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CONTROL FREAKS

YOU SHALL KNOW THE TRUTH AND THE TRUTH SHALL MAKE YOU FREE!

www.pamsheppard.com

WITCHCRAFT:
AS A PERSONALITY
FLAW

Paul taught the Galatians that

witchcraft and idolatry are
"works of the flesh." A work of
the flesh is simply a character
flaw of the old sin nature
BEFORE Christ that lingers on
if the person does not submit
him or herself to the cross. To
submit to the cross is to allow
the Holy Spirit to progressively
break you in both your
personality and your character
traits.
RELIGIOUS CAPTIVITY IS
So what does this mean, WITCHCRAFT!
exactly. Does it mean that
demons are not involved in a
When people try to control you, you
"work of the flesh?"
are going to react in one of a few
Absolutely not. Witchcraft and
ways. You are either going to give in
idolatry are demonic
and acquiesce, give up and pretend
practices. What it DOES mean
that "all is well, " when deep down,
is that people who have
you are really seething within, or if
witchcraft in them as a work of
you are like me, you are going to
the flesh---a personality
resist. The bible says that rebellion is
flaw--- are more susceptible to

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demonic influence, praticularly
religious demons and devils. I
have witnessed too many
manifestations of evil spirits in
ALL of the works of the flesh, so
clearly there are two definitions
of witchcraft and idolatry.
Where a work of the flesh is a
personality type that is
predisposed to demonic
involvement, the actual act of
witchcraft and idolatry are
demonic practices. When
demons are looking for "human
workers" to implement their
agenda, they target people who
already have witchcraft and
idolatry built into their persona
as "a work of the flesh."
Along these lines, the witchcraft
demon is attracted to a person
with a soul that is predisposed
to to the three (3) “P”s of
position, prestige and power. In
other words, those who wish to
dominate, to acquire fame and
prominence, can become a safe
haven for the witchcraft demon.
In such cases, the captive’s
own personality will be a secure
place in which demons of a
similar nature will be able to
hide and secretly function.
This is because no one will
suspect that the captive’s
ambitious striving for control
and domination is demonic
because the captive has
continued to demonstrate over
time a steady pattern that
propels them to seek power.
Consequently, everyone just
assumes that the captive
like the sin of witchcraft. True----if it
is God that you are rebelling against.
However, if religious pretenders and
hypocrites try to throw what they call
a spiritual covering over you,
rebellion is good, but running is
even better!.
Spiritual covering is yet another
doctrine of demons that puts God's
people in bondage by taking one
scripture out of its natural context
and forming a teaching that
brainwashes and hoodwinks those
who submit to it. The "spiritual
covering" net entrapped me for 25
years.
As a minister in an authoritarian
bureaucracy ruled globally by just 12
bishops, I watched and experienced
how the traditions of men made the
word of God of none effect. Bishops
rule the pastors under their authority
like holier than thou puppet masters.
The power and control of the Bishops
lie in their ability to appoint pastors
and fill pulpits. Any pastor in full time
ministry is totally dependent upon
whether or not the Bishop chooses to
favor them with an appointment to a
charge that will be lucrative enough to
financially provide for himself and his
family.
I was not well liked by bishops
because I had a full time secular
career. As such, I could not be placed
under any Bishop's thumb in order to
survive financially. So my
punishment was that I was appointed
to those charges that could not afford
to pay a full time pastor's salary---
churches that no pastor without a
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is simply being true to his
nature or character and
therefore, doesn't have a
demon.
The witchcraft demon will also
hide within weaker
personalities. For example,
there are those who wear a
facade of false humility, who
appear to be very self effacing
and passive. However, deep
within his or her soul is a
striving to “be somebody.”
People with this kind of soul will
offer up many testimonies of
their inadequacies and their
lack of ambition, yet when
confronted, they will show in
their actions that they are not at
all convinced of their own
unworthiness.
In fact, when there is even a
minor concern or question
about their actions or motives in
a particular situation, they will
become extremely defensive
and resentful. If others show a
tendency to take their self-
belittling attitude and
recriminations seriously, a
seething anger may erupt that is
out of balance and extreme.
For instance, while the so-called
“humble” will proclaim their
unworthiness, a witchcraft
demon will cause them to make
great demands for
consideration and admiration
from others. The witchcraft spirit
will rise up and expose itself in
these “low key” people,
presenting a strong
unwillingness to accept even
secular job could survive serving.
In most cases in such a system, the
pastors' primary objective is
to protect his own power base and
therefore, their interactions with the
Bishops are usually characterized by
subservience, flattery, subtle
manipulation and "out and out" lies.
The irony is that the Bishops are
dependent on the ministers they rule
to advise them since the Bishops
don't usually live in the communities
that they oversee. So he needs his
ministers to tell him the truth.
However, a Bishop's ministerial
advisors are so threatened by him
that one lie begets yet another lie and
the entire leadership
system operates on a foundation
of lies, cover-ups and pretenses. With
Satan being the father of lies, no
wonder the devil has a seat in such
a religious/political system.
Within a complex bureaucratic
hierarchy as I have described, sin
spreads like leaven from top
leadership in a circular, downward
fall, then in an upward spiral. As the
root of such a system is rotten, the
deception within charismatic, non-
denominational systems spreads far
beyond just a few pastors or a handful
of ministries. Ministers and
laypersons within a charismatic
system alarmingly and systematically
mimic the same key people. Leaders
watch and imitate well known leaders
as they pass on the same false
teachings.
I personally have moved beyond
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the slightest degree of criticism.
Normal strivings for power in a
believer are motivated by a
sincere desire to want to see
souls saved and delivered as
the kingdom of this world
become the kingdom of our
Lord. What distinguishes normal
inclinations from obsessions is
that demonic striving for power
is often rooted in fear, hatred
and feelings of inferiority.
Let's bring it down home to
where we all live. Racism is a
cultural factor that involves
hatred and fear. . When the
predominant culture is in fear of
losing its power and even
worse, becoming extinct,
demons of fear, hatred and
pride conjoin with the witchcraft
demon to control, dominate
and suppress those of another
race or culture.
Then there are those who feel
insecure mentally and
emotionally who strive for
power as a means to protect
themselves from anxiety and
from a feeling of helplessness.
The witchcraft demon functions
very covertly with soulish
natures of this variety. However,
the demon will be exposed
when he will eventually lead
the captive to be out of balance
in very common, everyday
situations.
When a person shuns
commonplace situations such
as acceptance of guidance,
advice, or help, any kind of
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correcting either system by
any attempt on my part to fix it. I
leave that into the hands of others
who have proven scripture by
scripture that the spiritual covering,
apostolic teaching is contrary to
scripture. Steven Lambert has well
done this laboring task. I recommend
his book "Spiritual Captivity."
The following are some of the
common signs, characteristics and
symptoms, that Lambert identifies
as religious captivity manifest in
corporate settings such as groups,
home churches, churches, networks,
and ministries, especially those
identifying themselves as Charismatic
or Pentecostal.
The list is taken from Lambert's
website called
realtruthpublications.com
The Bottom-line is: any ministry in
which EVEN ONE of these signs of
abuse is manifest should alert you to
the undeniable fact that it is ,
regardless of how large, popular, or
well-known===it is practicing
religious captivity. You are not
serving the One who died to set the
captives free, but rather you are
serving false gods
And, if after reading this list, you
cannot recognize and admit to
yourself that your beloved church or
ministry is practicing, unbiblical and
ungodly doctrines and practices, then
you are definitely brainwashed and
under the spell of “deceitful spirits
and doctrines of demons” and these
demonic lies are “seared in your own
conscience as with a branding iron”
dependence on the brethren,
any acquiescing or agreement
with his brothers and sisters in
Christ, witchcraft as a work of
the flesh is manifested. Such
protests do not always arise in
full force but rather will increase
gradually. The demon gets
involved because pride of this
kind is an open invitation to it.
The witchcraft demon is also
attracted to a soul that feels
very insignificant. Those
who have been consistently
oppressed will develop a rigidity
and an unbalanced “super
strength” which makes them
think and act as if they can
master any situation in their
own power. Such a person will
pretend that he is leaning and
trusting on the Lord’s power by
spouting scripture like “I can do
all things through Christ who
strengthens me”, yet within his
soul he considers any
weakness as a disgrace and he
is steeped in pride.
For example, he judges other
saints as being weak, when in
reality, he himself feels weak
and insignificant. This is fertile
ground for a witchcraft spirit
because he can use the captive
to intimidate the weaker
brethren and to cause him or
her to feel condemned.
The witchcraft demon also can
enjoy himself by causing the
captive to despise himself when
he has fallen.The witchcraft
demon is also comfortable
inside of a soul that lusts to
(1 Tim. 4:1,2).
And, that means you need deliverance
to be set free from Satan’s bondage
and deception. It also means you are
deceived about who you are serving.
You are not serving the true Jesus,
but the Fake One, who is the master
of idols — which is idolatry, which
means you are an “idolater,” and
idolaters do not inherit eternal life or
have an inheritance in the Kingdom of
Christ and God (Gal. 5:20,21; Eph.
5:5)!
So RUN from your captors and RUSH
out of the arms of the Fake Jesus
Sananda Immanuel into the arms of
the True Jesus Christ of Nazareth,
who died and was raised from the
dead to set the captives FREE! “He
whom the Son sets FREE is FREE
INDEED!
Here is Steve Lambert's list of 33
signs.
1.Apotheosis of the leadership —
exalting them to God-like status in
and over the group;
2.Multi-level authority/government
hierarchy;
3.Absolute authority of the leadership;
4. No real accountability of the
leadership to the corporate body;
5.Hand-picked sub-leaders, based on
their demonstration of
submissiveness to the ultimate leader
rather than on the basis of their
leadership skills, spirituality, and
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have control over others as well
as over himself. A person under
the influence of a witchcraft
demon will want nothing to
occur that he himself has not
initiated or approved of.
Such people claim to want
everyone around them to be
free, while simultaneously
demanding to know every detail
of even the most insignificant
situations. When such a person
has not been informed of
EVERYTHING, he becomes
extremely agitated.
People with this character flaw
can appear to be extremely
generous. No one may even
notice his desire to dominate
and control because the captive
is so subtly manipulative.
Usually in such cases, a lying
demon is involved also.
People who appear to be
submissive and giving will
surprise you with how
manipulative they can be. For
example, when you righteously
confront them with issues that
are important to YOU , they
avoid the issue at hand by
simply responding with counter
accusations, whether they be
true or not. All confrontation, no
matter how small or
insignificant, causes them to
perceive you as THE ENEMY.
One who does not know his
own personality type will
become so frustrated that he
may develop psycho-somatic
illnesses such as major
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anointing and appointment by God;
6.Pervasive abuse and misuse of
authority in personal dealings with
members;
7.Paranoia and insecurity by the
leaders;
8.Abuse, misuse, and inordinate
incidence of “church discipline;”
9.Personal materialism,
covetousness, and self-
aggrandizement by the leaders;
10.Members and/or sub-leaders must
make a “spiritual covenant,”
sometimes a signed covenant
agreement, pledging their total
commitment and financial support to
the leadership and church/ministry;
11.Partitioning of the group into
smaller groups that are led by
internally “raised up” lay-leaders who
have not been anointed or appointed
by God for leadership within the
church;
12.Financial exploitation and
enslavement of the members;
13.Inordinate attention to maintaining
the public “image” of the ministry;
14.Doctrinal demeanment and
devaluation — the requisite of
espousing and teaching “sound
doctrine” is demeaned and devalued;
15.Theological incompetency by the
leadership, especially with respect to
the rules of hermeneutics and Bible
exegesis employed in the formulation
headaches or fits of depression
when he feels “out of control of
others.” This will happen when
the person will develop an
unconscious defense
mechanism to fight the
witchcraft spirit by using his
willpower to repress his own
curiosity. As the saying goes,
“curiosity killed the cat.”
When a person lies to his own
soul, this gives demons the
opportunity to attach the body.
The desire to have his own way
will be a source of serious
irritation and inflammation when
others do not do exactly what
he expects of them and exactly
at the time that he expects it.
The desire to have his own way
will be inflamed by the
witchcraft demon’s lust for
domination. This is when the
fruit of patience and
longsuffering will come to the
rescue. The witchcraft demon
will cause the captive to be in a
constant state of irritation when
others are “disobedient” or
“noncompliant” to his
suggestions, recommendations
and instructions.
Any kind of delay or necessity
to wait may even lead to
outbursts of temper that may
also erupt into rage. Demons
will also work to cause the
captive to minimize such
outbursts so as to cause him to
be ill prepared for a future
eruption that will lead to a
disaster that demons have
secretly planned for years.
of doctrine, giving license to twisting
and adulteration of Scripture in order
to provide proof-texts for unorthodox
and invented doctrines;
16.Spiritualism, mysticism, and
unproven doctrines;
17.Abuse and misuse of prophetic
giftings as a means to dominate and
intimidate;
18.Devaluation, disallowance,
disregard, and displacement of the
true Fivefold Ministry within the
church;
19.De facto legalism, or works
mentality, and its resulting loss of the
“joy of salvation,” though “freedom”
is forever preached from the pulpit
and the church is constantly touted as
being a “safe church” by the
leadership;
20.Esotericism — hidden agendas and
requirements revealed to members
only as they successfully advance
through various stages of “spiritual
enlightenment,” i.e., unorthodox,
unproven indigenous doctrines;
21.Isolationism — corporate and
individual, especially with respect to
exposure to outside ministry sources;
22.Performance-based approval and
promotion system of members
predicated on “proven” “loyalty” (i.e.,
submission) to the leadership;
23.Devaluation, suppression, and
non-recognition of members’ bona
fide God-given talents, abilities, gifts,
callings, and anointing, as a means of
7
In such cases, the witchcraft
demon will align itself with a
spirit of death. The spirit of
death specializes in accidents,
suicide and murder. The devil
comes to steal, kill and destroy.
The demons also work well
when the captive is unaware of
his own bossy behavior. Even if
he becomes hostile and angry
when things don’t go his way
the witchcraft demon will cause
him to still insist that he is
merely a gentle and meek soul
who is provoked into anger
because the brethren are so ill
advised in their rebellion against
him.
The rage arising from the
rebellion of significant others
may be hidden to such an
extent that the captive may not
even recognize why he feels
depresses and tired. Only
accurate observation can
gradually and progressively
uncover the connection
between the captive’s desire to
control others and how this
desire must be broken by the
Holy Ghost.
If the captive begins to
recognize the connection
between his pride, his desire to
control others, and his fatigue,
depression and anxiety, he will
be able to successfully prepare
the ground of his soul for the
expulsion of the witchcraft
demon. In fact, resisting
personal pride will cause
demons to flee without the
necessity of casting them out..
subjugation;
24.Requiring members to perform
menial tasks, such as cleaning toilets,
setting up chairs, and acting as the
leader’s personal valet or slave, as a
supposed means to humble them and
teach them to “obey their leaders;”
often called armorbearers.
25.Constant indoctrination with a
“group” or “family” mentality that
impels members to exalt the
corporate “life” and goals of the
church-group over their personal
goals, callings, and objectives;
26.Members are psychologically
traumatized and indoctrinated with
numerous improper fears and phobias
aimed at keeping them reeling in
diffidence and an over-dependence or
co-dependence on their leaders and
the corporate group;
27.Corporately, there eventually
develops an inordinately high
incidence of financial, marital, moral,
psychological, mental, emotional, and
medical problems, including sudden
deaths and contraction of “incurable”
and “unknown” diseases;
28.Lack of true personal spiritual
growth and development, especially
in terms of genuine faith and
experiencing the abounding grace,
forgiveness, goodness, blessings,
kindness, and agape-love of God;
29.Members are required to obtain the
approval or “witness” of their
leader(s) for decisions regarding
personal matters;
8
As previously stated, the
witchcraft demon can hide in a
person who naturally has a
strong personality as well as a
person who appears to have a
low self image. Every newborn
comes into this world a sinner,
yet tooting his own horn. Infants
learn quickly how to have a
temper tantrum by screaming to
get its needs met.
Babies have the power to
control their adult parents with
such screams of temper. Jesus
said that the meek would inherit
the earth. A meek person is one
who puts the Lord’s will before
his own and complies and
submits to the word of God in
spite of his own desires and
feelings.
Yet, somehow, the witchcraft
demon will use the seemingly
weak to inherit or “own” the
souls of others. Demons will
use “the weak” to bring guilt
trips, condemnation and
accusations against those who
have a strength of character
that they themselves lack.
This is the witchcraft demon at
its best because the weak seem
to be so helpless in their
attempts to control people with
“love and affection," they can
set a strong trap for the
unsuspecting. This is the
manner in which the witchcraft
demon very often enters into
parent/child relationships, a
situation that is conducive to a
demonic soul tie..”
30.Frequent preaching from the pulpit
regarding not getting out from under
the “spiritual covering” of the
leadership;
31.Members departing without the
prior permission and blessing of the
leadership leave the group under a
cloud of manufactured suspicion,
shame, and slander;
32.Horror stories frequently told by
leaders about individuals or families
who left the group without the prior
permission and blessing of the
leadership, and the terrible
consequences and curses they
suffered as a result;
33.Departing members often suffer
from various psychological problems
and display the classic symptoms
associated with Post-Traumatic
Stress Disorder (PTSD).
So…what to do, says Lambert? Well,
here’s a few questions he proposes
for you to ponder:
Do you know what the signs of hyper-
authoritarianism, control, and
domination in a group or church and
how to recognize them?
Do you know if the signs are simple,
overt, and obvious, or are they
sophisticated and complex, covert,
and hidden?
Could you be objective enough about
your church or group and leaders to
correctly analyze if authoritarian
abuse is taking place at your church?
Do you know how to explain what the
signs are to prospective or suspected
victims in order to convince them they
9
 In this particular conversation
regarding witchcraft
predispositions of the human
soul, suffice it to say that the
domineering character flaw is
the pursuit of power and control.
The blindside is that
witchcraft does not necessarily
manifest itself with open hostility
towards others. In fact, it is
often disguised in socially
acceptable ways, ie. giving
advice, seeking to manage
other people’s affairs, or taking
a helpful initiative in problem
solving---the butinski personality
type.
So keep your eyes opened so
that you can see beyond the
blindside.
Initial
10
are under it?
Do you know how to throw out a
lifeline to rescue them?
Do you know what steps are
necessary for victims to recover from
the psychologically traumatizing and
spiritually damaging effects of years
of subjection to spiritual abuse?
Do you know why hyper-authoritarian
doctrines and practices are
unscriptural and Biblically-prohibited,
and could you cite some of the
Scripture passages in which God
condemns them?
Do you know from a biblical
standpoint if God requires you to
always “obey your leaders,” even
when they set requirements that
contravene Scripture or your
conscience, or when they behave as
unscrupulous and undisciplined
tyrants rather than model the
characteristics of servanthood that
Jesus modeled and instructs His
under-shepherds to likewise model
Steven Lambert is a prolific writer
with a prophetic calling, an
academician. I give him his props.
His 33 signs are good ones. That is
why I deferred to him. Yet I have only
one comment that I think is
important.
If I were preparing the list of 33,
number 33 would be number one
on my list. Anytime you come away
from a corporate experience with post
traumatic stress disorder, the rest of
the list shrinks in significance.
 But you know Pam. Keepen it real,
I'll simply sing, "hit the road, Jack,
and don't cha come back no mo, no
mo, no mo, no mo!!. Hit the road
Jack, and don't cha come back no
mo!!!!!." What you say?"
Yeh!

I'm just an email or a phone call away. Send

me an email at contact@pamsheppard.com or
call 518-477-5759

Sheppard's Counseling and Publishing Center, PO Box 356, East Greenbush NY, NY 12061
518-477-5759

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