I still remember the look of guilt on the face of a young girl who had come to my office for counseling when she asked me ÒWhat is Satanism? Who is Satan? I meanÉwho created him?Ó I looked at her for a while, trying to figure out what she really wanted to know. I needed to know whether this was an ÒIÕm trying to trap you to see whether you know what I knowÓ question of a fifteen year old, or whether she seriously wanted to know about Satanism. I prayed, asking God to give me wisdom. I was the school counselor and had given some talks on Òspiritual warfareÓ at the Wednesday night youth group meetings.
After the two-week sessions where I talked in-depth about the Òkingdom of darkness,Ó I kind of got a reputation in the school for Òtalking about Satan.Ó I made both friends and enemies. Friends among some of the students who wanted to find out more about a topic that is not much talked about, and enemies among some of the parents who felt that I was encroaching on their Òpersonal spaceÓ as far as what they wanted their children to learn about spiritual things. Their children were coming home and asking them uncomfortable questions. Although I had prepared three sessions to take the kids through, the school chaplain asked that I not continue my sessions because some parents were concerned. I thank God for a school chaplain who felt that young people needed to be taught on spiritual warfare and took the step to invite me to talk about a topic that many Christians would rather not talk about.
I really should not have been the person to talk to these children about spiritual warfare and the parents were right in being concerned about what their children were learning in school. The parents should have been the ones to talk about this topic to their children. Children are under the stewardship of their parents, particularly when it comes to spiritual things. Parents need to talk to their children about spiritual warfare. They owe it to their children to study the Bible to see what it says about this subject and to share these revelations with their children. There are also many books that have been written on spiritual warfare. If we as parents do not give our children a Biblical and balanced view of who Satan is, then out of curiosity, they may go to the wrong sources to find out for themselves who Satan is.
ÒHave you ever asked your parents these questions?Ó I asked, acting like I really did not care to discuss that topic. Julie (not her real name) looked at me incredulously. ÒMy parents would never answer such a question.Ó ÒWhy?Ó I persisted. Ò I once asked my mum who Satan was and she told me that I had no business talking about Satan. She told me that I should concentrate on Jesus.Ó ÒSo why donÕt you listen to mum and concentrate on Jesus?Ó I continued. ÒBecause I want to know why my mum is afraid of Satan! Another time I asked her again about Satan and she just turned and walked away.Ó ÒHow long ago was that?Ó I asked Julie. ÒI was eleven.Ó ÒSo for four years you have been wondering about Satan?Ó Julie went on to tell me about how she went on a quest to find out about Satan, and how she decided to read mystical and ÒweirdÓ books from the school library. ÒMy favorite book is ÔHarry Porter!Õ Ó
ÒDid you know that Brian is a Satanist?Ó Julie asked me, her green eyes as wide as they could go. I knew Brian so I decided not to look shocked or show any emotions. ÒHow do you know?Ó I asked her. She went on to tell me how Brian had confided in her that he was a Satanist. That shocked me, only because this was a school that had been set up by missionaries to cater to missionary parents who had come out to the mission field to spread the Gospel! JulieÕs parents had been missionaries in the West African country for about five years. ÒThere is a place in the school where some kids go to at night to worship Satan.Ó
I now understood why Satan had not wanted me to teach on spiritual warfare! I thank God that He gave me the opportunity to talk with Julie about who Satan was as described in the word of God and that his ultimate goal was to kill and destroy. God gave me the opportunity to meet JulieÕs parents when they came to see me concerning their nine year- old son who was Òhearing voices.Ó Satan was taking the curiosity of teenagers in this school, and using it to plant seeds that would later on bear bitter fruit. The sad part was that all the kids that were dabbling in the occult at this school came from homes of missionary parents. The only thing sadder than this was the fact that the parents had no inkling of the devises that Satan was already using to destroy their children. They were witnessing in ÒJudeaÓ and ÒSamaria,Ó while they had problems in ÒJerusalem!Ó
Nellie Shani lives in California with her husband and three children. She has been writing articles for the last fifteen years. Her first book, "Stand Your Ground," is now available on amazon.com and on her author's website: http://www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/StandYourGround.html
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