Demonic Possession

[MarkKurallSchuenemann]

[quote name='dairygirl4u2c' timestamp='1297616731' post='2211966']
"And this debate has helped me determine who the 'loons' on the board are - so I am thankful of that. "

i want to be included in the list of loons exposed by this thread


[/quote]

Don't ask that.

Ever since Sternhauser and I had our political 'disagreement' on one thread - he started to act like he was obsessed with me. He totally creeps me out, and his responses in this thread creep me out even more.

Your posts make me laugh - because sometimes you thoughts are fully formed and you seem a little like a troller looking for people to comment on things. You're just an attention grabber - that's okay compared to stalking someone online.

[Nihil Obstat]

Quite literally every single faithful Catholic will hold the views you deem to be lunacy on this thread.

[Tally Marx]

[quote name='Nihil Obstat' timestamp='1297663359' post='2212210']
Quite literally every single faithful Catholic will hold the views you deem to be lunacy on this thread.
[/quote]


True^

[Mark of the Cross]

[quote name='dairygirl4u2c' timestamp='1297616731' post='2211966']
"And this debate has helped me determine who the 'loons' on the board are - so I am thankful of that. "

i want to be included in the list of loons exposed by this thread


[/quote]

No problems, we'll vote you for president! Maybe we could have our own tag!

Seriously though, while those of us who are Mentally Interesting don't expect it to always be fluffy bunnies on forums, we must remember Christian charity. At times I have seen less charity here than on some mental illness forums. I know from experience that having one or two people having swipes at you is fair, but when there is a gang or an apparent persistence by an individual it does have distressing effects. The hope should always be to steer people to truth with an occasional wakeup smack in the ear, but never a gang beating. I found changing sides and giving someone support a much more satisfying result than bashing them up. Unless they really deserve it. l

[quote name='MarkKurallSchuenemann' timestamp='1297616967' post='2211967']

Ever since Sternhauser and I had our political 'disagreement' on one thread - he started to act like he was obsessed with me. He totally creeps me out, and his responses in this thread creep me out even more.


[/quote]
I got a first impression like that too. He seemed to pursue me over some inconsequential minor slip ups. But once I got to know him, I found him to be a really nice guy. I now have him as one of my friends a much better result.

[Mark of the Cross]

Disclaimer:- Those two posts were unrelated. I did not intend that the comment about Stern included him in the first comment. In fact it was not my intention to imply anyone! It was just that I remembered some of my earlier experiences of 18 months ago when I had a few too many kangaroos loose in the top paddock. That is more than I currently have.

[MarkKurallSchuenemann]

[quote name='Nihil Obstat' timestamp='1297663359' post='2212210']
Quite literally every single faithful Catholic will hold the views you deem to be lunacy on this thread.
[/quote]

In all honesty, I think of a person who is demonically possessed more as a drug addict or alcoholic - they are getting something from the demon that 'inhabits' them, and they continually go back for more and more of the emotional power it gives them. What most people see in these kinds of situations is someone who will not give up on the power a demon gives a person, but like an alcoholic or drug addict, they can make a decision to stop through the grace of God - and it is in that moment, when they realize they can't live like that anymore, God can change their lives!

BTW, wouldn't you say an alcoholic or drug addict is also 'out of control' - but they can still see the error of their ways and stop!

[Ash Wednesday]

Stay away from Ouija boards, and watch your kids. There are countless stories of people, Catholic or otherwise, that got involved with those and the occult and ended up inviting some pretty bad things into their lives.

Even though my siblings and I were all raised in the Church with the sacraments it didn't stop us from being curious teenagers. An afternoon of "good fun" with an ouija board upstairs in grandma's attic could have had dangerous consequences. I went through a period where I was curious and dabbled in the occult. I was completely ignorant about it and had no idea it was contrary to the Catholic faith until my mom noticed some of the books I was checking out at the library and had a talk with me about it. (That's how bad my religious education was, btw...didn't learn it in class, learned it from good old mom.)

Just because someone is Catholic and participating in the Church doesn't always mean they're well informed and could easily put themselves in harms way. Especially nowadays!

Edited February 15, 2011 by Ash Wednesday

[Tally Marx]

[quote name='MarkKurallSchuenemann' timestamp='1297747056' post='2212502']
In all honesty, I think of a person who is demonically possessed more as a drug addict or alcoholic - they are getting something from the demon that 'inhabits' them, and they continually go back for more and more of the emotional power it gives them. What most people see in these kinds of situations is someone who will not give up on the power a demon gives a person, but like an alcoholic or drug addict, they can make a decision to stop through the grace of God - and it is in that moment, when they realize they can't live like that anymore, God can change their lives!

BTW, wouldn't you say an alcoholic or drug addict is also 'out of control' - but they can still see the error of their ways and stop!
[/quote]

Alright.
But... it isn't like that.
A possessed person can't just [i]stop [/i]being possessed by deciding they don't want to be, or by praying. Otherwise, we would find evidence of people casting demons out of themselves. But we don't find that. Always, we hear of a [i]third person[/i] casting demons out, in the name of the Lord.
In Acts 16, Paul cast the demon out of the girl. She didn't do it herself. Paul had to do it.
People who have been possessed said they knew they were, and didn't want to be, but they couldn't do anything about it.
Were they only being tricked into thinking that they couldn't get rid of the demon? You could argue that. Of course, the Jewish excorcists in Acts 19 thought as you do-- that satan's power is a lie. Certainly he had no power over them! Well, the demon showed them! They fled "naked and wounded" from the house, because they presumed to much. Perhaps you, too, presume too much!


I understand you disagree. You are free too. But also understand that myself and most of the others on the phorum will stand by the evidence of the Church, Scripture, and the personal testimonies of people who have been possessed.

[MarkKurallSchuenemann]

[quote name='Tally Marx' timestamp='1297818130' post='2212775']
Alright.
But... it isn't like that.
A possessed person can't just [i]stop [/i]being possessed by deciding they don't want to be, or by praying. Otherwise, we would find evidence of people casting demons out of themselves. But we don't find that. Always, we hear of a [i]third person[/i] casting demons out, in the name of the Lord.
In Acts 16, Paul cast the demon out of the girl. She didn't do it herself. Paul had to do it.
People who have been possessed said they knew they were, and didn't want to be, but they couldn't do anything about it.
Were they only being tricked into thinking that they couldn't get rid of the demon? You could argue that. Of course, the Jewish excorcists in Acts 19 thought as you do-- that satan's power is a lie. Certainly he had no power over them! Well, the demon showed them! They fled "naked and wounded" from the house, because they presumed to much. Perhaps you, too, presume too much!


I understand you disagree. You are free too. But also understand that myself and most of the others on the phorum will stand by the evidence of the Church, Scripture, and the personal testimonies of people who have been possessed.
[/quote]

Well, maybe I should give you a bit of my testimony then - and you can decide if I was demonically possessed or not.

When I first started to go to my old church, who practiced the 'gifts of the spirit', who encouraged people to speak in tongues and pray in the spirit - and being slain in the spirit - I completely gave myself to the spirits of that church in my second or third year. Once I had totally given over to them, and I prayed for two hours a day, I felt a fire burning inside me - and when I say fire burning inside me, I mean it - it felt like a warm fire going through my body and my head. It got so powerful this warmth and fire that people swore my eyes had changed!

All I wanted to do is please the 'holy ghost' and try to win people for Christ, and pray and read the bible more, but I became segregated from my family and job that grounded me. My family told me they thought I was unstable and I could murder them at any moment, and my Aunt claims she saw the devil in my eyes - and she probably did see the devil.

Over time, I stopped praying like that, and that 'fire that burned in me' grew weaker and weaker, but I always desired it, and once and a while, I would turn back to the 'holy ghost' to get to that point again, because once you become addicted to something, you want to go back to it all the time - you want that cherry high that you first got!

It wasn't until I was told by friends of mine that I was being possessed by a religious spirit that claimed to be the holy spirit, and at the time, it kept on telling me to continue to believe in it, because I know it knew it's day was coming for me to send it to hell - and I sent that spirit to hell once I knew my friends who didn't go to my church were right! I came to my senses, and realized - all those slain the spirit stuff was Satan's power, and demons possessing people as people allowed themselves to be possessed!

So, I know I was possessed - no matter if you want to believe it or not - but it wasn't horrifying to me, it was warmth and power, and I revealed in it - until I realized it wasn't what I thought it was, and I repented of it.

[Tally Marx]

[quote name='MarkKurallSchuenemann' timestamp='1297835102' post='2212877']
So, I know I was possessed - no matter if you want to believe it or not - but it wasn't horrifying to me, it was warmth and power, and I revealed in it - until I realized it wasn't what I thought it was, and I repented of it.
[/quote]

I don't know what church you went to, or what you were involved in.
But, what you are describing isn't the definition of "possession".
I'm not saying there wasn't an evil spirit involved, I'm just saying what you describe isn't possession.
Sounds more like obsession.

Pax!

[Hinter dem Horizont]

I haven't been possessed but I have experienced intense moments, when my faith was beginning to become stronger than usual, where devils would approach me. One time, I was trying to fall asleep at night, a demonic presence entered my room and stood over my bed. He was all black with dark eyes and long fingers. Smoke bellowed all around him. He stood there peering down at me speaking in a language I could not understand. I spoke the name of God and fortunately it disappeared. There have been other moments too.

Thankfully, because of my strong unending faith, I have not experienced anything recently.

Edited February 16, 2011 by Hinter dem Horizont

[Jesus_lol]

Visions, Delusions of Grandeur... thats the sort of stuff that used to end up with people in padded rooms.