He tried to stop Him… but the cross wasn’t defeat. It was the turning point.

What if the cross wasn’t just about the forgiveness of sins…

…but the moment the powers of darkness lost everything?

In this episode, we explore what may have been happening in the unseen realm as Jesus stepped onto the scene—and why the enemy moved to stop Him.

From their perspective, a King had entered their domain.

So a plan was set in motion.

But according to Scripture, if they had understood what was actually happening, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

What looked like victory…

We walk through the spiritual war surrounding the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus—from the early confrontations with demons, to the turning point at Mount Hermon, to the moment everything culminated at the cross.

And most importantly…

what Christ’s victory means for us today.

Because the cross didn’t just forgive sin—

🎙️ Spiritual Recon is hosted by Adam and Diana Clay, missionaries serving in spiritually contested environments.

We explore the biblical supernatural worldview, the Deuteronomy 32 framework, and what it means to live as Kingdom ambassadors reclaiming image-bearers from deception and darkness.

Because if the war is real…

Most Christians don’t think twice about their home.

It’s just where you sleep…

But what if your home isn’t actually neutral?

What if it’s either being shaped by the Kingdom of God…

In this episode of Spiritual Recon, we explore a reality that most believers never seriously consider:

👉 Why does the enemy target our homes?

Because if we’re honest…

We share our own story of when that happened to us…

And from there, everything changed.

👉 But the bigger question is this:

If our homes are actually spiritual territory…

Drawing from Scripture and over 20 years of ministry experience, we walk through what’s really happening in the unseen realm—and how followers of Jesus can take authority over their homes in a practical, biblical way.

Because this isn’t about fear.

It’s about understanding who you are…

🎙 Topics in this episode

• Why your home is not spiritually neutral

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Most Christians today don’t have a category for places where the spiritual and physical overlap.

That kind of thinking feels distant…

But what if Scripture has been pointing to this reality from the very beginning?

In this episode of Spiritual Recon, we explore a question most believers never stop to ask:

👉 Are spiritual portals real?

Across cultures—voodoo, Santería, animism—you consistently hear about specific locations where spiritual activity is heightened.

Mountains.

Places where the unseen and the seen seem to intersect.

But instead of starting with culture, we go to Scripture.

From Eden to Jacob’s ladder…

we examine whether the Bible actually describes these kinds of “thin places”—locations where heaven and earth overlap.

And then we wrestle with the bigger question:

👉 If these things are real… what does that mean for us today?

Because this isn’t about fascination or speculation.

It’s about mission.

If there are spiritual strongholds tied not just to people—but to places—

Drawing from both Scripture and real experiences on the mission field, we talk through what we’ve seen, what we understand, and how to stay grounded in the mission of Jesus without getting distracted.

Because if the unseen realm is real…

🎙 Topics in this episode

• What the Bible says about sacred space and “thin places”

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Most Christians today think of church as a place we go.

A building.

But what if that wasn’t how the first followers of Jesus understood it?

In this episode of Spiritual Recon, we sit down with Neil Cole, author of Organic Church and Primal Fire, to explore how the church gradually shifted from a movement of disciples on mission into something that often revolves around gatherings and programs.

For the early believers, the church was not primarily an event to attend.

It was a spiritual family living under the authority of Jesus and participating in the mission of His Kingdom.

Together we discuss how this shift happened, why many believers feel tension between tradition and mission today, and what it might look like to recover a simpler, more biblical vision of the church.

Along the way, we also explore why legalism can quietly pull believers away from the freedom of following Jesus, and how rediscovering the church as a family on mission changes the way we think about discipleship.

Because if the church is not merely something we attend,

🎙 Topics include

• How the early church functioned as a spiritual family

Neil Cole is a church planter, author, and pioneer of organic church movements who has spent decades helping believers rediscover simple, disciple-making communities centered on listening to Jesus and living on mission. He is the author of Organic Church, Church 3.0, Primal Fire, and several other books on disciple-making and the future of the church.

Website:

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Twenty-five years ago, long before we understood the unseen realm or territorial powers, the Lord asked us to do something simple: open the doors of our home. That step of obedience began a journey that challenged many of our assumptions about church, discipleship, and mission. 

In this episode of Spiritual Recon, we share how that journey led us to rethink what it means to make disciples and what the church is actually meant to be. Is church primarily an event, or is it the presence of Jesus among His people on a mission?

As we began to understand the unseen realm and the reality of contested territory, many of the practices we were learning started to make sense in a deeper way.

If Jesus is King and we are His ambassadors, what does obedience really look like?

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Most Christians were taught that the Gospel is about going to heaven one day.

But when Jesus sent out His disciples in Luke 9, that is not what they proclaimed.

They announced the Gospel of the Kingdom.

So what does that mean?

In this episode of Spiritual Recon, we revisit the message Jesus actually commissioned His followers to announce — and why misunderstanding the Kingdom has quietly reshaped how we share the Gospel today.

In the first century, euangelion was a royal announcement: a new King had taken the throne. Allegiance was shifting. A new Kingdom had arrived.

Salvation, then, is not merely forgiveness of sins or a future destination.

It is transfer.

Drawing from Luke 9, Colossians 1, the Deuteronomy 32 worldview, and Jesus’ proclamation in Luke 4, we explore what the Kingdom actually looks like — and how understanding it reshapes mission.

This conversation is not about minimizing the cross.

It is about understanding what the cross accomplished — and what we were sent to proclaim as ambassadors.

Because what we believe about the Kingdom

🎙 Topics include:

• What “gospel” meant in the ancient world

If the Kingdom is bigger than we were told,

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If the unseen realm is real, then the church was never meant to be passive.

Christ has entrusted His people as ambassadors of the Kingdom — sent into contested territory to reclaim image-bearers from deception and darkness. So why do so many believers experience church as an event rather than a mission?

In this episode of Spiritual Recon, we wrestle with a sobering question raised by a former shaman:

That question forces us to examine whether we have misunderstood both the gospel and the role of the church.

Drawing from 2 Corinthians 5, Romans 1, Acts 2, and the ministry of Jesus in Luke 10, we explore what salvation truly means — not merely future escape, but restoration now. We discuss territorial powers, the difference between arguing and demonstrating the Kingdom, and why dependence on the Holy Spirit is essential for real mission.

This conversation is not about church criticism.

It is about recovering clarity.

If the war is real, then the assignment is urgent.

🎙 Topics include:

• The church as mission, not building

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After years immersed in shamanism, ayahuasca, and spirit guides, Mitchell reached a breaking point.

The spiritual experiences were real — but the stories began to contradict themselves. What once felt benevolent turned hostile. And when Mitchell and his wife called on the name of Jesus, the unseen realm reacted.

In Part 2 of this two-part conversation, the deception unravels.

Mitchell shares how testing the spirits exposed their limits, how invoking Jesus disrupted everything, and how surrendering his life to Christ meant walking away from shamanism completely. What follows is a powerful testimony of repentance, deliverance, baptism, and the peace that replaced years of striving in the unseen realm.

This episode goes behind enemy lines to examine how spiritual deception works — and why real spiritual power must always be tested by truth.

Guest: Mitchell 

🎙️ Spiritual Recon is hosted by Adam and Diana Clay, missionaries with over 25 years of experience serving in contexts where spiritual conflict is lived, not theoretical.

Spirit guides, shamanism, and altered states are often presented as ancient, benevolent pathways to healing and wisdom. Many Christians, however, are left unsure how to interpret the real experiences people report through these practices. Are these encounters psychological? Symbolic? Or is something else actually at work?

In this episode of Spiritual Recon, we’re joined by Mitchell, a former shaman who spent years engaging with spirit guides and ritual practices involving ayahuasca before coming to see them in a very different light. Mitchell shares his firsthand experience inside shamanism, how these spiritual encounters initially appeared helpful and illuminating, and what ultimately caused him to question the true nature of the spirits he was working with.

Rather than treating these experiences as imaginary or sensational, this conversation places them within the broader biblical worldview. Scripture consistently acknowledges the reality of spiritual powers, while also drawing clear distinctions between their claims and the authority of Christ. Together, we explore how the Bible helps us make sense of practices like shamanism, why spiritual experiences alone are not a reliable guide to truth, and how deception often operates through what appears helpful or enlightening.

This is Part 1 of a two-part conversation. In Part 2, we’ll go further into what these spirits ultimately demanded, how their true intentions became clear, and how the gospel reframes spiritual power, freedom, and authority.

This discussion is not driven by fear or fascination, but by discernment—recovering a biblical framework that allows Christians to engage real spiritual claims with clarity, confidence, and faithfulness to Christ.

🎙 Topics include:

Spirit guides and shamanism through firsthand experience

Why spiritual encounters can feel benevolent while leading toward deception

How Scripture understands spiritual powers without minimizing or exaggerating them

Discernment versus experience as a guide to truth

Why the gospel redefines power, freedom, and authority

🔗 About Our Guest: Mitchell is a former shaman who now follows Jesus after years immersed in ayahuasca, spirit guides, and the unseen realm.

📩 Contact Mitchell: [email protected]

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If Jesus already won, why do spiritual powers still have power today?

Christians often affirm the victory of the cross, yet remain deeply confused when confronted with ongoing spiritual experiences connected to the occult, New Age practices, and non-Christian religions. If Jesus disarmed the powers, why do these realities still seem active—and why does the church struggle to respond to them with clarity and confidence?

In this episode of Spiritual Recon, we examine why the Western church is often uncertain or divided when it comes to the unseen realm. Scripture never treats pagan or occult power as imaginary, yet it also never presents it as ultimate. Instead, the New Testament assumes a world where spiritual powers remain present but have been fundamentally reordered through the victory of Christ.

Drawing from Deuteronomy 32, the ministry of Jesus, and the writings of Paul, we explore what it actually means that the powers were “disarmed” at the cross, why they were not removed, and how this reality shapes the church’s mission and authority today. We also consider how cultural blind spots, modern assumptions, and past abuses have contributed to confusion surrounding spiritual power in the church.

This conversation is not about fear or fascination, but about clarity—recovering a biblical worldview that equips believers to walk in discernment, confidence, and faithfulness as ambassadors of Christ.

🎙 Topics include:

Why many Christians are uncomfortable with the unseen realm

What the New Testament assumes about spiritual powers

What “disarmed” means—and what it does not mean

Pagan spirituality as misdirected rather than imaginary

Paul, Ephesus, and confronting occult power

Transactional spiritual power versus freedom in Christ

Recovering discernment and authority in the church

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