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I have gotten to know so many of you well, because we have shared the same experiences together. We have struggled with the same deceptions or have helped each other as we grow and use our spiritual gifts to edify one another. One thing is clear. We know what strengthens us and helps us grow.
It is staying in the Word of God. His Written Word. The Bible. There are some helps along the way. A devotion can be encouraging. Commentary can help us unpack a passage from someone who the Lord has gifted with spiritual insights. But those who I have grown with the most, are those who scripture is shared with on almost a daily basis.
It is the staying in the Word, in the morning, during the day, and at evening that infiltrates the very soul with the Words of the Lord. It is easy for me because I write curriculum for my Sunday School class and the Lord has blessed me with a deep love for scripture, to be able to immerse myself into it and pull out applications and lessons for the children. Homiletic training didn’t hurt either.
I came across this Ephesians commentary from D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones when studying Genesis.
“The greatest benefactors that this world has ever known, the men who have brought the greatest good to this world has ever known, have been men who have emphasized most of all the importance of ‘seeing the unseen.’ One has but to read the eleventh chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews to find proof of this. There we have a list, or a gallery as it were, of the greatest benefactors this world has ever known; that is why they stand out in history. And they are all people , we are told, who fixed their eyes not so much on this world as on the next….The ‘heroes of the faith’ of Hebrews, chapter 11, started with the unseen world, and then in the light of that, they applied themselves to the present world.” *
The church has become very involved with itself and its health, wealth, agendas, programs, conferences, publications, books, committees and men making names for themselves. As I think of the men and woman in Hebrews 11, a picture forms of those who really made a difference. Abraham never got to see the land filled with his descendents. Moses never got to cross into the physical Promised land, but they always walked in faith which carried the most importance of all. They had a correct perspective that changed the world. They were far from perfect but they are held up as men of faith. They cared about eternal matters instead of worldly matters.
Contrast walking in faith with worldly philosophy.
“What lies behind us and what lies in front of us pales in comparison of what lies within us.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
Quotes like this make me cling to 2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
I listen to those teachers who stay within scripture and use scripture to interpret scripture, because it is all the man of God needs.
* God’s Ultimate Purpose: An Exposition of Ephesians 1:1 to 23. pp. 381-382
We too need to walk in faith, and obey what Jesus said in John 14 three times. If we love Him we will obey Him and keep His commandments.
This is a nice article from Discernment 4 Truth
This morning I read Matthew 10 and a particular verse that stayed with me is verse 15
“I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgement than for that town. I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.”
Now in the past I always thought this verse applied to people that don’t believe in God and those outside of the church. I read this verse and it struck me who the wolves are. Those within the church that portray a form of godliness, those that claim to know the way but instead they show deception. There are wolves within churches. Could Jesus have been talking about those that actually claim to know God? This verse is not just for those that don’t know God, it is for those who are out there that are influencing the church negatively leading them to another doctrine other than the true gospel.
The verse where we need to be shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves is towards those who claim to know it all, those in leadership that are blinding the sheep and leading them to another Jesus. Honestly, when I look at the verse the way I now see it, it makes so much sense.
People that have never heard about Jesus or new born christians will embrace truth more than the ‘christian’ who has been in the church for more than 20 years who has the feeling in their heart that they know it all. A person who is devoted to Todd Bently and the lakeland revival is so blinded to the truth that they are harder to rebuke, teach, encourage than the unsaved. The wolves are not those outside the church as their influence is not to steer someone away from true doctrine and a christian will not follow the outsider who drinks and lives in sin, the christian is more likely to be deceived by a self acclaimed apostle or prophet.. They are the wolves. Mind boggling.. and I hope I have made sense here.
It is funny because the one time before walking into the church I had a picture in my mind of the majority of them being wolves and I shut my mind up thinking that I was being silly but looking back, it makes a lot more sense.
The point that I am trying to make is that we really ought to discern more and never be afraid to question what is going on. We have a duty to look out for oneanother in all things. We are sheep among wolves and we need to be focused on the Good shepherd and follow His leading in everything.
“Savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them.”
Acts 20:29-30
“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.”
2 Peter 2:1
“Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.”
1 John 4:1-3
2 Cor. 11:3-4 “But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted– you may well put up with it. (you will have to endure it, or you wear it beautifully, and some do).”
Gal 1:6-9: “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.”
FIRST-PERSON: Neither faith nor healing
Posted on Jul 11, 2008 | by William A. Dembski
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FORT WORTH, Texas (BP)–Todd Bentley’s healing ministry has gained national attention. His daily meetings for the past three months in Lakeland, Fla., have attracted hundreds of thousands from all over the world. The press has begun to question Bentley’s legitimacy — Is his financial accounting above board? Are miracles really happening? I want to raise some more personal concerns.
On July 3, my wife, three children and I attended Bentley’s “impartation service” in Denton, Texas, north of Dallas. Why? We have twin 7-year-old boys, one of whom is autistic (largely nonverbal, still not fully toilet trained, serious developmental delays). Friends urged that we attend the meeting for his miraculous healing.
Call us stubborn, but my wife and I are unimpressed with doctors who see our son’s condition as hopeless. We believe that God still heals and that His means of healing include conventional medicine, alternative medicine, prayer, fasting, love and, yes, miracles. In any case, we haven’t given up on our son’s recovery (we still remember the day when he was developmentally on track). So if God wanted to use Todd Bentley, we were open to it.
As faith healers go, Bentley is unconventional. Exhibiting black shirt, baggy jeans, tattoos and piercings, he prefers grunge to Gucci. But his appearance wasn’t a problem for my wife or me. God in the Bible used many unconventional people. The problem for us was the manipulation, hype and agenda that seemed to pervade the meeting.
It was a 130-mile drive for my family to get to the meeting. When we called the organizers, they urged us to get there by 3 p.m. even though the meeting didn’t start till 7 p.m. The venue (a basketball arena) seated 8,500 people, yet the organizers told us to expect 14,000 people to show up. So the only way to be sure of getting a seat was to get there early.
We therefore piled the kids into the minivan early afternoon, arriving around 4:30. At 6:30, after sitting for two hours, the arena was about three-quarters full. One of the organizers then announced that traffic was backed up for miles around Denton and that several thousand were trying to get into the meeting, most of whom would have to be turned away. This was sheer hype. A significant block of seats (at least 20 percent) were cordoned off and never used throughout the whole night. We could have arrived anytime and still gotten seats.
At 7, Keith Miller (the chief organizer, http://www.sfwm.org) started things off. After prompting the audience to perform ritualistic acts of worship (stand up, raise your hands, say after me …), he passed the baton to a young woman singer and her backup band. The sound system was terrible — sounds were loud and distorted. The music was repetitive in the extreme. In almost two hours of this “music ministry,” only a handful of songs were sung, and many of them seemed to consist of only one or two phrases.
Finally, around 9 p.m. Bentley began to speak. He devoted much of his message to the visions he has received and the miracles he claims have happened in his ministry. Then, almost as an afterthought, he spent a few minutes preaching from the Bible (John 5). In fact, he admitted that he was having us open the Bible simply so that it couldn’t be said that he didn’t preach from the Bible. So much for reverencing the Scriptures.
Nowhere in Bentley’s message did I see an emphasis on the love and compassion of God — that healing is an expression of God’s goodness and care for humanity. Rather, the emphasis throughout was on power — the power to heal and be healed.
Bentley told stories of remarkable healings. In fact, he claims that in his ministry 30 people have now been raised from the dead. Are these stories credible? A common pattern in his accounts of healing was an absence of specificity. Bentley claims that one man, unembalmed, had been dead for 48 hours and was in a coffin. When the family gathered around at a funeral home, the man knocked from inside the coffin to be let out.
But what are the specifics? Who was this man? What’s his name? Where’s the death certificate? And why not parade the man at Bentley’s meetings? If I am ever raised from the dead through anyone’s ministry, you can be sure I’ll put in a guest appearance. Bentley claims that he is having a team investigate healings performed under his ministry and will soon go public with the evidence. I look forward to seeing it.
After preaching, Bentley took the offering. During the offering he asked “How much anointing do you want to receive?” Thus he linked the blessing we should receive with the amount of money we gave.
After the offering, Bentley said a general prayer for mass healing. People who thought they were healed then came forward. But I saw no obvious or dramatic evidence of healing. After the general prayer for mass healing, Bentley indicated that he would pray for the severest cases.
At this point, a friend who was with us urged that she and my wife take our son with autism down for prayer (I stayed with our other son and daughter). Over an hour later my son with autism was still not able to get to the main floor for prayer. Ushers twice prevented that from happening. They noted that he was not in a wheelchair. Wheelchair cases clearly had priority — presumably they provided better opportunities for the cameras, which filmed everything. They also invoked the fire marshals, who, they claimed, prohibited too many people on the floor of the arena. But earlier in the service, during the worship time, they had packed the floor with people singing and whooping it up.
After midnight we were told that it would be an hour and a half before our son could get prayer. At that point, we got up and left. Yet the story doesn’t end there. When we got to the minivan, our other son remembered that he had left his Bible in the arena. When my wife went back to retrieve it, everybody, including Bentley, had suddenly cleared out. Staying an hour and a half would not have mattered.
Our son was refused prayer twice because he didn’t look the part, and he was told to wait still longer for a prayer that would never have been offered. And even those who looked the part seemed to look no better after Bentley’s prayer — the exodus from the arena of people bound in wheelchairs was poignant.
My son’s situation was not unique — a man with bone cancer and his wife traveled a long distance, were likewise refused prayer, and left in tears. People with needs were shortchanged. It seemed that power, prestige and money (in that order) were dominating motives behind the meeting. Minimal time was given to healing, though plenty was devoted to assaulting our senses with blaring insipid music and even to Bentley promoting and selling his own products (books and CDs).
Neither my wife nor I regret going. It was an education. Our kids are resilient. But the ride home raised a question. We found ourselves avoiding talking about the event until the children fell asleep. Then, as they drifted off in the early morning, we talked in hushed tones about how easily religion can be abused, in this case to exploit our family. What do we tell our children? I’m still working on that one.
–30–
William A. Dembski is research professor of philosophy at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
The above article was passed on to me by:
Bud Press from:
http://www.christianresearchservice.com/
Bud also send out this update about a video from ABC. Watch and you will see the actual documents presented to ABC from Fresh Fire Ministries, for proof of the healings. Only three were produced and they were measely indeed. What a sham.
***The service, a routine meeting, was scheduled for 50 minutes. Instead, it lasted 185 hours non-stop, 24 hours a day. Intermittently, it continued for weeks. Ultimately, it spread across the United States and into foreign countries. Some say it is being felt even today.***
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Lately it seems many of us have been sharing many concerns and comments about the latest debacles and the latest false revival. There are many occurring presently and I have watched so many videos of people falling to the ground with false anointings that my head is spinning, my stomach is sick, and my heart hurting.The burden many feel for the church is immense. So many are being deceived and loving it.
I have searched the web for true revivals and the result has been dismal to say the least. Then I was sent a link about the asbury revival. I was skeptical because the link was surrounded by new-age articles. But thank God I was persuaded to watch it anyway. The footage is old and the sound poor to begin with, but it improves in a minute or so.
The Asbury Revival – February 1970 – Wilmore, Kentucky
Dr. Dennis Kinlaw was in Canada, away from the college when he received an emergency message to call the Dean….
I have some quotes from this amazing video. Here goes:
The Dean – “I have a problem…and I don’t quite know how to handle it.”
Kinlaw – “What is it?”
The Dean – “It’s chapel..it’s not over yet.”
Kinlaw – “It isn’t over yet? The morning chapel isn’t over yet? What do you mean it isn’t over yet? It is 7:00 at night. (Chapel starts at 10 am) What happened?”
“GOD IS HERE!”
“…the response lasted until the next Tuesday morning, a week later, at 8:00 when we began classes again.”
More quotes:
“Dr. Kinlaw..I am a liar..what do I do?”….”That was the kind of thing taking place. An honest, candid dealing with personal sin and with personal disobedience and personal problems.”
“It is interesting to me to know what the emphasis was…Holy Spirit in those days. There was an amazing openness and transparency.”
“The emphasis was never upon the gifts of the spirit. The emphasis was upon..sin. The need for repentance, need for restitution, the need for repairing relationships, human being to human being and the need for bringing alive into obedience the need for the highest and the best.”
“The amazing thing was a person would tell what had happened, it would be recapitulated, as a person would go somewhere and tell what God had done in his auditorium … it would take place in the church where the person was telling it!”
“The less impressive the student was the more effective an instrument he was”
“How did it come? What called it?…Our need.”
“We had some students interested in prayer. In October before the Spirit came in February six students came together, banded together in what they called ‘the great experiment.'”
“They covenanted for 30 days to take 30 minutes every morning and spend in prayer with the Word, writing down what truth they got from the Word. They were to obey that day, sharing their faith somewhere in the course of the day, and meeting once a week for those 30 days and checking up on each other to see that each one had done his disciplines that week. So for 30 days they met that way and they worked that way.”
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Did you get that? What a recipe for revival…… and it is no wonder why there are so few….
Take 30 minutes daily….add prayer while in the Word of God.
Search for truth in the Word of God and apply directly to self in obedience.
Take faith and share daily.
Check weekly for compliance.
DAILY PRAYER DAILY READING THE BIBLE DAILY WITNESSING OBEDIENCE TO THE WORD OF GOD
It is no wonder why the church is in crisis and we have false revivals with false gospels with false anointings.
Here is the video….It is about 37 minutes…Please take the time (just over 30 minutes, hint…hint) to prayerfully watch and compare with the revivals of today. The quotes cover the basics but i left out the ending.
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoID=1343001998
Actually, I long to attend some of the so-called revivals of today. I want to be in the back of the room, kneeling on the floor with my Bible on the chair. Or just standing at the back, head down in prayer, Bible in hand. First, one should be totally armed with the spiritual weapons of Ephesians before stepping one foot into a demonic meeting. Please pray with me that those who are truly seeking God will be protected from the evil spirits at these meetings. Pray that the Lord will prick their heart with fear, and warn them with the knowledge that something is wrong and that they need to leave immediately.
Now for that 30 minutes each day… You will set this time aside won’t you? Daily, pray in the Word, obey it and share your faith.
God Bless….
Experiencing God – Anton Bosch
I just did a search on the internet for the phrase “experience God” and came up with over 51 million references![1] Wow, that must be an important idea! “Well off course it is”, I hear you say. “We must experience God” has become such a common idea amongst Christians today that we all accept, without question, that this is God’s will for us. And of course none of us want to be so unspiritual that we don’t want to have an experience with God and so many who have not “experienced God” silently sneak away feeling embarrassed, cheated, and inferior. Then there are those special, highly spiritual ones who have experienced God and walk around feeling superior to the rest of those who have never experienced this level of spirituality.
But what is the truth about experiencing God? I did a search through the Bible and found that neither the King James nor the New King James version use the phrase “experience God” at all. The English word “experience” appears three times in the New King James[2] and three times in the King James.[3] None of these scriptures refer to experiencing God in any way.
The idea of experiencing God is simply not based on the Bible. It finds its source in ancient occultic and pagan practices, and the modern entertainment oriented world where the emphasis is on experiences to the degree that many will use any means, even narcotics and witchcraft, just to have some kind of an experience. The whole entertainment industry is built around the idea of giving people an experience. Even shopping is supposed to be a wonderful experience which, it seems, only the fairer sex are capable of enjoying.
There is just no scripture that enjoins us to experience God, or that Jesus died that we might have an experience with (or of) God. Is God like a movie or a theme park or a bungee jump that has to be experienced? Is He the ultimate thrill? I guess to some people He is just that. A denomination in South Africa used to run a full page, full color, advertisement in a trendy magazine showing the derrière of a curvaceous young girl clad in denims. The following words were embroidered on the pocket of the jeans: “You’ve tried it all, now try Jesus”. No wonder the leader and founder of the denomination was fired for multiple adulteries.
Did Abraham, Moses, Paul or anyone else in the Bible “experience” God? What was the experience like? What did they feel when the experienced Him? No, none of these men (or any others) experienced God. Some saw some aspect of Him and others heard him “speak” but none of the saints of the old or New Testaments “experienced” Him. The closest any one came to experiencing Him was John and the other disciples, who wrote “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled…” (1John 1:1). But that was unique to those who saw Jesus in the flesh and even they did not “experience” Him in the mystic way which is now being promoted.
If we were to experience Him, what would that experience feel like? Is it like the goose bumps we feel when they play the national anthem or the hair standing erect on our necks on an eerie night? Or is it like the experience of hearing a live orchestra play a stirring piece of music, or for some, the bagpipes or when the pipe organ hits those low notes that makes your very soul reverberate? Well, it seems that whatever experience some may claim to have, the world is able to produce exactly the same feelings, and even greater.
How do we get to “experience God”? One writer says: “Many have never had a personal experience of God’s presence with images as the primary medium”[4]. So God’s presence is in pictures? Yea right! Others will insist we can experience God through music, worship and meditation. None of these ideas have any biblical basis. Can you see Jesus on the mountain looking at a DVD so He could “experience” His Father, or Paul attending a contemporary Christian music concert so he could “feel” God?
And what are these experiences supposed to do? They are supposed to change us. Wilson and Moore speak about “…the power of digital media to create transformative experiences of God”.[5] Well, they have that partly right. These experiences are transformative and changing. But while the scriptures want us to be transformed into the likeness of Jesus (Rom 12:2), these experiences will change us into the image of the world. And no, it is not God you experience in the concert hall, at the parade or on a dark and stormy night and it is not God you experience when looking at the beautiful (often abstract) pictures of the PowerPoint presentation; neither is He in that magnificent cathedral with the powerful pipe organ. Oh, and was there not something about not making an image of God and worshipping it? (Exodus 20:4). (Sorry, I forgot that was Old Testament – modern Christians are far to clever to be bound by such ancient rules!)
Paul had this to say “we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising” (Acts 17:29). This kind of idolatry, for that is what it is, is exactly what Paul had in mind when he wrote about those who, “Professing to be wise… became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image…” (Romans 1:22,23).
Praise God, He can be known, heard and seen but not with natural senses and not through the use of technology and techniques. “The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (1Cor 2:14). God is hidden from natural eyes, ears and emotions. There is only one way to the Father and that is through Jesus Christ. No service, multimedia show, picture, music or drama can bring you into His presence – it is only by the shed blood and broken body of His Son that we are able to draw near to God. (Heb 10:19-22)
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[1] Google
[2] Gen 30:27, Ecc 8:5, 1Pet 5:9.
[3] Gen 30:27, Ecc 1:16, Rom 5:4.
[4] Len Wilson and Jason Moore. Help! My Pastor Won’t Plan Ahead. Technologies for Worship. October 2005. p15. (The article deals with how to get the pastor to allow the “media minister” more freedom to manipulate people’s emotions through the use of media)
[5] Ibid
Next – Part two of four.
Nogoofyzone’s Weblog
Examining and exposing the fruit Of Rick Warren and Seeker Sensitive
This is a portion of an article from Tim Wirth that related to a previous post – For the full article click below. http://nogoofyzone.wordpress.com/2008/04/26/the-new-wave-of-apologetics-by-tim-wirth/
From Tamara Hartzell ‘In The Name Of Purpose”
The universal religion with its spiritual transformation is not coming; it is here. The Angel of light’s kingdom is gathering together “all men of peace” from “every world religion” “as the embodiment of the emerging Kingdom of God on earth.”* In this emerging interfaith kingdom there is:
“One Truth,” yet many theologies;
“One God,” yet many paths;
“One Church,” yet many expressions; and
“One Divine Life,” yet many ‘little Christs.’
The universal religion with its spiritual transformation is not coming; it is here. The Angel of light’s kingdom is gathering together “all men of peace” from “every world religion” “as the embodiment of the emerging Kingdom of God on earth.”* In this emerging interfaith kingdom there is:
“One Truth,” yet many theologies;
“One God,” yet many paths;
“One Church,” yet many expressions; and
“One Divine Life,” yet many ‘little Christs.’
Despite its deceived claims that its message hasn’t changed, today’s Christianity is embracing the teachings of the counterfeit kingdom. As a result, it is being steadily transitioned away from Jesus Christ, the Rock of Offence, to the universal “Christ” who broadly accepts people within all religions/faiths. Its purposeful pursuit of unity with the world truly is uniting today’s Christianity with the world.
“The religion of the future will be a general converging of religions in a universal Christ that will satisfy all … In the end, it is hoped that the Christian will become a better Christian and each Hindu a better Hindu.” —Jesuit theologian Father Jacques Dupuis, at the 2003 interfaith congress “The Future of God”*
“The Christ has no religious barriers in His consciousness. It matters not to Him of what faith a man may call himself.” —Alice Bailey & Djwhal Khul*
“I happen to know people who are followers of Christ in other religions.” —Rick Warren*
“He [‘the Christ’] inaugurated the new era and … the new world religion began to take form. The word ‘religion’ concerns relationship …” —Alice Bailey & Djwhal Khul*
“I have known many people who believe in the Messiah of Jesus, regardless of what religion they are, because they believe in him. It’s about a relationship, not a religion.” —Rick Warren*
“The day is dawning when all religions win [sic] be regarded as emanating from one great spiritual source; all will be seen as unitedly providing the one root out of which the universal world religion will inevitably emerge. Then there will be neither Christian nor heathen, neither Jew nor Gentile, but simply one great body of believers, gathered out of all the current religions.” —Alice Bailey & Djwhal Khul*
“I thought, you know where people are moving in they probably need new houses of worships, temples, and synagogues, and churches, and stuff like that.” —Rick Warren*
“The church is bigger than any organization in the world. Then you add in Muslims, you add in Hindus, you add in all the different religions, and you use those houses of worship as distribution centers, not just for spiritual care but health care.” —Rick Warren*
“I could take you today to a million villages … they got a church. Or they got a synagogue. They got something. They got a house of worship. The church is the biggest organization in the world…. And I came up with a thing called the P.E.A.C.E. Plan. When Jesus sent the disciples out, he said, ‘When you go into a village, you find the man of peace.’ Now this person doesn’t have to be a Christian…. You find the person of peace, and then you begin to do the P.E.A.C.E. Plan … Now why am I telling this to you? Because we’re going public with it this next year in 2006…. And I believe it will change the world.” —Rick Warren*
Yes, change is the order of the day.
Truth becomes the sacrifice:
So remember to keep in Gods word daily.
Examine your faith and walk daily.
And beware of the new wave of apologetics
Truth becomes the sacrifice:
So remember to keep in Gods word daily.
Examine your faith and walk daily.
And beware of the new wave of apologetics
Have you ever slowly waded into a cool swimming pool? At first it seems cold, but little by little, you inch deeper and deeper into the water as your body gets used to the temperature. Before you know it you are ready to dive right in because you have become accustomed to your surroundings and it no longers feels uncomfortable. Where once there was wariness, there is now familiarity. In a pool of water where a foot was gingerly lowered, there is now splashing and frolicking.
So it is, in the case of indoctrination. To teach or accept a system of thought uncritically. These children are unknowingly being indoctrinated into Hindu philosophy, and the parents allow it. Why?… because they themselves have accepted it.
Did you know that the Sun Salutation is a form of worshiping the Sun God? Read Deuteronomy 17: 2-4, to find out if this practice is acceptible for a Christian.
“If a man or woman living among you…is found doing evil in the eyes of the Lord…contrary to my command has worshiped other gods, bowing down to them or to the sun..”
I think this is pretty clear. Deuteromony says these practices are “detestable” unto the Lord.
Do you know why the asanas (poses) in the Sun Salutation are to be done in a certain order? They were created and developed over a 5,000 year period. The positions were not created to stretch the muscles or to create relaxation. The unnatural positions were created to force energy up the spine and ultimately into the brain for spiritual unification with Atman. Yoga means to yoke. To create union with Hindu gods. This is an oversimplified explanation but there is plenty of information once you get past the american pasteurized yoga versions. Here is quote from a Swami:
“your karma, your births and deaths – all which can be overcome if you enter into the substance of nature by understanding its laws, by becoming cosmic itself in essence. Towards this end, yoga takes us.”
http://www.swami-krishnananda.org/patanjali/raja_92.html
So if you want to really learn something about yoga then wander around the above link for awhile.
Obviously, the Bible is not silent on this. We are to have nothing to do with the heathen gods of the world, or participate in their rites. Even the Hindus have expressed dismay that Christians have hijacked their practices and that Christian terminology has replaced their own. HIndus know that their religion or philosophy cannot be removed from the practice.
Satan would never say…”Here jump into this occult pool of Hinduistic activity,” to Christians. Who would jump in? Instead Hindu religious activities and terminologies are neutralized into language we easily accept. Exercise and relaxation. The true reason as stated earlier is to awaken a cosmic force in the body. Now you won’t hear this explanation in american gyms or yoga studios. It may well be, because the instructor is unaware of the true reasons the poses were developed.
Here is an excerpt from Yoga2U:
Kundalini, The Kundalini (kundala=coil of a rope; Kundalini=a coiled female serpent) is the divine cosmic energy. This force or energy is symbolised as a coiled and sleeping serpent lying dormant in the lowest nerve centre at the base of the spinal column, the Muladhara-chakra. This latent energy has to be aroused and made to ascend the main spinal channel, the Susumna piercing the chakras right up to the Sahasrara, the thousand-petalled lotus in the head. Then the Yogi is in union with the Supreme Universal Soul.
YOGA = KUNDALINI = SERPENT POWER
Now look at these children below. What are we subjecting them to? Why are we allowing serpent power to be exposed to these precious children. How has it happened, that we have been slowing blindly ourselves to the infiltration and worship of false gods and teachings into our supposedly Christian nation? Ever since the Beatles introduced the world to Hinduism through their music, there has been an increasing comfort level and acceptance of eastern religions that was not known here in the states.
We have allowed this by not standing up for Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us to reject other gods of the world. Are we openly doing this? Christians…are you protecting your children, grand-children, nieces, and nephews by expressing concern over these issues?
Once someone is indoctrinated into false beliefs it is extremely difficult to help them see the truth. Once someone is used to water, they do not want to get out. They say, “Hey the water is great, come on in. What are you afraid of? The water is not cold it is wonderful.” But they have numbed themselves to the truth.
If you are involved in occult practices, stop and repent. Do not allow your children or people you care about, to be indoctrinated into eastern mysticism. When you tell other Christians that Yoga is NOT ok, you may experience anything from indifference to indignation. I often am called, ignorant, narrow-minded, ridiculous, or self-righteous. This is something you get used to. Maybe. But do not let this stop you from telling others the truth. Also, If you want to help others, pray that the Holy Spirit will reveal the truth to them.
WENATCHEE — WASL testing kicked off Tuesday, and with it began a new kind of stress relief for elementary schoolkids: morning yoga
A 10-year-old girl at Lincoln Elementary requested it. Her fourth-grade teacher Tina Nicpan-Brown couldn’t say no.
“For them it gives permission to just relax and not think about anything,” Nicpan-Brown said after yoga Tuesday. “They deal with a lot of pressure between home and school, so if there’s anything I can do to take that anxiety away, I will.”
Gym lights dimmed to a soft glow Tuesday morning. Babbling creek sounds and wooden flutes flowed from a stereo in the corner.
Alexis Rodriguez, 10, stretches his back along with about 30 other students as teacher Tina Nicpan-Brown leads a yoga session at Lincoln Elementary School before school Tuesday, the first day of WASL testing. (World photo/Kathryn Stevens)
“Inhale into cow, feel the stretch in your belly,” Nicpan-Brown said slowly and steadily. On all fours, students let their midsections sink slightly to the floor.
“And exhale into cat.” With a breath out, they tucked into a scared-cat position, stretching their back muscles.
About 20 girls crowded the front rows, silently focused, with an occasional smile-exchange with other girls.
Six boys banded together in the back, quietly interjecting fake farts, snoring sounds and giggles.
Ana Giles, 10, helps teacher Tina Nicpan-Brown lead about 30 students from Lincoln Elementary School in yoga before the start of the schoolday Tuesday, the first day of WASL testing at the school. Ana has practiced yoga at home before, so Nicpan-Brown, her fourth-grade teacher, asked her to help demonstrate some of the poses. (World photo/Kathryn Stevens)
“Toe power!” Matt Kirkpatrick, 10, murmured to his buddies as he dug his toes into the mat for downward-facing dog, a basic pose that looks like a human pitch tent with hands and feet on the ground, rump in the air.
“It looks kind of funny sometimes,” Matt said after class. “We don’t have to do the hard stuff, like putting my leg behind my neck. I thought it was fun.”
Nicpan-Brown introduced her class to yoga during their studies about India this winter. They learned that Indian children practice yoga two hours a day in school. The students were intrigued.
Nicpan-Brown turned to her yoga instructor Jan Bullock, who also works as a counselor at Foothills Middle School, for advice on how to adapt it for kids. After a 45-minute yoga introduction, students later requested yoga before class tests and projects.
“They asked me if I’d be willing to do it before WASL, so I scheduled it before school so I could invite more people,” Nicpan-Brown said. She agreed to lead nine classes on WASL days for third-, fourth- and fifth-graders with parent permission.
Nicpan-Brown said many of her 9- and 10-year-olds are afraid of failure, and some believe they won’t graduate to fifth grade if they don’t pass the WASL, she said.
“(WASL) makes me nervous, like maybe I won’t pass,” said 10-year-old Alexis Rodriguez after Tuesday’s session. “I think doing yoga makes me feel relaxed so it’s not so difficult.”
For 10-year-old Chyanne Rubash, “It feels good to stretch out my muscles so I can sit down for a long time and focus on the test,” she said.
About 35 students signed up, but Nicpan-Brown expects 25 to 30 to show up on any given morning.
“I’m honored that they came and wanted to help themselves,” Nicpan-Brown said. “They were willing to get up at 6 in the morning to be here at 7:20. I’m really proud of them.”
Carl Jung was never clear about his own religious beliefs. But this unusual idea of synchronicity is easily explained by the Hindu view of reality. In the Hindu view, our individual egos are like islands in a sea: We look out at the world and each other and think we are separate entities. What we don’t see is that we are connected to each other by means of the ocean floor beneath the waters.
Does Psychology belong in the Church?
Psychology counsels no fear of the Lord at anytime in any of its therapies, let alone
at the beginning. So there is no wisdom in it. The Bible teaches that
there is body, soul, and spirit; psychology says there is only the body and
the soul.
***
The Bible teaches us that it is Holy Spirit that will lead us in
all truth and that it is sharper than a two edged sword, dividing even the
soul from spirit. Psychology doesn’t even believe in the Holy Spirit.
***
The Bible teaches us about our eternal destiny. Psychology offers no hope for
eternity.
***
The Bible teaches us to lay up for our selves treasures in heaven. Psychology offers no concept of heaven to lay up your treasures for.
***
The Bible says seek ye first the kingdom of God and all these things
(our needs) will be added unto us. Psychology doesn’t seek first the
Kingdom of God, in fact it never seeks the Kingdom of God.
***
The Bible teaches that our help comes from the Lord. Psychology tells us our help
comes from one or more of unproven theories and tens of thousands of
psychotherapists whose ideas were drawn from paganism, divination,
astrology, humanism, and evolution.
***
The Bible teaches that being lovers of selves is mankind’s problem. Psychology teaches that being lovers of selves is the solution. Bible teaches that we can come freely to drink the waters of life. Psychology charges for it.
***
The Bible offers the opportunity of becoming a new man in Christ. Psychology offers an improved or even damaged version of the old man.
***
The Bible teaches that our strength is perfected in weakness and that in suffering, sin loses its power. Psychology teaches us how to balance our strengths and weaknesses with personality profiles derived from paganism and divination.
***
The Bible esteems the contrite and broken spirit. Psychology esteems self-esteem.
***
The Bible teaches us to rejoice in the suffering or being persecuted with Christ to produce
character and overcome the world. Psychology has no interest in Christ’s
suffering, our suffering with Christ, or sees any redemptive value in his
shed blood.
***
The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ believed in demon possession and delivered those possessed. Psychology teaches that there is no such thing as demon possession…so there is nothing to be delivered from.
***
The Bible tells us how to be blessed in the Beatitudes. Psychology
doesn’t even comprehend blessing, so it can not offer anyone a blessing
because it omits the person required to administer these blessings, that is
Jesus Christ.
***
The Bible tells us we can’t produce the fruit of the spirit
which is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, and self-control without abiding in the vine which is Jesus
Christ himself. Psychology attempts to bear this fruit by abiding in the
teaching of such founders as Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud who opposed
Christianity!
***
The Bible teaches that there are primarily three things that are required of
every Christian: (1) Salvation, (2) Sanctification, and (3) Carry out the
Great Commission so that others may receive. Psychology can’t offer
Salvation, Sanctification, and is unable to and does not even pretend to
offer the Great Commission in order that others might be saved and
sanctified.
***
…..The Church needs to wake up too and stop integrating
and mixing the Gospel with the Religion of Psychology in its programs too!
You can not serve two masters! Choose today whom you will follow — the
Mighty Counselor and Intercessor, or your flawed psychotherapist as your
counselor! Psychology is based on myths while Paul in his Second Epistle to
Timothy said to turn aside from myths!
The above is from Psychology Debunked
***************
We are being told today that we have a self-esteem problem. Is this really true? I would venture to say that truly we esteem ourselves very highly. Are we not told to watch our for #1?. The proper position in life is to be at the top of ladder and certainly to be at a lower rung is to be looked down upon. Climb, climb, climb. Don’t we like to buy the best we can afford in life? How many times have we said to ourselves, “I really deserve a treat”…. “I just have to have this.” No…I do not think that low self-esteem is a problem, because in fact we love ourselves very much. We are full of pride. We get easily offended. We get impatient. “How dare I be made to wait.”…”Did you see how that clerk treated me?”… “Hey, I was next in line.”
We spend a great part of the day making personal selections and decisions that benefit self. Many professionals are raking in the dough telling people how to love themselves more by increasing their self-esteem. Self-love is not the problem.
Jesus knew this. In Matthew 22 a scribe asks Him “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
Matthew 22:37-39
” Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.”
We are to love God first, then our neighbors then ourselves. We are the last in line. When we take the focus off of ourselves and put it on Jesus…our life changes. We begin to care more about others, especially our brethren. But…there is a certain despair that is caused by our inability to do this very thing. This should drive us to the cross, on our knees in prayer.
kim
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John 14:16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever-
John 14:26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
War on the Saints – Manifestations
When I was sixteen and in Youth Group at church, our leader decided that it would be a great idea to visit other churches and attend their worship service. Our first and only visit would be to a Southern Baptist church in Seattle. I lived in Bellevue at the time, a predominately middle-class white community.
On that particular Sunday morning in the year 1969, we all piled into a couple of cars and headed for Seattle. I remember we all sat in the very back row of the church. Now the service started and the music impressed us. We were used to the typical hymns and this music didn’t sound like anything we had heard before, and it was great.
Of course this was before total pandemonium broke out. The singing got louder and louder and then wilder. Before we knew it…people were rolling in the aisles, legs and arms were flailing, there were loud cries and anguished shouts. People were laying everywhere, shaking, jerking and wailing.
Ushers then came out but now they were dressed as nurses. In white uniforms. People who could not get up were carried out on stretchers. I do not really recall how long this went on. I do remember looking over at our youth group leader and noticing how white his face looked.
When the service was over, (there was no sermon) I remember filing out and shaking the pastors hand, with him thanking us for coming. What a silent ride home. We never discussed what we had seen at this church. To this day I wonder what my friends in youth group told their parents.
I knew that this was not of God and that what we had seen….was demonic. This was my first discernment. It was not until 2004, 35 years later, that I found out about the Toronto Blessing, and Brownsville, Pensacola manifestations. Watching video clips from these services mirrored exactly what I saw so many years ago.
This is from War on the Saints:
MIXED MANIFESTATIONS
The majority of those present may have no idea of the mixture which has crept in. Some fall upon the ground unable to bear the strained emotion, or effect upon the mind; and some are thrown down by some supernatural power; others cry out in ecstasy; the speaker leaves the platform, passes by a young man, who becomes conscious of a feeling of intoxication upon him, which does not leave his senses for some time. Others laugh with the exuberance of the intoxicating joy. Some have had real spiritual help and blessing through the Word of God being expounded ere this climax came, and during the pure outflow of the Holy Spirit; consequently they accept these strange workings as from God, because in the first stage of the meeting, their needs have been truly met by Him; and they cannot discern the two separate “manifestations” coming through the same channel! If they doubt the latter part of the meeting, they fear they are untrue to their inner conviction that the earlier part was “of God.” Others are conscious that the “manifestations” are contrary to their spiritual vision, and judgment; but on account of the blessing of the earlier part they stifle their doubts, and say “We cannot understand the ‘physical’ manifestations, but we must not expect to understand all that God does. We only know that the wonderful outpouring of truth and love and light at the beginning of the meeting was from God, and met our need. No one can mistake the sincerity, the pure motive of the speaker . . therefore, although I cannot understand, or say I ‘like’ the physical manifestations, yet–it must be all of God . . “
TRUE AND COUNTERFEIT ACCEPTED TOGETHER
Briefly put, this is a glimpse into the mixed “manifestations” which have come upon the Church of God, since the Revival in Wales; for, almost without exception, in every land where revival has since broken forth, within a very brief period of time the counterfeit stream has mingled with the true; and almost without exception, true and false have been accepted together, because of the workers being ignorant of the possibility of concurrent streams; or else have been rejected together by those who could not detect the one from the other; or it has been believed that there was no “true” at all, because the majority of believers fail to understand that there can be mixed workings of the (1) Divine and Satanic, (2) Divine and human, (3) Satanic and human, (4) soul and spirit, (5) soul and body, (6) body and spirit; the three latter in the way of feelings and consciousness, and the three former in the way of source and power.
There must be more than one quantity to make a mixture; at least two. The devil mixes his lies with the truth, for he must use a truth to carry his lies. The believer must therefore discriminate, and judge all things. He must be able to see so much to be impure, and so much that he can accept. Satan is a “mixer.” If in anything he finds ninety-nine percent pure, he tries to insert one percent of his poisonous stream, and this grows, if undetected, until the proportions are reversed. Where there is mixture acknowledged to be in meetings where supernatural manifestations take place, if believers are unable to discriminate, they should keep away from these “mixtures” until they are able to discern.
In accepting the counterfeits of Satan, the believer thinks, and believes, he is complying with Divine conditions in order to ascend to a higher life; whereas he complies with conditions for Satanic workings in his life, and thereby descends into a pit of deception and suffering, with his spirit and motive pure.
Ppg. 98-100
I have never found out, even though I have been researching how the false manifestations were transferred or originated in this Seattle church.The transfer of the “anointing” from HTB ( Holy Trinity Brompton) to Toronto (the Toronto Blessing), then onto Pensacola, is well documented. If you take a look at this chart you will see some interesting and well-known names.
Here is the main link
The Holy Spirit cannot be passed from one person into another. In the Parable of the Ten Virgins, Matthew 25:1-13, each virgin had a lamp which represents the profession of Christianity. It is the oil that gives off the light though. The oil symbolizes the Holy Spirit. When the virgins slept because of their long wait for the bridegroom, five of them had not prepared themselves. When the midnight cry came, the virgins awoke and started to trim their lamps, but alas, five had no oil. They asked the five virgins for some of their oil, but they said. “No, go and buy some for yourselves.” This oil is not transferable. One cannot borrow the Holy Spirit from another person. Neither can it be “transferred”, “imparted” or “passed on.”
It was too late for these foolish virgins, for when they returned the door was shut.
“Sir! Sir! Open the door for us.”
“I tell you the truth, I don’t know you.”
I am reposting this article by Tamara Hartzell. She has left us to be with the Lord. Her research is painstaking and excellent.
originally posted February 2008: by Tamara Hartzell
Are You “Being Led Away with the Error of the Wicked” to the New Age Ark of Oneness?
Not too long ago I read through Tamara Hartzell’s In the Name of Purpose: Sacrificing Truth on the Altar of Unity. What an amazing piece of research…. Now I have completed “Being Led Away with the Error of the Wicked” and found it also to be a great article. Tamara tells an interesting story which starts like this.
“As a child growing up in Fresno, my favorite attraction was Roeding Park with its Zoo and Storyland. As its name imples, Storyland is a play area for kids featuring explorative displays and audio recordings of different children’s stories, such as The Three Little Pigs, Goldilocks, and various others. A Noah’s Ark display has also been included that featured a walk-through Ark made into a Christian Chapel, complete with stained glass windows and pews.
This past spring I had the opportunity to revisit Roeding Park. At first, the Noah’s Ark display appeared unchanged. It still seemed to be the same Christian Chapel. However, as I entered the Ark/Chapel I stood stunned and in disbelief.” [1]
Sorry to leave the story hanging but I want you to read this article. I printed it out for my ever-growing collection, but here are some interesting excerpts:
Although humanity intends for its Ark of Oneness to bring the world love, peace, compassion, brotherhood, goodwill, sharing, beauty, justice, virtue, unity, service and elimination of global and planetary problems, humanity is ultimately being driven by the god of this world to a very specific destination (a destination that not every builder and would-be boarder of the Ark is necessarily aware of ahead of time). This Ark of oneness is the ultimate forbidden fruit. It is the no-holds-barred grand finale of the serpent’s seduction of humanity, which he began in the Garden of Eden.” [2]
“The new world and its Emerging One Church (one universal faith in “God” and in humanity) are emerging so rapidly now that it is simply too difficult, it not upright impossible, to keep up with the massive global shift taking place in both the world and today’s professing church.” [3]
“…humanity is becoming a swift learned of the ways and teachings of the New Spirituality and its Emerging One Church. When the time comes, those who are spiritual enough will, as one leave all separateness behind and follow the serpent’s Coming One (the New Age anti-Christ) right into his counterfeit kingdom of God…” [4]
“…a genuinely “Self-centered” humanity will be successfully incited by the dragon and his spirit realm to execute judgment upon all who are ‘guilty’ of the new world’s ‘worst’ hate crime–believing the truth given to us by God in His word.” …..”Yet in the upside-down New Spirituality of this upside-down new world, the ones who are deemed guilty of ‘self-centered’ ‘hate’ are those who lovingly alert others to God’s truth…” [5]
A friend from another Christian ministry…told me that 10-15 years ago, he never would have thought that he would live to see the day, that is now quickly approaching. It is extremely difficult at this point to keep up with all the organizations that are promoting unity for peace, love and goodwill of man. While these goals are good in themselves there is an undertow swirling meant to pull mankind down into a new world order. The world will go willingly.
We, as Christians, followers of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, are not to be of this world. This new spirituality is not about Jesus Christ…it is about the false christs. It is a deception so well-planned that innocent people will be taken-in because they did not know the Word of God. Who are you following? Are you being Led Away with the Error of the Wicked?
I pray that you are not.
[1] page 5
[2] page 13
[3] page 47 [4] page 17 [5] page 19
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