This message is installment two in Randy DeVaul’s series on the miracles of Jesus. Together, these teachings uncover how each miracle reveals a different facet of God’s glory, compassion, and intentional timing. If you read through the Gospels with an attentive heart, you begin to notice something remarkable: Jesus never performed miracles the same way twice. He healed with a word, with a touch, with mud, with a command shouted across a distance. He multiplied food, calmed storms, raised the dead, cast out demons, and restored broken bodies and broken spirits. But behind every miracle, there was always a purpose: intentional, meaningful, and deeply revealing. The miracles of Jesus were never random displays of power. They were windows into the heart of God. Miracles That Revealed God’s Glory Some miracles were performed simply to reveal the goodness and compassion of God. When Jesus healed the man born blind in John 9, He explained that the man’s lifelong condition existed “so that the works of God might be displayed in him.” That miracle wasn’t about solving a medical problem. It was about revealing the character of God: His mercy, His attentiveness, His ability to bring light into the darkest places. The same is true when Jesus healed the woman who had been bent over for eighteen years in Luke 13, or when He cleansed the ten lepers in Luke 17. These miracles were not performed because someone deserved them or because Jesus needed to prove anything. They were performed because God delights in restoring what is broken. They were living testimonies that God sees, God cares, and God acts. Miracles That Revealed Jesus as the Son of God Other miracles were unmistakable declarations of Jesus’ divine identity. When He raised Lazarus from the dead in John 11, He wasn’t simply comforting a grieving family. He was revealing Himself as “the resurrection and the life.” When He walked on water in Matthew 14, the disciples responded with worship, declaring, “Truly You are the Son of God.” When He forgave the paralytic’s sins in Mark 2, the miracle of healing confirmed His authority to do what only God can do. These miracles were not just acts of compassion. They were revelations. They answered the question Jesus asked His disciples: “Who do you say that I am?” They showed that Jesus was not merely a teacher or prophet. He was and is God in the flesh. Miracles That Formed the Faith of the Disciples Some miracles were not about the crowds at all. They were about shaping the hearts of the disciples. When Jesus calmed the storm in Mark 4, He wasn’t just demonstrating power over nature. He was teaching His followers to trust Him in the storms of life. When He directed Peter to cast the nets again in Luke 5, the miraculous catch was a lesson in obedience. When He provided the temple tax through a coin in a fish’s mouth in Matthew 17, He was teaching them to trust God’s provision. These miracles were classrooms. They were moments where Jesus gently, patiently formed the faith of those who would one day carry His message to the world. Miracles That Required Human Participation And then there were the miracles that could not have happened without human obedience. These miracles reveal something profound: God often chooses to work through people, not just for them. The feeding of the five thousand in Matthew 14 is the clearest example. Jesus could have created bread and fish out of thin air. Instead, He asked the disciples to bring what they had — five loaves and two fish. He blessed it, broke it, and placed it back into their hands. The miracle happened as they obeyed, as they walked, as they distributed what seemed impossibly small. Without their participation, there would have been no miracle. The same pattern appears at the wedding in Cana in John 2, where the servants filled the jars with water before Jesus transformed it into wine. It appears again in John 21, when the resurrected Jesus told the disciples to cast their nets on the right side of the boat. It appears at Lazarus’ tomb in John 11, where Jesus told the people to roll away the stone before He called Lazarus out. In each case, the miracle required a step of obedience — often simple, sometimes strange, always significant. The Miracle We Often Miss This final category is where many believers struggle today. We pray for God to move, but we hesitate to take the step He asks of us. We want the miracle, but we resist the obedience that prepares the way for it. Sometimes the miracle is waiting on the other side of a phone call, a prayer, a confession, a step of faith, an act of generosity, or a willingness to serve. Sometimes God is ready to multiply what we have, but we never place it in His hands. Sometimes God is ready to open a door, but we never walk toward it. The feeding of the five thousand reminds us that God’s power often flows through human obedience. The disciples didn’t perform the miracle, but the miracle didn’t happen without them. A God Who Invites Us In The miracles of Jesus reveal a God who is compassionate, powerful, wise, and deeply relational. He heals to reveal God’s glory. He acts to reveal His identity. He teaches to shape our faith. And He invites us to participate so that we may learn what it means to walk with Him. The greatest miracle may not be what God does for us, but what He chooses to do through us. © 2026 Randy DeVaul, MA. Want more content like this? Check out Exploring Scripture. Press Ctrl + P (Windows) or Cmd + P (Mac) to print this article or save it as a PDF.

Reasoning Through Scripture Let me say upfront: this isn't a topic that fits neatly into a single post. Scholars spend entire careers researching and debating these very questions, and I don't claim to have any groundbreaking new insight to offer. I simply want to share a few thoughts worth considering. What is Critical Thinking Let’s define terms because incorrect assumptions complicate arguments. Critical thinking, as defined by Merriam-Webster, is: "The act or practice of thinking critically (as by applying reason and questioning assumptions) in order to solve problems, evaluate information, discern biases, etc." Simply put, thinking critically calls us to take an objective look at something, research, gather context and facts, and come to a reasoned conclusion. I believe that Scripture, when critically evaluated, holds up to such scrutiny. Let’s look at the arguments. First Up: The Authenticity of Scripture Notably, many passionate former atheists, such as Lee Strobel, have set out to scientifically and historically disprove Christianity and have instead become Christians themselves because they could not refute the evidence for the truth and authenticity of Scripture. Christianity, as stated by J. Warner Wallace, “stands unique among worldviews because it rests on public, testable claims.” Other worldviews cannot claim eyewitness testimony or dig up compatible historical records to support their claims. He makes the further point that Christianity doesn’t hinge on mystic revelation given to a single person, but on factual, provable evidence, witnessed by multitudes. If the gospel account is made up, it seems unreasonable to me to believe that an entire movement of people kept silent while the New Testament writers circulated the incredible claims they did. It also seems unreasonable to me that all the claims and testimonies about Jesus would fit together and actually build on one another if they had made it all up. Looking at the whole of Scripture, things get even more interesting. Roughly 40 different authors contributed to its writings, spanning over 2,000 years. Answers in Genesis points out something else that’s incredibly important to our understanding of how the Bible was penned: Shepherds, kings, scholars, fishermen, prophets, a military general, a cupbearer, and a priest all penned portions of Scripture… They composed their works from palaces, prisons, the wilderness, and places of exile while writing history, laws, poetry, prophecy, and proverbs. Scholars throughout the centuries have worked diligently in researching evidence for the authenticity of God’s Word. If you’re familiar at all with the Dead Sea Scrolls, then you’ll understand how their discovery alone is tremendous proof that these ancient manuscripts were not fabricated, as experts were able to match them with writings in what we now know as the Old Testament. (If you’re not familiar with what they are, you can check them out here.) Fun fact: these scrolls were written mostly on parchment or papyrus, which makes them difficult to preserve, as their organic nature leads to rapid decomposition. However, they just so happened to have been located in an area of the world that was arid enough to keep them from decomposing, which is why we were able to find them in the first place… Coincidence? I’ll let you decide on that one. Next Up: The Moral Dilemma If we believe Scripture to be authentic, the next idea to think through would be its contents. We could spend decades debating this, so let’s turn our focus to just one question: How could a good God allow evil? Again, not a simple topic, but here are some things to consider about this age-old question, at least. In the comment that sparked this article, one of the views offered was: I don’t believe anyone applying critical thinking to the Christian biblical narrative can come away believing it represents a just, merciful, and loving God. This made me pause, because I believe it shows us the crux of the issue. When I read Scripture, I can’t help but see how just, merciful, and loving God is. So how can two people read the same thing and come away with two completely different conclusions? Of course, there are many plausible explanations for this difference in opinion, like maybe they haven’t read Scripture. Maybe they were hurt by the church. Maybe they’ve only read some of Scripture, or had someone teach it to them incorrectly. I don’t know the answer, but I do know Scripture repeatedly points back to the goodness of God. It’s filled with testimonies of His mercy, grace, steadfastness and justness. The LORD is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation. ~ Numbers 14:18 God allows evil, but He doesn’t leave it unpunished. Many argue that God could just stop evil from happening, but imagine with me for a second: what if a parent never “allowed” their child to do anything bad? Imagine if that parent stepped in and prevented every single instance of their child attempting to throw a toy at their sibling, or lie, or gossip, or think an impure thought. For starters, this wouldn’t be possible for human parents. But if it were, can you imagine what a miserable life that would be? How awful would it be to live such a controlled life? Now think about how miserable our lives would be if God controlled evil the way we often think He should. Critical Thinking and the Bible: Suffering The argument I usually hear is something along these lines: If God is good, how can he allow good people to suffer? It’s because we live in a broken world. The Lord created humans to be in fellowship with Him, but we broke that fellowship of our own volition, and we experience suffering as a result. God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. ~ Genesis 1:31 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. ~ Genesis 3:17 We weren’t flawed from the start. We were given free will from the start. When God placed Adam and Eve in the garden, he effectively made them His administrators over the earth. They had dominion over all the animals, and the garden sustained them. The command to keep away from the fruit was for their protection, not to control them or to set a trap for them. The fact that they were told about the tree and instructed to stay away from it confirms that the Lord gave them the freedom to choose it if they wanted to. God could have locked the tree down or placed it somewhere they’d never find it; then He wouldn’t have even needed to tell them about it. But he didn’t want us to choose Him out of obligation or control. When you read the account of the fall in Genesis chapter 3, you see how the serpent (Satan) tricks Eve by twisting God’s words. He places doubt in Eve’s mind about God’s motives behind telling them not to eat the fruit, and she succumbs to his lies. When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. ~ Genesis 3:6 God had already told them both what would happen if they ate the fruit, but all it took was an inkling from the enemy for them to doubt God. Adam and Eve were living in perfection. They had all the food & freedom they could ask for, but they wanted more. The fruit looked good. It sounded good. It probably tasted good, too. A subtlety in this story usually goes unmentioned. God didn’t just say not to eat the fruit. He told them to stay away from it. …but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ ~ Genesis 3:3 Here, Eve was recounting to Satan what God had told them. She mentions that God had said not to touch or eat it, meaning they should avoid the tree altogether. Could it be that God knew who was lurking around the tree, waiting for one of them to venture near enough to entice them? Either way, now there’s a problem. Sin has officially entered the picture. As we saw above in Genesis 3:17, Adam and Eve were now sent to live a life outside the garden, which God had warned them about before they ate the fruit. Whereas before they’d only known a life of perfection and easy work, they would now have to toil all their days. Their children and the coming generations would only know hard labor because they were no longer inside the protection of the garden. Enter: Jesus But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ~ Romans 5:8 There are so many other verses that reveal God’s heart towards us, but I especially love this one because it truly sums up what Jesus did on the cross. God allows us to choose to live as we desire. He doesn’t force us to follow His commands or choose Him out of obligation. He allows us to choose sin, which is why there’s evil in the world today. However, even as sinners, He still loves us and wants to provide a way out for us. That’s where Jesus comes in. Jesus willingly chose to take on the sins of the world, on the cross, as punishment for every single one that has ever been committed. He did this because he knew we’d never be able to do enough good things to earn our way into Heaven, so he became our scapegoat. He didn’t have to. He could have said, “LOL, good luck, guys!” and laughed from heaven as we all floundered around down here. But that’s not God’s heart. His heart toward us is that of a loving Father who desperately longs for time with His children. Unfortunately, some children choose different paths than the ones their parents would like them to. Some children choose to leave home and never come back. It’s heartbreaking for parents, but it’s a sad reality. God gives us that choice, too. The Final Question: Is God Just? Skeptics often point to the Old Testament when questioning God’s morals (to which, I’d like to add: God can handle your questions, but watch your heart when asking. Seeking truth is one thing; questioning God is another). Specifically, passages like Deuteronomy 20, where God commands the Israelites to lay siege to enemy cities and, in some cases, completely destroy them. Many claim this is immoral because those cities would have had women and children in them. Without context, I’d agree. However, there are some facts to consider. The Israelites were surrounded by nations that performed vile, satanic rituals. The Canaanites, for example, did heinous things like sacrifice their children to false gods such as Moloch. Even secular scholars agree on this, which you can see here. God didn’t just tell the Israelites to slaughter whoever they wanted because He hated women and children. He sent His small nation of people into battle to protect them from being annihilated by the much larger enemy nations surrounding them. The same things happen today when countries fight against one another, whether for good reason or not. Innocent lives are tragically lost, and that is part of the price we pay for war. It sounds barbaric because it is. But that doesn’t inherently make it unjust. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness go before you. ~ Psalm 89:14 God is faithful and just, and everything He has done or will do stems from His love for us. Because of this, we can trust that His motives are always pure. There’s nothing He does out of selfishness or pride, but rather His actions flow from His righteousness. In contrast, however… This great dragon — the ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, the one deceiving the whole world — was thrown down to the earth with all his angels. ~ Revelation 12:9 Satan is not just. He has twisted God’s words from the beginning and will continue to do so until Jesus comes back. He’s a crafty wordsmith who makes sin look holy, and he will deceive multitudes of humans straight into the pits of hell. There is hope, however, because: Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. ~ Romans 10:13 God loves us so deeply that He provided a means for our salvation, and Jesus’ gift of salvation is available to anyone who will call on his name. He offers us this gift, not simply as a “get out of hell free” card, but as an opportunity to choose to spend eternity in the holy and gracious presence of the Almighty. It’s up to us to decide whether we want to be in His presence. Why wouldn’t you? Unfortunately, this evidence won’t be enough to convince some. But my prayer is that someone, somewhere, will consider these words and genuinely seek out the Lord. Don’t get caught up in Satan’s lies, friends. Read Scripture for yourselves and ask God to help you understand. Critically think about lofty statements thrown around so casually, and ask yourselves if it’s based on truth or emotion. © 2026 Stephanie M Press on, friends! 🫶🏼 Thanks for reading! My heart is truly to see others dive deeper into Scripture and reason through things biblically. These are wild times, but together we can chase clarity in a confused world! If that sounds like something you want to do, please consider following Rooted in Reason so you’ll be notified when there’s a new post. From the Editor: Critical thinking and the Bible go hand in hand, since Scripture was never meant to be accepted blindly but examined honestly. Press Ctrl + P (Windows) or Cmd + P (Mac) to print this article or save it as a PDF.

For Anyone Who Is Done With the Labels and Just Wants Jesus In the era of "how do you identify?" and "what denomination are you?" I have found myself repeatedly calling myself a "Biblical Christian." I know at some point that too will get taken out of context and redefined, but for now that's what I'm going with because you can't simply say "I am a Christian" any longer because that means next to nothing in this era. I have been just as confused about Christianity as most people out there have. Not confused about Jesus, but confused by the ruckus surrounding Him. The competing voices, the twisted teachings, the countless denominations, and the teachers who seem more interested in being right than being honest. At some point I realized that this confusion is not from God, because God is not the God of confusion, this is from satan. If you have ever felt lost in all of that, you are not alone. I've been there with you. Wanting clarity on questions, no matter how "insignificant" someone else may deem your question does not mean your faith is weak or that there is a single thing wrong with your curiosity. It means you are paying attention and God loves that. That's why He gave you the Bible. Being biblically grounded is not what I used to think it was many years ago. I personally thought it meant knowing everything about the Bible, having better answers, memorizing every verse or story, being certain about things other people seemed to argue over. But I have come to understand that it means you pit everything you are told to believe, told to do, pressured into and how to live your life against Scripture. Simple as that, Scripture is your physical grounding mat in this world. Scripture tells us in many places why it is here, and it is here for us to use for teaching, rebuking and correcting. You are to build your life on what Scripture says, letting Jesus shape your heart, and staying open to learning even when it is uncomfortable. It is a posture of the heart more than a GPS location to a specific church. No Label Required You do not need any denominational label to follow Jesus or try to bend yourself into any doctrinal creed, simply being a follower of Christ and a Bible reader is all you need. Jesus calls us His friends, that is more than enough in this world. Worldly labels can carry real history and offer meaningful community, I don't deny that, but they can also become the very thing you build your identity on instead of the Word itself. Scripture is the one thing that does not shift with cultural trends or personal preferences. That is where God meets you, talks to you, guides you, corrects you, and challenges you. Nobody Has It All Figured Out (Including Me) I do not have a "perfect theology," nor do I pretend to. What I do care about is exegesis which is reading Scripture for what it actually says rather than what someone wants it to say. Beyond that, I honestly have no idea what "theological" group I fall into, and I stopped caring about that a long, long time ago. No single person on this current Earth has the "perfect" or "correct" theology, including the people who are absolutely sure that they do. I have been corrected by God on so many things I once felt certain about, and I fully expect God to keep doing that. God does not expect you to have it all sorted out at once, what He cares about is that your heart is in line with Him, not any of the countless labels out there that can lock your faith down. (The absolute best thing I ever did for my relationship with Jesus was walk away from every single label I used in the past or that was pushed on me.) God teaches you at the pace your heart and mind can handle. When He corrects something in your understanding, that is not condemnation. I actually get excited and openly share whatever I learned with friends, family and sometimes online with excitement because that is Him being present in my life. And that will only come to you from actively reading the Bible, and actively using the Bible to test all spirits and teachings out there. I want to reiterate heavily that what you believed yesterday, if it turned out to be wrong or incomplete, did not remove your salvation if your heart is on fire and in line with God. That is the whole point of grace. Believing is an active process of learning. If we knew everything "correctly" right from the moment we turn to Christ, then what fun would that be? Honestly, think about that. Your Built-In Nonsense Detector You will encounter Christians who are wise, rooted, and genuinely loving. You will also encounter Christians who misuse or misinterpret Scripture (even "biblical" Christians), chase down sensational ideas, and pressure people into agreement with what they want others to believe. You will hear a lot of teachings mixed with politics, fear, and personal agendas. This is why Scripture is so important. It instructs us to test the spirits. Being biblically grounded means you do not accept something just because someone says so. You always take it back to Scripture, you pray, study and you sit with it. It is completely acceptable, more than acceptable in fact, to say you are not sure yet and I'd rather hear that from someone than a parroted speech. There are plenty of things in Scripture I'm not 100% on, or decided on yet and still sorting out and I've been at this a long, long time and you know what? That's ok, those things aren't taking away my salvation and I look forward to the time when God looks at me, grins, and goes "here's your next rabbit hole," hun. Bad Representatives Don't Make a Bad God The failures of other people and churches do not change who Jesus is. They do not change Scripture, and they do not reflect an issue with God. They reflect an issue with imperfect people. Being biblically grounded means learning to identify and separate Scripture from the humanity that would abuse it. And you really can live in peace with other believers who hold different viewpoints, as long as those viewpoints do not contradict the clear teachings of Scripture. I do it every day, whether online or in my personal life, what I look for is their heart and it is NOT always my place to be the corrector, unless it gets into dicey territory or they pounce on me first. And no, that does not mean I let unbiblical beliefs stand. You can absolutely learn to approach and appropriately address these situations when they happen, but first you have to know Scripture and trust God with your mouth. I would rather walk alongside a respectful believer until God makes it clear that something needs to be said than cause any unneeded strife and conflict for no damn reason. In a world as divided as ours, learning to live peaceably with the people around us would bring more healing than we can possibly imagine. Fair Warning Though When you choose to stand on Scripture instead of popular opinion, you will find yourself standing apart more times than I can give you a number for. It will challenge your relationships and push your comfort zone. You will frustrate people who want a version of Christianity that they deem "correct" or that never requires anything of them. You will struggle, especially in this era with so many things demanding a label to fit in. The best thing I ever did was stop giving a crap. My strength comes from God and standing on His word, and that has put me at odds with so many people over my lifetime, but there is a huge difference between being at odds with someone over a label, a doctrine, a specific theology or a denomination's culture, than over Scripture, because I know I can always go to Scripture. There is a relief in that, that allows you to breathe, to be happy, content and at peace with God because you are doing exactly what He commands. "Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world." 1 John 4:1 I call myself a Biblical Christian because that is what I do and am; Scripture is my compass in this world. Without it I would falter and get sucked into a label. When I stopped chasing "belonging" to anything but God, my life with Him bloomed. The cost is high and it will only ever get higher as we get closer to His coming. But I have never once regretted choosing Scripture over belonging. The reward is worth it because death is only the beginning of our lives. © 2026 Jane Isley. Want more content like this? Explore more articles in Rethinking Doctrine. Press Ctrl + P (Windows) or Cmd + P (Mac) to print this article or save it as a PDF.

I accidentally wandered into a 'haunting' aka spiritual warfare documentary, and I almost missed it entirely. It played in the background while I worked until one phrase stopped me cold. What I heard was not just a ghost story. It was a case study in everything Scripture warns us about. I have to say, as a Biblically grounded Christian, I cannot watch these things as “entertainment.” I can’t forget what Scripture teaches about spiritual forces or pretend any of these encounters are harmless. Documentaries like this don’t merely “entertain” people; they reshape entire belief systems, normalize these encounters, and ever so subtly teach people to negotiate with, empathize with, or fully engage with these entities. What stood out immediately to me was the systematic use of fear, manipulation, and deception throughout their story, the very tactics Scripture attributes to satan. When the Home Has No Spiritual Anchor The documentary gave some background on this man. The man grew up attending church with a devout Catholic mother, while his father, a man of science, encouraged him to approach everything rationally. On the surface, that may sound like a balanced and workable upbringing. But spiritually, it left him unequally yoked within his own home, with no grounding in Scripture and zero biblical discernment. He sensed something was wrong, but that was it; it never crossed his mind that he was being spiritually attacked. Despite years of church attendance, he had no understanding of demons and spiritual warfare, and no ability to interpret what was happening to him. When the Priest Has No Answer As the story unfolded, it became painfully clear that he interpreted everything through emotion, fear, and his friends’ misconceptions about the supernatural, not through Scripture. He eventually did reach out to a priest. The priest initially asked whether he had been drinking or using drugs, a reasonable question I would also ask, but once it was clear that was not what was going on, the priest performed a “house blessing,” and things calmed down briefly. The priest admitted that he did not believe in spirits or anything like that, which explained why he never recognized what was actually happening. But here is the huge problem with that. This priest, trained in Scripture, lacked discernment and failed to recognize what was happening. Instead of grounding the situation in biblical truth, going to God, or even opening his Bible, he said, “I don’t have the tools for this.” If you are in church leadership, this should not have been a mystery. Scripture is not vague about these things. A biblically grounded leader should have recognized the nature of the attack and responded with the authority of Christ. Instead, God was left out of the entire situation. Deception Dressed Up as History Another crack in the armor started happening when the people involved began researching rumors about a long-dead individual, trying to connect the entity to a tragic past. This is where the priest failed again. This was never a dead person, which should have been made clear from the beginning. Without biblical grounding, everything became a swirl of folklore, emotion, and fear, and the documentary leaned heavily on that mixture. Scripture is clear. It gives us truth, authority, and discernment. If someone never encounters passages about this stuff in the Bible, it is because: They are selectively reading Scripture, or They are not reading it at all. Survival Is Not Victory He confronts the entity on his own. He states the entity was saying, “Please help me.” But instinctually, he recognized something was wrong because he then says, “I don’t want to talk to it.” He knew, deep down, that this thing was not a good situation or normal by any means. He felt that, and that’s why he went to a priest in the first place. The issue is that the priest failed him, and he failed himself by not remembering God. Btw, Scripture never instructs us to confront demonic forces out of curiosity or personal strength; it instructs us to stand firm, rely on God’s power, resist satan, and pray. Yet he followed some advice to confront it, treating the entity as though it were a confused human spirit. He even referred to it as “he,” giving personhood to something that should never have been engaged in the first place, instead of seeing it for what it really was. The most troubling moment for me came when he offered it forgiveness. His exact words were: “I forgive you. That’s all I can offer.” 1) He does not have that authority. 2) He engaged it exactly how it wanted all along, as though it really was a person and not a demonic entity, that’s all it ever wanted out of this haunting. Reshaping his beliefs for the rest of his life, even he says a part of him is still stuck there in the past because of this. Satan doesn’t need a lot; all he needs is to knock out a few chinks here and there in our armor to lead people astray. When he described the aftermath of the confrontation as feeling “like a spell had been broken,” and the huge relief he felt. That right there shows how easily emotional release can be mistaken for spiritual deliverance. Satan is fully willing and capable of offering calm if it keeps a person in long-term bondage. He walked away believing he had overcome something, when in reality, he never understood what he was facing in the first place. He didn’t overcome anything; he still lives in fear and lies not recognizing it for what it was, that is not a personal triumph or victory. It is spiritual trauma left unresolved, and repackaged with a bow as resilience. Compare that to someone who felt a demonic presence firsthand and, instead of trying to interpret or engage it, simply prayed and pressed on — The Spiritual Battle I Never Saw Coming. Spiritual Warfare Documentaries Shape Belief This documentary is not unusual or even unique at all. There are countless films and shows out there that glamorize demonic encounters as puzzles, mysteries, or emotional dramas. They teach people to empathize with or negotiate with spiritual forces Scripture warns us to resist. Homes without a biblical grounding leave people spiritually unprepared. Church leaders without biblical grounding make this even worse. I’m not saying every sermon must be about demons. But it must be taught, not avoided, and leaders must know what to do when someone brings this to them. Most church leaders today technically believe in demonic forces, but many do not study, teach, or even recognize them because modern seminary training has shifted toward psychology, institutional safety, and cultural respectability rather than the supernatural worldview of Scripture. Pastors fear sounding unscientific or ungrounded, and many feel uncomfortable dealing with anything supernatural at all. Paul Saw This Coming These same leaders love to teach what Paul teaches us in Scripture, while simultaneously ignoring that Paul spoke openly and frequently about deceiving spirits, rulers and authorities, and spiritual forces of evil. For Paul, this was simply part of reality, and it is still very much a part of our reality. Today, it is shushed and replaced with psychology and softness. The result is this massive gap where leaders acknowledge demons doctrinally but avoid the topic in practice, leaving their congregations with no scriptural understanding. Then the media swoops in and fills that vacuum, and satan uses that to his advantage. Not only was the young man spiritually reshaped, but so were the people around him, and so will be the countless viewers who won’t recognize what they’re actually watching. Satan's goal was never possession. It was distortion. And this documentary delivered it perfectly, to one man, to everyone around him, and to every viewer who watched and walked away thinking that was just an interesting story. Scripture gives us clarity, authority, and a name for what that man encountered. The only horror here is that nobody opened a Bible. © 2026 Jane Isley. Want more content like this? Explore more articles in Culture & Faith. Press Ctrl + P (Windows) or Cmd + P (Mac) to print this article or save it as a PDF.

The real surprise is how normal all of this actually is. Author’s Note: If you are a man or a woman reading this and your first reaction is defensiveness, anger, or the urge to explain why you, or the men you know, are different, then I am talking about you. That reaction is part of the problem. It helps maintain the systems that harm women and children. Good men do not need this explained to them. They already know I am not talking about them. The Epstein files didn’t merely reveal crimes; they cracked open a lie so central to the structure of our society that reality itself feels unstable. And yet, on some instinctual level, we might be finally recognizing something we have always known, but spent our lives pretending wasn’t real. When thousands of priests were exposed, we told ourselves it was a few bad churches. When investigators found tens of thousands of men in online groups sharing instructions on how to drug and rape women, we told ourselves it was a dark corner of the internet. When a husband in France was accused of drugging his wife and inviting dozens of men to rape her over years, we treated it like a random, unfathomable horror. When reporting documented hundreds of abuse allegations tied to organizations built around children, we framed it as a handful of bad actors. Every time, we insisted it was an exception instead of admitting what it was: a pattern. Women have been managing men’s behaviour our entire lives. We do it constantly. We share names. We exchange looks across rooms. We text each other after dates. We walk friends to their cars. We plan how to leave before we decide how to arrive. We choose what to wear, what to say, how much to smile, and when to stay silent based on how a man might react. We learn how to say no in ways that will not get us hurt. We teach our daughters early too, whether we want to or not. We spend our lives trying to protect our children from what we already know, from what happened to us, from what we watched happen to other women, while pretending everything is fine because admitting the truth would mean admitting how unsafe this world actually is. Because deep down, we knew. We all knew. We especially knew when it came to children. That is why you do not leave your children alone with other men: not the neighbour, not a teenager, not the coach, not the teacher, and especially not the priest. We have always known. We need to stop pretending this is about rare monsters. It’s not. Every four minutes, somewhere in the world, a child is killed by an act of violence. In the USA, every 10 SECONDS, a report of child abuse is made. At least 650 million girls and women, one in four alive today, were/are subjected to sexual violence as children. At least 550 million children are growing up in homes where their mothers are victims of intimate partner violence. Fathers. Husbands. Coaches. Priests. Teachers. Doctors. Bosses. Billionaires. Brothers. Uncles. Grandfathers. The men who tuck us in at night. The men who walk us down aisles. The men who mean well. Every woman knows at least one man who crossed a line. Most know many. Some know so many that separating the memories feels impossible. The only difference between the men in the Epstein files and the men in your life is money. That is it. Abuse is not confined to the top or to a handful of powerful men. It exists at every level of society because it is maintained and protected at every level. Across every socioeconomic class, men protect one another and the systems that shield them. This happens inside families, in schools, in workplaces, in courts, in hospitals, in churches, in government, and in our homes. The scale may change, but the behaviour never does. They do not protect each other out of loyalty or brotherhood. They do it out of self-interest. Every man understands, consciously or not, that the system protecting other men is the same system that could one day protect him. They are not horrified by the abuse. Some are jealous because they lack the wealth and access to take their desires that far. This is the hardest part for most women to accept. It doesn’t make sense because even on your worst day, your most broken, angry, resentful day, you would not fathom anything like this. You could not do this to another person. You would never trade someone else’s body, mind, safety, or childhood for pleasure, status, or power. That gap in understanding is not confusion. It is basic humanity. What you are feeling right now is grief. Grief for the version of the world you tried to believe in. Grief for the hope that decency was the rule instead of the exception. Grief for the slow realization that there is no version of reality where men collectively decide to change, because this world works for them exactly as it is, and they want their turn. They are not going to protect us. They are not going to protect the children. So the only question left is: What are we going to do about it? © Caitlin Heine

Children are gifts. They are blessings. They are innocent. And in today’s world, raising them is no longer a neutral act, it is a spiritual battleground. Sexual violence, coercion, and abuse are not problems for men alone to fix. They are symptoms of a society, a culture, and a family structure that has lost its moral compass. We cannot point fingers at fathers or institutions and call it enough. Protection begins in the home, and mothers hold a unique, God-given role in shaping character, teaching discernment, and cultivating strength. Teaching Morals and Respect From the moment our children can understand right and wrong, they are listening, watching, absorbing. Words matter, yes, but so do actions. When a mother teaches her children to speak kindly, to honor others, and to treat every person with dignity, she is shaping their moral imagination. Sons learn restraint and respect. Daughters learn healthy boundaries and worth. Both learn to navigate the world through the lens of God’s truth. Modeling Godly Character Children do not simply inherit values; they inherit habits. They inherit the way we respond to stress, conflict, and temptation. When mothers model patience, honesty, respect, and courage, they give children a template for living honorably. These lessons are armor against a world that would seek to diminish respect for human life, purity, and safety. Protection is active, not passive. It means knowing what influences your children encounter: the media they consume, the peers they trust, the places they go. It means speaking early about safety, consent, and discernment, not to instill fear, but to equip them with understanding and confidence. Mothers have eyes on the unseen dangers and hearts attuned to questions children cannot yet voice. Partnering With Fathers Fathers share in this responsibility. Mothers are not alone, nor are they competing for control. A strong partnership models mutual respect, accountability, and love for God’s design of family. The lessons children absorb from the unity of their parents’ example are as formative as what is taught in words. The Call to Intentionality The world will not protect our children for us. The Church will not automatically step in. And laws, while important, cannot substitute for daily guidance grounded in Scripture. Mothers are called to be vigilant, proactive, and prayerful. To teach, to correct, to guide, to love unconditionally. To speak truth boldly and consistently. Proverbs 22:6 guides us “Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.” Titus 2:3–5 calls on women to love their husbands and children and to be kind. Deuteronomy 6:5–8 calls us to teach God's ways faithfully and consistently in the home, weaving His truths into every part of daily life so that children absorb them through example, conversation, and routine. These commands are not optional. They are urgent. The question was never whether mothers should act, but whether we will. Whether we will seize the responsibility God has entrusted to us, knowing that our influence shapes not just behavior, but character, conscience, and ultimately, the safety of our children. This is our calling. This is our duty. It is a role of profound power and eternal consequence. © Jane Isley

Why Did God Create the Devil? One Believer's Honest Wrestling with Sovereignty, AI, and the Adversary's Purpose Why did God create the devil, and what does that question reveal about the nature of divine sovereignty, human will, and the enemy we face every day? This thought-provoking piece wrestles honestly with some of the deepest tensions in Christian theology, from God's omniscience and the origin of the Adversary to the surprising ways our modern struggles with technology mirror an ancient spiritual battle. If you have ever sat with a question too big for a simple answer, this article was written for that moment. Pull up a chair and read slowly. Personal Struggle with Faith and Technology God has answered my prayers by breaking my heart with whatever breaks His. This morning, after an in-depth conversation with my husband about a discipleship reading plan titled “Discipology,” I became overwhelmed with emotion regarding my past failures in sharing the Gospel. I grieved for those loved ones who have yet to accept this greatest of all gifts — the saving knowledge of Christ. It was baffling to both of us just how emotional I became over circumstances that, in reality, remain outside of my control. Another topic weighing heavily on my mind is the origin of the Devil. If God is truly sovereign, as we discussed in church this weekend, why did He create Satan? Why has He allowed him to exist and exert such influence for centuries? As I write this, I find myself battling two distinct temptations. The first is the temptation to plagiarize — to lean heavily on the work of others and fail to credit them. And by “others” I mostly mean AI… which leads to the second temptation to let AI virtually write the majority of this complex piece for me, slipping into a slothful haze that lacks the original confidence I once held dear as a writer. What began innocently as a tool for grammar and spell-checking is quickly evolving into an uncontrollable monster. It whispers the same types of lies as the Father of Lies (John 8:44), suggesting that the voice of an algorithm is superior to my own. The Scope of Divine Omniscience To address this inquiry, we must first ask: “Was God aware of Satan’s coming defiance?” Biblical truth confirms that the Lord is omniscient, possessing absolute knowledge. As seen in Job 37:16, Psalm 139:2–4, 147:5, Proverbs 5:21, Isaiah 46:9–10, and 1 John 3:19–20, there is no limit to His understanding; He perceives all of time — past, present, and future — with total clarity. When we examine the scriptural descriptions of the Almighty — noting He is “perfect in knowledge” and that “His understanding has no limit” — it becomes evident that His intellect is not just superior to ours, but infinitely so. He possesses a complete awareness of all things. Should His knowledge be anything less than absolute, it would imply a fundamental flaw in His divine character. Since the very nature of the Lord demands the perfection of every attribute, any such deficiency would contradict His deity. Consequently, regarding our initial inquiry, we must conclude that yes, God was fully aware that Satan would eventually turn against Him. Purpose Behind the Adversary’s Existence Shifting focus, we ponder: “What was the Lord’s purpose in bringing Satan into existence, fully aware of his future insubordination?” This investigation is complex, as it seeks a “why” for which the Scriptures seldom provide a comprehensive explanation. However, we may still seek fundamental clarity. Given the Lord’s absolute omniscience, if He brought Satan into existence with full foreknowledge of his fall, then this rebellion was inevitably woven into His sovereign design from the start. To suggest otherwise would be to deny the perfect divine nature we have explored. First, we must recognize that the Lord’s perception of Satan’s turning is distinct from His compelling him to do so. Lucifer was granted free will and remains responsible for his own decisions. The Almighty did not create him in a fallen state; rather, He created him as a being of goodness (Genesis 1:31). As we contemplate why the Lord allowed Satan’s existence despite his future defiance, we should reflect upon these additional truths: Prior to his transgression, Lucifer was created for a purpose that was both righteous and flawless. The subsequent defiance of the adversary does not diminish the original divine intention, nor does it transform the Lord’s essentially good design into something malicious. Furthermore, the Lord’s absolute sovereignty encompasses even the fallen state of the adversary. The Almighty remains capable of directing the enemy’s wicked deeds to ultimately fulfill His own sacred and eternal purposes (1 Timothy 1:20, 1 Corinthians 5:5). The divine architecture of redemption was established in eternity past (Revelation 13:8); by its very nature, deliverance necessitates an affliction to be rescued from. Remarkably, the very anguish introduced by the enemy served as the instrument through which Christ, in His human form, achieved the status of the perfect Redeemer: “In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God… should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what He suffered” (Hebrews 2:10). From the onset, the Lord’s redemptive design through the Messiah explicitly encompassed the total dismantling of the adversary’s endeavors (1 John 3:8). Peace in Divine Mystery In the final analysis, the specific motivations behind the Lord’s decision to bring Lucifer into existence remain a divine mystery. While we may feel inclined to speculate that a world without such an adversary would be superior, such conclusions are fundamentally imprudent. To assert that our finite wisdom surpasses His sovereign governance of the universe is to repeat the adversary’s own transgression — presuming to exalt oneself above the Most High (Isaiah 14:13–14). Ultimately, my struggle with the temptation of AI — much like the ancient defiance of the adversary — is a test of surrender. When I am tempted to bypass the hard, authentic work of human connection for the “perfect” shortcut offered by technology, I am reminded of the complexity of God’s sovereignty. Just as He permits the adversary to exist to fulfill a grander, redemptive architecture, perhaps these digital trials are permitted to refine my heart. Discipleship is not a matter of efficiency, but of faithfulness; it requires a vulnerability that algorithms cannot replicate. By resting in the truth that God is sovereign over both the enemy’s schemes and my own digital shortcuts, I am freed to pursue the messy, authentic work of sharing the Gospel, trusting that His perfect purpose will be accomplished. I am deeply humbled by the realization that while AI can mimic polish, only God provides truth. While technology is a helpful resource, it is not a substitute for the soul. I entrust every aspect of my mortal life and immortal soul to my God in Heaven, whose wisdom is infinitely greater than any creation of man. P.S. I intentionally omitted links to the Bible references. Feel free to research them on your own — “Seek, and ye shall find” (Matthew 7:7). Reflections How can recognizing God’s absolute sovereignty over both the adversary and our own struggles change the way you approach your daily temptations? In what ways does relying on artificial tools for “perfection” potentially distract you from the messy, authentic vulnerability required for true discipleship? Reflecting on the purpose of the adversary’s existence within a redemptive design, how can you find peace in the aspects of your life that currently feel like unresolved mysteries? © 2026 Nora Gwen. Want more content like this? Explore more articles in Rethinking Doctrine. Why did God create the devil is ultimately a question that leads us not to a theological dead end but to a deeper surrender. If this article stirred something in you, whether doubt, comfort, or a renewed sense of awe at God's sovereignty, share it with someone who is wrestling with the same questions. The conversation is worth continuing. If this article stirred something in you, you might also appreciate this: 👉 From Doubt to Encounter: When God Became Real to Me A 21-year-old shares his raw, honest journey from intellectual faith to a tangible encounter with God — a powerful companion read to the questions raised here. Press Ctrl + P (Windows) or Cmd + P (Mac) to print this article or save it as a PDF.

If the whole point of Christianity is that Jesus rose from the dead, why do we keep Him nailed on the cross then? This is a fair question to ask and think about. Our faith is unique from all other faiths. Jesus died for us so that we could be reconciled to God and enter heaven, and His resurrection is the key to that. Jesus is alive and very well. He’s not hanging on the cross anymore, and He’s not dust in a tomb somewhere. So why do we have images of Him on the cross? Hanging, partially nude, and sometimes completely nude (I will be getting to that), suffering and frozen in the moment of His death? Like I said, it’s a fair question to be asking. Now, while there is a group that widely uses this, that is not my target audience because there are Christians from all denominations all over the world who do this with the cross. This is for anyone who still sees Christ on that cross in their living room. What You See Shapes What You Believe If the predominant image of Jesus in your everyday environment is one of His suffering and still on the cross, that affects how you see and relate to Him in your everyday life. What we repeatedly see shapes what we come to expect and what we believe. Over the years, I’ve come across a large number of people through conversations, reading, or hearing their experiences who believed that Jesus couldn’t or wouldn’t help them. Several of those times, there was also a cross with Christ still on it, dying, in agony, and suffering somewhere in their story. That was the image they associated with Him, not the empty tomb. This is not about ignoring what He did and went through for us; Christ bears the scars as proof of what He did for us. We should be thinking about it at times, and let it hit us like a brick crap house every so often. It should bring us to our knees with gut-wrenching tears to understand that He did that so we, the imperfect humans, can go to heaven. But…….get up off your knees and live, because He is alive. His command is to go forth and make nations. How are you going to do that when you are busy looking backwards at a cross still showing Him hanging on it? Real Thoughts & Reactions I remember my first reaction to seeing a picture of Christ still on the cross, also, He was painted as fully naked. I looked at the picture and remember thinking along the lines of “why didn't He get off? I though He was stronger than that, maybe He’s not?” Yeah, to say I was confused and also highly embarrassed that I saw Jesus naked is an understatement. “His eyes were closed, but his face looked sad. Defeated. […] That’s when it hit me: no wonder he couldn’t protect me and my sisters […] He was too tiny, too frail, and too powerless to do anything about it.” I. M. Koen “Images mislead us. They convey false ideas about God. The very inadequacy with which they represent him perverts our thoughts of him, and plants in our minds errors of all sorts about his character and will. … It is a matter of historical fact that the use of the crucifix as an aid to prayer has encouraged people to equate devotion with brooding over Christ’s bodily sufferings; it has made them morbid about the spiritual value of physical pain, and it has kept them from knowledge of the risen Savior.” (1) “…The pathos of the crucifix obscures the glory of Christ, for it hides the fact of his deity, his victory on the cross, and his present kingdom. It displays his human weakness, but it conceals his divine strength; it depicts the reality of his pain, but keeps out of our sight the reality of his joy and his power.[…]” (challies) Psychology 101 Psychological factors are happening here. Actually, there are a lot of different psychological things going on. I promise to try to keep it concise and to the point. Mere Exposure Effect, identified by Psychologist Robert Zajonc and confirmed across more than 200 experiments. The finding was quite simple, the more we are exposed to something, the more familiar it becomes, and that familiarity can shape our attitude toward it, often without us consciously thinking about it. All we have to do is see it repeatedly. Next, we have Terror Management Theory (TMT). This research shows that when people are repeatedly reminded of death, they often become more defensive, anxious, and resistant to ideas that challenge their existing beliefs. Mortality reminders can push people to cling tighter to what feels safe, despite what the truth is or not. Then I found this nugget: brain imaging studies found that death reminders decreased activity in the regions of the brain associated with open, reflective thinking. As a side note to these, think of social media as an example; we know that what we see every day has an effect on us, it's not even something that is debated; it is something that is known and proven. What we see every day affects us. Did You Know? And I’m betting you didn’t know this, that in the early centuries, Christians rarely, if ever, had crosses showing a crucifixion with a depiction of some kind of male body. Many sources say it is because it was too jarring or too fresh to them, in a sense, because they weren’t that far removed from the era that did crucifixions. And I agree, I can absolutely see that being a part of it. The more graphic and emotionally triggering images of Christ on the cross developed gradually over time. But something important happened in the 16th century. During the Reformation, many reformers rejected religious images completely. In response to that, the Catholic Church reaffirmed the use of sacred images, which helped solidify their continued role in Catholic devotion. (Council of Trent; Session 25) Shameful Depictions That’s the psychology and history side of things. For those who still feel the need to defend keeping Christ on the cross, I want to ask a few simple questions. If someone you loved died today, and their body was exposed or partially clothed, would you want that image put on display? Would you want people looking at it, studying it, returning to it over and over again? Or would you want their dignity preserved? The Romans stripped Jesus as a form of humiliation and public degradation, meant to strip a person of dignity and humanity. A strategically placed loincloth does not change that reality or make it ok. So why preserve that moment of His suffering, His body exposed, His dignity stripped, and center your attention on it? Why is Jesus still on the cross in your living room when the whole point of our faith is that He is not there anymore. “He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay” Matt 28:6 © 2026 Jane Isley. Want more content like this? Explore more articles in Rethinking Doctrine. Sources & References: Wikipedia — Terror Management Theory Psychology Today — Terror Management Theory Simply Psychology — Mere Exposure Effect Wikipedia — Mere Exposure Effect Merriam-Webster — “Propaganda” definition PubMed (PMID: 28486837) — fMRI study on mortality salience and self-reflection Catholic Review — crucifix / devotional imagery in Catholic tradition Catholic Standard — crucifix and Catholic practice discussion Council of Trent (Session 25) Challies — Why You Should Not Wear a Crucifix The Conversation — historical crucifixion depiction of Jesus Wikipedia — Caravaggio Encyclopaedia Romana (University of Chicago) — Roman crucifixion context Greg Reese (Substack) — symbolism and subconscious perception

What Scripture Says About Alien Encounters The conversation around UAPs and alien encounters is louder than ever, and most of it completely ignores what Scripture has to say. Debra Hodges connects the dots between what people are experiencing and what the Bible has been telling us all along. This one is worth your time. Introduction The Internet and YouTube, especially, are full of content on end-times Bible prophecy, which includes intense accounts of spiritual warfare and great deception. A lot of people are interested in extraterrestrial aliens these days. The U.S. government now has an office that investigates UAPs (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena) called The AARO (All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office). The DoD released the “FY24 Annual UAP Report,” covering over 1,600 UAP incidents occurring from May 2023 to June 2024. This report attributed most of the sightings to balloons, drones, or atmospheric phenomena. Some of the cases remained unexplained, but the report confirmed that no evidence of extraterrestrial life or technology had been found. Background As Christians, we already know from the Bible that another dimension to reality exists, a spiritual dimension, containing both benevolent and malevolent beings. Scripture affirms that humanity is not alone, but it does not describe non-human intelligent beings as space aliens. Instead, the Bible speaks of: Angels and Fallen Angels (Psalm 82; Daniel 10) Demons with intelligence and intent (Mark 1:23–26) Supernatural beings capable of physical manifestation (Genesis 6; Job 1) Scripture repeatedly warns that deception will increase toward the end of the age: “Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14) End-times deception will include lying signs and wonders (Matthew 24:24) Some people in modern society assume that extraterrestrial life exists and that it will be discovered eventually. How should we respond to their assumption? Should we try to argue them out of their belief? That would be an exercise in futility. Using Scripture, we can defend our view of alien encounters as encounters with beings from the demonic realm. The “Aliens = Demons/Fallen Angels” View Christian authors such as Hugh Ross (astrophysicist), Chuck Missler (Bible teacher and former Navy engineer), and Michael Heiser (PhD biblical scholar) all agree that the best explanation for people claiming to have experienced alien encounters is demonic deception. The following examines their reasoning for this claim. Chuck Missler emphasized that the Bible presents a multi-dimensional reality in which spiritual beings operate in invisible realms. “The Bible is a book about a supernatural reality that intersects our own. UFO phenomena fit better into an interdimensional model than an extraterrestrial one.”— Chuck Missler, Cosmic Codes He claims that UFO behavior, such as the sudden appearances and disappearances of aircraft that defy the laws of physics, is incompatible with interstellar space travel but consistent with interdimensional beings. This category aligns with biblical descriptions of angels and demons. “Angels are not constrained by time, space, or mass in the way physical creatures are. UFOs exhibit similar properties.”— Chuck Missler, Alien Encounters Hugh Ross argues that deception is the dangerous hallmark of demonic activity. He says that in our scientifically advanced culture, spiritual beings presenting themselves as “aliens” is far more believable than believing they are evil demons. “Given the Bible’s description of demons as deceptive beings, it makes sense that they would appear as technologically advanced extraterrestrials rather than as mythological creatures.”— Hugh Ross, Lights in the Sky & Little Green Men Hugh Ross has investigated many alleged alien encounters and noticed an unusual detail: many people reported that their encounters stopped when the name of Jesus Christ was invoked. Ross also noted that supposed alien encounters were strikingly similar to cases of demonic oppression. Sleep paralysis and immobilization Telepathic communication Sexual or reproductive themes Psychological trauma Obsession or fear following encounters “There are documented cases where calling upon Jesus immediately ended the experience — something difficult to explain if these entities are merely biological creatures from another planet.”— Lights in the Sky & Little Green Men Dr. Ross writes about how UFO/UAP phenomena exhibit characteristics of an interdimensional reality and states in his book “Lights in the Sky and Little Green Men”: UFOs are often reported to: Appear and disappear suddenly Pass through solid objects Defy known laws of physics What Messages Do These Entities Communicate? People who say aliens have abducted them or have had some contact with non-human intelligent beings say the encounters have the following themes in common. Humanity is evolving beyond Christianity Jesus was merely an enlightened teacher Sin and judgment are outdated concepts Advanced beings are genetically engineered humans L. A. Marzulli, an American author and documentary filmmaker, is best known for his work researching UFO/UAP phenomena and supernatural claims. He uses this research in his interpretation of Bible prophecy and states that the messages conveyed in alleged alien encounters directly contradict the gospel, thereby revealing the source. This aligns with biblical warnings that false spirits will seek to undermine core Christian doctrines (1 John 4:1-3). “The message is always the same — deny the deity of Christ, deny salvation through the cross, and replace it with a counterfeit narrative.”— L. A. Marzulli, On the Trail of the Nephilim Marzulli and Missler both agree that aliens are the perfect end-time disguise, ideally suited to today’s society. Marzulli connects this directly to end-times prophecy, suggesting UFO disclosure by authoritative sources could be used to explain away events such as the Rapture. “Aliens may become the ultimate explanation for biblical prophecy in a world that rejects God.”— L. A. Marzulli, Days of Chaos Dr. Hugh Ross stresses that the goal of this deception is not curiosity, but the erosion of Biblical authority. This is clearly in line with Satan’s character and plans. Conclusion These authors emphasize that, rather than living in fear, Christians should practice discernment and avoid sensationalism. They advise Christians to: Test the spirits (1 John 4:1) Anchor understanding in Scripture Avoid being fascinated by signs apart from Christ The idea that aliens may actually be demons or fallen angels in disguise is a sound argument held by respected Christian thinkers and supported by Biblical narratives. Scripture reminds believers that the greatest threat is not out there somewhere among the stars, but spiritual deception close to home. For Christians, the ultimate question is not “Are we alone in the universe?” The Bible already answers that. The real question is: Whose voices will we trust? © Debra Hodges First published in the Mustard Seed Sentinel on Medium. Recommended Reads: Does the Bible Talk About Aliens? Why the Real Question Is "Are Aliens Demons" Why the modern alien obsession is really a definitions problem, and how Scripture reframes the question entirely. Old Testament Elohim and New Testament Demons: The Powers Jesus Confronted The word study behind it all, how elohim and daimonia describe the same spiritual beings across both Testaments. Hidden in Plain Sight: Recognizing Demonic Influence Today What it looks like to recognize that same demonic activity hiding in ordinary, everyday life right now. Resources Hugh Ross — Lights in the Sky & Little Green Men Chuck Missler — Alien Encounters, Cosmic Codes L. A. Marzulli — On the Trail of the Nephilim, Days of Chaos, The Watchers series

Spoiler alert! If you haven’t seen this movie yet and you want to, you may want to skip this article, because I’m going to talk about several scenes in it. Spielberg’s new film, released to the public the same day that the Pentagon released a new set of declassified UFO files, is meant to capitalize on public interest and suggest that humanity is on the verge of “first contact”. The declassified material offers no proof of alien life or craft but leaves it to the public to make up their own minds about extraterrestrial life. [1] Background The movie capitalizes on modern society’s UFO anxiety and some people’s suspicions that aliens and their craft have been discovered, and the government has been hiding this evidence for decades. The movie suggests that aliens seeded life on Earth and emphasizes how this knowledge would affect people’s faith and humanity’s place in the universe. It also includes scenes where a man and a woman are shown remembering when aliens abducted them as children and imparted advanced knowledge to them. The young girl develops an extreme capacity for empathy, and the young boy gains an extreme knowledge of mathematics, which Hugo (the main character’s spiritual guide and protector) describes as “the language of the universe.” Unrealistic Scenario The boy (Daniel) grows up and works for a shadow government contractor, “Wardex,” who has been capturing and experimenting on live aliens for decades. He wants to expose them for covering up this evidence because he believes the public “has the right to know”. He steals highly classified documents and goes on the run. The girl (Margaret) grows up in Kansas City and becomes a TV meteorologist. She eventually meets up with Daniel, where he shows her footage of aliens being experimented on to get her to agree with his plan of exposing Wardex. The footage shows an alien screaming in agony throughout the procedure, which makes no sense, considering how advanced the aliens are supposed to be. If they were that advanced, they surely would have worn a medical tag around their neck listing the type of anesthesia they could tolerate in an emergency. An Old Lie Repackaged as Truth Disclosed The movie suggests that these advanced aliens desire to give humanity this advanced knowledge to usher in a new age of enlightenment and enable people to be like gods. What does this sound like to you? To me, it echoes the same lie the serpent told Eve in the garden, “You will be like God” (Genesis 3:5, BSB). The film subtly suggests, through science fiction, that the Creator of the universe can be replaced by aliens with godlike powers. Christians have known for centuries that we are not alone in the universe. The entire Bible speaks of another realm existing, replete with spiritual beings who, like humans, have free will to choose good or evil. Many Christians believe that aliens are actually demons doing Satan’s bidding, who are doing a good job of perpetrating this deception. For more proof of this, please see my article “Aliens or Demons?” Interstellar Travel Is Not Routine In several scenes, you see footage of crashed alien spaceships and live aliens, making it seem like interstellar travel is as routine as taking the subway to work. But real science makes it clear that the vast distances between stars make reaching them impossible. Research shows that the fastest rockets we have can probably reach up to 150,000 miles per hour. At that speed, it would take astronauts about 72,000 years to reach Alpha Centauri, the nearest star to our sun. [2] Science fiction writers imagine we could reach the stars via wormholes, but there’s no scientific proof that they exist or that travel through them would be possible. [3] Humanity’s longing for space exploration may simply be a manifestation of our longing to be with our Creator, because as the Bible says: "He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end" (Ecclesiastes 3:11, NIV). Unidentified Does Not Mean Alien For years now, no verified proof of alien spacecraft or extraterrestrial beings has been produced. Recently released declassified information about UAPs (unidentified aerial phenomena) only shows that these sightings are unidentified, not extraterrestrial. This film attempts to exploit these government disclosures to persuade people that aliens have already contacted humanity. This film may stir people up to think we’re missing out on advanced knowledge due to a supposed intentional cover-up of the evidence. In reality, the supernatural is real because God is real. So what is behind all these reports of alien encounters and abductions? The Bible explains that demonic beings can deceive humanity by appearing as higher beings offering forbidden knowledge. For Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14, BSB). This film glorifies the idea that it’s the aliens’ job to enlighten humanity with a counterfeit gospel of cosmic knowledge and evolution. That’s why Jesus said, See to it that no one deceives you (Matthew 24:4, BSB). And that’s why Paul warned us not to let the gospel of Christ be replaced with another gospel. "I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: which is not another, but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed" (Galatians 1:6–9, KJV). Conclusion Disclosure Day is full of action, visually stimulating, and emotionally stirring, but it’s definitely spiritually misleading. It feeds people’s egos by giving them hope for the betterment of mankind through extraterrestrial beings rather than the true source of light and truth, Jesus Christ. People need to see that the truth about mankind and its future has already been disclosed to us; the Bible records this disclosure from cover to cover. In it, God revealed the truth about Himself, about us, and about His plan of redemption to secure our eternal destiny. Aliens have not and never will save us. Our salvation has already come in the person of Jesus Christ, the Light of the World (John 8:12, BSB). © 2026 Debra Hodges. Want more content like this? Explore more articles in Culture & Faith. Want to dig deeper into this topic? "Aliens or Demons? A Biblical Look at What's Really Affecting Us" The government is releasing files. But are they telling us the whole story? Here's what Scripture says is really behind it all. "Does the Bible Talk About Aliens? Why the Real Question Is 'Are Aliens Demons'" Little green men might be Hollywood's invention, but the Bible has been talking about "aliens" all along, just not the way you'd expect. References 1. Pentagon begins releasing new files on UFOs and says people can “make up their own minds.” (2026, May 8). PBS News. 2. StenBlog. (2024, December 4). How long would it take to get to the nearest star? | Sten’s Space Blog. 3. News. (2024, October 15). Interstellar Space Travel: But why not dream? Mind Matters. 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