I have always been very sensitive to evil. I can feel it….In a person, on a show, even a book cover or movie case bothers me to the point I have to quickly look away. Movie previews get me every single time!
I know now this is the prompting of the Holy Spirit, and the warning bells of evil close by. Not everyone feels this way, and some would call me over sensitive. Maybe you love that stuff? The heart pounding thrill it brings……I am not judging you for that, but I think its only fair that we call it what it is, dark.
Evil.
Plain and simple.
This is fine for the World, right? But if you are a believer, then Christ has more to say about this subject.
One time we watched a creepy thriller. {Now, we shut them off or avoid renting thrillers all together, but back in the day, I’d clutch Dale’s arm and we’d finish the movie, despite its fear inducing content.} Anyhow, this one particular night, after we went to bed, our DVD player kicked back on two times, and blasted Destiny’s “Elmo’s World” disc LOUDLY through the surround sound, waking us from our sleep in a panic both times. I believe with my whole heart, that there was a demon that came out of that rented thriller movie, and was messing with us and our home.
We also knew it was our fault for inviting the spirit of fear in our home, so we walked and prayed out loud in every room,
“Father, we commit this home to you. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ our Savior, for you to fill this space. In the name of Jesus we command all evil spirits to LEAVE! This home belongs to Children of the King, you have no place here.”
It never happened again. The whole house felt different after we prayed. Never again would we bring a movie like that in our home. And if it “sneaks in” under a different title, like suspense, it gets turned off immediately.
Have you seen the choices on Red Box lately?
Full of Horror movies!
I have to avert my eyes from the pictures every time, and I sure can’t let the kids look over my shoulder anymore when I am selecting a movie to rent.
I remember a time when the October movies in the theaters were creepy, thanks to Halloween, and a few months later they would cycle through rentals, then be gone again until the next year. Now, its constant! You can get a horror film as a new release year round!
I have never actually seen the preview for “The Conjurying”. In fact, I am not even going to link it up to my blog. If you want to see what it’s about, google it and read a review.
Even from the other room I can FEEL this particular preview within 2 seconds of it starting. I holler out to Dale in the living room, “QUICK! TURN IT!” He says, “I already was reaching for the remote, how did you know this preview was on again?”
I felt it, simple as that. I didn’t hear it, I didn’t see it. I FELT IT.
Friends, this preview is out there for your children to see between “safe” shows on evening television. Our kiddos rarely watch tv at night, however, when they DO, we flip it to a black screen during commercials, checking back in to see when the show re-starts. It is NOT worth it for them to see something like this! They know to do this even if I am in the other room brushing someone’s teeth.
This movie comes with a warning:
“psychologically and emotionally disturbing”
It also says that people who have attended early screenings of the film have complained about many usual circumstances that they have experienced after seeing the film.
Ya think?
That my friends is called a demon. And they come out of these movies and attach themselves to you, or your home if that is where you watch. You invite them with an open door in the seeing and hearing of these movies.
God’s Word comes with a warning, too:
Ephesians 4:27 “And give no opportunity to the devil…..”
Why?
“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age….” Titus 2:11-12
What does God say about what we watch?
Psalm 101:3-4 “I will not set before my eyes anything that is worthless. I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me. A perverse heart shall be far from me; I will know nothing of evil.”
{Hmm, guess we are going to have to kick it up a notch in our home date, movie night selections too, because a lot of those have been worthless!!!!}
Isaiah 33:15 “He that walks righteously, and speaks uprightly; he that despises the gain of oppressions, that shakes his hands from holding of bribes, that stops his ears from hearing of blood, and shuts his eyes from seeing evil….”
That is pretty clear!
May we NEVER forget who we battle in this:
Ephesians 6:12 “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil…...”
Jesus asks us to be “set apart” from the ways of the World for a reason, and though its hard at times, I think we need to weigh every area of our lives against this command.
Because if the World can peek into our home, and not see anything they can find fault with about our lifestyle or our choices, then we are doing something wrong!
Think about it…….
The louder the World protests our decisions, the better we are doing for the Kingdom!
~T
4 little Fergusons 
This is GOOD. We aren’t ones for horror movies—suspense, every now and then, but nothing demonic or really scary. But you’ve got a great point with those Scripture passages: what are we setting before our eyes? Is it really worth it for a child of God to watch?
Thanks for this reminder–and for your strong witness and testimony!
Excellent, excellent truth. I with more people believed this way!
I agree with you. I also want to add that it makes me so mad to know that so many of the clothing for kids has a skull and cross bones on them. Everytime I see something like this it reminds me of the devil and I have refused for years for my kids to wear this type of clothing.
I always tell my kiddos, that God created bones just like that in their bodies, which isn’t bad. HOWEVER, when you put them in the skull and crossbones way, it represents something entirely different.
Two whole summers now, Children’s Place has put a stupid skull on the front of every stinkin’ striped polo they sold. I bought online, so I didn’t notice the tiny icon, but you better believe when they arrived, I returned all of them and shopped somewhere else!!!! No thanks!
I know! It is terrible how they try and get it in EVERYWHERE!!! Even trying to bribe our kids with it with out them knowing it! We have to be on the lookout as parents and watch out for them! It is so that lion in sheep’s clothing going on now!
I completely agree.. I do not allow my kids to wear any of those clothes either. Literally when I buy their clothes I take the extra time it takes to scroll through every area of fabric to make sure I do not see any demonic animation or skulls. Once before we purchased some socks in a pack and didn’t notice that it contained the skulls on it, so I threw them all out.. Brand new socks..yes sure did. He never saw them and he never wore them.
Oh Tonya, What a post! I have been feeling this for a while now!!!
When I was younger my sister and I would have these AWFUL fears at night! I can remember not being able to go to sleep because we would feel SO afraid. It was mostly that we were going to die. I can remember my mom praying over us!!! It was terrible! Now that you have written this post it makes me think that we must have been/are very sensitive to that kind of stuff. I just had a night last summer about this time where I woke up and was so afraid that I was dying. ( I know that I am going to heaven! I KNOW that I am a child of GOD. This was also after lil Ray had meningitis and Hubby was hit off the head with a tree!) I woke hubby up and told him and asked him to pray for me! He prayed over me and we also sat and talked about things that I had been not telling him about. It was really good. But, I went thru this for about a month after and when I did I would walk the house and just pray and tell satan he was NOT welcome in our home and they he must LEAVE in JESUS name!!! I would just open the word and just soak it all in.
There is SO much evil in this world that comes in on the tv, internet, and even things that we buy! We have to be soooo careful of what we let into out homes and hearts! Thank you so much for writing this post! I have felt sometimes that I am alone with this kind of thing. I hope that it is able to touch others lives and help them to rid there homes of the evilness and let the Light of JESUS shine through!:)
Love and hugs to you!
I have always felt that way about horror movies and I am with you all the way on this. I don’t want anything like that on or around my home or within hearing distance!
What wonderful discernment the Holy Spirit has given you, Tonya. I have a loved one, more than one actually, who is into this stuff. I have to pray protection over my home and over us when they are around us or when they are in our home. They are very close relatives so it is probably not an option not to see them at this point although I have asked them not to wear the clothing around us. Evil in, Evil out.
Thats right.. I request the same thing from my unsaved family members. That they respect us enough to not allow those things to come in contact with our children. And for the ones who don’t think it takes all that..lets just say they aren’t seen on a regular basis. It is my duty to train my children up in the way that they should go, and thats what I doing.
Tonya, what a great post. I have avoided watching scary movies for most of my married life. With Netflix making them available on demand and the Redbox offering horrible images for rent … it’s hard to stay away completely. We recently cancelled cable, which gives us a break from the commercials. I grew up in a home where my dad and mom allowed me at a young age to watch horror movies (Poltergeist at 8 and 9 years old), which (I believe) resulted in demonic torment for most of my childhood. Now, I do not watch those movies and do not allow my kids to even watch scary cartoons or the Disney channel “specials” that glorify magic and witches. I even keep my kids away from Goosebumps because it is all a channel to allow Satan a foothold. Great insight!
Love this! I too am super sensitive to this type of thing and get really uneasy and scared super duper easily!
Thank you for sharing Tonya, and you are so right. I too quickly turn the t.v when I hear anything that remotely sounds like evil. I have a three year old who absorbs everything, so I have also started to mute the t.v doing every commercial. And the shows that he is allowed to watch are usually previously record and able to be fast forwarded during commercials..if there are any. Some children’s programs don’t show the commercials until the end.
I commented earlier regarding how the devil has been sneaking evilness into everything, like the clothes. We have to be on guard attacks the enemy devices. Especially as parents, we have to not only guard and protect our minds but the little ones the Lord has entrusted in our hands.
I have the same sensitivity with most movies even those that are not suspense or horror. It has been interesting with my hubby and I when it comes to deciding what our children watch. If it was up to me they would watch very little but my husband feels differently. We have worked out some what of a compromise. I know though if I was very adamant about not watching something he would respect my discernment.
Yep…you are right. I agree. Stay away from those kinds of movies. Evil! Thank Jesus for his protection.
Thank you for writing this post! I, too, feel very sensitive to the evil in this world. Speaking of the ways the devil sneaks into our lives, and in addition to the scull and crossbones on children’s clothing (which is horrendous), the Monster sports drink symbol is everywhere! On clothes, bumper stickers, even tattoos. At first I thought it was simply claw scratch marks, but then I looked into it and realized that it’s horrifyingly demonic (the whole label is full of demonic symbolism). I suggest googling it, if you haven’t already. Now I see it everywhere and am constantly reminded that we are indeed living in a very sin-cursed world!
Good for you woman. I’m with you all the way I also sense evil and it is real. God has given us this ability to discern so we must use it. Love your posts
Amen, amen, I say amen! Bless all the parents of young ones who recognize this and are working hard to protect their children. Gives me some hope for future generations.
I, too, dislike horror movies, for a variety of reasons– mostly because of the violence and the way that women are portrayed. However I do not believe that horror movies are literally the devil. I believe there is evil in the world, but I don’t believe chanting bible verses will rid us of it. Sometimes evil masquerades as good, and that is what we should be most concerned with. Because ultimately love is what matters most of all, not religious dogma.
In Mexico, the Day of the Dead holiday celebrates loved ones who have died, and is resplendent in decorative sugar skulls and flowers. Death and bones and dirt and dust are not bad things– they are part of life. Some people enjoy being spooked; some kids, like my daughter, love monsters and bones and Halloween.
Life is complicated and wonderful, and I refuse to stick my head in the sand and ignore the beauty and love that is everywhere for the sake of a religious point of view that denies the wonder of it all. If you are living life in a way that sees only the good and ignores the bad– only the happy and not the sad– you are missing out on some of the best parts of life.
“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 8:38-39
Even before I became a Christian I didn’t like scary movies. I think the last one I saw was the original Amityville Horror. When previews for scary movies come on TV, I usually just look away. But the previews for “The Conjuring” literally make me ill! I can’t stand to just look away…I have to leave the room…even if I’m not in the same room as the TV. I just NEED to get away from it! I 100% agree that evil is always trying to insert itself into our lives, and I even say a prayer for Him to protect those that choose to watch that movie!
Tonya, I am the same way! Sensitive to evil, praying in the name of Jesus over my kids and in each room of my house. In capable of watching horror movie trailers. As God forms us more into the image of Christ, these things become more and more disgusting. I used to watch scary movies throughout high school and college, and had horrible nightmares during the night and confusion during the day. Praise God for freeing me from that stronghold. Thank you for this post offering freedom to those stuck in horror movie bondage! Love you sister!
I can totally understand wanting to avoid horror movies that glorify evil (they make me uncomfortable, too), but I have to wonder … at what point are we allowing our freedom and victory in Christ to be compromised when we allow ourselves to live in fear of such things? Christ has overcome evil and we have no reason to fear. Does that mean we should go ahead and force ourselves watch the darkest, most sinister horror movie? No. But I do think it means we shouldn’t cower in fear and rush to turn off the TV when a preview comes on. I can understand wanting to protect little children from seeing it, but I also wonder what you’re teaching them with your reaction? It seems Satan would find joy in seeing your fear. We are called to reject evil, but we are not called to live in fear of it. Next time, laugh and say, “that has no power over me! I’m a child of the one true King!”
Hi Tonya,
I am a huge fan of your blog. I’ve been following it for a couple of months now, and love reading about your family and life. You speak truth so beautifully, and are someone that I have truly come to admire. You are fantastic role model for young Christian women everywhere.
In regards to this post, I have a few thoughts. First off, I love Beth’s comment above, and definitely agree with her viewpoint. Secondly, I am a Lutheran (Missouri Synod). I love the doctrine of the Lutheran church and subscribe to it wholly, but there are definitely issues I have in the way some things are handled and the way some things are NOT handled…mainly spiritual warfare. Demonic presence, possession, etc. is not talked about in the Lutheran church. I don’t know why, it just isn’t. It’s in Bible passages we read and study, it’s even in the Book of Concord, but discussing it in depth, and discussing the fact that it is very alive and real in our world today…never happens. That being said, as someone who too is very sensitive to evil, and can sense demonic presence, I often have questions and concerns that are hard to find answers to without feeling like I am being judged for bringing up something that seems to be taboo. Maybe not taboo to the pastors or leaders of the LCMS, but to the whole congregation of the LCMS, which results in it being swept under the rug.
Because of this, I have actually found horror movies to be, believe it or not, beneficial. My husband and I attend a Lutheran university in California (though I am currently back home in the midwest after the premature birth of our daughter and am taking a year off), and scary movies are frequently watched at our school. People talk about how “scary” and “awesome” they are, and I go to see them, because I’m one of those people that likes horror movies. I’m weird like that, I guess. But I also take it a step further. My husband and I take apart and explore these movies in a way that allows us to recognize the seriousness of the evil that surrounds our world (i.e. What does God say about what is going on here? Why is this person being spiritually attacked? What would we do if this happened to us? What would this movie look like if God’s grace became a major theme?). We can also use these movies as an opportunity to talk with our friends about the true reality of spiritual warfare. People see these movies, especially our fellow Lutheran friends, and think “That was terrifying, glad it’s not real”, but because we can relate to them because we have seen these movies too, it opens up a great opportunity for discussion about spiritual warfare and the importance of putting on the armor of God. It amazes me how many people I have talked to that truly believe that the things depicted in some of these movies aren’t real, people that actually think demonic activity is a thing of the past..from Biblical times, and that it just “doesn’t happen anymore”. The movie The Devil Inside sparked a fantastic conversation about the oppression of demonic influence and the beauty of having a saving faith with several of our friends, one of whom is going to attend seminary after graduation.
I completely agree that there is evil in these movies, but because I have been freed with the blood of Christ, I can watch them without fear, and even take what I see and use it for something good, even if it just a greater awareness of the evil in our world – which encourages me to put on the full armor of God, and encourage my brothers and sisters in Christ to do the same.
You share your opposing thoughts so beautifully! 🙂 I absolutley love your take on this, thank you for taking the time to comment!
Hugs, T
No joke. I seriously just put this dvd into my laptop and somehow, one way or another ended up here……on your blog post, kind of speechless right now, however thank you for your post. Still speechless…..
my daughter has been watching horror movies since the age of 10 and has only hurt 3 people. she is 17 i think those are pretty good odds
Hi
I just watched the conjuring by my self, one of the first horror films I ever watched.
I sure feel weird, not scared tho. Soon after watching the film, my mum
seems to have got a sudden head ache and vomiting. I also have a pet cat,
I picked her up to pet her but she bit me really hard, never done that before.
I’m a christian and have received the holy spirit. LAST TIME I EVER WATCH A HORROR FILM, HAHA
Samuel
I do the same now! As a teen dare movies were always horror! I loved them! After I got married we started our movie collection and have a whole shelf of these things.
Now these movies have gathered dust and are on the top shelf where my little ones don’t need to look.
I haven’t wanted to watch one in years. At one time I was numb to it all and loved it now that you distance yourself from these things you can feel it in your spirit that something is wrong.
My mom used to say that horror movies are porn for the spirit. I thought these were just movies. Once you back up and stay away from something that’s when your eyes are really opened.
I love the scripture you posted,
Psalm 101:3-4 “I will not set before my eyes anything that is worthless. I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me. A perverse heart shall be far from me; I will know nothing of evil.”
I have been obsessed with finding truths and hidden history from the bible. My family and I have been having fun leaning these things!
It’s amazing all the stuff that is hidden from us just to convince us there is no God. Well there is! And the proof is hiding in plain site!!
He says not to watch anything worthless! All of this stuff is everywhere keeping everyone busy and their minds not thinking.
Thank you for posting this!
So what do you think of alien vs predator/alien series? I personally think it’s extremely demonic and can’t watch it. I never have liked horror movies I’ve always been very sensitive to them.