Dear Friends,
I will be on my way to a pastor’s conference after mailing this. I am looking forward to a few days sitting under good teaching and being immersed in prayer. It has been a long time.
The challenges ahead for the new year are many, but I am looking forward to meeting them and moving forward with the work He has entrusted to me.
The world’s gross darkness is so choking sometimes. The Grammys this week featured the vile performance of Sam Smith, who pretty much reenacted a satanic ritual and a homosexual orgy on live TV. Apparently, there are no boards left that restrict such content on television. And CBS tweeted, “We are ready to worship!” And so, they did, and will. The demonic gods of this age are completely anesthetizing this generation like a poison spider paralyzes its prey before the kill. Only Jesus can pull people back from the edge of complete destruction.
The walls are coming down between our world and the one behind the scenes, the one where powers and principalities and spiritual wickedness in high places (EPH 6:12) continually chip at that wall to gain influence over this one. We must continue to hold forth the Word of Life in the darkness. We stand because “the light shines in the darkness but the darkness cannot overcome it.” (JOHN 1:5)
Satan is a schoolyard bully. He will take all the territory he can until believers push back. How we do that is very important. We have to push back on him and his demonic forces without becoming ugly and unChristlike in the way we react and treat others. They are simply slaves to the bully. Our job is to proclaim liberty to the captives.
Although I have to confess, after watching excerpts from the recent Grammy shows, which were almost like satanic rituals and gay pornographic movies at the same time, it reaffirms to me that God doesn’t send anyone to hell – people choose the darkness and hate the light because it exposes their evil deeds (JOHN 3:20). I can’t get angry at people who are in that depth of bondage because their eternity is drawing near and there will be no chances for redemption. We must speak the truth, but as I quoted before, if we are going to preach on hell, we must do it with tears in our eyes.
I spent so many years battling on the frontlines against satanic crime and the occult takeover of the educational system, the youth, and the media. Here we are many years later, and it seems like the enemy has a lock on things.
Except, I believe God still has some big surprises for the enemy. Too many people are praying for God to move on this generation. It may SEEM like the enemy has the upper hand, but I truly believe God is going to show Himself to be mighty to a lost generation of youth once again as He did during the Jesus Movement. That is what we must pray for. God is not finished yet!
At the same time, you can see how much the enemy has been emboldened. I understand that in Great Britain, only about 6% of the population identifies as practicing Christians. I suspect it isn’t much higher here. And where there is such a void, the enemy does come in like a flood. Just recently a lady in Great Britain was arrested for merely praying silently across the street from an abortion clinic! And people barely batted an eye.
Here, the Satanic Temple has taken its antichristian bullying into New Mexico, where they are establishing an abortion clinic. They are setting it up as a religious ritual. There’s even a little ritual you have to agree to. All I could think was, “All these years the church of Satan has been denying that they do human sacrifice. Now they’ve finally admitted it’s a religious ritual for
them.” This is what we can expect from those for whom the truth is a lie, and a lie is the truth. I expect these battles with those on the dark side will get more serious as the days go on. Most of what they do is done to taunt and provoke Christians. I pray that God will bring conviction and salvation to them.
Numbness is now part of our culture, as well as the ability to forget things almost right after they occurred. No one even blinked when the CIA finally admitted they had a hand in JFK’s assassination. Within a day, it was yesterday’s news. And that is of course the issue with news – we are glutted with “breaking news” every day, and they dictate what we should consider crucial life-changing events. And they can change those events like a chessboard, placing the things in front that will get the highest ratings and ultimately distract us from what really matters.
Yes, we must pay attention to the news – Jesus spoke of the last days and said, “What I say to you, I say to all – WATCH” (MARK 13:37). But true watchmen do not simply pay attention to the most glaring dangers, but to the hidden ones. That’s why the Trojan Horse worked. No one suspected what was hidden inside.
I do not have time here to write extensively about The Chosen*, and based on my experience, it’s an easy way to lose friends and support. However, it is an example to me of another trojan horse within the church. I believe the creator had and has all the best intentions in his series. And in fact, I loved the first season. But something felt off in the second one. Then I learned that the show was produced by VidAngel – a wholly Mormon-owned company (Now rebranded Angel Studios).
Note from James: The co-founders of Angel Studios are brothers Neal and Jeff Harmon, who are Mormons.Then the set was moved to Utah, and many Mormon crewmembers were hired. Then the creator told an LDS podcaster that although he had doctrinal disagreements with the Mormons, they “loved the same Jesus.” This was the first break-away point for me. Why? My entire family from my great grandparents back are Mormon. My great great grandfather traveled with Brigham Young and helped found Nephi, Utah, where he was buried. I know Mormonism.
* Check out MORMONISM REVIEWED By Rick Beaudin and his ongoing biblical critique of this TV series, The Chosen. Here are episodes 1 & 2 - Part One.
And we do NOT love the same Jesus. Why? The Jesus of the Mormon church is one god among many. He is the spirit brother of Lucifer and the reason Jesus is our savior is that He said yes and Lucifer said no.
Mormonism teaches we can all become gods and saviors on other worlds. Does that sound like the same Jesus? It is not. So what happens when a well-intentioned project becomes so deeply enmeshed with a cult?
For some TTUF Stuff on the Mormon religion visit this section under our apologetics category.(1) That cult will use the series to recruit for the Mormon Church.
(2) VidAngel, now Angel Studios, is now being sought after by every potential Christian filmmaker I know of who probably have no idea who owns Angel Studios.
So do we ignore these things “for the greater good”? I don’t believe we can.
Watch Voddie Baucham and John MacArthur React To The ChosenA little leaven leavens the whole loaf; little foxes spoil the vine. If that were not enough, we should be concerned that Jonathan Roumie, who plays Jesus, did a tweet about how much he learned through praying to the long-deceased Padre Pio.
Check out TheBEREAN CALL’s treatment on this: The {COUNTERFEIT] CHOSEN.
The fact that many believers I know would rather emotionally defend The Chosen than understand the dangers of what is behind the series now is disheartening and bewildering. I simply cannot support something that is so deeply enmeshed with these things. If I have offended you, I am sorry, but I think as deception becomes more and more subtle, we simply must become more alert to these things.
You know I am not a “heresy hunter.” In fact, I expect to be called half-a-heretic before my tour of duty on earth is done because I do not bow the knee to every jot and tittle that the hyper-heresy folks demand to pass the purity of doctrine test. But neither can I join the “don’t sweat the small stuff” new church attitude, which will overlook a snake as long as it’s wearing cool sneakers. (Oh..I forgot…snakes don’t have a leg to stand on…)
But seriously, we need to be refreshed and biblically prepared to discern which issues we simply cannot let stand. I pray for you, as I ask you to pray for me, that we can face and address these things with humility, teachability, resolve and strength, love, and determination. It’s been suggested I do a “Trojan Church 2,” which I might, and if I do, I will probably call it, “On Heretics, Heresies, and Hyper-Heresy-Hunters…” Another million-selling book, I am sure…
For those who haven't read Trojan Church by Greg Reid, here is a link where you can check it out on Good Reads!
Thanks for letting me share this and add a little humor as well.
Thank you for your continued prayers as I continue to work on Devil Hunter. After a few months break from it, I am back at work. The most difficult part of this is putting together the documentation – please pray that comes together smoothly.
Thank you for your prayers and support!
In His Grace,
Gregory Reid,
YouthFire Ministries
Box 370006 El Paso TX 79937
www.gregoryreid.com
legendaryseeker@gmail.com
YouthFire is an affiliate of American
Evangelistic Association
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