Editor's Note, August 23, 2023: This article has been updated to indicate that the dollhouse that Locke destroyed was not affiliated with Barbie.
A video of pastor Greg Locke has gone viral, showing him demolishing a dollhouse with a Bible to represent a Christian destroying "strongholds" in their life.
Locke, the pastor of Global Vision Bible Church in Mt. Juliet, Tenn., told church members that they're involved in a "spiritual supernatural battle" that must be fought with the Word of God. Although Locke delivered the sermon two months ago, on June 14, it has received attention in recent days due to the July release of the Barbie movie. Locke never mentioned the film and in fact didn’t even use the word “Barbie," and a spokesperson said the dollhouse was an off-brand dollhouse bought at Target.
A Twitter clip of the dollhouse destruction has 1.8 million views. Locke said the Bible was duct taped and zip tied to an Easton baseball bat. Locke read from 2 Corinthians 10:4: "For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds."
Somehow we almost missed MOUNT JULIET, TN MAGA grifter Greg Locke demolishing a Barbie Dream House with a Bible attached to a baseball bat.
— The Tennessee Holler (@TheTNHoller) August 17, 2023
The movie would go on to gross over $1 BILLION dollars💰 pic.twitter.com/2CJwXLKe8J
"You ought to pay attention to what the Greek word for 'pulling down' means. It's the word 'demolition.'… It means you demolish the house that the evil spirit left when you kicked it out," Locke said. "... What some of you need to understand is you've been delivered from a demon but you've not pulled down the stronghold yet. You got to get rid of the triggers on that iPhone, you've gotta get rid of the triggers on Netflix, you got to lose her number, you got to lose his number. The demon comes out when you expel it. The stronghold comes down when you demolish it with the Bible."
Locke then destroyed the dollhouse with the Bible-bat combo.
Too many Christians, he said, falsely blame demons for their problems when their actual struggle is against fleshly desires – sin.
"Do I believe in deliverance? Yes," he said. "But I'm done with repeat customers for 20 years. … As a pastor I've gotta teach you how to be disciplined. You gotta get into the Word. You got to say no to stuff. You got to say yes to stuff. You got to learn to pray. Mark 9:29 – you got to learn to fast. … Everything's not a demon. Sometimes you just need to have some discipline. … If you don't get forceful, and start tearing down those strongholds in your life, they're gonna get worse. … There are people in this room, people online and people that you know, and people that you love that have gone through deliverance, and still have an addiction. … You've got to change their mindset, you got to change their lifestyle. They have to be renewed in the spirit of the mind. They have to learn – 'Now the demon is gone, now I gotta say no to my flesh,' which is just as dastardly as a demon."
Locke added, "You better believe I'm gonna spend my life casting out demons, but if I'm gonna feed the sheep, I'm gonna have to spend the other half of my life teaching people how to be disciplined, and say yes to the right things and no to the wrong things. That's what the Word of God teaches."
The Twitter clip – only 16 seconds long – sparked thousands of comments.
"He has taken Ken a little too far," author Beth Moore posted.
He has taken Ken a little too far.
— Beth Moore (@BethMooreLPM) August 18, 2023
"Gives a whole new meaning to "Bible bashed!" another person wrote.
Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Miflippo, this is a stock image.
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
