{"id":39599,"date":"2017-10-23T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-10-23T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/norways-new-passion-ghost-hunting\/"},"modified":"2017-10-23T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2017-10-23T00:00:00","slug":"norways-new-passion-ghost-hunting","status":"publish","type":"sermon-illustrations","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/norways-new-passion-ghost-hunting\/","title":{"rendered":"Norway&#8217;s New Passion: Ghost Hunting"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Like many Europeans, Marianne Haaland Bogdanoff, a travel agency manager in this southern Norwegian town, does not go to church, except maybe at Christmas, and is doubtful about the existence of God. But when &quot;weird things&quot;&mdash;inexplicable computer breakdowns, strange smells and noises and complaints from staff members of constant headaches&mdash;started happening at the ground-floor travel office, she slowly began to put aside her deep skepticism about life beyond the here and now. After computer experts, electricians and a plumber all failed to find the cause of her office&#39;s troubles, she finally got help from a clairvoyant who claimed powers to communicate with the dead.<\/p>\n\n<p>She&#39;s not alone. While Norwegian churches may be empty and belief in God in sharp decline, &quot;belief in, or at least fascination with, ghosts and spirits is surging. Even Norway&#39;s royal family has flirted with ghosts, with a princess coaching people on how to reach out to spirits.&quot; As one Norwegian pastor said, &quot;God is out but spirits and ghosts are filling the vacuum. Belief in God, or at least a Christian God, is decreasing but belief in spirits is increasing,&quot;<\/p>","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tax_ctp_audience":[],"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[165],"tax_ctp_format":[171],"tax_ctp_illustration_types":[411],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[140],"tax_ctp_tags":[3398,3478,3737,4510,4555,4908,5012,5065,5108,5109,5202,5303],"tax_ctp_topics":[388],"class_list":["post-39599","sermon-illustrations","type-sermon-illustrations","status-publish","hentry","tax_publications-ct-pastors","tax_ctp_tags-afterlife","tax_ctp_tags-belief","tax_ctp_tags-death","tax_ctp_tags-mystery","tax_ctp_tags-occult","tax_ctp_tags-seen-unseen","tax_ctp_tags-social-media","tax_ctp_tags-spirituality","tax_ctp_tags-supernatural","tax_ctp_tags-superstition","tax_ctp_tags-unbelief","tax_ctp_tags-worldview"],"acf":{"scripture_references":[{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Norway&#039;s New Passion: Ghost Hunting - CT Pastors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/norways-new-passion-ghost-hunting\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Norway&#039;s New Passion: Ghost Hunting - CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Like many Europeans, Marianne Haaland Bogdanoff, a travel agency manager in this southern Norwegian town, does not go to church, except maybe at Christmas, and is doubtful about the existence of God. 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