YOGA UNCOILED
July 31, 2011
July 27, 2011
Contemplative Prayer - Eastern Meditation "Christianized"
Keating, Kundalini and Contemplative Prayer
By Brian Flynn
The class began with a meditation exercise that we were to practice everyday when we awoke and again each evening. Elinor instructed us to sit with our feet firmly on the ground and to close our eyes. She then asked us to imagine roots or cords extending from the soles of our feet down into the earth. She said to imagine going deeper and deeper to the light, with the heat and power of the earth below us. Her words flowed from one to another and had an almost hypnotic effect on me:
Once the cords reach a certain point, attach the cords to that power. Bring that energy up those roots, up through the soles of your feet, up your legs, and allow them to attach to the base of your spine to the first Chakra. You are now grounded in earth’s energy.
I finally felt I was heading in the right direction and tapping into a world and an energy that would give guidance and insight. Excerpt from Running Against the Wind.
During my years as a New Age medium, grounding myself was one of the first steps required to prepare my mind before performing psychic readings. It was from this series of meditative steps that I was able to hear from my spirit guides. Who could have guessed that years later I would be warning Christians not to imitate this exact same practice?
After I was saved, many church leaders asked me if I would be willing to share my testimony and to offer an explanation of the New Age practices that I used to perform. At first I felt a little apprehensive because although I was involved in these practices personally, I actually knew very little about their origin. This led me to do extensive research on the movement I had left behind.
After several years of research on this topic, I was fortunate to have the chance to speak to Peter Jones who has authored many books on the occult. When I described the meditation process of what we called in class "running our energy" he explained that it was a form of a Kundalini meditation. I had never heard the word used to describe this practice before.
The Sanskrit word Kundalini means the curled one, and is also called Kundalini awakening or the awakening of the serpent. Practitioners describe it as a curled channel in the tailbone area. It can rise through the chakras (psychic centers situated along the spine from the tailbone to the top of the head), creating physical symptoms ranging from sensations of heat and tremors to involuntary laughing or crying, nausea, diarrhea or constipation, rigidity or limpness, and animal-like movements and sounds. [Emphasis added]
I considered myself fortunate to have never experienced the symptoms that are described above. However, I never knew the reason why until recently. My publisher, Lighthouse Trails Publishing, received a letter from a woman who before becoming a Christian was practicing Kundalini. After reading my book, she offered an interesting insight as to why I did not experience any of the negative manifestations of the Kundalini awakening:
First and most startling, when Brian and his wife went to the spiritual coach, to learn to channel, they did a type of grounding exercise which they called "running their energy." This running of the energy is what saved them from possibly having a neurological crisis. In other words, although the purpose of the class was nefarious, the technique was good! The technique was to keep them "grounded" while they were flying off into the empyrean (the highest heaven) to contact spirits, for their protection. Apparently it worked to this extent: although they became subject to spirit guides, they did not become sick.
People who practice kundalini in America often become sick. Because they are not grounded, for one thing, or if they are grounded, they push the exercise beyond where grounding can physically protect them. When I had my kundalini awakening, I was not grounded and was not taught what it was at all. So I became very sick.
I am not sure if my teacher knew that the grounding portion of the multiple steps to running our energy was to prevent the Kundalini effect or not. When I asked my teacher what were the origins of this practice she often danced around the question. She either did not know or refused to share that information. In either case, does it not seem odd that a spiritual practice whose purpose is to either bring harmony in one’s life or to feel closer to God would have a negative physical manifestation?
On a pro-contemplative spirituality web site, I came across the descriptions of those who had experienced the same effect while practicing contemplative prayer. Here is one example:
"I have been practicing Centering Prayer for 2 ½ years…. I began experiencing Kundalini-like symptoms three months after beginning the practice. They were quite intense at first. They have continued in various forms since then. Lately, I only experience them at the very beginning of prayer. I am not aware of any other moral manifestations. Father [Thomas] Keating advised me personally to ignore them if I could, and if they were too bothersome to “balance the energy” with physical exercise or a yoga practice."—Gary
Thomas Keating
Is the practice of kundalini and contemplative prayer the same? Father Thomas Keating, who has inspired many evangelical contemplatives like Henri Nouwen, Richard Foster, and Brennan Manning, wrote the foreword to Philip St. Romain's book, Kundalini Energy and Christian Spirituality. In the forward, Keating acknowledges that kundalini is the same as Christian contemplation. He states:
Since this energy [kundalini] is also at work today in numerous persons who are devoting themselves to contemplative prayer, this book is an important contribution to the renewal of the Christian contemplative tradition. It will be a great consolation to those who have experienced physical symptoms arising from the awakening of kundalini in the course of their spiritual journey ... Most spiritual disciplines world-wide insist on some kind of serious discipline before techniques of awakening kundalini are communicated. In Christian tradition ... the regular practice of the stages of Christian prayer ... contemplation are the essential disciplines...
Keating explains that the reason spiritual directors are needed is to help guide the Christian contemplative is because of the powerful and dangerous nature of kundalini. He says that these "spiritual directors" may need to consult with "Eastern teachers in order to get a fuller understanding."
The disciples of Jesus Christ did not call upon Eastern teachers to guide them when praying to our Lord. Nor is there any warning in the Bible cautioning us about negative physical manifestations when engaging in simple Christian prayer. For years, I have been telling my Christian brothers and sisters that contemplative prayer is an Eastern form of meditation. Finally, I have a contemplative who admits it to be so. And now that I know about Keating’s declaration that kundalini is the same as contemplative, Richard Foster’s statement makes more sense. In Foster’s book, Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home, he states:
I also want to give a word of precaution. In the silent contemplation of God we are entering deeply into the spiritual realm, and there is such a thing as a supernatural guidance that is not divine guidance. While the Bible does not give us a lot of information on the nature of the spiritual world, we do know … there are various orders of spiritual beings, and some of them are definitely not in cooperation with God and his way! … But for now I want to encourage you to learn and practice prayers of protection.… “All dark and evil spirits must now leave.”
I believe Foster made these comments because he was well aware that contemplative prayer could be dangerous because it is no different than kundalini. And yet in Celebration of Discipline (p. 13, 1978) he says “We should all without shame enroll in the school of contemplative prayer."
The unfortunate outcome is that both Thomas Keating and Richard Foster continue to endorse contemplative prayer and encourage others to engage in this un-biblical practice when they know good and well it can have detrimental effects.
How much more evidence do the leaders in our churches require before they repent of promoting this practice When Rick Warren stated in his first book, Purpose Driven Church that Foster’s spiritual formation was a wakeup call to the church, he gave the green light to millions to practice something that could potentially have long or permanent lasting damage on practitioners.
I pray fervently that my fellow Christians will return to the word of God for comfort and knowledge and that they will come to understand the true means of grace that our Heavenly Father has bestowed upon us. Please pray with me that this will come to pass.
Source
By Brian Flynn
The class began with a meditation exercise that we were to practice everyday when we awoke and again each evening. Elinor instructed us to sit with our feet firmly on the ground and to close our eyes. She then asked us to imagine roots or cords extending from the soles of our feet down into the earth. She said to imagine going deeper and deeper to the light, with the heat and power of the earth below us. Her words flowed from one to another and had an almost hypnotic effect on me:
Once the cords reach a certain point, attach the cords to that power. Bring that energy up those roots, up through the soles of your feet, up your legs, and allow them to attach to the base of your spine to the first Chakra. You are now grounded in earth’s energy.
I finally felt I was heading in the right direction and tapping into a world and an energy that would give guidance and insight. Excerpt from Running Against the Wind.
During my years as a New Age medium, grounding myself was one of the first steps required to prepare my mind before performing psychic readings. It was from this series of meditative steps that I was able to hear from my spirit guides. Who could have guessed that years later I would be warning Christians not to imitate this exact same practice?
After I was saved, many church leaders asked me if I would be willing to share my testimony and to offer an explanation of the New Age practices that I used to perform. At first I felt a little apprehensive because although I was involved in these practices personally, I actually knew very little about their origin. This led me to do extensive research on the movement I had left behind.
After several years of research on this topic, I was fortunate to have the chance to speak to Peter Jones who has authored many books on the occult. When I described the meditation process of what we called in class "running our energy" he explained that it was a form of a Kundalini meditation. I had never heard the word used to describe this practice before.
The Sanskrit word Kundalini means the curled one, and is also called Kundalini awakening or the awakening of the serpent. Practitioners describe it as a curled channel in the tailbone area. It can rise through the chakras (psychic centers situated along the spine from the tailbone to the top of the head), creating physical symptoms ranging from sensations of heat and tremors to involuntary laughing or crying, nausea, diarrhea or constipation, rigidity or limpness, and animal-like movements and sounds. [Emphasis added]
I considered myself fortunate to have never experienced the symptoms that are described above. However, I never knew the reason why until recently. My publisher, Lighthouse Trails Publishing, received a letter from a woman who before becoming a Christian was practicing Kundalini. After reading my book, she offered an interesting insight as to why I did not experience any of the negative manifestations of the Kundalini awakening:
First and most startling, when Brian and his wife went to the spiritual coach, to learn to channel, they did a type of grounding exercise which they called "running their energy." This running of the energy is what saved them from possibly having a neurological crisis. In other words, although the purpose of the class was nefarious, the technique was good! The technique was to keep them "grounded" while they were flying off into the empyrean (the highest heaven) to contact spirits, for their protection. Apparently it worked to this extent: although they became subject to spirit guides, they did not become sick.
People who practice kundalini in America often become sick. Because they are not grounded, for one thing, or if they are grounded, they push the exercise beyond where grounding can physically protect them. When I had my kundalini awakening, I was not grounded and was not taught what it was at all. So I became very sick.
I am not sure if my teacher knew that the grounding portion of the multiple steps to running our energy was to prevent the Kundalini effect or not. When I asked my teacher what were the origins of this practice she often danced around the question. She either did not know or refused to share that information. In either case, does it not seem odd that a spiritual practice whose purpose is to either bring harmony in one’s life or to feel closer to God would have a negative physical manifestation?
On a pro-contemplative spirituality web site, I came across the descriptions of those who had experienced the same effect while practicing contemplative prayer. Here is one example:
"I have been practicing Centering Prayer for 2 ½ years…. I began experiencing Kundalini-like symptoms three months after beginning the practice. They were quite intense at first. They have continued in various forms since then. Lately, I only experience them at the very beginning of prayer. I am not aware of any other moral manifestations. Father [Thomas] Keating advised me personally to ignore them if I could, and if they were too bothersome to “balance the energy” with physical exercise or a yoga practice."—Gary
Thomas Keating
Is the practice of kundalini and contemplative prayer the same? Father Thomas Keating, who has inspired many evangelical contemplatives like Henri Nouwen, Richard Foster, and Brennan Manning, wrote the foreword to Philip St. Romain's book, Kundalini Energy and Christian Spirituality. In the forward, Keating acknowledges that kundalini is the same as Christian contemplation. He states:
Since this energy [kundalini] is also at work today in numerous persons who are devoting themselves to contemplative prayer, this book is an important contribution to the renewal of the Christian contemplative tradition. It will be a great consolation to those who have experienced physical symptoms arising from the awakening of kundalini in the course of their spiritual journey ... Most spiritual disciplines world-wide insist on some kind of serious discipline before techniques of awakening kundalini are communicated. In Christian tradition ... the regular practice of the stages of Christian prayer ... contemplation are the essential disciplines...
Keating explains that the reason spiritual directors are needed is to help guide the Christian contemplative is because of the powerful and dangerous nature of kundalini. He says that these "spiritual directors" may need to consult with "Eastern teachers in order to get a fuller understanding."
The disciples of Jesus Christ did not call upon Eastern teachers to guide them when praying to our Lord. Nor is there any warning in the Bible cautioning us about negative physical manifestations when engaging in simple Christian prayer. For years, I have been telling my Christian brothers and sisters that contemplative prayer is an Eastern form of meditation. Finally, I have a contemplative who admits it to be so. And now that I know about Keating’s declaration that kundalini is the same as contemplative, Richard Foster’s statement makes more sense. In Foster’s book, Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home, he states:
I also want to give a word of precaution. In the silent contemplation of God we are entering deeply into the spiritual realm, and there is such a thing as a supernatural guidance that is not divine guidance. While the Bible does not give us a lot of information on the nature of the spiritual world, we do know … there are various orders of spiritual beings, and some of them are definitely not in cooperation with God and his way! … But for now I want to encourage you to learn and practice prayers of protection.… “All dark and evil spirits must now leave.”
I believe Foster made these comments because he was well aware that contemplative prayer could be dangerous because it is no different than kundalini. And yet in Celebration of Discipline (p. 13, 1978) he says “We should all without shame enroll in the school of contemplative prayer."
The unfortunate outcome is that both Thomas Keating and Richard Foster continue to endorse contemplative prayer and encourage others to engage in this un-biblical practice when they know good and well it can have detrimental effects.
How much more evidence do the leaders in our churches require before they repent of promoting this practice When Rick Warren stated in his first book, Purpose Driven Church that Foster’s spiritual formation was a wakeup call to the church, he gave the green light to millions to practice something that could potentially have long or permanent lasting damage on practitioners.
I pray fervently that my fellow Christians will return to the word of God for comfort and knowledge and that they will come to understand the true means of grace that our Heavenly Father has bestowed upon us. Please pray with me that this will come to pass.
Source
The Warning
Another thought provoking word from our brother, Roger Oakland. I have included his 2011 Discern Conference (2 parts) in the right side links under 'Audio Files' for those who would like to listen.
The Warning
Commentary by Roger Oakland
www.understandthetimes.org
There is a pattern we find throughout the Word of God. God always warns before He brings judgment on sinful man. God is merciful and never reacts quickly without giving sinners a chance to repent. While He hates sin, He has often allowed men to carry on even if they do not respond. However there are always consequences of sin. The Bible states that the wages of sin is death. Often sin is exposed publically, and others are reminded to get right with God.
As we read through the Bible, we see how God has always raised up men and women to warn the people of coming judgments. The first time this occurred in history was before the great flood of Noah. Very few listened to Noah. God used Noah to warn, and then the judgment came. For the majority who refused to listen, they were wiped out in a global catastrophe.
Of all the prophets, Jeremiah is the one who seemed to have the toughest job. Virtually no one would listen to him as he was trying to warn the leaders of Israel about the judgment they were going to face. They had turned away from God and were following their forefathers who had turned to the gods. God used Jeremiah to warn the people and then judged the children of Israel by sending them into exile where they were forced to live in a society that was totally pagan.
If history repeats itself as the Bible states, then it would be reasonable to predict the same pattern would be repeated today. People who profess to be followers of God end up following men who follow the devil who then become Satan’s pawns. As Solomon said, there is nothing new under the sun.
A brief overview of what we call the “new” evangelical movement provides a good example of what is happening today. According to Bible prophecy, the Last Days will see the implementation of a global One World Religion that prepares the way for the antichrist. This would mean that we will see all religions coming together for the cause of peace. Not only will the religions of the world join up in an ecumenical unity, but so will the majority of those who call themselves Christian.
We have been watching this trend happen for over two decades. Without knowing it “Protestant evangelicals” have been seduced so that they are neither Protestant nor evangelical. Many churches and denominations have been led astray by the pied pipers of the Purpose Driven emerging church movement, which clearly embraces a false hope centered on a P.E.A.C.E. Plan that is supposed to unite all religions of the world to do good. This plan is fueled by the belief that we can get closer to God through various contemplative eastern practices like Yoga and contemplative prayer. Christ is mentioned in name, but the “Jesus” and the “gospel” is not the Jesus Christ and the gospel that is supported by the Scriptures.
While I have only been a born-again Christian for just over three decades, it has been long enough to see a paradigm shift taking place with regards to what it means today to be a Christian. Many churches and denominations have joined hands with pagans. Once Bible-based and Jesus-centered, many evangelical churches have moved away from messengers of the gospel towards church-growth programs driven by corporate politics that leaves biblical Christianity behind. Rather than looking to the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, the sheep are conditioned or brainwashed to look to some man whom they believe is the answer to all their problems. This cult style of Christian leadership is not only dangerous, it provides the backbone that leads towards a One World Religion with an ecumenical headquarters headed by the pope in Rome.
These pseudo churches have departed from the faith in such a way that many have not even noticed. When someone points out the deception that is happening they are considered to be the heretics. Those with discernment are scoffed at and told to shut up. Worse yet those who are persistent in shining the light on apostasy are marginalized, shunned, or declared crazy.
The bottom line is this: the leaders of the Last Days apostasy are most often too proud to receive correction from anyone. They call those who stand up and warn them as unbalanced, out of touch, “haters,” or even psychotic misfits who are on the lunatic fringe.
The Final, Final, Final Warning
Just before sitting down to write this commentary, I was at the John Wayne Airport in southern Californian waiting for a flight to San Francisco. As I had time to spare before my flight, I took out a notepad from my pocket and started to jot down an outline dealing with the subject matter of this commentary. Unexpectedly, I heard an announcement made over the intercom: “This is the final – final – final call for United Airlines Flight 322 to San Francisco.” I looked at my watch and realized I had nearly missed my flight. The call was for me.
We are living at a period in Church history when the final-final-final call is being made to warn the Church to wake up. The apostasy that is underway is greater every day. Worse yet, fewer and fewer professing Christians realize what is happening. They have gone to sleep it seems. More and more pastors are concerned about property, power, and prestige than they are about people. While many should be repenting from their sins, they are spending the time they have left here on earth covering up their sin in order to protect what they believe is their legacy. Others have poured their energies and focus into trying to “return” America to a Christian nation, claiming that we need to get back to our Christian roots and take over our country for Jesus. While there have certainly been many Christians in the history of America who have served Him faithfully over the past two hundred years, the fact is that no country is “Christian.” The Bible refers to those of the faith as “strangers and pilgrims of the earth” (Hebrews 11:13; 1 Peter 2:11). The only solution to our problem with sin is salvation through Jesus Christ and the finished work of the cross. Our home is not on earth but in heaven. So while the majority of Christians are distracted by their worldly carnal ambitions, they are missing the final call.
Recently we sent out a general open letter to all pastors attempting to wake up those who should know better. The letter was written to all pastors even though the majority of the churches I have spoken at in the past were fellowships belonging to the Calvary Chapel movement. In my view, the time we have before God’s judgment comes is short. When the church is more interested in man-made agenda’s than God’s, the church is no longer useful. God will simply raise up others to do the job. In fact, I believe we are fast approaching a time when the apostate “church” will join up with the One World Religion, and the body of true believers in Jesus Christ will be forced to the sidelines and even underground because of persecution.
For those who have followed the ministry of Understand The Times, you will know we have been trying to warn the church for the last two decades about the judgment that is coming. Books and commentaries have been written. Presentations have been made since about 1990. Some of these books that were written include: New Wine Or Old Deception, When New Wine Makes a Man Divine, New Wine and the Babylonian Vine, When Marian Apparitions Plan to United the World Religions, Another Jesus: The Eucharistic Christ and the New Evangelization and Faith Undone.
Not only did I express my concerns about the direction the church was headed in a public way, I wrote personal letters to the leaders of Calvary Chapel that we are now making public so the world can see. You can read some of these letters by going to the following link: Lighthouse Trails Research
Why am I doing this? The answer is very simple. Over the past year, I have been accused by some of my colleagues as being mentally unbalanced and vindictive because I have simply expressed the facts. I have even been told that I have blasphemed the Holy Spirit because I have questioned the roots of the Calvary Chapel movement. Apparently, up until now, no one has dared to do this.
While I have heard the rumors and seen some of the e-mails regarding what has been said, I will make the statement again: The Lord has led me to warn what is happening. No one is listening. I have done this according the Scriptures. When you see brothers heading into apostasy, you need to warn them, and then if the warning isn’t heeded, wash your hands.
Finally, I fear no man. I reverence and fear Jesus Christ and His Word.
The rejection and ridicule that we have received from many of my former colleagues would provide the contents for a book, which we will likely write at a later time. While I refuse to read the blogs and even the threating e-mails that come to me from pastors and church leaders that I once shared a common platform with, the time has come for me to speak up. Understand The Times will not be silenced; we will tell the facts whatever the cost. Sin cannot be covered up.
Just like Jeremiah, we have been told that we are crazy and to shut up. Read Jeremiah chapter 21.
Prediction
The truth always wins out. As someone said, the truth will always chase a lie through the back door. While I have no personal vendetta against those who conjure up lies and rumors about me, I will make one final appeal to the consciences of those who know better.
It is time to fear God and get things right. You cannot continue to let on that everything is all right. It is time to warn the body of Christ about the days in which we live. Your camp is full of leaven. Your sin will find you out.
Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. (Galatians 6:7-8)
The Warning
Commentary by Roger Oakland
www.understandthetimes.org
There is a pattern we find throughout the Word of God. God always warns before He brings judgment on sinful man. God is merciful and never reacts quickly without giving sinners a chance to repent. While He hates sin, He has often allowed men to carry on even if they do not respond. However there are always consequences of sin. The Bible states that the wages of sin is death. Often sin is exposed publically, and others are reminded to get right with God.
As we read through the Bible, we see how God has always raised up men and women to warn the people of coming judgments. The first time this occurred in history was before the great flood of Noah. Very few listened to Noah. God used Noah to warn, and then the judgment came. For the majority who refused to listen, they were wiped out in a global catastrophe.
Of all the prophets, Jeremiah is the one who seemed to have the toughest job. Virtually no one would listen to him as he was trying to warn the leaders of Israel about the judgment they were going to face. They had turned away from God and were following their forefathers who had turned to the gods. God used Jeremiah to warn the people and then judged the children of Israel by sending them into exile where they were forced to live in a society that was totally pagan.
If history repeats itself as the Bible states, then it would be reasonable to predict the same pattern would be repeated today. People who profess to be followers of God end up following men who follow the devil who then become Satan’s pawns. As Solomon said, there is nothing new under the sun.
A brief overview of what we call the “new” evangelical movement provides a good example of what is happening today. According to Bible prophecy, the Last Days will see the implementation of a global One World Religion that prepares the way for the antichrist. This would mean that we will see all religions coming together for the cause of peace. Not only will the religions of the world join up in an ecumenical unity, but so will the majority of those who call themselves Christian.
We have been watching this trend happen for over two decades. Without knowing it “Protestant evangelicals” have been seduced so that they are neither Protestant nor evangelical. Many churches and denominations have been led astray by the pied pipers of the Purpose Driven emerging church movement, which clearly embraces a false hope centered on a P.E.A.C.E. Plan that is supposed to unite all religions of the world to do good. This plan is fueled by the belief that we can get closer to God through various contemplative eastern practices like Yoga and contemplative prayer. Christ is mentioned in name, but the “Jesus” and the “gospel” is not the Jesus Christ and the gospel that is supported by the Scriptures.
While I have only been a born-again Christian for just over three decades, it has been long enough to see a paradigm shift taking place with regards to what it means today to be a Christian. Many churches and denominations have joined hands with pagans. Once Bible-based and Jesus-centered, many evangelical churches have moved away from messengers of the gospel towards church-growth programs driven by corporate politics that leaves biblical Christianity behind. Rather than looking to the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, the sheep are conditioned or brainwashed to look to some man whom they believe is the answer to all their problems. This cult style of Christian leadership is not only dangerous, it provides the backbone that leads towards a One World Religion with an ecumenical headquarters headed by the pope in Rome.
These pseudo churches have departed from the faith in such a way that many have not even noticed. When someone points out the deception that is happening they are considered to be the heretics. Those with discernment are scoffed at and told to shut up. Worse yet those who are persistent in shining the light on apostasy are marginalized, shunned, or declared crazy.
The bottom line is this: the leaders of the Last Days apostasy are most often too proud to receive correction from anyone. They call those who stand up and warn them as unbalanced, out of touch, “haters,” or even psychotic misfits who are on the lunatic fringe.
The Final, Final, Final Warning
Just before sitting down to write this commentary, I was at the John Wayne Airport in southern Californian waiting for a flight to San Francisco. As I had time to spare before my flight, I took out a notepad from my pocket and started to jot down an outline dealing with the subject matter of this commentary. Unexpectedly, I heard an announcement made over the intercom: “This is the final – final – final call for United Airlines Flight 322 to San Francisco.” I looked at my watch and realized I had nearly missed my flight. The call was for me.
We are living at a period in Church history when the final-final-final call is being made to warn the Church to wake up. The apostasy that is underway is greater every day. Worse yet, fewer and fewer professing Christians realize what is happening. They have gone to sleep it seems. More and more pastors are concerned about property, power, and prestige than they are about people. While many should be repenting from their sins, they are spending the time they have left here on earth covering up their sin in order to protect what they believe is their legacy. Others have poured their energies and focus into trying to “return” America to a Christian nation, claiming that we need to get back to our Christian roots and take over our country for Jesus. While there have certainly been many Christians in the history of America who have served Him faithfully over the past two hundred years, the fact is that no country is “Christian.” The Bible refers to those of the faith as “strangers and pilgrims of the earth” (Hebrews 11:13; 1 Peter 2:11). The only solution to our problem with sin is salvation through Jesus Christ and the finished work of the cross. Our home is not on earth but in heaven. So while the majority of Christians are distracted by their worldly carnal ambitions, they are missing the final call.
Recently we sent out a general open letter to all pastors attempting to wake up those who should know better. The letter was written to all pastors even though the majority of the churches I have spoken at in the past were fellowships belonging to the Calvary Chapel movement. In my view, the time we have before God’s judgment comes is short. When the church is more interested in man-made agenda’s than God’s, the church is no longer useful. God will simply raise up others to do the job. In fact, I believe we are fast approaching a time when the apostate “church” will join up with the One World Religion, and the body of true believers in Jesus Christ will be forced to the sidelines and even underground because of persecution.
For those who have followed the ministry of Understand The Times, you will know we have been trying to warn the church for the last two decades about the judgment that is coming. Books and commentaries have been written. Presentations have been made since about 1990. Some of these books that were written include: New Wine Or Old Deception, When New Wine Makes a Man Divine, New Wine and the Babylonian Vine, When Marian Apparitions Plan to United the World Religions, Another Jesus: The Eucharistic Christ and the New Evangelization and Faith Undone.
Not only did I express my concerns about the direction the church was headed in a public way, I wrote personal letters to the leaders of Calvary Chapel that we are now making public so the world can see. You can read some of these letters by going to the following link: Lighthouse Trails Research
Why am I doing this? The answer is very simple. Over the past year, I have been accused by some of my colleagues as being mentally unbalanced and vindictive because I have simply expressed the facts. I have even been told that I have blasphemed the Holy Spirit because I have questioned the roots of the Calvary Chapel movement. Apparently, up until now, no one has dared to do this.
While I have heard the rumors and seen some of the e-mails regarding what has been said, I will make the statement again: The Lord has led me to warn what is happening. No one is listening. I have done this according the Scriptures. When you see brothers heading into apostasy, you need to warn them, and then if the warning isn’t heeded, wash your hands.
Finally, I fear no man. I reverence and fear Jesus Christ and His Word.
The rejection and ridicule that we have received from many of my former colleagues would provide the contents for a book, which we will likely write at a later time. While I refuse to read the blogs and even the threating e-mails that come to me from pastors and church leaders that I once shared a common platform with, the time has come for me to speak up. Understand The Times will not be silenced; we will tell the facts whatever the cost. Sin cannot be covered up.
Just like Jeremiah, we have been told that we are crazy and to shut up. Read Jeremiah chapter 21.
Prediction
The truth always wins out. As someone said, the truth will always chase a lie through the back door. While I have no personal vendetta against those who conjure up lies and rumors about me, I will make one final appeal to the consciences of those who know better.
It is time to fear God and get things right. You cannot continue to let on that everything is all right. It is time to warn the body of Christ about the days in which we live. Your camp is full of leaven. Your sin will find you out.
Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. (Galatians 6:7-8)
July 25, 2011
WorldNetDaily Should Apologize to Veterans and Soldiers for Promoting Soldier-Meditation Program
Way to go LTR, this blogger wholeheartedly agrees and stands with you! I am sooooo sick of all the compromise amongst so-called "christian conservatives".
THIS IS A STORY THAT CONTAINS THREE STORIES; EACH STORY HAS A MESSAGE
Story # 1: Soldiers who are suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome from their experiences during their service to the U.S. are being encouraged to turn to eastern style meditation techniques to find help through a program called Patriot Outreach. A free CD to any solider promises to give “effective help with Anger, Stress, Pain, Combat Stress and even P.T.S.D.” The CD presents an exercise in meditation that listeners are told to practice three times a day: http://copingstrategiescd.com/downloads/cdquality/CopingStrategies_FullCD_128K.mp3.
This exercise involves a focusing technique that is used during eastern-style meditation. The name of the exercise is called “Be Still and Know,” taken from Psalm 46:10. This is the main Bible verse used by contemplatives to “prove” that the Bible condones going into the “silence” through various meditation practices (mantras, lectio divina, breath prayers, etc). As Lighthouse Trails has shown in the past, the verse has been taken out of context. Nowhere in Scripture are we instructed to enter an altered state of mind using focusing or repetitive techniques in order to hear the voice of God or in this case relax and rid one’s self of stress, anxiety, and anger. Sadly, Patriot Outreach is pointing soldiers to something that could ultimately harm them spiritually.
Patriot Outreach is associated with radio talk show host from Oregon, Roy Masters. Masters is the founder of the Foundation of Human Understanding Worldwide (please use discernment if entering this site) and an outspoken advocate for meditation practices. Master’s website offers a number of products to teach meditation techniques, including the Be Still and Know CD.
Story #2: On July 19th, WorldNetDaily posted an article titled “Military praises ‘fantastic’ new post-traumatic stress therapy.” The article is written by WND‘s managing editor David Kupelian and is basically an infomercial for a CD called Be Still and Know, which offers a meditation technique for soldiers and veterans presented by Patriot Outreach. Kupelian offers this supportive quote:
Patriot Outreach is an organization that provides the useful tools for our troubled soldiers and arms them with a renewed inner strength – a strength never to be shaken or stirred by angry thoughts or uncontrolled emotion. …
While we understand that WorldNetDaily offers the writings from those of many different views, they maintain a strong defense of conservativism and generally attract those with Judeo/Christian principles. Thus, it is surprising, to say the least, that Joseph Farah (WND founder) would allow an article to be posted (by his managing editor, no less) that outrightly promotes eastern meditation techniques, given that the overall philosophy/theology of eastern religion does not line up with Judeo/Christian or conservative standards.
Kupelian’s article draws strongly on the emotions, as he talks about soldiers who are suffering terribly from their experiences in the service. Lighthouse Trails holds a deep compassion for these soldiers who have risked their lives in the military; however, we find WorldNetDaily’s promotion of eastern meditation techniques as a valid solution more of an insult to these soldiers and veterans than a help. Thus, we call for WorldNetDaily to retract this article and make a formal, public apology to soldiers and veterans everywhere. If they do not, then they are making a statement to all that they embrace the ideologies that they have stood against for so long. How’s that you say? Mysticism is of the same ideology framework as evolution, abortion, homosexuality, pedophilia, and anti-semitism. We call it the death religion. It takes practitioners away from the One, the only One who is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). It is interesting to note that David Kupelian has written books on the topic of evil (including The Marketing of Evil). If he understood that meditation does not produce good “fruit” but rather bad outcomes, perhaps he would reconsider his views on this topic.
Story #3: On the WorldNetDaily article promoting eastern meditation techniques, there are about five dozen comments by readers. While there are some comments that completely oppose what is being said in Kupelian’s article, a large number of the comments are praising the article. Here are a few of the praises:
Great article. Make it go viral, spread the message, lives are at stake every day.
Hey this is just AWSOME! If it can save just one of those troops lives then I say CHARGE ON!
This is wonderful! Next step is for the Be Still to go viral all over the internet so we can regain America and a free world!
And on they go. If these comments were made by readers of a New Age or contemplative newspaper or magazine, one could hardly be surprised to hear these comments. But these are coming from readers of WorldNetDaily; and what this shows is that the mystical mindset is infiltrating even conservative circles. This also shows that WorldNetDaily has not made enough effort to speak up against spiritual deception. They have spoken up about many important issues affecting society and the church, but it appears that they have underestimated the wiles of the devil.
This isn’t the first time Lighthouse Trails has reported on David Kupelian. In 2008, we wrote “WorldNet Daily VP Wrong about the Mystics.” In that article, we stated that Kupelian wrote a WND article that featured and promoted a number of mystics. Now, three years later, he is promoting outright New Age meditation. This is a classic example of why we so strongly issue these warnings about Christian authors who are reading and writing about the mystics. Eventually, they are drawn into mysticism.
We can only hope that WorldNetDaily, who has a large percentage of Christian readers, will retract Kupelian’s article promoting eastern meditation techniques and set their readers straight. But sadly, they have grown an audience of which many will not like to hear such a retraction; so now there is going to be a cost to do the right thing. One thing is likely, they’ll lose some readers either way they go.
Because it is relevant to this week’s WND article, here is our 2008 article below:
On January 18th, 2008, WorldNet Daily posted an article by WND Vice President, David Kupelian. The article came out in WND’s publication Whistleblower the previous month and is currently in wide circulation on the Internet. It is for this reason that Lighthouse Trails is compelled to respond. The information in the article could potentially mislead many into following the teachings of mystics and panentheists from the past.
Kupelian’s article, titled “If God is everywhere, why do so few people find Him?”does not refute the notion that God is everywhere but on the contrary backs up the idea by favorably referencing mystics who believed that God was in everyone. Kupelian throws in ambiguous comments like “Christianity is a mystical religion, not a legalistic one like Islam” which adds fuel to his persuasive recommendations about mystics such as Madame Guyon and St. John of the Cross. He also refers to George Fox, founder of the Quaker movement, and William Penn, also a Quaker. Of Penn, Kupelian states:
Penn, a Quaker and close friend of the movement’s founder George Fox, is quite dramatically saying God can somehow be found in stillness, echoing David the psalmist who wrote, “Be still, and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)
What many WND readers may not know is that Quakers (not all) traditionally believe that all humans have a Divine light within. That is what prompted Quaker Thomas Kelly to say: “Deep within us all there is an amazing inner sanctuary of the soul, a holy place, a Divine Center, a speaking Voice, to which we may continuously return…. In that abiding yet energizing Center we are all made one” (pp. 29, 38, A Testament of Devotion). Kelly stated that the “Slumbering Christ, stirring to be awakened … is within us all” (p. 29). He says the “Inward Christ” dwelled not just in the Christian’s heart, nor was something to be “accepted or rejected” but is “the living Center of Reference for all Christian souls … and of non-Christian groups as well” (p. 34).
George Fox would concur with Kelly. The three following statements by Fox George Fox illustrate this well:
“Walk cheerfully over the world, answering that of God in everyone.”
“The Light shines through all.”
“There is that of divinity in all things.”
Kupelian comes to the defense of two mystics, Madame Guyon and St. John of the Cross, stating:
Whatever doctrinal reasons the Catholic Church might have had for rejecting Guyon, it’s hard to dispute the classic wisdom, espoused here, of seeking God in stillness.
But of that stillness, Guyon expressed these thoughts:
May I hasten to say that the kind of prayer I am speaking of is not a prayer that comes from your mind. It is a prayer that begins in the heart …. prayer that comes from the heart is not interrupted by thinking! (Madam Guyon, Experiencing The Depths of Jesus Christ p. 4)
G. Richard Fisher of Personal Freedom Outreach has written an excellent critique of Madame Guyon titled “The Mindless Mysticism of Madame Guyon.” Fisher’s research leaves no room for doubt as to Guyon’s mystical affinities. 1It is Guyon who said: “Here [the contemplative state] everything is God. God is everywhere and in all things.”2 Lastly, St. John of the Cross who said: “My beloved [God] is the high mountains, and the lovely valley forests, unexplored islands, rushing rivers.”3
Ray Yungen explains the problem: “To absolve these mystics of fundamental theological error, one has to also defend panentheism.”4 We are not proposing that David Kupelian of WorldNet Daily is a panentheist. However, the examples he is using as examples were panentheists. And for the sake of many WND readers, this is something that has to be pointed out.
Notes:
2. Timothy Freke, The Spiritual Canticle, the Wisdom of the Christian Mystics(Godsfield Press, 1998), p. 60.
3. Willigis Jager, The Search for the Meaning of Life(Ligouri, MO, Liguori/Triumph, 1995), p. 125.
4. Yungen, A Time of Departing, 2nd ed. (Silverton, OR: Lighthouse Trails,) p. 74.
THIS IS A STORY THAT CONTAINS THREE STORIES; EACH STORY HAS A MESSAGE
Story # 1: Soldiers who are suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome from their experiences during their service to the U.S. are being encouraged to turn to eastern style meditation techniques to find help through a program called Patriot Outreach. A free CD to any solider promises to give “effective help with Anger, Stress, Pain, Combat Stress and even P.T.S.D.” The CD presents an exercise in meditation that listeners are told to practice three times a day: http://copingstrategiescd.com/downloads/cdquality/CopingStrategies_FullCD_128K.mp3.
This exercise involves a focusing technique that is used during eastern-style meditation. The name of the exercise is called “Be Still and Know,” taken from Psalm 46:10. This is the main Bible verse used by contemplatives to “prove” that the Bible condones going into the “silence” through various meditation practices (mantras, lectio divina, breath prayers, etc). As Lighthouse Trails has shown in the past, the verse has been taken out of context. Nowhere in Scripture are we instructed to enter an altered state of mind using focusing or repetitive techniques in order to hear the voice of God or in this case relax and rid one’s self of stress, anxiety, and anger. Sadly, Patriot Outreach is pointing soldiers to something that could ultimately harm them spiritually.
Patriot Outreach is associated with radio talk show host from Oregon, Roy Masters. Masters is the founder of the Foundation of Human Understanding Worldwide (please use discernment if entering this site) and an outspoken advocate for meditation practices. Master’s website offers a number of products to teach meditation techniques, including the Be Still and Know CD.
Story #2: On July 19th, WorldNetDaily posted an article titled “Military praises ‘fantastic’ new post-traumatic stress therapy.” The article is written by WND‘s managing editor David Kupelian and is basically an infomercial for a CD called Be Still and Know, which offers a meditation technique for soldiers and veterans presented by Patriot Outreach. Kupelian offers this supportive quote:
Patriot Outreach is an organization that provides the useful tools for our troubled soldiers and arms them with a renewed inner strength – a strength never to be shaken or stirred by angry thoughts or uncontrolled emotion. …
While we understand that WorldNetDaily offers the writings from those of many different views, they maintain a strong defense of conservativism and generally attract those with Judeo/Christian principles. Thus, it is surprising, to say the least, that Joseph Farah (WND founder) would allow an article to be posted (by his managing editor, no less) that outrightly promotes eastern meditation techniques, given that the overall philosophy/theology of eastern religion does not line up with Judeo/Christian or conservative standards.
Kupelian’s article draws strongly on the emotions, as he talks about soldiers who are suffering terribly from their experiences in the service. Lighthouse Trails holds a deep compassion for these soldiers who have risked their lives in the military; however, we find WorldNetDaily’s promotion of eastern meditation techniques as a valid solution more of an insult to these soldiers and veterans than a help. Thus, we call for WorldNetDaily to retract this article and make a formal, public apology to soldiers and veterans everywhere. If they do not, then they are making a statement to all that they embrace the ideologies that they have stood against for so long. How’s that you say? Mysticism is of the same ideology framework as evolution, abortion, homosexuality, pedophilia, and anti-semitism. We call it the death religion. It takes practitioners away from the One, the only One who is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). It is interesting to note that David Kupelian has written books on the topic of evil (including The Marketing of Evil). If he understood that meditation does not produce good “fruit” but rather bad outcomes, perhaps he would reconsider his views on this topic.
Story #3: On the WorldNetDaily article promoting eastern meditation techniques, there are about five dozen comments by readers. While there are some comments that completely oppose what is being said in Kupelian’s article, a large number of the comments are praising the article. Here are a few of the praises:
Great article. Make it go viral, spread the message, lives are at stake every day.
Hey this is just AWSOME! If it can save just one of those troops lives then I say CHARGE ON!
This is wonderful! Next step is for the Be Still to go viral all over the internet so we can regain America and a free world!
And on they go. If these comments were made by readers of a New Age or contemplative newspaper or magazine, one could hardly be surprised to hear these comments. But these are coming from readers of WorldNetDaily; and what this shows is that the mystical mindset is infiltrating even conservative circles. This also shows that WorldNetDaily has not made enough effort to speak up against spiritual deception. They have spoken up about many important issues affecting society and the church, but it appears that they have underestimated the wiles of the devil.
This isn’t the first time Lighthouse Trails has reported on David Kupelian. In 2008, we wrote “WorldNet Daily VP Wrong about the Mystics.” In that article, we stated that Kupelian wrote a WND article that featured and promoted a number of mystics. Now, three years later, he is promoting outright New Age meditation. This is a classic example of why we so strongly issue these warnings about Christian authors who are reading and writing about the mystics. Eventually, they are drawn into mysticism.
We can only hope that WorldNetDaily, who has a large percentage of Christian readers, will retract Kupelian’s article promoting eastern meditation techniques and set their readers straight. But sadly, they have grown an audience of which many will not like to hear such a retraction; so now there is going to be a cost to do the right thing. One thing is likely, they’ll lose some readers either way they go.
Because it is relevant to this week’s WND article, here is our 2008 article below:
On January 18th, 2008, WorldNet Daily posted an article by WND Vice President, David Kupelian. The article came out in WND’s publication Whistleblower the previous month and is currently in wide circulation on the Internet. It is for this reason that Lighthouse Trails is compelled to respond. The information in the article could potentially mislead many into following the teachings of mystics and panentheists from the past.
Kupelian’s article, titled “If God is everywhere, why do so few people find Him?”does not refute the notion that God is everywhere but on the contrary backs up the idea by favorably referencing mystics who believed that God was in everyone. Kupelian throws in ambiguous comments like “Christianity is a mystical religion, not a legalistic one like Islam” which adds fuel to his persuasive recommendations about mystics such as Madame Guyon and St. John of the Cross. He also refers to George Fox, founder of the Quaker movement, and William Penn, also a Quaker. Of Penn, Kupelian states:
Penn, a Quaker and close friend of the movement’s founder George Fox, is quite dramatically saying God can somehow be found in stillness, echoing David the psalmist who wrote, “Be still, and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)
What many WND readers may not know is that Quakers (not all) traditionally believe that all humans have a Divine light within. That is what prompted Quaker Thomas Kelly to say: “Deep within us all there is an amazing inner sanctuary of the soul, a holy place, a Divine Center, a speaking Voice, to which we may continuously return…. In that abiding yet energizing Center we are all made one” (pp. 29, 38, A Testament of Devotion). Kelly stated that the “Slumbering Christ, stirring to be awakened … is within us all” (p. 29). He says the “Inward Christ” dwelled not just in the Christian’s heart, nor was something to be “accepted or rejected” but is “the living Center of Reference for all Christian souls … and of non-Christian groups as well” (p. 34).
George Fox would concur with Kelly. The three following statements by Fox George Fox illustrate this well:
“Walk cheerfully over the world, answering that of God in everyone.”
“The Light shines through all.”
“There is that of divinity in all things.”
Kupelian comes to the defense of two mystics, Madame Guyon and St. John of the Cross, stating:
Whatever doctrinal reasons the Catholic Church might have had for rejecting Guyon, it’s hard to dispute the classic wisdom, espoused here, of seeking God in stillness.
But of that stillness, Guyon expressed these thoughts:
May I hasten to say that the kind of prayer I am speaking of is not a prayer that comes from your mind. It is a prayer that begins in the heart …. prayer that comes from the heart is not interrupted by thinking! (Madam Guyon, Experiencing The Depths of Jesus Christ p. 4)
G. Richard Fisher of Personal Freedom Outreach has written an excellent critique of Madame Guyon titled “The Mindless Mysticism of Madame Guyon.” Fisher’s research leaves no room for doubt as to Guyon’s mystical affinities. 1It is Guyon who said: “Here [the contemplative state] everything is God. God is everywhere and in all things.”2 Lastly, St. John of the Cross who said: “My beloved [God] is the high mountains, and the lovely valley forests, unexplored islands, rushing rivers.”3
Ray Yungen explains the problem: “To absolve these mystics of fundamental theological error, one has to also defend panentheism.”4 We are not proposing that David Kupelian of WorldNet Daily is a panentheist. However, the examples he is using as examples were panentheists. And for the sake of many WND readers, this is something that has to be pointed out.
Notes:
2. Timothy Freke, The Spiritual Canticle, the Wisdom of the Christian Mystics(Godsfield Press, 1998), p. 60.
3. Willigis Jager, The Search for the Meaning of Life(Ligouri, MO, Liguori/Triumph, 1995), p. 125.
4. Yungen, A Time of Departing, 2nd ed. (Silverton, OR: Lighthouse Trails,) p. 74.
July 23, 2011
Emerging "Christianity"
FROM GNOSTIC ROOTS TO OCCULT REVIVAL
by Berit Kjos
A flood of mystical temptations is sweeping through churches and culture. They beckon us "let go" of the old inflexible Word and explore the new ways of the world and spirit. Naturally, a growing consensus of "open-minded" seekers claim that God's truth is "too divisive" to fit their new vision of global unity and experiential spirituality.
“It used to be that Christian institutions and systems of dogma sustained the spiritual life of Christians. Increasingly, spirituality itself is what sustains everything else," wrote Pastor Brian D. McLaren, a "key figure" in the Emerging Church and author of A New Kind of Christian. "Alan Jones is a pioneer in reimagining a Christian faith that emerges from authentic spirituality. His work stimulates and encourages me deeply.”1 [Emphasis added]
Do you wonder what McLaren means by "authentic spirituality?" Or by "reimagining a Christian faith?" I did. So I read Reimagining Christianity. In it, Alan Jones, the Episcopal Dean (priest) of San Francisco's gothic Grace Cathedral, offers some provocative clues:
"I am no longer interested, in the first instance, in what a person believes. Most of the time it’s so much clutter in the brain.... I wouldn't trust an inch many people who profess a belief in God. Others who do not or who doubt have won my trust. I want to know if joy, curiosity struggle, and compassion bubble up in a person’s life. I’m interested in being fully alive. There is no objective authority...."2 [Emphasis added]
Wrong! There is an objective authority: our Sovereign God, Creator of the universe. He has revealed His will and authority through His Word! But, as in Old Testament days, today's masses "love evil more than good!" (Psalm 52:3) Despising His authority, they deny the only Truth that can set us free! Their earthly destiny is summarized in 2 Timothy 3:7: "...always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth."
In Reimagining Christianity, Jones explains that "Any journey toward belief must begin with the task recognized by mystics throughout history. They realized that merely knowing about things (science) wasn't enough. In fact, it was a distraction."3 Then he points to a major goal of mystical insight -- one that is emphasized in Purpose-Driven as well as emerging churches:
"They realized that there was a deeper and potentially frightening task of self-knowledge. Knowledge of God and knowledge of self were sides of the same coin. It was a knowledge that had no end.... Those on a spiritual path share this vision of the universal and unending character of our Journey to and in God. The principle is that all things are lights guiding our way—even a stone or a piece of wood—but they are not what we seek. What stops our drive for facts from going haywire? The discovery of a higher form of knowing."3
Let's summarize his main points, then compare them with some occult systems formerly hidden in secret societies:
1. Biblical beliefs are out. They are irrelevant -- to be discarded as mere "clutter in the brain."
2. Being "fully alive" is in -- no matter what spirit or religion inspires the obligatory passion.
3. There's no room for objective reality or absolute truth.
4. This "higher form of knowing" would be based on mystical experience, intuition and self-knowledge. The latter supposedly leads to knowing (gnosis) a universal god -- or the spirit of love in everyone.
This worldview lies at the heart of Western occultism! Alan Jones' quest for a "higher form of knowing" is simply a new version of ancient Gnosticism and the mystical "Jewish" Kabbalah. Starting in the first century, the two occult threads intermingled and formed new pathways to secret knowledge (gnosis). Those dark, mystical paths hid for centuries underground. Then, starting in the 12th century, Kabbalah began to sprout mystical "brotherhoods" and secret societies that laid foundations for Alchemy, Theosophy (which would embrace Hinduism), Freemasonry and Rosicrucianism (these two incorporated Egyptian myths and symbols), the teachings of Swedenborg, Anthroposophy (Rudolf Steiner and Owen Barfield), and Hermetic magic. 4
During the 20th century, this hidden "knowledge" began to spread into mainstream culture and churches through revered poets and authors such as Alfred Lord Tennyson, William Blake, George McDonald, Tolkien, Charles Williams, and C. S. Lewis. Suddenly, the hidden mysteries of occult masters were laid bare to a thrill-seeking world hungry for a "fresh" and exciting spirituality -- purged of the old offensive truths. But even before these dark secrets were exposed, Georg Hegel, who was deeply involved in the several branches of Western occultism, provided educators and globalist visionaries with the dialectic process needed to transform both church and world.5
Not only did these enticing glimpses of forbidden mysteries affect beliefs and worldviews, they helped change the way we think and communicate. Even people who still treasure God's Word are learning to approach information in radically new ways. Nothing seems absolute anymore! Even God's Word is being adapted to the global values spawned by this cultural transformation.
Francis Schaeffer , founder of L'Abri, saw the beginning of change back in the sixties. Ponder this warning from his 1968 book, The God Who Is There:
"The present chasm between the generations has been brought about almost entirely by a change in the concept of truth. Wherever you look today the new concept holds the field. The consensus about us is almost monolithic, whether you review the arts, literature or just simply read the newspapers and magazines.... On every side you can feel the stranglehold of this new methodology—and by ‘methodology’ we mean the way we approach truth and knowing. ... And just as fog cannot be kept out by walls or doors, so this consensus comes in around us, till the room we live in is no longer distinct, and yet we hardly realize what has happened....
"Young people from Christian homes are brought up in the old framework of truth. Then they are subjected to the modern framework. In time they become confused because they do not understand the alternatives with which they are being presented. Confusion becomes bewilderment, and before long they are overwhelmed. This is unhappily true not only of young people, but of many pastors, Christian educators, evangelists and missionaries as well. So this change in the concept of the way we come to knowledge and truth is the most crucial problem... facing Christianity today.... The shift has been tremendous."6[Emphasis added]
When minds are no longer grounded in certain absolutes, there is no frame of reference that allows logical thinking. Without factual or Biblical certainty, a person cannot rationally resist today's enticing spiritual counterfeits. Alan Jones said it well:
"All the great religious traditions are in upheaval, and the divisions are within rather than between or among them. I have more in common with my friend Stephen, the rabbi at a large synagogue in San Francisco, than I do with many fellow Christians. I don’t mean that we simply find each other congenial. I mean that I am more ideologically compatible with Stephen than with, say, any Christian fundamentalist. ...
"Although there are some Christians who are unafraid of other spiritual paths and have learned from them... battle lines are being drawn between 'orthodox' and 'progressives.' And some people, like me, are at home on neither side. There’s a celebrated couplet by the poet William Blake that sums up for me much that is disturbing about exclusionary versions of Christianity:
"That vision of Christ, which thou dost see
Is my vision's greatest enemy."7
In light of this spiritual melting pot, it's not surprising that Rick Warren has announced that fundamentalism, of all varieties, will be "one of the big enemies of the 21st century."8 What, then, does Warren mean by Fundamentalism? In a May 2005 interview the Pew Forum on Religion, Warren stated:
"Today there really aren't that many Fundamentalists left; I don't know if you know that or not, but they are such a minority; there aren't that many Fundamentalists left in America.... Now the word 'fundamentalist' actually comes from a document in the 1920s called the Five Fundamentals of the Faith. And it is a very legalistic, narrow view of Christianity."9
Actually, Jesus told His disciples that His way would be narrow and difficult. "There are few who find it," he said. But "wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it." [Matthew 7:13-14] But for those who walk with Him, there's abundant strength in Christ for all the challenges ahead! This promise is for us today:
"My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." 2 Corinthians 12:9
Notes:
1. Alan Jones, Reimagining Christianity (Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2005), back cover.
2. Ibid., pages 79, 83.
3. Ibid., page 78.
4. See "How mysticism & the occult are changing the Church at www.crossroad.to/Excerpts/warnings.htm. This page includes links to descriptions of the main occult societies that affect our culture today.
5. See Georg Hegel 's vast influence, first in the Soviet Union, then the Western world at www.crossroad.to/Quotes/spirituality/hegel.htm
and www.crossroad.to/articles2/2003/occult-rpg.htm#steps
6. Francis A. Schaeffer, The God Who Is There (Intervarsity Press, 1968), pages 13-14. See excerpts at www.crossroad.to/Excerpts/books/schaeffer/who-is-there.htm
7. Alan Jones, page 83.
8. Paul Nussbaum, "The purpose-driven pastor," 1-8-06 at www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/living/religion/13573441.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
9. The Pew Forum's biannual Faith Angle conference on religion, politics and public life, 5-23-05. http://pewforum.org/events/index.php?EventID=80
by Berit Kjos
A flood of mystical temptations is sweeping through churches and culture. They beckon us "let go" of the old inflexible Word and explore the new ways of the world and spirit. Naturally, a growing consensus of "open-minded" seekers claim that God's truth is "too divisive" to fit their new vision of global unity and experiential spirituality.
“It used to be that Christian institutions and systems of dogma sustained the spiritual life of Christians. Increasingly, spirituality itself is what sustains everything else," wrote Pastor Brian D. McLaren, a "key figure" in the Emerging Church and author of A New Kind of Christian. "Alan Jones is a pioneer in reimagining a Christian faith that emerges from authentic spirituality. His work stimulates and encourages me deeply.”1 [Emphasis added]
Do you wonder what McLaren means by "authentic spirituality?" Or by "reimagining a Christian faith?" I did. So I read Reimagining Christianity. In it, Alan Jones, the Episcopal Dean (priest) of San Francisco's gothic Grace Cathedral, offers some provocative clues:
"I am no longer interested, in the first instance, in what a person believes. Most of the time it’s so much clutter in the brain.... I wouldn't trust an inch many people who profess a belief in God. Others who do not or who doubt have won my trust. I want to know if joy, curiosity struggle, and compassion bubble up in a person’s life. I’m interested in being fully alive. There is no objective authority...."2 [Emphasis added]
Wrong! There is an objective authority: our Sovereign God, Creator of the universe. He has revealed His will and authority through His Word! But, as in Old Testament days, today's masses "love evil more than good!" (Psalm 52:3) Despising His authority, they deny the only Truth that can set us free! Their earthly destiny is summarized in 2 Timothy 3:7: "...always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth."
In Reimagining Christianity, Jones explains that "Any journey toward belief must begin with the task recognized by mystics throughout history. They realized that merely knowing about things (science) wasn't enough. In fact, it was a distraction."3 Then he points to a major goal of mystical insight -- one that is emphasized in Purpose-Driven as well as emerging churches:
"They realized that there was a deeper and potentially frightening task of self-knowledge. Knowledge of God and knowledge of self were sides of the same coin. It was a knowledge that had no end.... Those on a spiritual path share this vision of the universal and unending character of our Journey to and in God. The principle is that all things are lights guiding our way—even a stone or a piece of wood—but they are not what we seek. What stops our drive for facts from going haywire? The discovery of a higher form of knowing."3
Let's summarize his main points, then compare them with some occult systems formerly hidden in secret societies:
1. Biblical beliefs are out. They are irrelevant -- to be discarded as mere "clutter in the brain."
2. Being "fully alive" is in -- no matter what spirit or religion inspires the obligatory passion.
3. There's no room for objective reality or absolute truth.
4. This "higher form of knowing" would be based on mystical experience, intuition and self-knowledge. The latter supposedly leads to knowing (gnosis) a universal god -- or the spirit of love in everyone.
This worldview lies at the heart of Western occultism! Alan Jones' quest for a "higher form of knowing" is simply a new version of ancient Gnosticism and the mystical "Jewish" Kabbalah. Starting in the first century, the two occult threads intermingled and formed new pathways to secret knowledge (gnosis). Those dark, mystical paths hid for centuries underground. Then, starting in the 12th century, Kabbalah began to sprout mystical "brotherhoods" and secret societies that laid foundations for Alchemy, Theosophy (which would embrace Hinduism), Freemasonry and Rosicrucianism (these two incorporated Egyptian myths and symbols), the teachings of Swedenborg, Anthroposophy (Rudolf Steiner and Owen Barfield), and Hermetic magic. 4
During the 20th century, this hidden "knowledge" began to spread into mainstream culture and churches through revered poets and authors such as Alfred Lord Tennyson, William Blake, George McDonald, Tolkien, Charles Williams, and C. S. Lewis. Suddenly, the hidden mysteries of occult masters were laid bare to a thrill-seeking world hungry for a "fresh" and exciting spirituality -- purged of the old offensive truths. But even before these dark secrets were exposed, Georg Hegel, who was deeply involved in the several branches of Western occultism, provided educators and globalist visionaries with the dialectic process needed to transform both church and world.5
Not only did these enticing glimpses of forbidden mysteries affect beliefs and worldviews, they helped change the way we think and communicate. Even people who still treasure God's Word are learning to approach information in radically new ways. Nothing seems absolute anymore! Even God's Word is being adapted to the global values spawned by this cultural transformation.
Francis Schaeffer , founder of L'Abri, saw the beginning of change back in the sixties. Ponder this warning from his 1968 book, The God Who Is There:
"The present chasm between the generations has been brought about almost entirely by a change in the concept of truth. Wherever you look today the new concept holds the field. The consensus about us is almost monolithic, whether you review the arts, literature or just simply read the newspapers and magazines.... On every side you can feel the stranglehold of this new methodology—and by ‘methodology’ we mean the way we approach truth and knowing. ... And just as fog cannot be kept out by walls or doors, so this consensus comes in around us, till the room we live in is no longer distinct, and yet we hardly realize what has happened....
"Young people from Christian homes are brought up in the old framework of truth. Then they are subjected to the modern framework. In time they become confused because they do not understand the alternatives with which they are being presented. Confusion becomes bewilderment, and before long they are overwhelmed. This is unhappily true not only of young people, but of many pastors, Christian educators, evangelists and missionaries as well. So this change in the concept of the way we come to knowledge and truth is the most crucial problem... facing Christianity today.... The shift has been tremendous."6[Emphasis added]
When minds are no longer grounded in certain absolutes, there is no frame of reference that allows logical thinking. Without factual or Biblical certainty, a person cannot rationally resist today's enticing spiritual counterfeits. Alan Jones said it well:
"All the great religious traditions are in upheaval, and the divisions are within rather than between or among them. I have more in common with my friend Stephen, the rabbi at a large synagogue in San Francisco, than I do with many fellow Christians. I don’t mean that we simply find each other congenial. I mean that I am more ideologically compatible with Stephen than with, say, any Christian fundamentalist. ...
"Although there are some Christians who are unafraid of other spiritual paths and have learned from them... battle lines are being drawn between 'orthodox' and 'progressives.' And some people, like me, are at home on neither side. There’s a celebrated couplet by the poet William Blake that sums up for me much that is disturbing about exclusionary versions of Christianity:
"That vision of Christ, which thou dost see
Is my vision's greatest enemy."7
In light of this spiritual melting pot, it's not surprising that Rick Warren has announced that fundamentalism, of all varieties, will be "one of the big enemies of the 21st century."8 What, then, does Warren mean by Fundamentalism? In a May 2005 interview the Pew Forum on Religion, Warren stated:
"Today there really aren't that many Fundamentalists left; I don't know if you know that or not, but they are such a minority; there aren't that many Fundamentalists left in America.... Now the word 'fundamentalist' actually comes from a document in the 1920s called the Five Fundamentals of the Faith. And it is a very legalistic, narrow view of Christianity."9
Actually, Jesus told His disciples that His way would be narrow and difficult. "There are few who find it," he said. But "wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it." [Matthew 7:13-14] But for those who walk with Him, there's abundant strength in Christ for all the challenges ahead! This promise is for us today:
"My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." 2 Corinthians 12:9
Notes:
1. Alan Jones, Reimagining Christianity (Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2005), back cover.
2. Ibid., pages 79, 83.
3. Ibid., page 78.
4. See "How mysticism & the occult are changing the Church at www.crossroad.to/Excerpts/warnings.htm. This page includes links to descriptions of the main occult societies that affect our culture today.
5. See Georg Hegel 's vast influence, first in the Soviet Union, then the Western world at www.crossroad.to/Quotes/spirituality/hegel.htm
and www.crossroad.to/articles2/2003/occult-rpg.htm#steps
6. Francis A. Schaeffer, The God Who Is There (Intervarsity Press, 1968), pages 13-14. See excerpts at www.crossroad.to/Excerpts/books/schaeffer/who-is-there.htm
7. Alan Jones, page 83.
8. Paul Nussbaum, "The purpose-driven pastor," 1-8-06 at www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/living/religion/13573441.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
9. The Pew Forum's biannual Faith Angle conference on religion, politics and public life, 5-23-05. http://pewforum.org/events/index.php?EventID=80
July 21, 2011
Harry Potter - Conditioning and Desensitizing the Youth
TWELVE REASONS NOT TO SEE HARRY POTTER MOVIES
Berit Kjos - 2001 ~Index to all our Harry Potter articles~
The suggestions at the bottom of a well-distributed Harry Potter magazine states:
"CAST A SPELL, MIX A POTION, TRY A TRICK!
"The premiere of Harry Potter the movie will lead to a whole new generation of youngsters discovering witchcraft and wizardry....Increasing numbers of children are spending hours alone browsing the internet in search of Satanic websites and we are concerned that nobody is monitoring this growing fascination." Peter Smith, general secretary of the British Association of Teachers and Lecturers [1]
Psychic Eye Book Shop manager cheers "the Harry Potter craze": "It's taken away a lot of the fear. People are more accepting of things like witchcraft and magic after Harry Potter came out. We find that we are a supporting environment for customers like that." Mountain View Voice, CA, 7-26-02.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone opened on November 16 at a record-breaking number of theaters across the country. "Christian" as well as public schools bussed their students to see the long awaited movie based on the first book in J. K. Rowling's ground-breaking series. Teachers are facilitating classroom discussions that train students to seek "common ground" and conform to an ever-changing group consensus.[2] While forbidding prayer in the name of Jesus, most schools seem to welcome spells and sorcery in the name of Harry Potter.
The pressure to participate in the fun and frenzy is intense. So what can a Christian child do in the midst of such hype, hypocrisy and popular wizardry?
Those who know God can find answers in His Word. Consider this list of Biblical warnings and wisdom, then put on the Armor of God and pray that He lead you in His way.
1. God shows us that witchcraft, sorcery, spells, divination and magic are evil. He hates those practices because they blind us to His loving ways, then turn our hearts to a deceptive quest for self-empowerment and deadly thrills. Harry Potter's world may be fictional, but the timeless pagan practices it promotes are real and deadly. Well aware that the final result is spiritual bondage and oppression, He warns us:
"There shall not be found among you anyone who... practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord..." Deuteronomy 18:9-12
2. The movie's foundation in fantasy, not reality, doesn't diminish its power to change beliefs and values. Imaginary (or virtual) experiences and well-written fantasies can affect the mind and memories as much, if not more, than actual experiences.[3] Designed to stir feelings and produce strong emotional responses, a well-planned myth with likeable characters can be far more memorable than the less exciting daily reality -- especially when reinforced through books, toys and games as well as movies. Small wonder Harry's fans have been counting the days until their next fantastic journey into Hogwarts' classes on sorcery, divination, potions and spells.
"But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward." Jeremiah 7:24
3. Each occult image and suggestion prompts the audience to feel more at home in this setting. Children identify with their favorite characters and learn to see wizards and witches from a popular peer perspective rather than from God's perspective. Those who sense that the occult world is evil face a choice: Resist peer pressure or rationalize their imagined participation in Harry's supernatural adventures.
The second choice may quiet the nagging doubts, but rationalizing evil and justifying sin will sear the conscience and shift the child's perception of values from God's perspective to a more "comfortable" cultural adaptation. Even Christian children can easily learn to conform truth to multicultural ideals and turn God's values upside down - just as did God's people in Old Testament days:
"But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward." Jeremiah 7:24
"Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;
Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness....
Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes,
And prudent in their own sight!" Isaiah 5:2-21
Harry Potter Special [Magazine] interviews actors Daniel Radcliffe (Harry), Rupert Grint (Ron), Tom Felton (Draco), Harry Melling (Dudley):
If you could cast a spell on someone, what would it be?
Daniel: "If I liked them, it would be a spell where I'd give them special power, like invisibility.
Your favorite word in the Harry Potter books?
Daniel: "I like the word--it's very bad to say this--but I like the word Voldemort."
What magical power would you like to have?
Rupert: "I'd like to levitate."
Do you prefer to play a bad or good character?
Tom: "Bad. It's more fun because it is different.
What magical power would you want to have?
Tom: "Invisibility. So I could sneak around and go places I shouldn't."
Did you find it hard torturing Harry?
Harry M: "No. I found it quite fun, actually."[4]
Harry Potter Special: Inside the Magical Magazine (Primedia, Inc.), pages 24, 26.
David Rockefeller, Vice-President, Financial Operations.
4. God tells us to "abhor what is evil" and "cling to what is good." (Romans 12:9) But when Christian children and teens love the Harry Potter myths, delight in the movie and read the books again and again, they are desensitizing their hearts and minds to its evil. Turning God's truth upside down, they are learning to "love" what is evil. The natural next step is to reject God's wise boundaries and "abhor" what He calls good.
"You love evil more than good...." Psalm 52:3
5. Immersed in Hogwarts' beliefs and values, children learn to ignore or reinterpret God's truth. They lose their natural aversion for the devious spirits represented by the creatures and symbols in this eerie world. Caught up in the exciting story, they absorb the suggested values and store the fascinating images in their minds -- making the forbidden world of the occult seem more normal than the Kingdom of God.
"Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ." Colossians 2:6-9
6. This inner change is usually unconscious, for the occult lessons and impressions tend to bypass rational scrutiny. After all, who will stop, think and weigh the evidence when caught up in such a fast-moving visual adventure? Fun fantasies and strategic entertainment has a special way of altering values, compromising beliefs and changing behavior in adults as well as in children. This learning process has been named "edutainment" -- a favored way to train multicultural citizens for the envisioned 21st century community. Its power to influence beliefs and behavior is illustrated by today's marketing firms which spend billions on entertaining ads that touch emotions, ignore the facts, yet motivate people to buy the product.
"Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things, and revive me in Your way." Psalm 119:37
7. The main product marketed through this movie is a new belief system. This pagan ideology comes complete with trading cards, computer and other wizardly games, clothes and decorations stamped with HP symbols, action figures and cuddly dolls and audio cassettes that could keep the child's minds focused on the occult all day and into night. But in God's eyes, such paraphernalia become little more than lures and doorways to deeper involvement with the occult. In contrast, He calls a person "blessed" who -
* "walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
* nor stands in the path of sinners,
* nor sits in the seat of the scornful [mockers];
"But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. Whatever he does shall prosper." Psalm 1:1-3
It might be hard to escape the symbols that remind people of Harry. His words and phrases help fuel today's cultural transformation:
The mainstream media uses the word "muggles" to deride those who don't want children to read Harry Potter books.
"A columnist from the Chicago Daily Herald used Harry-Speak.... He said that a particular NBC Olympics commentator was the 'dementor of the sports commentators.'"
"Coeur d'Alene, Idaho is going to name this year's snowstorms after the Harry Potter characters. The first blizzard of the year will be called Albus...."[4]
8. The implied source of power behind Harry's magical feats tend to distort a child's understanding of God. In the movie as in the books, words traditionally used to refer to occult practices become so familiar that children begin to apply the same terms to God and His promised strength. Many learn to see God as a power source that can be manipulated with the right kind of prayers and rituals -- and view his miracles as just another form of magic. They base their understanding of God on their own feelings and wants, not on His revelation of Himself.
"You thought that I was altogether like you; but I will rebuke you...." Psalm 50:21
9. Blind to the true nature of God, children will blend (synthesize) Biblical truth with pagan beliefs and magical practices. In the end, you distort and destroy any remnant of true Christian faith. For our God cannot be molded to match pagan gods.
“For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, And hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water." Jeremiah 2:1
10. God tells us to "train up a child in the way He should go." It starts with teaching them God's truths and training them all day long to see reality from His, not the world's perspective. To succeed, we need to shield them from contrary values until they know His Word and have memorized enough Scriptures to be able to recognize and resist deception. Once they have learned to love what God loves and see from His perspective, they will demonstrate their wisdom by choosing to say "no" to Harry Potter.
“And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up." Deuteronomy 6:6-7
11. While some argue that Harry and his friends model friendship and integrity, they actually model how to lie and steal and get away with it. Their examples only add to the cultural relativism embraced by most children today who are honest when it doesn't cost anything, but who lie and cheat when it serves their purpose.
"And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased [depraved] mind, to do those things which are not fitting.... They are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them." Romans 1:28-32
12. God has a better way. When His children choose to follow His ways, He gives them a heart to love Him, spiritual eyes that can understand and delight in His Word, a sense of His presence and a confidence in His constant care -- no matter what happens around us. Harry Potter's deceptive thrills are worse than worthless when compared to the wonderful riches our Shepherd promises those who will ignore evil and walk with Him.
"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things." Philippians 4:6-8
Source
Berit Kjos - 2001 ~Index to all our Harry Potter articles~
The suggestions at the bottom of a well-distributed Harry Potter magazine states:
"CAST A SPELL, MIX A POTION, TRY A TRICK!
"The premiere of Harry Potter the movie will lead to a whole new generation of youngsters discovering witchcraft and wizardry....Increasing numbers of children are spending hours alone browsing the internet in search of Satanic websites and we are concerned that nobody is monitoring this growing fascination." Peter Smith, general secretary of the British Association of Teachers and Lecturers [1]
Psychic Eye Book Shop manager cheers "the Harry Potter craze": "It's taken away a lot of the fear. People are more accepting of things like witchcraft and magic after Harry Potter came out. We find that we are a supporting environment for customers like that." Mountain View Voice, CA, 7-26-02.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone opened on November 16 at a record-breaking number of theaters across the country. "Christian" as well as public schools bussed their students to see the long awaited movie based on the first book in J. K. Rowling's ground-breaking series. Teachers are facilitating classroom discussions that train students to seek "common ground" and conform to an ever-changing group consensus.[2] While forbidding prayer in the name of Jesus, most schools seem to welcome spells and sorcery in the name of Harry Potter.
The pressure to participate in the fun and frenzy is intense. So what can a Christian child do in the midst of such hype, hypocrisy and popular wizardry?
Those who know God can find answers in His Word. Consider this list of Biblical warnings and wisdom, then put on the Armor of God and pray that He lead you in His way.
1. God shows us that witchcraft, sorcery, spells, divination and magic are evil. He hates those practices because they blind us to His loving ways, then turn our hearts to a deceptive quest for self-empowerment and deadly thrills. Harry Potter's world may be fictional, but the timeless pagan practices it promotes are real and deadly. Well aware that the final result is spiritual bondage and oppression, He warns us:
"There shall not be found among you anyone who... practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord..." Deuteronomy 18:9-12
2. The movie's foundation in fantasy, not reality, doesn't diminish its power to change beliefs and values. Imaginary (or virtual) experiences and well-written fantasies can affect the mind and memories as much, if not more, than actual experiences.[3] Designed to stir feelings and produce strong emotional responses, a well-planned myth with likeable characters can be far more memorable than the less exciting daily reality -- especially when reinforced through books, toys and games as well as movies. Small wonder Harry's fans have been counting the days until their next fantastic journey into Hogwarts' classes on sorcery, divination, potions and spells.
"But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward." Jeremiah 7:24
3. Each occult image and suggestion prompts the audience to feel more at home in this setting. Children identify with their favorite characters and learn to see wizards and witches from a popular peer perspective rather than from God's perspective. Those who sense that the occult world is evil face a choice: Resist peer pressure or rationalize their imagined participation in Harry's supernatural adventures.
The second choice may quiet the nagging doubts, but rationalizing evil and justifying sin will sear the conscience and shift the child's perception of values from God's perspective to a more "comfortable" cultural adaptation. Even Christian children can easily learn to conform truth to multicultural ideals and turn God's values upside down - just as did God's people in Old Testament days:
"But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward." Jeremiah 7:24
"Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;
Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness....
Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes,
And prudent in their own sight!" Isaiah 5:2-21
Harry Potter Special [Magazine] interviews actors Daniel Radcliffe (Harry), Rupert Grint (Ron), Tom Felton (Draco), Harry Melling (Dudley):
If you could cast a spell on someone, what would it be?
Daniel: "If I liked them, it would be a spell where I'd give them special power, like invisibility.
Your favorite word in the Harry Potter books?
Daniel: "I like the word--it's very bad to say this--but I like the word Voldemort."
What magical power would you like to have?
Rupert: "I'd like to levitate."
Do you prefer to play a bad or good character?
Tom: "Bad. It's more fun because it is different.
What magical power would you want to have?
Tom: "Invisibility. So I could sneak around and go places I shouldn't."
Did you find it hard torturing Harry?
Harry M: "No. I found it quite fun, actually."[4]
Harry Potter Special: Inside the Magical Magazine (Primedia, Inc.), pages 24, 26.
David Rockefeller, Vice-President, Financial Operations.
4. God tells us to "abhor what is evil" and "cling to what is good." (Romans 12:9) But when Christian children and teens love the Harry Potter myths, delight in the movie and read the books again and again, they are desensitizing their hearts and minds to its evil. Turning God's truth upside down, they are learning to "love" what is evil. The natural next step is to reject God's wise boundaries and "abhor" what He calls good.
"You love evil more than good...." Psalm 52:3
5. Immersed in Hogwarts' beliefs and values, children learn to ignore or reinterpret God's truth. They lose their natural aversion for the devious spirits represented by the creatures and symbols in this eerie world. Caught up in the exciting story, they absorb the suggested values and store the fascinating images in their minds -- making the forbidden world of the occult seem more normal than the Kingdom of God.
"Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ." Colossians 2:6-9
6. This inner change is usually unconscious, for the occult lessons and impressions tend to bypass rational scrutiny. After all, who will stop, think and weigh the evidence when caught up in such a fast-moving visual adventure? Fun fantasies and strategic entertainment has a special way of altering values, compromising beliefs and changing behavior in adults as well as in children. This learning process has been named "edutainment" -- a favored way to train multicultural citizens for the envisioned 21st century community. Its power to influence beliefs and behavior is illustrated by today's marketing firms which spend billions on entertaining ads that touch emotions, ignore the facts, yet motivate people to buy the product.
"Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things, and revive me in Your way." Psalm 119:37
7. The main product marketed through this movie is a new belief system. This pagan ideology comes complete with trading cards, computer and other wizardly games, clothes and decorations stamped with HP symbols, action figures and cuddly dolls and audio cassettes that could keep the child's minds focused on the occult all day and into night. But in God's eyes, such paraphernalia become little more than lures and doorways to deeper involvement with the occult. In contrast, He calls a person "blessed" who -
* "walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
* nor stands in the path of sinners,
* nor sits in the seat of the scornful [mockers];
"But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. Whatever he does shall prosper." Psalm 1:1-3
It might be hard to escape the symbols that remind people of Harry. His words and phrases help fuel today's cultural transformation:
The mainstream media uses the word "muggles" to deride those who don't want children to read Harry Potter books.
"A columnist from the Chicago Daily Herald used Harry-Speak.... He said that a particular NBC Olympics commentator was the 'dementor of the sports commentators.'"
"Coeur d'Alene, Idaho is going to name this year's snowstorms after the Harry Potter characters. The first blizzard of the year will be called Albus...."[4]
8. The implied source of power behind Harry's magical feats tend to distort a child's understanding of God. In the movie as in the books, words traditionally used to refer to occult practices become so familiar that children begin to apply the same terms to God and His promised strength. Many learn to see God as a power source that can be manipulated with the right kind of prayers and rituals -- and view his miracles as just another form of magic. They base their understanding of God on their own feelings and wants, not on His revelation of Himself.
"You thought that I was altogether like you; but I will rebuke you...." Psalm 50:21
9. Blind to the true nature of God, children will blend (synthesize) Biblical truth with pagan beliefs and magical practices. In the end, you distort and destroy any remnant of true Christian faith. For our God cannot be molded to match pagan gods.
“For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, And hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water." Jeremiah 2:1
10. God tells us to "train up a child in the way He should go." It starts with teaching them God's truths and training them all day long to see reality from His, not the world's perspective. To succeed, we need to shield them from contrary values until they know His Word and have memorized enough Scriptures to be able to recognize and resist deception. Once they have learned to love what God loves and see from His perspective, they will demonstrate their wisdom by choosing to say "no" to Harry Potter.
“And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up." Deuteronomy 6:6-7
11. While some argue that Harry and his friends model friendship and integrity, they actually model how to lie and steal and get away with it. Their examples only add to the cultural relativism embraced by most children today who are honest when it doesn't cost anything, but who lie and cheat when it serves their purpose.
"And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased [depraved] mind, to do those things which are not fitting.... They are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them." Romans 1:28-32
12. God has a better way. When His children choose to follow His ways, He gives them a heart to love Him, spiritual eyes that can understand and delight in His Word, a sense of His presence and a confidence in His constant care -- no matter what happens around us. Harry Potter's deceptive thrills are worse than worthless when compared to the wonderful riches our Shepherd promises those who will ignore evil and walk with Him.
"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things." Philippians 4:6-8
Source
The Impact of Practical Mystics vs. Cults
By Ray Yungen
(Author of A Time of Departing)
Evangelical scholar David L. Smith correctly assessed the powerful, yet subtle, impact New Age spirituality is having on society when he made the following observations:
Not since Gnosticism at the dawn of the Christian era has there arisen a philosophy as pervasive and threatening to orthodox Christianity as the New Age movement . . . It would be difficult to find any area of life, which has not been touched or redirected to some degree by the concepts of this movement.1
Smith recognizes that, rather than just a small segment, the overall social fabric of society is being impacted. This movement has clearly evolved well past the subculture stage into something much more dynamic and sophisticated. This stunning change has been brought about by the rise of a new breed of mystic—one that presents mysticism as a complement to secular goals and one that is adept at easing the public’s natural impulse to reject the strange and unfamiliar. Some examples of this are:
A prominent, influential speaker and seminar leader, Brian Tracy, promotes the use of the “superconscious mind” (i.e., the higher self), “to improve productivity, performance and output” in the corporate world.2
An article in one major Pacific Northwest newspaper features a large color picture of a local university professor in a classic Zen Buddhist meditation pose. He has not joined the Buddhist religion but is trying to reverse his heart condition through Eastern meditation.3
A popular morning talk show entices viewers with the promise of “how to get along with your spouse.” The show then features popular New Age author Wayne Dyer exhorting viewers to “go into the silence for guidance” when they get angry with their mate[s].4
These are just a few examples of what could be called secular mysticism or generic mysticism, meditation practiced not for religious reasons but as a tool to improve life. Many Christians have a difficult time comprehending this concept. They have been trained to think in terms of cults such as the Mormons (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) or the Watchtower Society (Jehovah’s Witnesses). But these groups are rather limited in their impact because, even if they become sizable, they remain only isolated islands in society. The advantage practical mystics have is that they only have to piggyback a seemingly benevolent meditation method onto whatever programs they are promoting—in other words, they do not have to proselytize people to a dogma, only a practice.
New Age publisher Jeremy Tarcher spoke of this challenge in an interview. Speaking of practical mystics he explained: “They have to learn to present their perceptions in appropriate language and actions that don’t arouse fear or resistance.”5
Because of their success at this effort, one writer declared that interest in meditation was currently exploding. This explosion in Western culture is unprecedented and very real.
In the West, mysticism had always been restricted to a tiny fraction of the population (i.e., shamans, esoteric brotherhoods, and small spiritually elite groups). Never before has there been a widespread teaching of these methods to everyone. Now, mysticism pervades the Western world. How did this happen?
The first such book to reach a broad audience was Creative Visualization by Shakti Gawain. This book could rightfully be called a practical mystic’s bible. Many people can trace their first involvement in metaphysics to this book. Since its publication in 1978, it has sold millions of copies and has influenced the fields of psychology, health, business, and athletics.6
The book became so popular because it addresses such topics as creativity, career goals, relationships, better health, and simple relaxation and peacefulness. Who wouldn’t want to have all this, especially if all it takes is engaging in a simple practice?
Gawain spells out very clearly what that practice entails. She teaches her readers:
Almost any form of meditation will eventually take you to an experience of yourself as source, or your higher self . . . Eventually you will start experiencing certain moments during your meditation when there is a sort of “click” in your consciousness and you feel like things are really working; you may even experience a lot of energy flowing through you or a warm radiant glow in your body. These are signs that you are beginning to channel the energy of your higher self.7
There had been books like hers before, but those appealed to people already in the New Age subculture. This wasn’t true of Creative Visualization. This book had just the right secular slant on something inherently spiritual. Gawain believed that one could stay a Jew, Catholic, or Protestant and still practice the teachings of the book. All you were doing was developing yourself, not changing your religion.
Gawain was merely the forerunner of what has become a flood of such books. A more recent book, The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, which is about the “spiritual path to higher creativity,”27 has sold over two million copies.
A good example of this approach was a business in a major West Coast city that sold books, tapes, and videos on stress reduction. The owners were very active in their community. Doctors, therapists, and teachers came to them for help. They gave talks to school faculties, major corporations, and all the major hospitals in their city. Their clientele tended to be affluent, well-educated professionals and business people who were interested in personal growth.
Yet, along with stress reduction and self-improvement, another element was subtly present—spiritual awareness. One of the owners wrote how she attended a powerful workshop with “Lazaris” and discovered that his techniques were “practical and useful.”8 That does not sound too extraordinary at first glance—however, Lazaris is not a person but a spirit guide!
Because of the stereotypes about people who gravitate toward mystical experiences (such as counterculture types), we may tend to assume people associated with these practices have strange personalities or are in other ways offbeat. On the contrary, these individuals are professional, articulate, conservatively dressed, and above all, extremely personable. They are positive and likeable. A newspaper reporter who did an article on one of them told me, “She is one of the most calm, serene persons I have ever met.” The reporter added, “People want what she has!”
The health, self-help, and recovery sections of secular bookstores are now saturated with New Age metaphysical books. Christian columnist Terry Mattingly summed up the situation brilliantly when he observed: “The New Age didn’t crest, it soaked in . . . It is now the dominant theme in commercial bookstores.”9 If the self-help and personal growth sections of most secular commercial bookstores were examined, the only conclusion to come away with would be that New Age mysticism is the prominent spiritual viewpoint of this country.
A case in point: One day while strolling through a shopping mall, I noticed a New Age bookstore and a secular bookstore just around the corner from each other. Upon examination, it was clear the secular bookstore had far more New Age books than the New Age bookstore did—hundreds more. Moreover, the vast majority were not in the New Age section but in the self-help, health, and other sections. Thus, New Age bookstores have almost been rendered obsolete by the explosion of practical mystic books stocked in traditional bookstores.
This is not an understatement or scare-tactic conjecture. Take a look at book sales for some of the major New Age authors around today. Just the top two, Wayne Dyer and Deepak Chopra, have sold fifty million books between them. James Redfield, the author of The Celestine Prophecy, can boast of a staggering twenty million books sold, and Neal Donald Walsch, the channeler of Conversations with God, a paltry seven million.10
The basic message of these books and hundreds of others like them could be reduced to one simple word, a word that cries out a uniform consistent theme—meditate! That is to say, you’re not going to get anywhere in this life unless you get that “click” that Gawain spoke of earlier and to do it, you must meditate.
If you think the New Age movement is a colorful assortment of strange cults populated by free-spirited aging hippies and assorted oddballs who are being duped by money-hungry charlatans and egocentric frauds, then think again. We are not dealing with fringe religious groups or chanting flower-children anymore but with a broad-based concerted effort to influence and restructure our whole society. (Excerpt from A Time of Departing, chapter 1)
Notes:
1. David L. Smith, A Handbook of Contemporary Theology (Victor Books, 1992), p. 273.
2. Brian Tracy, Maximum Achievement (New York, NY: Simon and Schuster, 1993), pp. 179, 17.
3. “Change of Heart,” (The Sunday Oregonian, September 19, 1993), p. L1.
4. AM Northwest Morning Talk Show, KATU Channel 2, Portland, OR, Interview with Wayne Dyer, March 27, 1997.
5. Jeremy Tarcher, “Living with Vision” (Science of Mind, April 1, 1992), p. 44.
6. Shakti Gawain, Creative Visualization (Novato, CA: Nataraj Publishing, 2002), back cover.
7. Ibid., 1983, 9th Printing, p. 57.
8. Julia Cameron, The Artist’s Way (New York, NY: William Morrow Co., 10th Anniversary Edition), front & back covers.
9. What’s New at Stiles newsletter, 1985.
10. Terry Mattingly, “Marketplace of the Gods” (Christian Research Journal, May/June 1986), p. 6.
(Author of A Time of Departing)
Evangelical scholar David L. Smith correctly assessed the powerful, yet subtle, impact New Age spirituality is having on society when he made the following observations:
Not since Gnosticism at the dawn of the Christian era has there arisen a philosophy as pervasive and threatening to orthodox Christianity as the New Age movement . . . It would be difficult to find any area of life, which has not been touched or redirected to some degree by the concepts of this movement.1
Smith recognizes that, rather than just a small segment, the overall social fabric of society is being impacted. This movement has clearly evolved well past the subculture stage into something much more dynamic and sophisticated. This stunning change has been brought about by the rise of a new breed of mystic—one that presents mysticism as a complement to secular goals and one that is adept at easing the public’s natural impulse to reject the strange and unfamiliar. Some examples of this are:
A prominent, influential speaker and seminar leader, Brian Tracy, promotes the use of the “superconscious mind” (i.e., the higher self), “to improve productivity, performance and output” in the corporate world.2
An article in one major Pacific Northwest newspaper features a large color picture of a local university professor in a classic Zen Buddhist meditation pose. He has not joined the Buddhist religion but is trying to reverse his heart condition through Eastern meditation.3
A popular morning talk show entices viewers with the promise of “how to get along with your spouse.” The show then features popular New Age author Wayne Dyer exhorting viewers to “go into the silence for guidance” when they get angry with their mate[s].4
These are just a few examples of what could be called secular mysticism or generic mysticism, meditation practiced not for religious reasons but as a tool to improve life. Many Christians have a difficult time comprehending this concept. They have been trained to think in terms of cults such as the Mormons (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) or the Watchtower Society (Jehovah’s Witnesses). But these groups are rather limited in their impact because, even if they become sizable, they remain only isolated islands in society. The advantage practical mystics have is that they only have to piggyback a seemingly benevolent meditation method onto whatever programs they are promoting—in other words, they do not have to proselytize people to a dogma, only a practice.
New Age publisher Jeremy Tarcher spoke of this challenge in an interview. Speaking of practical mystics he explained: “They have to learn to present their perceptions in appropriate language and actions that don’t arouse fear or resistance.”5
Because of their success at this effort, one writer declared that interest in meditation was currently exploding. This explosion in Western culture is unprecedented and very real.
In the West, mysticism had always been restricted to a tiny fraction of the population (i.e., shamans, esoteric brotherhoods, and small spiritually elite groups). Never before has there been a widespread teaching of these methods to everyone. Now, mysticism pervades the Western world. How did this happen?
The first such book to reach a broad audience was Creative Visualization by Shakti Gawain. This book could rightfully be called a practical mystic’s bible. Many people can trace their first involvement in metaphysics to this book. Since its publication in 1978, it has sold millions of copies and has influenced the fields of psychology, health, business, and athletics.6
The book became so popular because it addresses such topics as creativity, career goals, relationships, better health, and simple relaxation and peacefulness. Who wouldn’t want to have all this, especially if all it takes is engaging in a simple practice?
Gawain spells out very clearly what that practice entails. She teaches her readers:
Almost any form of meditation will eventually take you to an experience of yourself as source, or your higher self . . . Eventually you will start experiencing certain moments during your meditation when there is a sort of “click” in your consciousness and you feel like things are really working; you may even experience a lot of energy flowing through you or a warm radiant glow in your body. These are signs that you are beginning to channel the energy of your higher self.7
There had been books like hers before, but those appealed to people already in the New Age subculture. This wasn’t true of Creative Visualization. This book had just the right secular slant on something inherently spiritual. Gawain believed that one could stay a Jew, Catholic, or Protestant and still practice the teachings of the book. All you were doing was developing yourself, not changing your religion.
Gawain was merely the forerunner of what has become a flood of such books. A more recent book, The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, which is about the “spiritual path to higher creativity,”27 has sold over two million copies.
A good example of this approach was a business in a major West Coast city that sold books, tapes, and videos on stress reduction. The owners were very active in their community. Doctors, therapists, and teachers came to them for help. They gave talks to school faculties, major corporations, and all the major hospitals in their city. Their clientele tended to be affluent, well-educated professionals and business people who were interested in personal growth.
Yet, along with stress reduction and self-improvement, another element was subtly present—spiritual awareness. One of the owners wrote how she attended a powerful workshop with “Lazaris” and discovered that his techniques were “practical and useful.”8 That does not sound too extraordinary at first glance—however, Lazaris is not a person but a spirit guide!
Because of the stereotypes about people who gravitate toward mystical experiences (such as counterculture types), we may tend to assume people associated with these practices have strange personalities or are in other ways offbeat. On the contrary, these individuals are professional, articulate, conservatively dressed, and above all, extremely personable. They are positive and likeable. A newspaper reporter who did an article on one of them told me, “She is one of the most calm, serene persons I have ever met.” The reporter added, “People want what she has!”
The health, self-help, and recovery sections of secular bookstores are now saturated with New Age metaphysical books. Christian columnist Terry Mattingly summed up the situation brilliantly when he observed: “The New Age didn’t crest, it soaked in . . . It is now the dominant theme in commercial bookstores.”9 If the self-help and personal growth sections of most secular commercial bookstores were examined, the only conclusion to come away with would be that New Age mysticism is the prominent spiritual viewpoint of this country.
A case in point: One day while strolling through a shopping mall, I noticed a New Age bookstore and a secular bookstore just around the corner from each other. Upon examination, it was clear the secular bookstore had far more New Age books than the New Age bookstore did—hundreds more. Moreover, the vast majority were not in the New Age section but in the self-help, health, and other sections. Thus, New Age bookstores have almost been rendered obsolete by the explosion of practical mystic books stocked in traditional bookstores.
This is not an understatement or scare-tactic conjecture. Take a look at book sales for some of the major New Age authors around today. Just the top two, Wayne Dyer and Deepak Chopra, have sold fifty million books between them. James Redfield, the author of The Celestine Prophecy, can boast of a staggering twenty million books sold, and Neal Donald Walsch, the channeler of Conversations with God, a paltry seven million.10
The basic message of these books and hundreds of others like them could be reduced to one simple word, a word that cries out a uniform consistent theme—meditate! That is to say, you’re not going to get anywhere in this life unless you get that “click” that Gawain spoke of earlier and to do it, you must meditate.
If you think the New Age movement is a colorful assortment of strange cults populated by free-spirited aging hippies and assorted oddballs who are being duped by money-hungry charlatans and egocentric frauds, then think again. We are not dealing with fringe religious groups or chanting flower-children anymore but with a broad-based concerted effort to influence and restructure our whole society. (Excerpt from A Time of Departing, chapter 1)
Notes:
1. David L. Smith, A Handbook of Contemporary Theology (Victor Books, 1992), p. 273.
2. Brian Tracy, Maximum Achievement (New York, NY: Simon and Schuster, 1993), pp. 179, 17.
3. “Change of Heart,” (The Sunday Oregonian, September 19, 1993), p. L1.
4. AM Northwest Morning Talk Show, KATU Channel 2, Portland, OR, Interview with Wayne Dyer, March 27, 1997.
5. Jeremy Tarcher, “Living with Vision” (Science of Mind, April 1, 1992), p. 44.
6. Shakti Gawain, Creative Visualization (Novato, CA: Nataraj Publishing, 2002), back cover.
7. Ibid., 1983, 9th Printing, p. 57.
8. Julia Cameron, The Artist’s Way (New York, NY: William Morrow Co., 10th Anniversary Edition), front & back covers.
9. What’s New at Stiles newsletter, 1985.
10. Terry Mattingly, “Marketplace of the Gods” (Christian Research Journal, May/June 1986), p. 6.
The Rejection of Bible Believing Christians
Evangelicals and Catholics Together and the Rejection of End-Time, Bible-Believing Christians
by Roger Oakland
Understand the Times
If you haven’t already noticed, anti-Christian sentiment is growing toward those who believe in a biblical last days/Book of Revelation scenario prior to Christ’s return. A 2005 article titled “Lutheran leader calls for an ecumenical council to address growing biblical fundamentalism” should help convince you. The article shows not only this growing resentment towards Bible-believing Christians but also the interspiritual path this change in attitude is taking:
The leader of the nation’s largest Lutheran has called for a global Christian council to address an “identity crisis” on how churches interpret and understand the Bible. Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America … called for Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican and Lutheran churches to come together to combat a fundamentalist-millenialist-apocalypticist reading of Scripture.1
Hanson’s request for a group to monitor and expose anti-ecumenists who take the Bible literally carries some weight! His message contains other statements showing his concern about Bible literalists—particularly those who take Bible prophecy seriously and see Israel and the Middle East crisis as an end-times sign post. The article continues:
[M]ainline churches traditionally are uneasy with literal readings of Scripture, particularly in fundamentalist churches, regarding the end of the world and political unrest in the Middle East. In addition, mainline churches have been divided over what the Bible says about hot-button issues such as homosexuality and women’s ordination.2
Bishop Hanson believes that a global ecumenical group made up of Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Anglicans, and Lutherans is the answer to the crisis he sees. Hanson calls this effort a “ministry of reconciliation,” that will “result of Christ breaking down the dividing walls,” and “reconcil[ing] the whole creation to God’s self.”3 But Hanson says that those who believe in a biblical end times and a literal Bible interpretation are counterproductive to and holding back the cause of Christ, which he suggests is to unite all of creation and produce a planetary utopia.
Incredibly, Hanson would like to reverse the outcome of the first reformation, join hands with the Catholic Church, and embrace the Eucharistic Jesus in order to bring about an ecumenical unity and the kingdom of God here on earth. He explains:
How do we as LWF [Lutheran World Federation] member churches continue to express our commitment to Eucharistic hospitality and sharing with the Roman Catholic Church without minimizing the theological issues that remain? Will 2017 and the 500th anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation provide an opportunity for shared reflection with the Roman Catholics on our contributions and commitment to the unity of Christ’s church and to the work for justice and peace in all the earth.4
In this goal to bring about the kingdom of God on earth through an ecumenical, inter-faith movement, Reverend Munib Younan, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jerusalem, believes that those who adhere to an apocalyptic end-time scenario (with a focus on Israel) are spreading “heresy.” He says they “pretend to love the Jewish people” but are “actually anti-Jewish” with teachings that are “racist.” He has requested that Lutherans “alert all Christians everywhere to its dangers and false teachings.”5
As I mentioned earlier in the book [Faith Undone], Rick Warren tells his followers that the details of Christ’s return are none of our business. Tony Campolo says Christians that focus on end-time scenarios have been the cause of “extremely detrimental” consequences (see chapter 9). One thing you will notice in the writings of most emerging church leaders is an absence of discussion on a catastrophic apocalyptic atmosphere before Christ’s literal return to earth. What you will see though is lots of discussion about establishing the kingdom now and never mind thinking about life after our earthly deaths. Brian McLaren gives an example:
The church has been preoccupied with the question, “What happens to your soul after you die?” As if the reason for Jesus coming can be summed up in, “Jesus is trying to help get more souls into heaven, as opposed to hell, after they die.” I just think a fair reading of the Gospels blows that out of the water. I don’t think that the entire message and life of Jesus can be boiled down to that bottom line.6
In an interview on Planet Preterist website, McLaren discusses his dilemma over eschatological-thinking believers:
I didn’t start with any interest in rethinking eschatology … I think many of us are in this kind of rethinking process—some starting from the beginning part by rethinking, perhaps, the relation of faith and science in relation to evolution and young-earth creationism … some starting from the middle, as they re-examine what the gospel of the kingdom of God is supposed to mean, or the idea of integral or holistic mission … and some starting from the end, re-examining eschatology.…
Sometimes I think that people who are thoroughly indoctrinated and habituated into this kind of system will not be able to break free from it without experiencing both psychological and social dislocation and disorientation. (emphasis added)7
McLaren also says that such Christians are really going to hurt our world. He continues:
An eschatology of abandonment, which is how I would characterize certain streams of the left-behind approach, has disastrous social consequences.… Any project geared toward improving the world long term is seen as unfaithful, since we’re supposed to assume that the world is getting worse and worse.8
In the interview, McLaren is asked what he thinks about a “preterist book”* that was being released. McLaren states:
A lot is at stake in these conversations—and very literally, the lives of thousands of people hang in the balance because if the dominant religious group in the country with the most weapons of mass destruction embraces an eschatology that legitimates escalating violence … well, I hate to think about it.9
In essence, McLaren is saying if you believe the Book of Revelation and Matthew 24 are yet to take place, you are a dangerous psychological misfit and are assumed to have no compassion for the suffering, no concerns for the environment or the world in which we live, and have the potential to blow up the world with “weapons of mass destruction.” If McLaren was talking about big governments and political parties, that would be one thing, but he is clear—he is referring to Christians who believe what the Bible says about the last days. (from Faith Undone, chapter 12, “A New Reformation”)
*Preterism: The belief that biblical prophecies, such as in Matthew 24, took place before 70 AD, thus preterists do not wait for a second coming of Christ.
Notes:
1. Kevin Eckstrom, “Lutheran leader calls for an ecumenical council to address growing biblical fundamentalism” (Religious News Service, August 11, 2005).
2. Ibid.
3. Bishop Mark S. Hanson, Lutheran World Federation President and presiding Bishop of the ELCA, “The Church: Called to a Ministry of Reconciliation,” Address to the LWF Council in Jerusalem (Lutheran World, September 2005, http://www.lutheranworld.org/LWF_Documents/2005-Council/President_Address-2005_EN.pdf), p. 1.
4. Ibid., p. 8.
5. “Younan: Christian Zionism is heresy” (The Lutheran, March 2003, http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3942/is_200303/ai_n9221870). Note: According to one online encyclopedia, Christian Zionism is defined as: a belief among some Christians that the return of the Jews to the Holy Land, and the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, is in accordance with Biblical prophecy, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Zionism).
6. Brian McLaren cited on “PBS Special on the Emerging Church” (Religion and Ethics Weekly, July 15, 2005, http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week846/cover.html), part 2.
7. Interview by Planet Preterist with Brian McLaren (http://planetpreterist.com/news-2774.html).
8. Ibid.
9. Ibid.
by Roger Oakland
Understand the Times
If you haven’t already noticed, anti-Christian sentiment is growing toward those who believe in a biblical last days/Book of Revelation scenario prior to Christ’s return. A 2005 article titled “Lutheran leader calls for an ecumenical council to address growing biblical fundamentalism” should help convince you. The article shows not only this growing resentment towards Bible-believing Christians but also the interspiritual path this change in attitude is taking:
The leader of the nation’s largest Lutheran has called for a global Christian council to address an “identity crisis” on how churches interpret and understand the Bible. Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America … called for Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican and Lutheran churches to come together to combat a fundamentalist-millenialist-apocalypticist reading of Scripture.1
Hanson’s request for a group to monitor and expose anti-ecumenists who take the Bible literally carries some weight! His message contains other statements showing his concern about Bible literalists—particularly those who take Bible prophecy seriously and see Israel and the Middle East crisis as an end-times sign post. The article continues:
[M]ainline churches traditionally are uneasy with literal readings of Scripture, particularly in fundamentalist churches, regarding the end of the world and political unrest in the Middle East. In addition, mainline churches have been divided over what the Bible says about hot-button issues such as homosexuality and women’s ordination.2
Bishop Hanson believes that a global ecumenical group made up of Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Anglicans, and Lutherans is the answer to the crisis he sees. Hanson calls this effort a “ministry of reconciliation,” that will “result of Christ breaking down the dividing walls,” and “reconcil[ing] the whole creation to God’s self.”3 But Hanson says that those who believe in a biblical end times and a literal Bible interpretation are counterproductive to and holding back the cause of Christ, which he suggests is to unite all of creation and produce a planetary utopia.
Incredibly, Hanson would like to reverse the outcome of the first reformation, join hands with the Catholic Church, and embrace the Eucharistic Jesus in order to bring about an ecumenical unity and the kingdom of God here on earth. He explains:
How do we as LWF [Lutheran World Federation] member churches continue to express our commitment to Eucharistic hospitality and sharing with the Roman Catholic Church without minimizing the theological issues that remain? Will 2017 and the 500th anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation provide an opportunity for shared reflection with the Roman Catholics on our contributions and commitment to the unity of Christ’s church and to the work for justice and peace in all the earth.4
In this goal to bring about the kingdom of God on earth through an ecumenical, inter-faith movement, Reverend Munib Younan, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jerusalem, believes that those who adhere to an apocalyptic end-time scenario (with a focus on Israel) are spreading “heresy.” He says they “pretend to love the Jewish people” but are “actually anti-Jewish” with teachings that are “racist.” He has requested that Lutherans “alert all Christians everywhere to its dangers and false teachings.”5
As I mentioned earlier in the book [Faith Undone], Rick Warren tells his followers that the details of Christ’s return are none of our business. Tony Campolo says Christians that focus on end-time scenarios have been the cause of “extremely detrimental” consequences (see chapter 9). One thing you will notice in the writings of most emerging church leaders is an absence of discussion on a catastrophic apocalyptic atmosphere before Christ’s literal return to earth. What you will see though is lots of discussion about establishing the kingdom now and never mind thinking about life after our earthly deaths. Brian McLaren gives an example:
The church has been preoccupied with the question, “What happens to your soul after you die?” As if the reason for Jesus coming can be summed up in, “Jesus is trying to help get more souls into heaven, as opposed to hell, after they die.” I just think a fair reading of the Gospels blows that out of the water. I don’t think that the entire message and life of Jesus can be boiled down to that bottom line.6
In an interview on Planet Preterist website, McLaren discusses his dilemma over eschatological-thinking believers:
I didn’t start with any interest in rethinking eschatology … I think many of us are in this kind of rethinking process—some starting from the beginning part by rethinking, perhaps, the relation of faith and science in relation to evolution and young-earth creationism … some starting from the middle, as they re-examine what the gospel of the kingdom of God is supposed to mean, or the idea of integral or holistic mission … and some starting from the end, re-examining eschatology.…
Sometimes I think that people who are thoroughly indoctrinated and habituated into this kind of system will not be able to break free from it without experiencing both psychological and social dislocation and disorientation. (emphasis added)7
McLaren also says that such Christians are really going to hurt our world. He continues:
An eschatology of abandonment, which is how I would characterize certain streams of the left-behind approach, has disastrous social consequences.… Any project geared toward improving the world long term is seen as unfaithful, since we’re supposed to assume that the world is getting worse and worse.8
In the interview, McLaren is asked what he thinks about a “preterist book”* that was being released. McLaren states:
A lot is at stake in these conversations—and very literally, the lives of thousands of people hang in the balance because if the dominant religious group in the country with the most weapons of mass destruction embraces an eschatology that legitimates escalating violence … well, I hate to think about it.9
In essence, McLaren is saying if you believe the Book of Revelation and Matthew 24 are yet to take place, you are a dangerous psychological misfit and are assumed to have no compassion for the suffering, no concerns for the environment or the world in which we live, and have the potential to blow up the world with “weapons of mass destruction.” If McLaren was talking about big governments and political parties, that would be one thing, but he is clear—he is referring to Christians who believe what the Bible says about the last days. (from Faith Undone, chapter 12, “A New Reformation”)
*Preterism: The belief that biblical prophecies, such as in Matthew 24, took place before 70 AD, thus preterists do not wait for a second coming of Christ.
Notes:
1. Kevin Eckstrom, “Lutheran leader calls for an ecumenical council to address growing biblical fundamentalism” (Religious News Service, August 11, 2005).
2. Ibid.
3. Bishop Mark S. Hanson, Lutheran World Federation President and presiding Bishop of the ELCA, “The Church: Called to a Ministry of Reconciliation,” Address to the LWF Council in Jerusalem (Lutheran World, September 2005, http://www.lutheranworld.org/LWF_Documents/2005-Council/President_Address-2005_EN.pdf), p. 1.
4. Ibid., p. 8.
5. “Younan: Christian Zionism is heresy” (The Lutheran, March 2003, http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3942/is_200303/ai_n9221870). Note: According to one online encyclopedia, Christian Zionism is defined as: a belief among some Christians that the return of the Jews to the Holy Land, and the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, is in accordance with Biblical prophecy, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Zionism).
6. Brian McLaren cited on “PBS Special on the Emerging Church” (Religion and Ethics Weekly, July 15, 2005, http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week846/cover.html), part 2.
7. Interview by Planet Preterist with Brian McLaren (http://planetpreterist.com/news-2774.html).
8. Ibid.
9. Ibid.
July 19, 2011
Weighed and Found Wanting
Ex-New Ager Warren Smith exposes New Age, a.k.a as 'New Spirituality', teachings that have invaded the church. Warren has written several books on the subject that are excellent resources for those wishing to research further. The books can be found on his website or on Amazon. Please beware of those who are preaching ANOTHER Jesus and steer clear of their erroneous seductive teachings!
"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils" (1 Tim.4:1)
Rick Warren’s Daniel Plan
by Warren Smith
Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices. —2 Corinthians 2:11
Who would have believed it? Occult/New Age doctors being invited into the church to teach Christians how to be healthy? Charles Spurgeon must be rolling over in his grave. On January 15, 2011 a fifty-two week health and wellness program—the Daniel Plan—was initiated at Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church. More than six thousand people attended the well promoted and carefully staged event. Warren took the opportunity to announce that his own personal goal was to lose 90 pounds in 2011. The Daniel Plan website states that “the Daniel Plan envisions starting a movement so the result is better physical and spiritual health for current and future generations.”1 It describes how Rick Warren “recruited three best-selling authors” to create and oversee the Daniel Plan Curriculum—Dr. Mehmet Oz, Dr. Daniel Amen, and Dr. Mark Hyman.2 Although these three physicians are all involved with New Age teachings, they describe themselves respectively as a Muslim, a Christian, and a Jew.
On their church’s Daniel Plan website, Saddleback pastor Brandon Cox tried to defend Rick Warren’s indefensible decision to recruit three New Age doctors to implement a Christian health and wellness program. In his “Pastoral Response” to the question “Why did Saddleback Church choose to use these Doctors who have been linked to other beliefs?,” Cox wrote:
“Pastor Rick knows each of these Doctors personally and has the utmost trust in their ability to advise us about matters related to physical health.” In a statement reminiscent of Little Red Riding Hood’s “grandmother,” Cox goes on to state: “These Doctors are helping us as friends, but are in no way advising our church on spiritual matters.”3
By repeating and emphasizing the term “physical health” three times in the response, Saddleback was obviously trying to distance itself from Oz, Amen, and Hyman’s New Age beliefs. But the “we’re only using them for physical health purposes” defense was not convincing. All three physicians are alternative medicine/holistic health practitioners who teach the indivisibility of “mind, body, spirit” in achieving optimum well-being. In other words, their New Age spiritual beliefs are necessarily embedded in their medical practice, their best-selling books, and their public appearances.
Dr. Mehmet Oz
Dr. Oz is the cardiovascular surgeon who was featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show for five years before gaining his own popular daytime TV show. He also has a daily talk show on Oprah & Friends satellite radio and writes columns for several magazines including Oprah’s O Magazine. Operating out of Columbia University’s Presbyterian Hospital, Dr. Oz is like a modern-day shaman as he mixes traditional medicine with a wide variety of occult/New Age practices. In The Way of the Shaman, a “foremost resource and reference on shamanism,” Michael Harner—an anthropologist who “has practiced shamanism and shamanic healing” for several decades4—gives the following definition of a shaman:
A shaman is a man or woman who enters an altered state of consciousness—at will—to contact and utilize an ordinarily hidden reality in order to acquire knowledge, power, and to help other persons. The shaman has at least one, and usually more, “spirits” in his personal service.5
The following is a sampling of what Dr. Oz subtly, and not so subtly, incorporates into his medical practice and into his life. For instance, Dr. Oz’s prominent endorsement is displayed on the front cover of self-described psychic Ainslie MacLeod’s book The Instruction: Living the Life Your Soul Intended. Juxtaposing the phrase “spiritual well-being” with the word “purpose,” Oz writes: I recommend this book to those who seek greater spiritual well-being and a better understanding of their life’s purpose.6
In Oz’s endorsement of another Ainslie MacLeod book, The Transformation: Healing Your Past Lives to Realize Your Soul’s Potential, Dr. Oz makes it clear that his approach to physical health is inextricably bound up with his beliefs regarding spiritual health. They cannot be neatly separated out as Rick Warren’s Saddleback staff would have everyone believe. Dr. Oz’s front cover endorsement states:
Ainslie MacLeod is at the frontier of exploration into the soul and its profound influence on our physical selves.7
In The Transformation, MacLeod’s spirit guides tell MacLeod’s readers “that we are standing on the brink of the greatest leap in human consciousness in 55,000 years.”8 Later, in a psychic reading that MacLeod gives to one of his clients, his spirit guides refer his client to Dr. Daniel Amen for help.9 Amen, of course being one of the other two Daniel Plan physicians. In The Instruction, among other things, MacLeod teaches readers how to meditate and contact spirit guides. In fact, spirit guides are referred to a whopping 175 times in the book—40 times before you even get to Chapter 1. In his introduction, MacLeod describes how the skeptic in him used to read a book like his and think—“Who died and made this guy an expert?” In his own case, MacLeod said the answer was his spirit guides—one of them being his deceased Uncle John.10
Dr. Oz’s New Age affinity for psychics, spirit guides, past lives, and contacting the dead was showcased on his March 15, 2011 program—just two months after the launch of the Daniel Plan—titled, “Psychic Mediums: Are they the New Therapists?” The promo on his website read: “Can talking to lost loved ones heal your grief? Hear why psychic John Edward believes you can talk to the dead.”11
On a January 6, 2010 Dr. Oz Show, Dr. Oz revealed what he believed to be “the most important alternative medicine treatment” for his viewers in that coming year. His #1 “Oz’s Order” was to “Try Reiki”12—an occult bodywork practice that incorporates the channeled guidance of spirit guides. Dr. Oz was reported in one press release as stating: “Reiki is one of my favorites, we’ve been using it for years in the Oz family, and we swear by it.”13
On a video on Dr. Oz’s website, New Age leader Deepak Chopra teaches viewers how to meditate.14 Chopra’s 2009 book Reinventing the Body, Resurrecting the Soul features Dr. Oz’s back cover endorsement.15 Dr. Oz is a personal practitioner of Transcendental Meditation,16 which was founded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. He has also practiced Yoga for over twenty years17 and is devoted to the New Age teachings of Emanuel Swedenborg—teachings that resonate with the mystical Sufi branch of the Muslim faith that he and his wife most identify with.18
Dr. Oz wrote the Foreword to “US”—a New Age book written by his wife Lisa, who is a Reiki Master19—a book that opens with a quote on oneness by New Age patriarch Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. In his Foreword, Oz credits his wife’s spiritual influence while also mentioning that a number of years ago he “matriculated at Oprah University.”20 Dr. Oz endangers those who put their trust in him by interjecting his occult/New Age beliefs into his medical practice.
Presumably, the “Open Heart meditation” given to Ainslie MacLeod by his spirit guides21 is not used by Dr. Oz before he does open heart surgery. One thing is for spiritual sure, Dr. Oz may be a skilled cardiovascular surgeon but spiritually he is overlooking one of the most important aspects of the heart. God, speaking through the prophet Jeremiah, warns: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). Multiple references in the Bible also warn about the extremely dangerous and deceptive nature of “familiar” and “seducing” spirits that Dr. Oz is in the process of normalizing through his extreme influence in the world and now in the church (see Leviticus 19:31; Deuteronomy 18:10-12; 1 Timothy 4:1; etc.).
Dr. Daniel Amen
Dr. Amen is a child and adolescent psychiatrist, best-selling author, and medical director of the Amen Clinics for Behavioral Medicine. In his book Change Your Brain, Change Your Life, he encourages readers to “Learn and use self-hypnosis and meditation on a daily basis.”22 In Change Your Brain, Change Your Body, Amen, a self-professed Christian, specifically recommends a Hindu Kundalini form of meditation called Kirtan Kriya. He instructs his readers to chant “sa ta na ma” repeatedly while simultaneously doing repetitive finger movements.23 In a New Age world that says “everything happens for a reason” and “there are no accidents,” the first five letters of this Hindu meditation spell the name of Satan. The last three letters just so happen to be the abbreviated letters of the American Medical Association (AMA). Is this pure coincidence, some kind of cosmic joke, or spiritual mockery?
In his book The Brain in Love (formerly titled Sex on the Brain), Dr. Amen recommends tantric sex to his readers. He writes that tantra “is a term applied to several schools of Hindu yoga in which sex is worshipped.”24 He states that “[s]ome tantra yoga teachers recommend meditative practices that also share elements with Kundalini yoga, where subtle streams of energy are raised in the body by means of posture, breath control, and movements.”25 He later adds:
After you have agreed to safe boundaries, you can take sex to a new level by investing in a few books or magazines. I write for Men’s Health magazine and it is always filled with great sex tips for couples. Cosmopolitan and other magazines have playful ideas as well. Books on tantric sex or role-playing games can also be fun.”26
Dr. Amen’s fascination with tantric sex and Kundalini yoga is very similar to the teachings of Indian gurus like Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and Swami Baba Muktananda. Dr. Amen’s New Age sympathies are also evident in his willingness to write the Foreword to author Lucinda Bassett’s The Solution. In her book, Bassett quotes New Age leaders Marianne Williamson, Eckhart Tolle, the Dalai Lama, Neale Donald Walsch, and others. She describes Walsch as “a spiritual messenger whose best-selling books and lectures profoundly touch the world.”27
Dr. Mark Hyman
Dr. Hyman is the chairman of the Institute of Functional Medicine and author of the best-selling book The UltraMind Solution. With its front cover endorsement by Dr. Mehmet Oz, The UltraMind Solution offers practical medical advice while at the same time recommending a number of New Age resources to his readers. For example, he recommends the website of New Age author and guided imagery proponent Belleruth Naparstek.28 Her books and materials are designed to help people meditate, become more psychic, and connect with spirit guides. Her website describes how her materials are used worldwide by patients, hospitals, HMO’s, government agencies, etc. Dr. Hyman and New Age leader Dr. Bernie Siegel are listed as two of Naparstek’s “contributing health and mind-body health practitioners.”29 Siegel, of course being the New Age leader Rick Warren used to introduce the idea of hope and purpose in The Purpose-Driven Life. Like Dr. Oz and Dr. Amen, Dr. Hyman recommends meditation and yoga to his readers.30
Dr. Hyman endorsed a New Age book entitled Power Up Your Brain—The Neuroscience of Enlightenment. It is co-authored by shaman/medium Alberto Villoldo and neurologist David Perlmutter. The Foreword from the publisher states:
And now two men, two seers—a shaman and a scientist—are combining their experiences and expertise to explore the totality that includes all of the spirit world and all of the scientific world—as One.31
David Perlmutter writes:
For it had become clear to us that access to the Great Spirit or Divine Energy—that natural force which is called by so many names—is available to all. In a sense we are all shamans, and the most advanced teachings in cellular biology are validating lifestyle activities that for centuries, have been paving the way to enlightenment through meditative practices not just for the chosen few but for all who care to learn. Our collaboration explores the implications of this not only for individuals but for all of humanity.32
Villoldo—who spoke at a 2011 Palm Springs Prophets Conference with New Age leader Barbara Marx Hubbard33— writes:
During my years studying with the shamans, I learned about their belief in the Divine Mother, which we each have the potential to discover in nature. This was not the bearded old man whose image I had come to associate with “God.” Rather, this was a force that infused all creation, a sea of energy and consciousness that we all swim in and are part of. I came to understand that our Western notions of the divine are perhaps a masculine version of this life force that infuses every cell in our bodies, that animates all living beings, and that even fuels stars.34
Power Up Your Brain includes a chapter recommending various “Shamanic Exercises” that include an invocation to the “Great Serpent.”35 Dr. Hyman’s back cover endorsement of this book sits alongside New Age leaders Bernie Siegel and Greg Braden.
In his endorsement, Hyman betrays his belief in shamanism and the inextricable New Age link between physical and spiritual health. He writes:
The shaman and physician for millennia were the same person until the 19th century when they were split apart in the name of science. Now through the lens of 21st-century science, Villoldo and Perlmutter bring them back together, illuminating the web that links together our physical and metaphysical energy. For anyone feeling a loss of energy of body or soul, Power Up Your Brain is your guide to restoration and rejuvenation of your deepest energies.
Also referring to “restoration” in The UltraMind Solution, Dr. Hyman lists three New Age centers in his “Resources” section. Under the heading of “Restorative and Educational Retreats,” he recommends the Omega Institute, the Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health, and the Shambhala Mountain Center.36 Ainslie MacLeod—the Dr. Oz endorsed psychic—is a “faculty member” at both the Kripalu Center and the Omega Institute.37 The Omega Institute offers a number of workshops led by key New Age leaders like Neale Donald Walsch, Marianne Williamson, Deepak Chopra, Eckhart Tolle, and Alberto Villoldo. Classes such as “Conversations with God,” “Contacting the Spirit World,” “How Shamans Dream the World into Being,” and “Bootcamp for Goddesses,” are readily available to those following Dr. Hyman’s advice.38 And at the Dr. Hyman endorsed Kripalu Center, New Age leader Deepak Chopra offers a workshop on his Dr. Oz endorsed book, Reinventing the Body, Resurrecting the Soul. In case people can’t make it to Saddleback Church, Dr. Daniel Amen also teaches a workshop at Kripalu.
Key Scriptures Regarding Rick Warren’s Daniel Plan
Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. —2 Corinthians 6:14
And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. —Ephesians 5:11
Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils. —1 Corinthians 10:21
Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way. —Romans 14:13
Shepherding the Church into a New Age/New Spirituality In the 1990’s, a well-known Christian leader rightly warned that alternative medicine and holistic health can provide an easy entryway for deceptive New Age teachings. He further warned that changing your diet can also end up changing your worldview. In other words, sometimes losing weight can also mean losing your soul. Speaking from his leadership role with the Christian Medical Association, Dr. David Stevens also urges great discretion regarding alternative health practitioners. He states: “Not only do we have to make a choice; we also have to evaluate the trustworthiness of each messenger and the validity of the message.”39
The Christian Handbook to Alternative Medicine also warns: “Consider carefully not only the therapy but also the character and worldview of those offering the treatment.”40 Thus, it is definitely “buyer beware” when it comes to mixedbag physicians like Oz, Amen, and Hyman. But that doesn’t seem to matter to Rick Warren as he openly aligns himself with these New Age doctors and promises to make their joint Daniel Plan a worldwide phenomenon. Instead of sounding a warning trumpet and protecting the church from three New Age physicians, Warren praises them and trumpets his ungodly alliance with them.
One can only wonder if the prophet Daniel’s vision of the end days included a look at Rick Warren’s Daniel Plan—a compromised pastor and three New Age doctors with their psychics, spirit guides, tantric sex, necromancy, Yoga, Reiki, Transcendental and Kundalini “sa ta na ma” meditations and more—all in Daniel’s name. If so, it is no wonder the Bible records that he “fainted” and became “sick” for a number of days (Daniel 8:27).
It doesn’t make any difference in God’s scheme of things if Rick Warren stands slim and trim in front of an adoring church audience after losing 90 pounds. What may be remembered is that in the midst of all the self-congratulatory statistics and frenzied media hoopla, a finger suddenly appeared on the wall behind Rick Warren and wrote the following:
"Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting" —Daniel 5:27
Source
Appendix A: The Daniel Plan
1. Week 11: Re-Focusing The Daniel Plan (http://www.saddleback.
com/thedanielplan/?category=Week%2011).
2. The Daniel Plan: What Makes it Different? (http://www.saddleback.
com/thedanielplan/healthyhabits/whatsdifferent/).
3. Pastoral Response, Brandon Cox, Saddleback Church, (https://www.
saddleback.com/thedanielplan/toolsandresources/pastoralresponse/).
4. Michael Harner, Ph.D., The Way of the Shaman, (New York, NY:
HarperCollins Publishers, 1980, 1990), back cover.
5. Ibid., p. 25.
6. Ainslie MacLeod, The Instruction: Living the Life Your Soul Intended
(Boulder, CO: Sounds True, Inc., 2007, 2009), front cover.
7. Ainslie MacLeod, The Transformation: Healing Your Past Lives to Realize
Your Soul’s Potential (Boulder, CO: Sounds True, Inc., 2010), front cover.
8. Ibid., front flap.
9. Ibid., pp. 243-244.
10. Ainslie MacLeod, The Instruction: , op. cit., p. 9, 12.
11. “Psychic Mediums: Are they the New Therapists?,” The Dr. Oz
Show, aired 3/15/11, (http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/are-psychicsnew-
therapists-pt-1).
12. “‘Try Reiki,’ Dr. Oz Tells Millions on TV,” 1/9/10, The Reiki
Digest, (http://reikidigest.blogspot.com/2010/01/try-reiki-dr-oz-tellsmillions-
on-tv.html).
13. “Dr. Mehmet Oz Declares Reiki as his #1 Alternative Medicine
Secret,” 1/9/2010, Bio-Medicine, (http://www.bio-medicine.org/
medicine-news-1/Dr–Mehmet-Oz-Declares-Reiki-as-His–231-Alternative-
Medicine-Secret–64270-1/).
14. “Meditation Techniques Demonstrated by Deepak Chopra,” The
Dr. Oz Show, added to videos on 2/25/10, (http://www.doctoroz.com/
videos/deepak-chopra-meditation).
15. Deepak Chopra, Reinventing the Body, Resurrecting the Soul: How
to Create a New You, (New York, NY: Three Rivers Press, a division of
Random House, Inc., 2009).
16. AARP The Magazine, May/June 2010 issue, p. 82.
17. Ibid.
18. Lisa Oz, US: Transforming Ourselves and the Relationships That Matter
Most (New York, NY: Free Press, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.,
2010), p. 179.
19. “‘Try Reiki,’ Dr. Oz Tells Millions on TV,” 1/9/10, The Reiki
Digest, op. cit.
20. Lisa Oz, US, op. cit., p. x.
21. Ainslie MacLeod, The Instruction, op. cit., p. 17.
22. Daniel G. Amen, M.D., Change Your Brain, Change Your Life (New
York, NY: Times Books, a division of Random House, Inc., 1998), p. 302.
23. Daniel G. Amen, M.D., Change Your Brain, Change Your Body
(New York, NY: Three Rivers Press, a division of Random House, Inc.,
2010), p. 223.
24. Daniel G. Amen, M.D., The Brain in Love (New York, NY: Three
Rivers Press, a division of Random House, Inc., 2007), p. 144.
25. Ibid., p. 145.
26. Ibid., p. 148.
27. Lucinda Bassett, The Solution: Conquer Your Fear, Control Your Future
(New York: NY: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc., 2011), p. 146.
28. Mark Hyman M.D., The UltraMind Solution (New York, NY:
Scribner, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc., 2009), p. 402. (Belleruth
Naparstek’s website recommended by Dr. Hyman: http://www.
healthjourneys.com/).
29. Our Practitioner Bios, Health Journeys, (http://www.
healthjourneys.com/practitioner_bios.asp).
30. Mark Hyman, The UltraMind Solution, op. cit., p. 384.
31. David Perlmutter, M.D., F.A.C.N., Alberto Villoldo, Ph.D., Power
Up Your Brain: The Neuroscience of Enlightenment (New York, NY: Hay
House, Inc., 2011), p. xiv.
32. Ibid., p. xviii.
33. The Prophets Conference (http://www.greatmystery.org/).
34. David Perlmutter, Alberto Villoldo, Power Up Your Brain, op. cit.,
p. xxi.
35. Ibid., p. 154.
36. Mark Hyman, The UltraMind Solution, op. cit., p. 403.
37. Ainslie MacLeod, The Transformation, op. cit., About the Author,
p. 327.
38. Omega Institute, (http://www.eomega.org/).
39. Donal O’Mathuna, Ph.D. and Walt Larimore, M.D., Alternative
Medicine: The Christian Handbook (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2001,
2007), p. 9.
40. Ibid., p. 123.
Note: Thanks to Jennifer Pekich, Ray Youngen, and Lighthouse Trails
for initially breaking this “Daniel Plan” story.
"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils" (1 Tim.4:1)
Rick Warren’s Daniel Plan
by Warren Smith
Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices. —2 Corinthians 2:11
Who would have believed it? Occult/New Age doctors being invited into the church to teach Christians how to be healthy? Charles Spurgeon must be rolling over in his grave. On January 15, 2011 a fifty-two week health and wellness program—the Daniel Plan—was initiated at Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church. More than six thousand people attended the well promoted and carefully staged event. Warren took the opportunity to announce that his own personal goal was to lose 90 pounds in 2011. The Daniel Plan website states that “the Daniel Plan envisions starting a movement so the result is better physical and spiritual health for current and future generations.”1 It describes how Rick Warren “recruited three best-selling authors” to create and oversee the Daniel Plan Curriculum—Dr. Mehmet Oz, Dr. Daniel Amen, and Dr. Mark Hyman.2 Although these three physicians are all involved with New Age teachings, they describe themselves respectively as a Muslim, a Christian, and a Jew.
On their church’s Daniel Plan website, Saddleback pastor Brandon Cox tried to defend Rick Warren’s indefensible decision to recruit three New Age doctors to implement a Christian health and wellness program. In his “Pastoral Response” to the question “Why did Saddleback Church choose to use these Doctors who have been linked to other beliefs?,” Cox wrote:
“Pastor Rick knows each of these Doctors personally and has the utmost trust in their ability to advise us about matters related to physical health.” In a statement reminiscent of Little Red Riding Hood’s “grandmother,” Cox goes on to state: “These Doctors are helping us as friends, but are in no way advising our church on spiritual matters.”3
By repeating and emphasizing the term “physical health” three times in the response, Saddleback was obviously trying to distance itself from Oz, Amen, and Hyman’s New Age beliefs. But the “we’re only using them for physical health purposes” defense was not convincing. All three physicians are alternative medicine/holistic health practitioners who teach the indivisibility of “mind, body, spirit” in achieving optimum well-being. In other words, their New Age spiritual beliefs are necessarily embedded in their medical practice, their best-selling books, and their public appearances.
Dr. Mehmet Oz
Dr. Oz is the cardiovascular surgeon who was featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show for five years before gaining his own popular daytime TV show. He also has a daily talk show on Oprah & Friends satellite radio and writes columns for several magazines including Oprah’s O Magazine. Operating out of Columbia University’s Presbyterian Hospital, Dr. Oz is like a modern-day shaman as he mixes traditional medicine with a wide variety of occult/New Age practices. In The Way of the Shaman, a “foremost resource and reference on shamanism,” Michael Harner—an anthropologist who “has practiced shamanism and shamanic healing” for several decades4—gives the following definition of a shaman:
A shaman is a man or woman who enters an altered state of consciousness—at will—to contact and utilize an ordinarily hidden reality in order to acquire knowledge, power, and to help other persons. The shaman has at least one, and usually more, “spirits” in his personal service.5
The following is a sampling of what Dr. Oz subtly, and not so subtly, incorporates into his medical practice and into his life. For instance, Dr. Oz’s prominent endorsement is displayed on the front cover of self-described psychic Ainslie MacLeod’s book The Instruction: Living the Life Your Soul Intended. Juxtaposing the phrase “spiritual well-being” with the word “purpose,” Oz writes: I recommend this book to those who seek greater spiritual well-being and a better understanding of their life’s purpose.6
In Oz’s endorsement of another Ainslie MacLeod book, The Transformation: Healing Your Past Lives to Realize Your Soul’s Potential, Dr. Oz makes it clear that his approach to physical health is inextricably bound up with his beliefs regarding spiritual health. They cannot be neatly separated out as Rick Warren’s Saddleback staff would have everyone believe. Dr. Oz’s front cover endorsement states:
Ainslie MacLeod is at the frontier of exploration into the soul and its profound influence on our physical selves.7
In The Transformation, MacLeod’s spirit guides tell MacLeod’s readers “that we are standing on the brink of the greatest leap in human consciousness in 55,000 years.”8 Later, in a psychic reading that MacLeod gives to one of his clients, his spirit guides refer his client to Dr. Daniel Amen for help.9 Amen, of course being one of the other two Daniel Plan physicians. In The Instruction, among other things, MacLeod teaches readers how to meditate and contact spirit guides. In fact, spirit guides are referred to a whopping 175 times in the book—40 times before you even get to Chapter 1. In his introduction, MacLeod describes how the skeptic in him used to read a book like his and think—“Who died and made this guy an expert?” In his own case, MacLeod said the answer was his spirit guides—one of them being his deceased Uncle John.10
Dr. Oz’s New Age affinity for psychics, spirit guides, past lives, and contacting the dead was showcased on his March 15, 2011 program—just two months after the launch of the Daniel Plan—titled, “Psychic Mediums: Are they the New Therapists?” The promo on his website read: “Can talking to lost loved ones heal your grief? Hear why psychic John Edward believes you can talk to the dead.”11
On a January 6, 2010 Dr. Oz Show, Dr. Oz revealed what he believed to be “the most important alternative medicine treatment” for his viewers in that coming year. His #1 “Oz’s Order” was to “Try Reiki”12—an occult bodywork practice that incorporates the channeled guidance of spirit guides. Dr. Oz was reported in one press release as stating: “Reiki is one of my favorites, we’ve been using it for years in the Oz family, and we swear by it.”13
On a video on Dr. Oz’s website, New Age leader Deepak Chopra teaches viewers how to meditate.14 Chopra’s 2009 book Reinventing the Body, Resurrecting the Soul features Dr. Oz’s back cover endorsement.15 Dr. Oz is a personal practitioner of Transcendental Meditation,16 which was founded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. He has also practiced Yoga for over twenty years17 and is devoted to the New Age teachings of Emanuel Swedenborg—teachings that resonate with the mystical Sufi branch of the Muslim faith that he and his wife most identify with.18
Dr. Oz wrote the Foreword to “US”—a New Age book written by his wife Lisa, who is a Reiki Master19—a book that opens with a quote on oneness by New Age patriarch Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. In his Foreword, Oz credits his wife’s spiritual influence while also mentioning that a number of years ago he “matriculated at Oprah University.”20 Dr. Oz endangers those who put their trust in him by interjecting his occult/New Age beliefs into his medical practice.
Presumably, the “Open Heart meditation” given to Ainslie MacLeod by his spirit guides21 is not used by Dr. Oz before he does open heart surgery. One thing is for spiritual sure, Dr. Oz may be a skilled cardiovascular surgeon but spiritually he is overlooking one of the most important aspects of the heart. God, speaking through the prophet Jeremiah, warns: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). Multiple references in the Bible also warn about the extremely dangerous and deceptive nature of “familiar” and “seducing” spirits that Dr. Oz is in the process of normalizing through his extreme influence in the world and now in the church (see Leviticus 19:31; Deuteronomy 18:10-12; 1 Timothy 4:1; etc.).
Dr. Daniel Amen
Dr. Amen is a child and adolescent psychiatrist, best-selling author, and medical director of the Amen Clinics for Behavioral Medicine. In his book Change Your Brain, Change Your Life, he encourages readers to “Learn and use self-hypnosis and meditation on a daily basis.”22 In Change Your Brain, Change Your Body, Amen, a self-professed Christian, specifically recommends a Hindu Kundalini form of meditation called Kirtan Kriya. He instructs his readers to chant “sa ta na ma” repeatedly while simultaneously doing repetitive finger movements.23 In a New Age world that says “everything happens for a reason” and “there are no accidents,” the first five letters of this Hindu meditation spell the name of Satan. The last three letters just so happen to be the abbreviated letters of the American Medical Association (AMA). Is this pure coincidence, some kind of cosmic joke, or spiritual mockery?
In his book The Brain in Love (formerly titled Sex on the Brain), Dr. Amen recommends tantric sex to his readers. He writes that tantra “is a term applied to several schools of Hindu yoga in which sex is worshipped.”24 He states that “[s]ome tantra yoga teachers recommend meditative practices that also share elements with Kundalini yoga, where subtle streams of energy are raised in the body by means of posture, breath control, and movements.”25 He later adds:
After you have agreed to safe boundaries, you can take sex to a new level by investing in a few books or magazines. I write for Men’s Health magazine and it is always filled with great sex tips for couples. Cosmopolitan and other magazines have playful ideas as well. Books on tantric sex or role-playing games can also be fun.”26
Dr. Amen’s fascination with tantric sex and Kundalini yoga is very similar to the teachings of Indian gurus like Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and Swami Baba Muktananda. Dr. Amen’s New Age sympathies are also evident in his willingness to write the Foreword to author Lucinda Bassett’s The Solution. In her book, Bassett quotes New Age leaders Marianne Williamson, Eckhart Tolle, the Dalai Lama, Neale Donald Walsch, and others. She describes Walsch as “a spiritual messenger whose best-selling books and lectures profoundly touch the world.”27
Dr. Mark Hyman
Dr. Hyman is the chairman of the Institute of Functional Medicine and author of the best-selling book The UltraMind Solution. With its front cover endorsement by Dr. Mehmet Oz, The UltraMind Solution offers practical medical advice while at the same time recommending a number of New Age resources to his readers. For example, he recommends the website of New Age author and guided imagery proponent Belleruth Naparstek.28 Her books and materials are designed to help people meditate, become more psychic, and connect with spirit guides. Her website describes how her materials are used worldwide by patients, hospitals, HMO’s, government agencies, etc. Dr. Hyman and New Age leader Dr. Bernie Siegel are listed as two of Naparstek’s “contributing health and mind-body health practitioners.”29 Siegel, of course being the New Age leader Rick Warren used to introduce the idea of hope and purpose in The Purpose-Driven Life. Like Dr. Oz and Dr. Amen, Dr. Hyman recommends meditation and yoga to his readers.30
Dr. Hyman endorsed a New Age book entitled Power Up Your Brain—The Neuroscience of Enlightenment. It is co-authored by shaman/medium Alberto Villoldo and neurologist David Perlmutter. The Foreword from the publisher states:
And now two men, two seers—a shaman and a scientist—are combining their experiences and expertise to explore the totality that includes all of the spirit world and all of the scientific world—as One.31
David Perlmutter writes:
For it had become clear to us that access to the Great Spirit or Divine Energy—that natural force which is called by so many names—is available to all. In a sense we are all shamans, and the most advanced teachings in cellular biology are validating lifestyle activities that for centuries, have been paving the way to enlightenment through meditative practices not just for the chosen few but for all who care to learn. Our collaboration explores the implications of this not only for individuals but for all of humanity.32
Villoldo—who spoke at a 2011 Palm Springs Prophets Conference with New Age leader Barbara Marx Hubbard33— writes:
During my years studying with the shamans, I learned about their belief in the Divine Mother, which we each have the potential to discover in nature. This was not the bearded old man whose image I had come to associate with “God.” Rather, this was a force that infused all creation, a sea of energy and consciousness that we all swim in and are part of. I came to understand that our Western notions of the divine are perhaps a masculine version of this life force that infuses every cell in our bodies, that animates all living beings, and that even fuels stars.34
Power Up Your Brain includes a chapter recommending various “Shamanic Exercises” that include an invocation to the “Great Serpent.”35 Dr. Hyman’s back cover endorsement of this book sits alongside New Age leaders Bernie Siegel and Greg Braden.
In his endorsement, Hyman betrays his belief in shamanism and the inextricable New Age link between physical and spiritual health. He writes:
The shaman and physician for millennia were the same person until the 19th century when they were split apart in the name of science. Now through the lens of 21st-century science, Villoldo and Perlmutter bring them back together, illuminating the web that links together our physical and metaphysical energy. For anyone feeling a loss of energy of body or soul, Power Up Your Brain is your guide to restoration and rejuvenation of your deepest energies.
Also referring to “restoration” in The UltraMind Solution, Dr. Hyman lists three New Age centers in his “Resources” section. Under the heading of “Restorative and Educational Retreats,” he recommends the Omega Institute, the Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health, and the Shambhala Mountain Center.36 Ainslie MacLeod—the Dr. Oz endorsed psychic—is a “faculty member” at both the Kripalu Center and the Omega Institute.37 The Omega Institute offers a number of workshops led by key New Age leaders like Neale Donald Walsch, Marianne Williamson, Deepak Chopra, Eckhart Tolle, and Alberto Villoldo. Classes such as “Conversations with God,” “Contacting the Spirit World,” “How Shamans Dream the World into Being,” and “Bootcamp for Goddesses,” are readily available to those following Dr. Hyman’s advice.38 And at the Dr. Hyman endorsed Kripalu Center, New Age leader Deepak Chopra offers a workshop on his Dr. Oz endorsed book, Reinventing the Body, Resurrecting the Soul. In case people can’t make it to Saddleback Church, Dr. Daniel Amen also teaches a workshop at Kripalu.
Key Scriptures Regarding Rick Warren’s Daniel Plan
Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. —2 Corinthians 6:14
And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. —Ephesians 5:11
Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils. —1 Corinthians 10:21
Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way. —Romans 14:13
Shepherding the Church into a New Age/New Spirituality In the 1990’s, a well-known Christian leader rightly warned that alternative medicine and holistic health can provide an easy entryway for deceptive New Age teachings. He further warned that changing your diet can also end up changing your worldview. In other words, sometimes losing weight can also mean losing your soul. Speaking from his leadership role with the Christian Medical Association, Dr. David Stevens also urges great discretion regarding alternative health practitioners. He states: “Not only do we have to make a choice; we also have to evaluate the trustworthiness of each messenger and the validity of the message.”39
The Christian Handbook to Alternative Medicine also warns: “Consider carefully not only the therapy but also the character and worldview of those offering the treatment.”40 Thus, it is definitely “buyer beware” when it comes to mixedbag physicians like Oz, Amen, and Hyman. But that doesn’t seem to matter to Rick Warren as he openly aligns himself with these New Age doctors and promises to make their joint Daniel Plan a worldwide phenomenon. Instead of sounding a warning trumpet and protecting the church from three New Age physicians, Warren praises them and trumpets his ungodly alliance with them.
One can only wonder if the prophet Daniel’s vision of the end days included a look at Rick Warren’s Daniel Plan—a compromised pastor and three New Age doctors with their psychics, spirit guides, tantric sex, necromancy, Yoga, Reiki, Transcendental and Kundalini “sa ta na ma” meditations and more—all in Daniel’s name. If so, it is no wonder the Bible records that he “fainted” and became “sick” for a number of days (Daniel 8:27).
It doesn’t make any difference in God’s scheme of things if Rick Warren stands slim and trim in front of an adoring church audience after losing 90 pounds. What may be remembered is that in the midst of all the self-congratulatory statistics and frenzied media hoopla, a finger suddenly appeared on the wall behind Rick Warren and wrote the following:
Source
Appendix A: The Daniel Plan
1. Week 11: Re-Focusing The Daniel Plan (http://www.saddleback.
com/thedanielplan/?category=Week%2011).
2. The Daniel Plan: What Makes it Different? (http://www.saddleback.
com/thedanielplan/healthyhabits/whatsdifferent/).
3. Pastoral Response, Brandon Cox, Saddleback Church, (https://www.
saddleback.com/thedanielplan/toolsandresources/pastoralresponse/).
4. Michael Harner, Ph.D., The Way of the Shaman, (New York, NY:
HarperCollins Publishers, 1980, 1990), back cover.
5. Ibid., p. 25.
6. Ainslie MacLeod, The Instruction: Living the Life Your Soul Intended
(Boulder, CO: Sounds True, Inc., 2007, 2009), front cover.
7. Ainslie MacLeod, The Transformation: Healing Your Past Lives to Realize
Your Soul’s Potential (Boulder, CO: Sounds True, Inc., 2010), front cover.
8. Ibid., front flap.
9. Ibid., pp. 243-244.
10. Ainslie MacLeod, The Instruction: , op. cit., p. 9, 12.
11. “Psychic Mediums: Are they the New Therapists?,” The Dr. Oz
Show, aired 3/15/11, (http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/are-psychicsnew-
therapists-pt-1).
12. “‘Try Reiki,’ Dr. Oz Tells Millions on TV,” 1/9/10, The Reiki
Digest, (http://reikidigest.blogspot.com/2010/01/try-reiki-dr-oz-tellsmillions-
on-tv.html).
13. “Dr. Mehmet Oz Declares Reiki as his #1 Alternative Medicine
Secret,” 1/9/2010, Bio-Medicine, (http://www.bio-medicine.org/
medicine-news-1/Dr–Mehmet-Oz-Declares-Reiki-as-His–231-Alternative-
Medicine-Secret–64270-1/).
14. “Meditation Techniques Demonstrated by Deepak Chopra,” The
Dr. Oz Show, added to videos on 2/25/10, (http://www.doctoroz.com/
videos/deepak-chopra-meditation).
15. Deepak Chopra, Reinventing the Body, Resurrecting the Soul: How
to Create a New You, (New York, NY: Three Rivers Press, a division of
Random House, Inc., 2009).
16. AARP The Magazine, May/June 2010 issue, p. 82.
17. Ibid.
18. Lisa Oz, US: Transforming Ourselves and the Relationships That Matter
Most (New York, NY: Free Press, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.,
2010), p. 179.
19. “‘Try Reiki,’ Dr. Oz Tells Millions on TV,” 1/9/10, The Reiki
Digest, op. cit.
20. Lisa Oz, US, op. cit., p. x.
21. Ainslie MacLeod, The Instruction, op. cit., p. 17.
22. Daniel G. Amen, M.D., Change Your Brain, Change Your Life (New
York, NY: Times Books, a division of Random House, Inc., 1998), p. 302.
23. Daniel G. Amen, M.D., Change Your Brain, Change Your Body
(New York, NY: Three Rivers Press, a division of Random House, Inc.,
2010), p. 223.
24. Daniel G. Amen, M.D., The Brain in Love (New York, NY: Three
Rivers Press, a division of Random House, Inc., 2007), p. 144.
25. Ibid., p. 145.
26. Ibid., p. 148.
27. Lucinda Bassett, The Solution: Conquer Your Fear, Control Your Future
(New York: NY: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc., 2011), p. 146.
28. Mark Hyman M.D., The UltraMind Solution (New York, NY:
Scribner, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc., 2009), p. 402. (Belleruth
Naparstek’s website recommended by Dr. Hyman: http://www.
healthjourneys.com/).
29. Our Practitioner Bios, Health Journeys, (http://www.
healthjourneys.com/practitioner_bios.asp).
30. Mark Hyman, The UltraMind Solution, op. cit., p. 384.
31. David Perlmutter, M.D., F.A.C.N., Alberto Villoldo, Ph.D., Power
Up Your Brain: The Neuroscience of Enlightenment (New York, NY: Hay
House, Inc., 2011), p. xiv.
32. Ibid., p. xviii.
33. The Prophets Conference (http://www.greatmystery.org/).
34. David Perlmutter, Alberto Villoldo, Power Up Your Brain, op. cit.,
p. xxi.
35. Ibid., p. 154.
36. Mark Hyman, The UltraMind Solution, op. cit., p. 403.
37. Ainslie MacLeod, The Transformation, op. cit., About the Author,
p. 327.
38. Omega Institute, (http://www.eomega.org/).
39. Donal O’Mathuna, Ph.D. and Walt Larimore, M.D., Alternative
Medicine: The Christian Handbook (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2001,
2007), p. 9.
40. Ibid., p. 123.
Note: Thanks to Jennifer Pekich, Ray Youngen, and Lighthouse Trails
for initially breaking this “Daniel Plan” story.
July 14, 2011
The Danger of Erroneous Teachings and False Prophesies!
How truly sad the story below is. A brother who is physically there had this to say - "the police and military police slaughtered many of them at gunpoint beheading two pastors. Others were arrested. I am told by Hmong pastors that so many were shot dead that they were buried in mass graves."
My goodness, how heartbreaking, those of us here in the West can barely imagine such an atrocity! I think it's important to bear in mind that these believers were not simply being "undiscerning" when they listened to and followed this foolish man, since they had no Bibles to determine the difference between true and false teaching. In my view this makes the situation all the more horrific.
That said, although this is certainly an extreme example of what can happen because of false prophecies and teachings, I think it speaks volumes as to WHY we must earnestly contend for the faith and the truth of God's Word. We must stand strong in a day when so few are standing without compromise for the true gospel. Due only to a desire and hope for a better existence, these poor believers were insidiously snared by the LIE of the enemy and in consequence lost their physical lives. However, those in countries who don't have to face such physical threats, (YET) , are in danger of losing something much more valuable if they choose to believe and follow LIES...their eternal souls!
In light of this awful situation we must all realize how extremely important it is that we STAND UP, STAND-FAST, and BOLDLY SPEAK the TRUTH of God's Word in love. In the day that we live there are so many that need to HEAR the uncompromised, unadulterated true Word of God. Clearly, this is surely not a time to be timid or complacent...God is counting on us to be true and brave soldiers of the cross. He is counting on us to shine His light and truth in these last days that are getting increasingly darker and more wicked by the moment!
"Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord." (1Cor. 15:58)
Please remember our persecuted Hmong brothers and sisters that are left in the wake of this tragedy in prayer. May the Lord be with them in a special way, helping and comforting them through this most difficult time of suffering and despair.
Come soon Lord Jesus!!!
Harold Camping and the Christian Hmong of Vietnam
We are not supposed to be here today. At least that is what Harold Camping, an 89-year old radio preacher, had told the world. Camping had predicted the end of the world would commence on Saturday, May 21, 2011 with the return of Christ to earth and the rapture of Christians to heaven. He had originally predicted the apocalypse to take place in 1994, but when that day came and went, Camping claimed he had miscalculated and readjusted his prediction to 2011. But Saturday came and went, and no Christians were reported missing.
To most, Christians and non-Christians alike, the entire situation turned out to be nothing more than a passing comment, snide remark, or simple joke. To the majority of Camping’s followers, it was a disappointing and devastating let-down – especially to those who had given away their life savings, had said their final goodbyes, and who expectedly awaited a life free of worries and hurt. But even for them, life goes on.
That is how Camping will likely be remembered – as a cult leader with two failed and false prophesies. A man who led thousands astray. But most of the world will not remember him as a man who contributed to the deaths of Vietnamese Hmong.
Peaceful Gathering of 10,000 Hmong Incites Attacks from Police
For the past month, reports have been pouring out of Vietnam that an unknown number of Hmong Christians have been killed, attacked, or arrested by military forces. The Vietnamese government has closed off outside access to the Muong Nhe District in Dien Bien, where an estimated 10,000 Hmong Christians from the Central Highlands and Dien Bien have been congregating since late April. Insiders who are able to leak information past government forces and media controls have reported that as many as 70 Hmong have been killed so far, though exact numbers cannot be confirmed. These Hmong have also been brutally attacked and arrested by the Vietnamese government, while most are fleeing into hiding to spare their lives. Meanwhile the outside world is unable to send in help.
But why did this even take place? What led 10,000 Hmong Christians to come together in peace yet face such a brutal and violent end? Answer: Harold Camping. Worldwide media have reported on the gathering of Hmong in this region, and ICC sources have confirmed the underlying premise of these gatherings to be primarily due to Mr. Camping’s influence.
Mr. Camping’s prophesies had reached as far as the small and poor mountain villages of the Hmong in Vietnam, and his false teachings had sparked a flame of hope of a better life free of persecution for their faith and poverty for their ethnicity. The Hmong are one of the poorest and most persecuted people groups within Vietnam. The government does not even allow them to have a Bible translated into their native tongue, as most Hmong do not read Vietnamese – thus leaving them in the dark on matters of faith and susceptible to false teachers and doctrine.
They congregated because they believed that the world was coming to an end and that their long-awaited Messiah was coming for them. As they waited, the Vietnamese government grew anxious of such a large congregation of citizens coming together – citizens who they systematically deny their inherent human rights to religious freedom, and to economic and social equality. Murmurs of protests and the birthing of a political separatist movement within the congregated Hmong led the government to quickly take violent action on May 5.
Today, thousands of people are displaced and fearing for their lives, and numerous men, women, and children have been murdered.
We cannot allow the persecution of Hmong Christians to go on. The Vietnamese government must recognize the growing spread of Christianity among the Hmong, allow the printing of the Hmong Bible and other Christian education materials, and allow Christian denominations to provide sound theological education and leadership training to Hmong communities. The world cannot sit idly by as such persecution takes place. Sadly enough, Harold Camping will likely not be the last false prophet to lead astray those who will desperately cling to any small promise of hope because of the horrific reality they face each day in the here and now.
Article Source
My goodness, how heartbreaking, those of us here in the West can barely imagine such an atrocity! I think it's important to bear in mind that these believers were not simply being "undiscerning" when they listened to and followed this foolish man, since they had no Bibles to determine the difference between true and false teaching. In my view this makes the situation all the more horrific.
That said, although this is certainly an extreme example of what can happen because of false prophecies and teachings, I think it speaks volumes as to WHY we must earnestly contend for the faith and the truth of God's Word. We must stand strong in a day when so few are standing without compromise for the true gospel. Due only to a desire and hope for a better existence, these poor believers were insidiously snared by the LIE of the enemy and in consequence lost their physical lives. However, those in countries who don't have to face such physical threats, (YET) , are in danger of losing something much more valuable if they choose to believe and follow LIES...their eternal souls!
In light of this awful situation we must all realize how extremely important it is that we STAND UP, STAND-FAST, and BOLDLY SPEAK the TRUTH of God's Word in love. In the day that we live there are so many that need to HEAR the uncompromised, unadulterated true Word of God. Clearly, this is surely not a time to be timid or complacent...God is counting on us to be true and brave soldiers of the cross. He is counting on us to shine His light and truth in these last days that are getting increasingly darker and more wicked by the moment!
"Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord." (1Cor. 15:58)
Please remember our persecuted Hmong brothers and sisters that are left in the wake of this tragedy in prayer. May the Lord be with them in a special way, helping and comforting them through this most difficult time of suffering and despair.
Come soon Lord Jesus!!!
Harold Camping and the Christian Hmong of Vietnam
We are not supposed to be here today. At least that is what Harold Camping, an 89-year old radio preacher, had told the world. Camping had predicted the end of the world would commence on Saturday, May 21, 2011 with the return of Christ to earth and the rapture of Christians to heaven. He had originally predicted the apocalypse to take place in 1994, but when that day came and went, Camping claimed he had miscalculated and readjusted his prediction to 2011. But Saturday came and went, and no Christians were reported missing.
To most, Christians and non-Christians alike, the entire situation turned out to be nothing more than a passing comment, snide remark, or simple joke. To the majority of Camping’s followers, it was a disappointing and devastating let-down – especially to those who had given away their life savings, had said their final goodbyes, and who expectedly awaited a life free of worries and hurt. But even for them, life goes on.
That is how Camping will likely be remembered – as a cult leader with two failed and false prophesies. A man who led thousands astray. But most of the world will not remember him as a man who contributed to the deaths of Vietnamese Hmong.
Peaceful Gathering of 10,000 Hmong Incites Attacks from Police
For the past month, reports have been pouring out of Vietnam that an unknown number of Hmong Christians have been killed, attacked, or arrested by military forces. The Vietnamese government has closed off outside access to the Muong Nhe District in Dien Bien, where an estimated 10,000 Hmong Christians from the Central Highlands and Dien Bien have been congregating since late April. Insiders who are able to leak information past government forces and media controls have reported that as many as 70 Hmong have been killed so far, though exact numbers cannot be confirmed. These Hmong have also been brutally attacked and arrested by the Vietnamese government, while most are fleeing into hiding to spare their lives. Meanwhile the outside world is unable to send in help.
But why did this even take place? What led 10,000 Hmong Christians to come together in peace yet face such a brutal and violent end? Answer: Harold Camping. Worldwide media have reported on the gathering of Hmong in this region, and ICC sources have confirmed the underlying premise of these gatherings to be primarily due to Mr. Camping’s influence.
Mr. Camping’s prophesies had reached as far as the small and poor mountain villages of the Hmong in Vietnam, and his false teachings had sparked a flame of hope of a better life free of persecution for their faith and poverty for their ethnicity. The Hmong are one of the poorest and most persecuted people groups within Vietnam. The government does not even allow them to have a Bible translated into their native tongue, as most Hmong do not read Vietnamese – thus leaving them in the dark on matters of faith and susceptible to false teachers and doctrine.
They congregated because they believed that the world was coming to an end and that their long-awaited Messiah was coming for them. As they waited, the Vietnamese government grew anxious of such a large congregation of citizens coming together – citizens who they systematically deny their inherent human rights to religious freedom, and to economic and social equality. Murmurs of protests and the birthing of a political separatist movement within the congregated Hmong led the government to quickly take violent action on May 5.
Today, thousands of people are displaced and fearing for their lives, and numerous men, women, and children have been murdered.
We cannot allow the persecution of Hmong Christians to go on. The Vietnamese government must recognize the growing spread of Christianity among the Hmong, allow the printing of the Hmong Bible and other Christian education materials, and allow Christian denominations to provide sound theological education and leadership training to Hmong communities. The world cannot sit idly by as such persecution takes place. Sadly enough, Harold Camping will likely not be the last false prophet to lead astray those who will desperately cling to any small promise of hope because of the horrific reality they face each day in the here and now.
Article Source
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