Daniel McAdams - Biblical Explanations: The Paranormal

Daniel m c adams

Biblical

Explanations:

The Paranormal

Trilogy Christian Publishers

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Copyright 2020 by Daniel McAdams

Scripture quotations marked (CSB) are taken from the Christian Standard Bible, Copyright 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible, and CSB are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.

Scripture quotations marked (NKJV) are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from The ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, a Division of Tyndale House Ministries, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

ISBN: 978-1-63769-002-4

E-ISBN: 978-1-63769-003-1

FORWARD

What if ghosts are actually demons? Thats the question that I saw when I looked at my phone a while ago. I texted back Sure, it could be a possibility. In my mind, though, the response was more like, Yeah, right, Ive heard that before and I dont buy it. Sorry, but no. I was glad to see that Daniel was delving deeper into theology and the Scriptures, and it was causing me to spend more time on my Christianity as well, but I basically almost laughed off the question with a tone of, Well, thats just the more legalistic, older folks in the church who want to write off the paranormal things we have going on here on Earth. I thought wed written that one off some time ago, but I suppose we havent after all.

This piece is definitely something thats going to be hard to swallow for many people. Its a blow to the pride, especially to people like Daniel and I who have spent years out there in the field looking for the truth. I wrestled with it for a while as a pride issue, and also my own human mind thinking that I could figure it out; and that I knew what I was doing. Theyre ghosts, spirits of dead human beings, not demons. Ive spent nearly a decade with that belief and experiencing things that point towards that fact with my own eyes and ears. Ive got it all figured out.

As hard to believe as it is, I didnt have it all figured out. And, equally novel of a concept, the only place I needed to look to find the truth was sitting on my bookshelf (admittedly gathering some dust): The Bible. Thankfully, our God is a gracious and loving God because He started moving me into thought on the question. I began to realize, still somewhat to my disappointment, that it did answer a lot of questions we had about the paranormal.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized that it had to be the answer. The more that Daniel and I started to discuss and explore the Bible, the more I saw how wrong I was. Not only on a factual basis, but even more disturbingly, on a theological basis. Like too many people out there, I was guilty of making the Word fit my own beliefs than making my own beliefs fit the Bible. A quick look at a few fundamental questions of paranormal investigation shows this:

• How are souls of the formerly living still here on Earth, not in Heaven or Hell? Well obviously, theyre waiting for Jesus to return; well be risen back up then our souls will go to where theyre supposed to. Wrong!
• Why, then, do only certain people become ghosts? And why is it that we can only talk to ghosts dating back maybe two or three hundred years at the most? Shouldnt there be literally billions of ghosts out there, including people from the very beginning of human history? Well, thats a good question that Ill figure out eventually. (Hint: Theres also a very clear answer for this that I was ignoring)
• How do ghosts operate? What does the other side look like and how do ghosts do what they do? In all of my experience, and as far as I knew, no investigators had ever had any question on the mechanics of the afterlife answered for them. With all those billions of former humans roaming around, youd think that somebody would be nice enough to explain a little bit (or, you know, the ghosts of some paranormal investigators that would just love to answer the questions they used to ask). Now that I look back on it, its clear to me now. Because a demon isnt going to answer questions like that!

I grew up in the church all my life. I was formally saved in July of 2002. I definitely considered myself a Christian and if asked at the time, I would have even told you that I was a strong Christian. I would now have to say that I really wasnt that strong of a Christian at all. And thankfully, Ive been blessed with enough courage and humility to be able to admit that. The great thing about our God, however, is that He gives us an endless set of chances to change whats in our hearts and in our minds.

Im still reluctant in some ways to follow the path that Hes shown me through study of the Word relating to the paranormal. Im constantly reminded of Matthew 16:24, Then Jesus said to his disciples, If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. (NLT)

The fact of the matter is this is the way things are. Whether we like it or not, theres no arguing with the Word of God. Whether we like it or not, the conclusions reached in what youre about to read are true; not because Daniel and I are experts in the paranormal, experts on theology, or because were infallible, or anything else to do with us but because the conclusions are based directly upon the words of, He who IS infallible.

Ive had to humble myself before the Lord many times to even attach my name to this project. My pride and human mind dont want to allow me to publicly say what Daniel and I are saying. Ive spent so many years of my life investigating the paranormal and building my credibility as a paranormal investigator. Ive spent so much time and effort putting myself out there in this community and striving to become a recognizable name in the field of paranormal investigation. Being attached to this project is almost certainly going to throw away all that time and it is going to erase my credibility. Im probably going to even lose friends Ive made along the way, or at least change our friendships. Beyond a shadow of a doubt this is going to ensure that Im not going to be taken with any seriousness by 99.9% of paranormal investigators. And that is something that is a hard blow to my human ego and the selfish parts of my heart. So, in closing, Im going to leave a few passages that have spoken to me in the hopes that you can use their wisdom to help you on your own journey throughout this text and if you choose to accept whats put forward here, hopefully these verses will help quiet your mind and center you in the commands of our Father rather than the desires of our flesh.