The Great Evangelical Disaster--Part 2, Loving Confrontation

By Reverend Mark Hunnemann

Continued from Ghosts and the Great Evangelical Disaster, Part 1.


The title, The Great Evangelical Disaster, is borrowed from a book by Francis Schaeffer...my favorite author.  I just finished reading it, and it is the most profound book I have read in a long time. To clarify, an evangelical is a bible believing Christian...specifically, they believe that the bible is without error, including where it touches on matters relating to science and history. In that sense of the word, then I am an evangelical....perhaps you are too.There is a disaster occurring right now in the Body of Christ...a horrible disaster. We are discussing this so that the question of ghosts is set in its proper historical context.

We noted that about 80 years ago there remained a Christian consensus in America. That does not mean that America was a Christian nation, or God's chosen nation, or that it was a golden era...it was none of these, and never has been. In fact, there were three area where Christians did an exceptionally lousy job:  in the area of race relations, the compassionate making and using of wealth (unjust treatment of employees and idolatrous love of money), and the concept and practice of manifest destiny. With some exceptions, the church largely followed the world's lead in these three areas, instead of confronting these evils..

Having stated those qualifications, the American ethos was substantially Christian, and this brought in its wake much beauty and productivity--all across the spectrum of human life. Biblical knowledge was widespread, even amongst non-Christians. Because of this Christian consensus, there was an adequate foundation for meaning and morals.The real existence of the infinite-personal God meant that truth was truth. The source of truth was the unchanging character of God, and found in His loving communication with us--the bible.This held the nation together like supernatural super-glue..And we were blessed...

In the span of 80 years or so, the Christian consensus was lost. Perhaps the best way to illustrate this is in the radical shift in how we view truth. Before the shift, the basic law of non-contradiction was understood by virtually everyone.That simply means that something can't exist and not exist at the same time. The cow is either standing in the field or it's not. Jesus either bodily rose from the dead or He didn't. To say that He rose from the dead and that He didn't rise from the dead at the same time is a flat out contradiction. Right? .....Right?!   As recently as 80 years ago, the answer from the average Joe would be, "of course you're right!"

I say this with tears, but in 2016 the answer would be "wrong"...at least amongst those affected by the anti-Christian consensus--which would be the vast majority of people.. In this short span of time almost everything distinctively Christian has been lost in our culture. Our quest for autonomous freedom (freedom from the restraints of God and His morality) has come at a steep price...we have become irrationalized. In his book The Closing of the American Mind., Professor Allen Bloom states that he knows one thing is certain of 99% of his incoming students--they are subjective relativists. Truth is no longer objective (rooted in God's unchanging holy  character) but has become mere opinion, which changes from individual to individual. "Jesus rose from the dead may be your truth, but my truth is that Jesus did not rise from the dead. He was just a good man.." That is how we think, and it should make us weep. Basic logic is dead...beaten to death by demonic autonomous freedom.

The ethos or consensus of America today is anti-Christian and irrational. If you reject the God of truth, then the truth of God dies. The diabolical dust of death has settled upon our beloved country. Do you grasp the radical nature of this shift in our concept of truth? Man as man is dead, truth as truth is dead, meaning and morals are dead. Everything is now mere opinion, and if that is the case, then who can find fault with Hitler? Do you see the horror of great darkness in which we live?

I spoke with a woman tonight who lives in the southwest. On two occasions I have also talked to the demon/s that have possessed her, as they took over in mid-sentence. (please don't you ever do that....I did it, not because I am a special person,, but because I have a special calling to this field) I have several irrational, texts from her possessing demon/s stored in my cell phone. Tonight she asked me why all of her mirrors are breaking when she looks into them.I could multiply such horrible encounters that I have faced in last few years This is for real.

Once we rejected the truth of God as a nation, then two things happened (there are more): overt demonic activity has increased, and demonic irrationalism has gripped us by the throat.Do you really believe we are in spiritual warfare? Satan walks upon the Earth seeking ways to bend, twist, and demonize culture. A favorite tactic is the destruction of truth.I have never said this before publicly (I don't think), but this may be the beginning of the end.

What brought us to this point in a mere 80 years? Evangelicals did not confront the crucial issues of the day which were attacking our country like an army of suicide bombers. I quote Schaeffer, "Obedience to God's Word is the watershed. And the failure of the evangelical world to take a clear and distinctively biblical stand on the crucial issues of the day can only be seen as a failure to live under the full authority of God's Word in the full spectrum of life." The church is the guardian of culture, because Christ is King. When the guardian is silent, then society crumbles. That is what happened to cause the loss of a Christian consensus, and this disaster continues today.

What he is talking about is confrontation. Truth demands confrontation with error and evil. Yes, loving confrontation, but confrontation nonetheless. Satan never attacks on just one front; there are several crucial issues that Christian leaders are hesitant to be vocal about. Schaeffer also wrote A Christian Manifesto, where he quotes from a document written by myself and two other young seminarians at the time.

While at Covenant Seminary in St. Louis, I had a passion to confront the abortion issue. So, we held an orderly rally at an abortion clinic, and promptly got arrested. The three of us felt the need to write something to explain to the seminary community (especially the president) why we did what did. An acquaintance of mine, who knew Dr Schaeffer well, told us that Schaefffer was excited about what we had done. That made me feel humble and happy. So, he got a copy of our very brief biblical defense of our actions and quoted it.

There are several crucial issues evangelicals are accommodating to the world spirit merely by not confronting them. Not forcefully and publicly confronting them has the same net result as actually believing in the evil or error...the outcome is the same...This is rampant. It is in this context of sinful accomodation and not lovingly confronting evil and error, in which the topic of ghosts is being ignored and dismissed by almost all evangelical pastors and leaders. Hopefully, by now you don't need endless arguments to convince you that the notion of ghosts is is very significant and must be confronted. May the Lord raise up an army of rebels with a righteous cause.
Amen.

Read part 3: http://eyeontheparanormal.blogspot.com/2016/12/obedience-to-lordship-of-christ-and.html

Mark Hunnemann is the author of Seeing Ghosts Through God's Eyes: A Worldview Analysis of Earthbound Spirits. It's also available in eBook format.

True Spirituality--a Three Legged Stool

By Reverend Mark Hunnemann

"During most of the history of Christianity, doctrine, piety, and ethics have gone hand in hand." (Harold OJ Brown, 'Heresies', pg. 433)

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might." (Ephesians 6:10)

I have said on numerous occasions that "virtually all paranormal activity is demonic in nature".  Next time I want to explore this in-depth--clarifying what I mean and do NOT mean by this assessment. What about angels? And what kind of paranormal activity am I referring to? Next week...

This week, I want to discuss what true spirituality is. Francis Schaeffer wrote a marvelous book entitled True Spirituality, but this will not be a re-hash of the contents of his book, as superb as it is. Rather, I was convicted by how much modern evangelicalism has embraced a deficient, one-dimensional view of what it means to be a balanced Christian. Dr Brown's monumental analysis of heresies helped to clarify the basic issues.

True spirituality is defined, not by us, but by the bible. And the bible likens a healthy or balanced faith to a three-legged stool. It actually does not use that analogy, but the three-fold nature of biblical Christianity is found from Genesis to Revelation. With a three-legged stool, if any of the legs are missing or are weak, then it will be unsteady at best, and a disaster waiting to happen, at worst. The three "legs" of true spirituality are: biblical truth or doctrine, existential (moment-by-moment) piety--abiding in Christ or personal communion with Him, and ethics.(individual and social). In the last 2,000 years of church history, various "legs" have been emphasized at times, often to the neglect of one or both of the other "legs". Nevertheless, as Brown points out,"During most of the history of Christianity, doctrine, piety, and ethics have gone hand in hand." (Brown, Heresies) So, he spells out the three legs of true spirituality.

What does all this have to do with a biblical worldview analysis of the occullt and necromancy? A lot actually. Think about it--if being a faithful Christian only (or mainly) entails concern about me as an individual...MY salvation...MY sanctification...MY experience with Jesus, then concern for culture and society is lost. Indeed, there are Christian leaders today who think precisely that--they liken concern for issues like abortion, racism, and the occult as re-arranging the lounge chairs on the Titanic! "The world belongs to Satan and is going to hell anyway, so why worry about it? Just preach the simple gospel, and be simple Christians." It may not be stated so explicitly, but most evangelicals ascribe to this pietistic mentality of radical individualism, and the results are disastrous...leaving us with a one-legged stool.

1. The first leg of true spirituality is that of doctrine. Due to a confluence of issues in addition to pietism, there has never been a time in the history of the church where concern for solid orthodoxy has been weaker than it is today. Let me try to be more positive in how I state this--if you wish to make your life count maximally for the Lord, then you need to place a premium on theological/biblical truth. My dear friends, have we not been commanded to "contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. (Jude 3)? Then biblical truth should be like fire in our bones!

Theologians, Protestant and Catholic, have fallen prey to the notion of "progress", instead of faithfulness to a body of truth that has been delivered to us. Preachers (with some notable exceptions) have lost a passion for rich expository preaching.

On an old bulletin from the church I used to pastor--dated 1990,-there is the following quote at the top, "To worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to feed the mind with the truth of God, to open the heart to the love of God, to devote the will to the purpose of God.." (William Temple) Do you see how all of those are directly related to our understanding of the whole counsel of God?

If you were to ask me what I thought the greatest need of the church is today, I would not hesitate to say that our most urgent need is a deeper understanding of the holiness of God the Father. That would have a domino effect, including a deeper spirituality.

Spiritual warfare is first a truth encounter, and then it is a power encounter, not vice versa..It has been said that American Christianity today is 3,000 miles wide and a half an inch deep....many millions profess Christ, but their doctrinal leg is weak or missing altogether.. Let us recover a passion for truth. Indeed, Jesus is the Truth.

People were burned and drowned for heresy in the past, and that is utterly reprehensible. However, they did understand something vital, which we have largely forgotten--heresy (serious doctrinal error) has a corrupting effect on culture, as well as on individuals.

2. Personal piety is the second leg. This aspect gets most attention today. It is fruitless to argue which leg is most important, but certainly a personal, moment-by-moment walk with Christ is the essence of eternal life (which begins the instant one is saved..see John 17:1ff) The bible is emphatic that at the heart of true spirituality is a deep love for the Lord. Indeed, that is our purpose in life--the greatest commandment--to love God with all of our being. When it comes to our basic purpose in life, there is no variation from person to person--ALL of us are called to a love relationship with the Lord, which takes primacy over all other loves.

Few things are uglier, both to God and a watching world, than a dead orthodoxy. The Reformation of the 1,500's was a recovery of the centrality of the God of grace, and the grace of God.....the gospel. Oddly, perhaps the greatest hindrance to deep devotion FOR God is ministry/service TO God. But how can pastors--or how can we--expect to have victory over Satan if we are not strong in Him? John 15 reminds us that we can do nothing apart from our existential communion with Jesus. Let us resolve to awaken each day with a holy passion of relishing and delighting in our love for the Lord, and His love for us.

3. Ethics is the third leg. Harold OJ Brown points out in some detail how early Pietism (1,700's) devolved from a concern for individual and society, to just the concerns of the individual. Wherever the devil is attacking our culture, the church is supposed to be the first and last bastion of defense...as salt and light. The last leg in our three-legged stool of true spirituality is a passion for applying the gospel to the needs of our generation. But when preachers, as taught in seminary, see their primary calling as making the gospel relevant to the felt needs of the individual, then the ethical leg is severed.

In his last book The Great Evangelical Disaster, published in 1984, Francis Schaeffer pleads with Christians (especially leaders) to confront evil and error. He lamented that, as a whole (with notable exceptions), we were not confronting "the spirit of the age", and by default, we were accommodating the growth of evil and error. Hence, our culture was unraveling right before our eyes. Sadly, what Schaeffer said back in 1984 (selfish, individualistic pietism), has become even more ensconced in our culture in 2014. True spirituality, one that is biblically balanced and pleasing to the Lord, will confront the issues facing our generation. It saddens me that the historic stance of Christianity towards necromancy, has changed so radically in such a short time.So, where are the sermons on the paradigm shift to occultism? Abortion? When I took homiletics (preaching) in seminary, we were taught to do two things--work hard to be faithful to the true meaning of the text, and to work equally hard on sensitively applying the unchanging truth to the changing needs of our generation...wherever the devil is attacking, we are to attack!

Please search your own heart to see which leg of the 3 legged stool which you need to attend to. The Lord bless you and keep you.    Mark

"Seeing Ghosts through God's Eyes" (also in a Kindle edition)...please consider purchasing my book which uses science, logic, and the bible to analyze the true source of power behind paranormal activity.

The Ghost Hunters ... A Time for Anger

By Reverend Mark Hunnemann

“Be angry and do not sin…” (Eph.4:26)

When I mention the TV show The Ghost Hunters, what thoughts or feelings does that show elicit in you? All things considered, I think anger is one of the most biblically appropriate. How quickly this bizarre new reality show back in 2004 has become old hat. Love it, hate it, or – worst of all for a Christian – be indifferent or dismissive. God forbid! Do we realize how electrifying these brushes with the supernatural are to millions of Americans who are hungry for spiritual reality? God forbid that I forget how I almost fell off the couch the first time I saw the show. God forbid that we ever become accustomed to what is profoundly disturbing, wrong, and cruel. Let me illustrate this insidious evil, and the need for righteous indignation, as well as confrontation.

Recently a new season, without Grant, began. Jay and crew went to Charleston to investigate the Old Jail. People, especially women, were being scratched on the tours, and the clients wanted to know who or what was behind the attacks, and if it was safe to stay open for business. During the investigation a young woman on the TV production crew, Hagar, was scratched repeatedly all over her body by the unseen presence, and she was understandably unnerved. Later during the reveal, Jay said that it was the worst attack in the eight years of the show. (It emphasizes in an unusually vivid fashion, the subjective and capricious nature of “ghost hunting” and the ensuing harmful consequences.) Jay got a triple scratch on his neck, as well. I just shook my head when Adam told the ghost (demon) to please leave her alone. At the reveal, Jay spoke candidly about Hagar, and it seemed he was actually going to be real for once regarding the danger. How could he not, given what had just happened? However, as if on cue, Amy pipes in, “No need to be worried . . . just make certain your visitors treat the ghosts with respect, and they will show respect back.” Yeeaaahhh! Another victory for the TAPS gang in putting a client at ease!

These people need to take a class on logic or critical thinking, because there is a glaring disconnect between Jay’s observations and Amy’s advice . . . which I’m quite sure was scripted. Hagar was simply walking through, as a tourist might, and she was attacked. Jay and Amy HAD to have discussed beforehand who was going to say what, and that is what angers me because their advice was foolish to the point of being cruel. At least before the arrival of TAPS, the client had the good sense to be concerned for his patrons, but now he lives with naïve optimism for their safety based on foolish advice. Also, at the reveal, Jay stated that many of these human spirits were deranged, based on their mental condition when alive. How does a deranged spirit suddenly acquire the ability to respond appropriately, even if treated with respect? I confess, I wanted to drop Jay after the reveal. That kind of anger is wrong, but certainly we should be angry about this show, and its many spin offs, because it is so thoroughly dishonoring to God, as well as harmful to everyone involved. The text in Ephesians 4:26 tells us to be righteously angry at the appropriate time (be angry and not sin).

If a medical doctor showed such recklessness they would be sued in a heartbeat for malpractice, as would a pest control professional if they gave similar advice. Those who believe in earthbound spirits cannot avoid giving an inaccurate diagnosis of the problem, as well as harmful advice. It has already occurred to tens of thousands of clients . . . all of whom are now living “comfortably” with demonic spirits.

As terrible as the temporal consequences are of Jay and Amy’s advice (folks getting scratched), think of the clients and the millions of viewers who saw this, and how their eternal destinies are being jeopardized? You may really dislike the show, but if you are a Christian you must not be indifferent, forgetful, or dismissive of this demonic madhouse.

Ghost Hunters symbolizes a water-shed issue for evangelical Christians regarding our belief in the inerrancy of the Bible. According to Webster’s Dictionary a watershed is “a dividing ridge between two drainage areas.” On this ridge, rain that falls on one side of the divide goes in one direction, and rain that hits just a few inches away, goes in an entirely different direction.  What good is it to claim to believe in the inspiration and inerrancy of the Bible, if we are not actively confronting this horrible deception of Satan? Confronting evil in all its manifestations in our culture (especially the most serious), is a watershed issue dividing evangelicals today, as Francis Schaeffer points out in The Great Evangelical Disaster.

The belief in earthbound spirits is so coercive and hostile to every doctrine in the Bible, that it is mis-shaping people’s worldviews on a massive scale. That is why it has become a litmus test for our belief in, and submission to, the authority of the Bible—a watershed issue. To say you are a follower of Christ, but believe in ghosts, means one of two things: you are either abysmally ignorant of the Bible, or you simply are not a Christian. Furthermore, professed Christians who know these spirits are really demonic, but are not confronting this issue, are accommodating this demonic deception . . . which makes you no different than those who embrace it. It has the same effect – it assists in the spread of the kingdom of darkness. I am tired of the lying heretics who carry the banner of evangelical Christianity, but who deny the authority of the Bible, by spreading a serious demonic lie. Some errors in belief are so coercive; they have titanic ramifications that ripple out to eternity.

Certainly we must confront in love, but we must confront . . . confront what Ghost Hunters has helped to popularize – the belief in ghosts. With each passing day, ever larger numbers of people are falling prey to this doctrine of demons. It is costly to confront . . . you will notice certain friends on Facebook either drift or run away from your “fanaticism.” But true believers seek to please God and not man, and when the Lord is dishonored they get righteously angry. This is a watershed issue . . . which side of the divide are you on? 

The Great Evangelical Disaster...Silence

By Reverend Mark Hunnemann

“The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.”  – Edmund Burke

“The only thing more dangerous than the spoken word is silence.”    – Anonymous

Some of you are familiar with the famous words of Burke – I counted a dozen different versions of them online! To be frank, I have always found them to be haunting.  Occasionally I wonder if there is some great evil in our midst which I am either unaware of or too fearful to speak out about.  Each generation of Christians is responsible before the Lord to detect and confront the evils of their own generation...I would recommend The Great Evangelical Disaster, by Dr. Francis Schaeffer, for an excellent, sobering discussion of this topic.  If I could, I would make it required reading for every Bible-believing pastor, but it is equally important for non-pastors. It is not often I recommend a book on here, but this is critical.

When you combine these two profound sayings (which I believe they are), then the common notion of how a culture unravels, well – unravels. It does not take everyone becoming personally very evil, as in the days of Noah (the lone exception), for evil to triumph and society to implode. The U.S. today still has tens of millions of morally decent and godly people, but still it is rapidly declining morally and spiritually.  Why?  Please note that “doing nothing” and “silence” are passive sins of omission. They don’t have the look and feel of sins of commission. Did we not learn anything from the churches during the Nazi regime? Of course they were not massacring the millions themselves, BUT MOST WERE SILENT regarding a holocaust they knew was happening.  Hence (and this is key) they accommodated the evil and allowed it to grow. If Christians had been doers of the word (James) then Hitler never would have come to power.  But like so many, the wallet was the ultimate criterion of determining who they voted for.  They, like we, lacked a Christian mind.  We don’t think with a Biblical worldview.  Hitler showed the danger of the spoken word, but German pastors revealed how silence is even more dangerous..

Since a great number of good people are doing nothing and remaining silent, then a great evil is triumphing in our culture.  In fact, it has turned into a global spiritual pandemic, but most pastors are not saying a word about it.  I am referring to the juggernaut known as spiritism or the belief in – and contact with – the dead.  If we don’t see this as a great evil then we simply don’t understand the Bible or reality.  Ghosts are either real or we are being demonically deceived on an unprecedented scale.  Once a person grasps the enormous scope of the deception, as well as the eternal and temporally significant ramifications of it, then it would be morally monstrous to be silent about it. Suppose you had the cure for a pandemic that was worse than the Black Plague, but most people ridiculed the notion of there even being a plague: what should you do?  Despite the criticism and being branded “negative” (horror of horrors today), silence simply would not be an option.  You would have a moral obligation before God to try to save as many lives as possible and educate people.  Today we are facing one of the worst spiritual pandemics in history.  That is precisely the passion that drove the writing of  Seeing Ghosts through God’s Eyes; to educate and equip folks to grasp the horror of great darkness that has befallen us.  I plead with you to winsomely discuss this with your pastor.  They are the key – please don’t let us repeat the failure of silence displayed by the German pastors and church during Hitler’s reign of terror.  In addition, there are opportunities that naturally arise for us to share with others regarding this pandemic. Please….do and say, do and say – or our grandchildren will be living in a howling wasteland due to OUR passivity.