The Story of Cain (part 1)

::the first encounter::
He was a wild man.  Not the first i've seen, nor the last, but he was insane, but not just mentally.  There was something about him.  He was in torment.  You could see it in his eyes, as wide open as i could imagine eyes could be.  He was dashing around in the crowd beside the street, a few feet from where i buy bread every week.  He was leaping at people, and they were dodging him.  He bore a long knife which he was rapidly thrusting in and out of his mouth like the bolt on a machine gun.  I would of thought he would surely kill himself or had already done enough damage to do so except for one thing.  He wasn't bleeding, just salivating like an exhausted dog.  The spit dripped from the knife and chin and his chest, and the his vigorous motions slung it for several feet in every direction.
He lunged at me, still stabbing himself.  As my adrenaline raced my heart rate up, my perception of the events around me eased to slow motion.  I considered that the local population is probably about 10% HIV positive.  I considered that the knife, though not having in visible blood, might indeed have some bodily fluids that i don't want on me.  So, i ran away.  I ran for my life.
It was only later that i took the time to process those strange events.  That's when it hit me.  This man was not clinically ill (or not merely clinically ill).  He was possessed by a demon.

Now, most of you folks reading this grew up in North America or Europe.  If so, you probably are probably having some sort of worldview clash with my last statement.  If you are not a Christian or religious person, you've probably just dismissed everything i've ever said and ever will say.  Alas, i don't intend to persuade you in the lines of this impersonal blog.  If you are a Christian (not just an adherent or cultural-Christian, but one who is born again), on the surface you are probably feeling much like the non-religious variety.  But, at your core, you are probably not willing to dismiss this notion of demon-possession (along with a few other sorts of paranormal activity) because you know such events are written in the pages of Scripture and to deny that such events are real would be to deny the validity of the Bible.  Or perhaps you have a hybrid theology on the subject: such events happened in Biblical times, but not in 2013.
I'm not going to hang my faith on it, but i'd like to attempt to explain why such manifestations of demons seem abundant in Scripture but are relatively completely absent from your present experience.  Since the dawn of the Age of Enlightenment, and more recently the postmodern age, North Americans and Europeans alike have reached stage in cultural evolution that often dismisses spiritual or supernatural phenomenons and chalks them up to unexplained scientific events.  Fair enough, some unexplained events can and should be attributed with a scientific explanation.  Not all, but some.
But, consider that in the developing world, which is largely animistic in worldview, most people are not and could not be convinced that there is no such thing as a spiritual realm.  As such, demons (if they do in fact exist) are more than delighted to torment people through a wide gamut of manifestations that are terrifying and undeniably demon-caused.  Such demons would be content to inflict harm on people in such a way that keeps them in state of fear and submission to said demons.
To the contrary, the same demonic realm that is just as active in the North America and Europe, but this time the demons know fewer and fewer people are embracing the God Who saves, and turning to behavior and a mentality that is godless.  To remind humans that there is a spiritual realm by manifesting demon power in such a way that is undeniably supernatural, would be folly.  No, they are much craftier than that.  If their primary goal is to prevent people from embracing the God Who saves, what could be more strategic in a post-modern society than to tempt and torment people behind the scenes in such a way that they don't realize demons are behind it.
That's why you read about demons in Scripture, but probably have not encountered them face-to-face in your life today.  Marinate on that.

Click here for part two.

Man vs Beast

This morning at 1am the public electricity turned off so i got up to check it out.  As my flashlight illuminated the kitchen where our electrical panel is, i startled a critter in the dark.  I heard the plastic cookie wrappers stiring in the shadows and knowing what it was immediately by experience, i fixed my light beam i that direction.  It scurried, still unseen, only heard, behind our wooden shelves.  I grabbed an aerosol can of Spritex Insect Killer, which is manufactured in China and is so toxic it's not allowed inthe States.  I fumigated the animal out of hiding by spraying behind the shelf.  Not enjoying the DDVP and tetramethrin flooding it's lungs, the rat finally showed itself by darting across the floor and into the open cabinet under the sink.  It's body was a good six or seven inches long, not including the tail. Now cornered, i shined the flashlight right in its eyes which was the last thing it will have ever seen, because i sprayed Spritex in its face from a few inches away.  Now blind, the rodent leaped onto my shirtless belly and returned the favor by clawing a nasty scratch four inches long.  It fell to the floor where i dropped my flashlight and ran across my feet.  I attempted an ad hoc River Dance in the dark to stomp the beast, but to no avail.  It disappeared into the opposite side of the kitchen under the fridge and stove.  As my respiratory rate increased in all the excitement and appliance moving it became painfully evident i'd inhaled some of the pesticides myself and, i began to cough uncontrollably.  I gave up and called a truce for the night and returned to bed.
After dawn i decided to walk the length of my private power line stretching about 200 meters from my house down the street since my voltage has recently dropped from 220V to 160V.  This could mean a bad wire somewhere or one of my neighbors had tapped my line and was stealing voltage.  I entered my Lebonese neighbor's yard, invited by his guard.  After talking with that neighbor i proceded to exit through the gate of his compound and and the guard dog began biting my ankles, one of whiched was bloodied during the debacle.  Now mamed by a mutt, scratched by a rat, and poisoned by China, i returned home before 8am, as glad as ever ever to be a US American on the Fourth of July.  Happy birthday USA!