This is the Truth Network. Welcome to If Not Forgot. Stories of hopelessness that turn to hope. Here is your host, Mike Zwick. Can a Christian have a demon?
We all have seen the movies. We've seen the movie that came back out in the 70s and with a girl with her head twisting around and stuff like that. But there has been a real push. over the last five to seven years where Christians Are actually saying, no, we can have demons as well. We thought it was just the unbelievers.
But The deliverance ministry has been A big, big thing that has been happening.
So, whether you like it, love it, hate it, whatever it is, people are talking about it.
So, we are going to talk about it today. And I've got Matthew chapter 10, starting in verse 5, it says, These twelve Jesus sent forth and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles and into any city of the Samaritans, enter ye not, but go rather to the lost sheep. Of the house of Israel, and as you go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils. Freely you have received, freely give.
And I've got a sherry on the line and. Sherry Russell. And when I've been talking to Sherry for really about the last two or three years, her and her husband Tim, they have been in the middle of. Of the deliverance ministry. And you guys are actually part of the deliverance ministry with Henry Schaefer, is that right?
Yes, sir.
So tell me about. I mean, go ahead. We were with Deliverance with Pastor Henry. Deliverance with Pastor Henry, and you didn't grow up, and you know, you didn't grow up when you were 15, 16 years old casting out demons, did you? No No, I actually grew up as a uh uh in the Episcopal Church.
which then became Anglican. And yeah, when I was a teenager, we hardly even knew what the Holy Spirit was.
So you hardly knew what the Holy Spirit was. And I think in a lot of churches, and I've heard somebody say this before, they said in a lot of churches, they talk about the Father, the Son, and the Holy Bible instead of the Holy Spirit, because we really don't talk a lot about Holy Spirit, but Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity.
So you grew up Episcopal, but when did you really get serious with the Lord?
Well, the Lord, you know, when I look back over my life, I know that He had me by the hand from when I was very young.
So I first probably encountered the Holy Spirit around age eight or nine, and I I knew that he was real. Um fell away. My parents fell away and I fell away and wasn't walking with him. I Uh ended up having a divorce. And um during the process of the divorce, I my husband um had threatened me to kill me and in the process of threatening to kill me, I cried out to the Lord and he showed up.
And uh in a very tangible way. There was no doubt that he was real. And um So what do you mean exactly? What what what happened exactly?
So, my husband had been out having way too much fun, and I locked him out of the house one night. I had already started my walk with the Lord, but Still had doubt, and I locked my husband out of the house. He attempted to get in the house and he kicked in a door and a door frame. And when he came in, he then Got in my face and said, I know you just want to hit me. And I said, Oh, yes, you pushed every button.
You just. Yeah. And he says, well, why don't you slap me? And I finally got so aggravated I slapped him. The minute I hit him.
That was, in his mind, justification to hit me back.
So he starts beating on me and um I punched back a few times, but. I'm not not make it a dent. He is high on cocaine. And, um I managed to make it to the back bedroom where this is back when we had real phones, roverie phones. I pick up the phone and start to dial 911 and he comes in, yanks the phone out of the wall and hits me with it.
Mm. It's a Free cell phones though.
So we didn't have a cell phone. And um He beats me. kicks me, throws a comforter over me, and he says, He's yelling how ugly and stupid and dumb I am and um How much he hates me. And then he says he's going to kill me. And he says, I think I'll kill you.
And he says, no, no, I think I'm just going to keep you as my slave. You are going to be my slave. You're my captive. And um I heard a voice inside that said, don't fight back. The more you fight, he's going to fight you.
And I just didn't fight back. And so since I wasn't fighting back, I wasn't really moving underneath the comforter, he decided, he got bored. and decided to go in the other room. And when he left, I He says, I think I might kill you. And the thought crosses my mind Wait a minute, he's going into the room where there is the only gun in the house and the ammunition.
This might be the last few moments of my life. And I cry out, Lord Jesus. I I've always heard of the peace that passes all understanding. I need you to come and be with me right now. And I need that peace.
And It is the peace that passes all understanding because it didn't make any rational sense that I would have peace at that moment. I felt two very physical real arms come and wrap themselves around me. And I knew that I was safe. I was secure. I was being held in the father's arms.
And As I feel this peace come over me. I know God is absolutely real and He is holding me. And I felt so much peace that I fell asleep. Um, my husband in the process passes out in the other room. And I rested in the Lord's arms for about an hour.
And I wake up and he has passed out and I'm able to get my keys and some items and I leave. But it was God showed up. He was real. I knew he was real, that he would not leave me nor forsake me. And I um that Could you I've really started my lot.
with Jesus at that moment. And so we all come to the point, and I believe we have a point where we believe in Jesus and we believe the Word of God, and then there comes a point where we know. And it seemed like at that point you may have gone from believing to where you knew. And so I knew that I knew. You knew that you knew.
And then, so after that, what happened after that? Um well, uh In your life. the Lord. I leaned into getting to know him. Um I was At the time, the Lord had used me for some children's ministry at my church.
Um I was partnered with my then spiritual mother. Um Rise. And Roz. I remember when she showed up on the scene.
So this woman had driven across country, cross-country from California. The Holy Spirit had told her to back up her things and move. And she, um She's praying in tongues and she is She lays her hands on people and they get healed. Um So I had met her previous to this, obviously. God was working on me, but it wasn't as tangible as that night when he showed up.
I had had little glimpses of him. But so Here she is, we end up partnering together in ministry, and she helped shepherd me. Into Learning about the Holy Spirit. Um I received the gift of tongues. And I the 'Kay.
Yeah. Wow. The Lord uses situations. To show me that there is a real battle between good and evil. between him and Satan.
and that he has a plan. He has planned to set the people free. and to heal the sick. And I start walking in, I start seeing people being healed and I start seeing people being set free. Um Through our prayers.
And Yeah, um he yeah, I I end up uh remarrying. And in the midst of that, I end up taking in a satanic ritually abused child. that lives with us for a year and a half. and deliverance and the battle is real.
So is that what first got you into deliverance? Oh, no, no, no. I I I think So I don't know if I called it deliverance. I did end up receiving some training, so ended up at Christian Healing Ministries. which was is the ministry of Judith McNutt.
Judith and Frances McNutt and down in Jacksonville, Florida. And I had received some training. As to what deliverance was. And at that weekend training, the Lord. I had a conversation with the Lord.
I'm like, Lord, I don't. want to be doing deliverance. I don't want to be fighting demons. What if I come up against a demon that is too strong? And the Lord specifically said, I will never take you into a battle you cannot win.
That you Um I I will take you in places that you will be effective. And um I had it brusty. And Yeah. I trusted him and I continue to trust him and the Lord will lead me and he will set the gap to free.
So when did you become, when did you get involved with Henry Shaver, Pastor Henry Shaver? And the deliverance minister. That's been about a year and a half, almost two years ago.
Okay. And my husband had gone to Italy for his work. And he was out of town. I had a girlfriend call and say, Sherry, I'm going to a deliverance conference. I think you're supposed to go.
And I said, oh, well, you know, Tim's out of town and I'm not, you know, I don't know about going. And she said, Oh, you're supposed to go. And I said, All right. I made arrangements and we ended up going to Greg Locke's Um And in Tennessee and went to the deliverance conference.
Well at the deliverance conference, Pastor Henry Schaefer was one of the speakers. And we ended up um Doug did some really cool stuff that weekend. And I just knew that I was supposed to be involved. Um Be in deliverance. God reignited my passion for it and um Told me that's where I was supposed to be.
The following couple weeks later, Pastor Henry has his East Coast Deliverance Conference. That year was in Myrtle Beach. And I end up going to Myrtle Beach, and the movement of the Lord just was, it was so cool and amazing. And that's when he connected me.
Well He had connected me at Greg Locks with Sandy My prayer partner. And um Yeah, God just continued to week night. that relationship and um and the the group of people that I'm Pray partners with. That's awesome. And so let me ask you this.
Can a Christian have a demon? Oh, yes. Yeah. Not only have I personally experienced deliverance, and had demons cast out of me. But how many Christians do you know that are addicted to alcohol or pornography or?
in adulterous relationships. Often demons are behind these behaviors. that it's not the person that is um desiring some of these things. It is a demon that is using their flesh to um to do. And and I I wanted a Button here because what you're not saying is they're still responsible.
I mean, so if somebody's going around killing people or whatever, it's not, oh, it's not my fault, it's the demon made me do it. No, but they can be influenced by a demon and they're. The biggest problem that I've seen is that if you're a Christian and you've got depression, you've got anxiety, you've got bipolar disorder, you've got anger issues, you're dealing with adultery, alcoholism, and drugs. If you don't believe that you can have a demon, then you're not going to be able to be helped. Yeah.
Sometimes it is the flesh. That sometimes it's a demon driving the desire. And so, um Yeah. Mm, that's a tough one. Everybody is different.
And so We have God God puts us together very uniquely. And we do have some tendencies Sometimes the demons come in. in those places and fuel fuel the flames. they they throw gas on the fire and help us desire that even more. Mm-hmm.
And because they desire it even more, they then give into it and. they they end up You know, not being able to give up that sin. Cigarettes is an addiction that many people can't give up, and sometimes the demon of desiring cigarettes needs to be cast out. Because it's the demon that desires it so much. And then the minute that the demon is gone, then they've like, well, wait a minute, I can now.
go without having the cigarette. Yeah, and so, you know, by the way, there are physical. manifestations. This is not just you saying, oh, people have a demon, I'm casting stuff out. Can you give me an example of where you've actually seen a physical manifestation of a demon, Sherry?
Cool. a physical manifestation of a demon. whether it be with their face or their emotion w you know. Yeah. Uh I'm trying my very best to figure out a good example.
Yes, so in deliverance. Um I've seen demons manifest in a person and I have seen an eye twitch, which is something, you know, you can't make your eye twitch. Um And I'm and I mean like around the Skin of the eyeball. We're not talking about like in an eyelid. You know, you can't necessarily make your Your eyelid twitch and I have seen demons distortive.
person's face I have seen I remember Seeing a witchcraft demon come out of a young lady in a church. It was actually in the Anglican church. And we cast out this demon of witchcraft. And when it manifested, her hands became like gargoyle. Clause.
And she grabbed hold of the pew in front of her, and I could see these claws. When the deliverance was over, I was actually quite surprised that there weren't like. serious gouges in the pew in front of her. because she had gripped this pew and I could see her hands, they even got grayish. and long skinny finger fingers with claws on the ends.
Everybody around us saw these hands transform into gargoyle-like hands. And And then when the demon was cast out, she returned to normal.
So the Yeah. Yes, I have seen them manifest in amazing ways. And crazy distortions of the physical The physical. When you actually came to our church over in Burlington at just like Jesus Ministries, I don't know, a few months ago, we'll just say. And when you came to the church, there were Christians who you prayed for, you did deliverance on, and I believe there were maybe three, two or three of them.
And afterwards, after it was all said and done, the pastor came to me about a week later and he said that there were people that you prayed for that received real freedom. And he said that he saw fruit from your ministry. Praise God. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus, for the freedom.
And a lot of the deliverance that I've heard of people having to deal with is. forgiveness. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yes, um we Yeah, the three forgiveness is the very beginning of the of the deliverance cycle, the process that we take people through.
Um we don't realize how much So we can forgive someone, and scripture says that we are to forgive.
So that we can be forgiven. Mm-hmm. Um If We forgive. And people do forgive someone that has wronged them. The problem is that often that hurt, that trauma.
where that forgiveness is, there is a demon that comes alongside that situation. And Yes. is present about that particular situation.
So Um We forgive about the situation, but the demon's still there. And it is what reminds people of, oh, well. she did you know, she's Let me think of a good example here. my ex-husband hurting me.
Okay. and saying he was going to kill me. I forgive him for it. But they're the demon that came in at that trauma is the one that says Oh. He's still gonna try to kill you.
Mm. So i th the demon wants to instill fear in you. Uh it could want to instill fear, it hatred, anger. Anxiety, worry. Um yeah So the demons use our emotions against us.
That they often use our emotions against us, and that. is how they keep us captive.
So, even though I've forgiven him for that, the demon's still there telling me. reminding me of what he did. And until that demon is cast out of me, it's going to continue to remind me.
So that's how people they say and do, they may physically forgive someone. But until the demon is cast out. it continues to keep the person captive. Does that make sense? It makes perfect sense.
And it's, and sometimes, I mean, what I hear people saying is. is that it's not always easy to forgive somebody. But what you do have, and we all have this, is we all have a choice of whether we're going to forgive someone. Is that right? Yes, of course we uh the the Lord gives us free will for a reason.
And we have to be willing to, yeah, we get a choice. He's not going to force himself on us. And so even if you forgive somebody, even if you forgive somebody, the devil can try to come back and try to cause you to go back and have anger as well. Ever? Anger, frustration, fear, anxiety.
He can use all kinds of different emotions. about that situation, that specific situation Forgiveness comes in and it's like a group of bananas. Yeah. Um that We have unforgiveness for my e my for instance, my ex husband wanting to hurt me. Yes.
Um but I also have unforgiveness for adultery. I also may have unforgiveness for you know month My mama might have said something, so now I've got unforgiveness towards my mother.
So unforgiveness can be, it's not just one item, it's not one thing, it is a grouping of unforgiveness. And so go ahead. And sometimes, so that specific fruit, that one banana that is my husband that tried to harm me. Um I have to forgive him. But that demon has to be called out.
specifically Um Specifically. Almost by name. If that makes sense.
So um I can have a lot of different unforgivenesses. And so sometimes it is. Yeah, so unforgiveness is the root. And just like Jesus sent If So if Deciples out two by two.
Well Satan sends the demons out two by two.
So unforgiveness is partnered with Bitterness. Mm-hmm. And so we call out our unforgiveness and then we also call out bitterness. because we realize that bitterness comes in as a partner. And the bitterness is what may also hold it in there.
Now, um, I have seen healings, physical healings. just from unforgiveness. and or bitterness.
So forgiveness is powerful. Oh, forgiveness is very powerful. Bitterness rots the bones. We don't think about it, but bitterness can be the root of arthritis. Bitterness can be the root of Um things in our bones.
So we can get receive a great deal of healing also under bitterness too. Bitterness. Bitterness is bitter. It is a very good idea. It is it I'm I'm trying to think of a Uh leukemia.
Might be hidden under bitterness. Because it is It's in the bone marrow. And one of the ways that I think you can fight it is through prayer. You want to read your Bible, but there are times when you need more than just praying or reading your Bible, you need deliverance. And if people want to get involved, because we're running out of time, but if people want to get involved, In the ministry, or see what you guys are doing, I believe they can follow Pastor Henry Schaefer online.
And how do you spell Schaefer? Yes. Um S-H-A-F-F-E-R Schaefer. Um so it's pastorhenry.info. Pastor Henry.info You can follow him on Facebook and other ways as well.
Deliverance with Pastor Henry, yes, sir. Because deliverance is a thing. And Sherry Russell, I want to thank you for coming on today. and talking about something that a lot of people don't want to talk about, but it's important. Yes, it is important.
People need to be set free. Jesus said that we would do What he did. And more. And so Amen.
Well, thank you for coming on and you have a great day. All right. God bless.
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