Protecting Our Children from Supernatural Evil (Part 1)

At my Out of the Fire blog, the most-visited post of all time is one about getting free of nightmares which involve feeling suffocated, choked, a horror of great darkness, etc. Typically, the dreamer struggles to call out the name of Jesus and has a hard time doing so — but when he succeeds, the nightmare immediately ends.

Many, many believers are experiencing these terrifying dreams, which are actually demonic in nature. Why is this so common? Why are multitudes of Christians afflicted with this? The answer in most cases is that they have had some involvement with the occult – often going back to their childhood.

You may say, “That could never happen in our home. We don’t dabble with the occult at our house.” Good for you! However, it is all around us, showing up sometimes in subtle ways, which aren’t always easily recognized.

It is our responsibility to protect our children from demonic influences, so that they don’t suffer from them through nightmares or in some other way. We must be vigilant to keep them safe while they are very young and to instruct them so that, as they get older, they know how to protect themselves.

Let’s start with an elementary list of some of the things we must, as believers, totally avoid:

1. Ouija boards
2. ESP (extra sensory perception) games and exercises
3. Fortune telling
4. Seances / mediums / attempting to contact the dead / “channeling”
5. Astrology (horoscopes) — I might add that quite a few of the personality quizzes and games people indulge in on FaceBook are actually covers for astrology.
6. Experiments with levitation, astral projection, telepathy, releasing “energy” toward others
7. Spells and incantations
8. Feng Shui, Reiki, Taoism, other Eastern religions

Those are fairly obvious no-no practices for most of us, aren’t they?

But there are more subtle forms of occult influence. Some of these should still be obvious, but apparently they are not, since so many Christians participate in them:

Harry Potter, Twilight (vampires), zombies, Merlin — You may think these materials are just harmless entertainment. I have heard Christians hotly defend them. Unfortunately, they are an open door to the influence of evil spirits in our lives, whether we want to admit it or not.

Halloween celebrations — Again, hotly defended by many believers. Ask any Christian who formerly was a satanist what they think about this! We are being very foolish in trying to whitewash, or even Christianize, this holiday.

Pokémon — Short for “pocket monster,” the origin of the characters is Japanese folklore, including demons. Here is an article from Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry which outlines some of what goes on with Pokémon. Decide for yourself, after reading. (It’s not one of those hyper-ventilating articles, by the way.)

Dora the Explorer — Now you may really think I am nuts! I’m sorry, but those cute little shows contain magic. It looks innocent, but it is not. With any children’s TV shows, I believe we should pay attention to what is taking place in them before we plunk our children down in front of them. The Holy Spirit will help us discern, if we just ask.

Personally, I would avoid any children’s shows which incorporate mystical powers, magic wands, saying magical phrases, exploring pagan temples, or spooky things. They encourage a taste for these things in our children. In my opinion, it is better to stand conservatively when it comes to questionable entertainment.

Yoga — Whether you utilize the breathing techniques or only the exercise positions, yoga opens doors to demonic influences. You cannot use the breathing exercises and try to listen for the Holy Spirit through them. They open the way for evil spirits to speak into your mind. Each of the exercise stances are dedicated to a Hindu god (demon). It is not possible to Christianize yoga, no matter how we try. Former Hindus who now follow Jesus understand what is involved in yoga, and have nothing to do with it. Maybe we should listen to them.

Masonic things — including the King’s Daughters and the Shriners. These are not social clubs. Freemasonry is completely immersed in the worship of demonic entities, incantations, and placing curses upon oneself and family (even to future generations).

Hypnotism (and any other type of mind control)

Fortune cookies — They are what they are called, folks. Eat the cookie, leave the little paper inside unread.

Energy healing and acupuncture

Mind reading, mental telepathy

Aliens — Many of you are probably Star Trek and Star Wars fans. This is a bit of a gray area. I think some of the things in sci-fi should be avoided as viewing entertainment — like mind reading and mental telepathy, or the concept of equal light and dark sides of “the Force.” That harks back to the Eastern religion concept of yin and yang, while the Bible teaches us that the devil is NOT equal in power to the Lord — not even close, in fact. Besides, God is not an impersonal force we tap into. He is a Trinity of three Persons, with emotions, desires, and love for us.

Entertaining ourselves with stories of aliens is borderline, in my opinion, depending on what goes on. However, do keep in mind that some unfortunate people have had genuine encounters with “aliens,” which are really demonic entities out to deceive people with tales of superior powers and intelligence and wanting to bring peace to Planet Earth. Often these encounters involve gross sexual perversion and mind control.

So, be careful what you allow in sci-fi entertainment into your home, so that you do not inadvertently open a door to the occult.

Some role-playing games — Dungeons and Dragons should be obvious, but others (like Pokémon Go) may be less obvious.

Lists are a good place to start in the quest to protect our children from evil, but they are only a beginning. Occult deceptions can be quite subtle, so we also need to teach our children how to discern by the Holy Spirit. Next time, we’ll talk about that.

Next: Part 2 (Teaching spiritual discernment)

 

Character Building for Families