Thursday, May 16, 2024

 



 I have seen a lot of tears this week.

They are signs of so many deep and personal things: 

revelation, repentance and rescue, weariness, sorrow and suffering.


I have heard your prayers, I have seen your tears – 2 Kings 20:5


I collect them in my memory, 

I soak my hard heart in them 

and I pour them over the sacrifices of prayer 

like the wine offerings of Israel’s priests.


Some tears rise up slowly like water from an overflowing well 

and others flowed like streams erupting from fortified banks.


Some were discovered only after approaching gently to the face of an overwhelmed mother. Her resolve to be “ok” and “in control” was betrayed by a rogue tear slipping out of the corner of her eye, 

wiped away quickly with frustration at being exposed.


There were tears at the altars, hands upraised, faces wet with showers of living water quenching arid souls.


You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book.-Psalms‬ ‭56‬:‭8‬ ‭


Then the sobs that come from men clinging to me. 

Sons who haven’t heard a Father’s word of hope and blessing in so very long. 

Young men who crumple into your chest like long lost prodigals finally returning home.


Salty tears of trouble from verdicts of doom, danger or desperation…trembling terrors.


It’s difficult to carry the weight of weeping. 

They are a mystery of physics, 

how something so light on the cheeks, 

can feel so profoundly gargantuan in the soul.


All that was made of Earth came out from the waters of chaos 

and all that’s is remade from Heaven is birthed in sacred streams.


Ministry is wading through the rising rivers flowing from 

the Temple of God and like Ezekiel’s experience, 

it’s precarious and difficult to ford. 


One can drown in the floods if left to oneself. 

Thankfully Jesus meets us in the wild waters through the Word, prayer and worship. 

He rescues the rescuers too, 

and sees every tear that escapes or is held deep in the reservoir of our hearts and minds waiting for release.


He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.” -Revelation‬ ‭21‬:‭4‬ ‭


Pastor Eric. 

Wednesday, May 15, 2024


 

 Greatest of all is when the innocent child matures into a virtuous adult and then, being exposed to the harsh realities of life, they, in faith, apply their virtue and become vessels of love and sacrifice. 

Paul exhorts us to - "receive them in the Lord with all joy, and honor such, for they nearly died for the work of Christ..." 

There are countless unsung heroes we may never know, and there are some we do. 

They forever change us..... 


 

Is God on the side of the poor?


"If God is passionate about the poor, does that mean that he is on the side of the poor?

Some speak of God’s bias, or preference for, or solidarity with the poor.

Is it appropriate to speak like that in this context?


First, God is not biased. ‘There is no favoritism with him’ (Eph 6:9)

God does not care more about the salvation of the poor than the rich.

Secondly, material poverty is not the biblical ideal.

Scripture upholds the ideal that there should be no poor in the land (Deut 15:4).

Thirdly, being poor and oppressed does not in itself make people members of the church.

The poor need to repent and be saved by God’s grace just as much as the wealthy.


God is concerned about justice,

and so, while God shows no partiality,

he is also not neutral in situations of justice.

Specifically, because God is not biased pursuing justice,

God favors the poor who are either victims of injustice

or find themselves in a position in which they are powerless to resist the oppression of the powerful.


In that sense,

God is on the side of the poor.

He has a special concern for them because of their vulnerability.”

Monday, May 13, 2024


 

Are you considering divorce??


We all know how divorce impacts children and how we should do all in our power to prevent it. God hates the sorrow divorce causes. 

To add some incentive to make it work, let me share this candid confession about things divorce causes that we often overlook. 


"I don't know what I'm looking for here, maybe advice maybe just to vent and get it out in a group where people don't know me.

I'm okay with being done with him. 

I don't even like him anymore. 

I don't miss sharing a bed intimately 

or even being next to him, 

the things he's done have officially made me okay with no longer having him as my husband or friend even. Whatever.

 

It's the rest of the life I have with him that I’ll miss, and struggle to let go of. 

I don't mean monetarily, we're poor as paupers and already barely getting by.

 But.

Will I find a place I can afford 

and be able to keep my cats? 

Will I have to go to the laundromat again because of not having washer/dryer hookups? 

Will 'our' friendships become everyone picking one or the other of us?

 No more game night. 

No more seeing my awesome stepson, or my oldest daughter actually having a father figure.

No more close relationship with my mother-in-law that I love who has been there for me as a real mom when mine was not. 

No more sister-in-law and her kids, that I truly consider family. 

No more fireworks and summer parties and playing hostess with the mostest. 

No more Luna the dog, 

because the cats are 'more mine' 

the dog is 'more his'. 

No more vacations or hikes or bonfires or cookouts with friends. 

No more rummy with father-in-law, while talking smack and passing the peace pipe. 

No more - he's home to deal with kids, so I can go anywhere from the store to a friend's house kid free.

No more of those rare 'extras' of fun, things that make life bearable because there will be no money. 

No more flexible work schedule 

allowing me to see my kids longer than just to feed them and send them to bed because I'd need a second job and set hours. 

And will I be able to afford good health care? 

No more of so many things that have made me enjoy my life 

and keep me from being miserable 

when I look at the state of the world around me.

So no, 

no more nights of crying myself to sleep after him yelling at me 

and using my past traumas against me to be cruel.

 But, if I'm crying myself to sleep even more often from other things and missing my life, is it really better?

I have to decide which version of miserable I prefer. 

I never wanted it to come to this. 

I can't believe this is my life."


 *Trigger Warning* suicide

.

.

Suicide, such a tragedy… 

If someone you know and love has taken their life, 

you know it leaves us eternally changed.

 

If you are considering suicide, please get help.

Don’t wait till the depression gets too strong to resist. 

 

The words to this song, by Ren Gill, begin to describe the thoughts of those left behind in the shadow of suicide. 


“I guess there's some that's born lucky, 

there's some that's not

I tried to cut away my bitterness, hatchet job

I locked my youth in a trunk inside a pick-up truck

Then dumped the whole thing over the same bridge 

the night you jumped


I think about that sometimes, vividly

What it felt like to look down and see tranquility

One sudden movement in a world of possibility

Only one movement to expose our fragility


I f***ing miss you, and I miss myself

I miss thinking we were indestructible as well


I miss chilling by the pier cave and kicking back

With Callum, Hugo, Sagar, Justin, Stevie and the f***in' lads


I miss missing that, I numbed myself to close the gap

I never even call them up, the distance is my plaster cast


The truth is that the day you jumped 

my childhood jumped too


But I still can't find the anger all I find is 

missing you


Man, I miss you with all my rhymes

I picture running five minutes quicker, I'm right on time

I picture pulling you back over the edge and then we're crying

And holding you my brother and telling you that it's fine


That's not the way that I worked 

'cause I was late like a jerk


There's not a day where I could find a way to break from the hurt

Your body missing so we never got to wave to the hearse

I hope you're listening; I love you man, I miss you absurd...


National suicide hotline – 988

Jesuscares.com -  Real Time chat

 https://www.jesuscares.com/chat?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw9IayBhBJEiwAVuc3fpxf2h8bbCnjDJD2LQxkb5pn1EOoZ8z8dP4JxGdgnpQPcVzo3wtSRhoCbBAQAvD_BwE


Saturday, May 11, 2024


 If you have an interest in the jail ministries, here is a candid peek into the work written by my son, Pastor Eric of Jacob's Well, Spokane Wa.


"We have the privilege of serving in four centers every month where women, men and children find refuge from the hells, horrors and hardships of life. They are a flock of all kinds of sheep and I know that Jesus loves them all, but that doesn’t mean everyone is easy to love.

They impact me and I carry them not just as stories but as people who become part of my life of prayer.
Precious stones in a priestly vestment worn over my heart (Exodus 28).

Sometime I lay my hand over these stones on my chest and sigh.
At other moments I weep, sing, groan or set verses on fire in hopes that the light will push back the darkness.
Sometimes the tongues of Angels fill the space between thought and word.

Here’s a few of these sheep to pray for:

Unapproachable Ursula: Sitting in the hard plastic chair at the far corner, head in her hands, curled in on herself like a turtle without her shell.

Mad Melanie: She’s Medusa, trapped here by the rule of mandatory chapel attendance. Her cold death glare is like striking serpents. Her eyes searching to freeze my resolve to sever her from her abuses, betrayals, deceptions, and destructions.

Running Rachel: The desperate mother clinging to her child, fleeing the Herod who has bloodied hands and wicked intent.

Medicated Mary: Slow with words, hesitant to allow you to know she’s willing to be approached. Reaching for her is like talking underwater. She clings to your words like someone drowning in a calm but icy sea..slipping away, numb, frozen and sinking.

Hemorrhaging Heather: Her wounds are gushing. A punctured soul artery has volunteer’s hands of prayer clasped over her desperations trying to stop the hemorrhage.

Jerking Judy: Coming into the room multiple ways at the same time. Meth aftershocks, body tremors like marionette strings being yanked by some unseen entity. I hear the lost girl in the voice of a lost woman ravaged by the dark genie that rose from a smoking pipe.

Worshipping Wendy: Others sit with hands under thighs, she stands with arms extended, hands reaching to the hem of God’s garment.
Dawn’s healing light has broken on her face and her singing fills the room with off key power like Noah must of heard from his doves.

Ezekiel‬ ‭34‬:‭11‬-‭12‬, ‭16‬, ‭25‬ “The LORD God proclaims: I myself will search for my flock and seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out the flock when some in the flock have been scattered, so will I seek out my flock. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered during the time of clouds and thick darkness. I will seek out the lost, bring back the strays, bind up the wounded, and strengthen the weak…I will make a covenant of peace for them, and I will banish the wild animals from the land. Then they will safely live in the desert and sleep in the forest.”


 "I find myself sitting in the parking lot at Kroger trying to compose myself.

You see, while inside getting groceries,

I came upon a little girl prancing down the isle making a crazy noise.

I turned around to see this young lady wearing massive boots compared to her tiny body.

At first I just giggled and continued shopping.


I ended up in the check out lane behind her and her mother.

As good southerners do, we struck up conversation.

I told the little girl that I liked her boots.

She had a massive grin on her face and began to speak.

She let me know that those boots belonged to her Daddy.

Today would have been his birthday,

but he was killed last year in 'Afghan Stan.'

To feel better about today, she was allowed to wear his boots.

As her mom started to cry, so did I, as did the cashier.

Apparently, the gentleman behind me heard the story and gave the little girl a cupcake out of the dozen he was buying.

He told the little girl to always eat a cupcake for her dad's birthday.

He told her that her dad was a hero

and that she should be proud to be his daughter.

Please remember why we are able to celebrate America.

Let's stop to think about those who protect the freedom that we often take for granted!"


Post by Sarah Cooper.

Monday, May 06, 2024



The decline and downward fall of the soul

The grand defect of the "natural consequences" of depravity in this life is, that in great measure it is unconsciously incurred, the natural consequences of the downward fall of the soul is they do not operate as punishments, so they awaken no shame of demerit; rather, it is a gradual blunting of moral sensibility, the fading of noble enthusiasms, the frosting over of generous affections , the deterioration and decay of the will, which appall and sadden the observers, but are unfelt by the degenerate himself; and his loss, thought little less then infinite, is in the form of unknown privation, not of redeeming pain. 

It is the essence of guilty declension to administer its own anesthetics;  subtilely beginning by making the soul the depository of all the desires and habits to which I chiefly cling. 

Have I shut myself in some nest of selfishness, and become the willing dupe of vain excuse for neglected duty, and stifled compassion, and omitted sacrifice? At last to see, when it's too late, all that I might have been and done." 

James Martineau.   

Wednesday, May 01, 2024

 


To the cross, to the cross I cling! 

"Has not the crucifix become for ages the symbol of grief divinely born? 

Has it not, generation after generation, been hidden in the bosoms of thousands, sustaining the soul of self-denial, and reminding them not to faint beneath the cross of life? 

Has it not met the eye of many a lonely captive, and beguiled him to forget his chains, and from its meek image spread through his dungeon the holiest light?

Has it not kept watch with the  mother by night, as she bent over her sick child, and been to her soul as a star amid the infinite darkness of her sorrow? 

Pressed to the lips of the living, and softly laid upon the breast of the dying. 

It has warmed the love of the Christian while he stays, and given him trust when 'tis time to go."

James Martineau.  

Monday, April 29, 2024


 

I shared a post about the importance of having children go to church on a “Marriage Site” the other day, 

One of the people responded with this – 

“Gotta start that cult like brain washing at an early age.” 

I took a day to mull it over and this is my reply – 


Hi K****, no loving parent tries to brain wash their children, 

if we want that to happen we simple do not train them, 

we allow our culture to do the brainwashing. 

We let them sit in front of iPads and smart phones, 

watch Netflix, listen to the morals of Hollywood, 

send them to God hating, liberal colleges 

and simply absorb the darkness of this evil and perverse generation, 

which has a full press on to socially engineer the children. 


I remember the old Bob Dylan song, 


"You're gonna have to serve somebody

Well, it may be the Devil or it may be the Lord

But you're gonna have to serve somebody." 


No doubt the pure message of Christ and His love for us has been distorted by many, 

but my greatest sorrow was 

that I wasn't brought up in a Christian home.


What a horrible thing for a child to face life without knowing they are loved with an everlasting love, and are held up by His everlasting arms. 


To rob a child of the security, the warmth and nurture of Christ's love for children is among the most brazen things a parent can do in my opinion. 

Every child deserves to know 

God's love endures forever, 

His angels watch over them, 

Christ's forgiveness envelopes them, 

and the Holy Spirit guides and protects them. 


Children naturally are drawn to the love of Jesus, 

and what greater reward in life than to see our innocent children 

mature into virtuous teens, 

and then into men and women of character, integrity becoming adults that leave this world better for them having been in it.


Sunday, April 28, 2024


"Mercy is a commiserating of another man's misery in our hearts,      or a sorrow for another man's distress, 
or a heart-grieving for another man's grief, arising out of an unfeigned love unto the person afflicted.
                                              
Or more plainly: mercy is a pitying of another man's misery                with a desire and endeavor to help him to the uttermost of our ability. 
 
Jesus said, "Blessed are the merciful," that is, blessed are they that show mercy to others out of a deep sense of the mercy of God to them in Christ.

Blessed are such who show mercy out of love to mercy,                      out of a delight in mercy;                                                                  blessed are such as show mercy out of love and obedience to the God of mercy. 

Blessed are such as show mercy to men in misery, upon the account of the image of God, the glory of God that is stamped upon them; blessed are such as extend their piety and mercy, not only to men's bodies, but also to their precious and immortal souls. 

Soul mercy is the chief of mercies." Thomas Brooks, 1600s. 

Saturday, April 27, 2024


 

It was reported that a movie theater displayed a short film which began with a snapshot of the room ceiling.

No details, no colors. Just a white ceiling.


The same scene remained displayed for 6 long minutes

when the moviegoers started to get frustrated.


Some complained about the film wasting their time

and others started to leave.


Suddenly, the camera lens slowly started to move

until it reached down towards the floor.


A small child who appeared handicap was lying fixed on the bed, suffering from a spinal cord tear.


The camera then pans back up to the ceiling with the following words:

"We showed you only 8 minutes of this child's daily activity, only 8 minutes from the scene that this handicap child watches at all hours of his life,

and you complained and weren't patient for even 6 minutes, you couldn't bear to watch it.."


Sometimes we need to put ourselves in others shoes in

order to realize the magnitude of blessings we are given

and to thank God for bestowing us with such blessings that we take for granted.

Thursday, April 18, 2024


  "The Greek historian Nicephorus, reports that Salome, the dancing daughter of Herodias, passing over a frozen lake, the ice broke, and she fell up to the neck in water, and her head was parted from her body by the violence of the fragments, shaken by the water and its own fall, and so perished; God having fitted a judgment to the analogy and representment of her sin."  

Saturday, April 13, 2024


 Casting out demons

Sometimes you can't.....

“…also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out.” - Luke 8:2

“And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons.” -Matt 10:7-8

The ministry of driving demons out is a complex issue to wrap our minds around today. 

How does one read these passages in one hand and hold the realities of mental health, disease, abuse, addiction and trauma in the other?

Some Christian circles deny the presence of demons in postmodern life, others see them in everything. 

Science has thankfully dispelled much ignorance, superstition and exposed the error of worldviews that trust in magic and sorcery. 

Yet, the gospels reveal clear teaching from Jesus that there is a reality of evil that is at work in the souls and bodies of humans too. 

How do we navigate such complex and personal stories and experiences that doesn’t ignore scripture but doesn’t mishandle or incorrectly diagnose people’s ailments, sufferings and ongoing battles?

Some are satisfied with very simplistic answers that quickly define situations with a black or white response. I’ve never been comfortable with the self-assurance of either extreme. 

Jesus' stories reveal moments that reflect the reality of people’s lives that I witness. Immediate manifestations of evil, lifelong testimony of troubles, horrors and tragedies that have roots in demonic influences. Ministry moments that end without deliverance, healing or satisfying conclusions. Particular facts that involve the numbers of demons involved. Admonitions that certain “kinds” require more spiritual action and the element of time. In some situations Jesus rebukes unbelief and others he doesn’t mention faith at all. 

Sometimes even Jesus kept praying for people until the healing fully arrived: 

“He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?” He looked up and said, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.” Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.” -Mark 8:23-25

When I’m working with people I allow all these examples to undergird my expectations and conclusions. I rest in the directives and limits of the unfolding restoration of lives. I rejoice in immediate breakthroughs and long mendings. I trust in power, truth, medicine, doctors, good food, exercise, sleep, fresh air, and ongoing relationships to be part of people’s rescue and recovery.

I allow room for my own inability, lack of spiritual insight, faithfulness or maturity. 

“And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and scribes arguing with them. And he asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?” And someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a spirit that makes him mute. And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able.”” -Mark 9:14,16-18

I recognize that the trauma and drama of people’s lives have histories and deep roots that only Jesus fully knows. I also rest in His ability to put the puzzle pieces together in His timing and in His way. We are never the last word in anyone’s story. 

“And they brought the boy to him. And when the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. And Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!” And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, “He is dead.” But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.”” -Mark 9:20-29

Did Mary have every devil leave at one moment? I think so, since it was Jesus doing the word and work. But I’ve also seen people evict devils from the rooms of their house as they discover them. 

Are there “possessed Christian’s”? I can’t come to that conclusion from the evidence of Scripture, but I can see matters of truth and time at work in some scripture references. That leads me to believe that recovery is complex and I don’t have all the facts in every situation. 

A claimed by Christ soul is a freed soul, we are given the keys of the kingdom to liberate captives, even when we are those captives. These keys are the truth of God’s word and ways. The Holy Spirit is active in leading people into the full and abundant life Jesus has purchased for them. Some slaves seem to not know they have been liberated and equipped with the keys to their prisons. Some have never encountered the truth that can set them free. Some don’t want to “get well” and linger in the same habitations of their bondage unwilling to obey or respond to the commands of Christ. 

I choose to see the sons and daughters and the parents around me as precious and perilous souls in need of the truth and power of Jesus. I choose to continue to seek a greater understanding of the keys Jesus has put into my own hands. I seek to drive out anything that reeks of devils and deception. Compassion and gentleness is my posture with the suffering and faith and conviction with the dark powers at work in people's lives. 

In the end I trust that Jesus knows how to rescue, redeem, release and restore every Mary I meet. Because His love is greater than anything that separates us from the love of God in Christ. 

Roman’s 8:38-39 “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow, not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below, indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Pastor Eric. 

Wednesday, April 10, 2024


 

”Her hands are busy spinning thread, 

her fingers twisting fiber.“

-Proverbs 31:19

"She sat there quietly knitting in the church row, a practice that looked like prayer taking form. She was making a blanket and it was ocean blue. A perfect covering for a woman living in a crisis shelter where the comfort of the Holy Spirit embraces worried and wearied hearts, minds and bodies.  

Her story threaded into words as needles and yarn rhythmically connected her inner world to the outer one. She said knitting helped her do something with the thoughts and feelings she didn’t know how to process. It put them somewhere. She smiled as she spoke, part oracle, part survivor clinging to her yarn like a life preserver

As she confessed, emotion began to well up like a deep swell in the waves that sea watchers know in the Pacific Northwest. The ocean crescendos are nature affirming our depths, our dark deeps with forces of swirl and push that turn expanses of water into breaking and crashing displays of sound and sight. It’s the weeping of waters that draw people into healing trances or cathartic resonance on sandy shores. 

She wove and wept.

That blue sea on her lap was becoming Neptune’s Trident. She was knitting her deliverance, weaving her wounds into a gift for someone. Her pain found a purpose, even if it was a desperate craft born out of a woman afraid of drowning. 

Holy power silently rescuing and restoring life easily overlooked as simple craft that was actually magic and miracle happening right there in the sanctuary.

I witnessed a Proverbs thirty one woman knitting and this is her praise at the gates." 

Eric Blauer, Artist: Marcela Bolívar

Friday, April 05, 2024


 All of my sons, as well as myself, work in urban Missions. 

This is "ground zero." 

Here is a peak inside that world that my oldest son, Pastor Eric wrote today. 

"Mary Magdalene had seven devils, knowing this gives me hope.

“After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out;” -Luke‬ ‭8‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭

Many people have a fascination with ghost stories. They enjoy being scared, terrified, spooked and unnerved. Some like horror movies, anything full of the frightening, gruesome and macabre. 

This genre is complicated to understand. Taking pleasure in seeing someone descend to the darkest depths of human or inhuman experience and escape is cathartic in some redemptive way. Hells and horrors are part of the human experience. The human mind and heart have mythologized the ruin, rescue and restoration of human existence in art, story, theater, film and dance since humans started retelling life. 

Violence, tragedy, trauma and abuse are often the backdrop to some of the most profound testimonies of God’s saving work. The gospel story itself includes one of the most viscous and disturbing events of evil and it’s strangely termed the passion of our Lord. A crucifixion as the culmination of a brutal and barbarous series of tortures is profoundly disturbing as the center of a message called “The Good News”. 

When you work with people, especially those at the margins, death and devils make sense. The reality of wicked injury or self-perpetuating malevolence isn’t a hard truth to sell, something good conquering it, is. 

“My mother introduced me to porn.”

“I was raped.”

“I was sexually assaulted.”

“I tried to cut my throat.”

“I overdosed.”

“My parent was beheaded by a family member.”

“My brother was murdered by a gang, they cut off his arms, legs and head and sent them to my parents in a bag.”

These are people’s stories that I’ve heard. They are happenings that one has to find some place to put within oneself. What do you do with someone’s sufferings like these? It’s horrific to process. Many times I’m stunned and knocked off kilter in my heart and mind when such confessions are spoken. 

Humanity is truly tasting the powers of the age to come. People are full of devils and for many exorcism isn’t just a movie title, a supernatural thriller or titillating religious tale, it’s a life or death rescue mission. 

Mary Magdalene had a dark story too. I’m grateful for the knowledge that someone closest to Jesus had been possessed by Hell and horror. 

That is good news and the demonized need to hear it, maybe you need to know it. Jesus saves, delivers and heals. He is greater than whatever possesses you.

Jesus is the God-King who drives out devils."