A cause for cocern or just silly supersition?

[ThatOrthodoxGuy]

Greetings in the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Christ Is Risen!

I have a very close friend of mine who has fallen into to some weird superstition. He Bought two statues one is called Zhong Kui god Ghost Catcher and the other is a money god. Both are of Chinese origin I believe. He got them both and says he does not believe in them as gods but he says they have brought him luck. More recently he wears a pendent of the money god and will swear that sense he has started wearing the pendent he has become more profitable. I went the other day over to his house to see how he was doing but when I walked in he had candles and incense burning near the small statues and a jar filled with coins and paper money. I was sitting in the living room when I felt a bad oppressive force a feeling inside his house and ive never felt anything like that ever before. Im starting to worry about him he is missing services at church more ( he went twice a week his whole life) and is becoming hard to talk to. Any suggestions? And the priest has tried to talk to him but my friend says its harmless and he does not worship these false gods.

 

[kimg901]

Greetings in the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Christ Is Risen!

I have a very close friend of mine who has fallen into to some weird superstition. He Bought two statues one is called Zhong Kui god Ghost Catcher and the other is a money god. Both are of Chinese origin I believe. He got them both and says he does not believe in them as gods but he says they have brought him luck. More recently he wears a pendent of the money god and will swear that sense he has started wearing the pendent he has become more profitable. I went the other day over to his house to see how he was doing but when I walked in he had candles and incense burning near the small statues and a jar filled with coins and paper money. I was sitting in the living room when I felt a bad oppressive force a feeling inside his house and ive never felt anything like that ever before. Im starting to worry about him he is missing services at church more ( he went twice a week his whole life) and is becoming hard to talk to. Any suggestions? And the priest has tried to talk to him but my friend says its harmless and he does not worship these false gods.

Uh, wow. Now this is just my opinion on this. Its like selling your soul. If you as a person can simply believe in these idols and think they will bring you wealth and they do, satan just got ahold of you. You have turned from God and His Blessings.

 

[SteveVH]

Greetings in the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Christ Is Risen!

I have a very close friend of mine who has fallen into to some weird superstition. He Bought two statues one is called Zhong Kui god Ghost Catcher and the other is a money god. Both are of Chinese origin I believe. He got them both and says he does not believe in them as gods but he says they have brought him luck. More recently he wears a pendent of the money god and will swear that sense he has started wearing the pendent he has become more profitable. I went the other day over to his house to see how he was doing but when I walked in he had candles and incense burning near the small statues and a jar filled with coins and paper money. I was sitting in the living room when I felt a bad oppressive force a feeling inside his house and ive never felt anything like that ever before. Im starting to worry about him he is missing services at church more ( he went twice a week his whole life) and is becoming hard to talk to. Any suggestions? And the priest has tried to talk to him but my friend says its harmless and he does not worship these false gods.

It’s certainly not harmless and may be opening the door to forces beyond his control. I would suggest that you point out to him that whatever he is doing is turning his focus to fleshly desires (accumulation of wealth, stature, etc.) I would ask him how his practice brings him closer to God.

 

[Nine_Two]

When you start burning incense to something you’ve gone well past the level of silly good-luck charm.

Pray for him.

 

[renee123]

I am not a religious expert or anything, but if he is not worshipping these false gods it certainly sounds like he is at the very least venerating them which can be just as harmful. I am not suprised you had a bad feeling being in there. There are a lot of falacies the devil will have us to believe are harmless and just superstition. It’s one of his many tricks. If I were you, I would tell him it is not safe for his soul. Explain to him what it means when he is doing these things. Pray for him that he will gain the understanding of his actions and repent of them. If he will not listen, I would not go into his home anymore, but still continue to pray.

 

[Monergistic]

Greetings in the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Christ Is Risen!

I have a very close friend of mine who has fallen into to some weird superstition. He Bought two statues one is called Zhong Kui god Ghost Catcher and the other is a money god. Both are of Chinese origin I believe. He got them both and says he does not believe in them as gods but he says they have brought him luck. More recently he wears a pendent of the money god and will swear that sense he has started wearing the pendent he has become more profitable. I went the other day over to his house to see how he was doing but when I walked in he had candles and incense burning near the small statues and a jar filled with coins and paper money. I was sitting in the living room when I felt a bad oppressive force a feeling inside his house and ive never felt anything like that ever before. Im starting to worry about him he is missing services at church more ( he went twice a week his whole life) and is becoming hard to talk to. Any suggestions? And the priest has tried to talk to him but my friend says its harmless and he does not worship these false gods.

He says he doesn’t worship these statues or believe they’re gods, so in my experience talking to Catholic or Orthodox Christians, you need to take him at his word- whatever that is- and trust that if he says his actions are appropriate, indeed they are. They must be. I have never seen this thing go any other way.

But he is missing some church and becoming more distant, so that should be handled in some way. Ask him for some details about what it means to be a good Christian and become a better one. See what you get into, see if his thoughts on that have changed over time, and try to get that understood between you and whoever else you want involved (if anyone) and once there’s an understanding, begin to look at how it is that messing with Chinese statues could possibly be affecting his outlook and/or execution of what he needs to be doing.

Of course, this can only happen if you’re very close and if there’s a tremendous amount of trust. Otherwise, you might have to be more delicate.