Summer 1991

ARTICLE TOOLS

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Steve was desperate. Starting with marijuana almost twenty years earlier, he had gone on to try all sorts of drugs, including cocaine. He thought he was a user, not an addict-he always felt he was in control.

Now, however, he was smoking crack cocaine, and he knew it was controlling him. He had exhausted thousands of dollars in savings, pawned everything of value, spent every cent he earned, and started writing bad checks.

But mostly he was concerned about his 11-year-old daughter. He felt guilty having his drug-using friends around her, and he knew if his lifestyle didn't change soon, he would lose custody of her.

One of Steve's friends asked me if I could help. I invited him to my home to see what I could do, hoping to get him into some kind of treatment program.

It didn't take long to realize my counseling skills couldn't help Steve. Together we sought God with intense, desperate prayer. Finally I commanded any demonic spirits oppressing Steve to leave.

I didn't hear any voices or see any demons, but something dramatic happened.

The following Sunday Steve testified that God had set him free from drugs. He began to save money and pay off bills. He cleaned up his mobile home, and his daughter showed signs of better care.

Steve even approached law enforcement officers about helping snare drug dealers. Several months after his deliverance, I interviewed him on radio about his experience with drugs, and he told about the difference God's power had made in his life.

Steve had been delivered from demonic power.

When I began my most recent pastorate, I had a healthy skepticism about "deliverance" ministry. (I use the term deliverance to describe the spiritual power to break demonic influence.) I knew demons were ...

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