HEY MIKE! Are ghosts for real? Do they actually haunt houses and contact people?
— B.C., Orange, Texas
I asked myself these same questions recently. I was having dinner at a historic Colorado restaurant with a bunch of friends when a waitress casually said something like, “You’re not dining alone tonight—this place is haunted.”
My friends’ eyes got big, and I nearly spit out a gulp of water.
“Haunted?” I asked. “Come on, you’re not serious!”
“Oh, yes,” she insisted. “This place was a hospital a hundred years ago, and the room you’re sitting in was once the children’s ward. I believe our resident ghost was a woman who worked here, perhaps as a nurse.”
The waitress pointed to our corner of the room and added, “She’s quite active in this very spot.”
As my friends and I bowed our heads to bless the meal, I asked God to protect us: “Jesus, You are our Lord and Savior, and we put our trust in You. We know that You guard us from ‘the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil’ [Check out Ephesians 6:12]. We ask for Your protection right now. Amen.”
While my friends were on edge for the remainder of the evening, I felt at peace. The truth of Psalm 27:1 filled my thoughts: “The LORD is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?”
As for what this waitress claimed to have encountered, I don’t know whether she simply had an overactive imagination or if she was trying to use ghost stories to drum up business. But to answer your question, B.C., spiritual beings are real.
Despite the fact that we live in physical bodies, according to the Bible we’re also spiritual beings who are influenced by a nonmaterial world. The Scriptures refer to the word spirit in three different ways:
• the Holy Spirit (see Acts 1:16, 2:4, 10:44-48; 2 Corinthians 3:18; 2 Thessalonians 2:13)
• souls of human beings (see Romans 8:16; Hebrews 4:12)
• beings other than God, such as angels and evil spirits (see Mark 9:25; Acts 19:12-17; Revelation 18:2)
Yet this waitress’ claim of a dead nurse whose spirit hangs out in a funky Colorado restaurant is absolutely wrong. The truth is, death marks the end of this life and is final (Hebrews 9:27).
Once a person dies, his or her spirit cannot haunt buildings or roam the streets as a lost soul. It is only through Jesus Christ that we are brought back to life—eternal life with Him! (Take a look at 1 Corinthians 15:22-26.)
But let’s suppose the waitress was telling the truth. Exactly what was she encountering at the restaurant? Perhaps it was a demon—and that’s bad news. Those who “communicate with the dead” are not dealing with friendly souls from yesteryear. These spirits are evil and use any kind of deception they can to gain control of a person’s mind, body and soul. A demon’s goal is to separate men and women from God.
Opening yourself up to evil spirits is deadly stuff. This involves such occult practices as channeling, visiting mediums, holding séances or playing around with Ouija boards.
Bottom line: Avoid these activities. And never ever attempt to communicate with an evil spirit. Once you invite a demon to dinner, there’s a good chance it won’t be leaving. 
