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Angels singing caught on tape
World Net Daily ^ | February 18, 2007 | Joe Kovacs, WND

Posted on 02/18/2007 7:30:33 PM PST by freedomdefender

A retired Air Force officer who now spends his days authoring books on Christianity has posted an online collection of recordings he believes captures voices and music of God's angels in heaven.

Angelic statue in Lommel, Belgium (photo: Jan Schiphorst, used with permission)

"I have four specific recordings of angels singing in church settings," Jim Bramlett of Lake Mary, Fla., told WND. "It happened supernaturally. There's no other explanation. It's either from God or from the devil, and I don't think the devil is in the business of worshipping Jesus. That is not in his job description."

Bramlett, 76, collected the tapes from various sources in recent years, and has now put them on his ChoicesForLiving website, where readers can click on several links to listen to three recordings made in the U.S., and one from China.

The Feb. 6, 1996, recording at the Greater Grace World Outreach Church in Baltimore, Md., starts off with a woman playing a piano, and gradually, accompanying voices are heard in the background. Bramlett described them as "beautiful voices of beings who were not in the service."

Jim Bramlett

"I have the full tape with the pastor discussing the situation with the congregation, and about 25 people gave testimony to hearing the voices. They were all in awe at what had happened."

Another recording took place at the Carpenter's Home Church in Lakeland, Fla., and features a 10-minute, sustained sound after a call to praise by a minister.

"They seem to lift the praise of the congregation to a totally new and awesome level, and it just goes on and on. The intensity and consistency are clearly supernatural and beyond the ability of the congregation," explains Bramlett, a former vice president at the Christian Broadcasting Network where he spent nine years.

(Story continues below)

A woman who says she and her husband were at the Lakeland service wrote Bramlett to vouch for the authenticity of what took place:

"The tape of the Florida meeting was exactly like the way it sounds. Glenn and I were there during those meetings, and if it wasn't this one then there is another tape of a meeting where [the phenomenon] happened again. The one we were in went on and on and stopped abruptly. Silence for about a minute then a male voice sang out 'Glooooory' and several women's voices from different directions echoed 'Gloooooory' in perfect harmony, and the praise and worship started up all over again."

Perhaps the most stunning of all the recordings is thought to be from a church in Kansas City, where there is not only an audible chorus of "Hallelujah" – meaning "praise God" – but also the voice of a male soloist who purportedly was not present. The lyrics of the mysterious solo were transcribed as follows:

Hallelujah, breathe it all across the land Everybody's singing at the Lord's command All the saints and the angels up in glory wait to hear the news of Jesus and his children as they're coming through. Though he doesn't have it on tape, Wayne Warmack of Greater Works Ministries in Rogers, Ark., says he and his wife, Sandy, personally heard angelic voices during a Passover celebration last April at a lakeside retreat center near Marianna, Fla.

"I began to distinctly hear wordless voices in perfect harmony with us, that were clearly not coming from me or Sandy, or the other 20 or so people present in the room. They sort of drifted in and out of my hearing while I struggled to maintain my composure and continue the song," Warmack said. "If you've ever heard that sound, it leaves you a different person than when you came in. I can't describe it. There's just no way to describe it. It is definitely heard with more than just the physical ears."

But not everyone is joining the chorus of hallelujahs.

Steven Novella

Dr. Steven Novella, a neurologist at Yale University School of Medicine and president of the New England Skeptical Society, analyzed the electronic voice phenomenon, or EVP, at WND's request.

"The fatal problem with this entire type of evidence is that there is no way to validate or invalidate the source of sound on a recording. Therefore it has no discriminating value," Novella said. "Personal testimony is not reliable as evidence and is not acceptable scientifically. Choosing to have faith in the persons making the angel-voice claims is no different than just having faith in angels in the first place, so the recordings don't get you anywhere."

Novella discussed some of the specific claims made by Bramlett and others who suggest the source of the sound is supernatural:

"There seems to be no doubt they are angelic voices." They sound like human voices to me. This is just a bold assertion without supporting argument or evidence.

" ... about 25 people gave testimony to hearing the voices. They were all in awe at what had happened." Not uncommon for a congregation of believers sharing a common belief and being swept into an emotional fervor by an experienced preacher. Not exactly dispassionate testimony.

"I have had this tape for several years but I recently found a cleaner version of it on the Internet, preceded by an explanation. I do not know the identity of the narrator." This reminds of the "Jesus in the clouds" picture that keeps cropping up. When the same piece of evidence keeps coming up in different contexts and situations, that strongly suggests fraud. Also, the angels in this recording were playing bass guitar and horn, and at one point broke into a pretty funky beat. It's actually pretty laughable. Also, it was noted that the angel voices were not noticed until the recording was played back, so nothing was heard during the recording. This is a red flag for a recording artifact. The simplest explanation is that the recording was made over a prior recording of a choir singing with accompanying music, and they heard the two recordings superimposed when they played it back.

So, bottom line, these are all worthless as evidence. They are being offered uncritically by people who already believe, are not questioning the angel claims, and who are committing some logical fallacies.

"I think his explanations are nonsense," responded Bramlett.

"Over the years, I have found there are negative skeptics and cynics out there on every subject. It is easy to find them. They are so predictable, and they typically reject anything supernatural. They have to, because to admit it would be tantamount to admitting to a God to whom they are accountable. They cannot permit that. It is as simple as that. Biblically speaking, you could say they are spiritually dead and they think everything must have a natural, material explanation."

The concept of supernatural beings called angels has a strong basis in Scripture. In the King James Version of the Bible, the word "angel" is found 201 times in 192 verses, while "angels" occurs 94 times in 92 verses.

At least two are named – Michael and Gabriel – and the New Testament describes a galactic conflict involving angels at war with each other.

And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels (Revelation 12:7)

The Bible also records numerous instances of angels appearing to humans and even having discussions with them.

The angel Gabriel appears to the virgin Mary in 1898's 'The Annunciation' by Pennsylvania artist Henry Ossawa Tanner

The 19th chapter of Genesis indicates two angels helped rescue Lot and his family from the ancient city of Sodom; Luke 1:26 shows the angel Gabriel being dispatched by God to the town of Nazareth to inform Mary she would miraculously become pregnant with Jesus; and Hebrews 13:2 reminds people to "entertain strangers," since some strangers might actually be angels.

Bramlett believes angels are still making appearances in our modern day, and he documents several purported instances on his website.

"Some say that true reality is spiritual, not physical," he said. "The supernatural breaks through [into our dimension], and it's exciting when it does."


TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: angel; angels; apparition; music; singing
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To: freedomdefender

Spirit voices on recordings go all the way back to Edison's phonograph, which is one of the things he was interested in researching. The medium has changed from wax to magnetic wire, to other magnetic media, to whatever is inside CDs, but inbetween the sounds are the spirits. The phenomenon is very similar to seeing faces on bagels. Be careful about interpreting the white noise as angels, however, since they could be something else that only appear to be angels.


81 posted on 02/19/2007 3:00:16 PM PST by RightWhale (300 miles north of Big Wild Life)
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To: Luke Skyfreeper

Show me one Houston church that plays decent music.

And by "decent," I mean a song that doesn't run something like:

Glory to God
Glory to God
Blessed is He
Blessed am I because He blesses me
Blessed am I because He blesses me
Blessed is He
Glory to God
All glory to God
Blessed is He

. . . but perhaps you get the idea.


82 posted on 02/19/2007 3:04:58 PM PST by Xenalyte (Anything is possible when you don't understand how anything happens.)
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To: endthematrix

It's not working, then. Perhaps today's "younger generation" has more appreciation for true beauty in music than when I was a younger generation.


83 posted on 02/19/2007 3:07:53 PM PST by Xenalyte (Anything is possible when you don't understand how anything happens.)
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To: freedomdefender
A couple of things I thought were interesting;

In Florida, there are sounds of distress in the audience..odd reaction, but then again, maybe not. There were probably Democrats there. :)

The Choral arrangements are amazing. Especially what they did with what little the Floridians gave them. The human voices sounded like Johny Cash gone aboriginal..but then...wow.

And on a less positive note. Notice the lyrics translated from Madarin on the Chinese recording. No mention of Christ, or praise of the lord. My understanding is that is something angelic communication always includes, otherwise it is assumed to be demonic. There is no grace, only finger pointing, destruction and doom. "the end is near" ect. Its like they were channeling Al Gore and Mohumad. I'm suspicious of that one.
84 posted on 02/19/2007 3:56:26 PM PST by Dead Dog
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To: freedomdefender

For those who have faith, no explanation is necessary. For those who don't, no explanation is possible.


85 posted on 02/19/2007 4:01:17 PM PST by Ciexyz (Amazing Grace the film, in theaters Feb 23rd, about abolishing slave trade in Britain.)
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To: NRA2BFree
With that kind of a holier than thou attitude, you might not have to worry about leaving. You may not get there.

So now if I have musical tastes that differ from yours, I'm going to hell? I can't find the passage in the Scriptures that says, "If thou findest not pleasure in the repetitious praise music of the twenty-first century after Our Lord's Resurrection, and if likewise thou dost favor the songs and musical instruments that were raised to His glory in times closer to His life on earth, thou shalt surely be condemned, for thou art being 'holier-than-thou' and for this there is no forgiveness." Can you cite the verses for me? It just doesn't seem to be in my KJV.

86 posted on 02/19/2007 4:42:30 PM PST by Fairview ( Everybody is somebody else's weirdo.)
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To: Fairview
What's so wrong with the beautiful old hymns that have inspired believers for centuries?

I miss that in my church as well. It's a wonderful little church and I wouldn't switch for anything, but how I would love to sing the good old hymns out of the hymnal instead of those super simple little songs that are so popular with churchs now. I try to sing them, concentrating on the meaning of the lyrics rather than the music.

87 posted on 02/20/2007 2:21:51 PM PST by alnick
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To: leenie312
I once met a missionary who went to indigenous peoples and recorded their worship services. At one particular place...very remote...they had no access to organs or any other instruments...instead they improvised with a tin can and a stick that was beat upon it. The people sang their praises to the Lord with an anointing that was tremendous. The Spirit of the Lord was in their songs.

I would absolutely love to hear that.

88 posted on 02/20/2007 2:26:55 PM PST by alnick
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To: XR7
How do you decifer the voices of the "angels" from the 25 spontaneously worshipping congregants?

Did you listen to it? I don't know if those are angels, but I heard the part that could be angels. It's beautiful, and subtle. It's in the background, and perfectly on key, unlike the very nice lady leading.

89 posted on 02/20/2007 2:43:58 PM PST by alnick
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To: MonicaG
I read about Daniel dancing "with all his might" for God and think the music in heaven is going to be unstoppable, better-than-we-can-currently-imagine joyful music, next-level Earth Wind & Fire jams of eternal funky praise.

It sounds like you might enjoy Salvador's version of "I will Dance Like David Danced." This Earth Wind and Fire fan finds the Christian band Salvador as good, if not better, than EWF.

90 posted on 02/20/2007 2:53:30 PM PST by alnick
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To: soupcon

So can "Deutschland, Deutschland, Uber Alles."


91 posted on 02/20/2007 3:01:17 PM PST by ichabod1 ("Liberals read Karl Marx. Conservatives UNDERSTAND Karl Marx." Ronald Reagan)
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To: edcoil

Actually we believe in Angels, it is a part of our faith.


92 posted on 02/20/2007 3:02:29 PM PST by mware (By all that you hold dear.. on this good earth... I bid you stand! Men of the West!)
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To: Luke Skyfreeper

Many of us believe that the great body of music of the past is being suppressed in the name of innovation and modernism. If some of these newer songs are worthy, they will join the canon. You don't build a brave, new world by destroying your history, son.


93 posted on 02/20/2007 3:03:54 PM PST by ichabod1 ("Liberals read Karl Marx. Conservatives UNDERSTAND Karl Marx." Ronald Reagan)
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To: justche
Oh please! Find something real to be upset about at church besides how other people are worshiping the Lord!

but the point of worship is supposed to be God centered, not self-centeredness

Uh... much of what passes for "new" christian music is theologically unsound, to put it charitably. That is a HUGE complaint about it that it celebrates "ME" and how God makes "ME" feel rather than being about HIM and what I owe Him.

94 posted on 02/20/2007 3:06:26 PM PST by ichabod1 ("Liberals read Karl Marx. Conservatives UNDERSTAND Karl Marx." Ronald Reagan)
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To: maxter

Course, Victorian Baptist Hymns were downright Gawd Awful. It's not like the Guitar Mass invented bad Christian music.


95 posted on 02/20/2007 3:07:59 PM PST by ichabod1 ("Liberals read Karl Marx. Conservatives UNDERSTAND Karl Marx." Ronald Reagan)
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To: Mr. Mojo
Heaven's reserved for music such as Bach's Mass in B minor, Beethoven's Missa Solemnis, and Jimi Hendrix's "Machine Gun."

I'd just like to pop in to this thread and state for the record that if you believe in forever, then life is just a one night stand. And if there's a rock-and-roll heaven, well...

96 posted on 02/20/2007 3:08:36 PM PST by Dont Mention the War (Giuliani '08: Why not p. o. BOTH sides?)
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To: ichabod1

if you'll refer back to the post that I was referring to - I hardly think that crossing ones arms over your chest in protest is anything less than "ME" oriented.


97 posted on 02/20/2007 3:12:19 PM PST by justche (Freedom and Security go together - Ronald Reagan)
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To: endthematrix
It's all about bringing in the younger generation.

Well that's too bad because most of it is between 25 and 50 years old. Kids don't like it. Kids don't like things that are insipid. They like things that are REAL. That's why you can appeal to them with mission, but the white-bread, lukewarm mainstream churches are going out of business.

98 posted on 02/20/2007 3:12:55 PM PST by ichabod1 ("Liberals read Karl Marx. Conservatives UNDERSTAND Karl Marx." Ronald Reagan)
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To: edcoil
The catholic church believes God did all these miracles and had angels visit long ago and now we must go on faith.

That's just flat wrong.

99 posted on 02/20/2007 3:14:40 PM PST by ichabod1 ("Liberals read Karl Marx. Conservatives UNDERSTAND Karl Marx." Ronald Reagan)
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To: freedomdefender
"Over the years, I have found there are negative skeptics and cynics out there on every subject. It is easy to find them. They are so predictable, and they typically reject anything supernatural. They have to, because to admit it would be tantamount to admitting to a God to whom they are accountable. They cannot permit that. It is as simple as that. Biblically speaking, you could say they are spiritually dead and they think everything must have a natural, material explanation."

So if I believe there's an earthly explanation for this guy's recordings, I'm spiritually dead? Lovely.
100 posted on 02/20/2007 3:19:39 PM PST by Stone Mountain
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