----- 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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