HOUSTON -- A Houston-area couple uses their Christian beliefs to fight what they call demons living among us, but some local religious leaders don't believe it, Local 2 reported Monday.
From dead people to ghosts to things that go bump in the night, Hollywood has always been able to use imaginary monsters to keep audiences on the edge of their seats.
But when it comes to the scary underworld figures of demons, Alice Smith said sometimes even Tinseltown gets it right.
"I am amazed at how Hollywood has oftentimes gotten what some of us that can see from the spirit realm into the physical realm. How accurate some of their evaluations are," Smith said.
When Smith says she can see a person's demons, she is not kidding.
"I saw a demon my first time when I was 7 years old and it was in my room," she said. "At the time what I saw had yellow eyes. (It was) shiny, but I have also seen in the demonic realm, it looks leathery, almost like it has fur."
While most people did not want to discuss it on camera, Local 2 talked to at least five people who described grim reaper-like figures haunting them.
"It was totally black. I saw it very, very clear. It had very striking slit red eyes, jagged teeth," Smith said.
"I can understand if a person is a housewife in Houston and has four or five of these experiences, she is not going to talk to somebody because how do you even begin to frame this?" said Eddie Smith, Alice Smith's husband.
Alice Smith said it is a God-given gift that allows vision to the world of angels and demons.
Even though her husband does not share the gift, he said he could still sense the spirit world.
"When I stepped into that ballroom, all I can tell you is that it was like a billion volts of electricity," Eddie Smith said.
The Smiths said they use their Christian beliefs to send away the evil sprits.
"I stepped in the room and said, 'Every one of you has to leave now,'" Eddie Smith said.
After 30 years of this type of ministry, the pair has written a book.
"We have a family here in Houston we talk about in our book, 'Spiritual House Cleaning.' They had an 8-foot brown ghost, which was nothing more than a demon that was in their house when our team of intercessors, a group of praying people, determined that it had to do with a painting they had on the wall," Eddie Smith said.
"This is a real war and it is a spiritual war between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness," Alice Smith said.
Mainstream theologians said there is a spiritual war waging, but it is not for the human eye to witness.
"All denominations are going to have these very subjective experiences that are very hard to verify and that don't always match up with what the Bible says," said Dr. Jim Hamilton, with Southwest Texas Baptist Seminary.
Hamilton said there is no biblical support to the idea that people can actually see demons.
"When the New Testament describes the gift of prophecy, it describes revealing something usually with the spoken word or speaking foretelling something that will come in the future. It doesn't connect the ability to somehow see the supernatural," he said.
"A lot of these people think we have lost our minds, so we understand that they do not have a category. I would not have had a category either until I saw someone manifest a presence and realized that a demon spirit can make a person fly across the room and when I saw that, it is too late to argue with me," Eddie Smith said.
Some people who say they have seen demons have joined occult groups because the idea is more accepted. Some fear they may be locked up or treated for mental illness for seeing demons.
The Smiths work closely with bringing people out of the occult and back to Christianity.
Many religious leader scholars Local 2 spoke with in town said they find no support for seeing demons in physical form and no link to objects being possessed by demons or spirits.
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Faith Is Demon-Hunters Most Important Weapon
