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Many churches are so lacking in the gospel that people are hungry for God.  This has created a vacuum that people are desperately trying to fill.  Unfortunately, there is someone who is more than happy to fill this void but it is NOT of God.

Churches that are lacking the true Gospel are becoming the norm instead of the exception. In the attempt to fill pews, pastors are allowing their sermons to become a source of inspiration instead of conviction.  Conviction or feeling guilt for sin is what causes a person to repent.  This is a necessary action on part of the Christian.  Repentance turns us back to God.  Jesus Christ’s blood shed for us atones and cleanses us.

This lack of Bible-based truths is not the only problem in the church. When people stray from the Bible and its guidance they open themselves up to deception.

The New Age….What is the New Age?  One could say in general that the New Age is a new way of looking at things. In reality it is a new spirituality woven with mysticism. Think back to the late 60’s. Remember the dawning of “The Age of Aquarius”? The Age of Aquarius is inviting us to enlightenment, an awakening  of peace, love, and unity with God and the universe. New Age “enlightenment” is infiltrating business, home, leisure activities and it is also infiltrating the church.  Your church, my church.  How can this be?  Well, this process was started many years ago and it crept in so slow that many have been caught unaware.  Very few churches today are totally dedicated to keeping untruths from filtering in.  It is sad to say that this is what the people want and the church leaders are complying.

Consider just a few of these activities that are now being practiced by Christians.

Yoga

Meditation

Contemplative Prayer/Centering Prayer

Channeling

Visualization

Reiki/Therapeutic Touch Massage

Goddess Worship

What do these practices have in common? Divination. Divination is the attempt of man to contact the spirit world. Well the Lord forbids it.  God’s people are not to use these condemned techniques to acquire knowledge or attain the “experiences” so many are seeking.  Current  terms for divination may be metaphysics or paranormal. Think of these terms used in the New Age lingo as meaning, beyond the seen world, beyond the 5 senses, or outside of explanation. 

Now let’s take a couple of these terms and make them sound biblical.  How about Centering Prayer or Christ Consciousness. Centering Prayer is actually meditation and Christ Consciousness is state of awareness one reaches while in meditation in which one becomes a “christ” or becomes divine.  Christians are being duped into indulging themselves in New Age/New Thought practices by redefined terminology to make it acceptable, but in truth, it is sorcery. 

Let’s look at Det 18:10-12

“Let no one be found….who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchdraft, or cast spells, or who is a medium or spiritualist or who consults the dead.  Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord…”  (NIV) 

The Bible could not be any more clear than this.  The above verse condemns witchcraft, sorcery, and spells.   This is turn condemns Harry Potter, The Chronices of Narnia, Star Wars, and the Ring Trilogy.

I used to believe that the deceivers saying “I am Christ” would only be cult leaders with a following but with the booming New Age practices being found IN the church as well as in secular life, i now believe that a new spirit is taking over the church and it is being promoted by church leaders.   This spirit is not the Holy Spirit but the spirit-world which has nothing to do with holiness.  These spirits are parading as Jesus and Christian’s believe that they are “seeing”, “feeling” and “experiencing” Christ.  This deception is truly overpowering to those who think they are communing with the Lord when in fact they are not.  Satan is a master deceiver at imitating Christ.

When this spirit takes over, it is not going to announce it to you.  It is going to seduce you, make you feel joy and union with the universe and/or God.  You may feel a power of being special, that you have been chosen and are spiritually superior to others.  “Anointed” is another term that is popular today to describe God’s chosen. 

Fallen angels, who so many years ago were thrown from the heavens for rebelling against God, roam the earth looking for a vulnerable empty vessel to enter. Please do not be that empty vessel by opening up yourself to the spirit world.

Meditation is the key that opens the door between the two worlds and an open door is an invitation to the occult spirits. Meditation is how one stills the mind and empties it of thought. This is commonly done through repetition of words and breathing techniques. Often those who use these techniques report seeing a bright white light.  Remember that the Bible teaches that Satan comes as a white light.

2 Cor 11:14 “And no marvel, for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light“. (KJV)

And as he masquerades he is saying:

Gen 3:5 “…then your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as Gods..” (KJV)

Isn’t this what the New Agers are promising? We shall discover the God within us, that we are as Gods, we are God?

This is the exact opposite of true Christianity, which is to give our lives totally over to Christ in obedience to his will.  He is our God, our Creator, and when we repent of our sin and call upon his name, He gives us the Holy Spirit. We are no longer in charge of our lives. Look at this next verse.

Mat 16:24 “… If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross, and follow me“. (KJV)

If we are our own God then how can we deny ourselves. WE CAN”T

There is only one way. That way is believing that Jesus Christ is the son of God, that he suffered and died for you and me on the cross, that he was resurrected, and now is at the right hand of God.

Hold the word of God next to your heart. Search the scriptures for truth.  The truth will not be found in the ways of man that are devised to achieve Godhood. The truth lies in your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and discovering Him, as your God, by the Word He has given to us in the Holy Bible.

If you are using any of the above methods please refrain and repent as these methods are detestable  to the Lord.

On the blogroll the best information comes from the Eastern Regional Watch website with a variety of New Age articles.

www.erwm.com

kim

Next – Crisis in the Church – Part 3

More about New Age Techniques