WesleyGospel Ministries

Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord; because of these same detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you. You must be blameless before the Lord your God. The nations you will dispossess listen to those who practice sorcery or divination. But as for you, the Lord your God has not permitted you to do so. –Deuteronomy 18:10-14

The cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. –Revelation 21:8

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Walter Martin, The Kingdom of the Occult.

Harry Potter: Witchcraft Repackaged.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. –Proverbs 3:5-6

The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and pay the penalty. –Proverbs 22:3

For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions. Their females exchanged natural intercourse for unnatural, and in the same way also the males, giving up natural intercourse with females, were consumed with their passionate desires for one another. Males committed shameless acts with males and received in their own persons the due penalty for their error. –Romans 1:26-27 (NRSV, top liberal Bible)

When Abraham heard this, he was grieved for the Sodomites; and he rose up, and besought God for them, and entreated him that he would not destroy the righteous with the wicked. And when God had replied that there was no good man among the Sodomites; for if there were but ten such men among them, he would not punish any of them for their sins, Abraham held his peace. And the angels came to the city of the Sodomites, and Lot entreated them to accept of a lodging with him; for he was a very generous and hospitable man, and one that had learned to imitate the goodness of Abraham. Now when the Sodomites saw the young men to be of beautiful countenances, and this to an extraordinary degree, and that they took up their lodgings with Lot, they resolved themselves to enjoy these beautiful boys by force and violence; and when Lot exhorted them to sobriety, and not to offer any thing immodest to the strangers, but to have regard to their lodging in his house; and promised that if their inclinations could not be governed, he would expose his daughters to their lust, instead of these strangers; neither thus were they made ashamed. But God was much displeased at their impudent behavior, so that he both smote those men with blindness, and condemned the Sodomites to universal destruction. But Lot, upon God’s informing him of the future destruction of the Sodomites, went away, taking with him his wife and daughters, who were two, and still virgins; for those that were betrothed to them were above the thoughts of going, and deemed that Lot’s words were trifling. God then cast a thunderbolt upon the city, and set it on fire, with its inhabitants; and laid waste the country with the like burning. –Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 1.11.3-4 on Genesis 19

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Stanton Jones and Mark Yarhouse, Homosexuality: The Use of Scientific Research in the Church’s Moral Debate. IVP Academic, 2000. Shows that secular psychiatrists used to treat homosexuality as a psychosexual anxiety disorder before the 1980s. Political lobbyists changed all that.

Kerby Anderson, A Biblical Point of View on Homosexuality. Harvest House, 2008.

Stephen R. Holmes, “Listening to the Past and Reflecting on the Present,” Two Views on Homosexuality, the Bible, and the Church. Zondervan Academic, 2016. (has an AUDIBLE).

Jacob noticed that Laban’s attitude toward him was not what it had been. Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you.”…If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, you would surely have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my hardship and the toil of my hands, and last night he rebuked you. –Genesis 31:2-3, 42

Saul had a spear in his hand and he hurled it, saying to himself, “I’ll pin David to the wall.” But David eluded him twice…Saul told his son Jonathan and all the attendants to kill David. But Jonathan had taken a great liking to David and warned him, “My father Saul is looking for a chance to kill you. Be on your guard tomorrow morning; go into hiding and stay there. I will go out and stand with my father in the field where you are. I’ll speak to him about you and will tell you what I find out.”…That night David made good his escape…When David had fled and made his escape, he went to Samuel at Ramah and told him all that Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went to Naioth and stayed there. –1 Samuel 18:10-11; 19:1-3, 10, 18

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“LABAN.” International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. “In Ge 24:1-67, however, Laban is perhaps more prominent than even such custom can explain (compare Ge 24:31,50,55), and we are led to see in him already the same forcefulness and egotism that are abundantly shown in the stories from his later life. The man’s eager hospitality (verse 31), coming immediately after his mental inventory of the gifts bestowed by the visitor upon his sister (24:30), has usually, and justly, been regarded as a proof of the same greed that is his most conspicuous characteristic in the subsequent chapters…The nearer related to Laban such figures are, the more conspicuously, as is fitting, do they exhibit Laban’s mingled cunning, resourcefulness, greed and self-complacency (smug, arrogant, overly pleased with oneself, self-centered).” LABAN WAS A DECEITFUL BUSINESSMAN.

“JACOB,” 3.2. International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. “Although much of Israel’s history can be summed up in the rivalry of Leah and Rachel–Judah and Joseph–yet it was not Jacob’s choice but Laban’s fraud that introduced this cause of schism. At the end of his 7 years’ labor Jacob received as wife not Rachel but Leah, on the belated plea that to give the younger daughter before the elder was not the custom of the country. This was the first of the “ten times” that Laban “changed the wages” of Jacob (Ge 31:7,41). Rachel became Jacob’s wife 7 days after Leah, and for this second wife he “served 7 other years.”…Jacob’s years of service for his wives were followed by 6 years of service rendered for a stipulated wage. Laban’s cunning in limiting the amount of this wage in a variety of ways was matched by Jacob’s cunning in devising means to overreach his uncle, so that the penniless wanderer of 20 years before becomes the wealthy proprietor of countless cattle and of the hosts of slaves necessary for their care (Ge 32:10). At the same time the apology of Jacob for his conduct during this entire period of residence in Haran is spirited (Ge 31:36-42); it is apparently unanswerable by Laban (Ge 31:43); and it is confirmed, both by the evident concurrence of Leah and Rachel (Ge 31:14-16), and by indications in the narrative that the justice (not merely the partiality) of God gave to each party his due recompense: to Jacob the rich returns of skillful, patient industry; to Laban rebuke and warning (Ge 31:5-13,24,29,42)…The manner of Jacob’s departure from Haran was determined by the strained relations between his uncle and himself. His motive in going, however, is represented as being fundamentally the desire to terminate an absence from his father’s country that had already grown too long (Ge 31:30; compare Ge 30:25)–a desire which in fact presented itself to him in the form of a revelation of God’s own purpose and command (Ge 31:3).”

“SAUL.” International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. “Whether Saul actually discovered that David had been anointed by Samuel or not, he soon saw in him his rival and inevitable successor, and he would hardly have been human if he had not felt envious of him. His dislike of David had two motives. The first was jealousy, because the women preferred the military genius of David to his own (1Sa 18:7 f). His consequent attempt upon the life of David (1Sa 18:8-11) is omitted in the Septuagint. Not least was the love of his own daughter for David (1Sa 18:20; in 1Sa 18:28 read with Septuagint “all Israel”). The second cause was his natural objection to see his son Jonathan supplanted in his rights to the throne, an objection which was aggravated by the devotion of that son to his own rival (1Sa 20:30)…Saul could not believe that David could remain loyal to him (1Sa 24:9); at the first favorable opportunity he would turn upon him, hurl him from the throne, and exterminate his whole house. In these circumstances, it was his first interest to get rid of him. His first attempt to do so (omitting with Septuagint 1 Sam 18:8b-11) was to encourage him to make raids on the Philistines in the hope that these might kill him (1Sa 18:21 ff); his next, assassination by one of his servants (1Sa 19:1), and then by his own hand (1Sa 19:9 f). When David was compelled to fly, the quarrel turned to civil war. The superstitious fear of hurting the chosen of Yahweh had given place to blind rage. Those who sheltered the fugitive, even priests, were slaughtered (1Sa 22:17 ff). From one spot to another David was hunted, as he says, like a partridge (1Sa 26:20)…He was always at one extreme. His hatred of David was only equal to his affection for him at first (1Sa 18:2). His pusillanimity led him to commit crimes which his own judgment would have forbidden (1Sa 22:17). Like most beaten persons, he became suspicious of everyone (1Sa 22:7 f), and, like those who are easily led, he soon found his evil genius (1Sa 22:9,18,22). Saul’s inability to act alone appears from the fact that he never engaged in single combat, so far as we know. Before he could act at all his fury or his pity had to be roused to boiling-point (1Sa 11:6). His mind was peculiarly subject to external influences, so that he was now respectable man of the world, now a prophet (1Sa 10:11; 19:24).” SAUL WAS A POWER HUNGRY MADMAN.

Dr. Susan Forward, Toxic Parents, ch. 3. Bantam Books, 1989.

Thomas Watson, The Ten Commandments, 2.5. Banner of Truth, 1965.

A still small voice. –1 Kings 19:12

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Ira Milligan, Understanding the Dreams You Dream.

John Paul Jackson, The Biblical Model of Dream Interpretation.

Lou Engle, “Horton Gets a Clue,” elijahlist.com.

The following Bible verses on “the contemplative life” below are from the RSV:


God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. –James 4:6

Let no one disqualify you, insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels, taking his stand on visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind. –Colossians 2:18

Looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. –Hebrews 12:2

For God alone my soul waits in silence. –Psalm 62:5

Be still, and know that I am God. –Psalm 46:10

When you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. –Matthew 6:6

After the fire a still small voice. –1 Kings 19:12

King David went in and sat before the Lord. –2 Samuel 7:18

At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Cohort, a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms liberally to the people, and prayed constantly to God. About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him, “Cornelius.” And he stared at him in terror, and said, “What is it, Lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God.” –Acts 10:1-4

Peter went up on the housetop to pray, about the sixth hour. And he became hungry and desired something to eat; but while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance and saw the heaven opened, and something descending, like a great sheet, let down by four corners upon the earth. In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air. And there came a voice to him, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” –Acts 10:9-13

We all, with unveiled face, beholding (Lat. contemplatio) the glory of the Lord, are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. –2 Corinthians 3:18

I John, your brother, who share with you in Jesus the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet. –Revelation 1:9-10

Suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. –Acts 2:2

Who makes his angels winds, and his servants flames of fire. –Hebrews 1:7

A spirit glided past my face; the hair of my flesh stood up (goosebumps). –Job 4:15

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The Cloud of Unknowing. Paulist Press, 1981.

Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God.

A. W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God.

Thomas Dubay, Fire Within, ch. 14: “Locutions and Visions.”

John Gerstner’s Video Teachings on Heaven

John Gerstner’s Video Teachings on Hell