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CBN.com – As a high school student, Dean Ogden was mainly interested in math and science. However, during his senior year, a game opened his eyes to the supernatural - the ouija board.
"I was really skeptical because I thought maybe the other people were just moving it. But then when I started to use it, I realized that I wasn’t the one doing it, and the answers that were coming back were real," remembers Dean.
In his 20’s, supernatural forces were running his life. At a friend’s house one night, a spirit made its presence known. Dean charged up the staircase to confront whatever it was.
"It felt like something flew through the air and grabbed ahold of me and started to squeeze me around the chest. And in my mind, I could sense it was telling me that what I had done was wrong and that I should never try anything like that again."
Now Dean was determined to meditate more fervently to increase his occult powers. He focused on the mythical goddess, Ishtar.
"I would go out into the little forest which was around my parent’s house, and I really felt that I would get more of a connection with her and that through that connection, I was gaining more and more power," he says.
Proof of Dean’s heightened supernatural powers came when he was able to astral project himself to his mentor’s house.
"I just really felt like my presence was there, and I had a feeling of what was going on. It didn’t last very long but next time I spoke with her she asked, ‘What did i do?’ She said, “I don’t know what happened, but I knew.' She knew that I was at her house."
At the peak of his supernatural power, Dean received two traumatic blows. His girlfriend of several years broke up with him, and his favorite aunt and uncle were killed in a car crash.
"I felt like no one was there, almost like I was being abandoned and so at that point, I just felt confused because I had been in control all my life, and now that has been taken away from me, and there was no place I could go to get it back," he says.
Dean’s best friend also broke up with his girlfriend, but somehow he handled it differently.
"I was struggling every day dealing with this and I couldn’t see any hope in sight, but here he [Dean's friend] had recovered almost perfectly in just a matter of weeks," he says.
Dean asked his best friend for advice. He was a pastor’s son who returned to his faith. He said Jesus had helped him move on. He invited Dean to a Bible study.
"I really felt like an outsider. They would worship, they would read out of the Bible, but when they prayed it felt as if I had been set on fire. I really felt like I was being punished by my goddess for being someplace I shouldn’t be."
Now Dean was more confused than ever. So, he tried to reconnect with Ishtar for answers.
"I would meditate and nothing ... I felt nothing. It was almost like someone had turned their back on me."
In desperation, Dean reasoned he would try the Bible study once more. This time the burning sensation wasn’t as uncomfortable, and he discovered something new.
"I found for the first time that I could read the Bible and understand it, and that it was giving me direction that I didn’t have before, and that it actually felt like it was filling me up ... that it was filling that void in my heart that I had been missing," says Dean.
Someone gave him a study Bible, and he couldn’t put it down.
"As I read the Bible, I realized that the power that I had been tapping into, that I had been drawing upon was from evil, and you know that you can’t do good with evil. And so I realized at that point was that the one true good power is that of God and of Jesus."
On Halloween in 1996, Dean was well aware that nightfall marked the greatest potential for communication with supernatural powers. He was invited to a party.
"The evening didn’t seem right, so I left. I went home and when I got home, I knew that I had to make a decision. I knew the truth. I knew the sides. And it was at that point that I went into my room, and I got down on my knees and prayed that Jesus would forgive me of my sins and that He would take control of my life."
Not only did Dean accept Jesus as his Savior on Halloween night, but the next day was the brightest he had ever experienced.
"I felt I was alive for the very first time," he remembers. "And I knew that I had a God that was walking next to me and that would be there day in and day out and would never turn His back on me."
Dean has walked in the power of God for over 10 years. He met his wife, Rachael at a Bible study, and they now have two children. He also teaches the youth group at his church.
"I knew that it was the end of my search and from this point forward, I could focus on growing with Him and learning about Him and diving in and getting closer to Christ so I could be more like Him."
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