January 2026 Newsletter
Well, we have started another year already! As I reflect on many things that occurred last year, I realized I have just entered my 20th year of full-time ministry. When I took early retirement from teaching in 2006, I told the Lord, “If you want me to make this move, you need to pay for everything. I don't want to ever charge for any services you ask us to do.” So, entering year 20, I have never asked for a penny, and He has always supplied everything we have needed. The stories I can tell about how He has provided when we had little or nothing, I could write a book! We have many monthly supporters, and I'm humbled and blessed to see the fruit of this ministry and lives transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit. What can I say? He is faithful!
I have traveled the world and physically ministered in 25+ states and Canada, teaching, training, and equipping people for kingdom work that Jesus instructed us to do. The Lord has opened the door with invitations and connections to teach, train, and minister in many new locations, in the US and overseas. So, we will see what year 20 holds for Treasures.
Teaching for the Month:
After doing a Google search, I found a significant decrease in the number of individuals who attend church monthly, who are engaged in daily prayer, and have faith grounded in the Bible and its truth.
On the other hand, the number of people who are involved in Wicca, witchcraft, the Occult, Satanism, and New Age has increased astronomically in the last several years. Latest polls show this movement is doubling every 30 months. At the same time, those who believe in the Bible, attend services monthly, and are involved in daily prayer have dropped to less than 40%.
There is very little balanced teaching on the Occult and the dark kingdom in most churches today. There seems to be two extremes with this subject...total focus on demons, devils, and spirits, and believing they are everywhere. Or, there is no such thing as Satan, demons, devils, and spirits, and you are crazy to believe such things. The scriptures are very clear in many verses that Satan is real, there are demons, devils, and spirits. The church in America has removed most of the “supernatural” from our belief system and added what scripture calls a form of godliness, but lacking any power.
There are many tools Satan uses to pull people into deeper levels of darkness and a world of NO peace. There is no peace and a lot of fear involved with the Occult, Witchcraft and it is masked as power, manipulation and control.
The Bible tells us Satan is a liar, a thief, a deceiver; he comes to kill, steal, and destroy, etc. Ephesians 6 gives us a list of what we are battling against.....not flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts in the heavenly places. The word “against” in the Greek is “pros” and means toward or against spiritual forces.
So, what are the areas/tactics/strategies Satan uses to draw individuals away from God and into the kingdom of darkness? Our enemy has three main areas, specifically mentioned in scripture. They are Idolatry, Witchcraft/Sorcery, and Divination. Let's get a simple definition of these three terms and what they involve. So, if this is new material, you will have a general understanding.
Idolatry: Is the worship of anything other than God. God gives instruction in Exodus, in the 10 commandments, “You shall have no other gods but Me.” The word Idolatry is used 53 times in scripture and is always used when addressing the worship of other gods. Activities that fall under Idolatry include statutes of false gods, vision boards, crystals, oils, Yoga, New Age and New Thought, etc. (Using crystals and oils is a form of worship. If you believe those objects have power to heal, gain you money, or control your future, you are in Idolatry. In themselves they are spiritually neutral) You can even worship the love of money, your home, your children, where you live, anything that you hold more valuable to you than God.
Witchcraft/Sorcery: The word witchcraft is mentioned over 30 times in scripture. 1 Samual tells us that rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft. One very powerful scripture is Deuteronomy 18:10, “There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer.” These practices are an abomination in the sight of the Lord. In the New Testament, Galatians 5 lists many practices/works of the flesh: “adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness (debauchery), idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like.”
Activities involving witchcraft/sorcery would be a practicing witch, any form of Pagan worship (worshiping nature, worshiping the 4 seasons, etc.), curses, spells, magic, and witchcraft prayers. (Please note there are Christians knowingly as well in some cases unknowingly praying destructive and controlling prayers against other people, which is witchcraft.)
Divination: Is the practice of telling the future by using an object to predict future events or as a means of getting into another person's business using astral projection, angel cards, tarot cards, crystal ball, pendulums, ouija boards, a fortune teller, astrology charts, automatic writing, horoscopes, visiting a Psychic, palm reader, table tapping, numerology, channeling and seances. Some scriptures that talk about divination, Acts 16, the young girl with “a spirit of divination.” In the Old Testament, King Saul went to the witch of Endor to gain insight about the future.
So, the world sees a weak church that no longer holds the power to change the world. The gospel is watered down, and the church has become more focused on how great they are and how they are on the cutting edge of what God is doing. How big their services are, the latest program to draw people to their building, what star holds the mic and draws the biggest crowds. In the meantime, Satan has worked his strategy, and the numbers indicate he is winning the game of influence.
It seems to me there is a major lack of good teaching and understanding of the spiritual realm. Some of the teaching on deliverance and the spirit realm is not balanced. So a lot of unhealthy things are being taught, which brings confusion, and people are getting themselves way over their heads. People ask me how I know so much about this topic. I grew up in the Occult, New Age, and Witchcraft, with 10 years of firsthand experience.
Many of these abominations are being done out of ignorance, and some of them are done knowingly. There is a lot of mixture in the body of Christ that needs to be addressed.
Additional points:
-Often, those who are pulled into the Occult are looking for answers. Often, the Church is lacking the Biblical knowledge and understanding to answer their questions.
-Many seek understanding because they have “spiritual gift sets” and have not received good Biblical teaching and understanding to delineate between what is pure and righteous and what is really a mask for the darkness. Satan is a created being, and he cannot create anything new. So part of his work is to pervert and copy the things of the spirit.
-Many who are involved in these activities believe they are doing good things. Usually, they are wounded and have unresolved traumas. They feel more important and believe they have special powers that set them apart, to control and manipulate others. The Occult and the New Age practices are ALWAYS about power.
Big topic, but vital for the body of Christ to get more understanding from healthy sources and teachings. The enemy is very strategic and has been recycling the same plan for centuries. We need to be more knowledgeable about him and his devices. The Bible tells us to get understanding.........
In His Grip!
Peg