"I will proclaim your mighty acts, O sovereign Lord."   Psalm 71:16
SEE BELOW IN THE PICTURES BEFORE AND AFTER DELIVERANCE AND HEALING, THE VISIBLE DIFFERENCE MADE BY THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT ON MY GREAT DAY OF FREEDOM ON 2nd MAY 1990.
BEFORE DELIVERANCE AND HEALING showing the strong "gates of brass and bars of iron" behind my eyes and around my mind requiring the power of JESUS CHRIST to defeat.	12 & 19 JANUARY 2025	AFTER DELIVERANCE AND HEALING picture taken at 6.15 a.m. at Derby Station 5 days after Jesus set me free - on my way to show Tina "her new man."

SCRIPTURAL ADVICE, HELP AND INSIGHT ON HOW TO TRUST THE LORD JESUS CHRIST TO DEFEAT SCHIZOPHRENIA FROM JAMES STACEY NOW CELEBRATING 34 YEARS OF FREEDOM FROM THE DEMONIC BONDAGE AND OVER 36 YEARS OFF ALL ANTI-PSYCHOTIC MEDICATION 

CLICK BELOW TO SEE AND HEAR HOW THE LORD JESUS CHRIST
SET JAMES FREE AFTER 26 LONG YEARS OF SCHIZOPHRENIA
When God heals and sets free it lasts
For Part 1 click the left image below: 15,651 views           Part 2 click the right image below: 9,644 views

Also on YouTube Video Part 1   Part 2   Part 3  Part 4   Part 5   Part 6   Part 7

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IF YOU HAVE NEVER INVITED JESUS CHRIST INTO YOUR LIFE, AND WISH TO, DO PRAY THE FOLLOWING PRAYER WITH ALL YOUR HEART: “Lord God Almighty, I approach you in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ.  I know I have sinned in my thoughts, words and actions.  There are so many good things I have not done.  There are so many sinful things I have done.  I am truly sorry for the sinfulness in my life, but most of all I acknowledge the sin that separates me from you. I accept the death of Jesus on the Cross to redeem me and extend the gift of eternal life.    Gratefully, I give my life back to you as I now ask you to come into my life.    Come in as my Saviour and Lord and cleanse me.  Come in as my Lord to control me.  Come with the strength of your grace and the power of your Spirit to defeat the evil spirit of schizophrenia that troubles me.  Now you have set my spirit free, pour your delivering and healing power into my life as I take authority in the name of Jesus through the power of his blood over the intruding force.  I assert your ownership of my life and resist any legal right that the devil seeks to hold over my life and bind up and expel any evil presence. I believe that my mind can be completely set free and my whole life enjoy the total freedom of Jesus.    Amen".

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Leonard Ravenhill: Travailing In Prayer

LENGTH: 54:53

 

Born in Leeds, in Yorkshire, England, on June 18, 1907 and author of the revival classic, "Why Revival Tarries", Ravenhill was educated at Cliff College in England and sat under the ministry of Samuel Chadwick. He was a student of church history, with a particular interest in Christian revival. His evangelistic meetings during the Second World War drew large crowds. Many converts devoted themselves to Christian ministry and foreign missions.

View further inspiring messages by Leonard Ravenhill here

 

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Ian McCormack - A Glimpse of Eternity

 

 

 

Ian McCormack was an atheist, living a totally worldly lifestyle, when he got stung by 5 deadly jellyfish, died and went to hell, then to heaven, due to his Christian mother's prayers, and back! Ian was night diving off the island of Mauritius when he was stung by 5 Box Jellyfish, which are among the most venomous creatures in the world.

 

Length: 52 minutes, 32 seconds

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"The Second Coming Of Jesus Christ" by Billy Graham

 

Mr Chacko Thomas (right) is presently a Minister-at-large with Operation Mobilisation.  He served for 15 years on OM Ships Logos, Doulos, and Logos II.  His ministry has taken him to 107 countries in six continents.  One of his few passions is to see the earth filled with the knowledge of the Lord and His values blessing the  nations.

The extracts below are from his Easter 2023 article "JESUS LIVES, JESUS LIVES".
Read the full article here.

The Wonder of His Resurrection:

On that Resurrection morning, before the disciples met the risen Lord, they were shown the empty tomb and the grave clothes that were wrapped around His body for burial. His body was absent but the grave clothes proved that no one had tampered with the dead body. The huge stone was rolled away, so that they could look in and even go in and examine the tomb closely. This was followed by eleven recorded appearances (and disappearances) of the Risen Lord, appearing to varying numbers of believers over a period of 40 days in varying places. Space will not allow me to write about each appearance. But I shall give the relevant references for those who would want to look them up: Mark 16:9; Matthew 28:9; Luke 24:15; 24:34; 24:36; John 20:26; 21:1; 1 Corinthians 15:6; 7; Matthew 28:17; Luke 24:50-51. “They lasted only 40 days and they led, not into disintegration, but to profound joy and wholeness,” observes Rev. Michael Green.

Jesus Said, “Because I live, you shall also live!” John 14:19

Exactly twenty years ago, my wife and I faced the unthinkable. Our son passed away due to cancer. But God met with us. It was time to practice what we have been preaching. We knew, because of what the Lord has done for us, we will see him again before the Throne. So with tears in our eyes and joy in our hearts we said goodbye to our 17 years’ old son. Written on his tombstone are the words of the Lord Jesus “Because I live, you shall also live.” We look forward to the great reunion day.

Jesus Lives!

FREEDOM ENCOURAGER 26 JANUARY & 2 FEBRUARY 2025

HOW GOD ARRANGED A LASTING LOVE MATCH STRONG ENOUGH TO DESTROY 26 YEARS OF SCHIZOPHRENIA

The Vine and the Branches: special words from Jesus in John Chapter 15, vv 1 - 17

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command: Love each other.

"LORD, I AM GOING NO FURTHER THAN BIRMINGHAM"
Chapter 6 of "Schizophrenia Defeated"

Within a year, I was beginning to notice a vast improvement in my condition through working at Sheffield.  Philip, now 16, was pressing me to take him on holiday to Majorca in the summer of 1987.  I couldn’t really afford it without taking out a £300 loan from Girobank, but I felt it was right for us to make the trip.

A few weeks before going, I decided to reduce the frequency of taking injections.  It would be no use being on holiday and unable to join him in doing things.  Injections sometimes made me feel tired and I didn’t want to spoil the break for him by sleeping half the time.

I was pleasantly surprised that the staggering of the injections from every fortnight to three weeks, and then to a month, in the weeks leading up to going did not have an adverse effect.  I was thrilled I had the energy to do things in his company.  The excitement of driving him on a scooter around the island was a great experience, to say nothing of beating him at tennis!

Returning from the holiday feeling greatly strengthened, I decided to try again with Christian Friendship Fellowship.  Pam had lovingly and wisely told me the night before she passed away that I ought to marry again for my sake and for the children’s.

Tina and James in love with each other	Tina's father and stepmother, with James: Their faithful, unfailing prayers helped me through to freedom and sustained Tina in her amazing ministry of the love of Jesus Christ to me.

Perhaps now was the right time after six years to make another overture.  In a short but pointed prayer, I told God one day about the decision, saying, “I’ll try again Lord, but I’m going no further than Birmingham.”  God certainly heard my cry.  For it was from  Birmingham that He was going to provide help with a deliverance ministry on the pathway to freedom and healing.

I selected Tina’s name from an old list which stated her interest in meeting someone with a “regular prayer life”.  She later told me that during her days of leading the dating agency’s group in the Halesowen area of the West Midlands she had met many males who, though interested in a relationship, seemed to lack that requirement.  Her few clearly stated lines were meant to ward off anyone less dedicated than that!

The details which appeared on the quarterly handout captured my attention.  They said something to the effect: “Christina Winterburn, d.o.b. 1944, born-again Christian, interested in friendship, companionship, possibly marriage, likes cooking, travel, embroidery, Bible study.  Requirements: someone with a regular prayer life.”

She had relinquished the job of leader of the Halesowen group as she was being swamped by many “agony aunt” calls from women desperate to find someone.  She had cancelled her membership altogether and was just another name among many that I had kept from previous years of handouts.  She was surprised to receive a call from someone desiring a meeting.

This was pretty evident on the day I phoned.  I caught her unprepared, but left brief personal details including my telephone number.  She was to mislay these but prayed that if it was right to follow me up, God would bring my name back to mind, which He did.  She eventually located me in the phone book, rang me and then we began corresponding.

In her second letter Tina wrote:

“I thought I would let you know more fully my connection with Christian Friendship Fellowship.  I am still associated with CFF and receive the lists/news and letters, but for three or four years I haven’t written to anyone on the lists.  In the first few months when I joined, I did write about half a dozen letters but found the contacts not really committed to Christ.

“So then, I got involved in leading the local group here, but after three years of being at the helm I felt someone else should take over.  I handed over the leadership in June this year [1987].  Originally, I joined because I felt isolated as a single person in my church.  Also I felt quite lonely (for the first time in my life) and felt the need to venture out of my orbit and make friends.

“I have made some lovely female friends in CFF and been blessed through their friendship.  The few males I’ve met my age have been mainly divorcees with outstanding problems, so I haven’t wanted to get involved in any way.  Some felt quite hurt because I wouldn’t go out with them, but I have always tried to be firm, straight and kind.

“To be honest, when you phoned me at first I felt quite defensive because of previous CFF contacts.  I realised you were a definite committed Christian, though, and that kindled an interest, so that is the reason I phoned you back when I returned from holiday.  Also, I sensed I had been somewhat abrupt to you when you first phoned me.”

I discovered through corresponding that she was a former missionary with Operation Mobilisation in France and India and now worked as a practice nurse.  It was a pleasant surprise to be told that her father, Maurice Winterburn, a retired Church of England vicar, had also attended Cliff College like myself. I purposely left out in my letters to her any mention of my mental condition or the numerous visits to psychiatric hospitals, thinking it would jeopardise chances of a lasting relationship.

After writing a few letters to each other, I invited Tina to come to Chesterfield for a day out.  Our first meeting went well, starting with a lunch date in the town centre and followed by a visit to the picturesque grounds of Chatsworth House.  It was a bright, late autumn day as we walked the spacious grounds, and I soon made up my mind that I liked Tina, and suggested a second date to which she agreed.  She returned home to tell her father and stepmother that, to use her own words, she thought she might possibly have met the man she would marry.

FOR THE FULL RANGE OF WEEKLY ENCOURAGERS BETWEEN 2010-2024 CLICK HERE TO SURVEY THE MESSAGES OF HOPE, GUIDANCE, AND ENCOURAGEMENT CENTERED IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.

Article appearing in New Life Christian Newspaper - May 2021

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Listen to 'Delivered And Healed From Schizophrenia After 26 Years'

James's amazing story of the faithfulness of God and the power of prayer

 
(after you have clicked the button, the audio will play on your device as an mp3 file)

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A PRAYER OF HOPE FOR THOSE SUFFERING WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA:  “Lord God Almighty, will you hear my prayer and make the sacrifice of your Son, Jesus Christ real to me. Wipe away my sins that were atoned for on the Cross of Calvary by Jesus in order that I might not have to die eternally.  I believe that Jesus took all my sins and my sorrows and made them His very own and  after three days He rose again from the dead and now makes intercession for me.   By the power of His shed blood, I believe I am now set free and opened up to all the resources of His grace and power.  I am looking forward to the day – why not today – when the evil bondage of schizophrenia surrounding my mind is totally defeated.  I ask You, Heavenly Father, to help me drive out the dark, spiritual presence by the light and power of your conquering Holy Spirit’s presence.  I want to know the reality of the promise Jesus made that whoever follows him will not walk in darkness but will have the Light of Life.  Make it happen for me, as I pray in the Mighty Name of Jesus, Amen. 

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We are told in the book of Acts, chapter 2, verse 17, that “... your old men shall dream dreams.” The painting by the artist Rebekah Laue is a portrayal of her husband’s prophetic dream. She pondered the dream for many years before she was able to capture it’s essence on canvas.

In his dream, Peter saw a rock wall with an ordinary stick lying nearby. He was prompted to pick it up and beat vigorously on the wall. Nothing happened! Then he saw a lion’s paw at his feet. He dropped the stick, picked up the paw and barely touched the wall. As he did, the wall began to crumble.

Peter awoke weeping and trembling as he experienced new authority, purpose, power, and confidence streaming into every fiber of his being. In lieu of a lion’s paw he has acquired a real sword, which he now uses in spiritual combat.

The stick is symbolic of man using his own strength and wisdom to tear down strongholds. The rock wall is symbolic of those walls around our hearts that imprison us and cause us to be isolated from God and one another.

The Hebrew letters on the rocks represent strongholds such as hate, anger, revenge, rebellion, witchcraft, bitterness, pride, fear, unbelief, unforgiveness, lust, idolatry, greed, gluttony, jealousy, self-pity, legalism, and man’s traditions.

The sword issuing from the lion’s mouth is the Sword of the Lord, which is the Word of God. The lion portrays Jesus Christ as revealed in the book of Revelation, chapter 5: “... Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed...”

The truth in the painting shall march throughout the land like a banner and confront the strongholds that imprison us. Has God singled you out to carry that banner and address those strongholds? Before saying YES or NO, count the cost or the opportunity lost! TAKE A STAND! TAKE BACK THE LAND!      

For more insight and information go to www.stretcherbearers.com

A letter has been received from a Christian in Papatoetoe, New Zealand stating:
"I am a fan of your Weekly Encourager for it exposes the underlying causes of schizophrenia whereas most other websites on the subject matter do not".

SCHIZOPHRENIA DEFEATED by JAMES STACEY

CLICK ON THE BOOK COVER to read the WHOLE of the book "Schizophrenia Defeated" and celebrate the gift of God's Son, Jesus Christ, who permanently delivered and healed me after 26 years of suffering the schizophrenia bondage. Click on the image - right - to read the book in its Spanish version.

Author's Information: 

The book is an autobiography of an amazing deliverance and healing from the evil of schizophrenia after 26 years.   It is an inspiring human interest story of triumph and hope over the worst kind of psychotic illness for which there is no present-day medical answer.

The strengths and appeals of the 16 Chapters embrace several thrilling themes:

1.  The power of the faithfulness and love of God is supreme
2.  The remarkable perseverance and endurance of my first wife Pamela, who died in 1981, and of my present wife, Tina, who were both inspired by God's love in helping me to freedom
3.  The relevance of the power of prayer to cast out the demonic bondage, and revelations about the illness which throw light on the burning question - "Is it in the genes or is it demonic?"
4.  Here is the answer for the medical world impotent to bring a lasting solution to the illness of schizophrenia
5.  There is clear evidence for the church who can't make up its mind whether genuine born-again Christians, like myself, can still have evil spirits enslaving their lives

The account charts my "history" of schizophrenia and how I was affected by rejection in my mother's life from the time of conception.  It details life up to teenage years, starting work as a journalist and the outbreak of the illness shortly after leaving Bible College.  Visits to psychiatric hospitals, struggles with a growing nest of evil spirits taking up residence in my life and eager to destroy me, the inability of Christians to help me, are all recorded from a memory amazingly preserved by the Holy Spirit despite perpetual onslaught.  Self-deliverance and healing by the power of the Holy Spirit within a matter of minutes are graphically described, as is the return to normal life after more than a third of a lifetime in bondage. James

"A road map to victory for every person diagnosed with schizophrenia – every psychiatrist and counsellor needs to read it.” Peter Laue of Stretcher Bearers for Christ USA

 11 Year-Old Proclaims Jesus Through the Bible - POWERFUL! 
Josiah Willis is an 11 year-old with a heart on fire for Christ!
Listen to this AMAZING proclamation of Jesus throughout the entire Bible.
It will leave you in awe and speechless!

“WHEN I FOUND FREEDOM FROM SCHIZOPHRENIA, I GAINED CHRIST HIMSELF” 
Bethany Behney

I suffered for a very long time from severe schizophrenia.  I recently turned 28.  My world began to unravel in college.  With an incapacitated mind I was forced to quit.  From the age of nineteen to twenty-four off and on I would lose and regain my life fighting for my sanity.  I fought for two-and-a-half years until I was finally delivered by Jesus Christ our Messiah on July 25, 2009.

The hell I endured to freedom was no easy road.  Everyone forsook me.  Everyone.  Including the church.  There was only one that never deserted me.  And that was Jesus.  He held me all the way through.  Even when I was hospitalized and the demons put me in a coma and was left for dead!!  When I didn’t want to live anymore, God wanted me to live and refused to let me go.

Schizophrenia is a hellish thing.  Only those of us who have been in its grip can truly understand one another.  It cost me my livelihood and relationships.  As I was searching and crying out to God for help, close friends ultimately gave up on me, of whom were “believers”.  I dealt with constant misunderstandings. I faced character defamation, gossip from an entire congregation, abandonment and false judgements by those who claim they understood but were dead wrong.  But I kept crying out to God.  I kept pleading with Him to reveal what was happening.  It is surreal to practically lose your mind overnight and now know why.

Despite the disturbance I grew close to the Lord.  This of course stirred up spirits that had rights tied to my generational line.  You see, schizophrenia is usually passed down the line from the sins of the father.  It takes a fiery persistence to continue offering up prayers and banging on the doors of heaven until the angel tips the bowls.  If you ask the Father, shall He give you a stone?  Absolutely not.

I kept banging and asking, and banging and asking until He answered and opened the door.  The inferno of psyche was so unbelievably torturous it was uncanny.  Quite honestly, I did not want to make it through.  To be martyred would have been sweet.  And I do not say that lightly.

I was on a run for my very life from Satan and his hordes.  The battle to get free was so intense, medically speaking I should not be alive.  But Hallelujah!  We who have been adopted by the precious blood of Jesus do no not belong to the medical field – we belong to Jesus Christ of Nazareth!  I am a walking miracle, dear ones!!  I searched high and low for someone who cared enough to fight for me and with me.  Brethren of three years deserted me and left me for dead.  Literally.  Then Brethren took me and prayed for me in their home the first time I met them.

For two-and-a-half-years, I stared hell in the face.  I had to bite the bullet in many crippling situations and go from place to place receiving deliverance here and there because I was such a mess;  people who were practising deliverance thought I must have done something so bad that they didn’t want to touch me.

I was tortured in the psychiatric units by physicians of whom I am certain were Satanists.  I was locked into solitary confinement in a cold square space with nothing but a flimsy hospital frock on.  However, angels were assigned from heaven and I was supernaturally delivered out of the hands of the wicked.

What got me through all of this?  It’s a simple answer.  I held on tightly to the robe of Jesus.  Though I wanted to go to heaven, I couldn’t.  It wasn’t my time.  I was given a promise from God that gave me the will to live.  He promised if I would just hold on He would give me a family, that which I never had – and wanted.  So I refused to give up and give in to Satan and fought for it.

This is the point, dear friends.  The blood of Jesus Christ is alive and powerful.  It is sufficient and doesn’t need any medical tweaking.  It is your only hope.  Don’t give up.  You know why?  Because of this glorious truth and one of my favorite passages... “And having spoiled principalities and powers, He made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it!”  Colossians 2:15.  Oh, hallelujah!  All glory to the Lamb of God who overcame the enemy and bought us back!  How sweet is His victory!  He is always steps ahead of our enemies plans and there is nothing He does not see.  He is in total control.  He sees you and your pain.  He has not forgotten you.

Listen!  I can honestly say, I have suffered the loss of all things.  In every area.  There are moments I can’t bear to think of all that’s happened to me.  Time being the most invaluable.  I never got to be 18,20,21,22,23,24.  Formidable years.  Time froze and stood still and many years I don’t remember.  But one thing I do and will continue to set before me.  This world is not my home and I must press forward with what remains and fight for others.  I have resolved to forget what lies behind and press onward.

“I do not consider, brethren, that I have captured and made it my own yet;  but one thing I do it is my one aspiration;  forgetting what lies behind and straining to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the supreme and heavenly prize to which God in Christ Jesus is calling us upward.  Philippians 3:13-14.

I trust the Lord with the entirety of my life.  Whether I live or whether I die, I am His.  He has delivered me from the power of darkness and translated me into His glorious kingdom of light.  I am forever indebted to Him and tears well up as I write to you because I know that what He has done for me He can do for you.  He is no respecter of persons and loves his children all the same.

Bethany jumping for joy after being set free by Jesus from schizophrenia.

I thank our Father for everything.  I would not want to do it again, but what I have gained from the vestibules of heaven can never compare to any earthly thing.  For what have I gained?  Christ Himself!  I have been set free from death and sin!  GLORY.. GLORY..GLORY!!!   I could never have gained such intimacy with Jesus - wisdom, knowledge, and understanding I now possess.  Such are the acquired gems which only suffering can buy.

Jesus came to destroy the works of the enemy.  I will fight against Satan in the strength of Jesus with all I have until my last breath for what he did to me - and because I have pledged myself to heaven.   Keep your head up and look up for our redemption is drawing nigh and is closer than it has ever been.   If I can do it, you can do it.  I had no money, no support.  And I am alive and free ... completely free!   “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony”, Revelation 12:11.  Jesus Christ alone is your source and He is never empty.  He will never let you go.  I send you my love.  Even so come Lord Jesus!  Amen.   In Jesus Bethany Behney

BETHANY WRITES ABOUT THE NEED FOR CONTINUAL PERSEVERANCE TO DEFEAT SCHIZOPHRENIA

At the age of 22 Nick Griemsmann was led astray by a cult. The downward spiral that followed led to a battle with mental illness, but his deliverance from "incurable" schizophrenia stands to testify of the power of being God's friend.   

 The interview is available to view at Sid Roth's web site
Used with permission.

TRANSCRIPT OF THE INTERVIEW WHICH APPEARS ABOVE download the full interview here

SID: Welcome, welcome to my world where it's naturally supernatural. My next guest had incurable "schizophrenia." He was touched by the power of God, set free and then became an administrator in the institution he was hospitalized in, 50 employees under him. Now I asked my personal doctor, Dr. Dietry, last night a question on the phone. "He went off all medicine, all medication, Doctor. To your knowledge, what happens to a schizophrenic that takes no medicine?"

DOCTOR: That's a good question. It's an unbelievable phenomenon, schizophrenia. When you come off medication, provided the medication was helping in the first place, you get an extra [unintelligible] a spike of hallucinations, ideations and delusions. It's not a very pretty sight.

SID: Have you ever heard of someone that's diagnosed with schizophrenia? Oh, I forgot one more thing. In a few years, he was supposed to be catatonic. That was the diagnosis. A thousand pages of diagnosis, Doctor. Have you ever heard of such a thing?

DOCTOR: Personally, I have never seen anybody come off of medication and be normal.

SID: Well but I have to tell you, Doctor, he is not normal according to the world. He is normal according to the Word of God. So Nick Griemsmann was raised in a secular home. His father left at age, when he was age eight. He got addicted to pornography at 10. At 21, he was a full-blown alcoholic and he was a bartender. But at age 23, you know, we take a lot of things for granted, at age 23, he's an alcoholic, he's a drug addict, he's a mess. I'm just saying it, Nick. And he gets a little tract about the Messiah, and he calls the person on the phone, because there was a phone number on this tract. And what happened?

NICK: The woman on the phone, she was really nice, and she asked me a question, she said something about, "Are you, have you received Jesus?" And I asked her, "What does that actually mean because so many people tell me different things about Christianity and I was studying different religions like Islam and Judaism, different sects in Christianity, and things like that. And so, "What does it really mean to receive Jesus?" And she said, "It's easy. The Bible says you can confess Jesus as Lord and he will come into your life." And so I said this simple prayer and he came into my heart, and totally changed me. 

SID: What happened to your drug addiction, your alcoholism?

NICK: When I said this prayer, it was so incredible. I still remember it like it was yesterday. I was on the phone with her and I prayed this simple prayer of faith. I had just faith in God at the time. I said the name of Jesus. And the moment I said the name of Jesus this liquid love came upon me, and for the first time, I knew I was completely free from all my sin, alcoholism, drugs. I had a sexuality immorality I was into, you know the lifestyle of a bartender, and God completely set me free from that.

SID: You know, only God could do something like that. But then right behind the devil came up to him when that seed was planted, immediately, he came up to him because Nick now wants to live for God. And he goes on the Internet and he finds out there's a place where the guy says he's one of the End Time prophets and they'll give him food, they'll give him shelter, they'll train him. It sounded pretty good.

NICK: Absolutely. I was trying to find a good church and I found this online. And I thought, wow, I can leave all my old friends and leave my family, and all the troubles I used to have, and I can serve Jesus with my whole heart, because I really loved God.

SID: But it turned out to be a cult. The first crack that you saw in this cult was two of the senior members having a disagreement.

NICK: Yeah. One thing that the cult would preach, that they were sinless. They would say that they never sin or anything like that. And I was there and the men, one night they started arguing over something and they were like almost like throwing blows at each other and swearing. And I thought, they're preaching that they're sinless, but it doesn't look like they are sinless. And my heart started going, well maybe this really, maybe what they're telling me isn't all the truth.

SID: But you were so scared because they had this, was it a cassette, that you would have to listen to? And what was the warning it gave you?

NICK: In the cassettes, the prophet, the false prophet, he would say that if we left the church, because they said that they are the one true church, if we left the church it meant that we lost our salvation, blaspheming the Holy Spirit. So as you know, if you're a young person in God and you don't really know anything, I believed it and I was very afraid that if I left or talked to my family, they said my family was of the devil, I couldn't talk to them. And they said that I would go to Hell if I did anything wrong or if I left the church, or said anything about the person in charge there.

SID: But he had such a heart for God. He was crying out and crying out. And one day, he takes off. He ends up in the Nashville Airport. What happened, Nick?

NICK: Well I entered the Nashville Airport and at this time, I started hearing voices in my mind. Before I left the cult, I actually started getting voices in my mind and I thought they were angels, and I thought God was speaking directly to my mind. And so I would listen to these voices. And I was, they would say things and they'd say bad things. And when I was in the Nashville Airport I was going to go to a phone to call my family to pick me up. And the voices came to me and said, "You need to go and you need to make a scene and yell, and scream, and praise God in the middle of the baggage claim area in Nashville Airport." But I really loved God and I thought God—

SID: So you were willing to do anything for God. I wish, even though it was the wrong voice, I wish more Christians would be willing to do whatever God said. So they picked him up obviously. He's diagnosed schizophrenic. He's told in a few years he'll be in a catatonic state. He goes home to be with his family and his mother insists he go to a little Assembly of God Church.

SID: So my guest, Nick Griemsmann, had incurable schizophrenia. Nick, what is like to have schizophrenia?

NICK: Sid, if you could imagine, if you take a vice, a metal vice with spikes in it, and if you take this vice and you put it on your head like a helmet and then you start screaming in your head evil profane things, blaspheming God, you know, different things like that, the blasphemy, the yelling in the head to kill yourself, that there's no hope, and this cap would be on your head, and they tell you that it will never leave.

SID: So you go to this Assembly of God Church, you go up to the altar and someone begins to pray for you. What happened?

NICK: A nice man and his wife, they were praying over me and this spiritual force, I felt it, it lifted out of my head that night. It just lifted out of my head and at that moment I knew, I knew—

SID: What did you actually know? When this spiritual force lifted, what were, did you know?

NICK: Well I knew two things. One, that I was completely healed of schizophrenia at that moment. But two, I knew that there was some sort of evil nest of some type of spiritual force that some of it actually left, and I had hoped that I could pursue Jesus to receive my complete deliverance.

SID: So that was your first hope after all the stuff you went through. Okay. So you, step by step, the Holy Spirit directed you to do different things. I'm going to take you to your parents' swimming pool. What, tell me what the Holy Spirit was teaching you and what you were doing?

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour”.    Luke 4 verse 18

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