Does it seem there has been a significant uptick in news stories about demon possession in recent months and years?

Drudge Report, it seems, features two to three articles a week on possessed people or an exorcism gone awry. On Monday there was an article about a possessed man spurting blood during an exorcism. (That was the headline, at least. I never open the articles, so I can’t vouch for the details.) It’s possible Drudge posts these headlines simply because they get clicks, and that humanity isn’t really experiencing a rise in demon-influenced behavior. But some evidence suggests otherwise.

Last September, the Telegraph reported on the notable rise over the last decade in demonic activity and possession, and “the huge increase in demand” for exorcisms. In the United States “over the past 10 years, the number of official priest exorcists has more than quadrupled from 12 to 50.” The article quoted Father Gary Thomas, a Catholic exorcist, who explained that he’s receiving requests for exorcisms from all over the world, and that “almost every free night … is taken up with exorcisms.”

This article from Christianity Today discusses the same trend. So does this one from the Washington Post. And this one from the International Business Times. In 2014, the International Association of Exorcists said that demon-influenced behavior had become “a pastoral emergency.” This 2015 Daily Mail article also discusses the trend and cites experts attempting to explain the cause of the crisis. “Demonic activity,” apparently, “is on the rise due to an increased interest in the occult among the young including ouija boards and séances.”

It’s unpleasant to think about and something we shouldn’t dwell on too much. But it is reality—it’s hard to avoid, if you’re watching the news. And it ought to provoke a few searching questions.

What are the origins of this evil spirit world? How does someone suffer possession? More importantly, how can we protect ourselves and our families from such activity? There are plain answers to these questions, and you can find them in Chapter Two of our free book Mystery of the Ages, written by Herbert W. Armstrong.

These headlines are also tangible evidence of a reality Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry has repeatedly emphasized in recent years: that there is a devil, that he has followers, and that he and his demonic army have been cast down to this Earth and are operating without restraint. Consider this statement from his new booklet Great Again:

Revelation 12:12 reveals that Satan is our deadly adversary. He is the one behind these dangerous developments. The devil is full of wrath, and he has gotten control of the government of this land! …Our people don’t understand their Bibles as they once did. They don’t understand the many scriptures about Satan the devil. He has his agenda against America, and it will prevail. Only God can protect us from this powerful evil spirit.

As Mr. Flurry explained—and Mr. Armstrong did before him—there is a devil, and he is very real and very dangerous!

In spite of the bountiful evidence proving the existence of an evil spirit world, “Still, many people scoff about there even being a devil—while he is tearing them apart!” Mr. Flurry continued. “They know little or nothing about their Bibles. They don’t understand anything about God, nor do they know the devil. Until they do, the problems will only intensify.”

The headlines about this subject are pretty chilling and sobering, but they are also pretty remarkable in that they confirm exactly what the Trumpet’s editor in chief has been saying!

In America Under Attack, Mr. Flurry even identifies a specific date on which Satan and his demons began to intensify their presence and activity on Earth. It occurred, for reasons you can study in detail yourself, on Jan. 16, 1986. It’s incredible, but evidence—interviews, surveys, statements from key authorities—actually shows a noticeable uptick in demonic activity since this date. The International Association of Exorcists, for example, was founded in 1990, after a noticeable rise in the need for exorcisms. One of the Catholic Church’s leading exorcists explained that from 1985 to 2000 the number of church-appointed exorcists in Italy went from 20 to 300.

Behind the crazy headlines there exists a chilling reality: Satan the devil is real, he’s powerful, and he’s active in your world!

If you haven’t read these books yet, you really need to study America Under Attack, Great Again, and Chapter Two of Mystery of the Ages. As Mr. Flurry states, and as world events continually prove, “the devil’s fingerprints are all over” events affecting humanity. This is unpleasant to think about it, but truly, you cannot understand your world without understanding the truth about Satan the devil and the evil spirit world.