{"id":55689,"date":"2007-11-11T20:19:00","date_gmt":"2007-11-12T02:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=55689"},"modified":"2024-12-13T13:48:48","modified_gmt":"2024-12-13T19:48:48","slug":"consulting-mediums","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/consulting-mediums\/","title":{"rendered":"Consulting Mediums"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\tby Sam Stinson\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;<em>When they say to you, &#8216;Consult the mediums and the spiritists who whisper and mutter,&#8217; should not a people consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living?<\/em>&#8221; (Isaiah 8:19)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/ouiji.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"131\" height=\"92\" \/>Dear friend, are you a Christian? Many people in the world do not identify themselves as Christian for various reasons: perhaps they simply do not believe that there is a God, or perhaps they have seen the bad example of those claiming to be Christian but who act in ways that they should not have been, or perhaps they have had bad experiences in life that they say are God&#8217;s fault &#8211;such as losing a job in this economy It is for this last reason that I&#8217;d like to talk with you a moment.<\/p>\n<p>If you are not a Christian, I hope you will consider becoming one by believing the truth about Jesus Christ, God&#8217;s Son, and obeying what he wants you to do. Don&#8217;t let these reasons try to persuade us to not do what the Lord would have each of us do. Regarding the economy, I&#8217;d like for you to consider a recent news story with me about how more and more people are turning to supernatural means of finding out information to help themselves in this lifetime, &#8220;Fortune-tellers, tarot card readers and psychics are reporting an uptick in business during the current economic downturn as people look for guidance, employment advice, and a window into their personal economic future.&#8221; [<a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20091108095205\/http:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/story\/0,2933,572246,00.html?test=latestnews\">Fox News<\/a>]<\/p>\n<p>Friend, why do you suppose so many people are turning to these people? Even before I became a Christian, I stopped believing in these people who say they are psychics and the others in what they claim &#8212; especially after the Psychic Friend&#8217;s Network went bankrupt &#8212; really, how could they not have seen that coming? As a Christian, I accept that the only place I can find my purpose in life is in God&#8217;s word, the Bible. The Bible tells me that these other sources are not worthy of our attention because behind them, there is nothing real, but behind God&#8217;s word is God himself.<\/p>\n<p>If you&#8217;ve lost your job due to the economy, your desire to know what to do next is probably strong. Please don&#8217;t give in to despair. Please don&#8217;t be tricked by charlatans. I invite you to consider using this as an opportunity to learn about the Lord God and what he would have you do. Many Christians have lost their jobs, but they cling to God through his son Jesus Christ and continue to study his word for encouragement in these troubling times. If you believe God exists and Jesus is his Son who died for our sins, there is hope that goes beyond this crisis. You can have that same real encouragement. Sometimes, it takes something bad like this in life to get our attention and to get us to cling to what really matters. Consult the Living God.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Sam Stinson &#8220;When they say to you, &#8216;Consult the mediums and the spiritists who whisper and mutter,&#8217; should not a people consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living?&#8221; (Isaiah 8:19) Dear friend, are you a Christian? Many people in the world do not identify themselves as Christian for&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[604],"class_list":["post-55689","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-witchcraft"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":15213,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/witchcraft-isnt-evil-i-dont-believe-in-evil-it-depends-on-each-individual\/","url_meta":{"origin":55689,"position":0},"title":"Witchcraft isn&#8217;t evil. I don&#8217;t believe in evil. It depends on each individual","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 3, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I just have a comment. Please don't misunderstand. Witchcraft is like a secret. It is no different than other religions. Nothing bad about it. But don't confuse witchcraft with people's intentions, which could be good or bad. Look at all the corrupt people, all of them believe in some\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":68100,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-there-qualifications-for-who-performs-baptisms\/","url_meta":{"origin":55689,"position":1},"title":"Are there qualifications for who performs baptisms?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 16, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Dear Minister, May I ask for further clarification? You stated, \"There is nothing in the Scriptures listing out a requirement on those doing the baptism\" in the article \"What is successionist baptism?\" My query is, when Matthew 28:19 says, \"Go and make disciples,... baptizing them..\" doesn't it imply that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":48158,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-not-love-the-world\/","url_meta":{"origin":55689,"position":2},"title":"Do Not Love the World","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 31, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"by Dennis Stackhouse The fact that Christian people are to be different from those who do not follow Christ, is clearly stated for us in I John 2:15-17: \"Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":36979,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-a-sin-to-take-medicine-to-consult-a-doctor\/","url_meta":{"origin":55689,"position":3},"title":"Is It a Sin to Take Medicine? &#8212; to Consult a Doctor?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 28, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"by Bill Crews via\u00a0Guardian of Truth XXXV: 11, pp. 321, 343-344, June 6, 1991 Some churches have been in the news lately. These are those who take the position that to treat our physical illnesses in any other way than faith in God and prayer to God is wrong and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/medical-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":28649,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-thayers-greek-lexicon-bad\/","url_meta":{"origin":55689,"position":4},"title":"Is Thayer&#8217;s Greek Lexicon bad?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 29, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I was just in a conversation with a person who quoted you as saying that you think that Thayer's Greek Lexicon is a false interpretation of the Greek language.\u00a0 Is this true?\u00a0 If so, what interpreters of the Greek language do you consult with, or do you have enough\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":54545,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-should-i-say-when-i-hear-someone-give-bad-advice\/","url_meta":{"origin":55689,"position":5},"title":"What should I say when I hear someone give bad advice?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 10, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hey Jeffrey, What is the balance between expecting the world to just act like the world and take a stand? Like I know a guy who claims to be a Christian. He was giving advice about going through divorce to someone else and he said \"getting a rebound chick\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55689","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55689"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55689\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}