Well I sure hope everyone is doing well and staying well. Lockdowns make you realize what you take for granted being so busy. Florida is very slowly opening up little by little. I pray all this is in the past soon for everyone. There’s so much going on in our country I don’t know where to start.........
So here is, yet another shady pizza restaurant like Comet Ping Pong Pizza. Pedophilic and demonic art is displayed on the walls. How in the heck is Lucifers Damned Good Pizza considered a family place? That really blows my mind. It’s just SO obvious, too. Just that alone should be a red flag. Who would want to expose their children to this imagery? From my researching they seem like a proper business that does very well. They even have four locations in the Los Angeles area. But the choice of art really bugs me. One of the Why? Why is this okay and so blatant to have these types of imagery on the walls? Something fishy about some of these pizza-themed restaurants. Something's not right.
Never Attempt Contact With A Demon
No one should EVER call on a demon for help. Lucifer is not cool. He isn’t your friend and never will be. Only call on Jesus Christ. And if you have a calling and have The Lord's hedge of protection as the Bible (KJV) tells us. You see how these movies are and people believe it to be true. As if you need to summon a dangerous demon for help. That’s a terrible idea floating around all over the internet and YouTube. It’s dangerous and it's becoming highly popular. So are pedophiles on YouTube. I hear they are in plain sight! All over social media. There are so much bad and dangerous things to learn online. It’s very scary. It’s truly so much dangerous information.
The world is bad enough without letting demons have a legal right to enter your life. You really don’t want those problems. They are very hard to fix. Our country is going through enough right now. You have not seen anything yet when these entities attach to or possess a person and their life. It’s done in stages. It’s done in such a manner you don’t realize how far down you have fallen. You are not crazy, either. They’d like you to think so. I have a lot of ground to cover diving in deeper on these subjects to give you more information.
Possible Dangers of Summoning A Demon
Oppression
Depression
Possession
Suicidal Thoughts
Hearing scary voices is yet another problem. But you get the picture as far as the point I’m trying to make. It’s just way too dangerous on so many levels. They will act like your best friend but trust me DEMONS HATE HUMANS! Remember this. People forget that a lot. They always turn on you at some point, usually when you least expect it, or when you're at your lowest point. Then it will try and kill you. They only obey Satan. I’ve said that many times too. They don’t obey humans. Not until you are fully trusting this entity that it’s true colors will show.
You don’t have to put up with any harassment. Speak to them with strong loud authority! Let them know it won’t be an easy fight for them. It’s all about gaining souls. Stand your ground. Remain calm during sleep paralysis. Remember it doesn’t last long. Cry out to Jesus. Or think Jesus over and over. It worked for me one night. I kept dreaming I was awake and I wasn’t. It was terrifying and confusing. Sleep paralysis is very terrifying. We our more open when sleeping and it makes it more easy for attack.
I know this blog was about a couple of things that had nothing to do with the title. But when I feel led to put something out I just do it. There is so much I have to share with you! So stay tuned for my next blog. Also I’m on Twitter as well. @1Demonologychic
There’s just so much going on in the world right now....I don’t know where to start! It’s so sad. This wonderful country is in trouble. It all comes out in the wash. The truth will always surface. So whatever our government is doing will be exposed. Just know that.
I was sick for a while but I’m recovering pretty good. I’ll share that experience very soon. I thought I was going to die. Trying to breathe felt like small sharp pieces of glass shooting in my lungs. But I had pneumonia from a bad upper respiratory infection. I had a strand of influenza that was bad. Not seen often. I was quarantined. I’ll share that experience with you soon. It was scary.
Until next time may your pleasures be many and your worries be few. God bless each and all of you.
Written By Jennifer Auld
Looking inside the spiritual & literary worlds
Showing posts with label bible. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bible. Show all posts
Sunday, May 3, 2020
Sunday, April 12, 2020
Worshiping Satan On Stage Or Just Harmless Entertainment?
Happy Easter! Hello everybody. I pray everyone is feeling great and everyone you love is safe and doing well. This lockdown due to the coronavirus is crazy. I sure hope this passes soon. I think they hype it up a bit in my humble opinion. I’ve stayed inside other than to visit the doctor. In Orlando, no one can be on the roads unless it’s absolutely necessary. I hope this isn’t some conspiracy. I just don’t trust our government.
I’d first like to say that I’m not claiming all metal music is Satanic. Everyone likes different types of music. Freedom of choice. I’m only speaking of the obvious ones who brag about Satan or ones that serve him while on stage. Doing actual rituals with a crowd of thousands cheering it on can’t be healthy. That opens the door to anything, and I mean anything. They show people in the audience doing mosh pits standing near the stage hoping to get spit on. Yes. I said spit. One sings and talks like a demon while singing. I can’t make out a single word as hard as I tried.
These bands get together for Hell Fest every year. It’s like their Comi-con. There’s a band called Baphomet and they are definitely not Christians. The satanic rituals are done in plain sight! I can’t tell what they are saying/singing due to all the screaming. However, it’s very obvious who they serve.
Behemoth is another satanic band. The lead singer is very proud of their satanic ways. Please feel free to research what I’m talking about. But will this music be healthy for those who listen? Does it open doors that you don’t want opened? Possibly. Jesus Christ loves them. And He will accept them with open arms if they stop living and promoting their Satanic lifestyle. Jesus will protect them. They can’t take the name of Jesus. It’s one thing demons can’t control. We have authority in Jesus's name don’t forget it. We don’t have to fear. Fear is not of God. I don’t judge rock music. I just worry about death metal.
No one should summon or call on a demon for help. Like I said before....call on Jesus Christ and His hedge of protection from any evil. This is what the Bible (KJV) tells us. See how these movies are and people believe it to be true. As if you need to summon a dangerous demon for help. It’s horrible that it is going around. It’s dangerous and becoming highly popular. All over social media you can learn so much dangerous information. People are learning dark magic from a self-proclaimed high Satanist. There’s many out there offering information for under-age people as well as adults.
What does the name Behemoth mean?
HISTORICAL USAGE OF BEHEMOTH
The original behemoth is found in the Bible. Job 40:15-24 describes a land-dwelling beast having mythic proportions (a tail like a cedar tree) and supernatural characteristics (bones like bars of brass and iron). The Hebrew word that is used ( bəhēmōth ) is the augmentative plural form of the word for “beast” or “animal.” Normally, bəhēmōth would translate as the plural noun “beasts,” but as it is used to describe a singular being, the interpretation is that of a mighty or monstrous animal.
Much folklore has arisen around behemoth. One story has it that behemoth, separated from its aquatic counterpart leviathan at the dawn of creation, will be reunited with it in an epic battle on Judgment Day in which each will slay the other. Following this biblical King Kong vs. Godzilla match, both animals will be served up as a feast for the remaining faithful.
Behemoth makes an appearance in such classics of literature as John Milton's Paradise Lost, Shelley's Prometheus Unbound, and James Joyce's Finnegan's Wake. Today we use it to apply to anything large, powerful, and often unwieldy.
‘An animal, perhaps the hippopotamus, mentioned in Job 40:15–24.
Also any creature or thing of monstrous size or power. I think we all
know Baphomet is another name for Satan. Lucifer Morning star who fell.
I received a couple of emails from concerned parents about those bands. This world is becoming more demonic everyday. We can’t be ignorant to Satan's devices. I truly hope and pray this blog helps some people who are lost or feeling stress about the Corona Virus. Trust in Jesus Christ. Satan's time is limited.
They gave Lucifer his own PIZZA chain. I will dissect that for next Sunday.
I pray you all are safe and have food, shelter.
Written By Jennifer Auld
I’d first like to say that I’m not claiming all metal music is Satanic. Everyone likes different types of music. Freedom of choice. I’m only speaking of the obvious ones who brag about Satan or ones that serve him while on stage. Doing actual rituals with a crowd of thousands cheering it on can’t be healthy. That opens the door to anything, and I mean anything. They show people in the audience doing mosh pits standing near the stage hoping to get spit on. Yes. I said spit. One sings and talks like a demon while singing. I can’t make out a single word as hard as I tried.
These bands get together for Hell Fest every year. It’s like their Comi-con. There’s a band called Baphomet and they are definitely not Christians. The satanic rituals are done in plain sight! I can’t tell what they are saying/singing due to all the screaming. However, it’s very obvious who they serve.
Behemoth is another satanic band. The lead singer is very proud of their satanic ways. Please feel free to research what I’m talking about. But will this music be healthy for those who listen? Does it open doors that you don’t want opened? Possibly. Jesus Christ loves them. And He will accept them with open arms if they stop living and promoting their Satanic lifestyle. Jesus will protect them. They can’t take the name of Jesus. It’s one thing demons can’t control. We have authority in Jesus's name don’t forget it. We don’t have to fear. Fear is not of God. I don’t judge rock music. I just worry about death metal.
No one should summon or call on a demon for help. Like I said before....call on Jesus Christ and His hedge of protection from any evil. This is what the Bible (KJV) tells us. See how these movies are and people believe it to be true. As if you need to summon a dangerous demon for help. It’s horrible that it is going around. It’s dangerous and becoming highly popular. All over social media you can learn so much dangerous information. People are learning dark magic from a self-proclaimed high Satanist. There’s many out there offering information for under-age people as well as adults.
What does the name Behemoth mean?
HISTORICAL USAGE OF BEHEMOTH
The original behemoth is found in the Bible. Job 40:15-24 describes a land-dwelling beast having mythic proportions (a tail like a cedar tree) and supernatural characteristics (bones like bars of brass and iron). The Hebrew word that is used ( bəhēmōth ) is the augmentative plural form of the word for “beast” or “animal.” Normally, bəhēmōth would translate as the plural noun “beasts,” but as it is used to describe a singular being, the interpretation is that of a mighty or monstrous animal.
Much folklore has arisen around behemoth. One story has it that behemoth, separated from its aquatic counterpart leviathan at the dawn of creation, will be reunited with it in an epic battle on Judgment Day in which each will slay the other. Following this biblical King Kong vs. Godzilla match, both animals will be served up as a feast for the remaining faithful.
Behemoth makes an appearance in such classics of literature as John Milton's Paradise Lost, Shelley's Prometheus Unbound, and James Joyce's Finnegan's Wake. Today we use it to apply to anything large, powerful, and often unwieldy.
‘An animal, perhaps the hippopotamus, mentioned in Job 40:15–24.
Also any creature or thing of monstrous size or power. I think we all
know Baphomet is another name for Satan. Lucifer Morning star who fell.
I received a couple of emails from concerned parents about those bands. This world is becoming more demonic everyday. We can’t be ignorant to Satan's devices. I truly hope and pray this blog helps some people who are lost or feeling stress about the Corona Virus. Trust in Jesus Christ. Satan's time is limited.
They gave Lucifer his own PIZZA chain. I will dissect that for next Sunday.
I pray you all are safe and have food, shelter.
Written By Jennifer Auld
Saturday, November 23, 2019
Is McKamey Manor Haunted with Demonic Activity?
The McKamey Manor Dare
Just when I thought I’ve seen and heard it all. This torture manor, as I call it, has been around a while. Going back to 2013 or more. So there are many complaints from people claiming they were not let out after using the safe word. I’ve heard of signing waivers but not paperwork from one's doctor and psychiatrist stipulating they can handle the hands-on interaction. Oh yes, you have to provide a letter from your primary doctor saying you passed the physical. Plus one from a psychiatrist stipulating you’re mentally well enough to handle this level of being traumatized--for lack of better words. That has to be an awkward conversation with these doctors. They have to wonder......you know they do. They claim they call to verify the letters are authentic from both doctors. He talks with people a long time (usually on Skype) before this event happens. That’s how extreme this is. It simulates a lot of popular sinister horror movie scenes. I can’t imagine, and don’t want to. I don’t want to open any doors. That’s just me.
All the fear and torment at a place like this would have to attract the demonic. It’s a perfect storm. I can’t imagine it would be a ‘pleasant scary experience’. I use to LOVE haunted houses as a teenager around Halloween. The thrill of being scared. My father hated it. Lol. He hated that I loved those. He was a Pentecostal Minister so you can imagine. But he didn’t stop me. I was never forced to do anything like go to church and things to that nature. He didn’t shove it down my throat. So I never thought twice about going. I’m getting off the subject here. Forgive me. Also a note that possible water boarding will be done in this haunted house. I hear it’s not even a manor. Just a regular everyday home. I’m not sure how that title got slipped in?
The Bible speaks about things that fall into this category. This again.....is just my humble opinion and observation from a biblical point of view. I understand completely that not everyone will agree and that is just fine. I put out information that I think some might want to know. I want to make this very clear. I received an email about this so I wanted to get it out there. These blogs are for everyone. I’m not attacking anybody. I’m concerned. Satan is a slick snake in the grass and his time is near. He knows it too. So let’s descend into morbid, diabolical anarchy! Oh he’d love that. Well the power of Jesus supersedes Satan. On every level. The devil will always up the level. That’s my point to this blog really.
Look at all these horror movies coming out and all the ones that are on Netflix. That is just so scary to me. So many people watch Netflix including me. God only knows what that kind of viewing does to a person on some of these movies.
They are already advertising demonic movies for 2020. This is how the enemy works. He is so very slick. He works on his time. He’d love it if the entire world didn’t believe in him. Oh he could run amok. He could possess anyone and they wouldn’t know it at first. And he never would have to worry about someone resisting.
Jesus loves you. He does not want you tormented by these dark beings. That’s not His plan for us but sometimes free will gets in the way. These dark things hate human beings. They hate our guts. Remember this when you feel you can’t go on. Reach for Jesus Christ when sadness hits. Especially this time of year. Don’t give the enemy any room. He will try but remember the truth, Jesus is King. Satan cannot overtake him. The book of Revelations is worth reading about end times.
When I researched this subject and how this all year around haunted attraction worked I was literally sickened. It is currently not in business but I’m not sure why? It was first in San Diego, California, but it's now in Summertown, Tennessee. I pray for the owner and anyone else influenced by it and anyone hurt by it. It’s just not right. That’s my humble opinion. When haunt participants asked to be let out aren't, the tormenting goes on. If that’s true. I don’t know for sure. But think twice before doing these extreme haunted houses that are year round or just in October. Someone had a heart attack, which the owner of McKamey Manor said “It was pretty cool”. He said it on a YouTube clip. He’s fueled by attention and loves it. Please pray he adjust things so everyone can be happy. No one getting hurt or coming out mortified.
Below is a comment I found from usatoday.com:
"You get a lot of people who think it's going to be easy money," Kris Smith, a 37-year-old Michigan native who works as a volunteer remotely for McKamey's tours, told USA TODAY. Smith was first introduced to the operation years ago as a contestant. During his first go-around, he didn't make it past signing the waiver, which details all the physically painful, high-stakes and grotesque things that could happen along the way.
"I read it and I quit," Smith said. "I got to the last page and turned around and went home.... There's so much. You have to pull out your own teeth, there's a chance of getting a tattoo, a chance of your fingernails getting pulled out. It's really overwhelming. There's a chance of death. Accidents do happen."
The Washingtonpost.com: I found this random comment to a article about this haunted event.
“Except YOU lose if you touch them, though they CAN touch you. Most of this is set up to make you fail. You basically aren't allowed to defend yourself. Plus you start with a small set of "cards" that you need to be in the positive to "win", he arbitrarily assigns the amount of cards you can lose to said "challenge" so technically, if he thinks you may win, he just sets the amount of card loss to higher than you have and make some ridiculous challenge. You can start with more cards if you hang out in their city for 2 weeks before the game and do a bunch of sightseeing crap. I wouldn't trust him to play fair even if you did every degrading thing asked of you.”
Lord, I shouldn’t be surprised...Feel free to do your own research. Different opinions on this that’s for sure.
Until next time may your pleasures be many and your worries be few.
Written By Jennifer Auld
Just when I thought I’ve seen and heard it all. This torture manor, as I call it, has been around a while. Going back to 2013 or more. So there are many complaints from people claiming they were not let out after using the safe word. I’ve heard of signing waivers but not paperwork from one's doctor and psychiatrist stipulating they can handle the hands-on interaction. Oh yes, you have to provide a letter from your primary doctor saying you passed the physical. Plus one from a psychiatrist stipulating you’re mentally well enough to handle this level of being traumatized--for lack of better words. That has to be an awkward conversation with these doctors. They have to wonder......you know they do. They claim they call to verify the letters are authentic from both doctors. He talks with people a long time (usually on Skype) before this event happens. That’s how extreme this is. It simulates a lot of popular sinister horror movie scenes. I can’t imagine, and don’t want to. I don’t want to open any doors. That’s just me.
All the fear and torment at a place like this would have to attract the demonic. It’s a perfect storm. I can’t imagine it would be a ‘pleasant scary experience’. I use to LOVE haunted houses as a teenager around Halloween. The thrill of being scared. My father hated it. Lol. He hated that I loved those. He was a Pentecostal Minister so you can imagine. But he didn’t stop me. I was never forced to do anything like go to church and things to that nature. He didn’t shove it down my throat. So I never thought twice about going. I’m getting off the subject here. Forgive me. Also a note that possible water boarding will be done in this haunted house. I hear it’s not even a manor. Just a regular everyday home. I’m not sure how that title got slipped in?
The Bible speaks about things that fall into this category. This again.....is just my humble opinion and observation from a biblical point of view. I understand completely that not everyone will agree and that is just fine. I put out information that I think some might want to know. I want to make this very clear. I received an email about this so I wanted to get it out there. These blogs are for everyone. I’m not attacking anybody. I’m concerned. Satan is a slick snake in the grass and his time is near. He knows it too. So let’s descend into morbid, diabolical anarchy! Oh he’d love that. Well the power of Jesus supersedes Satan. On every level. The devil will always up the level. That’s my point to this blog really.
Look at all these horror movies coming out and all the ones that are on Netflix. That is just so scary to me. So many people watch Netflix including me. God only knows what that kind of viewing does to a person on some of these movies.
They are already advertising demonic movies for 2020. This is how the enemy works. He is so very slick. He works on his time. He’d love it if the entire world didn’t believe in him. Oh he could run amok. He could possess anyone and they wouldn’t know it at first. And he never would have to worry about someone resisting.
Jesus loves you. He does not want you tormented by these dark beings. That’s not His plan for us but sometimes free will gets in the way. These dark things hate human beings. They hate our guts. Remember this when you feel you can’t go on. Reach for Jesus Christ when sadness hits. Especially this time of year. Don’t give the enemy any room. He will try but remember the truth, Jesus is King. Satan cannot overtake him. The book of Revelations is worth reading about end times.
When I researched this subject and how this all year around haunted attraction worked I was literally sickened. It is currently not in business but I’m not sure why? It was first in San Diego, California, but it's now in Summertown, Tennessee. I pray for the owner and anyone else influenced by it and anyone hurt by it. It’s just not right. That’s my humble opinion. When haunt participants asked to be let out aren't, the tormenting goes on. If that’s true. I don’t know for sure. But think twice before doing these extreme haunted houses that are year round or just in October. Someone had a heart attack, which the owner of McKamey Manor said “It was pretty cool”. He said it on a YouTube clip. He’s fueled by attention and loves it. Please pray he adjust things so everyone can be happy. No one getting hurt or coming out mortified.
Below is a comment I found from usatoday.com:
"You get a lot of people who think it's going to be easy money," Kris Smith, a 37-year-old Michigan native who works as a volunteer remotely for McKamey's tours, told USA TODAY. Smith was first introduced to the operation years ago as a contestant. During his first go-around, he didn't make it past signing the waiver, which details all the physically painful, high-stakes and grotesque things that could happen along the way.
"I read it and I quit," Smith said. "I got to the last page and turned around and went home.... There's so much. You have to pull out your own teeth, there's a chance of getting a tattoo, a chance of your fingernails getting pulled out. It's really overwhelming. There's a chance of death. Accidents do happen."
The Washingtonpost.com: I found this random comment to a article about this haunted event.
“Except YOU lose if you touch them, though they CAN touch you. Most of this is set up to make you fail. You basically aren't allowed to defend yourself. Plus you start with a small set of "cards" that you need to be in the positive to "win", he arbitrarily assigns the amount of cards you can lose to said "challenge" so technically, if he thinks you may win, he just sets the amount of card loss to higher than you have and make some ridiculous challenge. You can start with more cards if you hang out in their city for 2 weeks before the game and do a bunch of sightseeing crap. I wouldn't trust him to play fair even if you did every degrading thing asked of you.”
Lord, I shouldn’t be surprised...Feel free to do your own research. Different opinions on this that’s for sure.
Until next time may your pleasures be many and your worries be few.
Written By Jennifer Auld
Saturday, August 3, 2019
Christian Witches And Angel Spirit Boards
Hello everybody. I hope you’ve enjoyed your weekend and you’re having a good Sunday. It’s definitely hot here but I don’t have to tell you guys that. I just pray that Fall gets here quickly. It’ll be nice to have it cool off a little bit here in Florida. Before we know it just in a couple of months it’ll be Halloween and the holidays again. I can’t believe it! It seems like time flies by so quick. No day is promised.
In my beliefs in my humble opinion, so many people are deceived. Now some Christians say that you can still be a Christian and practice witchcraft for the greater good, which is false. It is breaking my heart that there is this kind of evil in the churches and so called men of God and church leaders are not talking about this issue!!!!! Why?????? They really need to address this and explain the ramifications. People with the very best of intentions will inadvertently open the wrong doors. The dangers of attachment is so high. I’m not saying that people do this on purpose because they’re looking to conjure evil and do all this trouble..... of course not. Like I said I don’t believe everybody has bad intentions. But, sadly, like any religion, it can be taken too far.
It’s an oxymoron. Christian Witch. You can’t be lukewarm in Christ with one foot in and one foot out. That’s exactly what this is. The Bible forbids this type of activity. Any type of divination tools as well. And warns against all this and the consequences. It’s just not worth it. I was very much a thrill seekerchris as a teenager and I’ll never touch one of those spirit boards again after my experience. I still keep in contact with one of the people that were there that night. It was when I was 19-years old. To this day, he won’t even discuss it. He refuses to, I think, because he’s scared to do or say anything to stir that up. It really was a frightening experience. And I’ve never touched one since and I never will. Call me a chicken or crazy all you want. Not worth it to me.
I was able to speak to a Christian witch via Skype. We had a forty-minute civil conversation. Great women. And because we have the same beliefs I could biblically come at her for lack of better words. In a nice civil manner, not nasty at all. Basically, according to this Christian witch they only do good 'spells’ and are called Christian light bearers. At least her group. I brought up all the verses that are very clear about staying away from witchcraft, divination, wizards, fortunetellers, speaking to the dead, casting spells, conjuring demons, etc.
Basically it’s so new that there’s no particular rules set forth yet according to the women I interviewed. She could not answer me as to why this subject has not come up before and why are we just finding out now that Christian witches exist? Just like the paranormal field, it’s not governed. This is a very new group that has emerged. Again, I am not speaking against anybody’s religion. Like I’ve said before there’s always people that can take it too far no matter what you believe in or do not believe in. And when you start dabbling with things that you don’t know about or you think you’ve watched enough TV shows to know what you're doing and you start messing with -- you're inadvertently opening the doors that lead to darkness.
Deuteronomy 18:10: “There shall not be found among you . . . anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens.” First Samuel 15:13 compares rebellion to the “sin of divination.”
Leviticus 19:31
“Regard not them that have familiar spirits, seek after familiar spirits, wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God.”
But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
Well nothing is sacred anymore. People are buying something called an Angel Board. It’s the same thing as a Ouija board, only they are decorated with pictures of pretty angels in pastel colors. That’s the only difference. You’re not talking to angels. Anything can come through those. It’s no different than any other Ouija board or any type of device channeling the dead. It just leaves the door open for any and everything to come flooding through. And it leaves the door for any and everything to go wrong as well. Please understand I’m not trying to put fear into people. I’m just trying to inform you and to be ready when you do you mess with these type of things because there are always people that will. but the dangers are no different. Please don’t be deceived..
There’s always somebody that’s going to test it to see if it really works. Like what they see on TV/Internet. Or some think it’s a bunch of hocus-pocus so they want to prove it by doing the ritual or using the spirit board. Please expect anything to happen. It’s just prudent not to start that kind of thing to begin with. I know several people that wish they never touched one. It actually ruined their lives. It’s like I said the familiar spirits easily can come through and are quite convincing. They will mimic children or maybe somebody who died there. Worst of all, they'll prey on your emotions by claiming to be one of your loved ones.
It’s so important to always have your armor of God on. Every morning and every night suit up and pray up. The worst is yet to come in this world. And again these are just my particular beliefs and I know everybody has different beliefs and I may not agree with them but you do have the right to an opinion and your own beliefs. I’m just putting out there what’s going on in the world. There is so much you don’t see on the news. There’s so much going on that I don’t see on the news and I want to know why? Completely unrelated to this subject I’m speaking of other things that the news is conveniently not letting everybody know about. I’m thinking of writing about it so everybody is aware.
Until next time. May your days be bright and your thoughts be light.
Written by Jennifer Auld
In my beliefs in my humble opinion, so many people are deceived. Now some Christians say that you can still be a Christian and practice witchcraft for the greater good, which is false. It is breaking my heart that there is this kind of evil in the churches and so called men of God and church leaders are not talking about this issue!!!!! Why?????? They really need to address this and explain the ramifications. People with the very best of intentions will inadvertently open the wrong doors. The dangers of attachment is so high. I’m not saying that people do this on purpose because they’re looking to conjure evil and do all this trouble..... of course not. Like I said I don’t believe everybody has bad intentions. But, sadly, like any religion, it can be taken too far.
It’s an oxymoron. Christian Witch. You can’t be lukewarm in Christ with one foot in and one foot out. That’s exactly what this is. The Bible forbids this type of activity. Any type of divination tools as well. And warns against all this and the consequences. It’s just not worth it. I was very much a thrill seekerchris as a teenager and I’ll never touch one of those spirit boards again after my experience. I still keep in contact with one of the people that were there that night. It was when I was 19-years old. To this day, he won’t even discuss it. He refuses to, I think, because he’s scared to do or say anything to stir that up. It really was a frightening experience. And I’ve never touched one since and I never will. Call me a chicken or crazy all you want. Not worth it to me.
I was able to speak to a Christian witch via Skype. We had a forty-minute civil conversation. Great women. And because we have the same beliefs I could biblically come at her for lack of better words. In a nice civil manner, not nasty at all. Basically, according to this Christian witch they only do good 'spells’ and are called Christian light bearers. At least her group. I brought up all the verses that are very clear about staying away from witchcraft, divination, wizards, fortunetellers, speaking to the dead, casting spells, conjuring demons, etc.
Basically it’s so new that there’s no particular rules set forth yet according to the women I interviewed. She could not answer me as to why this subject has not come up before and why are we just finding out now that Christian witches exist? Just like the paranormal field, it’s not governed. This is a very new group that has emerged. Again, I am not speaking against anybody’s religion. Like I’ve said before there’s always people that can take it too far no matter what you believe in or do not believe in. And when you start dabbling with things that you don’t know about or you think you’ve watched enough TV shows to know what you're doing and you start messing with -- you're inadvertently opening the doors that lead to darkness.
Deuteronomy 18:10: “There shall not be found among you . . . anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens.” First Samuel 15:13 compares rebellion to the “sin of divination.”
Leviticus 19:31
“Regard not them that have familiar spirits, seek after familiar spirits, wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God.”
But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
Angel Spirit Boards
Well nothing is sacred anymore. People are buying something called an Angel Board. It’s the same thing as a Ouija board, only they are decorated with pictures of pretty angels in pastel colors. That’s the only difference. You’re not talking to angels. Anything can come through those. It’s no different than any other Ouija board or any type of device channeling the dead. It just leaves the door open for any and everything to come flooding through. And it leaves the door for any and everything to go wrong as well. Please understand I’m not trying to put fear into people. I’m just trying to inform you and to be ready when you do you mess with these type of things because there are always people that will. but the dangers are no different. Please don’t be deceived..
There’s always somebody that’s going to test it to see if it really works. Like what they see on TV/Internet. Or some think it’s a bunch of hocus-pocus so they want to prove it by doing the ritual or using the spirit board. Please expect anything to happen. It’s just prudent not to start that kind of thing to begin with. I know several people that wish they never touched one. It actually ruined their lives. It’s like I said the familiar spirits easily can come through and are quite convincing. They will mimic children or maybe somebody who died there. Worst of all, they'll prey on your emotions by claiming to be one of your loved ones.
It’s so important to always have your armor of God on. Every morning and every night suit up and pray up. The worst is yet to come in this world. And again these are just my particular beliefs and I know everybody has different beliefs and I may not agree with them but you do have the right to an opinion and your own beliefs. I’m just putting out there what’s going on in the world. There is so much you don’t see on the news. There’s so much going on that I don’t see on the news and I want to know why? Completely unrelated to this subject I’m speaking of other things that the news is conveniently not letting everybody know about. I’m thinking of writing about it so everybody is aware.
Until next time. May your days be bright and your thoughts be light.
Written by Jennifer Auld
Thursday, November 8, 2018
Salvation in Roman Catholicism and Bible: Short Summary
By Reverend Mark Hunnemann
I love my Roman Catholic (RC) friends, and I was raised RC, and it is because of my love that I earnestly desire to share this information. Teaching on this subject has not changed since Vatican 2—and it cannot change because it was made an irreformable, de fide dogma at Council of Trent in 1500’s.
Let met state clearly that many Roman Catholics have saving faith, but it is in spite of the teaching of their church and not because of it. The true gospel was ‘anthatamized’ at the Council of Trent. And so I would urge all Catholics to consider leaving their church and to attend a loving, bible believing church. I also have a segment on Mary and the Rosary. Please see video list.
This will be a very brief summary of Roman Catholic teaching on salvation (justification) versus what God says—(I did a more in-depth study earlier). I am using justification and salvation as synonyms, but biblically, justification is more precise term. I have a video of this if you prefer to listen while driving, etc.
In RC, salvation is mediated through the sacraments of the church—particularly Baptism and Penance.
Baptism begins the justification/salvation process. They believe in baptismal regeneration in which baptism erases Original sin and infuses the grace of justification in the person’s soul. The baptized person is immediately infused with the righteousness of Christ, or justifying grace, and God sees that person as being inherently or personally righteous inside themselves. Thus, they are justified/saved in His sight. To maintain this justification/salvation is a lifelong process. (in bible, justification is instantaneous, irreversible and is a legal declaration outside of us…where ungodly are DECLARED righteous—see Romans 4). 5 And to the one who does not work but believes ina him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, (Rom. 4:5)
As the child grows older they will go through the sacrament of Confirmation, which is like a spiritual booster shot. It confirms and strengthens the grace of justification (salvation) in the soul.
Throughout life, two things are absolutely needed to be remain justified/saved: they have to continue to have faith in Christ and live a holy life in submission to Mother Church. The latter (holy life) consists of two things: regular involvement in sacraments of church, especially Mass/Confession; and adherence to Ten Commandments. So, you can see that though faith is a necessary condition for salvation, it is not a sufficient condition for salvation—they have to add their good works. This is the error so severely condemned in Galatians 1:6ff. For RC faith + good works = salvation/justification—bible teaches: faith alone in Christ = salvation/justification (good works flow naturally from a genuine faith as expression of love and gratitude).
In RC there are two kinds of sin: venial and mortal sin. Venial sin is ‘regular sin’ but mortal sin, as the name suggests, kills the grace of justification in the soul. It un-saves the person, and if they died in this state they would go to hell. Things like adultery, murder, missing Mass, Ten Commandments, etc., are examples of this kind of mortal sin, but the list is vague.
How is justification/salvation restored? Through the sacrament of Penance (RC has 7 sacraments instead of 2). RC states that: “Penance is the second plank of justification for those who have made shipwreck of their souls.” (Council of Trent) After confessing ones mortal sin, and going trough prescribed steps, the ‘shipwrecked’ believer then has saving grace re-infused back into their soul. Thus going to Confession is a vital part of a pious Roman Catholic believers lifestyle.
This is the RC system of salvation/justification. Assurance of salvation is actually deemed a sin or frowned upon—I was told it led to presumption. So, we see that salvation in RC a lifelong mediating of God’s grace through the church, and the sacrament of Penance. The vast majority of believers will die with the stain of sin on their souls, and will need to spend some time in Purgatory having their sins purged until they are ready to enter holy heaven.
To sum up summary, in RC the grace of justification is INFUSED into the soul where the person actually IS righteous enough in themselves for God to deem them as justified/saved. God deems righteous what actually IS righteous. But all that can be lost in an instant, over and over again.
In reality, whoever gets to that point of personal righteousness? Certainly not me—all I can see is the massive amount of indwelling left residing inside of me. So, this ‘gospel’ is horrible news for someone like me who is keenly aware of my sinfulness.
Thank God, the bible says that saving/justifying grace is IMPUTED to us; It is a legal declaration which happens outside of us. It is the only aspect of salvation which occurs totally outside of us. Many Protestants have never heard this from the pulpit. If you were in a courtroom and judge declared you ‘not guilty,’ it would change your legal status but would it change your character? No, not at all. Justification is God as Judge declaring people who are personally ungodly, to be ‘not guilty and righteous’ in His holy eyes—but it does not affect us internally. Sanctification instantaneously follows justification, which does begin the inside/out change of our character by the indwelling Holy Spirit. But we MUST distinguish (not separate) justification from sanctification or we will slip into error of RC. Justification in RC is inside…… but the bible sees justification as outside of us.
Hence, Romans 4 says that ‘God justifies the ungodly.’ RC confuses justification with sanctification. In biblical justification there is a double transfer: our sins are transferred to Christ, and His perfect righteousness is imputed to us. (2 Cor. 5:21) Jesus garments of His holiness cover us, so that the Father sees Jesus’ righteousness and not our sinfulness. We are simultaneously saved and sinful—THAT is good news! The BEST news!
Hence, we are simultaneously justified and sinful. ‘Simul Justus et peccator’ as Luther said. By experience, we know that to be true, and if I have to wait until I am inherently righteous enough for God to declare me righteous, then I will NEVER be righteous enough to be declared justified—too much indwelling sin remains in us. Praise God for CHRIST'S righteousness, which is in heaven—and our union with Christ unites us with all He is and has done! He sees us as perfect, in Christ!
1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, wea have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 5:1; 8:1)
Though outside of us, justification brings deep internal healing and peace of mind. Praise God!
I love my Roman Catholic (RC) friends, and I was raised RC, and it is because of my love that I earnestly desire to share this information. Teaching on this subject has not changed since Vatican 2—and it cannot change because it was made an irreformable, de fide dogma at Council of Trent in 1500’s.
Let met state clearly that many Roman Catholics have saving faith, but it is in spite of the teaching of their church and not because of it. The true gospel was ‘anthatamized’ at the Council of Trent. And so I would urge all Catholics to consider leaving their church and to attend a loving, bible believing church. I also have a segment on Mary and the Rosary. Please see video list.
This will be a very brief summary of Roman Catholic teaching on salvation (justification) versus what God says—(I did a more in-depth study earlier). I am using justification and salvation as synonyms, but biblically, justification is more precise term. I have a video of this if you prefer to listen while driving, etc.
In RC, salvation is mediated through the sacraments of the church—particularly Baptism and Penance.
Baptism begins the justification/salvation process. They believe in baptismal regeneration in which baptism erases Original sin and infuses the grace of justification in the person’s soul. The baptized person is immediately infused with the righteousness of Christ, or justifying grace, and God sees that person as being inherently or personally righteous inside themselves. Thus, they are justified/saved in His sight. To maintain this justification/salvation is a lifelong process. (in bible, justification is instantaneous, irreversible and is a legal declaration outside of us…where ungodly are DECLARED righteous—see Romans 4). 5 And to the one who does not work but believes ina him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, (Rom. 4:5)
As the child grows older they will go through the sacrament of Confirmation, which is like a spiritual booster shot. It confirms and strengthens the grace of justification (salvation) in the soul.
Throughout life, two things are absolutely needed to be remain justified/saved: they have to continue to have faith in Christ and live a holy life in submission to Mother Church. The latter (holy life) consists of two things: regular involvement in sacraments of church, especially Mass/Confession; and adherence to Ten Commandments. So, you can see that though faith is a necessary condition for salvation, it is not a sufficient condition for salvation—they have to add their good works. This is the error so severely condemned in Galatians 1:6ff. For RC faith + good works = salvation/justification—bible teaches: faith alone in Christ = salvation/justification (good works flow naturally from a genuine faith as expression of love and gratitude).
In RC there are two kinds of sin: venial and mortal sin. Venial sin is ‘regular sin’ but mortal sin, as the name suggests, kills the grace of justification in the soul. It un-saves the person, and if they died in this state they would go to hell. Things like adultery, murder, missing Mass, Ten Commandments, etc., are examples of this kind of mortal sin, but the list is vague.
How is justification/salvation restored? Through the sacrament of Penance (RC has 7 sacraments instead of 2). RC states that: “Penance is the second plank of justification for those who have made shipwreck of their souls.” (Council of Trent) After confessing ones mortal sin, and going trough prescribed steps, the ‘shipwrecked’ believer then has saving grace re-infused back into their soul. Thus going to Confession is a vital part of a pious Roman Catholic believers lifestyle.
This is the RC system of salvation/justification. Assurance of salvation is actually deemed a sin or frowned upon—I was told it led to presumption. So, we see that salvation in RC a lifelong mediating of God’s grace through the church, and the sacrament of Penance. The vast majority of believers will die with the stain of sin on their souls, and will need to spend some time in Purgatory having their sins purged until they are ready to enter holy heaven.
To sum up summary, in RC the grace of justification is INFUSED into the soul where the person actually IS righteous enough in themselves for God to deem them as justified/saved. God deems righteous what actually IS righteous. But all that can be lost in an instant, over and over again.
In reality, whoever gets to that point of personal righteousness? Certainly not me—all I can see is the massive amount of indwelling left residing inside of me. So, this ‘gospel’ is horrible news for someone like me who is keenly aware of my sinfulness.
Thank God, the bible says that saving/justifying grace is IMPUTED to us; It is a legal declaration which happens outside of us. It is the only aspect of salvation which occurs totally outside of us. Many Protestants have never heard this from the pulpit. If you were in a courtroom and judge declared you ‘not guilty,’ it would change your legal status but would it change your character? No, not at all. Justification is God as Judge declaring people who are personally ungodly, to be ‘not guilty and righteous’ in His holy eyes—but it does not affect us internally. Sanctification instantaneously follows justification, which does begin the inside/out change of our character by the indwelling Holy Spirit. But we MUST distinguish (not separate) justification from sanctification or we will slip into error of RC. Justification in RC is inside…… but the bible sees justification as outside of us.
Hence, Romans 4 says that ‘God justifies the ungodly.’ RC confuses justification with sanctification. In biblical justification there is a double transfer: our sins are transferred to Christ, and His perfect righteousness is imputed to us. (2 Cor. 5:21) Jesus garments of His holiness cover us, so that the Father sees Jesus’ righteousness and not our sinfulness. We are simultaneously saved and sinful—THAT is good news! The BEST news!
Hence, we are simultaneously justified and sinful. ‘Simul Justus et peccator’ as Luther said. By experience, we know that to be true, and if I have to wait until I am inherently righteous enough for God to declare me righteous, then I will NEVER be righteous enough to be declared justified—too much indwelling sin remains in us. Praise God for CHRIST'S righteousness, which is in heaven—and our union with Christ unites us with all He is and has done! He sees us as perfect, in Christ!
1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, wea have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 5:1; 8:1)
Though outside of us, justification brings deep internal healing and peace of mind. Praise God!
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.
Friday, August 10, 2018
SIN & THE BONDAGE OF THE WILL-- Not Prevenient Grace
By Reverend Mark Hunnemann
I have, as I’m sure you have too, thought and even agonized over why some of my loved ones seem so disinterested in the gospel. No matter what I say or do, they seem so…in bondage. This is a very personal issue for all of us.
In our opening segment we looked at scriptural foundation for the doctrine of sin. We looked at the Fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden, and the inspired interpretation in Romans 5. We noted that the original sin of Adam transferred to us both guilt and a radically corrupt nature. We next noted two areas of inability: we are unable to do any good, and we are unable to seek God for salvation. Most importantly, I tried to stress that one’s view of sin has a radical view on how they will understand grace. Do you believe in Grace ALONE? If so, then you may need to do some reassessing to see if your view of sin is consistent with sola gratia or inconsistent, or even contrary to it. We all are inconsistent in some areas but I think we would all want to do all we could to avoid inconsistency in this most vital area. Grace is everything to a Christian. I was raised Roman Catholic and I am disturbed that the common view of initial response to gospel or salvation amongst evangelicals sounds very similar to Rome: cooperating with grace.
Who saves whom? Does God save sinners—is it 100% of grace? Or does God save, with our help—90 % God and 10% us? Is the initial salvation process totally from God, or a mixture of God and us? Sanctification is undoubtedly cooperative effort but we’re speaking of initial stage of saving work.
So, not with a desire to win an argument, but to accent grace, I need to show again how sinful sin is—especially in the area of our inability to believe, without divine intervention-or regeneration. That is, regeneration precedes faith. Have you ever heard that? It marks the difference between two distinct views of how God saves. You will note that this is the reverse of how contemporary evangelical preachers present the salvation process: you first believe in order to be regenerated. But the bible teaches that God must first regenerate us in order for us to believe. If we truly believe man is dead in sin, it HAS to be that way.
Are we merely near-sighted or are we blind? Are we are gravely ill or dead in sin? Are we employees of sin or slaves of it? Are we hard of hearing or stone-cold deaf? Are we seeking God or fleeing Him? To cast ourselves 100% of the mercy and grace of God, to blast away any remains of pride, we must see how dreadfully lost we are outside of Christ.
Let us examine just the gospel of John and see how consistently and persistently he presents such a bleak picture of mans moral inability to seek salvation. I’m going through this step by step so if you have questions they may be answered in future segments. My focus—salvation is from God, grace alone!
12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.(John 1:13-14) Here we clearly see the confluence of human responsibility and divine initiative. WE receive…WE believe…but the causal factor lying behind that receiving and believing was/is the supernatural act of God—the will of God that brought that decision about. It could not be clearer. God’s will supersedes yours. Divine causality of our belief by regeneration preceding faith. Without divine initiative we could not believe.
Btw in 1:9 Arminian theology misuses this verse to support unbiblical notion of prevenient grace. Does Paul say in Romans 3:21 “But now, God has expressed His prevenient grace…? The notion is antithetical to grace, and I shall return to it.
3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born againb he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.c 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘Youd must be born again.’ 8 The winde blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Born again/regeneration required before seeing kingdom. Jesus is speaking of the necessity of being born again to even ‘see’ the kingdom, not to mention enter into it..which He does mention in v 5!
37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. (6:37) Jesus asserts that the Father gives as a gift (see John 10) some people to Jesus, and these people will come to Him…and He will never cast them out. How many of those that Father has given the Son will come to Him savingly? All of them! But who is it that comes to Jesus for salvation? All those the Father has given Him.
s. 44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. Notice first that this is a universal negative—NO ONE can come to Me. Perhaps we had same English teacher. In class: can I sharpen my pencil? I’m sure you can! May/Can…Can implies ability. So Jesus is talking about inability. But notice there is a conditional clause—unless Father draws him. Same Greek word is used in James 2:6; Acts 16:19 for ‘drag’ Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? doubt it means ‘woo or persuade’
19 But when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers. Same word for ‘dragged’ is what is used here, and I doubt it means ‘woo or persuade’
Kittlels Theological Dictionary defines this word :”to compel by irresistible authority”
64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) 65And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.” Again, we are told by Jesus that nobody CAN come to Him unless that (ability) is granted to him by Father. This was said in adversarial situation and Jesus was explaining, what he said elsewhere you do not believe me bc you are not My sheep.
Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slaveb to sin. (8:34) Enslavement to sin due to their nature.
26 but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. (10:26)
Notice that Jesus does not say that they are not His sheep because they do not believe, but they do not believe BECAUSE they are not His sheep, or elect. Again, He is inferring inability because of their condition.
So, our main point in this segment is that people are by nature unable to come to God and be saved. No amount of persuasion, eloquence or compassionate pleading can awaken a spiritual corpse from the dead.
Picture a corpse lying on the ground. Would any amount of pleading or forcefulness cause the corpse to rise from the dead? That is most accurate analogy to Eph. 2:1—dead in sin. Only God can breathe life into a valley of dry bones.
Or Lazarus. Did he in any way cooperate in his resurrection? Of course not.
The obvious question that arises is: how can God hold someone accountable for something they are unable to do? Or, put another way, if God commands something then does that not imply the ability to be able to do it? And what of man and free will? And most importantly, how does a non-Christian become saved if they are unable to?
I have labored this point of mans utter inability to come to God or believe in Him for one reason: to highlight GRACE. God does the saving—He has to do the saving if man is this lost…this enslaved…this dead. There is no island of righteousness where a person can lean on to extend a hand to reach out for saving life presearver. They are on bottom of pool drowned.
Seems bleak but this should lead one to life of intense prayer, realizing that this is truly impossible from human perspective. Pleading with God and God does use us to bring about
My Arminian brothers and sisters appeal to ‘prevenient grace’ but in this scenario nobody would reply to a general summons.
Arminian view-man cannot be saved apart from God’s grace., but fallen man must cooperate and assent to God’s grace before God will save him. Prior to regeneration, man has the power to accept or reject the grace that could save him.
Augustinian or biblical view—man is totally dependent on the grace of God for his initial response to gospel.
Arguments against prevenient grace.
It is nowhere stated explicitly in bible. John 1:9 does not teach it. THE PURPOSE OF THE VERSE IS TO SAY THAT THE COMING OF THE TRUE LIGHT EXPOSES AND REVEALS WHERE PEOPLE ARE IN THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO GOD.
1. As exceedingly important as this issue is, it should be splashed all over NT. It is not seen anywhere. Proof texts are out of context eisogesis.
2. Romans 3:8ff rejects prevenient grace. Note in 3:21 Paul does not say: “But God in His prevenient grace…” In 1:18 all of mankind is under God’s curse and wrath for rejecting the Father, which prevenient grace says it is extended to ALL people.
3. Why do some respond and others do not? Why do some make use of prevenient grace and others do not?
4. Are they more righteous, smarter, wiser, more humble, more teachable, more….? Any answer would give grounds for boasting.
5. Is not faith a gift from God? Eph. 2:1-10; Phil. 1:29; 2 Peter 1:1 2 Tim 2:24-26; Acts 5:31; 11:18
6. Suspends work of God on will of man
7. Grace becomes ‘penultimate’ cause of salvation…ultimate cause is our reply.
BY R. C. SPROUL
As the name suggests, prevenient grace is grace that "comes before" something. It is normally defined as a work that God does for everybody. He gives all people enough grace to respond to Jesus. That is, it is enough grace to make it possible for people to choose Christ. Those who cooperate with assent to this grace are "elect." Those who refuse to cooperate with this grace are lost.
The strength of this view is that it recognizes that fallen man's spiritual condition is severe enough that it requires God's grace to save him. The weakness of the position may be seen in two ways. If this prevenient grace is merely external to man, then it fails in the same manner that the medicine and the life preserver analogies fail. What good is prevenient grace if offered outwardly to spiritually dead creatures?
On the other hand, if prevenient grace refers to something that God does within the heart of fallen man, then we must ask why it is not always effectual. Why is it that some fallen creatures choose to cooperate with prevenient grace and others choose not to? Doesn't everyone get the same amount?
Think of it this way, in personal terms. If you are a Christian you are surely aware of other people who are not Christians. Why is it that you have chosen Christ and they have not? Why did you say yes to prevenient grace while they said no? Was it because you were more righteous than they were? If so, then indeed you have something in which to boast. Was that greater righteousness something you achieved on your own or was it the gift of God? If it was something you achieved, then at the bottom line your salvation depends on your own righteousness. If the righteousness was a gift, then why didn't God give the same gift to everybody?
Perhaps it wasn't because you were more righteous. Perhaps it was because you are more intelligent. Why are you more intelligent? Because you study more (which really means you are more righteous)? Or are you more intelligent because God gave you a gift of intelligence he withheld from others?
To be sure, most Christians who hold to the prevenient grace view would shrink from such answers. They see the implied arrogance in them. Rather they are more likely to say, "No, I chose Christ because I recognized my desperate need for him."
That certainly sounds more humble. But I must press the question. Why did you recognize your desperate need for Christ while your neighbor didn't? Was it because you were more righteous than your neighbor, or more intelligent? (or more humble or broken?)
The $64,000 question for advocates of prevenient grace is why some people cooperate with it and others' don't. How we answer that will reveal how gracious we believe our salvation really is.
The $64,000 question is, "Does the Bible teach such a doctrine of prevenient grace? If so, where?"
We conclude that our salvation is of the Lord. He is the One who regenerates us. Those whom he regenerates come to Christ. Without regeneration no one will ever come to Christ. With regeneration no one will ever reject him. God's saving grace effects what he intends to effect by it. (Chosen by God).
I have, as I’m sure you have too, thought and even agonized over why some of my loved ones seem so disinterested in the gospel. No matter what I say or do, they seem so…in bondage. This is a very personal issue for all of us.
In our opening segment we looked at scriptural foundation for the doctrine of sin. We looked at the Fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden, and the inspired interpretation in Romans 5. We noted that the original sin of Adam transferred to us both guilt and a radically corrupt nature. We next noted two areas of inability: we are unable to do any good, and we are unable to seek God for salvation. Most importantly, I tried to stress that one’s view of sin has a radical view on how they will understand grace. Do you believe in Grace ALONE? If so, then you may need to do some reassessing to see if your view of sin is consistent with sola gratia or inconsistent, or even contrary to it. We all are inconsistent in some areas but I think we would all want to do all we could to avoid inconsistency in this most vital area. Grace is everything to a Christian. I was raised Roman Catholic and I am disturbed that the common view of initial response to gospel or salvation amongst evangelicals sounds very similar to Rome: cooperating with grace.
Who saves whom? Does God save sinners—is it 100% of grace? Or does God save, with our help—90 % God and 10% us? Is the initial salvation process totally from God, or a mixture of God and us? Sanctification is undoubtedly cooperative effort but we’re speaking of initial stage of saving work.
So, not with a desire to win an argument, but to accent grace, I need to show again how sinful sin is—especially in the area of our inability to believe, without divine intervention-or regeneration. That is, regeneration precedes faith. Have you ever heard that? It marks the difference between two distinct views of how God saves. You will note that this is the reverse of how contemporary evangelical preachers present the salvation process: you first believe in order to be regenerated. But the bible teaches that God must first regenerate us in order for us to believe. If we truly believe man is dead in sin, it HAS to be that way.
Are we merely near-sighted or are we blind? Are we are gravely ill or dead in sin? Are we employees of sin or slaves of it? Are we hard of hearing or stone-cold deaf? Are we seeking God or fleeing Him? To cast ourselves 100% of the mercy and grace of God, to blast away any remains of pride, we must see how dreadfully lost we are outside of Christ.
Let us examine just the gospel of John and see how consistently and persistently he presents such a bleak picture of mans moral inability to seek salvation. I’m going through this step by step so if you have questions they may be answered in future segments. My focus—salvation is from God, grace alone!
12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.(John 1:13-14) Here we clearly see the confluence of human responsibility and divine initiative. WE receive…WE believe…but the causal factor lying behind that receiving and believing was/is the supernatural act of God—the will of God that brought that decision about. It could not be clearer. God’s will supersedes yours. Divine causality of our belief by regeneration preceding faith. Without divine initiative we could not believe.
Btw in 1:9 Arminian theology misuses this verse to support unbiblical notion of prevenient grace. Does Paul say in Romans 3:21 “But now, God has expressed His prevenient grace…? The notion is antithetical to grace, and I shall return to it.
3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born againb he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.c 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘Youd must be born again.’ 8 The winde blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Born again/regeneration required before seeing kingdom. Jesus is speaking of the necessity of being born again to even ‘see’ the kingdom, not to mention enter into it..which He does mention in v 5!
37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. (6:37) Jesus asserts that the Father gives as a gift (see John 10) some people to Jesus, and these people will come to Him…and He will never cast them out. How many of those that Father has given the Son will come to Him savingly? All of them! But who is it that comes to Jesus for salvation? All those the Father has given Him.
s. 44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. Notice first that this is a universal negative—NO ONE can come to Me. Perhaps we had same English teacher. In class: can I sharpen my pencil? I’m sure you can! May/Can…Can implies ability. So Jesus is talking about inability. But notice there is a conditional clause—unless Father draws him. Same Greek word is used in James 2:6; Acts 16:19 for ‘drag’ Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? doubt it means ‘woo or persuade’
19 But when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers. Same word for ‘dragged’ is what is used here, and I doubt it means ‘woo or persuade’
Kittlels Theological Dictionary defines this word :”to compel by irresistible authority”
64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) 65And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.” Again, we are told by Jesus that nobody CAN come to Him unless that (ability) is granted to him by Father. This was said in adversarial situation and Jesus was explaining, what he said elsewhere you do not believe me bc you are not My sheep.
Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slaveb to sin. (8:34) Enslavement to sin due to their nature.
26 but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. (10:26)
Notice that Jesus does not say that they are not His sheep because they do not believe, but they do not believe BECAUSE they are not His sheep, or elect. Again, He is inferring inability because of their condition.
So, our main point in this segment is that people are by nature unable to come to God and be saved. No amount of persuasion, eloquence or compassionate pleading can awaken a spiritual corpse from the dead.
Picture a corpse lying on the ground. Would any amount of pleading or forcefulness cause the corpse to rise from the dead? That is most accurate analogy to Eph. 2:1—dead in sin. Only God can breathe life into a valley of dry bones.
Or Lazarus. Did he in any way cooperate in his resurrection? Of course not.
The obvious question that arises is: how can God hold someone accountable for something they are unable to do? Or, put another way, if God commands something then does that not imply the ability to be able to do it? And what of man and free will? And most importantly, how does a non-Christian become saved if they are unable to?
I have labored this point of mans utter inability to come to God or believe in Him for one reason: to highlight GRACE. God does the saving—He has to do the saving if man is this lost…this enslaved…this dead. There is no island of righteousness where a person can lean on to extend a hand to reach out for saving life presearver. They are on bottom of pool drowned.
Seems bleak but this should lead one to life of intense prayer, realizing that this is truly impossible from human perspective. Pleading with God and God does use us to bring about
My Arminian brothers and sisters appeal to ‘prevenient grace’ but in this scenario nobody would reply to a general summons.
Arminian view-man cannot be saved apart from God’s grace., but fallen man must cooperate and assent to God’s grace before God will save him. Prior to regeneration, man has the power to accept or reject the grace that could save him.
Augustinian or biblical view—man is totally dependent on the grace of God for his initial response to gospel.
Arguments against prevenient grace.
It is nowhere stated explicitly in bible. John 1:9 does not teach it. THE PURPOSE OF THE VERSE IS TO SAY THAT THE COMING OF THE TRUE LIGHT EXPOSES AND REVEALS WHERE PEOPLE ARE IN THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO GOD.
1. As exceedingly important as this issue is, it should be splashed all over NT. It is not seen anywhere. Proof texts are out of context eisogesis.
2. Romans 3:8ff rejects prevenient grace. Note in 3:21 Paul does not say: “But God in His prevenient grace…” In 1:18 all of mankind is under God’s curse and wrath for rejecting the Father, which prevenient grace says it is extended to ALL people.
3. Why do some respond and others do not? Why do some make use of prevenient grace and others do not?
4. Are they more righteous, smarter, wiser, more humble, more teachable, more….? Any answer would give grounds for boasting.
5. Is not faith a gift from God? Eph. 2:1-10; Phil. 1:29; 2 Peter 1:1 2 Tim 2:24-26; Acts 5:31; 11:18
6. Suspends work of God on will of man
7. Grace becomes ‘penultimate’ cause of salvation…ultimate cause is our reply.
BY R. C. SPROUL
As the name suggests, prevenient grace is grace that "comes before" something. It is normally defined as a work that God does for everybody. He gives all people enough grace to respond to Jesus. That is, it is enough grace to make it possible for people to choose Christ. Those who cooperate with assent to this grace are "elect." Those who refuse to cooperate with this grace are lost.
The strength of this view is that it recognizes that fallen man's spiritual condition is severe enough that it requires God's grace to save him. The weakness of the position may be seen in two ways. If this prevenient grace is merely external to man, then it fails in the same manner that the medicine and the life preserver analogies fail. What good is prevenient grace if offered outwardly to spiritually dead creatures?
On the other hand, if prevenient grace refers to something that God does within the heart of fallen man, then we must ask why it is not always effectual. Why is it that some fallen creatures choose to cooperate with prevenient grace and others choose not to? Doesn't everyone get the same amount?
Think of it this way, in personal terms. If you are a Christian you are surely aware of other people who are not Christians. Why is it that you have chosen Christ and they have not? Why did you say yes to prevenient grace while they said no? Was it because you were more righteous than they were? If so, then indeed you have something in which to boast. Was that greater righteousness something you achieved on your own or was it the gift of God? If it was something you achieved, then at the bottom line your salvation depends on your own righteousness. If the righteousness was a gift, then why didn't God give the same gift to everybody?
Perhaps it wasn't because you were more righteous. Perhaps it was because you are more intelligent. Why are you more intelligent? Because you study more (which really means you are more righteous)? Or are you more intelligent because God gave you a gift of intelligence he withheld from others?
To be sure, most Christians who hold to the prevenient grace view would shrink from such answers. They see the implied arrogance in them. Rather they are more likely to say, "No, I chose Christ because I recognized my desperate need for him."
That certainly sounds more humble. But I must press the question. Why did you recognize your desperate need for Christ while your neighbor didn't? Was it because you were more righteous than your neighbor, or more intelligent? (or more humble or broken?)
The $64,000 question for advocates of prevenient grace is why some people cooperate with it and others' don't. How we answer that will reveal how gracious we believe our salvation really is.
The $64,000 question is, "Does the Bible teach such a doctrine of prevenient grace? If so, where?"
We conclude that our salvation is of the Lord. He is the One who regenerates us. Those whom he regenerates come to Christ. Without regeneration no one will ever come to Christ. With regeneration no one will ever reject him. God's saving grace effects what he intends to effect by it. (Chosen by God).
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.
Saturday, July 28, 2018
Introduction to Systematic Theology: Why Knowing God & Solid Biblical Content is Especially Important in a Pagan Culture
By Reverend Mark Hunnemann
Theology is applying the whole of the bible to the whole of life. For example, when we study God’s omnipotence, we will ask what does the entire bible say about it, and try to apply it.
My name is Mark Hunnemann and in 1973 I became a Christian, and it was quite a change. I immediately was introduced to JI Packer, John Stott, C.S. Lewis, Francis Schaeffer, RC Sproul and other wonderful writers who had profound influence upon me…their theology and love for the Lord. Kept me from slipping back into old lifestyle.
I went to seminary and was a pastor for many years and had the honor of preaching the whole counsel of God. I am sitting because this is not church, and I am teaching—not preaching.. I invite you to fact check everything I say. I’ve written a book entitled Seeing Ghosts Through God's Eyes and working on a second one. I have been deeply involved in helping folks who are struggling with demonic oppression—passion of mine.
We live a pagan culture in which mind-less experience is the key to spiritualty, but it leads to delusion and oppression. We and our children need as much biblical content as possible, and the most loving thing you can do as a parent and grandparent is to grow in your knowledge and love of God.
In a sense, every Christian is a theologian—for better or for worse—and the ‘for worse’ aspect is no small matter. The epistles and Jesus warn us that heresies are destructive attacks by wolves against God’s sheep; and wolves are not very kind to sheep. Therein lies my passion for this series. Gallop recently did a poll and it left me speechless—the amount of biblical theological ignorance amongst professing Christians is astonishingly high. Breaks my heart. And my passion is to take profound truth and make it understandable and catch on fire! So, I invite you on a journey of discovery together—to delve deeply into the meat of God’s Word. I believe there are many Christians hungering for solid meat and I want to do my humble part to help in that regard.
The bible says that as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. The ideas that don’t just flit around our brains momentarily, but the ones that penetrate the heart, are the ideas that shape our lives. And ideas have legs. We are what we think. Sound theology is required for a godly life because we have to first know the truth before we can do the truth. So, no Christian can avoid theology. Some may strenuously deny it, but every Christian has a theology. The issue is do we have a sound theology? Do we embrace true or false doctrine? You may be surprised to hear this but every wrong belief I embrace is sin due to not loving God with all of my mind.
Before giving a more concrete basis for studying theology let me address several common misconceptions or concerns—with brief replies.
1. First, does not Jesus teaching about embracing the Kingdom with child-like faith (Mark 10:15) imply a simple faith? Yes, but there is world of difference between child-like faith and child-ish faith. The latter is obstinate and refuses to bow before authority and settles for a diet of spiritual milk. The implicit trust of a child is something we never grow out of but we are to grow to into maturity—solid meat. 11 About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. 12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, 13 for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. 14 But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.
2. Many Christians have developed an aversion to theology because of their distrust of theologians. I understand…and have experience first hand of the devastating effects of higher-critical methods of ‘scholarship’ which is just a mask for unbelief and often shoddy scholarship. Most seriously, they have vandalized God’s holy Word, and caused serious damage to people. Academia is filled with wolves who are unregenerate pagans who are intellectually arrogant. But please remember that we must not throw out the baby with the bath water; to reject theology is to commit spiritual suicide.
3. The false pietism of our day denigrates the mind. But the pattern in scripture is deep doctrine and then application. EG But we are told in Romans 12:1-2 to be transformed through the renewing of our minds. some emphasize a direct experience with the Holy Spirit, which bypasses the mind,
4. Theology breeds arguments and controversy. Yes, it does because truth implies error, and error must be confronted or we accommodate it by our silence. What kind of world do you want our grandkids to live in? Jesus’s life was a storm cloud of controversy, as was Paul's because truth matters. It is godless controversy we are to avoid, not godly controversy, which is needed. To avoid controversy is to avoid Christ. We are not to argue about non-important issues, and the THE mark of a Christian is love.
5. We have unconsciously been influenced by the relativization and subjectivism of the truth. The concept of truth has changed and this has belittled the importance of the content of truth and the intellect. One of the glories of our faith is that it is a system of coherent, rational truth. It is much more than a system of truth, but not less. We should rejoice in this in light of the content-less spirituality of pagan, New Age. One hand clapping may sound profound but it means nothing rational. I recently did a video on the “Cosmic Christ” and I chose this title carefully because I wanted to catch the attention of New Agers and I wanted to accent the cosmic dimension of the atonement-Christus victor. But it was mainly to show the CONTENT of the true Christ vs the myth of the pagan conception of Christ. I next want to do one entitled the Cosmic Christ and His alien, extra-terrestrial righteousness! Hehe Actually, I am not kidding because the term ‘alien righteousness’ is a theological term for the righteousness of Christ which is extra-terrestrial—outside the earth, and reserved in heaven. See if I can work ET in the title too! His righteousness is imputed to us in justification.
Suppose someone says: why theology? All I need is to love to Jesus. First, which Jesus? (New Age, Jehovas Witness, etc.) Who is He and what did He do? What happened on the cross? Second, ‘love’ can be defined and expressed in a thousand different ways. And Jesus Himself said: “teaching them ALL that I commanded you.”
Positive role of theology: just as we get to know a person better as we know more about them, so our knowledge of and love for God should grow as we study about His Person and work---in creation and redemption. For our soul to be inflamed with a passion for God then it first has to pass through our minds. (CS Lewis quote)
I am at a point in life at age 62 where I wish to record the truths of God’s Word. Knowledge without devotion is cold, dead orthodoxy. But devotion without knowledge is irrational instability; one is left vulnerable to being undiscerning to the wiles of the devil…and I see people falling left and right. How can people believe in earthbound spirits? Recently a friend went back to being a witch. 11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherdsc and teachers,d 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood,e to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.
Avoid syncretism which is blending of non-Christian thought with bible. Solid theology helps avoid that..become discerning. Like eg of bank teller and counterfeit.
Growing in the knowledge of God is a great joy and honor. It is a delight to the soul. Takes effort and discipline, but this is a matter of life and death—even eternal life and death. And this series is designed, by God’s grace, to enable us to love Him more and be more effective in your witness to a lost and broken world. Dig in!
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.
Theology is applying the whole of the bible to the whole of life. For example, when we study God’s omnipotence, we will ask what does the entire bible say about it, and try to apply it.
My name is Mark Hunnemann and in 1973 I became a Christian, and it was quite a change. I immediately was introduced to JI Packer, John Stott, C.S. Lewis, Francis Schaeffer, RC Sproul and other wonderful writers who had profound influence upon me…their theology and love for the Lord. Kept me from slipping back into old lifestyle.
I went to seminary and was a pastor for many years and had the honor of preaching the whole counsel of God. I am sitting because this is not church, and I am teaching—not preaching.. I invite you to fact check everything I say. I’ve written a book entitled Seeing Ghosts Through God's Eyes and working on a second one. I have been deeply involved in helping folks who are struggling with demonic oppression—passion of mine.
We live a pagan culture in which mind-less experience is the key to spiritualty, but it leads to delusion and oppression. We and our children need as much biblical content as possible, and the most loving thing you can do as a parent and grandparent is to grow in your knowledge and love of God.
In a sense, every Christian is a theologian—for better or for worse—and the ‘for worse’ aspect is no small matter. The epistles and Jesus warn us that heresies are destructive attacks by wolves against God’s sheep; and wolves are not very kind to sheep. Therein lies my passion for this series. Gallop recently did a poll and it left me speechless—the amount of biblical theological ignorance amongst professing Christians is astonishingly high. Breaks my heart. And my passion is to take profound truth and make it understandable and catch on fire! So, I invite you on a journey of discovery together—to delve deeply into the meat of God’s Word. I believe there are many Christians hungering for solid meat and I want to do my humble part to help in that regard.
The bible says that as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. The ideas that don’t just flit around our brains momentarily, but the ones that penetrate the heart, are the ideas that shape our lives. And ideas have legs. We are what we think. Sound theology is required for a godly life because we have to first know the truth before we can do the truth. So, no Christian can avoid theology. Some may strenuously deny it, but every Christian has a theology. The issue is do we have a sound theology? Do we embrace true or false doctrine? You may be surprised to hear this but every wrong belief I embrace is sin due to not loving God with all of my mind.
Before giving a more concrete basis for studying theology let me address several common misconceptions or concerns—with brief replies.
1. First, does not Jesus teaching about embracing the Kingdom with child-like faith (Mark 10:15) imply a simple faith? Yes, but there is world of difference between child-like faith and child-ish faith. The latter is obstinate and refuses to bow before authority and settles for a diet of spiritual milk. The implicit trust of a child is something we never grow out of but we are to grow to into maturity—solid meat. 11 About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. 12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, 13 for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. 14 But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.
2. Many Christians have developed an aversion to theology because of their distrust of theologians. I understand…and have experience first hand of the devastating effects of higher-critical methods of ‘scholarship’ which is just a mask for unbelief and often shoddy scholarship. Most seriously, they have vandalized God’s holy Word, and caused serious damage to people. Academia is filled with wolves who are unregenerate pagans who are intellectually arrogant. But please remember that we must not throw out the baby with the bath water; to reject theology is to commit spiritual suicide.
3. The false pietism of our day denigrates the mind. But the pattern in scripture is deep doctrine and then application. EG But we are told in Romans 12:1-2 to be transformed through the renewing of our minds. some emphasize a direct experience with the Holy Spirit, which bypasses the mind,
4. Theology breeds arguments and controversy. Yes, it does because truth implies error, and error must be confronted or we accommodate it by our silence. What kind of world do you want our grandkids to live in? Jesus’s life was a storm cloud of controversy, as was Paul's because truth matters. It is godless controversy we are to avoid, not godly controversy, which is needed. To avoid controversy is to avoid Christ. We are not to argue about non-important issues, and the THE mark of a Christian is love.
5. We have unconsciously been influenced by the relativization and subjectivism of the truth. The concept of truth has changed and this has belittled the importance of the content of truth and the intellect. One of the glories of our faith is that it is a system of coherent, rational truth. It is much more than a system of truth, but not less. We should rejoice in this in light of the content-less spirituality of pagan, New Age. One hand clapping may sound profound but it means nothing rational. I recently did a video on the “Cosmic Christ” and I chose this title carefully because I wanted to catch the attention of New Agers and I wanted to accent the cosmic dimension of the atonement-Christus victor. But it was mainly to show the CONTENT of the true Christ vs the myth of the pagan conception of Christ. I next want to do one entitled the Cosmic Christ and His alien, extra-terrestrial righteousness! Hehe Actually, I am not kidding because the term ‘alien righteousness’ is a theological term for the righteousness of Christ which is extra-terrestrial—outside the earth, and reserved in heaven. See if I can work ET in the title too! His righteousness is imputed to us in justification.
Suppose someone says: why theology? All I need is to love to Jesus. First, which Jesus? (New Age, Jehovas Witness, etc.) Who is He and what did He do? What happened on the cross? Second, ‘love’ can be defined and expressed in a thousand different ways. And Jesus Himself said: “teaching them ALL that I commanded you.”
Positive role of theology: just as we get to know a person better as we know more about them, so our knowledge of and love for God should grow as we study about His Person and work---in creation and redemption. For our soul to be inflamed with a passion for God then it first has to pass through our minds. (CS Lewis quote)
I am at a point in life at age 62 where I wish to record the truths of God’s Word. Knowledge without devotion is cold, dead orthodoxy. But devotion without knowledge is irrational instability; one is left vulnerable to being undiscerning to the wiles of the devil…and I see people falling left and right. How can people believe in earthbound spirits? Recently a friend went back to being a witch. 11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherdsc and teachers,d 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood,e to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.
Avoid syncretism which is blending of non-Christian thought with bible. Solid theology helps avoid that..become discerning. Like eg of bank teller and counterfeit.
Growing in the knowledge of God is a great joy and honor. It is a delight to the soul. Takes effort and discipline, but this is a matter of life and death—even eternal life and death. And this series is designed, by God’s grace, to enable us to love Him more and be more effective in your witness to a lost and broken world. Dig in!
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.
Thursday, April 19, 2018
Residual Energy And Haunts by Mark Hunnemann - Part 2
By Reverend Mark Hunnemann
Continued from:
Residual Energy And Haunts by Mark Hunnemann - Part 1
In 1974 I graduated from High School and many changes have taken place in our culture since then. And I can assure you that “residual energy” was an unknown subject. How did we get to the place where residual energy has become so common a notion?
How did we get to the place where the notion of residual energy is so commonplace? Why has energy taken on such a distinctive role, not just in hauntings but in healing, and our understanding of reality? I think of Reiki as just one example amongst many. While what follows does not explicitly address the notion of residual energy/haunts, it does attempt to explain the transition from energy to Energy, as the Ultimate reality. We have moved from a God-centered worldview to an Energy-centric/occult worldview, and this has given rise to such notions as residual energy.
Dr Peter Jones, author of The Other Worldview, has shown how the New Age/Pagan Worldview has displaced the biblical worldview as the dominant worldview. In the mid- 60s it came into USA, and it’s no coincidence that the ascendancy of the Energy centric worldview coincides with the popularity of residual energy.
"Sending prayers and positive energy"...gosh, how many times have I heard, or read on Facebook, a comment similar to that? How many times have you? The sending of positive energy has equaled, and in many cases, eclipsed the pledge of praying to the Living God from a friend to someone experiencing a trauma. Clearly, energy has undergone a radical evolution recently; it has taken on such a profound and practical significance for countless numbers of people. Nothing reveals more about a person's real, basic spiritual convictions than how they pray. For many, energy has become THE central organizing principle in their worldviews. I remember in seminary, a professor said that how a person prayed spoke volumes about what their true theological beliefs were. Hence, when the prayer of professing Christians includes pledges of sending positive energy, then we know this energy belief has deeply infiltrated the Christian community. Just 15 years ago...did you hear or say that positive energy was being sent on behalf of a beloved? I seriously doubt it. Therefore, it is incumbent for Christians that we understand this issue and sift it through a biblical worldview grid...pulling down strongholds and arguments... that are raised against the knowledge of God (2 Cor.10:5). Otherwise, like the ancient Israelites, we shall fall into an unthinking syncretism; the blending of the truth with falsehood—and incur God’s discipline.
Ultimate Reality, according to God’s Word, is the tri-personal, Living God; the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in loving, joyous communication for backwards eternity to eternity future. Nothing/ No-one is “further back” or more basic. He existed eternally before He created energy and the universe. However, today, many people seem to assume that Energy/Universe is Ultimate reality, but that is an occultic, demonic deception. But it does explain why the notion of residual energy has taken hold so quickly in our culture which has largely jettisoned the biblical God from its thinking. We have rejected the Living God and exchanged it for the lie, worshipping nature—and energy in particular. (Romans 1:25) An idol doesn’t have to be a figurine (it can be mental instead of metal) because, by definition, and idol is whatever is uppermost in our affections or considered to be the ground of our being.
Those who research and investigate the supernatural realm-from quantum jumping to spirit hunting-are increasingly seeing ultimate reality in terms of energy.
Energy vibrations of the cosmos or cosmic consciousness. Energy has become not only personified but deified as well. This impersonal stuff that we call energy has now become our new god...our new reference point for defining the cosmos, mankind, and our relationship to the cosmos.
In the beginning God created (bara-act of personal creating) has been replaced by... In the beginning, Energy has always been there and is evolving....It has become commonplace to believe that we are currently experiencing a quantum leap into a higher form of consciousness or energy, and it is often stated that we are spirit energy in a body, and NOT vice versa. Raise your vibration levels and you’ll experience wholeness with the Universe. Instead of personal holiness before a holy God, we now seek personal wholeness by enhancing our energy vibrations. This pagan worldview has altered our view of God, reality, sanctification and countless other vital aspects of our worldview.
As I alluded to, this is no mere dry as dust academic theory, because it has become a paradigm or worldview shift in how one understands who they are, and how to become better at living and being human. Watch the plethora of energy healers attempting to adjust folk's vibrational levels to harmonize with the vibrations of primal Energy and the Universe. And what must be noted with tears, is that often these energy therapies seem to work in terms of affecting vibrational change and healing. May I suggest, though, that we are playing god in this respect, and are opening ourselves to deep demonic intervention. They (demons) are clever, and all it takes is openness to this Energy to potentially begin the oppression process. Usually, at some opportune time, the demonic will find some imaginative way to gain permission for entry. We should have known better than to reject God and begin to call energy ultimate reality/god--Energy. Romans 1:18f speaks of the endarkenment, instead of the desired enlightenment, which comes when we deify, make ultimate, or worship, any aspect of the Creator's creation-including one of His greatest creations, which is energy. We have rejected the Living God and exchanged it for the lie. (Romans 1:25) The essence of paganism is the denial of the Creator/creature distinction, and that incenses God. He hates it and we should hate what He hates—the idea, not the people who embrace it.
It is not being intellectually consistent or honest to spell energy as Energy, because the bottom line is that this notion (energy is ultimate reality) implies that there was an impersonal beginning, and by adding upper-case you have magically imported personality-creating it out of thin air. The only reason why we sense or detect personality with the energy entities is because they ARE personal beings-demons. Like humans, demons and Satan have a will, intelligence, and emotions. We have not dealt with ghosts per se, in this book, but the concept of ultimate reality as energy often accompanies the belief in ghosts. It is this occult worldview change which gave rise to its enormous popularity.
There is a flow to human history and we have seen how our culture has arrived at this juncture where energy plays such a vital role in defining reality. Be wary of any talk of tapping into primal Energy or cosmic consciousness. In our weakness, let us cling to the God who was manifested through the burning bush-the infinite-personal God of the bible who has inexhaustible, omnipotent energy and power. Yahweh.
Next week—Residualo Energy & Haunts - Part 3
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.
Continued from:
Residual Energy And Haunts by Mark Hunnemann - Part 1
In 1974 I graduated from High School and many changes have taken place in our culture since then. And I can assure you that “residual energy” was an unknown subject. How did we get to the place where residual energy has become so common a notion?
How did we get to the place where the notion of residual energy is so commonplace? Why has energy taken on such a distinctive role, not just in hauntings but in healing, and our understanding of reality? I think of Reiki as just one example amongst many. While what follows does not explicitly address the notion of residual energy/haunts, it does attempt to explain the transition from energy to Energy, as the Ultimate reality. We have moved from a God-centered worldview to an Energy-centric/occult worldview, and this has given rise to such notions as residual energy.
Dr Peter Jones, author of The Other Worldview, has shown how the New Age/Pagan Worldview has displaced the biblical worldview as the dominant worldview. In the mid- 60s it came into USA, and it’s no coincidence that the ascendancy of the Energy centric worldview coincides with the popularity of residual energy.
"Sending prayers and positive energy"...gosh, how many times have I heard, or read on Facebook, a comment similar to that? How many times have you? The sending of positive energy has equaled, and in many cases, eclipsed the pledge of praying to the Living God from a friend to someone experiencing a trauma. Clearly, energy has undergone a radical evolution recently; it has taken on such a profound and practical significance for countless numbers of people. Nothing reveals more about a person's real, basic spiritual convictions than how they pray. For many, energy has become THE central organizing principle in their worldviews. I remember in seminary, a professor said that how a person prayed spoke volumes about what their true theological beliefs were. Hence, when the prayer of professing Christians includes pledges of sending positive energy, then we know this energy belief has deeply infiltrated the Christian community. Just 15 years ago...did you hear or say that positive energy was being sent on behalf of a beloved? I seriously doubt it. Therefore, it is incumbent for Christians that we understand this issue and sift it through a biblical worldview grid...pulling down strongholds and arguments... that are raised against the knowledge of God (2 Cor.10:5). Otherwise, like the ancient Israelites, we shall fall into an unthinking syncretism; the blending of the truth with falsehood—and incur God’s discipline.
Ultimate Reality, according to God’s Word, is the tri-personal, Living God; the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in loving, joyous communication for backwards eternity to eternity future. Nothing/ No-one is “further back” or more basic. He existed eternally before He created energy and the universe. However, today, many people seem to assume that Energy/Universe is Ultimate reality, but that is an occultic, demonic deception. But it does explain why the notion of residual energy has taken hold so quickly in our culture which has largely jettisoned the biblical God from its thinking. We have rejected the Living God and exchanged it for the lie, worshipping nature—and energy in particular. (Romans 1:25) An idol doesn’t have to be a figurine (it can be mental instead of metal) because, by definition, and idol is whatever is uppermost in our affections or considered to be the ground of our being.
Those who research and investigate the supernatural realm-from quantum jumping to spirit hunting-are increasingly seeing ultimate reality in terms of energy.
Energy vibrations of the cosmos or cosmic consciousness. Energy has become not only personified but deified as well. This impersonal stuff that we call energy has now become our new god...our new reference point for defining the cosmos, mankind, and our relationship to the cosmos.
In the beginning God created (bara-act of personal creating) has been replaced by... In the beginning, Energy has always been there and is evolving....It has become commonplace to believe that we are currently experiencing a quantum leap into a higher form of consciousness or energy, and it is often stated that we are spirit energy in a body, and NOT vice versa. Raise your vibration levels and you’ll experience wholeness with the Universe. Instead of personal holiness before a holy God, we now seek personal wholeness by enhancing our energy vibrations. This pagan worldview has altered our view of God, reality, sanctification and countless other vital aspects of our worldview.
As I alluded to, this is no mere dry as dust academic theory, because it has become a paradigm or worldview shift in how one understands who they are, and how to become better at living and being human. Watch the plethora of energy healers attempting to adjust folk's vibrational levels to harmonize with the vibrations of primal Energy and the Universe. And what must be noted with tears, is that often these energy therapies seem to work in terms of affecting vibrational change and healing. May I suggest, though, that we are playing god in this respect, and are opening ourselves to deep demonic intervention. They (demons) are clever, and all it takes is openness to this Energy to potentially begin the oppression process. Usually, at some opportune time, the demonic will find some imaginative way to gain permission for entry. We should have known better than to reject God and begin to call energy ultimate reality/god--Energy. Romans 1:18f speaks of the endarkenment, instead of the desired enlightenment, which comes when we deify, make ultimate, or worship, any aspect of the Creator's creation-including one of His greatest creations, which is energy. We have rejected the Living God and exchanged it for the lie. (Romans 1:25) The essence of paganism is the denial of the Creator/creature distinction, and that incenses God. He hates it and we should hate what He hates—the idea, not the people who embrace it.
It is not being intellectually consistent or honest to spell energy as Energy, because the bottom line is that this notion (energy is ultimate reality) implies that there was an impersonal beginning, and by adding upper-case you have magically imported personality-creating it out of thin air. The only reason why we sense or detect personality with the energy entities is because they ARE personal beings-demons. Like humans, demons and Satan have a will, intelligence, and emotions. We have not dealt with ghosts per se, in this book, but the concept of ultimate reality as energy often accompanies the belief in ghosts. It is this occult worldview change which gave rise to its enormous popularity.
There is a flow to human history and we have seen how our culture has arrived at this juncture where energy plays such a vital role in defining reality. Be wary of any talk of tapping into primal Energy or cosmic consciousness. In our weakness, let us cling to the God who was manifested through the burning bush-the infinite-personal God of the bible who has inexhaustible, omnipotent energy and power. Yahweh.
Next week—Residualo Energy & Haunts - Part 3
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.
Friday, February 9, 2018
An Open Letter to Christian Paranormal Investigators (with signatures)
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An Open Letter to Christian Paranormal Investigators (with signatures)
By Reverend Mark Hunnemann
Preface:
This is a humble and heartfelt plea to Christian Paranormal Investigators from Mark Hunnemann (who initiated and drafted this communication) and Laura Maxwell (Former Spiritualist) and Dana Emanuel (Former Ghost Hunter) who support this statement and added invaluable insights, as well as the 60 signatures at the bottom.
31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. (1 Cor. 10:31)
“Be holy, for I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:16
“If I profess with loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the Truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not professing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved, and to be steady on all the battle front besides, is mere flight and disgrace, if he flinches at that point.” (attributed to Martin Luther).
“Be holy, for I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:16
“If I profess with loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the Truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not professing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved, and to be steady on all the battle front besides, is mere flight and disgrace, if he flinches at that point.” (attributed to Martin Luther).
In our day, ‘that little point’ is our obedience to the inerrant Word of God in response to the onslaught of the pagan/occult worldview and techniques which have infiltrated the church. As Dr. Peter Jones has clearly shown (The Other Worldview, etc), the pagan worldview is THE dominant enemy of the biblical worldview today, and as such, it is that ‘little point where the devil is most fiercely attacking’. The question is: will we be faithful, loyal soldiers for Christ, in OUR generation, or will we flee due to accommodating it—or worse, practicing it ourselves (i.e. through occult methods)? Fascination with the paranormal has mushroomed and has demonized the spiritual landscape of America and Europe. And if we don’t respond quickly and appropriately, then our children and grandchildren will not be ready for the difficult days ahead.
Today, the Church and the world are being besieged; indeed there is an unprecedented disaster unfolding before our very eyes, and sadly, it involves Christians in the paranormal community. Hence, this letter is lovingly addressed to you.
Many of us (see signatures below) are former paranormal investigators, and all of three of us are actively involved in helping people with demonic issues, so this is not ‘ivory tower reflections’. We see it as our timely duty to write this declaration in light of the current lapses into occultic beliefs and practices amongst our fellow believers, and in the world at large. We offer this in a spirit of humility and love, with the hopes that it will stir further dialogue and change. We are all sinners, saved by grace—faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross, plus nothing (Ephesians 2:8-10; Romans 3-4). This is not us vs. them/you—it is all of US together. With a similar motivation that caused Martin Luther King, Jr. to write his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” to fellow Christians, we offer this letter of our beliefs and concerns to you, our dearest brothers and sisters in Christ.
With tears, we must insist that Christians engaged in paranormal investigating are especially surrendering at this ‘one little point’, by the adoption of occultic beliefs and practices, which are opposed to the Lordship of Christ over the full spectrum of life (1 Cor. 10:31), and the clear teaching of God’s Word, which has absolute authority over us, and demands implicit obedience. The use of occultic/pagan techniques in virtually all paranormal investigations is distressing to God, and to us. Indeed, the solicitation of EVP’s (or other electronic equivalents) has become the backbone of investigations.
“The end justifies the means” ..."We are trying to help people" is an unbiblical form of ethical reasoning that has infiltrated the paranormal community, as a former investigator, Dana Emanuel, has affirmed from her own experience. You can never truly help someone by disobeying God. Instead you will hurt them and yourselves. God’s curses/discipline is still in place just as His blessings are. (See Acts 5; 1 Cor. 10-11; Heb. 12)
God’s Truth and the work of Christ’s church both insist that truth demands loving confrontation of both evil and error. What good is it for you to profess Christ ever so loudly, and yet surrender at this point where the devil is attacking? What good is it for you to affirm the full inerrancy of the bible, and a host of other biblical teaching, if you are not living under the Lordship of Christ over the full spectrum of your lives, especially when it comes to the occult, and how we interact with the spirit realm? It is this lack of obedience to Christ in a crucial area which we are lovingly confronting, and asking you to repent of.
Highlighted points:
The singular honor and dignity of the Lord Jesus Christ, and His all-sufficient and perfect atonement, is our focus and passion. Certain beliefs and practices in the paranormal community, either implicitly or explicitly, deny the perfection of the Person and Work of Christ.
1. When Laura Maxwell realized she was deceived some years ago, by a group of Christians who all believed in, the now popular global Christian trend, that they were receiving revelation from alleged 'holy angels,' she left that group and sought a deliverance minister. She repented and had demons cast out of her! Even after her many years in healing and deliverance ministry, she, too, had been deceived but sought help! She shared this in a radio interview on angels we did together last year. Nobody is above being deceived!
2. Occult practices are so thoroughly and consistentlke an explicit command in the NT to abolish them. Instead, the NT continues to express God’s unchanging, implacable hatred of all occult beliefs/techniques. (E.g. see Acts and Revelation) The best book on biblical ethics (law and gospel, law and grace, and the place of OT moral law in the NT, etc, is John Frame’s book “The Doctrine of the Christian Life”, P&R).
3. The clients don’t need validation of something they already know is true; they need deliverance/conversion. If you are truly called by God, then you may consider deliverance as a vocation.
4. TESTING THE SPIRITS in Jesus's name, along with praying for protection, will often be ineffective because God does not listen to us if we are engaged in heinous sins or cherish sin in our hearts (Psalm 66:18).
5. Basing beliefs primarily on non-biblical books (e.g. Enoch) has become common, but it must be avoided, as it detracts from the sufficiency of Scripture, and has led to much unedifying speculation. For example, some take issue with our claim that all alleged ghosts are demons, and they frequently base their beliefs on extra-biblical texts, myths, folklore, and their own experience...none of which are infallible. Actually, they are all very fallible...
Dana Emanuel used to be the team leader of a highly proficient paranormal investigation team, and experienced severe oppression as a result, as are many of you. She is a vital part of drafting this letter, and here is the link to her testimony and articles, which we HIGHLY RECOMMEND.www.xposingtheenemy.com
To view dozens of articles by Mark Hunnemann on the paranormal, which we don’t have time to elaborate on, click on.....http://archive.aweber.com/paraworld
Many excellent articles and interviews by Laura Maxwell, a former Spiritualist and daughter of a Medium, and according to Mark and others, one of the worlds’s leading experts on all things
supernatural. https://ourspiritualquest.com/
supernatural. https://ourspiritualquest.com/
We know that you like we, ache and agonize over the spiritually hostile situations many people today are experiencing. Further, we know that many of you have given so much of your heart, time, energy, and finances to help folks in distress. We know many of you personally and we love you, and are in awe of your desire to help people. That is not the issue. The issue is this: are the means by which you are attempting to help people honoring or dishonoring to God?
There are no morally neutral acts. 1 Cor. 10:31 is crucial to our view of this situation. 31 “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. “ (1 Cor. 10:31) Scripture has all the divine Words we need for every situation we face, including helping spiritually oppressed people. Every thought, word, and deed is either done to God’s glory or to the glory of an idol. So, how can we help people in spiritually hostile situations in a way that brings glory to God and not to an idol?
Sadly, we know that you are not glorifying God with your actions, regardless of your motives. How can we be certain of that? God’s Word is clear…very clear, as we shall see. Because God’s Word is certain, it is possible to be certain and not arrogant. We despise and despair of any self-righteous judgementalism; but we speak the truth in love, with a collective broken heart.
Wanting to help people cannot be the sole judge of whether an action is morally right: our actions have to conform to God’s Word and glorify Him. (1 Cor. 10:31) Whether it makes us feel good certainly cannot be the determining factor of an action’s propriety in God’s eyes. Due to distressing life circumstances, some of you find your purpose or significance in helping others with paranormal problems, and that makes it all the more difficult for you to imagine life without it. It is all you have that gives your life meaning, and so you cling to it. However, as new creations in Christ (Gal: 2:20), you have to realize that such thinking is idolatrous. (See Jer. 2:13) Christ, and Christ alone, can give us security and significance.
Perhaps the greatest need in the church today is a keener grasp of God’s burning holiness; a deficient understanding of God’s holiness has led to moral laxness and deficient views of both law and grace. God Himself is our ultimate ethical Norm; and He is unchanging. (Malachi 3:6) We meet the Incarnate Word as we read His Inscripturated Word (bible); both are equally, The Word.
Often we hear: “I’ve been involved in investigating for 20, 30, and 40 years…” However, longevity in the paranormal field does not make one wiser, as many assume, because the longer you are immersed in darkness, the more your mind will be affected with a spirit of demonic delusion, confusion and obsession; and your conscience will be increasingly defiled until it is seared. (As Dana points out, it happened to her, even though she was loathe to admit it at the time).
Countless ex-investigators have confessed that they had become obsessed with the thrill of ‘the hunt’ or the collection/review of data. Obsession is often a sign of demonic oppression, or a step in that direction. There are many rationalizations and objections that folks raise against what we are saying, and we can’t address them all, but the issue is: will you have a soft, humble, teachable heart before God and bow before His absolute, sovereign authority?
Proverbs 1:7
Proverbs 1:7
If you read nothing else in this open letter, please read this text which was breathed out of God’s own holy Mouth (2 Timothy 3:16-17) The entire text comprises an indivisible unit in the Hebrew bible.
9 “When you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations. 10 There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, [e]anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer 11 or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, 12 for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord. And because of these abominations the Lord your God is driving them out before you. 13 You shall be blameless before the Lord your God, 14 for these nations, which you are about to dispossess, listen to fortune-tellers and to diviners. But as for you, the Lord your God has not allowed you to do this.
15 “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to Him you shall listen— 16 just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ 17 And the Lord said to me, ‘They are right in what they have spoken. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.19 And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him. 20 But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or[f]who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’ 21 And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that the Lord has not spoken?’— 22 when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him. (Deut. 18:9-25, ESV, emphasis added)
6 “If a person turns to mediums and necromancers, whoring after them, I will set my face against that person and will cut him off from among his people.7 Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, for I am the Lord your God. (Lev.20:6-7)
15 “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to Him you shall listen— 16 just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ 17 And the Lord said to me, ‘They are right in what they have spoken. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.19 And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him. 20 But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or[f]who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’ 21 And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that the Lord has not spoken?’— 22 when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him. (Deut. 18:9-25, ESV, emphasis added)
6 “If a person turns to mediums and necromancers, whoring after them, I will set my face against that person and will cut him off from among his people.7 Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, for I am the Lord your God. (Lev.20:6-7)
God wants you to listen to HIS voice (the Good Shepherd), and not the voice of demons! “Whoring after them...” reveals the true nature of what you are doing in God’s eyes: spiritual adultery.
20 “No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. 22 Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?” (1 Cor.10: 20-21)
By communicating with the spirit realm (realm of Satan/demonic), you are participating/communing with demons; and are provoking the Lord to jealousy, and bringing unspeakable harm upon yourselves, which grieves us deeply. Your actions are affecting your children and grandchildren; your future offspring!! Generational curses are in the bible, and we have dealt with them time and again in deliverance. Some of you are suffering in various ways because of your unwitting involvement with demons.
We'd like to ask you a question: are any parts of these texts (especially verses 9-14) unclear to you? Indeed, God’s Word is so clear that it leaves us without excuse.
To make it even plainer, let us put it in the form of a syllogism, which is common in ethical literature.
Major premise: Attempting to speak to the dead is an abominable sin (10-11)
Minor premise: Investigators attempt to speak to the dead (often electronically)
Conclusion: Therefore, Investigators are committing an abominable sin.
This syllogism is both valid and sound; the conclusion follows irresistibly from the premises, and they (the premises) are true.
It doesn’t just say that the communicating with the spirit realm is abominable but that those who do it become an abomination in His sight. That is frightening, is it not?
In light of the manifest clarity of this text, why do Christian 'investigators' still attempt to speak to the dead, or use psychics/mediums? There is no excuse. None.
However, here are several reasons why we did, until our eyes were opened.
First, we say with utmost gentleness, many of us have been drawn to seeking the paranormal due the traumatic death of a loved one. Our heart goes out to you if that happened to you, but you must resist this temptation because it will not help you, and will only compound your pain—the devil is so cruel, and often takes advantage of us when we are most emotionally broken. The strongest believers can emotionally unravel in the face of tragic loss, and some of us deal with this agony on a daily basis. Perhaps you cling to this practice as it is the only thing that gives your life meaning.
The second reason is that perhaps your conscience allows you to investigate; it doesn’t bother you, so you assume it must be okay. However, the bible doesn’t see our conscience as being infallible; it is subordinate to scripture. It is not uncommon for us to mute the voice of conscience by habitual sin.
From personal experience, we know that it is possible to sink into devastating sin (of all different kinds), and the voice of conscience becomes increasingly dim—but we cannot remain in that situation indefinitely because “He who perseveres to the end will be saved.” (Matt.10:22) Sometimes our conscience says that something is right when the bible says it is wrong, and vice versa. (E.g.Rom.14-15) We must seek to inform/educate our conscience with the content of Scripture, or it can lead us astray, as the following text shows.
“Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons,2 through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared.”, (1 Timothy 4:1-2, ESV)
Third, many people think that Old Testament laws, like the text in Deut.18, are no longer binding under the New Covenant, and that the New Covenant gives them new freedom to contact the spirit realm.
False teachers in the church are promoting this antinomianism. We don’t have the time to adequately defend what should not need defending; namely, our comprehensive obedience to all of God’s Word.
However, God is the author of both covenants, and the covenant documents of each continue to be normative for God’s people. Jesus indicates in Matthew 5:17ff and Paul in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 that the Old Testament moral law (civil and ceremonial law has been fulfilled in Christ, but they are still normative in what they teach us) is a guide unto righteous living for New Covenant believers. In Paul’s text he is referring mostly to the Old Testament, and its abiding validity as a source for training us in godly living.
If the OT law cannot justify or save us, is it then obsolete for Christians? Do we just throw the law out? Quite otherwise. 17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt. 5:17-19) we can see how very clear Jesus is on this point.
We are still obligated to obey God in the New Covenant. Indeed, we are told over and over that our love for Christ is expressed through obedience to the law/commandments. (Exodus 20:6; Deut.11:27; Daniel 9:4; John 15:4, 14; 1 Cor. 7:19; Rev.12:17 ECT,) The law commands us to love, and that love commands us to keep God’s commandments. Law requires love, and love requires law. A reckless disregard for God’s law could be a sign of an unregenerate heart. The “law of love” has no content without love of the law. Some will ‘cherry pick’ the few theologians who will support their attempts to circumvent OT moral law and indeed to circumvent the prohibition of communicating with spirits.
Occult practices are so thoroughly and consistently condemned in the OT that it would take an explicit command in the NT to abolish them. Instead, the NT continues to express God’s unchanging, implacable hatred of all occult beliefs/techniques. (E.g. see Acts and Revelation)
We say this with all humility, but if you have no qualms whatsoever about communicating with the spirit realm, then you are either: 1) abysmally ignorant of scripture, or 2) you are not a true, regenerate Christian.3) Although you are a born again Christian, you are being disobedient and grieving the Holy Spirit. Thus, this is an exceedingly serious matter.
Let us return to Deut. 18:
The entire section quoted above comprises a unity in the Hebrew text: the first half is devoted to illegitimate means of seeking spiritual guidance, which includes the abominable practices of seeking to communicate with the dead, and the use of psychics and mediums. In other words, seeking wisdom apart from God via occult methods. The second half of chapter 18 is devoted to the legitimate means of seeking God’s wisdom via His prophets. Indeed, there is a Messianic prophecy of The coming Prophet, which is quoted about Jesus three times in the New Testament (John 1:21; Acts 3:22-24; 7:37).
Hence, if you reject Deut. 18:9-14 and its prohibitions against communicating with the spirit realm, then to be consistent, you would have to throw out the Messianic prophecy of Jesus as The coming Prophet, because this text is a tight unit. Or if you object that you are not seeking illicit wisdom from the spirit realm, but confirmation of their presence, then we say that the method is as evil as the motive: contacting the spirit realm is absolutely forbidden in itself. Do not consult mediums/psychics or attempt communication with the dead. Period. God tells us what will help people or hurt them; not our misguided attempts to help people by engaging in syncretism (mixing beliefs/practices); the bane of God’s church since its inception.
Moses, who was educated in the Magick of his day in Egypt, was contrasting how we are to find divine guidance, and God’s abhorrence of pagan/occutlic rituals. (See also Lev.19:26; 1 Samuel 28; 2 Kings 17:17; Isaiah 2:6; 21:6; Micah 5:12; Rev.21-22 and all of the major prophets).
As Dana says in her testimony, it was easy for her to soft-peddle these verses by thinking that she was doing the right thing and God would understand; that the culture had changed drastically since then, and possibly God Himself had changed His mind. But then she realized that God does not change—He is immutable (Malachi 3:6) That God’s Truth is unchanged and unchanging caused Dana’s change of heart. May it change your heart as well; and ours too, as we all struggle with idolatry.
Specific Points:
1. It is out of love that we call our brothers and sisters to repent of beliefs and practices which God sees as spiritual adultery. Over and over in the Major Prophets, God exposes His heart regarding His holy and infinitely intense jealous hatred of paganism and occultic activities, and how much it tears at His heart. How can you read Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel and not be affected by the constant barrage of God’s intense, jealous rage over occult practices, such as you are doing?
Entire reigns of kings in the historical books were summarized as good or bad, depending on how they dealt with the occult. In one sense, Josiah was the greatest Old Testament king, and his zeal for God was manifested in how thoroughly he rid the nation of all occult practices. “”4 Moreover, Josiah put away the mediums and the necromancers and the household gods and the idols and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might establish the words of the law that were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord. 25 Before him there was no king like him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him.”(2 Kings 23:24-25) Notice the close connection between Josiah’s unprecedented love for God, love for His law, and his putting away mediums and necromancers.
2. We lovingly challenge paranormal investigators to see their primary identity as children of the Living God and part of His Church-the Body of Christ, and not primarily as members of the paranormal community. (Romans 12; 1 Cor. 12; Eph.5; Gal. 3-4) He wants us to transform culture and not be conformed to it (Romans 12:1-2)-to be salt and light. Further, we believe that it is the paranormal community itself which is accelerating this individual and corporate disobedience due to it being a plausibility structure; shared beliefs and passions make it easier to rationalize disobedience to God’s clear commands, and to believe things which are actually implausible. Two of the attributes of scripture are its sufficiency and clarity, and your lack of perceiving the clear truth is deeply concerning to us. The more deeply you become involved, the more of a deluding darkness takes hold of the reasoning process, where things that should be clear, aren’t; a dark veil has descended, and you begin to blame God for the distressing circumstances that your actions have brought about—God’s discipline and/or demonic oppression.
Praying for protection, or for discerning spirits in Jesus’ Name, before/during an investigation will often be ineffective because God does not listen to us if we are engaged in heinous sins or cherish sin in our hearts (Psalm 66:18) Why do you pray to Michael for assistance, or other angels, when neither Jesus nor the apostles ever did? Why pray to an arch-angel when God, the Holy Spirit, is infinitely stronger and present with us always? It’s one thing to pray to God for HIM to send His holy angels, but angels do not want us to pray TO them, which is a form of worship. And your requests for discernment will be blocked as well because of grieving the Holy Spirit, who gives discernment.
Does it concern you, as it does us, that so many investigators are themselves plagued with demonic activity, and are suffering in a multitude of ways? This is the deep, dark secret of the paranormal community.
3. Specifically, we call our brothers and sisters to stop all attempts to communicate with the deceased (e.g. EVP’s, Ghost box, Ovulus, etc.); to not view oneself as a medium/psychic, nor use mediums/psychics in investigations. It is disturbing to see the unabashed use of ‘Christian Mediums’, when that should be seen as an unholy oxymoron. You are utterly deceived if you believe God has gifted and called you as a medium; He has not. He does not speak out of both sides of His Mouth. He doesn’t condemn mediumship and then call one to it. It is a common error for folks to mistake their human spirit/passions for the voice of the Holy Spirit. But the Holy Spirit works in tandem with the Word. And the relativism of truth has crept into many Christians approach to the moral absolutes of the bible.
Investigators are increasingly using parapsychological categories in place of biblical categories; being conformed to the world by the allure of false science instead of being transforming agents of culture (Rom. 12:1-2) Many investigators affirm the dangers inherent in Ouija Board use, but they fail to see that there is no qualitative difference between soliciting EVP’s (or other electronic means) and a Ouija session.
Not all Ouija sessions are frivolous; some are serious and sincere attempts to communicate with the spirit realm, (just as you are doing), yet we know the horror stories associated with them. Many cases we are called to are rooted in playing with Ouija boards and the like. And those of us in deliverance ministries often have to come in after investigations have stirred up the hornet’s nest due to the use of occultic techniques.
Both Ouija and EVP’s address any spirits there to make their presence known. Both are explicit attempts to communicate with the dead, which is clearly forbidden and condemned throughout the bible. The means of communicating with the spirit realm are mushrooming, but they are equally heinous in God’s eyes. The veneer of science behind these methods must not be seen as excusing them, much less sanctioning them. It is whitewashing wickedness.
It is our experience from studying all the relevant biblical texts, that every attempt to support notions common in the paranormal community, always commit one or more exegetical/hermeneutical fallacies. Indeed, the texts appealed to usually undermine the very beliefs being defended by Christians in the paranormal community. (E.g. Mark 6)
In paranormal seminars what is often called "phenomenology'', is the tendency to identify entities in your investigations by your five senses and intuition...which is naive'. If Satan can appear as an angel of Light (2 Cor. 11:14) then it would be a snap for him/demons to appear as anything. (And we have seen some really bizarre manifestations.) In light of this biblical fact, why do Christian investigators continually attempt to identify entities based on appearance, sound of voice, smells, or some kind of intuition? Why believe the voice of a demon? If they are anything, demons are masters of deception, who were there 100 years ago and can mimic all the findings of the historical research. Thus, they have been successful countless times in misguiding investigators into thinking that they have discovered the alleged ‘deceased human’ who is causing the problems. Failure to take into account the reality of demons has led many Christians to embrace shameful beliefs and to view the phenomena/data through distorted lenses.
There are gradations of sin (and hell, Romans 2:5) and occultic sins are especially heinous in God’s eyes. (John 19:11; Lev. 4:2, 13; 5:17; Numbers 15:30; Ezekiel 8:6, 13, 15; Matt. 5:19; 23:23; Deuteronomy 18—all the Major Prophets). And to engage in them is to jeopardize one’s eternal destiny. How can you continue doing what you know God hates? “He who perseveres (in obedience) to the end, will be saved.” Since it is the HOLY Spirit who gives us assurance of salvation, it is impossible to have genuine assurance of salvation when engaged in such unholy activities. Hebrews 12:14 We fear that many, who profess Christ, don’t possess Christ. “Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord…” Matthew 7:21-18 ... without holiness no one will see the Lord.
Have you ever stopped to ask if your spiritual authority is being compromised as a result of your grievous sin? And we know from painful experience that investigating the paranormal causes demonic oppression, whether you realize it or not. So, when you go to help someone, you are likely bringing demons with you, which unwittingly infest them further. And without a doubt, your occultic techniques make it worse for the client by opening new demonic doors, or making old ones ‘wider.’
Many of you are hesitant to even mention demons to your clients because it might ‘scare them.’ But is that wise since the bible says that there are only two entities in the spirit realm: good and bad angels (demons/unclean spirits/elemental spirits are all synonyms)? Laura responded the same way in her first few years as a Christian, scared she'd frighten people, until she felt God urged her to tell the truth or otherwise she’d be lying to them!
Have you ever stopped to ask if your spiritual authority is being compromised as a result of your grievous sin? And we know from painful experience that investigating the paranormal causes demonic oppression, whether you realize it or not. So, when you go to help someone, you are likely bringing demons with you, which unwittingly infest them further. And without a doubt, your occultic techniques make it worse for the client by opening new demonic doors, or making old ones ‘wider.’
Many of you are hesitant to even mention demons to your clients because it might ‘scare them.’ But is that wise since the bible says that there are only two entities in the spirit realm: good and bad angels (demons/unclean spirits/elemental spirits are all synonyms)? Laura responded the same way in her first few years as a Christian, scared she'd frighten people, until she felt God urged her to tell the truth or otherwise she’d be lying to them!
The bible mentions demons and Satan. It's the truth. They'll be more scared if they die without knowing the truth or knowing Christ as Savior... Laura was grateful when a Christian told her that the spirits she spoke with were demons. As soon as she believed this, she was desperate to be free of them, scared or not!
If you don’t tell them the truth about demons, you are in a sense allowing them to continue to believe a lie; you are lying to them.
And by appealing to earthbound spirits, poltergeists, and residual energy (a book is forthcoming showing how vacuous this notion is), you are telling the client there is peace, when there is no peace. False prophets were condemned in the OT for saying that. It also destroys biblical hope.
Hence, we see no positive purpose behind paranormal investigating, as it is practiced today. The clients don’t need validation of something they already know is true; they need deliverance/conversion. If you are truly called by God, then you may consider
deliverance as a vocation. In light of 1 Cor. 10:31, we can see no redeeming value nor any hope of paranormal investigating bringing glory to God. Indeed, it dishonors God’s holy Name, when we are called to “hallow His Name”.
deliverance as a vocation. In light of 1 Cor. 10:31, we can see no redeeming value nor any hope of paranormal investigating bringing glory to God. Indeed, it dishonors God’s holy Name, when we are called to “hallow His Name”.
We affirm that all genuine paranormal activity is demonic activity, as neither holy angels nor the Holy Spirit will act mischievously, and angels are our servants. (Hebrews 1:14). And humans immediately go to heaven or hell after they die. (Heb. 9:27)The perfection of the atonement is at stake regarding the demonic notion of ‘earthbound spirits.’, and it is one of Satan’s most effective lies.
If your ultimate authority is the Roman Catholic Church, and the teachings of its well known exorcists, then we gently but firmly state that their view of justification is a false gospel (Gal. 1), and no human authority must be placed on par with God’s Word. Purgatory is a direct assault on the singular honor and dignity of the Person and Work of Christ and His finished work on the cross.
If your ultimate authority is the Roman Catholic Church, and the teachings of its well known exorcists, then we gently but firmly state that their view of justification is a false gospel (Gal. 1), and no human authority must be placed on par with God’s Word. Purgatory is a direct assault on the singular honor and dignity of the Person and Work of Christ and His finished work on the cross.
Conclusion: There is much more we had wanted to say, but from the depths of our hearts we beg of you to listen carefully to what we have said, even if it initially upsets you. In summary, even if you persist in believing in earthbound spirits, the bible clearly says to not attempt communication with the dead. Neither Jesus nor the early church communicated with earthbound spirits (Moses and Elijah weren’t earthbound), and they didn’t conduct paranormal investigations or assist deceased spirits in “crossing over”, because our thrice-holy, omnipotent God and Judge Reigns over every atom in the cosmos, especially our souls! (Eph. 1:11)
We are called to imitate Christ, and Jesus Himself is the Light—let us point them to Him. Our Savior didn’t have a ministry to the dead, and neither did the apostles. They weren't involved in paranormal investigations. So, why should you? Certainly this would have been part of the Great Commission if it were true! Focusing your time and energy on paranormal investigating and assisting souls to ‘cross over,’ is not part of the Great Commission. Thus, we feel you have been distracted from that explicit calling to all believers.
We urge you to re-focus your energies on reaching out to the lost and making disciples, while they may still be found, and helping those who are demonically oppressed, by cleansing them and their homes of unclean spirits. God is so gracious and merciful and He can use you to re-direct your focus on reaching the ‘living lost’ and delivering people from demons! If He can use us toward that end, then He can certainly use you!
When Laura Maxwell realized she was deceived some years ago, by a group of Christians who all believed in, the now popular global Christian trend, that they were receiving revelation from alleged 'holy angels,' she left that group and sought a deliverance minister. She repented and had demons cast out of her! Even after her many years in healing and deliverance ministry, she, too, had been deceived but sought help! She shared this in a radio interview on angels we did together last year. Nobody is above being deceived!
Like Laura did, please seek deliverance if it is needed, as we know many of you are oppressed.
Please send any replies to Mark Hunnemann at mhunne@aol.com. He was the primary drafter of this letter. Laura Maxwell and Dana Emanuel gave invaluable support and insights.
P.S. We intend to produce several 5-10 minute videos in the near future which reply to the frequent questions asked and can be viewed on our YouTube channels and blogs.
Love in the Lamb,
Mark A Hunnemann, M.Div. (Author, Deliverance Minister and Former Pastor), http://archive.aweber.com/paraworld
Laura Maxwell B.A. Hons. (Author, TV and Radio guest, Radio host and Former Spiritualist) https://ourspiritualquest.com/
Dana Emanuel (Author, Deliverance Minister and Former Paranormal Investigator) https://xposingtheenemy.com/
The undersigned lovingly call you to ‘put off’ your pagan/occult ways, and re-affirm that Jesus’ Lordship extends over every area of life. Seek the Lord while He may be found, and bow before Jesus as your Savior and Lord.
Signed by: Jerry Blasé, Dan Langenfeld, Lena Bonnick, Garry Keogh, Bonnie Giese, Mary Kirk, Neil Thompson, Sonya Saporito, Tracy Jackson, Larry Thompson. Donald Jones, Philip Ness-Thomas, Christopher Milner, Richard Lohman, Ariel Vega, Sandy Ragland, Christina Steel, Darren Steel, Krystal Clawson, Danny Clawson, Jr., Randy Sims, Melissa May, Sheila Jones, Jonathon Chai, Tammy Dajamette, Deborah McBride, Michael Quillen, Ashley Sidney, Rhonda Anne, Debbie Tucker, Jason Tirre, Connie Williams, Dwayne Follick, Tami Jocasta, Lynda Smith
Miller, Cheri Kharsah, Kara De Jesus, Zita Grant, Tina Storey, Ruth McGuire, David Abreu, Joshua Hopping, Billy Posey, Joe Miroddi, Dana Carrigan, Garry Combs, Rose Queener, Kelly Dello, Liese Sukeforth, Marilyn Chastain Haning, Bre Greer, Jen Wigolo, Aaron Knight, Phillip T Oliver, Billy Vanderbilt, Cynthia Hampton, Pastor Michael Sanders-Biblical Counselor, Hope Glover
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