FILM NEFARIOUS GETS DEMONS RIGHT

“I did not believe there was such a thing as possession,” writes Peck in his book Glimpses of the Devil, where he records the above case of Jersey along with several other confrontations with possessed people in his psychiatric practice. But his encounter with the demon who decided to finally reveal itself in full to Peck during his session with Jersey changed his opinion.

While the demon in Peck’s first case he chronicles in his book hid for some time, the one in the movie Nefarious takes the opposite approach. “I am a demon” it right-from-the-start tells the atheist psychiatrist, Dr. James Martin, sent to evaluate the inmate that the demon possesses who is about to be executed on death row.

What follows is a dialogue between the demon and the psychiatrist, played by Jordan Belfi, that takes up the vast majority of the movie. It’s a conversation similar to the precision-styled dialogue with which the demon in Peck’s case spoke and is sprinkled with some of the best biblically-based demonology I’ve heard in any film whose theme involves the demonic.

“I am the most rational being you will ever meet”

My oldest daughter and I enjoy going to scary movies together. When she picked “Nefarious” for our weekend film outing, neither of us knew we were walking into a movie that would be so spot-on where demons are concerned.

About a third of the way through the film, I turned to her and said, “The writers must have gotten a Christian professor schooled in demonology to consult on this because it’s so accurate theologically.” I had completely overlooked the fact that the directors and writers of the film are Chuck Konzelman and Cary Solomon, the same team that produced God’s Not Dead, so it’s no surprise they did their homework.

The plot revolves around Belfi’s character assessing a murderer, who is about to be executed that evening at the prison, in order to determine if he is sane and therefore legally allowed to die for his crimes. The demon tells Belfi that its goal with him is two-fold: to have the person it possesses die in the electric chair (“because we have no need of him anymore”) and have Belfi evangelize the demon’s Gospel to the rest of the world.

Sean Patrick Flanery plays the part of the demon named Nefarious (along with “Edward,” the demon’s host) and does an outstanding job in the role. He transitions from the demon to Edward with perfect fluidity and aces it when it comes to delivering a hostile combination of contempt, arrogance, and maliciousness as the demon when conversing with and mastering Belfi’s psychiatrist.  

Flanery’s character is on death row for 11 murders, which he claims Nefarious has committed: “Six convicted, one suspected, four that they don’t have the capacity to figure out.” When the skeptical Belfi questions Edward’s reason and rationality, the demon responds, “I am the most rational being you will ever meet” — a good reminder to us that the enemy adheres to a logical teleology in how he operates.

Another powerful scene involves the demon speaking to the psychiatrist about an abortion his girlfriend is about to undergo. The demon’s narrative includes Old Testament references to infants being offered up to false gods and is sickeningly insightful: “The Creator creates, and we destroy. And we do all of it through you. We always have. Did you forget your history, Jimmy? Even in ancient times, the arch-demon Molech was celebrated by tossing infants into flaming bonfires.”

The film, through the mouth of Nefarious, also provides good cultural commentary on the escalations of crime and malevolence seen in almost every news article today:

“Now there’s evil everywhere, and no one even cares … we achieved our goal. Slowly. With your movies, your TV, and your media. We desensitized you. Redirected your worldview. To the point that you can’t recognize evil when it’s right in front of your face. More to the point, James, you can’t even feel it when you’re doing it. As for winners and losers, whoa, whoa, whoa! That gets decided at the time of death. The exact numbers are a closely guarded secret, but there are more of you ending up in my master’s house than with the Enemy. A lot more, Jimmy.”

Is the movie scary? It depends on how you define ‘scary.’ There are no real jump scares, nor CGI or anything similar to tantalize you.

But if you understand the demonic, that’s really not needed. There’s a reason that nearly every time in Scripture when the natural encounters the supernatural, the former can rarely stay upright. I can testify to that with the two confrontations I’ve had with demons. Their presence alone makes your skin crawl.

Moreover, watching the demon terrorize, humiliate, and deprive the Edward character of everything in his life and then be ultimately responsible for his death and assignment to eternal punishment is the very definition of ‘horror.’  

“Nefarious”is definitely worth a watch and beats the vast majority of demon-themed films where accuracy in the devil’s thinking is concerned. In a Hollywood way, it shows itself to be a good case study of Satan’s strategy with humankind.

That strategy can be difficult to see sometimes amidst the superficial layer of the culture wars that play out every day. M. Scott Peck noted in his time with his first demonically-possessed patient how her evil facial manifestations that he and others with him saw multiple times were never picked up by the video recorders capturing her and their sessions.   

Speaking about how evil is sometimes difficult to see and detect, Peck quotes Malachi Martin who wrote, “evil moves cunningly along the lines of contemporary fads and interests, and within the usual bounds of experiences of ordinary men and women.” The movie “Nefarious” does a good job of reminding us of just how cunning the devil’s evil can be and how dull we can be to it even when it’s staring us in the face. 

Robin Schumacher is an accomplished software executive and Christian apologist who has written many articles, authored and contributed to several Christian books, appeared on nationally syndicated radio programs, and presented at apologetic events. He holds a BS in Business, Master’s in Christian apologetics and a Ph.D. in New Testament. His latest book is, A Confident Faith: Winning people to Christ with the apologetics of the Apostle Paul.

JORDAN PETERSON ON DEMONS

In this video, Jordan Peterson talks about demons on the Daily Wire. If you’re familiar with Jordan Peterson’s work, you might be surprised by some of the things he says about demons. If you’re not familiar with Jordan Peterson’s work, then this video is a great place to start. In this video, Jordan Peterson discusses the dynamics of demons and how they influence our lives. He offers explanatory insights into the origins of demons, as well as their effects on our souls.

I have been a fan of Jordan Peterson for years. God has gifted this man with an intellect of the highest order. When I first watched him he was not a Christian so it has been wonderful to watch his journey to faith in the one true God.

The people around the table are all intellectuals but their understanding of demons differs widely; from the Jew who does not believe they exist at all to Jordan Peterson who to my surprise truly understands the dynamics of demons and how they influence our lives.

This video deserves wide distribution, make sure you send it on.

DEMONIC OPPRESSION AND POSSESSION

Mike Signorelli, pastor of V1 Church in New York City, recently told CBN’s Faithwire about his deliverance efforts in the video below. He responds to critics’ questions and explores what it means to achieve spiritual healing.

“The word ‘deliverance’ is not in the Bible; it’s a newer word,” Signorelli said. “You’re not going to find a deliverance ministry in the Bible. What you will find is Jesus casting out demons, you’re going to find His disciples casting out demons, you’re going to find Him commissioning 70 people to go do it.”

While some people’s only frame of reference for evil is Hollywood’s presentation of intense exorcism — a phenomenon many faith leaders note is rare — Signorelli said these spiritual issues might present themselves in starkly different ways.

Possession indicates ownership of sorts, though oppression is more of a spiritual pressure exerted on a person, not necessarily indicative of the types of full spiritual control seen in films like “The Exorcist.”

“In the New Testament, where someone has a demon, the Greek word [is] actually ‘demonized,’ which really means ‘to be under the influence of a demon,’” he said. “And so it helps to understand the difference between oppression and possession.”

Watch Signorelli explain these concepts. you will be glad you did:

ACCOMPLISHED PSYCHIATRIST SAYS DEMONS AND DEMONIC POSSESSION ARE REAL

In a book he says is aimed at the well-educated with an interest in the subject, accomplished psychiatrist and professor, Dr. Richard Gallagher, delivers compelling findings from his decadeslong career to make a compelling case that demons and demonic possession are real phenomena.

For many Christians, Gallagher’s findings presented in his 272-page book, Demonic Foes: My Twenty-Five Years as a Psychiatrist Investigating Possessions, Diabolic Attacks, and the Paranormalfirst published in the fall of 2020, could simply be treated as an acknowledgment of what the Bible has been telling them for centuries.

“In my experience, the idea of demonic possession is so controversial and so often misunderstood that I want at the outset to establish some scholarly plausibility to the notion along with my bona fides,” the board-certified psychiatrist, who serves as professor of psychiatry at New York Medical and a psychoanalyst on the faculty of Columbia University, begins in the introduction of his book.

“Typical reactions to the topic reflect our nation’s polarization. Despite widespread belief in evil spirits in the United States and around the world, some people find the subject farfetched, even moronic. Yet others spot the devil everywhere. And so, here I detail my personal story and highlight the credibility of possessions while simultaneously offering some sober reflections on various exaggerations and abuses.”

Gallagher, who is Catholic, is the longest-standing American member of the International Association of Exorcists which meet every two years in Italy.

He begins his narrative with the story of a troubled devil-worshiper named Julia who he concluded was possessed after an exorcist in the Catholic Church brought her to him for evaluation before attempting an exorcism.

“Before I encountered Julia, I had already seen about eight or nine cases of what I regarded as full possessions. I define those as cases where the evil spirit completely takes control of someone, such that the victim has periods when he or she has no remembrance of such episodes,” Gallagher writes. “I have since seen scores more such possessions and a much higher number of cases of oppression, which are far more common than possessions. Because of my involvement with the International Association of Exorcists, I have heard reports of hundreds more of each type, but that hardly implies they are anything but rare conditions, as I still know them to be.”

Gallagher highlights stories about the manifestation of demonic powers like levitation and remote viewing where possessed individuals like Julia can, for example, communicate what someone is doing and where they are doing it despite being a hundred miles away.

“Julia demonstrated to me very clearly that she could see, for instance, the chief exorcist at a distance [even though] he was 100 miles away,” Gallagher explained in an interview with The Christian Post at his home last Thursday.

“She could describe him to a tee and what he was doing which was unusual for his normal routine. There’s no way she could have guessed that. If one is familiar with occult literature, one realizes that there are occultists, people [who] have turned to dark arts who claim they have a third eye, and that they can see things from a distance, this is an analogous phenomenon,” he continued. “She had this paranormal ability to do that. And she was very clear as to where she got that ability.

“People have tried to study these things for years without reaching much in the way of a conclusion. Human beings don’t have those abilities on their own. They either get it from below or from above,” Gallagher added. “Julia recognized that and she recognized that she got these paranormal abilities from Satan himself.”

Gallagher explained that while he remains committed to science, he has found that all knowledge cannot be explained by science.

“I do want to emphasize in all that I write and say, that I am committed to science, that scientific methodology has immensely helped the human race,” he said. “But not all knowledge can be verified by lab experiments and that sort of thing. Most of what we’re talking about when we talk about religious truths, and certainly this field of the demonic, is essentially historical knowledge. It’s observations and observations about historical facts can be true or false, depending on the credibility of the witness, depending on how sensible seems the reports of these phenomena,” he noted.

“But that doesn’t make it unscientific because it’s historical. We talk about Washington crossing the Delaware …, most people would say that’s knowledge. And, in a similar way, these reports, of demonic phenomena and exorcisms and that sort of thing, it is a type of genuine knowledge, which is what the word science originally meant. It meant knowledge, it didn’t mean only the scientific method,” he explained.

“There are certain personality disorders which are consumed with feelings and thoughts of destructiveness for instance, borderline personality, but there are even people who are sociopaths, what we would normally call criminals, who deal with very evil and sinful tendencies all the time. I do not regard those people as possessed. Those people may be influenced as all human beings are, by temptation from evil spirits, but I don’t think we should go around acting like we can cure them with deliverance or that they have some serious possession.”

Despite all the mental health disorders with a brain-based foundation, says Gallagher, he still wants people to understand that the findings he records in his book bear witness to the existence of the demonic.

“I tell people, you don’t have to believe what Dr. Gallagher writes, you know, there are people who write these books and makeup stuff. My book was 100 percent accurate. All I did was change the names of people,” he said.

“Paul, when he went to Corinth, which is, I suppose, a little bit like a preacher from Kansas, going to San Francisco or something. He said, ‘Look, I saw the resurrected Christ. But you don’t have to believe me, there are 500 other people, most of whom are still alive, you can get their witness too.’

“And of course, many of those people suffered and died for their beliefs, including the resurrected Jesus. So, there are other psychiatrists who believe exactly the way I do, they’re just a little maybe more reluctant to speak out, or they just haven’t seen as many cases as I have. Nobody just has to believe my book,” he added. “Go out and learn about it from many other faithful people who have recorded their own experiences.”

SATANS MINIONS PERFORMED BOLDLY AND IT WAS APPLAUDED

Dr Michael Brown was teaching hundreds of ministry school students at Christ for the Nations in Dallas on the topic of demons and deliverance. During the class, he stated that in the days ahead, he believes that satanic manifestations will become much more open and overt in our society. Rather than hiding himself in the culture, the devil will reveal himself more clearly. This was just before the Grammy Awards.

Sam Smith performs his “Unholy” glorifying Satan onstage during the 65th GRAMMY Awards at Crypto.com Arena on February 05, 2023, in Los Angeles, California. 

Pfizer pharmaceutical company felt it fitting to sponsor performers Sam Smith, who claims to be non-binary, and Kim Petras, who claims to be transgender. These two gave the nation a Satan-themed performance of their song ‘Unholy,’ in which Petras performed inside a cage with drag queens dressed in devil costumes, while Smith gyrated in a costume with devil horns sticking out from a top hat.

“The entire ‘performance’ depicted a hellish scene with lots of darkness, blood red colors, and flames.”

So, you have: 1. the name of the song, “Unholy”; 2. both lead performers denying their biological realities, one of them wearing devil’s horns; 3. drag queens in devil costumes; 4. BDSM-related themes; 5. and the fires of Hell. I would say that is pretty clear!

Of course, we’ve been seeing this trend for years now.

One prominent example would be the rise of Drag Queens in our culture, some of them in overtly satanic attire, reading to toddlers in libraries, and performing at churches.

Another prominent example would be the “Shout Your Abortion” movement and the celebration of radical, pro-abortion legislation. This is in stark contrast to the old Bill Clinton adage that abortion should be “safe, legal, and rare.”

Back in the late 1960s and early 1970s, there was a radical feminist group with the acronym WITCH, standing for the Women’s International Terrorist Conspiracy from Hell. (I kid you not.) They certainly got their message across!

But most groups are not that overt (even if tongue in cheek), and gay activists learned decades ago that the in-your-face, “We’re here, we’re queer, get used to it” approach was not working. Instead, gay strategists adopted a policy of presenting themselves to be exactly the same as the couple next door, just like you in every way, except gay. (This was laid out in the watershed 1989 book After the Ball: How America Will Conquer It’s Fear and Hatred of Gays in the 90’s.)

So, from a strategic viewpoint, most groups wanting to bring about radical change to society do so in more covert, incremental ways rather than announcing, “We’re a terrorist conspiracy from Hell!”

These days, however, it’s as if Satan is coming out in full force, red tights and all — if not literally, then metaphorically. What else can be said of the performance of “Unholy” at the Grammy Awards this past Sunday night? As the Breitbart headline announced, “Non-Binary Pop Star Sam Smith Performs BDSM, Devil-Themed ‘Unholy’ at the Grammys.” How lovely!

But even that only told part of the story.

As explained in more detail by the American Family Association,

No wonder podcaster Liz Wheeler tweeted, “Don’t fight the culture wars, they say. Meanwhile demons are teaching your kids to worship Satan. I could throw up.”

Compared to some other past hits (whose lyrics are virtually unrepeatable in moral circles), the lyrics to “Unholy” are relatively tame. It is the overall message of the Grammy performance that shouts out its depravity loudly and clearly.

Similar to this is the announcement from The Satanic Temple that it is raising funds to provide “free religious [meaning Satanic] telehealth medication abortion care in New Mexico.”

But this could be good news for us as followers of Jesus. The greater the darkness, the clearer our light is seen. May it shine brightly in front of the whole world! And may we shine as lights without shame, without compromise, and without hypocrisy.

And don’t be surprised if, in the days ahead, in front of your very eyes, you witness scenes as if taken straight out of the Bible where, in broad daylight, visibly demonized people get set free in Jesus’ name — dramatically, gloriously, and in full public view.

Things are heating up.

(For a great “holy” version of “Unholy” by a contemporary Gospel artist, go here. It’s titled, “If Sam Smith and Kim Petras’ ‘Unholy’ were a Christian song by Beckah Shae.”)

Dr. Michael Brown(www.askdrbrown.org) is the host of the nationally syndicated Line of Fire radio program. His latest book is Revival Or We Die: A Great Awakening Is Our Only Hope. Connect with him on FacebookTwitter, or YouTube.

DEMONIC POSSESSION AND OPPRESSION, BOTH ARE REAL

Experience of the demonic

Two stories of Duncan’s experience with the demonic are taken from the article Does the Devil Exist? in Patheos Evangelical JANUARY 11, 2022 by Duncan Edward Pile.

STORY ONE: My friends and I were in San Fernando, Philippines. It was our day off, so we decided to walk into town and share the Gospel with anyone who was interested. Ten minutes into the walk we came across a gathering on a street corner. It was the intersection of several dirt streets, with an open area of dusty ground and a small stand selling coca cola. Around us were rustic homes constructed from tree fibres.

We stopped and began to talk with the locals, and I was soon engaged by an old, staggering drunkard, wearing a large medallion – a carving of a snarling, demonic face. I’d seen plenty of similar items in the UK but they’d always struck me as harmless, gothic accessories. This was different. Just looking at it made me feel sick.

The old man grabbed my arm, and I immediately felt nauseated. Suddenly he wasn’t drunk anymore. I began to retreat but he came after me, seeking to touch me again. I became frightened. Every time his skin brushed mine I felt another wave of nausea and an intense sense of spiritual oppression. It was clear the old man was aware of the discomfort he was causing me. His eyes were cold and hard, staring at me with a hatred so intense it was palpable. He raised a bony finger before my face.

“In…your…HEAD!” he barked, stabbing my forehead with his finger. I ran, chased by his cackling until I found a group of friends. I ducked into the middle of them and squatted on my heels, arms wrapped tightly around my knees. I was literally hiding, utterly terrified.

I knew what I’d encountered. Back in the UK, I’d cast out a couple of demons. I knew the look in a person’s eyes when possessed. It’s like nothing else, but I wasn’t afraid of them until that moment. I believed they were defeated at the cross, and had no power other than that which we lend them, but I’d never encountered a person utterly given to possession – like the man in the Bible who had a whole legion of demons within him. Now I had, and the encounter had shaken me to my core.

My friends calmed me down, and a good look around told me the old man had gone, so I went to the Coke stand to get a drink. There was one customer already at the stand, and as I placed my order, I realised it was the same old man. I have no idea how I failed to spot him. He saw me and broke into a broad, nasty leer. He got into my space, and banging the heel of his palm rapidly against his chest, said:

Why is your heart going boom boom boom?” For the second time that day, I ran, and this time I didn’t return.

STORY TWO: Some friends and I were ministering at a church in Manila. During a meeting a girl doubled over, crying out in pain. She was clutching her chest, just below her left collarbone. Everyone gathered around her, praying for her to be healed, but I was on the far side of the room and there was a ring of people between her and me.

One of the gifts of the Spirit is the discernment of spirits, and at that moment, I knew beyond human knowledge that her pain was the result of demonic oppression, rather than illness. I was filled with power and authority and knew I had to act, so I crossed the room, asking people to move aside. The ring of praying folk around her parted, and on reaching her, I placed my finger on her collarbone and said: “Go! In Jesus’ name.”

Instantly, she gasped, collapsing in relief. She’d been having these attacks for some time, and even had a diagnosis for them, but the pain was instantly and completely gone. This wasn’t a ‘out of ten, how do you feel?’, before and after kind of comparison, which can be manipulated to make something seem like more than it is. One moment she was in agony, crying out in pain, and the next she was completely free of pain. She was utterly astonished.

So, what to make of the above? Each situation can certainly be explained in modern terms. The old man might have been a master of human behaviour, and sensing my vulnerability, decided to prey on me. Or perhaps we were both deluded. Maybe there is no God, and no Devil, and human beings are capable of manufacturing all manner of intense inner experiences we then label as spiritual. Maybe we were both complicit in a mutual delusion, playing for imaginary teams in an imaginary game.

In the second scenario, perhaps my conviction was enough to persuade her she was set free, and the placebo effect resulted in the sudden cessation of pain.

It’s possible to explain anything away if you try hard enough, but why do we feel the need to do so? It is also possible that there is a God, and that evil spirits oppose him, seeking to harm the lives of those he loves.

The consequences of denying the Devil’s existence

The Bible gives us both warnings and advice about demons and how to cope with their attacks. Sadly many churches do not address this basic issue and leave their congregations open to demonic attack.

“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.1 Peter 5: 8-9

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

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armour of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground.Ephesians 6:10-13

The importance of spiritual warfare

When I pray for others, I rely on the leading of the Spirit to know how to pray. At times I know to pray for the mercy of God, at others for grace, and yet for others, I know to go to battle on their behalf, praying in power and authority against spiritual forces trying to harm them. This spiritual dimension is essential to the dynamics of effective prayer, and to Christian faith in general. I’ll tell you this much – if you’re going through trouble, these are the kind of believers you want praying for you. Good wishes and warm thoughts achieve nothing.

I fear we are busy pouring out the baby with the bathwater, reshaping Christianity in an image so far from the life and ministry of Jesus it becomes something else altogether. My prayer is that we are not so deceived by our own importance and cultural perspective that we deny the spiritual side of life, including the darkness we are called to resist. Where we’ve replaced spiritual activity with softly-spoken ponderings and general niceness, I pray we will get real.

In these last days before Jesus returns we know from Biblical prophecy that demonic warfare will only increase so we need to heed Paul’s warning to put on the full armour of the Lord daily to be able to minister in the power of the Holy Spirit gifts. Know full well that the world will hate you for being Jesus’ disciple. Torben Sondergaard and his team at Last Reformation Ministries were casting out demons from people on the streets of Denmark. Satan managed to make it look like Torben was doing something that was damaging particularly to children looking on and so the government made it illegal and a jailable offense. The situation became so intolerable for Torben that he fled to the USA. After an incredible time of ministry all over the USA making disciples of Christ that are prepared to reach out to their communities to make more disciples, Torben is now in jail in the USA on a trumped-up charge. It has been six months and he is still there. God of course has used Torben in jail to transform the lives of other prisoners but his testimony of what God has been doing to transform Torben Sondergaard will both challenge and inspire you. Take a look at my post New Year’s Greetings from Torben Sondergaard – Now six months in Jail posted January 4th, 2023.

DEMONIC DECEPTION IS REAL, SAYS EX-PSYCHIC

An ex-psychic whose encounter with tarot card reading as a child led her on a journey into new-age practices and the occult is offering a dire warning about the “deception” and dangers she encountered.

Jenn Nizza spent years doing readings and communicating with what she believed were the dead loved ones of her clients — until she had an encounter with Jesus that changed everything.

The hidden dangers of alternative spirituality in contemporary America and its churches.

Nizza recently told “The Playing With Fire Podcast” about how her journey into the occult unfolded at a “very young age” when the “door was open” inside her home. Despite being culturally Catholic, she said paranormal discussions were a regular occurrence with her family.

“In my home, it was very acceptable to talk about paranormal activity, what people commonly call ghosts, which, of course, were demons,” she said. “I had my very first tarot card reading [at the age of 13].”

Around the same time, Nizza said she had already begun experiencing what she now believes was demonic oppression. She started having dreams about events that would essentially come true. Rather than flee from these practices and experiences, Nizza became enamored and dove in even deeper after her first tarot reading.

“That’s when I really walked through the door, because I was so intrigued by it, and I started seeking it out. … I went full-in,” she said. “It was a rabbit hole of destruction. … I had my own tarot cards. I kept going for readings; I became addicted to it.” Nizza found herself exploring numerology (the occultic practice of exploring the relation of numbers to events) and astrology (divination that involves celestial objects), among other techniques.

At the same time, she faced struggles with depression, as well as an eating disorder.

Still, Nizza forged on and started doing readings for friends, family, and eventually other clients. She said she eventually believed “every single lie the New Age,” told her.

She Believed She Was Helping

Nizza said she really believed she was helping people through her “abilities” and made an important proclamation about many of the psychics and mediums she has known. While many Christians might assume these individuals have diabolical plans, most believe they’re assisting others.

“This is part of the destruction that happens,” she said. “I think it’s the first line of deception … I’ve always been a compassionate person and these psychic mediums, for the most part, are nice, compassionate people that really do want to help other people.”

But people engaging in such things, she said, have become spiritually vulnerable, believing the evil they’ve allowed in is somehow a form of good.

“Satan masquerades as an angel of light,” Nizza said. “You think that you’re a servant of righteousness.”

For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.2 Corinthians 11:13-14

A Warning About Demons

Rather than receiving information from sources of good, she said demons, whom she described as fallen angels, are “giving psychics information.”

Demons are real and they hate us, and they hate God, and they’re on a mission to get us away from the Lord,” Nizza said, adding they predict what will unfold but can’t know for sure.

As a former medium, she believed she was communicating with the dead but now acknowledges the spirits she once channeled were demonic.

“There is no good spirit talking to a psychic. … They masquerade as your deceased loved ones,” Nizza said. “When it seemed like mom or dad or grandma, and you’re crying with your client … that seems good and comfortable.” But the ex-psychic said mediums are actually convening with evil.

Finding Jesus in the Mess

As for Nizza’s own journey away from the occult, she said she eventually hit her absolute lowest point and found herself calling out to Christ.

“When I was 36, I first cried out to Jesus,” she said. “I was at the lowest of the low, the lowest moments of my life — one of the darkest moments. … My soul, my spirit, knew to cry out to Jesus. I needed Him.”

By the time she turned 37, her Christian journey had finally begun.

Reflecting on all that unfolded, Nizza — who believes she was oppressed throughout her life but not possessed — found it fascinating she turned to Christ rather than the spirits she spent years adoring.

“I didn’t cry out to a deceased person, a spirit guide, an angel, anybody who I thought I was communicating with all those years,” she said. “I cried out to Jesus Christ and He really did show up.”

Nizza continued, “The Gospel is what saves.”

She also offered a warning to anyone considering or in the midst of pondering occultic and New-Age practices: beware of the dangers. “If you go down the wrong road — it just takes one tarot card reader on TikTok, one person in the new age, one ‘love and lighter’ to tell you that you are gifted,” she said. “And you are going to go down the rabbit hole of destruction.”

DEMONIC OPPRESSION IS REAL

Demonic oppression is a spiritual attack from a demonic spirit that seeks to influence a person’s thoughts, emotions, and actions. Since a demon cannot possess a Christian to control them, then oppression is the next best option. Because of the way we are created as humans, these attacks will often begin in our minds because this is the central hub that dictates what we think about, how we feel, and ultimately what we do. The goal of demonic oppression is to keep a person trapped and bound. The desire is to paralyze the Christian believer so they become ineffective.

From Job, we know that God allows demonic spirits to attack the body so the following story is possible.

Actress Joey King, who played a little girl afflicted by the supernatural in the demonic-themed horror film, “The Conjuring,” recently shared strange details from her time making the movie that still makes her “shudder.”

King, 22, said earlier this month in an appearance on “The Drew Barrymore Show” that she developed a strange blood disorder while playing Christine, one of the Perron children in “The Conjuring.”

“It was pretty intense. Some weird stuff happened on the set, along with the movie being scary,” she told fellow actress Drew Barrymore. “It’s true, I developed this bizarre, rare, out-of-nowhere blood disorder, and basically, my body, like all the red platelets from my body were like drained out.

“In the [movie], when the mother gets possessed, she gets all these bruises on her,” King said. “And so during the filming of those particular scenes, I started having a lot of bruises show up on my body.”

The bruises in strange places like her chest and stomach were so pervasive that makeup artists thought she stole their supplies to create fake bruising. They only realized this wasn’t the case when they tried to remove the bruising to no avail.

“It was so dramatic,” she said. “So I had to, every day before work and after work, go to the hospital, get my blood taken.”

But something truly bizarre happened once King finished filming “The Conjuring.” “Then, all of a sudden, I got home, and I’ve never had a problem with my blood since,” she said, sparking a shocked reaction from Barrymore. “Every time I think about it, I just shudder a little bit.”

It’s a truly bizarre story, but regardless of the veracity of the claims, scripture does tell us that evil is very real. Satan cannot possess Christians but he can oppress them. Scripture reveals that in the end times this will escalate.

Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Revelation 2:9-10

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.James 4:7-8