Alternative Medicine and Demon Spirits

The new rave all across America, including a large multitude right in the church of Jesus Christ, is new practices of healing, called "Alternative Medicine." The majority of this new rave is neither medicine, nor healing, but a door into your pocketbook and your soul. There is a lot of truth in good vitamins and herbs that are properly produced and packaged. The right kind of exercise and stress-releasing massages can be extremely profitable. But, either of these, when mixed with New Age ideas and techniques spells spiritual trouble and even demonic bondage.

When you involve yourself or your children with any philosophy, technique, or idea that is rooted in Eastern paganism, you are treading in murky waters. No idea has ever arisen from a pagan religion that does not have deception at its core. Satan always plays for keeps and he may use some common sense ideas, but he will always mix enough poison to snare your soul. As I have studied "Alternative Medicine", I have found a fairly large number of common sense things, but always mixed with enough false techniques to destroy your spiritual peace. The danger in these so-called medical philosophies must be addressed.

A very special lady recently approached my wife with a request for a friend to conduct a home party within our church family. The idea was to introduce a special magnetic technique to provide healing for your feet and legs. Immediately, I knew by the Holy Spirit and prior knowledge that something was amiss. How could a magnet in your shoes heal your feet and legs? It is scientifically impossible unless there is something more to the technique than a magnet.

Another dear family, who live in a Midwestern state and are closely tied to our church family, were having an incredible spiritual problem in the mother’s life. She was depressed beyond hope until the family despaired for her life. After much prayer for her healing, the Spirit of God witnessed in my heart that she was dealing with demonic oppression or even obsession. (A Christian cannot be possessed.) I have now learned that she was introduced to a New Age technique called "Muscle Testing" at an Assembly of God church in Missouri.

This particular lady was actually taken into the church’s restroom and tested. She was given a bottle of herbs to hold in one hand, while the thumb and middle finger were pressed together. Her name and a number for pills were audibly called out until her muscles released. Then, she was prescribed that number of pills to take. She actually purchased $150 worth of herbs out-of-pocket right on the church grounds. I am told that the lady who performed this technique is a big powerhouse in that church, known to the pastor and all as she teaches her witchcraft.

The real name for that idea is "Kinesiology", which is one of the most flagrant of false "Alternative Medical" ideas. Here is a description of "Muscle Testing" or "Kinesiology" that will clearly reveal that an "enemy intelligence" must be involved.

"’Therapy localization’ is a fancy term for a common, if varied practice, among all muscle testers. Usually, a particular food object or other substance is placed in the hand, or sometimes the mouth; the goal is to use the muscles to determine if the substance is good or bad for you. By supposedly determining its effect upon a designated ‘indicator muscle,’ the ‘good’ or ‘bad’ (strengthening or weakening) effect of that substance upon the entire body is said to be revealed.

"For example, when a cube of white, refined sugar (which most people think is bad for them) is held in the left hand, the muscles in the right arm supposedly are weakened, thus ‘proving’ sugar is bad for the whole body. And the right arm is considered weakened by a simple muscle test. A person who significantly resisted the downward pull of his outstretched right arm before holding the sugar will ‘amazingly’ discover all resistance is gone when he repeats the ‘test’ while holding white, refined sugar. All kinds of substances can be ‘tested’ in this manner for their supposed effect on the body. This method is also used to allegedly test allergies and nutritional deficiencies." (John Ankerberg and John Weldon, Can You Trust Your Doctor?, Brentwood, Tennessee, Wolgemuth & Hyatt, Publishers, Inc., 1991, pp. 160-161.)

The Philosophy Behind Almost All New Age Medicine
A little research will reveal the basic idea that is behind most "Alternative Medicine" practices. If you will grasp this idea, then you can discern and warn your family and friends, lest they become ensnared. We will deal with some powerful Biblical truths of how the enemy works and how he uses these ideas to promote the dark kingdom of the devil and his host of malignant powers. The Bible believer cannot take new ideas that come from strange voices into their life without harm to themselves and their family.

Most "Alternative Medicine" practitioners believe that there is a force, they call it an energy force, that determines the health of your body. There are different names used by different philosophies within this camp. Here are a few of those names from several different sources.

"Further, this energy can act independently, display intelligence, enter a person, and cause the development of psychic powers, radical occultic personality transformation, and spirit possession. This is documented in numerous texts such as Swami Muktananda’s spiritual autobiography, Play of Consciousness, or Da Free John’s Garbage and the Goddess. "Mary Coddington’s In Search of the Healing Energy correlates a variety of these energy concepts, including the huna (Polynesian shaman) energy called ‘mana,’ Paracelsus’ ‘archaeus’ (life force), Mesmer’s (animal magnetism), Cayce’s ‘psychic energy,’

Hahnemann’s homeopathic ‘vital force,’ D. D. Palmer’s chiropractic theory of ‘innate intelligence,’ Reich’s ‘orgone energy’ and the energies in kundalini yoga, and psychic healing. She observes that by whatever name it is called ‘the healing energy always displays a remarkable similarity’ and is frequently ‘portrayed as having an intelligence of its own’." (John Ankerberg and John Weldon, Can You Trust Your Doctor?, Brentwood, Tennessee, Wolgemuth & Hyatt, Publishers, Inc., 1991, pp. 74-75.)

It should not be hard to see the presence of demon activity when you hear this kind of language. The spirit world is divided between two camps, fallen angels and faithful angels. The fallen angels that involve themselves with mankind are subject to Satan and do nothing but his biddings. The faithful angels that are involved with earthly activities and human needs are subject to Jesus Christ, the Lord of the church. All their activities will be in perfect harmony with Biblical truth.

D.D. Palmer called this energy "innate intelligence" and went further to say that it was connected to a kind of god personality. Here are his own words.

"(The modern) Chiropractor believes that the innate intelligence that runs the body is connected to universal [cosmic] intelligence that runs the world [i.e., ‘God’], so each person is plugged into the universal intelligence through the nervous system." (John F. Thie, Touch for Health: A Practical Guide to Natural Health Using Acupuncture, Touch, and Massage, Marina del Ray, CA: DeVorss and Company, 1973, p. 6.) (Words added for clarification.)

Is this Energy Force the Life or Soul Force of Mankind?
Absolutely not! We are spiritual creatures indeed and our God has breathed into our nostrils the breath of life, but to reduce that to a energy force that can be manipulated by shamans, muscle testing, acupuncture needles, etc. is to belittle both our God and ourselves. The life of our flesh is in the blood and the health of our blood determines the health of our body. Our Eternal Father made this absolutely clear to Moses in Leviticus. "For it is the life of all flesh; the blood of it is for the life thereof: therefore I said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh: for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof: whosoever eateth it shall be cut off." (Leviticus 17:14).

We will discover in Scripture that sin can have an incredible effect on our blood and body and can create a host of diseases. This is the basic idea that the energy force denies. You can always discover that Satan is looking for a way to appease sin and transfer human problems to something else beside sin and disobedience to God’s laws. David described the results of his sins in graphic terms. "O LORD, rebuke me not in thy wrath: neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure. For thine arrows stick fast in me, and thy hand presseth me sore.

There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger; neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin. For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me. My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness. I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long. For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease: and there is no soundness in my flesh. I am feeble and sore broken: I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart." (Psalm 38:1-8).

David did not need to have the energy forces within himself realigned, he needed to repent and wait on His God to renew his soul. This he did, apparently after much suffering and heartache and was gloriously healed. He stated, "I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD." (Psalm 40:1-3).

Sin is an act of man by which the life in the blood is affected and becomes spiritually diseased. That spiritual disease directly affects the whole person and man becomes physically sick. Almost the entire "Alternative Medicine" world is a direct affront to the Biblical facts of sin and the physical death that ensues when sin is harbored and enjoyed.

There is absolutely no Biblical truth to support this idea of an energy force that causes sickness. There is a host of Scriptural truth to warn against any dependency of soul powers that arise from our fallen or sin nature. The word psychic as used freely among these practitioners is the same word as soul and relates to the Adamic nature. The fallen nature of man is the very playhouse of Satan and his minions. The "Alternative Medicine" world is flooded with revelations, ideas, dark sentences that have been conjured up by the spirits of Lucifer.

First, listen to the Scripture as it forbids us to be involved with this confusing world. "When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee." (Deuteronomy 18:9-12).

Again, the Bible warns of the same basic results. "But did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, like unto the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel. For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down, and he reared up altars for Baalim, and made groves, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them." "And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger." (2 Chronicles 33:2,3,6).

Listen to the Source of These Divination Remedies and Connections
It is breathtaking to look at what is happening to the medical world. It is being overwhelmed by occultic experiences. If Jesus tarries, the Bible-believer will soon be forced to trust God for His healing powers. What a wonderful thought indeed, but most Christians are not ready to trust the healing powers of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Let’s look at several cases where these "Alternative Medicine" philosophies came straight out of the occult world.

"Consider the medical practice of neurosurgeon and former Harvard Professor C. Norman Shealy, M.D., Ph.D., founder of the seven-hundred member American Holistic Medicine Association. He is the author of Occult Medicine Can Save Your Life and co-author with spiritist Carolyn Myss of The Creation of Health: Merging Traditional Medicine with Intuitive Diagnosis. Dr. Shealy has a working relationship with clairvoyant Myss, who is co-publisher of Stillpoint Publishing Company, which produces books received through channeling methods." (John Ankerberg and John Weldon, Can You Trust Your Doctor?, Brentwood, Tennessee, Wolgemuth & Hyatt, Publishers, Inc., 1991, p. 192.)

The Bradley method of natural childbirth was received from a spirit guide. Here are his words.

"I am a great believer in spirit guidance. I think it is the only logical explanation for some of the things that have happened to me . . . I personally think spirit communication is going on constantly, that we are never alone. The talks I give, the ideas I have on natural childbirth came to me either in sleep or from direct spirit communication." (Robert A. Bradley, "The Need for the Academy of Parapsychology and Medicine," The Varieties of Healing Experience: Exploring Psychic Phenomenon in Healing, Los Altos, CA: Academy of Parapsychology and Medicine, 1971, pp. 100-101.)

Here is a testimony from W. Brugh Joy, M.D. that has worked at the Johns Hopkins Hospital and the Mayo Clinic.

"It was a Saturday morning. I had finished rounds at the hospital and was working on some patients’ charts in my office when I felt an incredibly strong urge to enter into meditation. It was so strong that I did not understand what was happening to me. I completed the patients’ charts and gave in to the impress. A vortex of energy, of a magnitude I had never before experienced, reverberated through my body and threw my awareness into a superheightened state. Then a loud voice — not that of the Inner Teacher — said, in essence: ‘Your experience and training as an orthodox physician is completed. It’s over. The time has come for you to embark on a rededication of your Beingness to a deeper commitment and action . . .’

"The voice didn’t care about my many personal concerns and commitments. It next presented to my awareness that I would soon begin a journey into the world, going first to Findhorn [a spiritistic community] and to England, Egypt, India, Nepal near the Tibetan border and perhaps to Japan . . . The voice explained clearly that my vision of being a physician had been distorted by boyhood ideals and by the current concepts of science and medicine, which overemphasized the body and external causes and ignored the journey of the soul. I was to begin the study of alternative healing practices and reach insights Western medicine had not yet dared to dream, insights that would unify exoteric and esoteric traditions and thus form the basis of an integrated approach to the art of healing. The last instruction the voice gave me was simply to detach from everything." (W. Brugh Joy, Joy’s Way, Los Angeles, CA: J. P. Tarnher, 1979, pp. 206-207.)

In the book, Can You Trust Your Doctor?, John Ankerberg and John Weldon documented many of the "Alternative" concepts as directly connected to the spirit world.

"The founder of anthroposophical medicine was the occultist Rudolph Steiner who practiced and encouraged necromancy, or contacting the spirits of the dead. Astrologic medicine is replete with spiritistic influence. Attitudinal healing has been dramatically influenced by the spirit-written texts, A Course in Miracles, and medium Jane Roberts’ The Nature of Personal Reality: A Seth Book.

"Modern leaders in the field of biofeedback, such as Elmer and Alyce Green, are often scientific investigators and promoters of occultic phenomena; Elmer Green has a spirit-guide he calls ‘the Teacher’. The Edgar Cayce methods of healing were developed by medium Edgar Cayce, through whom the spirits dictated thousands of pages of information on health issues, alleged past lives, and other aspects of the occult. D. D. Palmer, the founder of chiropractic, was involved in psychic practices and interested in spiritism. Many leaders in the field of color healing are spiritists and occultists.

"Many leaders in crystal healing have spirit guides. Some leading dowsers are spiritists. Many leaders in dreamwork also have spirit guides. Shamanistic medicine is spiritistic by definition. But many other founders and leaders of new age medicine have spiritistic contacts or are variously involved in the world of the occult." (John Ankerberg and John Weldon, Can You Trust Your Doctor?, Brentwood, Tennessee, Wolgemuth & Hyatt, Publishers, Inc., 1991, p. 85.)

What Will Involvement Cost You in Your Life?
Involvement with the world of demons is a costly experience. Many dear souls have taken this route and escaped by the very mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ. Those that escape were probably those that entered this world without full consciousness of where they were headed. The majority of people that get deeply involved do not find their way out. In fact, they will be highly offended if you question their spiritual honesty or suggest they are involved in demonism. They are fully deceived or else believe that Satan is the true god and we are the ones in error.

Once Satan wins a convert, he uses them to the maximum and then plans their sudden end. The very thought of coming out of his heartcuffs will invoke incredible wrath from him and his spirit world. Suicide is a prime end of occultic involvement. Remember the cultic group, called Heaven’s Gate, that committed suicide to catch a ride on a spacecraft traveling in the wake of the Hale-Bopp comet.

Your Home Will Become an Unclean Place
The Bible makes it plan that your home and children will be rendered unclean by any presence of abominations or accursed things in your house. Anything that this world has dedicated to Satan or unclean practices will make your home a cursed thing just like the item. To allow fornication to be acted out on your television makes your home just as unclean as the sin of fornication. To allow children playing with crystals on a kids’ television program in your home is just as serious as inviting a witch to come and perform her rites for all to laugh about. The items that decorate your home should be free of any idea or philosophy that is unbiblical or unclean. Books, magazines, games, toys, etc, that portray the world of the beastly or evil should not be allowed.

Listen to God’s warning to Moses for the nation of Israel. "The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire: thou shalt not desire the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it unto thee, lest thou be snared therein: for it is an abomination to the LORD thy God. Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house, lest thou be a cursed thing like it: but thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it is a cursed thing." (Deuteronomy 7:25-26).

The New Testament church put legs on this truth by burning those things that related to the world of witchcraft. Luke stated, "And many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds. Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed." (Acts 19:18-20).

Let’s Learn to Lean on Jesus Christ and His Sufficiency
To run to every worldly fad for a cure or quick fix is a pandemic problem in our nation. It is amazing the kind of criticism you will face if you dare to trust in prayer and Christ’s healing power for your physical needs, but it is acceptable to trust in shamans and witches. How could such a blessed nation become so foolish in the midst of our great sophistication? The answer is deception and the great falling away, called apostasy.

The world is running after the force. The television series of "Star Wars" and other such series have promoted the force until it is second thought to many Americans. Toys, games, and children’s television promotes a constant stream of programs that highlight the force. Medicines are quickly becoming an alternative choice between medical techniques vs. bio-force techniques. The New Wave revivals are emphasizing a kind of power or force that is totally removed from the Biblical model. We are quickly becoming a world where the force is the cultural idea of the world. We are almost ready for the Antichrist.

The Antichrist will be a worshipper of the "god of forces." He will promote this god as the Supreme One and give him his allegiance and great wealth. Behind this force is a hidden person preparing for his master deception. That person is Lucifer, son of the morning. Isaiah gave a picture of his design and his ultimate expression of that design is soon to be realized. "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit." (Isaiah 14:12-15).

Daniel painted the picture with Holy Ghost revelation. Here is the Antichrist, worshipper of the force. "Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all. But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces: and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things. Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain." (Daniel 11:37-39).

The force has arrived. You must choose where you will place your confidence. Will it be in the God of Scripture or the "god of forces"? Will you seek the "wizards that mutter" or the "God that reigns on high"? It is time to turn back to the Holy Bible and totally trust in His sufficiency.