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NOW THE SPIRIT SPEAKS EXPRESSLY, THAT IN THE LATTER TIMES SOME SHALL DEPART FROM THE FAITH, GIVING HEED TO SEDUCING SPIRITS, AND DOCTRINES OF DEVILS

! TIMOTHY 4:1

SEVENIA SALLIE (GIRL PROPHETESS)

“I’m really sorry about earlier, Lex,” my dad said as Lexi and I sat and prepared to do an interview for my dad’s podcast. He was referring to the intro music he used to begin his podcast. ‘Hells Bells,’ by the rock band AC DC, which caused Lexi major discomfort.

“I’m sorry for freaking out like I did,” she replied. “It’s just that I try to bring every thought to the obedience of Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:5). Even though you didn’t actually play the words, you see, the music still triggers them in my head.”

“Well, I should have known better,” my dad said. “You weren’t the first to point out that it’s an evil song. You just came across in the most powerful way.”

“It’s okay, I should have known better myself,” Lexi said with a shrug.

“What do you mean?” my dad frowned.

“Well, I’ve known that you have a history to be smarmy and fickle,” Lexi said with another casual shrug.

“Gee, tell me what you really think,” my dad replied, laughing without humor.

“I just did,” Lexi said matter of fact and slightly impatient.

I felt my toes curl. I was the middle person between two people known for abrasive personalities. Word had it that after Lexi’s conversion, she was truthful to the core. That’s a good thing. However, instead of exercising discretion and keeping certain things to herself, she tended to always speak her mind. She also was inclined to mild volatility. But she was not only a fairly new Christian, but a formerly demon possessed new Christian. She was still beginning to grow in grace.

I noticed my dad’s mouth begin to open again, and I cut him off. “Time out. Don’t sweat the small stuff, it’s all small stuff. Let’s just get the interview started.”

Moments later the new music played. Lexi smiled at my dad and gave him a thumbs up. He smiled back and returned a thumbs up. The music faded out, and my dad told his audience about Lexi’s demon possession ordeal, her involvement in the occult, and then explained that his daughter was about to interview her.

“I should clarify,” Lexi began. “Although I’ll be speaking about various spiritual dangers, it will be more of a testimony rather than as an expert on the occult. But that’s the point. I simply dabbled with the occult, and it led me to almost lose my mind and soul.”

“Are there any key components you can tell us about that put you on that dangerous road?” I asked.

“Oh my, where to begin?” Lexi said with a nervous laugh. “I guess I’ll start with one of the biggest deceptions. It’s a growing plague within both Christian churches as well as occult organizations. That’s the concept that the devil doesn’t really exist.”

“Wow,” I blurted. “I knew that was becoming a belief in new age Christianity. But how is it possible to be a devil worshipper and not believe in the devil?”

“A large percentage of Satanists actually claim to be atheists,” Lexi explained. “They are simply angry or disgruntled with religionists. Or wink, wink, they are profit seeking. So in the name of music, protest, or art, they do the opposite and worship the devil. I have read this about both Anton Levey, the founder of the Church of Satan, and the rock singer Marilyn Manson.”

“Strange,” I replied.

“Another element for some occultists is the hedonistic lifestyle. The erotic, self-indulgent aspect.”

“So, what drew you into it?” I asked.

“I would have to say,” she said, looking at the ceiling in contemplation. “That my first memory of seeking the dark side was playing with a Ouija board with my sister.”

“I’m good friends with your sister Amy,” I said laughing. “It wasn’t her, was it?”

“Oh, heavens no,” Lexi replied with a chuckled. “I have two sisters. One’s older and one’s younger. Amy, the younger one, is like an angel. If it weren’t for her, I would probably still be steeped in a life of sin and degradation. Maybe even dead. My sister Jezebel is like, well, a fallen angel.”

“Isn’t it true that your sister Jezebel tried to kill your sister Amy in a ritual sacrifice?”

“Completely true,” she replied. “As a matter of fact, you can read about it in Johnathan Embers e-book, ‘Knight Storm.’ My younger sister’s ordeal with my older sister was actually the first thing to kick me in the rear concerning spiritual matters.”

“Tell us about it.”

“First, I have a confession,” she said. “Before Amy’s ordeal with our oldest sister, she had lived with me for a few months. She was a cute, subtly sexy, and virginal seventeen year old at the time. I had big plans to get her into adult entertainment. I thought she had potential to become one of the biggest porn stars in the country.”

“Why her and not yourself?” I asked.

“Amy was like the perfect girl next door. Cute and with a naturally great figure. Both great legs, and a nice rack. Oops, sorry if that was crude. But as for me, I have enhanced boobs, regrettably so, and I was more of a gaudy hot. That type is a dime a dozen. However, my ticket to prime time porn money was snatched from my grasp.”

“I didn’t know porn was in prime time,” I said without really thinking.

“I was just saying. But girl, have you ever seen porn?” Lexi asked in such a way that I couldn’t tell if she was serious or mocking.

“I haven’t.”

“At all?”

“No.”

“Have you ever seen a naked man?”

“Lexi!” I replied blushing.

“Well, have you?” she asked with such deadpan seriousness that I felt comfortable replying.

“Only in a medical book,” I replied, trying not to whisper as my face had to be flushing crimson.

She looked at me with wonder. I looked at my dad who stared back at me wide eyed. I turned my gaze back to Lexi as my mouth seemed frozen.

“You are truly a blessed child of God,” she said happily with love in her tear rimmed eyes. “Thank God you haven’t experienced a minute of my life.”

I was surprised by her words and felt so much love for Lexi. I was still groping for something to say when she saved me.

“Anyway,” Lexi continued. “Somebody who’s now a dear friend of mine and her husband rescued my sister from my clutches. Destiny Knight-Storm and her husband Brock took her in.”

“However, Amy ended up returning to my place at a time when she thought I wouldn’t be there to retrieve some of her things. I happened to show up with four pretty rough male acquaintances. I told them to go have a little fun with her. I tell myself that I just wanted them to scare her. But I was in such a dark place that I don’t really know what I was thinking. I was just so filled with hatred and vengeance.”

“Anyway, it was late at night. She escaped, but the four guys gave chase and caught her. They were just about to gang rape her when a brave young man that was out for a late night run spotted them and interrupted their lustful fun. He attacked the four men by himself, and although badly beaten, he held them off long enough for help to arrive. The thing I most admired about his actions was that he had no idea that there were men in the vicinity looking for Amy that saw the commotion.”

“That story is also in the book you mentioned by Johnathan Embers.” I said.

“Yes, it is.”

“Let’s go back to your very first dabbling with the dark side. You mentioned playing with a Ouija board. How old were you?” I asked.

“Eight or nine.”

“That’s pretty young. What do remember about it?”

“Sorry, but my recollection of what actually transpired is pretty vague. I just remember my sister asking some dead person questions, and the little gizmo we had our fingers on seeming to move. I don’t remember the specifics of what was asked, but I remember feeling both afraid and exhilarated.”

“How often did you play with a Ouija board?”

“That was my only time. Shortly after that, my sister went to live with her father for a while. My two sisters and I have the same mother, but we all have different fathers. The next time I was around my older sister, she was into Tarot cards.”

“So did you dabble with that too?”

“No, but she did readings for me. It was during one of these when she predicted I was destined to be a dancer and in the spotlight. I was so dense that when I became an exotic dancer, I marveled that Jezebel had predicted it when I was only thirteen. At the time she told me that, I was thinking along the lines of ballet or something. But I guess doing stretches on a pole isn’t far off, right?” Lexi chuckled without humor and dabbed at a stray tear.

“In hindsight,” she continued. “It wasn’t a big stretch to predict that a poor, dumb, attractive teenager who was already dressing sexy and was sexually active would become a stripper.”

“So would you say that your sister’s influence played the biggest role in becoming involved with the occult?”

She looked at the ceiling again in contemplation. “Yes and no. Without my interest in secular music, I don’t think I would have been interested in my sister’s cult involvement.”

“Why’s that?” I asked, marveling at my great interviewing technique. Not!

“Because I had a feeling my sister was a loose canon,” she replied. “But rock stars were my idols. I remember watching Marilyn Manson in concert ripping pages out of the Bible and mockingly using the pages as toilet paper. I thought at the time, wow he gets it. So does my sister!”

Lexi stopped, pinched the bridge of her nose, and bowed her head. Being the brilliant offspring of a famous broadcast personality, I said, “Ah… Lex, are…”

“People don’t get it!” Lexi wailed and then shouted. “These cultural icons that act like they know everything just because they’re famous. Just because a large percentage of sheep follow them. They’re arrogant idiots! Pride comes before the fall.

“Think about Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane! He didn’t die because of the physical torture of the cross, you fools! They didn’t break His legs because He was already dead. Crucifixion was meant to last for days. He died because of the mental anguish of dying for our sins! He carried the weight of all of our sins! He couldn’t see beyond the portals of the tomb!”

Lexi began sobbing frantically. “All of my sins! He died for all of my sins which are too many to count!” Then she clutched her head and toppled to the floor.

“It’s okay, Lex,” I said soothingly.

“I still make so many mistakes,” she whimpered. “Like wigging out at your dad over the music.”

“There was nothing wrong with that,” I said. “My dad shouldn’t have been starting his so called Christian program with an evil song.”

“I’m so weak,” she whispered.

“For when I’m weak, then am I strong,” I replied. (2 Corinthians 12:10).

“But I keep rubbing people the wrong way. I keep coming off as a crazy person.”

“We’re all flawed, Sweetie. I can tell you are trying to follow God and do the right thing. If people aren’t mature enough, patient enough, or secure enough to handle your personality, so be it.”

“So I’m okay then?” She asked meekly.

I went to the floor and knelt next to her and cupped her face in my hands. “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (Romans 8:1) And that’s what I see you doing, Lex.”

“I love you, Sevenia,” she whimpered.

“I love you too, Lex,” I replied as we hugged.

Over her shoulder, I saw my dad filming us. I frowned at him. Lord help me to obey the fifth commandment!