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By Marsha West
(Marsha West – Christian Research Network) Sadly, “Christian” book sellers line their shelves with books that are clearly unbiblical. Books that put a positive spin on New Age spirituality, Eastern mysticism, LGBTQ+ issues and so forth are available through online Christian outlets as well as their brick and mortar stores. I think it’s safe to say that pseudo-Christian publishing houses has to be one of if not the largest suppliers of outright heresy that exists today. Oddly, these organizations and the outlets that distribute for them are responsible (or should I say irresponsible) for much of the apostasy we’re witnessing in the visible Church. This is principally because these money-making enterprises offer false teachers a platform for spreading really really bad theology. As an example, folks shopping for something as important as a Bible will find one in every color, shape and size. That in and of itself is fine. But they’ll also find Bibles offering translations that supposedly are “accurate” “up-to- date” and “easy to read.” I say supposedly because many Bible translations are highly unorthodox and unfit for Christian consumption. Tragically, it’s the unorthodox Bibles and other reading material that lead undiscerning souls into false teaching.
Visit just about any Christian bookstore (CB) and you’ll see display cases and shelves stocked with spiritual merchandise, to include jewelry, figurines, framed pictures, greeting cards, calendars, posters, music – you name it, CB’s carry it. I am sure they would argue that Christians who visit their establishment want these types of items and selling them helps them remain in business. That might be true, but this excuse wears thin when one examines the books on their shelves. In some stores advertised as Christian, a large number of books do not hold to the fundamentals of the faith. What people need to come to grips with is that even Christian publishing houses turn out books chock-full of heresy. If this were not true, then books that teach Word of Faith theology, more commonly known as the prosperity gospel (positive confession, health & wealth, name-it-and-claim-it) would never have seen the light of day much less flooded the market as they have. Over the years discerning Christian’s concerns about what’s being marketed have met deaf ears. Publishers, store owners and even books sold inside churches have made big bucks off books that were inspired by the devil himself.
The Message Bible
Eugene Peterson’s The Message: The New Testament in Contemporary English sold 100,000 copies in the first four months after its release. The so-called Bible was printed by Christian publishing house NavPress. In Peterson’s introduction to The Message, he writes “This version of the New Testament in a contemporary idiom keeps the language of the Message fresh and understandable in the same language in which we do our shopping, talk with our friends, worry about world affairs, and teach our children their table manners….”
According to Ken Silva of Apprising Ministries:
Eugene Peterson is a devotee of the corrupt Contemplative Spirituality/Mysticism spewed by Living Spiritual Teacher and Quaker mystic, Richard Foster, and his spiritual twin SBC minister, Dallas Willard, and their spurious Spiritual Formation.
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I grew up attending a protestant covenant church and accepted the Lord as my Savior as a young girl. I had a strong biblical background. I began to backslide as a teenager and so I wandered for over 30 years. One day I came back to the Lord by His drawing. I was so convicted of my sin that I wept in repentance. I became hungry for the Word of God. I joined BSF Bible Study when invited to attend. I hungered and thirsted for righteousness. Something I did not experience as a young believer.
I was immersed in the Word and loving every minute of it. But something started happening the year 2000. I began to receive open visions. I saw the Lord’s pierced hands. Gigantic numbers once appeared in the sky as I was driving. Once I felt my body shake hard and I saw the letters EArThQuaKe jumbled in my mind’s eye.
Then I began to get messages. Oh how I thought the Lord was using me. I told my mother who thought I was being extremely blessed. I began to take the advice from the voice that I was hearing. I told only a few people but one was impressed with how close I was to God and asked if I had a “Word” for him. Not being familiar with Pentecostal theology I had not heard of this. So I asked God for a “Word” for this person. Indeed, I was given specific information regarding this person and shared it with him. It was an extremely joyful experience. However it only deepened my delusion.
The messages I received were varied. Some sounded like scripture. Some were odd dreams. I dreamed about evil hanging over the city of Kansas City and the IHOP. (That one was true). Satan mixes truth and lies. I had strange manifestations at night. I would hear sounds like zippers, a soft puppy bark, or zinging noises. One time in the middle of the night I heard a mystical and hauntingly beautiful chanting.
I once had two open visions of water flowing down the hallway in my home. A week later a water hose slipped from the connection and flooded the house. The demonic world can see circumstances around you and make you think you are prophetic. This list of experiences could go on and on.
Since I was a Christian and was “hearing” a voice, I thought surely I was hearing from God. I did not even question my experience. Satan is a tricky and deceptive being. He will use the best devices at his disposal to pull you away from God.
One message I received was an upcoming judgment of a city with a time frame of two weeks. It was specific. Kansas City. Tornado. Two weeks. Alarmed I started to look for others who were receiving similar information.
Oh my! What I found was a whole world of prophetic people. I came across something called the The Elijah List. I poured over their predictions and visions. I was hearing some of the same things others were. I read them all. I did notice that some of the older posts had predicted future events that did not happen. One was a tsunami for the West Coast reaching up into the Willamette valley. That date had passed. I wondered about that.
But something happened…or didn’t happen I should say. The prediction I was given didn’t come true. It was a failed prophecy. I also read that these predictions are not always right that the prophet can be off, but still be a prophet. This is a standard teaching in the hyper-charismatic world. Someone said to me that perhaps my prayers had diverted the disaster. I wasn’t buying it. Something was wrong. I started praying for the truth…constantly.
Research took up most of time at this point. I was learning about all of the false doctrine entering the church. I was shocked. Contemplative prayer, LatterRain, yoga in the church, prosperity teachings, and the prophetic ministries. Mind boggling. While I was trying to find out why I was receiving these false messages, I was learning discernment. I also learned that I already had discernment because of the doubts in my mind. Some of the discernment sites I found were of immense help. Let Us Reason, Discernment in the Church, Herescope. These are still on my blogroll today. I read my first book on discernment, “The Seduction of Christianity” by Dave Hunt.
One day I opened my Bible to Deuteronomy 18. I read in verse 22 where it says, “if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken…” This sent me to the floor. I was devastated. What I had heard was NOT from God. I knew then that I had been listening to the enemy. It is hard to describe the deflation of pride that happens when the Lord reveals HIS truth. He opened my eyes and the scales started to fall off.
I asked the Lord to take away any gifts that I had that were not from Him. Truly I did not want anything that was not of God. The messages and the visions stopped.
Three to fours years before this started, menopause had hit me and my doctor prescribed Celexa, an anti-depressant because I had become rather weepy. I didn’t think much of it… because it seemed to help. Then I started having colon problems. Another doctor prescribed a pill that seemed to take the pain away. This worked too.
I didn’t know it at the time but the second pill was also an anti-depressant. I was on two powerful psychotropic drugs and I was seeing things and hearing voices. These drugs pierce a protective veil in the mind and are mind-altering. I had opened up my mind with drugs. Another factor is that these drugs affect the pituitary gland. This can also open up a person spiritually and this is dangerous. I didn’t know it at the time, and I surely did not want this to happen…But it did.
We hear about young people on anti-depressant drugs and the demonic voices tell them to sin or to harm themselves or others. That method wouldn’t be effective on me or many other Christians, so the voices instead pretend to be God or the Holy Spirit. Satan masquerades as an angel of light. 2 Corinthians 11:14
I want to add that while the drugs were the catalyst for my deception the same problems can happen by being open to false teachings, eastern-style meditation, and receiving impartations from occultism.
A friend alerted and informed me of the influences I was under with the drugs. I had an answer. I went on a tapering program to get off the drugs and now I am totally free of them.
But here is the deal. I was joyful at the thought that I was being used by God. I felt “special”. What rises in a person is thinking that you have special spiritual information not available to others. This is a form of Gnosticism. Special knowledge. Now I can see that this caused spiritual pride. What a lesson. I had only discussed my situation with a handful of people but I had to confess to those I given a “word” to.
I was yet to receive another blow to my pride. One night I opened to 1 Samuel and read 15:23. “Rebellion is like the sin of divination.” I had been in rebellion to God by loving the false messages. It was sin. Later the Lord instructed me on the next step of my undeceiving.
Because I had been reading my Bible every day for six years, I was able to find the truth. Prayer was a staple I needed to get through this situation. But I can see how beguiling the prophetic movement is and how much it actually harmed me and others spiritually. What if I had decided to try to post my “revelations“, lies from Satan, on one of the prophetic sites? I would have mislead many people.
Unfortunately, my problems did not totally stop at this point. While the messages and visions stopped I still was suffering from some manifestations. Once while commenting on this blog with a student of “A Course of Miracles” this young person said he was going to send me a benevolent spirit that night. A spirit did show up that night but it was anything but friendly. A cold bony hand gripped the back of my neck. I slipped to the floor and prayed it away in the name of Jesus.
It was an interesting experience. The deceived student thought the spirit he was communing with was good but as a born again believer it appeared to me in its true form as an evil spirit. But again I began to wonder, why I was able to discern the spirit world? Is this also a form of divination? Deuteronomy 18 also lists mediums or spiritists under detestable practices. Would spirit contact in the manner I experienced be considered detestable? I decided yes. So I was still under the influence of some open door that I needed to close. But how? I didn’t know yet.
I had a written personal journal of “messages”, or “visions” that I had received over those three years. I was then led to Acts 19:19 which said that the people burned their magic books. This would be my next step. The very next morning I took my journal and burned it on the back porch on a pizza pan. That night I saw the angry red eyes of a demon. They turned away and left. Now I was also free from the manifestations that had lingered and I now knew who I had been communicating with. This demon could see I was still reading his messages to me.
This gave me much freedom from the confusion this situation had been causing. I need to warn the reader again…some of the personal visions I received, did actually happen, and I think this was to enforce the delusion. Satan can see our personal instances and the world we live in and can make us believe that we have received a personal revelation confirming circumstances surrounding us. However he cannot predict the future. Some of the messages I received sounded very scriptural, but this is how Satan deceives, by mixing truth and lies together. Satan twisted scripture when he tempted Jesus, but Jesus resisted by using the Word….”It is Written” he replied. We need to resist temptation also, and we can use the Word of God and prayer as our strength and power to defend ourselves.
It was not that long ago I prayed…”Lord, why did I have to go through this? Why me?”
I knew immediately…I had been tested. Who was I going to turn to? The Lord and His Word in the Bible, or Satan and his false words outside scripture? I think of Peter who Satan wanted to sift. Luke 22:31 Jesus would not allow Satan to destroy Peter but he did falter. Jesus prayed for Peter and Jesus knew he would return to Him.
“in the Christian life, we may falter, but we must never fail. If we have denied Jesus in some way, then we must return to Him immediately. And, having returned, we must turn our focus towards helping others” David Guzik
With all the false teachings that are abounding the one thing I fear most for the church at this time is the “anointing”. Those who desire this “impartation” must be prayed for. I have heard the stories of how these so-called prophetic powers can be passed onto someone by the laying on of hands. My situation was only one way that a person can open themselves to deception. But there are many ways. There is the impartation, false anointings, drugs, alcohol, eastern meditation, repetition of words, hypnosis, visualization (very occult) , and the seduction of today’s hypnotic music. It was not lost on me that the “prophetic” people were receiving the same type of messages I was without the aid of drugs. The church is being bombarded with all these deceptions and spiritual influences. Sadly the church is embracing many of these occult methods because these methods create an “experience” of feelings, like the “soaking” we hear so much about today. Instead of serving God in humililty we are being taught to soak in ecstasy.
Whenever I hear of the church participating in something that sounds like a “spiritual awakening,” I cringe. New age techniques almost always accompany these gatherings.
The church is being tested right now!….Are you being refined or are you being mislead? Can you spot deception and avoid it or are your participating in it? Are you reading and studying the Bible for truth from God or are you following the wicked paths of man?
The deceptions today will pull you AWAY from Jesus Christ if you know Him. If you do not know Jesus Christ as Lord then you will have much difficulty finding the truth. Those who have compromised themselves by a false spirit cannot pray or have difficulty reading the Bible. Christians following this false spirit or desiring its power, have lost all desire for these two mainstays of the faith. If this is the case then you need to repent and turn back to the Jesus of the Bible.
Truth found in the Word of God has to be paramount today. Accept nothing else.
Please show patience and mercy to those caught up in these deceptions. Pray for them. Some truly want to serve the Lord and walk with Him. But the evil one knows who to go after. Those who want the truth will eventually listen to it. It may be a process for them. Others are not sheep and need salvation first. Some who come out of deception seem to recover quite quickly. Others suffer for years learning or relearning Biblical truth. The Lord works in His ways to draw His sheep back to Him. Not one will be lost.
This article has been updated from a post from 2008.
Kim
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*Special note to those in Bethel/IHOP/SOZO type organizations.
Having been misguided by thinking that I had found some special knowledge I fell into deception easily. How foolish we can be thinking that we cannot be deceived. The Bible teaches that there will many false teachers in the end times. There were many at the times when the Bible was being written. Think of how many false teachers we have now.
If you are in an experience based religious organization, please test the spirits to see if they are from God. There is no new teaching under the sun. We cannot feel the Holy Spirit.
If you desire to walk in power, then you will want to be filled with Holy Spirit to demonstrate what a Christian looks like. One who hates their sin. One who has died to self and gives glory to God. One who seeks to find truth in the Written Word. One who prays not merely for what we can get but how we can show others we need a Savior from our sin. The Gospel is that Jesus died because we cannot save ourselves and we need a mediator who shed His blood. There is no forgiveness without the shedding of blood. Jesus took the wrath of the Father which is leveled at us. This is called propitiation. He drank from the cup of wrath so we will not have to experience God’s wrath. He rose from the dead to demonstrate His power and glory and to who He is. He is the only way to eternal life. We must place our faith in Him knowing that we may not receive our rewards in this lifetime. The heroes of the faith in Hebrews 11 demonstrate this.
Once we understand this basic tenet of the Christian faith and WALK, then we will be begin to live for Him. We slowly become sanctified as we grow in the Lord. He must increase and we must decrease.
Blessings to all who love the Lord and want to serve Him. Do it HIS way and not man’s.
By Amy Spreeman
My heart is heavy for Christians who have been so exposed to false doctrine that they are floundering. Many are women who are oh-so easily deceived by the incredible amount of fluff that passes for women’s ministry materials.
I recently received a letter from a woman whose seemingly solid pastor has a big heart and a large blind spot when it comes to naming names and helping his sheep discern. The fruit of these “spiritual cataracts” is a women’s ministry rife with yeast, and ladies who delight at being tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching that comes in pretty pink packages.
I know full well that women become very angry when you challenge their favorite teachers and conferences, and will accuse you of all sorts of vile motives. Those who believe the branding of these “real, raw, transparent sincere” celebrities don’t mind a little apostasy as long as it’s fun.
Sadly, our women are being led off by every conceivable feel-good movement out there; the newer the better. They don’t check the speakers to see if they’re solid, but they do check to see if these speakers can bring in the numbers. Thus, far too many women in our churches resemble the women described in 2 Timothy 3:1-7:
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From The Sword & Trowel 2007, issue 2 by Dr Peter Masters
Leaving the charismatic movement involves leaving friends, worship-style and entering an entirely new environment. Here is advice to spiritual shepherds about helping those who come to sound churches.
The title of this article is obviously not meant in a charismatic sense. We offer no advice on how to cast out demons, rather on how to help true believers who have been heavily influenced by charismatic ideas, and who have come to see them as wrong. They have come away from the world of tongues, visions, prophecies, ecstasies, dancing, falling down slain, and all associated activities, and have sought fellowship among ‘traditional’ Bible-believing Christians.
These friends often have many problems, and pastors and church officers must be ready to help. Some former charismatics have made the transition so well and so speedily that one can scarcely believe they once thought and acted very differently. We readily acknowledge that some need little or no help in adapting to conservative, biblical Christianity.
Many, however, find that their time in the charismatic movement has left them troubled, unsure, and perhaps even scarred spiritually. They have wrested themselves away from a host of emotional props, and severed connections with numerous dear friends, and this has cost them much pain.
Doctrine, worship, fellowship and service now take a vastly different form. Their new environment has a way of thinking and looking at matters utterly unlike that of charismatic circles. Furthermore, in the back of the mind lies the nagging fear that these ‘traditionalists’ are indeed the cold, lifeless formalists they have been long warned about – people who have never tasted the Spirit, and who wilfully oppose his liberating power.
Broadly speaking, there are three causes for people leaving the charismatic movement. The first one mentioned here is the best, and most often leads to them adjusting wholly to orthodox evangelical teaching. The last two give rise to the least stable ‘converts’.
A first cause of leaving occurs when people experience some serious disappointment or disillusionment with the charismatic movement, and begin to evaluate its claims more carefully. Perhaps a relative or close friend has died and they have seen at close quarters the false promises and the failure of -healing prophecies. It may be that they have seen through some of the dishonesty and pride which stalks the citadels of charismatic activity, and have recoiled with shock.
Objective Bible study then caused the entire edifice of charismatic practice to crumble and fall before them
Some years ago, for example, charismatics all over the world were shaken by the wild phenomena of the Toronto Blessing, and they turned to God’s Word in a new spirit of enquiry. Objective Bible study then caused the entire edifice of charismatic practice to crumble and fall before them.
A second cause of departure from charismatic activity is personal disaffection. While this may lead to people’s eyes being opened, it often does not. In charismatic house groups and cells an artificially high degree of emotional interdependence is fostered, and in such a climate offences can occur which drive people out. These may come over to the derided traditionalists almost as an act of protest. The real issue is one of personal disaffection, not doctrinal unease, and while these émigrés may criticise everything they have left, it may only be the outworking of hurt feelings.
Sometimes people leave because their ‘gifts’ have not been sufficiently recognised, or their own leadership hopes have been thwarted. Such leavers will probably return, if not to the same group, to another section of the charismatic camp. We may almost say that the more heated the invective, the sooner a person will go back. We certainly have an opportunity to help such disgruntled people see the real issues, and we pray that the Lord will open their eyes, but our efforts may well be in vain.
A third cause of departure which usually leads to people returning is that of a generally unstable temperament. This is not a comment on the mental stability of people, but on their inability to think clearly and to recognise foundational principles of biblical conduct.
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“Eat the meat and spit out the bones” is a common refrain in NAR. Typically, it means that if you hear a teacher give a questionable teaching — something that you don’t understand or that seems off somehow — ignore that particular teaching. But don’t stop listening to his other teachings.
Bill Johnson, one of the movement’s most influential “apostles,” delivered an entire sermon promoting this idea. It’s titled “Don’t Eat the Bones.” In context, Johnson is speaking about men, including the “prophet” William Branham and the “healing evangelist” Todd Bentley, who claimed to operate in miraculous power and led major revivals. Yet they fell into heresy or sinful lifestyles. Critics of NAR have argued that the heretical teachings and immoral lifestyles of these men — and of other influential NAR prophets, such as Bob Jones and Paul Cain — raise the question of whether these individuals actually may have been false prophets. Their unsavory behavior challenges the validity of the revivals led by them — or so the critics say.
But Johnson argues that it’s a mistake to write off these “prophets” and the “moves of God” they pioneered, or their other teachings, simply because of their failures. He prays that Christians will be able to discern how God sometimes works through “unusual tools,” including individuals with lifestyles of secret, hidden sin. He states:
You can’t tell me you’re hungry and have me give you a chicken and say, ‘I’m not gonna eat it because there’s bones in it.’ Learn to eat meat and throw out the bones. (00:30:25)
So what’s wrong with this popular refrain? I can think of at least two problems.
Finish article HERE from Spirit of Error
Here is a link to another article that I posted from Herescope on the same subject.
Years ago I was involved in a car accident that caused major medical problems for me. I suffered whiplash among back and neck injuries. My insurance allowed chiropractic which helped immensely. I have no qualms about basic chiropractic adjustments if it helps impinged nerves.
I was also allowed some massages as therapy to help my neck. During a couple of sessions I had been witnessing to the therapist about my faith. I enjoyed the sessions but then something happened.
The therapist told me that she was “going to try something new” on me. I was face down but sensed she was holding her hands over the back of my head. Suddenly she yelped and pulled back from me. She exclaimed that she had “just been shocked,” and that she “wouldn’t ever try that again.”
I was not sure what had happened. But noted on her wall that she was a Reiki master. I made it a point to learn what that was all about. It was disturbing to learn that Reiki is the manipulation of a spiritual force from above, entering into the top of the practitioner’s head, then to their hands and then to the patient.
That was the last time I went to that massage therapist and told the referring chiropractor that I had to cease this treatment because of what I believed was wrong with this. He told me other Christians had told him the same thing. He then referred me to a physical therapist to finish up treatment. When I told the physical therapist what had happened he laughed at me saying that it was just massage. I told him he should research it.
I believe on that day that the Lord spiritually protected me from the Reiki treatment. I also wonder if my witness for Jesus was the reason for such a supernatural display of His power.
Please read this article from CANA
REIKI: A DECEPTION MAINSTREAMED
By Marcia Montenegro
“More than 60 U.S. hospitals have adopted Reiki as part of patient services, according to a UCLA study, and Reiki education is offered at 800 hospitals. The Healing Touch Professional Association estimates that more than 30,000 nurses in U.S. hospitals use touch practices every year.” From Washington Post, May 16, 2014, at goo.gl/oyDm8S
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The quote above is from 2014, so now the numbers are much higher for hospitals that offer Reiki. Reiki was introduced to nursing in the 1980s and 90s and has made deep inroads since then in health care (along with other energy healing modalities).
What is Reiki?
Reiki is based on belief in a universal energy that one can channel healing energy to the patient through a specific process of training. The “ki” in “Reiki” stands for that energy (also spelled “chi” or “qi”).
Some definitions:
Quote==Reiki is a healing modality that is passed down from teacher to student through verbal and energetic lineage.==End quote
Quote==Reiki is a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation that also promotes healing. It is administered by “laying on hands” and is based on the idea that an unseen “life force energy” flows through us and is what causes us to be alive……The word Reiki is made of two Japanese words – Rei which means “God’s Wisdom or the Higher Power” and Ki which is “life force energy”. So Reiki is actually “spiritually guided life force energy.”==End quote
Quote==Reiki energy is a subtle energy. It is different than electricity or chemical energy or other kinds of physical energy. Reiki energy comes from the Higher Power, which exists on a higher dimension than the physical world we are familiar with. When viewed clairvoyantly, Reiki energy appears to come down from above and to enter the top of the practitioners head after which if flows through the body and out the hands….However, the true source of Reiki energy is within ourselves. This does not mean that we use our personal energy when we do Reiki, but that the energy is coming from a transcendental part of ourselves that is connected to an infinite supply of healing energy. ==End quote
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Where Does Reiki Come From?
Reiki’s recent origins are in the 19th century when Mikao Usui, a Buddhist monk and teacher in Kyoto, Japan, searched for an understanding of healing. Some accounts claim Usui was a Christian minister searching for how Jesus healed, but apparently this account was to make Reiki more palatable to Christians in the U.S. Accounts vary on the origins of Reiki. Usui read the Buddhist sutras (religious writings) in their original languages, and found material on healing and what seemed to him a way to activate its power. After a 21-day fast and retreat, “he welcomed the energy into himself,” the energy being what Usui thought was the healing power (J. Gordon Melton, New Age Encyclopedia [Detroit: Gale Research Inc., 1990], 382).
….In the 1930’s, a dying Japanese-American, Hawayo Takato, returned to Japan and encountered Reiki practitioners whom, it is claimed, were able to heal her. She became the first woman Reiki master and first American Reiki master, and it is she who initiated Reiki training in the United States by touring the country in the 1970’s (Ibid, 383). Barbara Weber Ray, in Atlanta, Georgia, became a teacher of the methods of initiating other Reiki masters in 1978; and Ray founded the American Reiki Association, later called The Radiance Technique Association International (Ibid). Reiki is also known as the Usui Shiko Ryoho System of Healing (Ibid, 382).==From Reiki article by Marcia Montenegro at goo.gl/FqnqLJ
***Comments***
Reiki is based on belief in chi (also spelled qi or ki – note the “ki” in “Reiki”), a supposed universal energy. Those learning Reiki go through an initiation and can progress through three levels, the top one being for a Reiki Master. It is believed that in order to learn Reiki, a Reiki teacher must “attune” the student so that the Reiki energy can be awakened in him or her. This is an occult initiation.
Although Usui claimed this energy was discovered in him after meditation, it is also likely that he cobbled together Reiki from many Eastern spiritual concepts and healing techniques already in existence. Nevertheless, its origins are occultic even if Usui made that story up because the concepts and methods are the same as occult healing worldwide. The terms may differ and some of the concepts may have variations, but in effect, they are all based on channeling, manipulating, or summoning spirits, unquantifiable energy, force or forces, guides, the dead, God (yes, trying to manage “energy” or power from the true God is wrong), or gods for the purposes of healing.
Reiki video that shows the healer using the “symbols” taught in traditional Reiki
goo.gl/YQsR2X
Another video demonstrating Reiki
goo.gl/4p38Si
***Comments***
In the first video, you can see how esoteric Reiki is. Practicing Reiki – and any energy healing – causes the person to gain spirit guides. In fact, many energy healers claim their guides help them in their healing. Barbara Brennan, found of Healing Touch, openly talks about her guide, Heyoan.
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Healing Touch, Therapeutic Touch, Reiki: What’s the Difference?
All 3 of these are forms of energy healing. They have different origins and the concepts of healing vary somewhat among them, but they are all occult energy healing modalities. So essentially, there are no differences in light of all being occultic and dangerous. See links to previous posts below on Healing Touch and Therapeutic Touch for more information.
Energy healing modalities differ in some terms and concepts, and may have variation in beliefs, but they are all based on channeling, manipulating, or summoning spirits, unquantifiable energy, power, force or forces, guides, the dead, God (yes, trying to manage “energy” or power from the true God is wrong), or gods for the purposes of healing.
All three have occult origins:
*Healing Touch was started by a woman with a spirit guide (and Healing Touch teachings urge healers to contact their guides)
*Therapeutic Touch was taught to a nurse by a psychic healer in the Theosophical Society
*Reiki in its present form originated from a Buddhist monk who supposedly meditated for 21 days and then “welcomed the energy” into himself. (This sounds more akin to Shinto than to Buddhism but in Japan, Shintoism and Buddhism are often blended).
As I’ve said many times, the concept of healing is a central and crucial component of the occult and the New Age. It is a big part of Spiritualism (contact with the dead) and healing played a key role in the development of New Thought. The adversary cleverly uses the idea of healing, which always seems so helpful and good, to deceive.
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Some Red Flag Words:
Ancient healing, ancient medicine
Biofield
Chi
Chinese medicine
Energy
Energy Healing
Universal energy
Healing touch
Integrative Medicine
Meridians
Meridian System
Natural healing
Preventative medicine
Reiki
Therapeutic Touch
Touch Therapy
Wellness
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More Information
Reiki: Healing with the Force by Marcia Montenegro
goo.gl/FqnqLJ
Other critiques
goo.gl/CUnMpd
Energy Healing Posts:
CANA post on Healing Touch
goo.gl/7fNKA9
CANA post on Therapeutic Touch
goo.gl/zuz4U9
MY BETHEL CHURCH EXPERIENCE ~
by Tony Baugh
Recently, I decided to pay a visit to Bill Johnson’s Bethel Church in Redding, California, ground zero of the New Apostolic Reformation (yes, I know, call me crazy).
Arriving up their very well manicured driveway, it was lined with flag poles and various global flags, along with one complete with the Yin-Yang waving high. It’s a church/Christian college, with lots of the typical, cute college girls and young guys mostly wearing beards, ball caps, or Bill Johnson-style eye glasses, many of which were very effeminate or clearly gay (not a judgement, but an observation). The whole place was crawling with a self-consciousness and sexual energy, and was complete with its own buff, tattooed guys working as security. The place is clearly raking in the big $.
I went into the their Coffee Shop, the girl at the counter was wearing a tank top which read, “As on Earth as it is in Heaven.” I asked her if they sold organic coffee (because I try to drink it when I can), she said no, but they have their own “Bethel Brand” and pointed to bags of coffee, that sure enough, were labeled as such. I bought a cup and noticed that directly across from the coffee bar, was loud music coming from a large hall called the “Sanctuary”, with signs saying, “No Visitors or Family Today. Students Only”. A name tag was required for entry. I peeped inside the door and a full on concert was going on with people dancing and swaying to a live worship band of whom some members were convulsing and flailing around ecstatically while the lyrics were displayed across a large screen. This was not a Sunday worship service, just another average weekday @ Bethel. (To be clear, I do not have an issue with worship music unless the emotional high of the music is being confused with a move of the Holy Spirit.)
I then wandered into their own Bethel bookstore, which was loaded with every apostate book imaginable, many of which were on Quantam Mysticism, with authors like John Crowder and Bill Johnson having their own sections,d loads Jesus Culture worship music CD’s for purchase. Only one small shelf contained bibles, no KJV’s. I asked the two women working at the counter if they carried any books by Warren B Smith (One of the great author/speakers of our day exposing end times deception and apostasy in the modern church and it’s embrace of mysticism). They said they’d never heard of him (of course).
As I sat outside drinking my coffee during class break, I suddenly observe a girl is giving another girl an impartation through the laying on of hands on her forehead, while she looks like she is receiving shock treatment, convulsing, right before my eyes. I kid you not. Pure Kundalini Serpent Spirit Impartations were being handed out as casually and as commonplace as hugs, handshakes or high-fives. I could not believe what I was seeing.
As I drove out, back through all the global flags, the last thing I saw was a student wearing a T-shirt that said “unify”. An ironic, final, punctuation mark for Ecumenical, Globlalist “COEXIST-ence” of the rapidly rising global kingdom of the Antichrist.
This was one weird, weird place. Much more so than I had imagined, absolutely infested with demonic presence and blasphemous perversions in the so-called name of Christ. I felt as if I just entered and exited an alternate reality.
Satan knows his time is short, and is pulling out all the stops in these closing moments. God is indeed sending strong delusion and the Great Apostasy is very much now upon us.
May God have mercy on these lost, misguided souls.
Leaving the NAR Church: Christopher’s story
posted by Amy Spreeman on May 5, 2017
“There is a deep sadness in me, a sorrow over wasted years and opportunities. I get angry with myself for having been deluded and so easily led into false doctrine and practice.”
Christopher got swept up in the “Third Wave,” another term for the New Apostolic Reformation. I love how he tells of his journey out! He has allowed me to include his story in this series about a movement called the New Apostolic Reformation, or NAR for short. In this series, I want to take readers beyond the textbook What is the New Apostolic Reformation Movement explanation, into the personal experiences from those who have been there, and what happened when God opened their eyes to the truth.
Here is Christopher’s story in his own words:
You would probably be surprised that I have a degree in Microbiology and that I practice dentistry and consider myself a scientific person. And that I have had a number of wonderful Bible preaching pastors over the years, men committed to the gospel and the inerrancy of the scriptures. And that I was even trained in and practiced inductive Bible Study, accompanies with a reference texts such as Vines and Strong’s. Boy, did I let my guard down and embrace false illumination! And I thought God was in the middle of the craziness. I thought God was doing something wonderful. I even wrote defenses for all of it, to counteract the “haters” and “heresy hunters.”
Four months ago I renounced my twenty years of involvement with the Third Wave charismatic thing as well as a more recent connection with the “New Apostolic Reformation”. I immediately experienced a relief, a lifting of a burden.
I had begun to grow tired of the promises of coming breakthroughs. I had spent my share on books, tapes, and conferences, all promising to prepare me for what was coming next. I went through Inner Healing and SOZO only to become worried that my great grandparents might have done something which I would never be able to discover which might have opened a doorway for spiritual oppression in my life.
I had been Slain in the Spirit many times, and had received my share of “visions”, but the quest became about more and more of it. It was about finding and riding the next wave of the Spirit, always. And it became about speaking things into existence. Doing greater works than Jesus. Doing spiritual warfare. And marching around the church building speaking in tongues, waving flags, blowing shofars, and ignoring the incredulous looks of onlookers.
Two things happened that probably pushed me over the edge.
Finish article HERE
The Progressive Disease of Spiritual Deception in Our Time
GREGORY REID·FRIDAY, MARCH 10, 2017
There was a time when ideas like yoga or eastern meditation in the church were only associated with Christ Science churches, Universalist Churches, and a few spurious non-biblical fringe places. In a few scant decades, the walls have been so completely torn down that we not only see no harm in these things, we promote them. This is exactly what Theosophist (Luciferian) leader Alice Bailey predicted would be part of the new age infiltration into the church: ““The three main channels through which the preparation for the new age is going on might be regarded as the Church (emphasis mine) the Masonic Fraternity and the educational field.” (The Externalization of the Hierarchy, Page 511.)
So, in fact, this has been underway for some time. It probably began to get a real foothold in our present time with Norman Vincent Peale’s “Power of Positive Thinking” theology, quickly adapted by Rev. Robert Schuller who was really the first modern “megachurch” and “Seeker Friendly” church pastor. Their ideas were once considered a bit of an aberration from mainstream Christian doctrine. But here we are decades later, and seeker friendly and power of positive thinking is normal and unchallenged. The crack into Bible-based evangelical churches had begun to open just a little…
Fast forward: In the last three decades we have opened our doors to things like the laughter movement, barking like dogs and oinking like pigs and calling it the “anoinking of the Spirit,” and worse. A number of leaders challenged these things, but its promoters did not repent of it.
A few years later, spiritual formation, “be still” meditation, breathing techniques, “Christian” yoga, “the sacred feminine,” labyrinths, circle making – all an extension of exotic religions, eastern mysticism, and Buddhist/Hindu tools to reach “the divine within” – all began to creep into church media, books, music and movies. Even Father Thomas Merton came to be revered by many evangelicals – a man who said at the end of his life that he wished to ““to become as good a Buddhist as I can,” as well as Henri Nouwen, who influenced millions of evangelicals but at the end of his life denied that Jesus was the only way to the Father.
The door opened a little wider…where were the watchmen? Where were the Shepherds? One at a time, I began to see even pastors welcome these things. And as these things crept in, the Word of God began to become an addendum to our lives, a devotional nicety but not central in our walk with Jesus, and no longer our final determination of truth.
Slowly, the poison seeped into our ranks…one book, one DVD, one movie at a time. Everyone ignored the subtle twisting of the Word of God in Rob Bell’s “Velvet Elvis,” hailing it as “groundbreaking.” And indeed, it was, but not in a good way. His next book, “The Sex God” raised a few eyebrows, but youth pastors everywhere still adored him and emulated him and bought glasses and cool clothes just to look just like him in an attempt to “relate to youth.” Millennial youth pastors began diluting the Word of God and preparing little mini-messages to justify their increasingly party-like youth group atmosphere which was strong on entertainment and weak on the Word of God.
Then Rob Bell wrote “Love Wins,” denying hell and proclaiming universalism – the idea that everyone gets saved. And now, he is speaking at conferences alongside New Age guru Deepak Chopra at conferences titled things like, “The Seduction of Spirit.” [1]
When he was exposed as being truly a non-evangelical false teacher, I heard nothing but crickets from all those who formerly sang his praises. But by then, everyone was off chasing the next big thing anyway, the next bestseller, the next circle-making, ear-tickling, scripture-diluting thing. We had begun forming a pattern of going after the latest “it,” or hot speaker, or bestselling book, and then when it turned out the thing or person was fraudulent, in error or full of deception, almost no one took responsibility for originally supporting or promoting them – least of all the Christian media and those who peddled their products – even when these false teachers were fully exposed. Very few took responsibility for an evangelist’s crazy, ungodly antics in Florida that hundreds of thousands of believers flocked to see, while behind the scenes he was conducting an affair that shredded his wife and kids. (For the record, I deeply believe in restoring fallen servants of the Lord.) They gave him a short time-out (“restoration process”) and bam! He was back on the circuit – new wife, new life. And few took responsibility for calling him – no, for laying hands on and anointing him – as the “world apostle” in front of an international audience.[2]
Very few called a well-known “prophet” to account for his 1998 prophecy that Obama would be a mighty man of God – a Christian – who would set everything right. They just said, “Oh well, nobody’s perfect” and kept supporting and following his ministry anyway.
Rarely do people say, “we were wrong.” Rarely do leaders say, “We were in error.” And because of that, unrepentant error in discernment has led to greater and greater error, because deception is a PROGRESSIVE DISEASE.
The more error we receive, the more the ability to discern goes numb and then dies in us. It applies to us as individuals. It applies to churches.
Nobody was alarmed that Roma Downey was still attending a new age college at the same time she was working on their television series “The Bible” or that she never renounced her new age beliefs, despite the fact that these concerns were brought to some of the highest levels of leadership in the church and corporate Christian world possible. They gave her a pass on those issues because, as I was told, the benefits of how it would reach people outweighed the theological problems. And nothing kept several bits of clear gnostic teaching from being inserted into their movies, including giving a prominent role to Mary Magdalene, whom new agers consider the “thirteenth apostle.” And to be honest, by the time these concerns were raised, even certain denominations had invested far too much money in promoting the movies to retract, recall product and repent at that point. In the end, I believe financial concerns were more important than truth.
By the time The Shack came around, we had already been prepped through years of “felt need” theology, experiential-based faith and cherry-picking scriptures we liked while ignoring the ones we didn’t.
As the internet grew, I began to understand the power of the appeal to our emotions. More than once, I had seen almost an entire five to ten-minute video on some issue and found myself in tears before I found out at the end that not only was it not a Christian video and did not have a Christian message, but it was produced by people and represented a view that was unbiblical, new age and worse. I got emotionally hooked before I learned the truth. Those without a biblical foundation of truth just get hooked.
People loved The Shack because it replaced the God of the Bible (which deep down they possibly didn’t feel comfortable with, because His ways are beyond our understanding and bad things happen, and it upsets our sunshine version of Christianity) and gave them a God who made them feel good, who took the God of the Bible and said, “That’s not really God, this is what God is like…” and gave them a diluted, false version of Father, Son, Holy Spirit, and a dose of Sophia, Greek goddess of wisdom.
I was sure that anyone with even a modicum of discernment would throw the book in the trash. I had underestimated how wide the door of deception had opened. I lost friends who were pastors who were furious at me for questioning the book. One pastor railed at me, “I haven’t had a relationship with God for years, but now I have my ‘Papa’ back! You can’t take that from me!”
Nothing jarred me more than seeing grown men of God just abandoning clear truth because something tugged their heart, justifying the scriptural butchering by saying, “It’s just fiction, it’s not the Bible!” I confronted someone on this the other night. “What about the satanic Necronomicon. Can I read it? It’s just fiction. Can I read pornography? It’s just fiction.” They thought that a bit extreme. Of course it was. My point was, where what was their criteria, where was their own event horizon they were not willing to cross because it was just too obviously wrong? How much scripture bending or ignoring would they accept and justify as ok because it was “just fiction” before they had enough and said no more? The demonic genius of The Shack is how cleverly it has clothed itself in a loose and nebulous garment of scriptures – just enough to justify the complete butchering of the true nature of God and morphing Him into a Trinitarian hybrid god that represents whatever will make you feel better about your horrible tragedies and “great sadness.” The fact is, though, God will not appear as whatever we want. One person said, “God appeared as a fiery bush, but I know he’s not a bush!” But He appeared in the bush. He wasn’t a bush. God will not appear as Shiva, Buddha, or Sarayu, because He is “I AM WHAT I AM.”
We can say God is like a rock, but we cannot say God is like Baal. It’s not about imagery, it is about the nature and character of God. And The Shack gives a false representation of both of those.
Look, I get it. I’ve suffered innumerable losses my entire life, and every one of us at some point cries out, “WHY, GOD?” And in those moments, people either reject Him as uncaring, or He brings us into His Kingdom, and we learn to trust Him in the midst of, sometimes in spite of tragedies that seem to have no reason. And we may find ourselves once again crying out in pain, “WHY, GOD?” And His response is, “You don’t need to know all the answers. Trust Me, trust My Word. Trust in My love.” It’s called FAITH. But The Shack is a shortcut to feeling better, a panacea, a spiritual drug that allows you to embrace a conception of God that may temporarily take away the pain but leaves you with an open door to deception because it is not the God of the Word. IT IS NOT THE REAL JESUS.
Is The Shack the God portrayed in scripture? Is God a woman? Is Jesus a clumsy Jewish kid with a hook nose? Is the Holy Spirit a Japanese girl named after a Hindu river? Is the judge of our lives Sophia? Is everyone saved? Is Jesus just the best way to the Father, as the book suggests, or is He what the Bible says – the only way?
“But they’re just parables! Stories! It’s not the Bible!” some argue. So is it acceptable to distort the truth in the guise of fiction just to make a point? How is that ever acceptable? Someone said, “CS Lewis did The Chronicles of Narnia, they were spiritual allegories! It wasn’t scripture!” True, that; but unlike The Shack, when Lewis did touch on the nature of God or Jesus, he kept it fairly consistently in line with scripture and the biblical character and nature of God. The Shack has a radically different version of God: One who does not judge, one who can change, one who suggests Jesus is simply a better way to God, not the only way. But feeling trumped truth, and the book has become a multimillion bestseller. To simplify the responses I have heard, “Don’t confuse me with biblical facts. It made me feel good!”
It did not bother leaders and publishers that Young’s second book, Eve – a “reimagining” of the Adam and Eve story – was laced with kabbalistic themes and occultic, gnostic fairy tales. “It’s just a story.” The door opened wider….
You see, Satan keeps pushing the goalpost deeper and deeper into the center of the church, and every time he sees no resistance, he is emboldened and takes it to “the next level.”
Now, the movie is out. The arguments as to why it’s such an amazing life-changing story despite the clear unscriptural aspects that were brought up when the book came out are the same. The difference seems to be that those who support it are much angrier at those of us who pose the crucial questions. “You’re so judgmental! Who do you think you are? You must be looking for a book deal or something. You’ll never lead anyone to Christ, and I doubt if you ever did before.” I’ve had it all thrown at me the last few weeks as I tried to reason it out with folks on Facebook. And I realize that the level of deception had gone so deep that not only were people willing to embrace a lie and ignore the error, but worse – they saw themselves as fully biblical believers who were completely loyal to the Word of God, while at the same time promoting a story by a man who claims that everyone is “in Christ” already. And you cannot reason with that level of delusion. It seems to bother devoted Shack followers not at all that the author is a universalist.
Universalism, the “all paths lead to God” religion, is exactly what is needed to turn the Christian church into part of the one-world antichrist mystery religion that Alice Bailey wrote about and all Luciferian world leaders are counting on.
We did not accept Rob Bell’s universalism. But now we are willing to ignore William Paul Young’s. That is the malignancy of deception unchecked.
This movie comes at a time when the next level of eastern meditation techniques under the guise of “mindfulness” are being pushed into the educational system,[3] and now are coming into the church. (Mindfulness is a Buddhist technique of detachment, leading to realizing the “divine within,” which eventually leads to Nirvana – nonexistence. There are several new “Christian” books promoting meditation and mindfulness practices with devotional books and coloring books, and a new book on spiritual formation and meditation called The Wired Soul: Finding Spiritual Balance in a Hyperconnected Age by Tricia McCary Rhodes which “reintroduces us to the classic disciplines of Scripture reading, meditation, prayer, and contemplation.” In other words, it’s just more repackaged eastern religious teaching and techniques for the church which will further it on the road to the new age goal of “east meets west,” where we all become one under a false one world religion and we all recognize the “Christ spirit” or godhood in each other (Namaste – the divine in me bows to the divine in you.)
Add to that, a new book is being used in Christian youth groups called, God in My Everything: How an Ancient Rhythm Helps Busy People Enjoy God by Ken Shigematsu, who “draws on both eastern and western perspectives in writing and speaking.” Those are buzzwords for introducing a mixing of eastern religion thought processes with Christianity and bringing it into the church.
All of this is producing Christian minds that are malleable, soft, undiscerning, half-drugged, feeling good, and completely open to the power of suggestion from…whoever, and whatever. That is what eastern meditation techniques do. You empty your mind and accept that whatever comes must be good and right and from God.
The church has become an entity seeking to have their ears tickled. Seeking to feel better about their painful lives. Seeking to be successful, happy and prosperous. What is it you seek? Step right up folks…we’ve got it all now.
Everything except the whole truth of the Word of God, the way of the cross, the power of the blood to save and heal and forgive, the altar of God where we come to be broken and changed, healed and set free. Everything which made the Gospel powerful has and is being systematically removed by the enemy of our souls – not because it is not powerful, but because we no longer wish to bow to its demands, its holiness or its truth.
We are seeing the fruit of nearly thirty years of dumbing-down and de-prioritizing the Word of God, giving it a mini-place in our lives while shiny things and baubles and the newest “move” catch our attention and send us off on a fruitless quest for the next experience. The seed of the Word of God has corporately fallen on stony ground, without depth, where it grows up quick, shrivels and dies.
I know I am very passionate about this, reluctant to even use the word passionate, so overused it is. I have a right to be. I grew up in the occult, a world of delusions, lies, and darkness. Even when I tried to turn to new age thought to dispel the darkness, turning to Hinduism, Buddhism, and becoming an avid follower of Paramahansa Yogananda in my little bedroom devouring his every word as “truth,” I ended up deceived, wrecked and in utter darkness, even though some of it temporarily numbed my pain and made me “feel good.”
I understand many of these Christians who are so emotionally bound to The Shack that they have thrown caution to the wind and ignored the dangerous reality that it in fact promotes unbiblical lies and is being promoted by someone who has rejected Biblical truth about hell and salvation. I was one of those Christians after I was saved. I was totally brainwashed. I was a universalist. Then came this “mean man,” this “judgmental Christian” Bible study leader named Dave Malkin, who dared to get out the Word of God and without holding back challenged me about my beliefs. This “judgmental, mean man” saved my spiritual life. (I thank God for Dave, may his memory be blessed!) I needed a hard word to break through the lies.
In all my dealings with everything from Rob Bell to The Shack, I understand that simple logic and reason isn’t working with people who are emotionally invested in the teachers or the stories. People need a wake-up call, and that may not feel good or seem loving. But I cannot apologize for my approach because I see that in the end, The Shack is not just a book or a movie but a game-changer that is extinguishing some of the last lights of discernment out of the hearts of thousands of believers. I know how they feel. I have been there. And I thank God that someone cared enough to hurt me with the truth. When a house is burning down and people are asleep inside, one cannot afford to meekly whisper, hoping the people hear. You have to shout at the top of your lungs, “Get out, quickly!” In dealing with these new delusions, it may be necessary to jar people awake.
Jesus said in Matthew 24 that all of this would happen. Paul said, “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) The great falling away is at hand. But a remnant will remain faithful. I can only pray humbly not to be one who falls for the lies in a moment of vulnerability, or weakness, or pain or giving up, for we are all vulnerable. That is where I understand the motto of the French foreign legion that a friend shared with me. “If I falter, straighten me out. If I stumble, pick me up. If I retreat, shoot me.” Blunt, but as a spiritual warrior it resonates in my heart. None of us are exempt from having to diligently guard against the lies of this age, outside and inside the church.
I believe all these progressive deceptions over the last few decades have been just the build-up to the next great delusion, which could be the final one. God help us to turn away from the slow poisoning of the church through breath-prayers, eastern meditation, mindfulness, yoga, etc. God help us to surrender our soulish ways of perceiving God based on a book that was written by a wounded man, William Paul Young – unhealed from abuse and bitter church hurts – whom those seeking to make a profit have promoted regardless of his spiritual fragility and woundedness – who rejected the God of the Bible for a god who would somehow ease his pain – one that eases your pain as it kills your soul. The Shack is the spiritual Jack Kavorkian of our age.
Pray for William Paul Young, that God would pull him out of this most dangerous and deadly strange fire. Pray for the multitudes who are believing lies. And may God deal with those mercenaries and moneychangers who care more about what sells and profits them then about the care and protection of the flock of God.
Alice Bailey’s plans are about to come to full fruition. The greatest lie is just around the corner.
Stay strong, saints. “And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. (Luke 21:28) He is coming soon!
Gregory R Reid
[1] http://www.carlsbadlifestylepubs.com/…
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkr…
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