Why is Wicca Witchcraft so popular?

Wicca witchcraft is said to be the fastest growing religion amongst high school and college students in America. It is also now practiced by people in many different walks of life, including professionals like lawyers and teachers.

Wiccans practice what they call White magic, which they believe is ‘good’ and differs from the ‘bad’ black magic.

The motivation behind getting involved in wicca is not sinister in any way. The people involved are wanting to tap into the good “forces” in nature, and direct them in a positive manner. They are seeking the ‘power’ to be able to perform good magic, and often times to also find a popular group to belong to. The number of witches covens is increasing daily. Wiccans promote good moral values like honesty.

Books like the Harry Potter series, and TV shows life “Buffy”, “Sabrina the teenage Witch”, “Charmed” and other similar shows have skyrocketed the popularity of wicca witchcraft, in a way that is unprecedented.

The term witch, no longer seems to be associated with an ugly old woman wearing black and riding on a broomstick, it has taken on the guise of sexy young females, or young teenage boys.

Wiccans are not evil people seeking to destroy the world, but unfortunately they are oblivious to the true nature of the powers they are tapping into.

Wiccans don’t believe in the devil, or demons and this is the greatest tragedy. They don’t realise that the source of the magic they are delving into is not from “nature” but from the sinister master of the evil invisible world. Deceiving spirits of demons are hard at work, luring the unknowing into a destructive cycle that can devastate their lives. It is not until people are heavily involved in wicca that they find they start to encounter “bad spirits”, “psychic attacks”, “bad energies” and “harmful voices” in their heads among other things. At this stage they need to start practicing what they call “protection magic”.

There really are supernatural forces of good and evil at play behind the scenes in this world and the Bible reveals to us what these forces are. The Bible foretells that in the end times there will be many occult manifestations and that deceiving spirits will be rife and will seek to deceive even the elect.

We need to be really careful not to open up the wrong spiritual gateways. We need to seek the truth. Wiccans believe in reincarnation, but the Bible says, Hebrews 9:27 “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:” Wiccans don’t believe in the devil, and yet the Bible clearly shows that he exists. Probably the most tragic thing though is that wiccans don’t think they need to have a saviour, but the Bible teaches that Jesus Christ gave His life so that all could be forgiven, if they accept Him as Lord of their lives. 1 Timothy 4:10 “For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.”

The devil is alive and well in this world and out to harm as many of God’s blessed creations as he can. If you are involved in wicca, or know someone who is, you would be well advised to have a look at both sides of the equation, and at least consider what the Bible reveals about occult practices and the source of their power.

For more information on this topics please visit http://www.wiccawitchcraft.net/Debra Lohrere is the author of Peace, Prophecy and False Fire http://www.lulu.com/content/333221. Her Homepage is http://debra.lohrere.com/home.shtml

Is Speaking in Tongues a Prayer Language?

Many pentecostal churches teach that speaking in tongues is a heavenly language, the “tongues of angels”. Is this what the Bible shows? Where does this teaching originate from?

The Greek words used in the New Testament for tongues, when used in relation to speaking, simply meant “language”. The Greek “glossa” means “tongue, language,” and the verb “laleo” means “to speak”, producing the word “glossolalia”. This always refered to an earthly or known language.

There is only one verse in the Bible that mentions the tongues of angels. It is 1 Corinthians 13:1(KJV) “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal”. Is Paul really saying that he speaks in the tongues of angels? This verse needs to be viewed in context and also in relation to the translation from the Greek. The word that has been translated to “though” when translated and used in over 95% of all other places in the New Testament, has been more correctly translated to “if”. Other Versions of the Bible do translate this correctly to “if I spoke in the tongues men and angels”.

Regardless of this mistranslation, merely reading the following verses clearly reveal that Paul is speaking rhetorically, as had he been speaking literally he would be boasting that he understood all mysteries and knew everything, which we know is not the case. These verses read 1 Corinthians 13:2-3 “And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing”. Paul is emphatically expressing his desire that the people should demonstrate love, generosity and charity, the important fruits of the spirit, because without these everything else becomes void. He is showing that love is the most important characteristic that God’s people need to express in all aspects of their lives and their ministries. He is not saying that he really can speak in the tongues of angels and has all knowledge.

Isn’t speaking in tongues used to edify ourselves?

It should be noted that all of the gifts of the spirit that God gave were related to building up the church. Evangelism, prophesying, teaching, preaching and speaking in tongues to reach the surrounding nations and rest of the world with the gospel message were all gifts to edify the church.

Paul writes 1 Corinthians 14:4 “He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church”. Many preachers use this verse to prove that we should speak in tongues to edify ourselves and build up our faith. Is this what Paul is really saying? If we again look at this verse in context it can be seen that Paul is in fact rebuking the church at Corinth for their misuse of the gift of speaking in tongues, and telling them that it is of no use whatsoever if they speak in tongues and no one around them understands them. He says that prophesying is far more important, as that will build up the church.

1 Corinthians 14:5-7 “I would that ye all spake with tongues, but rather that ye prophesied: for greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret, that the church may receive edifying. Now, brethren, if I come unto you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you, except I shall speak to you either by revelation, or by knowledge, or by prophesying, or by doctrine? And even things without life giving sound, whether pipe or harp, except they give a distinction in the sounds, how shall it be known what is piped or harped?”

He continues on to say that they may as well be speaking into the air. 1 Corinthians 14:9 “So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? for ye shall speak into the air”. These words are far removed from encouraging them to edify themselves? The whole purpose of his message was to encourage them to stop being self-centered and work on doing things that would build up the church.

The Bible makes it clear that speaking in tongues was for the purpose of witnessing to people in their own languages that they could understand and not speaking where noone knew the meaning of the words being spoken. 1 Corinthians 14:11-12 “Therefore if I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh shall be a barbarian unto me. Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church”.
All Bible references are from the King James Version.

Is Speaking in Tongues a gift from God?

Speaking in Tongues as we see it today in Christian churches is a relatively new phenomenon dating back to the early 1900’s.

Why is this? And in fact is what we are seeing today the same gift that empowered Jesus’ disciples at Pentecost?

The disciples were given the essential ability to speak in the languages of the surrounding nations, so that they could preach the gospel in the native tongue of all those they met. If what we see in churches today is the same gift, why was it absent from the church for over 1800 years?

Throughout the Bible it is seen that God gave His people gifts of the spirit to empower them to do what was required for a particular purpose at a particular time.
It is easy to see why God saw it necessary to give the gift of Speaking in Tongues to the early Church. How else could uneducated men have been able to spread the gospel? The question is then, for what reason would the gift of Speaking in Tongues have been reintroduced to the church after such a long absence. What possible purpose does it serve now that the church is established in almost every corner of the world?

We need to note also that when the genuine gift of tongues was given, for the purpose of evangelising, they understood what they were saying. 1 Corinthians 14:15-16 “What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also. Else when you shall bless with the spirit, how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen at your giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth not what you sayest?”
Is what we are seeing in churches today the genuine gift, or has Satan somehow been able to infiltrate the Christian world and deceive them with a counterfeit of one of God’s gifts for his own purposes?

The Bible warns us that in the end times there will be a huge outpouring of false miracles, signs and wonders that would deceive much of the Christian world. Mark 13:22 “For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect”.

Most Christians are totally oblivious to the fact that speaking in tongues is also practiced in many non-christian religions. It is practiced in African rituals and in voo doo and occult religions. Independent studies have found that there is no distinction in tongues between Christians and the followers of non-Christian (pagan) religions.

One of the most important attributes of the Holy Spirit is that He will guide us into truth. John 16:13 “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself;”. Truth is the understanding of the true and complete gospel message that our sins can be forgiven through the blood of our saviour Jesus. The message that we are saved by grace and not works, and that those who are saved will be obedient to the will of the Father and follow His commandments, just as Jesus also instructed. John 14:15 “If ye love me, keep my commandments”.

The fact that many churches who are practicing speaking in tongues are also teaching that we no longer have to obey the commandments, which directly contradicts what Jesus taught when He said Mathew 5:18 “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled” should make us step back and take a second look at whether this phenomenon being practiced in our churches is of God or from another source.

All Bible references are from the King James Version.