Attending a Pagan Conference

[~~ angelique ~~]

I hope I can be honest with you..

This is the kind of conference I think I would still love to attend as I have studied many of the topics that will be taught.... See my H E L P post in the prayer section as I have a hard time seeing why some of this is bad or wrong which is what is causing me such turmoil right now.......

After going to the site that I found, I would think the history may be more of a history of the magick topics that are being taught at the event. Somehow, my gut tells me that this is not what you think it is.

If you are going to show them the love of God then great. But, I would suggest that you PM patricia1 for more as she offered.

[eric]

Hi David,

Reading though a previous post of yours, up until before Christmas, you didn't even know what bible to buy, so I don'tthink you are strong enough in the Lord to know what you are letting yourself in for if you attend this conference.

Are you a blood covered, holy spirit filled, born again christian. who has received Christ into your heart as your Lord and Saviour, Just becoming religious is not enough protection againt the wiles of pagans and their ilk. Listen to what the saints are telling you to do in brotherly love, because they are words of wisdom.

[MeCajunboy]

Hello all, as some of you may know my sister is a pagan, and also being vaguely competent has been co-opted into organising the Pagan Federation conference for this area, a number of years on the trot. Since I got all religious, she suggested I should attend, if for no other reason than they have historians who talk at the conference and this is an interest of mine. I get in cheap while I'm unemployed, and she assures me I won't even get lynched for being Christian. As long as I don't try to build any bonfires and cook any of them, anyway.

So, my brothers and sisters, my questions are these: what steps should I take to protect myself when surrounded by so many pagans? Obviously I'm not going to be taken in by their superstitions, but I rather suspect there will be dangers there I'll never even see. I'd appreciate any general comments the faithful can make, aside from the obvious "don't go, they're evil!"

Then you don't want to hear from me! Because that's exactly what I would recommend to someone who feels that the got "all religious" lately. Until you are sure in you heart and mind that this will not affect your relationship with God and fellowman....DON'T GO! Let me ask another way...........Why do you feel compelled to Go? If you know the LORD's word on this type of function, there should be no need for discussion. This is much like me saying, "I'd like to attend a convention of Gay,Lesbian Conference just to see what they do there and talk about. I'd be doing it in the name of God! I guess this is all to say, It would depend on the reasoning behind it. If your fellowship took you into this field where you'd be testifying to these lost souls, I might even could understand.

[irishcowboy]

David, please do not mis understand what I was saying,

your sister ( in her self ) is not the enemy, the spirit that surrounds her is.... paganism is not of God....

we are told that we are not to fellowship with those that are not of God, this does not mean we are to turn our backs on them, but it means we are not to partake of their events as such.

do you recall that Christ even said in the direction of Peter.... GET YE BEHIND ME SATAN..... he was not calling Peter satan, it was the spirit in which peter spoke and acted..... this does not by any means suggest that Peter became satan or lost his soul to satan.....

Psalms 1:1 Blessed [is] the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

there is a difference between loving thy neighbor and partaking in his pagan (ungodly, non Judao/Christian) worship, or practices...I love my neighbor and pray for him regularly, he is not a man i would break bread with, nor do I really enjoy his company, I pray for him, I talk with him, I am kind to him, and I do not condemn him, if he asks me a question, I give him a straight answer, and he respects that as I respect him giving a straight answer to questions.... we have in the past had major difficulties, just cause I love him (agape, through Christ) does not mean i have to sit in his house, nor does it mean i need to experience his life style ( if I did, it would endanger my witness, that of living an upright and BLAMELESS life....)

Blameless does not mean innocent, it means that people can not point fingers at what I do, or can talk about my life style..

you do not hear of Billy Graham frequenting places where there are people that are not looking for him... they know when and where he will be, you do not hear of him falling by the wayside either, for he is living an upright and BLAMELESS life....

he has not made the news for doing things that are not correct.... he does not give the media a chance.... he does not do things that are questionable, that might hinder his witness...... the same goes for David Wilkerson and many many others..

if you allow yourself to be in the company of those that are ungodly, you will find it easier to do so in the future..... and soon you will no longer be worshipping God, but will be questioning His Word and ultimate Authority.....

The Word of God has all that you need in it to answer your questions about even going to this event......

you have been given some very sound advice, you asked and you have received. I will not tell you not to go, i am advising you that you should not go..... the choice is yours....

personally, even though I have been in massive spiritual combat, and so has my wife, I would ver away from places such as these, it is only asking for problems... you have no idea what you will bring home with you also.....

Mark 9:17 - 29

And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit;

And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not. He answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me. And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming.

Mar 9:21 And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child. And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us. Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things [are] possible to him that believeth. And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief. When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, [Thou] dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him. And [the spirit] cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead. But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up; and he arose. And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could not we cast him out?

And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.

the following verse should help you make your choice.....

Deu 6:14 Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which [are] round about you;

go ahead and look up and read the rest of the chapter.... you may find it very enlightening... read the rest of the book as well....

something to remember, if you are going into combat, are you prepared? have you counted the cost? do you know the outcome? have you been properly trained? are you thinking you will be converting all those there???? there are a lot of questions (RED FLAGS) you have not answered or talked about here..... too many for me to go and list them all and say to you GO..... I suggest you do not go..... and you can even use the Word of God to explain it to your precious sister if you like, this would be the best way......

mike

[sharonvinchrist]

Hello all, as some of you may know my sister is a pagan, and also being vaguely competent has been co-opted into organising the Pagan Federation conference for this area, a number of years on the trot. Since I got all religious, she suggested I should attend, if for no other reason than they have historians who talk at the conference and this is an interest of mine. I get in cheap while I'm unemployed, and she assures me I won't even get lynched for being Christian. As long as I don't try to build any bonfires and cook any of them, anyway.

So, my brothers and sisters, my questions are these: what steps should I take to protect myself when surrounded by so many pagans? Obviously I'm not going to be taken in by their superstitions, but I rather suspect there will be dangers there I'll never even see. I'd appreciate any general comments the faithful can make, aside from the obvious "don't go, they're evil!"

[the_interactionist]

Hi, David.

I had been a solitary Pagan for several years up until recently (about 2 months ago). I began my journey from Christianity to Paganism, then finally back to Christianity.

I got started on the pagan path by my uncle, who I actually use to try to convert to Christianity when I was in high school. I always believed I knew God's Word far better than he did and that my faith was unshakable in the Lord.

I found out later, I was wrong. I was easily influenced by paganism and got heavily involved in it and became a solitary pagan, who typically practices on his or her own terms, and doesn't belong to a coven. I had once organized a local Meetup group for pagans in my county and surrounding counties and joined a group of polyamorists as well. I was practicing magick and still trying to stuff my Christian values into the whole mix (because in paganism, you can sort of "create" your own religion) by choosing the term Christopagan, which is a Pagan who believes in the earth-centered idealisms and values of paganism, as well as its magickal practices, Etc. - but also values the teachings of Christ, but typically neglects the rest of the Bible. This is pretty much how I was. I believed in Christ as a prophet of God, not as God in the flesh, and highly valued His teachings and wisdom. But I didn't believe that he was the only way, truth, and light.

I, too, am very interested in history, especially history that has scientific evidence to back it up, and I love learning the history behind religions. I was pretty easily persuaded by the accounts of pagan history, many of which are very accurate and true; however, pagan's who use history to avail the legitamacy or respectibility of Christianity aren't really trustworthy because they typically try using it to deface the morality of Christianity's history and how this animousity is evident even in modern religious/ Christian zealots, which was an argument I used myself, both to convey to other Christians why I disagreed with them and to rationalize why I chose the pagan path, who were more peaceful than some of their historical Christian counterparts.

But it was history, anthropology, archeaology, and cellular biology that caused me to travel away from the Christian path and onto the pagan path. Yes, surprisingly, it was God's will I took this path because those very same sciences and studies brought me right back to God and Christianity.

My personal advice is that no matter how strong you are in God, you have to go through your own personal tests against your faith to truly find out your place with Him. It's good to be so optimistic that you believe you can go to the coven/ meeting just to learn something interesting about history without it affecting you negatively, but you have to take many things into consideration, one of those being how accurate and reliable the history is, as well as what it's even regarding. Also, all it takes is one single intriguing or influential idea to waver your strong faith and cause you to question certain core beliefs you may currently have about God and Christianity. Trust me, I know. I've been there. It's sad, but true, that in this day and age, especially in my generation, beliefs change with the seasons! Our beliefs are so very easily influenced and plastic because we've been raised to question everything and conditioned to be more accepting of new ideas and information. We're gluttons for information, which eventually does nothing more than cause confusion. Stick to The Word and all confusion melts away.

Personally, I wouldn't have a problem going to a pagan meeting or gathering/ coven. I've been to them before, I know what goes on and what to expect if I were to ever go to another, which isn't likely.

In the Bible, you'll remember that Jesus ate with the publicans and the sinners (see Matthew 9:10-12), so I don't necessarily agree with those on here who say to avoid going at all costs. They may be saying it because they fear your faith and knowledge of the Word isn't strong enough to handle a powerful influence from these pagans, but that's still something only you and God know about your relationship. I state the verse above, by the way, because Jesus chose to eat with the publicans and sinners because he knew that God's Word would work in them through His love, acceptance, and actions of these people who others considered outcasts. They believed they should be avoided and Jesus shouldn't take to their company.

To give advice could be futile on whether to go or not. It just depends on you. I would personally if my uncle asked me to because my faith has been through God's test once already and He has opened my eyes to the truth and revealed so very much to me in my experiences.

If you go, be very careful of what you allow to persuade your mind.

First and foremost, however, I would highly suggest you seek the wisdom of the word of God by praying and asking for discernment as to what He wants you to do. None of our opinions really matter. God's does.

Hope this is helpful. God bless, David.

[nebula]

My personal advice is that no matter how strong you are in God, you have to go through your own personal tests against your faith to truly find out your place with Him. It's good to be so optimistic that you believe you can go to the coven/ meeting just to learn something interesting about history without it affecting you negatively, but you have to take many things into consideration, one of those being how accurate and reliable the history is, as well as what it's even regarding. Also, all it takes is one single intriguing or influential idea to waver your strong faith and cause you to question certain core beliefs you may currently have about God and Christianity. Trust me, I know. I've been there. It's sad, but true, that in this day and age, especially in my generation, beliefs change with the seasons! Our beliefs are so very easily influenced and plastic because we've been raised to question everything and conditioned to be more accepting of new ideas and information. We're gluttons for information, which eventually does nothing more than cause confusion. Stick to The Word and all confusion melts away.

Thank-you for putting words to what I was trying to say!

In the Bible, you'll remember that Jesus ate with the publicans and the sinners (see Matthew 9:10-12), so I don't necessarily agree with those on here who say to avoid going at all costs. They may be saying it because they fear your faith and knowledge of the Word isn't strong enough to handle a powerful influence from these pagans, but that's still something only you and God know about your relationship.

You hit another nail on the head. Well spoken!

[MorningGlory]

She suggested it might be interesting, that's all. I'm a little bit disturbed by the branding of my sister as an "enemy," granted we don't always see eye to eye but I don't imagine she's sitting around sticking pins in an effigy of me...

I'm sure your sister isn't your enemy. But Wicca, and other false religion, is blasphemy in the eyes of the Lord. I would suggest that you not open yourself to demonic forces such as those; you might be fine but...you might not be. I pray that you will make the right decision, brother.

[David of Derby]

You've all given me much to think about. I've got plenty of time to decide what to do, it's not until march. Thanks everyone.

[patricia1]

Hello all, as some of you may know my sister is a pagan, and also being vaguely competent has been co-opted into organising the Pagan Federation conference for this area, a number of years on the trot. Since I got all religious, she suggested I should attend, if for no other reason than they have historians who talk at the conference and this is an interest of mine. I get in cheap while I'm unemployed, and she assures me I won't even get lynched for being Christian. As long as I don't try to build any bonfires and cook any of them, anyway.

So, my brothers and sisters, my questions are these: what steps should I take to protect myself when surrounded by so many pagans? Obviously I'm not going to be taken in by their superstitions, but I rather suspect there will be dangers there I'll never even see. I'd appreciate any general comments the faithful can make, aside from the obvious "don't go, they're evil!"

If you need me to explain fasting and praying, the armor of God, as I mentioned in my previous post you lack a understanding of people concerned here for you... I wish i was stll raw in the lord...Ignorance is bliss but can also be dangerous to your spirit.