John Hagee appeared on James Robison’s television program today to promote his most recent book, “The Three Heavens: Angels, Demons and What Lies Ahead.” Given the title, it was not surprising that much of the program was dedicated to a discussion of the existence and influence of angels and demons in world, with Hagee providing personal examples of his experiences with both.

In the first instance, Hagee recalled an incident from December, 1971, in which a man carrying a loaded gun entered his church, stood eight feet away and declared that he had come to kill Hagee in order “to demonstrate that Satan has more power than Jesus Christ.”

Hagee responded by holding up his Bible and proclaiming that “no weapon formed against me shall prosper,” at which point the gunmen fired six shots from close range and fled. The gunman was eventually tackled by a parishioner and arrested, while Hagee miraculously survived without a scratch because he was being protected by an angel.

“The next day, the police came and put a two-by-four where he was standing and took string and measured it and the bullet holes in the wall,” Hagee recalled. “See, I’m standing right where I stood. There were three bullets to the left and three bullets to the right. I believe the angel of God was there parrying those bullets right and left to preserve my life. I would not be alive without the protection of the angels of God.”

Later in the program, Hagee recalled a different situation in which a young woman went to see the film “The Exorcist” and became demon-possessed to such an extent that she began howling during the middle of one of his sermons. Hagee sought to pray for the woman but was prevented from doing so by her father, who was a psychiatrist, and so she eventually wound up in a psychiatric institution because Hagee had not been allowed to deliver her through prayer.

“It is not an innocent thing when you walk into the kingdom of darkness,” Hagee warned. “The demonic power can take you over and the only thing that will get it out is the authority of Jesus’ name and the blood of the cross.”