Is It Possible to be Certain & Humble?

IS IT POSSIBLE TO BE CERTAIN AND HUMBLE?

By Reverend Mark Hunnemann

18 No one has ever seen God; the only God,[f who is at the Father's side,[g] He has made him known. (John 1:18)

17 Sanctify them[b]in the truth; your word is truth. (John 17:17) 

One of the most frequent objections to Christianity is that they are arrogant for making claims for certainty: arrogant for claiming to be right, arrogant for claiming others are wrong, and even arrogant for claiming to know anything with certainty. It seems much more ‘humble’ to tell people that they can believe whatever they want to, and that all roads lead to the top of the mountain, as long as you’re sincere. It seems more humble to say: “I don’t know for sure, but as for me, I believe x,y, and z.”

Folks are naturally drawn to claims that are couched in uncertain terms because it does not demand a verdict or a change of heart-allegiance. From my experience, no matter how kind, gently, or loving one states certainty regarding truth, it will be ridiculed for being, well, arrogant…abusive..mean-spirited.

The US Constitution protects the equal rights of all religions, as it should. However, it is a short, but profoundly misguided step of logic in the mind, to go from equal rights of all religions to equal VALIDITY of all religions. That is a non-sequitor—it does not follow.

In addition, the claim that we can’t know for certain is an absolutely certain claim about uncertainty! Thus, it is a self-destructive belief/assertion.

But more to the point, we need to re-examine how we are defining ‘humility’.

First in the philosophical community, and then trickling down to popular culture, the definition of humility has undergone a profound change. We live in a culture which has been described as being in the death grip of ‘escape from reason.”,(see Francis Schaeffer, Escape from Reason) and this intellectual odyssey away from antithetical reasoning has led to a profound epistemological (the validity, nature, and limits of knowledge) skepticism.

I’m trying to shorten my blogs, so I’m not going to explain how the developments in philosophy (e.g. Hume, Kant, and Hegel) have profoundly impacted how we view the notion of certainty and knowledge acquisition. Maybe next time when I’ll discuss the basic reliability of the sense perceptions, which has been profoundly undermined in our culture.

The bottom line is that today, humility has become synonymous with ‘uncertainty’; to be uncertain is considered humble or open-minded—a virtue. But to be certain, especially about religious matters, is considered arrogant and close-minded—a vice. Whether we like it or not, that is the spirit of the age we live in.

This shift poses real problems for Christians who believe that we can have certain knowledge, not about everything, but certainty regarding God, salvation, who Jesus is and what He did, and how we can go to heaven.

God is the Lord of linguistics, and though human language is fluid, a concept as profound as humility (or arrogance) must be defined by the Living God, and not by a culture in a rebellion against Him (Psalm 2).

Our certainty has nothing to do with Christians themselves or our innate abilities. Rather, it is all grace dependent. And if it’s grace-dependent, then we have nothing to boast about in our certainty, but only humble gratitude before the Lord. Thus, we can be both certain and humble. Let me explain.

God has revealed true truth in His Word. If it were not for God’s purposeful, grace-full intention to reveal true (not exhaustive knowledge but true knowledge) knowledge about Himself via the Scriptures, we would know nothing regarding the main questions of life. General revelation through nature is true, but it lacks specificity regarding the issues mentioned above, and unaided human reason cannot attain accurate saving knowledge of God.

When it comes to crucial questions like: what is God like; how do we get to heaven, what happens after we die, who is Jesus and what He did, Christians have a solid foundation for being certain in our knowledge and claims: God’s gracious and clear revelation to us in the bible. I wonder how often bible believing Christians thank God for the immense treasure we have in the bible, and how lost we’d be without it?

In the Reformation debate between Erasmus and Martin Luther, Erasmus chided Luther for being overly bold in his assertions regarding how we are saved—Luther was insisting with utter certainty that we are saved by faith alone (which means by Christ alone). Luther, in characteristic fashion, replied: “God does not speak out of both sides of His mouth, and the Holy Spirit is not a Skeptic.” What he was saying is that, since God’s Word is clear, then we must be lovingly bold in our assertions, or it will imply that God has not spoken clearly to us, which would reflect poorly on His character and communication skills. One could say that it reflects a lack of humility to NOT speak with certainty because we are putting our fallible, finite minds in judgment above God’s gracious revelation. Or perhaps we fear what people will think of us if we speak the truth boldly. But Paul said that he was ‘not ashamed of the gospel…”, and neither should we. (Romans 1:16)

Jesus was the most humble Man who ever lived and yet He looked at the Sadducees and said: “You are wrong.” (re: their denial of the afterlife).

In John 1:18 Jesus exegeted the Father. Meaning that He explained what God is like because He IS God! Jesus, the Incarnate Word is the Ultimate revelation of what God is like. In John 17:17 notice that it does NOT say that ‘Your Word is true’ (adjective…though it is true), but that IS truth (alatheia, in Greek, noun) This implies that God’s Word does not simply conform to some other external standard of ‘truth’ but that it is Truth itself. It embodies truth and is the standard of truth against which everything else must be compared and tested. In fact, in Jesus, Truth is a Person (John 14:6). Certitude and humility are friends, not foes, due to God’s gracious revelation of Himself in the Incarnate Word and Inscripturated Word.

Christians can be both certain and humble because our knowledge is not based on ourselves, but in the self-revelation of the Living God. It is not arrogant to speak with certainty regarding matters God has spoken clearly on. It is living in humble reliance upon Him, and knowing that we don’t live on bread alone…

God didn’t go to such great lengths to reveal Himself in order to leave us in uncertainty! Unlike paganism/occult in which WE search for hidden knowledge/mysteries, in biblical Christianity it is God Himself who reveals and explains the mysteries to us—things we could not have known otherwise.

When I write a blog and make strong assertions, I do so with a humble reliance upon the God who, in His kindness and love, has revealed Himself through the Inscripturated Word as well as the Incarnate Word. Both are utterly certain! Not all things are equally clear in the bible but many things are crystal clear—sometimes it takes hard work to arrive at certainty. And when the Word is clear, then we are ill-advised to preface our comments with: “In my humble opinion…” There is certainly a place for those prefatory comments, but my thought is: why blog on something which you’re not certain about? Folks don’t care about my opinions, they want to know what GOD says!

So, let us not shrink back from speaking with confident, bold, loving certainty regarding matters the bible itself is clear about. Speak the truth in love, and not fall prey to false, worldly definitions of humility. We can be both humble and certain! Praise God! Humble certainty is what God wants us to have; it’s part of our inheritance as His children. And the world desperately needs us to be valiant for truth--declaring His glory, for His glory!

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.

Why We Should NOT Initiate Communication with Angels, Including Michael

By Reverend Mark Hunnemann

I chose this title carefully because I could have entitled it: ”Why we should not communicate with angels”. However, I want to leave open the possibility that holy angels occasionally do initiate communication with humans today. All biblical theologians agree that overt angelic activity accelerates at crucial junctures in the flow of redemptive history (e.g. Announcement of Christ’s birth)As we’ll see, the word “initiate” is key in this discussion.   Furthermore, it would seem that disguised interaction with humans is a rather frequent angelic tactic (Hebrews 13:2), as well as their general call to be ministering spirits to us. (see Hebrews 1:14) So, please don’t think I am in any way minimizing the reality and frequency of their more covert role as our helpers/protectors, and occasional overt appearances. But, there is a big difference between that and OUR initiating contact with angels.

Every day I receive emails which advertize a book, services, ect. for how to communicate with an angel, or our guardian angel. I must confess that this is hot stuff. I mean, who would not be amazed and wowed by a visitation by an angel…especially if they had personal guidance for us? Pretty sensational, and we’re drawn toward that. I get it. But is this practice good, biblical and safe? No, on all three.

There is an explosion of books, and magazine articles dealing with this subject. In addition, in paranormal circles, some folks are attempting to reach angels. I know one man who will not try to reach the dead, but insists that he has been very successful in initiating communication with angels via traditional EVP methods. And he claims it’s biblical (more of that in a moment).

Moreover, in some churches there have been prophetic utterances that claim to be from an angel or a deceased preacher….or even Isaiah!  For the sake of time, we’ll focus on the claims for angelic utterances. The point is that popular culture, including the church, is getting inundated and fascinated with the angelic. And so, it is only appropriate that we ask: is it proper/biblical to initiate communication with angels? It’s sort of like an angelic form of EVP’s, which is precisely what one man I know claims is the voice he hears is. I have no idea how many EVP’s  are coming out these days that claim angelic authority, but my guess is that its growing in number. Satan is an opportunist. But whether the sought after angelic reply is audible or inaudible makes no difference—it is attempted communication with angels, and a possible reply.

So, the need is there for some clear guidance on this matter—one that takes into consideration all the salient data regarding angels. I may not answer some of the questions you may have regarding angels, but my focus is narrow: should we initiate communication with angels?

There are about 300 explicit references to angels in the bible…according to my concordance. Let us return to the man who claims that he not only gets EVP’s from angels, but that the bible warrants it. He cited verses like the angel talking to Mary, and the angels announcing the resurrection. But my point to him, which he seemed to have missed, was this: there is not a single case in the gospels or Acts where the Apostles (or even Jesus, as acting in His role as being the ideal Man) INITIATED communication with angel/s.

Nobody disputes that at crucial junctures of redemptive history angelic communication increased with God’s people. However, my point is simple—if Jesus and the apostles NEVER initiated communication with angels, then surely that is instructive. Authoritatively instructive because truth is communicated via Jesus’ actions, as well as His words—or lack of them in this case. Just because there is no explicit command not to initiate communication with angels, does not mean the bible is silent on the matter. Surely the life and practice of Jesus and His apostles is as authoritative in its instruction as explicit teaching. This is especially true when we see that the gospels and the book of Acts have numerous accounts of angelic visitation, but none were instigated by a person. It was always God Almighty sending His holy angels to do His bidding on behalf of His Bride. Always and everywhere in the bible, angels are the initiators in angelic/human encounters.

I could stop there and that should be sufficient to show that we have no business contacting angels. But let me add this. Why does God detest our using horoscopes? Because He created the planets and stars for us to enjoy, and to distinguish between night and day/seasons, etc. To look to the stars and planets, which are part of God’s creation, for advice, instead of looking to the Creator for guidance and wisdom (re: relationships, love, decisions, job, and so on) is idolatrous and grieves God.

The same with angels—they are creatures and should not be sought out to give us wisdom, protection, and guidance. Why look to an angel when we can talk to our Heavenly Father? Again, it is idolatrous. Or to put it another way, we have the Bible and the Holy Spirit within us to guide and direct us in the paths of righteousness. Is not talking to angels a slight on the Holy Spirit? The classic text in Proverbs 3:5-6 needs to soak into our hearts and minds, and realize that God is jealous that we not only not look to our own insights, but also not the insights of other finite, fallible creatures, like angels.

Let me ask a simple question: WHY do you even want to talk to angels? For guidance…or insight…protection..or an angels perspective on the spirit realm…or being honest, just because it’s cool and fun? Doing an ‘end-run’ around God to attain these goals is unacceptable, even idolatrous. Do you see the prophets, apostles or Jesus communicating with angels for this purpose? NO! Then it is forbidden to us as well.

Switching gears, attempted communication with angels may open you to demonic oppression, just as trying to converse with the dead will do the same. Demons excel at mimicry…including mimicking angels (2 Corinthians 11:14). Unlawful communication with spirits is forbidden, and exposes you to demonic oppression. If you do receive a reply, then I’m fairly confident it is NOT an angel. It may appear or sound like a holy angel, but its not. Having opened the door to the demonic, then you are communicating with the demonic. The reason why I keep saying that virtually all paranormal activity is demonic activity is because holy angels do not play EVP games, cause phantom footsteps, cause keys to disappear, etc. They are our servants  and delight in the supremacy of God’s glory.

Since this man (or anyone) is actually speaking to demon/s when he thinks he’s conversing with an angel, then there will be consequences. Though sincere, he is sincerely wrong…and traffic with demons will burn all those involved, and sadly there is often collateral damage as well. The children will start getting influenced.

Those who attempt to speak to human spirits or angels tend to become addicted to this endeavor. This is well documented, and the recent case of Steve Huff is a high profile case of a phenomenon that is very widespread…and ruining individuals and families.

It is safe to say that angels don’t want us talking with them because they are loathe to draw attention to themselves. In every way possible, they will seek that all the glory goes to God.

The man who actively seeks angelic EVP’s  says that this angel actually talks about the gospel and evangelizing the lost. Could and would a demon do that, he asks? The answer is: absolutely yes! Satan, and his angels, went to the best Seminary in the universe (heaven) and  were taught by God Himself. Hence, though demons may inspire a message that is entirely true, the identity of the messenger (the alleged angel) is a LIE. Let that sink in….the message is true, but the messenger is a LIE.

For example, by giving an evangelical and sound answer, the alleged angel ensnares the undiscerning and advances the kingdom of darkness by spreading the lie that one can communicate with angels. It’s the same MO he uses with communicating with allegedly deceased humans. Demons, either by appearing as angels or deceased humans, can persuade the non-discerning simply by quoting the bible accurately. If he can make strategic advances in his kingdom, Satan will preach truth all day, but there is always a catch. And eventually, some imbalance will begin to appear in the teaching.

Some folks think that if they attend a church where the bible is preached, and the Holy Spirit is moving powerfully, then they are safe from demonic counterfeit or attack. Not so. Genuine spiritual revival—whether localized or large-scale revival—gets Satan’s attention and becomes his target to sow seeds of counterfeit revival. This was studied by Jonathan Edwards during the great revivals he and John Wesley was very instrumental in. One example of such a counterfeit sign might be angels of light visiting a vibrant church and persuading people via a ‘prophetic utterance’ to focus so hard on ministry busyness, that they lose their fervor for prayer. The ‘angel’ wants them to get so busy, they lose their first love and become prayer-less in their busyness, and spiritually powerless. Busyness is not the same as bearing Holy Spirit fruit—starting with the fruit of the Spirit.

When you read the book of Colossians, we can see that there was the same fascination with angels then, as there is today in the West. It is simply another reflection of the ascendancy of the occult worldview which is taking over our culture, and is despoiling many Christians’ views of the proper role of angels.

Hebrews 1:14 is the classic text of the angels job description.

In addition, we remember 2 Cor. 11:14 of the Angel of Light

Over-familiarity with angels is something that has been brought to my attention as well. With few exceptions, when humans had an encounter with a holy angel, they were terrified, and were tempted to bow down to them, which was abhorrent to the angels. However, it is instructive that the casualness that seems to accompany some of these alleged angel discussions, is in itself a red-flag.

Let me add the very common practice of reciting the prayer to Michael, the archangel. I know more than one person who seems to claim a special ministry partnership with Michael. That is a distinct issue, but let me strongly caution anyone who thinks that they are attended by Michael on a regular basis. He can only be at one place at a time, and frankly, why do WE think that he overlooks billions of other people just to be our ministry companion? He is the protector of God’s people in both Testaments.

If you’re explicitly relying on angelic help and communication in deliverance ministry,  Beware! You may end up needing deliverance yourself. Sometimes folks use ‘angelic’ help to heal people. In the NT we don’t see apostles consciously working alongside angels in ministry. Of course angels were present, but the apostles didn’t saddle up to them as partners…tapping into their powers. They relied on the Holy Spirit.

Here is the prayer said by countless investigators, as well as folks in general, seeking protection.

“Saint Michael, the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; and do you, O Prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who wander through the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.”

In essence, we need to treat this petition to the archangel just like we did above regarding angelic communication in general. As is readily apparent, this ‘prayer’ is TAKING THE INITIATIVE TO CONTACT AN ARCH-ANGEL, MICHAEL.

Do we have any instances in the gospels or Acts in which the Lord Jesus or the apostles called on Michael to aid them in spiritual warfare? Is there any teaching in the epistles regarding how/why we should pray to Michael for assistance? A thousand times, NO! We’ve already noted that the church NEVER initiated communication with any angels. So, why do we think that WE should pray to an angel, when the early church did not? Do we know something Jesus didn’t? God forbid!

In addition, Ephesians 6 is the most comprehensive teaching on spiritual warfare in the bible. What does it say? Be strong IN THE LORD, and put on His full armor. No mention of praying to Michael. In Colossians, we are warned against anything that smacks of angel worship, and PRAYING to a creature like Michael is a form of worship…in this case, idolatry. You don’t commit idolatry, even sincerely, without consequences.

Michael is a mighty warrior and worthy of respect, but he is not a saint. Gloriously, all genuine Christians are saints!

Don’t get me wrong: angels in general, and Michael in particular, are actively involved in spiritual warfare (Daniel 10:13). However, the Lord Jesus is the General of the Heavenly Hosts…not Michael. And for reasons already stated, we must not pray to him. God in His sovereign wisdom will dispatch His angels according to His will.

Why do we even want to pray to Michael, when he is but a finite creature, whom we shall judge and rule over for all eternity? He is more in awe of us then we are of him, and is part of the heavenly spectators of us as God’s image bearers, and those in union with Christ,  and he standing on tippy toe to see how God’s kingdom is advancing through US today!

On the other hand, I do get it. If I was on a case, it would be comforting to know that Michael himself was there. However, it is infinitely more comforting to know that I have the Word of God, and the Holy Spirit…and by virtue of my union with Christ, I have HIS authority over demons.

So, why do so many people pray to him? First, it has become common to do so in the paranormal community. But we take our clues from God’s Word, and not any practice that has become commonplace. Many wrong things/beliefs have been practiced by large segments of society, but our conscience is bound only by the bible. If you are a Christian, your primary identity is not a paranormal investigator, but part of the Body of Christ…and our allegiance is to Him, and not to a group. Following the crowd is not the way of a believer.

Another reason I’ve seen is that somebody we deeply admire prays this prayer. But once again, God’s Word is our guide, and not fallible humans, no matter how godly and ‘successful’.

For Roman Catholics, this is an ‘official prayer’, sanctioned by the church. For them, there are 2 strands of equal authority: the Word of God, and tradition…especially tradition sanctioned by papal ex cathedra decree or by ecumenical counsels. (eg Trent) But I see no evidence that this prayer has been officially sanctioned as ‘infallible tradition.

I say this gently but firmly, we must stop this praying to Michael; He is NOT a saint because he has not been saved by Christ and brought into union with Him. WE are the saints, and we should stop this practice of praying to an angel.

I cannot speak with absolute certainty regarding the consequences of praying this prayer, because I am not God. And many powerful things have been accomplished in and through folks who pray this prayer, but it is spite of this prayer and not because of it. It is tragic to consider, but if praying to angels opens doors to the demonic, then this prayer to Michael for protection may actually do the opposite. It may cause us to come under even more severe attack. It is supremely ironic, that a prayer meant to seek protection, may give the devil an opportunity (topos). I’m sure God is merciful and often works through us despite our severe shortcomings, but that is no reason to continue a practice that is manifestly odious to God’s Word. The phrase “better safe than sorry” comes to mind if you have any doubt at this point. The stakes for all involved are way too high, just to continue praying to an archangel because it’s so common. Do we really think that Michael, who is supremely zealous for God’s glory, would be happy with us worshipping him via prayer? I think not.

I’ve already strayed, so let me re-state my basic premise: from Genesis to Revelation (especially the NT), when there is angelic encounters, they are NEVER initiated by man. GOD initiates the encounters with his holy and heavenly messengers. God said it, That settles it. I believe it. Amen.

PS. If this offends you, then please list biblical texts to support your case…thank you.  
Mark

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.

REFLECTIONS ON THE CROSS OF CHRIST: Why Did Jesus Die?

Fifty Reasons Jesus Came to Die (an overview of the atonement)

By Reverend Mark Hunnemann

1.to absorb the wrath of God

2.to please His Heavenly Father

3.to learn obedience and be ‘perfected’

4.to achieve His own resurrection from the dead

5.to show the wealth of God’s love and grace for sinners

6. to show His own love for us

7.to cancel the legal demands of the Law against us

8.to become a ransom for many

9.for the forgiveness of our sins

10.to provide the basis of our justification

11.to complete the obedience that becomes our righteousness

12.to take away our condemnation

13.to bring us to faith and keep us faithful

14.to make us holy, blameless, and perfect

15.to give us a clear conscience

16.to obtain for us all things that are good for us.

17.to heal us from moral  and physical sickness

18.to give eternal life to all who believe in Him

19.to deliver us from the present evil age.

20.to reconcile us to God

21.TO BRING US TO GOD

22.so that we might belong to Him

23.to give us confident access to the holiest place

24.to become for us the place where we meet God

25.the Eternal High Priest brings the Old testament Priesthood to an end.

26.to become a sympathetic and helpful High Priest

27.to free us from the futility of our ancestry

28.to free us from slavery to sin

29.that we may die to sin and live to righteousness

30.that we would die bear fruit for God

31.to enable us to live for Christ and not ourselves

32.to make the Cross the ground of all our boasting

33.to enable us to live by faith in Him

34.to give marriage its deepest meaning

35.to create a people passionate for good works

36.to call us to follow His example of costly love and humility

37.to create a band of crucified followers

38.to free us from bondage to fear of death

39.that we should be with Him immediately after death

40.to secure our resurrection from the dead.

41. to disarm the rulers and authorities (Satan/demons)

42.to unleash the power of God in the gospel

43.to destroy hostility between races

44.to ransom people from every tribe, language, people, and nations

45.to gather His sheep from around the world

46.to show that we are not saved by rituals or good works

47.to rescue us from final judgment

48.to gain His joy and ours

49.so that we would be crowned with glory and honor

50.to show that the worst evil is meant by God for good.  (see John Piper, Fifty Reasons Jesus came to Die).

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.

Choosing Not To Believe In The Devil Won't Protect You

Choosing Not To Believe In The Devil Won't Protect You

In 1864 there was a short story written by French poet Baudelaire with a similar quote

"My dear brothers, never forget, when you hear the progress of enlightenment vaunted, that the devil's best trick is to persuade you that he doesn't exist!"

The most known reinterpretation of this quote is from 'The Usual Suspects'

Now to the subject at hand..... I know that lately a lot of what I've written seems to surround the subject but unfortunately I have been flooded with emails regarding oppression, possible possession and demonic influence. I am informed that these events started to take place when these teenagers, children and adults felt like they wanted to prove that there is no such thing as demons and the devil do not exist. So there is nothing to fear and people who have a healthy fear and respect for all religions with dark entities are foolish due to the fact that evil does not exist. So, just for kicks and giggles "let's do this and really see what happens to prove people wrong". Well guess what that summoning spell did work. Just because nothing happens at that time, doesn't mean at a later date you will not suffer the consequences.

Ever since that movie "Ouija" (as if we didn't have enough people using them) it has stirred  quit a interest in many more people to purchase one "just to tempt evil and taunt demons to prove they don't exist." And all you have to do is go on YouTube and there are a ton of videos of people playing with the spirit board and a lot of them show someone getting possessed. Whether they are faking it or not. But even if you're faking it, it's the law of attraction. You are now on their radar because you have accused Satan and his minions of harming you. So many will claim being oppressed or possessed just for attention due to insecurity. I've seen it time and time again. Just for attention. Time being wasted when it could of been helping someone in valid distress. Well congratulations your attention seeking or trying to play a trick has now gotten you into a very bad position.

Ouija Boards create danger in my humble opinion. I have witnessed awful consequences people have to bare from playing around with these. In my opinion they are nothing more than portals to the demonic. Christ warns us about this.."Beware Of The Familiar Spirit." Our friends and loved ones are mimicked by demonic entities in a effort to trick us into offering help or becoming highly involved in keeping the communication going. This eventually allows them legal ground into our life.

Demons and devils are very intelligent, and very cunning, and very patient. They lie and manipulate better than the best lawyers and politicians. And they will subtly influence someone for decades if they have to, to get a specific result. They have no boundaries of what they will not do to further their own ends. They kill people, they cause severely debilitating illness. They tear families apart, they take all that is good and pure and drag it through the dirt and blood until there is nothing left. They are never to be taken lightly or as a joke. It is not adventurous or romantic or 'cool' to be as hunter. It is dangerous. Not just physically, but spiritually. Whatever they can do to you physically will end, because life is short. But spiritually... the soul is immortal...

Familiar spirits operate under their master, Satan. They influence people to create hate and hurt. Basically raise hell and torment us relentlessly. They spew lies and make a person believe such horrible things of others and ourselves. To knowingly open oneself to the work of demons is an evil act: "Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in a fire, who practices divination or sorcery." To knowingly open yourself up to these demons and their tasks is considered a sin. They are very evil spirits. They are very convincing to make you believe it's a passed loved one making contact. Test the spirit each time. Ask if he/it believes Jesus Christ is the son of man and does it worship Christ. You'll know real quick then if it's real and not eyes playing tricks on you or a person seeking attention.

I found the following paragraph of information I obtained at deeptruths.com Fear is today's No.1 killer! Believe it or not, fear causes more sickness and more mental illness and more premature deaths than anything else on Earth! Doctors have discovered that heart muscle is actually DESTROYED when people are subject to great fear. Dr. Marilyn Cebelin, writing in the General Practitioner's newspaper, "Pulse," says the hormone, adrenalin, literally DESTROYS heart muscles when people are subjected to intense stress and fear. Canadian medical circles also report that WORRY increases chances of infectious disease, in that it weakens the body's ability to fight off germs. A recent study of cases of streptococcal infection, according to Dr. Robert Haggerty, revealed that one out of four cases of such infections occurred after prolonged trauma and anxiety. Heart trouble, high blood pressure, arthritis and stomach ulcers are all basically caused by worry, tension, stress and fear!

Do not be afraid or fear the devil or his demons.

Notice that it is at the Name of Jesus, not just to the person of Jesus, that every knee will bow. As true believers in Jesus Christ, we are members of His body, and joint-heirs in His

Written By Jennifer L Auld

Mark 6 (Walk on the Water)….Does It Teach that Jesus Believed in Ghosts?

By Reverend Mark Hunnemann

If you are a Christian and believe in ghosts, are you open to changing your mind if the bible teaches otherwise? I certainly hope so…He demands absolute submission in all areas of life, including what we believe.

It has surprised me the number of seminary trained Christians whom I respect who point to the text in Mark 6 as proof positive that Jesus believed in ghosts. They say it is the clearest text of Jesus affirming the existence of human spirits/ghosts populating the earth, and that Jesus Himself believed in ghosts because He did not correct his disciples when they thought/said Jesus was a ghost as He walked on the water. Though I dealt with this in my book, I want to address this again in more detail. What I want to do is take the cumulative evidence to show that Jesus was NOT affirming the existence of ghosts. As we shall see, the Holy Spirit's intent for this text is antithetical to the notion of ghosts.

To interpret a passage correctly you have to understand the context, and what the Holy Spirit’s intent was/is in writing this story of Jesus walking on the water.

"Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. 46 And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray. 47 And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land. 48 And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them, 49 but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, 50 for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, "Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid." 51 And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, 52 for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened."

1.It is important to put this text in context. Mark, spokesman for Peter, wrote this "docudrama" in order to persuade people to be followers of Jesus--words and actions of Jesus are presented by Mark to draw true disciples to our Divine Messiah.
This episode is "hooked" into the preceding narrative of Jesus miraculously feeding over 10,000 people by using the word "immediately".(5,000 was just the men) Jesus is trying to show his obtuse disciples that He was the "greater then Moses" by giving us eternal Bread, and not ephemeral manna.The parallel text in Matthew 14, which includes Peter walking on the water, is also followed by the word "immediately". This is important because the authors want us to connect what had just happened (empirical evidence of Jesus' deity as seen in miracle of feeding of large multitude)The disciples were eyewitnesses of this profound miracle.
In order to interpret this text correctly, we must remember that didactic/teaching texts interpret historical narratives.Both in the OT and NT followers of God did and said many wrong things, which are not always corrected by the editor. The classic case is Jepthah (Judges 11:30--who vowed to kill the first thing that came out of his tent, if God gave him victory. His daughter came out of his tent to congratulate him and was condemned to death. Jepthah had made an unbiblical vow--which the bible had made provisions for him to repent of. However, it seems that he did not repent and felt obliged to follow through with his horrible vow--he killed his daughter. However, the editor does not explicitly condemn this act. The inspired editor assumed prior knowledge of his readers. Anyone conversant with Leviticus/Deuteronomy would know  that wrongful vows should not be acted upon, and that Jepthah SHOULD have known human sacrifice was repugnant to God. The editor assumes this prior knowledge, but does not give commentary. That is that danger of drawing doctrine from the silence of historical narrative. The same is true of the NT.Many evil words and actions are recorded in the historical books of the bible but are not always condemned. It is HISTORY….a record of events In the NT there are numerous examples of the disciples saying/doing wacko things prior to Pentecost,but Jesus did not always correct them (e.g. Transfiguration experience where Peter stuck his foot in his mouth, again)....a precedent of the disciple NOT being rebuked by Jesus for saying stupid things.

2. What was the Holy Spirit's intent in above text? Was it to prove the notion of ghosts? NO!! This text, and its parallel text in Matthew 14. was included to prove that Jesus was Yahweh! How sad and ironic that it is used to "prove" that Jesus believed in ghosts.
Jesus intentionally "walked by them" in order for them to see Him, and thus give empirical evidence that He was the Creator of Heaven and Earth. By walking on the water Jesus wanted them to see Him walking in the midst of a ferocious storm to show He was the Lord of creation. "it is I....."ego eimi"...I AM" echoing Exodus 3:14 )By walking on the water in a furious storm He was demonstrating that He was Lord over creation, and that there was no need to be afraid.
Not only Jesus' actions but His words were designed to show the disciples that He was/is God Almighty. The Septuagint uses the same word for "passed by" when Moses experienced God "passing by" him) Exodus 33:19,22....giving Moses/disciples a glimpse of God's glory. In Mark 6:48 "walking on the sea" echoes the Septuagint Job 9:8 where "God trampled upon the sea"....same Greek words. The Holy Spirit's intent in this text is to accent the deity of the Lord Jesus--King over creation (see Mark 4).

3. First century Judaism was rife with superstition and theological confusion. For example, Jewish leaders believed in salvation by good works, and the popular superstition of a plentitude of ghosts was rampant, as it has been since the dawn of time. Peter and the rest of the disciples were deeply effected by common superstition, and were very slow to change until after Pentecost.

4. Why would they call Jesus a "ghost" when they had just seem him a few hours earlier...very much alive? Was He a ghost of a living Person? Perhaps they were terrified because they thought this was a demon trying to deceive them? That is an option not often mentioned. Either way, with an abundance evidence for Jesus' deity, why would they call Him a ghost? How could God be a ghost?!This is (and the parallel text) is the only place that "phantasm" is used, which can mean superstitious imagination.

5. Recall that the Holy Spirits intent was to exalt the deity of Jesus, and the disciples de-exalted Him by calling Him a "ghost".

6. So, why did not Jesus correct them?  First, we do not know if Jesus corrected them or not because in many cases the entirety of what Jesus said is not recorded. But my guess is that He did not correct them....not then, anyway. Why? They were deathly afraid! He was keen on comforting them, and not correcting them.It is an argument from silence to say that Jesus must have agreed with them since He did not correct them.The most common negative command that Jesus uttered was, "Do no be afraid!"
If your child was drowning, and you jumped in to save them, what would be your first words to them?

7. In a context in which the deity of Jesus is being accented, it must have broken Jesus' heart that His disciples responded so faithlessly. He "walked by" in a manner to empirically display His Lordship over the storm, but the lesson was lost on them. Instead they became wild-eyed with fear, and superstition enveloped them like a cocoon.

8. To say that Jesus must have believed in roaming human spirits because He did not (that we know of)correct His disciples, is an argument from silence--a logical fallacy. Jesus/apostles did warn us of Satan and demons, but they never warn us of roaming human spirits. This is NOT an argument from silence because knowing who populates the spirit realm is utterly necessary for discernment and victory in spiritual warfare. In the gospels we have many instances of Jesus casting out demons. However, there is not a single instance of human spirits seeking their Creator to send them to the light, nor did Jesus have a ministry in which He sought to help earthbound spirits. And neither do the epistles address the issue as something we should be involved in. It seems paranormal investigators have more knowledge or more compassion than Jesus did.

9. Not all historical narratives are bereft of teaching or editorial comment.v.52 is an inspired editorial commentary on this whole episode--they were afraid and their hearts were hardened. Faith Vs fear, and teachability vs hardened hearts. Unlike many historical narratives, this one is concluded with an editorial comment. This is extremely important in interpreting this text accurately. Everything...EVERYTHING...the disciples did and said has a shadow cast over it. Everything they said and did was compelled by fear and hard-heartedness. Their comment re: Jesus being a ghost was an expression of both fear and hardness of heart. They did not learn from the feeding of the 5,000 (or the 4,000) that Jesus was God almighty. How utterly tragic that they would call Him a ghost, when what He was doing and saying displayed that He was the culmination of the I AM". It is difficult to over-state the significance of this concluding comment...it renders the ghost comment utterly suspect.

10. The epistles were written largely to interpret the actions and words of Jesus.

To those who are unduly affected by the fact that the bible does not mention Jesus correcting their comment that He was a ghost, was He a ghost in that text? NO! As parents, do we correct our kids EVERY TIME they make a mistake? The bible says that would break their spirits if we do. If your child was in danger of drowning and was frightened, would you feel the need to immediately correct them of anything dumb they may have uttered in their terror? I hope not....rather we would embrace them.

With an issue as significant as ghosts, we cannot camp on a text in which we are told explicitly that they were full of terror and hardness of heart, which casts a long shadow over everything they said. It is much more plausible that their cry of "ghost" was fueled by superstition.

It saddens me how folks who do believe in ghosts assert that those of us who don’t believe in ghosts are allegedly “close-minded”. As disciples of Christ, our minds are to be ’held captive by the word of God’. That is, we are to rightly divide the word of truth….interpret the bible correctly and believe what the bible says/teaches. To make this text into something it is not, is an example of close-mindedness.

If you believe in ghosts, are you ‘open’ to having your mind changed if the bible teaches otherwise? My observation is that many Christians who are fascinated with the paranormal are not teachable re this issue. The result is that they have one foot in the Word and the other foot in the occult. When that happens one cannot avoid getting hurt. It is out of compassion that I plead with you to let the paranormal loosen its hold on you. The only disembodied spirits are in heaven or hell. Call it simplistic or close-minded, but it is what Genesis to Revelation teaches.

This text, rightly interpreted, does NOT infer the existence of ghosts. Rather, the Holy Spirit wants us to see that Jesus is the Divine Messiah…Yahweh!

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.

Sleep Paralysis And Vivid Dreams Or Demonic Visitation? Part 2

Hello everyone. I pray you had a fantastic weekend and everyone you love is healthy. I'm writing more on this subject since the one I wrote last year just isn't enough to cover what I wanted. The amount of emails I get on the subject are in sane. This is really a topic people are researching and wanting more information about. This is just of course my humble opinion based on experience and research. I am a Biblical Demonologist and I believe Jesus Christ is the son of God so my opinions are all based on scripture as well. This topic can get pretty dicey so you are forewarned right now. Discussion of sexual content in graphic nature so please be advised ahead of time. I can't help it. I wish I could keep this more clean but I can't ladies and gentlemen. I suggest you do your own research on this. There are different types of demonology that is studied so you're going to run into different types of opinions on this.

Demons and devils are very intelligent, and very cunning, and very patient. They lie and manipulate better than the best lawyers and politicians. And they will subtly influence someone for decades if they have to, to get a specific result. They have no boundaries of what they will not do to further their own ends. They kill people, they cause severely debilitating illness. They tear families apart, they take all that is good and pure and drag it through the dirt and blood until there is nothing left. They are never to be taken lightly or as a joke. It is not adventurous or romantic or 'cool' to be as hunter. It is dangerous. Not just physically, but spiritually. Whatever they can do to you physically will end, because life is short. But spiritually... the soul is immortal...

I found the following three posts among many others made by people who really feel they were sexually attacked during sleep paralysis by a sinister entity. They are sharing experiences and discussing possible answers. I found these at abovetopsecret.com...

"I think the most frightening one I've had was when I was dreaming I was standing outside of a barn. A male voice inside beckoned me to enter. I did so reluctantly. Inside was complete darkness. I awoke in my room paralyzed, and heard the same voice say rather menacingly "You should not have done that." and then proceeded to laugh until I managed to wriggle myself free and shoot up in bed."

"I have woken up with bruises after having very vivid sleep paralysis and hallucinations."

" I suffer from this all the time with the exception of one or two nights a week. I am convinced its demonic, not scientific. This is an example of these things existing, there is no scientific explanation. When will people realise that WE DO HAVE A SOUL. and that spirit beings can affect us at our most vunerable, when we are asleep is easy for them. They like to play with us, cause us distress, and ultimatly are after your Soul. Our soul is fighting with them. I know some people might disagree and probably think im mad. But my response is take a look at what the bible says about this."

I found the following comment on a general yahoo question:

"for me the pressure seems to become light when i say things like "Give me power god" If these things are only our imagination then i dont understand why do the pressure become much lighter when i use "God" in my imagination. There are times when I am not scared and want to go against it, however it seems useless unless i mention the word "God" in someway. which again makes me believe that this is not just things people call imagination/hallucination etc..."

For those who do not know, sleep paralysis is when the brain awakens from Rem sleep but the body remains “asleep” (in paralysis). Sort of the reverse of sleep walking, which is when the body is ‘awake’ but the brain is asleep. You are are fully conscious but unable to move. This can last a few seconds or a few minutes. However, eye movements are still possible. Individuals experiencing this often feel extreme panic as they try to reestablish the connection between mind and it's connection. It can be very frightening. It seems so very real. It is a terrifying feeling being unable to move or speak. You can't even cry for help audibly. You are totally helpless it seems.

Incubus and Succubus are demons known for sexual pleasure and summoned for sexual pleasure and companionship. They are also known to be heavily focused on in Sleep Paralysis situations. They are found in different Mythology literature. My first blog on this last year goes into a tad more detail on mythology. A brief description...

Incubus: 1: An evil spirit that lies on persons in their sleep; especially one that has sexual intercourse with women while they are sleeping.

Succubus: A demon assuming female form to have sexual intercourse with men in their sleep.

For me personally the false "wake ups" were terrifying! I was getting to a point where I could not establish whether I was really awake or was I really dreaming? My safety was at risk and I feel it still is at times. I was having a lot of sleep paralysis when my father was dying. I came home to help my mother and waking up daily fearing " was this the day I would find my father dead?" I believe the high stress levels I was dealing with going through that and all the sad emotions and then the depression and the anger and bitterness I had at that time in my life towards God was a recipe for being extremely vulnerable to demonic attacks. I do believe however, there is actual legitimate "Sleep Paralysis" and it can be organically explained. This is not always the case.

Many people experience "dark shadows, shadow people" during this as well. That is a completely other subject right there that I will discuss and go into further details another blog. This subject is extremely difficult to write about and try to keep it to where it's understandable for most people. I'm trying not to branch out on other different parts of this just yet because I feel that can cause more confusion when your first researching the subject. Some people are researching this out of curiosity and there's some people who are really going through this as we speak so I'm trying to keep it as simple as possible. This is not something that's easy for me to write about. I am certainly not a professional writer or blogger for that matter. It is also hard for me because I hate to dig up the memories and at the same time I wonder if discussing this is going to trigger my dreams! Lol. I am a little paranoid, that's how ground shaking and terrifying my experiences were. For me I'm convinced it was demonic attack.

I have seen and heard many people who were and WERE NOT believers in Christ post that they called for Jesus Christ and things would get better or that entity would go away. They wake up feeling safe. This makes me extremely happy to see how many people are realizing they can call for help and how much power is in the name Jesus Christ. Those things flee pretty quickly don't they? They cannot tolerate the name of Jesus and his Holy name. This is great news and when you can move past the fear you can control your dreams and call directly for Christ or his Angels. I have said this before many times that demons are terrified of God's Holy Angels.

Written By Jennifer Lori Auld

Ghost Hunting - Satan's Deception

By Stephen Piersall

GREAT video of why if you are a Christian why you should NOT Ghost hunt? Put your energy into the Deliverance Ministry and help people rid evil in their lives through God. No EVP's, cameras, sound equipment, etc needed. Just you and your Bible in the name of Jesus Christ.

Video by Shawn Lonkert of www.themidnighthighway.com