Obedience to the Lordship of Christ, and the great Evangelical Disaster. Pt.3

By Reverend Mark Hunnemann

Continued from part 2 http://eyeontheparanormal.blogspot.com/2016/11/the-great-evangelical-disaster-part-2.html

Let me recap...We have been looking at the larger picture of how and why the belief in ghosts has spread so rapidly..For the first time, I have deviated from focusing 100 percent on the paranormal....but there is a method to my madness. 80 years ago our nation had a Christian consensus; biblical knowledge and values were widespread, as was a biblical notion of objective truth (as opposed to the rampant relativism of today). Autonomous freedom--reckless attempt to be freed from the restraints of God and His moral law-- has been the culprit that has undercut this Christian consensus and made the way for belief in ghosts and other evil and error.

There is another culprit pointed out by Francis Schaeffer from whom I borrowed the title of his last book. Before I proceed I want to point out that, before he died in 1985 (book published in 1984), many people thought Schaeffer had retreated from his earlier works and got sidetracked on pro-life activism and other crucial issues. He addresses this misperception in the book, and says that it is not true. Rather, his books should be seen as a whole, and his confrontation of vital issues plaguing our society were simply the logical outworking of his previously stated beliefs.I take the time to mention this because, if you are fifty years or older, chances are you were affected by the brilliant and compassionate work of this man.

Evangelicals (bible believing Christians) are divided into two groups, he stated: those who are obedient to God's inerrant word over the full spectrum of life and those who aren't. And the division over this watershed issue is only going to keep growing. Which brings us to the second reason our society is suicidal: evangelical leaders (seminaries, publications, para-church leaders, and pastors).abruptly stopped lovingly confronting the moral rot in society. Content to preach expository sermons, the pastors forgot the responsibility to confront elements of autonomous freedom in application of their sermons. Hence, these evangelical leaders began to accommodate or adapt to the sinful world spirit, and our country took a nose-dive.This last point did/does not sit well with the majority of evangelical leaders, because they were/are guilty of passively adapting to all manner of evil, and they turned their back on the very man who had touched so many of their lives.

Hunnemann is about as German as you can get, and I know what happened in Nazi Germany when Hitler declared a whole race of people as non-human...the Jews. Do you think the German pastors should have addressed from the pulpit this particularly vicious form of autonomous freedom which swept the German people off their feet?.Of course they should have! But most German evangelical preachers didn't. If they had, the people would not have supported Hitler like they did. I saw Ray Comfort's 180. tonight and it floored me.In speaking along these lines, he implied what Schaeffer made explicit: why, then, does the US evangelical band play on while a whole segment of society has been declared non-human and slaughtered? Fifty-three million babies have been massacred and few evangelical preachers can bring themselves to confront it from the pulpit, not to mention in public. What good is an expository sermon if it does not address head-on the crucial issues of the day? Remember the quote from Luther about confessing Christ? There is a hierarchy of importance: should a Christian vote for Hitler? Then why vote for a pro-choice candidate?

Now we are in a position to ask why the notion of ghosts has skyrocketed in recent years.There are aspects of believing in ghosts that are appealing (eg,.speaking to deceased loved ones, alleged proof of the afterlife and it makes no difference what you believe, it fills a spiritual void, etc.) which have contributed to its popularity. But the primary reason the belief in ghosts has risen so sharply is because the vast majority of evangelical leaders have not lovingly confronted this crucial issue. If 65% of American young adults (18-25) believe in ghosts, then it is a crucial issue. Is it as important as abortion? No, of course not. But it is a juggernaut that is changing the landscape of spirituality in America. It is drawing tens of millions of American's into a close encounter with the demonic.It is contrary to every aspect of a Christian worldview. It is drawing millions away from Christ, and destabilizing the faith of many others. Most significantly, the notion of earthbound spirits undercuts the singular honor and dignity of our Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, it is a serious issue. So, why have you never heard a sermon on ghosts, or even a sub-point of a sermon? I have not... I say this with tears, but firmly, evangelicals leaders (whether Reformed, charismatic, and so on) have become sissified when it comes to being guardians of culture.

Go to virtually any evangelical church of one-hundred or more members, and some of those members will believe in ghosts or are not sure. (There are some exceptions to this rule). So, the problem is inside as well as outside the church, but the band plays on. I have tried to generate interest, but pastors resolutely remain the most dismissive group regarding the significance of the issue of ghosts that I know of. With few exceptions, it is not addressed from the pulpit, let alone in public One glance at a TV Guide should be enough to persuade even the most hardened skeptic, but there are none so blind as those who refuse to see..That, my friends, is why the belief in ghosts is steamrolling our country.It is tremendously sad, but it places the debate in a larger perspective or context.

Today.I had the joy of communicating with a fellow minister.who has 22 years experience of lovingly confronting this issue as a demonologist/exorcist. And he is making a real difference in people's lives. Praise God!

But as Schaeffer reminds us, we must not pretend that there is not division in the evangelical ranks when there is.There are those who are obedient to the  inerrant bible in practice by confronting error and evil, and there are those who are worldly and disobedient due to their.passivity in confronting evil and error--and in their passivity they are accommodating to it. The growth of belief in ghosts is just one issue out of a cluster of issues that is growing worse due to the great evangelical disaster.
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That brings our three part series to a close. As always, if you have any comments or questions, please contact me....or if you just want to talk...

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.

Paranormal Smells from Hell and the Lordship of Christ

By Reverend Mark Hunnemann

an excerpt.....

"Oftentimes during a paranormal investigation a phantom smell will waft across the nose of a team member or perhaps you have caught a whiff of something out of the ordinary in your home. Detecting an unusual odor isn’t always a sure sign of a spirit’s presence, but in certain instances, it is. Some of the more familiar smells are perfumes that were worn by the lady of the house when she was alive or, in the case of a smoker, pockets of cigarette or cigar smoke will mysteriously appear. These scents are generally harmless to a resident or investigator – as they are intended to be either an attempt at communication, a comforting sign to let a loved one know they are nearby or they will suggest the presence of a spirit who coincidentally is within your vicinity. There are certain odors, however, that everyone should be gravely concerned about because they are a pretension that an evil entity is in the room with you.

In certain extreme cases, smells can signify a negative presence which either resides on the property or is passing through to another destination. In some instances, there is an open portal nearby which is allowing the passage of a spirit to wander as it sees fit. The strong odors of decaying flesh and decomposition are telltale signs that this foul entity is nearby. In the town of Union, Missouri, located about 50 miles south of St. Louis, there is a house where these types of disgusting smells have been detected on multiple occasions.

On numerous occasions my wife and I have smelled tobacco smoke in our home. Her father was a smoker, and we know from experience that he likes to make frequent appearances (a medium had told her this was the case… but that is another article). An old friend of mine, who was a chain smoker, passed away about a decade ago. I believe that he too will come and pay a visit because I know this is something he would have done in life. The scent of burning tobacco was always his constant companion, and so I expect that any of his visits would warrant this odor….." Timothy Yohe

A demonic infestation may involve all five senses, including smell, which is what I want to focus on. Above is a typical approach to paranormal smells within the paranormal community. One problem with smell is that it cannot be collected, like an EVP.  But the presence of supernatural smells is so common that it is without doubt a true phenomenon.

The author makes a distinction between innocuous smells and smells that indicate a negative spirit. Notice that the actual smells themselves are seem by him as indicative of the identity of the spirit behind the smell. Foul smells are evidence of a negative spirit, and other smells are to be seen as evidence of the presence of a benign spirit. Do you think that is wise? Especially in a realm rife with deception?

For example, the odor of rotting flesh or sulfur is stated to be evidence of a demonic spirit. The only problem is that he offers no real reason as to why these admittedly vile smells indicate an evil spirit. Who has not let food go bad and had to air out their residence due to the vile smell? However, there is nothing insidious behind it. So, why automatically assume foul smells indicate a negative spirit?

When it comes to the supernatural realm, how does he have any basis for certainty regarding the meaning of certain smells? He does NOT appeal to the Word of God, and is left with speculation.

One of my criticisms of the paranormal community is that they continue to maintain their basic beliefs, but they don’t really exercise strict self-examination regarding those beliefs…..exposing them to thorough critical review. I make it a point to frequently read articles written by folks within the paranormal community—that is how I came across this article. However, it is rare to see paranormal investigators ask the tough questions—am I dishonoring God by attempting to speak to the dead? (Deuteronomy 18) Am I really putting Christ as Lord over my thinking and actions related to the paranormal? Am I seeking to sincerely put my beliefs under the absolute Lordship of Christ?

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6) This is a call for Christ to be Lord over all spheres of our lives. The wise will govern themselves by what the Lord Himself declares, AND WILL NOT SET THEIR OWN FINITE AND OFTEN MISTAKEN UNDERSTANDING AGAINST HIS.

If this is true in the natural realm, how much more when dealing with the supernatural. ….we are totally left in a morass of speculation if we don’t lean on the Lord with all of our heart when trying to understand the invisible realm, especially (and this is crucial) since this is the temporary, God-ordained home of Satan and his minions.

Christ’s Lordship extends over every sphere of life. ”The hearing ear and the seeing eye, the Lord has made them both.” As God has made the ears and the eyes (and all our senses) He better than anyone knows how to assess a person or situation, and His judgment will be final and decisive. We must seek to see ghosts through God’s eyes, and bow before His judgment.

However the author reveals an autonomous thought and heart pattern when using his sense of smell because he doesn’t look to the Lord who created his nose. Notice there is no leaning on the Lord and His revelation in his speculations regarding the identity of the spirits behind the various smells. God made your nose; therefore He owns your nose…literally. It is an act of cosmic treason to use our God-given senses without reference to Him, especially when attempting to interpret part of His world. Without our Triune God, life is incoherent and meaningless.

However, the author speaks confidently that certain smells are to seen as innocuous spirits. How does he know? He assumes the very thing he is trying to prove.2 Corinthians 11:14 speaks of the angel of light principle. If Satan can deceive visually, then he can deceive the olfactory system. All five senses are open to deception. Think of how many of Adam and Eve’s senses were involved in their fateful temptation? The forbidden fruit was enormously attractive…

The author readily admits that his own home has paranormal smells on regular basis….the smell of tobacco. He assumes that this is evidence of his deceased father, as well as a friend—both who smoked. His confidence in his beliefs was bolstered by a medium’s visit. Need I say more?

This raises the issue that has me deeply concerned. How many of those who do paranormal investigations have signs of paranormal activity in their own homes, but they see it as innocuous? There are many investigators who are being oppressed by demonic spirits which they have given legal rights to by their actions. But when you combine those with the seemingly benign activity, then I fear the vast majority of investigators are under direct attack. That is tragic beyond words.

Here is a point that occurred to me. No living person has the ability to self-generate smells without some aid, like perfume or a cigar. They can’t just make those smells appear out of thin air. So, what is the mechanism by which alleged ghosts generate smells? If they can’t do it while alive, it is inconsistent to assert that they have those powers after death. While alive one’s soul cannot make a smell appear out of the blue. How can this same soul generate the smell of a cigar, perfume, etc,ect?

To assert that this soul is smoking or wearing perfume is utterly absurd! They are disembodied spirits. Demons DO have the ability to generate smells, without resorting to saying that they are actually smoking, ect.  Occam’s Razor would suggest that the notion of demonic origin of paranormal smells is the simplest explanation. It is also in line with the angel of light principle.

My conclusion is that all paranormal activity—including paranormal smells—are demonic in nature. The exception would be the pleasant smells that sometimes attend a deliverance or house cleansing. Some have reported the smell of roses after a cleansing. That makes sense.

However, in general, any truly paranormal smell that simply occurs in one’s home is certainly demonic. Angels don’t play around and would not leave an odor unless it was God-honoring.

To associate certain foul smells with “negative spirits”, and all the rest with usually benign earthbound spirits is anti-biblical, and foolish. It is pure speculation. This gives a false sense of security to those whose home is infested with demons. Because the stakes are so high when determining the identity of a spirit, it is incumbent upon us (especially believers) to not rely on our speculation. We must look to God’s revelation and not our speculation when determining the nature of paranormal smells.(see Proverbs 3:5-6)

Please DO NOT become accustomed to any paranormal activity, including pleasant smells, because these smells are from hell. Think of the most pleasant odor imaginable and demons can (and do) mimic it, as they also mimic familiar sights and sounds.

Satan takes all God’s good gifts, like smell, and uses them for his insidious purposes. It is perfectly in line with Satan’s brutality and cruelty to play upon one’s loss. That is, demonic mimicry of dad’s cigar is an attempt to deceive and oppress us. Yet, there are many dear folks (including the author of the above excerpt) who take deep comfort in demonic smells.

I don’t write in order to try to score “points” but in love…..as an attempt to educate folks regarding the juggernaut of demonic deception that is crushing the spiritual landscape around us, as well as causing us harm. The book of Proverbs is full of warnings that when we sin it is like we are punching ourselves in the face.

Please beware of the smells from hell. And let us take the Lordship of Christ seriously for His glory, and for own welfare.

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.

The Clarity of the Word of God

By Reverend Mark Hunnemann

Continued from The Necessity of Scripture

Last time we began a series on the attributes of the Word of God, and their ramifications for the paranormal. The necessity of the Word of God, the clarity, sufficiency, and comprehensiveness--all these speak of why scripture is important for us, and the ways it is to have preeminence in our lives. The purpose of this newsletter is to analyze, from a biblical perspective, what is happening in the paranormal community in general, and the notion of ghosts in particular. So, what we have to say about the clarity of the written Word, will be applied to these issues. If you did not read the last one on the necessity of the Word of God, it would be useful if you did, but this should stand on its own.

Why has there been a nuclear explosion in the number of people who have come to believe in ghosts in the last fifteen years? That can be accurately answered in a number of different ways, but for our purposes, folks attitude towards the bible is a huge factor.Last time we looked at the necessity of the written Word of God, and asking the above question brings us to a brief review of what we have already said, as well as sharpening our current application focus.

The bible is the ultimate presupposition for Christians in every area of life--including our reasoning, knowledge acquisition, and interpretation of God's world...this is merely the outworking of the Lordship of Christ in the area of human thought--it applies the the doctrine of scriptural infallibility to the realm of knowing. Human knowledge is servant knowledge (or primary vs. derivative).That is, in seeking to know anything, our first concern is to discover what our Lord thinks about it and to agree with His judgment, to think His thoughts after Him (seeing EVERYTHING through God's eyes!). There are no "neutral" facts because God's pre-interpretation of the facts logically precedes the existence of all facts. Hence, we must align our interpretation of paranormal phenomena with our Lord's infallible interpretation of the same. Put another way, we are obligated to re-interpret accurately what our Lord has already interpreted. Can any Christian seriously suggest otherwise? We shouldn't, but we do--remember what we said about autonomous thinking? Talk about foolish-- how could anyone imagine that contradicting the Master of the universe would be a wise decision? All sin, whether Adam and Eve's or ours today, is a result of sinful, autonomous thinking.

How does this apply to our paranormal focus, and our question? Just this, it is the seeking of knowledge about part of God's creation (the spirit realm), without being subject to God's revelation, that has been the primary cause for the explosion of belief in ghosts. How else can you explain the belief in, or "knowledge" of, something that does not exist? In fact, it would be wrong to speak of "knowledge of ghosts" because the category or class known as "trapped spirits" is the null set...it does not correspond to reality. Put another way, with the marginalizing of the God of the Bible, and the bible of God, in our culture, then intellectual autonomy is the inevitable result...as well as incurring God's wrath (Psalm 2; Rom.1). Folks sinfully prefer their reasoning, their intuition, their years of experience, their perceptions, and their interpretation of the paranormal facts over God Almighty's interpretation of the same facts. This is blatant intellectual arrogance."The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction."

Those in the paranormal community, Christians and otherwise, have spent all their academic training in an environment which disassociates the facts of creation from their Creator--by jettisoning from the classroom His authoritative interpretation of His cosmos (the bible). So, when faced with the facts of the paranormal (and the very real experiences which have become pandemic), the paranormal community does what they have been taught--disassociate the paranormal facts of creation from their Creator. We are not re-interpreting these facts in servant/creaturely submission to God's own authoritative interpretation of these realities. Consequently, they are creating their own fantasy land.

At this point we can now turn our attention to the clarity of the Word of God. The perspicuity or clarity of the bible is how evangelical/Reformed theologians have spoken about one of the attributes of the bible...indeed that is what the written Word of God affirms about itself. Scripture ( as in Deut. 8:3; Pss. 19:7; 119; Matt. 4:4) says that God's written Word is for everybody to understand and live by. The Westminster Confession of Faith speaks of how some doctrines are clearer than others. For example, what is necessary for salvation is very clear. However, it would be a mistake to say that even a single word in the bible does not, in some sense, speak of salvation in a broader sense--every inch of the bible enriches our understanding of the cosmic sweep of the drama of redemption. Nevertheless, that which is required for a credible profession of faith is quite simple (but profound)...and is very clear.

God is THE Great Communicator...He is fully in control of His communication to human beings. When He communicates with us the Lord always does so successfully (human rejection of His successful communication is a commentary regarding mankind's sinfulness...not His Word) But another name for successful communication is clarity. Since God's word is clear, it will always accomplish its purpose (Isa. 55:10-11)--it won't come back void. If a person rejects that Word, then it has still accomplished it's work--much like Jesus perfectly accomplished His Father's work, even though more people rejected the Incarnate Word than accepted Him.

As I point out in Seeing Ghosts through God's Eyes, the notion of ghosts touches on several crucial biblical themes--what happens to us when we die? And what is our hope? And others...many others! Certainly the two I mentioned are so significant that we would rightly assume that the Great Communicator would communicate ultra clearly regarding these, and He does! I am aware that there are those who disagree--saying the bible is not clear regarding what happens to us after death--butdo you see what that implies about God's communication skills? Fear of death is the most universal fear of humans...is it any wonder that hope (certain faith applied to the future) is a central Resurrection motif? The perceived un-clarity is inexcusable and sinful--yes, misinterpreting the Word of God is a sin.

When we consider the clarity of the bible in relation to the Lordship of Christ, it creates ethical obligation in its hearers: obligation to believe what it says, to do what it commands, and so on. To quote Frame, "The clarity of God's Word means that we have no excuse for failing to meet it obligations. To say that God's Word is clear is to say that we have no excuse for misunderstanding or disobeying it. So the clarity of Scripture has ethical implications." (pg 206...The Doctrine of the Word of God)

Again, how does all this relate to the notion of trapped spirits? Since it is inextricably tied to the central biblical doctrines of hope, the afterlife, and the Person and Work of Christ...to name but a few, then one would expect that the Word of God will be ultra clear. It is...very clear! Clear enough to create an ethical obligation to reject this demonic fabrication. Clear enough to make it sinful to believe in the notion of ghosts. Clear enough that there is no excuse for misunderstanding the bible's teaching regarding the matter. Clear enough that there is no excuse for believing in or attempting to speak to demons mimicking humans. And it is certainly clear enough that we do not need to hear a supplemental word from the "other side of the veil" to clarify what happens after death...implying that God's Word is unclear and defective. God, in His written Word, has clearly told us what happens when we die. If we are in union with Jesus, then we will see Him, with glorious clarity, face-to-face!

(The biblical texts are so extensive, and clear, regarding the afterlife, and related themes, it would be a monumental task to amass them--all biblical doctrines are inter-related.)