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July 10, 2023

Tailah Scroggins felt dead inside. After growing up in a Christian home, she somehow fell into the occult, embracing astrology, witchcraft, and the New Age.

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But after embarking on a dark journey and losing the will to live, she had an incredible interaction with Jesus that changed everything.

Today, Scroggins is an online evangelist, writer, and truth-teller on a mission to help others escape evil. She recently shared her story with “Billy Hallowell’s Playing With Fire Podcast,” explaining how she was raised in a Christian home and believed in God before stumbling into the occult.

She said she was first introduced to the New Age in high school when someone she trusted in her family told her about astrology.

“They had this big … textbook of everything astrology, and they were like, ‘This describes my personality so perfectly look what it says about you,’” Scroggins said. “I was caught off-guard, and I remember … I was like, ‘But how can this be true? If God created all of us and he made our personalities, how can a planet dictate my future or dictate my personality?’”

She said this was the first “seed of deception” the devil planted in her life, and her perspective started to shift. With her family friend stating God created astrology as a system “He put in order,” she started down what she now believes was a dangerous path.

Listen to Scroggins’ story:

“They provided me some explanation that was totally false, but I didn’t know the word of God enough,” Scroggins said. “I knew a lot about God, but I didn’t know … what the Bible said about the occult about the darkness, about the battle. I just knew the good things, and so I became an astrologer.”

Scroggins spent 11 years as an astrologer, describing it as her “worldview” and “life.”

Still, she attended church and clung to some Christian ideas. She said the entire experience opened her up to “so much deception and confusion” as she lived life as a “lukewarm Christian” plagued by her occultic practices.

As Scroggins entered college, she said she was disappointed in God, feeling frustrated he hadn’t answered her wants and whims on her timeline.

“It’s spiritual immaturity,” she said of her perspective at the time. We don’t trust God’s timing, and so I’m young, I’m 18 at this time, and I’m mad I’m mad that God didn’t open the door that I wanted him to open, and that’s just kind of part of being a baby Christian.”

Her spiritual immaturity also led her to join in on the party lifestyle. Scroggins said “the enemy lied” and she “took his bait” and began down a negative path, getting drunk every weekend.

“The more I rebelled and lived in this party lifestyle, the more I craved astrology, the witchcraft, the divination, and all of that,” Scroggins said. “It was like this hunger exploded … it was like this black hole … I needed to be consuming it.”

She said depression soon took hold and suicidal thoughts reigned. Scroggins would find herself crying for two hours every day for no reason, as she grappled with the emptiness left by the abandonment of her relationship with the Lord.

Scroggins added, “It was like I had no reason to live.”

A family friend aware of her situation ended up intervening and the experience brought Scroggins true healing. The woman was at Scroggins’ home one day, and she candidly spoke with the then-college student.

“She just looked at me one day, and she said, ‘Today is the day of your freedom,’ and I said, ‘OK, I don’t know what that means, but I have no will to live,’” Scroggins recalled. “I hadn’t attempted to do anything or take my life, but I was dead inside. And so I was like, ‘You can pray and do whatever you want to me because there’s nowhere else for me to go. I’m already at rock bottom,’ and so she prayed for me.”

Those invocations, which Scroggins described as “deliverance prayers,” had a profound impact. Scroggins said they “cast every spirit of death and depression out,” and she immediately felt “huge weights being lifted off.”

She now believes the entire experience was “supernatural,” leading her to a fruitful and meaningful relationship with Christ.

“The depression never came back, the suicidal thoughts never came back ever,” she said. “It’s been over six years. I was delivered.”

Scroggins continued, “God completely healed me, set me free.”

Over time, she abandoned her occultic practices and clung close to Jesus. A few years later, though, she found herself alarmed by how many others were being enraptured by the same world she had escaped.

Scroggins said she was shocked during COVID-19 to see how interest in witchcraft, Tarot cards, crystals, and the occult exploded online.

“It grieved me, because that was my story,” she said. “I was into New Age. I was into the false spirituality in witchcraft.”

Realizing she had been “set free…by Jesus,” she decided to counter occultic videos getting millions of views with content of her own that would instead point people toward Jesus.

“I was like, ‘I’m gonna share my testimony, and I’m going to expose astrology. I’m going to expose the New Age, I’m going to expose all of it,’” she said. “And I just started telling people what I went through and what God saved me from. And what came into my life when I started doing those practices and it was all evil.”

Listen to Scroggins explain her journey and why she’s openly shared her testimony.

***As the number of voices facing big-tech censorship continues to grow, please sign up for Faithwires daily newsletter and download the CBN News app, developed by our parent company, to stay up-to-date with the latest news from a distinctly Christian perspective.***

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Cubs blow lead in 10-run 8th, storm back in thriller

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Cubs blow lead in 10-run 8th, storm back in thriller

CHICAGO — Kyle Tucker had the fans on their feet, roaring and pumping their fists as he rounded the bases after hitting the go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth inning. His screaming line drive cleared the right-field wall with plenty of room to spare.

The Chicago Cubs went from giving up 10 runs in the eighth to scoring six in the bottom half and beating the Arizona Diamondbacks 13-11 on Friday in one of the wildest games on record.

The two teams combined for 21 runs in the seventh and eighth innings, with the Cubs scoring 11 runs and the D-backs plating 10. It was the first nine-inning game in MLB history in which both teams scored 10 or more runs from the seventh inning on, and the third game overall, according to ESPN Research.

“That’s kind of baseball,” Tucker said. “There’s a lot of ups and downs in this game, especially with how many games we play.”

There haven’t been many games like this, though.

The Cubs are just the seventh team in at least the past 125 seasons to allow 10 or more runs in an inning and win. They are also the fifth team to give up 10 or more runs and score six or more in the same inning.

The 16 combined runs in the eighth were the most in an inning at Wrigley Field, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

“If you’ve seen that one, you’ve been around for a while,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said with a laugh. “It was crazy. You know, we gave up 10 runs in an inning and we won. So it was a wild game, but we kept going, and, you know, there’s 27 outs in a game and this kind of proves it, and you’re just happy to get out with a win.”

On a warm day with the ball carrying, Carson Kelly homered twice. Ian Happ belted a grand slam and Seiya Suzuki went deep, helping the Cubs open a weekend series on a winning note.

“You’ve seen it early — having some tough losses, coming back winning the next day,” Happ said. “Losing the first game of the series, winning the series. Little things like that. Today’s a great example of professional hitters going out there and continuing to have really good at-bats.”

The way things transpired in the final two innings was something to see.

Kelly hit a two-run homer in the second against Corbin Burnes, and Happ came through with his grand slam against Ryne Nelson as part of a five-run seventh. But just when it looked as if the Cubs were in control with a 7-1 lead, things took a wild turn in the eighth.

Eugenio Suarez cut it to 7-5 with a grand slam against Porter Hodge, Geraldo Perdomo singled in a run and Randal Grichuk put Arizona on top by one with a two-run double. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. hit a three-run homer, making it 11-7.

The crowd of more than 39,000 let the Cubs hear it, but their team regrouped in the bottom half. Bryce Jarvis hit Nico Hoerner leading off and walked Pete Crow-Armstrong before Kelly drove a three-run homer to center. Tucker, the Cubs’ prized offseason addition, came through after Happ singled with one out. Suzuki followed with his drive against Joe Mantiply to give the Cubs a 13-11 lead.

Arizona, which had won five straight, became just the third team over the past 50 seasons to lose a game in which it had a 10-run inning at any point, according to ESPN Research.

“You just got to stay locked in,” Kelly said. “Obviously, you don’t want to … give up 10 in an inning. Obviously, you don’t want to do that. I think the biggest thing is coming back, regrouping and continuing to fight.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Chisholm suspended 1 game for conduct, tweet

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Chisholm suspended 1 game for conduct, tweet

Major League Baseball suspended New York Yankees infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. for one game and fined him an undisclosed amount, the result of his actions during Thursday night’s win against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Chisholm was ejected in the seventh inning by plate umpire John Bacon for arguing after a called third strike on a full-count pitch from Mason Montgomery that appeared low.

Minutes later, he posted on his X account, “Not even f—ing close!!!!!” then deleted the post.

“I didn’t think before I had anything that I said was ejectable but after probably,” Chisholm said after the game. “I’m a competitor, so when I go out there and I feel like I’m right and you’re saying something to me that I think doesn’t make sense, I’m going to get fired up and be upset.

“I lost my emotions. I lost my cool. I got to be better than that. … I’m definitely mad at myself for losing my cool.”

Michael Hill, the league’s senior vice president for on-field operations, said Friday’s discipline was for Chisholm’s “conduct, including his violation of Major League Baseball’s Social Media Policy for Major League Players.”

MLB regulations ban the use of electronic devices during games. The social media policy prohibits “displaying or transmitting content that questions the impartiality of or otherwise denigrates a major league umpire.”

Chisholm did appeal the decision, allowing him to play in Friday night’s 1-0 win against the Rays. He started at second base and went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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First-time father-to-be Ohtani away from Dodgers

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First-time father-to-be Ohtani away from Dodgers

ARLINGTON, Texas — Shohei Ohtani is away from the Los Angeles Dodgers for the birth of the two-way superstar’s first child.

Manager Dave Roberts said before the Dodgers’ series opener Friday night against the Rangers that Ohtani was with his wife and going on MLB’s paternity list.

“He and Mamiko are expecting at some point. That’s all I know,” Roberts said. “I don’t know when he’s going to come back and I don’t know when they’re going to have the baby, but obviously they’re together in anticipation.”

The 30-year-old Ohtani posted on his Instagram account in late December that he and his 28-year-old wife, a former professional basketball player from his native Japan, were expecting a baby in 2025.

“Can’t wait for the little rookie to join our family soon!” said the Dec. 28 post that included a photo showing the couple’s beloved dog, Decoy, as well as a pink ruffled onesie along with baby shoes and a sonogram that was covered by a baby emoji.

Ohtani can miss up to three games while on paternity leave. The Dodgers have a three-game series in Texas before an off day Monday, then play the Cubs in Chicago on Tuesday.

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