The Wiccan Religion: An interview with Marni Arnold

Halloween is just around the corner. Now that the 21 day study on {X}pecting God's Radical Provision is complete, I thought we could talk about something a bit different, but appropriate for this time of year. Witches. Pagans. Witchcraft. How to be a witch. These terms produce thousands, sometimes millions, of hits on google each month. The fact is, on a global level, we are fascinated with the supernatural. This fascination leads both Christians and non-Christians down dangerous paths. Yes, you heard me right; there are even Christians who are secretly practicing witchcraft. Over the next 4 days, we are going to explore this topic with two women. They have given me both their testimonies and done a Q & A session with me. I'd love to introduce you to, my friend, Marni Arnold. 

How He Loves Me by Marni Arnold

The words from John Mark Macmillan song "How He Loves" rings through my head when I'm asked how He rescued me from the miry spiritual life I was leading nearly 8 years ago as a practicing Witch.

It's a difficult question to answer, because how He rescues any of us from any area of our lives is an absolute miracle.

My story is no greater than the one who found salvation at 6 years old in a small Baptist church all because of an altar call.

My story is no greater than the alcoholic who found Christ at the bottom of the bottle and realized they needed Him more than another shot.

My story is simply one more way God simply gets to show off His glory and love. It's one that reveals that He is willing to reach down into the filthiest, most putrescent areas of life and pull out of it the brilliant gem that He needs to have reflect every facet of who He is.

It so happened He did this for me all starting the night of Dec. 21, 2002 where I found myself in the midst of my last public Pagan ritual welcoming in the season of winter. This night is burned into my memory so I will never forget His answer to the very first prayer I wholeheartedly prayed to Him.

During the ritual, I felt so disgustingly ill that all I wanted to do was throw up. I felt negativity unlike any other in my life course through my body, and my heart and mind were rejecting it with all their might. Hatred, jealousy, anger, lust...all these things went through me easily as a well sharpened blade.

Then looking upon the cold, crystal clear night sky sparking with glitter - but only seeing faint images of the brilliance due to the black swirling cloud that hovered over the ritual circle like a bad storm only made things worse - I desired to be so distinctly separate from it all. God granted my prayer immediately when I spoke in my spirit to Him, "God, get me out of here now!"

He did just that...but, He didn't let me escape consequences of my decision to be in that ritual. For five days, I was physically ill without any medical explanation. Upon my husband and I discussing the matter together, we were convinced I had indeed experienced a spiritual attack of some kind, and my body was purging the poison of it.

How God did what He did that night, I will never know...but He did it. And He continued to pursue me throughout this next year, until one night when I decided to visit a friend's Church with my husband.

We had gotten around a group of business men and women, during 2003, who were Christians - and God did some overtime on me to grab my heart. He knew I loved Christmas music, even as a young Jewish girl, and the day we visited at this Church, an invitation to a Christmas Cantata was put out to the congregation. I grabbed a hold of the invitation, and attended...and upon arriving, He began to soften my heart, prompting my spirit to meet Him up at the altar that night. I had no idea what I was really doing when I walked up...but I knew I needed to be up there.

When a woman in a choir robe came to me and asked me if I needed prayer, and I looked at her confused, her response was, " Are you ready to receive Him?" Immediately, my heart melted into the form of tears gushing from my eyes. At this moment, I embraced Him into my heart and life...and have been walking to know Him better since.

Upon walking out of the Church that night, it utterly took me by surprise when I got into my truck to call my husband to inform him of my decision when I noticed on my phone the date.

Dec. 21, 2003.

One year exactly from the date I left my last Pagan ritual like I had the weight of the world on my shoulders trying to bury me alive, He rescued me and redeemed me completely.

I couldn't have orchestrated this story any better myself even if I tried.

My life...the story He's given me to tell...is nothing but the sheer grace of His love that reached down into the vileness of all I had done, was doing, and would yet do...and pulled me out of it all. He took the weight of that cold Dec. night in 2002, along with everything else, and breathed life into me.

I'm eternally thankful to Him for that moment...and every other moment He's given me to live for Him. It's not been the easiest of journey's....but it's one I wouldn't exchange for anything.

"Marni Arnold is a happily married wife, and stay-at-home-mom to one son - whom she home schools - in Charlotte, NC. Attending Liberty University Online for her Bachelor's of Science in Religion, she is also an author whom is working on her first book and blogs at RelevantBrokenness.com. Her professional background is in EMS/Fire, and comes from a very diverse spiritual background as well. Marni enjoys reading, meeting with people over coffee, music, movies, autumn days filled with leaf tossing and laughter, as well as art, science and historical museums."