Paranormal Protection
We need to talk about the spirit realm.
The movie theatre lights started to dim; I gulped silently to myself.
“Why did I think this was a good idea!?” I thought as I double-checked to make sure my flip phone was turned off. My 16-year-old mind raced: “I locked the car, right? I told Dad we’d be back late, right?” I was trying to think of anything to avoid thinking about the scary movie that was about to play: Paranormal Activity.
The PREVIEWS were freaking me out; I knew I was in for a rough few hours. If I had more of a backbone I would’ve told my childhood friend that I would meet her outside. However, she was growing in popularity, which meant we were growing apart, so I stayed seated; hoping I looked cool.
In case you didn’t see the movie, the premise is that a couple accidentally moved into a possessed house in the suburbs and decided to set up cameras to try and catch whatever it was that was making all the noises that they heard at night. And surprise, surprise - it gets worse from there.
I didn’t see whatever it was that was causing all of the scary things. However, I did see the bed sheets be mysteriously whipped off in the middle of the night. I gasped when an invisible figure was crawling under the sheets until the lights turned on. I jumped at every door that slammed shut for no apparent reason. I winced at the bite marks left on the woman’s back that she didn’t remember getting. And I was absolutely terrified when I saw the wife creepily stand up in the middle of the night - clearly unaware that her body was being taken over - and look at the camera with intrigue before heading back to bed and going to sleep. Naturally, she didn’t remember that the next morning when she was reviewing the tape.
“It’s not real, it’s not real…” I repeated to myself. “It’s not real, it’s not real-” DOOR SLAM! Wince. A shadow crossed the door while the woman was looking the other way. “It’s not real, it’s not real…”
My friend whispered with excitement over to me, “This is crazy, huh!?”
“Totally,” I whispered back with as steady of a voice as I could, hoping she didn’t see the fear on my face before we turned back to the screen.
“This isn’t good…” the priest in the film said with horror as he looked around the house. The chandelier started shaking above them as all the characters sprinted for the door.
My heart was racing and my stomach was churning: “It’s not real, it’s not real…”
The funny thing is, for people who actually like scary movies, Paranormal Activity is considered a joke for how un-scary it is.
But for people like me, who have no business watching anything more intense than The Lion King, the low-budget film of Paranormal Activity was really scary because of how realistic it felt. That realistic feeling probably explains why it made 194 million dollars at the box office that year.
Like all scary movies or shows I had watched up until that point, that R movie I somehow got into as a 16-year-old really stuck with me. I remember being very jumpy for several days afterward and could only fall asleep after reassuring myself over and over again that it wasn’t real.
In a strange turn of events, growing up I (a church kid) viewed anything supernatural as an atheist would view Christianity. I think a lot of Christians still view the spirit realm that way.
Here’s what I mean: If someone told a ghost story from their own life, I would tell myself that there had to be some sort of scientific explanation.
If someone claimed to have heard a voice, I would chalk it up to mental health.
If someone mentioned witches being real, I would first laugh because that was insane (in my head they were just fictional things people would dress up as on Halloween), but if I gave it any more thought I would say, “Well, IF someone is claiming to be a witch, then any perceived benefit they get from that… activity… clearly is placebo. They must do it because of the community they get from their coven of other ‘witches.’”
If someone I didn’t particularly like told a story of hearing creepy noises, I’d tell myself they were just lying for attention. If someone I respected said the same thing, I would tell myself it must be the house settling or that there must be a logical explanation.
Sounds kind of like how atheists view people of faith, right?
Part of the reason it has taken me over a month to write this post is because of how much there is to say about the spirit realm and how I want to be very careful (and Biblical) when talking about this very important topic. Like so many other topics in life, if we don’t talk about the spirit realm and understand what the Bible actually says about it, we will all form our own conclusions about the spirit realm based on what the world tells us. Spoiler alert! That is the LAST ‘teacher’ we want to have on this topic lol!
So stay tuned because I am hoping to write more about this, but for today I wanted to focus on the scary / darkest part of the spirit realm that ties back to the movie I saw all those years ago. This leads to the obvious question: “Is there any truth to Paranormal Activity-adjacent stories we might hear in the real world?”
You already know what 16-year-old me thought, but why did I believe that it wasn’t real? Like most things, I didn’t give it much thought, so I don’t know 100% why I felt that way. Perhaps you aren’t 100% sure what you believe about the spirit realm or why you believe whatever you believe either - if that’s you, no judgment!
I think I assumed it wasn’t real because I had never experienced anything like that personally, but also because that would have meant that the world I lived in - a world that already had enough problems - would be even scarier.
By 16 my mom would have been dead for 3 years. The fact that someone like her, so healthy and vibrant, could die a slow death from cancer despite all the prayers and medical help already had shaken my worldview; the world became a lot less ‘safe’ after she died. I don’t think I could’ve handled another terrifying thing being part of the world.
The reason I share that is to remind people that just because someone doesn’t want to believe something isn’t real doesn’t mean it isn’t. As a 31 year old my eyes have been opened to countless more horrible realities that this world has within it and I am sure there will be more revealed as time goes on. So, as Christians, we must ask ourselves, “What does the Bible say about this? What does God say about this?”
In regards to demonic activity in the world (akin to things you might see in some scary movies), I have some good news and I have some bad news.
I will start with the bad news first: it is real.
Turns out, there are actual covens of witches out there who do have spiritual experiences powered by dark spirits. It’s not all just a placebo. Turns out there are haunted houses that have the sole purpose of scaring some people and intriguing others. There are people who, just like in Bible times, are demon-possessed and are in desperate need of saving.
How did this happen? Here’s a little Bible background in case you haven’t gotten there in your reading yet: A very long time ago, there was a big fallout in the spiritual realm when Satan decided to rebel against God (Yahweh).
Since that tiff, Satan’s only goal is to keep us, God’s most prized creation, away from being in a relationship with God; to deceive us into using our God-given gift of free will to choose to be separated from God (just like Satan himself was/is separated from God).
He and his minions (demons) are eternal spiritual beings who are more knowledgeable than humans. Fun fact - they are also Bible experts and love to twist the Word of God - so here is another shameless reminder to read the full Bible (see blog post here).
They are also far more powerful than humans. If it was just me vs. a demon, a demon would easily win every time. That is terrifying because they will do whatever it takes to accomplish their goal. How they operate will have to be saved for another blog, but it can be summarized as this: their goal is to steal, kill, and destroy… Steal, kill, and destroy, what? YOU & ME. (John 10:10).
There are many tactics they use, but some of them are very dark and scary. Please take the time to watch the testimonies linked below before you close this blog.
Of course, not everything in the world is spiritually backed and some things can be explained away with science and, unfortunately, some people do lie.
However, spiritual warefare is Biblical so all Christians need to wake up to the fact that some things in the physical world are spiritually backed. When someone claims to have an experience, especially a dark one, we as Christians can not internally roll our eyes any longer!
If we keep assuming these spirit-adjacent experiences people have are in one way or another fake, then we playing perfectly into Satan’s plan… which is very bad!
Could you imagine being at war with someone who doesn’t even think you exist!? Satan must be thinking, “This is my lucky day!” anytime he hears that someone (like the old me) doesn’t believe that spiritual warfare is a thing.
This atheist-esque mindset towards the spirit realm is very bad for two main reasons. First, this mindset leaves us as Christians woefully exposed and under-prepared for Satan’s attacks on our own lives. I mean, why would we be on guard against something we don’t think exists? As followers of Jesus, we have a BIG target on our backs - remember that. (I will cover how we can be prepared more specifically in another post, promise).
Secondly, it also prevents us from helping people in the world who are allificted by these forces. Regardless of how it manifests in someone’s life, the direction these spirits are moving their victims is the same: away from the one who can actually protect them from these attacks.
Which leads me to the good news; the very good news.
Jesus.
If you have been born again and have accepted Jesus Christ (the one from the Bible, not some ascended master/yogi/prophet, etc.), then you do not have to be afraid. I repeat: WE DO NOT HAVE TO BE AFRAID!
As John says in the Bible, “The one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world,” (1 John 4: 4b). If you are surrendered to Christ and He is truly your King, then you are a temple of the Holy Spirit - He is in you and HE is stronger than the one in the world (Satan). He is the only way to defeat these attacks - sage and crystals will not save you - nothing except Jesus will bring real deliverance and protection.
Similar to how if we don’t understand how truly bad sin is we will never be able to fully appreciate what Jesus did for us on the cross (blog on that here), if we don’t believe that demonic forces are actively moving in this world, we will never appreciate God’s protection.
Same vein, if we don’t believe this stuff is happening, we will never tell other people about how Jesus can protect them from these things! There is so much to say on this, SO much to say, but please know that there are a lot of people who are suffering from spiritually backed things (unknowingly of course because that’s how demons usually operate) and they are looking for a solution. Let’s not hide Jesus from them!
Tears of gratitude came to my eyes as I watched the testimonies below (PLEASE watch them). By God’s GRACE I do not know what it is like to live in a haunted house, to hear voices, to be overwhelmingly oppressed mentally, or to have grown up with witchcraft in my family (which I learned recently is very much a thing).
BY GOD’S GRACE ALONE! Let one of the things we add to our gratitude list be God’s protection against the paranormal!
More to come on this very large topic, but please watch the testimonies of the Christians below who were saved from this darkness. While you watch, say some extra prayers of gratitude! And, as always, get into the Word of God where you will see that while evil is real, Jesus is stronger.
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Bible Chapter: John 4
Song: Protector
Testimony 1 / 3:
Testimony 2 / 3:
Testimony 3 / 3:
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