Christianity, mediums/psychics /spirits/ your thoughts?

[lani 3]

Hello, I have recently began my search and i am wondering what peoples experiences are with mediums and psychics. I have talked to a lot of people (including Christians and progressive Christians) who have seen or felt spirits. Furthermore, many of these people have had good experiences with mediums and psychics who also have a connection with Jesus. I personally  have never see or felt anything. My worry is that there is nothing......i was raised in a Baptist church but never felt the presence of god. I have faith but this is based on my fears that their is nothing as opposed to actually having felt or experienced anything. 

 

Does anyone have any experiences that they would feel comfortable sharing? 

[PaulS 113]

 

Iani,

I'm comfortable sharing my personal experiences, but I'm not sure I'm any help.

Firstly, I grew up in a strongly Christian household.  At about 14 I gave my life to Jesus.  I could speculate what a kid at 14 understands about 'accepting Jesus into their heart' but that's for another thread perhaps. I remained a 'true believer' until my 18th year.  During all of that time I had no experience with spirits, the supernatural, God talking to me or anything.  Zip.  I had convincing belief, but that was about it.

Around 19-20, when I was leaving Christianity I thought I experienced some spiritual phenomena.  Strangely enough this was during my time of 'doubt' and when I was working out for myself if I could continue on with Christianity or not.  I had a couple of instances where I felt a 'presence' and it felt very real.  But between now and then (some 30 years) of not being a churchgoing Christian, I have experienced nothing.  So I wonder if it was all in my mind - some sort of cognitive dissonance.  Maybe not all that strangely, when I was suffering anxiety for a period around the age of 40, again I experienced this feeling of a presence - in this instance an unpleasant one, like a black dog attacking, which again seemed very real but which I don't believe was.

So I guess what I am saying is that for me, I wonder if any such experiences are all in our heads.  That is not to dismiss or put down anybody else's experience because maybe I am wrong and maybe their experience is real rather than just seeming to be real.  It just doesn't ring true for me is all.

I have been to psychics on 2 or 3 occasions.  Once one seemed fairly accurate, but in a general sort of way that I think left open an interpretation no matter which way things panned out that could be attributed to them being right.  The two other times seemed completely off the mark and nothing they said eventuated in the following years.

But of course there are others who would swear their experience with the supernatural is very, very real.

So like I said, probably not much help!

Cheers

Paul

[Burl 7]

I have a large Spiritualist camp near me and my ex-mother-in-law was training to be a medium.  I have been to many services.

Spiritualists discern in prayer and interpret visual symbols or hear voices.  Once a medium told a neighbor not to use his boat.  He examined the boat and found that the bilge had filled with gas.  I was told my wife would have curly black hair.  She does, but my wife at that time had straight brown hair and was sitting beside me 

There is something to it all, but it is not reliable and a lot of people think they have this capacity who do not.  

[romansh 47]

I really like Susan Blackmore

https://www.susanblackmore.co.uk/journalism/first-person-into-the-unknown/

 

Personally I have not had any paranormal experiences.

[PaulB 3]

Lani,

         I have personally had a few experiences, my first particular experience is hard to describe but it was on diary farm on which I grew up essentially my siblings and I were playing in dairy roller skating (ah the days before playstations and I products lol) , when suddenly the back up gates came flying up the yard towards us. It is important to point out that there gates had to be pushed by someone at least 12 years old and that was slow going so there was no possibility that it was the wind or that someone was pushing it because it was just a steel gate on rollers so you would see someone pushing and unless there was a tornado the wind could not catch it. As time has gone on I thought it must have been an over excited childhood memory however when I talked to mum about it one day she said she could remember a day when all of us kids came running home from dairy and told her what had happened. The main reason I mention this is there are independent witness to the event.

I have had a couple of experiences since then one of which happened when I was an atheist which made me look very hard at the situation before I changed my thinking. I had a couple when I was attending church ( I no longer go to church) however that was a happy clapper church and think I was just caught up in hype. As mediums and the like I have no personal experience so can't really comment.

I guess at the end of the day all experiences are subject to the individual and it sounds like your craving certainty in this life which funnily enough I can give It to you and that is death and taxes? . I don't know if this will help at all but hopefully at worst it's been an entertaining read.

 

Paul

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[lani 3]

Hi Paul and others, I am not craving certainty but I certainly am searching for more. Many of my friends and hundreds of my clients have had either a spiritual experience, interaction with a medium or some sort of powerful moment which has made them believe that there is more to the world than the material reductionist point of view. Many of these people identify as agnostic and have not experience grief or a particular fear of death (which fascinates me). Some are mental health professionals and very rational, they often talk quite simply and humbly about what they felt, saw or experience. It fascinates me!

 

Thanks for all the comments !

 

[Burl 7]

Happy clapper church lol

[JosephM 0]

lani,

Have also had experiences and interaction that many would consider paranormal including astral projection and powerful moments that indicate to me as you posted " that there is more to the world than the material reductionist point of view". While i don't claim to understand everything i experienced and no longer 'chase' down that path, i find it best to remain open-minded in that i choose to neither believe nor disbelieve the claims of others. In this way, i remain open to any new experiences that might materialize in my life experiences.

Joseph

 

[lani 3]

Hi Jospeh, can i ask more about the astral projection and powerful moments? You could email me personally if you don't want to post. I am just curious thats all!

 

Thanks

[JosephM 0]

First of all,  i never did drugs but in my earlier years i had read Edgar Casey and was in to dream interpretation and control of dreams while in a dream state. In doing so i had a number of vivid experiences with astral projection similar to what this writer describes in this article  HERE..  

During my later  time as a minister and Evangelist associated with a non-denominational church in Cincinnati Ohio, i experienced a number of what i call powerful moments whereby many of the reported gifts of the spirit  in 1st Corinthians Chapt 12 materialized in my life. Events that some might consider supernatural and others would just explain away or claim as fraud.

Any other questions i would be happy to answer by the PM system here.

Joseph

[lani 3]

Where is the PM situation so I can ask more questions !

[PaulS 113]

3 hours ago, lani said:

Where is the PM situation so I can ask more questions !

Top right hand corner of your page.

[gfcacha 0]

Six sense or higher senses or clairvoyance is spiritual sense that is naturally part of being human. The higher senses allow us to perceive the spiritual world and be guided by it. One of my insight is that Christians are supposed to nurture the higher senses because this is the way that we can clearly perceive the guidance and leading of the Holy Spirit. If our higher senses are open, we will be able to discern the voice and guidance of God's Spirit in our heart much clearer. We have the capability to be mediums and psychics if we develop our higher senses. 

Edited January 22, 2018 by gfcacha

[Burl 7]

True indeed.  Developing our higher senses requires personal purity and holiness, avoidance of sin and dissipation, and service to others instead of service to self.

Edited January 22, 2018 by Burl

[romansh 47]

Higher senses?

I would settle for developing reason or at least common sense.

[thormas 30]

9 hours ago, gfcacha said:

Six sense or higher senses or clairvoyance is spiritual sense that is naturally part of being human. The higher senses allow us to perceive the spiritual world and be guided by it. One of my insight is that Christians are supposed to nurture the higher senses because this is the way that we can clearly perceive the guidance and leading of the Holy Spirit. If our higher senses are open, we will be able to discern the voice and guidance of God's Spirit in our heart much clearer. We have the capability to be mediums and psychics if we develop our higher senses. 

I'm not buying this one. Again needs further explanation. For me the idea of 'perceiving and being guided by the spiritual world speaks to 'another, supernatural' world - hence theism. Not something that speaks to modern man (or most of us). And Christians are not more special than the rest of the 'children of God.' And what do you understand by the Hoy Spirit?

There is something to discernment but this needs further work, further explanation. For example, is there a literal Voice - if not what do you mean?  One can imagine, just as in years past, people questioned their worthiness when prayers were not answered, so too if one doesn't hear the Voice, what does that say about them, how do they then look at themselves? Needs work.

I am not really inspired by a world of mediums and psychics. 

[Deadworm 3]

On 7/17/2017 at 8:09 AM, JosephM said:

During my later  time as a minister and Evangelist associated with a non-denominational church in Cincinnati Ohio, i experienced a number of what i call powerful moments whereby many of the reported gifts of the spirit  in 1st Corinthians Chapt 12 materialized in my life. Events that some might consider supernatural and others would just explain away or claim as fraud.  --Joseph

Joseph, I find this quotation fascinating because, as a newbie here, I wouldn't have expected this from a Global Moderator of a Progressive Christian site.  I don't really consider myself Progressive, but online evangelical Christian boards seem too conservative for me.  I intend to start a thread entitled "My Life Journey: A Focus on Paranormal and Supernatural Events" and I'd be interested in your (indeed, anyone's) reaction to my experiences.

As for this thread, I had an interesting paranormal experience with a card reader at the Boston Flower Show.  I was a Harvard doctoral student in New Testament, Judaism, and Greco-Roman backgrounds at the time.  Unlike my date, I quickly got tired of all the flower displays and noticed 2 women sitting at a table, one a regular deck card reader (charging $5) and other a Tarot cared reader (charging $25).  I didn't believe in this, but I was bored, so I sat down in front of the attractive cheaper card reader just for fun.

She asked me to draw 3 cards from a deck; so I drew 3 unremarkable middle number cards.  She studied them,, stared intently at me, and said 3 things:                                             (1) First, she told me I should dump my date because she wasn't right for me.  This proved to be true, but she had noticed my date discouraging me from getting a card reading.  So I smiled and  dismissed the reader's comments as revenge!                                                                                                                                                                                                          (2) Then she told me I would be good with children and would soon get very involved in serving them.  I protested that I was a very busy single grad student and had neither the time nor the interest in working with children.  But she was adamant that I would soon be working with children.                                                                                                                     (3) Then she told me that in a couple of days I would get a job offer from an exotic locate, but that I should turn it down.  I told her that because I was still a grad student, such an offer was highly unlikely, especially since I hadn't applied for any job!

I left the table thinking I'd wasted  my $5.  But predictions (2) and (3) almost immediately came true in a remarkable way.                                                                                                 (2) A couple of days later, I received a call from my thesis advisor, wanting to know why I was taking so long to submit my first dissertation chapter.  I made excuses, but soon realized that my tardiness wasn't the main purpose of his cal.. He then told me that he was the president of the Arlington Youth Soccer Association and that he needed another coach for an under-12 boys' team.  He reminded me of my comment at a Harvard  social that I'd played high school soccer in Canada.  I resented the pressure, but felt it was expedient to accept this coaching role to stay in my advisor's good graces.  I coached for 31/2  years and this became one of my most treasured memories.  It felt like these young boys were my sons and I became very  emotionally involved in their excitement and performance.  In my second season with them, we made it to the county championship game of greater Boston, where we suffered our only loss 2-1. 

(3)  The card reader's 3rd prediction came true in a more bizarre way.  A couple of days after the reading, I received a call from the chair of the Religious 'Studies department at Memorial University in St. Johns, Newfoundland.  He said he was looking for a visiting scholar to teach  Scripture in their summer Master's program and a professor at the University of Toronto had recommended me for the position.  I turned down the offer, explaining that I needed to make more progress on my dissertation before accepting any such position.  But I was absolutely stunned by this job offer.  The reader had predicted that I'd get a job offer from an "exotic" place and to me Newfoundland seems so remote that I'd consider it a very exotic place to teach. And the reader was also correct that it was advisable for me to turn down the job offer.   I wondered why some unknown Toronto professor had recommend me for that job, for which I hadn't even applied.

[JosephM 0]

I could also share some early bizarre experiences similar to that which you  you have shared above.  To me, labels are not all that important but it seems to me , you fit well within the progressive Christian paradigm of this site. Here is an interesting thread of what Progressive Christianity means to many members who have spent time on this site and for which many have progressed beyond its usefulness (this site) to them.  --->  I think you will find it of some interest.