Anyone who reads the papers and watches TV these days knows that times have certainly changed. Consider these facts:

• Most major metropolitan centers now have policemen who specialize in and handle only occult crimes. Murder investigations in various parts of the country often reveal Satan worship as the motive for the slayings.
• National headlines were given to a California day-care center where children were abused as part of devil worship.
• More people than had ever tuned in for a two-hour television documentary watched Geraldo Rivera's lurid special on the growth of Satan worship. Those acquainted with devil worship were aware that the program did not even begin to reveal how bad devil worship really is. Much of his material was cut because it was deemed too gruesome for the audience.
• The Cult Awareness Network based in Chicago has recently seen an increase in calls to their office from 5 to 100 per month. They suspect that they are only seeing the tip of an emerging iceberg.
• In Jefferson Township, NJ, a youth obsessed with Satanism committed suicide after stabbing his mother to death with his Boy Scout knife and trying to kill the rest of his family by setting a fire as they slept. The 14-year-old eighth grader had begun reading books on the occult and Satan worship about a month earlier, police said.
• Los Angeles author Joel Norris said that he has studied more than 300 serial killings and determined that about 30 percent were committed by Satanists.

Now, if you think that is bad, consider this! A person that I am acquainted with who is now in hiding admits to personal involvement in at least 100 human sacrifices. This person was born into Satanism of parents and ancestors in it for more than 300 years. This former devil worshipper even tells of breeders who bore babies so they could be used for sacrifices. Runaways were picked up off the streets and offered drugs and a good place to stay and later used as sacrifices. My friend's knowledge was only of his cult in one part of a southwestern state. Yet he knew personally of doctors, lawyers, nurses, police, judges and other high elected officials being involved with them in their occult practices.

What I have just described illustrates that devil worship is being carried out on the two levels. The ex-Satanist quoted earlier says that believers in the occult are either professing or practicing.

The professing followers are what you read about in the papers. They are the teens caught up in it and those who behead a farmer's cow. The practicing Satanists, on the other hand, include my friend's group, and they are secret. Only a handful have ever escaped from this group to tell of their practices. If one tries to leave, he or she is usually caught and killed. A contract is out to kill the person I have been mentioning as my source.

While we should be concerned about the secret part of Satan worship, we can do something about the professing group because they are largely teenagers. One authority says that devil worship and the occult are to today's latchkey children what "flower power" and drugs were to young people of the '60s. "Back in the '60s we were into 'tune in, turn on and drop out,' flower power and that kind of stuff." He says, "It was a way of going against the establishment." Satan worship became the "in" cult of the '8Os.

When teenagers fall under the spell of this jumble of dark, violent emotions called Satanism, they are often driven into committing terrible deeds. Satanism goes beyond teenage obsession. It's a violent impulse that preys on the emotionally vulnerable, especially teens who are lonely and lost. It attracts the angry and the powerless, who often sink into secret lives-possessed by an obsessive fascination with sex, drugs and heavy metal rock-and-roll.

In becoming acquainted with this for the first time, the response of most Christian adults is, "Why would anyone want to get involved in this?" The answer is that Satan worship offers these vulnerable, angry, lonely and lost teens drugs, sex and power. Devil worship offers people what they are denied in a Christian culture -- self-indulgence.

How do our teens become acquainted with Satan worship? Sean Sellers, sitting in an Oklahoma death row cell for shooting his mother and stepfather while they slept, said, "I let an interest in "Dungeons & Dragons" become an obsession that later led me into Satanism." Many of the monster's names in this game have come directly from The Satanic Bible and The Satanic Rituals, both written by the notorious Satanist Anton LaVey. Many of the curses or spells used in the game come from books on witchcraft The occult overtones of "Dungeons and Dragons" are so explicit that virtually nothing in the world of Satanism is omitted. Another element leading teens toward the ugliness of Satanism is heavy metal music. Some of these groups are openly Satanic, while others use occultic symbols and language.

Carl Rashcke, director of the University of Denver Institute of Humanities, says, "You might say heavy metal rock is to self-styled Satanism what gospel music is to Christianity." Contemporary seeds of Satanism were planted when Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones leered, "Just call me Lucifer. '~ On one of their early album covers they posed as witches. Another one of their album covers pictures a severed goat's head, the symbol of Satan worship, floating in a boiling cauldron. Openly Satanic groups include Exciter, Grim Reaper, Possessed, Onslaught, King Diamond/Merciful Fate, Venom and Slayer. Other groups with Satanic messages are AC/DC, Iron Maiden, Motley Crue, Megadeth, Black Sabbath and Dio.

If you work with teens or are a parent of a teen, your first question is probably, "How do I know if a teen is involved with Satanism?" Here are some signs that can indicate a teen is involved with the occult:

• An unhealthy preoccupation with fantasy role-playing games like "Dungeons & Dragons."
• An interest in Ouija boards and other occult games.
• An obsession with heavy metal music, particularly black metal bands and other groups that use Satanic symbolism.
• Books on magic, witchcraft, paganism and Satanism.
• Objects used for spells or rituals, including candles, incense, knives, pentagrams, inverted crosses or the number 666.
• Extreme secrecy. The teen will become obsessive about his privacy. He may be hiding materials in his room.
• An addiction to horror movies.
• Chronic depression, increased aggressive and violent behavior.
• Wearing all black clothing.

One of the tactics of the devil has been to be very subtle and dishonest in his temptations. But what we are seeing today is very upfront and aggressive with nothing hidden. We are witnessing an all-out frontal assault of the devil on our world.

Editor's Note:

Don Humphrey is Vice President of Gospel Advocate, P.O. Box 150, Nashville, TN 37202. Brother Humphrey has had extensive experience in both publishing and writing. In recent months he has done considerable research on the subject of Satanism. For more information he recommends that soul winners read the following books: The Satan Hunter, by Wege & Powers; The Edge of Evil, by Jerry Johnston; and Satan's Underground, by Johanna Michaelson. Now more than ever, Christians need to arm themselves with information about this growing cult that is affecting increasing numbers in our society.