Hello, and welcome to Strange Encounters. My name is Rick Burgess. I host the Rick Burgess Show. That is a daily radio show that you can find out all those details by going to rickburgesshow dot com. Strange Encounters is a brand new podcast and our goal here on this podcast is to be educated on spiritual warfare. If you missed episode one, we really laid out the foundation of why we're here and what we intend to accomplish, So if you miss that, go catch it. Also, don't forget to subscribe to this podcast to share this podcast with others. So if you want to tell someone what to do, you just go to wherever you get podcasts and you just search for Strange Encounters. We are going to start this episode with a guest. Blake Prime is our guest. Blake and I actually teach the Bible to a small group every every Sunday. We rotate at our local church. And when we started talking about the topic of Strange Encounters, Blake and I have had a conversation about his experience with spiritual warfare within his own home and so Blake Prime joins us. Now, Blake, welcome to Strange Encounters.

Hello, and welcome to Strange Encounters. My name is Rick Burgess. I host the Rick Burgess Show. That is a daily radio show that you can find out all those details by going to rickburgesshow dot com. Strange Encounters is a brand new podcast and our goal here on this podcast is to be educated on spiritual warfare. If you missed episode one, we really laid out the foundation of why we're here and what we intend to accomplish, So if you miss that, go catch it. Also, don't forget to subscribe to this podcast to share this podcast with others. So if you want to tell someone what to do, you just go to wherever you get podcasts and you just search for Strange Encounters. We are going to start this episode with a guest. Blake Prime is our guest. Blake and I actually teach the Bible to a small group every every Sunday. We rotate at our local church. And when we started talking about the topic of Strange Encounters, Blake and I have had a conversation about his experience with spiritual warfare within his own home and so Blake Prime joins us. Now, Blake, welcome to Strange Encounters.

Thank you. It's a pleasure to be here.

Thank you. It's a pleasure to be here.

Rick. So this is one of those things we talked about last week. We're looking for ballots. We need to be very aware of spiritual warfare because it is real. We don't need to obsess over spiritual warfare like looking for demons and Lucifer around every corner. That that's not healthy either. We need to know the foundational Word of God to be able to detect and discern when we're being lied to by false teachers under the influence of demons. But we certainly have to acknowledge that that it happens and it is real. And you know this because you have experienced it firsthand.

Rick. So this is one of those things we talked about last week. We're looking for ballots. We need to be very aware of spiritual warfare because it is real. We don't need to obsess over spiritual warfare like looking for demons and Lucifer around every corner. That that's not healthy either. We need to know the foundational Word of God to be able to detect and discern when we're being lied to by false teachers under the influence of demons. But we certainly have to acknowledge that that it happens and it is real. And you know this because you have experienced it firsthand.

Firsthand and want to jump right into it.

Firsthand and want to jump right into it.

Yeah, So tell the audience about your family and kind of what happened.

Yeah, So tell the audience about your family and kind of what happened.

Right, So, I have three children. I've got a son who's fourteen, Colt, and then I've got two daughters, Bryce, who is twelve, and then Laine, who this whole spiritual warfare conjecture is going to be talking about. But she is soon to be ten, So she's nine now. But so Laane a few years back started experiencing pretty significant and crippling I would say anxiety and these attacks. Would you know, to be honest, I think her first experience with a death in the family and being around death opened up her eyes to you know, something she'd.

Right, So, I have three children. I've got a son who's fourteen, Colt, and then I've got two daughters, Bryce, who is twelve, and then Laine, who this whole spiritual warfare conjecture is going to be talking about. But she is soon to be ten, So she's nine now. But so Laane a few years back started experiencing pretty significant and crippling I would say anxiety and these attacks. Would you know, to be honest, I think her first experience with a death in the family and being around death opened up her eyes to you know, something she'd.

Never been put in front of in front of her before.

Never been put in front of in front of her before.

And so from that moment on, questions started coming about, and then you started seeing worries and fears and things of that.

And so from that moment on, questions started coming about, and then you started seeing worries and fears and things of that.

Nature started to take over.

Nature started to take over.

And as the anxiety started to become more prominent in her life, you know, we were searching franchis or where do we go from here? And it kind of subsided briefly for a brief moment. And then my oldest daughter, Bryce was diagnosed with type one diabetes and they're in the doctor's office when the doctor came in and said, hey, it is type one, and we were kind of shocked and startled, and my daughter said, no idea what type one diabetes was. They just heard the doctor give you know something and that we reacted unfavorably to it, and so at that moment was another It was a trigger point for we had made some headway with the anxiety. That brought it back one hundredfold, and so I started noticing that there was something very dark in just the conversations that I was having with her around this topick of anxiety that she was experiencing her life. And so when you, as a father, are sitting there and your daughter is saying things like, I don't recognize the person that I am in these moments of attack. I can't control my thoughts or my feelings. It's like it's not me right. And then the one that really has stuck with me was when she said, when I'm at school and I'm on the playground, it's like I look out and all my friends are in the light and I'm stuck in the dark.

And as the anxiety started to become more prominent in her life, you know, we were searching franchis or where do we go from here? And it kind of subsided briefly for a brief moment. And then my oldest daughter, Bryce was diagnosed with type one diabetes and they're in the doctor's office when the doctor came in and said, hey, it is type one, and we were kind of shocked and startled, and my daughter said, no idea what type one diabetes was. They just heard the doctor give you know something and that we reacted unfavorably to it, and so at that moment was another It was a trigger point for we had made some headway with the anxiety. That brought it back one hundredfold, and so I started noticing that there was something very dark in just the conversations that I was having with her around this topick of anxiety that she was experiencing her life. And so when you, as a father, are sitting there and your daughter is saying things like, I don't recognize the person that I am in these moments of attack. I can't control my thoughts or my feelings. It's like it's not me right. And then the one that really has stuck with me was when she said, when I'm at school and I'm on the playground, it's like I look out and all my friends are in the light and I'm stuck in the dark.

Wow.

Wow.

And so that phrase immediately let me know that this is spiritual. This is this is something beyond just an emotion that she's going through a phase she's going through. This is this is very evident of spiritual warfare.

And so that phrase immediately let me know that this is spiritual. This is this is something beyond just an emotion that she's going through a phase she's going through. This is this is very evident of spiritual warfare.

And so.

And so.

Progressing through that, we started adopting through that we you know, Joshua one not has become a just mission verse and through our throw home and you know that, and so trying to convey to her that we need to rely on the words that God speaks when he says, hey, be strong and courageous, you know, don't worry, don't be dismayed, don't be frightened because.

Progressing through that, we started adopting through that we you know, Joshua one not has become a just mission verse and through our throw home and you know that, and so trying to convey to her that we need to rely on the words that God speaks when he says, hey, be strong and courageous, you know, don't worry, don't be dismayed, don't be frightened because.

Why because I'm with you wherever you go.

Why because I'm with you wherever you go.

And so trying to speak that life and speak that truth into her was a huge phrase that we would say all the time, and if used a huge verse that we would go to and we'd also use we're a big We listened to a lot of Christian rap, Christian rock, and so one of our favorite artists KB came out of a song was not Today, Satan, and so we would use that jokingly and halfway serious, like, hey, not today, Satan, you can't touch me today. And we would use that in context a lot. And then one particular morning she was having a rough, rough go of it, and knowing this, I said, hey, talk to my wife wit and I said, let me take her to school, and she lay. When I tell you that this was on another level of attack, it was a twelve out of ten.

And so trying to speak that life and speak that truth into her was a huge phrase that we would say all the time, and if used a huge verse that we would go to and we'd also use we're a big We listened to a lot of Christian rap, Christian rock, and so one of our favorite artists KB came out of a song was not Today, Satan, and so we would use that jokingly and halfway serious, like, hey, not today, Satan, you can't touch me today. And we would use that in context a lot. And then one particular morning she was having a rough, rough go of it, and knowing this, I said, hey, talk to my wife wit and I said, let me take her to school, and she lay. When I tell you that this was on another level of attack, it was a twelve out of ten.

Wow.

Wow.

So as as we're in the truck driving to school, and she is hysterical, and the things that I'm seeing are completely panic driven. She is hyperventilating, hysterical, crying, and then all of a sudden, she puts one hand on the console, one hand on the door, and it's like something takes over her body, and she pushes back into the seat and her eyes are looking up and they essentially a roll in the back of her head. And she starts screaming, why is God abandoning me? And so to hear my nine year old daughters say that it was crippling, and so I pulled over on the side of the road because I could tell that she was under an attack because what I was looking at was not my baby girl.

So as as we're in the truck driving to school, and she is hysterical, and the things that I'm seeing are completely panic driven. She is hyperventilating, hysterical, crying, and then all of a sudden, she puts one hand on the console, one hand on the door, and it's like something takes over her body, and she pushes back into the seat and her eyes are looking up and they essentially a roll in the back of her head. And she starts screaming, why is God abandoning me? And so to hear my nine year old daughters say that it was crippling, and so I pulled over on the side of the road because I could tell that she was under an attack because what I was looking at was not my baby girl.

And she starts screaming.

And she starts screaming.

And when I say screaming, she's literally screaming as loud as she can. God doesn't love me. God doesn't love me. Why won't he listen to me? Why won't he help me? And so I just started speaking scripture over. I was reciting Joshua one nine over and over again.

And when I say screaming, she's literally screaming as loud as she can. God doesn't love me. God doesn't love me. Why won't he listen to me? Why won't he help me? And so I just started speaking scripture over. I was reciting Joshua one nine over and over again.

I was speaking life in her.

I was speaking life in her.

I was not jokingly saying not today, Satan. I was very seriously not today, Saytan. I'm rebuking from you from this child, right I am anymore like I've armored up now and I'm going to war for my kid, and so commanding him to leave, and she's screaming. I'm trying to get her just to repeat after me, just to speak scripture over her own life, and you know, she's saying, I'm strong, I'm courageous, you know, not today God is with me. And then she's like, he's not listening, and just it's this is going on for five minutes or so. And then when I tell you Rick, in an instant, when I said, I rebuke you, evil spirit from this cart, leave my daughter right now. She is no child of yours. He is a child of the King. So she's a child of Jesus, and he is in control of this situation.

I was not jokingly saying not today, Satan. I was very seriously not today, Saytan. I'm rebuking from you from this child, right I am anymore like I've armored up now and I'm going to war for my kid, and so commanding him to leave, and she's screaming. I'm trying to get her just to repeat after me, just to speak scripture over her own life, and you know, she's saying, I'm strong, I'm courageous, you know, not today God is with me. And then she's like, he's not listening, and just it's this is going on for five minutes or so. And then when I tell you Rick, in an instant, when I said, I rebuke you, evil spirit from this cart, leave my daughter right now. She is no child of yours. He is a child of the King. So she's a child of Jesus, and he is in control of this situation.

Not you.

Not you.

You have no authority here. And it was in that instant that it went from Hurricane Gail force wind to complete calm. She went from pushing in the back of the she sat straight up. It was like a movie scene. She sat straight up and it was just and she looked at me she said, are we going to school?

You have no authority here. And it was in that instant that it went from Hurricane Gail force wind to complete calm. She went from pushing in the back of the she sat straight up. It was like a movie scene. She sat straight up and it was just and she looked at me she said, are we going to school?

Wow?

Wow?

And so in that moment I paused and I said, sweetheart, do you realize what just happened?

And so in that moment I paused and I said, sweetheart, do you realize what just happened?

She said, what are you talking about? I said, well, we.

She said, what are you talking about? I said, well, we.

Just had a pretty strong attack that we were going through in this car. And when I say that, I mean she was hyper ventilating. She couldn't control their breath. All of it was gone. She was breathing normally, the tears stopped, her heart rate calmed down, and she was speaking to me like she had just been resting. Her resting heart rate was obviously there, and she was speaking to me as calm as could be, as clear as can be, and she said, I feel fine? Can we just go to school? And so in that moment I was witnessed. I think I called you pretty much right after that. I said, Rick, I've seen the movies on these exorcisms, you read in scriptures on casting out demons, and it just happened.

Just had a pretty strong attack that we were going through in this car. And when I say that, I mean she was hyper ventilating. She couldn't control their breath. All of it was gone. She was breathing normally, the tears stopped, her heart rate calmed down, and she was speaking to me like she had just been resting. Her resting heart rate was obviously there, and she was speaking to me as calm as could be, as clear as can be, and she said, I feel fine? Can we just go to school? And so in that moment I was witnessed. I think I called you pretty much right after that. I said, Rick, I've seen the movies on these exorcisms, you read in scriptures on casting out demons, and it just happened.

So I can just since parents everywhere watching and listening to this podcast, and they want us to go back run through this again. So I'm gonna ask you some questions. Okay, don't and if you've got more, you certainly tell, But I'm gonna stop her to ask some questions. Did you have any doubts at all? I know she's nine, and so we know that we can come to Christ with a childlike faith, but we all know sometimes we're examples of this. You and I we believed in Jesus when we were children, but we really weren't redeemed and justified because we simply just had a demonic faith. We believed the same things that demons believed about Jesus, and they always get him right, by the way, because they absolutely know. And we touched on that a little bit in episode one, But it was there any doubt in your mind at that point that Lanes was redeemed and justified by Jesus. I know you don't now, but I'm talking about then.

So I can just since parents everywhere watching and listening to this podcast, and they want us to go back run through this again. So I'm gonna ask you some questions. Okay, don't and if you've got more, you certainly tell, But I'm gonna stop her to ask some questions. Did you have any doubts at all? I know she's nine, and so we know that we can come to Christ with a childlike faith, but we all know sometimes we're examples of this. You and I we believed in Jesus when we were children, but we really weren't redeemed and justified because we simply just had a demonic faith. We believed the same things that demons believed about Jesus, and they always get him right, by the way, because they absolutely know. And we touched on that a little bit in episode one, But it was there any doubt in your mind at that point that Lanes was redeemed and justified by Jesus. I know you don't now, but I'm talking about then.

I say no, you know, I was always one that debated or had skepticism over children that stepped into the faith right simply because they haven't experienced life. Then I started realizing, you know, who am I to say that our God isn't big enough too?

I say no, you know, I was always one that debated or had skepticism over children that stepped into the faith right simply because they haven't experienced life. Then I started realizing, you know, who am I to say that our God isn't big enough too?

And so.

And so.

Watching Laine overcome these attacks through going to Jesus and through claiming her victory in Christ is what was confirming to me. And that's why I was battling for her so hard, and I wanted her to hear it and her to say it, because I knew that that demon had no authority, right.

Watching Laine overcome these attacks through going to Jesus and through claiming her victory in Christ is what was confirming to me. And that's why I was battling for her so hard, and I wanted her to hear it and her to say it, because I knew that that demon had no authority, right.

And I want to clarify something because last week's episode we discussed Acts nineteen or the last episode, and we saw men who were not redeemed by Jesus try to use the name of Jesus and the demons did not respond to them. They did acknowledge, they knew who Paul was, who had been redeemed by Jesus. Now we see a man who has been redeemed by Jesus using the name of Jesus on behalf of his daughter, who you believe Will was also redeemed. Because we're going to get into that, because I can feel it. Everybody going, wait a minute, I can be justified and redeemed and still have to fight demons. And the answer is yes. And we can quote examples from scripture the job story. Now God's in control, God's set in the boundaries, but he's testing Job and he's even telling Lucifer what he can and can't do. Okay, we have the apostle Paul, we talked about this in episode one, who says, this thorn in my flesh that you gave me talking about God, and now a demon is harassing me over this agony that I'm in, this discomfort that I'm in. So there's examples of people that were right with God but still can come under an attack. Now they can't be I really don't believe, like I think Lane, what there's an attempt on Lane but because of the power of the name of Jesus in her life and yours, it could not be accomplished. So I kind of want to lay that groundwork because I know those are the questions that are coming up. And I had someone kind of misunderstand and episode one, because I do look at your questions and you can email me Rick at Burgessministries dot com. This episode may allow for me to do one of the emails and I'll answer questions. If you have questions, email me Rick at Burgessmanistries dot com and we'll include those in podcasts, and of course I'll try to answer you personally as well. And the guy said, well, I don't understand. I thought a godless person can call on the name of Jesus. Oh that's different. Absolutely everybody who called on the name of Jesus at one time was lost and godless. He hears that we're talking about. If you don't, if you're not justified, you can't the name of Jesus shouting it at demons. It doesn't have any power because you don't belong to Jesus. But yes, the name of Jesus saves the godless, and God hears that when you call on the name of Jesus. That's completely different. When you come away from this, you saw the name of Jesus remove the evil spirit, you have zero, zero doubt that you were dealing with an evil spirit. I mean, what you're describing it seems pretty obvious, but I just want you to answer for yourself. Pretty positive, right, And so when you felt that supernatural peace and the automobile and then she went to school, where did you go from there?

And I want to clarify something because last week's episode we discussed Acts nineteen or the last episode, and we saw men who were not redeemed by Jesus try to use the name of Jesus and the demons did not respond to them. They did acknowledge, they knew who Paul was, who had been redeemed by Jesus. Now we see a man who has been redeemed by Jesus using the name of Jesus on behalf of his daughter, who you believe Will was also redeemed. Because we're going to get into that, because I can feel it. Everybody going, wait a minute, I can be justified and redeemed and still have to fight demons. And the answer is yes. And we can quote examples from scripture the job story. Now God's in control, God's set in the boundaries, but he's testing Job and he's even telling Lucifer what he can and can't do. Okay, we have the apostle Paul, we talked about this in episode one, who says, this thorn in my flesh that you gave me talking about God, and now a demon is harassing me over this agony that I'm in, this discomfort that I'm in. So there's examples of people that were right with God but still can come under an attack. Now they can't be I really don't believe, like I think Lane, what there's an attempt on Lane but because of the power of the name of Jesus in her life and yours, it could not be accomplished. So I kind of want to lay that groundwork because I know those are the questions that are coming up. And I had someone kind of misunderstand and episode one, because I do look at your questions and you can email me Rick at Burgessministries dot com. This episode may allow for me to do one of the emails and I'll answer questions. If you have questions, email me Rick at Burgessmanistries dot com and we'll include those in podcasts, and of course I'll try to answer you personally as well. And the guy said, well, I don't understand. I thought a godless person can call on the name of Jesus. Oh that's different. Absolutely everybody who called on the name of Jesus at one time was lost and godless. He hears that we're talking about. If you don't, if you're not justified, you can't the name of Jesus shouting it at demons. It doesn't have any power because you don't belong to Jesus. But yes, the name of Jesus saves the godless, and God hears that when you call on the name of Jesus. That's completely different. When you come away from this, you saw the name of Jesus remove the evil spirit, you have zero, zero doubt that you were dealing with an evil spirit. I mean, what you're describing it seems pretty obvious, but I just want you to answer for yourself. Pretty positive, right, And so when you felt that supernatural peace and the automobile and then she went to school, where did you go from there?

I personally went to prayer and was just in a time of thanks. I mean when I dropped her off, To be honest, I broke down, Sure, it was. It was pretty gut wrenching to you know, no father wants to see their their child ever in a.

I personally went to prayer and was just in a time of thanks. I mean when I dropped her off, To be honest, I broke down, Sure, it was. It was pretty gut wrenching to you know, no father wants to see their their child ever in a.

Time of distress like that.

Time of distress like that.

And you know, this idea of spiritual warfare, it's almost you know I was describing to her. I was like, these these these evil spirits are like bullies, right they are.

And you know, this idea of spiritual warfare, it's almost you know I was describing to her. I was like, these these these evil spirits are like bullies, right they are.

They are trying to pick on people that they think are vulnerable.

They are trying to pick on people that they think are vulnerable.

Young children can be definitely be prey in that in that mindset, or knew people that are new to the faith, which she was. And but to me, it's it's even in a bully, right, The moment the big brother in this case, the father shows.

Young children can be definitely be prey in that in that mindset, or knew people that are new to the faith, which she was. And but to me, it's it's even in a bully, right, The moment the big brother in this case, the father shows.

Up, right, they back off. They're like, wow, I've.

Up, right, they back off. They're like, wow, I've.

Got I don't this is in a fight I want to go into is I know I'm not going to win, So they back off. And that's what I witness in that in that space, and even going back to your point on, you know, as redeemed, as redeemed individuals, can we go under spiritual attack? And you say yes, because that's the very reason why we see this Ephesian six armor that were to put on every day, right and the moment. Ever since that moment, I have used and you know, one of our our good friends and pastor at Validel, Barry Chesney, he told me, hey, you're gonna have to start praying this Ephesian six armor, which is what the back half of that scripture tells you to do, to pray it over you daily and because we need all that armor on for protection for the lies that enemy's going to bring to us each and every day. And so that has become a huge staple. And my morning quiet time is praying the armor over myself and then over my wife and then asking that my children would be covered head to toe as well.

Got I don't this is in a fight I want to go into is I know I'm not going to win, So they back off. And that's what I witness in that in that space, and even going back to your point on, you know, as redeemed, as redeemed individuals, can we go under spiritual attack? And you say yes, because that's the very reason why we see this Ephesian six armor that were to put on every day, right and the moment. Ever since that moment, I have used and you know, one of our our good friends and pastor at Validel, Barry Chesney, he told me, hey, you're gonna have to start praying this Ephesian six armor, which is what the back half of that scripture tells you to do, to pray it over you daily and because we need all that armor on for protection for the lies that enemy's going to bring to us each and every day. And so that has become a huge staple. And my morning quiet time is praying the armor over myself and then over my wife and then asking that my children would be covered head to toe as well.

Do you think And I know we had this conversation and this is going to be a future episode where we'll spend the whole episode on this. Do you since don't be offended by this because we all we all make mistakes. Sure, could you go back into your home and into your lives? Could you could you identify anything that might have needed to be clean cleaned out and removed from the home spiritual house cleaning?

Do you think And I know we had this conversation and this is going to be a future episode where we'll spend the whole episode on this. Do you since don't be offended by this because we all we all make mistakes. Sure, could you go back into your home and into your lives? Could you could you identify anything that might have needed to be clean cleaned out and removed from the home spiritual house cleaning?

Yes.

Yes.

And I'd never even thought about the idea of spiritual house cleaning until you know, you brought it up and you questioned me on this, and there I look back and there's so many things that we could have done that we and that's not even just in that moment, just over the years, right, the very simple stuff that goes back to things like Halloween decorations, right when you hang up witches and broomsticks and you know, stuff that you know are commonly associated with that holiday or with that day. You know what, that's the very premise around that is an evil spirit? Or could it at least invite it? In social media?

And I'd never even thought about the idea of spiritual house cleaning until you know, you brought it up and you questioned me on this, and there I look back and there's so many things that we could have done that we and that's not even just in that moment, just over the years, right, the very simple stuff that goes back to things like Halloween decorations, right when you hang up witches and broomsticks and you know, stuff that you know are commonly associated with that holiday or with that day. You know what, that's the very premise around that is an evil spirit? Or could it at least invite it? In social media?

Right?

Right?

Or what what lane or what any of our children are seeing on you know, the YouTube or the instagrams, and you know having parameters there or just making sure that there be they're not even listening to, you know, some secular music, right, We try to really just bathe them in Christian rock, Christian rap, Christian worship, you know, things that can just keep their spirit just in line where it needs to be at all times.

Or what what lane or what any of our children are seeing on you know, the YouTube or the instagrams, and you know having parameters there or just making sure that there be they're not even listening to, you know, some secular music, right, We try to really just bathe them in Christian rock, Christian rap, Christian worship, you know, things that can just keep their spirit just in line where it needs to be at all times.

Yeah, and I know there's going to be some pushback on this, and I'm not being legalistic about this, I'm really not. I am astounded at how ignorant we can be about Halloween. Yeah, guys, this Halloween thing, and in our home, we we we we were, we were doing it. For a while, we felt convicted that we needed to stop doing it. Then you almost got that, well, we're gonna do it, but we're gonna do it, and we're going to be wise about how we do it, and I will tell you in our home and these are future episodes. For very obvious reasons, we made a decision under the conviction of the Holy Spirit. We don't have anything to do with Halloween. Nothing, And we have never regretted it. There was never a time we let me and go dog gone it. I wish we'd kept doing Halloween because it's just so twisted and so difficult. When I see little girls dressed up as witches, when I see little boys dressed up as serial killers and goblins and ghosts and all this stuff. This is extremely dangerous. Taking your home and turning it into some kind of haunted house. This is extremely dangerous because what you're doing to these evil spirits, as you're saying, we invite you in, and people go, well, let's just pretend. You know, now, do I think that it's bad for a child to dress up as a princess, to dress up as Buzz light Year and go to a trunk retreat? I don't a fall festival. But what I'm saying is, and you might be able to walk those lines, and I would say, make every effort to do so. And I know what we do as parents. You're like, I hate to deny my child something that all the other kids get to do. But when you're sitting there praying for the Lord Jesus to come in and defeat a demon that you've invited into their life, you're gonna wish you didn't do it. Absolutely, And it's extremely dangerous. It's already tough enough out there walking. If we could see the war that is raging around us every day, between angels and demons. Most of us will never go to sleep again. Sure, okay, and it's all around us and what we have to be. You don't have to obsess over it, like I said, but we need to be wise. You got to start thinking, if I do this, I may see it as no big deal. And the worst thing that could happen is that demons could attack my family. It's not worth it. I mean, is that some big sacrifice to say? My kid never got to dress up as a witch and cast pretend spells at a Harry Potter birthday party. My kid never got to dress up like a serial killer that was in horror movies. Never got to dress up like a vampire, you know, some sort of monster, some sort of goblin. All these crazy werewoof faces and this wicked clown stuff. This kind of stuff is like taking a megaphone and saying to the demons you are welcome here. And it's very serious. And so you looked at you, you look at some of those things and look, I'm not saying that you I know your family, but when something like this happens, you probably were thinking in your home, we're good.

Yeah, and I know there's going to be some pushback on this, and I'm not being legalistic about this, I'm really not. I am astounded at how ignorant we can be about Halloween. Yeah, guys, this Halloween thing, and in our home, we we we we were, we were doing it. For a while, we felt convicted that we needed to stop doing it. Then you almost got that, well, we're gonna do it, but we're gonna do it, and we're going to be wise about how we do it, and I will tell you in our home and these are future episodes. For very obvious reasons, we made a decision under the conviction of the Holy Spirit. We don't have anything to do with Halloween. Nothing, And we have never regretted it. There was never a time we let me and go dog gone it. I wish we'd kept doing Halloween because it's just so twisted and so difficult. When I see little girls dressed up as witches, when I see little boys dressed up as serial killers and goblins and ghosts and all this stuff. This is extremely dangerous. Taking your home and turning it into some kind of haunted house. This is extremely dangerous because what you're doing to these evil spirits, as you're saying, we invite you in, and people go, well, let's just pretend. You know, now, do I think that it's bad for a child to dress up as a princess, to dress up as Buzz light Year and go to a trunk retreat? I don't a fall festival. But what I'm saying is, and you might be able to walk those lines, and I would say, make every effort to do so. And I know what we do as parents. You're like, I hate to deny my child something that all the other kids get to do. But when you're sitting there praying for the Lord Jesus to come in and defeat a demon that you've invited into their life, you're gonna wish you didn't do it. Absolutely, And it's extremely dangerous. It's already tough enough out there walking. If we could see the war that is raging around us every day, between angels and demons. Most of us will never go to sleep again. Sure, okay, and it's all around us and what we have to be. You don't have to obsess over it, like I said, but we need to be wise. You got to start thinking, if I do this, I may see it as no big deal. And the worst thing that could happen is that demons could attack my family. It's not worth it. I mean, is that some big sacrifice to say? My kid never got to dress up as a witch and cast pretend spells at a Harry Potter birthday party. My kid never got to dress up like a serial killer that was in horror movies. Never got to dress up like a vampire, you know, some sort of monster, some sort of goblin. All these crazy werewoof faces and this wicked clown stuff. This kind of stuff is like taking a megaphone and saying to the demons you are welcome here. And it's very serious. And so you looked at you, you look at some of those things and look, I'm not saying that you I know your family, but when something like this happens, you probably were thinking in your home, we're good.

Right before before it happened one hundred percent.

Right before before it happened one hundred percent.

And it just goes to show you that you can't really let your guard down at any moment.

And it just goes to show you that you can't really let your guard down at any moment.

Right.

Right.

That's why the you know, the very active even you know, strengthening our own walks so then we can lead effectively and help, you know, are those that we have stewardship over, you know, especially as men, right, we have stewardship over our wives and our and our children. And it ultimately I look at it's like, man, this is back, this falls back on me, and so how can I do better job of making sure that they're fully protected and covered at all times? And so it's it really it forced us to take a deeper look into our family worship, how we went about our prayers, how we you know, and not even just the prayer time, what we said and what we spoke in our prayers, because you know, Lane, she's still It's not that the anxiety has gone away, right, it's just that we know how to battle it now. And you know, a specific thing that lets you know how powerful Jesus is, and I know you've alluded it to you and it's like in other things that you've talked about before, is just the.

That's why the you know, the very active even you know, strengthening our own walks so then we can lead effectively and help, you know, are those that we have stewardship over, you know, especially as men, right, we have stewardship over our wives and our and our children. And it ultimately I look at it's like, man, this is back, this falls back on me, and so how can I do better job of making sure that they're fully protected and covered at all times? And so it's it really it forced us to take a deeper look into our family worship, how we went about our prayers, how we you know, and not even just the prayer time, what we said and what we spoke in our prayers, because you know, Lane, she's still It's not that the anxiety has gone away, right, it's just that we know how to battle it now. And you know, a specific thing that lets you know how powerful Jesus is, and I know you've alluded it to you and it's like in other things that you've talked about before, is just the.

Power of prayer and the power of.

Power of prayer and the power of.

Your sphere of influence and those that can come alongside you in prayer. And you know, we've witnessed countless times of an attack coming on her.

Your sphere of influence and those that can come alongside you in prayer. And you know, we've witnessed countless times of an attack coming on her.

Yep.

Yep.

And then I've got brothers that I'll go to and say, hey, I need you to suit up right now, and I need you to prayer, not later, but I need you to pray in the moment, like it needs to happen right now. And the response is praying immediately, or you know, they start sending me like or calling and they're praying out loud so that you know, Laine can hear it. And I've seen it go away like in the moment, not later. It's she's under attack. The prayers come in and the prayers go away, I mean in the attack goes away. And you know I saw her come home and her she opens her backpack and dumps out all these notes and they all say Jesus, Jesus, Jesus in different references, be strong, be courageous. And I questioned your I said, what are these?

And then I've got brothers that I'll go to and say, hey, I need you to suit up right now, and I need you to prayer, not later, but I need you to pray in the moment, like it needs to happen right now. And the response is praying immediately, or you know, they start sending me like or calling and they're praying out loud so that you know, Laine can hear it. And I've seen it go away like in the moment, not later. It's she's under attack. The prayers come in and the prayers go away, I mean in the attack goes away. And you know I saw her come home and her she opens her backpack and dumps out all these notes and they all say Jesus, Jesus, Jesus in different references, be strong, be courageous. And I questioned your I said, what are these?

What is all this?

What is all this?

It just likes a bunch of you know, notes that she's doing on and she goes all the times I feel like I'm under attack at school. I instantly just start writing Jesus's name on the paper and it goes away.

It just likes a bunch of you know, notes that she's doing on and she goes all the times I feel like I'm under attack at school. I instantly just start writing Jesus's name on the paper and it goes away.

Aymen, well, when you think about our children, think about the analogy that Peter used. He said, we got to be self controlled and we got to be alert. And that alert part is where we we I've been guilty of it. Sure, you got to be alert, And he says why because the enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Now, when you if you this analogy that Peter's using, I want you to think about what we know about predators in the animal kingdom, and what do we know about them. They're looking for the easiest kill because they themselves don't want to get injured, because if a predator gets injured, then now they're going to die. So when they when they come upon the church, and they come upon the family, and they come upon society, who do you think are the most vulnerable for an attack from a predator? We see this. Have you ever been watching an animal documentary and you know when that anelope gives birth to that calf, you're like, oh no, that that baby is not going to get through this episode, and what did they say. I could go after the male who has the big horns. I could go after the female that just birth the child, But I think you're probably easier to go get the child. And when they don't have if the parents don't have the ability to fight off the lion, they lose the kid. And you have to understand that though children, as Christ taught us, can have a tremendous faith, they are also easy pickings for the adversary and the demons if they're not under the authority of Jesus and they're not under the authority of yes parents, Mom and Dad. But as you pointed out, the head of the house not more valuable than the wife. Men and women are equal, but they have distinct roles, and there's a headship and a spiritual leadership that God gave to the man at creation. If you go to Genesis and you go to the deception, which we covered in episode one, if you go to that deception, when God shows up on the scene, he does not address Eve. He addresses Adam. Adam, what's happened here? Now, you say, well, Adam wasn't anywhere around with then you don't know the scriptures. If you go and read the Fall, it says that Eve gave the fruit and she said, hey, it was great, and she gave it to her husband, who was with her. So when God shows up, he wants to ask Adam how he let this happen. He never addresses Eve. Adam of course blames Eve and then ultimately blames God because he said, you're the one who created her. But God says to Adam, have y'all eaten from the tree that I forbid you to eat from? Now? Why is he asking Adam? Well, if you go back to Genesis two and back to Genesis one, you find out that Adam was told this before Eve was ever created. It was his job to be sure that Eve knew what they would and would not do, and it was his job to protect his wife. And when she was being tempted. I've heard I've heard Sherry talk about this. She said, Eve shouldn't have been over goofing off away from her husband, and her husband, you know, should have come in there and been standing there and saying, don't ever try to deceive my wife, and you should have tried to kill the serpent. But what we found is she was not ready for is that what God really said. We talked about that in episode one, and Adam did not step in with his headship and say, I know what God said that we're not to do. I know God said, we don't eat from this tree, and we're not going to. And what we have is like we have. I've talked, we've interviewed multiple people that go in and rescue children from the sex trade. And I hate to even bring that up because it's so dark and twisted. If you don't think that's just demons and demonic activity to the highest level, how grotesque that is. And he says back to predators, these people that still children and put them into the sex trade, are they deceive people to give them their children? The one thing they look for is a family that has no dad, true, and if that child didn't have the protection of a dad, that's the first ones they go after. And so when we farm out this spiritual leadership and we neglect it, we're not just putting ourselves in danger in this war. We're not just putting our wives in danger. We're putting our children in danger.

Aymen, well, when you think about our children, think about the analogy that Peter used. He said, we got to be self controlled and we got to be alert. And that alert part is where we we I've been guilty of it. Sure, you got to be alert, And he says why because the enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Now, when you if you this analogy that Peter's using, I want you to think about what we know about predators in the animal kingdom, and what do we know about them. They're looking for the easiest kill because they themselves don't want to get injured, because if a predator gets injured, then now they're going to die. So when they when they come upon the church, and they come upon the family, and they come upon society, who do you think are the most vulnerable for an attack from a predator? We see this. Have you ever been watching an animal documentary and you know when that anelope gives birth to that calf, you're like, oh no, that that baby is not going to get through this episode, and what did they say. I could go after the male who has the big horns. I could go after the female that just birth the child, But I think you're probably easier to go get the child. And when they don't have if the parents don't have the ability to fight off the lion, they lose the kid. And you have to understand that though children, as Christ taught us, can have a tremendous faith, they are also easy pickings for the adversary and the demons if they're not under the authority of Jesus and they're not under the authority of yes parents, Mom and Dad. But as you pointed out, the head of the house not more valuable than the wife. Men and women are equal, but they have distinct roles, and there's a headship and a spiritual leadership that God gave to the man at creation. If you go to Genesis and you go to the deception, which we covered in episode one, if you go to that deception, when God shows up on the scene, he does not address Eve. He addresses Adam. Adam, what's happened here? Now, you say, well, Adam wasn't anywhere around with then you don't know the scriptures. If you go and read the Fall, it says that Eve gave the fruit and she said, hey, it was great, and she gave it to her husband, who was with her. So when God shows up, he wants to ask Adam how he let this happen. He never addresses Eve. Adam of course blames Eve and then ultimately blames God because he said, you're the one who created her. But God says to Adam, have y'all eaten from the tree that I forbid you to eat from? Now? Why is he asking Adam? Well, if you go back to Genesis two and back to Genesis one, you find out that Adam was told this before Eve was ever created. It was his job to be sure that Eve knew what they would and would not do, and it was his job to protect his wife. And when she was being tempted. I've heard I've heard Sherry talk about this. She said, Eve shouldn't have been over goofing off away from her husband, and her husband, you know, should have come in there and been standing there and saying, don't ever try to deceive my wife, and you should have tried to kill the serpent. But what we found is she was not ready for is that what God really said. We talked about that in episode one, and Adam did not step in with his headship and say, I know what God said that we're not to do. I know God said, we don't eat from this tree, and we're not going to. And what we have is like we have. I've talked, we've interviewed multiple people that go in and rescue children from the sex trade. And I hate to even bring that up because it's so dark and twisted. If you don't think that's just demons and demonic activity to the highest level, how grotesque that is. And he says back to predators, these people that still children and put them into the sex trade, are they deceive people to give them their children? The one thing they look for is a family that has no dad, true, and if that child didn't have the protection of a dad, that's the first ones they go after. And so when we farm out this spiritual leadership and we neglect it, we're not just putting ourselves in danger in this war. We're not just putting our wives in danger. We're putting our children in danger.

And I think one thing that it really forced me to take a hard look at how connected I was to the vine right and how good, how how well I was then, you know, trying to shepherd those that God had given me stewardship over and was I doing a good enough job protecting them, leading them under the authority of Christ. And one thing that a mentor, Steve Weatherford helped me create for myself was an identity statement. And I am statement under the authority of Christ. And if I already introduced myself with that I am statement, I would say my name is Blake Prime, and I'm a man who is all in for Jesus Christ. And I'm an unashamed warrior who walks with integrity, strength and courage for my King. And so I helped Lain in the moment. I said, hey, this has helped me a ton. Just identify and always remember and these core values that are in my statement bring it back to center. This is who I want to represent under the authority of Jesus. And I hope when people look at me that's what they're seeing, not Blake, but they're seeing these characteristics as Jesus sees them. And so that's what she does. And we came up with She came up with one. And if I'm correct, it's you know. My name is Laine, and I'm a princess of my King.

And I think one thing that it really forced me to take a hard look at how connected I was to the vine right and how good, how how well I was then, you know, trying to shepherd those that God had given me stewardship over and was I doing a good enough job protecting them, leading them under the authority of Christ. And one thing that a mentor, Steve Weatherford helped me create for myself was an identity statement. And I am statement under the authority of Christ. And if I already introduced myself with that I am statement, I would say my name is Blake Prime, and I'm a man who is all in for Jesus Christ. And I'm an unashamed warrior who walks with integrity, strength and courage for my King. And so I helped Lain in the moment. I said, hey, this has helped me a ton. Just identify and always remember and these core values that are in my statement bring it back to center. This is who I want to represent under the authority of Jesus. And I hope when people look at me that's what they're seeing, not Blake, but they're seeing these characteristics as Jesus sees them. And so that's what she does. And we came up with She came up with one. And if I'm correct, it's you know. My name is Laine, and I'm a princess of my King.

Amen.

Amen.

And then she says, and I walk with strength, and I walk with courage back to our Joshua one nine. And she said, because my God promises to be with me everywhere I go. And so I have witnessed her in times of distress, just crying out her identity statement right, and just reminding herself, but ultimately reminding any spirit that's around her, I'm not yours, I'm his. I'm a princess of my King. So get out of here.

And then she says, and I walk with strength, and I walk with courage back to our Joshua one nine. And she said, because my God promises to be with me everywhere I go. And so I have witnessed her in times of distress, just crying out her identity statement right, and just reminding herself, but ultimately reminding any spirit that's around her, I'm not yours, I'm his. I'm a princess of my King. So get out of here.

And I want to give you an analogy what Blake's talking about, what we're talking about is, and this was episode one. We tried to lay this down and we hope we accomplish with this podcast. You don't have the option to say, well, I know there's a spirit virtual war that wages, that rages and wages all around me, but I don't want to get involved in that. I'm gonna take the option of I'm not going to participate in the war. You're in the war. You're in it. The question is do you know how to fight it? And so it's like saying, I hope my house never catches on fire. So I'm not gonna have any fire extinguishers, and I'm not gonna have any system in my house, any kind of water or anything, because I'm just gonna go ahead and say I don't think my house is ever going to catch on fire. Well, you know what the good news is, you don't have to go to bed every night thinking your house is gonna catch on fire. But what what you need to do is say, but in case it does, I have everything I need to put the fire out, Because, as you just heard, here's a family of God, certainly in the sanctification process, working it out. And you didn't want to be involved in the spiritual war, but you didn't have a choice. So when the spiritual war came to your home, you knew what to do, you know. But but but on the second part, I want to ask you, how did you address after something so traumatic. Hey, we're not going to be afraid anymore, and we're not going to live our lives since we're called in scripture not to we're not called to a spirit of fear. How did you address now how your life moves forward after such an event.

And I want to give you an analogy what Blake's talking about, what we're talking about is, and this was episode one. We tried to lay this down and we hope we accomplish with this podcast. You don't have the option to say, well, I know there's a spirit virtual war that wages, that rages and wages all around me, but I don't want to get involved in that. I'm gonna take the option of I'm not going to participate in the war. You're in the war. You're in it. The question is do you know how to fight it? And so it's like saying, I hope my house never catches on fire. So I'm not gonna have any fire extinguishers, and I'm not gonna have any system in my house, any kind of water or anything, because I'm just gonna go ahead and say I don't think my house is ever going to catch on fire. Well, you know what the good news is, you don't have to go to bed every night thinking your house is gonna catch on fire. But what what you need to do is say, but in case it does, I have everything I need to put the fire out, Because, as you just heard, here's a family of God, certainly in the sanctification process, working it out. And you didn't want to be involved in the spiritual war, but you didn't have a choice. So when the spiritual war came to your home, you knew what to do, you know. But but but on the second part, I want to ask you, how did you address after something so traumatic. Hey, we're not going to be afraid anymore, and we're not going to live our lives since we're called in scripture not to we're not called to a spirit of fear. How did you address now how your life moves forward after such an event.

I think it was just a good time to reflect and it opened up a really good avenue of conversation for our entire family. And you know, you addressed we're not to call to have a spirit of fear, but you know the second that the next burt of that verse is like, but it's a spirit of it's power, right right, And so it it opened up the opportunity for us to say, hey, guys, this is real and spiritual warfare is real, real, and so if you don't think it, or if you, like you said, if you are under the mindset of well, because we love Jesus, we're just good and we just kind of coast through life now, then we're sadly mistaken because that narrow road that we talk about it Matthew seven, that says, hey, it's a difficult path, and only if you are going to find it, if you're going to be one of those few, you're going to walk through some difficult things. And part of those difficult things is going to be slip ups, it's going to be attacks, it's going to be you know, different trials and tribulations that we come under. And in those times, if you aren't ready for battle, if you haven't equipped yourself with the knowledge of who God is, what he said, who he says he is, what he said he's done, and believe that that is true and that is your focus forward. Then you're inviting yourself in to just really just fall by the wayside and to become either stagnant in your walk, you know. And we had a good chance to talk about like we can't let this be a moment or instance like this be moments that cause us to just go to the sidelines, because we can never just sit back and just and just do nothing right. We're called to constantly advance, constantly move forward, and we walk in the authority of Christ. And so it's going to be a rallying cry, I mean all of us to see, I mean I've seen attack that Laine has gone under, and to look around and to see her brother, and to see her sister and her mother and myself laying hands on her and going to prayer over her, on her behalf through Jesus, and to watch it go away in the moment, it just shows you that while the enemy has authority here on earth, they're not the supremau thorry. They've been defeated, right, And so that's the ultimate reminder and I said, Hey, guys, have no fear that the enemy is ever gonna hurt. Is he gonna try to trip you up?

I think it was just a good time to reflect and it opened up a really good avenue of conversation for our entire family. And you know, you addressed we're not to call to have a spirit of fear, but you know the second that the next burt of that verse is like, but it's a spirit of it's power, right right, And so it it opened up the opportunity for us to say, hey, guys, this is real and spiritual warfare is real, real, and so if you don't think it, or if you, like you said, if you are under the mindset of well, because we love Jesus, we're just good and we just kind of coast through life now, then we're sadly mistaken because that narrow road that we talk about it Matthew seven, that says, hey, it's a difficult path, and only if you are going to find it, if you're going to be one of those few, you're going to walk through some difficult things. And part of those difficult things is going to be slip ups, it's going to be attacks, it's going to be you know, different trials and tribulations that we come under. And in those times, if you aren't ready for battle, if you haven't equipped yourself with the knowledge of who God is, what he said, who he says he is, what he said he's done, and believe that that is true and that is your focus forward. Then you're inviting yourself in to just really just fall by the wayside and to become either stagnant in your walk, you know. And we had a good chance to talk about like we can't let this be a moment or instance like this be moments that cause us to just go to the sidelines, because we can never just sit back and just and just do nothing right. We're called to constantly advance, constantly move forward, and we walk in the authority of Christ. And so it's going to be a rallying cry, I mean all of us to see, I mean I've seen attack that Laine has gone under, and to look around and to see her brother, and to see her sister and her mother and myself laying hands on her and going to prayer over her, on her behalf through Jesus, and to watch it go away in the moment, it just shows you that while the enemy has authority here on earth, they're not the supremau thorry. They've been defeated, right, And so that's the ultimate reminder and I said, Hey, guys, have no fear that the enemy is ever gonna hurt. Is he gonna try to trip you up?

Sure?

Sure?

Are we gonna make mistakes, Sure are we gonna have stumbles, Yes, but we can always advance forward.

Are we gonna make mistakes, Sure are we gonna have stumbles, Yes, but we can always advance forward.

So let's run the list. You you cover your family in prayer. Okay, you called on the name of Jesus and rebuked an evil spirit that was trying to attack your daughter. Right, you did spiritual house cleaning. Let's go through our home and listen if for anything that we may be allowing that is giving an invitation to evil spirits to come into our family. Right. And then you sat down afterward and you said, now going forward, we saw the power of Jesus, so we do not live in fear.

So let's run the list. You you cover your family in prayer. Okay, you called on the name of Jesus and rebuked an evil spirit that was trying to attack your daughter. Right, you did spiritual house cleaning. Let's go through our home and listen if for anything that we may be allowing that is giving an invitation to evil spirits to come into our family. Right. And then you sat down afterward and you said, now going forward, we saw the power of Jesus, so we do not live in fear.

Right.

Right.

And is that basically the steps that you went.

And is that basically the steps that you went.

Through exactly the steps.

Through exactly the steps.

And I think there's one more thing that I would add that we haven't done yet. Okay, but under your guidance is even sometimes we you know, even just as individuals, you know, we're flawed, so we might have blind spots of things that we just don't see, right, Yeah, right, So I would recommend that people. It's why it's really important to have a sphere of it, like your circle of you know, your brothers or sisters that you really rally around. You know that they are strong in their walk, if not stronger than you are, so they can come alongside you in your walk and say point out things of concern.

And I think there's one more thing that I would add that we haven't done yet. Okay, but under your guidance is even sometimes we you know, even just as individuals, you know, we're flawed, so we might have blind spots of things that we just don't see, right, Yeah, right, So I would recommend that people. It's why it's really important to have a sphere of it, like your circle of you know, your brothers or sisters that you really rally around. You know that they are strong in their walk, if not stronger than you are, so they can come alongside you in your walk and say point out things of concern.

Right.

Right.

So having someone like yourself or other brothers walk through my house right and look for signs, I think is going to be the next step. And you and I have talked about that doing it in my own home just because you know, even after you've done all the measures and you've got all the failed say, someone might walk in and be like, hey, did you notice that fire has it over there? I didn't see that, right, So having some other brothers or sisters that you respect enough to really be truthful and come in and open and see it from a godly perspective can help.

So having someone like yourself or other brothers walk through my house right and look for signs, I think is going to be the next step. And you and I have talked about that doing it in my own home just because you know, even after you've done all the measures and you've got all the failed say, someone might walk in and be like, hey, did you notice that fire has it over there? I didn't see that, right, So having some other brothers or sisters that you respect enough to really be truthful and come in and open and see it from a godly perspective can help.

Yeah, in the future episode, I'll talk about that because we did that in our home, And Sherry's going to come on my wife on a future episode and we'll talk about something that took place in our home and we did those exact steps. We brought men of God into the home. Everyone prayed over the home, and we listened to their discernment that said, hey, you may have thought this right here, wouldn't any big deal. I don't feel good about it. Let's take it out and then whatever these men that we trusted said. Even if it had not, we had not felt the conviction of it yet we listened to them. Sure, and I think that's important. So Blake, thank you for sharing your thoughts on this topic, but also telling us a story from being on the front lines. Absolutely so, I do want to take one email, and we'll do this from time to time on episodes of Strange Encounters. You can email me Rick at Burgessmanistries dot com. This email says, Hey, I wanted to ask you a question. I'm really enjoying Strange Encounters, thank you very much. And my question comes in the form of a why is that that I can still hear my pops. This is a grandfather who passed away, and he said, I want to answer this question. My grandfather is a man of God. He told me that he would see me in heaven. Uh, and he gave me all indications that there was no need to go to his gravesite because he wasn't there, he said, but I can still, you know, hear my Pop's name in dreams. When situations come up, I see him. He appears in the dream and I'm he said, I'm not a guy who cries or anything, but every time he appears in a dream, I can't remember the conversations because I weep every time. I'll be driving around and the smell of the actual cigarettes that he smoked will hit my nose and no one's around. Uh. And you know, he said, if I hear Wayward Son by Kansas, it was something that they enjoyed. He said, that also brings where I feel like that he is around me. So all these things make me believe that I'm filling the presence of Pops again. So I want to ask you this question, Rick, Can it be possible some souls are still here, not as Casper or something just a gentle breeze, are reminders that everything is okay? Well? What I let me answer the question that's really in here first email or okay, are there souls that are still hanging around? The answer is no, No, there isn't that that would violate a lot of scripture. You you would have a hard time, uh that no passing any biblical scrutiny because we're told in scripture to be absent of the body for the redeemed is to be in the presence of the Lord. And I assure you, being in the presence of the Lord, no one has any desire to come back to earth and be hanging around. Okay. The other part of that is, you say, well, but wait a minute, what about when you look in the Book of Samuel and you see that Samuel had died in Saul brought in a conjurer. By the way, we'll do a whole episode on these people, and asked this, for lack of a better term, which to bring Samuel up for Saul to talk to Samuel. And this is the problem with evil spirits in black magic. She was able to do it, and Saul had hid his identity from her, and Saul the King had outlawed any of this, but he snuck in there trying to use some of it when he was in duress and when God's hand had been removed from him. That's crucial to remember. And when she sees that it's the king, she said, you deceived me, thinking now she's gonna get in trouble, like you know, you would trap a criminal. But that's not what Saul was doing. He wanted to talk to Samuel. And what did Samuel say when he realized that he had been brought into the presence of this place by dark, evil magic? He said to Saul, what you shouldn't have done this. This is evil, This is a sin. You should not have done this. So that will also lead us to another episode about obsessing over signs and wonders. Be careful with signs and wonders because evil spirits and Satan himself can do those two don't ever obsess over signs and wonders. So would those things in scripture? No, souls don't hang around now, Could these things be still God's way of comforting you? Maybe probably make a hard case that God uses the smell of cigarettes. But as far as you know, you having a memory of Pops thinking, you hear his voice. I know, if you've never read my wife's book about the earthly death of our youngest son, you really need to read it because there's some things in there. I know a lot of people that when they've lost loved ones, God used things in his creation to comfort them, to remind them. My wife and I have been through this, remind us of the sovereignty of God, remind us of the peace of knowing that our loved ones are now fully healed and fully hole in the presence of the Lord. That's fine, and some of these things may be that I wouldn't be overly alarmed by that. If it comforts you, if it troubles you, then now we're thinking it's probably demonic. But your question is, could there be loved ones souls hanging around gravesites, hanging around the house, riding with me in the truck when I'm listening to Kansas. No, that would not stand up to biblical scrutiny. Careful with that, so if you want to send us some emails, we'll try to work those in on future episodes too. Our thanks to Blake Prime for being with us today and sharing that story and reminding each and every one of us to always be prepared for any strange encounter.

Yeah, in the future episode, I'll talk about that because we did that in our home, And Sherry's going to come on my wife on a future episode and we'll talk about something that took place in our home and we did those exact steps. We brought men of God into the home. Everyone prayed over the home, and we listened to their discernment that said, hey, you may have thought this right here, wouldn't any big deal. I don't feel good about it. Let's take it out and then whatever these men that we trusted said. Even if it had not, we had not felt the conviction of it yet we listened to them. Sure, and I think that's important. So Blake, thank you for sharing your thoughts on this topic, but also telling us a story from being on the front lines. Absolutely so, I do want to take one email, and we'll do this from time to time on episodes of Strange Encounters. You can email me Rick at Burgessmanistries dot com. This email says, Hey, I wanted to ask you a question. I'm really enjoying Strange Encounters, thank you very much. And my question comes in the form of a why is that that I can still hear my pops. This is a grandfather who passed away, and he said, I want to answer this question. My grandfather is a man of God. He told me that he would see me in heaven. Uh, and he gave me all indications that there was no need to go to his gravesite because he wasn't there, he said, but I can still, you know, hear my Pop's name in dreams. When situations come up, I see him. He appears in the dream and I'm he said, I'm not a guy who cries or anything, but every time he appears in a dream, I can't remember the conversations because I weep every time. I'll be driving around and the smell of the actual cigarettes that he smoked will hit my nose and no one's around. Uh. And you know, he said, if I hear Wayward Son by Kansas, it was something that they enjoyed. He said, that also brings where I feel like that he is around me. So all these things make me believe that I'm filling the presence of Pops again. So I want to ask you this question, Rick, Can it be possible some souls are still here, not as Casper or something just a gentle breeze, are reminders that everything is okay? Well? What I let me answer the question that's really in here first email or okay, are there souls that are still hanging around? The answer is no, No, there isn't that that would violate a lot of scripture. You you would have a hard time, uh that no passing any biblical scrutiny because we're told in scripture to be absent of the body for the redeemed is to be in the presence of the Lord. And I assure you, being in the presence of the Lord, no one has any desire to come back to earth and be hanging around. Okay. The other part of that is, you say, well, but wait a minute, what about when you look in the Book of Samuel and you see that Samuel had died in Saul brought in a conjurer. By the way, we'll do a whole episode on these people, and asked this, for lack of a better term, which to bring Samuel up for Saul to talk to Samuel. And this is the problem with evil spirits in black magic. She was able to do it, and Saul had hid his identity from her, and Saul the King had outlawed any of this, but he snuck in there trying to use some of it when he was in duress and when God's hand had been removed from him. That's crucial to remember. And when she sees that it's the king, she said, you deceived me, thinking now she's gonna get in trouble, like you know, you would trap a criminal. But that's not what Saul was doing. He wanted to talk to Samuel. And what did Samuel say when he realized that he had been brought into the presence of this place by dark, evil magic? He said to Saul, what you shouldn't have done this. This is evil, This is a sin. You should not have done this. So that will also lead us to another episode about obsessing over signs and wonders. Be careful with signs and wonders because evil spirits and Satan himself can do those two don't ever obsess over signs and wonders. So would those things in scripture? No, souls don't hang around now, Could these things be still God's way of comforting you? Maybe probably make a hard case that God uses the smell of cigarettes. But as far as you know, you having a memory of Pops thinking, you hear his voice. I know, if you've never read my wife's book about the earthly death of our youngest son, you really need to read it because there's some things in there. I know a lot of people that when they've lost loved ones, God used things in his creation to comfort them, to remind them. My wife and I have been through this, remind us of the sovereignty of God, remind us of the peace of knowing that our loved ones are now fully healed and fully hole in the presence of the Lord. That's fine, and some of these things may be that I wouldn't be overly alarmed by that. If it comforts you, if it troubles you, then now we're thinking it's probably demonic. But your question is, could there be loved ones souls hanging around gravesites, hanging around the house, riding with me in the truck when I'm listening to Kansas. No, that would not stand up to biblical scrutiny. Careful with that, so if you want to send us some emails, we'll try to work those in on future episodes too. Our thanks to Blake Prime for being with us today and sharing that story and reminding each and every one of us to always be prepared for any strange encounter.