Or how can one enter into the house of the strong man, and plunder his goods, unless he first bind the strong man? Then he will plunder his house.
Keys to Spiritual Warfare Victory
About this episode
Pastor and watchman Thomas McDaniels joins Philip Cameron for a raw, revelatory conversation on spiritual warfare — and why the modern church has lost its edge against demonic forces. McDaniels opens with a prophetic word he received in 1999 that he says he has never before made public: "The demons are gonna go underground for the next 20 years so that the church will not be prepared for what is coming." That warning, he argues, has played out with alarming precision across American Christianity. Drawing on 37 years of pastoral ministry, McDaniels traces how the church shifted from pre-service intercession and regular deliverance to coffee bars and casual conversation — and why that shift matters spiritually. He references Jude's call to "contend for the faith once delivered to all the saints" and Matthew 12:29 on binding the strong man, challenging believers to recover both the theology and the tactics of kingdom warfare. "We are failing to turn our experiences into experience," he warns, urging pastors to stop blaming circumstances and start learning God's battle strategy. McDaniels also hosts the Day Maker daily devotional, now broadcasting live five days a week on Facebook. Pastors and leaders can connect with him at thomasmcdaniels.com. Don't miss this urgent call to spiritual readiness.
Part of our Strongholds collection of conversations.
Quotes worth sharing
“In 1999, the Lord said this sentence to me. He said, the demons are gonna go underground for the next 20 years so that the church will not be prepared for what is coming. And so I realized that the church — and he also said to me — the church would go to sleep regarding demons and true spiritual warfare. And then he said, but I will raise up watchmen to blow the trumpet and teachers to teach the army of God.”
“We are failing to turn our experiences into experience. Because our response in spiritual warfare is often entitlement more than it is learning what God is actually doing. So we blame God, or we blame the circumstances, or we blame someone else, rather than say, God, what are you trying to teach me in this battle? What is the tactic? What is the strategy?”
“I find that because the presence of God is not so prevalent in where we are as a church body, the demons don't have to manifest because they're just among us.”
What's Discussed
Pastor Thomas McDaniels, 37-year ministry veteran, founder of LifeBridge TV, and contributor to Charisma Magazine, shares a never-before-public prophetic word from 1999: that demons would go underground for 20 years to leave the church unprepared for coming spiritual battle. He recounts a dramatic encounter with a legion spirit at his Richardson, Texas church following a TBN appearance in 1996, and argues that the absence of demonic manifestations today reflects a dangerous decline in God's presence — not spiritual peace. Citing Jude and Matthew 12:29, McDaniels calls the church to recover kingdom warfare tactics, intercession, and the role of the watchman. He also promotes his Day Maker live devotional on Facebook and his website thomasmcdaniels.com.
- 1999 Prophetic Word on Demonic Strategy
- Legion Spirit Encounter in Texas Church
- Decline of Deliverance in Modern Church
- Presence of God and Demonic Manifestation
- Jude and Matthew 12:29 on Binding Strongmen
- Turning Experiences Into Battle Strategy
- Day Maker Devotional and Pastoral Resources
Scripture in this episode
Episode Transcript
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Intro
Philip:Hello, my friend. My name is Philip Cameron, and this is Daily Faith. And God has put you here for a purpose so we can talk to you about the fact that God is on your side. We have a great program today, and Daily Faith is here to let you meet some of the great men and women of God in this country.
Philip:They have a word for you. Anytime during the program you can call. Our prayer line is 1-833-Daily-Faith. And by going to that number, a real live person will pray with you and believe God with you for great things.
Philip:We are living in incredible days. I don't know if you saw today — when this program's being made, if you're watching a rerun, which most folk finally catch on reruns — but today they're having a big deal up in Washington, DC about all the new things they've discovered with Hunter Biden and stuff.
Philip:And this country is a mess. This country is being torn apart by all these different elements. And this nation needs an old-fashioned Holy Ghost revival. Up to now, God's never failed. He has always showed up, and I'm believing that God is going to show up. If you know the program, have you ever watched the program? We do Daily Faith. We travel across this country and speak in churches almost every weekend.
Philip:But my passion, the thing that gets me up in the morning and keeps me up at night most of the time, is the mission outreach that we started 34 years ago. I was living in America, on all the major TV programs, and written one book on household salvation — that's one of my favorite subjects to preach about. And that book had sold 300,000 copies. And I was sitting in my mid-thirties.
Philip:I was set. Everything I'd wanted in my life, my dreams had already come true at 35, 36 years of age. And one day the phone rang. It was my dad, and he'd been sick with cancer. The wound had opened. He was a terrible mess. And all he could do was sit with a body brace on, trying to keep this wound from tearing more on his back.
Philip:And he was watching the news, and Romania had a revolution. I don't know if you remember that great sweep of freedom that came across all the way across Eastern Europe when the Berlin Wall fell and all that stuff. And when they discovered Romania, my dad was horrified to find out that they were discovering little orphans — thousands of these orphans in these orphanages.
Philip:And he called me one day out of the blue, and I was sitting, and he says, our babies are dying. And I says, what are you talking about? He says, I'm watching the BBC and the BBC's showing us babies that are in these orphanages. He says, what's your plan? My dad had a motto — if ever he got a plan, I got woof. I was the one that he would come and ask to help. And I said, dad, I'm not doing anything.
Philip:The Red Cross does that kind of stuff. Leave me alone. Next day he called again, and the next day he called again, and I said, look, you're sick. I'm busy. Leave this thing alone. And on the fourth day he says, if you don't go, I'm gonna go by myself. And if I die on the way, it's your fault.
Philip:And that is how I was introduced to Romania. And went there with him and walked into this orphanage — orphanage number two in Timișoara — and walked around this place, a couple hundred kids starving, just unbelievable. Went upstairs, salon number five on the door.
Philip:I can see it as I'm talking to you. Walked into this room with about 30 kids in it. Rows and rows of metal, lead-painted cribs. No sheets or blankets, just horsehair mattresses. And the kids were all covered in their own waste.
Philip:And in the middle of this hall, a wee boy was standing. And he looked at me and the Holy Ghost spoke as clear as I'm talking to you. And he says, that's your son. And I went over and I picked him up and I said, I don't know who you are, and I don't know who you came from, but I promise you this, I'll never forget you. And for the next year I kept going back every few weeks and holding this baby in my arms and walking with him.
Philip:And he didn't speak English and I sure didn't speak Romanian. And I discovered they didn't have any toilets in the place. So I put in the toilets. I replaced the cribs. The roof leaked and I fixed the roof. And they had no drainage, so I had to put in the sewage lines because there were no sewage lines. It took a year to adopt him. And that year, God broke my heart for these kids.
Philip:And we've been there over 200 times since then. We went from there to Moldova and we built a bunch of orphanages for people there, provided vans. And one day we put 391 windows in the largest orphanage in all of Moldova, in a town called Strășeni. And at the end of this building project that we had, the director took me outside and there were 18 girls at a park bench.
Philip:And my wife and I stood there and he says, they're all finished. I says, what? What do you mean they're finished? He says, they're done. They're finished. They're done. I says, what are you talking about? And that's when I discovered that at those days, at 16, a girl was put on the street and traffickers got them.
Philip:And we began to build homes. And today we have the most beautiful village called Vatra Village. It is stunning. It's right beside the biggest lake in Moldova. It was built for rich people, and they poisoned the lake with chlorine trying to kill algae. And this project fell apart, and we bought these unfinished homes, and we've been working on them and finished every one of them.
Philip:And every one of these houses are filled with young people. Instead of being put on the street, they come to us and we reintroduce them to education. We put them back in school. Last September, one of our girls became a doctor. Several have become lawyers, counselors. I mean, tremendous things that these kids are doing. But most importantly, these kids, when they find Jesus, become missionaries.
Philip:And we often say they turn from orphans to sons and daughters, and from sons and daughters to missionaries. And we have been working this last year when the war broke out in Ukraine, the next country to us. We also have had a home in Ukraine for six years. And we keep kids there, and at the moment we've taken them out of Odessa and they're in Moldova at Vatra Village for safety.
Philip:So we've been working there long before the war broke out. We were there. But when the war broke out, our kids became the most unbelievable missionaries. They cooked and worked night and day to give out food to thousands and hundreds of thousands of refugees that flooded into Moldova. And they just sent us this — this work continues. It hasn't stopped.
Philip:A lot of other organizations came in for a few weeks and then left. Got the video they wanted, got the photographs they wanted, and went away. Our kids are still there, still caring, still loving, still feeding. And they just sent me a video the other day. Now, understand, all the kids you've seen in this video were once orphans, and they made the video. These kids make this video.
Philip:The girl's voice you hear on it is Jasco. She's one of the house parents. And this is them giving out some of the 15,000 coats that we have sent over there in the last several months. Watch these kids — orphans — being God's hand extended. This'll bless you.
Despair, lived one day at a time, takes an eternity. As we hear, live our blessed life. Can you imagine leaving an existence that threatens to kill you every second, every minute, every hour, every day? The wails of sirens, warning of missiles all through the night, causes every nerve in your body to scream.
There is no water, no power, no heat. The village as you remember it no longer exists. The streets and homes only survive in your mind. The menfolk are all gone — alive or dead, you don't know. Fear is your neighbor, the guest at every meal, your bedfellow every night.
The young men and women from Moldova have come. They tell us there are new coats and other things. Why do they care? Why have they come to hell? We'll go and see if what we heard is true.
Grace is waiting. Kindness and love. A moment to smile. The strangeness of a hug. It's true. They are here, waiting for us in the middle of darkness. The love of God meets the broken, and hope is born again.
Philip:We need your help to continue this work. This is way bigger than us. We're a small organization that thinks we're a big one. We're acting like we're a big organization. You can help us today by giving a gift of any kind, any size. As I'm sitting right now, about 50 feet from where I'm sitting in the studio, we have a whole container of clothes waiting to go to Ukraine. And today, that needs to be given out in the war zone that you just saw.
Philip:And it takes about $10,000 just for the shipping costs — nothing else, just the shipping costs. Whatever you can do helps us. You can make a check out to The Orphan's Hands, PO Box 25, Clinton, Tennessee, 37716. If you go to dailyfaith.tv, you can make a gift. There's a giving page there. Or you can call 1-833-Daily-Faith.
Philip:And someone live — a real live person — is waiting to receive your gift. God can use you today to be his hand extended. You can preach the gospel to someone that's starving. You can preach the gospel to someone that has lost everything they possess, by caring for them and showing God's love first. That opens their heart to receive the truth of the gospel. So please help us make a difference in these folks' lives.
Philip:And God will — I promise you this — the Bible says if you give to the poor, you lend to the Lord. And that's a way that God will give back into your life, pressed down, shaken together, and running over. My guest today is a real blessing in my life, and I know he is gonna bless you. Thomas McDaniels is a husband, pastor, dad, and grandfather. He's also a public speaker. He's written for church leaders and writes for Charisma News and Charisma Magazine. And he's the founder of LifeBridge TV, and he's taken the time out from a very, very hectic and crazy schedule to be with us today. Tom, thank you for being with us. God bless you. How are you doing?
Thomas McDaniels:I'm blessed. Thank you, Philip. Honored to be with you today. And just love the video and the content you're putting out there. It's just amazing stuff. Heart-touching. I love the work you guys do. It's just phenomenal. It's amazing.
Thomas McDaniels:We are living in amazing times, and people are looking for a word from the Lord. We need more than just some advice from an advice columnist, right? We need God to speak into our lives. And what is the Lord showing you as you're watching what's unfolding in our country right now?
Thomas McDaniels:You know, I have a word for you. I want to challenge those that are watching to give. And I want to give a gift myself today. And I want to challenge others to give. I don't know whether I should say the amount or not, but I want you to give a significant gift to Daily Faith TV for the work that they're doing and the difference they're making. They are on the front — literally the front line of war. So let's make a difference. I challenge you to give a gift to them today. And I will give my gift after our time together.
1999 Prophetic Word on Demonic Strategy
Thomas McDaniels:So please do that. With that, Philip, I'm gonna start like this. In 1999, the Lord told me — and this is the first time I've actually made this public other than in my own personal church. I haven't written about it. I haven't talked about it. I wrote for Fox News for a few months, and even there I didn't write about this thought. But in 1999, the Lord said this sentence to me. He said, the demons are gonna go underground for the next 20 years so that the church will not be prepared for what is coming.
Thomas McDaniels:And so I realized that the church — and he also said to me — the church would go to sleep regarding demons and true spiritual warfare. And then he said, but I will raise up watchmen to blow the trumpet and teachers to teach the army of God. And so I realized that, you know, 20 years later — this was late 1999 — we had, of course, the last three years, what they've been like.
Thomas McDaniels:But I realize that in those 20 years up to 1999, even in the local church I was in, we were regularly casting out demons. We were regularly dealing with demonic spirits, demonic oppression, all these things. And it was almost like — and I don't know whether because I received the word it happened — but it was almost like literally, I haven't cast a demon out in a church since before 1999.
Thomas McDaniels:Or in counseling now. And I've been on the front lines. In 1996, I was on TBN on the international program. The next day at my church — after I'd been a guest on TBN — my church in Richardson, Texas at that time, a full-blown legion spirit showed up at our church. I was leading worship at the time, and literally this man that was in the audience — I'd led worship, I stepped off the stage, I went up to him. He was a man. He had long blonde hair, a very unusual-looking individual.
Legion Spirit Encounter in Texas Church
Thomas McDaniels:When I walked up to him to shake his hand, like every pastor would do, he said, I know who you are. And Philip, this is a true story. He levitated in our church, spat blood to the ceiling — a 40-foot ceiling in the church — spat blood out of his mouth all the way to the ceiling. This was in front of the whole church.
Thomas McDaniels:I had everyone removed except the elders and myself. And we literally ministered to this man for several hours. And I ministered to him for several months and never did get the demons out of him. And so I'm saying that to say I've had firsthand experience. And that's just one experience. I have had principalities and powers in front of me because we walked the city and walked the boundaries.
Thomas McDaniels:And so I'm saying this to say, the church today is just not prepared for what we're in front of, although the Holy Spirit and God is going to prepare us. But I do think we need watchmen like you on the wall, people on the front lines, and people that are equipped to deal. I don't think the average church is ready to deal with principalities and powers, even in our prayer life, even in our spirit life.
Philip:As you just said just now, you're exactly right. I remember growing up in the church and we were continually confronting demons. And you're exactly right. You've just refreshed my memory. I can't remember the last time that there was a manifestation of a demon. I saw one at the Asbury Revival that was well publicized. But it seems as if that part of the ministry of the church has gone quiet.
Decline of Deliverance in Modern Church
Thomas McDaniels:You know, Philip, I think there are two things to think about. I think the first one is the presence of God. The demons that manifested at Jesus — and by the way, none of this is on my notes — the demons that manifested at Jesus was because of who he was, because of his presence and because of what he carried and who he was. I think when we have shifted church — I remember being raised in the church in the early eighties, the nineties — we had pre-service prayer and intercession and praying in the Spirit. Nowadays we have coffee and lattes and we talk about football.
Thomas McDaniels:And again, I'm not — I love the church, by the way. I'm a pastor. I have been a pastor for 37 years. I love church people. I love pastors. I love ministry. I love serving God. And I'm a Holy Ghost guy. I'm pretty practical in application when it comes to church. I follow the scripture, but I'm radical in my beliefs. And I follow the Holy Spirit every day of my life.
Thomas McDaniels:But I find that because the presence of God is not so prevalent in where we are as a church body, the demons don't have to manifest because they're just among us. I hate to even say that. And I'm not a demon guy. I'm very balanced. I'm a Holy Spirit guy. I've got a master's degree. I'm not a Pentecostal idiot. I truly am not. And I think that the church today, we have to get back.
Presence of God and Demonic Manifestation
Thomas McDaniels:I think we know how to be — we're not citizens of this world, but we are kingdom soldiers on this earth. And we have missed that. We have forgotten that we have a job. We are enforcers of what Jesus empowered us to do. Jesus gave us authority and power. He gave us the ability to deal with the enemy in a way that we can handle. Let me use the scripture. Jude says, beloved, although I was eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once delivered to all the saints.
Jude and Matthew 12:29 on Binding Strongmen
Thomas McDaniels:And then Matthew 12:29 — and this is where my heart's at — how can someone enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods unless he first binds the strong man? When I say that, I don't know that the church knows how to do that anymore. We're so — I think that we think worship alone does it without a prayer closet. I don't think that we know. The Bible says in Ephesians, the church is to declare to the principalities and powers regarding the kingdom of God.
Thomas McDaniels:So my point is this is our job. We are soldiers in the army of God. We are not on a cruise ship. We're on a battleship. You've heard that. I believe that with all my heart. The local church — and even the churches that I attend, and I go to a lot of churches because I travel and speak, and I attend churches when I'm not speaking just to go — I've attended three separate churches besides my own in the last six weeks. And they are more like — dare we say, dare we say — country club.
Thomas McDaniels:And that is a sad thing. It's a sad thing for us, but it's also a sad thing for the kingdom of God and where we are going. So I wanted to talk a little bit — we don't have much time — but I wanted to talk about just a few things about battle. And here's what I do believe in all this. I do believe that Ukraine and Russia and that war is first in the natural of what is already here in the spiritual.
Thomas McDaniels:And I believe that battle — and I believe you could write the book on this, Philip, I'm looking at my monitor — I believe you could write the book on this. What is happening there is a sign of what's gonna happen in the spirit realm, and learning those battle strategies. Because in the kingdom, every enemy has a tactic and a strategy. And every battle has something for us to learn, every battle we face in every line.
Turning Experiences Into Battle Strategy
Thomas McDaniels:And one of the things I love to say is, we are failing to turn our experiences into experience.
Philip:Say that again.
Thomas McDaniels:We are failing to turn our experiences into experience. Because our response in spiritual warfare is often entitlement more than it is learning what God is actually doing. So we blame God, or we blame the circumstances, or we blame someone else, rather than say, God, what are you trying to teach me in this battle? What is the tactic? What is the strategy?
Thomas McDaniels:You know, when you look at David, he did something so unconventional. He went into a battle — we don't have to preach that at all because we know the story. He went into that battle. The administration didn't believe in him. Saul didn't believe he could win the battle. He did the most unconventional thing. But what he did was he had tactic and skill. And I'm afraid, Philip, that the church today in our battles, we are going more for the promises and the prosperity more than we are to learn the warfare strategy so that we can take the land.
Thomas McDaniels:And I'm really dealing with this whole watchman thing. I don't even want to be a watchman, to be honest. I don't want the responsibility. I sat in my recliner last night with my wife, and I said, you know, honey, the Lord just won't leave me alone with it. But I think that in the kingdom, we have forgotten to learn that these battles that we go through, they are to teach us strategies to win the battles that are coming.
Thomas McDaniels:And I think the enemy did go underground. I know that to be a fact. He went underground so that we would not know how to deal with him.
Philip:When you just said that a few minutes ago, I mean, I'm in church all the time. I live in church. And you're exactly right. We went from being a church where the demons couldn't sit in the presence of God, and now we've become so into teaching — almost like psychologists trying to teach the church how to be better. And unless there's a transformation. And what's really crazy, Tom — you don't know this — but Neil Kennedy was on here just a few days ago, and he was talking about demons. So this is the second subject we've had in two programs on the same thing.
Philip:And I do recognize, and I see this happening in America, I believe that what's happening in this country is a full-out demonic outpouring and attack on America. If they can get America to fall, there's nowhere else to go. I came from Scotland to America because of hope and faith. If America fails, there's nowhere else to go. Listen, I need to have you back to do this subject more justice. We've got a minute left.
Philip:I want those that are watching — let me give you Tom's website so you can get in contact with him. It's www.thomasmcdaniels.com. And if that was Mac instead of Mc, it would be a Scotsman. But with it being an Mc, it means he's an Irishman. But we'll love him anyway. thomasmcdaniels.com — that's the information right there.
Day Maker Devotional and Pastoral Resources
Philip:If you are a pastor that's struggling against demonic activity in your church and you don't know what to do next, there is a strategy. Jesus says, this kind comes out by prayer and fasting. And we've got 30 seconds left. Give us one more — you've gotta tell us about your podcast called Day Maker. Let's focus on that.
Thomas McDaniels:You know, Philip, I'm doing Day Maker now on live. I'm doing Live Day Maker on Facebook instead of the podcast. So I'm doing five days a week on Day Maker. I do an eight to ten minute — what I call Day Maker — to make your day better. And it's very biblical, spiritually. It's Jesus-focused and kingdom-focused, but yet it has some practicality. Today I did one on emotions, on how to deal with your emotions and let the Holy Spirit govern your life.
Thomas McDaniels:Day Maker is on Facebook now. Love to have you there. My Facebook is Thomas McDaniels — very easy to find. And I'm traveling and speaking. Love to come wherever you need me to come. So God bless you. Thank you. I'm honored to be here.
Philip:A pastor can contact you right now at thomasmcdaniels.com. I think there are a lot of pastors that have watched this program today and said, ooh, here's someone talking about demonic activity. And we are in a time of demonic activity. We've taken the bumper at the end off the program. We've got a minute left. Could you just say a short prayer before we go to a hard end for us?
Thomas McDaniels:Yes, I'd love to. Father God, thank you. In the name of Jesus, Lord, for your wisdom and your revelation. You said that the eyes of our understanding would be open and enlightened and we would know the hope of your glory and your inheritance in the saints. God, thank you for giving us tactic, strategy, and skill to deal with the enemy again, so that we can tear down the principalities and powers over our cities and over our nations. God, raise up your men with revelation and understanding. Open our eyes that we can see. I pray for every pastor and every Christian leader. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Philip:Amen. Thank you so much for being with us. You've stirred and focused my mind. And we're gonna be talking more about this. You gotta come back. Listen, thank you for being part of Daily Faith today. Wherever you're watching us, please pray for our ministry in Ukraine and also the outreach we're doing right now in Turkey. Every member fits the joint together for the kingdom of God's sake. You're important. We need you. Thank you for watching Daily Faith. We'll see you again. Bye-bye.
Common questions
What did Thomas McDaniels say God told him back in 1999 about demons and the church?
McDaniels says that in 1999, the Lord told him the demons would go underground for the next 20 years so the church would not be prepared for what was coming. He also said God told him the church would fall asleep regarding demons and true spiritual warfare, but that He would raise up watchmen and teachers to equip the army of God.
Why does Thomas McDaniels think demonic manifestations have become so rare in churches today?
McDaniels believes it comes down to the presence of God. He points out that demons manifested around Jesus because of who He was and what He carried. He argues that as churches have shifted away from pre-service prayer and intercession — replacing it with coffee and casual conversation — the presence of God has become less prevalent, meaning demons no longer need to manifest because they're simply already among the congregation.
What does Thomas McDaniels mean when he says the church is 'failing to turn experiences into experience'?
McDaniels means that Christians often go through spiritual battles without extracting the lessons and strategies those battles are meant to teach. Instead of asking God what He is trying to show them, people default to blame — blaming God, circumstances, or others — and miss the tactical and strategic wisdom that each battle is designed to build.
What is Thomas McDaniels' 'Day Maker' and where can people find it?
Day Maker is a short, daily segment — about eight to ten minutes — that McDaniels does live on Facebook five days a week. He describes it as Jesus-focused and kingdom-focused but with practical application, covering topics like how to manage your emotions and let the Holy Spirit govern your life. People can find it by searching Thomas McDaniels on Facebook.
How does Thomas McDaniels describe the role of the local church when it comes to spiritual warfare?
McDaniels says the church is meant to be a battleship, not a cruise ship — soldiers in the army of God, not country club members. He argues that the church has been given authority and power by Jesus to enforce what He empowered believers to do, including binding principalities and powers, but that most local churches today are not equipped or even aware of that responsibility.
Topics
spiritual warfaremcdanielsdemonic activitywatchmanchurch readinessdeliverance ministrykingdom strategy