Dallas Mayor, Ron Kirk, invites area ministers to open the city council meetings with prayer. In the heart of the Bible belt, this is not unusual. But in September, one of the ministers was Bryan Lankford, leader of the Order of the Inner Circle - a local Wiccan witch.
When a local Christian radio station got wind of it and began asking questions, the Mayor retracted his invitation to Lankford and later apologized to him.
In a world bent on "celebrating diversity" and abhorring intolerance, such confusion is rampant. Young people, searching for meaning in a sterile, high-tech world, often get caught in this confusion and land in one brand of Satanism or another.
In Britain, an organization called the Pagan Federation, is approached by more than 100 young people a month for advice on witchcraft. Their interest is "stirred by children's television programs and books relating to the subject," according to CNSNews.
Wicca is the most popular branch of today's "Neo-Pagan" movement that worships "mother earth." According to William Schnoebelen, author of "Wicca, Satan's Little White Lie", "Wicca has many 'denominations' or traditions," but is "one of Satan's 'nicer' creations, tailor-made for the last half of this century."
"It claims to be a 'back to nature' religion which worships the sky and earth, and this has attracted many adherents among those sympathetic to environmental and ecology issues. Yet, for all its charm and nostalgic fantasy, Wicca drew me into the deepest quagmire of satanic evil imaginable," says Schnoebelen.
Schnoebelen lists some of the characteristics of Wicca and Neo-Paganism:
Through his quest for power and secret knowledge, Schnoebelen "learned that Lucifer was the true power behind Wicca, and that as a High Priest, I would have to do his bidding if I wanted to continue to evolve."
Soul winners today need to read Schnoebelen's book so they will be equipped to show that true power and knowledge only comes through knowing Jesus Christ. We must counter Wicca's subtle deception with the Word of God.