For anyone interested in spiritual warfare

I cannot open myself up to that stuff.
I believe in it and choose to stay away from it and not dwell on it.
Does that make sense?

 

Absolutely!

 

Are there any accounts of that happening after the resurection?

I guess the way I think it happens is similar to a person becoming a drug addict. It is a series of bad decisions that put you in a place you can not escape without help. In the movie the Exorcist the little innocent girl is possessed and the only thing she did that could explain it was play with a weegie board. I do not think that is how it would really happen.

 

Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, "In the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out." --Acts 19:13

The way I heard archbishop James Long explain it, the real case wasn't a little girl, it was a little boy. When his aunt died, he was so distraught he tried to talk to her through the ouija board. Unfortunately he didn't contact his aunt, he contacted a demon who subsequently took hold of him.

Here's a link.

 

Once a person accepts Christ I think they are immune to demon possession. No demon can come in when Christ is there already.

I just have a hard time believing small children can be demon possessed. I have no real evidence to support it but it seems to run counter to free will doctrine. If a child is possessed before he reaches the age of accountability and then never has the demon cast out then he never had a chance to accept Christ.

 

Agreed. Oppressed? Sure. Possessed? No.

I think that has merit, but being a child doesn't exclude the chance of a choice being made. In the case of the boy that inspired "The Exorcist", he chose to use a ouija board to contact his dead aunt. Repeatedly.

True. But two things come to mind with that scenario -- 1) anyone who is possessed should show signs of negative progression which ultimately points to evil influence; and 2)even if a person dies while possessed, it's not as though Christ won't take that in full account when His judgment takes place.

 

I have encountered, confronted, and rebuked a demon. I don't care to really talk about it, but I bring it up to say this:

I try to avoid focusing much on demons, devil-worshiping, witchcraft, etc. All that does is make it appear more mystical, forbidden-fruit-like to some, and to many, many others, it allows them to point the finger at evil out there while looking away from the evil of our ownselves.

Being a follower of Christ is a daily effort and discipline to take up our crosses, deny ourselves, and live as Christ lived. Focusing on the evil "out there" often creates a false sense of self-righteousness and sense of "well, I'm not bad like that, so I must be good" kind of thinking.

 

I do believe that many times demons have possessed people who do really bad things like harm children or go on a shooting spree. I think that probably some of the terrorist leaders are demon possessed as well.