The Seduction of our Children

211 Pages·2012·1.036 MB·English

by  Neil T. Anderson

Published by Bridgetree, Inc.
The Seduction Of Our Children © 2012 by Neil T. Anderson
and Steve Russo.
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in
part in any form without the written permission from the publisher.
ISBN: 978-0-9856907-3-1
We dedicate this book to our children:
Heidi and Karl Anderson
and
Tony and Kati Russo.
SOMEONE IS AFTER YOUR
CHILD
Late one Saturday evening a pastor friend called me in
desperation over his 14-year-old daughter. "Neil, Kelly has run away
again." This pastor and his wife were godly parents. They had other
children who were exemplary Christians. As I drove to their home
that night I wondered why Kelly lived in such rebellion. I asked God
to give me insight for helping this hurting couple and their troubled
daughter.
When I arrived we shed a few tears, talked, and prayed together.
Then I asked to see Kelly's room. I expected to see the dark posters
and chaos that so often typify rebellious teenagers. But her parents
wouldn't let Kelly keep her room that way. They had set limits to her
personal expressions, which only seemed to upset her more. Kelly's
room was like her life—on the edge. It barely met the minimum
standards imposed by her parents. Kelly had also been testing the
limits of her parents' discipline in her behavior and occasionally
stepping over the line. This was one of those times.
I said, "I would like to talk to Kelly when she gets home.I sense
that there is something spiritually wrong."
The father answered, "I would love for you to see Kelly.But if
there is a demonic problem, wouldn't we be able to sense it?"
"Maybe not," I responded. "You're too emotionally involved as
her parents. Besides, you're dealing with major deception from the
enemy."
Within a couple of days Kelly came back home, and her father
brought her to my office.
"I know these last few years have been difficult for you," I expressed
to Kelly. "Can you share with me what's going on inside?"
"It's like I have a subconscious self talking to me," Kelly
answered.
"One?" I asked.
"No, maybe two," she said.
I asked her if she would be willing to read through a prayer for
spiritual freedom. She wasn't excited about it, but she said she
would do it. She started to read the prayer, then stopped abruptly.
Startled, she said, "I can't say this prayer!"
"Why not?" I asked.
"Because they're angry. They don't want me to read it."
"Who do you think they are?"
"I don't know," she responded. She really didn't know, so she
had assumed for years that the thoughts plaguing her were her own.
Whenever they told her to run away, she obeyed. Then in a few days
she would come to her senses and return home. There seemed to
be no escape from the voices that prompted her rebellious lifestyle.
I explained to Kelly that the inner voices were Satan's attempt to
seduce her away from obedience to God and to her parents. I told
her that she didn't have to listen to the voices anymore. She could
be free. Within a week she changed schools and friends, and the
following summer she went on a short-term missions trip. She was
finally free.
You may be surprised to learn that there are many Christian
children and teenagers like Kelly populating our schools, attending
our churches, and living in our homes. They hear inner "voices"
telling them that nobody loves them, urging them to disobey their
parents, and disrupting their attempts at Bible reading and prayer.
They are the targets of Satan's strategy. He seeks to destroy our
families and churches by seducing our childrenaway from their
parents and from God.
Are we saying that every evil thought in our mind is the"voice" of
Satan or a demon? No, the flesh—that part of our brain that urges us
to operate independent of God and to center our interests on
ourselves—also introduces sinful thoughts and suggests evil deeds.
Furthermore, input from worldly movies, music, books, TV, etc. also
introduces evil ideas into our minds. As we grow in Christ we learn to
say no to the deeds of the flesh and to walk in the Spirit.
But the world and the flesh are not the only culprits, even
though we tend to place most of the blame on them. The devil and
"spiritual forces of wickedness" (Ephesians6:12) are shrewdly at
work introducing evil suggestions as thoughts or inner voices. Just
as we learn to deal with worldly and fleshly influences, so we must
learn to distinguish Satan's subtle, personal influence and resist him,
and we must teach our children to do the same. Whether your child's
evil thoughts are coming from the world, the flesh, or the devil, this
book will help you help him bring "every thought captive to the
obedience of Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5).
One of my seminary students was the father of three children.
His middle son, normally the most pious of the three, developed a
problem with lying and stealing items from the home. Dad and Mom
disciplined him for his actions, but the more they disciplined him the
more he stole and lied.
During one discipline session the little boy finally blurted out,
"Daddy, I had to do those things. If I didn't, the devil said he would
kill you!"
His father later told me, "If I hadn't heard your teaching about
the battle for the mind, I would have doubled my son's discipline for
blaming the devil for his behavior. Instead I explained to him that
Satan was telling him lies in order to control his life and destroy our
family. After we took a stand against the enemy, our son had one
minor repeat a week later, then never again."
Our kids aren't saying much about Satan's seduction in their
lives because most of them don't know that he's at the heart of it.
Satan is the great deceiver. He doesn't march into their lives
accompanied by a brass band. He slyly worms his way in through
the opportunities they and we give him. And since kids haven't been
taught what the Bible says about Satan's strategies, they blame
themselves, and their sense of guilt and fear of punishment further
contributes to their silence.
What are parents, Sunday school teachers, youth workers, and
pastors to do in the face of this assault? Let's begin by stating what
we can't do.
First, we can't bury our heads in the sand. This is not the time to
respond ill denial or claim that our Christian kids are immune to this
kind of a problem. Satan's seductive activities are aimed at
destroying the church at its point of greatest vulnerability: the family.
The enemy is after Christian families in general and the families of
Christian leaders in particular. Half of all my counseling regarding
demonic influence is with Christian leaders and their families.
Second, we can't run in fear. Remember: Thanks to the death
and resurrection of Jesus Christ, Satan is a defeated foe. The war
against the seduction of our children is a winnable war. If we retreat
instead of advance, we forfeit ground to the enemy that doesn't
belong to him. We must exert our authority in Jesus Christ and claim
His victory in the lives of our children.
How can we do that? Steve Russo and I have discussed this
question at length from the perspective of our different ministries.
The Steve Russo Evangelistic Team is an international ministry to
youth and their families. Steve travels the U.S. and the world
reaching families for Christ
through kids. He deals with thousands of kids each year who are
influenced by New Age, Satanism, and the occult. And in my
counseling, writing, and speaking over the last 17 years, I have
ministered to thousands of parents and young people who were in
bondage to demonic influence until they found their freedom in
Christ. Steve and I have come up with three ways to defuse Satan's
weapons of seduction aimed at our kids.
First, we must become aware of the spiritual nature of the world
we live in. Our children are growing up in a seductive world. Many of
the things that surround them are subtly influenced by the New Age
movement, the occult, or Satanism. In Part One of this book we will
analyze how Satan's influence in the world is behind many of the
spiritual conflicts our children face.
Second, we need to understand how parents and parenting
styles can either assist or block the resolution of a child's spiritual
conflicts. If a child comes from a dysfunctional home, it's rather
pointless to deal with his problem only to send him back into the
home that caused his problem in the first place. In Part Two we will
address the topic of parental identity and self-worth, styles of
parenting, and the parenting skills of communication and discipline.
Third, we need definite strategies for protecting our children
from spiritual assault and helping them resolve their spiritual
conflicts. In Part Three we will explain how a Christ-centered home
and your prayers as a parent can help shield your child from Satan's
schemes. And in Chapter 13 we will outline the steps by which
children of all ages can find freedom in Christ.
We strongly recommend that you read The Bondage Breaker
(Harvest House) and its companion, Victory Over the Darkness
(Regal Books), in conjunction with this study. They will help you
realize the power of your identity and freedom in Christ so you can
better help your child resist the enemy's seduction.
Finally, Steve and I want to offer you our hope. We are not
without battle scars of our own from resisting the evil one. We have
actively pursued our own freedom in Christ and have worked with
thousands of adults and children who have been deceived by the
father of lies. This is a winnable war, and it is a war we must win for
the sake of our kids and the cause of Christ.
PART 1
The Seductive World