What are ghosts?

[Bronzesnake]

 Have you ever seen a ghost? Do you even believe in them?
 What are they?

 I believe they are demons, and I have been visited on a few occasions.

 The first time was when I was about 9 years old. My grandfather, who lived with us had just died. He, and I were very close. He had a strong Yorkshire England accent which I loved. He introduced me to my lifetime love of hockey and specifically the Toronto Maple Leafs... I was born in Toronto.

 My mom forced me to approach the open casket, and touch grandpas hand to say a final goodbye, as was the English way. I wanted nothing to do with that, but she insisted. As soon as I felt that cold, solid hand, I busted out sobbing.

My brother-in-law took pity, and invited me to spend the night at their house, so he could take me fishing the next day.

 It was an old home which was renovated. I slept in the spare room and was kept awake by thoughts of the trauma I had went through, and my brother-in-law's record breaking snoring!

 At some point, early in the morning, around 2:00am, I got an instant feeling of unexplained fear, and a sense of an evil presence. Suddenly, the wooden screen door downstairs at the front of the house began to open and slam shut. It was a calm, summer evening and yet the door sounded as though someone was opening it, and two handed slamming it shut with all they had, I mean it was thunderous.

 This went on for about an hour. It was terrifying. My brother-in-law snored through the entire episode. I later learned that my sister lay frozen with fear in her bed. She dared not even budge to wake up Joe.

The house was semi-detached, and when we arrived home from fishing that evening my sister told us the neighbors heard it , and they were scared stiff in their beds also.

 When I returned home that night, I went to bed still a bit freaked out by the thought of what had happened. While I lay in my bed I began to hear a noise at the foot of my bed. It sounded as though a cat was trying to get out of a plastic garbage bag. It was a continuous rustling sound, and it was loud.

 I was frozen stiff. The noise stopped a few hours after it began. I was too embarrassed the next morning to tell my parents, but it continued for several months, every night.

Each morning, I would search my floor, and under my bed for anything that could explain what was causing the noise, but I never found anything.

Finally, after being terrified for all those months, I found myself getting angry one night. I sprung out of bed in a fit of anger and turned the light on. The noise stopped the instant light filled the room, and it never happened again.

 I believe there were demons at work feeding off of my fear. The moment I fought back, they lost their grip on me and fled.

Anyone else? I will relate other visits, which were far more intense if anyone is interested.

Bronzesnake.

[Gracey]

What are ghosts? I guess I honestly don't know....but I believe demonic spirits can manifests themselves as such.

I will relate a story of a friend, who is a very godly woman and mature in her walk with Christ. Her husband had a slight facial disfigurement from birth (this occurred as a result of an accident during the birth) and shortly after his death, she had a vision of him. She believes this was not an actual visitation, but a vision and that it was from God. In the doorway of her bedroom she saw his face appear and as she watched his face changed from the one she lived with to one that was not twisted, but smooth and perfect. She relates that her feeling was that God was showing her that in the life to come, we will indeed have perfect bodies (spiritual) and be "as the angels".

Some might have called that a ghost, not knowing better. I suppose it all depends on what the definition of a ghost really is.

What you relate could have been demonic spirits at work.

I have hesitate to relate my own experience with satan as it was not "ghostly" in the way yours was.

This is a subject not often discussed. Most shy away from examining such experiences.

Gracey

[BUTCHA]

I always wished i would see a ghost, for this would be hands on proof that their was more after death. even if is was a bad ghost , if it killed me then id be a good ghost.

[JudgeNot]

I knew a 'spook' once.  But I guess working for the CIA is a little different.

I believe there are what are referred to as 'ghosts' but I believe they are demons.

I still like a good ghost story.  I like Dean Koontz and Stephen King stories.  

[felix102]

I believe ghosts exist. In 1 Samuel 28 a witch brought back Samuel on a request from Saul

...The women said, "I see a spirit coming up out of the ground."(witch)
"What does he look like?" he asked. (Saul)
"An old man wearing a robe is coming up," she said.
Then Saul knew it was Samuel, and he bowed down and prostarted himself with his face to the ground.
1 Samuel 28:13-14

I believe Ghosts are spirits from the dead. The ones that scare us are most likely demons, but the ones that dont scare us are most likely angels. For the children of God, ghosts cannot do any harm to us. For example in Matthew 28:3-7

His appearance was like lightining, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so AFRAID of him that they shook and became like DEAD MEN.

The angel said to the women, "DO NOT BE AFRAID, for I KNOW that you are looking for JESUS, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from teh dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you."


The guards were afraid and so was Mary, the woman. Yet the angel told Mary not to be afraid of him. When you see a ghost and you are afraid, don't be afraid. Because God controls them whether they are good or bad as much as he controls everything else in this world.

Sometimes God may even use such encounters as demons and ghosts to bring us closer to Him. Satan may wish harm on us by these things with fear but with God it comes out good. When I was 12 I was afraid to go to sleep. Everytime I went to sleep my body would feel as if it was being electricuted. I believed something evil was trying to pull me out into the astral plane. I was afraid to take showers too. Everytime I was in a relaxed state (eg in the shower or in bed) the thing seemed to come back. It kept reoccuring for about a month. So this made me pray to God a lot more. Perhaps this got me into the habit of praying every night before I go to bed. For 6 years this thing has never occured and I have been pretty consistent on praying every night.

[JudgeNot]

Bronzesnake - I want to hear more ghost (demon) stories!  Why?  "Know your enemy" - historically wise advice!

I was visiting a friend one night about 30 years back - sitting on their family room couch talking to her and her parents, when, for no apparent reason, a wax banana flew from a fake fruit display and landed about three feet from the table it was on.  (I mean it was like someone reached over, picked it up and tossed it!)  My friend’s mother calmly picked it up and replaced it in the display from which it was ‘displaced’.

They all noticed the look of bewilderment on my face so they confided in me that they believed it was a poltergeist.  (For obvious reasons, they never discussed it with anyone who didn’t have a first hand experience.)  They called the spirit (demon to me) Polly.  They said Polly had been with them for years – even going with them on an inter-state move from Texas to Michigan and back.  They said, and after the demonstration I saw have no reason to doubt them, that ‘Polly’ often did things such a flush toilets, turn on faucets to full blast and move things about rooms.  For some reason they considered ‘Polly’ playful and non-threatening.

All I can say; when you are minding your own business, and a banana “flies” off the table with no human help – something weird is going on!  

The only other thing that comes to mind is from when I was quite young – about 4 years old.  It is one of my first vivid memories that will never go away.  I awoke very early one morning – just after dawn but before sun up, and saw a figure in what appeared to be a long, white night-dress standing in my bedroom door watching me.  I felt very comforted and went back to sleep.  When I got up and was eating breakfast, I told my mother “I saw you standing in my door this morning” and her nonchalant reply was “I wasn’t standing in your door this morning”.
That’s when I began to know that angels are real: at 4 years old.  

[Bronzesnake]

Bronzesnake - I want to hear more ghost (demon) stories!  Why?  "Know your enemy" - historically wise advice!

This happened when I was 21 years old, which was before I became born again.

 I was a singer in a Beatles cover band, and I just loved that group, still do. I had just heard the news that Lennon had been shot and killed. This was devastating to me at that time. I even took time off work, and went down to city hall in Toronto to be part of the Lennon memorial. I remember Long John Baldrey being so drunk that he actually did a face plant onto the stage floor. It made a very loud bang, which the microphones relayed throughout the city!

 After I returned home, I began to call on Lennon's "spirit" to visit me. I concentrated very hard, I convinced myself that if I believed with all my strength, he would come.

 I did this periodically over about two weeks. One night, I returned home after visiting some friends. I was sober! I lay on my bed watching TV, but soon became tired and switched it off. The second the TV went black, I had an intense feeling that there was something terrifying in my room. It was bizarre, I was not and am not the type of person who gets scared, especially for no apparent reason. I began to feel as though there was "something" expending great effort and energy in order to come from some far off...place? I couldn't put my finger on what was happening, but all of a sudden I was grabbed by an unseen hand on my shoulder. I felt each finger, and it was a strong grip.

 I was stunned, yet I found myself lurching up out of bed, and quickly flicked on my light. There was no one in my room.

 I never tried calling spirits again. I don't believe it was Lennon. I know it was a demon...I didn't know it back then, but I did know it was something dark, and dangerous. I knew for sure it wasn't Lennon right away, as soon as it touched me...I knew.

Bronzesnake.

[felix102]

Interesting stories!

I think any appariation that does not manifest itself in a natural body in the physical realm can be defined as a ghost whether it is a demon, angel, spirit of a dead person, poltergeist, and other ghosts. "Other ghosts" would include the type of ghost that does the same thing over and over again that usually appears translucent.

[Bronzesnake]

 Some of you know that I spent three months, two solid months, and the rest at two weeks a visit, in hospital following surgery that went wrong.

 While I was there I became friends with an older man in the bed beside mine.

 We often talked about many different topics, and I very soon came to know he was an honest, trustworthy person.

One day, he told me about a hunting trip he went on...

I can't recall his name, so I'll call him "Mike"

This may not be exactly as he told it, but this is what I remember.

 He said he went up north with his brother and his nephew to hunt deer. They approached a farmer about the possibility of hunting on his land. When the farmer gave his permission, they also asked if they could camp there for the weekend.
The farmer told them they could, and if they wanted to, they could stay in the old home at the back of the property.

 They took him up on his kind offer, and after a long days hunting, they settled into an upstairs bedroom. There were two beds in the room. Father and son shared one bed, and Mike took the other.

 The nephew brought some dead wood in from the bush and lit the fireplace. Sometime during the night Mike's nephew woke both men up. Mike said it was obvious that his nephew was scared about something.

 His nephew told both men that he had heard a noise in the hall outside their room and had turned over to take a look. He said there was a man standing in the hall across from their room, leaning on the banister, looking in at them, but once he saw the nephew look out, he moved out of view.

 Mike said the nephew was whispering, and his hands were shaking as he told them what he saw.

 Mike said he became a little scared even though he couldn't see anyone in the hall. The nephew wanted to go home immediately, but his father wanted to stay so they could hunt the rest of the weekend. He thought his son had a bad dream, and Mike began to think the same.

 The fire had begun to flicker out, so Mike said he got up to put more wood on. As the flames began to grow, Mike looked over his shoulder, toward the hall, and the man was there again.

 He said he clearly saw a man with a checkered shirt looking into the room. The light from the fire cast an orange glow on the man, and it was terrifying. The other two men also saw him standing in the hall at that time.

 Mike said it took them all the courage they had to wait for daylight before they packed up and left, as they were all to frightened to leave in the dark.

 They saw the farmer on their way out and told him what they had seen, and the farmer said something to the effect of "oh, so you saw old Bill" or something like that...He told them that "he won't hurt you, he just doesn't like visitors in his house"

 Old "Bill" was the original owner of the old farmhouse. The farmer built his own home on the land which he had bought years earlier, and never used the old house, although he claimed that several people had seen the "ghost" including himself.

 Mike told me he had never been so terrified in his life, before or since. He swears it's true, and after watching and listening to him tell the story, I believe him.

 I don't believe disembodied spirits roam the earth seemingly ignored by God. I believe the demons are playing with our minds.

Bronzesnake.

[Evangelist]

I don't believe disembodied spirits roam the earth seemingly ignored by God. I believe the demons are playing with our minds.

Lev 19:31 Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I [am] the LORD your God.
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Lev 20:6 And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people.
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Deu 18:11 Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.
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1Sa 28:3 Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him, and buried him in Ramah, even in his own city. And Saul had put away those that had familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land.
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1Sa 28:9 And the woman said unto him, Behold, thou knowest what Saul hath done, how he hath cut off those that have familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land: wherefore then layest thou a snare for my life, to cause me to die?
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2Ki 21:6 And he made his son pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards: he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the LORD, to provoke [him] to anger.
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2Ki 23:24 Moreover the [workers with] familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD

Please note that the references to familiar spirits are all negative, and associated with a number of things - wizardry, necromancy, idols, abominations, enchantments, etc.  It is a clear reference to the fact that "familiar spirits" are not nice!!


Luk 16:26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that [would come] from thence.

Note here in Jesus' words, that He is establishing that those who are in Him cannot pass back over to us after they go to sleep (die), nor can they pass thru to hell, nor can the departed pass back to us or to heaven.  Which ties in with the "familiar spirits". These are (probably) the demonic angels that fell with satan, and have a definite working knowledge of each individual that has ever lived....thus they would be "familiar" with them, and could (most likely) emulate their looks, their words, or their actions so as to deceive people.

While it is healthy to note and acknowledge that they exist, it is not healthy to seek after them, or to even desire a meeting or viewing with one (or more).

[JudgeNot]

While it is healthy to note and acknowledge that they exist, it is not healthy to seek after them, or to even desire a meeting or viewing with one (or more).

I certainly go along with that!

[MalkyEL]

Evangelist wrote:

While it is healthy to note and acknowledge that they exist, it is not healthy to seek after them, or to even desire a meeting or viewing with one (or more).

*****************************

Galatians 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are clearly revealed, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lustfulness,
20 idolatry, *** sorcery ***, hatreds, fightings, jealousies, angers, rivalries, divisions, heresies,
21 envyings, murders, drunkennesses, revelings, and things like these; of which I tell you before, as I also said before, that***  they who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God ***.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is: love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith,
23 meekness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
24 But those belonging to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts.
25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
 
sorcery is sort of that all inclusive word for witchcraft, nemocracy [which is contact of spirits], etc.

Imho, Christians who are serious about God, stay away from anything having any appearance of evil [1 Thess 5:22].  

The demonic realm is real, it is dangerous, and it is harmful.  However; we have no reason to fear apparitions, ghosts, etc -which as noted by others, are evil spirits.  God's Word is clear,  we have not been given a spirit of fear, but of love, power and a sound mine [2 Tim 1:7].  Therefore, if confronted with this kind of thing, my defense would be calling out to God in Jesus' Name, for help.  After all, God wins  

Rom 8:38 For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Shalom, MalkyEL  

[JudgeNot]

From MalkyEL:

After all, God wins

I just want to make sure I stay on the winning side, and am there for the victory party!

[MalkyEL]

From MalkyEL:

After all, God wins

I just want to make sure I stay on the winning side, and am there for the victory party!

ditto and a high five . . .  

[Gracey]

Imho, Christians who are serious about God, stay away from anything having any appearance of evil [1 Thess 5:22].  

Yes, well Malky, it is not quite as easy as that. Sometimes they come to us completely unbidden. It is Satan's way.

The demonic realm is real, it is dangerous, and it is harmful.

Oh, yes, it definitely is all of that.

However; we have no reason to fear apparitions, ghosts, etc -which as noted by others, are evil spirits.

While it's true we have not been given a spirit of fear, until you are faced with "the real thing" it's easy to say. Yes, we do have reason to fear; not necessarily the apparitions of our waking moments, but Satan's wiles can invade our dreams, our subconscious; can even be made to appear as a vision... "for he appears as an angel of light".

When my father lay dying from leukemia in his hospital bed, God sent me a series of "visions" and "dreams"....stuff I had never encountered before.

One was of a man; slim, tall, dark hair, handsome and quite charming who was in a trailer (which I took to be "mine"). When I stepped inside the trailer I realized he had been sleeping in my bed, eating my food; generally making himself at home. It made me angry...and when I told him to leave, the slick smile dropped from his face and we wrested with each other. Eventually I managed to toss him out the door, but not without a lot of struggle. As he sat on the ground below me, he gradually faded away and the dream ended.

How can I explain how unlike my normal dreams this was? I knew somehow that it was not my own mind; I can still recall every detail with absolute clarity; the clothes he was wearing, his face and the way he wore his hair; the wrinkled sleepingbag, the plate of food & fork in his hand...all of it, as clear today as it was 3 years ago.

When I woke I was exhausted; sweating like I had been physically active (although my bed was not "mussed"), my heart pounding and pulse racing, and with a bad smell still clining to my nostrils (yes, I could actually smell it, ugh). I had to get up and run around the house praying. Yes, I was frightened, but truthfully, I didn't know til the next morning what it really was; who it really was.

I didn't invite that visitation; I wasn't involved in anything that might have made it appear that I was seeking anything like that. What I was doing during that time in my life was growing in the Lord's wisdom; studying, praying continually, and walking the path through the valley of death, with God at my side, learning to receive His comfort and peace, listening to His voice. Offering up my life in place of my dad's. All the things that Satan doesn't want us to do, I was doing and he didn't like it.

I can tell you there's nothing worse (that I've experienced anyway) than a personal visit from Satan; there have been two others since that time, both far worse than the one above; far more personal. Without God's grace & mercy, and His immense hand in my life, I might not be here. The glory for those victories, are God's.

Yes, He does always win; in fact, has already won. But it will always be up to us to choose; do we turn satan out on his ear, or do we let him make himself at home? Will we choose to be overcomers?

Psa 9:9  Jehovah also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.
Psa 17:7  Set out Your wonderful loving-kindness, O Savior of those seeking refuge in You, by Your right hand, from those who rise up against me.
Psa 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Psa 71:3  Be a rock of refuge for me, to which I may always go; You have commanded to save me; for You are my Rock and my Fortress.
Psa 91:2  I will say of Jehovah, my refuge and my fortress; my God; in Him I will trust.

Gracey