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.