Bill Myers - Dark Side of the Supernatural

ZONDERVAN

THE DARK SIDE OF THE SUPERNATURAL
Copyright 2008 by Bill Meyers and Dave Wimbish

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ePub Edition June 2009 ISBN: 0-310-86160-8

Requests for information should be addressed to:
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Meyers, Bill, 1953
The dark side of the supernatural : what is of God and what isnt / Bill Myers
and Dave Wimbish. [Rev. ed.].
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-0-310-27924-2
1. OccultismReligious aspectsChristianity. I. Wimbish, David. II. Title.
BR115.O3M94 2008
261.5'13 dc22

2008001778

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible: New International Version. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

08 09 10 11 12 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

FOR DIANE
AN INSPIRATION FOR US BOTH.

OTHER BOOKS
BY BILL MYERS

WWW.BILLMYERS.COM

TEEN SERIES
Forbidden Doors

TEEN NONFICTION
Get Real
Hot Topics, Tough Questions

ADULT NOVELS
Blood of Heaven
Threshold
Fire of Heaven
Eli
The Face of God
The Wager
When the Last Leaf Falls
Soul Tracker
The Presence
The Seeing
The Voice

KIDS SERIES
McGee and Me
My Life As
Secret Agent Dingledorf
Bloodhounds, Inc.
The Elijah Project
Imager Chronicles
Bug Parables

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SUPERNATURAL
HUNGER

We all have itthis hunger, this yearning for something more. After all were human, and humans are made of three parts

Physical, mentaland spiritual.

And between eating and school and eating and work and eating and sports and eating and parents and friends anddid I mention eating?weve pretty well got the first two parts of who we are covered.

But what about the third? The spiritual?

As a writer, it seems every time I turn around, someone is asking me to come up with a story about the supernatural. And its not just movies. Just check out all the psychic TV shows, talk shows, local bookstores, palm readers, or even the Internet.

Everybodys hungry for answers. Especially

TEENAGERS

Every day I get e-mails from students with questionsare there ghosts? Are sances wrong? What about the glowing figure in my room? Are Ouija boards bad? What about UFOs? And on and on

Some of these questions come from youth who have read my Forbidden Doors book series. In these 12 books, a teenage brother and sister become reluctant ghost busters and learn many of the truths about the supernatural that well be discussing here. Other e-mails come from students who have been frightened by actual encounters. Still others come from teenagers who have friends caught up in the stuff and want to help.

Instead of spending many hours a week answering the same questions over and over, I figured, why not put the info into one, easy-to-use reference booksomething you can pull down from the shelf and get a quick overview and answer?

So buckle up. In the coming chapters well explore the major supernatural beliefs and practices of todayfinding out which ones are real, which ones are bogus, and how to deal with them.

REAL OR FAKE

As an author and filmmaker, Ive spent years researching this stuffinterviewing witches, Wiccans, psychics, and the head of the CIAs psychic research department. I have observed and participated in an exorcism, hung out with a serial killer, with those involved in ghost hunting, and with UFO abductees. I have visited a top psychic lab; filmed miracles in third-world countries; and of course, read thousands of accounts.

For the most part the stories of the supernatural are like mist. They vanish into nothing when you try to verify them.

But occasionally, there are situations that defy rational explanation and hold up under investigation

There are haunted locations where chains rattle and disembodied voices can be heard whispering in the night.

There are people who receive messages from beyond through trances, automatic writing, and other means. There are unexplainable things seen in the sky at night.

GOOD OR EVIL

Evidence proves there is a supernatural world out there. In fact, the Bible says as much. It also says that theres a good side to the supernatural and an evil sidea side that wants to help us and legitimately fill our hungerand a side that wants to destroy us.

Jesus Christ put it best when he said, The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full (John 10:10).

Pretty intense words. Jesus was either lying or telling the truth. And if hes telling the truth, then there really is a thief out therean enemy who wants to steal from us, who wants to kill us, who wants to destroy us.

The good news is we dont have to be afraid of the thief, because we really do have somebody whos on our side, somebody who wants to protect ussomebody who will give us life.

The bad news is we have to be smart. We cant be stupid and go running after everything thats supernatural. As I tell the high school and college students I work with, Just because it glows in the dark doesnt make it good.

In fact, its often just the opposite.

Our enemy Satan is alive and well, and hell use everything in his power to draw people away from God including supernatural special effects. Jesus again put it best when he said, For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the electif that were possible (Matthew 24:24).

And while Im in a Bible-quoting mood, check this out: The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved (2 Thessalonians 2:9-10).

SAME OL, SAME OL

Lots of times young people are attracted to the supernatural because they have hard lives, or they dont fit in, or people treat them like dirt. As a result, its only natural for them to be hungry for more power, to feel special, to have their eyes opened with more insight. And their enemy, the thief who wants to kill and destroy, is only too happy to swoop in with his own brand of poisoned food, promising to make them more God-like.

Its the same old promise hes offered since the beginning of time: When you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God (Genesis 3:5).

A TRICKY BALANCE

C.S. Lewis, author of