Church bulletin for May
On a couple of occasions I have been asked to investigate strange happenings in someone’s home. And then, if necessary, to exercise my ministerial powers and deal with the spirit intruder. Just recently my name was put forward to help a lady not far from where I live who has apparently had some unpleasant experiences. So far I haven’t heard from her. What do we make of such situations?
1. Things happen which we can’t explain. Years ago my uncle in Wales saw a ghostly figure in a laneway early one morning when going to work. He hadn’t been drinking, he doesn’t believe in the supernatural or the afterlife. Was it fog moving through the trees, a trick of the eyes? He is in no doubt that he saw an apparition which disappeared as mysteriously as it appeared. I know Christian people who have had experiences which they cannot explain. Of course there are many fabricated accounts; often there are plausible explanations, but sometimes there are not. It doesn’t mean there isn’t an answer, just that we don’t know what it is.
2. There is no such thing as ghosts. The Bible is clear that the spirits of the dead do not interfere with the living. Ecc 12:7, “Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.” Luke 16:26, “And besides all this, between us and you (the living and the dead) there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.” When a person dies the soul returns to God who places it either in heaven or in hell. This is the intermediate state before the final judgement.
3. We are not to pursue any kind of paranormal engagement. God does not commission His people to exorcise demons, cleanse so-called haunted houses and so on. There is a demonic realm and strange things happen, but the answer to the problem of evil is always the same: believe the Bible, be converted and live a life submitted to God. It is amazing how many people are fascinated by the paranormal and dramatic practices like exorcism when what is needed is the light of scripture and to trust Christ. God protects His people from every form of evil whatever shape or size it comes in. Psalm 23:4, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”
If I meet the troubled lady who lives near me I will minister the Gospel to her. It is her soul that needs to be cleansed by the blood of Christ, not her house with holy water – whatever holy water is.