What about ghosts?

[lucypevensie]

A lot of people really truly believe in ghosts, even a lot of Christians I know. My own sister has had a whole lot of experiences with unexplainable incidents such as footsteps down the hall, waves of cold air coming into the room, she's even seen actual people who suddenly appear then vanish. She is not on drugs, drunk, or sick in the head. For about 2 years when they moved into their brand new house there have been no "ghost sitings". So why are they not bothered in the new house like they have been in their other houses. I remember when I was a teenager I HATED babysitting at their house because I was SO SCARED to be at their house alone. I always looked for excuses to get out of the job. I never saw or heard anything there but I was definitely freaked out.

So I guess what I'm asking is: what do you think those things really are? I do believe in demons and angels. Do you think demons were bothering my sister's family and me?

Has anyone else had eny weird experiences?

[LouisBooth]

"Do you think demons were bothering my sister's family and me?"

Maybe so. If the purpose is to scare you or you feel scared that's of satan :)

"Has anyone else had eny weird experiences? "

Yup.

[Just1ce4all]

I see dead people.

[lucypevensie]

:lol:

[Redheaded Goddess]

Hahahha. Very funny.

[Schrack]

Toucan,

There are no such things as ghosts. If there really is any "supernatural" stuff going it is merely demonic activity. They only like for people to think they are ghosts (departed human souls). How do I know this? Because in Luke 16 we learn that when a person departs from this life he goes either to hell or paradise, and that is where he stays. A great gulf prevents spirits from leaving their eternal state. And by the way, true Christians need not fear any demons. The only one a Christian is told to fear is God.

And as for those who claim they can conjure up ghosts, remember the story about the witch at Endor. She had people believing that she was a medium and could bring up the dead, until one day God gave her a glimpse of what a real spirit was like, and then she nearly had a heart attack! The truth is, she couldn't bring up the dead because she was a fraud, just as all our modern day palm readers, or tarot card readers, psychics, and the rest. A bunch of frauds. And people are gullible still to believe them.

SchracktheBaptist

[lucypevensie]

I agree. If you think about it "ghost sightings" would be great opportunities for demons to distract people away from the real spirit world. Scare people into believing in ghosts when there are really more frightening things that are out there and are real.

[WWJD777]

Chech 2 Sam. Look for when saul see's a which. Samual's "ghost" apears.

[MikeMcK]

No such thing as ghosts.

[JeffreyLloyd]

I believe in ghosts...

[wonder111]

did you see this article?

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3760119/

whether you believe in ghosts or not, it's a good picture

[wonder111]

didn't the apostles say "it's a ghost" when they first saw Jesus on water?

ok here it is

Matthew 14:22-33 In the small hours Jesus went out to them, walking on the water of the lake. When the disciples caught sight of him walking on the water they were terrified. "It's a ghost!" they said, and screamed with fear. But at once Jesus spoke to them. "It's all right! It's I myself, don't be afraid!"

couldn't he have said 'it's all right! there's no such thing as ghosts?' :) (I know I'm reaching here)

[eldermike]

If there are ghosts, why are there not billions and billions of them? You should not be able to go anywhere without seeing them. It would not be an odd occurance to see a ghost, in fact it would be normal to see many of them every day. And, why would a ghost choose to live in an old house, why not a new one, and a big one with digital cable and plasma TV? Why an old one?

[Michelina]

I have seen a ghost.

I saw the ghost of a man I knew, in the evening of the day he died. I didn't know that he had died suddenly of a cerebral hemorrhage at @2pm that day. He looked glorious and said that he was happy beyond description. I called his seminary and learned that he had died that day.

[Lotar]

Jaffa do not believe in such things.

[ElectricStorm]

I beleive in ghosts, if you don't all you're doing is playing with Satan and doubting that there are good and there are bad, sencerly think about it guys. If you can stand there and tell everybody they're not true then there shouldn't be a Satan. It's just like UFO's, just because nobody knows what they are doesn't mean they don't exist. I myself really beleive in UFO's, people tell me they're of the devil because they scare you. Tell me this, if a bear jumped out of the woods and scared you would that mean it's of Satan? Nope.

[Lotar]

Too bad there aren't more Stargate fans on this site. I suspect I will be the only one who laughed at my joke.

[ElectricStorm]

I was wondering if that was your name man, don't do that again. ;)

[MariaRegina]

Let me tell you a true story:

A woman I know was telling me that at every wedding anniversary as she and her husband would hold up a glass of wine to toast another year, the glasses inevitably would shatter with wine flying everywhere staining clothing, the rug, and the tablecloth. It was getting routine. She has also been given lines of poetry while she slept, "An entity lives here..."

Not believing her, I volunteer to spend the night with her. Just around sunrise, I see her walking past "my" bedroom door into the restroom, the door has remained open because there is no central heating. I call out her name. She does not respond. Then she turns around and faces me. It's not the woman I know. I stare and this strange woman approaches the bed I lay in. I sit up stunned. Then I see right through her.

She disappears as I pull the sheet over my head in fear. I wait until the sunlight fills the room before I take the sheet off my eyes. As soon as I hear "normal" noises in the house, I get out of bed and run to the bathroom to get dressed. Over coffee I tell about my strange encounter. The lady of the house tells me, "Oh yeh, that's probably my step mom. You didn't believe me, did you? Now describe what she looked like." I told her that she was wearing a dark blue silk or polyester bathrobe, of the 1950-60 era, which had big white and pink orchids on it. This strange woman looks Swedish with her hair pinned up. Right away, the lady says, "Yes, that's her. She loved that bathrobe. She died a terrible death. Didn't want to die. Struggled to the last minute."

I said some prayers for that stepmom. That's what my gut feeling was -- she wanted me to pray for her as she shook her old finger at me just before disappearing as if to reprimand me for not praying for the dead.

So, yes, I do believe in ghosts. Wouldn't you?

[Icystwolf]

Toucan,

And by the way, true Christians need not fear any demons. The only one a Christian is told to fear is God.

Though it's true we need not fear demons, but until you've experienced a demon attack, you honestly can't understand how hard it is to do just that and how much fear is pumped into the heart...

As for the fear of God, Calvinism is probably the only theology that gives Christians a reason to truely fear God.... the others, Christians can let go without fearing God.

[Kellentia]

Ghosts are just demons in disguise. Period.

[tigersnare]

.... the others, Christians can let go without fearing God.
I dont know, the OT Prophets build quite the case to Fear God...

[Icystwolf]

I dont know, the OT Prophets build quite the case to Fear God...
Oh but why? What is the fear of God?
I think the only case I see from OT, is when Moses faces God...and even without letting him see the face, is enough to make him tremble.

Jesus made it clear we should fear God, for he is the one that can destroy both body and soul...
The Calvinism stance is that, those who are elect recieve salvation, which means, if you're not elect then you're gone....which is something to fear because I want to be one of the elect, and I don't want to fall away in the future....

[SeRapH&CheRi]

Oh but why? What is the fear of God?
I think the only case I see from OT, is when Moses faces God...and even without letting him see the face, is enough to make him tremble.The fear of God also means our reverence and awe of God. Moses trembled when he was in the presence of God, not because he was "afraid", but because he was in awe of being in the presence of the most High.


The Calvinism stance is that, those who are elect recieve salvation, which means, if you're not elect then you're gone....which is something to fear because I want to be one of the elect, and I don't want to fall away in the future....You're talking about God's irresistible grace which is the response by the elect to the calling of the Holy Spirit when the gospel is shared to that individual. God calls people to Christ and the Spirit of God leads the individual to repentance. It is the gospel of Christ that will penetrate people's sinful hearts and save them through the inward call of the Holy Spirit. Election, redemption and regeneration are all the work of God and is by grace alone. I think that questioning whether or not you are part of "the elect" will drive you crazy. Romans 8:28-39 states that those who have been truly regenerated by God will remain in his stead. God's work of santification will be "carried out to completion until the day of Christ." (Phil. 1:6) Christ assures his elect that he will not lose them and that they will be glorified at the "last day". (John 6:36)

http://www.solamfidem.org/_themes/web/ablrule.gif

[paul becke]

According to long tradition, apart from the books of Tobit and Jonah, which, I believe, are the only books held to be apocryphal, the Old Testament is historical from the time of Abraham onwards. Consequently, not to believe in ghosts is not an option for Christians, since the words of scripture are binding; and there is no reason to believe that the story of Saul and the Witch of Endor is apocryphal and not historical.

Once you start denying the accounts of God's ordinances concerning mediums, ghosts or anything else, as expressly recounted in such historical chronicles, you may as well indulge any "pick-'n'-mix preferences you care to - as though the Bible were an ordinary book, written by authors of disputable authority; rather than as books inspired by the Holy Spirit. You would at least share this attitude to Judaeo-Christian scripture with some liberal theologians.

However, common-sense counts for a great deal, since though perhaps not as common as it mind sound, it is one of the most fundamental gifts of the Holy Spirit; the ability to prioritise. ("What does it profit a man..."). And common-sense should tell us that the conviction that ghosts exist and have interacted with human beings in some measure is probably as old and as widespread throughout all cultures, as religion, itself. It has been said that modern Western man is the only sorry remnant of mankind throughout history, not to have believed in God as the only plausible explanation for the origin of the physical universe.

I believe some ghosts present a very real appearance, and it is only afterwards that the person who saw him/her realise that the person had died before the apparition.

In my experience, it is mostly people who didn't believe in ghosts who have seen them and told me about them. Although I haven't personally seen a ghost, I heard one swearing volubly into a priest's microphone in a foreign accent, during Sunday mass at the local Cathedral.

Also, some months ago, a bizarre noise used to be heard coming from our TV, as if of a solid object clattering about, while the picture of live broadcasts would be held, shuddering slightly as if on a film that was trying to move on. Since modern TVs are solid state, with printed circuits, I had to take it to be a poltergeist or ghost. One day, it got really loud and insistent, in a kind of crescendo, so I took the occasion to leave the room, to go to the bathroom. On my way back, it suddenly occurred to me that I should be praying for the person's soul, so immediately began. Just as immediately it stopped. Although with a few brief threats/rumbles of starting up again a little later. I still try to remember to pray for him/her/them.

But when we didn't used to need 2 handsets to turn on the box, it would switch on quite loud in the middle of the night. Turning the front of the handset away from the set didn't help, unless it was held down by something, so presumably the ghost's strength to perform such things was limited. Another strange thing was that we had to do something else to get a channel - which I can't remember now - but this evidently bypassed that requirement.

I've had unmistakeable, tactile experiences too, but don't want to repeat them. I mentioned them on an earlier thread.

Incidentally, demons, devils are pure spirits and not the same as ghosts.