In his book The Unexpected Journey, Thom Rainer shares the story of Kathi, a woman who left behind a life of witchcraft and Wiccan paganism to become a follower of Jesus Christ. Immediately after her decision to become a Christian, she describes to Thom how God delivered her from the powers of evil in her life, as well as her physical deafness (Kathi had been suffering progressive hearing loss for ...

Now and Then, with Melanie Griffith and Demi Moore, is a coming-of-age movie of four girlfriends who reunite as adults and reminisce about an eventful summer in their lives 20 years ago when they were all about 12. For part of their summer, they became curious about the tombstone of a murdered 12-year-old boy and conducted séances in the cemetery to try to communicate with the boy. The scene begins ...

Belief in several paranormal experiences has increased significantly in the last 11 years:

Psychic or spiritual healing: 46 percent believed in this in 1990; 54 percent believed in this in 2001 Houses can be haunted: 29 percent in 1990; 42 percent in 2001 Ghosts: 25 percent in 1990; 38 percent in 2001 The power of the mind to know the past and predict the future: 23 percent in 1990; 32 percent in ...

Ethiopian Negussie Tameru was a gun-wielding bandit at the age of 18. Eventually he killed someone and spent six years in prison. Once set free, he went back to his life of crime till local police took his gun away.

Left hopeless and without a means to support himself, Negussie took a job at the local Baptist mission as a guard. But no one trusted him. Locals told the missionaries that if they hired ...

Simon Magus

First Century A.D.

Simon Magus set the precedent for the misuse of money that has plagued the Church for two millennia. His practice of sorcery in Samaria was upstaged by the miracles accompanying the preaching and baptisms of Philip the Evangelist. When Peter and John arrived, they placed their hands on the new converts, and Simon witnessed the power of the Holy Spirit.

"Give me this ability!" ...

Percentage of Americans who admit they have changed their behavior or plans on the basis of an astrology report: 7

(Seven percent of the population represents as many as 12 million adults.)

In the middle ages, the flickering lights of marsh gas were to many people fairies or goblins; fireflies were the souls of unbaptized dead infants. Many thought sorcerers and ghosts manipulated human lives. Astrology was used to explain things. For example, the University of Paris concluded that the bubonic plague of 1340s-50s was due to the conjunction of Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars.