Tags
Abortion, Faith, Forgiveness, Occult, Sacrifice, Sorcery, Truth, Witchcraft
It would be far too easy to laugh off the First Annual Christian Witches Convention. Their syncretism of Christianity with paganism is absurd, their justifications for their understanding of Scripture are farcical, they’ve chosen to maximize irony by meeting in Salem, MA, and the ‘Reverend’ Valerie Love even has the hat. It’s as though they’re trying not to be taken seriously.
But I think they are serious. The evil they represent is serious. The seriousness with which God regards it is shown in His words to the Israelites: “Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD” (Deut. 18:10-12, NIV).
We live in a culture where the pagan practice of sacrificing sons and daughters is widespread; it should be no surprise that other elements of pagan spirituality show increasing acceptance and popularity. The farce of this vaudevillian episode is the basic absurdity of idolatry, the grotesque folly of worshipping a statue made of wood (Isa. 44:14-16). Such foolish beliefs seem plausible to the mind darkened by rejecting God (see Rom. 1:21-23).
But let no Christian be deceived. The new heavens and new earth belong to the faithful in Christ; “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars–they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death” (Rev. 21:8).
Now is the day of repentance. The cross of mercy still stands. For those who have followed the way of paganism, who have sacrificed their sons or daughters, who have practiced sorcery, there is yet one hope: repent, believe the gospel, and be saved. The Savior’s arm are still outstretched to you. There is no hope in sorcery; there is forgiveness and life in Jesus Christ. But you must choose one.
