In what might be one of the most interesting stories of the week, The PRP reports that concerned Christians in Midland, TX had been holding prayer in anticipation of Ghost’s November 18 show at Wagner Noël Performing Arts Center in the city. They specifically cite the “spiritual influences” a show espousing Satan can bring.

“We’re not here to protest,” said Pastor Larry Long. “We’re just simply here to pray, to pray His protection, to plead the blood of Christ over our community. This kind of band will bring spiritual influences into this area. We’re concerned about it, because we believe the devil is real, just as we believe God is real. And people who think that’s nonsense, probably don’t believe in God or the devil. But because we believe in God, we also believe in the devil. So we believe that this is a real battle, and it’s important for us to be in prayer.”

To be clear, the religious picketers were not protesting the performance. Instead, they were simply praying.

“There’s [a] song about… What’s it called? ‘Satan’s Hammer’? Something about a hammer. And it talks about the fact that the person singing the song is seeking a relationship with the devil. And if young people go to a concert like this and they think it’s all just good fun — kind of like Halloween, so to speak — and so, ‘This is all just good fun,’ and ‘Don’t make such a big deal out of it,’ I think if they’re singing along to those lyrics, who knows what in the world they’re opening their hearts and lives up to?”

Other quotes from Long’s appearance on the radio program include the following:

“The main band leader goes by the name of Tobias; whether or not that’s his real name, who knows? And then the rest of ’em go by ‘ghoulish horde’ or something like that. Of course, you see this kind of stuff and you say, ‘Well, how much of this… Do they understand?’ I think that they understand all of it.

I think that they are doing this intentionally, and I think they really do worship the devil, because I believe… as a Christian, as a biblical Christian, I believe the devil’s real. So I imagine maybe some people listening right now would say, ‘Oh, you guys are getting overblown with this,’ and those kinds of things. Well, you would only think that if you didn’t think the devil was real.”

According to Setlist.fm, the show went on just fine.

Photo Credit: Alyssa Fried