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You can find Christine’s testimony on this link
http://www.solasisters.com/2011/04/testimony-of-former-new-ager.html
I like to jump around on other people’s posts on facebook. Going down the rabbit holes, or finding the source of one’s inspiration is very telling of the spirituality they speak of. For instance I bounced around to a site that had the title:
Theological/philosophical/cultural/spiritual thoughts about God and the Real Jesus.
Oh, this person has found the Real Jesus. Let’s see! I had only to scroll down about 7-8 articles to find what he wrote:
Thomas Merton has written: “Keeping a journal has taught me that there is not so much new in the interior life as one sometimes thinks. When you reread your journal you find out that your newest discovery is something you found out five years ago. Still, it is true that one penetrates deeper and deeper into the same ideas, the same experiences.” (Merton, Thomas (2007).
Growing deeper and deeper into Christ and His love is to discover new things about the same thing. I think that if you and I were more mastered by Christ’s love it would be life overwhelming, life overflowing.
Today stick to the basics, the most foundational of which is: Love.
Ah….Thomas Merton…. So let’s take a good look at Merton. Lighthouse Trails Research has this good article about him titled:
Thomas Merton – Contemplative, Mystic, Panentheist.
Article HERE
Here are a couple of quotes from Thomas Merton.
“It is a glorious destiny to be a member of the human race, … now I realize what we all are …. If only they [people] could all see themselves as they really are …I suppose the big problem would be that we would fall down and worship each other … At the center of our being is a point of nothingness which is untouched by sin and by illusions, a point of pure truth … This little point …is the pure glory of God in us. It is in everybody.”
FROM A TIME OF DEPARTING BY RAY YUNGEN (quoting Thomas Merton, Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander (1989 edition, 157-158)
“I see no contradiction between Buddhism and Christianity … I intend to become as good a Buddhist as I can.”
(David Steindl-Rast, “Recollection of Thomas Merton’s Last Days in the West” (Monastic Studies, 7:10, 1969)
There is no way I can trust this person’s claim that they know the real Jesus when they are following false teachings.
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oTohomas Merton – Contemplative, Mystic, Panentheist Thomas Merton – Contemplative, Mystic, Panentheist
I happened across a forum that was discussing cults and those who were coming out of them. It caught my interest because this particular cult has its facility in the Northwest. The forum was on a site that had much information about the New World Order and health issues. Many Christians are interested in these issues and post comments.
The forum was very informative and the people really had some good sharing. The comments revealed that one reason why people got involved in these cults was that they were hungry for spiritual help in their lives. They are seekers.
Here are some of the comments coming from the people leaving this particular cult.
“For sure it’s a cult. As is christianity or any other religion.”
“I saw in many of the students a blind devotion to *** that bordered on dangerous; investing in ponzy schemes, kilns for alchemy, a scheme to make a toxic “purified” water where one ingredient was lye, building underground shelters for the end of the world, taking prozac because *** thought it would clear peoples minds, telling terminally ill or paralyzed patients that they can cure themselves and constantly asserting that if miracles or “manifestations” did not occur in our lives, then we were doing something wrong…..To conclude, we are all seeking for truth…”
” As with most cults people are drawn to the good parts of it and I will admit some of ***teachings make sense but the individual who tries to play the part of an all knowing god , if you will, can not keep the facade going for long in one continuous speech without carrying on with banter that varies from the intended message..”
“*** has supposedly “channeled” Jesus,…”
“That is when*** told us to Dig In and get ready for the Days to Come…. instruction was to constructed (sic) a secret place under ground by our self and dig it with our hand if necessary that no one would know the location, to be covered with at list 4 feet of dirt with a secret entrance and to have enough food for 3 years or more and enough supply to be able to rebuilt the world when coming out. Can you imagine the fear that hit us that night, but also like you mentioned in your letter the wonderful feeling of superiority of knowing that we were the chosen one, we were special.”
“As you know they are now back into the mode that the end of the World is coming as per the end of the Mayan calendar in 2012.”
Some of the commenters were still in the cult or were not against it.
“They teach the truth of life from their perspective and never demand any allegiance to that truth. They encourage us to find our own truth by testing the lessons and disciplines thru personal experience. If it doesn’t work for you…then they encourage you to seek until you find what rings true for you.”
“I’ve been able to get passed all the silly guilt, and feelings of unworthiness that plagued my personality. I know I’m something so much more than my body and personality. The *** has taught me that, and taught me how to remove the mask that covers the God that lives within me.Once we learn how remarkable we are and how remarkable God is, the World seems so UNremarkable.”
“This is great…. that each one of us can stand in our own knowing and own integrity as to what is right for ourselves without disempowering the other to get our viewpoint across.”
“By the way, I think the same way about all the other religions, cults and beliefsystems that claim to have the ultimate truth. So, along with the christian church(es), islam, hinduism, capitalism, communism, nihilism and all the other -isms, ramthaism is to me nothing but a pile of BS.”
Before I enter my comments I want to post what the moderator said. He was not the owner of the site.
“We have thousand of posts with a lot of information,we also welcome all resonable discussions on JZR.”
Here are my comments but they were not welcome at all.
As a Christian there are some aspects I will would like add to this conversation. Please kindly consider what I have to say based on the Bible, which I understand is a forbidden book on the compound.
Mediums like to portray the spirit world as ascended masters or the wise ones, etc. but the truth is that what is being accessed are evil spirits. They pretend to be something they are not. Spirit guides are not holy, they are imposters.
A well known verse concerning these matters is 2 Corinthians 11:14…
“..for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.” Thus we have those hungry for “enlightenment” searching in all the wrong places for truth.No wonder the Bible is off limits. It defies their teachings.
I do not mean to preach, just want to say that I found the answers, and I know my eternal destiny. Following Jesus Christ is not a religion, because there is nothing you can do to earn heaven. Salvation is a free gift for believing in Him and following Him. True Peace. No Fear. Blessings to you.
..thank you for the kind words….I found this site because I am worried and care about the people who are involved and I have a personal interest. Much has been learned from those making the comments, who also are concerned and have shared their experiences. Thank you so much.
I too was one who was brought up in the Christian faith and wandered away. But one day someone took the time and spoke truth to me and it seared me to the very core. I returned to the faith. The Jesus that is depicted as an ascended master of the Brotherhood is not the Jesus I follow, which is a main concern of those who believe in the Bible.
Another Christian comments…..
“God loves each and every one of us. He sent His only Son Jesus to die for us so that we will have a life with Him one day in heaven as well as a life worth living on this earth day to day just to be able to deal with what life throws our way, and most of us know that is a lot: heartache, family problems, jobs, finances, death of loved ones, the list could go on forever. He demands nothing of us.I could go on, and I know many disagree with all of this but God gives us that freedom to accept Him for a better life inside each of us and a life in heaven or reject Him to our own peril in an eternity in a burning Hell. Believe it or not believe it. We all have that choice. God bless and keep all of us safe! I wish you all good health!
Now the responses……
So trying to preach to us that the God of the Bible is the answer does nothing except to aggravate the problem since we all have rejected that possibility as most of us was looking for the truth which we did not find in religions in the first place So no amount of quotes from the Bible will change that in most of us since we believe Religions to be also cultish.
I do not take well to being threatened with eternal damnation in hell or any such nonsense if I do not believe in ‘Him’,…But take it from me sherri, what you have written does have that effect on me, because to me, it comes from that same old arrogant, condescending attitude of knowing it all and looking down on the poor sheep who don’t,
Instead of trying to understand the real nature of how we feel, you chose to preach us your truth as you call it completely ignoring the mechanic of it all. Preaching us with total ignorance…Please understand that last thing WE want to hear when coming out of a place like that, is someone trying to preach us their truth. Recovering from a cult like this one to some may take years and for many require real professional help, not preaching from someone that have no Knowledge what so ever, and no experiences.
I had to strongly resist the temptation to attack you and Kim myself. I didn’t want to sound mean. But my own truth welled up inside me. Then I realized that I can love the “sinner” but hate the “sin”. I really do hate what you are selling, but not you personally, and I think it would be mean of me NOT to say so, because I see what you two are proposing as the cause of most of the world’s problems.
I think the last comment hit me the hardest.
“…what you two are proposing as the cause of most of the world’s problems. “
It was said that “WE” do not want to hear preaching. But how can this man speak for all. The moderator was directing people to his site for help and that was great…I hope that people were finding help but the Christian’s solution, Jesus of the Bible, would not be tolerated. I wanted to continue making comments because people who get caught up in cults are usually spiritually hungry. This cult taught wrong aspects using the words Christ and Jesus. I guess they didn’t really want to know the true Jesus, that He is not a screaming Jesus, he is not an ascended master of the Brotherhood… but the Savior of the World who died because we are sinners.
My sister-in-Christ and I, decided to shake the dust off our feet and leave the site. We were not welcome after professing Jesus Christ as Lord.
It was not “our” truth we were speaking of, but the truth found in the Holy Bible. If I was to try to find truth within myself, like self-seekers, I would find no good thing. Romans 3:9 says, “There is no one righteous, not even one.” Through studying the Bible and realizing what God expects of us by observing His laws, we become conscious of our sinful nature. This drives me to my knees in repentance of sin.
Glory be to God, the all high and mighty, and His Son Jesus Christ.
In writing our book Entertaining Spirits Unaware: The End-Time Occult Invasion, David Benoit and I drew from nearly 50 years of combined ministry experience often dealing with New Age spiritualism, witchcraft and overt occultism. These are issues that occasionally make the most alert Christian uncomfortable and the unaware simply cringe. It may seem like overkill to some that David and I write such a book, for after all, the occult and those who purvey it are certainly nothing for Christians to concern ourselves with…or are they? How we wish that the occult was indeed just a moot point in our society. However, in actuality the occult is thriving in America and around the world, gaining acceptance and followers in unparalleled numbers. Today there is a spiritual war going on for the lives and souls of men, women, teens and yes, children; and without the Church lighting up and exposing this darkness it continues unabated, overtaking the unsuspecting around us.
Several years ago I was speaking at a Christian conference at Houston’s (TX) Second Baptist Church. While there, a gentleman happened by our display booth and noticed the title of my new book. He backed up slightly and exclaimed, “Ohhhh, the occult. That scares me!” I happened to hear him and was able to respond saying, “Brother, the only reason the word ‘occult’ has the ability to frighten you is because you don’t understand it which is exactly what Satan wants.”
Ignorance invites misunderstanding, fear, complacency and deception. This is why considering the enemy’s vast deployment of occult traps which range from an array of New Age self-help seminars and numerous kids’ cartoons, to the world of adult and children’s literature and the occult laced lineup offered by Hollywood as entertainment today, it is of ultimate importance that we have at least a basic understanding of what God’s Word declares on the issue.
Derived from the Latin word Occultus, the occult by definition means “things hidden, things in darkness, the practices of divination and sorcery”. Make no mistake – God is not confused in the least about the realm of occultism, its practices and adherents. His Word is crystal-clear and God’s position must also become our position if we expect His blessing, protection and providential power to be evident in our lives and homes.
THE NINE FORBIDDEN PRACTICES
Deuteronomy 18 contains the most powerful biblical passage outlining the occult. In verses ten and eleven we find the Nine Forbidden Practices of the occult:
When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee. Thou shalt be perfect with the LORD thy God. For these nations, which thou shalt possess, hearkened unto observers of times, and unto diviners: but as for thee, the LORD thy God hath not suffered thee so to do.
In my Take A Stand! Seminar “The End-Time Occult Invasion”, I use the following to illustrate how it is absolutely imperative that we avoid all forms of occultism and teach others the same.
The word “abomination” (v.9, 12) is the Hebrew word “Tow`ebah”
(Strong’s number 08441, pronounced “to-ay-baw”)
It means: “a disgusting thing,” “an abomination,” “unclean” (as in idolatry), “wickedness”
This is the strongest condemnatory language used by God in the entire Bible!
Let that sink in. In the strongest terms used in the entire Bible, God condemns and forbids the occult as He warns the Israelites to avoid and abhor it. Pronouncing it as “towebah,” God, in His wisdom, lays out the Nine Forbidden Practices. They are:
1) Human Sacrifice – We call that abortion today!
2) Divination – The Heart of the occult. Manipulation from demonic sources.
3) Astrology – We either trust God or the Zodiac but not both!
4) Enchanter – Someone satanically endowed to produce seductive spells.
5) Witchcraft and Witches – Includes its modern, organized counterpart, Wicca.
6) Charmer – One who manipulates objects or beings via demonic power.
7) Consulter with Familiar Spirits – One who gleans knowledge from demonic contact.
8) Wizards – Practitioners of magical arts
9) Necromancers – Those who claim to be in contact with the dead.
Please note that nine is also the biblical number of Judgment & Rebellion !!!
Once we see and understand God’s standard on the occult, several more Scriptures immediately come to mind that give direction, warning and clarity concerning the various deceptions.
Ephesians 5:10-11 instruct what we must do concerning evil in any form.
Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.
II Corinthians 6:14-18 leaves no doubt that God wants His children to steer clear of any fascination or involvement with the occult.
Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
Deuteronomy 13:1-5 serves as God’s warning to His own that those who endear themselves to false teachings and false teachers (that includes the occult) are indeed “returning to “Egypt” – entering again into satanic bondage!
If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him. And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee.
Notice verse three, which relates that our acceptance or rejection of these false teachers and their works will be a test of our allegiance to God!
No wonder the Scripture very clearly and concisely instructs and warns of God’s will (blessings or judgment) concerning the occult and related issues. Make no mistake: when we fail to reject and expose any and all of the occult practices and various entertainment modes that now endorse them the Bible clearly says that we have failed the test and have commenced to following “other gods.”
Furthermore, Romans 1:32 declares that those who entertain themselves with the images of evil, including the many brands of occult-based entertainment, are under the same judgment and curse as those who actually perform the occult deeds! Wow!
Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
Doesn’t that sound exactly like our culture today; having pleasure in or being entertained by the very things that God condemns?
IGNORANCE IS NEVER BLISS!
Many would be content to stay ignorant of the seriousness of the occult in the sight and mind of God. However, to do so is to invite curses and demonic activity to infest our homes, families and land. At very least we cannot expect God to bless and enrich our lives and loved ones if we persist in walking in darkness, making acceptable what He disdains.
Hosea 4:6 speaks to those who walk in ignorance and also to us who know the truth that we must herald it clearly!
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.
It is a sad and tragic fact of these end-days that many in the Church – THE CHURCH – have followed “strange gods” entertaining themselves and their families with movies, books, television programs and more that do nothing more than glorify the Nine Forbidden Practices of the Occult!
Need we wonder why God doesn’t answer our prayers, save our families, anoint our worship services and fill our lives with boldness, power and miraculous authority? We may only need to look as far as the entertainment that many Saints so willingly allow to rob them of not only precious time, but of their sensitivity to God’s Word and standards for His children. As we continually implant Satanic occultism into our minds and lives through “harmless” entertainment venues it won’t be long before we accept what God calls evil as good and reject what He calls good as evil, pridefully becoming wise in our own eyes.
If what I have described here hits a nerve in your life then the good news is that God’s word clearly lays out the remedy. I highly suggest you follow the pattern of the Saints at Ephesus from twenty centuries ago after they heard the Apostles message on this very issue. Acts 19:18-20 reads:
And many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds. Many of them also which used curious arts (sorcery) brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed. Or “Then the word of God grew and spread in power.”
Isn’t that what we all want?
FROM LIGHTHOUSE TRAILS RESEARCH
WHY are Joel Rosenberg and Frank Peretti Appearing With New Age/New Spirituality Sympathizers?
Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils. (I Corinthians 10:21)
Why are so many Christian leaders continually appearing with personalities who claim to be Christian yet promote the heretical “new spirituality”? In January 2010, in Alberta, Canada, such a situation will take place at the Break Forth conference, bringing together a conglomeration of Christian figures, New Age sympathizers, and mystic/emerging proponents. From Joel Rosenberg (Epicenter), Frank Peretti (This Present Darkness), and Lee Strobel (The Case for Christ) to William Paul Young (The Shack), Leonard Sweet (Quantum Spirituality), and contemplative proponents such as Duffy Robbins (Enjoy the Silence) and Brad Jersak, Break Forth will be like drawing gray lines in the sand–blended, indistinguishable lines.
In essence, this merging together, like so many other events now taking place within evangelical Christianity, willhelp erode the distinction between truth and falsehood and light and dark.
With well-known names like Rosenberg, Peretti, and Strobel as part of the speaking platform, many Christians who otherwise might not attend or pay much attention to this emerging event, could be drawn in just by the mere mention of these men’s names. And with Break Forth boasting that 1000 Canadian churches are represented at this event, tens of thousands of church goers could easily, directly or indirectly, be impacted in a fashion ultimately leading to spiritual deception and apostasy.
Full article HERE
By David Cloud
“The Shack” held first place on the New York Times bestseller list for Paperback Trade Fiction for many months. As of October 2009, it has sold ten million copies. It is being translated into 30 languages, and a motion picture is in the works.
Though its author, William Paul Young, is not a member of a church and is even reticent to call himself a Christian, and though its doctrine of God is grossly heretical, the novel is being touted as a helpful Christian book.
“The Shack” has been endorsed by Pat Robertson’s 700 Club, CCM artist Michael W. Smith, Eugene Peterson (Regent College professor and author of “The Message”), Mark Batterson (senior pastor of National Community Church in Washington, D.C.), Wayne Jacobson, author of?So You Don’t Want to Go to Church Anymore,” Gayle Erwin of Calvary Chapel, James Ryle of the Vineyard churches, and Greg Albrecht, editor of “Plain Truth” magazine. The premier issue of Rick Warren’s magazine, The Purpose Driven Connection, refers to The Shack as a “notable best-selling Christian” book (p. 24).
Young was born in Alberta in 1955 but spent most of the first ten years of his life in Papua New Guinea with his missionary parents, who were ministering to a backwards tribal group called the Dani. He graduated from Warner Pacific College, which is affiliated with the Church of God (Anderson, Indiana), with a degree in religion.
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In “The Shack,” Young presents traditional Bible-believing Christianity as hypocritical and hurtful. The book’s main character grew up under “rigorous rules,” and his father, who was an elder in the church, was “a closet drinker” and treated his family with cruelty when drunk (p. 7).
Hypocrisy is very injurious to the cause of Christ, but hypocrisy on the part of Christians does not disprove the Bible. Let God be true and every man a liar (Romans 3:4)! All too often this type of thing is used as an excuse by rebels. I know this by personal experience. In my youth I used the inconsistencies that I saw in Baptist churches to excuse my rejection of the church. The chief problem, though, was not the hypocrisy of others but my own rebellion and love for the world. When I repented of my wickedness at age 23 and turned to Christ and received the Bible as God’s holy Word, I stopped blaming others and took responsibility for myself before Almighty God.
Rules and obligations under God’s grace are not wrong. They are an integral part of Bible Christianity. We are saved by grace without works, but we are saved “unto good works” (Ephesians 2:8-10). The New Testament epistles are filled with rules and obligations that believers are expected to keep and filled with warnings about disobedience. The true grace of God does not let us live as we please. It teaches us, rather, “that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world” (Titus 2:11-12). That is a very strict standard of Christian living.
There is hypocrisy in churches and there are false gospels that are law-based rather than grace-based and most churches today are corrupt, but the solution is not to reject the literal interpretation of Scripture and create a new God! God is amazingly compassionate and loving and He has proven that on the cross, but God is also holy and just and requires obedience and hates and punishes sin, and that side of God cannot be ignored without creating a false God.
The flesh wearies greatly of the holiness of God! I can testify to that. From time to time in my Christian life I have gotten discouraged at God. It is not a simple thing to reconcile God’s love and grace with His awful holiness and justice. On one hand, the New Testament tells us that the believer is forgiven, redeemed, justified, accepted in the beloved, blessed with all spiritual blessings in Christ, holy and without blame before God, and seated in the heavenlies (Ephesians 1-3). On the other hand, the same New Testament tells us that the believer must be exceedingly careful about how he lives before God. We are to “cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Corinthians 7:1), which is the highest conceivable standard. The believer who does not pursue this is in danger of being judged (e.g., 1 Cor. 3:13-17; 9:26-27; 11:27-32; Hebrews 13:4; 2 John 8-11; Revelation 2:4-5, 16, 22-23; 3:15-16). There is even a sin unto death (1 John 5:16-17; Acts 5:1-11; 1 Corinthians 11:30). Thus there must be many warnings in the Christian life (Acts 20:31; Colossians 1:28; 2 Timothy 4:2; Titus 1:13; 2:15).
These things seem to be contradictory to the fallen flesh and to the natural man, but they are two sides of the same compassionate, thrice holy God, and to reject either one is reject the true God for an idol.
In an interview with the 700 Club in February 2009 Young described a “huge personal failure” that occurred in his life at age 38. He says, “My life crashed and burned, and I had to go back and deal with some stuff from being a child on the mission field along with other stuff in my life.” He speaks of “secrets” that he kept from his childhood and guilt that he carried. He doesn’t describe any of this in detail, but it appears that he felt guilty for not obeying God’s Word and perhaps went through psychological therapy. He talks continually of “pain,” “damage,” healing childhood memories, and such.
REDEFINING GOD
“The Shack” is about redefining God. Young has said that the book is for those with “a longing that God is as kind and loving as we wish he was” (interview with Sherman Hu, Dec. 4, 2007). What he is referring to is the desire on the part of the natural man for a God who loves “unconditionally” and does not require obedience, does not require repentance, does not judge sin, and does not make men feel guilty for what they do.
In that same interview, Young said that a woman wrote to him and said that her 22-year-old daughter came to her after reading the book and asked, “IS IT ALRIGHT IF I DIVORCE THE OLD GOD AND MARRY THE NEW ONE?”
Young therefore admits that the God of “The Shack” is different from the traditional God of Bible-believing Christianity. He says that the God who “watches from a distance and judges sin” is “a Christianized version of Zeus.” This reminds me of the modernist G. Bromley Oxnam, who called the God of the Old Testament “a dirty bully” in his 1944 book “Preaching in a Revolutionary Age.”
“The Shack” explores the issue of why God allows pain and evil. It is a fictional account of a man who is bitter against God for allowing his youngest daughter to be murdered and who returns to the scene of the murder, an old shack in the woods, to have a life-changing encounter with God. The “God” that he encounters, though, is not the God of the Bible.
Young depicts the triune God as a young Asian woman named “Sarayu” * (supposedly the Holy Spirit), an oriental carpenter who loves to have a good time (supposedly Jesus), and an older black woman named “Elousia” (supposedly God the Father). God the Father is also depicted as a guy with a ponytail and a goatee. (* The name “Sarayu” is from the Hindu scriptures and represents a mythical river in India on the shores of which the Hindu god Rama was born.)
Young’s god is the god of the emerging church. He is cool, loves rock & roll, is non-judgmental, does not exercise wrath toward sin, does not send unbelievers to an eternal fiery hell, does not require repentance and the new birth, puts no obligations on people, doesn’t like traditional Bible churches, does not accept the Bible as the infallible Word of God, and does not mind if the early chapters of the Bible are interpreted as “myth.”
Note the following quotes from the god of “The Shack”:
“Don’t go because you feel obligated. That won’t get you any points around here. Go because it’s what you want to do” (p. 89).
Contrast 1 Corinthians 4:2.
“I don’t need to punish people for sin. Sin is its own punishment, devouring you from the inside. It’s not my purpose to punish it…” (p. 120).
Contrast Isaiah 13:11; Ephesians 5:5-6.
“There are lots of people who think it [Eden] was only a myth. Well, their mistake isn’t fatal. Rumors of glory are often hidden inside of what many consider myths and tales” (p. 134).
Contrast 2 Peter 1:16.
“[Your heart] is wild and beautiful and perfectly in process” (p. 138).
Contrast Jeremiah 17:9; Mark 7:21-23.
“To force my will on you is exactly what love does not do. … True love never forces” (pp. 145, 190).
Contrast John 8:31-32; 14:15; Titus 2:11-12; Hebrews 12:5-11; Revelation 2:14-16, 20-23; 3:3, 16-19.
“Our final destiny is not the picture of Heaven that you have stuck in your head–you know, the image of pearly gates and streets of gold” (p. 177).
Contrast Revelation 21-22.
“My church is all about people and life is all about relationships. … You can’t build it. … I don’t create institutions–never have, never will” (pp. 178, 179).
Contrast Acts 2:41-42, 13-14.
“Those who love me come from every system that exists. They were Buddhists or Mormons, Baptists or Muslims, Democrats, Republicans and many who don’t vote or are not part of any Sunday morning or religious institutions. … I have no desire to make them Christian” (p. 182).
Contrast Acts 4:12; 26:28.
“Through his death and resurrection, I am now fully reconciled to the world … The whole world. … In Jesus, I have forgiven all humans for their sins against me … When Jesus forgave those who nailed him to the cross they were no longer in his debt, nor mine” (pp. 192, 225).
Contrast John 3:36; Acts 17:30-31; 1 John 5:12, 19; Revelation 20:11-15.
“The Bible doesn’t teach you to follow rules. … Enforcing rules, especially in its more subtle expressions like responsibility and expectation, is a vain attempt to create certainty out of uncertainty. … That is why you won’t find the word responsibility in the Scriptures. … because I have no expectations, you never disappoint me” (pp. 197, 203, 206).
Contrast 1 Corinthians 4:2; 2 Corinthians 5:18. In Ephesians 4-6 alone there are at more than 80 specific obligations that believers are exhorted to keep.
“I don’t do humiliation, or guilt, or condemnation” (p. 223).
Contrast Isaiah 2:11; 5:15; John 3:19; Romans 3:19; 1 Corinthians 11:27; James 3:1; 5:9; Jude 4; Revelation 11:18; 20:11-15.
THE SHACK’S GOD IS EMERGENT AND NEW AGE
Not only is “The Shack’s” god suspiciously similar to the one described in the books of the more liberal branch of the emerging church (e.g., Rob Bell, Donald Miller, Brian McLaren), it also has a strong kinship to the New Age god promoted by John Lennon and Oprah Winfrey.
Lennon’s extremely popular song “IMAGINE” (1971) proclaims:
“Imagine there’s no heaven … No hell below us, above us only sky … no religion too/ You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one/ I hope some day you’ll join us, and the world will live as one.”
William Young imagines the same thing in “The Shack.” If there is a God, he is non-judgmental. There is no hell. God just wants people to do their own thing and be happy.
Oprah preaches the same gospel to millions. Man is not a sinner; God is not a judge; all is well with the universe; and I just need to surrender to the flow. Her message is the celebration of self. She grew up in a traditional Baptist church, but she has reinterpreted the Bible and moved beyond its restrictions. She says, “As I study the New Age movement, it all seems to say exactly what the Bible has said for years, but many of us were brought up with a restricted, limited understanding of what the Bible said” (“The Gospel according to Oprah,” Vantage Point, July 1998).
DENYING THE INFALLIBILITY OF THE BIBLE
Another foundational problem with “The Shack” is its denial of the Bible as the absolute and sole authority. Note the following quote:
“In seminary he [the book’s main figure, Mack] had been taught that God had completely stopped any overt communication with moderns, preferring to have them only listen to and follow sacred Scripture, properly interpreted, of course. God’s voice had been reduced to paper, and even that paper had to be moderated and deciphered by the proper authorities and intellects. … Nobody wanted God in a box, just in a book. Especially an expensive one bound in leather with gilt edges, or was that guilt edges?” (pp. 65, 66).
To believe that the Bible is the infallible Word of God and the sole authority for faith and practice is not to “put God in a box.” It is to honor God by receiving the Scripture for what it claims to be and what it has proven itself to be. If a father goes on a journey and leaves behind a written statement of his will for the family during his absence, the family that truly honors the father submits to that written record. To reject the Bible as the infallible Word of God is to launch out upon the stormy waters of subjective mysticism. It allows man to be his own authority and to live as he pleases, which is an objective of both the New Age movement and the emerging church.
CHANGED LIVES
The author of “The Shack” points to changed lives as evidence of the truth of the book and the grace of God in using it. At the National Pastor’s Conference, William Young told Andy Crouch that the book was setting people free from “addictive bondages and doctrinal bondages.” He said, “Even people who have been vocally against the book, people in their own family have been healed.”
Healed of what and healed in what way?
What is happening is that people who don’t like Bible Christianity, don’t want to obey the Bible, don’t want to feel guilty for their sin, and have rejected the “angry” God of Scripture, are responding enthusiastically to the man-made idol presented in “The Shack.” The following is typical of the postings at Young’s MySpace site by readers of the book:
“Your book, The Shack, is amazing! It has changed so many people’s idea of what God is really like! It has set some of my friends free!”
Miracles do not prove that something is of God. There is one that the Bible calls “the god of this world” (2 Corinthians 4:4), and he can do miracles and answer prayers. I saw miracles and experienced answers to prayers when I was the member of a Hindu meditation society before I came to Christ. Miracles are not the proof of the truth; the Bible alone is the proof. The prophet Isaiah said, “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them” (Isaiah 8:20).
CONCLUSION
“The Shack” is another building stone of the end-times Tower of Babel.
God’s people must be exceedingly careful in these days of awful apostasy. The Bible warns:
“Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins” (Hebrews 10:25-26).
The willful sin described in this verse points back to the sin referred to in verse 29. It is the sin of counting the blood of salvation an unholy thing. It is the rejection of personal salvation through the blood of Christ, which many in the emerging church are doing. You can’t be saved if you reject the substitutionary atonement.
In these days we need to stay in the Bible every day and be in sweet communion with Christ, confessing our sins and walking in the light.
And we need to capture the heart of the next generation and educate them so they will not be taken captive by the wiles of the devil and the guile of false teachers.
The use of spiritual energies for healing is dangerous indeed. Anything that conjures up a spirit guide is occult and not divine. The Bible warns spiritual deception will be prevalent during the end-times. Reiki is a psychic phenomena on par with faith healers and occult surgeons who are mediums that contact the spirit word. Scripture tells us that this paranormal contact is off-limits and detestable. Why? The spirits are deceivers.
Deuteromony 18:
“Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, inteprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord…”
Please read this from The Berean Call:
******
In a recent article in Reiki News, it was revealed that 15 percent of all US hospitals are now implementing the practice of Reiki. In Reiki, a type of therapeutic touch, it is believed that the ki (chi) energy (a supposed universal energy that flows through all things) can be used to heal people. In the Reiki News article written by Reiki proponent William Lee Rand, Rand expresses a concern about a statement released by US Catholic bishops asking Catholic hospitals not to use Reiki because of its Buddhist roots. Rand tries to show that Reiki is a scientific method that has healing results.
However, as Rand explains his views on Reiki, the discerning reader begins to realize that Reiki is not scientific at all but rather a spiritual approach. Rand admits that “Reiki healing energy directs itself.” He says:
“I was unable to direct it with my mind or will and realized this wasn’t necessary as Reiki had its own form of guidance that was superior to my own. This experience has been verified by other professional Reiki practitioners and forms the basis of one of the important keys to using Reiki: If you want Reiki to provide the best healing experience, it’s necessary for the practitioner to set their own desire, will and ego aside, and allow the Reiki energy to guide itself.”
Author Ray Yungen, who says there are now over one million Reiki channelers in the US alone (a million in Germany also), explains this “energy” behind Reiki further: “One practitioner describes the experience in the following way:
“When doing it, I become a channel through which this force, this juice of the universe, comes pouring from my palms into the body of the person I am touching, sometimes lightly, almost imperceptibly, sometimes in famished sucking drafts. I get it even as I’m giving it. It surrounds the two of us, patient and practitioner” (“Healing Hands” (New Woman Magazine, March, 1986), p. 78).
What is this “juice of the universe?” The answer is an important one, given by a renowned Reiki master [Rand] who explains:
A Reiki attunement is an initiation into a sacred metaphysical order that has been present on earth for thousands of years … By becoming part of this group, you will also be receiving help from the Reiki guides and other spiritual beings who are also working toward these goals” (William Rand, Reiki: The Healing Touch, Southfield, MI: Vision Publications,1991, p. 48).
While this is not widely advertised, Reiki practitioners depend on this “spirit guide” connection as an integral aspect of Reiki. In fact, it is the very foundation and energy behind Reiki. One Reiki master who has enrolled hundreds of other masters spoke of her interaction with the spirit guides:
“For me, the Reiki guides make themselves the most felt while attunements are being passed. They stand behind me and direct the whole process, and I assume they also do this for every Reiki Master. When I pass attunements, I feel their presence strongly and constantly. Sometimes I can see them” (Diane Stein, Essential Reiki (Berkley, CA: Crossing Press, 1995), p. 107).
From LocalPaster
Please pray for these young people. They are being demonized.
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/
The Personal Testimony of Cathy Fowler.————-
I was a trueblue New Ager for 20 years. Over those years I
had many experiences with spiritual powers — or “forces,” as
they say. And I know they exist and are extremely powerful. If
someone had told me at that time that I was tampering with
Satan’s kingdom, I would have laughed in their face!
In fact, the reason I moved to Sedona, Arizona, was because
it is such a strong metaphysical area and community. Sedona is
advertised widely in metaphysical and occult circles as one of
the few “vortex areas” in the United States. (A “vortex area” is
an area where the veil between this world and the spiritual world
is allegedly very thin, so to speak. New Agers believe there is
a higher concentration of psychic or cosmic energy in such
areas.) I thought I could really find and experience “higher
consciousness” in Sedona. And guess what! I did. But through a
totally unexpected source — the Lord Jesus Christ!
The funny thing is that I grew up attending a Baptist church
and spent the first 18 years of my life going to church at least
three times a week. I was even baptized. But I never had a
personal relationship with Jesus. How do I know? Because I have
one now — and I know I’ve never had this before.
Many Christians ask me how I ever could have left the church
for “New Age” thinking. Didn’t I realize what I was mixed up in?
The answer to that is a big NO! I was always the curious sort and
even when I was very young, I sensed the spiritual side of life.
However, when I asked too many (or “wrong”) questions in Bible
studies or at home — or asked for genuine, credible reasons for
the Christian faith — I was always hushed with blanket answers
like, “Because the Bible says so, that’s why!”; no further
explanations were ever given. What all this really sounded like
to me was, “Shut up and don’t ask questions.”
So I started looking for answers elsewhere. And I thought I
had found answers too — in astrology, eastern religion, yoga,
reincarnation, crystals, channeled information, and meditation.
_I had arrived in the New Age._
As I look back over these years, I can say that channeling is
probably the most dangerous of the New Age practices from my
experience. New Agers take every word that comes out of the
channeler’s mouth as the “New Gospel.” I was no exception to
this.
It took me 20 years to build up a New Age belief system, with
new ideas being added all the time. Would you like to know how
long it took the Lord to knock this belief system down? Just
three months! I was led to books written by Christians about the
New Age movement, and I also had a very close Christian friend
who prayed for me on a regular basis. The books quoted Bible
verses and led me back to God’s Word which I hadn’t looked at a
single time in 20 years.
My Bible was on the bookshelf along with my more than 180 New
Age books. And guess what I found inside it when I opened it up
for the first time? A little daily devotional book opened to a
page entitled, “Test The Spirits.” All those 20 years, the
warning was there waiting for me to see it.
I could go on and on, but let me just wrap this up by saying
that I praise God every day for loving me enough to rescue me —
even though I had turned my back on Him by my involvement in the
occult. How gracious the Lord is! My life has totally changed
since a year ago last summer.
My daughter, who is now 16, was also interested in some of
the occult activities I was involved in and showed some genuine
ESP-type abilities. But now she’s deeply involved in a youth
ministry here which is an extension of the Bible church we now
attend. She has accepted Jesus Christ and can see the evil
deception going on under the guise of the New Age movement.
One last thing. Many church-going Christians either ignore or
are afraid of people involved in the New Age movement. Many
Christians are so wrapped up doing their church activities that
they rarely attempt to tackle the “outside world.” But New Agers
are easier to convert than most people might think. Why? Because
unlike the average person, they already have a strong belief in
the spiritual world; they just don’t realize exactly _what_
spiritual world they are mixed up in.
So please don’t ignore New Agers or laugh at them or give up
on them. Give them one of the many fine books on the New Age
movement written from a Christian perspective as well as a pocket
Bible. Miracles happen every hour of every day through Jesus.
—————————————————————-
Copyright 1994 by the Christian Research Institute.
—————————————————————-
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This data file is the sole property of the Christian Research
Institute. It may not be altered or edited in any way. It may
be reproduced only in its entirety for circulation as “freeware,”
without charge. All reproductions of this data file must contain
the copyright notice (i.e., “Copyright 1994 by the Christian
Research Institute”). This data file may not be used without the
permission of the Christian Research Institute for resale or the
enhancement of any other product sold. This includes all of its
content with the exception of a few brief quotations not to
exceed more than 500 words.
If you desire to reproduce less than 500 words of this data file
for resale or the enhancement of any other product for resale,
please give the following source credit: Copyright 1994 by the
Christian Research Institute, P.O. Box 500-TC, San Juan
Capistrano, CA 92693.
—————————————————————–
“Rescued from 20 Years in the New Age Movement” (an article from
the Christian Research Newsletter, Volume 2: Number 6, 1989) by
Cathy Fowler.
The editor of the Christian Research Newsletter is Ron
Rhodes.
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