Sneak Attack

Well, Carol and I have been hiding out for three weeks now (other than one deliverance two weeks ago). I have more time now than I’ve ever had in my life to do stuff, but it has been hard to get motivated to start any project. The grass needs to be cut, some touchup paint could be applied in the kitchen, and, of course, it is time to spray our cedar home with an insecticide before the carpenter bees reduce it to a block of Swiss cheese.

I am a voracious reader, researcher, and studier. This is normally a good thing, but, in these tumultuous times almost everything available on the news, etc. has to do with the thousands of people who have died from the virus and the hundreds of thousands who, the experts predict, will die in the next few months. This doesn’t help my mental health any.

Now, we are relatively safe. My Virginia children stepped up to the plate and brought us food for a while and now we are using a pickup service (we are learning about meal planning). For two fully mature people with the normal health issues that older people have, we are blessed. Though we are semi-retired we have enough money to pay our bills and I can still get up into the Blue Ridge Mountains on my motorcycle on beautiful days. I love the Appalachian spring. In short, considering what the rest of the world is experiencing, we are in good shape.

What I didn’t expect was a demonic attack. Now, I have been a Christian since I was seven years old, a total of 65 years. I’ve walked pretty closely with the Lord most of that time. I’ve had just about every role that one can have in the church, from janitor to senior pastor, and I consider myself to be an elder. I should have it together by now. The problem is, however, that about three weeks ago I found myself absolutely terrified by this virus. I couldn’t stop thinking about dying from respiratory failure (what would that be like?), about not having enough ventilators when I might need one (how unfair!). Would I be noble like the Catholic priest who gave away his ventilator to a younger man and then died? Did I want to be embalmed, cremated, or just left in a refrigerated truck somewhere? This led to wondering about what dying would be like. I know what the Bible says, but what is REALLY on the other side? Is there a God? If so, is he like the God that I thought I knew? What if there was nothing? What would it be like to experience that? Where had my strong Christian faith gone? The thoughts wouldn’t stop.

After a few days, I was sure that there was a spiritual component to all of this (DUH!) so I kept trying to tell it to go away, but it wouldn’t, at least not for long. Fortunately, three weeks ago my team and I had a deliverance and I asked one of my colleagues whether he saw anything on me. He did. I asked him to help me get rid of it. He told it to go and it did. It took about 30 seconds.

Why couldn’t I do that? For whatever reason, sometimes when you are being attacked it is hard to muster up the authority to overcome the enemy. As part of Christ’s body, we need each other. Since that thing left I have to admit that I am still worried, primarily for my kids and their families who are still running around working, etc., am still not sure whether I want to be cremated or embalmed, but am pretty sure that I won’t end up in a refrigerated truck. In short, I don’t know what the future holds, but I know who promises never to leave me or forsake me. That’s good enough for me.

You know, over in 2 Timothy 1:7 it says that our God has not given us a spirit of fear (or timidity) but of power, love, and self-discipline. This doesn’t mean that God doesn’t allow us to be worried, which is a reasonable response to this crisis. It says that God didn’t give us a SPIRIT of fear (the same word that is used elsewhere in the Bible for breath, breeze, angel, demon, God, and the Holy Spirit). This is not an emotion. It is a demonic creature that comes upon us to torment us. It drives us far beyond our ability to be reasonable and into a loss of emotional control, well beyond our ability to exercise self-discipline. That’s what happened to me.

I think I opened the door by my wanting to know all about this virus all the time. The newspapers, TV, the internet, etc. didn’t help as it drove us (me) to be more and more afraid. Rather than standing upon my Lord, I yielded first to concern, then worry, then fear, then fixation, and then finally terror. When I did, guess who was waiting for me there? It wasn’t our Savior.

I am better now. Thank you, Jesus.

Virtual Freedom

So, what is Spiritual Interventions, Inc. doing now? Well, we’ve stopped doing face-to-face deliverances as we are all supposed to stay home. Most of those who were scheduled for deliverance have asked to be put on a waiting list for when we start again. A few have opted for a virtual deliverance. We have started doing deliverance via Zoom. We can’t stop as the need continues to grow, especially amid the overwhelming fear that has gripped our country. We want to be there for those who need us. The enemy is experiencing a field day in the life of those who are believers and those who are not. Remember to pray for us, and for them.

Last week we did our first virtual deliverance and it went well. Our client sent me an email today. He said,

“I had the privilege of being the first remote/virtual deliverance session. I had experienced deliverance before so I knew what to expect. I also have enough confidence that God is powerful enough to work through means such as a computer. If we can let demonic influences in through TV and PCs then, by all means, is Jesus lord of the screen! He redeems all things, including a man (or woman) who is looking to regain lost ground in the spiritual, emotional, relational, mental, and physical thing we call life. I found that He did restore my soul as in Psalm 23. Thank you, Dave Appleby and team.”

I’ve never done deliverance via Zoom before, but I am impressed with the technology and with God’s faithfulness. We are excited about doing this. It also opens the possibility to others who want to learn how to do deliverance but who can’t come to Lynchburg, VA for training. Now those folks can sit in on sessions, regardless of where they live. That could be fun.

If you are feeling overwhelmed and think that the issue is spiritual please let me know so we set up a session with you. Most of my team members are quarantined, just as you are.

I love all you guys and are praying for your safety and for God’s provision for you.