The truth will set you free

One thing I've noticed about paranormal investigators is that it is very easy to become all consumed by the phenomenon and the investigations.

There are many reasons for becoming an investigator: Personal experience with the phenomenon, TV shows and movies, web sites etc. It seems like an exciting 'industry' from the comfort of the lounge chair or even the thrill of being on the way to an investigation.

There are also many types of investigators: Arm chair investigators with fingers firmly on mouse collating information from websites, Alpha males who are running through cemetaries at 3am in army fatigues, scholarly types who have found ancient texts on the subject, religious clergy whose job it is to deal with the phenomenon and a plethora of others.

I'll admit that most of my involvement comes from the fact I am a minister and prior to that had personal experiences with strange phenomenon. But I have watched closely the friendships and alliances I have formed over the years and watched many good people literally lose the plot in their obsession with this 'industry'. And I could probably put it down to two words.

Idolatry. And pride.

Regarding Idolatry: The Old and New testaments (The Bible) are very clear about both. Humans were meant to have no idols but God, who did not have a home in a statue or a building. The first commandments in the ten commandements condemn Idolatry in every form.

Regarding Pride: It is written in scripture that "..God opposes the proud but exalts the humble..". Also that "...Pride comes before the fall..".

The God of the Bible opposes both Idolatry and Pride, which I could translate into "Unhealthy obsession and arrogance" which describes a lot of the stuff behind the scenes in the Paranormal industry. Not only is this destructive and disunifying, it's downright dangerous for the person involved. I believe this is why some people I have met have literally gone mad in their quest for answers and glory.

I think the reality (and I'd suggest that Authors and investigators Redfern and Keel would back me up) is that there is a malevolent force behind most of the phenomenon that we investigate. It meets human beings wherever they are at in history. It comes from a primeval source that has been summoned or invoked in ages past in rites, ritual and Idolatry. And it feeds on manipulating humans. It has it's source in the fall of angels in ancient times and is satanic in origin.

I am not some biblical fundamentalist who labels everything as demonic. But lets call a spade a spade - deep down, the more you investigate, the more you experience, the more stories you hear, the more you realise that these things co-exist in multiple forms (ie Hairy Hominids, Black cats, UFO's etc) in the same area's that some call 'fortean flaps' that there is a connection to another world that has similar forms, functions, smells, sensations all over this planet.

Something is messing with us. And it wants to draw people in and destroy their lives.

All I'm suggesting is that we go to the source of spiritual power, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit as our ally in this battle. Jesus Christ had authority over the spiritual realm when He walked the earth, and since His death and ressurection offers that same authority to all believers, but there is a cost: we must walk and live in love and humility and destroy our idols.

I'm pleading with investigators - ask Jesus Christ to be Lord, Saviour and protector and then do the work He has called us to do in this area with Him and in His strength and power.

Because dark forces are at work around us and Jesus is the only real protection you'll ever get.

The reality of this was never more apparent than when my friends non-Christian mother was dying. I visited her and she said "When I get out of this hospital I'm going with God and not that other guy".

"What changed your mind" I asked?

"Those dark men that are waiting for me...the devils, they came into my room every time I nearly died and I saw them after I was revived, waiting for me, smiling with their evil smiles".

I shared with her John 3, which includes the well known verse "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but He that does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come into the light, because their deeds were evil.

And she died at peace, having accepted Christ as Lord and Saviour and rejected the forces of darkness that pursued her.

As a paranormal investigator, either arm chair or alpha type and everything in between, wont you consider Jesus for a minute as the person He says He is in this verse.

Because He is the way, the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father but through Him.

And when you come up against the real forces of evil that are trying to manipulate our world, simply call out in Jesus name, as I have in many instances when dealing with diabolical forces in ministry, whether it is things being thrown around a room, people who are possessed, unholy spirits in a graveyeard or being stalked by some primeval creature in a national park.

And the truth will set you free.

God bless you - Pastor Baz.