Clare responds to a psychic medium's blog post entitled "The Truth about God and Mediums"

Back in May I was doing a random Google search, the exact topic of which I forget but it was something to do with mediumship. A blog post by a psychic medium named Blair Robertson came up in the search results and it caught my eye so I read it. I link it here in case you want to read it:

The Truth about God and Mediums

Blair has, as of this writing,186 comments under that article. Four of these comments refute what Blair says is the truth about the Bible and mediums and, to his credit he has chosen to publish those comments (important note: he has to approve all blog comments before they are posted).

The rest of the comments - 182 of them - praise Blair for 'speaking the truth' in this article, agree with what he has written, tell him how awesome he is, denigrate 'so called' Christians, call Christians holy rollers, hypocrites and religious zealots, and make various (and unfortunately totally erroneous) statements about what is OK with and who Jesus is. It's quite apparent that Blair's fans are rallying to support his interpretation of scripture.

Now you would think that someone stepping out with such authority on his blog as to what the Word of God is saying about mediumship would welcome a discussion on the topic, especially since he asserts himself with such certainty and confidence in his interpretation.

That just makes sense, right? Why would he shy away from discussion on this topic?

After all he makes some pretty definitive statements about the Bible, Jesus and in characterizing Christians. Here are a few excerpts that I quote directly from his article:

•  "Whenever I'm confronted by misguided religious folks who attempt “Bible-Quote Kung Fu,” I typically remind them of Matt 17 where Jesus spoke to Moses and Elijah. Two very dead guys. This was witnessed by his disciples to boot! Not only that, this was THE MOMENT that God proclaimed that Jesus was his son, to listen to him and that God was pleased. Think about it. It can only mean one thing: Jesus himself was a medium."
  

 

• "If speaking to the dead was okay for Jesus, it is certainly fine for me. The gift comes from the same source: God.
   
  Of course, this is where the bible thumpers lose their minds. They'll come back with dozens of quotes to argue against it.
   
  But they can never dispute that Jesus spoke to dead people. As it is written.
   
  In the Bible.
   
  For all to read and see. Denying it is to deny Jesus. Period."
  

 

• "Leviticus 19:31 is the most used quote mediums (and their followers) get hit with. It forbids talking to mediums.
   
  But when someone quotes it, I always like to ask them how many doves/turtles they have sacrificed when they menstruate. Because, according to Leviticus 15:19-33, women must kill a couple to appease the Lord. (If it is a man, I ask where he sends his wife for 2-weeks so his disgusting wife will not defile him).
   
  As you might imagine, this usually causes a complete melt-down with the Bible slinging hypocrite. In 30-years of me asking this question, not one has given me a number… they tend to be very evasive."
  
  
• "Ah. So, by Jesus dying on the cross, it erases some of the past rules? So, not everything in the Bible can be taken literally.
   
  That makes sense, doesn't it? It does to me.
   
  Just as it makes sense that Jesus demonstrated mediumship. And at no time did Jesus discourage anyone from practicing it.
   
  NOTE: Leviticus 19 is but one quote. There are many other references. They all lead to the same end: Jesus demonstrated mediumship at a pivotal point in his life, witnessed by his disciples."
  

OK I'm back...

There are so many things from a Biblical perspective that are totally wrong with what Blair is saying in the above statements that it would take a very long article to address them all. I'm not going to get into that here.

But please do notice the objective and fair way that he refers to Christians using statements such as "religious folks who attempt 'Bible Quote Kung Fu'",  "bible thumpers lose their minds", and "a complete meltdown with the Bible slinging hypocrite".

Not very respectful way to talk about Christians. Or anyone for that matter. Perhaps it is the case that Blair has only crossed paths with nasty people who identify as Christians. Whatever the case may be Blair has certainly chosen not to take the high road here. At least not from what I read.

Anyone who wants to use the Bible as their source of truth needs to have READ the Bible, have some understanding of it and take GREAT CARE with their exegesis of it. (Exegesis is a fancy word for interpretation). 

It takes many years of study to become anywhere close to speaking with the level of confidence that Blair exudes and asserts in his own exegesis of the scripture he is pointing us to.

Furthermore  a person who is trying to interpret a Bible passage would do well to use a little wisdom and seek guidance from someone who really knows the Bible to see how his or her interpretation (in this case Blair's) stands up rather than making assumptions and stretching and pulling the scripture to fit what he or she wants it to mean with a 'case closed, discussion over, that's what it means' attitude.

Blair is so confident that he makes a definitive statement: (and I quote him) "It can only mean one thing: Jesus himself was a medium." while criticizing those who disagree with him and try to point him to other places in the Bible that refute his interpretation (and I quote him) "Of course, this is where the bible thumpers lose their minds. They'll come back with dozens of quotes to argue against it.".

I wonder if Blair's confidence arises from many years reading and studying the Bible?

If it does then he would surely know this verse in Psalm 34:13

"Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from telling lies."

And this one from Psalm 4:24:

"Keep your mouth free of perversity; keep corrupt talk far from your lips."

I disagree with how Blair has handled the Matthew 17 scripture so I decided to respond to his blog post.  And, because I'm not a nasty, horrible Christian I respectfully expressed my disagreement.

This is what I wrote:
________

Hi Blair,

I stumbled upon this post through a random Google search and it caught my eye. I thought I’d pop in to add some more context for that Bible verse that you are working with here and to add a few comments of my own.

In referring to Matthew 17 you say "Think about it. It can only mean one thing: Jesus himself was a medium.”

First let me quote that verse here so people reading this can see what it says. It’s important to always quote what the Bible is saying rather than paraphrasing the things we have read. That way we have the accurate words of the Bible which speak for themselves.

But first let me share that I am a Christian and I read and study the Bible on a daily basis, which is imperative for anyone who wants to know what’s actually in there and use it to prove things to others. Paraphrasing verses out of the bigger context of the Bible doesn’t provide the deeper truth that lies therein. Taking a few words here and there then drawing grand conclusions, especially when we are attempting to guide, teach or convince others in some way, is not a good thing to do.

So here goes: This is from the New International Version. And I’m going to give you more of the verses so that we can see the broader context:

“After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John, the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as the light. Just then appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.

Peter said to Jesus, ‘Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters - one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.

While he was speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!’ “ Matthew 17:1-5

The one very important thing that this event is revealing is that Jesus is the Son of God. We are seeing Jesus in all his glory here. That ‘one thing’ as you say is not that Jesus is a medium. See the difference? Out of context or paraphrased that most amazing revelation to Peter, James and John on that mountain, that Jesus is the SON of God, would be missed. Or misinterpreted or misunderstood. Notice, too, that Jesus is joined by two very important men of the Bible in Moses and Elijah. This, too, is very significant.

I highly doubt that those three apostles descended the mountain after that saying “Wow… God is revealing to us that Jesus is a medium!”

You are absolutely correct when you say that this is a ‘massive Bible moment’. It is indeed. Jesus did this most amazing event exactly ONCE. It was a unique event in the gospels and is also recorded in the gospels of Mark and Luke. Jesus did not announce it to anyone and it was never repeated. So when you note that it is a massive Bible moment, I am in full agreement with you on that! Which makes it a very very special event, indeed. It may seem OK to take it out of context and use it as confirmation that Jesus is a medium and so mediumship is being blessed in the Bible. But that would be, well, just wrong.

You’d need to find other clear and direct verses in the Bible where Jesus performs mediumship in front of his disciples the way he demonstrated miracles to large groups of people who were following him, showing them that mediumship is, indeed, OK to practice. That it was, indeed, something that Jesus actually did. Then you'd have a solid argument for your position.

This, however, doesn’t happen in the Bible. Jesus does not do this. You don’t have to believe me, you can simply read the Bible to see if you can find these events for yourself. And if you did find them you could then quote directly from the Bible, chapter and verse, to support your claims about mediumship. That is the right and respectful way to use the Bible. Especially if you are wanting to share the truth about mediumship in the Bible, which is what you are claiming that you want to do.

So I just wanted to add this to the discussion, because it is very important. Especially if you want to use the truth of the Bible to demonstrate that mediumship is ok to practice.

I hear you on the ‘bible thumpers’ quoting verses out of context. That can be very annoying and frustrating. That is why it behooves those of us who want to use the Bible to support our claims to read the whole thing in order to see the story unfold from start to finish so we can gain deeper understanding what it is that God does want for us and why there are many things that he does not want us doing or engaging in.

In closing I want to say that this is what I have been doing. I used to practice mediumship. Through gaining a deeper understanding of the Bible by continuing to read and study it, I have walked away from mediumship, because I now know that it is not OK with God. And that did not come by taking a Bible verse here or there out of context. It came from reading the whole darn thing! Oh and I don’t belong to any religion, either. I am spiritual, not religious. Just like you. :)

With love,

Clare

_____

Blair has chosen to moderate all comments that are on his blog, a practice I wholeheartedly agree with, as I do it myself. Moderation allows blog owners to choose not to post disrespectful comments, comments that use profane or foul language, comments that are way off topic, inflammatory or spam.

I wrote and posted my comment sometime in May. A couple of weeks later I checked back in with the blog post to see if Blair had, perhaps responded to my comment. I discovered that he had not yet posted my comment.

So I waited a couple of days then checked back in again. I saw that a couple of new comments had been posted since my last check in. This was a good sign because it meant that Blair was reading and approving comments for this post.

I checked in again, now about six weeks later. My comment still had not been approved for publication. So on June 29th I followed up with another blog comment asking him why.

Here is what I wrote:
_____

Hi Blair,

I posted a comment on this post “The Truth About God and Mediums" sometime back in May 2019 providing more context for the Bible verses that you are using in order to defend and validate your position on mediumship.

I've noticed that you have posted other comments since that time. You seem to have have chosen, thus far, not to post mine.

I find that interesting. Why would that be? Was my comment disrespectful to you or anyone else or inflammatory in any way?

If I am jumping the gun here and it really is your intention to post my comment but you've not had time in your busy schedule to do so please forgive me. I'll just keep checking in to see if it gets posted at a later date.

Please feel free to email me directly with a few words as to why you chose not to post my comment and where, perhaps, I have breached your comment guidelines or was offensive in any way in expressing my thoughts and take on those verses re: mediumship. I would welcome that. Clarity on your guidelines and what you allow and don't allow in blog comments would be helpful and appreciated.

I notice that you sign off your blog posts with "love and light". I'd 'love' if you could bring some 'light' to why you have not included my comment on your blog. :)

I can be reached at (my personal email was inserted here)

With love,

Clare

_______

Subsequent visits to his website after sending this second comment to Blair have revealed that neither of my comments has been posted to this blog article as of October 2019.

I am left wondering why Blair has chosen not to post my original comment?

Perhaps he's not as Biblically confident as he tries to appear and is afraid to try to defend his position with scripture?

Perhaps he knows that he is not actually able to defend his assertion about mediumship Biblically and is unwilling to engage in a conversation that would reveal  his ignorance to his reading audience.

Or worse, maybe he knows that he is wrong and is intentionally misleading and deceiving people. (Goodness I hope not... I actually don't believe that he would intentionally do this.)

Maybe he just doesn't like talking with level headed Christians.

Perhaps it is simply that once the TRUTH is revealed there is nothing more to say as in when Jack Nicholson's character in A Few Good Men says "You can't handle the truth."

Or, more importantly, as God says in the Bible:

“How many times shall I make you swear that you speak to me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?” 1 Kings 22:16

"...that your words may be tested, whether there is truth in you." Genesis 42:16

But Blair uses the Bible to prove the truth so he would know those verses, too. He says so in his blog post title.

After posting this blog - my own here - I sent Blair another comment on that blog. This is it:

Hi Blair,

Clare here again. I have written a blog post about my experience of commenting twice on your blog and you're choosing not to post my response to your "The Truth About God and Mediums" blog post.

You can find both the blog post and the podcast at:

https://www.claremcnaul.com/blog/clare-responds-to-a-psychic-mediums-blog-post-entitled-the-truth-about-god-and-mediums

You are very confident in your interpretation of the Bible with regards to mediums and mediumship.

You also demonstrate a desire to validate mediumship by using the Bible, the Word of God.

I cannot find anywhere in the Bible where mediumship is validated, in fact quite the contrary, I only see that mediumship is what God calls an 'abomination', and that it is not at all validated in the Bible.

I invite you to prove me wrong using the Bible. Dig into the Word and pull out passages and scriptures in which God and / or Jesus actually validate mediumship.

I'll happily engage in a level headed conversation with you. I'd love to get to the bottom of this, because I don't believe that it is your intention to mislead people.

The good news is that if validation of mediumship is actually not in the Bible it then frees you up to say "Ah to heck with it, I like being a medium anyway. I don't need God's approval."

However you do display a desire to prove mediumship Biblically, to believe and assert that you know the "The Truth about God and Mediums" and a confidence that you can and as I've just said, I have to believe that you would rather get to the truth than intentionally mislead people.

Let's have a discussion.

Love Clare

PS: If I hear from Blair Robertson I will let y'all know!