From: michael douglas
Sent: Sunday, February 16, 2003 4:55 PMSubject: Re: [TruthTalk] hypnotismMichael D:
I understand hypnosis to be a very dangerous thing. Anything that unnaturally suspends your control over your mind exposes you to spiritual influence. People whom the Lord has led into major deliverence activities discover this phenomenon. As to the apparent absence of physical evidence of demonic possession, well, demonic influence is not always in the form of possession, it often operates under cover. If the Lord does not reveal it through spiritual gifts, or one is not aware of the patterns, people can remain bound for years in areas of their lives and not understand why they can't press through.
It's interesting that Jesus said of the woman with the issue of blood was bound by satan for 18 years . I wonder how many of her contemporaries viewed her sickness as such. Just a thought.
Having been exposed to a little of the deliverance ministry among Christians myself, i have learned quite a few things, and have been very amazed at the things the enemy uses to get inroads into people's lives. And believe me, ignorance of his devices is not a protection. In fact the vast majority of instances where he is able to do so, those affected are not even aware of it. i have come to understand a bit better why Jesus said judge not or condemn not. It's partly because folks are under bondage that they often dont know about, and are unable to overcome in their own strength.
Anyway, I am rambling a bit here. There are many preachers talking about these things these days, and some have written books about it. From time to time I see them on Christain TV. One guy is Pastor Larry Huch(I think that is the spelling. He used to be on TBN on Sunday evenings around 6:00pm. Don't know if he is still there. Any good book in this area is more than worth the effort.
"Charles P. Locke" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Izzy,
About 25 years ago I developed an interest in hypnosis. I read many books on
it. I have been hypnotised and have hypnotized, and although there are some trange aspects to it, I was not convinced that it opens one up to evil spirits. I was not a believer at the time, so that aspect of it was not in the forefront of my experimentation. Neither me nor other participants ever
appeared to be possessed, and none of it ever seemed "evil". I looked at it as just a strange phenomenon of the mind.
I do not dabble in it any more (and haven't since about 1985). I have no reason to. In fact, when I first believed, all of my interests in that type of stuff disappeared. Once I found Christ, I no longer had any reason to seek anything else. Many other beliefs, attitudes, and interests I once held changed almost immediately, too, but that is another topic.
The idea about demonic possession, I think, comes into play because many beleive that being i n such an "altered state of consciousness" opens one up to demonic possession. It may open one up, but I think there is a lot more to it than that. I believe that one must be willing and dabbling in the occult, or inviting possession in some way in order for a possession to
occur.Michael D: Perry, I understand your position above, but one must remember that the devil is not a gentleman, and that his greatest weapon is deception and anonymity. Alot of avenues he is able to infiltrate lives through, are not directly spiritual in nature, i.e. one does not have to be dabbling in spiritual/occult things to open access to spirits. Many areas of natural breaches create open doors for the enemy's forces. Again, anything that contradicts the principles of Christ or the provisions of the covenant of God are breaches in the spirit that can open lives to spiritual infiltration, particularly if it is allowed protracted presence in our lives.
I played with a Ouija board, too, when I was a kid. I never saw it move on it's own, but eventually began to think it was a trick to be manipulated, so used to push it around and impress my kid friends. In fact, my original Ouija board is still at my Mother's house. I debated selling it o n eBay, but decided not to, because that might invite someone to begin to dabble in the occult.
I also had a magic 8-ball, but never ever thought it gave anything other than random answers, and viewed it as the toy it was.
Hey, what were we being taught in the 60's anyway? My mother bought both of these toys for me (not at my request, but as Christmas or birthday gifts. She thought they were just toys, too, not to be taken seriously. She was a believer, and the organist at church. They just weren't talking about those
things in the Methodist church in the 60's.
So, my bottom line is that playing with these toys is not inherently dangerous in itself if used with skepticism. But, if one is trying to use them as devices for truly contacting spirits, they just might get what they want! In fact, a close friend of mine in college (coincidentally, the son of a Lutheran minister), and an agnostic as I was in the 70's, told me a few years after college that he had transitioned from agnostic to Christian as a
res ult of contacting spirits via the Ouija board. Not only is his story of contqacting spirits spooky, but his version of the spirit world was collaborated by a guy I heard on a radio talk show 8 years later (yet another topic for another night).
Wow, not only does this bring back memories, but is almost like telling ghost stories around the campfire (one of my designated jobs when I was a cubscout den leader..."It was a dark and stormy night...").Perry
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