IRAQ A MESS...... TOLD YOU SO!!

IF  YOU  LOOK  BACK  FAR  ENOUGH  IN  MY  BLOGS,  OR  IT  COULD  HAVE  BEEN  IN  GENERAL  POSTS  OR  EMAILS  I  SENT  OUT..... MANY  YEARS  AGO.....

I  SAID  WHEN  THE  ALLIES  WOULD  PULL  OUT  OF  IRAQ,  THE  COUNTRY  OF  IRAQ  WOULD  GO  BACK  TO  SECTARIANISM  ..... AND  INDEED  BE  A  MESS.

I  DON'T  CLAIM  ANY  FANCY  PROPHETIC  INSIGHT  AS  SUCH  FROM  GOD,  I  SAW  WHAT  HISTORY  TELLS  YOU  ABOUT  IRAQ,  AND  WITH  NO  HITLER  TYPE  MAN  RULING  WITH  A  ROD  OF  IRON,  COMMON  SENSE  TELLS  YOU  WHAT  THE  STATE  OF  THE  IRAQ  NATION  WOULD  BE,  WHEN  THE  ALLIES  WOULD  LEAVE [I  GUESS  IN  A  SENSE  THEY  HAVE  NOT  YET  LEFT  FULLY].

THE  FOLLOWING  IS  FROM  "THE  ECONOMIST"  -  OCTOBER  2015

Iraq

One step back, two steps forward

America and Iran are competing to show which is the stronger ally in the fight against Islamic State. That should be good news for Iraq

SYRIA gets the lion's share of the world's attention, but in Iraq, after months of stalemate, the battle against Islamic State (IS) is at last hotting up. On October 7th the Iraqi army, local police and some tribal fighters, supported by both coalition and Iraqi air strikes, launched a big push to encircle and eventually retake Ramadi, the capital city of mainly Sunni Anbar province west of Baghdad which fell to is in May. As The Economist went to press, the effort to cut Ramadi off appeared nearly complete, with the 10,000-strong Iraqi force in control of the critical Albu Farraj bridge over the Euphrates and preparing to take on the 1,000 or so is fighters still left inside the city.

On October 15th around 5,000 Iraqi soldiers and armed national police working alongside 10,000 Iranian-supported Shia militia fighters (known as Hashid al-Shabi or Popular Mobilisation Units), with some help from coalition air strikes, began an assault to recapture the Baiji oil refinery. After months of inconclusive fighting, victory was declared on October 24th. The refinery, once the country's biggest, is damaged beyond repair. But since it sits halfway between Baghdad and is-occupied Mosul in the north, holding it and the nearby town is strategically vital. Control of the road south will make it harder for is to threaten Tikrit, retaken by the government in April, or to funnel reinforcements into Anbar.

These twin offensives came after several months of drift. The delay was caused by the intense summer heat and the time it is taking to reconstitute the Iraqi army after two of its divisions collapsed 18 months ago when is rampaged through northern and western Iraq, seizing Mosul, the country's second city (with a population of nearly 2m), and coming close to Baghdad.

The new push involves new tactics: big simultaneous attacks in places nearly 250km apart will stretch IS. And the deliberate division of labour between the Hashid al-Shabi militias and the government-controlled Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) may be even more significant.

Since late May, the Iranian-backed militias have been concentrating their efforts on Salahuddin province, north of Baghdad, in a more or less independent operation that keeps them away from Anbar to the west, where the prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, under pressure from the Americans, is trying to limit their role. Some Sunni tribes have linked up with the Hashid al-Shabi there, but too often when Shia fighters drive is out of Sunni areas, their main interest is in carrying out reprisals against locals suspected of collaboration.

The Americans are keen to chalk up a military success that owes nothing to Iran, and have consequently been upping the tempo of air sorties in Anbar. (The Pentagon claims about 150 in the past three weeks, mostly around Ramadi.) The Americans are also supplying armoured bulldozers to carve a path through booby-trapped defences.

In a separate operation on October 22nd American special forces joined with Kurdish peshmerga units in a daring raid to help free 69 prisoners held by is near the northern town of Hawija. The Pentagon said that the mission, which cost the life of an American soldier, was a response to intelligence received by the Kurds that the captives were about to be murdered. America's defence secretary, Ashton Carter, in testimony to Congress this week, suggested that Barack Obama's "no boots on the ground" promise was under revision. He said that American forces "won't hold back from supporting capable partners in opportunistic attacks against IS....or conducting such missions directly, whether by strikes from the air or direct action on the ground".

The stakes have become much higher since the unwelcome arrival of the Russians in Baghdad last month to establish a military intelligence "co-ordination cell" with Iran and Syria. Such is the concern in Washington about what Russia may be up to in Syria that America's most senior officer, Marine General Joe Dunford, was dispatched to Iraq on October 20th. In meetings with Mr Abadi4 and the defence minister, Khaled al-Obeidi, he warned that America could not continue its present level of military support if the Russians start carrying out air strikes of their own.

Remember who your friends are

It was a reminder to the Abadi government that the American-led coalition is the essential ally against IS. But to show Iraqis that he is wise to prefer an alliance with the Americans, what Mr Abadi most needs is a speedy and conclusive victory in Ramadi. Patrick Martin of the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think-tank, notes that the more the Iranian proxy militias succeed in Baiji without an ISF breakthrough in Ramadi "the more pressure there is on Abadi".

General Dunford appears to have been heeded. Yet many Iraqis are still disappointed about the level of America's commitment. When Mr Obama declared just over a year ago that his strategy was to "degrade and ultimately destroy" IS, the expectation in Baghdad was that he would attack the so-called caliphate far more energetically than he has.

Mr Obama accepted that it would take time "to eradicate the cancer" of IS. But he was wrong about much else, in particular his assertion that is "is a terrorist organisation, pure and simple". That IS is spectacularly brutal is not in doubt, but it also holds territory, administers it and is prepared to defend it. About 10m people live in the areas is controls, the vast majority of them in the relatively populous towns of the Sunni-majority parts of Iraq. Although is rules by fear, it also attempts to provide basic administration and rudimentary services, which some may find preferable to the malign neglect of the previous Shiadominated government in Baghdad.

Militarily, although IS uses terrorist tactics, such as suicide bombs, these are only one aspect of its formidable combat power. Mr Obama misjudged the nature of an adaptable enemy and the environment in which it operates.

The initial objective of halting the advance of IS and pushing it out of mainly Shia areas, such as Samarra, Karbala and the outskirts of Baghdad, was fairly swiftly achieved. The increasingly autonomous territory controlled by the Kurdish Regional Government, based in Erbil, looks secure too. Its peshmerga fighters have established strong defensive lines that extend across most of the multi-ethnic, oil-rich province of Kirkuk. The liberation of Jurf al-Sakhar and Tikrit also showed that Sunni towns could be retaken from IS, albeit at huge cost to the inhabitants.

But since those early gains, which saw is lose about 15% of the territory it had captured earlier in the year, an uneasy stalemate ensued. This was interrupted by the shocking loss of Ramadi in May, which scuppered over-optimistic plans, drawn up by American military advisers and the government in Baghdad, for an assault on IS in Mosul later this year.

There are now signs that the Iraqi forces are improving after their earlier woeful performance. But the government in Baghdad remains over-reliant on the Hashid al-Shabi, over which it exercises only patchy control and which have little inclination to work with Iraqi Sunnis. Attempts to create a national guard based on Sunni tribal militias in Anbar, something the Americans have been urging in the hope of establishing a second "Sunni Awakening", have collapsed. For this, blame lies with Shia power-brokers, close to the Iranians, who are undermining the efforts of the well-meaning Mr Abadi to be more inclusive. Unless the Sunni tribes can be organised into an effective fighting force, the prospect of freeing all of Anbar province from the grip of is will remain remote.

Too soft on Iran

America has not only failed to push Baghdad to engage constructively with the An-bari tribes. Some say it has also ceded too much sway to Iran, which has provided military assistance more rapidly and wholeheartedly than the coalition. Many people suspect that Mr Obama was reluctant to push back hard against Iranian influence in Iraq for fear of derailing his nuclear negotiations with Tehran.

That may now be changing, if only gradually. Yet without a less risk-averse American train-and-assist mission to improve Iraq's security forces and a much more aggressive air campaign, there is still a danger that people will accept the status quo. That implies accepting that Iraq has no future as a unitary state—an outcome that would suit both Iran and IS.

There are about 3,500 American military trainers in Iraq but, under Mr Obama's orders, they have been largely confined to their own bases. Among critics of America's tentative strategy for defeating is, Anthony Cordesman of the Centre for Strategic arid International Studies in Washington observes: "Generating or rebuilding forces in the rear is not enough and is an almost certain recipe for failure. New or weak forces need forward deployed teams of advisers to help them actually fight."

The Iraqis are also frustrated by restrictive rules of engagement laid down by the White House aimed at minimising the risk to civilians. Ahmed Ali, an analyst based in Iraqi Kurdistan, argues that "the current rules have...hampered ground forces from being more effective". Mr Martin says it is vital to have American forward air controllers to direct strikes on IS targets. Mr Cordesman describes the air campaign so far as "weak". A more aggressive one could boost Iraqi morale, destroy key is units in Iraq and Syria and give Iraqi forces time to rebuild their strength, he argues. This may at last be happening. General Dunford said this week he was now open to embedding American troops with Iraqi combat forces to help provide them with intelligence and to direct air strikes and artillery fire.

Doubts will linger about whether Mr Obama has the will to succeed in Iraq. But something is shifting and it is not too late. A less cautious coalition effort would also bolster Mr Abadi, who needs all the help he can get. Convincing Iraq's Sunnis that Baghdad genuinely cares about their fate and wants them to remain part of Iraq is the only way to defeat is in the long term. Iraq is still a mess, but unlike, Syria, it is not yet beyond salvation. ■

……….

DO THIS DAILY....RISK POOR HEALTH....Dr. Mercola

Seated Aerobic and Strength Training Exercises for Those with Limited Mobility

December 04, 2015

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By Dr. Mercola 

Sitting for extended periods of time is an independent risk factor for poor health. Even if you are very fit, sitting all day can increase your risk for disease. I often recommend that seniors safely incorporate some high-intensity exercise and strength training into their weekly regimen. 

I also strongly urge everyone — regardless of age and fitness level — to stand up and walk as much as possible, to avoid the health hazards associated with chronic sitting.

However, many are simply too old, frail, or disabled to even consider a high intensity program. Some cannot even stand. So what are the wheelchair bound supposed to do? Don't resign yourself to doing nothing! This article is for you.

I believe it's never too late to start exercising. My mother didn't start working out until she was 74 years old, and while she was initially hesitant, she now loves her workouts and has gained significant benefits in the years since. 

One Caveat — Don't Limit Yourself to Seated Exercises Unless You Have No Other Choice

It's important to begin with exercises suited to your current level of fitness and physical ability. Regardless of your starting point, you CAN improve.

At the end of this article, you'll find one inspiring example of a disabled veteran who went from being unable to walk unaided, to regaining full mobility and even being able to run.

If you're disabled or paralyzed, you have no choice but to do seated exercises. But most people can stand, and if you can, then that's what you need to do — as much as possible.

Recent studies show that standing greater than six hours a day reduces your risk of obesity by 30 percent and if you stand more than 12 hours a day it is reduced by 60 percent.

So let's be clear that these exercises are not a substitute for standing, provided you can stand. Unless you're wheelchair bound, consider low-impact exercises to start, such as Tai Chi, yoga, walking (which can incrementally be turned into a higher intensity exercise), and water workouts, for example.

That said, let's take a look at how you can get more movement into your life even if you're confined to a wheelchair, or otherwise severely limited in your ability to stand.

What Types of Exercises Are Recommended If You Have Limited Mobility?

For starters, what types of exercises can a person with limited mobility actually do? As noted in an excellent article¹ by HelpGuide.org, even those with severe restrictions in their mobility should consider incorporating the following types of exercises.

• Cardiovascular exercises. This includes any movement that raises your heart rate and increases endurance. If you cannot stand, water exercises can be an option.
But even if you're confined to a wheelchair, there are ways to get a cardiovascular workout. The video featured at the very end of this article shows just how active a wheelchair-bound person can be, provided you're not further restricted by age and frailness.
• Strength training exercises. This involves strengthening your muscles and bones using weights or other resistance-type exercises. Strength training is important for improving balance and stability.
If you have limited lower body mobility, you can still perform exercises to strengthen your upper body, including your core, back, arms, and shoulders. Provided you're not paralyzed, you can also strengthen your lower extremities with seated exercises.
• Flexibility exercises are important for range of motion, and can help reduce pain and stiffness. These may include stretching exercises, either seated or on the floor, and chair yoga. Tai Chi can also be modified and adapted to be done while seated.

If your mobility is limited due to extreme fatigue or a painful condition such as rheumatoid arthritis, please know that both aerobic and strength training exercises can be very helpful for such conditions.²

As noted in A Woman's Health:³

"Though patients may be concerned that exercise will encourage joint deterioration or cause increased pain, the experience of participants in one study reveals that exercise programs designed specifically for RA patients do not increase disease activity ...

[T]he information gathered to date shows that 'there is a proven direct benefit from exercise to joint health and an indirect benefit to patients related to cardiovascular, weight, and overall mental and physical health.'"

Basic Tips and Tools to Get You Started

Here are some basic tips and tools you'll need to perform the seated exercises featured in this article:

• A stable armless chair to sit in. Make sure it doesn't have wheels or slide easily, unless the exercise actually calls for a chair with wheels
• A resistance band, two Frisbee rings or small (child sized) hula hoops, and hand weights of suitable weight based on your current strength
• Optional items you may want if and when you're ready to increase the difficulty of the exercise: an exercise ball, wrist, and/or ankle weights
• Remember to maintain good posture throughout each exercise, and engage your core by imagining your sternum moving back towards your spine
• If you are frail and/or have poor balance, be sure to perform any and all exercises with supervision and/or assistance

Three 'Seated Dance' Workouts for Those with Limited Mobility

If you're wheelchair bound, be it due to age, obesity, injury, or illness, the key is to get as much of your body moving as possible.⁴

In a previous article,⁵ Beth Donovan lists a few fun aerobics exercises that helped her get moving when her 460-pound frame kept her from participating in many regular exercise activities. Her novel choices include:

1. Roller chair workout: For this exercise, you need an open, non-carpeted area, and a chair with wheels or casters. If you're in a wheelchair, it will do the job. Adding some music will make it more enjoyable. Here, all you need to do is to propel yourself around the area using your arms, legs, or both. Start at one minute, and build up.
2. Seated dancing: Select your favorite music. Sit on your bed, on a chair, or on an exercise ball (if your balance is sufficient). Here, the focus is on moving to the music in whatever way you can. Bounce up and down, wave your arms in the air, gyrate your hips, and tap your feet. To make it slightly more challenging, you can add wrist and/or ankle weights.
3. Hula hands and hips: For this, you need two Frisbee rings, small hula hoops, or Pilates rings. Place one ring around each wrist, and rotate your arms to make them spin in circles. To up the challenge, do this while sitting on an exercise ball, and rotate your hips in a figure eight pattern. Music, while optional, can make it more enjoyable.

Other Cardiovascular Chair Exercises

The three seated "dancing" exercises are examples of cardiovascular exercises that will raise your heart rate and build stamina. The video above demonstrates an entire aerobics routine, working both the upper and lower body while seated. Here are two additional suggestions not covered in that video:

• Seated high intensity resistance training: Resistance training actually offers cardiovascular benefits, so the following exercise is an excellent way to reap the benefits of high-intensity exercise even if you cannot stand up. Start by wrapping a lightweight resistance band under the seat of your chair. Holding each end, do a quick series of chest presses — flexing your arms at the elbow, pulling the band toward your shoulders.
You can start with 10 repetitions, and work your way up to about 30.
Next, do a forward press by placing the band around the back of your chair. Make sure the band is under your armpits. Again, holding the ends in your hands, sit tall, and remember to engage your abs. Start with your elbows at 90 degrees, with palms facing down. Push your arms straight out in front of you while squeezing your chest muscles. Avoid locking your elbows. Bring your arms back to starting position.
To increase the resistance, simply wrap the band around your hands to shorten it, or grasp it further back.
• Air-punching, with or without hand weights, is another simple cardio exercise that can be done either seated or standing. This exercise is also a good warm-up. Jab forward, alternating arms.
You want some speed here, so snap your arm forward as fast as you can, without fully extending your elbow joint, and then pull it back in as fast as you can. Do anywhere from 10 to 30 reps. Then, jab toward the ceiling, or as high as you can get if your upward range of motion is limited, for another 10 to 30 reps.

Three Seated Strength Training Exercises

There are as many seated strength training exercises for those with limited mobility as there are for able-bodied people. In most cases, the exercise needs only slight modification. For a list of seated strength training exercises, take a look at About.com's Seated Upper Body Workout page.⁶ It contains far more suggestions than I have room for here.

A YouTube search will also yield a number of videos demonstrating exercises for seniors and the disabled, or those unable to stand up. Here are but a few examples.

For the bicep curl, make sure you're using a weight that is appropriate for your current level of strength. If you're just starting out, a five pound dumbbell in each hand may be appropriate. You want the weight to be heavy enough that by the time you complete 10 to 12 reps, you feel like you can't keep going.

1. Sit with good posture in a chair (remember to engage your core by imagining your sternum moving back towards your spine, to stabilize your posture); one dumbbell in each hand, palms facing forward, shoulders relaxed, and elbows close to your body
2. Focusing on your bicep muscle, bend your arm at the elbows and lift the weights about ¾ of the way toward your shoulders. Avoid rotating your shoulders forward, and keep your elbows fixed at your side
3. Breathe out as you lift the weight, and breathe in as you lower them
4. Do 10 to 12 repetitions

While the bicep curl above strengthens the muscle on the front of your arm, tricep exercises focus on the backside of your upper arm — an area that tends to get flabby with age and lack of use. If either of these exercises hurt your elbows, then don't do them. As the triceps tend to be weaker than the biceps, you may want to use a lighter weight to start; maybe as light as two pounds instead of five.

1. Sit with good posture in a chair, holding a dumbbell in your right hand
2. Raise the dumbbell above your head, and stabilize your right arm by placing your left hand on your right elbow
3. Slowly bend your right elbow, lowering the dumbbell down behind your head
4. From that starting position, raise the weight toward the ceiling, and then gently lower it back down behind your head
5. Repeat 10 times, then switch arms

By strengthening your shoulders, you will improve your ability to perform most other arm movements. It can also help relieve shoulder pain. To perform an overhead dumbbell press:

• Sit with good posture; one dumbbell in each hand, with your elbows bent so the dumbbells are up by your shoulders, and palms facing forward
• From this starting position, press the dumbbells toward the ceiling and then lower back down to shoulder height. Breathe out as you raise the weights, and in as you lower them
• Repeat 10 to 12 times

An Inspirational Success Story

If limited mobility has you feeling down in the dumps, I urge you to watch this video, featuring Arthur Boorman, a disabled veteran of the Gulf War. His injuries had put him on a downward spiral for 15 years, and his doctors had told him he'd never be able to walk unassisted again.

Due to his injuries, his choices were limited when it came to exercise. But one day, he came across an article about yoga, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Not only did he rapidly start losing weight, he also gained tremendous strength, balance, and flexibility — to the point he proved his doctors' prognosis wrong by walking unaided in less than a year! Not only that, now he can RUN again. Interestingly, research⁷ shows that yoga has a beneficial impact on leptin, a hormone that plays a key role in regulating energy intake and energy expenditure, which may account for his remarkable weight loss.

It's Never Too Late to Start Exercising

Barring coma or full-body paralysis, virtually everyone can do something in terms of physical movement. So no matter where you're starting off, do start, and keep at it. One goal, depending on your situation, could be to regain your ability to stand for periods of time, and later, to walk increasing distances, as chronic sitting is associated with worsened health outcomes all around; from an increased risk of diabetes to a shortened lifespan.

But even if you're confined for a wheelchair for the rest of your life, there are lots of ways to get physically active. If you don't believe me, take a look at the following video, featuring wheelchair bound athletes practicing CrossFit Redefined, a version of CrossFit specifically aimed at those in wheelchairs.

As you can see, some of these paralyzed individuals are fitter than most able-bodied people! The take-home message is that as long as you do what you can, and keep pushing your limits little by little, you'll be amazed at how much you can improve.

.................... 

SPOTLIGHT.....movie.... SEX SCANDAL IN CATHOLIC CHURCH

THIS  EVENING  OF  DECEMBER  2ND  I  WENT  TO  SEE  THE NEW  MOVIE  OUT  CALLED  "SPOTLIGHT"  -  THE  UNCOVERING  OF  THE  HUGE  SEX  SCANDAL  IN  BOSTON,  WITHIN  THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH.

IF  YOU  THINK  THE  SEX  SCANDAL  FOR  THE  RC  CHURCH  WAS  JUST  A  BLEEP...... YOU  NEED  TO  SEE  THIS  MOVIE!!

THE  MOVIE  WILL  NOT  BE  PLAYED  EVERYWHERE,  ONLY  IN  SELECT  THEATERS.

THE  FACTS  WILL  SHOCK  YOU!!

THE  LENGTH  OF  THE  SEX  ABUSE  SCANDAL  AND  THE  COVER-UPS  IN  BOSTON  IS  SHOCKING!!

AT  THE  END  THE  WORDS  AND  INFORMATION  GIVEN  ON  THE  SCREEN  WILL  ALSO  SHOCK  YOU!!

WELL  KNOWN  ACTORS  IN  THIS  MOVIE,  WHO  DO  A  FINE  JOB  THAT  MUST  HAVE  BEEN  HARD  CONSIDERING  THE  NATURE  AND  TRUTHS  THEY  WERE  DEPICTING.
..........

TAKING ABOUT DEMONS....CHRISTIANS....SIN?

A  FRIEND  SENT  ME  THE  FOLLOWING  STATEMENTS  TO  GET  MY  REPLY

"Can demons return to the person whom they left? Yes, but this is mostly a concern for non-believers who have undergone a deliverance, and haven't accepted Jesus yet. Jesus warns the 'wicked generation' (sinners) that the demon can return with 7 even worse demons. If you are a believer though, and your deliverance has been complete (all the demons kicked out and legal rights have been broken), then this isn't a concern to you. However, if you go back and re-open the door(s) that let the demon in, you are re-welcoming him back in. But if we don't go back and re-punch that hole in our hedge again, we don't have have to go around worrying about it returning."

***Would agree here

"Who are we supposed to cast demons out of? Although it is possible and sometimes beneficial to cast demons out of unbelievers, the deliverance ministry is geared towards believers for a number of reasons. For one, it's part of the new covenant, which does not apply to unbelievers. Second, without Christ, you cannot remove the legal grounds the demon has in a person, therefore the problem hasn't been solved, it's only been stirred up. Third, Jesus warned that if you cast demons out of an unbeliever (sinner, wicked generation), it will come back with 7 more even worse demons and the man will be far worse then before (Matthew 12:43-45). I believe there are times when it is helpful to cast demons out of unbelievers, but that's not the focus of this ministry, Jesus said that this is children's bread (Matthew 15:26) and it is geared towards setting the believers free from demonic bondage."

***If something is not put into the void of "now no demons" then yes the demons can return.  So it is of little use if a demon/s are cast out and the individual is not brought to see the void must be filled up with the things of God. So yes the main purpose of say having the gift to cast out demons, is to bring the individual to now fill up on things of God. Maybe in the case of little children the one with the gift of casting out the demon/s would also have to power to say, "And do not return." Children can then learn to move towards God's word and way of life.

"How can a demon dwell within a believer who has the Holy Spirit? Many believe that anybody who has the Holy Spirit is immune from demonic bondage. This theology usually stems from a faulty belief that the soul (mind) and the spirit are the same things. The moment we are born again, our spirits are reborn and the Holy Spirit is united with our spirit. The soul (mind) of a man is not instantly reborn as the spirit is, but rather we are told to be transformed by the renewing of our minds, which doesn't happen instantly. Our souls is where the dirt lies, and where the demons dwell, not our spirits. Therefore, there is no reason left to believe that a Christian is immune from demonic bondage, because their souls are usually on the dirty side until they are renewed over time. 

***Really  bad  theology  here.  The  human  individual,  is  made  up  of  the  physical  body  as  a  whole;  the  blood  that  gives [with air and food and drink]  life  to  the  physical  body;  the  human  brain;  and  "the spirit in man"  which  is  from  God  and  united  with  our  brain,  to  give  us  unique  living,  different  from  any  animal.

The  subject  of  being  "born again"  is  obviously  not  understood  correctly  by  the  writer.  On  conversion  the  Spirit  of  God  unites  with  "the spirit in man"  and  the  person  becomes  a  child  of  God,  but  human  nature  is  not  destroyed,  the  pulls  of  the  flesh  can  still  pull.

If the soul and the spirit were the same things, you would instantly be a perfect person, never to sin again, once you are born again. 

***Bad  theology.  The soul is life in the blood; the "spirit in man" is separate,  and  works  with  the  brain.  You  do  not  become  perfect  and  never  able  to  sin  again  when  converted  [author  calls  it  "born again" - a Protestant fundamentalist  phrase  not  understood  by  them];  on  God's Spirit uniting with our "spirit in man" and the brain,  we  become  converted,  but  can  still  sin;  human  nature  and  Satan/demons  do  not  become  extinct,  at  our  conversion,  hence  we  can  still  sin  under  temptations.

There would be no 'evil' left in you, no desires to do wrong, and you would hate it bitterly because you would be perfect in your mind/soul and united with God, therefore there would be no room to sin. 

***Again, mixing up the wrong ideas on body, soul, spirit.  All  fully  explained  in  detail  on  my  website  under  "Death...then What?"  and  other  related  studies.  You  will  never  be  perfect  until  the  resurrection  day  at  Christ's  coming.  Until  then,  even  with  the  Spirit  of  God  united  with  the  "spirit  in  man"  you  can  still  sin.  See  1 John 1 and  into  chapter 2.

In John 8:31-34, Jesus tells us that even though they were believers, they were held slaves to sin because they were ignorant of the truth; 

***Technically  the  Jews  Jesus  was  speaking  to,  just  had  a  form  of  "belief"  in  Him,  as  He  spoke  a  few  sentences  later,  they  were  still  wanting  to  kill  Him.  Context  reading  is  so  often  ignored  and  so  leads  to  many  false  ideas.

this proves that Christians can be in bondage to darkness. 

***Other Bible NT verses show indeed a Christian can sin [Rom. 7 for starters] -  they  can  come  under  darkness  and  sin,  back  to  1 John  1  and  2.  again.

If a demon can affect our minds (souls), 

*** The "soul"  is  not  the  mind  per  se..... wrong  theology.

they can do an awfully lot of damage. Look at what mental illness can do to people through affecting the mind! 

***Mental  illness  should  not  be  automatically  associated  with  demons.  Parts  of  the  brain  can  often  "miss-fire"  -  not  run  in  a  smooth  connected  manner,  and  so  produce  mental  sickness.

They can cause the person to have unspeakable desires, thoughts, emotions, and do unthinkable things!"

***The  demons  are  still  out  there  in  the  Christian  world;  they  do  not  disappear  on  conversion.  So  yes  they  influence  you,  try  to  tempt  you  like  Satan  did  to  Jesus  in  the  40  days  wilderness  fasting  He  did.

And  as  He  said  to  Peter  once,  "Get  behind  me  Satan,  you  speak  not  the  things  of  God."  Full  demon  possession  for  a  Christian  would  mean  walking  away  from  God,  stopping  the  uniting  of  God's  Spirit  with  the  "spirit in man" - becoming UN-converted.

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