Do you know your neighbors?

[MarkD]

My wife just found out the other day that our neighbor two doors down communicates with the dead.

:jaw

And to top it all off, this same neighbor is in a dispute with her neighbor (that would be three doors down from us) because he is into practicing the "dark arts". Yes, she feels that her "gift" is of the white magic variety.

:jaw :jaw

My wife always had a "weird feeling" (talk about discernment!) about this neighbor, but the full scope of that weirdness is only now coming to light.

Anyway - we've been living there for 5 years now, and our neighbor has been living there probably about 4 years now. The neighbor three doors down (the "dark arts" guy) has been there at least two years. My wife also had a bad feeling about this guy (she does have a gift of discernment concerning people - much more than I do).

My wife witnessed to the "necromancer" (what else are we going to call her?) to the extent that she told her that she believes that Jesus is her personal Lord and Saviour.

Get this, the necromancer tells my wife that she talks to Jesus every morning. That is, she verbally hears Jesus and talks to him. She also communicates with the dead and uses her "gift" to counsel people who have just lost loved ones. She also tells my wife that my wife only believes what she does because she was brought up that way.

I haven't talked to the necromancer about any of this, and to be honest, I really don't know what I would say right now.

I know it's wrong, and not of God (like, duh!), but how do I discuss this matter?

Any suggestions or recommendations would be appreciated.

Also, any and all prayers would definitely be appreciated!

[Jade]

Perhaps discuss scriptures that address the necromancer's "gifts" of speaking with the dead, how Satan can disguise himself etc.

Other than that, prayer is the only thing you can do.

[chris_h]

I must sound like a broken record when it comes to this, but...

Ask her if she's kept the Ten Commandments. If she says yes, go through them and use the words of Jesus to show her sin and need for a Savior. I would recommend Commandments 7 (adultery), 8 (stealing), and 9 (lying).

Do the lying first, so if she says that she hasn't broken any of the others, then you can say, "How can I believe you? You've admitted that you're a liar!"

[MarkD]

Well, one of the difficulties here is that she has told my wife that she does not believe in the bible - that it was written by fallible men and not by God.

So this has shut down (at least temporarily) my most effective avenue of dialogue.

The problem, Chris, is that she does not believe she is lying. As to the adultery or stealing, I don't know.

[chris_h]

Originally posted by MarkD
Well, one of the difficulties here is that she has told my wife that she does not believe in the bible - that it was written by fallible men and not by God.

So this has shut down (at least temporarily) my most effective avenue of dialogue.

The problem, Chris, is that she does not believe she is lying. As to the adultery or stealing, I don't know.
Show through simple logic that falsifying statements is lying.

Also, use prophecies for proof of the supernatural qualities of the Bible.

[annie10]

When I was in the occult I had a friend like this.

She said she spoke to Mary, Jesus and many others. She also spoke to the dead.

These people can be so dellusional, that even showing them Jesus as savior may not get you anywhere. Prayer maybe the only way.

Oh!! and this woman also read her Bible, but never sought the Holy Spirit for understanding. So she quoted the Bible quite well.

It could be an extremly hard task unless God brings her to Himself. But I would still plant The seed. You just never know!! :): God works in mysterious ways!!!!! :D:

[KrispyKritter]

2 of our neighbor families are Catholic... and 1 neighbor family is Mormon ...

...and then there is us.

[Hyssop]

You know what is both interesting and strange to me? That many of those sorts of people are very intelligent and can memorize and quote (and mis-quote scripture) like the devil himself. BTW I said intelligent, not wise...

I think that using the Bible in these cases is not always the best thing, unless you are ready to battle and can back it up with your own memorization and apolgetics skills.

Pray for wisdom and gird up before you start. Pray for power over the enemy, sounds like his hooks are in pretty deep. Having both of you together (or you and a strong Christian friend) when you do start a discussion is a good idea.

How about Josh McDowell's book Evidence That Demands A Verdict
for ideas? I have both 1 and 2 in storage. (I'll mail them out, PM me if interested.)

Obviously love is the most powerful witness & prayer the most powerful tool. I have a hard time not getting emotional when dealing with that type of person.

Our neighbors basically seem like an unsaved bunch- that we have not even witnessed to :redface

Our old neighbor was a BIG Benny Hinn fan :tape She made really good homemade bread ~ she was like a little Betty Crocker walking the earth~

Hyssop

[AlishaGail]

You know... we have a habit of asking "How can they believe such garbage???"

From my time with the occult, I know that satan does have 'powers'... just enough to put enough so-called truth into things like this that they believe that they are doing the only logical thing. Think about it... we are Christians (Bible-believing Christians I should add, since this woman also believes she's a Christian) because we have all felt the power and TRUTH of Christ. We are to believe in faith, and much of our lives spent in following CHrist IS based in faith, He doesnt' come around daily to perform miracles for us so we'll continue on in belief. Yet at some point, we have felt Him so near that it's impossible to believe in anything else.

People like this haven't felt His power like that. They have had experience with another sort of power, and don't know yet that it's so weak in comparison with Christ. Yet they know no different. That's why they believe, and why they believe further that they are the ones who are doing the right thing.

I agree with the poster above who said that perhaps prayer is the best and only way to get thru to these people. That and living such an example that they can't help but to see the power of Christ behind you. :):

Lisha

[RJs here]

Interesting that even hell-bound cultists "BELIEVE" in Jesus.


What *MATTERS* is that a person believes *THE TRUTH* about Jesus!!


and obviously, this lady does not.


My suggestion: let the HS guide both you and your wife!!

Perhaps witness to her, as the HS leads. But if the lady is unaccepting -- then kick the dust off your feet and MOVE ON!!


And do not invite her into your house {this is my take on the Scripture ~ since she is not a believer} but merely meet w/her outside.


*BE CAREFUL* about HER influence on YOU GUYS!! I know we think (hope) we're strong and well-girded in our armor. However, there's that other Scripture about how BAD CORRUPTS GOOD ~ instead of the other way around.


I'll be glad to list specific Scriptures, as mentioned, for you tomorrow ~ if you want.

:wave