Halloween is here — and so are the ‘harmless’ fads that spiritually ensnare Christians

In a day where the New Age has wormed its way into the mainstream at unprecedented levels, many Christians find it difficult to discern between common cultural fads and spiritually dangerous practices. On this episode of “Live Free with Josh Howerton,” pastor and co-host Carlos Erazo joins fellow pastor Jonathan Pokluda to outline eight ways Christians unknowingly open the door to demonic forces.

The duo begin by discussing a “toy” that is extremely popular, especially around Halloween: Ouija boards.

On the surface, a Ouija board is just a board game where participants ask questions and receive answers, supposedly from the supernatural. The idea is that a spirit is spelling the message, but scientific skeptics argue that the answers are really just tiny, unnoticed muscle movements made by the players that steer the pointer toward letters the players already expected.

But even though Ouija boards are so mainstream they can be purchased off a Walmart shelf, Pokluda warns they are more spiritually dangerous than people realize.

“Ouija boards can work. I mean, you know, they can show you the name of some dead person. Saul consulted the witch of Endor and talked to Samuel or some demon pretending to be Samuel,” he says.

But it’s not just Satan worshippers and people with dark proclivities who try to contact the spirit realm, he notes. More often than not, it’s normal people seeking comfort.

“People will do weird stuff in grief. And so, they miss their father or their mother or their loved ones so badly, they'll go to this medium to talk to them, and you're talking to a demon pretending to be your loved one,” Pokluda warns.

“You’ve got to be careful because Satan is a legalist. He’s just looking for a legal right to mess with you. Demons are legalists. They’re looking for a legal right,” he continues. “They say, ‘All right, now I got you. Now I have the right to mess with you. Now I have the right to your children.’”

But Ouija boards are just the beginning of the long list of New Age pitfalls that can ensnare Christians.

“Crystals, manifesting, tarot cards, horoscopes, like none of that stuff is spiritually neutral. ... The enemy will use any of that for permission to mess with you,” Pokluda says.

Erazo shares a personal story to illustrate the veracity of Pokluda’s warning. A couple of years ago when he and his wife were traveling in El Salvador, they started watching a performance at the beach resort where they were staying. Not long into the show, they both began noticing “elements of spirituality” in the dance choreography.

But even though both of them experienced “conviction” to stop watching, they lingered, hoping the spiritual nature of the performance would “calm down.”

“After a while we said, ‘Hey, this is too much; we're leaving,’ but we felt the conviction that we should have left sooner,” Erazo shares.

“That night, my wife had a very vivid dream of being stabbed. ... That same night, I had a dream of a sniper shooting at me,” he continues.

They both learned a valuable lesson that night: “Do not give the enemy a little space.”

To hear about more spiritual traps Christians fall into, watch the episode above.

“Live Free with Josh Howerton” launches today on BlazeTV+, YouTube, and major podcast platforms. Join BlazeTV+ and start watching Josh today at blazetv.com/JOSH. Use promo code JOSH to get $20 off your subscription.

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