"Satan is a Liar"

Spiritual warfare was never a topic I thought about much before coming to Africa. Sure, I had read Romans 8:38-29 "For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." I understood that there were angels and demons. But it wasn't something that fed into my every day life, of which I was aware.

I remember the first time I went to a Pentecostal prayer rally in Kampala, and I watched church leaders marching across the room, yelling at Satan and stomping "on him". Pastors prayed in loud voices: "Satan, you are a liar, we stomp on you. We cast you out." I stood at the side of the prayer time in complete culture shock, and honestly quite spooked that church leaders would talk to Satan. Satan is defeated. He doesn't deserve the airtime of a conversation. I know that evil powers are at work, but my God is stronger and it is the Lord whom I would go to to cast out any evil presence.

Also, back in the day, I went to visit an office and I accidently stubbed my toe on the desk. The cleaning also said, "Oh, Satan is a liar and a noisemaker." Again, culturally shocked. Satan didn't throw my foot into the desk, I, in my human brokenness, didn't walk far enough around. He doesn't have that kind of authority over my muscles. I belong to Jesus.

A few weeks ago, a young girl was sacrificed in the Soroti area. She was found in a pit latrine and the community is reeling the effects of witchcraft. How can someone slaughter an innocent child to appease the evil spirits? Heart-breaking. And the murderer walks free because Satan made him or her do it, or because he's too rich to touch. 

I have mentioned for a while now that the Karuma bridge crossing the Nile River has been under construction. There were rumors on the streets of Gulu that the spirits wanted 700 "heads" to finish the bridge repairs well, so the community lived in deep fear and kept their children extra close. 

If a gravesite needs to be moved, a goat or chicken is often slaughtered as a sacrifice, so that the spirits won't be upset about moving the corpse. A price has been paid and a ceremony given.

Some "Christians" believe that evil spirits have taken over their homesteads, so they call another "Christian" group to come and pray over the land. These so called prayer warriors dig up foundations and cut down the best shade or fruit trees to get rid of unseen fetishes and bring peace. Meanwhile, the house is now foundationally destroyed, fake strongholds are cast out/released, and the prayer team walks away richer. 

Epilepsy is often seen as a demon attack and people often praying to cast out the evil spirits.

In January, Moses and I led a three-day Timothy Leadership Training (TLT) on "Fear Not: A Christian Attitude about Spiritual Powers" and again, I was shocked to hear more stories of the evils at work all around us. Am I naive as a Canadian? Am I a strong enough Christian, because I just trust in God and don't really think of Satan trying to upset the world around me?  Oh, I know that the devil has tried to change my path a few times and he has attempted to fight causes and put up roadblocks in the areas where I have been serving the Lord, but I don't want to give him any credit. God deserves all the glory!

I recently read through the Gospels and saw many references of Jesus meeting people who were demon possessed and he set them free. Demons filled a whole herd of pigs and threw themselves into the sea. So, does that mean there is still demon-possession today. Yes, Satan is a powerful angel and a true deceiver, the father of lies. He does his best, but sometimes I have a feeling that things can be over-spiritualized. Some "shakings" have a medical condition. And some medical conditions can be a spiritual attack. I might not be making any sense. I am just typing and processing.

O ya, one friend asked, "Since Legion asked Jesus not to order them into the Abyss, but instead Jesus sent them into the pigs, does that mean that Jesus has compassion even over demons?" No, their day is still coming. Wait for the second coming - they will experience the Abyss. And since they asked, we can also see that even the demons are scared of hell. It's no place anyone should desire to go.

A teenager in boarding school reported that sometimes they would wake up at night and find the matron standing over one of the girls, lying in her bed. In the morning, that girl had no ability to walk and would be tremoring uncontrollably. Three or four times this happened throughout the semester. When the "victims" were taken to the clinic, there was no medical diagnosis for the paralysis. The girls had been "cursed".

We live in a broken world. When Adam and Eve first chose to listen to Satan, that changed everything for all of us, until Christ returns. Satan wants us to rebel, lie, steal, cheat, kill, and destroy. He is happy when God is forgotten, or our walks with Christ are neglected.

The Holy One is God. He is All-Powerful and He has already defeated Satan. Satan's head was crushed when Jesus arose from the grave. 

"You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe--and shudder!" James 2:19

I am a child of God. A coheir with Christ. We cannot be destroyed. God loves me and has promised that great joy will come in the morning. I am redeemed, set free, forgiven. No longer captive. 

Attendees of the course shared stories of times when they were surrounded by spiritual battles. One lady was so weak because she had just lost someone very close to her. She was stressed and her blood pressure went so high that she fainted. When she came to, she woke up to find local grasses were tied around her wrists. People thought she was possessed, not just emotionally weakened by loss. 

Another attendee was called to the neighbor's home on the night of our first day of training. At 10 pm she was asked to pray over a 13 year old girl who was rolling on the floor. She was "demon-possessed" and so our friend stayed and prayed. At one point the girl again fell to the floor, and the "prayer warrior" felt a tremor in her own body and thought the demon had left the girl and entered her. In the morning the girl was fine and the lady came back to class.

A church leader stated that when casting out demons, the demons first come to you. Then the demons meet the Holy Spirit and the power of Jesus living in you, so they give up control and leave. Then the person will be delivered. 

A lady called into the Thursday afternoon radio program, asking for prayers. She was deeply afraid. She is pregnant with her second child, but her auntie had called and told her that if she didn't offer an animal sacrifice the child would die. She is a believer and doesn't want to do the sacrifice. Now the husband is becoming wild and has stopped going to church because the fear is so strong. "No weapon formed against you shall prosper!"

Isaiah 54:16-17 states, in God's eternal covenant of peace, "Behold, I have created the smith who blows the fire of coals and produces a weapon for its purpose. I have also created the ravager to destroy; no weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed, and you shall refute every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and their vindication from me, declares the Lord." ESV

Another one of the TLT trainees pointed out that her father was like a clan chief, or even king. And in their land there is a structure, a home, built for a large drum. This large drum can occasionally be heard beating by itself. The king needs to come with the elders, some white ants (large termites) and some shea nut oil to bring -- to the drum to find out why it is beating. Is her father a witchdoctor? Is it idolatry? People are worshipping this drum.

I tell you, how do you just listen to these stories. These happen every day. I won't even begin,  yet, to tell you about Moses' run ins with witchcraft and spiritual warfare. It's a doozy waiting for another day. 

A tree is blamed, obviously possessed, because a man committed suicide on one of it's branches.

A small, angry child threw food at a sibling and now a chicken needs to be slaughtered to appease the spirits, so that nothing else bad would happen. The sins would be paid for and forgiven. I just read through Leviticus - yep, kind of sounds like old testament teachings. Hallelujah, Christ has paid it all!

We have two weapons, the Word of God and the gift of the Holy Spirit! God loves us as His children and when we believe in Him we are a new creation. We are set above and hidden in Christ. We may suffer, but the Lord will be blessed and glorified when we continue strong and walk with Him.

People carry so many fears, rational and irrational - accidents and death, frogs and dead bodies, cockroaches and snakes, nightmares and walking ghosts, chameleons and Goliaths, dogs and dark forces. 

At the end of the day, I know that Satan and the evil realms are trying. They don't want God to be seen. As a matter of fact, I think that Satan doesn't need to work so hard in North America because we are putting God on the back burner - materialism, politics, sports, celebrities, work, awards, pets, houses, cars, etc. are becoming our obsession. In Uganda, people cry out every day in the name of the Lord. People are suffering in poverty, corruption, and so many other broken issues that Jesus is the only answer, and Satan doesn't want them coming to Jesus. So, he makes a little noise. But we don't need to listen.

Even though the TLT church leaders were sharing some of these tough stories and interesting scenarios, there was also a sense of peace settling across the room. These men and women had their eyes opened to the saving grace of Christ and His ultimate power over the enemy. Plans were already put in motion on how they were going to stop believing the lies or participate in witchcraft activities, even if it meant disrupting family beliefs. God is going and He is already at work in their lives!

Dear friends, worship God and rest in His goodness. The evil realms have been defeated. Don't give Satan any unnecessary authority or credit. Only God is all-powerful, ever-present, and all-knowing. Satan cannot possibly be everywhere all the time. Jesus is the answer. Call upon Him today! Jesus is a giver. He empowers and love conquers. 

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P.S. Where we live, we have found that we cannot play the boardgame "Settlers of Catan" because Catan is Satan in the local language. Oops.

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P.S. Again. Totally random. One lady, when asked what child birth pains were like, she said: "It's as if the grave the near."

My friends, don't fear the grave. Jesus loves you and wants you to be at peace. Don't dabble with the dark world, but walk in the Light. God's got you. He breaks chains and generational curses. He removes doubts and relieves suffering. Call on Him today. He's got you!

Here is a poem, written by one of the TLT students: