Calvary Assemblies of God

I just finished reading the book The Jezebel Spirit by Frances Frangipane. On the one hand I am more excited than ever. On the other, I am madder than I have ever been. I'm also upset with myself for being in bondage because of my ignorance all of these years, only now to understand the spirit that has fought against me since the early days of ministry.

Many years ago in Texas, as God was beginning to talk to me about ministry, I lived in a simple apartment and worked at a sign company. This was before I was married. I had found a good friend, Pat Fox, and we worked together painting signs. I would often tell him of my dream to one day be a minister of the Lord. I didn't know how that would happen, and I didn't even know what it would take to do it. All I knew back then was God had called me to serve him in ministry.

One night I was asleep in my apartment and in a dream I felt like I was opening my eyes and seeing the bedroom I was in. Suddenly the face of Pat Fox appeared over my bed and I was afraid, not because it was Pat, but that I could actually see a face hovering in my bedroom while I was asleep, or so I thought.

The face in front of me began to change. It still looked like Pat, but it became sinister looking, then evil looking. I suddenly realized that I was pinned down to the bed and I wasn't asleep. I couldn't move. A deep fear set in over me as the face turned from Pat to an evil demon and got bigger and bigger until it filled the room. I then realized what was pinning me to the bed was an intense weight. It pressed so hard upon me that I could no longer breathe in air and I was suffocating.

That was the moment I realized that all of this was real and I was being suffocated to death. Pain filled my lungs as I begin to try to fill them with enough air to say the name of  Jesus. Something gripped around each of my wrists and I couldn't move my arms. A tight grip began to restrict my throat. A spirit began speaking to me, but I was fighting for my life and could not make out what it was saying. As I began to pass out there came enough relief on my chest to cry out, "Jesus!" Like I was dropped from the air, I landed on my bed and the room was empty. I used to tell the story a lot, but everyone, including other believers, thought I was crazy, so I started keeping it to myself. It has always troubled me. Yes, I've seen visions before, but nothing that involved the physical realm. As far as I'm concerned, I never want to experience such a thing again. To me, that was the closest I have ever come to death. An evil spirit had its hands around my neck, choking the life out of me.

Time went on, I married, received my first license into ministry. Susan and I knew God wanted us to go to Indiana. I got a job in the Kentucky office of the company I worked for and we bought a 40 acre farm in Milltown, Indiana. The day came for us to move and all our friends from church showed up to help us load our Ryder truck for the trip to Indiana. It was hard leaving our church and friends, but we were full of life, in love with each other and the Lord, and ready to start raising the family the Lord had promised us.

It was a long nervous trip to Indiana with all of our possessions in tow. However, the most unusual thing happened in the way. When we got to the state line of Indiana I was so filled with excitement I said, "I claim this state in the name of Jesus." Suddenly a loud voice replied, "No, I'll drive you out of this state." It kind of stopped me in my tracks for a second. I thought, where did that come from, and then we journeyed on to our new farm and our new life in Indiana.

I started Life in Jesus Evangelistic Ministries in January of 1986. We worked hard to bring churches together in our county for outreach campaigns. It was difficult, because it seemed Pastors were downtrodden and they were timid. It almost seemed they were either afraid of one another, or afraid our being found out. Something was behind the scenes controlling things. I didn't understand all this, I just wanted to see souls saved, healed and delivered.

Things got harder and harder for us in ministry. I had to travel farther and farther to find places to preach. The late 80's was a time of judgment on the church. Many were being exposed. Several of the Pastors I started out with in Southern Indiana fell. There was a controlling spirit behind it all. In the wake of it all, Life in Jesus Ministries fell too. I took several jobs to pay the bills and feed the family, but God told me I was like Elijah beside the river. That was when the boxes of groceries started showing up on our doorstep. Neither Susan nor I thought this was how ministry would turn out, but we knew it wasn't over. I have never believed in the defeat.

One day I heard of a church that had opened up in Crandall, Indiana and that they were preaching the Full Gospel message. I took my family down there one Sunday night to see if they would let me preach. We found that their Pastor had resigned that morning and I preached there for the next 10 years. It was in this church that God began to teach me about controlling spirits. I had heard of the Absalom spirit and the Jezebel spirit, but to me these were just spirits that corresponded to an old man who resented a young Pastor, or an old lady who tried to manipulate a Pastor with acts of kindness. They were harmless, but you had to watch out for their tongues and avoid them when possible.

How wrong I was. Absalom and Jezebel are powerful principalities that are assigned to rule over whole regions. These were major evil spirits that try to worm their way into any structured government, be it the Whitehouse or the church house. Possibly for the past 30 years these spirits have been assigned to work their way into the authority structures of the church and crumble God's order and defeat the Pastor. As a result, the greatest fear a Pastor has today is the attacks from his own people. The Pastor has now become the target of oppressing spirits working their way through the influencers of the church. The devil has us turned against ourselves and is delighting in the destruction. When believers begin to feel the Pastor is the problem, then the church will decline into self-defeat. God will not move when his people come against the leadership.

Well, the Lord has once again began to teach me about controlling spirits. This time I've had a breakthrough. I see them for what they are. The Lord has told me to not take this lightly. I must stand and fight, the life of the church is at stake. On the heels of books like the one Frances Frangipane wrote, and the one I'm teaching from on Wednesday nights called The Jezebel Spirt by Dave Williams, I am gaining new understanding about what has dogged my heels ever since I went into ministry — a Jezebel spirit that wants control of my life and my ministry!

That night, on a bed in Arlington, Texas, the Jezebel spirit introduced itself by trying to kill me. Upon arriving in Indiana to start my evangelistic ministry, that same spirit committed itself to driving me out of Indiana. Today that spirit and I meet again. However, this time I'm ready. I recognize it by name. Never again will I be intimidated by a spirit that seeks to intertwine itself into the life of the church and control its leadership by intimidation.

In a recent set of notes I've released to the leaders of our church, I've outlined our battle plan to defeat this enemy. We will finally see Calvary push through the wall that has hindered a move of God for years. Recently we've received another set back, but we are not cast down. Once again we will rise and say, "Good shot, that hurt, but wait until you see the weapons of our warfare."

There are so many things in my spirit right now and so much more I could say, but just let me tell you this: We are already declaring the victory in this battle. We are already seeing the enemy weaken. Stand just a little longer, dear saint, and you will see miracles you never dreamed of. All the years of visions and dreams will focus on a moment of outpouring like never before.

My desire is to throw away the notes, forget the schedules, and run headlong into battle with sword lifted high. However, this is more like a delicate surgery, slowly removing the attachment of each tentacle and delivering our people from Jezebel's influence. We don't want an amputation, we want a healing. We want the life-giving blood to be restored and bring life to everyone in our body, while it carries away our sins. God seeks to restore every hope and dream for each of us and for our sons and daughters.

It's so close I can taste it, but we must be patient. We are going to teach our way out of this one. Each of us will learn new wisdom and insight and learn to protect ourselves from demonic influences. However, the Lord does say to pray, and he will fight for us. 

Revelation knowledge is a life-giving force that sustains us in the fiercest battle. When you know God has brought you to this point you know you are: In It To Win It!