The Spirit of Witchcraft

Brief Background

Brethren, when we launched this online ministry more than a year ago, we did not know that the Lord was going to use us to open the eyes of many believers on false teachings. As you may have noticed, the Lord has been speaking to us through visions and sadly many do not believe that this is from our Lord Jesus Christ. Some have even questioned us if this is Jesus the Messiah and whether He has holes in His Hands. We are not sharing this to make our ministry commendable to you; we are sent to share with you what the Lord says. Indeed the Lord did tell us that not everyone would believe us, but we are assigned to speak (Acts 18:9-10).The Person giving us these visions and messages to communicate to you introduced Himself to us as Messiah, the Son of God, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. We have made nothing up, our testimony is truthful, and you may easily verify whether what we shared with you in our articles or visions misleads you away from the God of the Bible. I’m sure this has not been the case! This Jesus who speaks to us matches the description the Apostle John gave in Revelation 1:13-14. He is the God and Saviour of the Bible. As many brothers whom we got messages from the Lord may confirm, the Lord never gave any message that was untrue or unbiblical.

When the Lord Jesus visits, He rides on clouds and sometimes Charis sees Him wrapped in a Glorious cloud, and as the cloud gets closer to her, the cloud opens and she sees His image like in the above scripture from the Book of Revelation (Psalm 68:4; 18:11). Did Jesus show us His wounds? Yes! Yes! Yes! This is the Messiah of the Bible who died on the cross of Golgotha. We follow Jesus Christ of the cross who shed His precious BLOOD for us (1 John 1:7). When we Judge a message from God, it must edify and correct (Revelation 2:1-7). As it is, many witnesses who heard from the Lord Jesus Christ through this ministry can testify that the messages they received had a Biblical foundation, and the witnesses were edified. In many cases, the messages had a rebuke and encouragement to read the Bible and pray.

What is Witchcraft?

According to the online dictionary, a witch is a person, usually female, who practises or professes to practise magic or sorcery, especially black magic, or is believed to have dealings with the devil. At best, the Bible defines witchcraft as "For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry..." 1 Samuel 15:23 (NASB).

The Bible warns us about all occult practices, as we read here: “When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD, and because of these detestable practices the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you. You must be blameless before the LORD your God. The nations you will dispossess listen to those who practice sorcery or divination. But as for you, the LORD your God has not permitted you to do so” (Deuteronomy 18:9-14 NIV).

Also, in the New Testament we read the following Scripture in Acts 8:9-11 (NIV) - Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great, and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, "This man is the divine power known as the Great Power." They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his magic. Further down we read how Peter rebuked Simon on the wickedness of sorcery and calling him to repentance (Acts 8: 18-24). We can therefore see that this is a forbidden practice in both the New and Old Testaments. Today however, we see how similar modern witchcraft (such as Wicca or “white witchcraft”) has invaded modern Christianity. Self-conscience witches bless, as well as curse, “bind and loose”, prophesy, pray, lay hands on, anoint with oil, etc. Some even consider themselves Christians with a superior understanding and power. Witchcraft is used in all levels of society and people practice it to exert power over others, money, beauty, health and enchantment. This practice leads to the betrayal of truth in exchange for worldly gain.

Consequently, this practice leads many people away from the Lord and this has been subtly introduced in the church (Jeremiah 5:23). The sin of witchcraft is as bad as lies, adultery, murder and all those forbidden practices, and the penalty is Hell (Revelations 22:15). As further evidence, God destroyed Israel for practicing idolatry, worshiping "the host of heaven" (stars and planets), using "divination," which is "witchcraft and soothsaying" [in NKJV], and other occult practices (2 Kings 17:16-18).

Christians Consulting with Witch Doctors

I personally know many people who call themselves Christians and yet when they have a problem they go to witch doctors. They don’t have the faith to trust God and pray; they follow the easy way and consult mediums and psychics to help them solve their problems. Evidently, today many people are addicted to astrology in its various forms.

Astrology is therefore “divining”: it is an attempt to predict the future by occult or mystical methods. In the book of Daniel, occult and astrology experts were asked to predict the future; they failed three times, but Daniel who trusted in God’s Supreme Wisdom and Power succeeded (Daniel 4:7; 2:10-11; 5:7-8). When I was about 18 years I was imprisoned and released a few months later. I was encouraged by my “Christian” parents to go see a witchdoctor so that he could “wash” me, and if I didn’t I would become a jail bird. I flatly refused, even though I was not saved. Brethren, I encourage you stay away from all forms of witchcraft, sorcery and even astrology. This is a trap of Satan to steal your soul (John 10:10); trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God only. The practise of witchcraft is straight from the devil and it operates through lies in order to deceive (John 8:44-45, 2; Thessalonians 2:9-10). Don’t be deceived! Read your Bible and pray – the Lord will hear you and answer your prayers. Remember, the devil always introduces himself like an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14); he is a deceiver, so he hides his identity, sometimes even posing as Christ our Lord. I will share a short vision of a young lady who is involved in the occult and who tried to demonize our ministry.

Vision of a Female Witch

Before I share the vision, I will give a background explanation. Earlier this month, or a day after we posted the “Demons and Their Influence on Mankind” article, I received a call from a young lady from Sydney, Australia by the name of Serllia Joseph. She told us she was referred by a friend and she is troubled by demons. My wife and I prayed for her over the phone and we also got her a word from the Lord. She told us her pastor was spreading rumours about her. Not wanting to entertain her bad mouthing her pastor, we encouraged her to forgive her pastor and to just pray for him. I wrote to a brother in Perth to minister to her, and help her in deliverance. She agreed, and as the weeks progressed I kept in touch with her via email to help her grow in the Lord. This really blessed her as was evident from her replies. Because she spoke a lot about her mother being a Christian too, we thought we should get a word for her mother from the Lord as well. After her mother’s message, which was a rebuke, they rejected the message saying we are false. At first she accepted the message explaning why her mother reacted so angrily, but after a few days she came back to us maliciously accusing us. I asked her politely if everything was ok with her and her mother. This led her to release even more venom. I rebuked her insinuations in Jesus name and told her that I forgive her and that I will just pray for her. This was in no way false; through the power of the Holy Spirit it was shown that her mother does not read the Bible and pray as she should be. It was also revealed she must not lose her faith when getting angry with her children; she must counsel them in the fear of the Lord. I told my family about her rude and disrespectful emails. There was nothing false in the message she and her mother received from the Lord, as you may see her reply after her mother’s message. The Lord said she is assigned by demonic spirits to discredit and undermine this ministry and cause others to stumble.

---------- Forwarded message ----------

From: Serllia Joseph
Date: Sun, Nov 17, 2013 at 10:52 AM
Subject:
To: glenn****@gmail.com

I showed this message to my mum. She said she's really angry with me but she's becomes upset and despondent when two of her children never listen to her.

She said she prays for them but she didn't see any changes in them. When mum tells them not to watch demonic movies and etc.. they ignores her.

God bless
Serllia

The Vision of Serllia

Given to Charis on November 24, 2013

“I had a vision from the Lord this morning. I saw myself in a room and I saw the body outline of a female. I was shown her shadow and this was to hide her identity. She was standing with her hands stretched out. She was surrounded by hundreds of demonic animals, like dogs, hyenas, elephants, demons, ghosts, bats, flies, bees and many other ugly looking creatures. I could see how these things moved around her and she was receiving power from them. The entire atmosphere was evil, and I heard the Lord speak and say: “This lady is busy with witchcraft and she is a gossiper”.

Because we did not know who she was, we asked the Lord, and He told Charis, “The vision you had yesterday, the lady in the vision was Serllia”.

In conclusion, the Lord told us to expose Serllia as she is going about gossiping and lying so as to cause many people to stumble from the truth (1 Timothy 5:20). This has been posted to warn Christians and witches not to play with God and to make a mockery of Him. Let the ministers be aware of Satan’s trap and his agents. We ministered truth and love to her, to her delight and this she admitted before God. We as a family and ministry will continue to pray for her and love her in Christ Jesus.

Have you been involved in witchcraft, pyschic consultations, or any other form of occult practices? Here is a Prayer of Sincere Repentance. For any questions or comments on this article or our ministry, please contact us.

With Love,
Brother Glenn van Rooyen.

Prosperity Teachers

We write not to impress man but to please God, so if our message is offensive to you, just know that it is intended to call you back to God and His truth. I must add that we are not driven by any ulterior motive except to proclaim to you what God says. Therefore, in this article, we have included a list of names of prosperity teachers that the Lord gave us. The Lord told us to mention them in order to warn you against their teaching (1 Timothy 5:20). God says He did not send them to preach on riches. The Lord says He warned us not to “work for the food that perishes, but for the food that lasts for eternal life…” (John 6:27 Holman CSB). This prosperity teaching is very deceptive in that many people try to escape their situations and circumstances by “trying out God,” only if He can help them. Once they have “tried out God”, they remain lukewarm and concentrate on their needs, but they never bear the Kingdom's fruit of sharing with the needy (Galatians 5:22-23; 1 Peter 4:9). Furthermore, prosperity teaching does not save souls but it promotes greed and selfishness, and spreads a false notion that people can just use God (Ephesians 5:5).

At the end of this article, we have included a powerful vision given to us by the Lord, in which He warns that the prosperity teaching is of the flesh and not from Him. Prosperity teachers teach in the name of God, but their trust is in the arm of flesh and money.

The Deceitfulness of Prosperity Teaching

The Bible says, “Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” (1 Timothy 6:9-10). The apostle Paul also warned that such men have corrupt minds, have been robbed of the truth, and think that godliness is a means of gain (1 Timothy 6:5).

Truthfully, the prosperity teachers are manipulating and using unsuspecting children of God. This movement has stifled the work of God. They have created need-minded Christians who only concern themselves on what they can get out of God. They teach about “positive confession,” which may have some value; however, they teach that it must be applied as a statement of faith in order to receive favour from God. Furthermore, and to guard their teaching, they are “lording themselves over those entrusted to them…” (1 Peter 5:3 NIV). I will be bold on this: together with Satan, they have deceived their followers to listen to them only and the speakers they approve, and anyone who speaks out against their teachings is labeled as false. Their teaching has rendered many believers blind and some believers are restricted not to witness. I attended one of their Bible schools and I was taught not to witness without the church’s consent. Is this not unscriptural? (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 1:8). Should I not obey Scripture? If I had listened to them, we would not have this ministry. I purposely disobeyed their teaching and listened to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:29; Galatians 5:16). As it is, the trend today is that those who desire to pursue their call into ministry are encouraged to go to Bible School, graduate, serve under them to guard the teaching and be ordained, only to perpetuate their teaching. Having being involved in this movement myself, I knew from the Scriptures that their teaching was aimed at creating faithful followers for themselves more than followers of Christ (Matthew 23:13).

Biblically, false teaching is any message supposedly from God that promotes sin and sensual appetites (James 1:14). The prosperity gospel matches this profile; their message appeals to the material needs. They encourage worldliness, telling people to follow their worldly dreams; does the bible not say, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take” (Proverbs 3:5-6 NLT), and “Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect” (Romans 12:2 NLT)? In their zeal, these teachers have become motivational speakers and entertainers in their preaching. Some have even formulated prayers that are need-minded for their flock. I confess the truth of God to you: if we start spoon-feeding Christians on how to do the word of God, we are making them depend on us and not on God (Jeremiah 17:5-6). Such people no longer have a faith of their own, but a faith that rests on man. Also, the message of the prosperity teachers will always tell you how you can get something out of God, meaning God’s plan for you, without stressing the importance of repentance and Godly, holy living.

Insecurity

As I alluded elsewhere, a Christian’s life is not valued by the earthly wealth they have, as the prosperity movement would like to have us believe. We are valued by the Lord based on our obedience to Him and fruit bearing (John15:1-2;5). The Lord repeatedly warned that we should not boast in earthly wealth (Matthew 19:21; Luke 12:18-20). Having being in the prosperity movement myself, I came across many Christians who are full of greed and selfishness. These bragging Christians who show off their possessions (big houses and cars, flashy clothes, etc.) are insecure; for their possessions are their security and not God (Matthew 6:21; Luke 12:34). Some might argue and say I am wrong; if they trusted in God they would do as the young rich man who trusted in his wealth (Matthew 19:21). I once witnessed the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ to a former colleague and I encouraged her to visit a Bible-based church in her area, headed by one of the prosperity pastors mentioned in the vision the Lord gave us. This young woman confessed and told me that she once went to this pastor’s church, but she was looked at as if she did not belong there. Although, she was neatly dressed, the Christians who were looking at her all wore name-brand clothes and drove flashy cars. She felt so insecure and intimidated that she thought God does not accept her because she is poor. While I do not have problem with people having things, we should not look down on others, but we should reach out to them and share some of our possessions with them (Acts 4:32).

We are warned not to store up treasure for ourselves here on earth, but in Heaven (Matthew 6:20-21). I also once listened to a sermon of a prosperity teacher on a DVD while I was attending a Bible School lecture; he was introduced as being “anointed” and called by God to speak on finances. He was greatly magnified and his message was no different from the rest, but what he succeeded to do was to smother more money out of the congregation. He used both guilt and manipulation and church positions to create submission. I was troubled by this teaching because it was all just about money, and during the sermon people were made to collect more and more money. Soon after this sermon, my former pastor got up without saying anything, reached for an offering basket and started collecting more money from us. We have also heard of televangelists pastors who ask their TV viewers to donate a certain amount based on a Bible chapter and verse, or to donate a given amount to their ministry in order to receive a blessing from God – this is false teaching and akin to serving two masters (Matthew 6:24). Furthermore, often times they don't even give you time to pray about it saying, "pick up the phone right now, make a pledge, delayed obedience is disobedience". There is no fruit of patience when they demand like this (Galatians 5:22-23) and pledging is discouraged in the Bible (Proverbs 22:26).

In conclusion, while there is much to say about the dangers of this doctrine, you are warned against the teachings of these men and women. They travel around and win converts, only to submit them to their false teachings and make them dependent on them. Those who so easily fall into their trap are those Christians who are not reading the Bible for themselves, and those who are insecure with weak faith. They fear the “authority” of these pastors, so they conform so that they may not be seen as not being submissive (disobedient or uncooperative). Kindly allow me to share with you further: if you have weak faith, you will be hunted by feelings of guilt, and thus respond from guilt feelings which are not faith – faith is that spontaneous and joyful expression without any feeling of oppression. My Godly appeal to you, my brethren, is that you should not be fooled and chase after your own ego; these manipulators of truth use your ego to draw your attention to your needs and more than what God requires of you, while making you dependent on their worldly teachings. We share a vision for your warning and encouragement below.

Vision of Prosperity Teachers

Vision given to Charis on November 14, 2013

“I had a vision from the Lord this morning; When He appeared I saw the Lord Jesus raising His right Hand finger pointing to my right. When I turned my head to look, I saw two large mirrors next to each other suspended in the air. In the first mirror I saw photographs of all the pastors of the big/mega churches standing outside their church buildings. I saw Pastor Joel Osteen, Pastor T.D Jakes, Kenneth Copeland, Creflo Dollar, Carlton Pearson, Pastor Brian and Bobbie Houston, TB Joshua, Rod Parsley, Benny Hinn, Dr Nasir Saddiki, singer/entertainer Bebe Winans, Pope Francis and some of his predecessors; From South Africa - Pastor Freddy Edwards (South African Bishop), Ray McCauley of Rhema Church, Pastor Theo Wolmarans of Christian Family Church, Pastor Gerald Cooper of Faith Fellowship Ministries, Pastor Cheryl Moorad of City of the Lord Ministries, Mosa Sono, Pastor Watson of Berea Temple Ministries, Pastor Chris Oyakhilome of Christ Embassy, and many other local pastors in our community and around Africa and internationally whom I could not recognise. In this vision I also saw the building of the New and Old Apostolic movement.

In front of the first mirror was what looked like a lump of clay and lots of money, mostly Rands (South African currency) and US Dollars notes.

In the second mirror I saw our ministry members standing under a Peachtree with Christ as our leader, and in front of the mirror was a solid brick block and two big brown baskets full of different words. I then turned my head towards the Lord and He said: “The first ministries depend on money and the arm of flesh, and the second ministry depend on God and prayer.” The Lord then said joyfully in a loud voice, “WELL DONE PREPARING FOR THE KINGDOM!!!” END.

Explanation: Brethren, we did not ask the Lord to reveal this. The Lord is warning these ministers and their followers to repent and stop preaching a prosperity and worldly message. These ministers promote a money-centered gospel, and they depend on their members instead of trusting the Lord Jesus Christ. The New and Old Apostolic movement was also implicated as leaning on the arm of flesh while deceiving their followers; this is a popular movement here in our townships in South Africa. Prosperity teachers have forsaken their trust in God and preach messages that appeal to people’s sensual appetites more than their need for holy living, obedience and truthfulness. I heard one of these pastors (Dr Nasir Sadikki) saying that people must pursue and live their dreams; this is a worldly message, for the Bible says: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God – what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2 NRSV; Proverbs 3:5-6). I encourage you to live according to the Scriptures and this will lead to God’s acceptable will. In our fear of God, we will proclaim in humility what He reveals to warn and save regardless of persecutions and rejections; we owe our allegiance to the Lord Jesus Christ and His TRUTH.

Yours in faithful service in Christ Jesus,
Brother Glenn.

PS: You may also read Pastors: Repent and Prosperity Prophets.