of Jesus”, forgetting the blood of Jesus was shed ONCE and those who WALK in light are already protected (1 John 5:18) – and many other lies that have no scriptural bases such as the popular fallacy of “sexual soul ties”. Sadly, many follow these ‘revelations’ to gain victory they already have in Jesus, wearing themselves out in the process – and that is why, I emphasise how critical it is to know scripture and use that as a guide OVER any experience that people have.

The next powerful tool is Seduction: When I was in the University, I remember lying on my bunk and a girl climbing up next to me and wanting to kiss me. I jumped off the bed and escaped her! Glory!

Er, the truth is, that is the cheapest type of victory. Anyone can escape from a person who wants to get physical with them if there is no real attraction. The major principle upon which seduction functions is a shifting of boundaries. A pastor recounts sleeping with a lady who wasn’t his wife and one can learn from how that happened. She had come crying during a counseling section and told him she felt like sleeping with him. Two things happened here: She sowed a seed with her words and roused his masculinity with her tears. He had several counselling sessions with her, till they finally had sex. Easy as pie.

Step 1: He was introduced to the idea
Step 2: He was uncomfortable with the idea
Step 3: Because the idea was continuously re-enforced, he became indifferent
Step 4: He started to like the idea
Step 5: He acted out the idea

A powerful statement is: If you don’t stand for something, you will fall for anything. Like scripture says “Guard your heart with ALL diligence for out of it are the issues of life” Proverbs 4: 23

Today, homosexuality is even more popular and is being embraced by a whole lot of people. I have a few homosexual friends, who I do not hate. However, irrespective of what the law states, the scripture I follow calls the act a sin, like lying, adultery and pre-marital sex. I believe we will see a lot more of homosexuality in ‘churches’ (denominations) and the world systems will push hard to make this embraced because scriptures seem to imply that the Anti-Christ will be pro-homosexuality. (Daniel 11:37)

Seduction is about introducing the evil idea (through movies, animation, music, videos, news, preaching and people) so that those who were first uncomfortable become indifferent – and over time, some will accept it, like it, DO it – and go on to defend and propagate it. It’s interesting how many main stream musicians make sexual immorality look “cool”. Indeed, the world will see more of such seduction beyond Madonna kissing Britney Spears and Christina before the world.

Finally, the last tool I will talk about is Religious Extremism. Someone said “If the devil can’t stop you from getting there, he will try to delay you – or try to make you get there too early”. People are often repulsed by Christianity not just because their sinful nature hates God (which is true in many cases), but also because the devil has used lies and the tactics above to make extremists out of people who say they are Christians. I have seen people “burn out” witchcraft with fire - literally. I have seen Christians who are clueless about social ethics, holier-than-thou, see demons everywhere, do not plan anything but pray and ‘faith’ it all, speak in tongues everywhere – and other such strange stuff. The result is that they suffer and just irritate those around them.

Let me give an example. Oil was used in the bible for anointing and according to James, can be used when praying for the sick (depending on the leading of the Spirit, because Jesus healed in several ways and wasn’t stuck on one method) (James 5: 14-15).

Now, here’s an interesting story. A ladies goes for an interview and presents her CV. One of the chaps interviewing say to her ‘Why is your CV stained with oil?”. The lady replies “That is not ordinary oil – that is anointing oil!” Of course, she did NOT get the job!

Leap of faith or a flight of reasoning…I think it’s the latter based on lack of understanding.

So what’s my point: Take up the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God and walk closely with God. It’s really creepy how many Christians hardly know the scripture anymore.

Don’t believe me? Let’s see if you can complete this: “Upon Mount Zion, there shall be deliverance and…………”

Cheers