Guest Post: New Age Mysticism Pt2

The New Age Movement seems to have faded away since it came on the scene quite vigorously in the 1970s. Actually, it hasn’t faded away but has “faded into the woodwork.” Many of its teachings and practices have become so accepted in Western society that they’re commonplace, seemingly far removed from their Eastern mystical roots. Terms like karma, yoga, meditation, guru, mantra, etc., have become part of our everyday language, without any hint of their religious origins and connections for most people. Additionally, a number of programs have arisen that deceptively promote Eastern meditation as non-religious science by calling it mindfulness .

Yet there are some who are sounding the alarm that potential danger lies hidden in the spiritual foundations of meditation. They recognize that the faith of Christians who participate in these practices is being undermined. Gaylene Goodroad, researcher and writer for Herescope, quotes former mystic Christine Pack regarding her first meditation experience: “In the space of 20 minutes (because that’s all the time it takes to do a meditation), my worldview shifted dramatically…the Christianity of the Bible was no longer a valid spiritual path for me. Why? Because Christianity is the only religion with such unbending and exclusive truth claims. (‘I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life....no one comes to the Father but through Me.’— John:14:6)…. And meditation counters this claim by generating an experience in which a person feels a profound sense of interconnectedness and oneness with ‘all’ that feels completely counter to the exclusive truth claims of Christianity. It feels like you have just had an encounter with God, that you have been in the presence of the Divine...only, you haven’t. Let’s look at the logical conclusions that practicing mystics must come to if they are staying true to their belief system: If I can experience God through meditation, if I can ‘cross the divide’ through my own efforts, then the Cross of Calvary has no meaning. And Jesus was a liar when He said that He was the only way to God. And the Bible was wrong where it says that without Christ we are dead in our sins and trespasses (no ‘divine inner spark’ already living within each person).” ¹

The experience of “oneness with ‘all’” doesn’t necessarily happen to everyone who meditates, but the potential is there for everyone who practices it, no matter the goal of the practitioner—whether seeking spiritual enlightenment or simply relief from stress. That latter point, including being more productive in one’s job, school, or family environment, is what is being heralded by the promoters and publishers. Noted Hollywood director David Lynch, a disciple of Transcendental Meditation’s (TM) founder Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, started the Foundation for Consciousness-Based Education and World Peace. Yet while denying its religious roots and basis, he declares, “If you don’t already meditate, take my advice: Start. It will be the best decision you ever make.” ² Another meditation foundation that is being eagerly received by educators is MindUP. It has Buddhist roots, whereas TM’s source is Hinduism—although that information is often hidden by their promoters.

MindUP’s mindfulness meditation claims to train the brains of both adults and children to develop the “social and emotional skills to reduce stress and anxiety for healthier, happy lives,” with no religious attachments. That’s quite attractive to Americans, a society given to self-helps and whatever else may seem to solve their problems. Yet the rush to solutions in the US is nearly always based upon a zeal without knowledge. That would account for the overwhelming growth of another “mind-adjusting” business—psychotherapy, the pseudoscience that has created far more problems than it has solved while becoming a multi-billion-dollar industry.

Should American consumers be concerned about the increasing number of meditation offerings? Have any warning labels or caveat emptor (buyer beware) caution signs been attached to TM or MindUP by their promoters? Not even in the small print. Is that because, as they say in the sports world, “No harm, no foul”? Hardly, as a growing number of concerns of late are being reported, such as this article in The Washington Post titled: “Meditation and mindfulness aren’t as good for you as you think: There are negative side effects that no one ever talks about.” Here are some excerpts: “Mindfulness is a technique extracted from Buddhism in which one tries to notice present thoughts, feelings, and sensations without judgment....What was once a tool for spiritual exploration has been turned into a panacea for the modern age—a cure-all for common human problems, from stress to anxiety to depression. By taking this ‘natural pill’ every day, we open ourselves up to the potential for myriad benefits and no ill effects, unlike synthetic pills, such as antidepressants, with their potential for negative side effects….Mindfulness has been sold to us, and we are buying it.…After examining the literature from the last 45 years on the science of meditation, we realized with astonishment that we are no closer to finding out how meditation works or who benefits the most or the least from it.” ³ So much for the “science” of meditation!

It’s interesting that this report by a secular newspaper states simply and clearly what TM and mindfulness meditation programs have lied about from their introduction: “Mindfulness has been separated from its roots, stripped of its ethical and spiritual connotations and sold to us as a therapeutic tool. While this may not deny its power as a technique to change our state of consciousness and with implications for mental health, it arguably limits its ‘naturalness,’ as well as its potential—at least as originally intended.” The secular article concludes with this: “So if you go into it [the practice of mindfulness meditation]—as with taking any other kind of pill – keep your eyes open. Don’t consume mindfulness blindly.” ⁴

The undisclosed “negative side effects” run the gamut from continuing depression to demonization to suicide. The Atlantic printed an article titled “The Dark Knight of the Soul: For some, meditation has become more curse than cure.” Dr. Willoughby Britton oversees a retreat center that ministers to meditators who are there not to restore themselves with meditation—they’re recovering from it: “I started having thoughts like, Let me take over you , combined with confusion and tons of terror,” says David, a polite, articulate 27-year-old who arrived at Britton’s Cheetah House in 2013. “I had a vision of death with a scythe and a hood, and the thought, Kill yourself , over and over again.” Another young man being treated is “Michael, 25, a certified yoga teacher [who] made his way to Cheetah House. He explains that during the course of his meditation practice his ‘body stopped digesting food. I had no idea what was happening.’ For three years he believed he was ‘permanently ruined’ by meditation.” ⁵

Dr. Britton is an assistant professor of psychiatry and human behavior at the Brown University Medical School. The Atlantic article continues: “She receives regular phone calls, emails, and letters from people around the world in various states of impairment. Most of them worry that no one will believe—let alone understand—their stories of meditation-induced affliction. Her investigation of this phenomenon, called ‘The Dark Night Project,’ is an effort to document, analyze, and publicize accounts of the adverse effects of contemplative practices.” ⁶ In America: The Sorcerer’s New Apprentice , Dave Hunt and I attempted to inform the Body of Christ of our concerns about the spiritual and physical dangers of Eastern mystical techniques and practices that many Christians were being attracted to and seduced by, believing they were simply engaging in physical and mental exercises that would improve their minds and bodies. Few seemed to be listening as we explained that Eastern meditation leads to the same kind of altered state of consciousness as psychedelic drugs, even though meditation and other related mind-altering techniques (repeated mantras, visualization, sensory deprivation, yoga asanas, etc.) were being touted as a “natural” approach without the side effects of drugs. In that 1988 book, we noted some of the New Age organizations that have faced up to the claimed “nonexistent,” yet real, horrendous side effects, such as the Spiritual Emergency Network, which maintained a hotline and referral treatment service for those whose lives had been spiritually and physically wrecked. The Spiritual Emergency Network continues today although with the adjusted new title: “The Spiritual Emergence Network.”

Even among those who are acknowledging the present and potential damage of mystical practices, there seems to be a type of bondage involved. Dr. Britton, for all of her great concerns, candidly admitted, “There are parts of me that just want meditation to be all good. I find myself in denial sometimes, where I just want to forget all that I’ve learned and go back to being happy about mindfulness and promoting it, but then I...meet someone who’s in distress, and I see the devastation in their eyes, and I can’t deny that this is happening.”

Tragically, there are many in the church, whether Christians in name only or true believers, who are ignorant of, oblivious to, or in denial regarding the dangers of New Age/Eastern mystical beliefs and practices. Dave Hunt, in his 2006 book Yoga and the Body of Christ, reported that “Astonishingly, there are about 586,000 references on ‘Google Search’ under the heading ‘Yoga for Christians.’” Today that same search brings up more than a million resources. Anyone concerned?

Let’s review some undeniable facts. New Age mysticism is a latter-day re-establishment and reworking of Eastern mysticism for the West. At the heart of it all is the view of God as an impersonal spiritual Energy or Force that can be manipulated by the mind of man, a concept that rejects the personal Creator God who reveals Himself in Scripture through His Holy Spirit. The way to connect with the “God” of Eastern mysticism is through experiencing an altered state of consciousness via mind-altering methods such as drugs, meditation, visualization, yoga positions, repetitious chanting, sensory deprivation (Sufi whirling, Indian sweat lodge experiences, isolation cells, etc.). All of these are forms of sorcery, a term found in Scripture (in the Greek, pharmakeia , translated as magic, sorcery, enchantment), and a practice condemned therein. Writers for major secular newspapers and magazines have recognized the fact that the meditation promoted by organizations (e.g., MindUP, TM) that declare it to be scientific with no religious connection, as well as beneficial with no side effects, are misguided if not fraudulent.

If the secular press can discern the harmful errors contrary to the claims of the meditation businesses, where is the discernment among Christians? The criticism that they seem to be climbing aboard the Titanic even though it’s lurching is sadly true. Consider Rick Warren, who is arguably the most recognized and influential evangelical pastor today. Hoping to help those among his church members who struggled with weight loss, he introduced The Daniel Plan. As part of that plan, he turned himself and his flock over to the guidance of three medical doctors, all of whom promote mystical meditation: Dr. Mehmet Oz, Dr. Daniel Amen, and Dr. Mark Hyman. Dr. Oz is a Sufi mystic, the national spokesman for TM, and a devotee of New Ager Oprah Winfrey. Dr. Amen is a psychiatrist who teaches the Japanese spiritual-energy practice of Reiki. Dr. Hyman teaches Buddhist meditation. Furthermore, on his RWToolbox Twitter page Warren directs followers in the contemplative meditation practice of “centering prayer”: “Choose a simple word, phrase, or verse from Scripture….Take time to become quiet….Let them [your thoughts] go….Be with Jesus. Listen. Be still.” Warren is hardly alone in Christianity’s slide into Eastern mysticism.

Evangelical conferences for youth have started their days with yoga. A writer for Christianity Today says “Yes to Yoga.” She claims, “The three hours a week I spend doing yoga not only make me more flexible, tone my muscles, and relax me. They also draw me closer to Christ. They are my bodily-kinetic prayer.” ⁷ Can yoga have some physical value? Yes. But at what cost? Smoking also has some value in that it calms and relaxes the smoker. However, unlike yoga meditation, it carries a warning label regarding its potentially deadly consequences.

Amazingly, there is a network of Christians who practice different forms of yoga, such as Jesus Yoga, Yahweh Yoga, Holy Yoga and Kid’s Holy Yoga, Praise Moves, Yogafaith, and Christoga. They have a website that speaks for all regarding its purpose: “We are drawn together through our individual and collective experience that yoga and meditation deepens our Christian faith….We simply feel called to share our experiences with the hope they’ll draw others to deepen their faith through embodied contemplative practices” (See www.christianspracticingyoga.com/). The Christian Yoga Magazine website declares that it is a resource “for people of all religious traditions to explore how they can integrate Eastern physical and spiritual practices—such as yoga, meditation and Tai Chi—into their daily lives while remaining true to their deepest spiritual beliefs” (See www.christianyogamagazine.com/about/).

There’s little doubt that many of the proponents of Christian yoga are sincere people who just want to make Christianity and yoga compatible. It seems obvious that this would be inexcusable, but given the present state of Christianity—which seems to welcome, with arms wide open (despite glaring contradictions), any additions or modifications—we find it happening with increasing frequency. This is experiential ecumenism, part of the process at work in the development of the religion of the Antichrist. Furthermore, it’s a fulfillment of prophecy, along with an encouragement to press on: “Remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; how that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts…sensual, having not the Spirit. But ye…building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And of some have compassion, making a difference: and others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh” (Jude 17-23).

The only faith that can be deepened in truth is biblical faith, which is diametrically opposed to the teachings and practices of Eastern mysticism and its Westernized stepchild.   TBC

Endnotes

1. Christine Pack, “What Is Mysticism?”, www.solasisters.com/2011/03/what-is-mysticism.html, cited in Gaylene Goodroad, “Eastern Meditation as the Universal Cure-All,” www.herescope.blogspot.com , November 23, 2015.
2. www.davidlynchfoundation.org/message.html.
3. Miguel Farias and Catherine Wikholm, www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/06/05/meditation-and-mindf....
4. Ibid.
5. Tomas Rocha, www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/06/the-dark-knight-of-the-souls/....
6. Ibid.
7. Agnieszka Tennant, www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2005/mayweb-only/42.0b.html.

McMahon, T.A.. (2016, March 1). New Age Mysticism Déja vu – Part Two. thebereancall.org. Retrieved April 2, 2016 from http://www.thebereancall.org/content/new-age-mysticism-de-ja-vu-part-two

Guest Post: New Age Mysticism Pt1

New Age Mysticism Déja vu – Part One

By, T.A. McMahon

In the mid-1970s, Dave Hunt wrote a book chronicling the life of Paul Gupta, a Christian convert and the founder of Hindustan Bible Institute. That biography began Dave’s research efforts regarding Hinduism and Eastern mysticism. Shortly thereafter, Dave met a former Hindu guru who had converted to Christianity, and Dave collaborated with him on his conversion story titled Death of a Guru . It was during that time period that the New Age Movement (NAM) got underway in the US.

Defining the NAM is rather challenging given all the different perspectives and influences involved, yet its fundamental teachings are rooted in Eastern mysticism. New Agers also declare a common belief in what has been termed the “perennial wisdom,” a guiding principle stating that all religions, at their core, worship the same God, which is defined as Ultimate Reality. The New Age Movement encompasses a staggering variety of individuals, ideas, themes, and practices, all emphasizing the nonphysical/spiritual realm. Some of the movement’s most influential individuals include Helena Blavatsky, Marilyn Ferguson, Teilhard de Chardin, Deepak Chopra, Dr. Oz, Benjamin Creme, Michael Harner, Barbara Marx Hubbard, Shirley MacLaine, Aleister Crowley, Timothy Leary, Yogi Bhajan, Helen Schucman, Neale Donald Walsch, Marianne Williamson, Ken Wilber, Oprah Winfrey, and Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

Beliefs and practices include alternative healing methods, astrology, spiritual energies, meditation, parapsychology, witchcraft, yoga, quantum mysticism, Gaia and goddess worship, reincarnation, UFOs, channeling, karma, hallucinogenic drugs, feng shui, altered states of consciousness, the martial arts, spiritualism, the kabbala, transpersonal psychology, and the human potential movement.

In the late 1980s, Dave Hunt and I wrote America , The Sorcerer’s New Apprentice: The Rise of New Age Shamanism . The motivation and purpose for writing that book was to give Christians a better understanding of what the NAM and Eastern mysticism were all about. We were greatly concerned that much of what was clearly New Age was entering and taking hold within Christendom. Not everyone concurred with our concerns, however, including a Christian apologetics author who announced that we had “made up the whole idea of the New Age Movement.” Surprising as that was from someone professing to encourage discernment , it nevertheless underscored the need for an informative work explaining what the NAM believed and practiced, its physical and spiritual dangers, and how its religious concepts were diametrically opposed to biblical Christianity. As noted, the ultimate reality of the NAM is an impersonal force or energy of which everything consists. Although there are various names for this energy (ki, chi, qi, prana, mana, barakah, innate), it is described in god-terms as pantheism, which is the teaching that everything in the universe consists of God. That widespread belief clearly does not describe the personal, infinite God presented in Scripture. Furthermore, if God were everything or in everything, then “it” would be subject to the Second Law of Thermodynamics, which tells us that energy is inevitably degenerating toward a terminal stage. Undoubtedly, the eternal God of the Bible is not an impersonal energy force.

Many today believe that the New Age Movement is itself in a state of entropy or decline. On the contrary! Though the name may not be bandied about as it was thirty years ago, its beliefs and practices are more universally accepted than ever. That would hardly be significant were we considering only India and the countries of the Far East, where the prevalent religions for millennia have centered upon a spiritual energy force. No, it’s the “Christian” West that has been seduced in staggering proportions by the East. Though the stratagems that have ushered in that spiritual flood are too numerous for this two-part series, some of the most significant ones will be identified. And, of course, the prophetic Word of God will be given to underscore the fact that what is taking place is hardly random but rather the orchestration of God’s chief adversary, Satan himself. “Now the [Holy] Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils” (1 Timothy:4:1).

“Seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils” may seem too extreme for most Christians today. Understandably, that reaction may arise due to the notoriety of some ministries that “find” Satan in everything and behind everything. Or it could be that most Christians today simply don’t know the Scriptures or the validity of Bible prophecy. Those words that Paul wrote to Timothy were not his own ideas but rather the words of God given to Paul by the Holy Spirit. As Paul wrote to the Thessalonians: “For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe” (1 Thessalonians:2:13). We see what should be obvious from Scripture: “Seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils” reflect Satan’s lies at the very beginning of his communication with mankind, which constituted 1) a repudiation of God’s command to Adam that he not eat of the fruit of a certain tree in the Garden of Eden, resulting in the penalty of death for his disobedience, and 2) the seductive offer to Eve that she and Adam could be “as gods.” These self-willed and god-wannabe doctrines are indeed demonically inspired and are the very centerpiece of the NAM and Eastern mysticism.

Most people are aware that the 1970s era was a time of anti-war protest, psychedelic drug use, the hippie movement, the end of the war in Vietnam, the enormous popularity of the Beatles, and the search of young people to “find themselves.” That search led many from the West to India. What few know, however, is that at that time there was likewise a massive missionary effort from the East coming into the West to convert “Christians” to Hinduism by spreading its beliefs and practices. In his book Yoga and the Body of Christ , Dave Hunt reported, “Hindu gurus from the East, such as Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Baba Muktananda, Yogananda, Yogi Bhajan, Vivekananda, Bhagwan Shri Rajneesh, and a host of others, were pleased to learn in the late ’50s and early ’60s, that through the popular use of psychedelic drugs, millions of Westerners were experiencing a nonphysical reality that Western science had long denied existed. They were quick to recognize that a vast market for their teachings had thereby been opened up in the West. The New Age movement was birthed. Yoga, once practiced in the East only by ‘holy men,’ was made available to the masses in the West, and it soon spread everywhere, even into churches and among evangelicals.

“The call went out to Hindus and yoga enthusiasts, ‘The New Age movement...has accepted the great ideas of the East.... Let us invade the American Campuses armed with the vision of Vedanta’ [from America: The Sorcerer’s New Apprentice , p. 281]. Few, if any, realized that the West had fallen victim to the largest and most successful missionary campaign in history…. Most Westerners find it difficult to think of these smiling, bowing, obsequious, and supposedly broadminded yogis, swamis, and lamas as missionaries determined to spread their mystic gospel. It comes as a great surprise that the largest missionary organization in the world is not Christian but Hindu—India’s Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP)” (Dave Hunt, Yoga and the Body of Christ  [Bend, OR: The Berean Call, 2006], p. 12).

Those gurus found their audiences throughout the West, from college campuses to Hollywood. But none were more successful (or deceptive) than the Beatles’ guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Launched into the public’s eye by the British pop group, he introduced his religious beliefs and practices as the “Spiritual Regeneration Movement.” However, opposition arose against his effective attempts to get his program into public schools. Stymied by the courts, he changed its name to “The Science of Creative Intelligence” and later to Transcendental Meditation (TM). That success was unparalleled and set the basic stratagem for promoting Hinduism in the West: disguise its religious roots in the fog of pseudoscience. Proclaim that it’s for self-improvement, for health, for peace of mind, even for “spiritual enhancement” as long as it’s “not religious!”

One aspect of the NAM that boosted its acceptance in the West was the spiritual vacuum created by materialism, which didn’t pan out as the scientific answer to solving mankind’s increasing problems. On a mundane level, many realized that having more material goods did not bring about the happiness and peace of mind they thought it would. So, the “spiritual/mystical” solution became ripe for acceptance, and multitudes joined in, especially because there were no “accountability or judgmental strings” attached. Yet there was a major “string” that had to be accepted by the rational Western mind.

In Hinduism the physical reality of the universe is not real at all. It is maya , an illusion, the escape from which is the ultimate goal of yoga. The true reality is found in the nonphysical realm, according to Eastern mysticism. Some in the West were given an inkling that such might be the case based on their experience of reaching altered states of consciousness through psychedelic drugs. Timothy Leary and Aldous Huxley led that mind-expanding drug parade, oblivious to or in denial of its destructive results, physically (and spiritually). Yet those “bad trips” opened the doors wide for the gurus who taught a supposedly harmless method for reaching what they claimed to be higher consciousness.

So what is being sold in the West by the gurus, the Eastern mystics, and the NAM leaders? Although “perennial wisdom” over thousands of years seems thus far to have failed to solve the extensive problems in the East, are we to accept its claim that it is going to vastly improve the West? Really? It hasn’t worked in its purest form in the East. (A recent comment by a native of India in The Times of India declared: “I am convinced. We are amongst the MOST depraved of societies in the world. And it’s only going to get worse.”). Are we now to believe that the homogenized versions practiced in the West (including Doga [yoga for dogs], Snowga [yoga and snow sports], laughter yoga, and SUP yoga [stand up paddleboard yoga]) will bring about the solution to what ails America?

Again, what is being promoted? It’s the idea that the physical world is an illusion, i.e., true reality exists in the nonphysical realm, which is entered by suspending normal consciousness. This suspension is accomplished by experiencing an altered state of consciousness primarily through drugs and/or meditation.

I suggest that rather than suspending our normal consciousness, let’s instead apply the biblical definition of meditation , which means to deeply consider what’s being communicated. The philosophies of the gurus et al. attempt to persuade us that achieving a higher state of consciousness is far better than retaining our normal state, which is supposedly preventing us from realizing that we are all part of the divine Being. Moreover, they insist that our ordinary consciousness is keeping us from experiencing continual peace and bliss in our lives.

Should I then opt for spending most if not all of my time in an altered state of consciousness? There are yogis in India who do so. Ironically, their physical needs must be attended to by those who function in a normal state of consciousness. One doesn’t need much insight to recognize the dire consequences of attempting to live one’s life alternating between the two states of consciousness.

Since it began, the New Age Movement never got around to addressing the practical issues of its spiritually eclectic teachings and practices. It simply pushed forward as though it were a given that the spiritual grass (pun intended) was greener in another reality. But that was then. Have the world and the West moved on? Not quite. As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, the name “New Age Movement” may be little used today, but its content is hidden in plain sight and its seeds have taken root seemingly everywhere.

Next month, the Lord willing, I will point out some of the many manifestations of Eastern mysticism—in particular the deep inroads the concepts and practices have made in the evangelical church. As shocking as that is, it is nevertheless confirmed by prophecies related to the apostasy that Scripture declares will take place prior to the Lord’s return. Among the many verses that indicate this apostasy are 2 Timothy:4:3-4
: “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables,” and Luke:18:8: “…Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” Although that condition is prophesied, it is a statement referring to Christendom collectively—not Christians individually. In other words, apostasy will indeed take place and will infect, perhaps, most Christians, but each Christian will be held personally accountable for his or her walk with the Lord. Not every Christian will be seduced by the end-times deception.

Just as the Beatles were the main springboard for launching the Eastern mysticism of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, so Star Wars , which premiered in 1977, popularized the religious concept of God as a Force. George Lucas, the creator of Star Wars , told Bill Moyers that since childhood he had been puzzled by the number of religions in the world and concluded that they all worshiped the same God. Hence, the perennial wisdom of the Force, which he believes accommodates all religions. He clearly did not mean biblical Christianity, yet that truth has hardly dampened the world’s enthusiasm for an impersonal god that holds no one accountable.

Although Lucas no longer controls what he created 38 years ago, the Force is back and may be more influential than in all its previous series of films. Based upon its opening successes, Star Wars: The Force Awakens is on its way to becoming the biggest box office hit in movie history. For those in the movie’s audience who may not be aware of what the Force is all about (I can’t imagine who that might be, including the light-saber-swinging very young), it is explained throughout the film, including a basic teaching by Han Solo. This is indeed New Age mysticism déjà vu.

Although one might expect the world to relish the spiritual pie-in-the-sky offered by New Age mysticism, it is both shocking and disheartening to see Christians taking it in with little or no biblical discernment. Next month: “Christianized” Eastern meditation, “Christianized” yoga, and related “Christianized” practices.   TBC

McMahon, T.A.. (2016, February 1). New Age Mysticism Déja vu – Part One. thebereancall.org. Retrieved March 6, 2016 from http://www.thebereancall.org/content/new-age-mysticism-de-ja-vu-part-one

Guest Post: The Coming New World Religion

By: Dave Hunt

This article contains excerpts from Chapter 26 of Dave Hunt's 1998 bestseller, Occult Invasion: The Subtle Seduction of the World and Church . Written over 18 years ago, the book is a fascinating revelation of the road-builders paving the way to the New World Religion now converging.

WE HAVE SEEN that there is a massive but subtle occult invasion of today's world and church. Materialism is dead. No longer clinging to the view that nothing exists except matter, science now admits the reality of a nonmaterial dimension governed by mysterious forces and inhabited by nonmaterial intelligences that it can neither identify nor explain. Every facet of occultism is now being explored as the new hope in medicine, education, psychology, business, military intelligence, and space science. Contact is sought and advice is followed from spirit entities whose trustworthiness cannot be established by scientific means. Psychic powers mistakenly assumed to arise from an alleged inner human potential are being avidly cultivated in many fields, and their pursuit can only lead deeper into the occult.

The occult has always been the foundation of non-Christian religions, and it invaded Christianity when Constantine allegedly became a Christian and wedded the church with paganism. Catholicism, which had its birth under Constantine, has been involved in the occult ever since, not only in its adaptation of pagan practices wherever it has spread but now in the more overt ecumenism under Pope John Paul II. In their new partnership with Rome, evangelicals have opened themselves further to the occult invasion.

The Mind Science cults such as Christian Science, Science of Mind, Religious Science, and Unity School of Christianity openly embrace the occult. Their brand of occultism has ­in­vaded charismatic and Pentecostal churches through ­the ­Pos­itive Confession movement of Hagin, Copeland, Cho, Wimber, Hinn, and other false prophets and healers. The same "positive" occultism has invaded the evangelical church through Peale and Schuller and their followers. "Christian" psychology and the related practices of inner healing or healing of memories and 12-Step programs have accelerated that invasion as well.

All of these streams are now coming together through the ecumenical movement. Its scope is unprecedented in human history. What we are seeing can only be the great apostasy which Paul said must come in order for the day of Christ to dawn and the Antichrist to be revealed. All that remains for the occult invasion to triumph is the establishment of a New World Religion in partnership with a world government. One would have to be blind not to see that this New World Order heralded by President Bush and the Pope is fast coming upon us.

Few are the voices sounding the alarm and few are those who heed warnings such as the following, voiced by former Vineyard pastor John Goodwin. Goodwin came to Christ out of the occult and eventually realized that the Vineyard was involved in the very occult practices he had abandoned:

I was a Vineyard pastor, and according to John Wimber, in his words, I "could do the stuff...      anywhere and any time....     " I was tuned in...   I was in lock-step with what John was teaching....     I have literally been to hundreds of Vineyard conferences...    .

I'm here to [explain] that this is part of the last days heresy that's bringing the church into the New Age and into the New World Order.-.-.-.-It's all part of the Antichrist system of a one world church, a one world government and a one world economy.

Anti is a Greek prefix that is generally understood to mean "opposed to or against." It has, however, another meaning: "in the place of or a substitute for." Antichrist will embody both meanings, according to the Bible. He will indeed oppose Christ but in the most diabolically clever way it could be done (anything less would not be worthy of Satan's genius): by posing as Christ and thus corrupting Christianity from within.

That being the case, Antichrist's followers will be "Chris­tians." No wonder, then, that the apostasy must precede his ­ascension to power. A false, ecumenical, and antichrist "Chris­tianity" must sweep the world in preparation for his takeover. True Christians will have been taken to heaven in the rapture, and Antichrist will be worshiped by those who are left--except for those who come to faith in Christ during this horrible time and are martyred for their faith.

A popular Christmas card a few years ago was already in tune with the coming world religion: "May the spirit of the holidays give us faith in ourselves and help us to believe in each other's dreams so we can make this world a better place."

Already the label "Christian" has lost its true meaning and can now be attached to any anti-Christian belief. The latest poll identifies 26 percent of Mormons as "born-again Christians," yet their "God" is an exalted man and their "Christ" is the half-brother of Satan! Not only in Roman Catholicism but in all denominations, there are pastors, teachers, and other leaders who are spreading a false gospel. They misrepresent Christ and His teachings and lead entire congregations astray. They pretend to represent Christ but do not accept all that He taught. The Christ they present is more like Antichrist. Such is the "Christianity" which the White House now seems to espouse.

Even former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, an atheist turned pantheist, dares to say of socialists: "We promote the cause of Christ." Articles too numerous to quote follow Gor­b­achev across the country as he meets with religious leaders . . . and praises the importance of "religion" in the New World Order. What he advocates sounds like Antichrist's coming world religion.

Gorbachev is likely not the Antichrist, but he is a very good prototype of him. In Israel, a peace dove landed on Gorba­chev's head on the occasion of his acceptance of "three honorary degrees for speeding up Jewish immigration...      [and he] praised Jesus as 'the first socialist.'" Gorbachev "is framing an 'Earth Charter' intended to fuse socialism and mysticism into a UN-approved new world religion. The Earth Charter is scheduled ­to be presented to the UN General Assembly sometime before the year 2000, and Gorbachev insists that its adoption is necessary...      to save the earth from its rapacious inhab­itants."

Gorbachev and the late Pope John Paul II were great friends and mutual admirers. Gorbachev professes an interest in spirituality (but without truth), and the pope encouraged him in this delusion. Gorbachev wrote:

I have carried on an intensive correspondence with Pope John Paul II since we met at the Vatican in December, 1989...      we share a desire to move forward and complete what we began together....     What I have always held in high esteem about the Pope's thinking and ideas is their spiritual content, their striving to foster the development of a new world civilization...  .

The "spiritual content" of the pope's ideas and his powerful"political role" are agreeable to Gor­ba­chev. They were partners in planning a new world. One cannot imagine Christ, who was and is hated by the world, playing a political role in partnership with this world's Caesars--but those who claim to be His Vicars have done it for centuries.

The willingness to accommodate any kind of spirituality (a necessary ingredient of the coming world religion) is a growing attitude even among those who call themselves evangelicals. Pat Robertson refers to members of his Christian Coalition (Catholics, Mormons, Moonies, and followers of other religions) as people of faith who, he says, "are under attack as never before...by forces which wish to destroy all religious values, all worship, and all freedoms...." Therefore, says Robertson, "We must lay aside certain Protestant differences to join hands to support those things upon which we all agree...."

In fact, Coalition members hold many faiths whose "religious values" and "worship" are totally incompatible. It is deceitful to speak of "people of faith" standing together, when to do so individual faith must be abandoned. Nor is it honest to call an organization that includes those of other religions "the Christian Coalition." And for a Christian to stand only for the least common denominator that everyone can agree upon is to abandon Christ himself, whom the world hates and its religions reject or redefine. Far more than "Protestant differences" must be overlooked for Christians to join hands with non-Christians! Pat's coalition sounds more like what occult leader and priest Matthew Fox proposes:

Deep ecumenism is the movement that will unleash the wisdom of all world religions--Hinduism and Buddhism, Islam and Judaism, Taoism and Shintoism, Christianity in all its forms, and native religions and goddess religions throughout the world. This unleashing of wisdom holds the last hope for the survival of the planet we call home.

It is this loose merging of Christianity with whatever spirituality one fancies that will characterize the coming world religion--and destroy Christianity.

An evangelical pastor spent ten days at an ecumenical gathering of the World Council of Churches (WCC) and National Council of Churches (NCC), held under the auspices of New York City's Auburn Theological Seminary. He was shocked at the overt rejection of Christianity and its replacement by paganism. The occult was honored as though it were of God. Here is part of the report he filed:

I knew we were in trouble when our first worship "celebration" found us outdoors at a garden pond offering prayers and water libations to the Seven Spirits of the seven directions of the Universe ("O Spirit of the North, blow upon us...O Spirit of the East...West...South...). What to any objective observer was sheer paganism, we were told was simply an exercise in discovering the ecumenical variety of spiritual expression and experience that we must learn to share if we are to be truly one....

[There] was the outright denial of the Doctrine of the Trinity...[as] an archaic symbol for God so loaded with classical Western sexism and images of oppression that it must be abandoned in favor of something more palatable to enlightened sensitivities...[like] Sophia....

While some of us may prefer to relate to Jesus as our personal "Christ-figure," we dare not make him exclusive. We must be inclusive of all potential "Christ-figures," so that we can learn to see through them all and behind them all to that one Savior Spirit of Liberation working through all the various "Christ-figure" masks of the world's religions.... The awful thing is that, judging from the participants at this conference, many of the ecumenical leaders of mainline Protestantism are happily following this primrose path to apostasy.

Concern for morality and ecology becomes the excuse for compromising theology. Kenneth S. Kantzer, a senior editor of Christianity Today (CT ), wrote: "With the spread of moral rot that destroys the roots of a free and just society, we evangelicals need to close ranks with our Catholic neighbors. And with Mormons, conservative Jews, and secularists who share our values...." Had Christ joined the rabbis in such a coalition for moral improvement, think of the great ethical reformer He could have become and the immense good He could have accomplished--all without going to the cross!

At the same time, Christianity is being confused with Ameri­canism. Millions of "Christians" of all stripes, from evangelicals to Catholics to Mormons and Moonies, have joined ­together to Christianize America by calling it back to the "traditional moral values" upon which it was founded. Some­how this "mission" has captured the imagination and loyalty of multitudes of evangelicals and has replaced the biblical Great Commission in their hearts and minds.

There is a new optimism in the air, the determined hope that "America can be saved" by a compromised ecumenical gospel. Even  J.I. Packer seems to have succumbed to this delusion. Writing in CT , he transmutes Christ's command to proclaim the gospel into a call "to re-Christianize the North American milieu...[and] rebuild the ruins...[of] North American culture..."! Where does the Bible suggest that? Llewellyn Rockwell writes:

Christianity is now thoroughly politicized. The [Catholic] bishops and [Ralph] Reed have no trouble speaking about the importance of pro-family legislation, or the glories of religious pluralism, but they are shy about such basics as the Christian teaching on salvation. The longer the process of politicization continues, the thinner the faith gets. Political ambition causes people to water down their beliefs for the sake of gaining favor....The first stage of sell-out comes with the exaltation of political pluralism above doctrinal truth, the second stage with the denial of doctrinal truth altogether for achieving political goals.

The document "Evangelicals and Catholics Together: The Christian Mission in the Third Millennium" was not a sudden development but the inevitable result of much earlier preparation. Charismatic magazines (from Voice to Charisma ) and leaders (from the late Kathryn Kuhlman to Rex Humbard) have heaped praise upon Pope John Paul II in spite of his false gospel. In praising the pope as a Christian leader, Jack Hayford said, "You don't have to be a Catholic to stand tall and say, 'I'm a Christian, too.'" Billy Graham called John Paul II "the greatest religious leader of the modern world, and one of the greatest moral and spiritual leaders of the century." James Dobson, one of the world's most highly respected Christian psychologists, called the pope "the most eminent religious leader who names the name of Jesus Christ."

For all his inventions and modern developments, man has not changed. He is still the descendant of Adam, fallen into sin and in need of reconciliation to his Creator. He still needs love and purpose and meaning not only in this life but beyond. Eternity is all that matters, and it hasn't changed. God hasn't been renovating heaven to keep up with the ideas current upon earth, nor has He revised the entrance requirements to broaden the spectrum of belief among its citizens.

God doesn't hire a Madison Avenue advertising and promotion team to persuade us that heaven will be a nice place to retire to. "Repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts:20:21), no longer popular even among evangelicals, is still the only entrance ticket to heaven. Those who do not love God wholeheartedly and desire Him to have His way with them would be miserable there.

Heaven and hell are not states of mind, as Templeton and his cohorts imagine, but the real and eternal destinations of every human soul and spirit. Hell is where people go who turn to occult powers in rejection of God, who are determined to have things their own way, to enjoy their own passions, to create their own universe with their thoughts. Its inhabitants are self-centered, utterly lonely souls. Self has become so all-consuming that there is room for nothing else.

Christ was born the Savior of sinners. How marvelous that He who is God, one with the Father and the Holy Spirit, loves us so much that He was willing to be born of a virgin, to grow up in a world that hated Him, to be despised, rejected, mocked, scourged, crucified--and more than the physical ­suffering, to bear our sins and to pay the infinite price of our redemption demanded by His own infinite justice! He is still mocked and rejected by the world and His gospel perverted even within the professing church.

Heresy and compromise on the part of those who claim to be His followers is perhaps the most painful mockery He endures. It rejects Him as He really is and undermines His real purpose in coming to earth. Every true Christian should be deeply offended and concerned that serious error is being ­promoted not only in the world but even in seemingly sound churches and by those who are looked up to as evangelical leaders. It is our love for Christ in response to His love for us, and our love for the lost whom He loves and for whom He suffered and died, which causes us to hate heresy, to denounce the occult invasion and to earnestly contend for the faith once for all delivered to the saints. May we remain true to Him until He takes us home!

We face some trying days ahead if the Lord tarries. Recently this author watched a John Bradshaw seminar series that lasted five days on Public Broadcasting TV. While talking about faith in God (Bradshaw had his own unbiblical definitions for both faith and God), he denounced those who claim to be saved and who thereby "destroy the self-image of others who don't believe exactly as they do." It was all extremely clever and persuasive. The audience was obviously convinced of all he said. One could easily see the day coming when such arguments would be used to stifle or muzzle evangelicals as a menace to society.

The Christian martyrs throughout history (and those being martyred today, particularly in Muslim countries) could have chosen an ecumenical path of compromise and of affirming the "common beliefs of all religions," and thus have escaped the flames or the sword. But they chose instead to stand firm for the truth, to contend earnestly for the faith. Dare we do otherwise?

For us, at this crossroads in history, the issues have broadened. The deadly tentacles of the occult in its many guises have invaded the world, but also the church. What will be our response? One day we will give an account before God for that choice. What joy there is now and eternally in being true to Him!

Hunt, Dave. (2011, February 1). The Coming New World Religion. thebereancall.org. Retrieved February 4, 2016 from http://www.thebereancall.org/content/february-2011-classic

Guest Post: Victory Over Sin

By Dave Hunt

Torn between their sincere desire to serve and honor their Lord and the inner turmoil of fleshly lusts and the seductive pull of worldly pleasures and honors, many Christians struggle to live for Christ. For them, Christianity involves great effort, little joy, much frustration and disillusionment, and the loss (when they have enough will power to deny themselves) of so much they once enjoyed in life. They struggle to avoid Paul’s list of “don’ts” in Colossians:3:5-8


: “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry...put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.” Failing repeatedly, they repent remorsefully and puzzle over their inability to live as they know they should—but seemingly can’t.

They fare no better with Paul’s list of “do’s” that follows (vv. 12-25): “Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving...put on charity....Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly....And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him...[etc.]”

Is it really possible to be sweet, kind, humble, loving, and forgiving at all times? The spirit is willing, but the flesh proves ever to be embarrassingly weak. How can one live up to the high standards the Bible sets for Christian living? Is there some secret to victory we are overlooking? The two key expressions, “mortify” in verse 5 and “put on” in verse 12, only increase the bewilderment and sense of failure. Is it really possible to “put to death” ungodly desires and, shedding that body of evil, as it were, to be clothed in a resurrection body of godliness? Surely Paul, led of the Holy Spirit, is not taunting us with goals that cannot be attained and that, in fact, are not at all practical. Was he not, himself, an example of this kind of life, and did he not say more than once, “Be ye followers of me even as I also am of Christ” (1 Cor:11:1, etc.)? Then why do we fail? From whence comes the motivation and the strength to accomplish what is at once so desirable and yet so seemingly impossible?

There is a general failure to recognize the importance of one little word that occurs in both verses 5 and 12. It holds the answer to our dilemma. Paul does not say, “Mortify your members” and “Put on...bowels of mercies, kindness....” That would impose a “do-it-yourself” religion of gritting one’s teeth in determination and struggling to live up to high moral standards—no different from the atheist’s or Buddhist’s attempt to do the same. That is not Christianity! Paul carefully and pointedly says, “Mortify therefore ... Put on therefore ....” Clearly “therefore” refers to something that Paul is convinced gives the Christian the motivation and power to do what he is commanding and lifts the Christian above the impossible struggle of flesh trying to live a godly life. It is, therefore, the Christian’s secret to a happy, fruitful and holy life pleasing to God.

The mortifying of the old deeds and the putting on of the new is possible only because, as the previous verses declare, “Ye are dead, and...your life is hid with Christ in God” (Col:3:2). Certainly the same thing could not be said of the followers of Buddha, Muhammad, Krishna, et al. Christianity is thus unique and separated from all religions. Herein lies the secret dynamic of the Christian life. Why, then, doesn’t every Christian experience this power in daily living? Sadly, many who call themselves Christians have a very superficial understanding of the gospel they claim to have embraced: “[H]ow that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day...” (1 Cor:15:3-4
).

For many who believe that Christ died for their sins, this event is more mystical than historical. The horrible death on the Cross is something that happened to Christ but has only a theoretical rather than practical connection to them. They have such a faulty understanding of what Christ’s death means that they are not true Christians at all. They have imagined that the death of Christ in their place delivered them from their deserved eternal punishment in hell, so that, like Barabbas, they could live as they pleased. They have never desired what Paul rejoiced in: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Gal:2:20).

Paul was not expressing an inspiring but empty platitude. For that great apostle, the Cross was no mere religious symbol, but the place where he had died to life as he would have lived it and had begun to experience the very life of Christ being lived in him. He knew that Christ gives resurrection life; therefore only those who have died can experience it. With wonder, amazement and deep gratitude he realized that Christ had actually taken his place before a righteous, holy God—and that God had put Christ to death in payment for his (Paul’s) sins. Therefore, Paul was a dead man. Christ’s death in his place was literally his own death, and he rejoiced in that fact. If he was to experience life thereafter, it must be the resurrected Christ living in him.

The transformation in Paul was at once remarkable, yet not surprising. The most seductive temptation Satan can devise will arouse no response from a dead man. Insult a dead man to his face, and he will not retaliate in anger. As a dead man, Paul experienced a new freedom over sin that he had never known before! Yet, in spite of being dead, Paul was more alive than he had ever been: “I am crucified...nevertheless, I live.” Dead to sin, he was alive to God through Christ. So real was this to Paul, that it was as though Christ himself were living in him—and, indeed, He was! Christ had become his very life—and this, said Paul, was what Christianity was all about!

Paul reminded the saints at Colosse that victory over sin and self was not possible through willpower and fleshly struggle. True victory could come only through understanding and believing what it really meant that Christ had died for their sins and had been resurrected for their justification. Paul declared that this was the secret of his own complete transformation—and so it must be with them.

But how could Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection be as real to them as it was to Paul—so real that their very lives would be totally transformed? Paul explained: They must believe that Christ was coming any moment to take them to heaven, where they would thereafter appear with Him in glory! It was the hope of Christ’s imminent return that would make the difference between victory and defeat in the Christian life!

That this hope is the key to victorious living is clear. Notice again Paul’s staggering declaration: “When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory[!] Mortify therefore....” That was such a vibrant hope and of such certain accomplishment that Paul began this entire section with the statement, “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth” (Col:3:1-2
). Herein lay the secret to the godly life that Paul himself lived and expected of the Colossians as well. They were to be so heavenly minded that the things of this earth would have no appeal and thus no power over them.

Nor was this orientation away from earth toward heaven to be merely a “mental attitude” they had adopted without any basis in reality. It was not wishful “positive thinking” but truth that would change their lives. Through Christ’s cross Christians have been crucified to the world and the world has been crucified to them, as Paul had firmly declared (Gal:6:14). A man who has just been taken down, dead, from a cross has no interest in this world nor does it have any claims upon him. The person crucified and those who crucified him have nothing further to do with each other. So it is with the Christian and the world through the cross of Christ. The vicious hatred this world has for Christ, and its irreconcilable animosity against all that He stands for, have been fully exposed in its rejection and crucifixion of our Lord. Christ declared that the world would hate and persecute us as it had Him (Jn:15:18-20

;16:2;17:14). By His cross we have been cut off from this world just as surely as He has been.

Death, however, did not end it all. Christ rose triumphant from the grave and ascended to the right hand of the Father in heaven. Moreover, He is coming again in power and glory to judge and take vengeance upon those who have rejected Him—and we, who have identified ourselves with Him in His rejection and death, will participate in His triumph and glory. Nor is that Second Coming so far in the future that it has no practical meaning for us now. On the contrary, it could occur today. The glorious fulfillment of the hope that the gospel has instilled within our hearts could burst upon us at any moment! This fact causes eternity to invade the present and makes the Christian no longer of this world!

Hear Paul say it again: “For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.” Consenting to be dead and willing for Christ to be their life was not only the Colossians’ basis for victory but the essential meaning of the gospel they must embrace. Otherwise, there could be no salvation. Without that, they were mere Barabbases, grateful that Christ had died in their place but mistakenly assuming that they had been “saved” in order to live for self. If they were not willing to acknowledge Christ’s death as their very own and to give up life as they would have lived it so that Christ could become their life, then they could not experience the victory over sin and self that Paul preached. Indeed, they had not consented to the message of the gospel at all!

And what made the fact of their death, burial, and resurrection with Christ the dynamic power that transformed their lives? It was this promise: “When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.” Once that truth had gripped their hearts so that His “appearing” had become their daily expectation and hope, Christ’s death and resurrection were so real to them in the present that they were changed into new persons. As such, Paul told them, they were to “seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.” May we each pursue that challenge wholeheartedly!

The “pretribulation Rapture” is thus no mere hair-splitting thesis for theologians to discuss, nor is it a theory without practical effect. It is the overlooked secret to victory in the Christian’s life. John said, “Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he [Christ] is pure” (1 Jn:3:3). Paul indicated that it had been his love of Christ’s appearing that had motivated him to holiness and faithfulness and had made him victorious—and that the same “crown of righteousness” was for “all them also that love his [Christ’s] appearing” (2 Tm 4:8). On the other hand, Christ associated wickedness with failing to love His appearing: “But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken...” (Mt 24:48,49).

Let us diligently and enthusiastically “seek those things that are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.” Let us “set [our] affection on things above, not on things on the earth.” Why? “For our conversation [citizenship] is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself” (Phil:3:20-21
). Praise God!  TBC

Hunt, Dave. (2015, August 1). Victory Over Sin. thebereancall.org. Retrieved January 2, 2016 from http://www.thebereancall.org/content/victory-over-sin