JamesCarvin.com
Miscelaneous Endeavors
Offended by the Ghost Stories?
Is the Logo Irreverant?
Yes, it is. But it is also cute. To Christians who are sensitive it is often considered irreverant. To non-Christians this is not so. Most think it is cute. I am an evangelist. Evangelism is not for believers. It is for unbelievers.
Of course, "irreverance" is an attitude, not a symbol. Symbollically, the logo takes some artistic and creative liberty. It is not an historical depiction. It is an innovation. Refer to Charley's Total Marketing Concept #4: "Innovation ... the more severe your product and market limitations the more you need it." Christianity has been packaged many ways for a reason. The packaging here is allegory wrapped up in fun and entertainment with a development plan that seeks to bring families together around loved ones. The packaging has changed. The message and reality that makes it good news has not.
Now consider attitudes. Jesus taught us to call our Father "Abba" - Daddy. He did not show us a stuffy religion. He showed us an intimate relationship with a loving "Daddy," our Father. As serious as the Christian faith deserves to be in the fear of the Lord, there is also a personal father figure behind it inviting us to become co-heirs in His glory. He says we are not slaves any more, but friends and even children. The ones who have actually innovated the faith are those who turned the Christiah faith into a religious practice that placed tradition above truth. The logo is not traditional, but it is truthful.
Is Referring to a Sign of God as "Charley" Irreverant?
Yes, it does sound irreverant. But it is not intended in any mocking or irreverant way. "Charley" is actually a reference to three people with that name, Charles Walter Carvin Sr., Jr. and III. Charles Walter Carvin, Jr. was my father. "Charley" rather than "Charles" makes the name more personal, familiar. It is not irreverant. It is allegorical. My earthly father, who is now in heaven, is in many ways a type of my heavenly father. There is double meaning and parable all over GhostSurfers. In no way do I confuse the two. To the many, Jesus spoke in parables. To His disciples He spoke plainly. I'm certainly not Jesus but I'm capable of speaking in parables. Here I am speaking to you plainly. I should only say here that allegory is often imperfect. Yes, Biblcial examples of types and fulfillments are imperfect. Let's consider this. Joseph is known as a type of Jesus Christ, in that he was a persecuted savior for his family, who descended and then was raised up. Joshua also was a type of Christ because he was one who came after Moses. He was greater than Moses in the sense that he was the one who brought Israel into the promised land. But he was not greater in every way because he did not give Israel the Law. Jesus was greater than Joshua and was the true fulfillment of the prophecies of Moses. Similarly, David was like Christ in that he was the King of Israel and reigned by faith in action. But David's heart was pleasing to God not because he was free from sin, but rather because he repented of it. Likewise, my father was a sinner, but he was also a provider, and in as much as that is so, he is a type of our Heavenly Father. His son, also named Charley, (Charles III) shows unity with his father because of his name, much as Joshua, son of Nun pointed to J'shua (Jesus) because of his name. Joshua, in fact, despite being a conqueror, is a type for human weakness, in that he was not the Christ though he did come after Moses fulfilling prophecy. Joshua was just a man. He had no power to bring on the kingdom that Israel pointed to as a type. This would only be possible in the humanity of the Son of the Almighty God. You see that types are inherently imperfect. This also is the case with Charles III. Charles III's weakness was not because of sin, like his father, but because he had down syndrome he was completely in need, and sadly was often mocked. Jesus took on the weakness of human limitation and death and was mocked. Now neither was my father a perfect provider - after all he lost his fortune - nor was by brother a perfect son. He was relatively innocent. But he was not absolutely innocent, while Christ was absolutely innocent. There is only one God. It is neither my father nor my brother. For those of you to whom this is obvious, I am sorry that I have to explain it.
Brooding vs. Surfing. Isn't that a stretch?
No, it is not. Quite the contrary, what surfers do is they are obsessed with the waters as they hover over them. They judge them. And they cut through them as they float over them. (Genesis 1:2 - MT herechefet; LXX - epefereto, means to add, cut, adduce, judge, move upon, move over, superimpose, superadduce). Surfers love the water and they walk on it with their boards as they explore its motion, involving themselves in it. And web surfers do the same with the Internet. Also, in the Bible, the water is a symbol of purification and of the living word, but it is also a symbol of people and nations. In total marketing, the idea is to reach every person, nation, tribe and tongue with the Word of God. God loves His people, and broods over them, contemplating them, loving His relationship with them, like a surfer loves the water - only in an infinite way. The Living Waters Christ gives the woman at the well are the remedy for all people. The Spirit Charley represents is the people sharing in those Living Waters by redemption and the abundance of Life.
Aren't Ghosts Unclean Spirits?
Yes and no. There are demons - certainly those are unclean. And there are possibly also actual ghosts roaming the earth and haunting houses, but those I think are demons too, rather than ghosts. As for people having spirits who live after death to haunt others, I think the Bible indicates such people actually have no life in them. So ironically, I don't believe in that kind of ghost even though I sometimes speak of "ghost stories." What I am actually thinking when I use the term "ghost story" is testimony of the Holy Ghost. It is in itself a parable. I don't know about ghosts as Hollywood depicts them. What I do know, and what I like to think about, is that there are clean spirits. These include the spirits of Christians who have been sanctified by grace. There are also the holy angels and the Holy Spirit Himself. Read Hebrews 12:1. We are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses. Here Paul is referring to the departed saints - nephos martyron. Spirits which are redeemed are not unclean but clean. It is the spirit of a man that rises from the dead. The spiritual man is already alive in Christ prior to the repose of the body by the Holy Spirit. Jesus said that if anyone would believe in Him they would never die. He was not referring to the death of the body but of the spirit. The spirit of the redeemed never dies. Paul makes clear that the spirit is who we really are.
"9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. 10 And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you." Romans 8:8-11
With that, I should also address the question of the communion of saints. I am not advocating prayers to saints, or worship of saints by suggesting that my earthly father is now in heaven, or that the spirits of the departed ought to be glorified through story-telling. I recognize that Christians of the Reformed Tradition renounce the practice of praying to saints because of certain Biblcial admonitions. Let's face it, people will practice what they are accustomed to practice with respect to their religious habits and understanding. GhostSurfers does not endorse prayers to saints or provide any stance on that issue any more than it provides theological teaching. The only place my theological teaching is found is right here at the JamesCarvin.com web site, in seminars I teach unrelated to GhostSurfers and in my writings. I am a church history professor. Of course I discuss theology. That's what I do. I am also the founder of GhostSurfers.com which is a public business. Some business models might work with blatant Christian teaching, but not GhostsSurfers.com. As a result, there will be ghosts all over the web and, in fact, I've created a whole dictionary of ghost terminology. Truth is presented in parable. GhostSurfers.com is not the venue for any explanation of parables.
In addition to the GhostSurfers Intl. logo, there are also a number of photographs indicating possible "ghosts" some of which I have published. I have much more. In the pages that follow I've uploaded some of these photos. In presenting them I have offered my understanding of the communion of saints and my perspective on the "paranormal." Click here for that to see the photographs and explore this in detail.
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