Someone once told me he does not make any serious life or family decisions, without his father’s intervention and approval. What made this information extremely strange was that at the time of our discussion, his father had been dead for close to ten years. My acquaintance made me understand that he had been receiving guidance from his departed father over the years, and he did not feel it conflicted with his faith as a Christian.

Around the same time, I heard of a “church service” (and I will call it that for want of a better phrase), a church service in Abuja, Nigeria, where the pastor was communicating with the spirit of a dead person to the astonishment of the congregation. If you’ve been following my podcast, I mentioned in Episode 13, about a place where members are sometimes required to kneel as their pastor walks by, and flower petals are thrown on the ground for him to walk on. Yes, this is the same pastor.

This practice of communicating with the dead is called Necromancy and it is actually not new. It was recorded in the bible but strongly condemned in both the Old and New Testaments, along with sorcery and other related practices. Please see Lev chapter 20:6, Deut 18:11, Gal 5:20, Acts 19:19 and Rev 21:8. Be sure to read them in context, in order to see the varied implications of necromancy.

Now I understand the pain of having lost a loved one, but no matter how loved they may have been, our prayers and search for clarity in life, are never to be directed towards our dearly departed ones, but instead, towards our heavenly father (Isaiah 8:19-20).

It is important to know what scripture says about these things, so that we can make the right decisions or give the right advice, if we or people we know, are faced with these matters.

In spite of what we may have believed prior to now, may all of us who profess Christ, have the spiritual strength to defer to God’s word and avoid places and practices that violate His instructions, I pray in Jesus’s name, Amen.