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Luke 18:8 haunts me.
“….However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
The Bible predicts that there will be an end time apostasy or falling away from the faith.
2 Thessalonians 2:3
Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away come first, and the man of sin is revealed , the son of perdition.
There is debate as to whether it refers to an apostasy among those who once followed God, or a general worldwide rebellion. But, Paul may have both in mind since there is evidence of each in the end times (1 Timothy 4:1-3, 2 Timothy 3:1-5 and 4:3-4).
Do we not see this falling away today?
Paul in Galatians was astounded at how fast the people who heard the Word were turning to a false gospel. Paul said that this false gospel is “no gospel at all”. If the gospel being preached today is not the gospel, then the sad truth is that people are not being saved.
The epistles are full of warnings to the church. In Timothy, Paul was warning this young preacher about false doctrine, myths, and controversies.
A most read verse in Timothy that is applicable today is 1 Timothy 4:1
The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.
Again we see that people are abandoning the faith, or truth. Peter also writes of false teachers.
2 Peter 2:2-3
But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Sovereign Lord, who bought them – bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their shameful ways and bring the way of truth into disrepute.
Did you notice the words in bold? This warning is for the church. The false teachers are in the church. They lead people away from the truth and it is happening today. Unbelievers have their own truth, rejecting the inconvenient truth found in scripture.
Many false leaders today downplay sin and hell. But in 1 John 1:8 we find the truth.
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
John also had to deal with gnosticism. This involved the Jewish mystics, or Kaballah. There is a resurgence of the Kaballah today. These centers are sadly found worldwide and in Hollywood. (Madonna) They believed they had advanced knowledge beyond the teaching of the apostles. The greek word for “knowledge” is gnosis. Many today advocate a secret or advanced knowledge, but it is either puffed-up worldly wisdom, or gained by mystical methods which the Bible calls detestable in Deuteronomy as divinations.
The warnings in scripture are clear and need to be prayed about. Please pray for the Holy Spirit to reveal the deeper things of God’s Word for the end-time deception and apostasy. When Christ returns will He find you in the faith? The faith is the belief in Jesus Christ, The Son of God, who died for us for the forgiveness of sin, and was resurrected and is now at the right hand of the Father. When one truly believes this, he repents and turns away from his old life and is reformed. The change in our life creates a thirst for the Living Water and hunger for the Word.
Jesus is the only way of salvation for mankind.
John 14:6
I am the way, and the truth and the life. No one come to the Father except through me.
These quotes are from Ray Yungen who wrote two of my favorite books, “A Time of Departing” and “For Many Shall Come In My Name” Theses books identify new-age movement in the church and the increase of seducing mysticism.
“Interspirituality is the cross-pollination of religious traditions. It is the blending of esoteric practices from different religions while still identifying with one’s own religion.”
“For instance, it is the belief that one can be a “better Christian” when one practices Buddist Meditation.”
Watch this video for elaboration.
Next this an important video from Warren Smith who wrote “Reinventingjesuschrist.”
The church needs to renew its commitment to the Bible and start using words like sin, repentance, and obedience. The emergent church dismisses sin, with a wave of the hand. But this is self-deception. Jesus died on the cross because we are sinners. Anything that eliminates the need for the cross is an enemy of God.
I have often wondered how one gets to a mindset that entertains God as a female. Anyone who knows scripture and reads the Bible on a consistant basis knows that God is called the “Father”. No other possibility exists.
So where do the heresies come from?
The explosion of mysticism in our society is key and it is not confined to the general public. It is rampant in the church.
Take for instance Neal Donald Walsch. He claims to converse with God. The truth…he is deceived and deceiving others. His “god”, speaks of a new age gospel which is truly distorted from God’s word. There is no truth in him and his enlightened revelations. His experiences trump the truths found in the Bible, so he says.
As Walsch meditates, here is a product of what he has “received” taken from “Conversations with God.”
“If you think God looks only one way or sounds only one way or is only one way, you’re going to look right past Me night and day. You’ll spend your whole life looking for God and not finding Her.”
The problem with the statement is vast. To know God you have to study His word. He is the only way.
No one can find reconciliation with God and salvation from sin except through union with Jesus Christ.
Acts 4:12 “Salvation is found in no one else for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”
John 14:6 “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
There is no place in scripture that refers to God in the female sense. Heresies are often traced back through man’s secret revelations obtained by occult mystical spirit guides that are quickly emerging.
So on to the article for today from David Cloud.
THE EMERGING CHURCH’S FEMALE GOD (Friday Church News Notes, June 12, 2009, http://www.wayoflife.org
– Phyllis Tickle, an Episcopalian lay “Eucharistic minister and lector” and a Senior Fellow at Cathedral College at the liberal Washington National Cathedral, is an influential voice in the emerging church and the contemplative prayer movement. Tickle promotes non-verbal contemplative praying. She says, “The whole business of entering prayer WITHOUT THE VEHICLE OF WORDS is very important, for it allows the spirit to flow freely with the spirit of God, and does not have to articulate what is happening until one comes out from prayer” (“Praying in Color: A Conversation with friends and authors Sybil MacBeth and Phyllis Tickle,”
Wordless meditation is not biblical prayer; it is a pagan practice that is a recipe for demonic deception. Those who practice it are invariably led into heresies. It should not be surprising, then, that Tickle believes in a female God and calls the Holy Spirit “he or she or it.” She teaches that by partaking of the Lord’s Supper the believer is feeding God and reinvigorating the Holy Spirit, whatever that means.
Speaking at Rob Bell’s Mars Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, she said: “God is both male and female. God is both father and mother. … There is more than one thing under the name of God, and it is both male and female. … As we are about to do that [take the Lord’s supper], let us remember what we are doing. We not only celebrate that death and that promise of return, but we are feeding by eating God–which is what we are doing here–by eating the body and blood of our God, we are feeding the God within us. For as we take those elements the Spirit also feeds within us and is reinvigorated as he or she or it is by our faith” (Tickle, “A Treasure We Don’t Understand,” May 3, 2009).
Phyllis Tickle, Rob Bell, Brian McLaren, and that crowd are worshipping idols. The Shack, a popular book in emerging circles, also depicts God as a woman.
As Christians we need to be aware of how the world is quickly changing and how fast the new spirituality is emerging. Here in America we are known as a Christian nation…but are we really?
Many are turning to odd and mystical religious systems, because they seek “The Fundamental power they have within.”
From Huna.com
Huna is the modern or Western label given to the ancient healing and spiritual shamanism of ancient Hawai’i. In these pages you will find teachings that were once secret and carefully guarded.
– Connect with your Higher Self
– Access Universal Sources of Energy
– Awaken your Spiritual Evolution
• Introduction to ancient symbols
• Higher Self Connection
• Hakalau: the shaman state
This video starts with the statement “When God created the world…”, but the end of the video shows the people drumming and chanting. This has nothing to do with the God of the Holy Bible.
Listen and hear a woman say, “…undeniable harmony, and that has to come from within.” Then another..”there’s spirits in everything, in the mountain, in the rock or the stone, or in everything or the tree.”
This is panentheism – That God is in all things.
When people resort to shamanism and easily accept it….the time is short for the return of Lord Jesus Christ.
The statement on one of their photos says ” There are many paths to personal transformation.”
Those who know scripture will recognize the “many paths” statement as false.
John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
The world is being prepared for a new spirituality. Cling to the Lord Jesus Christ and do not deny Him by seeking god in rocks or trees or looking within. Jesus is at the right hand of the Father.
| Col 3:1 | If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. |
Looking within yourself to find God, is the oldest trick in the book. Which book? Genesis. The serpent told Adam and Eve this lie, “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
See also: Morningstar Ministries delving into paganism. This one is actually worse.
https://kimolsen.wordpress.com/2009/02/02/morningstar-ministries-paganism/
This article from Mishel has a lot of new and fascinating information. Thank you Mishel
The Hidden Agenda of The Order of the Mustard Seed
Here are two excerpts
THE ORDER OF THE MUSTARD SEED by Mishel
Peter Grieg of the 24-7 Prayer Movement, an international, ecumenical movement laced with Gnostic, New-Age, and Contemplative spirituality, is reviving the 17th century Order of the Mustard Seed and encouraging members to take a lifelong vow of commitment. This commitment to the vows of the Order, are to be symbolized with a ring or tattoo. ……….
AGGRESSIVE DOMINIONIST AGENDA
Dominionists possess a radical socio-political agenda, and like a well oiled military machine, they are well organized and financed, and their network vast. Their ultimate socio-political goal is a One World Church and a New World Order. They believe they will go forth like a vast army, yielded to the authority of the New Apostles, and conquer and subdue the world’s Kingdoms’ for Christ, and usher in the millennial reign. These Kingdoms consist of all social and political institutions and those who do not wish to be ruled will be slaughtered for the good of the rest. With the world under their complete dominion they will hand over dominion to Christ so that he may return to earth. However, the Bible makes it clear that at the time of Christ’s return the earth will be in complete and utter chaos and His return will prevent what would otherwise be the complete annihilation of the world in the Great Tribulation. This doctrine of Dominionism makes the Church the Savior of the world, and not Jesus Christ. Christ alone can institute God’s rule on earth.
Read entire article and comments HERE
Book Review – Out of India by Caryl Matrisciana- A true story about the New Age movement Upon ordering this book, I eagerly anticipated its arrival. I had already viewed Caryl’s extremely important and informative DVD, “Yoga Uncoiled.” I was not disappointed. Anyone growing up in the 60’s will be able to identify with this true story about Caryl Mastrisciana. She was born and raised in India, which gives her views about what she witnessed about the customs and religious aspects of the Hindu life authority. After living a privileged life in India she went on to England when she was twenty to witness some of same practices she had just left behind. In “swinging London” she was about to experience a new exciting blockbuster, “Hair.” She relates:
The show moved along captivatingly. In the same way that the Hare Krishna sect was glorified, suddenly so was Yoga. Yoga! Alarm bells rang in my mind. The Yoga I had seen in India was intense, arduous and serious — a discipline taught by avowed spiritual masters who prepared their disciples for death. So why did Hair’s hero in the song “Donna” go to India to see the Yoga light? Why was it associated with drugs and reincarnation and presented as such a sweet, new spiritual experience?
Why could I only remember the tragedy, the poverty, the disease, the cruelty, and the apathy? Surely all these people here tonight couldn’t be wrong. (1)
Caryl had been introduced into the New Age, the spiritual enlightenment, the Age of Aquarius. She then moved on from a stint in the Bahamas and took refuge from a failed marriage. But also she had already developed a drug habit. Then it was on to America where life was a maze of football games, rock concerts, The Moody Blues, and more drugs.
In search of the Lost Chord
–had a colorful cover depicting reincarnation and elevation to god-consciousness through meditation. The songs reflect the use of drugs and meditation and belief in Hinduism, UFO’s, and astral projection. With the sound of sitars and hypnotic music, I was led to a knowledge of the power of the mantra (the repetitious chanting of the names of the Hindu deities, vibrations, and other mysterious code words). Such albums tantalized the rightness of my drug experiences and my new sense of universal consciousness. (2)
Even though she had alarm bells go off in the past, Caryl found herself practicing Yoga anyway. Here is a sampling of what she has to say:
I believed I was raising my psychic energy (said to be dormant) nestled in the lower extremities of the groin. Through imagination, I pushed the energies upward through my chakras, which I felt gave me maximum powers. Ultimately I trained these energies to fuse above, where I imagined my third eye to be, and created the most “peaceful” and “blissful” experiences.
I sensed these were the results of a deep spiritual union between me and a cosmic consciousness or divine essence.
…I began to realize I was experiencing the same thrills in Yoga as I attained on my drug-induced travels into altered states of awareness. (3)
but……
As my needs drew me into deeper dependency of these habits, I found I could no longer be sure of encountering pleasurable marvels. Instead, with more frequency, I had erratic hallucinations. (4)
I had erroneously become convinced that I had the power to alter my reality, when in fact it was demonic spirits that were at work in my life. (5)
Sometimes a whole day went by before I realized I had spent it meditating in my own “stoned” fantasy world….Unconsciously I was absorbing the basis of Hindu thought, that reality is maya, an illusion, and that illusion or imagination can be conjured into reality. (6)
This last excerpt is very important because it shows why many no longer today are able to accept the concept of absolute truth. The information, concepts or feelings that they download from the spirit world indoctrinates the mind. Everything is illusion and life is not a reality. Also the notion that that one’s desires can be transformed into reality gives us the basis of Word of Faith, or positive confession teachings. The source is revealed.
There is a later chapter devoted just to Yoga and I will only give one quote from this section:
It is important to understand that the results of Yoga are real: the exercises and breathing techniques actually do release an energy and bring a change in consciousness…..The goal of both drug abuse and Yoga meditation is to shut down from life’s reality….Yoga, however, is endorsed as a beneficial mind-body exercise. (7)
Next Caryl tells some fascinating stories of her spiritual journeys which led her to “eat no meat”, with holistic reasoning see “the created as the Creator”, become tolerant of Eastern religions, and welcomed the idea that “all paths led to the same God.” These themes are repeated over and over again in New Age belief.
You will need to order the book to read her story of how she actually come to the Lord. But I would like to excerpt this part of a conversation she had:
“But Richard, I had such wonderful experiences of being in the presence of God. I saw him and touched him. I talked to him and he talked to me!”
Richard smiled knowingly. I was to learn week later that he had had the same encounters on drug trips and the same occultic experiences as I’d had. “It is all a counterfeit,” he said……..[8]
As with many who become “undeceived” Caryl wanted to alert Christians of the deceptions “that were leading even God’s flock away from the truth.”
Along with a burning desire to inform and warn, I had an almost insatiable hunger for information. How do the cults really compare with true Christianity? I immersed myself in Bible study day and night…..God is putting me through His own kind of schooling, I remember thinking. (9)
And so because of this above resolve, Caryl Matrisciana has served the Lord by founding Caryl Productions, which “produces cutting edge video journalism and information to help discern the times in which we live.”
This book clearly describes how the deception entering the church can be directly traced back to Hindu Eastern principles.
Also look for interesting information on the emerging church, the Hindu Swastika and Hitler.
This is an important Christian book to have in one’s personal library.
http://www.lighthousetrails.com
1. pg. 19
2. pg. 71
3. pg. 73
4. pg. 74
5. pg. 75
6. p.p. 76-77 7. pg. 187 8. pg. 96 9. pg. 119
It was so good to read your testimony and to see God’s power in delivering you from deception. I have a similar testimony, but what concerns me is that I quite by accident did experience the opening of the third eye in October of 2006.
It was 4-6 months before the Word of God brought correction and rebuke and I repented for this act of rebellion. I experienced a bright light that I thought was the glory of God, but was clearly a fallen angel of light. It was so powerful and beautiful that i still have to remind myself that this was demonic. This is how Satan is going to get the whole world to believe the lie that we are already divine and that our divinity and power comes from within. Without the truth of God’s word, man will have no power to resist Satan’s deception.
After the initial shock I began to see how the beast will convince the people that he is to be worshiped.
I had been deceived into believing that I was going to hear from God by sitting in silence by waiting and listening. Now please know that I was not expecting an audible voice, nor did I ever hear one, but I was definitely influenced in my thinking during these times of silence. What I did EXPERIENCE was a beautiful illumination of light. It was so wonderful that I don’t have the words to describe it. I was convinced that this was the glory of God and wanted all of my loved ones to have this wonderful experience.
I was sincerely seeking God, but sincerity apart from the Word of God leads to deception. I was diagnosed with severe Rheumatoid Arthritis in 2005 and had been on my knees crying out to God for relief from the severe pain. Pain so bad that I couldn’t walk on my feet or even wear shoes. My hands so swollen and painful that I couldn’t hold a fork, wash my hands, or go to the bathroom by myself. But what Satan intended for evil God used for good. God allowed this terrible time in my life to test my faith and like Peter even thought it seemed as if my faith had failed as I fell for a Satanic trap, God’s power is greater and set me free.
It all started by believing that I needed to be quiet to hear God speak to me. I had read a book by Madame Guyon, the Catholic mystic when I was in my early twenties and had a mystical experience that had really frightened me, so I put away the book. When I had the experience in 2006, I remembered the first experience and pulled back out this book. Eventually I became aware that she was a Catholic mystic and was set free from this deception and realized I had been practicing contemplative prayer. The worst fruit of this deception is how I felt special and better than my fellow Christians because I had this experience. How utterly humbling to find out that I was so deceived.
It is a long story, but I just wanted to contact you because there are so few “Christians” anymore with whom I can fellowship. I have a wonderful friend, but she lives far away and we talk everyday on the phone. Then I have my older sister who is a wonderful Godly Christian lady, but she lives far away, but mostly everyone I know has been infected by Babylonian mysticism in one way or another and they don’t see the need to come out of it. It is heart breaking as I weep over the condition of the churches.
Like you I spend all of my free time reading the scriptures. That and sharing my faith with anyone who will listen are the only things that interest me in this world. I want to walk so closely with the Lord that He takes me like Enoch and Elijah. That is my goal and hearts desire. Surely it won’t be much longer, but even though there is much darkness, it seems more is to come.
Come Lord Jesus,
Valerie
Knoxville, TN
*******
Valerie can be reached at
Got80@aol.com if you have any questions for her.
As you know I love posting personal testimonies – This one is from – “For the Author”
A PERSONAL TESTIMONY: WHY CHRISTIAN LEADERS SHOULD NOT PROMOTE HENRI NOUWEN
Please read the important article at Lighthouse Trails
Why Christian Leaders Should Not Promote Henri Nouwen
that inspired the diatribe which follows:
Why Christian Leaders Should Not Promote Henri Nouwen
that inspired the diatribe which follows:
I became a big fan of Henri Nouwen after discovering him on the reading list of the Spiritual Formation syllabus at a seminary where I took a few classes a couple of years ago. As an author, I found him to be warm, honest and engaging. He appealed to the scholarly side of me as well. I ended up choosing to write one of my papers for the Spiritual Formation class about two of the books he wrote. (It was a required class – I was enrolled in the Marriage and Family Counseling program).
Finish the article here
I grew up attending a protestant covenant church and accepted the Lord 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. 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.
I was immersed in the Word and loving every minute of it. But something happened. I began to receive open visions. I saw the Lord’s hands. Gigantic numbers appeared in scenery as I was driving.
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.
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.
The messages I received were varied. Some sounded like scripture. Some were odd dreams. I dreamt 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 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 could go on and on.
One was an upcoming judgment of a city with a time frame of two weeks. 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.
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 scales fell off.
I asked the Lord to take away any gifts that I had that were not from Him. The messages stopped.
A couple 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 these drugs affect the pituitary gland. This also opens 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.
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 me to the predicament I was in and informed me of the influences I was under with the drugs…I had my answer. Praise God for this friend of mine. 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 spiritual information not available to others. This is a form of Gnosticism. Special knowledge. Now I can see that this was actually 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. Confession…..repentance…….restoration.
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 the 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 here. 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?
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. 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. 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.
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 word, hypnosis, visualization (very occult) , and the seduction of today’s hypnotic music. 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.
It was not 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?
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 Biblical truth. The Lord works in His ways to draw His sheep back to Him. Not one will be lost.
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Discovering the New Age Movement / New World Order, Part Two
Submitted by Craig “Lee” Dorsheimer
This is the second part of this series which takes the bulk of its information from a video of the 2006 Radio Liberty Conference in Aptos, California by attorney, author and speaker Constance Cumbey titled “Discovering the New Age Movement.” You can view the video here.[1]
You may want to first read Part One of this series located Here.
Connection to Nazism
According to Foster Bailey’s book Running God’s Plan, Cumbey states, “One of the goals of their hierarchy was to have a unified Europe… ‘We tried this before working through a disciple using the Rhine River valley and the inhabitants of that valley as a binding factor. That attempt was unsuccessful; but, now another attempt is in full swing namely the six nation European Common Market.’”[1] Quite obviously Bailey, husband to Alice A. Bailey, was referring to Adolph Hitler. Hitler’s Fascism was an attempt at creating a New World Order.
It is well known that Hitler was dabbling in the occult before he came to power. At the height of his regime many have noted his strange magnetism. People were drawn to him. Some have suggested he was under demonic power, even possessed. Hitler was inspired by the occultic/esoteric writings of Madame Helena Blavatsky, the founder of Theosophy in 1875[2], and kept a copy of her book The Secret Doctrine at his bedside.[3]
For a pop music connection: Joy Division, a Manchester, England based punk/post-punk band from 1977 to 1980, got their name from a term used in a novel by Karol Cetinskys titled House of Dolls. According to the novel, Joy Division was the term used for the brothels of WWII era Nazis who used concentration camp victims as prostitutes. The band name had been changed from their previous moniker of Warsaw. By 1979, Joy Division had become an underground success.[4]
Lead vocalist/lyricist Ian Curtis was a frenetic performer energizing their live shows.[4] His lyrics were very dark as evidenced in the opening track “Disorder” from their first full length album Unknown Pleasures:
I’ve been waiting for a guide to come and take me by the hand
Could these sensations make me feel the pleasures of a normal man
These sensations barely interest me for another day
I got the spirit, lose the feeling, take the shock away
…Until the spirit – new sensation – takes hold, then you know
…I got the spirit, don’t lose the feeling
I got the spirit, don’t lose the feeling…[5] [Emphasis mine]
According to Jon Savage, pop music critic, who was in audience at an October 27, 1979 gig:
Joy Division walk out and launch into “Dead Souls”. The peculiarity of this song is that it has a long, rolling introduction that allows the group to orient themselves in their environment for the night…
… building up to the moment when, transported by the music, he [Curtis] launches himself into the void – arms flailing and legs pumping.
Then he begins to sing… The lyric to “Dead Souls” is an unsettling evocation of psychic possession and the presence of past lives. The chorus is an anguished chant: “They keep calling me”.[6] [Emphasis mine]
Here are some of the lyrics for “Dead Souls” from their posthumously released Still:
Someone take these dreams away
And point me to another day
Back to the personalities
That stretch our true realities
…they keep calling me
They keep calling me…[7] [Emphasis mine]
Bernard Sumner, guitarist for the band: “Ian [Curtis] said to me that doing this album [Closer, their second full length release] felt very strange because he felt that all his words were writing themselves…”[6] [Emphasis mine]
12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms [Ephesians 6:12 NIV]
After Curtis’ suicide on the eve of their first North American tour, the remaining members of the band found a replacement for Curtis, renamed themselves New Order – an obvious reference to Nazism if their previous name wasn’t – and became one of the more successful bands of the 1980s releasing the best selling 12” release of all time in “Blue Monday” in 1983. They continued to record into the 21st century.[8] There are many other references to occultism, neo-Nazism and the New Age permeating the pop music industry.
A New Age Christ
Cumbey again, “…Reflections on the Christ by David Spangler, who you could carry into any Christian service and not attract a lot of attention except they might think you were really pious. But, inside that book – a chapter titled ‘Lucifer, Christ and God’ – and he [Spangler] said ‘Lucifer came to give us the final gift of wholeness if we accept it we are free and he is free. …the Luciferic initiation is a required entry point into the New Age.’”[1]
Not wanting to rely on just one source, Cumbey eventually found the Alice A. Bailey books from Lucis Trust – which originally went by the name ‘Lucifer Publishing’ which they denied for a time although Cumbey now has 3 books in her personal library with this designation.[1] It is now plainly stated on their website:
…However, for a brief time period of two or three years in the early 1920’s, when Alice and Foster Bailey were beginning to publish the books published under her name, they named their fledgling publishing company “Lucifer Publishing Company”. [sic] By 1925 the name was changed to Lucis Publishing Company and has remained so ever since.[9] [Emphasis mine]
Lucis Trust is one of the United Nations’ non-governmental organizations (NGO). Their “Main Activity” according the Department of Public Information section of the UN is listed as “Humanitarian Affairs.”[10] One has to wonder why the UN would endorse an openly Luciferic organization.
According to Cumbey’s book The Hidden Dangers of the Rainbow, on April 24, 1982, there appeared a full page advertisement proclaiming “The Christ is Now Here!” in major newspapers across the world. This ran in more than twenty major cities; and, the advertisement itself listed four different addresses at the bottom as “information centers” in Amsterdam, London, New York City and North Hollywood, California.[11] Here are some quotes from the ad:
…He comes not to judge but to aid and inspire.
…At the center of this “Spiritual Hierarchy” stands the World Teacher, LORD MAITREYA, known by Christians as the CHRIST. And as Christians await the Second Coming, so the Jews await the MESSIAH, the Buddhists the FIFTH BUDDHA, the Moslems the IMAM MAHDI, and the Hindus await KRISHNA. These are all names for one individual. His presence in the world guarantees there will be no third World War.[11] [All quotes and caps in original; underlining and bolding mine][11]
After coming across a book by Benjamin Crème titled The Reappearance of the Christ, she found a section titled ‘How The Plan is Working Out’ which spoke of the political developments going on at the time. She knew she had to see him in person.[1]
She picked up a flyer sponsored by the local Unity church which detailed a local appearance and she attended along with eight other Christians. It was standing room only. Cumbey recognized many prominent people in the audience. She asked one individual she knew what he was doing there and he replied, “Because, I’m taking A Course in Miracles…” It was a “requirement” in a “spiritual growth” class he was taking.[1]
When Crème walked in, he made a ‘wave’ with his hand and the crowd immediately went into a deep trance save for Cumbey and her eight associates. She made noises in attempts to get the other attendees out of their trance but to no avail.[1] The whole account is rather unsettling.
After taking a break, Crème was to lead the audience into a “mass recitation of ‘The Great Invocation’”[12] which is a prayer by Alice Bailey for “the Antichrist to come and take the world for Lucifer.”[1] From the Lucis Trust site regarding “The Use and Significance of the Great Invocation:”
The Great Invocation if given widespread distribution, can be to the new world religion what the Lord’s Prayer has been to Christianity and the 23rd Psalm has been to the spiritually minded Jew.[13 ]
Crème declared there would be a ‘transmission’ from Maitreya the Christ as soon as the prayer was finished. “…His literature said that he had been ‘overshadowed’ by Maitreya the Christ” in previous meetings. As the people began their prayer, Cumbey instead loudly prayed the first four stanzas of the ‘Lord’s Prayer.’ During the last two lines of their prayer she said instead, “May Jesus Christ return to earth and end the evil present in this room tonight.”[1]
Then, according to Cumbey the “spookiest thing of the evening happened” – actually it didn’t happen. Crème “waited and waited;” but, the ‘overshadowing’ never occurred. He finally “dismissed the crowd and said, ‘That will be all.’”[1] The sword of the Spirit – the Word of God [Ephesians 6:17] – prevailed! You have to admire the courage of Constance Cumbey to take a stand amidst the foes.
12For the Word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. [Hebrews 4:12 NIV]
Commenting to negative remarks after the event, Cumbey said, “Well, if your new Maitreya the Christ, Betray-a the Christ, or whatever his name’s supposed to be, were everything he’s cracked up to be, one lousy Christian in the room reciting the ‘Lord’s Prayer’ shouldn’t have stopped him.”[1]
A Syncretism of the New Age and Christendom
Unfortunately, Cumbey met with opposition within the Evangelical community.[1] I suppose it should not have been a surprise given that she’d seen these New Age infused books at an evangelical bookstore initially.
In Cumbey’s second book A Planned Deception, she recounts, “…One Seattle Evangelical bookstore sells The Hidden Dangers of the Rainbow under the counter in a plain brown paper bag, stapled shut and enclosed with a critical review from Christianity Today.”[14] However, the heretical books of Matthew Fox were taking up an increasing amount of space.[14]
As recently as 1999, Christianity Today has inferred that the NAM was no longer a threat stating “the New Age Movement has been replaced by Neopaganism”[15] – as if Neopaganism wasn’t a part of the movement to begin with! To continue to deny the existence of the New Age Movement by a major Christian magazine is downright disgraceful to the body of Christ. All one has to do is look at Oprah’s TV show to find out about the latest New Age guru. Yet the magazine has no trouble referencing New Ager[16] Ken Blanchard.[17, 18]
Going back to Cumbey’s first book, in the chapter titled Deluded… or Deceivers? she writes:
“The New Age Movement is pushing for, among other things: global agencies to handle distribution of global resources, redistribution of the world’s wealth, a new world religion, experiential religion (as opposed to religion based on scriptural authority and tradition), a universal tax… …a teaching that all things are part of one whole, an emphasis on universal interdependence…
“All these concepts are beginning to rear their ugly heads in evangelical Christian books and publications…”[19] [Emphasis mine]
Further in this same chapter she speaks of “a trend today toward a social exegesis of the Gospel.”[20] This has only grown worse in the past 25 years as evidenced by the examples of Rick Warren[21] and Joel Osteen[22] among others.
In Year of Jubilee or Age of Aquarius Disguised? from her A Secret Kingdom? chapter in Cumbey’s second book she relates some research on then associate pastor of a Unity church in Kansas City. In his “Research Report #2,” Reverend Ernest Ramsey “tells of something he was led to by a spirit guide…” He was referring to ‘Manifest Sons of God’ teaching of ‘Neo-Pentecostalism.’ “Ramsey concludes based on even less evidence than I have personally collected that this is part of the New Age Movement.”[23]
On March 14, 1999, Rich Nathan, Senior Pastor of Columbus Vineyard Church, began delivering a sermon series sounding an alarm regarding the New Age Movement. He begins by quoting a brief account of Richard Mouw, president of Fuller Theological Seminary, who witnessed a man with the Playboy Bunny emblem on the bumper of his vehicle and the Virgin Mary dangling from his dash thinking that to be quite a dichotomy.[24] Nathan then launches into the meat of his sermon:
Churches that use both Eastern and Western scriptures are growing; one example is the Unity Church. Fifteen years ago, there were 400 Unity Churches, and now there are a thousand catering to people who “don’t feel comfortable using one particular label for a Higher Being.” There is an Episcopalian Church in San Francisco called St. Gregory of Nyssan, where the two senior ministers have created a service that includes the worship of Jesus Christ and the ringing of Buddhist symbols. This church was built to the two ministers specifications four years ago. The Wall Street Journal reports, “St. Gregory’s has an interior decorated to Eastern Orthodox icons, a Shinto shrine and Tibetan gongs. The ministers wear tie-dyed African vestments. The congregation sings the Shema, which is an ancient Jewish prayer. People dance forward to partake of the Eucharist, which is open to believers in every religion, not just Christians. And the Episcopalian priests and the congregations invoke many different deities, not just Jesus, because as the pastor says, “In the end, they are all the same.”
The last common denominator that I would say is a mark of much New Age belief and much New Age spirituality is the tendency to create your own biblical interpretation. The bible is viewed by many people today in America as being like a Rorschach Ink Blot test. Many people who are into New Age spirituality will find in the Bible some really unusual and esoteric interpretation of a verse. The perspective is that everyone’s interpretation of the Bible is equally legitimate.[24] [All emphasis mine]
While this sort of thing is encouraging, these warnings to the flock are few and far between. This minor victory, however, was to be short-lived as Nathan would later openly endorse false ecumenism[25] while Mouw’s Fuller Theological Seminary would openly endorse religious pluralism.[26] This will be covered in part three.
[1] <http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8937919448007045479>
[2] <http://www.blavatsky.net/>
[3] <http://www.freemasonrywatch.org/thenewage.html>
[4] Joy Division; biography. All Music Guide < http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:gbfuxql5ldje~T1>
[5] Curtis, Ian/Joy Division. “Disorder.” Unknown Pleasures; Factory Records, Manchester, England; FACT 10; 1979.
[7] Curtis, Ian/Joy Division. “Dead Souls.” Still. Factory Records, Manchester, England; FACD 07/08; 1981.
[8] New Order; biography. All Music Guide < http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:0ifqxqr5ld6e~T1>
[9] <http://www.lucistrust.org/en/arcane_school/talks_and_articles/the_esoteric_meaning_of_lucifer>
[10] <http://www.un.org/dpi/ngosection/asp/form.asp?RegID=all&CnID=CH&AcID=-1&kw=&NGOID=3902>
[11] Cumbey, Constance E. “Preface.” The Hidden Dangers of the Rainbow. Huntington House. Shreveport, LA. 1983, revised
edition. pp 13-15
[12] < http://www.uriel.org/Invocation/index.htm>
[14] Cumbey, Constance E. “The Incredible Heresies of Matthew Fox.” A Planned Deception: the Staging of a New Age “Messiah.” Pointe Publishers, Inc, East Detroit, MI. 1985. p 131
[15] <http://www.christianresearchservice.com/KenBlanchard7.htm>
[16] <http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/1999/decemberweb-only/22.0a.html>
[17] <http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2005/february/27.24.html>
[18] http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2005/mayweb-only/24.0c.html
[19] Ibid. Cumbey “Deluded… or Deceivers?” The Hidden Dangers of the Rainbow. p 145
[20] Ibid. Cumbey p. 156
[21] <http://herescope.blogspot.com/2006/12/cfr-and-social-gospel-part-1.html>
[22] Van Biema, David & Jeff Chu. “Does God Want You to be Rich?” Time. 09/10/2006 <http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1533448,00.html>
[23] Ibid. Cumbey. “Year of Jubilee? or Age of Aquarius?” A Planned Deception. pp 171-172
[24] Nathan, Rich. “Christ Confronts the New Age” sermon. March 14, 1999. Online version Copyright 2008. <http://www.vineyardcolumbus.org/resources/sermons/sermon_detail.asp?id=309>
[25] <http://www.acommonword.com/lib/downloads/fullpageadbold18..pdf>
[26] <http://www.fullerseminary.net/news/html/religiousplurality.asp>
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