Ghosts!

[Andrew]

Im putting this in Christian Theology because I want it to be a Christian discussion.
Some say they are demons masquerading 'familiar spirits' (lost family members)...
Anyway my mom has been seeing them her whole life, my dad too, and grandparents from both sides... The most recent was last week, my mom woke up twice the same night and the first encounter was a lady in a dress hovering above her, the second was a man in a suit, she believes they are her grandparents... and with my dad, a few months back when my Aunt died he went to visit, sitting in his truck he saw her looking through the windows in front of the curtains and then she went back behind them. At first he thought maybe they had a maid at the house but his sister says "no they don't have a nanny, no one was in the house"...
I personally have never seen anything but I have had full body apparitions appear in photos years ago.
My grandparents (both deceased) had a holy war against demonic activity in their farm house and had it get blessed many times by a Catholic priest, my great uncle was the Catholic Priest that blessed their home. Some very scary things happened there ever since my dad was a kid, he would always see shadows darting through the field with human stature. One night when he was a child he got up in the middle of the night to get pour him a cup of water, just outside of his window he saw a tall figure with glowing red eyes with hooved feet staring back at him from the outside, one night they were woken up to what sounded like a war going on outside, terrifying screams from all around the outside of the house and a rumble and banging from the outside, they were strick Catholics and very religious people, my grandma didn't want my grampa to open the front door which was being banged on with massive force pushing it almost in, but he got up the courage to open it up, all of a sudden everything ceased and as he looked down he saw his dog sleeping outside the door. By the time I was growing up visiting there the activities had long went away.
They seem to pick on specific people, luckily for me I have never encountered any hauntings myself.
Demons in the bible can go into people and into animals and I'm sure they have a disembodied form from the stories I've been told. Peter mistook Jesus as a ghost, so that term was definitely used back in those days.
What are your thoughts about what these things are? What does the bible say about these phantoms? In the bible they refer to themselves as a legion for there are 'many of us'... are these the same things that haunt people today that we call demons?
Sorry if I spooked you any, it's late I know but the recent one bothers me because my mom is sick with cancer and they always seem to come around with someone has passed away, if someone is sick, if someone got in a bad accident, the last one of these three was with my sister, she got in a near fatal accident when a bull she was giving shots to broke out of the cage and flipped and kicked and charged at her for minutes as she was alone and was falling asleep, luckily someone near by heard her screams and they came to her rescue, a week before that my mom was woken up from her sleep by a movement in her bed, at the foot of the bed was a small bald headed boy in a hospital gown and he had been pressing on her bad as to wake her up, he gave her a nice smile and then vanished in front of her eyes... She said it didnt really spooke her that much she thought it was cute, a week later the incident happened and my sister was life flighted to a houston hospital and had to do many hit and miss surgeries, it severed he bile duct which is fatal unless a real intense procedure took place, it worked but it had some trouble... anyway in the waiting room during this very scary surgery, my mom began crying about how that little boy was hinting it to her that a family will die soon. i told her and said "No don't say that, the boy smiled, he is telling you that a bad event was going to unfold but that everything will be ok" her spirit became lifted after that and we prayed and sure enough shes alive and well with 2 kids in a nice little home.
So some be sent by God as angels?
I don't know but I called it some good omen for her.
Anyway, asking for prayers for the Hoffman family as these haunts are back and if they are malicious I would like them gone.
Thoughts?

 

[psalms 91]

I believe that what you are describing is exactly the type of things that we are to do warfare against

 

[Lamb]

Angels and demons both exist. I don't talk about my experiences openly but I give caution to those who think that the things they see are their beloved relatives who have passed on. Demons love for us to think that those dead people are stuck here on earth because that would make God a liar.

 

[Josiah]

I don't believe in ghosts.

I do believe in angels and demons.

 

[Lucian Hodoboc]

I humbly recommend you call a priest to do a house sanctification and keep a sanctified cross, a rosary and a bottle of holy water nearby at all time.

 

[NewCreation435]

Stress and grief can do strange things to a person. I knew a lady who lost her son in a car accident. She said she saw him come into the house and take off his coat and walk toward the bedroom and stand in the doorway just like he normally would. Except at the time he had already been dead and gone several days. I don't think that was a demon, but rather issues related to grief and the minds way of dealing with that grief.
What demons can or can't do the Bible doesn't seem to be really clear on since they aren't the focus of scripture

 

[Josiah]

Stress and grief can do strange things to a person. I knew a lady who lost her son in a car accident. She said she saw him come into the house and take off his coat and walk toward the bedroom and stand in the doorway just like he normally would. Except at the time he had already been dead and gone several days. I don't think that was a demon, but rather issues related to grief and the minds way of dealing with that grief.
What demons can or can't do the Bible doesn't seem to be really clear on since they aren't the focus of scripture

In my intro to psych class years ago, the prof mentioned that it's quite common for grieving people to claim that they "saw" or "heard" their loved one. Of course, there's no scientific way to document if they did or not, but such is a fairly common claim. He theorized that the whole idea of ghosts come from that. Maybe.



.

 

[MennoSota]

Im putting this in Christian Theology because I want it to be a Christian discussion.
Some say they are demons masquerading 'familiar spirits' (lost family members)...
Anyway my mom has been seeing them her whole life, my dad too, and grandparents from both sides... The most recent was last week, my mom woke up twice the same night and the first encounter was a lady in a dress hovering above her, the second was a man in a suit, she believes they are her grandparents... and with my dad, a few months back when my Aunt died he went to visit, sitting in his truck he saw her looking through the windows in front of the curtains and then she went back behind them. At first he thought maybe they had a maid at the house but his sister says "no they don't have a nanny, no one was in the house"...
I personally have never seen anything but I have had full body apparitions appear in photos years ago.
My grandparents (both deceased) had a holy war against demonic activity in their farm house and had it get blessed many times by a Catholic priest, my great uncle was the Catholic Priest that blessed their home. Some very scary things happened there ever since my dad was a kid, he would always see shadows darting through the field with human stature. One night when he was a child he got up in the middle of the night to get pour him a cup of water, just outside of his window he saw a tall figure with glowing red eyes with hooved feet staring back at him from the outside, one night they were woken up to what sounded like a war going on outside, terrifying screams from all around the outside of the house and a rumble and banging from the outside, they were strick Catholics and very religious people, my grandma didn't want my grampa to open the front door which was being banged on with massive force pushing it almost in, but he got up the courage to open it up, all of a sudden everything ceased and as he looked down he saw his dog sleeping outside the door. By the time I was growing up visiting there the activities had long went away.
They seem to pick on specific people, luckily for me I have never encountered any hauntings myself.
Demons in the bible can go into people and into animals and I'm sure they have a disembodied form from the stories I've been told. Peter mistook Jesus as a ghost, so that term was definitely used back in those days.
What are your thoughts about what these things are? What does the bible say about these phantoms? In the bible they refer to themselves as a legion for there are 'many of us'... are these the same things that haunt people today that we call demons?
Sorry if I spooked you any, it's late I know but the recent one bothers me because my mom is sick with cancer and they always seem to come around with someone has passed away, if someone is sick, if someone got in a bad accident, the last one of these three was with my sister, she got in a near fatal accident when a bull she was giving shots to broke out of the cage and flipped and kicked and charged at her for minutes as she was alone and was falling asleep, luckily someone near by heard her screams and they came to her rescue, a week before that my mom was woken up from her sleep by a movement in her bed, at the foot of the bed was a small bald headed boy in a hospital gown and he had been pressing on her bad as to wake her up, he gave her a nice smile and then vanished in front of her eyes... She said it didnt really spooke her that much she thought it was cute, a week later the incident happened and my sister was life flighted to a houston hospital and had to do many hit and miss surgeries, it severed he bile duct which is fatal unless a real intense procedure took place, it worked but it had some trouble... anyway in the waiting room during this very scary surgery, my mom began crying about how that little boy was hinting it to her that a family will die soon. i told her and said "No don't say that, the boy smiled, he is telling you that a bad event was going to unfold but that everything will be ok" her spirit became lifted after that and we prayed and sure enough shes alive and well with 2 kids in a nice little home.
So some be sent by God as angels?
I don't know but I called it some good omen for her.
Anyway, asking for prayers for the Hoffman family as these haunts are back and if they are malicious I would like them gone.
Thoughts?

Not one thing happens outside of the ordained will of God.
For what purpose would God ordain these events?
Will your family trust God in all things or will your family give in to fear.
Peter walked out to Jesus. The others remained in the boat, full of fear.
Get out of the boat, Andrew. Walk out to Jesus. It doesn't matter if you start to sink. Jesus will pick you up. Have courage.

 

[Andrew]

Not one thing happens outside of the ordained will of God.
For what purpose would God ordain these events?
Will your family trust God in all things or will your family give in to fear.
Peter walked out to Jesus. The others remained in the boat, full of fear.
Get out of the boat, Andrew. Walk out to Jesus. It doesn't matter if you start to sink. Jesus will pick you up. Have courage.

Thanks for the encouragement, I myself am not afraid of "ghost", I have known a friend who was obviously possessed, she would scream madly and kick and fuss when prayed over, she would say things out of the blue like "I feel so good right now, I love it when he makes me feel good" (she was speaking of the devil) and "I want to share something with you but it may cost your soul", "I serve two masters"... I have caught her once in a deep trance just when I began rebuking her, I was strongly praying for her and she sat on the floor with her eyes closed grinning, when she came to she was frantic saying "how did I get on the floor?? what did you do to me?"... she says she didn't remember anything but that she was laughing... pretty weird stuff but despite her warnings I am content and well convinced that she has no control over my soul (or endangerment of..), so in that case I believe I am not afraid to climb out of the boat and face a demon if threatened by one. My mom has been getting very religious now but I'm afraid her church is not doing much to compliment her understanding, when I ask what she learned at church she nor my dad can't really explain just "something about being good", but her spirit is higher than ever... The encounter with the apparitions was just something she mentioned because the tv was talking about a ghost caught on film :/, she had a smile on her face not because she thought they were departed loved ones but because she doesn't feel a threat... I need to speak with her and ask if she prays against them (I know she prays more these days) but when faced with these things I wonder if she does the sign of the cross or rebukes them...
Indeed these demons are tricking my dad to wonder and ask me "where do we go before the resurrection?", he believes he saw his sister but I was reluctant at the time to say "no, that was not her at all".
I have Holy Water in my room that I obtained from my grandma, but because the hauntings are so subtle we never use them, I myself am not a user of Holy Water or any religious amulets to rid any threat, if I feel any I use the Holy Spirit within and I feel bullet proof with it, I believe my Mom is the same way, my dads faith is bothersome... he is certain that she is dying, he asks a lot of questions but he doesn't seek for himself, he says he couldn't live without her and it's his reason why he drinks so much, his negativity hinders my joy and it makes it hard for me to move on and move out because I would feel like I would make him feel even lonelier if I left... maybe that's my boat I need to walk out on and have faith that he will be fine.
This reply is for all who are active in this thread btw lol I wrote much already.
Lamb and Josiah, I agree, these things are not departed loved ones, they don't just hang out on earth after death and haunt people.
As for it being a symptom of grief and despair, I don't believe it but again I don't really know because like I said, I'm not the one being haunted or seeing this. I've had such immense pain and grief in my life to where I didn't eat or sleep for days and I have never seen anything like what they explain, I have however seen strange reactions by people who are prayed over where they turn into something way out of character and fight it yet they remain bound as if they couldn't just walk away.
I can however believe that the little boy in a hospital gown may have been a messenger of the Most High, he gave my mom at the time a very assuring feeling even if she didn't know what it meant at the time, she described him as an angel, as for the others she always called them "ghost".
Thanks all for the help and opinions!