crossing over anyone watched this show with the psychic? i used to find it pretty interesting...after all its dealing with the paranormal. but this gave me the creeps *shudder* read up... �Crossing Over� with John Edwards I�ve been watching the show "Crossing Over" with John Edward (I�ll be discussing this show in depth shortly). I don�t suggest anyone to watch this program who hasn�t been a true Christian for at least 5 years. I�ll explain why I say this a little later on this page. I first inadvertently turned this show on a few months ago. It caught my interest as I study cults and the occult quite frequently in order to more effectively witness to those involved in it. I�ve been studying apologetics (the art of defending The Faith) for 15 years. Apologetics are highly important as when you study other faiths and beliefs you become better equipped to defend your own convictions. Does this mean that every Believer should rush out and start studying various religions? No, it doesn�t. Before you study any other belief system you first need to have a firm Biblical foundation. Why�s that? Because the Devil is very tricky and if you go out there without knowing what you�re doing- Satan will gobble you up and spit you out. You wont be any good to us if you become a casualty. However, if you�ve been saved for a lengthy time AND have a good base in Bible, we need you. But here are some guidelines for those of you. Never read, study, listen to or watch anything of this kind when you are tired or your awareness is anything but at its height. This means don�t read the book of Mormon or the Jehovah�s witnesses �New World Translation� when you�re in bed getting ready to sleep. If you have a cold and are taking cold medicines etc� don�t watch �Crossing Over�. When you�re on the phone, don�t have such programs on in the background or if your children are in the room or in earshot of hearing the TV. If there are sentences or phrases being heard without you being able to digest (take captive) turn it off and review. Think of it this way, act as if you were doing something that your life depended on and needed your complete and full attention. That�s exactly how I approach it. For 2 weeks solid I�ve been studying �Crossing Over�. I turn off the computer and if the phone rings, I turn off the TV and take the call. If the call was something important and I am still thinking over the conversation� I don�t turn the TV back on until it�s been resolved. Seems extreme? I�m sure it does. But here�s why I do it this way. When I�m tired there are things (ideas, philosophies, theologies, thoughts etc.) that can slip by me. I�ve seen this at play in friends and relatives of mine. Here�s an example. I saw a movie with a friend of mine recently, it wasn�t a bad movie as such but it did have a message that was liberal in tone. It was subtle but definitely there. We didn�t talk much about the movie afterward but a few days later I was with that same friend and I heard him say something, which I knew right away, was from that movie. I asked him, �Where did you get that idea?� He told me he didn�t know. Well, I knew. It was from that movie. We talked over his statement for a bit and after discussing what it meant he soon admitted to me that what he had just said isn�t really what he believes in his heart even though he said it as if it was a true statement. I�ve been aware of this phenomenon for many years but I used it as an opportunity to explain to my friend how things can be implanted in our subconscious without our even knowing it. Now I don�t get off into all this subliminal stuff like records being played backwards and so forth. But there is no doubt that our minds can be shaped by what we hear and see. Especially by TV and movies when our guards are down. Paul was very well aware that thoughts could slip by us without our knowing and this is why he said, �Take every thought captive�. When we are tired or on medication, these are prime times when we don�t take every thought captive and the Devil can slip in some untruth which he hopes will grow in it�s incubation. Now as for Crossing Over with John Edward. There are psychics, palm readers, mediums, card readers and those who practice different forms of witchcraft. I�ll say this� over 90 percent of them are fakes. I�ve toured to some of the worst places in the world and the US where Satanism and its likes abound. I�ve seen the real thing and have prayed demons out of those who they possessed. It is possible that John Edward is a phony, but I don�t think so. Here�s why I�ve come to this belief. We first have to understand how the Devil and demons work. The Enemy and his forces cannot read minds. We might think they can but it�s an impossibility. Let me give you an example of why it seems that they can. On Crossing over there was a �reading� that was done where John Edward told the women he was �reading� something that she said only she had thought and had never told anyone. If this is truly above board and not setup by the �Crossing Over crew� and we take it as something that actually occurred, how did this happen? Simple. Let me give a hypothesis in where this could happen. My grandpa on my mother�s side died a few years ago, he wasn�t saved that we know of. There are times that I take out an heirloom, which he gave to me (it�s a type of American Indian sweater) and I think about the good times we had while he was alive. He was a good grandfather and I loved him dearly. When I take out this heirloom I am usually alone. Once when I took this heirloom out, I had trouble getting it back into the box that I keep it in. No big deal I was able to get it in but even though I was alone, I wasn�t really alone. I never am and neither are you. Demons are always watching. And no doubt a demon saw me taking out this sweater and having trouble putting it back in the box. Now, if I was one who was believed in communicating with the dead and I came into contact with a medium who truly did speak with demons he could easily receive information as such. MEDIUM �I feel an energy coming forward. Do you have a grandfather who has passed?� MYSELF �Yes.� MEDIUM Did he have an old sweater that he really loved?� �MYSELF� Yes, it was given to me as a keepsake� MEDIUM �He had a good sense of humor because he�s telling me to tease you that you�re a bit of a klutz cause you couldn�t even get that sweater back in a box. Does this make sense to you?� �MYSELF� That�s funny because I did in fact have trouble getting that sweater in the box I keep it in� MEDIUM �So you can validate this?� MYSELF �Yes, yes I can� MEDIUM �He�s pulling back his energy now. Thank you very much. MYSELF Thank you If you�ve watched �Crossing Over� you�d find this is typical language which would be used by John Edwards. This example of course never happened but it is what is happening on this show. And here�s how. First, the dead cannot come back. The Scriptures are clear on that. But demons have observed everything in the person�s life who is being �read�. They impersonate the person is has died and speak and show things to the medium. Again, the overwhelming majority of these �seers� are fakes and use information obtained through the persons garbage or from their own detective work. Others are simply guessing and give generalities that could apply to almost anyone. If they are real mediums they are actually seeing and hearing from demons, as I believe John Edwards does. Why do I believe this? A lot of it is in the language and watching his movements and how he operates and comparing it to how a demon would go about doing such an exercise. When John says, �an energy is stepping forward� this is a demon allowing himself to be seen by Mr. Edward. The demon will at times appear standing next to the person being read. It speaks to John and tells things that would cause the one being read to believe that it was in fact the person who had died. The participants who allow this reading in his forum are not saved. How do I know that? Because a demon wouldn�t be allowed to stand that close to a Believer. This is in the case when John Edwards sees the demon standing next to the individual. A demon could still impersonate someone who has died to a Believer, but not allowed to stand next to them as there is already an Angel of God occupying that space (I�ll explain shortly how Believers in Yeshua can still be told things by mediums). Mr. Edward is then given information (by the demon) on the individual that could come across as being seen by the dead loved one or friend. Edward will often times ask the person to validate it. Why is that important? Because the Devil and his cohorts love to be validated. It gives them a sense of power and recognition. Now how does it work if you�re saved? Can a medium tell you things that are being conveyed to him by a Satanic force? Yes, he certainly can. First of all a Believer can make a mistake and walk into a parlor where readings are being done. Does the person lose his salvation if he/her does such a thing? No, but he/her is committing a sin. The Bible commands us not to deal with witches or seers. To do so is a sin and thus leaves one open to trickery of the Enemy and takes us out of the protection of God. The demon who has been observing this individual is then free to convey anything it has observed to the seer. This isn�t the only way this can happen. One may never step foot in such an establishment and yet the demons still call out to them or �say� things to him/her either with or without a medium. We have accounts of such happenings in the Scriptures themselves. So, in conclusion: I am convinced without a reasonable doubt (not 100% but close) that John Edwards is truly speaking with demons. I come to that conclusion by noting that this is how such a union would manifest itself and using my own God given ability of discernment. We know if he is indeed seeing spirits, it could be only demons as the Scripture tells us that the dead can�t return (The story of the Rich man and Lazarus tells us that no one can return as a spirit after death). And I further conclude that this is only something to be researched by elders of the church or those who have a solid Bible background. Blessings in Yeshua the Messiah, Rabbi Stanley Chester