Possession

I did not quite get it at first. He said, "You must leave". He had a very calm voice and he repeated himself, "Yes, you must leave. You must leave. You must go". He never raised his voice, but it was always firm and confident. "In the name of Jesus, you must go". Minutes seemed like hours as she spoke to him in Marathi and he kept repeating himself. "You must go now". She screamed, she breathed in a heavy labored sort of way, she almost slumped back, but she retained her balance. He finally had those who brought her take her off the stage to the left.

Curious? It was a woman who was possessed and the man was a pastor in Mumbai. A normal Sunday morning in church. Our western minds have a hard time getting around it. Can it be real? Aren't those fake "made for TV" events? I think this one was not. There was no surprise healing, she did not "get saved". The pastor claimed the name of Jesus and told the demon to leave in Jesus' name. Sounds scriptural to me.

I chatted with Simon (the pastor) afterwards. He told me it happens from time to time. This woman had been brought the week before and had been brought back. "Progress" was being made with her and he thought she had more then one demon. He thought some had left, but some remained.

I know....we are Presbyterians, and would never think of demon possession or let alone trying to deal with it. All I can say is what I saw. And I think it was good for me, but not for this poor woman, that she was not "delivered" that day. Maybe God knew I would not believe if she had.

Simon said something else to me that was very interesting as we had lunch together after church, "I think you in America will have to deal with this in the years ahead because of the New Age movement and general openness in America to spirits".

So, that is my report. It causes me to think a bit, to read the Word a bit and to ask God for insight.