Following are snippets of the top stories posted over the past week on mycharisma.com. We encourage you to visit the links to read the stories in full.
Part 2: What’s the Difference Between Possession or Demonization?
To read the first of this two-part series, click here!
In the study of deliverance, one of the challenges we run into is making sense of the terminology. Definitions of terms can change a lot over the course of centuries, and somewhere along the way we began to misappropriate the terms we use to identify someone who is emotionally overcome by an evil spirit.
The Bible uses the words devil, demon and spirit interchangeably when discussing evil spirits. Meanwhile, the original Greek (that predates our modern Bibles) uses the term ‘demoniza’ to describe those whom they attack. Yet in modern Christianity we unintentionally misuse the word possession because the King James version translated that word in its place (Mark 5), as has nearly every other modern Bible translation that uses the KJV as its primary source.
When we think about the word ‘possessed’ in the context of modern English, we use the word as a condition that relates to being overcome to the point of total control or ownership. Likewise, when we consider someone overcome by an evil spirit in the context of our modern world, we immediately think of the movie The Exorcist. We picture someone whose flesh and soul—mind, will and emotions—are completely and totally overcome by a demon.
Get your FREE CHARISMA NEWSLETTERS today! Stay up to date with current issues, Holy Spirit news,
Christian teachings, Charisma videos & more!
Atheist Changes Mind About the Afterlife Following Heavenly Near-Death Experience
Jose Hernandez’s experience of dying and coming back to life changed him forever. What he thought was just a void into the darkness turned out to be an afterlife where he received the shock of his life.
After having the most peaceful and mesmerizing experience of seeing the heavenly realm, Hernandez saw his father, which completely changed his perspective and mended a broken heart.
“I see a man in the water. He’s like knee deep in the water and he’s got six children holding on to his right hand in a string, right? In a line. And one child on his left hand,” Hernandez said. “And I said, ‘Wow, that’s pretty amazing! Let me go down and see what that’s all about. So I moved down, and maybe I’m about 10 feet…15 feet away? And he turns around. That was my father.”
Jonathan Cahn Reveals the Connection Between Doritos and the Untilled Ground for the Gospel
In one of Jonathan Cahn’s sermons, he reveals the connection between something as simple as eating Doritos and the things God is still needing to change in our lives.
Cahn points out that when we fill ourselves up on junk food, we lose our desire for what is healthy and necessary for ourselves to live a clean lifestyle. So, it is the same with our spiritual lives as well. This illustration became clear to him after being convicted of his eating habits from none other than a small child.
“I hear a voice saying, ‘Jonathan!'” Cahn said. “It’s a little kid about 15 feet away from me…he says, ‘What are you doing?’ I said ‘what do you mean?’ He says, ‘You’re eating junk food. You should not be eating junk food.'”
Sign up NOW for a FREE Charisma Magazine Online 30-day trial!
Jonathan Cahn Provides the Blueprint for the End Times in ‘The Josiah Manifesto’
Jonathan Cahn’s new book The Josiah Manifesto, like all his books, contains a mystery but also a key, a blueprint and an answer to what Christians must do to stand and prevail in the current environment in the days ahead.
First, a disclaimer: I’m Cahn’s publisher (and loyal reader) so I’m not entirely objective. I was among the first to read The Harbinger back in 2011 and I’ve read each new book’s manuscript when it came in. To me, each is better than the one before. I personally didn’t think he could top The Return of the Gods which drew the attention of Glenn Beck and many others outside the normal group of Cahn fans. But he did it. This one is even better.
And apparently a lot of people agree. The book ended up as #9 of all books sold on Amazon.com on its release date, Sept. 5. It was #1 in three categories: Christian social issues, Christian eschatology and Christian spiritual warfare.
Messianic Rabbi: The Real Reason I Celebrate the Day of Trumpets
Every year at this time, a well-meaning Christian friend will ask me, “Why do you still celebrate the Feast of Trumpets?”
I know that they are not saying this to be offensive, or to be attacking my faith. These friends know that I am a Messianic Jew and, as such, I believe that Yeshua is the Messiah. In truth, it is the fact that I believe that Yeshua is the Messiah that causes these friends to ask the question. They are wondering why I would continue keeping these Jewish Holy Days if Yeshua fulfilled the Law and we are now in the New Covenant.
It is because I get asked this question every year that I thought I would write out my answer today, and I don’t think my answer will be the answer that you are expecting.
Join Charisma Magazine Online to follow everything the Holy Spirit is doing around the world!