Christian Faith Dies in the Land of Illusion

Joseph Herrin (10-24-2014)

A brother and sister in Christ informed me of a recent obscure news item that has profound significance. The article reported on the tragic death of a 16 year old girl with the remarkable name of Christian Faith (last name Benge).

Christian Faith

Christian Faith was born with a diaphragmatic hernia, a condition that allows the abdominal organs to enter into the chest area. Doctor’s were able to repair the hernia, but damage had already occurred. Christian spent her life with only one functioning lung. This resulted in additional labor and stress for her heart. Christian’s parents thought she was healthy, with no lingering health issues from her birth defect. They were unaware that part of her heart was enlarged to four times it normal size.

Christian’s parents Jeff and Jean performed in a family band/musical group that regularly led worship at their local Full Gospel Pentecostal Church in Hamilton, Ohio, as well as performing at other churches and venues. A number of videos of the group can be found on YouTube. The recording quality is poor, and the impression I received in watching the group perform was that of people trying to be entertainers rather than manifesting a sincere worship and obedience to Christ.

http://youtu.be/nZJP-L3z0I8



Below the video on YouTube is a notice that the group is available for “bookings,” a term associated with entertainment groups that seems incompatible with true worship. Can you imagine David “booking” an event where he would worship God with song and harp? Yet, it is typical of the state of the church today where church has become a business venture, and preachers, prophets, teachers, musicians, and singers sell their services to those willing to pay up.

News reports state that Jeff Benge had booked a performance at the local horror theme park called Land of Illusions. It was after the show that Christian Faith entered one of the park’s horror attractions. She collapsed suddenly part way through it, her heart having stopped. Some have suggested that she was literally frightened to death. Her mother and paramedics attempted CPR, but they were unable to revive Christian Faith. She was pronounced dead a short time later at a local hospital.

Some of the feature attractions at Land of Illusions are the following.

Killer Klowns: The Circus of Terror has come to town... and left behind a dark company of mutant mimes, demented fools, and raving lunatics. Middletown knows them as the Killer Klowns, and these traveling masters of the macabre have been terrorizing adults and children of all ages since the circus banned their murderous show in 1872.

Now you can get one-of-a-kind thrills in this three-ring circus of terror that make your heart stop… dead. Be among the first of the night’s victims lured under the big top. Laughing, leering faces invite you in with promises of sticky-sweet carnival delights. But as you venture deeper into this maze of madness, squeals of joy soon turn to screams of horror.

Voodoo Bayou: Beware of that Ol’ Black Magic. We heard it tell that strange things were happening at a haunted house deep in the Louisiana bayou. This infested, spectral swampland had been owned for over a century by the bloody Dubois family, brought to popular media attention in 1890 when Bloody Bill Dubois was caught and killed by a local mob accusing him of practicing dark magic.

Bloody Bill cursed the townsfolk that day... and the bayou... and the shack his family built upon it. Or so they said...

We took apart the Dubois family bayou shanty and re-assembled it – piece by piece – right here at the Land of Illusion Theme Park. The Dubois family even came on up north with their shanty... and brought their dark magic with them.

Middletown Haunted Trail: Got the guts to take this horror hike? Take a walk in the woods... on a terror trek of unspeakable dread. The Middletown Haunted Trail has put unsuspecting visitors on a fast-track to terror since 1997, and now it’s your turn to make the descent. Come see why this tortured attraction is not for the faint of heart...

And step into a shadowy woods where cackling chainsaw sickos crunch through the undergrowth, soft-footed murderers bare bloody little blades, and blowtorch-wielding madmen rip across the trail in hot pursuit… Just be careful where you run, or you might stumble into a frenzied faction of spooks with a taste for frightened flesh.

Can you survive this monstrous maze? Because if you don’t have the stomach for it, these fanatic madmen and twisted ghouls will be more than happy to find you another... From one of your fellow tortured guests, perhaps?

So, take a walk – or a run – on the wildly spooky side at The Middletown Haunted Trail... and make this a night to dismember.

Dr. Psycho’s Haunted Estate: Dr. Psycho’s Sick Revenge. The sick and twisted history of Butler County reached the height of horror in 1834 when Bradley H. Carver met and fell in love with young Violet Newsom at the Butler County Fall Festival. They married and built their home a year later here on the outskirts of Middletown. Hardly a haunted house of horrors, you say? Unfortunately for the happy couple, the plot they purchased had once been a cemetery for the criminally insane.

The Carvers’ new home was a lightning rod for evil, and its most powerful haunt was Agatha. Born to an asylum patient, Agatha was tortured and alone for most of her short life. She was buried in the cemetery after one of her guards’ cruel games became sinister… and deadly.

Agatha, jealous of the Carvers’ love, possessed Dr. Carver and used his body to murder his wife and unborn child in a demented effort to take Violet’s place in Dr. Carver’s heart.

When he found out what the mad wraith had wrought, Dr. Carver lost his mind.

From that point on Dr. Carver led a reclusive life in his large, rambling estate, and was rarely seen by anyone but his… subjects. As the mad years passed, Dr. Carver’s mind grew warped and twisted. He put up steel bars in every window, and started bringing small animals and trespassers into his home to fuel his murderous experiments. The townspeople started calling him “Dr. Psycho.”

In the fall of 1877, there was such a stench coming from the house that authorities were forced to investigate. What they found there is burned into the collective nightmares of Butler County residents to this day.

Inside, Dr. Psycho hung from an attic rafter as his body writhed and twisted with hungry rats. Authorities found the cellar piled high with emaciated bodies in various states of decomposition. Human, animal… the bodies were broken and mutilated, and limbs had been torn and twisted from those who would no longer try to escape...

Temple of Terror: We Unearthed the Temple of Terror... And it’s a Corpse-Stealer! Our most adventurous visitors may have survived temples of doom, temples of evil, even a lost temple or two... but you haven’t truly seen, heard, or experienced fright until you crawl through the Temple of Terror!

This blood-curdling haunted house of horrors was unearthed at the turn of the last century by a murderous pair of amateur explorers. When the temple seal was broken, these corpse-stealing maniacs unleashed a gallery of ghouls with an appetite for nightly fright...

Are you bold enough to brave these ancient horrors? Because in the Temple of Terror, it is wise to let your fears get the best of you. The foolishly fearless are dragged to early graves by the howling undead. But if you fear long enough, loud enough, perhaps a ghoul or two may let you through!

Aside from these horrific attractions, the park offers a zombie hunting excursion where guests ride in the back of a military truck and use paintball guns to shoot at the zombies that come to attack them. There is also a bar and café billed as The Voodoo Lounge and Creepy Café. Finally, there is the Stage of Rage, an entertainment venue and seating area where various music groups are booked to perform. On the night of Christian Faith’s death, her father had booked the family band to perform there.

One might ask what a “Christian Band” who purports to lead others in the “worship” of God is doing performing in a Satanic venue like this?

II Corinthians 6:14-16
Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God...

Is it not grossly inappropriate for Christians to provide entertainment to draw people to a venue like Land of Illusion where Voodoo, black magic, demons, and malevolent spirits are the main attractions? And draw people they did. Various articles reported that the Benge family was accompanied by 100 family members and friends. Was their motive pure, being a desire to be salt and light in a dark and evil place? No! They eagerly went from the Stage of Rage, where the Benge family performed, to visit the various dark, violent, and spiritually evil attractions that glorify fear and death. When Christian worship is reduced to the level of entertainment, the gross incongruity of going from a Christian concert to entertainments that glorify the dark kingdom of Satan is easily overlooked.

Banner Ad for Stage of Rage

Notice the central image of the ad above is a hand raised in the symbolic gesture denoting Satan worship. This image is repeated elsewhere on the website where the Stage of Rage is promoted.

(Click on Image to View Larger)

If you look closely at the index finger you will see a demonic image on the top digit. There are other subliminal evil images in the stains, and shadows of the picture. This symbol is prominently used by music entertainers who openly worship Satan. It is shown in the following ad for an Ozzy Osbourne concert.

There is far more to be gleaned in this tragic event that ended in the death of this young woman named Christian Faith than the consequences of Christians manifesting exceedingly poor judgment in their choice of entertainment. There is a parable for the church at large revealing what is occurring globally among the people of God who have substituted the weekly entertainment called church for true discipleship. In a number of articles reporting on the death of this young woman it was mentioned that she was always happy and cheerful and concerned about people’s spiritual condition. It was stated that she would regularly tell people they need to be attending church and would invite people to come to her own church.

Multitudes of Christians today have erroneously conflated church attendance with Christianity. Yahshua did not come to call people to attend weekly meetings where ministers would give a short, entertaining message, and where musicians and singers performed before the spectators sitting in the pews. He called people to a complete surrender of their lives to the leading and direction of God. His invitation was continually “Come, take up YOUR CROSS, and follow Me!” The church has replaced the words of Christ with an invitation to church attendance that costs them nothing. Those who accept the church’s invitation can continue to live the self-focused, materialistic, immoral lives they did before and feel good about themselves because they went to church on Sunday.

This is not a new phenomenon. The prophet Amos recorded the following words of Yahweh nearly 2,500 years ago.

Amos 5:21-24
“I hate, I reject your festivals, nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them; And I will not even look at the peace offerings of your fatlings. Take away from Me the noise of your songs; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps. But let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”

The church has merely gotten louder and more brash in the music they offer up to God. The harp has been replaced with the electric guitar; the cymbal with expensive drum sets. The singers scream and shout as they seek to raise the emotional level of those in the pews in order that the audience might equate soulish excitement with the spiritual presence of Yahweh. Afterwards, the emotionally moved people exit the sanctuary remarking on how they experienced God that day. It is the million churches of America and the nations that are the true houses of illusion. They pretend to honor God, but Satan is the one occupying the stage.

It is significant that Christian Faith had only one working lung. The lungs function to draw oxygen into the body and to transmit it to the blood where it can circulate to all the body’s members, renewing them with life. At the same time the lungs remove carbon dioxide from the body and expel it. If this respiration, this exchange of life giving gases for those which are toxic to the body, did not take place, death would quickly result.

In the writing titled Gospel Chemistry I have noted how Yahweh has placed profound parables throughout the creation. The Periodic Table of the Elements contains the core of the gospel message. Each element is identified by the number of protons, electrons, and neutrons that it contains. Carbon contains 6 electrons, 6 neutrons, and 6 protons (666). As we breathe, carbon is removed from the blood and expelled through the lungs. This signifies the removal of sin from our lives, even as carbon is black in coloration and stamped with the number 666.

In Gematria, the name of Jesus (Iesous in Greek) has a value of 888.

There is only one element on the Periodic Table that has 8 electrons, 8 neutrons, and 8 protons. That is the element oxygen. In contrast to carbon which is black, oxygen is colorless, being invisible to the sight. This is fitting as Christ is said to be “the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15). Also oxygen is essential in order to have fire. In fact, fire is defined as “rapid oxidation.” Once more this is fitting, for John declared of the Son of God that He would baptize men with fire. Christ also declared, “I have come to cast fire on the earth.” How fitting then that Yahshua is represented by oxygen.

When the body has a diminished capacity for respiration, more carbon remains in the blood stream and less oxygen reaches the members that depend upon it for the sustaining of life. Sickness is the result and the cells begin to die at an alarming rate. Death arrives prematurely.

The church today is not imbibing the life of Christ. They have substituted entertainment and lip service for true spiritual union with the Son of God. Yahshua said:

John 6:53-57
“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves... For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.”

These are spiritual words (John 6:63). Yahshua is declaring that in order to have life mankind must abide in Him, and He must abide in them. There must be a daily feeding upon the life of Christ. Even as the Israelites in the wilderness had to gather manna every morning, we must feed on Christ daily for He is the true bread that has come down out of heaven (John 6:58). We must seek Christ daily. We must pursue righteousness and abstain from every form of evil. We must surrender our will to His own. We must go where He directs and do whatever He commands. This the church has neglected to do. Consequently there is very little spiritual life in the members of the body of Christ.

The theme park known as the Land of Illusion magnifies fear. The message of this tragic parable is that Fear and Faith cannot coexist. Where Fear rules Faith must die. Christ demonstrated the antagonism between Fear and Faith in the following experience.

Matthew 8:23-26
Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him. And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep. Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, "Lord, save us! We are perishing!" But He said to them, "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?"

Following is an ad page found on the Land of Illusion website.

More Devilry Per Dollar

Land of Illusion is a one-of-a-kind experience designed to give you the time of your life. Anyone can build a haunted house, but we answered the call for something more. Our haunts will touch all your fears from clowns to cannibals to Babylonian crypts. Our rides put you in the center of the action. Our entertainment will show you what it truly means to defy death and rock you down a highway to hell.

It’s a promise, and we’re deadly serious.

One report stated that Christian Faith aspired to be a hairstylist or cosmetologist. Photos are available online of this young woman all glammed up.

Christian Faith

Another word for cosmetics is ‘make-up.’ Make-up creates an illusion. If you don’t have enough color in your face, you can add a touch of rouge or blush. Don’t have full enough eyelashes, you can wear false eyelashes, or thicken your eyelashes with mascara. Want to draw attention to your eyes, apply eye liner or eye shadow. The aim is to make yourself appear as something that you are not. Blemishes and deficiencies can be hidden, and a new image of yourself can be created.

The church is a land of illusion. It masquerades as something it is not. It puts on a face of spiritual life, but it is a sham. That natural life which results only from walking in intimate obedience with Christ on a daily basis has been forsaken. A Christ centered life has been replaced with self-focus. A surrendered will and obedience to the guidance of the Holy Spirit has been supplanted by personal ambition and self-direction. Consequently, when the members of the body of Christ meet they must all put on a show. Church services today are places where Christians play dress-up, both physically and spiritually.

An hour is at hand when Yahweh will test the church to see what she is truly made of. Many will discover too late that Christian Faith has died in the Land of Illusion.

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Mailing Address:
Joseph Herrin
P.O. Box 804
Montezuma, GA 31063