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Wednesday, October 9th 2013
 Priest attempts to cast out demons in “The Exorcist” movie. The stairs that Father Karras fell down to his death were fake. They didn’t exist in the real house located in the Georgetown area of Washington, D. C. To make the building conform to filming requirements for the horror classic “The Exorcist,” the producers built an extension with a false front that made it possible for the priest to jump to his death. It was that sacrificial act, allowing him to be possessed by the demon Pazuzu that provided the climax to the 1973 movie. But the contrived circumstance of the holy man’s suicide isn’t the only error in the William Friedkin (director)/William Peter Blatty (novelist) classic. Even more glaring miscues shed the wrong light on exorcism. First, we never really know the legal right that permitted the possession of actress Linda Blair’s character, Regan MacNeil. The movie suggests that a Ouija Board was an instrument of the devil, but it’s never fully explained. Perhaps Blatty didn’t know which is understandable. But by that omission a critical issue of demon possession is left in a confusing state. Second, the movie ends with Karras’s death as the only way the demons can be overcome. The priest sacrifices his own sold to the demon as the means of exorcism. That may sound noble on the surface, but it has no relationship to reality – the actual case on which this story was based. No responsible exorcist who understands the deliverance process would ever do that. Unfortunately, this error lends credence to the false idea that exorcism is dangerous. “It was not a promotion for the Catholic Church but definitely a story about the power of Christ and the mystery of faith that continues to this day,” director Friedkin says today. To that I can add a somewhat qualified “Amen.” NOTE: A 40th anniversary Blu-ray version of the original movie is being released this week. It includes an added scene with priest Father Merrin saying of the exorcism, “The girl is not the target. ‘The girl is us, every one of us in this house, and the purpose is to make us feel vile, bestial, rotten and corrupt so that even if there were a God, he could not possibly love us.” An encouraging word: HOW RICH ARE YOU? I am truly blessed! I have farmers all over the world who grow food for me, and people shipping it to convenient locations. Teams of people design and manufacture technological devices to make my life easier. I have air conditioning, clean hot and cold running water, a box in my kitchen that heats up food almost instantly — all this without the need to haul wood and build a fire. The list goes on and on. As Americans, we take for granted so many amazing blessings that happen in our life on a daily basis. But it is easy to complain about the smallest discomfort or inconvenience. 1 Timothy 6:6 says that “Godliness with contentment is great gain” Let’s take our eyes off of ourselves today and reach out to those who are truly less fortunate by sharing our blessings and God’s message of hope, love and freedom. 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.
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