Win Worley, Pioneer in Exorcism

by Frederick Hoehn, copyright 2012.

Win Worley was pastor of the Hegewisch Baptist Church in Highland, IN.  (near Hammond, IN)  But I think he was from Texas.  Perhaps near Mesquite, TX.

He and his wife prayed and asked the Lord to just use them however He chose.  The Lord led them into a deliverance ministry, that is, the casting out of demons (exorcism).  

I’m aware there was a movie about exorcism, or perhaps several.  But I deliberately stay away from commercial movies on the subject because I’m sure they’re not made with diligence regarding correct theology, but rather, screenwriters take liberties to try to present what would sell the most tickets.  Why worry about accurate theology?  (And the answer to that is “because God punishes liars in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone.”)  (Revelation 21:8)

So Win Worley proceeded to cast out a lot of demons from people, and wrote books about it, and held seminars at their church there, and in one or more other cities, such as Houston, TX at that church on Satsuma St., I think it was. 

Worley wrote books like “Battling the Hosts of Hell, Conquering the Hosts of Hell, Demolishing the Hosts of Hell, Abolishing the Hosts of Hell.”

I was in Houston when a lady I’d met at a prayer meeting told me about three days of meetings in Houston with Win Worley.  There was a bit of a conflict with the schedule ‘cause I was working 2nd shift at the time.  But I finally made it to the third night’s meeting.  

Worley said, “At our church in Indiana, we cast a lot of demons out of people, and most of the people we cast demons out of are Christians.”

I said to myself, “What?  I never heard that before.”  (And I’d already been a Christian for about three and a half decades.)  I had grown up in an Assembly of God church in California, sometimes also visiting a Foursquare church.  I’d never heard any pastor, or evangelist, or teacher say that Christians can have demons.  And that Assembly of God denomination is supposed to be full-gospel, Pentecostal, Charismatic.

One definition of the word charismatic is, if someone’s charismatic, he’s a good speaker, and by what he says, attractive to the audience.  

No, I mean the other definition of charismatic, meaning tongue-talking, baptized with the Holy Ghost, speaks in unknown tongues.  The unknown tongue (or, language) is unknown to the person speaking it, whether or not someone hearing might understand.  

How can a person speak in a language he doesn’t understand?  Because, after Jesus baptizes with the Holy Ghost, the Holy Ghost provides the words for that Christian to speak.  Jesus won’t baptize anyone with the Holy Ghost if they’re not a Christian. 

Well yes, the AOG did have the unknown tongues, and I got the Baptism with the Holy Ghost from the Lord when I was a teenager.  But I never saw a demon cast out of anyone at an Assembly of God church.  I’m sure they would say they believe in that, since it’s certainly scriptural to do so, but why then has it not been visible in AOG churches that I’ve gone to over decades of years?

Is it because they did really have the fire when they started a century ago, but then cooled down to lukewarm as time went by?  (See Rev. 3:16)

I’ve been a student of Rev. Kenneth E. Hagin by hearing him teach in meetings, reading his books, listening to his tapes.  He’s one of the best Bible teachers I’ve found, but I don’t remember his ever saying that Christians can have demons.

I didn’t necessarily buy it just because Worley had said Christians can have demons.  A preacher might have some bad theology.

Buck and Gladys Hammond were present at those Worley meetings.  They had an audio cassette tape ministry, and had recorded the teaching, and made duplicate tapes available at a very reasonable price. 

So I bought some Worley tapes and listened.  The guy was giving scripture for what he was saying.  Jesus basically said, “You’re either with me or against me.”  It was clear Worley was for Jesus and against the devil.

And he was right.  A Christian can have one or more demons, and if a Christian does, he should cast out those demons, as per Luke 10:19 and Mark chapter 16.

Thank God for that Hammond’s tape ministry, and for Pastor Win Worley and his wife.  

Another Christian man said that as he was listening to some Win Worley tapes, he nearly killed himself while listening.  (I’m sure he meant accidentally.  Perhaps he was driving at the time.)  The tapes were quite absorbing.

I know exactly what he meant, I got a traffic citation while driving and listening to the tapes for exceeding the speed limit.  It was powerful stuff.  Probably better to listen to Worley recordings at home.

When the Worleys first started casting out demons, I understand they had not been baptized with the Holy Ghost.  But they found that after they did get baptized with the Holy Ghost with the speaking in unknown tongues, they had more power in casting out demons.  (See Acts 1:8)

They also found that there was an advantage in the ladies of the church wearing a head covering, and if nothing else, just a facial tissue on their heads, during the casting out of demons.  (See 1 Cor 11:5)

But Jesus did say that some demons don’t go out without prayer and fasting. (Matt 17:21)

Lester Sumrall prayed and fasted before that famous exorcism he did in the Philippines, described in his book, “Demons, the Answer Book.”  If you find that book, pay special attention to the chapter titled, “Bitten by demons.”  The woman had fang marks in her arm from being bitten by a demon.  Sumrall cast the demons out of her.  It was a national news story at the time in the Philippines, and there was rejoicing. 

Worley compiled a list of some 1,100 names of demons.  I’m not sure that’s necessary.  I believe the Holy Ghost (or, Holy Spirit) guides Christians who cast out demons.  Don’t ever try to cast out demons if you’re not a Christian.  You could get hurt like the seven sons of Sceva in the book of Acts.  They were Jewish, but not Christians, and got beaten up by the demon-possessed man.

Another name for Jews who are Christians is “Messianic Jews,” or, you might say, “Fulfilled Jews.”  Jews who are not Messianic Jews are still looking for the Messiah (the savior) to come, and are unaware that he has already come, and that his name is Jesus.

The Jews will find a counterfeit messiah in the “Antichrist,” also called “The Beast.”  (See the books of Daniel and Revelation in the Bible.)

That was a very important lesson that I learned from Win Worley.  Thank God for his ministry.

But Worley died unnecessarily prematurely, I believe.  Perhaps he was in his fifties, or perhaps early sixties.  

Worley decided to go on a long fast, and stopped eating.  He developed medical complications and died.  This matter was more difficult due to the fact that Worley was obese.  

When Jesus cast the demons out of the Gadarene demoniac, he asked, “What is your name.”  One of the demons answered, using the man’s voice, “My name is legion, for we are many.”  I understand a legion could be two thousand or more.  

When casting out demons, it is sometimes appropriate to ask, “What is your name?,” or, “How many of you are there?”

But I believe it’s a mistake to go further into conversation with demons, and Win Worley did get into conversation with demons, unwisely I believe.

There was some discussion between Worley and a demon about “Faith Preachers.”

I’ve heard Worley speak a bit scornfully about “Faith Preachers.”  Perhaps Worley thought he was somewhat more advanced than Faith Preachers.

But I’ve been a student of Faith Preachers such as Kenneth E. Hagin and Norvel Hayes and Charles Capps. (www.Rhema.org, www.nhm.cc, www.CharlesCapps.com)  Hayes had been a student of Lester Sumrall.  Sumrall founded LESEA Broadcasting, and Lester Sumrall Evangelistic Association (LESEA).

In Hosea 4:6, God says, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”

I believe if Worley had known more of what some of those faith preachers taught, that knowledge could easily have prevented his premature death.  Knowledge, for example, about speaking things into existence, about binding and loosing, about ignoring the contradictory circumstances, about worshiping the Lord for healing, about claiming our needs to be met, the daily quoting out loud or reading out loud of promises to God’s people from his book, the Holy bible, and the application of Mark 11:23,24.

Dr. Norvel Hayes said the Lord told him, “If there’s anyone out there with anything wrong with their bodies, they’re not worshiping me enough.”  Yes, I believe the Lord said that.

A good book about Christians speaking things into existence is, “God’s Creative Power Will Work for You,” by Charles Capps.  Capps said the Lord told him, “I’ve told my people they can have what they say, but instead, they are saying what they have.” (Mark 11:23)

I heard a young man say, “I don’t read other books, I just get my teaching from the Bible.”  But then why did God give us teachers? (Eph 4:11)

And there’s a scripture, “Cast out the scorner.”  (Prov. 22:10)  Sometimes one preacher can be scornful of another preacher.  Worley may have paid a price for that mistake.

Another mistake he made is to teach people to return curses to the sender, but Jesus said, “…bless those who curse you…”. (Matt 5:44)  Therefore, a better strategy would be to say out loud, “I break every curse, hex, vex, spell, love potion, etc. that’s come my way, and bless the sender, in Jesus’ name.”  You have the right to use Jesus’ name if you’re a Christian.

Of course, there are some people who’ve been in the ministry and did a very poor job.  I don’t say we shouldn’t be critical of rotten apples.

I look forward to shaking Win Worley’s hand when I get to heaven, since I am also one of those whose name is written in the “Lamb’s Book of Life.” (Rev. 13:8)  Is your name in that book, my friend?