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Bible thumper n. Someone who uses the Bible to "beat up" on others in an un-Christ-like manner.

One Sunday morning as I was standing in front of a church waiting for church to start, I saw an odd man stagger up the street carrying a big black Bible. He stopped in the middle of the street directly between the church and another church across the street. Then he raised his Bible, and yelled at the people arriving for church saying, "You are all sinners going to Hell." He threw out some other self righteous insults as well.

I knew that his words were untrue and I could imagine what effect they would have on first time visitors to the church so I went out to reason with him. I explained that when someone asks God for forgiveness and invites Jesus Christ into his heart, his sins are washed away by the blood of Jesus and He sends the Holy Spirit as a sign of our salvation. Then we can know that we will go to heaven to be with Him when we die.

But, I couldn't find the Bible verse (2 Cor. 1:22) to prove my point and he kept misinterpreting verses faster than I could respond to them. In spite of my three years of Bible college, I couldn't quote the Bible as well as he could.

Suddenly, I realized that there was more to this man than bad theology and, perhaps, mental illness. His voice was strained and his movements were jerky. And when he said that he had been covered by the blood of Jesus, he was not talking figuratively, but literally about Satanic ritual human sacrifice. I realized that I was dealing with a Satanist who was demon possessed.

I was wasting my time trying to reason with someone who did not want to be reasonable. Instead, I got right in his face and said, "In the name of Jesus, I rebuke you. You are a liar and a deceiver just like your father Satan, the father of all lies." When he spoke again, I rebuked him again and commanded him to stop teaching lies and to leave. And he stopped because demons have to obey the authority of Jesus.

Then I turned and walked back to the church, which was a mistake. He got in the last word. "No one was saved today." I shouldn't have turned my back on him, but stood my ground until he left. Even better, I could have commanded the demon to leave instead commanding the man to leave. It was my first confrontration with a demon possessed person so I was still learning.

I learned that day that Satan will readily quote the Bible if he can use it to confuse the message of salvation. Since then, I have learned that some preachers are Satanists and use their position to do Satan's work.

Jesus warned that we need to watch out for false prophets. We will recognize them by their fruit. (Matthew 7:15-20)

Therefore, if you encounter someone preaching condemnation or hatred, check carefully to see whose side they are really on. Maybe they are sincerely mistaken like Apollos and need to have the way of God explained to them more thoroughly (Acts 18:24-26). But maybe they need to be rebuked and commanded in the name of Jesus to stop teaching lies.

If you have questions or comments, please email me.

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