Hi, Mike,

Hope all is well for you and family. I have a question that I can’t seem to find on your site about the subject of hypnosis, and I don’t seem to see in scripture anything about hypnosis. What actually happens to a person when one is hypotized?

Thanks your brother in Christ,
T____

Hi T____,

Thank you for your question about hypnosis and what happens when one is hypnotized?
What happens is the loss of self- control and turning oneself over to the control of another. That is the effect of hypnosis in any of it many forms. Hypnosis is touted as a help in curing everything from weight loss to smoking to alcohol addictions. But it always relies on the need to have a hypnotist to suggest what ought to be your decisions and not those of someone else.
So what is wrong with another person being in control of your decisions or for that matter simply suggesting what decisions you should make? Well, if Christ and His Word were being held up as the ultimate arbiter of what is and what is not moral, there would be nothing wrong with that at all. But no hypnotist is living by that rule or he or she would not be a hypnotist. Here is one verse which demonstrates the truth of that fact:

1Co 14:32  And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.
1Co 14:33  For God is not [ the author] of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.

No man of God ever has anyone between him and God, but Christ. He certainly does not have a hypnotist between him and God. A hypnotist who can control you thoughts and actions becomes nothing less than a medium, and mediums are condemned in scripture

1Ti 2:5  For [ there is] one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
Isa 8:19  And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead?
Isa 8:20  To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, [ it is] because [ there is] no light in them.

So no hypnotist has the light of these words in him or her. If he or she did, then they would not be dabbling in such unscriptural and demonic practices.

I hope this is edifying for you.
Your brother in Christ,
Mike

Dear Mike,

I have a question about alcohol. Are people who drink beer and smoke committing a sin? I know it is condemned in the book of Proverbs.

Yours in Christ,
N____

Hi N____,

Anything that controls you other than Christ is idolatry and is a sin. If a person cannot resist drinking alcoholic beverages in excess, then that is an idol, and it is sinning to have any other god before God. If you cannot resist cigarettes, then those cigarettes are an idol and have come between you and God. The same is true of gluttony and playing video games and TV watching. Even working long hours to the detriment of one’s family can be an idol.
We are told to do all we do to glorify God.

1Co 10:31  Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.

We need both food and drink in order to serve God. So it is a matter of the heart. If we do what we do because it is needed to please God, then it certainly is not a sin. On the other hand, if we eat or drink just to be satisfying our lusts, then we are sinning in doing so.
There is no sin in drinking beer or wine in moderate amounts. If you cannot control yourself though, then don’t touch them. If you can control yourself while drinking moderately, then all objective dietitians agree that alcohol in moderation can be healthy, and the scriptures bear this out:

1Ti 5:23  Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake and thine often infirmities.

Cigarettes, on the other hand, have no nourishing benefits and are harmful to our lungs. Above all, the smoke of cigarettes is offensive to nonsmokers, and we certainly cannot justify doing something that offends our brother.

I hope this is of some edification to you.
Your brother in Christ,
Mike