Winning the Battles in Spiritual Warfare

WINNING THE BATTLES

IN

SPIRITUAL WARFARE

Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us Romans 8:37

John Robertson

Copyright © 2013 John Robertson.

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ISBN: 978-1-4497-8005-0 (e)

WestBow Press rev. date: 5/2/2013

CONTENTS

Introduction

The Casualties of Warfare

Suicide

Abortion

WHO HAS ABORTIONS?

Domestic Violence

Rape

Molestation

Voices

Divorce

Drugs/Alcohol

Violence/Acts of Rage

Reaping What We Have Sown

Engaging the Enemy

Chapter 1

THE BATTLEFIELD IS THE MIND!

Be not conformed to this world……

But be transformed

By the renewing of your mind

Chapter 2

SPIRITUAL WARFARE IT IS A REALITY

LUCIFER

THE PERSON OF SATAN

Attributes of Satan:

Satan’s Methods: Power over God’s people:

Power over wicked people: They are his children

Satan’s Purposes:

Demons Evil Spirits, Satan is Ruler of Demons

Believer’s Power over Satan

Christ’s Triumph over Satan

Chapter 3

How to bring about Deliverance into Your World

Start with you!

Chapter 4

The Holy Spirit Don’t Leave Home Without Him!

The Transformation of Peter

The Fruit of the Holy Spirit

The Perfect Will of God

We are called

We are Predestined

Attributes of the Perfect Will of God.

The Gifts of the Holy Spirit

How to receive the Gift

Chapter 5

POWER AND AUTHORITY

(Evidence of our Inheritance)

"Standing on the Promises"

Using Your Power and Authority The Spoken Word

SEED FAITH

How to pray for a miracle

Elohim, Adonai, & Jehovah The Primary Names of God 

The Covenant Names of God

Chapter 6

The Inhabitants Within

The Steps in the Cycle of Satan

"Giving Place to the Devil"

On the Outside

"On the Inside" How Does Demonization Happen?

Levels of Demonization

Saint Demonization?

HADES And Those Who Qualify To Live There

Chapter 7

The Law of Recompense Reaping and Sowing

BAD Seeds

Good Seeds

The Final Harvest

Children of DISOBEDIENCE

Fruits of Sons of Disobedience

Idolatry

Bitterroot Judgment

Chapter 8

Preparing To Do Battle

Psalm 91

Weapons for Use in Spiritual Warfare Binding & Loosening

Putting On the Full Armor of God.

Who we are attacking

You Will Know Them by Their Fruits

Chapter 9

You Will Know Them by Their Fruits

The 16 Strongmen listed in the Bible:

1. The Spirit of Divination Acts 16:16-18

2. The Familiar Spirit Leviticus 19:31

3. The Spirit of Jealousy Numbers 5:14

4. The Lying Spirit 2 Chronicles 18:22

5. The Perverse Spirit Isaiah 19:14

6. The Spirit of Haughtiness (Pride) Proverbs 16:18

7. The Spirit of Heaviness (Depression) Isaiah 61:3

8. The Spirit of Whoredoms Hosea 5:4

9. The Spirit of Infirmity Luke 13:11-13

10. The Dumb and Deaf Spirit Mark 9:17-29

11. The Spirit of Bondage Romans 8:15

12. The Spirit of Fear 2 Timothy

13. The Seducing (Deceiving) Spirit Mark 9:17-29

14. The Spirit of the Anti-Christ 1 John 4:3

15. The Spirit of Error 1 John 4:6

16. The Spirit of Death

Strongman Guide for Manifestations

Chapter 10

Spiritual Hosts of Wickedness in the Heavenly Places

Leviathan The King of the Children of Pride

Where Python Comes From & What It Is

Spirit of Python

The Famous Oracle (History of Delphi)

How a Python Attacks Control

Spirit of Python and Drugs

How This Spirit Works

Jezebel The Person, the Spirit, & the Principality

Jezebel the Person

Jehu the Conqueror

The Seven Battles of Jehu

The Spirit of Jezebel

Jezebel, the Principality

Manifestations of the Principality of Jezebel (Ashtoreths)

Not in My Church!

How To Battle Jezebel With Full Strength

THE EUNUCHS OF JEZEBEL

Chapter 11

The Snares of Satan Things That Trip Christians Up

SOUL TIES

The Power of the Soul

Spirit, Soul, and Body The Three Aspects of Man

Overcoming the Deception

Discerning of God or of Satan

What About Today?

Is It the Soul or the Spirit?

Soulish Prayers

Soulish Talk

Spiritual Adultery

Bitterroot Judgment

Curses

Curses from God

Curses We Place on Ourselves

Am I Cursed?

The Servants of Satan

The Occult

From Curses to Blessings How To Be Released From Curses

Prayer for Release from Curses

Chapter 12

Biblical Illnesses Their Causes and Their Cures

Chapter 13

The Power of the Spoken Word

How to Pray (Speak Out) For a Miracle

Death and Life Are in the power of the tongue

Great Faith: Now faith is the substance (or realization) of things hoped for, the evidence (or confidence) of things not seen. KJV Heb. 11:1

Chapter 14

The Scriptural Truths About Angels

The Heavenly Hosts

The Angel of the Lord

Archangels

What Angels look like?

The Duties of Angels

Messenger Angels

Warrior Angels (Destroying Angels)

Angel Activation

Angelic Tid-bits

The Actual Battle in Spiritual Warfare

Chapter 15

How To Move the Hand Of God

1. Intercession Prayer offered on behalf of others

2. Praying in Agreement

Chapter 16

The Five Ingredients for a Spiritual Breakthrough

1. Obedience to God.

2. Fasting

3. Praise

4. Prayer

5. Faith

Chapter 17

The Greatest Spiritual Battlefield The Christian Home

Marriage A Great Mystery

For Ministers and Those in Ministry

Parenting The Fruit of the Womb

Children Honoring your father and your Mother

The Breaking Down of the Hedge of Protection

Cause and Effect

Chapter 18

The Power of Prayer

Never Underestimate the Power of Prayer

Praying With Power

How to Pray for Daily Bread

Our Hedge of Protection

Chapter 19

Winning the Battles in Spiritual Warfare

1. Walking in Obedience to GOD

2. Fasting

3. Praise

4. Prayer

5. Faith

6. The Power of the Spoken Word

7. We Must Led By The Spirit

8. Worship in Spirit and in Truth

9. Discerning is it of God, or of Satan?

10. Your Power and Authority

11. Speaking the Word

Chapter 20

Deliverance and Spiritual Warfare

DELIVERANCE SESSIONS

Spiritual Healing

Chapter 21

SPIRITUAL HEALING Defined

The Lies We Believe

TYPES OF LIES

Categories of Lies

Secular and Theological Truths for Defeating Lies

Chapter 22

Don’t Neglect Praying For Your Pastor!

1. Pray Your Spiritual Leader to a High Place

2. Cover Your Spiritual Leader’s Back In Spiritual Warfare

3. Help Your Spiritual Leader Obtain His Vision

Chapter 23

Heeding the Voice of His Word (as spoken by the saints)

GIFTS OF HEALINGS

Scriptures pertaining to healing

"HE gave them POWER over unclean spirits, to cast them out"

Scriptures pertaining to resisting or casting out demons

Bringing sick people and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed

Scriptures pertaining to Healing & Deliverance together

This book is dedicated to the two people who played the biggest role in my spiritual walk, my mother, Mary Catherine Robertson, who literally dragged me to Sunday School and church every Sunday morning, most Sunday evenings, and much to my displeasure, many Wednesday nights as well, and to Brother Earl Anderson, my spiritual mentor who was there for me during the time when the Lord was doing a work in me. Both have gone now to be with the Lord and their passing has left a gigantic void in my world.

This book is also dedicated to my two sons, Steve Gale Robertson and John Wayne Robertson, and to my wife, Joann. They never wavered in supporting me even during the times when family members and close friends were questioning this new thing that I was going through, they have always accepted it and believed that if I said it was real, well then it had to be real, even when they did not quite understand it. Their constant and unwavering support of me and my ministry has been valuable and dear to me; they will probably never know just how much they mean to me.

I also want to thank, John & Julie Tilley for the use of company computers as well as my friends Harry Sump, Rev. Katrina Plimpton, and Ms Regina Smith for their support and encouragement. My thanks to Lori Harris, who was there in the beginning, for teaching me that there was more beyond the door for every Christian believer.

John H. Robertson

What My Sunday School Teacher Never Taught Me

Is Your Pastor Making A Smorgasbord Out Of The Bible?

I was raised in the Baptist faith, specifically, Southern Baptist. I was baptized at an early age, and I praise my mother for her efforts to make sure that my brother and I seldom missed Sunday school, or Vacation Bible School. Even as we grew older, the Law of the Land was, If you are too tired to go to church on Sunday morning, then you can not date or do anything on Saturday nights, because you need your rest. So it was that no matter how tired or sleepy we were, we hardly ever missed Sunday school and church services. Much credit should always be given to parents who not only see to it that their children attend regularly, but that they attend with them also. As I grew older, the thought crossed my mind, If my salvation is dependent on whether or not what mom and my preacher and teachers are leading me down the right path, maybe I might ought to read for myself what God’s word says, for if I don’t make it to heaven, at least I will have no one to blame but myself. So I began the task of reading God’s word, to try to learn the basic truths found in the scriptures. Afterwards, I began to study the theological basis for various other denominations. After all of my research was over, I did manage to learn for myself, what God’s word said to me as I read and studied the Bible. The trouble was I could not find a perfect match with any of the denominational churches. In my extensive search for knowledge, I ran across many scriptures in the Bible, which totally surprised me. For instance, in James 5:13 Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. 14 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: 15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. 16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. KJV

When I read this for the first time, I really thought that I had found something big, really big, so when I asked some of the leaders of my church about it, they all said that they believed in Divine Healing and all that, but that If you have enough faith, and it was God’s Will, then you would be healed. When I asked if they had ever seen anyone healed by laying on of hands? I was told, "Not by anyone who is legitimate!"

And so it was, that I continued to attend my church, knowing full well that I, being a child of God, had within my inherent rights, the ability and faith to lay hands on someone for healing and to cast out evil spirits, through the work of the Holy Spirit. These things I began to do, later in life, but for time being, I just focused on other spiritual matters.

Many Christians today are doing just that, focusing on other spiritual matters. In the Charismatic churches that I visited back then, I found them consumed with certain spiritual gifts, and little or nothing else. In the more conservative churches, salvation, forgiveness, the second coming of Christ, etc. are preached, but spiritual gifts are treated like a taboo, a social disease or something. So I stayed where I was, stuck between two extremes, finding myself somewhere left of center, of the two extremes. In the end, I was left spiritually, unfulfilled.

I eventually received what some people call, "the Baptism of the Holy Spirit", I call it something else. Since I was all alone, in bed at the time, and not in the midst of a high energy church meeting, in which I got caught up in some kind of "emotionalism evangelism, but rather, being tired of walking outside the Will of God", all I said was, Lord, I somehow feel like something is missing in my life, after all of these years of trying to do it my way, I now realize that my way just ain’t gettin’ it done. I don’t know what, if any, spiritual gifts that You have for me, but whatever it is that You have for me, please give it to me now, everything that You have, I want it all, the whole enchilada, for from this day on, I want to walk within Your Will!

After my prayer, I just lay there, meditating. Suddenly, I began to hear some faint weird sounding words come into my mind, distant and faint. For years I had heard them, but I always thought that it was just my mind trying to wonder off onto some other distracting thought. My friend, Lori, once told me to, just let go, and so I did, and as I began to pronounce the words, something began to happen inside of me, I did not know what it was that was happening to me, but later was told that it I was experiencing the Rivers of Living Waters flowing up from my very deepest inner being, as I began to Pray in the Spirit. Since then, I have never been the same!

So, once again, I began to read the Bible and began to see, learn, as well as comprehend the things that I was reading unlike never before. The words seemed to leap off of the pages that I read and I began to understand what the scriptures were telling me more clearly than at any previous time in my life. I knew that something was happening to me, something very special and as my job was finishing up there and I was going to be going to Teague, Texas for the next well, I remembered seeing a Christian bookstore in Mexia, Texas, which was only a few miles down the road. So, I made a mental note to myself that as soon as I got settled in on the next well, that I would find a bookstore and begin reading Christian books that would hopefully explain what I was now experiencing.

When I did find that bookstore, I walked in and began looking at the books that were on display. A woman walked up to me and asked me if there was something in particular that I was searching for and in the midst of my confusion over the countless number of books, I finally blurted out with, Look, recently I have had some things happening to me in my prayer life that I do not fully comprehend and I am looking for some books that will tell me that I am not going crazy or losing my mind! She smiled and told me that there was a pastor outside who could help me, and then she left and sent him into the room where I was standing, still scratching my head over which book to choose. That was the day that Brother Earl Anderson walked into my life. I began to tell him what had been happening to me and that I was at a loss as to what it was. I finally opened up and told him in detail all that I had been experiencing. He stood there smiling and began to put terms to each one and began to explain them all thoroughly. It was comforting to me to know that I was not losing my mind or even going crazy, it was just something new, things that I had never heard of and the realization that they were all manifestations of the Holy Spirit brought relief to me, but at the same time, caused me to seek even more information. He showed me some books to get to help me to understand more fully the events that were taking place in my life and invited me to attend his church. I bought the books, thanked him, and went on my merry way. Little did I realize at the time, the impact that this man would have on me as in time, he became my spiritual mentor. My knowledge and understanding grew by leaps and bounds and with every new experience, I would go find Brother Earl and he would explain it to me.

In time, I began to hear God’s voice, through the Holy Spirit, and I began to communicate with Him in a personal way. He sent me to deliver a Word of Wisdom to a lady in Mexia, Texas. My prayer life took on a whole new level, and as I began to comprehend this new and exciting world of Spiritual Warfare, I started "binding and loosening", and things started happening in the lives of the people that I had been praying for. In the spirit, the Lord led me to do a deliverance of a very close friend, which I did, and as each demon that was cast manifested itself, I found myself looking eye to eye, with evil spirits. But, the Holy Spirit gave me strength, and He took care of each demon, one by one.

Since that time, I have been through many deliverance sessions. This brings to my mind something that a preacher in Shreveport, Louisiana preached on back in the early 1980’s. I stayed home to hear the message, Yes Virginia, there is a devil. Which, was a spin-off from the movie, Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Clause. In his sermon, he stated that there was no devil, in hell, seeking to devour us, that all Satan really was, was just the evil that is in the hearts and minds of people. Hell, according to him, "was not a place of fire and brimstone or gnashing of teeth, but rather the condition of wrecked lives, because of someone not living the Christian life. That pastor is dead now, and I sometimes wonder what he thinks now, not that he is in hell, but now that he is aware, wherever he is, that what he was preaching was religious error, which is in itself, of the devil!

That brings me to why I am writing this message. I began to study the Bible, like never before. Since the Lord told me to go and preach His gospel, I naturally began with the red letter edition of the New King James Version. If you read what Jesus said and did while He was on this earth, you will find that His ministry was multifaceted. I have found that His ministry basically was made up of seven areas.

1.    He taught He was a teacher.

2.    He preached salvation.

3.    He performed miracles.

4.    He healed people of their infirmities, diseases, and sickness.

5.    He cast out demons.

6.    He chose disciples to follow Him.

7.    He prophesied of things to come.

After Jesus was resurrected, He gave His disciple what we all refer to as the Great Commission, Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen. March 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. 17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; 18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. KJV

Whenever I read a scripture like Mark 16:14-18, I say to myself, Wow! I wonder why my Sunday school teacher never taught me this, why, after hundreds upon hundreds of hours of sermons, why my pastors never preached on this, as well as so many other scriptures just like it!

So, I began to compile every scripture that I could find in the Bible, about healing and deliverance. I have found, 31 scriptures pertaining to the casting out of evil spirits or demons by Jesus as well as by others; 44 scriptures pertaining to acts of heading, by Jesus and/or His disciples, and another 21 scriptures where both healing and deliverance took place at the same time. If you add them to the others, there are a surprising 52 scriptures pertaining to the casting out of demons, or evil spirits, and 65 scriptures pertaining to acts of healing, giving a total of 117 scriptures in the Bible where these things took place! Which led me to wonder to myself, why?, "why would preachers avoid preaching about this, and how did I miss it too?

In the twelfth chapter of 1 Corinthians, it says that one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is the Gifts of Healings. After studying all of the scriptures I have come to realize that the Gifts of Healings are written in the plural because they are basically made up of three parts. There is the healing of sickness, the healing of infirmities, and the healing of diseases. Some assume that deliverance, or the casting out of demons is part of the Gifts of Healings, but it was defined by Jesus Christ as the Working of Miracles in the Book of Mark.

Mark 9:38 And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us: and we forbad him, because he followeth not us. 39 But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me. KJV

From this verse of scripture there are several lessons to be noted here. First of all, Jesus in His infinite wisdom was forbidding sectarianism. Second, He was classifying what gift of the Spirit the man was operating under by referring to the casting out of demons (deliverance) as the Working of Miracles which is the fifth gift listed in 1 Corinthians 12:10. The third lesson to be learned from this passage is that people, other than the Apostles, were casting out demons, which also puts to rest the misconception that the Gifts of the Holy Spirit ended when the last Apostle died, as so many Christians advocate today.

I mention this here because so many Christians today are seeking to do the Lord’s work, but are not able to help those who are suffering, because of what I refer to as "Denominational Blinding", thus preventing them from seeing or hearing what the scriptures say. Most Christians read the scriptures about healing and the casting out of evil spirits, thinking that those things were done away with centuries ago. But, the truth is, it is still alive today!

An example of this blinding, is we have accepted the truth that he was wounded for our transgressions, but have ignored the truth with his stripes we are healed. even though both statements are found in the same verse of scripture. Isaiah 53:5

As you read this book, you will notice that two words are repeated over and over again. We have been given POWER and AUTHORITY over sickness and Satan. It is not God’s will that any of us be sick, oppressed by evil spirits, or to have infirmities. It is His will, that we live healthy, productive, abundant lives.

If you want to ignite your spiritual life, find yourself a church which follows the ministry that Jesus had. Find a church which preaches salvation, teaches the Bible in its entirety. That church will have a healing ministry, as well as a deliverance ministry, and will not be afraid to test the scriptures, the word of GOD and promises made by our LORD, JESUS CHRIST, and in the working of miracles. One should not be emphasized more than the others, but rather, each, working together in the church and through the lives of its members, as the Holy Spirit dictates.

This book was written to inform Christians of the legitimacy of God’s Word, pertaining to Spiritual Warfare, which includes the healing of His people. I could not help but feel like the pastors and churches that I attended throughout my life, avoided these areas of God’s Word. As I read the scriptures, I began to feel like I had been cheated, because many of the scriptures were side-stepped or avoided. Those that were not avoided were not fully explained, giving way to many misconceptions that are still alive and well in churches today. To make matters worse, many of the charismatic churches, who do practice "laying on with hands, and/or deliverances, insult the Christian community by claiming, from their pulpits as well as on television broadcasts, that unless you are Baptized in the Holy Spirit, evidenced by your being able to speak in tongues", you are not saved! That statement is not backed by scripture, it is teaching a religious error, a false teaching, which is a lie straight from the pits of hell! So therefore, because of this faulty theology, many look at the charismatic churches and/or Full Gospel churches, with resentment, and/or call them, of the Devil.

It is because of conflicts, like the Speaking in Tongues thing, which does exist, that many Christians today turn a deaf ear on anything that they think that is coming out of that Full Gospel or Charismatic Movement churches. For decades now, the Southern Baptist Convention has been battling within itself, over such issues. Now we hear subdivided groupings like Fundamentalist or Moderates, all over moving into a Spirit Filled type of worship. And that is another thing; often I have been asked if I was a Spirit Filled Christian. I know what they are implying, and I have always resented it. Instead, they should ask, (even though it seems inappropriate), do you speak in tongues? Because, by asking me if I am "Spirit Filled, to say no, meaning that I don’t speak in tongues, implies that I am not a child of God, but, to say that yes I am a Spirit Filled Christian", would imply that I did speak in tongues. Now that I do have spiritual gifts operating in my life, and yes I do, pray in the spirit, I still hate the term, for it seems divisive to me. It is insulting to those who do not choose to worship in the manner of the Full Gospel or Charismatic Movement styles of worship.

Look, I am a child of God, who has been called into evangelism. I have, through faith, and my asking, the Spiritual Gifts that have been working in my life as I do the Will of God. That does not mean that I am any more saved now than before, or that I am more righteous now than I was before. No, not at all!

The biggest difference between now and before is that now, I have allowed the Holy Spirit to work in and through my life in ways that He never could have done before. In fact, I first began to pray in the Spirit, intercession, then in time, the Lord began to speak to me, through the Holy Spirit, and I can hear His voice as He speaks to me daily. After that, He gave me a "Word of Wisdom, followed by a Word of Knowledge. The fact that I can hear His voice now, is the Gift of Discerning of Spirits. I have been used to perform many deliverances as well as a countless number of prayers for healing, by laying on of hands. That is the Gifts of Healings, to actually attempt to do those things is only by the Gift of Faith. Of all of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, tongues appears to be one of the lesser gifts. Love is listed as the greatest of all of the gifts, and it is with that love that I am writing this now.

So, God called me up, to use me, as He tries to break through all of the confusion within the Body of Christ as it is today. He does not like the divisions that exist between His people, or in the churches that have split over this issue. The Gifts of the Holy Spirit were given to HELP church, not divide it!

Too many people are suffering in this world, for the Body of Christ to be battling among themselves over such things. The fact is, the scriptures reveal that it has always been His divine plan for the church, His church, to minister to all of its members, and meet all of their needs, healing those who are hurting, is just one part of His Gospel message. For too many years, His children have suffered because they have been caught up in certain denomination beliefs or theology, which did not practice or preach on the entire Bible. So for years, His children have suffered, because they placed their faith in a particular church or doctrine, which did not have a healing or deliverance ministry. How sad, but, as I stated before, although so many churches today do not offer laying on of hands, or deliverance ministries, they too, are only a part of the gospel message. To overly focus on them, disproportionately over the other areas of His ministry, would be just as bad as neglecting them.

It is my sincere hope that this will be enlightening to you, hopefully after you put this book down, you will realize its validity. Its purpose was not to get you to change your current church affiliation, but rather to awaken you to some areas of God’s Word that you may have been unaware of. If that has been accomplished, then my time writing this, and your time reading it, will have been worth it. I hope and pray that you will accept what the Lord has offered you in the scriptures presented, and you will seek the Lord’s Gifts, and allow them to work in your life. Then you will discover for yourself, the things that you’re Sunday School Teacher Never Taught You! AMEN.

John H. Robertson

Introduction

The Casualties of Warfare

When we consider the causalities of war, we so often think only in terms of wars in the natural realm. So, when you consider the casualties of Spiritual Warfare, by that I am referring to those who either fall victims to Satan, or those who are the victims of those operating under Satan’s influence. Unless bombs are being dropped, firefights blazing in the night, tanks rolling down our streets, or massive armies battling it out in our countryside, people just do not comprehend that there is another kind of warfare, Spiritual Warfare, and like conventional warfare, there are casualties, actually more casualties than in conventional warfare. Personally, I blame pastors and church ministries for the lack of, or in some instances, total disregard, in teaching about spiritual warfare. So many Christians do not even know about Spiritual Warfare, and those who do lack in understanding, because they were just not taught about it while growing up. I wasn’t taught either. I grew up in a denomination which does not teach about it, preach about it, or barely even acknowledge the reality of it. Maybe that will explain why so many children raised in the church, taught in Sunday school classes, and were even very active in church ministries, have left the church and are getting abortions, abusing alcohol and/or illegal drugs, having sex outside of marriage, and even worse, have been seduced into the world of Wicca. If it is not being taught within the Body of Christ, then where can they go to learn about it? The following statistics disturb me deeply, as it reflects failure. While so many denominational churches have been battling for several years, and in some instances, several decades over such issues as speaking in tongues, allowing women to become pastors, and other such controversial issues, we have had a generation of children falling prey to the enemy, and in some incidences, literally right out from under our pulpits and stained glass windows. Sounds a bit harsh to you? Want proof? Try this, 70% of all the women having abortions claim to have come from the Christian faith.

In the year 2000, there were estimated 734,000 attempted suicides in the US, and 29,350 that were successful. Which are more deaths in one year than the yearly average of American deaths in the Civil War, the Viet Nam War, Korean War, the Mexican-American War, and almost at the rate of World War I. Those attempting suicide exceed the number of deaths in all the American military service related casualties in our nation’s history!

I have heard people refer to Hitler as a madman, a monster, the devil, the antichrist, along with many other such names due to his cruelty to humans, especially the genocide of the Jews. However, if he were truly the monster that people claimed him to be, how much worse are WE THE PEOPLE of the UNITED STATES of AMERICA for allowing the legalization of abortion in this country, and the genocide of our unborn children? As stated before, from 1973 until 2000, our Christian Nation has allowed over 39 million legal abortions. The rate of killing the unborn children is greater than the rate of Hitler’s murdering of the Jews. We are averaging over 1.3 million legalized abortions annually. Over a six year period 7.8 million babies are murdered as compared to the approximately 6 million Jews in WWII!

I remember the protest that went on during the Viet Nam war, as we watched the news channels showing videos of the fighting. I have been to the Memorial wall placed in Washington D.C. and have felt the shock and sickening discomfort in my stomach at the sight of some 60,000 +/- names listed on that wall. They died fighting for a cause. But the bottom line is, regardless as to whether or not their lives were lost in vain, they are being honored, and justly so. It was a very solemn sight to behold. As tragic as that sight is, we fail to even grasp the total number of deaths in the US in 1998 due to drug/alcohol was 2,337,256 people in that year, which is more than any total of any war that the United States has ever fought! Yet, no one is protesting in the streets, no flags are being burned, and the names of these victims are not listed on any wall, just on headstones across America.

A man accused of murdering his two baby sons has claimed in court he was told to smother them by the voice of his father. Darren Jenkinson told the High Court in Glasgow he had been abused by his father as a child. He said he was scared he would abuse his own children when they grew up.

Whatever we think we were doing for that greater good just has not been getting the job done. It is time for those of us who are spiritual leaders, to repent and begin teaching and educating our church members about the reality of Spiritual Warfare!

John H. Robertson

Here are some statistics of the casualties of war:

Revolutionary War: 1775-1783 US casualties 4,435

War of 1812: 1812-1815 US casualties 2,260

The Mexican-American War: 1846-1848 US casualties 13,780

World War 1: 1914-1918 US casualties 118,518

World War 2: 1941-1945 US casualties approx. 500,000

All military and civilian casualties: 1939-1945 52,199,202

Korean War: 1950-1953 US casualties 54,246

Viet Nam War: 1961-1973 US casualties approx. 60,000

Civil War: 1861-1865 Casualties approx. 700,000

More Americans died in the Civil War than in all of the other wars from the Revolutionary War through Desert Storm combined.

The following statistics are just a few of the countless numbers of casualties of the invisible war that so many people refuse to even acknowledge exists.

Casualties of Spiritual Warfare

Suicide

Every 18 minutes someone dies by suicide, and every 43 seconds someone attempts suicide.

Statistics reflect that every year, there are more who die from suicide than from homicide.

In 1997, in the US alone, approximately 30,000 died by suicide, while only 19,000 died from homicide. Statistics also show that men commit suicide 5 times more often than women.

Suicide is listed as the 11th ranking cause of death in the U.S., but is the 3rd leading cause of death among our young.

Abortion

• 49% of pregnancies among American women are unintended; 1/2 of these are terminated by abortion. 1

• In 2000, 1.31 million abortions took place, down from an estimated 1.36 million in 1996. From 1973 through 2000, more than 39 million legal abortions occurred.2 Our annual total of deaths due to abortion exceed the total number of soldiers who have died in every war, battle, conflict, or police action in the history of our country, from the Revolutionary War up to and including the wars in the Persian Gulf.

• Each year, 2 out of every 100 women ages 15-44 have an abortion; 48% of them have had at least one previous abortion and 61% have had a previous birth.3

• Each year, an estimated 46 million abortions occur worldwide. Of these, 20 million procedures are obtained illegally.4 there were 52,199,202 casualties total during the 6 years of WW2. This figure includes the genocide of the Jews in death camps (approx. 5,830,000), those who perished in Hiroshima and Nagasaki (about 213,884). That means that each year, there are 6 million less infants aborted than the total number of casualties of every soldier, non-soldier, man, woman and child, during the six years of war!

The polls and data gathering sources never reflect the abortion rate. If they did, abortion would be one of the leading causes of death in the United States every year. And yes, it is the leading cause of unnecessary, or avoidable" deaths.

WHO HAS ABORTIONS?

52% of U.S. women obtaining abortions are younger than 25: Women ages 20-24 obtain 33% of all abortions, and teenagers obtain 19%.5

Black women are more than 3 times as likely as white women to have an abortion, and Hispanic women are 2 1/2 times as likely.6

43% of women obtaining abortions identify themselves as Protestant, and 27% identify themselves as Catholic,7 making up 70% of all the women having abortions have come from the Christian faith.

2/3 of all abortions are among never-married women.8

Over 60% of abortions are among women who have had 1 or more children.9

On average, women give at least 3 reasons for choosing abortion: 3/4 say that having a baby would interfere with work, school or other responsibilities; about 2/3 say they cannot afford a child; and 1/2 say they do not want to be a single parent or are having problems with their husband or partner.10

These statistics do not reflect how many women have at least pondered the option, but chose to give birth anyway.

Sources

1. Henshaw SK, Unintended pregnancy in the United States, Family Planning Perspectives, 1998, 30(1):24-29 & 46.

2. Jones RK, Darroch JE and Henshaw SK, Patterns in the socioeconomic characteristics of women obtaining abortions in 2000-2001, Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 2002, 34(5):226-235.

3. Ibid.

4. The Alan Guttmacher Institute (AGI), Sharing Responsibility: Women, Society and Abortion Worldwide, New York: AGI, 1999.

5. Jones RK, Darroch JE and Henshaw SK, 2002, op. cit. (see reference 2).

6. Ibid.

7. Ibid.

8. Ibid.

9. Ibid.

10. Torres A and Forrest JD, Why do women have abortions? Family Planning Perspectives, 1988, 24(4):169-176.

Domestic Violence

According to a study published in 1998 by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), women in the United States experienced about 840,000 non-lethal incidents of violence committed by an intimate partner in 1996. These incidents consisted of physical assault, robbery (theft that is accomplished by a threat of violence or actual violence), and rape or other sexual assault. The DOJ report indicated that intimate violence occurs almost equally among women of all races and is slightly more likely to occur among women with low incomes. The report showed that the most common victims of intimate violence are younger women, between the ages of 16 and 24.

According to the Department of Justice, men in the United States were victims in about 150,000 incidents of intimate violence in 1996. The department’s data indicate that women are about six times as likely as men to experience victimization by an intimate partner. However, in a privately funded survey conducted in 1993, American men and women reported experiencing similar rates of intimate violence.

In some cases, domestic violence results in homicide. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), more than 500 men were killed by their wives and girlfriends in 1996, representing about 5 percent of all male homicide victims in the United States. In that same year, more than 1300 women in the United States were killed by their husbands or boyfriends; approximately 30 percent of all female homicide victims. Murder by intimates accounts for about 9 percent of all homicides in the United States each year.

Intimate partners murdered 1,218 women during 1999. From 1993 to 1999 intimates killed 45% of all female murder victims ages 20-24.

Women separated from their husbands were victimized by an intimate at rates higher than married, divorced, widowed, or never married women.

Women ages 35-49 were the most vulnerable to intimate murder, while females ages 16 to 24 were the most vulnerable to nonfatal violence.

Rape

1.3 adult women are raped every minute (National Victim Center and Crime Victim Research and Treatment Center, 1992)

In 84% of these cases, the attacker knows the victim. This is known as acquaintance rape. 41% of sexual assaults occur in the victim’s home (National Victim Center, 1992; U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1991).

In 1996, only 31% of rapes and sexual assaults were reported to law enforcement officials less than one in every three rapes that occurred (U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1996)

There were an average of 51,000 Rapes and sexual assaults occurring in the workplace each year from 1992 through 1996 (U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Workplace Violence Victimization Survey)

It is estimated that more than 350 rapes per year occur on a campus with a population of 10,000 female students.

Convicted rape and sexual assault offenders serving time in State prisons report that two-thirds of their victims were under the age of 18, and 58% of those, or nearly 4 in 10 imprisoned violent sex offenders, said their victims were ages 12 or younger.

In 90% of the rapes of children, they are less than 12 years old, and they knew the offender; according to police-recorded incident data.

Among victims 18 to 29 years old, two-thirds had a prior relationship with the rapist.

Four datasets (the FBI’s UCR arrests, State felony court convictions, prison admissions, and the National Crime Victimization Survey) all point to a sex offender who is older than other violent offenders, generally in his early 30’s, and more likely to be white than other violent offenders.

Molestation

1 in 3-4 girls will have been sexually abused by age 18.

(Diana Russell. 1983: David Finkelhor. 1978: Vincent De Francis. 1969)

1 in 6-10 boys will have been sexually abused by age 18.

Reports of boy victims are increasing. Some experts believe as many boys are abused as girls. (Terryann Nielson. 1983: National Council for Prevention of Child Abuse. 1979: Susan Sgroi. 1978)

90% of offenders are known to the child.

Child sexual abuse is more frequent within families than outside families. Disabled children are especially at risk of sexual abuse, especially from people they already know. (Sexual Assault Center. Seattle: National Council for Prevention of Child Abuse. 1979)

Child sexual abuse happens in all racial, religious, and ethnic groups, and at all socio-economic levels.

No group is immune from sexual abuse. The offender can be a person in any occupation. (Summit & Kryso. 1978: May, 1977)

The average age for the onset of a sexually abusive relationship is 6-8 years old.

Reports of molestation of very young children are increasing. More than one-third of all child victims may be 5 years old or younger. Children as young as one week old have been molested. (Sexual Assault Center. Seattle: Child Protective Services, Seattle: Department of Health and Hospitals, City of Boston, 1984)

Child sexual abuse is seldom a one-time occurrence.

Abusive relationships last an average of 4 years. And many last much longer than 4 years (National Center for Prevention of Child Abuse. 1979)

At least 65-75% of prostitutes were sexually abused as children.

(Boyer & James. 1982: Enablers Study, Minneapolis. 980: C. Henry Kempe Center. Denver)

Since 1993, Survivor Connections has tracked rape, incest, sexual assault, and child molestation reports from survivors, or from their supportive, non-offender parents or other relatives. The statistics are derived from only those people who chose to identify themselves. The figures point out the variety of occupations of sexual predators in positions of trust and power.

Roman Catholic Priests 994

Incest 704

Unknown person 364

Clergy (non-Roman Catholic priests) 217

Neighbors, family, friends 199

Ritual abuse 136

Teachers 79

Therapist/counselor 77

Youth leaders 72

Doctors, medical 48

Strangers 22

Law enforcement 15

Foster home/orphanage 9

Date rapist 4

Older sibling 4

Voices

A woman who threw her baby into a canal and then claimed the child had been abducted has been detained indefinitely in a mental hospital. Rabina Hashim, 30, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to the manslaughter, on the grounds of diminished responsibility, of five-month-old Emma Jade Dyson.

Hashim had told police she heard voices telling her to throw her daughter into the Leeds-Liverpool Canal in Burnley, Lancashire.

A man accused of murdering his two baby sons has claimed in court he was told to smother them by the voice of his father. Darren Jenkinson told the High Court in Glasgow he had been abused by his father as a child. He said he was scared he would abuse his own children when they grew up.

Carlos Medina had been hearing voices for days. His sisters were concerned about him as was his mother. He began watching the same video over and over again hours at a time. When his aunt Maria came over with her infant son and asked if he might baby sit while she and his mother Anna went out that night, he agreed. He seemed better. He reassured them he would take good care of his cousin. They ignored their discomfort. Medina’s sister’s came by when they heard he was sitting for the infant, and checked up on him. He appeared fine, conversing about family and apologizing for acting so strange the past week. They left him with the child, a bit uncomfortable, but assured he was returning to his normal self. Carlos was NOT all right. He began pacing and chanting. He found himself with shears in his hands. He entered the baby’s room and began repeatedly stabbing the infant. He then, with the same shears, removed the baby’s heart…

Andrea Yates could face the death penalty for allegedly killing her five children. Police say she admitted killing the children, ranging in age from 6-months to 7-years-old when she called police to her home. A Houston police information officer said Yates’ arraignment had not been scheduled yet but could happen sometime Thursday. Police say Yates called Houston police to her home this morning but didn’t give a reason why. Police say she answered the door out of breath at around 10 a.m. According to John Cannon, a Houston Police Department spokesman, she told an officer, I just killed my kids. She led the officer to a bedroom, where he found four children — Luke, 2, Paul, 3, John, 5, and 6-month-old Mary — all dead, Cannon said, All had apparently been drowned and the bodies were covered with a sheet, he said. Her fifth child, 7-year-old Noah, was found dead in a bathtub, police said.

Sheriff: Texas woman says God told her to kill sons

After the killings, Laney made a 911 call on her cellular phone and spoke in a very calm, matter-of-fact way. She told a dispatcher, I’ve killed my boys, Smith said.

She goes from a fetal position of crying, to walking around the cell singing gospel music. She stops and prays, and then she goes into a crying hysteria. Smith County Sheriff J. B. Smith said, She all of a sudden realizes what she’s done, then she’ll go into a flat-line, blank stare. Laney is under a suicide watch, according to The Associated Press.

Laney sang in the choir at the First Assembly of God Church, where her brother-in-law, Gary Bell, is the pastor, according to The Associated Press.

The city of Austin’s darkest hour actually lasted 96 minutes. On Aug. 1, 1966, sniper Charles Joseph Whitman killed and wounded dozens upon dozens of people from the observation deck of the University of Texas Tower.

Divorce

The rate of divorce presently is reported to be at or near 1 out of every 2 marriages. That is hard to accept, but what is even more shocking is that this percentage is reflected in both Christian marriages as well as non-Christian marriages!

Drugs/Alcohol

The rate of alcohol-related deaths in 2001 remained unchanged at 0.63 per 100 million –17,448 deaths.

According to the federal National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, in 1996 an estimated 110,640 people in the U.S. died due to alcohol.

In 1998 a total of 16,926 persons died of drug-induced causes in the United States. The category ‘drug-induced causes’ includes not only deaths from dependent and nondependent use of drugs (legal and illegal use), but also poisoning from medically prescribed and other drugs. It excludes accidents, homicides, and other causes indirectly related to drug use. Also excluded are newborn deaths due to the mother’s drug use. The total number of deaths in the US in 1998 was 2,337,256.

Violence/Acts of Rage

Blacks are disproportionately represented as both homicide victims and offenders. In terms of rates per 100,000, blacks are six times more likely to be victimized and about eight times more likely to commit homicide than are whites.

Males represent three-quarters of homicide victims and nearly ninety percent of offenders. In terms of rates per 100,000, males are three times more likely to be killed, and almost eight times more likely to commit homicide than are females.

Approximately one-third of murder victims and almost half the offenders are under the age of 25. For both victims and offenders, the rate per 100,000 peaks in the 18-24 years-old age group.

Reaping What We Have Sown

Prayer was removed from schools about 1971, and abortion became legally available a couple of years later. Prior to this time in history there were very few incidences of violence in schools. As a young boy, I remember playing splits with my jack-knife in the schoolyard during recess. But, something happened in our schools, with God and prayer being banned. Along with legalizing the killing of the unborn, maybe what we are seeing today is the harvest of the seeds of rebellion that our Supreme Court Justices have wrought on our children. I contend that the generation of children born after 1973, are the most gifted and talented generation of kids since the beginning of time, yet they are also the most violent. It is my belief that it is because of the actions taken in the early 1970’s by our Justices and is the only plausible explanation as to what has been manifesting through our youth. Do the research yourself. The following is just a short list of events, and there are many more documented cases. Prior the 1973, I could only find a handful of incidents where there is information pertaining to violence in the schools, and those were exclusively by adults.

December 30, 1974: Olean, New York - Honor student Anthony Barbaro, 18, brought guns and homemade bombs to his school this cold winter’s day. He set off the fire alarm and fired at janitors and responding firemen. The SWAT team found him asleep, listening to Jesus Christ Superstar on his headphones. He hanged himself while awaiting trial.

March 18, 1975: St. Louis, Missouri - A student quarrel in the hallway of the school led to the fatal shooting of Stephen Goods, 16. Stephen was not involved in the quarrel, just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Three youths were convicted for the homicide.

January 29, 1979: Using a new .22-caliber sniper rifle her dad gave her for Christmas, 5-foot-1 Brenda Spencer, 16, opens fire on the campus across the street from her home as students arrived for class. One of the first of the injured children was being helped by the school principal, Burton Wragg, who was killed by Brenda. Janitor Mike Suchar then went to aid the principal, but he too was shot down by the petite blonde girl. Monica Selug, Christy Burell, seven other students and Robert Robb, a police officer, were wounded. When asked by police why she started firing on the children, she replied, I don’t like Mondays. This livens up the day. On Tuesday, April 17, 2001, Brenda was denied parole and continues serving her 25-years-to-life sentence for this school attack.

March 2, 1987: 12 year old honor student Nathan Ferris in Missouri where he finally got tired of being teased. He brought a pistol to school and when a classmate made fun of him, he killed the other boy. He then turned the gun on himself. He had warned a friend not to attend school that day, signaling his plans, but no one had listened to this overweight loner.

May 1, 1992: Olivehurst, California - Eric Houston, 20, killed four people and wounded ten in an armed siege at his former high school in Olivehurst, California. Prosecutors said the attack was in retribution for a failing grade. Houston was convicted and was given a death sentence.

February 2, 1996: A 14-year-old boy wearing a trench coat walks into algebra class with a hunting rifle and allegedly opens fire, killing the teacher and two students. A third student is injured during the shooting at a junior high school in Moses Lake, Washington.

December 1, 1997: Three students are killed and five others wounded while they take part in a prayer circle in a hallway at Heath High School in West Paducah, Kentucky. A 14-year-old student pleads guilty but mentally ill to murder and is serving life in prison. One of the wounded girls is left paralyzed.

March 24, 1998: Four girls and a teacher are shot to death and ten others wounded during a false fire alarm at Westside Middle School in Jonesboro, Arkansas, when two boys, ages 11 and 13, open fire from the woods. Both are convicted in juvenile court of murder and can be held up to age 21.

May 21, 1998: Police in St. Charles, Missouri reported that three sixth-grade boys had a hit list and were plotting to kill fellow classmates on the last day of school in a sniper attack during a false fire alarm.

April 20, 1999: Two young men wearing long, black trench coats opened fire in a suburban high school in Littleton, Colorado, injuring as many as 20 students. In all, 15 were killed, including the two gunmen.

February 29, 2000: A first-grader in Mount Morris Township, Michigan, shot and mortally wounded another 6-year-old, one day after the two had quarreled in the schoolyard.

March 5, 2001: A 15 year old in Santee, California, kills two and wounds 15, after firing from a bathroom at Santana High School.

March 25, 2001: Miami, Florida - A 39-year-old nun was stabbed and beaten to death at an Eastern Orthodox Church school. An 18-year-old monk student was arrested and reportedly confessed to the murder.

January 18, 2002: Bradenton, FL - A 14-year-old male eighth-grader was arrested for possession of a loaded .380-caliber Baretta after he and three other males were observed acting suspiciously in a restroom and searched by school resource officers, who also recovered 1.8 grams of marijuana in each of a half-dozen baggies found on the students.

February 5, 2002: Speedway, IN - A 13-year-old male student was arrested after threatening to shoot and kill 10 students, the school’s principal and a teacher.

February 21, 2002: Cashmere, WA - A 14-year-old male high school student was arrested for allegedly stabbing a 16-year-old male student who had allegedly made racial slurs toward him. The victim was reportedly stabbed at least eight times in his back, side and chest.

As I have stated, these are only a small sampling of the casualties of spiritual warfare.

John H. Robertson

Engaging the Enemy

Ephesians 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. KJV

we wrestle not against flesh and blood One of the church’s greatest demands is to discern between the spiritual struggle and other social, personal, and political difficulties. Otherwise, individual believers and groups of believers become too easily detoured, wrestling with human adversaries instead of prayerfully warring against the invisible works of hell behind the scenes.

Heavenly places……. recalls references to:

1.    Spiritual resources available to the church (Eph. 1:3)

Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: KJV

2.    Christ’s authority over evil (Eph. 1:20-23)

Ephesians 1:20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, 21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: 22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, 23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. KJV

3.    The church (the bride) being seated together with her ascended groom (Jesus) (Eph. 2:6)

Ephesians 2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: KJV

4.    The Father’s will to