The Blue-Eyed Satanist

by Ruth Ann Cramer

Image by Obak

As the visitor stepped through our Christo Rey door, one glance into his cold, piercing, glittered-blue eyes told me a Satanist had entered our home.

He introduced himself: Though, as a trained professional, Jack (not his real name) had sent clients to Christo Rey, we hadn’t yet met him. His voice, purposely seductive I thought, set me on edge.

“I’ve heard” he smoothed, “that powergoes on all the time over here! I came to see for myself what this power is all about.” His muscles formed a smile; his eyes sought to capture mine.

Praying to avoid his deliberate stare, I gave Jack the obligatory tour. On the third floor, up and away from our guests below, he abruptly turned — trapping me. His face smirked beneath a mask of bemused benevolence, his eyes burned with his satanic master’s intent to spiritually bewitch, get me to yield; for I belonged to Jesus Christ, their most bitter enemy.

Pressing hard to hypnotize me, Jack ignored my order to stop. He laughed and snarled as we wrestled for supernatural power. Recognizing real danger, I praised God aloud; begged Him for mercy and help. My profession of faith only fueled the man’s anger.

I considered calling for help — but a quiet sense of authority filled me. Directed by the Holy Spirit, I placed my right hand on Jack’s left shoulder and said, “Stop! Desist now, in the name of Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior!”

Shock blanched his face; Jack blinked — then ramrod stiff, stood as cemented to the floor and unable to speak. I left him alone, up on the third floor. After a long while, he came down.

He said that when I touched him, a bolt like electricity shot down through his body and impaled him, unable to move or speak. Now over-eager and aggressively seeking, his blue eyes snapped as he pushed to know what kind of power we used; he wanted this power, too.

A rakishly-dressed, highly-ranked Satanic perfectionist in his late thirties, Jack started his journey into the occult through Transcendental Meditation ™. We ordered him not to exercise his New Age satanic powers while at Christo Rey; though he still managed to pass on that he could levitate, astral-travel, bi-locate, use psychic powers, make objects move; and as he’d add with a wicked glint, “much, much more”. One of his favorites was “Highway Revenge”. If errant drivers cut him off in traffic, he’d “cause something” to happen to them; bragging he’d even sent lumber from a truck through a man’s windshield. (These occurrences were, of course, happenstances or the work of demons; not the power of his thoughts).

Quickly becoming a regular guest — he “couldn’t stay away” — his flashes of temper were fearsome and legendary; such as when he parked his newly-detailed, $80,000, shiny black foreign sports car outside Christo Rey, and a cat with muddy paws walked all over it. And there was the morning he dressed resplendently in a two-thousand-dollar tennis outfit, matching head to toe; and a local cleric friend, wearing tattered clothes and raggedy shoes, using a racket with strings missing, beat him at tennis.

Jack was proud, but his theatrics caused all — even him — to laugh. Amoral and blind to his own faults, he recognized and appreciated the goodness of others. His fits of frustration when Matthew put him to work painting cabinet doors, produced many “life-lessons” in humility, patient endurance and perseverance for other Christo Rey regulars.

Focused on mastering the most occult power possible, Jack was stunned when those he deemed “ordinary low-life, losers, crazies, religious simpletons and children” prayed for healing — and healing happened! His fascination with power turned to greed; he lusted after the power he witnessed at Christo Rey. That he seemed no closer to gaining Christian power, infuriated him.

We told Jack, again and again, that God’s power comes only through a believer’s obedient relationship to God; and power comes only as God chooses to manifest His power for His own purposes. God’s power is not an “on demand” commodity, nor is it for any human being to give to another. We asked that he consider well, this Scripture:

“Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to pronounce the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.” Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?” And the man in whom the evil spirit was, leaped on them, mastered all of them, and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. (Ac 19:13-16 RSV)

After two years of difficult ministry for a deeply troubled childhood that left him terrified of being weak and powerless — hence, his journey into the occult — and tortured by a conflicted, fear-filled/power-hungry personality, Jack still refused to renounce satanic power until we could guarantee him God-power would be simultaneously his. He feared any “power-gaps”, for good reason, he implored. If he gave up satanic power before he gained equal power to protect himself, he’d be at the mercy of Satan and his cohorts. Grim reality, indeed.

One Holy Week, as a houseful of helpers hustled in preparation for an Easter Sunday sit-down dinner for seventy-two at Christo Rey, Jack’s eyes snapped with excitement; he fairly danced. On Easter, he boasted, he’d have a grand surprise for all the guests.

As we celebrated our Easter banquet with great joy, we grew concerned because Jack had still not arrived — he always arrived early, eager and hungry. Dinner near over, entertainment ready to begin, he stumbled through the door — his clothing eschew, baby-blues streaky-red, face haggard with sweat. He announced he’d been up all Saturday night, through Easter morning and afternoon, wrestling Satan. It seemed Satan refused to relinquish Jack, one of his most loyal and committed agents.

Jack swore, “Tonight, I’ll wrestle Satan until I do defeat him, then I’ll send him back to Hell!”

“But Jack”, we replied, “you don’t need to wrestle Satan tonight — or any night. You don’t need to send him back to Hell. Jesus Christ has already defeated Satan for all time by His obedient death on the cross and His resurrection from the grave. As followers of Jesus Christ, and in His name, we can take authority, command and restrain Satan in our own lives.”

Jack’s face grew stark with disappointment. Addicted to power — Satan’s or God’s, it didn’t matter whose, as long as he had it, and had more of it than anyone else — Jack longed to defeat Satan by his own strength. Though vastly deflated — the reality of Jesus Christ’s preeminence now clearer to him — and surrounded by a loving, accepting familial crowd, he managed to eat and enjoy.

Much later, and at long last, Jack willed to renounce his vast satanic, New Age and occult power, and became an ardent Christian, counting us his close friends and confidantes. Still, to his death, he battled unrelenting and vicious attacks by evil, and fought almost overwhelming temptations to retake satanic power. We believe he held out, to the end. We remember our dear friend, Jack, with warm smiles and much love. RIP.

SO, WHY ARE WE SEDUCED?

Jack was not born evil; nor did he originally intend to do evil. He believed himself weak, so he looked for a sure way to gain personal power and recognition. Though his spiritual quest began with Transcendental Meditation, and ended in hard-core Satanism — his was not “the usual” journey. I include his story here because his same motives and quests hold important keys as to why, and how, all of us can be seduced by “Other Than God” (OTG) beliefs.

Evil rarely presents itself with full purpose bannered, flaunting its lust for our allegiance. Though in difficult circumstances, Evil might urge: “Go on! Die without hope! Let’s wreak revenge on that usurper, that Son! I should have been God’s Son, or even God — I’m great enough to be God! But, He’s crowned; I’m condemned! But I’ll so fill hell with souls He died to redeem, He’ll suffer His own hell of jealousy and regret! So, die in despair! I’ll shake your soul in the Crucified’s face…”

The Scriptures tell us Jesus dealt with evil entities; He ordered His followers to do the same. That’s explicit enough. We needn’t argue here for the existence of Satan and his minions. A Christian must believe in and battle Satan and his followers until the end comes. (For more on this, see Matthew’s series on Satan (SR1) in The Sandbox.)

Exceptionally canny, seductive and attractive to human senses, Evil can afford to be at its most crude and vicious to attract and fill the desire of those humans already base through their lusts, weaknesses, choices and decisions. My concern here, however, is the manner in which good people can unknowingly and unwittingly, open themselves to be influenced, entrapped and taken into bondage by Evil and New Age.

Ministry has proven the way out of bondage is much more difficult than the way in. A prepared Christian, studies the many, very direct, Scripture teachings that spell out deception, temptation, idolatry and sin; and anticipates evil’s intent, action and lust for souls. Knowledge of Satan’s tactics is a must — not an option — in every Christian’s life.

Because evil masquerading as good has become so insidious, blinding and pervasive, even in the body of Christ, we’ve asked why, why? WHY! would anyone seeking wholeness and growth in spiritual life take such a debilitating and spiritually dead avenue? The answers might seem impossibly diverse and particular to each person who accepts deceit; but, through much study, discernment and ministry experience, we’ve noted consistent reasons for a Christian’s defection to Other Than God idolatry, Pantheism, New Age energy religion, “ancient” beliefs, special and “hidden” processes — all dressed with veiled promises — and more. The import, treachery and deadliness of these factors to true faith is deeply saddening and a warning to us all. Let us take heed!

SOME WAYS EVIL GETS TO US

• Shallow knowledge of true Christian belief leads to a lack of deeper, more mature and committed relationships to God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This inexperienced and uninformed state misleads one to believe Christian faith is — not enough.

• Lack of true faith in God keeps one from opening to, nurturing and sustaining a deeper faith-life; leading one to believe faith in such an unknown God is — not enough.

• Spiritual Pride: Believing one is more spiritually capable, qualified, and deserving of a more “illumined” walk, one seeks heightened “spiritual” experience, special enlightenment and intimacy with the supernatural. Based on high or low self-esteem (such as happened in Jack’s childhood, and his initial reason to seek spiritual “power”), pride is still self-centered — rather than God-centered. C.S. Lewis said it was through pride that Satan, the most beautiful and powerful angel in God’s heaven, became Satan; that Pride opens to every other vice and the complete anti-God state of mind. Steeped in spiritual pride, seekers consider “ordinary” faith to be — not enough.

• Disregard for the crucified Jesus, and all He won for us on the cross leads one to believe Jesus Christ’s birth, His life, teaching, ministry, the commissioning and empowerment of His disciples, the receipt of all authority from His Father, His shedding of blood unto death, His resurrection, Ascension and seat at the right hand of the Father are — not enough.

• Disbelief and lack of openness to God’s omnipresent Holy Spirit causes one’s faith to be weak, uninformed, uninspired and — not enough.

• Ignorance of the Bible as handed down by the Holy Spirit causes disdain for the written word of God in Scripture, and leads one to disregard Biblical injunctions as — not enough.

• Disregard for the Commandments, church doctrine, teachings of the Fathers, the Sacraments, sanctifying and actual grace, celebration of Eucharist — the receiving of the living Body and Blood of Jesus Christ — causes all to be seen as — not enough.

All “Other Than God” avenues teach that to find self-realization, self-fulfillment and the ultimate experience, one must go beyond, aside or apart from the God of Scripture. OTG adds, subtracts, modifies, ignores, mocks, discounts, counterfeits or vilifies orthodox Christian doctrine — which is seen as: ignorant, fundamentalist, limited; sexist or demeaning; and not broad, deep or sublime enough for the more spiritually advanced, attuned, perceptive and capable — which “Other Than God” seekers consider themselves to be.

Many Other Than God seekers do not kneel in gratitude and humility before a loving Father, but stand head high, saying, “I don’t need a creator; I am a creator.” They neither bow the head, nor bend the knee to Jesus Christ, who said, “I am the way, the truth, the life.” Jesus Christ, Son of God, does not play games or mouth poetic prattle. Jesus Christ, Savior, means exactly what He says.

SOME BELIEFS OF OTHER THAN GOD THINKERS

• Jesus Christ’s way has been tried and found wanting. All that “narrow-gate, thou-shalt-not, and take-up-your-cross” stuff is limited, self-sacrificing, demanding. I walk a broad road, possess an open mind; I honor my highest self. I can be divine! Jesus’ way is not for me.

• As for Jesus being truth, I must find my own truth. Truth is what I think, what I decide it is. Christianity denied us, not telling us how “divine-like” we’re meant to be. In order to reach and fulfill my own special greatness, I must be open to all truth.

• Jesus and His life, fill only those most easily satisfied. I have thirst Christ can’t quench. I understand mysteries, secrets and beliefs — especially those most ancient or hidden — few others comprehend. I want wisdom-power; instead, Jesus gives me rules: “Die to self.” and  “Make yourself as nothing for me.” I can’t — I won’t — live my life His way.

• The Holy Spirit of the Christian God is useless to me. I, myself, breathe, channel, direct and energize spirit. I’m one with goddess Rua, wisdom Sophie, the Ancients and Mother Earth. Divine Energy lives in and through me.

A former New Age Promoter and Leader says: “A singular characteristic and prime trademark of New Age is monumental self-centeredness, self-glorification and selfishness.” (Baer, Randall. Inside The New Age Nightmare. Lafayette, LA: Huntington House, 1989)

Other Than God thinking refuses to accept that we’re human beings with weaknesses and character flaws in desperate need of Jesus Christ, Savior. Instead, it seeks the innovative, the soothing, the self-satisfying image of one not in need — to be in need means one is weak, or one is lacking. In idealistic immaturity, it seeks compromises and shortcuts. Christianity says we must recognize and acknowledge our sin. Being rebellious, OTG says “Our only wrong-doing is not to seek the fullness of all we can be and get”.

A PROMISE MADE BY CHRIST

We recommend every Christian study and memorize this promise made by Jesus Christ that not only teaches, but warns us as well:

“He who seeks only himself brings himself to ruin, whereas he who brings himself to naught for me, discovers who he is.” (Mt 10:39 NACB)

What an amazing promise! This means, if we want to know and experience the fullness of ourselves, we must bring ourselves to nothing for God. Or, as we submit our Self, our ego, plans, expectations, aspirations, dreams and goals to God — God will bring us to discover who we are, in His own way, in His own time. In the process of yielding to God — bit by bit, or in one “fell swoop” — we learn the truth, the beauty of who we are and who we can be!

Hear the scoffs, groans, mutters and moans now. This is not a popular teaching — especially in today’s world that prompts: “Be all you can be! Get all you can get! Let no one stand in your way. You deserve to know who you truly are!” And sometimes: “You, too, can be god!”

Take heed, spiritual thinkers and spiritual junkies! Sometimes, those who consider themselves more spiritually mature and above the materialistic be-ing and get-ting, fail to see what evil has successfully hidden. In spiritually seeking, in spiritually trying to be and to get, we can easily become spiritually greedy. We spiritually hunt for a spiritual high. We lust after cheap and easy spiritual gain that doesn’t cost much and requires little in personal yielding or that (Uggg!) “dying to self”.

My husband, Matthew, had a way of putting it in his stand-up comedy that I just love: “Is Hassle Harry hammering your ego? Is Sandpaper Sally salting your wounds? Are there black heel marks all the way to your spiritual growth room? Does your living self-sacrifice keep crawling off the altar? What you need is Cross Embracer!” (Cramer, Matthew. Monologue: Cross Embracer. Prior Lake, MN: The Cramer Institute, 1978)

When Other Than God teaching insists we build up and aggrandize ourselves, place ourselves on the throne — essentially, idolatry — it renders the scriptural mandate to bring ourselves to nothing as . . . unthinkable! And so, negates Jesus Christ’s requirement for discovering who we truly are.

THE HOLY SPIRIT, OUR ONLY GUIDE

Caution: The Holy Spirit in this “bringing of ourselves to naught” must lead us. As in all things spiritual, God’s directives and action are paramount; not the plans and methods we might dream up in limited minds with puny thoughts; not guided by our secret, personal ambitions nor humanistic expectations and demands of God.

There is no substitute for going to the Holy Spirit in faith, trust and spiritual need. This need, and God’s requirements of us, applies to every Christian, saint or sinner, great or small, spiritually attuned or slacker; from the most dedicated and highly educated theologian to the simplest believer who cannot even put into words what he believes. All need; all are required.

The world needs to see and hear Christian believers in all areas of life relying on the wisdom and direction of the Holy Spirit. Especially Christian leaders, judges, politicians, lawmakers. Theologians, authors, speakers! Those in arts, media and entertainment. Physicians, surgeons, nurses and administrators. Those in business, finance and banking; CEO’s of large and small companies. We all need to give evidence — give witness! — to relying on the Holy Spirit.

Though it pains me deeply to say, some spiritual shepherds fail to act or give witness as true shepherds and leaders of their flocks. Some seem to follow their own or others’ agendas — such as those of secular humanists, popular teachers and celebrities, radical feminists, public opinion, the latest threat, spiritual gurus, dissident and speculative theologians, personal desires or lusts masquerading as public consensus — thus leaving their flocks open to deception, infiltration, entrapment and bondage. Of the many relevant Scriptures, these few come to mind:

“The shepherds …have all turned to their own way, each to his own gain, one and all.” (Is 56:11 RSV)

“The priests did not say, ‘Where is the LORD?’ Those who handle the law did not know me; the rulers transgressed against me; the prophets prophesied by Baal, and went after things that do not profit.” (Jer 2:8 RSV)

“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” says the LORD. “… You have scattered my flock, and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil doings, says the LORD. Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, says the LORD. (Jer 23:1-4 RSV) 

“My people have been lost sheep; their shepherds have led them astray, turning them away on the mountains; from mountain to hill they have gone, they have forgotten their fold. (Jer 50:6 RSV)

“As he went ashore he saw a great throng, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.” (Mk 6:34 RSV)

Serious and disastrous effects can come through lax, ill-led or deceived authority. Most deadly is the relinquishing of authority in the spiritual realm by those rightly authorized.

The spiritual principle is this: When legitimate authority with legitimate responsibilities — in every area of life — ignores or abandons its responsibilities, the territories for which it is responsible are opened to infiltration, deception, attack, even domination by Christ’s enemies. These areas, once left unprotected by those in authority over them, are most, most difficult to reclaim. Once spiritual enemies are given place — deception, corruption and treachery ensue.

In our own day, some spiritual authorities chance opening territories to deception, influence and “devilment” by allowing, even sponsoring Other Than God and New Age teaching rather than leading all to rely only on the promises, grace and power of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. “Stray neither to right nor to left. Follow the whole way Yahweh has marked for you and you shall live, you shall prosper and shall live long… (Dt 5:33 JB) We ignore this Scriptural imperative at our peril.

SOME IMPORTANT TRUTHS TO REMEMBER

Remember: If channeling “universal energy” through human beings, brings spiritual good and everlasting life, Jesus Christ — died for nothing.

We have a Savior! The war has been won; the outcome is not in doubt. Jesus Christ, the Lamb, has won for ALL time. What courage, authority and power this gives us as we war against deception, blindness and tyranny by God’s most dedicated enemies, Satan and his followers.

We have a belief! We have a life! So, let us praise Jesus Christ, His Father and the Holy Spirit! They equip us to do battle, to release prisoners, to unbind and set free the captives.

We worship and thank them; we bless their holy Names!