By Erick Erickson

Protestants tend to think it is all Catholic talk and secularists think it is all in the movies. But evil is a very real thing and demons are part of it. Though we may not see them commonly, they are there and the church shooting in Texas should remind us of that.

“Where is your God?” the secularists heckle as the American progressives and Nazis and Soviets and Romans and Persians and Philistines all have heckled Christ’s church. He sits on his throne, still sovereign, mourning the dead and welcoming them into His kingdom. On this earth, as it grows more secular, we should expect more of this as evil creeps back in. I think Augustine was right that evil exists in the absence of God.

Missionaries to far off places often have similar stories. The natives are stirred to faith by dreams. But as the gospel moves in there in the shadows the missionaries will sometimes encounter the demonic. It may take the form of a witch doctor or a demonic possession. They are not just in the Bible.

Secularists dismiss this all as superstition. But Christian missionaries are eye witnesses in many cases and Christian churches need to wake up and realize the evil creeping back in with the rising tide of secularism in America. There will be more church shootings. There will be more persecution of Christians. There will be more evil, often masked under the guise of progressive enlightenment. It all comes as American society increasingly shoves God aside.

We do not know all the details of the shooter in Texas. But we should recognize evil and call it evil. And churches should see what happened in Texas and what is happening to culture as a whole and start preparing their congregations for a harder life in the United States. Actual demons are actually real. They take many forms. But they are all evil and all wish to harm the church.