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This is a list of questions that are often asked.
It will be expanded over time.
Hey I just visited www.New-Birth.com and was just wondering,
do you believe in demons? I mean fallen angels, cast down to earth
by God for their pride and rebellion. I was reading the stuff by
James Padgett, and if he's not just making all that stuff up, its
exactly the kind of stuff that demons masquerading as angels of
light would whisper in his ear. What do you think?
This is a good question, as it is important to understand who can
communicate. In fact any spirit can communicate, be they dark (devils
or demons) or light. And there are many spirits of light that do
communicate, and yet they are not possessed of all Truth. There
are also plenty of dark spirits, and they can be every bit as evil
as you might imagine.
Many folks seem to think that "demons" can communicate,
but not spirits of light? Surely that is illogical. It is really
very very easy to tell the difference. Just read the message. If
it is all about Love, and God, HOW can it be a demon? Remember they
accused Jesus of casting out devils using the power of the devil.
And he answered that the devil does not work against himself. That
advice is as good as it gets.
Dark spirits know nothing, and they certainly have no spiritual
knowledge. They are simply unable to communicate the knowledge that
was received by Padgett and Samuels and now the contemporary mediums.
So, no, demons CANNOT masquerade as angels.
In the specific case of Padgett, he was surrounded by a band of
angels, including his wife, his father and his grandmother. Dark
spirits cannot fool other spirits of light, and these angels kept
away spirits that they did not want to communicate. In fact James
Padgett actually communicated to a great number of dark spirits,
in this controlled fashion, and he was very successful in leading
many of them to God.
Finally, you will notice, if you read the messages, that Jesus,
his wife Helen, and many others exhorted Padgett to pray intensely.
Can you see the devil doing that? The "devil" exhorting
us to pray to God? It does not sound likely, does it? The purpose
of that prayer is to raise ones spirituality, and then you are surrounded
by angels of light, as they are attracted to you. This repels dark
spirits, and they cannot get near.
Finally the spirits that communicated knowledge to Padgett were
Celestials. These are at-one with God, and possess ONLY Truth. We
have received numerous messages telling us how to be able to identify
Celestials.
I have searched most of my life for the truth and still
continue searching. But one thing bothers me - when I was still
quite young, I renounced all organized religions. I observe they
are self-serving, political and otherwise, a business akin to any
other. For those reasons, I avoid them and even do not refer to
myself as a Christian (since so many calling themselves this, do
not act accordingly). Anyway, I am hesitant to involve myself in
the "new church". Although I admit that fellowship is
important, I also feel that my personal relationship with the Creator/Source
is just that - personal. I do not feel comfortable praying with
others either.
I guess I just wanted to share this with you. Please
do not be offended - I feel your intentions are heart-centered.
So keep the truth coming. :-)
It is true that organised religion has a poor track record. Funny
enough most of the followers of the Padgett Messages are intensely
independent. Very poor material for being organised, I will submit.
Just recently someone asked Jesus much the same question. His answer
was profound:
Jesus: "C____, you are the church. In your heart is the most
beautiful temple that you have constructed for this Love that you
feel from your Father. Sometimes we ask ourselves if we are good
enough, if we are worthy of this tremendous Love, this Gift that
we recognize in this Love God has offered to us. If you could only
imagine yourself as God sees you, the beautiful soul that you are,
the beautiful child that He sees before you that He loves with all
His Heart, it would put to shame any jewel, any treasure that you
might find here on earth. It would put to shame any monument that
has ever been built by man."
"You are the most beautiful creation of our Heavenly Father.
There is only one of you. You are precious, you are rare. And as
for the diversity of the races that you see on this planet, you
must realize that the soul is as diverse from another soul as are
the grains of sand and the stars in heaven. But what binds you?
You all have this common bond in Love to one another. You all need
love. You need to give love. You need to recognize in one another
this humanity that elevates you to the status of being the greatest
creations on this earth. We are one in the spirit of this Love.
We are one family."
In regards to your section on "mediumship",
since you say you are in touch with Jesus of Nazareth, I thought
you might be interested in some things his Father had to say about
mediums...
Leviticus 19:31 “Do not turn to mediums or wizards;
do not seek them out, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your
God.
Leviticus 20:6-7 “If a person turns to mediums
and wizards, playing the harlot after them, I will set my face against
that person, and will cut him off from among his people. 7 Consecrate
yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am the Lord your God.
II Kings 21:6 And he (Manasseh) burned his son as an
offering, and practiced soothsaying and augury, and dealt with mediums
and with wizards. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking
him to anger.
Isaiah 8:19 And when they say to you, “Consult
the mediums and the wizards who chirp and mutter,” should not
a people consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf
of the living?
Geoff ... I can tell that you are a sincere seeker
of truth, so please consider these words of Paul the apostle...
II Corinthians 11:3-4 But I am afraid that as the serpent
deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from
a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4 For if some one comes and
preaches another Jesus than the one we preached, or if you receive
a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a
different gospel from the one you accepted, you submit to it readily
enough.
Please make sure you have the right Jesus! Your eternal
salvation depends on it!!
Jeremiah 29:12-14 Then you will call upon me and come
and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me;
when you seek me with all your heart, 14 I will be found by you,
says the Lord
Well, this is serious question. It is obviously important to make
sure you know who you are talking to. But first to address these
Bible quotes.
Firstly, there are a large number from the old testament. It is
intriguing how orthodox Christians often quote the Old Testament,
yet typically they will tell you the Laws of Moses are no longer
valid, and they do not keep the Sabbath, abstain from pork, practice
circumcision etc. Of course we have, in the New Testament Galatians
(3:13)...'Christ brought us freedom from the curse of the Law'.
But, to return to the Old Testament, the quote above from Leviticus
19:31 is intriguingly not what I find in my Bible, one handed down
by my father. Here I find: "Regard not them that have familiar
spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am
the Lord your God." It would seem to me that this version of
the Bible has substituted the word familiar spirits for mediums?
I find the same situation in Lev 20:6, and II Kings 21:6, and Isaiah
8:19. In every case, this Bible quoted now uses the word "medium"
instead of "familiar spirit" The question is, what is
the meaning of a familiar spirit, if indeed we are still interested
in observing this Old Testament prohibition, since generally Christians
don't bother - just try Lev 20:23 or Lev 20:27.
It appears "a consulter with familiar spirits" (Isaiah
8:19) would appear to be a mistranslation of the original Hebrew
text, as is every other instance where "familiar spirit"
or "spirits" is used. According to Rev. Donald J. Bretherton,
B.D., in Life, Death and Psychical Research, this whole phrase is
represented in the original Hebrew by only two words..."Shoel
Ob". The word "Shoel" is derived from "Sha'al"
which means "consult" or "ask" and so the whole
passage translates as "one who asketh an Ob". "Ob"
itself cannot possibly be translated as "familiar spirit"
as the root idea of the word is "something hollow", its
original usage was in referring to any inanimate object of this
nature such as an empty bottle, or even a hole in the ground. Therefore,
it should go without saying, that when folks substitute the words
"familiar spirit" with "spirit medium" etc,
as they often do, then they are merely extending the original mistranslation
to further fantastic lengths.
What we would suggest, is reading this quotation from the New Testament
carefully: "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the
spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are
gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every
spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is
of God." I. John 4:1-2. This to our mind is in fact a recipe
for HOW to approach spirits, and discover if they are of God.
But we really have a far simpler answer to give the searching soul.
If our messages are to be believed, there exists a Divine Essence
we call Divine Love. If you pray to God for this to come into your
soul, you will feel it's presence, and over time your life will
change. Each of us has tried this, and found it to be true. There
is no other source of this information. Not a single Christian denomination
other than ours teaches this. And you can discover it's validity
for yourself. Since this is True, we have very little concern about
the identity of the spirits who communicated. And finally, we note
with interest this news article:
One of the most competent theologians of the Vatican, Father Gino
Concetti, writing in the "Osservatore Romano", the daily
paper of the Holy See, says that:
"According to the modern catechism the Church has decided
not to forbid anymore to dialogue with the deceased ... this is
as a sequel of new discoveries within the domain of the paranormal."
(November 1995)
I recently found a book where the angels answered this question,
taking a slightly different tack. I will now include that. The book
is called "The Elysian Way" and is quite fascinating for its use
of Bible quotes to support non-orthodox interpretations.
But before you go further will you allow me to ask for information
respecting one injunction which raises a difficulty in my mind
respecting this open communion, to which you are so clearly bringing
me?”
“What is it?”
“I refer to the command in Deuteronomy forbidding consultation
with familiar spirits as an abomination to the Lord.”
“The inquiry is most opportune, and we will at once consider
it. The prohibition is an enactment of the priests, and as such,
being of purely human origin, has no valid force when directed
against a natural phenomenon. It does not deny, but rather admits
the genuineness of the communion, or there would be no reason
to forbid it. It is not the only time in the history of religion
where priests have used the power of the state in a futile attempt
to crush the truth. The effort to put an end to this direct intercourse
with spiritual powers was a vital necessity to the existence of
the priest. Whenever priest and prophet clashed it was always
the latter who proved to be superior, and the former were only
able to maintain themselves by the support of the throne. So pronounced
had this fact become that the Temple authorities in Jerusalem
were at length driven to an acceptance of the prophetic principle,
and once a year the High Priest was supposed to directly consult
God by means of Urim and Thummim. But though the form of consultation
was observed, its spirit was absent, and there is no record of
any priestly success. I must not, however, leave this subject
without pointing out that by the possibility of this communion
being due to a natural law, access is given alike to high and
low intelligences to engage therein, the law of God, in this as
in every other instance, being without respect of persons. This
the prophets have seen and recognized from the first, and advisedly
laid down this rule concerning the intercourse: ‘When a prophet
speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor
come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken,
but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not
be afraid of him’ (Deut. xviii. 22). Such a law bears on its face
evidence of its emanation from the truth; it does not insist on
acceptance, immediate and unconditional, because declared even
by inspired lips, but with all the charity of reason seeks acceptance
when its verity has been established. It is the spiritual law
at one with the natural - ‘By their fruits ye shall know them’.
Its law works both ways, therefore in your intercourse with earth
let it be known without equivocation that whoever approaches this
intercourse will attract to themselves souls who are in close
sympathy with the lives they are living. What they who seek the
communion are, they who respond to the call will be. Those who
are good will attract the good, and the curious, the deceiver,
the hypocrite, the impure, the vicious and immoral will bring
themselves into association with characters who are in harmony
with their own natures. This law is inexorable, and there is no
evading it. Therefore let all who would enter into the enjoyment
of this divine privilege approach it with clean hands and pure
hearts, for only such have power to ascend the hill of the Lord,
where those are to be met with who know and are able to declare
the secrets of the kingdom.”
One thing that really riles me, is when folks profess
to be in possession of the "only Truth". To be the only path. What
do you say about that?
Well we are of like minds! And, funny enough, when questioned on
this very issue, Jesus answered
as follows:
Jesus: Yes, and I wish to say you can take the burden off
your shoulders that you are the only group that is responsible
for disseminating the truth of Divine Love. There are many groups
and individuals in this world who have sought with all their souls
and their aspirations to bring the truth to their brothers and
sisters in all parts of this planet. There are angels working
through mortals to bring the truth to those wanting souls, and
they will not do it just through the Padgett messages, but they
will do it through the love that is shown through their souls
and exemplifying that divine and Christ spirit that I manifested
while on earth. I wish to return again to the thought that it
does not matter too much, the physical, material, intellectual
manifestation that this love has in your lives, the importance
is the love that is manifested through your actions, through your
words.
Based on this, I went looking myself. Now you have to be very open
minded, to find other groups, because they do not have the same
concepts. In the end, I am guided by spirit to find these groups.
But I believe I have found four others, so far. All, of course English
speaking. Naturally there may be, indeed I would expect that there
would be very many more non-English speaking. In at least one of
these, the same concept of Divine Love is found, albeit with a fractionally
different variation on how to achieve it. In this case, folks are
told to go into "Stillness", which is a quiet time with
Father, and listen with the mind quietened. Then they are encouraged
to ask for His Love. This is a current revelation, and gives me
the confidence that what James Padgett was talking about is correct,
and current. This particular group is an off-shoot of the Urantia
followers, and I have also found much truth in that book.
What do you think about "The Da Vinci Code"?
Is there any possibility that Jesus may have married Mary Magdalene,
or had a child by her?
Well it's a great read as a novel! I have not yet seen the movie,
and unless the critics come out more favourably, it's possible I
won't bother. As for the subject of the book, the contention that
there is a bloodline from Jesus, that was also the theme of an earlier
book, "Holy Blood, Holy Grail" which I have also read.
That book is much more of an historical book, written by reseachers,
and is not a novel. It's sometimes quite hard going though. Neither
book convinced me, but I was amazed at the issues raised about the
"Last Supper" and I would agree it looks like Leonardo
Da Vinci also thought Mary Magdalene was at the very least, a disciple.
The Nag Hammadi gospels, dug up in the desert about 60 years ago,
assert that Jesus kissed Mary Magdalene on the lips, and the male
disciples were outraged. It also makes clear that Jesus treated
women as equals, because Mary Magdalene ate with them all, something
that did not happen in those times. But beyond that, I can't see
any historical "evidence" that it went any further.
Of course, Judas tells us that Mary Magdalene was a truly beautiful
woman, and also very smart, probably
smarter than any of the male disciples. That she loved Jesus
is also clear from what Mary Magdalene tells us. I must admit I
lean towards another channelled source as well, and there it tells
us that Jesus came here on a mission, and he was told to leave no
seed, and leave no writings either. Now we know he left no writings,
because if the shroud was saved, you could be sure anything he had
written down would have been saved too. I am not saying it is impossible
that the method of Jesus' incarnation would have resulted in him
having a soul mate, because we truly do not know anything about
how Jesus was incarnated. It's just that it seems unlikely to me.
Now was Jesus the sort of male who was an ascetic? Not from what
I can judge. I would think he liked a bottle of wine with his friends.
So would he scorn female company? I doubt it. But I do believe he
was totally committed to his spiritual mission, and I don't believe
for one minute he would have done anything he should not. It is
very clear he was in continuous communication with Father, and so
he always checked what was the right thing to do.
But, in order for Jesus to have married Mary Magdalene he had to
either not be crucified, or at the very least, have survived the
ordeal. That is the most logical conclusion, since the gospels make
no mention of this, and neither do any of the gnostic gospels. Alternatively
he would have had to have embarked on fatherhood during his 3 year
public ministry. That seems particularly foolhardy and very unlikely,
seeing as there is no mention of that. We have messages that indicate
he was crucified, and his being seen after death was the result
of his manifesting his spiritual power, and creating a different
spiritual body, similar to, but not identical to the mortal one
he died with. We are also told
his "original" body was destroyed, while wrapped in the
shroud. So I personally have no doubt Jesus did not survive
the crucifixion with his mortal body intact.
But in the final analysis, the Jesus that is presented in the Padgett
Messages would not be any the less a man, and spiritual teacher,
had he married Mary Magdalene. We do not need a man born of a virgin,
and untouched by life, as a spotless sacrifice. Indeed we don't
need Jesus to die at all in order for his teachings to make sense.
Thank God for that.
A little more insight into the Old Testament and its
apparent prohibition on consulting spirits. This is taken from a
book called "The
Life Elysian" which can be downloaded as a pdf. This was
recorded by Robert James Lees, and is a book of communications with
spirit, indeed a book entirely dictated by a spirit describing his
experiences in heaven. Now this very question was asked and answered
in that book, and I found the answer interesting, and a bit different
to the other answers on this page. As a bit of background, the spirit
who delivered the content of this book, made a study of a number
of things so that he could be properly educated before attempting
to write his book on heaven. His name is Aphraar. He is speaking
to a spirit called Rhamya, who is far more experienced in the matter
of interpreting the Bible.
“Now, it is no part of my purpose to ask you to believe that
all dreams are divine communications - I simply affirm that sleep
is a convenient and natural agent to be so employed, and also I
wish you to see in the records I have named the origin of the prophetic
gift in which we are now interested. Here is to be found another
link, this time uniting the natural and spiritual conditions and
available for the further carrying on of an unbroken system of evolution.
From this crude beginning the prophetic stream may be clearly traced
onward as the divinely appointed channel of revelation. ‘If
there be a prophet among you’, God is recorded to have said,
‘I, the Lord, will make myself known unto him in a vision,
and will speak unto him in a dream’ (Num. xii. 6). A little
later we find the prophet to be a man upon whom, in a normal condition,
the Spirit of the Lord descends and changes him ‘into another
man’ (I Sam. x. 6), compelling him to speak not his own words,
but as the Spirit shall give him utterance. Here, then, we find
the divine and living way by which God has ordained to make His
revelations to man, and in this prophetic line we shall presently
find the Christ of God.”
“Pardon my interrupting, but is not this descent of the Spirit
upon the prophet that which I have seen in Cushna’s overshadowing
of our own psychic?”
“Precisely; and if you have watched Cushna’s control
you will understand far better than by any explanation I might give.”
“I have not only watched,” I replied, “but have
been permitted to send a message back to earth. But before you go
further will you allow me to ask for information respecting one
injunction which raises a difficulty in my mind respecting this
open communion, to which you are so clearly bringing me?”
“What is it?”
“I refer to the command in Deuteronomy forbidding consultation
with familiar spirits as an abomination to the Lord.”
“The inquiry is most opportune, and we will at once consider
it. The prohibition is an enactment of the priests, and as such,
being of purely human origin, has no valid force when directed against
a natural phenomenon. It does not deny, but rather admits the genuineness
of the communion, or there would be no reason to forbid it. It is
not the only time in the history of religion where priests have
used the power of the state in a futile attempt to crush the truth.
The effort to put an end to this direct intercourse with spiritual
powers was a vital necessity to the existence of the priest. Whenever
priest and prophet clashed it was always the latter who proved to
be superior, and the former were only able to maintain themselves
by the support of the throne. So pronounced had this fact become
that the Temple authorities in Jerusalem were at length driven to
an acceptance of the prophetic principle, and once a year the High
Priest was supposed to directly consult God by means of Urim and
Thummim. But though the form of consultation was observed, its spirit
was absent, and there is no record of any priestly success. I must
not, however, leave this subject without pointing out that by the
possibility of this communion being due to a natural law, access
is given alike to high and low intelligences to engage therein,
the law of God, in this as in every other instance, being without
respect of persons. This the prophets have seen and recognized from
the first, and advisedly laid down this rule concerning the intercourse:
‘When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing
follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath
not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou
shalt not be afraid of him’ (Deut. xviii. 22). Such a law bears
on its face evidence of its emanation from the truth; it does not
insist on acceptance, immediate and unconditional, because declared
even by inspired lips, but with all the charity of reason seeks
acceptance when its verity has been established. It is the spiritual
law at one with the natural - ‘By their fruits ye shall know
them’. Its law works both ways, therefore in your intercourse
with earth let it be known without equivocation that whoever approaches
this intercourse will attract to themselves souls who are in close
sympathy with the lives they are living. What they who seek the
communion are, they who respond to the call will be. Those who are
good will attract the good, and the curious, the deceiver, the hypocrite,
the impure, the vicious and immoral will bring themselves into association
with characters who are in harmony with their own natures. This
law is inexorable, and there is no evading it. Therefore let all
who would enter into the enjoyment of this divine privilege approach
it with clean hands and pure hearts, for only such have power to
ascend the hill of the Lord, where those are to be met with who
know and are able to declare the secrets of the kingdom.”
“I thank you for your caution,” I answered; “I have
been with Ladas through the sphere of his work, where I have seen
this law of attraction in active operation, so I am not likely to
forget.”
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