There's a new bestselling religious book that's general Christian but unlike too many that are in that category, this one doesn't take a shot at Catholicism and has some very valuable information on spiritual warfare.
In particular the book (which in large part employs, of course, scriptural passages), addresses a topic we have been focusing upon as of late: cleansing our surroundings and families.
Have you closed the portals to evil spirits? Do you ever pray specifically for that? Have you asked the Holy Spirit to show you where there may be "openings" though which darkness can enter?
More to the point: how many problems in our lives are caused by forces that we usually don't hear mentioned?
It's fascinating: how clever darkness is. And it's detailed in the book Purging Your House, Pruning Your Family Tree.
In a chapter called "Don't bring accursed things into your home," author-evangelist Perry Stone recounts the story of a friend whose home was subject to "bizarre" supernatural manifestations.
"At times he and his wife had felt a strange, somewhat evil presence coming from a certain room," writes Stone. "On several occasions, out of the corner of her eyes, his wife caught the imagery of a shadowy figure, like a vapor, moving swiftly across the floor in this same room where they felt this negative energy.
"They had not said anything about this to their children, but their concern peaked when their daughter began to express certain fearful and negative feelings she sensed and said she had seen a dark shadow in the same area.
"He knew something was wrong.
"As this concerned man, his wife, and I began searching for answers, I asked him if there was any object in his home that could attract a spirit. He immediately told me about a piece of furniture, several hundreds of years old, that was used in particular Asian religion. He purchased it because of its beauty and age. I explained to him how this altar had actually been used during a religious ceremony to pray to an idol god. I told him that all idolatry attracts some form of evil spirits. "Although an altar is made of stone, ceramic, or wood and cannot see or hear, evil spirits linked to idolatry are still attracted to such objects since their kingdom of darkness centers on counterfeit worship."
And so there was, allegedly, a manifestation.
Bizarre indeed!
But think about it: holy objects bring the Light of good spirits (angels, saints, the Holy Spirit, and of course Jesus), so why wouldn't the opposite be true when it comes to fallen spirits (that occult objects, or something attached to sin, bring darkness)?
We know the power of relics and the sanctity of a Catholic altar. We know how many sacramentals carry good power. Here is another great strength of Catholicism!
But, these have their counterparts in the nether regions.
Many are those who suffer anxieties, tensions, and outright afflictions due to what they have allowed into their homes -- or so many testify. We heard a recent story of how a house went into a similar uproar after books were brought in that were hundreds of years old.
Moreover, spirits hover over people, households, and whole communities, feeding on the sin sent up like a smoky offering.
One highly well-educated man who was working for a computer company and had the gift of seeing spirits told Stone that he could actually observe spirits of various sizes and that they were smaller in the Bible belt than over large cities -- where they "feed off the sin in the same manner that people physically grow and receive their nourishment from food."
When we sin -- when we transgress -- we send them power.
We can even do this with bad habits.
We open those "portals."
"Lord, close every opening we have given to darkness," is one prayer (said from the heart with potency during the Rosary, especially this month of Mary and this time of spring cleaning).
Even after we come back to active Christianity, there are often weaknesses that remain -- and need to be sealed.
Getting back to "accursed" objects, Stone -- whose book has skyrocketed up some religious bestseller lists -- asserts in another case that one of his Christian missionaries had been given an old drum made of animal skin stretched on the top and bottom. He was unaware that it had been used in the past for Hindu worship ceremonies.
"One evening he and his wife were preparing their tax returns in the kitchen when they began hearing a strange scratching noise periodically coming from the other room. Eventually they discovered that it was coming from inside the drum. At first he thought a large insect had managed to get into the drum, but this was impossible because skin enclosed it tightly on both ends. He then felt it may have been used in some kind of religious ceremony and therefore may have some type of a spirit attached to it. He took the drum outside and cut the leather holding the animal skin on. He said, 'Suddenly I hear a screeching sound so loud that it sounded like a person inside the drum. The animal cover flew off, and I ran!' He destroyed the drum."
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