Vinny, good one.  thanks.

earlier, Vinny Samarco, wrote:

>----- Original Message ----- From: "Vinny Samarco" <[log in to unmask]>
>To: "Joe McCord" <[log in to unmask]>; "John Jeffreys" <[log in to unmask]>
>Sent: Saturday, September 22, 2007 11:08 AM
>Subject: Fw: [CCNV] CHRISTIANS ARE MIXED UP - IN MYSTICISM
>
>
>>
>>----- Original Message ----- From: "Rick Johnson" <[log in to unmask]>
>>To: <[log in to unmask]>
>>Sent: Thursday, September 20, 2007 11:46 AM
>>Subject: [CCNV] CHRISTIANS ARE MIXED UP - IN MYSTICISM
>>
>>
>>*CHRISTIANS ARE MIXED UP - IN MYSTICISM
>>PART 1 of 2*
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>By Marsha West
>>
>>September 15, 2007
>>
>>NewsWithViews.com
>>
>>More and more of those who profess Christ are "experiencing God" in ways
>>that lands them smack dab in the middle of the New Age movement. It's not
>>like they haven't been warned about experimenting with mysticism. They've
>>been warned plenty, yet they totally disregard wise counsel. So if you're
>>among the sheep who have gone astray, consider the Bible's wise counsel: "It
>>is the Lord your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his
>>commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him" (Deut 13:4).
>>
>>I must admit I'm mystified (pun intended) as to why so many Christians are
>>choosing to leave the narrow road Jesus spoke of and follow Oprah down the
>>broad road that leads to destruction. What's up with that?
>>
>>The Bible says, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord," not Oprah!
>>
>>
>>Reading God's Word to know Him and His ways just doesn't cut it for some
>>so-called Christians, which is why a number of them are venturing into the
>>astral plane hoping to connect with God on a "deeper level beyond your
>>thinking." Even though Scripture is opposed to any form of mysticism (2
>>Chronicles 33:6), many Christians are joining "Christian yoga" classes and
>>praising the health benefits -- even getting their kids involved. Sly
>>markeeters sell Christians on yoga's good mind/body health benefits (Deepak
>>Chopra, anyone?), plus they say it will help you to "apprehend God." As an
>>extra-added bonus you can tone those flabby abs!
>>
>>There's big bucks to be made from yoga. In America it's a $30 billion-a-year
>>business. And speaking of big bucks, McDonald's is masterful at marketing
>>their products to consumers. When your run of the mill hamburger is promoted
>>as the Big-Tasty(r) the gullible public, mouths watering, head 
>>straight to the
>>golden arches! The Big-Tasty(r) sure tastes good, but is it good for you? The
>>burger contains 8 grams of saturated fat, 70 grams of cholesterol, and 500
>>calories per serving. Sounds like a heart attack waiting to happen.
>>
>>Christians are being lured into "Christian yoga" by promises of good health.
>>Sure, it's a tad New Age, but what's the big deal? I mean, everyone's doin'
>>it, so it's a good thing...right? Does that kinnd of logic not make 
>>your blood
>>boil?
>>
>>Affixing a new handle to an ancient Hindu practice may make it palatable for
>>the Christian consumer, but it doesn't change the fact that offering yoga in
>>a Christian setting is unacceptable. You cannot separate yoga from the Hindu
>>religious system. As I said in my commentary, Christian Yoga?
>>C'mon!<http://www.newswithviews.com/West/marsha30.htm>,
>>"Classical yoga is intended to put one into an altered state of
>>consciousness. Believers who think they're 'just exercising' are being swept
>>into a counterfeit religion."
>>
>>Eastern mysticism leads to destruction. But that doesn't stop some
>>Christians from involving themselves in "kything prayer" (KP), which is
>>another unbiblical kind of prayer and meditation. This bizarre prayer
>>practice will astound even the most well informed followers of Jesus Christ.
>>One way to engage in KP is the Enneagram, which is a heresy of the first
>>order. I'll get to "kything" in a moment. But first a bit about
>>"contemplative prayer" AKA "centering prayer." For centuries Catholic
>>mystics have engaged in contemplative prayer. Today Catholics and
>>Protestants alike practice CP. Carmelite nun and Spanish mystic, St. Teresa
>>of -- vila, "a very much-loved contemplative Catholic saint" spent hours in
>>meditation, which she called the "prayer of quiet." She recommended the
>>following prayer technique to another nun:
>>
>>"Pray the Lord's Prayer, but take an hour to pray it. Spend a few minutes
>>entering into each individual phrase, until it becomes truly the prayer of
>>your heart, and you become the prayer."
>>
>>I have no clue what "become the prayer" means, but Jesus Christ never taught
>>His followers any such thing. He never taught them to empty their minds,
>>which is what occurs during Transcendental meditation. The "prayer of quiet"
>>has its roots in Eastern mysticism, not the Bible. People will argue that
>>Catholic monks have been engaging in CP for centuries, like that alone
>>should make it acceptable. However, it doesn't negate the fact that
>>meditation goes against the express teaching of Scripture. "Let no one be
>>found among you ... who practices divination or sorcery, iinterprets omens,
>>engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or
>>who consults the dead" (Deut. 18:10-11).
>>
>>Granted, the Bible says Christians are to mediate. Joshua 1:8 says, "Do not
>>let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and
>>night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you
>>will be prosperous and successful."
>>
>>Meditation is contemplating what God says in the pages of Holy Scripture so
>>that we will do everything written in it. In other words, so that God's
>>people will know what He expects and be obedient. As John MacArthur
>>observes, "It is not enough just to study the Bible. We must meditate upon
>>it. In a very real sense we are giving our brain a bath; we are washing it
>>in the purifying solution of God's Word." I read somewhere that if a
>>Christian is careless in Bible reading he or she will care less about
>>Christian living. (To read more on Christian
>>meditation.[2]<http://www.newswithviews.com/West/marsha52.htm#_ftn2>)
>>
>>
>>As I mentioned above, Christians are involving themselves in "kything
>>prayer" (KP). There are other examples of outright heresy practiced by
>>Christians could be brought to light, but KP is sufficiently concerning that
>>it deserves a few paragraphs here. That way, when a well meaning, albeit
>>undiscerning, person introduces KP into your church you'll be equipped to
>>explain its connection to Eastern mysticism. (Unfortunately there are church
>>leaders who are as undiscerning as some laypeople, hence they, too, are
>>guilty of introducing false teaching and outright heresy into the Body of
>>Christ!) If only Christians would heed Paul's words to Timothy: " 
>>... you have
>>known the holy Scripturres, which are able to make you wise for salvation
>>through faith in Christ Jesus. 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" (2 Tim.
>>3:15-17).
>>
>>Most Christians aren't "thoroughly equipped" for one simple reason -- they
>>don't bother to meditate on God's Word. A large number of evangelicals admit
>>that they're too busy to spend time in their Bibles and only pray on the
>>run, so it shouldn't surprise anyone that liberalism has a foothold in most
>>mainline denominations and is spreading like wildfire through evangelicalism
>>(which was once ultra conservative). Bear in mind that "progressive
>>Christians" (liberals) have the unmitigated arrogance to profess their love
>>for Christ, yet they endeavor to mold His church into a decidedly unbiblical
>>worldview. You can put a steeple on it, but that doesn't make it Christian.
>>But I digress.
>>
>>"Kythe" is an ancient Scottish word that means "to make known; to manifest;
>>to show." It's described as a sort of telepathic communication whereby "one
>>person almost becomes another, seeing through their eyes and feeling through
>>their senses." Kythers communicate through methods other than the senses,
>>which sounds a lot like mental telepathy! While in this frame of mind, "the
>>two people intuitively know the meaning of what the other is telling them,
>>disregarding such things as words or pictures. The idea may be based on the
>>concept of Oneness, which states that all that exists, is one in its source
>>and end...reecollection and assertion of that concept puts a person 
>>'in Kythe'
>>with that which they are concentrating
>>on."[3]<http://www.newswithviews.com/West/marsha52.htm#_ftn3>
>>
>>Before I enlighten you with the three steps to get started in KP, I should
>>mention that the concept of "Oneness" comes from Eastern Religion's belief
>>in pantheism -- God is everything and everything is God. "All that exists
>>constitutes a 'unity' and this all-inclusive unity is in some sense divine."
>>[4] <http://www.newswithviews.com/West/marsha52.htm#_ftn4>
>>
>>How does pantheism explain human nature? I love how Sue Bohlin puts it,
>>"Pantheism explains human nature by saying we're all a part of god, but our
>>problem is that we forget we're god. We just need to be re-educated and
>>start living like the god we are."
>>
>>Christianity does not hold that God is "everything and everything is God."
>>On the contrary, authentic Christians are theists. Theism holds that God is
>>transcendent, that He is separate and distinct from His creation, and that
>>He possesses the attributes of personality, hence God is personal. Moreover,
>>Christians believe that in the incarnation God took on bodily form and
>>became the God-man (Theanthropos.)
>>
>>No Christian should buy into the New Age movement's lie that each human soul
>>is akin to a drop of water in a sea of Divine Consciousness. ("Here there is
>>not even energy; no body, no mind, no light, no sound - absolute nothingness
>>- total vacuum - only tremendous potential unmanifest Divine Consciousness,
>>from which all life and material creation
>>flows."[5]<http://www.newswithviews.com/West/marsha52.htm#_ftn5>For
>>part two click below.
>>
>>*Click here for part -----> 2<http://www.newswithviews.com/West/marsha53.htm>
>>,*
>>
>>*Footnotes:*
>>
>>* <http://www.newswithviews.com/West/marsha52.htm#_ftnref1>**1,* Christian
>>yoga? C'mon! <http://www.newswithviews.com/West/marsha30.htm> By Marsha West
>>
>><http://www.newswithviews.com/West/marsha52.htm#_ftnref2>*2,* Biblical
>>Meditation <http://www.bible.org/page.php?page_id=989> By J. Hampton
>>Keathley, III, Th.M.
>><http://www.newswithviews.com/West/marsha52.htm#_ftnref3>*3,*
>>Kything<http://www.answers.com/kything>-
>>Answers.com
>><http://www.newswithviews.com/West/marsha52.htm#_ftnref4>*4,* Stanford
>>Encyclopedia of Philosophy <http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/pantheism/> -
>>Stanford University website
>><http://www.newswithviews.com/West/marsha52.htm#_ftnref5>*5,* A Nature
>>Meditation<http://www.1stholistic.com/Reading/health-a-nature-meditation.htm>By
>>Robert Elias Najemy
>><http://www.newswithviews.com/West/marsha52.htm#_ftnref6>*6,* The Voice in
>>the Stillness: An overview of some Christian ways of
>>meditation<http://frimmin.com/faith/meditation.html>-- The Wild Things
>>of God website
>><http://www.newswithviews.com/West/marsha52.htm#_ftnref7>*7,* Apostles'
>>Creed <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01629a.htm> - Catholic Encyclopedia
>><http://www.newswithviews.com/West/marsha52.htm#_ftnref8>*8,* Gurdjieff and
>>the Enigmatic Enneagram <http://www3.bc.sympatico.ca/st_simons/arm04.htm> By
>>the Reverend Ed Hird
>><http://www.newswithviews.com/West/marsha52.htm#_ftnref9>*9,* Finding
>>Spiritual Enlightenment Original Air
>>Date<http://www2.oprah.com/xm/moz/200707/moz_20070730.jhtml>:
>>July 30, 2007
>><http://www.newswithviews.com/West/marsha52.htm#_ftnref10>*10,* Is Oprah
>>Peddling Snake Oil <http://www.newswithviews.com/West/marsha35.htm>? By
>>Marsha West
>>
>>*Additional Reading:
>>*
>>*1,* Life in a Secular
>>Culture<http://www.probe.org/society/life-in-a-secular-culture.html>By
>>Rick Wade
>>*2,* Answering the Big Questions of
>>Life<http://www.origins.org/articles/bohlin_bigquestion.html>By Sue
>>Bohlin
>>
>>  (c) 2007 Marsha West - All Rights Reserved
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>------------------------------
>>
>>*Marsha West is the Founder and Editor of the E-Mail Brigade News Report, an
>>online news report for conservative people of faith. Marsha is a freelance
>>writer specializing in Christian worldview. She is a regular contributor to
>>NewsWithViews.com, Alainsnewsletter.com, CapitolHillCoffeeHouse.com, plus
>>her commentaries appear in MichNews.com and bibleteacher.org. *
>>
>>*Marsha is also designer and webmaster of a Christian apologetics website,
>>On Solid Rock Resources. She is currently writing a series of children's
>>books for homeschoolers. Marsha and her husband reside in historic
>>Jacksonville Oregon.**
>>
>>E-mail: [log in to unmask]*
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>--
>>Rick Johnson
>>http://myspace.rebelfire77
>>
>>Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you, Jesus Christ and
>>the American G.I.
>>One died for your soul, the other for your freedom.
>>
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>>
>>______________________________________________________________
>>
>>But if the watchman sees the sword coming and
>>does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and
>>the sword comes and takes the life of one of
>>them, that man will be taken away because of
>>his sin, but I will hold the watchman
>>accountable for his blood."  Ezekiel 33:6 (NIV)
>>______________________________________________________________
>>-~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
>>
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John


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