Well yeah, a bit like throwing pearls before swine! I guess a blessing only really bears fruit if the person receives it. True sosick. Never thought of it that way and it makes sense. I guess I always think that demons also find blessed places more repellent than place that are not blessed. But hey, the occupants can sure make that more comfortable pretty quick!

Ohhhh yes, certain sicknesses that have no explanation or are put down to psychiatric can in some cases be cases of spiritual possession. Some kind of infestation. You know once they used to think all mental illness was demonic, NOW they do the opposite and don't attribute anything to that. I think this is a bad mistake. I think all cases should be investigated and if there is an illness, fine treat it. If they find evidence of possession, then treat it. I think it's worth doing anyway because that could cure somebody and give them their life back.

I know a lady who has worked in a psychiatric ward and she said she prayed over many many patients and many were set free. No amount of psychiatric evaluation, drugs, or talks were doing anything. And it's also said that some illnesses can seem eerily like possession, yet they can be true illness.

I guess seeing as the brain is another organ, it too can get ill. Chemical imbalances can cause a dreadful outcome and behaviours. I know of a lady who was a cop and was a lovely person, highly thought of, excellent cop. She had a head injury. She survived and "healed" (if you can call it healed). From that moment on her personality altered horribly. She became quite vile in her language, sexually promiscuous to the extreme (taking men home with her from pubs and I mean biky type guys and completely wearing them out). Violent and her job was on the line. SHe started to attack people whom she was arresting. Punching them in the face if they gave her any lip. Totally uncharacteristic behaviours.....

It was thought that this was it for her, she would live her life like this. It was discovered she had lesions on the frontal lobe of the brain from the accident. But she was one lucky woman, the lesions HEALED over time and she came back to her old self, met a nice man and married and had children.

So sometimes it's hard to tell I think if it's genuine spiritual possession or something else. But I always think that it is the wisest move to pray over these people either way. Certainly it isn't going to hurt! Sadly though, these days they have gone to the other extreme and wish for an apparently rational physical explanation for everything. The spiritual is now no longer considered for the most part.

wow, you have been through a lot yourself. Thank goodness you turned in the right direction! Plenty of people don't. And when you do, that too can be isolating because you can find members of your own family are not and think you odd for changing or taking onboard "God". I'm lucky with my parents, but I certainly cannot really talk this way to most of my relatives. i'd be laughed at or probably thought insane. Oh well, if that's insane? Then I'm happy staying that way.

The death bed conversion? No this guy wasn't dying. He's just really old (104). He came to Christ very late, but I am not sure how long he was a Christian before he died. Certainly that wasn't his motivation apparently. I guess someone may have been praying very hard for him.

Oh yeah I'm cynical too about death bed conversions. I always think there are people who think they can leave it to the last minute and then convert. God isn't a fool, He knows full well if someone is sincere or doing it out of last minute fear of the possibility of it being a reality. He's merciful, so one hopes that they are saved, but I'd be wary of having that kind of mentality. I personally would'nt play that game. The bible says we are not to put God to the test.

Yeah astrology. That was one I was into quite a bit (apart from the future predictions, which I never bought into). But the star signs analysis? I was very into that. Mum got me into that believe it or not. Poor Mum, she'd cringe if she heard this. I was a teenager and she had a book. A very old astrology book with our family names in there (relatives dating back). I was fasinated and I think this was my first introduction in that direction. Seemingly so harmless it was, a bit of fun, but that took me down the path towards ongoing interest and then led to other things. I still have that book too, because it's an old family one. I threw out all my other ones.

Oh sosick, I have to tell you this one. This is true, but it sounds so over the top, that I hestitate as to what you may think. But here goes and let me know what you think of this. Could it be coincidence? I don't know.

I was 23, and this was the time I was making a journey towards God in my own way. Reading the testimonies on angels and feeling so uplifted. Dad had been praying to God for sometime that I would throw out my books on astrology/occult. I had them all in my bookcase. He never told me he'd been praying. So I had no idea.

I had a book on magic/demonlogy and all sorts of stuff that caught my interest. Well, one night, the urge to throw these things away was almost overpowering. I was alone and flatting with my brother at the time (who was out). I grabbed all those books and threw them into a bin. I did not even wish to hand them onto a secondhand book shop, I felt I would just be passing on the bad to others and would likely answer for it.

So in a big plastic rubbish bag they all went. One by one. I felt no regrets doing it. Tied it up and put it outside ready to be taken to the dump....that night, I got into my bed and read a little I think and then turned the lights off and settled down to sleep. Now this is where it got very weird and I don't know what to think. If it's a normal occurance? Let me know.

Bang on midnight I heard a screeching sound outside the window. This screeching was the sound you would expect from a crow/ raven. It was SCREAMING and I lay there frozen thinking "what the hell would a bird be screaming at this hour of the night outside my window????". It reminded me of something out of a horror film. I stared at my clock and it was dead on midnight.

Now this was so bizzare, that it reminded me of the contrived kind of occurance you'd find in a film, but this REALLY happened. This was no little tweet, this was unnerving.

I wasn't terrified, just shocked. I got up the next day and told dad about the books and he was quite overjoyed and said his prayers had been answered adn then I relayed that odd occurance to him and he said it is quite possible this was a reaction from what you had thrown out, but he wasn't certain.

I thought I'd run that one by you. It's always intrigued me as to what on earth that was and why? You know you hear these things sometimes in horror films and you become so used to it, it seems very hollywood, but if/when they ever occur in reality, you feel silly relaying it because of how contrived it may come across.

But hey, that's how it happened! Odd it was. But yes I still have some residue stuff around I know it. I think this is because at that time I only had my main stuff, and the rest was in the family home. Whereas now I have it all, so there is still a few things mixed up in there.

Yes I believe in Hell in all its horror as Christ described it. No doubt in my mind. And experiencing the occult and manifestations that were horrible, gave me a touch of that reality. I regret ever getting involved, but certainly nobody can ever tell me these things don't exist. I know what I experienced.

Thanks, I am trying to get better and making efforts, but it's mysterious and ongoing. By salt...do you mean blessed salt?

Sorry, I wasn't sure. Whether you mean that or genuine celtic sea salt or similar.

Hope your health is going well! I don't think my mum is doing too good with what's in her mouth. Packed full of amalgam and gold and root canals. What a mess! I see her and she's so tiny looking, you could blow her over. She won't get work done, she said it would all fall apart it she did and she cannot afford it anyway. She eats well, but I don't think it's enough frankly.

The healthiest people in my family coincidentally have false teeth! But I remember I got pretty healthy with amalgams at one stage. I just had to make extra efforts, but the condition remained. AS you know yourself, it's a case of doing what you can to lessen the impact. Diet was great for me, and garlic supplements were too. Plus rebounding and things.

So yeah it can be done, but then I never had what mum had. No gold and no root canals. Just 8 amalgams, but certainly my body relied on me to keep things in a way it could handle. Going off the diet wasn't an option! I owed it to myself to keep up the efforts.

If I had amalgams now? I'd do exactly what i used to do. I can tell you this, what i have now is worse than what I had then.

So yeah keep up what you're doing. By the way, if you haven't seen this link? You might be interested.
http://www.drheise.com/dental.htm

Check out what it says re composites. Doesn't sound so great eh? Mind you, I'd not go that far, plenty of people do fine, but I see the risks there and it's a concern for sure. I think I am quite glad I swapped to cerec!

anyway sorry this is off-topic, but just felt like posting that up for you to read. Let me know what you think of it.

Cheers <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />