Parenting--the Pleasures and the Pain

“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. 6 And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”  (Malachi 4:6)

[last verse in Old Testament.]

13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. 14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, 15 for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. 16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, 17 and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.” Luke 

And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. 34 And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed 35 (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged. (Colossians 3:21)

By Reverend Mark Hunnemann

I have three children and three grandchildren, and they are the joy my heart. I'm sure many of you can relate. It is often said that there is not a handbook on parenting but that is not true; the bible has many insights into parenting. In fact, the book of Proverbs begins as a"handbook" from father (Solomon) to his children.

My greatest pleasures, as well as my greatest pain, has stemmed from parenting. Let me quickly add that the pain part was not necessarily due to my children's faults, but to my faults as a dad. Out of respect for  my kids I will not mention personal details.

How do we know how to raise our children? How do we teach them how to love and respect others?

What does it mean to display mature masculinity or femininity? How do we teach them the difference between right and wrong? And what do we tell them is the most important thing in life? How do we attain eternal life? Without the bible we are left to wing it or do what our own parents taught us...but were they right?

Mary, the mother of Jesus, was told that a "sword would pierce her soul." A sword through the heart is an apt description of what parental pain feels like at times.Was Jesus ever spanked? I'm sure He was, not  because of anything He did (He was sinless), but because Mary and Joseph were not perfect parents--all parents overreact at times, in some way...

It is instructive that the last comment in the Old Testament has to do with parents turning their hearts toward their children, and vice versa. There are thousands of images that the Lord could have chosen to symbolize the in breaking of the New Covenant, but the Lord chose the image of a parent turning their naturally selfish heart toward loving deeply their children. This shows how the gospel has a deeply invasive affect on the most basic of institutions, the family. Malachi is the last book in the Hebrew Old Testament and the last verse in the last chapter speaks to this matter of parents turning their hearts toward their kids. 400 years go by and when the New Testament opens, it is as if the Lord was still 'on the same page'....He does not skip a beat, but continues with the same imagery. He tells us that John the Baptist and Jesus will fulfill the prophecy of turning the hearts of the parents to their kids. He  did not skip  a beat over 400 years--obviously this is crucial to God.The point is this--we are all selfish and we need to daily ask God to turn our hearts to our children, and their hearts toward us.We need to ask the Lord for wisdom in knowing how to shepherd our children's hearts.

Parents, please take yourself and your children to church; a loving church that preaches the bible. Some of us have older children so all we can do is pray and gently suggest that we all need help with parenting, and a good children's ministry is invaluable. If you have younger children one of the most important things you can do as a parent is regular attendance at church. My family is not the only one that has had a painful experience with a church, but that is no reason to throw out the baby with the bath water.

Loving God is the single most important thing we can teach our children. But where do we learn how to love God? Reading the bible, and again, attending a good church with a solid children's ministry. Let  me say this--cultivating your own personal relationship with God (through bible reading and prayer) is the most loving thing you can do for your child/ren. The Lord loves our children infinitely more than we do, and He created parenting/family. He longs for us to seek the wisdom we need for this unspeakably wonderful adventure.

Please, from the bottom of my heart, look to the Lord to help you with both the pleasures and the pain of parenting.

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

Explanation of Demons...Not Ghosts

When you die, you will meet God...

Hebrews 9:27

So the question that gets asked to the Exorcism Ministry is “Do Ghosts truly exist or is this something else?” During these blogs we hope to help you discover the “Biblical Truth” of what the Holy Bible states regarding the phenomena.  This will be a multi-part format that we will be discussing.

Part 1 – What is the Bible stance on existence of what paranormal teams call “Ghosts”? In order to put into perspective this term of Ghosts, we need to establish common ground.  This can found in Hebrews from the Bible.  The writer of the book of Hebrews as some scholars think was the Apostle Paul, as just one whom possibly put “pen to paper” for this book.  The bible verse that Paul instructs those believers in God and those non-believers is “Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment,” Hebrews 9:27 (NIV)

This bible verse is very powerful, which places the foundation to nullify the ability to linger around, not wanting to move into the light or to crossover to be at rest.  These are words which we have all heard in the paranormal community.  This verse should be the foundation in which all paranormal teams use as a basis, but unfortunately very few will.

The reason this bible verse should be a foundation for all paranormal teams to embrace, is because many people in the paranormal world I have encountered do believe in a higher power.  Further adding a majority of these people acknowledge that this higher power has a name they have heard at one point in time or another – GOD.

This higher power is an all knowing, all judging and by definition the Alpha and the Omega (the beginning and the end).  Due to that significance of power held, how therefore can one person withstand the ability to linger around against a higher power in a spiritual form?  A majority of the people in this world do believe that something does happen to us when we die.  A common belief is that we leave our body to be in a spirit form. Now, this is not to get into every single aspect of both religion and the beliefs, but to just lay foundation of the point of a higher power.

Now, let’s examine another Bible verse which nullifies what paranormal people classify as Ghosts. This additional ground floor can be located in another book named Ecclesiastes.  This book is penned by Solomon, the son of King David, from the Holy Bible.  In Ecclesiastes 9: 5 & 6 and 10 we learn about the finality of death and the revelation that God had passed onto Solomon.  Verses 5 & 6 state the following, “For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, they have no further reward, and even their name is forgotten. Their love, their hate and their jealousy have long since vanished; never again will they have a part in anything that happens under the sun.” (NIV)

To further add more validation to nullification of Ghosts, Solomon pens the words in Ecclesiastes 9:10 “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.” (NIV)

The bible verses 5 & 6 of Chapter 9 in Ecclesiastes clearly instruct the future readers that once we die any actions of a person once living lingering around or the desire to linger around for any “unfinished business” as a spirit form is nullified.  As a once living being you will no longer take part or have a hand in, ANY business under the life we now are in. Verse 10 from the same book and chapter adds that whatever you should do, do it now while you are alive (meaning righteous works), because once you pass (i.e. die) you cannot go back and further adds that we as humans face judgment of a higher power to another realm (I.e. Heaven or Hell).

Now, the foundational work has been laid to view the paranormal realm properly.  Therefore, nullifying “Ghosts” and lingering around for any unfinished business cannot exist.  So then if “Ghosts” do not exist based on these key biblical verses (and many others exist – Job 14: 10-12, Luke 24: 37-39, etc…), then what is it that paranormal people curious in the proof of afterlife are encountering? Answer: FALLEN ANGELS also known as DEMONS.

Many people will feel different to this point of view because of the personal experiences that these people have felt.  They feel that a loved one has truly come back to visit them.  The unmistakable feelings of the warmth and love that they felt being around that “presence” which came forward to see them.  The person may have even had the pleasure of certain smells that a former living one once had (I.e. Cologne or Perfume).

However, what they were experiencing is not what they thought to be.  Here’s why, according to the holy bible, Jeremiah 1:5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." The higher power God calls us all to be a prophet to every nation, and God is all-knowing, the Alpha and the Omega.

When the Great War in Heaven took place, Lucifer (meaning shining one, morning star) was the most beautiful angel created by God.  Lucifer was given a lot of knowledge by God of his plans to create a race of beings to love and to worship God.  Angels were created to serve God, but Humans were created to love God or not, which is were free will comes in (another subject for another time).  Lucifer became very angry with this plan as Lucifer felt as an angelic being he and other angels were above Humans.

Due to the actions of Lucifer and those who followed Lucifer, they were expelled and as the bible states a third of the “heavenly angels” of glory were cast down to be away from the glory of God forever.  Since this action was created, Lucifer and those cast with him have a “pure hatred” for man (referring to woman and child too). Therefore, the Fallen Angels also know everything about you (referring to all mankind), before you were formed in your mother’s womb as related scripture that God inspired Jeremiah to pen.

Therefore Lucifer and the unholy realm of Fallen Angels started to tempt man and create deception from the beginning of Adam and Eve.  The Fallen Angels know mankind very well, and they have a customized plan for everyone on this planet.  Why? Unfortunately they too knew you before you were formed in your mother’s womb much like God and their hatred against God is for what he loves.

In the next part of this entry we will discuss how these Fallen Angels come against us, so until then God’s Blessings.

Rev. Bradley Luoma