Last week I shared some of the things we’ve faced recently, including death threats by a crazed drug addict. I was struggling in my heart over how to respond. Then not long after that happened, I realized that God had highlighted Psalm 91 to me a few weeks before. I didn’t know why God was emphasizing it, but I took some time to read and re-read Psalm 91, and I knew God was speaking. Then not long after that, a pastor prayed for me and prophesied about God’s protection.

When I remembered this I realized in my heart that God was preparing me, and I must not be moved by fearing the threats of a man possessed by demons. I’ve heard the stories of other Christians who walked in divine protection, and one of the keys was fearlessness.

What Really Causes Needless Casualties Of War?

The theme of fearlessness before natural threats carries through into the subject of confronting supernatural enemies. I found this video of one of Shawn Bolz’s stories after I’d written my book “What Really Causes Needless Casualties Of War.”

Many of us were taught that Christians do not have authority over territorial spirits (principalities), and so confronting them is presumptuous and leads to “needless casualties” of spiritual warfare because it is leaving God’s protection. I initially accepted that teaching, thinking it was a needed correction, but I had questions in the back of my mind. Over time I became convinced that scripture clearly teaches we have authority over every form of evil, including territorial spirits.

In “What Really Causes Needless Casualties Of War,“ I presented many problems with concluding that “territorial spirits” are outside our realm of authority. You can read one of them in the article Do Christians Have Authority Over Territorial Spirits? I went on to share a more accurate diagnosis of what really causes “needless casualties” of spiritual warfare. People get hurt when they confront evil without standing in a “gospel position.” I touched on that in Trying To Break The Devil’s Power Is Like Denying Jesus’ Death. One of the more specific things that make us vulnerable to demonic attack is fear. I shared a little about that in I Will Sing Your Praise Before The “Gods.” 

If I’d heard this story of Shawn’s before I published that book, I would have included it. It fits exactly with my conclusions about the real causes of “needless casualties” of spiritual warfare, and it has a lot in common with other stories of people who’ve had encounters with territorial demons.

Shawn Bolz Threatened By A Territorial Spirit!

In the video below, Shawn shares the story of an experience he had in Korea. He was in a small city that was the center of the spiritualist movement in Korea.

Shawn and his friend were going to minister the next day. They were in a small hotel with no windows, so it was way too hot inside even though it was freezing cold outside!

Shawn’s friend, Jesse, fell asleep, but Shawn was laying there awake. It was totally dark because there were no windows, but somehow, something darker than the darkness appeared in the room. It was swirling, like some kind of portal, Shawn was completely fascinated as he looked at it but at the same time, he felt demonic chills.

A monster came out of the dark, swirly thing and started crawling towards him. Shawn started screaming like a child, terrified, “Oh my God, oh my God!”

The thing screamed “Get out of my city! I will kill you! I’m going to give you a heart attack!” It continued threatening “I almost got you when you were young.” (Shawn had a heart problem when he was young, but was healed.)

Shawn looked over at his friend Jesse, and Jesse was staring at him with eyes rolled back in his head, saying “Help me! Help me! Help me!” Shawn was terrified, screaming at the top of his lungs and saying “I don’t believe in this! I have authority!”

Then suddenly, Shawn thought “These are going to be the best meetings in my life.” Everyone Shawn knew who had a demonic encounter experienced something wonderful right after it, so he realized this monster was here because God was doing something great. With that thought, even though he was still terrified, Shawn said out loud “This is like the best thing ever!”

When the monster was almost there, Shawn suddenly said “I don’t even need to rebuke you. This is stupid. I can’t believe you’re doing this. This is like the dumbest thing you could have done.”He went out of a place of fear and “turned on the lights” in his spirit.

When the “light” in Shawn’s heart came on and the fear was gone, the monster ran out of the room. Shawn didn’t even have to say “In the name of Jesus go away!”

The spiritist leader in that city had sent this spirit against Shawn. The next day when Shawn ministered, he and the church decided to pray for God’s mercy on this wicked leader. As they were praying, they heard mourning bells sounding. The leader of the spiritist religion in Korea had died—of a heart attack.

If you’d like, you can listen to Shawn tell the story in the video below.

My Observations About Shawn’s Experience

This story of Shawn’s experience has several things in common with those of others who’ve been confronted with evil spirits. Personally, I can relate very well to Shawn’s statement “It was like I turned on the light in my heart, and I wasn’t afraid anymore.” Here are a few of my thoughts…

1) Shawn was just going to that town to preach. He didn’t go there and decide “we’re going to try to pull down the principality over the city.” But just by being there and following Jesus, he was challenging something. If you are walking with the Lord, you will always be challenging something just by acting in love and proclaiming truth. (I don’t recommend trying to “pull down” principalities because according to Ephesians 1 and 2, we are seated far above them if we’ve been raised with Christ. Instead, we trample on the enemy. You can’t pull down something you’re seated far above, and if you try to do so, you are leaving a gospel position.) 

2) The territorial spirit that challenged Shawn held influence by the invitation of wicked men, not by God’s permission. A single wicked man invoked it in order to destroy Shawn. Surely, God’s righteous people have the authority to undo anything that any wicked person does. Evil spirits gain their place of influence through the wicked, and sometimes a principality holds influence primarily through the invitation of a single wicked person. Likewise, a single righteous person can remove it from its place of influence.

3) Satan has no authority of his own. He feeds off of ours. This evil spirit could do nothing when Shawn was no longer afraid of it. Refuse to give Satan your fear or the attention that he wants so badly!

4) Struggling and fighting really hard isn’t necessarily a place of faith. A gospel position is one of understanding Jesus’ victory and total defeat of Satan. Our battle is not to break Satan’s power. Jesus has done that. Our battle is simply one of gospel truth vs. lies. There is a fight for our attention, and we must give our worth-ship to the Lord. When the light of the gospel came in in Shawn’s heart, the thing fled immediately. Shawn didn’t even have to do anything.

5) The Shaman died from the very thing he sent against Shawn. This is a common story. It often happens when a person tries unsuccessfully to send a demon and kill a Christian. Those who worship demons are the ones who fear them the most, and that fear enables them to act. In fact, I heard a story about David Hogan raising a witch doctor from the dead after the same thing happened. The witch doctor tried to kill David and died instead. (I’ll have to look for a link to the story.) So many deceived people think that the demons which empower them are their friends. They aren’t! I’m glad I’m in the kingdom of light and I’m not on that side!

If you enjoyed this post, you may want to check out my book What Really Causes Needless Casualties Of War.  Others who have read it say it’s cleared up a lot of confusion and taken away the fear and uncertainty about how much authority they have as Christians. It contains similar stories of others who’ve been challenged by monsters and found victory in Christ. I’ve not yet heard from anybody who has read this book without reconsidering the teaching that God’s people do not have authority over territorial principalities. My heart is for the body of Christ to catch a vision for nations and regions being transformed and filled with the knowledge of God’s glory!