Disclaimer:

~The views and opinions expressed here are of the blog author and not necessarily of CCAPSG as a whole~

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Getting to know CCAPSG: INTERVIEW WITH PASTOR BAZ


So Pastor Baz, what made you interested in the Paranormal?
In our family, my grandfather was involved in the spiritualist Church and my own father was heavily involved in different parts of the occult - and not as a hobby, as his profession. My Dad was a Biochemist, but after an accident that injured his neck, he moved into acupuncture, hypnotherapy, then onto Tarot Cards, Palm Reading, Clairvoyance, psychic healing, remote viewing, astral projection, past life therapy and eventually Wicca. So I grew up with it 'the other side' being as real as someone's Dad going to a building site and on the other side of the family Grandad was going to the spiritualist Church and sometimes his work came home - a black entity came out of the wall and tried to strangle my grandmother when he was on his way there one night.
Even my mum had experiences with Ouija boards that 'went postal' and started throwing planchettes off the table.
For me personally - I saw my first ghost at around six years old in a house at Richmond, a Yowie at age ten at Bowen Mountain and was reading Tarot Cards and hypnotising my schoolfriends in primary school. So I have never needed to be convinced that the superatural realm exists or that Cryptids walked the earth.
The place I grew up in from 6-16 years old was called Bowen Mountain, in NSW Australia, and a heck of a lot of supernatural stuff happened up there, not so much to me but to my neighbours.
But having said that, I wanted no involvement in anything deeper than that, I hated horror movies and was scared of the dark. I was very attracted to Catholicism when I was  young and told my Dad that he was going down the wrong path when he got involved in Wicca. But in my teens I basically stopped believing in God, especially after Dad died when I was on a sporting trip.
How did you become a Pastor?
I was the last person anyone ever thought would become a Pastor, I had a live fast die young materialistic mentality. I was still basically generous and compassionate to people but very selfishly driven overall. I became convinced about the existence of God in 1997 when I was checking the surf one day and heard a voice say "You know that I made everything in this universe" and I said back "God, if you are real, everything in my life has to change". So I blocked out Gods voice for the next two years.
Then in 1999, when our second child was about to be born, everything changed. Her vital signs plummeted. I prayed desperately that if God healed her I would become a Christian. She should have been stillborn and medical records show that the placenta spontaneously died - even the Doctor told me that it had been dead for 36 hours and she should have never made it - he actually showed me it in a private room away from my family.
Then I visited the Church I am now a Pastor at. There was this travelling musician, Doug McFarlane there. He stopped halfway through his session and said "There's someone here who asked God to do something for them and you promised to follow Him for the rest of your life. God has done His part, now you need to do yours. Come down the front so I can pray for you".
So that was the start of the journey and in 2007 I left a high income corporate position with a Pharmacy Chain to become a Pastor and later Sports Chaplain.
What radical paranormal stuff have you seen in ministry?
I've been yelled at in a room at Church by an unseen force - with a witness, had stuff thrown around my office by an invisiable force - again with witnesses, seen people manifest during exorcisms, seen angelic beings, seen demonic beings. Had the air sucked out of a room during an exorcism. Was strangled before a mission trip by something in a dark room. Had somethings try to come into my home, one sat next to my wife and said "You are a person of influence to the children in your Church - lead them to our master and we will give you anything you want" another scratched on the door like our dog and went she opened the door a shadow person walked in right in front of my wife and kids, she had to do an exorcism to get it out.
There are so many stories and I am sure many to come, too many to publish here so I'll send them to the blog.
But most of the time ministry is great fun.
Do you believe in conspiracy theories?
What I'll say on record and what I believe are often two different things. I've heard enough to make me realise that we are being mislead in a lot of area's and there are huge disinformation programs going on.. But that's about as detailed as I'll get publicly.
Tell us a bit about yourself
I'm just an average guy, a husband and father of four. I'm heavily involved in sports, I train kids to box and coach Rugby League, I surf, do weights, ride mountain bikes, go hunting, go spearfishing, play touch football and competed in sport as a teenager at a national level.
My faith is very strong, I believe Jesus Christ is Lord and has authority over the spiritual realm. The Church can drive me insane at times with its majoring in the minors and a lot of it's theologies do not reflect the teachings and actions of Jesus.
I like to relax on Thursday nights, watch Rugby League shows with my kids and share a six pack of beer with my wife. And eat chocolate and salt and vinegar chips.
I train hard but I'm a bit of a fat guts!!! :) That's just on Thursdays ok!!
I'm really interested in stories about animals that attack like 'The Ghost and the Darkness" "Twelve Days of Terror - the true story behind Jaws" "Old Mose: Colorado's last Killer Grizzly" all that kind of stuff. I like reading about Bullsharks and how they go thousands of miles upstream from the ocean - scary stuff. I own two Shark Shields!!
Who do you look up to in the industry?
Probably Pastor Robin Swope, the Paranormal Pastor and just really humble and open minded people like Eidolon Paranormal. They are just warm people.
And I love the stuff that Bryony Macri is doing to unify the Paranormal Community :)
Crypto-wise, you cant beat Cryptomundo.
I'm not really one of those 'Paranormal Investigator' people, I don't really watch all the shows or visit all the blogs. I didn't even know who Dustin Pari or any of the 'famous paranormal people" were until we became friends on Face Book. I think that's because in my role as Sports Chaplain I'm friends with a lot of of world class athletes, that kind of thing tends to mean you see people just as they are, warts and all - y'know the whole 'fame' thing never seems to get to me, I treat everyone exactly the same, from the poorest of the poor to the President of the USA. Plus, the Spirit of God lives in me, so is there anyone that you really aspire to meet after the creator of the universe :)
As a researcher I'm pretty lazy but at least you'll hear original stories as I tend to chase up the one's that find me. Yep, I'm a slacker unless I'm dragged into it, but they are usually the most interesting cases.

Crop Circles - A Simple Guide

What are crop circles?


Definition: Crop circles are sizeable patterns created by the flattening of crops such as wheat, barley, rye, or maize.


Crop circle theories


There are a few trains of thought of what causes crop circles...


Man Made: In 1991, self-professed pranksters Doug Bower and Dave Chorley stated that they had started the phenomenon in 1978 by making actual circles on crops with the use of simple tools such as ropes and planks.  


Weather phenomena: (taken from wikipedia)
Some people have suggested that crop circles are the result of extraordinary meteorological phenomena. This hypothesis probably originated from a 1880 publication in nature by investigator and amateur scientist John Rand Capron. Part of the publication reappeared in the January 2000 issue of Journal of Meteorology:

The storms about this part of Western Surrey have been lately local and violent, and the effects produced in some instances curious. Visiting a neighbour's farm on Wednesday evening (21st), we found a field of standing wheat considerably knocked about, not as an entirety, but in patches forming, as viewed from a distance, circular spots... I could not trace locally any circumstances accounting for the peculiar forms of the patches in the field, nor indicating whether it was wind or rain, or both combined, which had caused them, beyond the general evidence everywhere of heavy rainfall. They were suggestive to me of some cyclonic wind action...




Paranormal: Some people believe they are messages from extraterrestrials. Other theories are they are a meteorological phenomena or something to do with ley lines.


Animals: In 2009 it was discovered that wallabies in Tasmania that were high from eating poppies were running around in circles creating crop circles. I think its safe to say that is not the cause of most crop circles ;-)


Personally, I tend to lean toward them being man-made but some are so complex that its baffling to think how people could make these in such a short time without being seen, although not impossible of course.
Its easy to pass them off as man-made due to the admission of Doug Bower and Dave Chorley amongst many other people who admit they've created crop circles. But what about the crop circles that were around before those two? Above is the 1880 account and here below could be the first account of a crop circle.


Crop Circles in History (from Crystalinks)





No one knows how far back in history they go. Allegedly, the earliest recorded crop circle is depicted in this 1647 woodcut called the Mowing-Devil.

This image depicts a strange creature creating a circular design in a field of corn. The legend suggests that the farmer, disgusted at the wage his mower was demanding for his work, insisted that he would rather have the devil himself perform the task. Proponents of the belief that crop circles are either naturally caused, or are formed by as yet unknown entities, often support their viewpoint with this old tale. It is worth noting, however, that this is little more than a tale - the circular formation supposedly caused by the creature may be coincidental, or may have been caused by any number of natural or human processes.


So, are crop circles one big hoax or something more?


Where are crop circles seen? How come not many are reported in some countries and more in others?



Thursday, July 22, 2010

Bizzarre News - Chained man "possessed by female genie"

ninemsn
A 29-year-old man has been shackled in a basement apartment for more than six years because his father believes he is possessed by an evil female genie.
The Saudi man, identified only as Turki, has convulsions in which his eyes roll back into his head and he speaks in the voice of the genie, the father said, according to the Daily Mail.
The father has taken Turki to local Muslim clerics for help but "most of them became scared when they heard the female voice telling them that she was a royal jinn [genie] and that no one can exorcise her unless Turki dies".
One cleric suggested Turki be chained at the arms and legs while the father recite the Koran over him.
Turki reportedly lives in a two-room basement apartment in Mecca with his mother and her three other children.
His parents were divorced before he was "possessed".
"My son became quiet but is totally unaware of what is happening around him," said the father, who also claims once to have been possessed by a jinn when he was a boy.
A Saudi human rights activist and professor of Islamic law Muhammad Al-Suhali described Turki as living in a "semi-coma".
"[He] did not know what was going on around him. He could not eat, drink or use the toilet without the help of others," he was quoted as saying.
Mr Al-Suhali said whenever he recited Koranic verses Turki became furious and shook until he nearly fell out of bed.
He called on government officials to give the family better accommodation and offer Turki proper welfare services.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

What NOT to do on a Ghost Hunt....

ninemsn
GHOST HUNTERS INJURED IN CLIFF FALL
The trio were trespassing at a park in Connecticut outside a former sanatorium which has been rumoured to be haunted.

Police spotted the three boys at about 1pm in the park and proceeded to chase them, KTLA 5 reports.
But during the chase the trio jumped off a ledge, sustaining serious injuries. It was not clear how far they fell.
Police said the boys were amateur ghost hunters who were visiting the Undercliff Sanatorium, which has a history of alleged supernatural activity.
The now-abandoned sanatorium opened in 1918 and was the first in the country devoted exclusively to children.

Monday, July 19, 2010

Paranormal In The News 20/7/10 Macarthur area panther sightings detailed in Australian Big Cats: An Unnatural History Of Panthers

THREE incidents involving big cats spotted in the Macarthur region have been documented in a new book investigating more than a century of panther sightings.


Rebecca Lang, co-author of Australian Big Cats: An Unnatural History of Panthers, said the sightings in the Macarthur region of these mysterious creatures showed they had a wide range and could traverse long distances.
Ms Lang, who wrote the book with partner Mike Williams, said the Macarthur region’s proximity to the dense Australian bush and concentration of farms went some way to explaining the sightings.


To read more click here


Paranormal In The News 2076/10 - On the punt, it pays to enter into the spirit of things

A rather random story in the Sydney Morning Herald sport section this morning...
IN THE 1970s, hosting a fondue night was a favourite among young married couples looking to entertain friends. Nothing said sophistication like a melted pot of cheese and skewers with bits of bread on the end and sales of fondue sets were sky high.
Alcohol played a big part at such evenings and after a few drinks and a belly full of cheese conversation could drift down unusual paths.
In a suburban Melbourne home in 1977, a young punter and his wife hosted a group of friends for a night of fondue on Melbourne Cup eve. An eccentric group gathered at their home and, sure enough, after a few too many drinks, one guest proposed that for a bit of fun the group attempt to contact spirits using a ouija board.
To read more click here

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Real Life Stories - Car In A Ditch

I’d had an ear infection for a week, which made it difficult to drive because of the dizziness and nausea I was experiencing. My boss wanted to interview a prospective new pharmacist member for the pharmacy chain we managed, who lived in the Hunter Valley region, north west of Sydney. So he talked me into being the driver for the 5 hour round trip, so he could make business calls on his mobile phone.
 Now my boss really loved BMW’s. This was his third BMW and he kept them in immaculate condition. The one we were driving this particular day was due to be traded in on the latest model in two weeks time.
 We had been driving for about two and a quarter hours when the bitumen road abruptly ended and we started up a dirt road.
 “Keep your eyes open, it’s on the left hand side, a two story brick house” My boss suggested.
 I was looking but could not tell which two story brick house was the correct one. If only we had a lot number. Soon I came to a big dip in the road with a T-intersection down the bottom.
 “No, no, you’ve gone past it. Turn around and do a u-turn” The boss commanded.
 I slowed down, did a right hand turn and put it in reverse. As I swung my head around to reverse, the ear infection made my head spin. I decided to use the mirrors. As a motorbike was flying down the dip toward us I made a decision to go back quickly to get out of the way.
 Everything looked good in the mirror as I moved quickly backwards. Suddenly there was a jolt, the car slipped backwards and in a split second we were pointing upwards at a 45 degree angle toward the horizon, but also were on a 45 degree angle along the length of the car, with his door facing the sky and my door facing the ground. I hit the brake immediately and dragged the handbrake on with a sickening crunch.
 My boss looked at me and I was speechless. “What have you done?” was all he could get out.
 We crawled out my side and surveyed the damage.
 When I had reversed, all I had been able to see in the mirror was a grassy slope that was easily negotiable. But behind us was a concrete drain, which ran all the way through the road. It was approximately a metre high. As we went backwards, we were going fast enough to clear the drain and land on our back wheels in the ditch. Now the back wheels were one metre lower than the front ones, one of which was touching the top of the drain, the other one sticking up in the air at a 45 degree angle. This was not good, especially if my boss was serious about trading this one in.
 “Oh, no, what have I done” I said to my boss who was torn between irritation and laughter.
 We tried to lift the car to no avail. We called the Pharmacist to tell her we would be late. We also tried to ring some local tow truck drivers.
 About four large men suddenly appeared out of their houses. Now this was 11am in the morning, so why these guys were home and not working is a question that went through my head. But not for long as my thoughts were shattered by their laughter.
 “Ha, ha, you city folks, always getting into to trouble, Have a go at this would you boys. How’d you manage that mate?” the biggest bloke prodded me with his words.
 “Ahhh, yeah, ha ha…. I dunno” was all I manage. “Can you boys give us a hand?”
 Together we tried to lift the car out. And together we failed.
 As the guys walked back to their houses, we were finally able to raise a tow truck which arrived about five minutes later. When it got to us I could barely hide my disappointment.
 In my mind, a tow truck should have these big metal ‘arms’ with hooks on them. These ‘arms’ would have been lowered into the ditch and neatly hoisted the BMW out. But that would have been too easy. This truck just had a long, flat metal tray and underneath, a long chain with a hook on it.
 As the driver surveyed the car I asked him a fair and reasonable question.
 “Mate, when you put the hook on are you just going to drag it out of the ditch”
 “Yep” he grunted.
 “Umm..ok, when you drag it across the concrete lip of the drain before the back wheels make contact, what do you think will happen to the underside of the car?”
 “Dunno” He looked up at me “Probably lose some of the muffler. There will be a fair bit of damage but there is nothing that you can do”.
 Great, I thought. This is going to cost thousands. What am I going to do.
 I had a thought. It was a prompting. “Is it ok if I try and lift the car when you pull on the chain?”
 The guy looked at me and laughed “Do whatever you want mate if you think it will help”.
 I got down in the ditch. The tow truck driver instructed my boss to get in his car. When the car was pulled out of the ditch, my boss was to put the brake on to stop it going into the ditch on the other side. ‘Great’ I thought ‘another 100kg to lift’.
 I got on my knees and put my hands under the back bumper bar. I looked up at the sky – a perfect blue sky – and thought of God. God who had saved my daughter. Then I prayed this prayer.
 “Lord, I really need your help. I have caused this problem. But can You help me fix it. Jesus Christ, son of the most high God, please lift this car for me?”
 At that instant I stood up – with the car in my hands – but it wasn’t me that was lifting it. The car came up to waist height immediately. I felt the tension of the chain and took two steps forward and neatly popped the back wheels onto the road. I let go and staggered back, slowly realizing what had just happened.
 My boss hit the brakes. He got out of his car. I walked around out of the ditch. The tow truck driver moved toward us.
 “How did you do that?” my boss enquired of me.
 “Fifty dollars thanks” The tow truck requested.
 I watched as the money changed hands, bursting on the inside. I jumped in the passenger side of the car. When my boss got in he turned to me and asked again “How did you do that?”
 “I just prayed”. A simple but true answer.
 My boss, knowing that I had undergone some major changes in the spiritual department replied “That would be about right” and we drove on. I was just glowing on the inside because I had seen the miraculous hand of God at work with my own eyes. It would not be the last time the Lord would answer prayers with amazing signs and wonders. He was questioned about the validity of this story by a colleague three years later in front of our whole team.. John confirmed the story and when asked how, the then sixty nine year old man said “The Holy Spirit”.
By Pastor Baz

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Paranormal In The News - Russian boy dies during exorcism

ninemsn


A four-year-old boy has died during an exorcism ritual carried out by a traditional healer in the Far East of Russia, investigators say.
The boy's mother went to police on Saturday after the boy died while visiting a "healer" in a village, investigators said in a statement on Tuesday.
"According to the boy's relatives, his death was caused by alternative medicine methods used on him," it said.
The boy along with family members visited an ethnic Korean healer in the village of Sergeyevka in the Far Eastern Primorye region, Komsomolskaya Pravda reported, citing relatives.
The healer said that the family had a curse on it because the boy was a "demon" and told them to leave while she carried out an exorcism, Komsomolskaya Pravda reported. When they returned, they found the boy had died.
Read more here

Monday, July 12, 2010

Paranormal In The News - Russian 'lake monster snatches fishermen'

Russian fishermen are demanding an investigation into a mysterious "lake monster" they claim has snatched missing anglers.
People who claim to have seen the creature in Lake Chany in eastern Russia have described it as "snake-like" and said it has a long neck, similar to Scotland's famous Loch Ness monster, the UK's Daily Mailreports.
According to others, the creature, dubbed Nesski, has fins and a huge tail.
To read more click here


Dailymail



The latest mysterious death of a 59-year-old man last week has fuelled demands for a proper probe into what lurks beneath the surface of Chany, one of Russia's largest freshwater lakes.
'I was with my friend... some 300 yards from the shore,' said 60-year-old Vladimir Golishev. ''He hooked something huge on his bait, and he stood up in the boat to reel it in.
'But it pulled with such force that he overturned the boat. I was in shock - I had never seen anything like it in my life.
'I pulled off my clothes and swam for the shore, not daring hope I would make it.'
He said his friend was pulled under the surface, a description in common with earlier incidents.
'He didn't make it - and they have found no remains.'
Three years ago 32-year-old Mikhail Doronin - a special services soldier - was lost.

Read more: here

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Paranormal In The News - Chinese UFO still a mystery



A bizarre shape that was photographed soaring through the sky in China remains a mystery, with government officials failing to provide any official comment on the issue.
The UFO, which was described by some as looking like a "fireball", spooked locals and forced a major Chinese airport to ground several flights to avoid a collision.
The government has not yet given an official explanation for the incident, apart from one unnamed source telling the China Daily that it had a "military connection".
Staff at Xiaoshan International Airport in south-east China reportedly saw the bright light twinkling in the sky last Friday, leading them to declare a security risk and shut down operations.
Eighteen flights were affected during the incident and the airport re-opened one hour later when the object was no longer visible.

One unverified image that was purportedly taken by locals during the incident and has been circulating in the Chinese press shows a train-like object with two long strips of lights along its side in the sky. But UFO enthusiasts have hit out at the authenticity of this photo, saying it bears a striking similarity to long-exposure photographs taken of helicopters.
"I don't think a helicopter is what was witnessed," wrote one commentator on the forum Above Top Secret.
"I do, however think that it is definitely a helicopter in this picture and is more than likely unrelated to the incident."

Real Life Stories - The Angels Of The South

Although I thought this was a one off experience it was not long before the Lords messengers revealed themselves again. This time at Kingsway Community Church at Caringbah. I have to admit, I’m not one for chasing these types of experiences as I believe that you can actually end up seeking or worshipping things God never intended us to. Seeing angels could lead to an unhealthy fascination and possibly deception by satan, who can appear as an angel of light. We are warned in the scriptures that no human is to offer worship to an angel or anything other than God Himself. But God had a purpose for what He allowed me to see this particular week.
We were worshipping, with about four hundred people in the Church service. Behind me a snarling, scuffling noise broke out. It sounded horrific and I knew that it wasn’t my physical ears that were hearing it but that God had opened my spiritual ears. As I turned, a number of angels, dressed the same way as the ones at Penrith were leading out another angel. This angel had a filthy matted appearance, it’s glory had faded, it’s garments black, with unruly hair and open sores on it’s wretched face and hands. It snarled at the glorious, shining angels, but to no avail. A line of angels stood on each side along the front of the main stage as the band played on, oblivious to what was happening only metres away. This angel had no power to fight back and was led outside the Church to an uncertain fate.
I was in shock. Was anyone else seeing this? I knew I wasn’t mad and I knew what I had seen was real. But why me and why now? Why was God revealing this stuff? As I walked up the back of the Church to speak to a friend that small still voice told me to approach one of the congregation and tell him God had forgiven his sins.
Now I had only met this man twice. He was a great guy, solid, an ex-boxer and footballer. A real Aussie who had been called to seek God by the power of the Holy Spirit. I really didn’t want to say what I had just been told..
On the way back, that voice once again said “Tell him all His sins are forgiven”.
“Aawww great” I said under my breath. “Ok, Lord, your will be done not mine”.
 I approached the man who was still watching the band closing the last song on stage. I leaned over and spoke to him.
 “G’day mate, this might sound a bit weird, but..umm..God said that you were praying to Him this week and He said that all your sins are forgiven”.
 My friend just looked at me. His eyes filled with tears and his lip quivered. I put my hand on his shoulder not knowing what to do. Being a typical Australian male, another man crying made me uncomfortable, but the honesty of the moment was palpable. This was a man who had just been touched by God.
 I found out that he had felt unworthy to be forgiven by God and had asked God to take away his sins. That week he had asked Christ to be Lord of his life.
 I’ll never ceased to be amazed how God uses us to communicate with each other for His purposes. That moment God set the man free, because only God knew what he had prayed and this was an answer to that prayer.
 And the demon that was dragged out of Church. It’s just a theory, but I think someone asked God to remove it from their life and God showed me how he honours our prayers. How much He loves and cares for us.