Tag: Demons

Christianity

Get some Christian help with demons

Christianview blog

They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” – Acts 16:3

A 2016 article in the Washington Post was written by Matt Rota about Dr. Richard Gallagher, called “As a psychiatrist, I diagnose mental illness. Also, I help spot demonic possession. How a scientist learned to work with exorcists”.

I’ve been reading Dr. Gallagher’s book so skimmed the article. It’s pretty interesting.

He described his meeting a self-described witch through a Catholic priest who knew of Dr. Gallagher’s background and brought the woman in to rule out whether she had a mental illness. Dr. Gallagher described this witch as presenting with paranormal abilities due to being demonically possessed, and that she could not be diagnosed as being psychotic.

A YouTube video from 2020 documents an interview with Dr. Gallagher on Inside Edition.

At the time of the article’s being published, demand for exorcisms keeps rising. In Indianapolis, Rev. Vincent Lampert received about 20 inquiries per week for exorcisms in 2016 but the demands have increased to over 2,000 requests per year, or roughly 28 requests per week in 2021.

There is much to know about people who are probably demonically possessed or demonically oppressed and what happens to them.

Whether they give their lives over to the demons who are harming them, whether they die demonically possessed, or whether an informed Christian who has been trained to understand the strange symptoms of the demonically assailed has the predisposition to hang tight and learn how to invade the lives of these victims through prayer and belief, calling upon the Lord Jesus Christ to help them guide a person who wants to be saved by Jesus needs understanding, and support to be free of it.

A victim must ask for help and want to give their lives to Jesus, instead of still interacting with spiritual presences. These people should be asked to talk about their experiences if they want to, but more importantly, be engaged by Christians into prayer for their guidance.

Victims need to want to come out of a demonic presence. Knowing how might best be handled by trained spiritual advisors of the Christian faith.

I found a webpage here with information about demons, exorcisms and spirits. It is a suggestion only. I am unaware of who wrote the pages of this website, but the initial reading I did seemed appropriate and seems to contain some common sense information.

A website I’ve used regularly provides an answer to the question, Can a Christian be demon possessed? Short answer is no. But spiritual warfare against Christians does exist.

If you are having problems with demonic possession or oppression you must ask yourself whether you are wanting to be free of it. If you go back and keep trying to summon up demonic activity you will never be free.

The only way to free yourself of demonic possession is to turn to the Lord Jesus Christ and pray often throughout your days to see any progress. Jesus answers prayers. It may take some time depending on your walk with the Lord. I do not know and cannot speak for the Lord but I would seek help from a Christian church. Don’t go it alone without help. Get a support system around you. Let someone at a church you trust and find out about get you a referral to a knowledgable pastor who can guide you and help you along the way.

You must start a daily walk with God, the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no other way.

Christianity

Demonology: are mental health professionals trained to understand this?

Christianview blog

For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you. – Isaiah 41:13

(Health journal day 18).

What are limiting beliefs about demons and why do medical professionals, specifically in the counseling professions, deny that demons exist?

Why are there no diagnoses for demonic possessions or oppressions in the Diagnostical and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)?

These may be some questions readers here have about spiritual cases causing what often mimics some sort of psychoses in people. It would be nice to have some definitive answers, yet psychiatrist Richard Gallagher stated that we do not have definitive tests that prove whether a person is being affected by demonic activity.

In his book, Demonic Foes: My Twenty-Five Years as a Psychiatrist Investigating Possessions, Diabolic Attacks, and the Paranormal, Dr. Richard Gallagher writes that demonic warfare is of a spiritual nature, not a medical one, so that no labs or mental status tests exits that could adequately categorize demonic activity in a person. Specifically, demonic possession or oppression.

Gallagher points out that psychiatrists and psychologists are not trained to determine demonic spiritual activities, nor are they taught that demons do exist. If they are true, believing Christians and mental health clinicians, they will have learned from the bible about demons and that they are real.

Instead he write that mental health professionals may categorize demonic activity into “various psychoses and severe personality and dissociative disorders, or they may seem to happen to individuals who are prone to suggestibility”.

That is very important; spiritual advisors and pastors would have an understanding about a person’s soul, their spiritual health and beliefs. Whether a person is saved or not would not enter into this equation, as saved persons cannot be possessed, but can be spiritually attacked.

New believers, on the other hand, are the low-hanging fruit of Christian believers that demons may find easy to attack. New believers, in my opinion, who are new to the bible and in their prayer lives and Christian beliefs are not as strong – they don’t have a firm foundation in their Christian walks. My thoughts are that these oftentimes-called, “baby” Christians would be fed on “the milk” of the bible, not yet able to take “the meat” of biblical verses and have the same maturity in their Christian practices as much as long-time Christians who have studied the bible and walked as Christians for a lot longer. Baby believers haven’t been in Christ as long so their lives are not as steady and their knowledge of the bible and Christ have not been developed.

Usually from my experience, “baby Christians” need hand-holding to help them understand the bible, like having a tutor that a good Pastor can do, or a good bible study group. They need to have contact with knowledgeable Christians, to talk about their walk with Christ and to understand biblical teachings.

The results of demonic attacks in a person might result in their becoming depressed, or sad, or anxious – all are treatable mental health issues that can be treated by trained mental health professionals, ie. psychiatrists, psychologists, therapists, etc. But the souls of people will not be treated by these professionals. Only God’s power can remove demonic possessions and I believe that with the help of trained professionals who have worked in this field, God may work through professional relationships to remove demons when the victims have had a saving knowledge of Christ so that they are no longer being possessed. Otherwise some temporary relief may be possible but this does not help the victims as demons want to come back to harm persons.

About demons leaving the body, the bible says;

Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation. – Matthew 12:45.

The meaning of this is that temporary relief may be possible, but without walking with Jesus Christ, demons will return even more strongly to attack the person. We must keep walking the Christian walk with the Living God each day to have a chance of living without demonic havoc that may cause us to fall into sins and lives of living without depending on Christ as our Savior and Lord.

We have not only the bible, but knowledgeable pastors who help us understand the soul, it’s life or death, and eternal living with God. Also to understand the depths of hell and why Jesus is necessary to live eternally through God, with God.

Not all pastors will be equipped to talk about these things in any helpful way if a person is habitually assaulted by the demonic realm.

Personally, I think the Catholic church among others is not a true Christian church. I have many reasons for this but will not get into them here.

Although I admire Dr. Gallagher who claims to be a Christian and assists Catholic priests, and many specially trained pastors in his assessing the people sent to him, he refers people interested in the subject of demonic possession to a Catholic-based organization.

The organization is called, The Sacred Order of Saint Michael the Archangel-Order of Exorcists, run by Archbishop Ron Feyl Enright and “it is an autonomous and independent branch of the Catholic faith which derives from the ancient Old Roman Catholic Church of the 12th Century” according to the website. It is not under the Vatican.

So this is why I don’t know for sure if Dr. Gallagher worships Christ and if he is saved (no one can know this but Christ Jesus, anyway) and if he is a member of the Catholic church, or if he has some affiliation to a Protestant church. And we should at least know that all churches are not truly Christian, with all the churches who have fallen away to become worldly.

However, to his credit Dr. Gallagher makes professional medical assessments to determine whether a person has a medical issue or can find if there is a natural reason for their symptoms. He wants to help people get well or find relief from their demonic assaults. If no medical issue is found in his assessments, he refers these people back to the religious persons who made the referrals to him in the first place for their spiritual care.

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Related blog post: Supernatural realities

Christianity

Supernatural realities

Christianview blog

The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you. – Psalm 32:8

Health Journal – day 15

Do you identify as being a Targeted Individual? Are there really advanced, no-touch technologies that are controlling your body and/or mind? Are demons teaching evil brain-controlling technologies to evil people who may be possessed themselves?

How much of these bizarre, unexplainable behaviors and beliefs are truly due to mental illness? Do we really know?

A psychiatrist (below) may have some answers.

Many of you have described to me the strange happenings to your health, life’s situations, and mental health. You sound perfectly normal but have awful symptoms, “attacks” by strange weapons or spiritual attacks, and some of you are telling me that people are stalking you, breaking into homes and stealing stuff.

These are terrible things to have happen to people and I am sympathetic to their situations.

I also believe mental health professionals are not taught anything along the lines of spiritual, and demonic possession.

I believe people have gotten so bad in life that they are stalking people and are paid criminals to harm people, and steal their possessions. I also believe that spiritual entities who may harm people in their minds, bodies and lives in general are actively pursuing people to harm and kill, and this is real. It’s even in the bible, real entities that we know as demons who kill, steal and destroy (John 10:10).

I also have faith that God will provide insights into this mass, global-spanning problem; demons being very bad.

Exorcism is the topic of a YouTube interview by Sean McDowell, talking with Richard Gallagher, M.D., a board-certified psychiatrist whose work includes providing medical assessments for exorcists whose victims request to be exorcised.

In this video; Exorcisms: The World’s Leading Psychiatric Authority Speaks Out, a board-certified psychiatrist, Richard Gallagher, M.D., talks about his work making assessments as he’s been asked to do by various exorcists wanting to help victims of demon activity. Dr. Gallagher believes there are demons due to his Christian faith and does not feel he has to hide his beliefs. He’s a board-certified psychiatrist, teaches at New York Medical, and is a psychoanalyst on faculty of Columbia University; (HarperCollinsPublishers).

Gallagher has written a book, “Demonic Foes: My Twenty-Five Years as a Psychiatrist Investigating Possessions, Diabolic Attacks, and the Paranormal” on Amazon. I hope to review it and provide some excerpts from the book at a future date.

Dr. Gallagher gives insights into how exorcisms are done by experienced deliverance ministers and or Catholic priests. He said that Catholic priests are usually more mature and highly trained than other priests. He mentions Protestant pastors doing exorcisms but gives more references to Catholic priests doing them.

He has observed exorcisms taking place. He said victims undergoing exorcisms must be held down as they can have great strength from the demons, and can attack the exorcists. They also levitate, which is a strange phenomena that some targeted individuals expressed in my years of interviewing and learning about these abnormal bodily experiences.

Gallagher says “the victim has to work at developing their own Christian lives”…and they must do their own work as well during the time they need an exorcist. It may take one exorcism only, or take days, months or even years before the demon(s) leave the victim.

Exorcisms are under the command of the Lord, ultimately, he said at 35:23 minutes. He said they are fallen angels, complete liars, and tend to be very smart, although some of them “act very foolishly”. They also have different personalities, are sadistic and they enjoy torturing human beings. He thinks “they think of humans as “beasts, little animals, that they are superior to”. Their biggest foolish act was to “rebel against God”, “their most foolish act in cosmic history”. Sometimes they have to tell the truth. They hate human beings, and they act out to be against the Lord.

As you may know and believe, once a person has been saved, they no longer can be “possessed” by demons. Gallagher references a person’s belief in the Lord Jesus Christ as being the way they can be saved from this torturous ordeal.

McDowell said a woman in a movie was possessed. In The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Dr. Gallagher explained that she had physical issues, and she wasn’t able to get the proper medical care for these medical issues, and eventually died from them.

Gallagher said, “she was afraid of the cult, so never left the cult so she was never delivered”. Then another man who was a gang member that Gallagher spoke about was delivered after reforming his life and returning to his Catholic practice. Gallagher said “people are delivered by our Lord, and it requires the cooperation and sometimes the reform of a person’s life by the victim.”

If you want to know bible verses about demons, here is a start. I know there are many verses out there that you can find online, and check your bibles to see their context.

Reach out to the Lord, our Savior Jesus Christ, and he will help you. He is the only way!

Be well, I pray for your success in your health journey!

Christianity

Christian Blogger Podcast – Spiritual Warfare (audio)

Christianview blog
Christian Blogger Podcast (c) 2021

Welcome to the Christian Blogger podcast, and I’m your “Christian Blogger” from somewhere deep inside the Pacific Northwest!

Excerpts:

.…  I’ve also studied information about how technology can be learned from the spirit realm that hurts humans.  Yes I believe this is possible. …

… There is so much spirituality going on that it’s a scary place in the world! …

Spiritual Warfare – Christian Blogger Podcast (c) 2021

Christianity

Following Satan Or Following Christ Makes All The Difference Pertaining To Our Very Lives

Christianview blog

It struck me how true it is that the world is full of demonic activity.  Some would say that there are more good angels than bad because one-third of the angels were thrown out of heaven with Satan.

The bible says that Satan has been referred to a star that was swept from, or fallen from, heaven and that his tail swept down one-third of the stars to earth with him.

His tail swept down la third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it.  – Revelation 12:4

So when I read my bible reading today about spirits it made it more real to me how evil spirits can inhabit and effect us on earth.  This belief is ridiculed by people all over the world, especially atheists.  Although there are many “spiritual beliefs” that people may have, many formed by their own brains to conform to their wants and desires, there are many who still believe the bible is true.

The bible talks about spirits in several places, often referring to the evil spirits as Satan’s demons who fell from the heavens when Satan was cast out from the heavenly realm.  

We also know that there are more “good angels” who still obey God who are on his side who are working against the devil’s lies.  They may do many things we don’t know about but the good angels are real.  The bible says so.  Many people just call them different things, like “guardian angels” or other spiritual beings, however they should be referred to as followers of Christ Jesus who are in his army and are part of the “heavenly host” referred to in Luke:

 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,  “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” – Luke:2-13-14

So when we see terrible things happening, horrible treatments of man, we should remember that these demons are real.  As is believed by many that John the apostle wrote the epistle 1 John, we read that spirits are inhabiting the universe or in unspecified places that we are to be distrustful of;

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.  – 1 John 4:1

So don’t doubt the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  Only those that believe have the spirit of Christ – the others are of the spirits cast out from heaven.