The so-called “Charlie Charlie Challenge” is a cheaper version of a ouija board

Young people around the world are trying to summon a demon in the latest trend sweeping social media – but a well-known pastor and Christian author believes those who participated in the “Charlie Charlie challenge” are fooling themselves about the realities of the spiritual realm.

Pastor and bestselling Christian author Carl Gallups told WND: “The ‘Charlie Charlie’ trick is just that – a trick. In fact, it’s an old bar room parlor trick that originally involved putting two cigarettes on top of each other, only now it’s two pencils. It’s very easy to manipulate and make it look like something is happening by itself when actually it’s just someone breathing on the pencils, usually the person filming the ‘challenge.’ So these kids are not actually summoning demons or anything like that.”

But the mundane reality isn’t stopping media outlets around the world from discussing the phenomenon and more broadly entertaining the possibilities of conjuration. MTV even lightheartedly suggested nine other demons people can summon.

In the “Charlie Charlie Challenge,” participants align two pencils in the shape of a cross and ask, “Charlie, Charlie are you here?” Supposedly, the pencils then move to indicate the entity’s presence. On YouTube, videos of participants filming themselves doing the “challenge” are racking up tens of thousands of views.

Gallups sees real significance in the massive reaction to the “Charlie Charlie Challenge.”

“This story is everywhere in mainstream news coverage, even though there’s nothing actually there,” he said. “People are utterly fascinated by it. And interestingly, much of the fascination seems to be coming from the United Kingdom.”

The author of “Final Warning: Understanding the Trumpet Days of Revelation” believes while the challenge itself is bogus, the spiritual world and demons themselves are real. And Gallups believes the massive reaction to the challenge by a post-Christian culture reflects the hunger people have to experience spiritual realities.

He observed, “We live in a secular culture and here we have all these people that are so aggressively secular, so aggressively anti-Christian, who believe in evolution, and yet they are so quick to want to contact a demon.”

Gallups added, “People are turning to this kind of thing because there is a hunger for spiritual life. The fact is, we are spiritual beings. The Word of God is so clear. God sent his Son to die for us, and there is only one way to salvation. God cares about how we are living our lives. But people don’t want to live under that. They reject God’s authority over their lives. So this is an attempt by people to be in touch with their spiritual side, but still be in rebellion against God.”

Parents should not overreact if their children are participating in the “challenge” and should instead encouraging them to show what a simple con it really is, Gallups said. However, he also notes that the old parlor game, framed in its new context as an attempt at demonic conjuration, could lead to real dangers.

Gallups warned: “This is the Ouija board of our time in the sense that it is a trick, but also a gateway drug. This is a gateway to the occult.

“It’s like candy cigarettes. In and of itself, it is harmless. But look at what you are actually doing. With candy cigarettes, you are walking around pretending to smoke. With this, you are literally praying to a supposed demon, calling out to ‘Charlie,’ asking for a gateway to be opened. So it is a trick, but it can set people on a path to something darker.”

As a specialist in the End Times prophesied by the Book of Revelation, Gallups believes the rising interest in the occult and attempts to dabble in magic and demonology are another sign the latter days are approaching.

“We are living in prophetic times,” he said. “We are the only generation to see the creation of Israel, the rise of ISIS, the alliance of the nations against the Jewish state, and so much else that has been foretold. And we even hear increasing warnings of global war.

“There have always been fortune tellers, and supposed magicians and whatever else. The difference now is we live in a world that allows for instant, worldwide communication. And as it says in 1 Timothy 4, verse 1, ‘Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.

The bottom line?

“You shouldn’t play around with conjuring and trying to contact the demonic world,” Gallups said. “But we are seeing more of this because it was predicted in the Word of God.”

Article printed from WND: http://www.wnd.com

URL to article: http://www.wnd.com/2015/05/pastor-spills-secret-on-kids-summoning-demons/