Paranormal Black Blob vs Christian Worship

 

Aaaand, the black blob is down for the count! 1, 2, 3....

The little black blob appeared in the home of Ron and Linette shortly after a woman she knew dropped by the house for a visit. That woman had been playing with a Ouija Board in her former location. As an evangelical Christian, Linette believed that playing with the Ouija could open portals in the spirit world, so everyone who knew her knew that she wouldn't approve, including this lady, but she listened non-judgmentally to the friend's description of the evening. 

Nevertheless, when the woman left, she left behind a 'hitchhiker,' a deposit of something spiritual, but not Christian. Linette told me that she had a habit of getting up at night to get a drink or take a pill. She would seldom turn on the lights, and sometimes she would use the time to pray or worship her Lord. Shortly after the friend's visit, Linette began to notice that when she got up at night to get a drink or use the bathroom, a little black shadow would appear. She ignored it, convincing herself that it was her little black dog Boo Boo. Boo Boo used to follow her around at night. 

 One day Linette was dancing around the house singing a worship song that she had recently written. She was having a great time, totally focused on the Lord. Ron was in the other room and it was daylight, so lack of vision was not an issue, but perhaps it was lack of focus that made her think that Boo Boo was wanting to go out. When the little dog would stand by the door, she would open it to let him out. so that's what she did. The little dark shadow went out, and she closed the door, as she did that day. 

The problem was that when she turned around, her dog and cat were sitting right behind her, looking at her intently. Stunned, she thought, 'What did I just let out the door?' Needless to say, she didn't see the little shadow after that. Her attempt to recall when she started noticing the shadow brought to mind the lady who came to visit after having played with the Ouija Board. Was there a connection? What was evident was that the shadow had never been Boo Boo, and furthermore, there was something about an atmosphere of genuine Christian worship that caused the presence to leave. The Ouija spirit and the spirit of worship in the house were incompatible.

 When I was in seminary, the Old Testament professor kept talking about 'crash helmet Christianity.' Wouldn't it be wonderful to experience it, he kept saying. About the third time he mentioned that phrase, I raised my hand and said, "If crash helmet Christianity came to your church, you would reject it. You'd throw it right out the window. The fact is, that kind of Christianity already exists and you don't want it." 

I reflected on the old rural Pentecostal church where the neighbors would occasionally call the fire department out to the church during a service, because they would see flames on the roof. The trucks would arrive only to see a bunch of crazy Pentecostal praising God. I thought about the stories of the Azuza Street Revival (They Told Me Their Stories, by Tommy Welchel) in which limbs grew out and the blind were made to see. There is Kaitee Lusk, who received a message from God to fly to the Philippines and lead Ferdinand Marcos to Christ. She did so (see her 1914 book, Eternal Makeovers) by pure faith. She found him on his death bed, with a breathing tube down his throat, but she led him to Christ shortly before he died. Members of the bodyguard and of the Marcos family followed suit.

There are two DVD's made by Darren Wilson (Finger of God and Furious Love) that are so radical that even I am amazed. I was in a wonderful church when I first published this post in 2010, but it wasn't what you would call crash helmet Christianity because you always know what is going to happen next. Great worship songs, funny video, greeting, sermon, announcements, collection, all in an hour and 15 minutes.) There are major blessings here and there, but you don't need to fasten your seat belt when you sit down in the chairs. 

Back in the seminary class, discussion arose about miracles and unexpected events occurring in church. One woman said that her father was a Methodist pastor. He didn't deny the possibility of miracles and deliverances in church, he just didn't want them to happen in his church. I assured her that he need have no fear, it will never happen in his church. It happens where people are desperate to see people saved and delivered, so much so that they want whatever it takes to make that happen... in their church and outside of it, too. 

But those were the good old days, when church was about God and not politics and personalities. The Holy Spirit can accomplish in 5 minutes what we could do in 5 years. My husband and I have found refuge in a politically purple ELCA Lutheran church in western Washington. The liturgy is beautiful, Salvation, deliverance, discipleship, love, that is what it's all about.