I teach scripture at a sports High School. It's the last place I thought I'd get a bunch of paranormal stories. But having taught the kids for 3 years, I know who can be trusted and who is telling a tall tale. Which is why I feel confident in sharing this one with you.
Last week, we were relegated to the metal work room of the school. As we walked in one of the kids nearly had a punch up with a teacher and I was thinking "Great...this is going to be one of those lessons". Many of the students are Pacific Islanders, so the average fifteen year old is a Rugby playing, 6'2 100kg behemoth.
During the lesson, many kids wanted to talk about strange experiences they had witnessed. And one young man shared this tale with me.
"Sir, I was staying at (name withheld)house and I got up in the middle of the night to go to the toilet. As I passed the parents bedroom, I saw my friends Dad standing in the doorway looking at me, so I turned around and ran back to my room".
"Why were you scared" I asked.
"Because Sir, his Dad died six months ago".
"How did you know it was him"
"Because I have known the family for years and I knew the Dad before he died".
"What did he look like - was he transparent or whitish or did he look like a person"
"Sir he looked just like he did in real life. He just stood there like a real person and just stared at me as if he was still here, like he would have in real life. All the family have seen him, and they are so scared they have started all sleeping together in the loungeroom. They think he is checking in on them to make sure they are ok but it is starting to freak them out".
This sort of stuff does my head in theologically. The typical protestant response is "All ghosts are demons impersonating people who have passed away". But how does that explain when my grandfather appeared to my Nanna and told her to turn back to God and go back to Church - hardly a demonic attempt to lead someone away from Christ? It is written in the scriptures that it is appointed once for a man to die and then judgement - but does that adequately explain what happens between death and the return of Jesus Christ to judge the living and the dead.
Would love to hear your thoughts on the matter.
Pastor Baz.
Interesting question you raise.
ReplyDeleteAfter my dads passing my mum would regularly have dreams about my dad.
At first I put it down to some sort of demonic activity, ultimately lies, however I would at times have doubts about that.
Basically the things she says are fairly similar.
He has
1) White hair, and looks very well groomed, happy and at peace.
2) When she asks him if he sees our son and if he is proud of him he nods and smiles in agreement.
3) He never ever talks but does have facial expressions.
4) At times my mum would see me in her dream and as I was about to do something aweful like.. jump fro a balcony or likewise he would somehow intervene and grab me just before it happens. This happened about 1-2 times.
5) He seems to indicate to her that he is in a better place, and after every dream she feels at ease.
Makes me question the motivation of the "powers and principalities" of this world if all that comes out of these dreams are positive experiences and that she "seems" to know that he is not the one thats pulling the strings but that God is pulling the strings and he seems to be some sort of a "calming" presence.
Now poor mum has had a very hard slog in the last 1-2 decades especially after his passing. We both did but her new marriage is quite unfulfilling in all ways.
So many factors to consider, however importantly she is not praying to him or attributes my safety to him, and I do not think she will.
Another interesting topic/verse to look up would be "Abrahams Bosom"
Luke 16:22-23 (King James Version)
22And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
23And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
As figurative as this might seem, there seems to be a place which is referred to as Abraham's bosom where the dead await the judgment of the living and the dead..
Worthwhile a look/study into perhaps ?
The writer of Hebrews, mentions the fact of spirits being all around us, in Hebrews 12:1,
ReplyDelete"Therefore, we also having so great a cloud of witnesses set around us."
Mark 9:4, in the famous Mount of
Transfiguration passage:
"and there appeared to them, Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus."
I dont know Pastor Baz. If spirits appeared and spoke to Jesus, why not to us?
The Bible warns us 1 John 4:1 "Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world." NIV
ReplyDeleteProbably the best thing to do when something like that happens..
Thanks for sharing that very personal reflection.
ReplyDeleteI can see biblical and personal wisdom in what u both put forward.