Visiting “haunted” hotels and explaining the paranormal

All eyes are on President Trump’s “landmark” meeting with Chinese President Xi, but we must not look past the crisis in our own backyard: Hurricane Melissa has left dozens dead and widespread devastation across Cuba, Haiti, and Jamaica. Power outages and dangerous conditions persist today. It is vital that we intercede for the victims and look for practical ways to help.

I recommend Texans on Mission as they share the gospel and meet needs in Jamaica. And I strongly encourage you to support Proclaim Cuba, our ministry’s longtime partner on the island. I have worked with them for many years and love them deeply. They are providing critical aid and sharing the gospel across the island nation.

The contrast with this unfolding tragedy could not be greater: Americans are expected to spend a record $13.1 billion on Halloween this year. Songs, TV shows, and movies dedicated to Halloween abound. There are even “haunted” Halloween car washes.

Such popularity is unsurprising: more than three in five Americans say they believe in ghosts, though I am not in their number. Over the years, I happen to have visited several sites believed to be especially haunted, from hotels in Texas and Colorado to the battlefields of Gettysburg. I have found Franklin Roosevelt’s observation to be true: “Repetition does not transform a lie into a truth.”

A recent Popular Science article explains the popularity of the paranormal, citing settings such as prisons and battlefields where we are “primed” to expect ghosts; the psychological effects of black mold, carbon monoxide, and other contaminants; and cultural influences and the power of suggestion that precondition us for paranormal beliefs.

But I think there’s another dimension to the story, one that intends to distract us from the good we could do in our broken world by focusing us on evil.

A submarine that sank itself

Across this Halloween week, we’re discussing Satan and his strategies. We’ve looked at temptation, persecution, and deprivation; today, let’s consider deceit.

Jesus warned us that Satan is “a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). As “the deceiver of the whole world” (Revelation 12:9), he “blinds the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:4).

He delights in fostering lies and deceptions that we embrace to our loss and grief.

To illustrate: I read recently the incredible story of the USS Tang, which destroyed more enemy ships than any other US submarine in World War II. Its captain and crew were among the greatest heroes of the war. However, the vessel met its demise not at the hands of the Japanese but when its own torpedo misfired, circled back, and sank the vessel.

This illustrates metaphorically an observation I often quote from my friend John Stonestreet: Ideas have consequences, and bad ideas have victims.

Some are less dangerous than others: Orson Welles’ War of the Worlds radio play was broadcast on this day in 1938, causing panic among those who believed a Martian invasion of Earth was real. But some are horrific, such as the murderous ideology of the Islamic State now rising again in Syria.

Israeli soldiers recently found a copy of Hitler’s Mein Kampf and other antisemitic literature in the offices of a charity linked to Hamas. After the US Supreme Court fallaciously stated in 1973 that it “need not resolve the difficult question of when life begins” and tragically legalized elective abortion, more than sixty-three million babies have died as a result.

“The first effect of not believing in God”

The pastor and author Paul Powell noticed this statement on a bumper sticker: “With God, all things are possible. Without God, all things are permissible.” The warning applies especially to our thoughts, as the Belgian poet Émile Cammaerts noted: “The first effect of not believing in God is to believe in anything.”

How can we defeat the deceptions of the devil so we can make a positive impact on our fallen world?

One: Submit our minds every day to the Holy Spirit.

We are assured: “To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace” (Romans 8:6). When we begin the day by surrendering our thoughts to the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18), we position ourselves to be empowered by his omnipotence and led by his omniscience.

Two: Defeat ungodly thoughts by focusing on godly truth.

Immoral thoughts are sinful in themselves (cf. Matthew 5:28) and inevitably lead to immoral actions (James 1:13–15). The best way to refuse them is to focus instead on godly truth that replaces ungodly lies. We are therefore commanded: “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (Philippians 4:8, my emphasis).

Three: Advocate for biblical truth.

The best way to learn is to teach. The best way to develop godly minds is to use our minds for God. To this end, we are to “contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). We do this when we “destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5).

“Fill my lamp with your light”

Most of all, we love God and others with our “mind” (Matthew 22:37) when we manifest the “mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16). When we submit our thoughts to him, Jesus works through us to continue his ministry in the world.

He was—and is—the most brilliant person in all of history (cf. Matthew 12:42). As scholar Jonathan T. Pennington demonstrates conclusively, Jesus was the greatest philosopher and wisest teacher of all time. The Irish missionary St. Columbanus (AD 543–615) was therefore wise to pray:

I beg you, my Jesus, fill my lamp with your light. By its light let me see the holiest of holy places, your own temple where you enter as the eternal High Priest of the eternal mysteries. Let me see you, watch you, desire you. Let me love you as I see you, and before you let my lamp always shine, always burn. . . .

Let us know you, let us love you, let us love only you, let us desire you alone, let us spend our days and nights meditating on you alone, let us always be thinking of you.

Will you make his prayer yours today?

Note: For positive ways to respond to Halloween, see Dr. Ryan Denison’s new article, “What does the Bible say about Halloween? Can Christians celebrate this controversial holiday?”

Quote for the day:

“[Christ] wants every bit of intelligence we have to be alert at its job, and in first-class fighting trim.” —C. S. Lewis

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