Spiritual warfare is not a fringe idea tucked away in obscure passages of Scripture. It is a present reality that plays out in pulpits, prayer meetings and sanctuaries every week. The Bible warns that the enemy disguises himself and seeks to infiltrate what God is building.
In an era when many churches avoid hard conversations about the supernatural, one pastor is sounding a direct and urgent alarm.
In a recent message, Pastor Vlad Savchuk of HungryGen Ministries did not soften his words. “The truth about witches in your church,” Savchuk began. “What if I told you not everyone who sits in the church is there to worship Jesus?” He made clear the goal is not paranoia or a “witch hunt in the body of Christ,” but the restoration of something he believes has been neglected. “We don’t wrestle against flesh and blood,” he said. “We do wrestle against spiritual powers.”
Savchuk outlined five warning signs of what he calls occultic influence operating inside churches. He repeatedly emphasized that these are patterns of behavior and fruit, not quick labels to assign to struggling believers.
1. Drawn to Power, Not God’s Presence
The first sign, Savchuk said, is a fixation on power rather than intimacy with God.
“They don’t love Jesus, they love power,” he said.
He described an obsession with manifestations but not with the fruit of the Spirit or transformation. Such individuals are “interested in codes and secrets, especially revelations, but they’re not interested in Scripture.” They seek influence and proximity to leaders and prayer teams.
Savchuk pointed to Simon the sorcerer in Acts 8 who “saw power and wanted to buy it.” He challenged viewers with a diagnostic question: “Does this person hunger for holiness or do they hunger for control and power?”
He clarified that Christians should desire God’s power, but said, “Our main hunger is for the presence.” When the pursuit of influence eclipses the pursuit of righteousness, he warned, that is a red flag.
2. Resist Repentance but Crave Platform
The second sign involves a refusal to repent combined with a strong desire for visibility and authority.
“When the word is preached, broken people repent,” Savchuk said. “Often occultic influence reacts to the word of God when it’s preached with irritation when conviction is present, offense when correction is given, anger when they are confronted and refusal to submit to leadership or any sort of accountability.”
He described a pattern where individuals “still want to be seen. They still want to lead and they still want access,” but resist correction.
“Witchcraft and the occult will never submit and they will never correct their behavior when they’re confronted, and repentance is not on the radar,” he said. “Control is, influence is and access is.”
Savchuk warned that authority without accountability is dangerous in any church environment.
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3. Operate Through Whispering and Division
Savchuk’s third sign centers on division sown through subtle conversation.
“Dark demonic influence loves to plant seeds,” he said. Those seeds often sound like, “Did you hear what the pastor said?” or “God showed me something about them,” and he noted, “It’s always destructive.”
Rather than confronting issues biblically, he said such individuals “will recruit emotionally.” They “don’t bring solutions. They always bring suspicions.”
Savchuk warned that if the enemy cannot stop a church with persecution, “he will seek to stop the church with division.” Whispering campaigns and emotional alliances can quietly fracture a congregation from within.
4. Attach to Spiritual Leaders and Intercessors
The fourth sign is an unusual desire for proximity to leadership and spiritually sensitive areas of the church.
Referencing Acts 16, Savchuk noted that the demonized girl “didn’t follow just any Christian. She followed Paul.” He described this as “close proximity.”
“Occultic influence comes to monitor what God is doing, gather information and intimidate sensitive people,” he said.
Such individuals may show heightened interest in “who is on the worship team, who is on the deliverance team, what the pastor is planning and who has the influence.” He warned that the motive is not love for the church but “they love leverage and they love that access.”
“Not everybody who says, ‘These are the servants of the Most High God,’ the source is God,” Savchuk said. Leaders must practice discernment even when the language sounds spiritual.
5. A Spiritual Cloud of Confusion or Heaviness
The fifth sign is more atmospheric but no less serious.
“There is usually a spiritual cloud around this person,” Savchuk said, describing confusion, heaviness and intimidation.
“When occultic influence is near, you will notice sudden mental fog during worship or around that person,” he said. He also described “heaviness and distraction around the time when it’s a time to go to the altar” and fear that seems to paralyze the room.
He cautioned that “not every strange moment is a witch. Not every manifestation is demonic.” However, he drew a firm line: “Things that constantly induce confusion, fear, control and distractions from Christ, that is a red flag because the Holy Spirit exalts Jesus. He doesn’t distract us from Jesus.”
Savchuk urged churches not to panic or accuse recklessly. “If you start labeling people witch without evidence, you actually become a weapon in the hands of the enemy,” he said. Discernment, he added, is patient and rooted in love. Confrontation should involve leadership, documentation of patterns and a goal of repentance and deliverance, not humiliation.
This is not light subject matter. Scripture repeatedly warns that darkness attempts to infiltrate what God is building. Savchuk’s message is a reminder that spiritual warfare is not theoretical. It is active. Churches that neglect discernment risk becoming vulnerable to manipulation and division. But congregations grounded in prayer, holiness and the Word of God need not fear.
As Savchuk put it, when the church is full of God’s presence, “witchcraft will try, but it cannot dominate the atmosphere.”
James Lasher, a seasoned writer and editor at Charisma Media, combines faith and storytelling with a background in journalism from Otterbein University and ministry experience in Guatemala and the LA Dream Center. A Marine Corps and Air Force veteran, he is the author of The Revelation of Jesus: A Common Man’s Commentary and a contributor to Charisma magazine. For interviews and media inquiries, please contact [email protected].
