The evangelical church in America has become myopic. Success in building large, seemingly successful churches has resulted in an insular, know-it-all attitude among many Christian leaders. They understand little of the wider work of the Holy Spirit internationally and are obsessed with theological hair-splitting. American Christianity is too often near-sighted and assumes the luxury of quibbling over issues like whether a Christian can have a demon. The answer is that Christian can be demonized, a fact known demonstrably in parts of the world where the church must constantly battle the forces of witchcraft, such as the nation of Bahamas.
Last week we held a conference at the largest deliverance church in that part of the word, Deliverance Tabernacle, founded by Pastor Mark Knowles. When people in the Islands need an exorcism, they know where to go – the Tabernacle. Because of his huge success in setting people free by God’s power, even the demons in the islands call him “God’s General.” Where did he learn to cast out demons effectively? I was humbled to hear Pastor Knowles tell me, “Eighty percent of what I know, I learned from you. I bought more than 30 of your DVDs and watched them up to 10 hours a day. I like your formula. It helps me not get lost doing deliverance. Now I’m teaching other pastors to cast out demons like you do.”
One of those set free was a university law student named Aliah. Her powerful demons went back 500 generations to a curse starting with a rape by Spanish ancestors. The demon spoke Spanish, a language Aliah doesn’t know and never studied. Eventually, someone in the audience who speaks fluent Spanish came forward to interpret what the demon was saying. The interpreter helped Bob cast the demon to the “Inferno.”
Deliverance Tabernacle is a respected, fast-growing church in the Bahamas. Thousands come from all across the 700-island nation to seek Pastor Knowles’ help. He eagerly agreed with Bob to establish an Atlantic-Caribbean campus of our International School of Exorcism®. There is no stigma to casting out demons at the Tabernacle and no fear of what people might say about the ministry of deliverance. While America has settled into a myopic, cozy kind of Christianity that no longer hungers for the miraculous of God, the rest of the world is spiritually passing us by.
