David Cloud - January 24, 2007 - The following is an excerpt from "The Bondage Makers: How the Unbiblical Spiritual Warfare Movement Is Enslaving Believers" by Ignacio Rovirosa. This important book is an expose of the doctrinal errors and spiritual dangers of the popular contemporary spiritual warfare philosophy as promoted through books such as "The Bondage Breaker" by Neil Anderson.

Ignacio Rovirosa, a native Cuban, is a missionary to the people of Cuba. He has pastored Hispanics and worked with national pastors in Peru, Mexico, and Cuba. His home church is Emmanuel Baptist in Kings Mountain, North Carolina, one of our favorite churches. He is currently traveling extensively to raise support for his burden to teach the people of Cuba.

The chapter titles of "The Bondage Makers" are as follows:

Chapter 1 - Sharing Personal Experiences of Spiritual Warfare
Chapter 2 - Biblical Spiritual Warfare vs. Modern Day Spiritual Warfare
Chapter 3 - Who Can and Cannot be "Demonized"
Chapter 4 - The Devil Made Me Do It
Chapter 5 - An Epidemic and the Real Enemy
Chapter 6 - The Cure and the Consequences

The back cover describes the book as follows:

"The so-called modern day spiritual warfare movement has invaded the local church. It has come in quietly and has done great damage to many sound churches. This truly unbiblical teaching has come in the form of self help programs. Christian Psychology, addiction programs, and many others. Is spiritual warfare valid today? In the true biblical sense it is, but in the modern day version it is nothing more than an attempt to channel demons as well as another way to blame others for our own actions. There have been lives lost as a result of this teaching and many others who have been spiritually, emotionally, and physically harmed. Has this teaching invaded your local church? This book will prove that the teachings of the modern day spiritual warfare movement truly are Bondage Makers."

"The Bondage Makers" is available from --

www.Christianbook.com
www.xulonpress.com
or directly from Ignacio Rovirosa, P.O. Box 292, Lattimore, NC 28089 (email jn155@juno.com)

Brother Rovirosa says, "I obviously cannot control the pricing of the first two sources, but I sell the books for $6.00 plus $1.40 postage in the U.S. CBD sells it for $7.99 plus postage and Xulon and other web outlets sell it for $9.99 plus postage. They can send PayPal, personal check, money order."

Please address any questions about the book or orders directly to Brother Rovirosa.

THE BONDAGE MAKER
By Ignacio Rovirosa
AN EXCERPT FROM THE FIRST TWO CHAPTERS

A PERSONAL TESTIMONY

It was October of 1987 in Kansas City, Missouri, when I came to know Christ as Savior. I was an active member of the Catholic Church at that time and one night I did something that I had never done before -- I opened my Bible. Reading through the Scriptures, I was convicted of my sins and accepted Jesus Christ as my only hope for salvation. That same week I attended a Vineyard church for a wedding and was overwhelmed by all the perceived emotion and excitement. Two weeks later, I left the Catholic Church due to the fact that what was being taught did not align itself to what I was now reading in the Bible.

After many years of what I describe as knowing the face of God yet not knowing the heart of God, I thought I would see for myself what the charismatic church I had recently visited had to offer. I hungered for an exciting experience in church. I had never seen that kind of enthusiasm and emotion in a church.

I would later learn that there was no Biblical substance there, but only emotion and titillation of the senses.

We spent about a year and a half there in a futile search to know God better and found it was not a place to be fed with the pure Word of God. There was the praise and worship music, emotions, and my first exposure to demonology. In the Catholic Church, we had heard of exorcisms but had no first hand knowledge nor knew of anyone who did. This was a whole new world for me. At the Vineyard, we heard of territorial demons, ancestral demons, even demons of health, finance, etc. It seemed that around every corner there was a demon. It was even suggested that the wife of one of their self-professed prophets had a distorted facial feature that was attributed to demons.

I felt that I needed to check with the church leadership over this issue as well as other issues over which I was concerned. My only argument as a baby believer was that what I was seeing and hearing did not line up with God's Word. I later learned that these beliefs were based on what I came to know of as "experience based theology". They also used "isogesis" which is the practice of reading things into God's Word rather than "exegesis" which is extracting from what is already written. Isogesis seemed to be the preferred method of Bible study in that church as well as those in the spiritual warfare movement. We left there in search of one that would teach God's Word as written.

Our search eventually brought us to an Independent Fundamental Baptist church in Kansas City, Missouri. I felt that of all places, charismatic beliefs would never be found there. I was sorely mistaken.

The first week we were there, the church was holding a seminar. During that seminar, a supernatural story was told. I became quite uncomfortable as it painfully resembled other charismatic teachings in my past.

I immediately stepped out of that meeting and found my pastor and asked him if that type of teaching would be taught in the church. He assured me that it would not, but regrettably that was not the case. That turned out to be the beginning of a very painful experience in the realm of the modern day spiritual warfare movement.

As the years passed I must admit that whenever my pastor taught Scripturally, he was one of the best Bible teachers I had ever met. But the issue at hand was not where the teaching was right, but where it was dangerously wrong. We received a book called "The Bondage Breaker" as well as another book called "Reclaiming Surrendered Ground". In my ignorance as well my unquestioning loyalty to my pastor, I accepted these books. After all, he was well respected in Fundamental circles and who was I to question this teaching. We oftentimes trade discernment for loyalty to our shame.

In 1997, the Lord called me to prepare for the ministry. Before we left for Bible College, I experienced my first spiritual warfare counseling session as it was performed on me.
A few years later, it would be performed on my wife as well. In those sessions, we were told to open ourselves up to allow voices and thoughts to speak through us. It was basically an effort to allow a demon to channel through Christians. We were told to empty our minds. We were asked to identify the name of the demon within us as well as the name of the "gatekeeper."

We were asked when the demon entered and how. We were asked to confess sins. After many questions, the demons were told to leave us. This is ironic as some in the modern day spiritual warfare movement will say that we don't have demons "in" us, but just operating "through" us. So how does a demon leave somewhere he supposedly is not? These sessions and their practices were the norm as I was present in the sessions of others.

Fortunately for us while at Bible College, as well as the local church we attended while there, we were fed Scriptural truth and realized that the spiritual warfare teaching was not Biblical. I was hesitant to go against my pastor, but decided I would bite my tongue and accept it as something that perhaps I just didn't quite understand. After all, my pastor had much more experience in the ministry and maybe I just hadn't grasped this area of teaching yet. Regrettably, we all learned the hard way the harm this teaching causes. We were about to see the extent of that harm.

I was called back to work on staff at my home church and felt that it was a dream come true. On a bright sunny Thursday morning November 2, 2000, most of the staff was present at the daily prayer meeting before classes at the Christian school. Pastor was absent so we went on with the prayer meeting. Several minutes into the meeting the school administrator and the associate pastor were urgently called out. Within a short time we would be told that pastor's wife and daughter were found dead. Our assumption was that they were murdered and that a killer was at large.

Later we were told that the pastor's wife shot and killed her daughter and turned the gun on herself and committed suicide. We were told that it may have been during a demonic manifestation. It was that week that it was communicated that the pastor's daughter had been demonized and had spoken in guttural tones as well as speaking in the third person. She had been taken to see a spiritual warfare counselor to no avail. We were also told that she was supposedly a victim of a demonic ritual at a very young age and that she had been dedicated to Satan. We were also told that she was a victim of a demonic time-clock which was going off again. It was strongly suggested that the mother was trying to kill the daughter while she was demonically possessed.

But what about being a new creature in Christ - what about old things passing away and all things becoming new? After all, she supposedly had a testimony of salvation.

2 Cor. 5:17 "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."

John 8:36 "If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed."

What we saw those first few weeks contradicted the Scriptures in every possible way. While out of loyalty, I wanted to believe the explanation but I could not reconcile it with the Word of God. Other church members were now claiming to see "demonic manifestations" in their spouses. It seemed that this was beginning to snowball. We later spoke to one church member who nearly lost his life due to this truly unbiblical teaching. The following is the personal account of what he was told after fruitless counseling sessions -- attempted exorcisms -- for what he was experiencing at home.

"ŠWhen I went for counseling, I was told I was the one that had the demon, and if I were somehow able to get rid of the demon, then both my daughters would be free of it also. After trying everything I was told to do, I found it had no effect Š At that point, pastor said he did not have an answer for me, and could not help me any further. That is when I asked pastor if I were dead, would that solve the problem? His answer was a resounding 'Absolutely!' At that point, I was seriously considering suicide. I was not going to do it to rid myself of the demon. The reason I was going to do it was to free my children from the demon. My thinking was if I were gone, then the demon would be gone too. Also, I was so tired from losing sleep every night - I know I was not thinking correctly. I finally realized that all I ever needed to do was to give it all to the Lord and let HIM take care of it for me. I prayed, "Lord, I cannot do it. Would you do it for me?" From that point on, He brought peace to our home. I think people should know why I was going to do the unthinkable."

Due to all the situations arising I poured myself into the Scriptures to study this out. Regrettably, this is something that should have happened beforehand and not after the fact. But I still thank God for delivering me out of the so-called deliverance ministries.
After hearing of other horrific accounts from other church members and the path that this ministry was taking, I submitted my resignation. I also tried to share with the church leadership what the Lord had shown me through His Word, but they would not listen.
Regrettably over the past 5 years, I have heard many other accounts of churches split, ministries ruined, and the faith of many confounded - all over the modern day spiritual warfare movement. Years ago, I thought that what we went through was the exception rather than the rule. It turns out to be just the opposite. In the following chapters we will look at how the modern day spiritual warfare movement contradicts the Word of God, enslaves believers, deceives un-believers, and other results of this truly unbiblical teaching. We will see how those in the spiritual warfare movement are truly Bondage Makers.

A PLAY ON WORDS BIBLICAL SPIRITUAL WARFARE VS. MODERN DAY SPIRITUAL WARFARE

"And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words." Colossians 2:4

The verse used does have its proper context but also has its proper application. Regrettably, based on their actions, most proponents of the modern day spiritual warfare movement do not feel that context is an issue. They manipulate Scripture to defend what they want to believe rather than for what it truly means. They also misuse the application. In Colossians 2:4, we are warned of those who would trap and deceive using artful words. We should take heed of those warnings today when dealing with the modern day spiritual warfare movement.

We will now examine some of the more popular terminology of the Spiritual Warfare movement. Of utmost importance is the term "warfare." This term is found in 2 Corinthians:

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;"

There is no mention here of casting out demons but imaginations. The emphasis is on the believer acting as a believer should. This behavior, if followed, automatically opposes the devil. It does not speak of taking demons captive or binding them, but taking thoughts captive and binding them.

The Book of Ephesians also speaks regarding this war:

Ephesians 10:6-18 "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;"

While this speaks of the wiles of the devil, principalities, powers, rulers of darkness, and spiritual wickedness in high places, it also tells us how to battle in this "spiritual warfare". It does not even hint at anything regarding indwelling demons.

We also must not assume that "principalities and powers" always means demons.

Titus 3:1 "Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work,"

If we are to make that assumption then are we to believe that Titus 3:1 is instructing us to obey demons? No, neither can we assume that we are always dealing with demons.
Neither of the previous passages speak of the techniques used by today's "Deliverance Ministries" which is another term used by this movement. But is this movement providing deliverance or bondage? Obviously it is the latter. Many in this movement are in bondage as they spend much energy seeking out the demons behind their every problem. They have demons of finance, health, worry, transportation, education, relationships, etc. Basically, if they have things going wrong in their lives and issues that need to be addressed, they can conveniently blame a demon -thus avoiding confronting the reality that God may be either allowing something in their lives or confronting their sins. Are these people truly free in Christ?

This term "stronghold" is another common term in the spiritual warfare vocabulary. But just what is a stronghold? The following quote from Barnes Notes clearly defines what it is:

"To the pulling down of strong holds. The word here rendered 'stronghold' Š means, properly, a fastness, fortress, or strong fortification. It is here beautifully used to denote the various obstacles resembling a fortress which exist, and which are designed and adapted to oppose the truth and the triumph of the Christian's cause. All those obstacles are strongly fortified. The sins of his heart are fortified by long indulgence, and by the hold which they have on his soul."

Note the mention of indulgence. This indulgence is something of the will and not imposed by another force. It is a matter of lack of surrender to the Lord. The spiritual warfare camp would have you believe that it is Satan or one of his demons that have control of that stronghold and that you are at their mercy.

They choose to abuse another term in combination with the former called "generational sins". They would have you to believe that a person inherits demons or strongholds from the sins of their parents, grandparents, and beyond. They use a verse, or at least a part of a verse:

Exodus 20:5 " Š for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generationŠ

It would seem from this passage, if taken out of context, that there are generational sins - or in the case of spiritual warfare - demons which are inherited. But what happens to this teaching when the entire verse is used?

Exodus 20:5-6 " Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments."

It seems that these verses in their entirety, as well as contextually, mean something totally different. What the verse does say is that those that bowed to other gods have sinned against God, and that there will be an ongoing judgment to those who choose to continue in the same sin just as it was applied to those who practiced it in the past.

It emphasizes that not all the offspring of those who sinned will be judged, but those who "hate" God by practicing the same sin. It seems that it would be hard to find a believer that truly "hates" God. The end of the passage is also frequently left out where it states that God shows mercy to those that love Him and keep His commandments.

It seems quite contrary to God's Word that a child would be condemned for his father's sin - especially in the light that the child mentioned has accepted Christ as Savior. What then do they do with the following passage?

2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."

Was the Holy Spirit trying to tell us that the caveat to 2 Corinthians 5:17 was Exodus 20:5-6? No, but quite the contrary, as these verses are in full agreement as all Scripture is with itself.

Another point in the area of generational sins is their usage of Adam's sin as an example. They say that since we inherited Adam's sin, it is thus feasible that we can inherit other sins or be in bondage to them.

Romans 5:12 "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:"

Once again they claim a verse to attempt to justify their views that contextually has nothing to do with the modern day version of spiritual warfare. If one were to embrace this in the sense of spiritual warfare, then one must carry this thought out to its logical conclusion and be able to be delivered from this with spiritual warfare. We have indeed been delivered from the spiritual death that passed unto all men but not through modern day spiritual warfare.

Romans 5:19 "For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous."

This came by obedience in accepting the sacrifice of Christ at the cross, and thus we are made righteous. We still have a sin nature, but that has nothing to do with their version of generational sins or of the Biblical context found within the verses of Exodus 20.
While there is endless terminology used as well as abused by those in the "Deliverance Ministries", the greatest danger lies in the subtlety of those uses.

They attempt to sugarcoat their terms in an effort to make them more palatable to more fundamentally sound churches. They use window dressing and as the chapter is titled, "a play on words." But why do they need to play with words? Would not the actual meanings suffice?

The answer lies in that while the truth sets some free it condemns others in their errors. While an error is an error, two errors seem to stand out among the rest. The use of the terms "oppression" and "possession" travel even beyond the boundaries of error. Those in the "deliverance ministries" would be the first to say that a born again believer cannot be possessed but oppressed. At the surface, it sounds acceptable and opens doors into churches that would otherwise be unreceptive to this unbiblical concept of spiritual warfare. The issue is in that their definition of "oppressed" matches the Biblical definition of "possessed" -- which is an impossibility for a believer.

One clear error on their part is their claim that a believer can be "severely oppressed by demons" (Neil Anderson, The Bondage Breaker, p. 21). Not that a believer can't be severely oppressed in a Biblical manner, but just what do they mean by severely oppressed? One example in Chapter 3 of "The Bondage Breaker" and another in the introduction of the same book are two stories which are related regarding a woman who is supposedly a believer and has a demon, or as Anderson states "the evil one" (Anderson, p. 41) speaking through her. Or of the woman who said "I've been scratching myself like this, and I can't control itŠ" (Anderson, p. 9). (The entire quote will not be printed here as God's Word tells us to be innocent concerning evil things.)

Romans 16:19b "Š but yet I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil."

It seems that this is an area that they choose to ignore and instead prefer to defile others with vile accounts in their books. They prefer sensational stories while dragging the minds of Christians through the world's gutters. But the examples previously stated do not sound like someone who is Biblically "severely oppressed," but of one who is Biblically possessed. Note the following verses and their stunning resemblances to their examples.

Mark 5:1-15 "And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes. And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, Š And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones. Š And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not. For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many. Š And they that fed the swine fled, and told it in the city, and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that was done. And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil , and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid."

Another claim is of the return of demons that are cast out. An important point of note is that there is never any mention of the demons returning once cast out in the Scriptures. They claim the following verse once again out of context:

Matthew 12:43-45 "When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation."

Is the verse quoted a viable proof text for the belief that demons can return? The answer is absolutely not based on the following proofs.

First and foremost the context must be addressed. It is very well expressed by Albert Barnes:

"The general sentiment which our Saviour here teaches is much more easily understood than the illustration which he uses. The Jews had asked a sign from heaven that should decisively prove that he was the Messiah, and satisfy their unbelief. He replies, that though he should give them such a sign--a proof conclusive and satisfactory; and though for a time they should profess to believe, and apparently reform yet such was the obstinacy of their unbelief and wickedness, that they would soon return to them, and become worse and worse. Infidelity and wickedness, like an evil spirit in a possessed man, were appropriately at home in them. If driven out, they would find no other place so comfortable and undisturbed as their bosoms. Everywhere they would be comparatively like an evil spirit going through deserts and lonely places, and finding no place of rest. They would return, therefore, and dwell with them" (Online Bible, Barnes Notes, Matthew 12:43-45).

What is addressed in this verse regarding demonology actually supports the fact that those to whom a demon did return were never converted in the first place. The born again believer does not merely profess to believe but truly believes. There is no apparent reform, but true reform. There is no unbelief in their belief on their Savior. Theirs is a place that would no longer be comfortable for a demon due to the presence of the Holy Spirit of God.

As the quote stated, the true context in the verses (which started at verse 38 of Matthew 12) was about the scribes and Pharisees seeking a sign and not about demonology.
But what of the word used in Mark, chapter 5 for possessed? The Greek word used here is "daimonizomai." This word as described by Barnes is stated thus as:

"In the NT, these are persons, afflicted with especially severe diseases, either bodily or mentally, (such as paralysis, blindness, deafness, loss of speech, epilepsy, melancholy, insanity, etc.) whose bodies in the opinion of the Jews demons had entered, and so held possession of them as not only to afflict them with ills, but also to dethrone the reason and take its place themselves; accordingly the possessed were wont to express the mind and consciousness of the demons dwelling in them(emphasis mine); and their cure was thought to require the expulsion of the demon" (Online Bible, Barnes Notes, Mark 5:15).

The word expulsion means that an entity is somewhere and needs to be removed. So is a demon being expulsed? From a believer?

It would seem that those who are referred to today by the spiritual warfare camp as oppressed would qualify to be Biblically possessed.

Attention should be paid to the fact that those referred to in the Scriptures were not said to be believers, as well as the fact that there was no permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit had they been so. The fact that a believer cannot be Biblically possessed or severely oppressed according to their terms will be shown in the following chapter.

The only viable explanation would be that those in Anderson's examples were either spiritually lost, mentally unstable, deceived by the spiritual warfare movement, or frauds. Here also lies a two-fold error in terms of mental illness. In the book "The Bondage Breaker," in a section titled "Common Misconceptions about Bondage," two statements are made in an attempt to validate these viewpoints. One statement claimed to be a misconception is that "What the early church called demonic activity we now understand to be mental illness" and the other is "Some problems are psychological and some are spiritual" (Anderson, The Bondage Breaker, pp. 19-21). Are these truly misconceptions?

They would have us to believe that if these mental illnesses cannot be proven to be physical they then must be assumed to be spiritual. But it seems that God's Word would not be in agreement with their conclusions.

Matthew 4:24 "And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them."

It seems that the Scriptures differentiate diseases and torments from those possessed with devils as well as from those who were "lunatick" and those that had the palsy.

Mark 1:32-34 "And at even, when the sun did set, they brought unto him all that were diseased, and them that were possessed with devils. And all the city was gathered together at the door. And he healed many that were sick of divers diseases, and cast out many devils; and suffered not the devils to speak, because they knew him."

Notice that some were healed of "divers diseases" while others had devils cast out. These were two separate circumstances.

That is not to say that there were not instances in the Scriptures where some had a genuine disease as well as being demon possessed, but they were recognized and dealt with hand in hand. It was not that the man mentioned in the following verse was "dumb", therefore the demon was cast out so he could speak, but that he was demon possessed and dumb. It cannot be assumed that all those who were healed of diseases were demon possessed especially since this is not found in God's Word.

But note should be made regarding the Biblical examples used by the spiritual warfare movement. In using those verses to defend spiritual warfare, they need to recognize that none of those people had an indwelling Holy Spirit as well as the fact that a permanent indwelling Holy Spirit was not available until the Day of Pentecost. It seems that dispensationalism is ignored by those in the spiritual warfare movement.

It is obvious that the words used as well as the context are critical to what is being communicated. If we are to ignore these basics as well as dispensational principles, then anyone could claim anything to be true. One would then become one's own authority rather than God's Word being that authority.

Another term used is the "spiritual warfare counselor" which is their term for an "exorcist". This "counselor" or "specialist" is able to do for the oppressed what God's Word and the pastor seem unable to do. The counselor does not "counsel" but attempts to "channel" as well as do war with Satan and his demons toe to toe.

Apparently the following words no longer apply to the spiritual warfare camp.

James 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

The word "resist" is in the active voice and not the passive, thus stating that it is an act done by the one whom the devil must flee from and not by the "counselor". Again Albert Barnes correctly states:

"While you yield to God in all things, you are to yield to the devil in none. You are to resist and oppose him in whatever way he may approach you, whether by allurements, by flattering promises, by the fascinations of the world, by temptation, or by threat" (Online Bible, Barnes Notes, James 4:7).

Note that the commentator does not mention indwelling demons. Several questions arise that must be answered. Why weren't the early Christians made aware of these necessary "techniques" such as channeling with demons through Christians, burning inanimate objects, binding and casting demons out of Christians and so on? There is no record of it in the early church. How then has the church survived for over 2000 years without the need for the modern day spiritual warfare movement? The answer is quite simple. Man created modern day spiritual warfare and man also created the supposed need. This supposed need will be addressed in a later chapter.

"Memory recollection" is another term that must be discussed as this is one of the more radical beliefs taught in spiritual warfare. They teach that before you can be "delivered" from a "stronghold" or demon you must be able to remember where you supposedly allowed that "spirit" to enter. They say that you must be able to identify the date in order to deal with it, and thus "send an eviction notice" to the demon, or in other words exorcise the demon (Douglas E. Tucker, Spiritual Warfare, America's Stars & Stripes Ministries, mentioned throughout tape series).

They conveniently say that if you cannot "recollect" with God's help the entry point, it must be an inherited demon - thus they have their bases covered against critics. There have been claims of recollections of "entry points" at ages where one could not even understand what was going on. It seems that they always have their safety valve as was in the case of memory recollection.

They argue that those who oppose them or their teaching are working for the "enemy" and are themselves oppressed. But one interesting note is that they themselves claim that if a person is "unapproachable," it is a sign of the stronghold of pride and needs to be dealt with. It is ironic that many of the proponents of the spiritual warfare movement are very unapproachable when confronted with the Scriptures that oppose their way of thinking. Would that mean that they have a stronghold?

There are endless terms within the modern day spiritual warfare movement such as generational sins, bondage, ownership, demonic time-clocks (a demonic time bomb of sorts where the demons come by at a pre-programmed time), deliverance, oppression, possession, influence, curses, religious strongholds, sexual strongholds, strongholds of many kinds, carriers (people, animals, toys, videos, and even given names), and too many others to be named or discussed in this short chapter, most of which are not found in God's Word. Those that are found in God's Word carry much different meanings than that used in their movement. Needless to say, books could be written solely addressing the words they use and how those words are manipulated.

The issue is to follow the Word of God and to let that be the sole authority. Not to seek words to justify what we wish to believe, but to allow God's Word to determine what we believe. Not based on our experiences and preconceived notions, but based on Biblical history as God has communicated it. The spiritual warfare movement far too often attempts to use their understanding of the world and thus make assumptions of the spiritual. http://www.wayoflife.org

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