Gemstone Powers?

[allaboutsoul]

Um...silentpoet...I mean no offense, but, psychiatric hospital? What exactly are you implying? I can understand if you don't believe in the things I've been mentioning, but this isn't the place to argue whether they do or not, right?...

I'm sorry I have so many questions, but what should one do if there are ghosts or evil spirits somewhere? Is there anything you can do? I don't actually have a problem with them, but I have heard of ghosts being on my college campus. (Even if you don't believe in them, could you just try to think of it as "what if"?)

I have to admit that occult and paranormal things interest me, so I would appreciate prayers that I won't be tempted too much...I just have so many questions. Are you saying that even the form of meditation that I've heard about is a sort of witchcraft or something of the kind?

[intricatic]

Ghosts and the supernatural don't need to worry those who have faith in Christ. Again, though, this is a philosophical question more than a theological one, in that the meaning of spiritual or supernatural things must be defined before they can be understood. It's easy enough to take an already established meaning from popular culture and to apply that meaning to a worldview shaped from the Bible, but it's not so easy to understand the meaning the Bible is meant to convey - the two things are not necessarily exclusive, but they are not necessarily the same, either.

I only bought into supernatural ideas when I was involved in the occult, which was a long time ago. When I was brought to conversion, my understanding of spiritual things took a radical shift into a more flat plane. I think humans exist, and I think spirits and demons and angels exist, but I don't think they exist in the same sense that popular culture frequently understands them to.

Why I say that is an extrapolation more than anything else. When you read the Bible, it's plain that the message conveyed is more concerned with the individual - the reference to spirits and demons and supernatural things are frequently used to establish some fact about man that needs to be made clear in order to understand some other thing about the relationship between men and God. I don't think they're necessarily real in the same sense a demon worshiper might think they are, as that would convolute the primary message of the Bible. Demons and spirits must necessarily be subservient to God, and if we serve God, what demon or spirit can threaten us?

11 In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. 13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, 14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15 Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.
16 So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, 17 which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. 18 Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, 19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God.
20 Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations— 21 “Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,” 22 which all concern things which perish with the using—according to the commandments and doctrines of men? 23 These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.
(Colossians 2)

Faith in Christ is simple, but it is deep. The simplicity is that by Christ, you are saved from your sin. It's deep in that an understanding of that statement will take more than a lifetime to fully comprehend. It has no place for demons, or for evil and malicious spirits.

Meditation is the same way. When you're talking about meditation, you have to give that word context for it to communicate anything at all. You can talk about biblical meditation, which is not Eastern meditation, or you can talk about pop-culture meditation, which is in fact Eastern meditation. The idea behind eastern mysticism is that the rational mind is unable to comprehend spiritual truth, and must be turned off for any meaningful understanding to be attained. Obviously, to the rational mind, this is irrational, and rightly so - if you turn off your mind, you are unable to attain any meaningful understanding of anything but nothingness, and God is not nothingness. It's not necessarily evil, but it's basically pointless in context of biblical faith. God is rational, He made you rational, therefore your rational mind exists for a reason - man was made in the image of God, and all of what makes a man must be understood in that way.

[silentpoet]

One thing is that the occult can lead to madness. And ultimately it is madness to go down the path. That is why I have some issues with some charismatic Christian ministers. They have gone off the deep end. If you want to listen to the devil, he will talk to you. Interest in the occult can lead you well off God's path.

As for any fear of evil spirits, well there is only one weapon you need. That is the Word of God. You want to be well armed, read your bible. Often.

i know there is lots of weird stuff out there. But alot of it is pointless. Just getting the basics right is hard enough. That is why I don't much get into advanced theology. I probably have a good enough mind to get into it, but I have enough trouble putting the easier commands of God into action.

You want to know more about spiritual warfare, then I suggest fasting and prayer. Pick somebody you know who needs help, serious help in some or many areas of life, and pray and fast for them.

[allaboutsoul]

One thing is that the occult can lead to madness.

OK, so that's what you meant. I'm sorry if I offended you. I just didn't know what you meant by your previous comment.

[silentpoet]

I took no offense. If you want an account of the occult leading to madness read the CS Lewis book "Surprised by Joy". In it he says one of the things that lead him to convert to Christianity was the experience of watching a friend descend into madness via the occult.

If you want a contemporary account look at the modern "faith healers" like Benny Hinn. These people are looney. There is one guy, Todd Bently(SP), who claims the 2 angels that spoke to Mary at Jesus' tomb have been assigned to him. He also claimed that the Holy Spirit told him to kick a woman in the face. I can't convey how crazy this guy is.

But the only defense against all of this foolishness(these false healers and teachers) is to know your bible. And not on a shallow level. But it doesn't take alot of time to get to know what the bible says. Also pray that you gain discernment. God will freely give wisdom to those who seek him.

[THX1138]

I don't put any stock in "gem powers". I think it's just old superstition.

Look at it this way, we know God has power, so why even bother going to another source?

Our God is capable of giving us everything we need, even things we don't know we need. lol

Thx

[THX1138]

I read a couple of posts I missed and wanted to add that I do believe in ghosts.

For the longest time I was skeptical, but after living in an old hotel for several years I believe in them, although I am at a loss to say what they are.

One would walk over our heads in the attic. Always made the exact same movements. Everyone heard it and if they didn't believe in ghosts they did after a couple months there.

It was like a tape recording or something, replaying the same thing every month or so.

There was that one, and also another one. Yep two ghosts. The other I had only experienced once. The first one merely walks across the attic, pauses and continues... The second one stomps on the floor with heavy boots on a wood floor.

The problem with that is, the floor in the attic has had wall to wall carpet, probably from the 70s... What, does the guy pull up the carpet, stomp and then lay it back down? lol

I have been a Christian since the age of 12, so... I was surprised but not necessarily dumbfounded to experience something supernatural.

I have no idea if it was a spirit or maybe some kind of strange natural phenomenon...

It was spooky alright.

Thx

[allaboutsoul]

You say the one ghost always made the exact same movements?

I've heard a theory about ghosts: that some sort of energy from a person can be left behind, especially if they died traumatically, and so (at least some) ghosts are just a form of energy, like a recording. There have been many ghosts which gradually faded over time, which means that that energy eventually fades.

That's an explanation for some ghosts, although I'm open to the idea that some may actually be spirits.

[THX1138]

Originally Posted by allaboutsoul

You say the one ghost always made the exact same movements?

I've heard a theory about ghosts: that some sort of energy from a person can be left behind, especially if they died traumatically, and so (at least some) ghosts are just a form of energy, like a recording. There have been many ghosts which gradually faded over time, which means that that energy eventually fades.

That's an explanation for some ghosts, although I'm open to the idea that some may actually be spirits.

Yeah, a recording of an event... about what it seemed like, not a spirit trying to communicate.

Now the one that stomped, that one only does this about once a year or so.

Strangely enough, a resident there, a friend of mine was doing some work for the landlord... The attic is just a place to store junk.

Well, my friend ripped out a bookcase, and the quiet ghost was not heard from again.

I wonder if it was going over to the book shelf, and then pausing near a window for about 5 minutes and moving on.


Thx

[warbler]

In addition to the spiritual concerns, we have to admit that minerals do have different properties. Not to the extent that they would live up to New Age claims for healing. But the lithium salts used in behavioral medications -- they are minerals that include the chemical element lithium. This can be found in certain clays, ... and are in high concentrations in some of those ancient healing pools.

Colloidal silver is sold in health food store as an antibiotic, and has been approved by the EPA as a disinfectant. (Sliver nitrate and silver sulfadiazine used to kill bacteria too.)

There are radioactive and magnetic minerals...
It's not that minerals don't each have unique properties. We just don't want to get mixed up in the spiritual attachments.