But wait, there's more! Another tidbit from the Christian Broadcasting Network's news broadcast for 2006-02-23:
Lee Webb: Six months after Katrina, parts of New Orleans still look more like a war zone than a city, but that will not stop the Big Easy from throwing its famous party this weekend.I suppose there is some element of New Orleans culture that has permeated even the Christians, because this Jean Mills guy sounds more like a voudoun witch doctor than like a 21st-century Christian. Personally, I never had the pleasure of experiencing the Spirits of Darkness in Nawlins, but I look forward to visiting and doing my part to push back the evil Christians.
Wendy Griffith: That's right, Lee. I was just there, and where the French Quarter is putting its best foot forward for Mardi Gras, there's another kind of cleanup that's going on, behind the scenes.
Jean Mills: It's amazing how resilient Darkness can be, and it has proven to be that case right here in the French Quarter, and particularly on Bourbon Street.
Griffith: Jean Mills is what you might call a pastor to pastors. He's the President of PRC Compassion, a group of Christian leaders who believe it's time for the Church to take back the city of New Orleans from the Spirits of Darkness.
Mills: There are spiritual strangleholds and strongholds that have existed here for generations, and they are very resilient. They're not gonna forfeit territory that has formerly been theirs without a battle, and we know that battle is not a one-day battle, it's not a hundred-day battle, it's an intergenerational struggle for the soul of this city and for the future of this state, but we also believe it's not irreversible or permanent, but that we can overcome it.
Griffith: But how? Even as much of New Orleans lies in ruins, the city is preparing for its most famous party of the year: Mardi Gras, an event well known for its outrageous anything-goes atmosphere, but also a party some say is rooted in something more sinister — the Spirit of Lawlessness.
unidentified man: That Lawlessness runs rampant, and that's what really creates the party atmosphere, which is still the problem in the city today, is that, you know, they don't have any respect for the authorities. That's why we've got to take over the city, you know, with the right spirit. I think that the stronghold has been broken. I think that that Spirit would like to regain, but we know that the Church is more powerful than that.
[...]
Pastor Fred Luter: This is the time, I believe, that God has designated that it's time to tear down all of those walls, just like the levees went down through the flood, it's time to take down all of those other walls that Man has put up, and said, Now, it's time for us to come together as a people, white, black, brown, red, different backgrounds, different denominations, and come together and lift up Jesus Christ.
[...]
Mills: I mean, Scripture tells us very clearly that when a Spirit has been removed — and Katrina literally means "cleansing" — we don't believe that that cleansing has actually occurred. We believe the dispersement [sic] has occurred. The cleansing will occur as Men of God and the Body of Christ come back in and lay claim to the territories that, in the former years, they forfeited. We're here to testify that these territories are the Lord's and that He's Sovereign above New Orleans, above Louisiana, and even above our history.... It's been prophetically foretold that even as Louisiana has had direct impact upon the rest of the nation, in the Louisiana Territories, in the European mixture and the culture, it's gonna have an equally impactful impact upon the United States as that Revival begins to sweep throughout the United States.
Griffith: Until then, Mills says any Spirits of Darkness that are still haunting these streets have been put on notice, but whether they pack their bags for good, will in large part be up to the Church.
Technorati tags: Religion, New Orleans, Katrina, Mardi Gras, French Quarter, Christian Broadcasting Network
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