We kick things off with the standard bio / background on Pastor Swope and find out how he got interested in the paranormal. We then find out about what his religious colleagues think of his emerging career as "The Paranormal Pastor." We then find out what specific affiliation Pastor Swope has with the Church. Our conversation then turns toward his missionary work in Africa, some of the strange encounters he had there and some of the tales of supernatural happenings he heard from other missionaries.

We get Pastor Swope's take on the statements from the Vatican regarding UFOs and belief in UFOs being acceptable by the Church. We then discuss one of the posts at the Paranormal Pastor blog where he discusses the dangers of amateur demonologists, a rising trend growing out of ghost hunting research. He talks about situations he's seen where someone has a legitimate sickness but is dubbed "possessed" by overzealous demonologists.

Next we find out about some of the Pastor's experiences performing exorcisms over the years. He shares a surprising percentage of them which actually turn out to be truly some kind of possession. He talks about the types of odd things he's seen during exorcisms and, perhaps more intriguing, the things he hasn't seen, despite them being a staple of many exorcism stories. This leads to some continued discussion on the rise of amateur demonology and necromancy which the Pastor fears may cause an "horrible, emotional cyclone coming down," manifesting itself as mental illness amongst ill-prepared demon investigators. Pastor Swope details how he has seen these concerns borne out in some paranormal investigators who tinker with sinister forces.

Moving on, we then discuss Pastor Swope's three part series of blog posts which deal with what the Bible really says about various aspects of the paranormal. We start with ghosts and he details how the Bible actually does a pretty solid job of differentiating between ghosts and demons. We then discuss UFOs in the Bible and Pastor Swope explains how there seem to be two schools of thought regarding Biblical UFO allusions. He also discusses the Nephilim and the debate of Angels v. Aliens in the Bible. We also discuss the abduction phenomenon as well as the Islamic Jinn.

Wrapping up the Paranormal and the Bible, we discuss some of the unique creatures mentioned in the Bible and Pastor Swope gives his take on a number of these beasts and if they are mistranslations or literal animals. We also jump back to UFOs in the Bible to find out what Pastor Swope thinks of the Ezekiel's Wheel story.

Moving away from Biblical discussion, we then talk about after-life communication, beginning with "phone calls from the dead." He relates how these phone calls have actually changed and become even more intriguing with the advent of caller ID. We move on to talk about the rarely discussed "soul pillars" which some people reporting seeing as a person "crosses over."

Next we discuss Pastor Swope's days working at a haunted ambulance bay and some of the spooky things he witnessed and heard about while working there. Looking at one of the more recent posts @ the Paranormal Pastor blog, we cover "Mystery Marks," i.e. the strange esoteric elements associated with birthmarks. We also cover another blog post from the Paranormal Pastor, this one dealing with Pierre Bernard (aka Oom the Omnipotent), who brought Tantric Yoga to America and had his headquarters next to the Pastor's college at the beginning of the 1900's. Pastor Swope talks about exploring the secret passageways and hidden elements in the Pierre Bernard mansion which had later been acquired by his college. He also shares some of the ghost stories from the mansion which he heard while attending the college.

Heading towards the close, we discuss Pastor Swope's days as a member of the Omega Men, a ghosthunting type group at his college which has gone on to be labeled as a cult by ill-informed paranormal researchers. We also find out about Pastor Swope's Thunderbird sighting in 2000.

Closing things out, we find out about Pastor Swope's books Walking with Awanu (and its revision A Walk With an Angel), which is a fictional story that doubles as "a spiritual guide." He also tells us about a non-fiction book he has written about blessings and consecrations that should arrive in bookstores in the not too distant future.

Pastor Robin Swope, also known as the "Paranormal Pastor," is a Writer and has been a Christian Minister for more than 15 years in both Mainline and Evangelical Denominations. He holds a B.A. in Biblical Literature and finishing an M.Div. In Pastoral Ministry with an emphasis on Marital and Family Counseling. He has served as a Missionary to Burkina Faso, and has Ministered to the homeless in New York City's Hell's Kitchen. He is the founder and chief officiant of Open Gate Ministerial Services and a Church Council member of St.Paul's United Church of Christ in Erie, Pennsylvania and has a son who wants to be a Jedi like his father before him.

topics discussed:
1 hr 35 min
7.22.09
430
Robin Swope
aka "The Paranormal Pastor"