One doesn’t have to read much Scripture to find angels. I’ve hung with some Christians who seem to see angels everywhere they go, though these people also tend to identify demons in everything negative that happens around them too, so I’m not sure they can be trusted. Is there really a demon that is focused on causing Christians to stub their toes? I mean, really?
While I’m not sure about whether or not angelic encounters should be considered normative, I’m not convinced it shouldn’t be somewhat normal either. Back in 2011 I asked our readers, “Have you Met Any Angels Lately” and provided a short exegesis of Hebrews 13:1-2.
I’m still curious about where all of the angels are, especially in evangelical churches. I wonder if my Baptist friends ever sense angelic presence or if my Presbyterian sisters and brothers do too. I know some of my Pentecostal associates do, but what about those of us in the Vineyard?
Sam Storms suggests that angels function for the purpose of worship, service, guidance and direction, and to guard and protect and that the direction of their function is toward both God and God’s people.
So again, I ask, where are the angels? I am not seeking to take away from the worship of Jesus or to hear stories that are designed to indicate how gloriously anointed you are. I’m genuinely curious to hear whether or not you have had some experiences with what you would describe as angels. If so, what were they?
By the way, if your “angel” told you to deny the gospel or to write some more ideas down that you think should be considered “scripture,” please move along to another blog. Mmmmmmkay? Please and thank you!
Luke is a pastor-theologian living in northern California, serving as a co-lead pastor with his life, Dawn, at the Red Bluff Vineyard. Father of five amazing kids, when Luke isn’t hanging with his family, reading or writing theology, he moonlights as a fly fishing guide for Confluence Outfitters. He blogs regularly at LukeGeraty.com and regularly contributes to his YouTube channel.
Occasionally I sense, feel, or (rarely) even hear them but have not seen one since I was a small child. (I had never been told one could see angels, but I knew in my “know-er” what I was seeing; for me they were incredibly tall beings dancing as well-defined prisms of light in my backyard. It was a formative experience for me, and I think it happened more than once.) One family of nephews and nieces sees them routinely; that whole family seems much more geared toward visions than I have been as of yet. They don’t seem to see demons. An adult cousin who has a non-flakey gift for discernment sees both angels and demons a lot. A former mentor freaked me out many years ago by seeing different demons in my kitchen right where I’d been having a fight with a family member (standing in the places we had been standing), and she called me on the carpet about what had happened between us. Also, I’ve known people to regularly see angels standing by someone as a sign that it is time for that person to receive healing or prophecy. They sort of guide the ministry time in church for people who have the gift of seeing them regularly. But generally I would have to agree that a lot of the peops I know who are into seeing demons and angels concern me; the fruit is weird. I have a couple of books on angels that I never made it through b/c I just didn’t know how to feel about where the author was going to take me.