According to traditional belief, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal, taken to be capable of appearing in visible form or otherwise manifesting itself to the living.
Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely:
The mode of manifestation can range from an invisible presence to translucent or wispy shapes,
to realistic, life-like visions.
The deliberate attempt to contact the spirit of a deceased person
is known as necromancy, or in spiritism as a séance. It is also forbidden in God's Word to do so.
The belief in manifestations of the spirits of the dead is widespread,
dating back to animism or ancestor worship in pre-literate cultures.
Certain religious practices—funeral rites, exorcisms, and some practices of spiritualism and ritual magic—are specifically designed to appease the spirits of the dead.
Ghosts are generally described as solitary essences which haunt particular locations,
objects, or people with which they were associated in life,
though stories of phantom armies, ghost trains, phantom ships,
and even ghost animals have also been recounted.
Our family loves to have a huge Bonfire and
tell scarey Ghost stories in the cooler autumn months.
We have done so since the beginning of our marriage
(even before that, at campouts, etc before we knew each other.
But we make it clear that this is just in fun, that the stories are make-believe,
and that souls are not permitted to roam about after death, that they go to Hades, or the place of the dead who are waiting for the Final Return of Jesus Christ to earth.
Jesus promised to eventually return in order to gather up or "rapture" His believers.
Some might wonder what the signs of His coming would be.
Jesus tells us in Matthew 24:36: "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." Here, He makes it clear that no one will know exactly when He will return. I believe this to literally mean that even people who guess, or try to pinpoint a time and/or day, will be wrong. Jesus is telling us straight, that "no one" will ever guess it correctly. But are we able to approximately determine the time?
The Bible says that we can "know the season" of Jesus' return to earth. Prior to His return, there will be events or "signs" that will signal that His Return is going to happen very soon. Let's look at them.
Matthew 24:5: "For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ (or Messiah),' and will deceive many."
Infamous names such as James Warren "Jim" Jones (May 13, 1931 - November 18, 1978) of the Guyana tragedy and David Koresh (August 17, 1959 - April 19, 1993) of the Branch Davidians, Waco, Texas siege, immediately spring to mind. Both of these men claimed to be Jesus and attracted a significant number of followers.Others such as Klaus Kinski, Michael Travesser, Marshall Applewhite (of the "Heaven's Gate cult) and Sergei Torop, also believed themselves to be Jesus or some form of re-incarnated Jesus.
Matthew 24:6: "You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come." Since it seems that man is always going to be making war, Jesus wants us to understand that war alone is not a sign by itself. Many people felt that both World War I and World War II were going to usher in the return of Christ. Horrible as they were though, many other signs had yet to be fulfilled.
Matthew 24:7-8: "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains." Jesus goes no to reiterate that many nations will be fighting, in some form or another when the return occurs. An interesting note here is that Jesus compares all of the signs above, to birth pains. In the birth process, labor pains are typically mild and widely spaced at first, but as the birth draws near, the pains get more intense and closer together. Although there have always been wars, famines and earthquakes, if one were to compare the frequency or number of these events that have occurred in the last five years versus twenty years ago, it would be noticed that they have increased significantly. A web site called "Rapture Ready," keeps an "index" of end time signs and assigns them a numerical value based on events occurring within that category. The site's webmaster, Todd Strandberg, points out, anything above 145 is considered to be "fasten your seatbelts", or more plainly, the Lord may return at any moment.
Matthew 24:9: "Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me." To say that Christians are "liked", outside of the Christian community, is somewhat of a stretch. The majority of people, worldwide, find Christians to be, at best, obstructionist and at worst, bigots, intolerant elitist and hypocrites. In many countries of the world, being a Christian is frowned on by the government, and in some places, downright illegal. Christians are routinely jailed in countries like China and Saudi Arabia. In many places, Christians loose their lives, as the local government either endorses or ignores their persecution. The Voice of the Martyrs web site has numerous articles and a list of almost 40 individuals who have been jailed for professing a faith in Jesus Christ. Thousands of Christians have been put to death, world wide, over the last five years alone.
Matthew 24:10-11: "At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people." Many "Christians" have found it more easier to "pick and choose" what portions of the Bible they believe, so that they can avoid conflict with society on difficult issues. We need to know our bible so well that we do not fall into such a trap.
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