The Narrow Path Ministries

Steve, and anybody else who wishes to chime in:

I just listened to your latest talk on demons, and have a question.

Do you believe demons can work under the seeming banner of the church to really undermine the church?

I think of some of the Pentecostal circles I've investigated where everything sounds about right, but when the "supernatural" expression appears, something seems off, but people claim it must be ok because the words are right which surround it.

It seems plausible to me in one sense, as a great technique to warfare is to infiltrate your opponent.

It seems implausible to me in another sense because it appears demons have such an abhorrence to Christ that they would not be able to remain undercover for long, teaching what seems right to introduce wonders which will eventually bear fruit to get the people off track.

I've followed with interest a man who came out of Bethel in Redding, CA. He was held up several years ago as a poster boy for Bethel's supernatural school. Since then, he has descended into a weird mysticism filled with demons, aliens, wormholes, dimensional conjecture, etc.

Bethel has finally come out and denounced him just recently, but he has taken a good number of people down his seemingly mystic path which resembles a lot of New Age teaching.

I will not stake my claim on Bethel being demonic, but I have found an uncomfortable marriage between their Christian belief and the New Age/Holistic movement. It seems this young man took their teaching to its natural outcome, but they are uncomfortable with it.

I have trustworthy friends who are associated with Bethel and recount tales of supernatural occurrences that I could only refute if I was to call my trustworthy friend a liar or lunatic. I've travelled to Bethel myself and seen and felt things personally. Nothing which at face value would seem unbiblical, but having seen where some of those who go deeper end up it puts me at unease.

Hi Jay,

I have no doubt that some of the phenomena I have seen in Pentecostal and charismatic circles bears the stamp of the demonic. I believe there are demons of different strengths. Some demons are uncomfortable around people talking about Christ, but others seem to tolerate Christian environments well enough. Phenomena that do not glorify Christ are not inspired by the Holy Spirit. In some cases, they may be merely fleshly; in other cases, demonic.

Thanks for the quick reply Steve. A follow up would be: do you think a demon will/can allow their host to preach the gospel and create true converts to Christ?

It seems you believe a Christian can be demon possessed, as do I. So it would seem to make sense that the Christian host could still go about preaching the gospel and converting people. Right?

I don't see why not. Demon possessed men often declared that Jesus was the Son of God (Matt.8:29) and "the holy One of God" (Mark 1:24), and a demon possessed girl proclaimed that Paul and Silas were preaching the way of salvation (Acts 16:17). These are no parallel, of course, to someone preaching the gospel as a demonized Christian minister, but they show that demon possession does not necessarily prevent a person from declaring the truth about Christ. Satan's ministers, after all, masquerade themselves as "ministers of righteousness" (2 Cor.11:14-15).