'Spiritual counselor' says God guides her

From: Wausau Daily Herald, WI - 03 Jan 2003

By Amy E. Bowen
Gannett Wisconsin Newspapers

CHILI - Theresa Blume thinks she can see into the future.

Her visions include a massive explosion that possibly is nuclear, trouble in Alaska, and America's loss of status and influence in the world.

But she realizes that she sometimes misinterprets her visions. And although Blume says her visions come straight from God, the role of seers and prophecies is heatedly debated in Christianity, a faith that she professes.
"There are so many fruitcakes out there that you have to be careful," said the Rev. Peter Haas of Believers Church of Marshfield. "I think it's because of all these weird people that people stay away from the spiritual gifts."
Blume, 44, a hearing-impaired Potawatomi woman, doesn't consider herself a fortune teller. She says she's a "spiritual counselor."
"Fortune tellers and psychics and mediums are not going by the Bible," she said, but God gives some people the gift to relay messages.

Thousands of people have sought her help, Blume said.

Jennifer Franklin, 24, of Stevens Point visited with Blume almost three years ago.
Blume told Franklin the young woman was going to have a baby - and it turned out that Franklin was two months pregnant at the time. She also warned Franklin about a verbally abusive ex-boyfriend, another accurate premonition.

"Everything she told me came true," Franklin said. "She described things in my life that she shouldn't have known about."
Some of Blume's visions deal with larger issues, such as world events, she said.

In her most recent and recurring vision, there's a gigantic white whale with a human swimmer on each side. An explosion overtakes them. She believes the vision is related to North Korea's nuclear arms program.
She said her interpretations are sometimes faulty.

"After the events occur, then my visions are confirmed," Blume said. "Until then, I have to wait on God to show me what they mean."
The United States' status as a world leader soon will be in jeopardy, Blume said. She also has a vague sense of trouble in Alaska.

There is some good news, she said. Today's children will live in a better, more peaceful world, Blume said.

Blume first started having visions five years ago while in therapy for depression. She thought she was crazy - "I went there and told them to get out the straitjacket" - but her therapist said she was healthy and competent.

The Rev. Larry Sheahan of Faith Baptist Church and Haas, senior pastor at Believers Church, both in Marshfield, haven't met Blume, and they don't know if she is a prophet. Her claims are interesting, they said.

"I've heard thousands of stories like this," Haas said. "There are stories that are mind-blowing. I believe that biblical, miraculous Christianity is for today."
Sheahan said he believes in prophecies, and he's actually met people who have the gift. But it must be used "in the church." If prophecies prove to be untrue then they're not the word of God.

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