Guard Your Heart – Spiritual Warfare is Just as Real in America as in East Asia

“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” Proverbs 4:23

Let me be real here: for the first 27 years of my life I did not care what I watched or listened to. The years prior to my being born again consisted of a steady diet of horror movies, and the more gory they were, the better I seemed to like them.

As a kid I remember watching Tales from The Crypt regularly, which included horrible images and nudity–but I did not stop. Our television was an open door to demonic images, and with access to my own computer in my bedroom, pornography became an addiction even before I was a teen.

As time went on, something drew me more into the occult as I bought books about ghosts. This fascination with ghosts led me to haunted places. I then started playing with a Oujia board. And from there, I started talking to a psychic.

The Path to Darkness is Progressive

You see, these attractions were not disconnected events. They had an origin, an entry point into my heart, and as each action unfolded more and more, I was wrapped in deception. I was curious and seemingly enchanted by all things paranormal. I then began consuming New Age material to the point where I thought I was supposed to teach this theology to others.

Deception so filled my heart that what flowed out of it was also deception.

Transferred to the Kingdom of Light

I thank God that he put the brakes on this path of deception and, while I was working as a helicopter mechanic in Afghanistan, he transferred me to the Kingdom of his dear Son!

And guess what?

The day after I prayed to ask Jesus into my heart, I wanted nothing to do with the things I had regularly exposed myself to before. It was a clean break. I could actually feel those things hurting me, grieving the Holy Spirit.

Now, for the first time, I was truly careful what my little eyes saw.

As Parents, We Have a Responsibility to Our Children

I did not grow up in an environment where Christianity was at the forefront of our lives. But as Christian parents, we have the opportunity and responsibility to protect our children from these kinds of wrong teachings and worldviews. Proverbs 22:6 speaks to this: “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

However, Satan is counting on parents being unaware of spiritual things. In 2 Corinthians 2:11 Paul says, “for we are not ignorant of Satan’s devices.” But we must recognize the danger of Satan’s deception: evil isn’t always portrayed as evil. You may even see a “white witch” and an evil witch in movies and cartoons, but where do they both get their power? Not from God.

Who is Your Source for Life?

Indeed, this is the lie that Satan has tried to get humans to believe for millennia; that is, you don’t have to go to God for provision–you can get power outside of him. Really? Wasn’t this Satan’s lie in the Garden of Eden when it seemed to Adam and Eve that God may have been holding out on them? That there was more for them if they sought the knowledge that came with the act of eating the fruit? Remember what Jesus pointed out: “Satan is a liar—and the father of lies” (John 8:44).

Spiritual Warfare Is Present World Wide

What we see in the world is different flavors of the same thing; fortune-tellers talk to gods or ancestors and psychics talk to spirit guides and ancestors. Different cultures, different names. Same tactic.

From our perspective in the Western hemisphere, the fear that comes along with a festival like Hungry Ghost Month in Taiwan may seem silly. Offerings are given to appease forgotten ancestors or angry spirits as the gates of hell are thought to be open. But what do we see in America? Many television shows and internet videos document investigations of haunted places and stories of evil spirits wreaking havoc in people’s lives. Whereas in the East, fortune tellers or shamans offer solutions at temples and private businesses; here, in medium to larger cities, especially, psychic businesses offer the same things.

As you support missionaries in the East, please be open to the idea that spiritual warfare is very real in the West and the East; it just may look different. An effective tactic of the enemy in the West is to have us believe the physical realm is the only thing that is real. In the East, this would not work as well. The result is that there is often more overt spiritual warfare in the East than in the West.

Curiosity Draws Us In

The Bible calls witchcraft the “curious arts” in Acts 19:19. Why? Curiosity is the hook. Right now, TikTok and YouTube are fertile with videos on how to get started in spell casting.

In media, children are often exposed to concepts not compatible with Christianity. It might seem harmless, right? Many New Age beliefs are made consumable for a very young audience to digest. For example, a cat and a human’s spirit are interchangeable, people return to a source/god energy after they live so many lives, and through meditation, people leave their bodies and go to the spiritual realm. These are very spiritual concepts. Although subtle, they may not leave the child’s thinking when the television is turned off.

What We Focus on Forms Who We Become

Am I saying we hide our children under a rock? No. But we have a choice every day what we and they focus on, and we need to make that choice for our kids.

We and our children are daily being spiritually formed. It’s our choice whether we want us and our children to be formed more into the likeness of Jesus–or the enemy.

If this is new information to you, I want to encourage you that it is never too late to start pointing these things out to your kids, even if they are teenagers. In the long run, I believe they will thank you for it.

Learn how to pray for missionaries experiencing spiritual warfare.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of OMF (U.S.)

Author Bio

Aaron Rhoades is an American missionary. He is beginning his first term with OMF International in Taiwan. He is married to Nikki Rhoades and they have three girls. They are currently beginning Mandarin language study in Taichung, Taiwan. Aaron’s night and day conversion from New Age beliefs to finding the truth in Jesus motivates him to share the Gospel and warn others of Satanic deceptions.