“We got first and last names of six witches that are in our church,” says Pastor Greg Locke in a video clip from a Feb. 13 sermon that now has more than 1.2 million views. “And you know what’s strange? Three of you are in this room right now.”
The pastor of Global Vision Bible Church in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, hit headlines recently for his “burning service” in which members torched books such as Harry Potter and the Twilight series, along with Ouija boards and other symbols of the occult. And now, his bold exposure of alleged witches within his own congregation has made national and international news.
Earlier today, Pastor Greg Locke threatened to expose the six witches who are members of his church. pic.twitter.com/NSoTqQayQk
— Hemant Mehta (@hemantmehta) February 13, 2022
“We cast you out in the name of Jesus Christ,” Locke continues in the sermon video clip. “We break your spells; we break your curse. We got your first name; we got your last name. We even got an address for one of you!”
The clip was first posted by Hemant Mehta, a self-proclaimed atheist and former Jeopardy! champ who, per his Twitter feed, seems to specialize in mocking Scripture, pastors, conservatives and Christians in general. But Mehta isn’t alone in his criticism. After he posted the video, the twitterverse quickly filled with other negative commentary about Locke’s previous word that demons can cause autism as well as some of his anti-mask and other conservative beliefs.
In an email to Religion News Service, Locke said his words had been taken out of context in the edited video. He said two of the alleged witches were men and were “ALL sent here on assignment to disrupt.”
He also said “trouble-makers” in the church had brought the witches to Global Vision to lure church members into adultery.
“WE WILL NOT TOLERATE THAT!!” Locke wrote in his email.
In a phone interview, Mehta told RNS that he had edited clips of the video so that it could be posted on Twitter. None of Locke’s comments were taken out of context, Mehta said.
Mehta said that he’d tuned into Sunday’s sermon because he suspected Locke would be discussing the book burning.
Although Locke’s church is nondenominational and does not, from the statement of faith posted on its website, appear to be charismatic, Scripture affirms the reality of spiritual warfare, and many charismatics and Pentecostals as well as some evangelicals practice deliverance and affirm such practices as casting out demons.
Are the criticisms of Locke an attack on Spirit-filled Christianity or the exposure of a false teacher? Let Charisma News know what you think! {eoa}
Portions of this article were excerpted from this article by Bob Smietana. © 2022 Religion News Service. All rights reserved.
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