That video was excellent. The only slight niggle I would have is that he seemed to imply that it was always wrong to get angry. That is certainly not true, because Jesus got angry sometimes (not least when He was driving the money-changers out of the Temple with a whip!). However, anger
can certainly be wrong sometimes, especially if it results from wounded pride, or if someone even gets angry for no real reason.
Strive not with a man without cause, if he have done thee no harm. (Proverbs 3:30)
But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. (Nearly every modern translation omits the phrase "without a cause" and thereby makes it a sin to simply be angry -
compare for yourselves if you wish, although I'm sure you all know, but readers from elsewhere can verify what I just said through that link.) So it is OK to be angry, as long as there is a just cause for it. However, it is still important to guard against sin, even when the anger is for a good reason.
Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil. (Ephesians 4:26) But being angry in and of itself is certainly not wrong. If it's a constant habit though, that would be a problem.
That aside, the rest of what he said sounded pretty spot on to me. Two things that I particularly liked: firstly, where he said that when Jesus or others cast out devils, they almost never conversed with them (except in the case of "Legion" - and even then, it was quite a short conversation). And also where he pointed out the importance of prayer and fasting. A lot of "spiritual warfare", the way the Charismatics like to practise it, is very carnal. They tend to make it appear "glamorous". For instance, they love to "trash talk" the Devil. They call it "rebuking", but it's just trash talking. There's a passage in Jude that I think addresses this:
Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities. Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee. But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves. (Jude 8-10) These guys "trash talk" the Devil because they're lost, "as brute beasts", living for their own lusts and puffing themselves up in pride.
Real spiritual warfare on the other hand involves things that
deny the flesh. The flesh does not like prayer and fasting. There's nothing glamorous about it. It's actually the polar opposite of the way the Charismatics portray it.
By the way, is anyone familiar with Frank Peretti? I certainly don't recommend him nowadays, but I do remember reading some of his books in the early 1990s. They were kind of "spiritual warfare thrillers" based on Charismatic ideas of spiritual warfare. Not sure if he was into deliverance ministry specifically, but his novels certainly helped popularise Pentecostal/Charismatic spiritual warfare concepts. He does know how to spin a good yarn, and I remember being thoroughly entertained by his books, but there is a lot of bad theology in them and they should be steered well clear of. One thing I have come to realise is that we are often at our most vulnerable to deception when we're being entertained. I think that is perhaps because your guard is down. When you're laughing at something, or being thrilled by it, or getting emotionally involved in it, you are more receptive to its messages, whether it's a TV show, book or song. Some of the deliverance ministries can be "entertaining" in the same way, which is one of the many things that make them so dangerous.
