A rare occurrence: Secular skeptics and Christians agree, John Edwards is a phony!
John Edward: Satans Puppet?
Joe Nickell Investigative Author wrote "John Edward: Hustllin the Bereaved"
When men tell you to consult mediums and spiritsts, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living? To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to His word, they have no light of dawn. Distressed and hungry, they will roam through the land, when they are famished, they will become engaged and , looking upward will curse their king and their God. Then they will look toward the earth and see only distress and darkness and fearful gloom, and they will be thrust into utter darkness. -Isaiah 8:19,22
Do not turn to mediums or spiritsts; do not seek them out to be defiled by them. I am the Lord your God -Leviticus 20:6
I have heard what the prophets say who prophesy LIES in my name. They say 'I had a dream! I had a dream! How long will this continue in the hearts of these lying prophets, who prophesy the delusions of their own minds? They think the dreams they tell one another will make my people forget my name, just as their fathers forgot my name through Baal worship. Let the prophet who has a dream tell his dream, but let the one who has my word speak it faithfully. For what has straw to do with grain? declares the Lord. Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer which shatters a rock?' Jeremiah 23:25-29
The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron -1 Timonthy 4:1
They are spirits of demons performing miraculous signs -Revelation 16:14
Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritsts, or who consults the dead. ANYONE who does these things is DETESTABLE to the LORD, and because of these detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you. You must be blameless before the Lord your God. Deuteronomy 18:10
Saul died because he was unfaithful to the Lord; he did not keep the word of the Lord and even consulted a medium for guidance, and did not inquire of the Lord. So the Lord put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David son of Jesse. -1 Chronicles 10 13,14
John Edward cold reader extraordinare. From Oprah to Larry King, to his own SciFi channel show and CBS 2 called 'Crossing Over'. For only $750 for a 30 minute private session and upwards to $100 for convention style group sessions, this multi-millionaire is the hottest 'psychic' in America today.
People are flocking to watch the show and they want to know about their deceased loved ones, but WHO are they really contacting through John? Read on....
John Edward was born to be a psychic medium. His mother was a psychic junkie who threw fortunetelling house parties. One such guest advised John he had 'wonderful psychic abilitiess'. He went from card readings for family and friends, then on to psychic fairs. Eventually changing his billing from 'psychic' to 'psychic medium'.
Times Leon Jaroff(2001): Now suspicious, O'Neill recalled that while the audience was waiting to be seated, Edward's aides were scurrying about, striking up conversations and getting people to fill out cards with their name, family tree and other facts. Once inside the auditorium, where each family was directed to preassigned seats, more than an hour passed before show time while 'technical difficulties' backstage were corrected.
New York Times Magazine reporter observed Edward "hitting well below 50% for the day" at a recent episode of Crossing Over. "he twice spent upward of 20 minutes stuck on one person, shooting blanks but not accepting negative responses." When the episode finally aired the failed readings were edited out, along with all other second-rate offerings. The only things remaining were the 2 best readings of the show. Confirming the allegations in the TIME article that episodes were edited to make Edward seem more accurate, by splicing clips of one sitter nodding yes "after statements with which he remembers disagreeing."(Jaroff 2001).
Could the studio be rigged?? Some think so....Michael O'neill who has appeared on the show was quoted as follows: " I was on the John Edward show. He even had a multiple guess "hit" on me that was featured on the show. However, it was edited so that my answer to another question was edited in after one of his questions. In other words, his question and my answer were deliberately mismatched. Only a fraction of what went on in the studio was actually seen in the final 30 minute show. He was wrong about a lot and was very aggressive when somebody failed to acknowledge something he said. Also, his "production assistants" were always around while we waited to get into the studio. They told us to keep very quiet, and they overheard a lot. I think that the whole place is bugged somehow. Also, once in the studio we had to wait around for almost two hours before the show began. Throughout that time everybody was talking about what dead relative of theirs might pop up. Remember that all this occurred under microphones and with cameras already set up. My guess is that he was backstage listening and looking at us all and noting certain readings. When he finally appeared, he looked at the audience as if he were trying to spot people he recognized. He also had ringers in the audience. I can tell because about fifteen people arrived in a chartered van, and once inside they did not sit together."
Is John Edward's for real or is he using old tricks that 'psyhics' have employed for ages? Michael Shermer describes watching unedited footage which gives much insight on how Edward works ,"Edward begins by selecting a section of the studio audience of about 20 people, saying things like "I'm getting a George over here. I don't know what this means. George could be someone who passed over, he could be someone here, he could be someone that you know," etc. Of course such generalizations lead to a "hit" where someone indeed knows a George, or is related to a George, or is a George. Now that he's targeted his mark, the real reading begins in which Edward employs cold reading, warm reading, and hot reading techniques."
Edwards 'hit' rate is between 10-20 percent in its unedited form as noted by Michael Shermer.
Cold, Warm, Hot readings are all techniques that so called psychics have used for ages. The reason it works so well is because people WANT to believe. John Edward's perceived accuracy has more to do with his editing crew than his abilities to speak to dead relatives.
What about the times he is right? Well you don't have to go far in scripture to realize 'The Father of Lies' or the 'God of this world' has been preying on people since Adam and Eve. We see even in Genesis the very first book that Satan used deception and lies to trick Eve into eating the fruit that is forbidden. We also know through scripture that Satan was like no other Angel, glorious and powerful, we see he tears peoples lives apart and that he prowls the earth like a lion looking for someone to devour. So who might John Edwards be contacting? a relative who we have been forbidden by God to try and contact, or maybe Satan or one of his demons? People that are not familiar with the Bible or who do not have a strong faith may have a hard time swallowing that statement: DEMONS? SATAN? but we see through the Bible how Satan tries to get the focus off trusting in God. Satan was even bold enough to tempt Jesus himself. We know as Christians that death is not the end but the beginning, to live is Christ, to die is gain. Why would someone who has this information need to contact a dead relative? The answer is many people don't read the Bible, or they let their emotions overtake God's commands and reassurance. They look for the here and now, they want real confirmations, not just scripture. These people are trapped by their lack of faith, and the end result is Satan wins another battle by keeping their trust and knowledge off God.
-- This show is yet another Satanic attempt to prove that the Bible is full of old and outdated ideas, (irrelevant). All the information available to its host could easily be given him from demonic beings. I Timothy 4:1: "Now the spirt expressly says that in the last days many will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons". If this show is not promoting "doctrines of demons", I don't know what is. On this program we are told that ALL people go to this wonderful place and they are alright. "See Jesus is NOT the only way, after all I saw it on Crossing Over, we need not repent of our sins." In one episode a daughter was talking about her father who was very anti-religious, but of course he (demons pretending to be him) "came through" and told her not to worry. everything was just fine, and by the way thank you for your prayers. "They've brought me comfort on the other side". From the approval of homosexuality and sexual immorality to (so called) communicating with the dead. These are things our father has warned us against. A Christian should ALWAYS be on guard. For our enemy seeks not to loose you from bondage, but to entangle and destroy you! It is not fitting for a child of God to be playing in the camp of the enemy. Do not be pulled in by "curiosity". 2 Timothy 2:19: "let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity".
--Jason Petersen, age 32
James 1:16-17 'Don't be decieved my dear brothers, Every GOOD and PERFECT gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.' I wonder if the word PERFECT refers to Edwards own UNperfect accuracy. Also, you must ask yourself why would God give John Edwards a gift that we are commanded not to partake in. Deuteronomy 18:10 tells us that these things are DETESTABLE to the Lord.
God's prophets were 100% accurate. How can we tell when a prophet is from God? Look in Deuteronomy 18:21-22 'You may say to yourselves, How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the Lord? If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him.' Edwards freely admits that no psychic is 100% accurate and that 70% is above average.
Special thanks to JG for inspiring me to build this webpage, John Edward bothered me before our conversation but it didn't occur to me that Christians could be led astray by such a person. I think as we mature in our faith we are better equipped to discern the things that Satan tries to deceive us with. I will continue to pray for all people that are caught in this trap and I ask all Christians to do the same. We should even pray for John Edwards because he needs it the most.