Do Spirits and Mediums Prove More Than Two Destinations at Death?

Many people, including some professing Christians, believe in ghosts and other paranormal phenomenon. They hear so many ghost stories that they actually believe in hauntings.

Others want to hear from dead relatives so they spend plenty of money on mediums who supposedly contact the dead. What many folks don't realize is that talking to the dead is forbidden by God.

Isaiah 8:19( KJV) plainly states, "And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto  them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and  that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living  to the dead?" Shouldn't we who have Christ in our lives do likewise?

When Israel was under God's direct rulership, consulting with the dead was a capital offence. Leviticus 20:27 (KJV) commanded his people to do the following: "A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be upon them."

Furthermore, God includes consulting mediums and other ways of supposedly communicating with the dead with idolatry. Look at what 2 Kings 23:24 (KJV) plainly states. "Moreover the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD."

But how do we know that the dead can't communicate with the living? The parable of Lazarus and the rich man demonstrates the uncrossable void between life and the afterlife.

The Bible in Basic English renders the words of Christ this way. "Now

    there was a certain man of great wealth, who was dressed in fair clothing of purple and     delicate linen, and was shining and glad every day. And a certain poor man, named     Lazarus, was stretched out at his door, full of wounds, Desiring the broken bits of food     which came from the table of the man of wealth; and even the dogs came and put their     tongues on his wounds.

    And in time the poor man came to his end, and angels took him to Abraham's breast. And     the man of wealth came to his end, and was put in the earth. And in hell, being in great     pain, lifting up his eyes he saw Abraham, far away, and Lazarus on his breast. And he     gave a cry and said, '"Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus, so that he     may put the end of his finger in water and put it on my tongue, for I am cruelly burning in     this flame."

    But Abraham said, "Keep in mind, my son, that when you were living, you had your good     things, while Lazarus had evil things: but now, he is comforted and you are in pain And in     addition, there is a deep division fixed between us and you, so that those who might go     from here to you are not able to do so, and no one may come from you to us."

    And he said, "Father, it is my request that you will send him to my father's house; For I have     five brothers; and let him give them an account of these things, so that they may not come     to this place of pain."

    But Abraham said, "They have Moses and the prophets; let them give ear to what they     say."

    And he said, "No, father Abraham, but if someone went to them from the dead, their hearts     would be changed."

    And he said to him, "If they will not give attention to Moses and the prophets, they will not     be moved even if someone comes back from the dead."

So it's clear that communicating with the dead is impossible. In many cases, fortune tellers are merely saying what their clients want to hear. In other cases, demons use people to fool naive seekers that they're talking with their deceased  loved ones.

I'll be writing much more on this topic in my next book called You Think You're Going to Heaven? Christians need to realize that attempting communication with the dead is no game but a deadly and serious sin.

Praise God for the Ionosphere - Bruce Atchison

Believe it or not, your AM radio can help you with your writing. It's especially useful if you're writing a story written in a different city or town and you want to put more local flavour in your story.

Thanks to our long winter nights and lack of lightning interference, we can hear distant stations on ordinary AM radios throughout the evening. This is because God created a layer of ionized air called the Ionosphere. This layer bounces signals from great distances back to earth rather than shooting off into space.

After the national news, these stations often air local news. The stories could easily be adapted to fictional plots.

By tuning away from the local stations, you can hear many of these signals quite clearly. Additionally, I've found that I can turn my portable radios to certain directions and hear one station while turning them ninety degrees brings in another station.

Even local commercials are useful when you're writing about a certain place. You can find out what those businesses offer and which ones would be of interest to your protagonist or antagonist.

But why not, some folks might ask, listen to radio online? The audio is crystal clear and the web site has all sorts of additional information on the location where the station is. The fact that radio signals come in from thousands of miles away with no artificial help is astonishing.

Cruising the AM dial can also be done anywhere, provided that you're not in the middle of a concrete and steel building. Hearing distant stations is especially good in rural locations due to the lack of electrical interference.

Having loved listening to distant AM stations at night since 1967, I've learned much from what those stations broadcast. One thing I found is that all municipalities have generally the same problems of corruption, scandal, and difficulties with taxation. This demonstrates to me that human nature is the same wherever we are from. We live in a fallen world and only Christ can change us.

I wrote about my love affair with distant signals in my Deliverance from Jericho memoir. While having to stay at an institute for the blind during my childhood, radio was my link to the outside world. Life would have been intolerable without it.

What's Wrong With Astrology?

Another dangerous diversion many Christians indulge in is astrology. Though they swear they read horoscopes for the fun of it, some people become obsessed with their daily forecast.

The truth is that believing in astrology is abandoning Christ. The first of the Ten Commandments is to have no other gods other than the one real God. Placing one's faith in luck, astrology, or any other non-biblical thing is sin.

Astrology is also a waste of precious time. The horoscopes are written in such a way that almost any situation is bound to come to pass. And if it's good because it seems to work, why are astrological prognostications varied from one newspaper to another? Are the stars particular regarding which neighbourhood readers live in?

Why bother with deception? Remember that Genesis 41:8 (KJV) says, "And it came to pass in the morning that his (Pharaoh's) spirit was troubled; and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and all the wise men thereof: and Pharaoh told them his dream; but there was none that could interpret them unto Pharaoh."

Additionally, Daniel 1:20 (KJV) shows how useless astrology is. "And in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm."

Remember too what happened in Daniel 2:27 (KJV)? "Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, show unto the king;" Then Daniel disclosed the matter to him.

Since we have such a reliable guide as the Word of God, Why mess around with astrology? As Solomon wrote in Proverbs 3:5 (KJV)  "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and  lean not unto thine own understanding."

How sad it is that many folks place their trust in people or things rather than God Almighty and Christ his son. It's for them that I'm writing my book called You Think You're Going to Heaven? All of us must be perfectly assured in our hearts regarding where we'll be when we die. Let's not be like the condemned group of people in Matthew chapter seven and twenty-five.

Don't All Paths Lead to God?

As with reincarnation, many naive Christians are led to believe that all religions lead to God. This is false, as I will now demonstrate.

Some religions teach that there are many gods where as monotheist religions teach that there is but one God. How then can these be reconciled if both lead to the one God of creation? The Bible is filled with warnings against false gods.

The Allah of Islam is totally different in character than the God of the Bible. How can they be reconciled? The truth is that they can't.

What about Buddhism which teaches that we strive to be rid of our desire and personality in order to be absorbed into an impersonal force? That doesn't square with what the Bible teaches.

Christ made it quite clear in John 14:6 (KJV) when he told his disciples how to follow him to heaven. "Jesus saith unto him, (Thomas) 'I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.'"

Jesus also made it clear that he is divine when he said in John 10:30 (KJV) when he proclaimed, "I and my Father are one." By his great miracles and resurrection, he proved his divinity. Only God could do what he did.

Christianity is the fulfillment of Old Testament Judaism. John 5:39 (KJV) proves that when Jesus said, "Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me."

As I have shown in past posts, the Bible is reliable and is God's word. It's been proven prophetically, historically, and in many other ways. Only by twisting verses can people make it seem to say something other than it actually does.

I'll be writing more about other religions and how they are antithetical to Christianity in a book called You Think You're Going to Heaven? Many people who say they're Christians have never surrendered their lives to Christ and been filled with the Holy Spirit. People need to know about the way to eternal life and accept Christ's magnanimous offer.

Won't I Just Be Reincarnated?

I remember a conversation I had in high school with a student who believed in reincarnation. If I had known back then what I know now, I could have quoted scripture and reasoned logically with him.

According to the Bible, there are no past lives. Many reincarnationist think that their feelings of past lives indicate that they had one or more of them. But are feelings validators of reality? We know from the use of modern psychotropic drugs that they are unreliable.

Furthermore, some confused believers clame that the Bible says we had past lives. They quote Jeremiah 1:5 (KJV) which says, "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations." This doesn't mean that God knew them as existing spirits before conception but that he had a purpose for him, and for us as well.

Those Christians who aspouse reincarnation ought to study Hebrews 9:27 (KJV) which states, "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:"

The Apostle Paul knew this and that we would be in the presence of the Lord when we die. He wrote in 2 Cor 5:8 (KJV), "We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be  absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord."

And if we were reincarnated, why did Christ say to Nicodemus that he must be born again if he had already been reborn over and over? Many passages in the New Testament describe how we are born into fallen bodies and that we need both physical and spiritual redemption. The only spiritual rebirth we need is provided by Christ's perfect sacrifice on the cross and resurrection.

All the religions which teach reincarnation are based on the idea that time is circular. We, according to them, are stuck on a Karmic wheel and we must work in our many lives to better ourselves to escape it. But that's not what Scripture teaches.

It's for this reason that I'm striving to correct the notions of those who say they're Christians. Some have never surrendered control of their lives to Jesus Christ and refuse to obey him.

My next book will be called You Think You're Going to Heaven? I want readers to learn the truth instead of fables.

What is Sin Anyway?

In all of these posts, I've mentioned sin as thecause of our downfall. But what is sin anyway? Put simply, sin is rebellion against our maker.

It all started, as I pointed out last time, with Satan talking Adam and Eve into disobeying God's specific command not to eat of the tree in the centre of the garden of Eden. They had hundreds or maybe thousands of trees from which they could pick fruit, yet they couldn't resist picking from the only forbidden tree.

Since that fateful day, humanity and creation have suffered the ravages of Adam's disobedience. As the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 8:18-23 (BBE), "I am of the opinion that there is no comparison between the pain of this present time and the glory which we will see in the future. For the strong desire of every living thing is waiting for the revelation of the sons of God. For every living thing was put under the power of change, not by its desire, but by him who made it so, in hope That all living things will be made free from the power of death and will have a part with the free children of God in glory. For we are conscious that all living things are weeping and sorrowing in pain together till now. And not only so, but we who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we have sorrow in our minds, waiting for the time when we will take our place as sons, that is, the salvation of our bodies."

Paul also likened Christ to a final Adam, being that he was the first to rise from the dead in a new kind of body. Look at what 1 Corinthians 15:45 (KJV) says. "And so it is written, 'The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.'"

Jesus rose with a physical body but he will likewise change our old bodies to ones fit for God's glory. Like formatting a hard drive and installing a clean copy of an operating system on it, we will be free from the virus of sin throughout eternity.

I'll be delving deeply into this topic of resurrection in my next book called You Think You're Going to Heaven? My heart breaks when I hear professing Christians claim things which are biblically false. This is why I want to show my believing friends the truth from the Bible, not opinions of others and man-made customs.

Why Does God Hold Me Guilty of Adam and Eve's Sin?

Because I wrote in my previous post that one's salvation doesn't depend on the righteousness of one's parents and that we all are responsible for our eternal destiny, why are we punished as a result of what Adam and Eve did? It seems unfair that we have to suffer for the gullibility of our race's progenitors.

I liken our fallen nature to a corrupted operating system. The writer of the program wrote it perfectly but a hacker inserted bad code into it. Every copy of that program contains the virus and it passes on from one copy to the next.

So it is with sin. Adam was responsible as the head of humanity but he went along with Eve in disobeying God's only commandment to them. Consequently, Satan's rebellion is an integral part of our characters. As we have children and grandchildren, this virus of disobedience transfers itself to our offspring.

But God didn't abandon us in our fallen condition. Look at what Genesis 3:15 (KJV) says. "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." This shows that a saviour will come from a woman who will defeat Satan, though it will cost him his life.

This, by the way, is why Christmas and Easter are such special occasions to those of us who love and obey Christ. He fulfilled all the prophecies regarding his birth, life, death, and resurrection.

The sin virus is still in those who believe in Christ but it's being dealt with by the antivirus program of sanctification. Check out what the Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:45 (KJV). "And so it is written, 'The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.'" So are all of those folks who place their trust made eternally alive, though the sin virus trips us up at times.

I'll be writing more about this in my next book called You Think You're Going to Heaven? Far too many people assume that their parents' faith  somehow makes them God's children. I hope Christ will rescue some readers through my writing.

Won't My Parent's Faithfulness Get Me Into Heaven?

Now that I've dealt with the thorny issue of infant baptism, I need to deal with the notion that one's family church registration is a guarantor of citizenship in heaven. Evangelist and author Corrie Tenboom wisely said that God has no grandchildren and here's why he doesn't.

I mentioned in my previous post about what Romans 10:9-10 says regarding how a person is saved. Unlike the notion of salvation through one's parents' church affiliation, God demands that all people obey his son through repenting and making him Lord of their lives.

Peter, speaking to the religious experts of his day, said in Acts 4:12 (KJV), "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." Therefore, no amount of piety by one's parents will do.

Neither will the wickedness of any one's parents be charged to their offspring. Look at what it says in Deuteronomy 24:16 (KJV,) "The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin."

It's abundantly obvious therefore that our supposed righteousness doesn't depend on our family's piety. Neither will we have to pay for the sins of our parents, as some folks believe. Each one of us must face the ultimate judge and give an account for what we've done in our threescore-and-ten existence.

Because one's eternal destination is the most important matter in life, I'm working on a book called You Think You're Going to Heaven? Each one of us must be responsible for where we end up after we die. We can't ride into heaven on the coat tails of our ancestors.

Why Isn't My Christening Enough to Get Me Into Heaven?

In my previous post, I wrote about why church attendance won't get us into heaven. Even so, some folks might argue that they were christened and therefore they're in the new covenant. The fact is that the New Testament never mentions christening or any other sort of rite whereby children are protected from going to hell.

One favourite verse of infant baptism proponents is in Acts chapter sixteen. Paul and Barnabas were put in prison and an earthquake freed them along with the rest of the prisoners. Nobody left the prison so the jailer was grateful to these saints. The Bible in Basic English renders verse thirty-one in these words. "And they said, 'Have faith in the Lord Jesus, and you and your family will have salvation.'"

Infant-baptism preachers claim that this verse proves that even the babies were baptized. It, as well as  verse thirty-three, doesn't indicate so. The jailer and his family all placed their faith in Christ and were baptized because, and only because, they believed in the Lord. Infants can't make a conscious and informed decision to place their trust in Christ.

As we read in Romans 10:9-10, "Because, if you say with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and have faith in your heart that God has made him come back from the dead, you will have salvation: For with the heart man has faith to get righteousness, and with the mouth he says that Jesus is Lord to get salvation." How can an infant do these things?

And here is why believing parents need not worry about any sort of rite purported to be a guardian against children being out of any sort of imagined covenant. The King James Version renders 1 Corinthians 7:14 this way. "For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy."

What a relief it is that parents don't have to add that burden to their list of things they need to do. If God required christening, would he not have said so through the apostles? I'm sure he would have if it was a requirement for faith in Christ.

Having been misinformed in the past by a wicked minister, I now crave the undiluted truth of Scripture. It's also why I'm working on a book called You Think You're Going to Heaven? So many beautiful souls are being led toward destruction because they don't realize the satanic nature of their teachers. I want to be the one who stands in the gap and proclaims the truth. By God's mercy and power, I hope to turn aside spiritual lambs heading into the slaughter house of Satan.

Why Won't My Church Attendance Get Me to Heaven?

This month, I'll be examining two questions. The first one is which requirements will let us enter heaven. The second question concerns our eternal destiny in general. After all, everybody has differing opinions on the answers to these matters but we still must make the right choice before death.

In most Christian denominations, congregants have the notion that attending church regularly will please God. When I was a child, I received an award for the best church attendance in 1965. Of course I had no choice back then. Every girl and boy in Jericho Hill School had to attend their parents 'denomination's church each Sunday except when they were ill.

So what does the Bible say about regular attendance? Hebrews 10:23-25 (BBE) reads, "Let us keep the witness of our hope strong and unshaking, for he is true who has given his word: And let us be moving one another at all times to love and good works; Not giving up our meetings, as is the way of some, but keeping one another strong in faith; and all the more because you see the day coming near."

From this and other passages, we can deduce that the purpose of church attendance is to build up our trust in Christ and to encourage others. No mention is made in Scripture regarding attendance being counted toward earning one's place in heaven. In fact, there is only one way to be saved that Scripture mentions and that's trusting in Christ's atoning work.

Perhaps the most-often quoted Bible passage on this matter is Romans 10:9-10 (BBE). "Because, if you say with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and have faith in your heart that God has made him come back from the dead, you will have salvation: For with the heart man has faith to get righteousness, and with the mouth he says that Jesus is Lord to get salvation."

This is obvious but some churches insist that works must be added to gain eternal life. According to James, works are a proof of salvation, not an aid to being saved from hell. Look at what he wrote in the second chapter of his epistle, verses fourteen to eighteen (BBE).

What use is it, my brothers, for a man to say that he has faith, if he does nothing? will such a faith give him salvation? If a brother or a sister is without clothing and in need of the day's food, And one of you says to them, "go in peace, be warm and full of food;" but you do not give them the things of which their bodies have need, what profit is there in this? Even so faith without works is dead.

But a man may say, "you have faith and I have works;" let me see your faith without your works, and I will make my faith clear to you by my works.

These, and many other verses, show that it's faith in Christ which produces good works in a person. Doing nice things to save yourself is extremely displeasing to the Father since it's rejection of Christ's atonement on the cross.

I'll be writing in depth on this subject in my next book called You Think You're Going to Heaven? I want nobody to go to hell because supposedly-knowledgeable and self-righteous teachers lied to them about God's entrance requirements. Once I get the debt monkey off my back, I hope to self-publish my next book. Until then, keep following these posts.