The truly devastating news from Texas shows how vulnerable anyone can be. It could happen to any of us. It is such a pity. A woman killing her own five kids! It is such a horror that all we can do is pray about it. We must pray for those poor kids. We must pray for the parents.

In the news, they keep speaking of mental illness. They attribute it to "post-partum depression." But we wonder if there isn't also a spiritual component. Many, many times mental illness is actually a demonic infestation. We know from Matthew 8:28 (the crazed Gadarene men living in tombs) that spirits can cause people to be ferocious or to act in an abominable manner. 

In the best of homes the evil one can slip in if we allow a crack to open. We have no idea what the "crack" was in that strange Houston household. There is no way, at least not yet, to judge it. It's not about judging; it's about tackling crime and tackling illness as Jesus tackled it: by first casting out evil. While there may often be merits to psychology, psychotherapy, and psychiatry (especially when there is a biochemical disturbance of the brain), we must be careful not to forget the spiritual dimension.   

The evil one causes the hiss of a snake: obsession, oppression, depression, and possession. 

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