 Wednesday, Sept 24, 2014
Let’s start by being clear. There are some things schizophrenia is not. It isn’t a “split personality,” Jekyll-Hyde style. That’s a misconception. So-called split personalities are actually more like Dissociative Identity Disorder, multiple personalities in common parlance. Schizophrenics suffer from delusions and are often incapable of knowing what is real and what is not real. Their false beliefs may include voices in the mind or beliefs which have no relationship to reality. (Classic case: the schizophrenic who thinks he’s Napoleon or Jesus Christ.) Speech may be disordered or even unintelligible in serious cases. Severe depression and suicidal thoughts may occur.
But here’s something really interesting. The hallucinations or psychotic perceptions change with the times. Eighty years ago a schizophrenic may have thought that voices were speaking from a 78 r.p.m. disc on the phonograph or from a dial-up phone handset. Today, such delusions may target messages from hidden video cameras they think are taping them for some reality show. One thing hasn’t changed: the idea of some schizophrenics that demons are speaking in their heads. That doesn’t seem to be a time-specific phenomenon. The reason? Of course, these demons might not be real spiritual entities, only products of a dysphoric mind; but on occasion these demons are real. The tough part is knowing which came first: (a) the demons which became the voices, or (b) the voices which became a place for demons to hide.
Deliverance ministers shouldn’t jump to conclusions. That why in our International School of Exorcism� (TO ENROLL CLICK HERE) we teach how to identify various psychological disorders as being different from demonization. Our DVD series “Advanced Deliverance” (to order CLICK HERE.) also teaches how to minister to the mentally challenged. In my experience, schizophrenics may suffer mentally without direct demonic involvement; but because this disorder is based on unreality, schizophrenics are a prime target for deceiving evil spirits who hide behind the delusions they created.
An encouraging word: GOD IS FAITHFUL Does God make mistakes? Is the Almighty capricious? Is He ever cruel and uncaring? Isaiah has the answer (25:1): For in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things. Two things here. What God does is always marvelous, even if at the time it doesn’t seem like it. Second, His faithfulness is perfect. You and I can’t always be depended upon. Try as we may, we fail one another, even the ones we love most. But the Lord is always faithful, and He is perfect. You can count on Him to always be there for you and never fail.
Bob Larson has trained healing and deliverance teams all over the world to set the captives free and Do What Jesus Did� (Luke 4:18). You can partner with Bob and support this vision to demonstrate God’s power in action by calling 303-980-1511 or clicking here to donate online. |
