 Hey, Weirdos. I don't normally share episodes of my other podcast, Church of the Undead, here in this podcast. As I know, not everybody is going to have the same attitude towards faith and the Bible as I do. That's alright. But this week's episode is something I thought you might enjoy anyway, as it talks about whether or not curses are real. And if so, if we need to worry about them. Can a voodoo priestess place a curse on you? What about those satanic curses you hear about? Can you be cursed by a witch? Turns out the Bible has a lot to say about it. More than you might think. So if this is of interest to you, keep listening. At Crosswalk.com, Dr. Roger Barrier, a former pastor and current Christian author and speaker, has a column where he answers letters from readers. Recently, he received this letter from Liz. Dear Roger, what does the Bible say about cursing? And by cursing, I mean when someone says something bad is going to happen to you. That kind of cursing. Cursing your future. Sincerely, Liz. Roger has a great answer for her. Hello, Weirdos. I'm Pastor Darren. Welcome to the Church of the Undead. Here in the Church of the Undead, I can share ideas which are relevant to those who suffer with depression, need some encouragement, and for those who love or are just curious about the God of the Bible. And it doesn't matter if you are a weirdo in Christ or just a weirdo, everybody is welcome here at the Church of the Undead. And I use the word Undead because here we are dead to sin and alive in Christ. If you want to join this weirdo congregation, just click that subscribe or follow button, and visit us online at WeirdDarkness.com slash church. Full disclosure, I might use the term pastor because I've branded this feature as a church, but I do not have a theology degree, nor did I ever go to Bible college. I'm just a guy who gave his life to Christ in 1989 and has tried to walk the walk ever since, and has stumbled a lot along the way. Because, like everybody else, I am an imperfect, heavily flawed human being. So please don't take what I say as gospel, dig into God's Word yourself for confirmation, inspiration, and revelation. That being said, welcome to the Church of the Undead. As I mentioned, this week's Church of the Undead is the response to a letter that Dr. Roger Barrier received. I'm just going to read verbatim how he replied to Liz, because I don't think I can improve on it. Just know it's in his words, not mine, when he's talking about things that happened in the first person. Here's his response. Dear Liz. When we think of curses, many of us immediately think of Voodoo. We picture someone pushing pins in little dolls which represent those they hate so that bad things can happen upon them. We think of persons casting spells. However, Voodoo is much more than that. Voodoo is a religion practiced chiefly in the Caribbean countries, especially in Haiti. It is a mixture of Roman Catholic rituals and the animism and magic of slaves from West Africa. Those who practice Voodoo believe that God rules over a multitude of local deities and deified ancestors and saints who communicate with dreams, trances, and ritual practices. In the Bible, curses and spells are forbidden practices that extend far beyond the practices of Voodoo, Deuteronomy 18 verses 10-12. As a pastor, I've received quite a number of curses, those that I know about and those that I don't, which statistically I assume outnumber the former by many fold. To curse is to wish that bad things happen to someone or to something. On the other hand, to bless is to wish that good things happen to someone or to something. One Sunday evening, I had this overwhelming dread that I would never see another Sunday. The sense of death was overwhelming. Each day was agony. I was on the exercise bike on Thursday, peddling furiously when the phone rang. One of our counselors had just finished a session when a woman confessed that she and her friends in a witch's coven had prayed a death curse on me the previous Sunday night. I was overwhelmed with relief. I now knew what the problem was, and I knew how to handle it. I climbed off the bike, fell to my knees, and prayed for the Holy Spirit to cancel any curses or demonic attacks placed against me. I asked him to build a hedge of protection around me to protect me from any evil satanic intention to harm my family or me. The dread disappeared. I have no doubt that we can postulate a number of theological frameworks to reconcile the experiences like those I mentioned above with Biblical truth. Let me share a few well-known theological constructs that guarantee Christians they need not worry about curses and satanic attacks. Nothing can separate us from God's love. Romans 8 verses 37 through 39. And greater is He that is in us, the Holy Spirit, than He, Satan, who is in the world. 1 John 4 verse 4. This theological construct assures us that God's love for us is never in doubt and that the Holy Spirit is greater than Satan. Therefore, we need not concern ourselves with things like curses and spells and satanic interference. Upon closer examination, however, what these verses don't declare is that we are free from Satan's attacks and demonic curses. My theological construct, and you certainly don't have to agree with it, is that we face a devastating spiritual battle. We do need to be concerned with such things. After all, Peter reminds us, be alert and of sober mind, your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him standing firm in the faith. 1 Peter 5 verses 8 and 9. We must consider that we have a demonic adversary who has a backpack full of dirty and deceitful spiritual tools designed to inflict harm and destruction upon unsuspecting Christians. God gives us a number of spiritual tools to resist, incapacitate and frustrate Satan and his attacks against us. I'll mention them momentarily. If we define curse as wishing bad things to come to someone or to something, then I suppose that we can consider the death threats I've received over the years as curses. I own two bulletproof vests. No one ever told me that I would need one. Death threats aren't over in one week. I remember preaching for over six months in my new vest while living in fear that Bill J. would make good on his threat to kill me. He was angry with me for allowing his wife to give an offering to our church. Unfortunately, I was not the only one he was cursing. One night, Bill J. began a murder spree that killed two men in Sierra Vista and was on his way to Tucson to kill again when the police encircled him and he committed suicide in his car. The police found nine guns and 400 rounds of ammunition in the front seat and a bazooka at his house. Fortunately, this undeserved curse did not come to rest on me. Few of us have curses as dramatic as Bill J. had for me and 11 others. However, let's assume that there have been times when we have hurt or disappointed people. Defending upon how much we hurt them and their ability to forgive, they may consciously or unconsciously wish harm upon us. The Bible is full of cursing. The word curse appears almost 200 times in the Bible, therefore it is a significant issue for us to address. The Bible begins with God Almighty doing a lot of cursing. We don't read three chapters into Genesis before God Almighty began to curse. He cursed Satan for tempting Adam and Eve into sin, Genesis 3, 17. He indirectly cursed all mankind when he cursed the ground so that weeds would sprout and man would work hard and sweat profusely in order to make a living from the cursed earth, Genesis 3, verses 17 through 19. In Genesis 4, verses 10 through 12, God placed a curse upon Cain for killing his brother. All of these curses were well-deserved and as we read through the Bible, we quickly discover that God provided blessings to those who obeyed him and cursed those who disobeyed him. To curse is to wish that bad things happen to someone or something. God cursed only as a punishment for not obeying him. On the other hand, to bless is to wish that good things happen to someone or to something. God promised blessings to those who carefully followed his commands. Deuteronomy 27 through 30 is a great example of the God who both blesses and curses. In Deuteronomy 28, God announced to Israel that if they fully obeyed his commands, he would pour out great blessings upon them. They would receive the following blessings, safety and travel, healthy children, bountiful crops, increased livestock, abundant food, victory over enemies, full and overflowing barns, success with all of their endeavors, successful investments, abundance of rain and primacy over all other nations. It doesn't get much better than that. On the other hand, God was just as determined to bring curses upon Israel if they ignored his commandments. However, if you do not obey the Lord your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come on you and overtake you. Deuteronomy 28 verse 15. God is not the only one in the Bible who pronounced curses. Most of the curses in the Bible involve one person cursing another. Noah cursed his son Ham when Ham peaked at him while he was drunk and naked, Genesis 9 verses 18 through 27. Shemaiah cursed and spit on David as David was fleeing Jerusalem ahead of Absalom's army of rebellion. Shemaiah was upset because David took over the kingship from the family of Saul, 2 Samuel 16 verses 5 through 8, and 1 Kings 2 verses 32 through 46. Joab wanted to kill Shemaiah on the spot, but David stopped him by admitting that the curse was deserved. By the way, David never got over that curse. As he lay dying, he asked that Joab severed Shemaiah's white haired head from his body. Intriguingly, Mrs. Job tried to get Job to curse God and die, Job 2 verse 9 and Job 19 verse 17. Satan prompted Mrs. Job's pleading to her husband. This was Satan's backhanded attempt to place a curse on God. Now, let me share with you the spiritual tools I use to protect myself from satanic attacks, including curses. Perhaps you'll find one or more of these practices helpful in navigating the spiritual wonders of life. First and foremost, I pray for God to encircle me with a spiritual hedge of protection to insulate me from any personal or demonic designs. After all, if God put a hedge around Job that Satan couldn't penetrate without God's permission, then he can erect one around me. I pray Job 1 verse 10, hast not thou made a hedge about him and about his house and about all that he hath on every side, thou hast blessed the work of his hands and his substance is increased in the land. I want the protection and I want the blessing of prosperity as well. Next, I try to keep my life righteous and holy so that I open no door and give no opportunity for any curse to debilitate me in any way. I pray Proverbs 26 verse 2, like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow, an undeserved curse does not come to rest. Then I try never to leave the house spiritually naked. I want to be clothed in the armor of God against any spiritual attack. I pray Ephesians 6 verses 10-17. Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that, when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you've done everything, to stand. Stand firm then with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God and pray in the Spirit on all occasions. In addition, I think of people who have hurt me. Instead of wishing them evil and harm, I try to pray for their blessing and prosperity. After all, Jesus instructed us in Luke 6 verse 28 to bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. You see, if we curse those who have hurt us, then we put ourselves in danger of Christ's judgment. Jesus said in Matthew 5 verse 22, but I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, Raka, is answerable to the court, and anyone who says you fool will be in danger of the fire of hell. Finally, with gratitude, I remember that sin has placed the entire world under a curse. All of us have sinned and fallen short of God's glory. Romans 3 verse 23. We know that payment for our sin is death. Romans 6 verse 23 and Deuteronomy 21 verse 23. Fortunately, when we receive Christ as Lord and Savior, Jesus dies in our place on the cross. He takes the curse of death for us and the curse against us is now undeserved. Death no longer rests upon us. Galatians 3 verse 13. Liz, I've tried to deal with some of the practical outworkings of curses. I've shared some of the biblical foundations and practices regarding cursing. I hope that reading my response may give you more insight into the biblical reality concerning curses. Sincerely, Roger. I'll place a link to Roger's column in the show notes. If you like what you heard, share this episode with others who you think might also like it. Maybe the person you share it with will want to join this weirdo congregation too. To join this weirdo family yourself, find us on Facebook, listen to previous messages, even find out how to join me in my daily Bible studies, visit WeirdDarkness.com slash church. That's WeirdDarkness.com slash church. You can find the sources I used for this week's message in the show notes. I'm Darren Marlar. Thanks for joining me, weirdos, and until next time, Jesus loves you and so do I. God bless.