Halloween and Spiritual Warfare - Interview with Derek Mason

welcome back to another episode of Christian Natural Health today I'm very pleased to have Derrik Mason with us Derek is the founder and president of

identity in Christ Incorporated in identity in Christ media his ministry has also helped individuals break free

from enslavement to pornography PTSD schizophrenia Suicidal Thoughts severe depression and addictions one of very

few pastors delving deeply into the study and teaching of spiritual warfare today drik addresses the very real and

dark spiritual forces at work in the world today and employs a biblically grounded appr approach that has

consistently helped hundreds he also offers extensive experience in counseling and deliverance to support

many in finding lasting freedom and healing Derek currently um serves as an associate pastor at Grace Bible Church

in Mineral Point Wisconsin and is the assistant director at base camp USA welcome Dereck thanks for joining us

thank you Dr Lauren for having me pleasure to be here absolutely so uh first before we kind of get into

spiritual warfare specifically let's talk a little bit about Halloween since that's you know topical at the moment so

from a Christian perspective there's a division in terms of should we celebrate

should we not is this just like innocent fun is this opening doors to the devil

what would you say to people who are on the fence about this issue or maybe people who are already on one side or

the other yeah there's this is a the time that we're in right now I've I keep

hearing from Christians it's just seems like a a time of either incredible confusion well it's confusion period but

either either people just kind of disconnect it seems like and and totally give up on on it and there's even more

discussions not only in Halloween but you even have it with Christmas and Easter and so forth also but um or you

you have people that are kind of the angry I rate kind of more

confrontational and I I think that really there's a middle ground that that is really more biblical and that is that

if we're supposed to be light in the world I don't think we really have the option to just stop playing to just

disconnect from this world I mean we don't have to play the game the same way that everybody else does we are supposed

to reflect the image and likeness of Christ and if we are being Christians like we're called into that's embracing

God's spirit as presence which should be transforming us from the inside out to begin with and so therefore number one

we shouldn't be afraid of any of the things that are happening I've heard people before where they've said you know former occult people have said you

know you shouldn't be having your kids even out there in the trick-or-treating because they they pray over the candy

and curse it and stuff and I'm like if you're embracing the presence of God

that has no bearing on you now if you're not doing that you might be vulnerable as far as to those efforts then but the

point is is this is that if if we really are going to be Christians the way that we're called into it then no I I don't

think that we should completely disconnect we can do it in a way that uh

honors God we can dress up his Biblical characters if we want to but I mean I

think that that's something that is a great way to do it because then when people ask they say who are you you can

go into the some of the Bible stories and stuff and to be able to actually be a light in the darkness it can still be

a fun thing we can interact with people and to be able to meet them where they are because there's an incredible

message with Halloween about Darkness about this element of spiritual realm

and stuff and because the other side of it is in this world is that people either they completely neglect the

spiritual realm where they say it doesn't exist or there's a spirit around every corner and under every Rock right

and I don't think that that's the two extremes either I think that there's some place in the midle in the middle of

that is where truth is but we can actually speak into that Darkness with an incredible message of what Christ has

done with the gospel that there is hope that there is life and light even in the midst of the chaos yeah I love the

balance in that message so as you're talking what popped into my head was the idea of Paul's talking about eating meat

sacrific to idols and how people can go on one extreme or another we should follow our conscience but we shouldn't

condemn other people whose consciences say something different than yours does make sure that you're following the Lord

you see this as being at all similar I do I do yeah I so there's so many things

that people they they think that they're honoring God by by holding on to their own what they have and really what that

is is just a controlling effort uh to be able to keep control in our lives we're

supposed to be servants we're not supposed to be controlling things and to be able to to just protect what it is

that we have we're supposed to be going to meet people where they are and teach them about what we know yeah and so it

seems like in order to have the kind of confidence that you're describing to find that middle ground and to not

indulge in the fear and um you know opening up to the occult and the

glorification of death and the devil and all that but at the same time to find that middle ground you have to really

know the scriptures well so that you can not be deceived right it's it's a combination you definitely have to know

truth which is in the scriptures number one but we also have to know relationship with God which is

experiential so they both have to be there if we just have the truth we have

the danger of being Pharisees but if you have relationship then you've got Christ who is both the truth and the scriptures

and also the Holy Spirit having that relationship with God right and so for

people who are still concerned about the Pagan Roots why would you say it's not necessary to be to to keep your distance

from something that has Pagan roots and as you said I've heard people talk about the same thing with Christian or um with um Christmas and also with Easter simply

because of where why those dates were chosen and their Pagan foundations what would you say to that

concern we've got to we need to know our boundaries um we need to know what God basically says not to cross number one

um we should never be opening up um ourselves to anything spiritually you

know I I'm a person that even kind of giving an example um something like yoga

in my opinion I don't mind the stretching and stuff I don't think that that's dangerous at all if we want to

use the stretching that that's there but when you start going into meditation that actually opens up yourself to an

energy source that's this light and bring it in and allow for it to dwell within and glow

within if you want to do that you better make sure that that's Christ the holy spirit that it's it's God the only one

and true God otherwise you are opening yourself up to a possibility of of something coming in and and on a on a

spiritual demonic level that you're putting yourself in Jeopardy so we got to know the boundaries of what we can't

cross but once we do have that then I we don't we don't need to fear

what it is that's out there we're not in any danger or anything as long as we don't cross those boundaries um and but

again I I don't think because we completely neglect really any kind of talk about the spiritual realm people

are just terrified of it in general and so they just they're like well I'm just going to stay away from it completely

and same thing with Christmas why don't we get back to what Christmas is about

why don't we get back to um the purpose of Halloween and bring the Christian

message into it but I think we need to understand what we need to be afraid of um um and it's definitely not the

Demonic side of things as long as we respect the boundaries that God has put up for us that's what's important yeah

absolutely So speaking of the idea of opening up a door to the spirit realm so

we're told that we're not supposed to give place to the devil and we're supposed to flee when from from Satan's

attacks and things like that what kinds of things are dancing on that line that you've seen um and that scripture tells

us are potentially opening the door to a realm that we don't want to allow access

yeah um there's a lot I mean one of them I I just kind of talked about with like yoga kind of stuff um what I would say

some of the biggest things that I see I mean first of all when a when a person it's one thing open doors are generally

going to be in um one of three different areas so it's going to be either in uh

traum so extreme pain abuse things like that those are a lot of times things that we really can't control uh the

things that happen more to us as opposed to you know protecting ourselves from it the second one would be more of I think

what would apply here as to what our discussion is and that is willful uh invitation so opening up these doors to

something else to come in and the third one would be generational so it's a former generation that basically has had one of those two things happen so the

point is that you know in the area that I live in which is around the not too far from the Madison area uh you do have

a lot of Witchcraft that's going on here that's a very common thing and I know that it's it's not just here either that

it's all over the place and there's a lot of different reasons for it but people do it a lot of times because they want to you know it's cute now you can

identify with nature and a lot of times people that they're like you know I do identify with nature there's peace

that's there and there's you know Beauty that's there and and I don't I don't disagree with any of that stuff but that

uh that's what I want to tap into and I connect with that and stuff but but when they go into this part of the energies

that that I'm going to become one with that and opening ourselves up in meditation to become one with the

energies within creation that's where you start getting into problems with that invitation side of it and

ultimately spiritual issues end up coming from a very root source of

idolatry and that is that we're looking to make gods in places that we shouldn't

be looking there's only one God and when we are trying to control whether it be through Power whether it through

identity whether it be through purpose or whatever the case is that's where we're getting into to issues to problems

and stuff especially on that willful surrender that that invitation part of it playing around with things like Ouija

boards and stuff that's that can definitely be dangerous even the tarot cards the depends on how deep you go

with even with the uh the the fortune t and stuff like that um but yeah those

are all things that absolutely can be dangerous um and you need to you need to

be smart to not go down those paths if again if we're opening ourselves up to

invite something to come in us that's where the danger is period if you're

going to end up dressing up and you're watching scary movies and stuff all of those things here's the deal we put junk

in you're going to get junk out it's the same thing I was looking at some of your ministry and stuff and there's a lot of

similarities between what you do and what I do you know from the physical um realm to the spiritual realm and even

crossover that ends up happening there but if you're putting junk in yeah you're going to get junk out I mean how

can you expect to to have a strong spiritual life when you're constantly putting in things of darkness and

violence and all of that stuff now it might not open a door for a spiritual

element to get in but it still has an influence on where your mind goes and where your peace is and stuff and so

yeah I I would recommend that if you're going to be strong spiritually then yeah

you need to be putting good stuff in if you want to end up having that strength that that confidence in love and life

and that's where some of the other part of it comes in too is where people end up they try to to do that with Christ

but they also of getting that with like the word but then they also try to control everything because to make

things their way instead of surrendering to God and then you get this this you know control irritation anger

condescending you know higher than everybody else talking down to people and stuff and that's not going to Bear

good fruit either we know that we're embracing God's presence in a way that really does that that he calls us into

is when we bear fruit that is in the image and likeness of Christ the fruit of the spirit absolutely so um back to

the idea of knowing where the lines are so in the Old Testament there was the irum and the thumm that people would use

for guidance but when the Holy Spirit came we're not supposed to use that anymore and he's got specific ways that

we're we as Believers are supposed to seek guidance and I the way I view this

is kind of anytime you go outside the what God prescribes as this is the way that I will communicate with you and if

you open yourself up to getting guidance from the universe like um synchronic

things like that both sides can play that game is kind of the way I view that so it that's the way in which it's

opening up a door because you don't know who's talking to you would you would you agree with that assessment yeah yeah I

mean it's it really does come down to the spiritual side of things you know I mean God is a spiritual being especially

in the father and and uh in the Holy Spirit side of it even Jesus to a

certain degree at this point right now today but either way the point is this that he is a spiritual being he created

us as spiritual and physical beings and in that spiritual realm we are united

with him and so we have this incredible honor to be able to be United with God

in a way that no other creature really has in all of creation at least according to what the Bible says and so

yeah if we don't protect that there are evil elements that can come in destructive and and fill that spots that

that can unify with us spiritually and so yeah we got to protect that like you said we don't need to go to outside

things the urm the thumim or any of those things because um we have the Holy Spirit of God we don't have to go to

Saints we don't have to go to any kind of mediators that are in between us and God we have a direct line to God through

his spirit and yes there are some places that go really extreme with it and that

freaks some people out so they they don't want to go to that place but then you got like I said the other side that

just totally neglects it and stuff and again both of those neglects where the

power is of Christianity it is in the spirit of God so you're right we need to learn how to embrace that relationship

with the spirit of God and protect it to make sure that we don't end up inviting anything else in God operates not as far

as in in uh control he operates in uh he gives us um a choice he calls us into it

we have to invite him in but we also have the choice where we can invite other things in and stuff and there's a

consequence for that right yeah absolutely and you've alluded a few times to some of the dangers of falling

off like the other side of the horse as far as the spiritual warfare Ministry so and demons around every corner kind of a

thing so what are some of the dangers that you see there um so I got to walk really

carefully not to get too uh not to get too specific but um one part of it that

I have seen is is like this um this belief that you have to speak in tongues

in order to be able to even battle in the spiritual realm that's not true it's not true the speaking in tongu is

absolutely a gift I do believe that God still gives it's not a gift though that he gives to everybody it's something

it's one of many different gifts and yes we will have different gifts but when you see like people that are are saying

you know I had a person that yesterday that I'm I'm counseling and she she comes from that kind of side of the

movement she's like you know I I didn't have it at first and I was praying for it and you know adamantly and I'm

opening up it's opening a door because it's not asking for God to to bring her into what he created or for she's not

trusting him in it and she's inviting something in that she wants it's her control and that can be also an Open

Door of coming in and and that's what she said she said I do speak in tongues now she goes I don't feel though that

it's something that's really from God and I said if it leads you into a place of darkness and and chaos in confusion

than it probably isn't God actually and that's something now that we've got to get out so um yeah I mean that's that's

another side of another side of it is this is that I see in Deliverance Ministries the problem is is that they

just focus in on Deliverance so it's not the difference between deliverance and

an exorcism an exorcism would be somebody that is spiritually um uh

possessed so controlled they they've lost control basically um Deliverance

addresses spiritual influence and so which is more dangerous CU it's not

always very detectable I me you're pretty it's pretty clear if you need an exorcism but Deliverance is something

that is very a lot more subtle and stuff but it can drive people to really dark places of depression deep depression and

suicide and and hopelessness and stuff and a lot of times they don't even recognize that there's a spiritual

element that's contributing to that so they don't ever even Explore it or anything but here's what I see is when

they go too far to that that one side of a spirit behind everything is often they

just they they just pray over a person they yell and scream and stuff whatever they command it to come out in the

authority of Christ they do not have any understanding of the open doors of where it came in the purpose of the things

that are there and uh basically the how that even got there in the first place

and the other the other part of it is that they don't have any counseling afterwards to help them Rec condition

their lives cuz that presence was there and just like anything when we have a certain presence in our life even if

it's friends or or whatever it is then it conditions us a certain way the way that we think the way that we talk and

act and so you can remove that spiritual presence but those conditioned elements are still there so what I often hear is

people say yeah the Deliverance was great for like a week or two and and then all of a sudden I started slipping

back into my old ways and I feel like I'm kind of right back to where I was and if it doesn't get any kind kind of

help to recondition things yeah other things can end up coming through that same open door and so it doesn't last

and it's not God that doesn't last it's that we're not embracing what God calls us into and that is a journey he pulls

us out of Egypt takes us through the Wilderness to bring us into the promised land and the promised land is where

we're able to defeat the Giants to defeat the enemy the powerful enemy that comes against us but we got the power of

God the one that can destroy Nations the most powerful nations in the world or power doesn't come from us it comes from

God the whole journey helps us to humbly Embrace his presence to allow for that

to recondition us to bring us into a way of releasing control of humbly

surrendering to God we'll find that his Spirit grows in us and gives us a thirst for his word we recognize his actions in

our life he will illuminate triggers and wounds spiritually that have happened in

the past and help us to learn learn how to overcome those things and establish ways to embrace our identity in Christ

which is a whole different way of living from what we're used to yeah so two thoughts there so um as you're

describing the idea of if you don't deal with the root issue other things can come back in reminds me of when Jesus

was describing like the with you cast out the demon and you don't actually replace it with the Holy Spirit then

seven other Spirits more wicked than itself will come back which is very much like if you have a a bacterial infection

and you give antibiotics especially like some of the nuclear warhead antibiotics that wipe out all the good stuff the

very next thing you know even if it's not that same infection that comes back it's some other infection and there's

tons of opportunistic imbalances and now you've got all kinds of cleanup to do if you're not actually dealing with the

underlying piece so it's true in multiple Realms where you have to actually deal with the root issue and

also the other piece too that I was thinking of as you were describing this is from the standpoint of Supernatural healing too sometimes people will say

that if they get healed if they they may end up having the same things come back if you don't deal with why it happen in

the first place you have to actually look at the where have the natural laws been violated and Shore up those

deficiencies so that you can actually move forward into an area of health and freedom for sure yeah we play a role in

the process we have to do our part we have to do our part and if we neglect that and we just want a flip of the

switch kind of a you know a solution it's not going to happen that's not the way it works and that's not the gospel

in any way Jesus says follow me he doesn't say just say the magic prayer and then go back to your old way of life

yeah exactly follow me right you have to become a disciple so how do you go about identifying in a situation where

somebody is dealing with a lot of dark thoughts and you know um depression suicidality some of the other stuff that you described how do you tease apart

what's spiritual what's like false beliefs that maybe you're generating yourself and maybe Satan has no no arm

in this anymore uh versus there's a physical problem like your blood sugar is out of balance or you've got

neurotransmitter imbalances or something along those lines is there a way for you to identify there's a demon involved here yeah yeah and again it's very

similar to your to your profession you know I had heard you had said that you have kind of a process an extensive

questioning process and stuff that they go through and it's very similar I'm asking them questions I'm looking for

open doors I'm looking for red flags um those that's the first area of it and

then I have a second area that I'll come back to but um the the open doors and red flags we already talked about open

doors I'm looking for areas that basically that that could possibly be there I'm exploring their past their uh

their youth they're growing up even as far as their parents what they know maybe about them what kind of a lifestyle that they ended up leading

leading and if there's possible doors that are there if there was abuse and stuff like that also or any kind of

dabbling in a cult at least that they knew about um but once I know the open doors and I'm kind of making a list is

there any open doors that are there number two red flags or other places that I'm looking at and I have a list

that I actually listed on my website it's also in the book and stuff that uh that I ended up writing and so the list

is basically things like the biggest one number one is suicide if a person is wrestling with

suicide I it's in it's my opinion I had my spiritual director that actually taught me and trained me when I first

started going to him I wanted to learn what he did and stuff and he said every time there's a suicidal issue that's

there there's always a demonic element that's there and I I didn't agree with that when I first ended up hearing that

but I wasn't the expert he was you know and I it's that's again the arrogance that we can often have that we're like

we're not even we don't have any knowledge about this and that's what what I think the more that I've done this the more that I agree with them in

every case that I have ever dealt with which is many many many many many many hundreds of people there's always a

demonic element that's attached to it people don't want to die they're hopeless they feel like they're trapped

in that there's no hope that there's no Escape they don't want to die they just can't stand living the same way that

they have been living and the ways that that's been there and so um either way I

could be incorrect but what I'm saying is is ultimately it is a red flag that I

think at least warrants further exploration is all I'm saying so it's a red flag if I see that depression is

another one that that that can be other elements that are contributing and stuff to it but regardless it still in my

opinion warrants at least further exploration um extreme anger extreme

anger extreme um whether it be uh lust or perverted thoughts and stuff

perverted thoughts extreme perverted thoughts are often things that are linked to sexual abuse and that's

something that all o will drive people away because they're ashamed of it they're like I've had this abuse I have

these thoughts that I'm not proud of but they're in there and who are they going to talk to people in their Church the

people in their church are only going to judge them and they're going to basically say you stay away from that person they can't be part of their

children's program do you hear what they ended up saying or what they're doing and I'm not saying this to just make an

excuse where a person can say well Satan made me do it but when you go through a Deliverance part of the reason why I

want to find out what the purpose of that element is in there is so that they can see I want them to hear that there's

something telling them I'm here to plant these perverted thoughts in their head and when we remove it then it goes away

and that's amazing I mean it can be a little bit the condition reconditioning also it takes a little bit longer with

that particular issue but still it does go away whereas before that it feels

like a wall that they can't get past but Extreme areas so things that don't

warrant they're basically places of of major triggers things that that take it to a level that doesn't warrant the

level that they went to where um so those are the kind of things uh even

jealousy abandonment areas also like um schizophrenia is another one that often

that I will look at uh that's often a place something that I have found that often is linked to abuse extreme abuse

usually when I keep pushing when a person says I've been diagnosed with schizophrenia and stuff first of all I want to find

out what are the the details of that that diagnosis that they have but then also asking have you been abused have I

mean and almost always it's something pretty extreme or something that's in their family it's pretty extreme

alcoholism drug abuse those kind of things also it's not so much the drug abuse it's not a demon of drug abuse not

a demon of alcohol addiction or anything like that it's they're running from something something is they're running

from it so I that's what I'm looking for I'm looking for yep looking away for way or to what is that the other thing that

I do is with the process that I I have them take a personality test the personality test helps me to be able to

see how they think how they process the chaos in the world we all have a way of

doing it and if anybody that's ever whether it be dated or married anybody for an extended period of time you know

we often can be attracted to people that are not exactly how we are they don't have the same way of processing and

thinking and stuff and we think it's cute at first because it's different the problem is over time when we live with

them or we're around them a long time then it starts that the cuteness kind of Fades away now it's an irritation right

and and we so often when I'll do marital counseling people will say you know well

if he or if she would just be more like me we'd get along better and I'm like well that ain't going to happen first of

all so we need to we need to figure out what how do you process things how do

you think uh in the chaos and we all do have a different way of doing it and so I use a personality test that helps us

to be able to do that and that also helps to illuminate where we have a tendency to to create Idols idolatry

little Gods basically in our life and what I find is that if there is something spiritual that's in there um

that it's targeting those things and bringing them to a very unhealthy place

and so all of that information then helps me to determine number one whether a Deliverance is necessary and if it is

then I have kind of an idea of what we're probably looking for once we get in there that part's really fascinating

this idea that personality will help you Zone in on where somebody's weak links might be so um a lot of times people

will ask me if they find themselves under stress why does it manifest like this for me but all these other people

who are in the similar situation don't have the same symptoms that I have and I usually explain that when you're under

stress whatever your weak link is that's what snaps but everybody's a little bit different and so also in the same idea

of not everybody's going to be tempted by the same types of sins or the same types of thoughts it has to do with

something that is specific to you in some way and so that sounds like that's almost part of your personality to say

where are your susceptibilities essentially absolutely yep absolutely and it's so powerful I've had people

before for that um so I use What's called the anagram and there are people that they say I don't like it cuz it's

got a cult background to it and stuff like that and some Christians I've had Publishers for the book that or I should

say it shouldn't wasn't Publishers there were agents that told me they said there are Publishers that won't touch this

just because the anagram and they said you know can you take that out and I said I can't I I can't because number

one the way I use it like yoga I use it if it was yoga equalent I use the

stretches I don't use the meditations all I'm using is the it's information in

and it's spitting something out to me that's it I don't take it any further than that that is extremely accurate and

it is yeah exactly what you said it illuminates things where people say I don't understand why is this something

I'm wrestling with and they think it's a God thing like they've done something wrong I have my wife was somebody that

was was led to believe that that in her upbringing that there was something wrong with her and there wasn't anything

wrong with her she's just different she's just has a different way of processing it than things life than the

people that were around her when she was growing up but it was kind of she felt at least like there was something wrong

with her there's nothing wrong with her and I find that a lot with the people that I work with and when you help them

to understand that they help it it helps them to also understand the gifts that God has given them and also um how to

bring that into a healthy place what does that look like when you're operating in a healthy place and once

you have that then also you then can see what does it look like when you're not in a healthy place and then we can

explore well what maybe happen to bring you over into that place and it just lights up like a like a firework when

when we start going down that path and they're like I never had anybody tell me this stuff and walk through this this

stuff is amazing it's so powerful and helpful I've had people that have helped

their marriages helped uh their spiritual side of things their work

environment churches and how to be able to work with each other and stuff and so when people say you know the anagram is

evil it's not evil it actually is something that I know for a fact God led me to as a as a source there's no power

in it it's just information but it's information it's a very powerful tool to help us to be able to to heal right and

I feel like there's a sort of an underlying thread of a lot of what we've talked about is the fact that at least

the way that I conceptualize it is that all truth is God's truth everything that bears good fruit has his fingerprints on

it so anything can be corrupted Satan can come in and twist the best of gifts

that God has given us but that doesn't make the core of it problematic and we need to make sure that we're not throwing the baby out with the bath

water like there's there is something that is very useful in all of those things and there's I've never heard of

the inogram per se but um there's other personality tests besides that one but

yeah absolutely I think there's there's some tools that I typically use that a lot of people will shy away from because they think there might be a spiritual

element to it and the way I typically view that is the eating food sacrific to Idols type of a thing if your conscience

tells you no okay I'll try to find another way around this but it does kind of tie my hands a little bit if I can't use some of

those so yeah for sure totally true yeah and what a great point I mean I even

look at the Bible you know have people use the Bible and ways that have brought evil absolutely me tons that doesn't

mean that the Bible is evil either so yeah for sure so um what are would you

say that there are any kind of extra biblical teachings out there surrounding the area of spiritual Deliverance

Ministry that might be dangerous like you possibly overemphasizing Satan's

power to the detriment of the power that God has given us kind of a thing yeah

yeah I you know that's a great point right there of what you just said I mean it's there there is a balance to finding

and working with God I I always say that we know that we're on the right track when we can Embrace a place of Power

Authority but also peace and love and joy and hope and so we're going to know

if we're on the right track or not but yeah I I have some people that that you know they they claim to be these amazing

spiritual Warriors for the kingdom of God and yet you can tell they're just filled with anger and fear and they're

just afraid of everything you know they're afraid of they're afraid of everything out there that is not the way

that they like the world ultimately and I'm like you have the power of God that

lives within you Jesus wasn't afraid of even lepers or any of the stuff that

that when he came here and he met them with love and so if we're being filled with fear and anxieties and and anger

and hate and and disunity and stuff and because it's my right or my you know

this is my world that's being St stole from me or taken from me that's all

that's not God that is absolutely we've let Satan get a foothold somehow in

there that fear and control and stuff is something that that we are um being

plagued by and so if if that's why the book that I have is kind of structured

in a way where it's you have to have foundational pieces that are there and you got to know what those foundational

pieces are what we were created for and what how what God intended us for and a purpose and and really that purpose it

kind of starts in in the book of saying God created us for a purpose and then it walks through it says and we're on a

journey and we have to understand that our perspective how we see things is going to have a result also in how we

live and how we act and how we think and everything and so that's what he did in

the Exodus he changed their perspective he taught them how to live differently

and if we do that what God is doing is he's going to bring us into being a kingdom of priests which is what you see

in Revelation you see it in a lot of different places in the Bible but especially like Deuteronomy but also

then talked about in Revelation these are book ends that you see this and we are meant to be people that have the

power of God with the peace of God and the light and the truth truth of God and yes there will be healing and

restoration incredible things that allow for him to work through us but we have to align ourselves with him also at the

same point and yeah so I I see most of it is is chaotic it's chaotic fear-based

that everything is afraid of things know the boundaries know what your purpose is

know what God calls us into respect those boundaries and know where your power comes into know how you know when

you're tapped into that and if you have that you can face I've had some situations exorcisms and some really

really really scary things that are movie worthy and um and I've been able

to have peace with it because on the journey God continues to show that I'm with you you got nothing to fear we stay

in that we respect those boundaries then we can we can face amazing power of the

enemy of Satan's realm and stuff and and not have to worry at all not have to fear greater is he who's in us than he

who's in the world absolutely um what is from a practical standpoint what does putting on our Spiritual armor look like

like Paul talked about in Ephesians yeah so I have a whole uh chapter that's dedicated to the armor of God and it is

an it's an awesome awesome awesome chapter and I there's so many people that know Ephesians 6 you know and they

talk about it you got to armor up and stuff and um and that's great but I I always whenever if if I would and I

don't go out challenging people but I know that if I would ask them or and I have done it with people I've counseled

how do you do that how do you put on that Armor of God and that's where it just goes quiet where they're like I'm

not sure I understand the question well how do you make it real how do you put that on okay do you just talk about it

then is it just something that you claim it name it and claim it kind of thing and you think that that's all that it is

or how do you really tap into it because Paul keeps saying pick it up and put it on and the whole thing all of it and so

a very quick overview of it is um knowing the original languages there are

and again this is in the book that that there is an envelope which is a a a style of writing hebraic style of

writing that is carried over Paul is a Hebrew and he carries it over into the the Greek so you see it in the Greek

language which is the original language It Was Written in but there's this envelope that circles around the fourth

element and the first three elements and the way that I see that is that the fourth element which is the shield of

Faith includes the first three elements make up the shield of Faith how do we

have a shield of faith that ends up extinguishing all of the Flaming darts

and arrows that the evil one will will send at us and the answer is is that we

have to know we have to have the belt of Truth the breastplate of righteousness and the gospel of peace that makes our

feet ready as far as for whatever it is that comes against us they all overlap with each other it's not just you know

segmented comp compartmentalized they do definitely overlap but truth is what God

is and that's the that's why it's first number one the belt is something that holds on your clothes ultimately keeps

things in place but truth is that's that's the if you want to simplify the situation that we're in this Fallen

World it's a battle of Truth and deception and deception is not flat out

lies it's partial truth but partial lie also and so that's where Satan's power

is more than anything so in order to be able to fight against deception we have to know the truth and like what you were

talking about you do have to know the word of God absolutely which does come back into the gospel of peace as well

and the breastplate of righteousness is shown to us in God's word that we don't

find our righteousness in ourselves it's not what I have done to create my righteousness is what Jesus has done I

tap into that through faith and then also with the gospel of peace as well we need to understand that peace is never

going to come into this world until Jesus worldwide peace until Jesus comes again in judgment doesn't mean that we

can't tap into his peace internally until then in fact that's what I would say he says that in this world you're

going to have trouble but in me you will have peace I have overcome the world and

so when we understand truth truth is also something of belt of truth is putting it on like a Jersey it's like

the colors that we wear that this is who I belong to I'm of the truth I had a person that I was counseling and and she

worked at a hospital and she said you know um she said I I believe in Jesus I

I go to church and I study scriptures and stuff and she goes but you know something I've been convicted of

recently is just that I'll often just kind of Steal batteries basically from

the hospital because it's just it's a hospital I mean they're not going to miss it you know and and it nobody's

going to going to know and and they're expensive and they don't pay me a ton and stuff and I'm like okay you do

understand that this is a test and this is exactly where Satan is trying to get his foot in the door with you that maybe

it does seem you can marginalize it you can rationalize it you can you can minimize it and stuff but here's the

thing you have to decide are you going to be which team are you going to play for are you going to play for the truth or are you going to play for deception

and that's deception over there and so you can say that you're of God but if you're doing that first of all there is

somebody who sees that and it's God and it's not a matter of condemnation it's

truth he sees what you are claiming to be a part of and so if we really are

part of that has to also believe that he's going to provide for us that he is going to be there with us that that all

of those it we become something different we start to become part of the light the truth and so all those areas

when we know our righteousness it's in Christ Our identity is in Christ when we know the peace is in Christ and how to

tap into that also and that it is also the truth of it that it's a battle of deception and truth and we really truly

are are tapping into that then we can pick up a shield of faith that actually

has the power to extinguish those flaming darts and then the word that often is said is uh in the in most

translations is then uh put on the helmet of salvation but it actually

literally means receive it receive the helmet of salvation or or of Deliverance

and so what that is is that Satan has no grip on us anymore none and the helmet

of it our mind are it is a battle of the mind that's what Paul talks about that it's a battle of the mind taking every

thought captive to The Obedience of Christ and so we receive the helmet of

salvation and then we get the power of the spirit to to pick up then the sword of the spirit and now it's an offensive

weapon to to not beat people down with it the offense is to fight against the enemy and if we're of the truth the only

enemy it's not people it's Satan and so all of these things if we know how to

then and to pick it up and to use that then the first you have to in order to get the helmet of salvation the sword of

the spirit to pray in a way that's powerful that God answers that prayer and to be healers and War Warriors for

the kingdom of God we've got to have a shield of Faith before we get that second part we've got to get that first

part first so we need to we need to be teaching this stuff in our churches more

and helping people to really tap into this learning how to put it on how to

how to live in the power that God gives us because that's what Paul says if you're going to win this battle you have

to tap yourself into the only thing that will defeat our enemy and that is the power of God and that's been the case

ever since the Exodus also it's the same thing y yep absolutely so what have I

not asked you that you want to make sure you leave with our audience I would say the the big thing that that the whole

point of why I even wrote This Book Is that I I just felt that um I felt that

even the Deliverance Ministry and the spiritual warfare Ministry was lacking in in long-term enduring salvation and

freedom in Christ and stuff and so I want to basically to encourage people

that God is still here and he's still working in powerful ways the book that I

wrote is something that's not just for pastors it's not just for elders or leaders in the church it's for everybody

because every one of us have access to this power and every one of us are called into this journey when I was

called into to doing spiritual warfare I didn't want to get into this stuff I was just I felt God working in my life he

pulled me out of the business world and then brought me into being a pastor and I'm going down that path and it was a

violent transition for me which brought me into darkness and even wrestling with suicide and stuff and that put a passion

in my heart to learn how to deal with what it was that I was going through and

ultimately what what I got to is I'm like I after reading some of the stuff I'm like I don't want to deal with this

and I could I heard God specifically say I don't I don't care what you want to do

you're going to learn this and uh because people need this people need many pastors are not learning this stuff

and I'm not saying that to condemn them I'm saying that you have no excuse now you got a book that is written

specifically purposefully very simply it's not complex language or or theology

it's very simplified and it's written in a way that anybody can understand it can

can comprehend it and it's laid out in a way so that anybody can pick this stuff up and the point Here's the the the

point is is this is that anybody that's struggling with Darkness you're not without hope you're not trapped and your

only option is not to take your life it is not the only option you have an

option we have the power as Christians to make a difference and to rescue people out of the darkness we're the

only ones that really have that power and that ability to truly bring them into the real life that we were all

created for that's why I wrote the book because I felt like there really wasn't a lot of um sources out there that

really gave longterm enduring freedom and so it's an encouragement and I would

encourage people to learn this stuff and if we do you're going to find God working through you no matter who you

are whether it's a pastor or a person even that's newer to the faith you're going to find yourself tapping into his

presence and have him working through you in extremely powerful ways it's an

awesome Journey fantastic so the book is embracing our full victory in Christ where can people get that and where can

people learn more about you so the the website for our uh the counseling

Ministry is idin christ.com uh and you can get the

book uh on Amazon so again embracing our full victory in Christ uh there's it's

in hard cover uh paperback audio file and also in Kindle so you can get it in

any of those formats there but Amazon and the website I D in christ.com I will

link to that in the show notes and thank you for this conversation Derek it's been really very interesting thank you

Dr Lauren appreciate you having me

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