The Paranormal

First let me just say that curiosity is not a sin. It is only when we are weak in our faith that we can be tempted. “Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death (Js 1:14-15).” If you are not tempted, then there is no sin. “If you do anything you believe is not right, you are sinning, for you are not following your convictions.” Romans 14:23

I believe that if you know God, and have a personal relationship with Christ and that you know your faith is strong, and that you are not tempted or influenced to carry out any types of wandering, and if the Holy Spirit has NOT convicted you of anything being wrong, and you are NOT violating your conscience then there's nothing wrong with watching silly TV shows about the paranormal, witches or vampires. In other words, if you watch TV shows or movies about these types of themes and you are watching for pure entertainment value and nothing more, then you are basking in Christian freedom. You merely doing what God has permitted for you to do in your Christian liberty granted by Christ’s death and resurrection. The Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 6:12, "You say, "I am allowed to do anything" -but not everything is good for you. And even though "I am allowed to do anything," I must not become a slave to anything." It is not my place to tell you what you can and cannot do with your own liberty in Christ. Just remember who you are and who you belong to.

The gift of freewill that was given to us through Christ has not limited us to what we can and cannot do. There are no rules of don’t touch this, don’t watch that, and don’t eat this or don’t do that on that day. Men-made traditions are the only things that limit us in what we can and cannot do, touch, see or eat. Paul said, “You may believe there’s nothing wrong with what you are doing, but keep it between yourself and God. Blessed are those who don’t feel guilty for doing something they have decided is right.” - Romans 14:22

I believe that not that all things that are “good” are profitable for you either, and not all things that are “bad” are inherently wrong either. I believe there are some good things that can come from some bad things. Isn't that what God does? What Joseph’s brothers meant for evil, God meant it for good (Genesis 50:20). Even our worst sins and actions have turned out to teach us what is wrong and what is right. We learn from them and if we had not seen, heard or experienced the bad, how would we not appreciate the good? How can we appreciate God's wonderful grace, without knowing God's hard and loving truth?  

“Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? - Romans 6:2 

How can we appreciate God's wonderful grace, without knowing God's hard and loving truth? The one person, who is forgiven much, loves much more. “But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love (Luke 7:47).” When we finally understand that God’s love and grace is stronger than our sin, we are not moved by trivial, worldly things that have no power over us.

Now, getting a little more specific; TV shows and movies about witches, ghosts, demons, vampires, zombies and werewolves are not sinful. They are no more sinful than reading a story mentioned in the bible. The difference is that the TV and movies are illustrated with video, audio and special effects and the bible are only illustrated with words that describe the story.

Now, the people who are involved in the “reality TV” of ghost hunting are very brave, very ingenious, very ignorant or very stupid! I don’t know if what they experience in front of the camera are staged, added special effects, just coincidences or if they are actual manifestations of the demonic kind. However, with all this in mind, these kinds of things are known throughout human history and they may or may not exist. 

In Isaiah 29:4 it says, “Then deep from the earth you will speak; from low in the dust your words will come. Your voice will whisper from the ground like a ghost conjured up from the grave.” – Ghosts exist?

In Mark 6:49, the Jesus’ disciples were in a boat in the middle of a lake and during a storm, “but when they saw him [Jesus] walking on the water, they cried out in terror, thinking he was a ghost.” – Ghosts exist?

In Luke 8:27, “As Jesus was climbing out of the boat, a man who was possessed by demons came out to meet him. For a long time he had been homeless and naked, living in a cemetery outside the town.” – Demon possessed people exist?

In 1 Samuel 28:7 it says, “Then Saul said to his servants, “Find a woman for me who can speak with spirits, that I may go to her and ask her what I should do.” His servants said to him, “See, there is a woman at Endor who can speak with spirits.” – Mediums exist and people can come up from the grave?

In Ezekiel 37:1-10 the prophet writes, “The hand of the Lord came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”

So I answered, “O Lord God, You know.”

Again He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! Thus says the Lord God to these bones: “Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.”’”

So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them.

Also He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.”’” So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army (NLT).” - That's Ezekiel 37:1-10, and that's him raising an army of the undead?

In Proverbs 30:15 it says, “The vampire, hath two daughters, Give! Give! Three, there are, will not be satisfied, four, have not said, Enough! (REB)” - Vampires exist?

In Psalm 29:6 it says, “He maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn (KJV).” - Unicorns exist?

What makes the bible anymore “playing with fire” than the TV or movies? Where these stories of “supernatural causes? Did these stories distract you from the truth of Jesus Christ?

The answer is, “No.” Nothing can separate us from Jesus, not even scary movies, scary TV shows or stories about the paranormal. Now, the question should be, can these types of things distract a non-believer from the truth of the gospel of Christ? Hmm…maybe, but from my own experience before I came to believe in Christ, I wasn’t really “distracted” as I was much more interested. Thankfully, with my interests, I never really delved too deep in these things, but I was merely excited about their great wonder and the curiosity of the unknown. However, since I heard the truth of Jesus Christ, all of those things seemed to take second place and didn’t mean much to me anymore. Maybe I can say that the idea of believing in the unseen, invisible and unknown actually taught me to believe in the things that would come later, much like a child is taught to believe in the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus. If you think about it, I was taught to believe in a lot of things that are untrue. I was taught in seventh grade in science class that I “evolved” from a monkey. Hmm…you know there are people who still believe in that fairy tale. I fell for it and through that I believed in a lot of things, but honestly I believe it prepared me to believe in Jesus, in whom I could not see, not hear and not touch.

Since then, I have discovered that I don’t know if all these other things actually exist but I do know that Jesus is more than a fairy-tale and I now know He is real, and the only thing that is real to me.

Dear LGBTQIA Persons

The first thing I want to let you know is that Christians are NOT supposed to be making judgmental statements or jokes about you, your lifestyle or sexual preferences. The second thing is that we are not supposed to be grouping you all in one category and assume that you are feel the same way and all agree with each other. I would hope that you all would do the same with us Christians.

Let me remind you that under the Law given to Israel from God, it says:

Leviticus 18:22 – “Do not practice homosexuality, having sex with another man as with a woman. It is a detestable sin.”

Leviticus 20:13 – ““If a man practices homosexuality, having sex with another man as with a woman, both men have committed a detestable act. They must both be put to death, for they are guilty of a capital offense.”

Now, I can’t speak for all the other Christians in the world but I do know what we are all “supposed” to be doing. So, with that in mind let me inform you all of this. Did you know that there are homosexual Christians, Bi-sexual Christians, Lesbian Christians and Transgender Christians? Well, there are and they will go to heaven, and you will not. They will go to heaven because they have trusted in Christ for their salvation. They have trusted and believed in Christ despite their sexual and lustful weaknesses. They have realized that they ARE sinners and that there is nothing “good” that they can do in order to earn or buy their way into heaven. If you have repented of your old selfish ways and “dead works” life, and have believed in Christ as your Lord and Savior, then you will have eternal life and be in heaven.

They have laid down their arms, so to speak, and have given themselves over to Christ and have accepted Christ as their sin substitute. They understand that Jesus Christ paid their sin penalty for them, for all eternity. Did you think that Jesus came to earth to start another hypocritical, bigoted, useless man-made religion that is practically worthless except to those who believe in it? No. The whole purpose of God coming to earth was to live a holy life as Christ, die as an innocent man and to be raised to life after being dead 3 days in the tomb! Yes, Jesus came to earth to save you! Would you rather be a gay going to hell or a gay going to heaven?

For you straight [heterosexual] skeptics, let me ask you this; are you worthy of heaven or hell? Have you ever told a lie? Have you ever taken something that wasn’t your? So, you are a lying thief according to God’s standard. Why do you judge others who sin differently than you? How do you expect to get into heaven if you keep sinning? But, you cannot stop sinning, can you? Yes, you can have victory in the penalty of sin and you can have the power to help you overcome but as long as you live in your fleshly body, you will continue to sin until the end. What makes you different from any other sinner? So, what makes you think that a sinner like you can get into heaven but a lesbian cannot? Aren’t you both sinners? Yes, but it is only by repentance and believing in Christ to pay the price for your homosexuality and lying and thieving that you will make it into heaven. But, please don’t use Jesus as fire insurance. Let’s make sure your salvation is genuine, okay?

So, just to let the LGBT communities know; yes, the Christians who follow biblical principles will not agree with your personal choices to continue in your gay lifestyle. However, it’s really none of our business what you do behind closed doors. And, out of respect for others [if you have any respect for others], you should not be pushing your sexual preferences down the throats of society either. And, even though Christians don’t agree with your choices, that doesn’t mean that they hate you.

Allow me to say again; Christians do NOT hate the LGBTQIA Community [Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, intersex, and asexual.]. As a matter of fact, we love you! You guys and gals are the best example of God’s truth, mercy and grace. Jesus came to save gays, lesbians, transsexuals, straights, liars, murderers, thieves, adulterers, fornicators and all the other sins that seem natural to every man and woman. Just to let you all in a secret, that includes every man and woman of every race, nation, creed and color that calls them selves human. How can Christians hate the people Jesus came to save? That just doesn’t make any sense.

Now, you may be wondering; if homosexuality is a sin and so is adultery, then how can I get into heaven?

1 Corinthians 6:9-10 “Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God.”

Doesn’t that include just about everyone in the world? So, who will be saved? 

Paul continued with 1 Corinthians 6:11, “Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”

Thus, you should turn from a life of sinning [not just homosexuality, but lying and thieving too] and trust in Jesus that He became sin for you, paid your penalty for sinning against God and for nailing your sins to the cross on Him. Believe in Jesus Christ and he will save you from eternal separation from God.

Therefore, let me finish this with a final thought. I suspect that as life goes on and time keeps ticking away, the nation of America and others around the world will probably move toward the gradual acceptance and normalcy of homosexuality; some may even call it “the new normal.” But, in the event that people still stand for what they believe, that is, homosexuality is immorally wrong, you still have no right to call them names, verbally assault them or believe they are haters. Unless you know the thoughts of their hearts, you can no more judge them no more than they can judge you. After all, what makes the Gay Community or religious Christians so self-righteous as to believe that they are the only ones who have rights?