"Religion
and culture are ever changing, ever transforming. . . . We are the transformer,
maker and creator of our own religious and cultural traditions."[1]
"Women, Religion, and Culture" seminar, Beijing Conference
" . . human culture will change in the next millennium
as a result of conscious evolution."[2]
James Redfield,
Celestine Prophecy
"He has put eternity in their hearts." Ecclesiastes 3:11
Do you go to church back home?"
I asked Karin in her native Norwegian. The blond, blue-eyed exchange-student was
visiting our church, and I had enjoyed catching up on the latest news about Norway.
But now it was time to move on to my special assignment. Since her host family found it difficult to communicate with her about spiritual things
in English, they had asked me to find out whether she was a Christian or not.
"No," she answered.
"Are there many Christians
in your school?"
"There are some who go to church
at Christmas or Easter."
"That sounds like me, back when
I lived there. We only went to church
on Christmas Eve, and no one took it very seriously. But now I am more interested
in spiritual things. I keep wondering how people who don't know God face things
like cancer and death? Do you ever wonder what will happen to you when you die?
"I'll go to some sort of heaven.
I'm a nice person."
"How do you know you're nice
enough?
Who sets the standard
for the niceness needed to get into heaven?"
She shrugged. "I don't know.
Probably God."
Sensing both disinterest and
annoyance, I quickly brought the
conversation back inside the boundaries of her comfort zone.
Did Karin's reasoning sound
familiar? It did to me. She admitted that God might set the standards, but she
doesn't know Him, so she simply imagines what He wants. In other words, she sets
her own standards.
This new-paradigm thinking
is changing people everywhere. Karin believes there will be a heaven—not because
God says so, but because it comforts her and hides the finality of death. Why
throw out a good idea? But her view of heaven is little more than a pie-in-the-sky
hope. Like most people today, she has no firm basis for questioning the exciting
New Age pieces of the puzzle she calls heaven.
A New kind of
Heaven
You met Barbara Marx Hubbard,
president of the Foundation for Conscious Evolution, in
chapter 5. When she spoke
at the Renaissance of Christian Spirituality conference in San Francisco, some
of her followers urged me to buy her book Revelation which was dictated by a spirit
"voice" called "Christ." I bought it, and shuddered as I read her occult interpretations
of God's book of Revelation. Those
who know God's Word would notice its eerie likeness to God's original message.
Those who don't know the Biblical version could easily think this is it.
"Now you see through a glass darkly,"
wrote Mrs. Hubbard, twisting biblical truth into a confusing mish-mash of occult
ideas. "Soon you will see face to face. Now your are in pain. Then you will be
in joy. Now you fear that you cannot manage a complex planetary system. Soon you
will know that the planetary system is guided by a cosmic template. . . . A New
Heaven and a New Earth shall you create."[3]
Heaven, she continues, "is but
the next stage of your development, with many more to come."
[4]
Since the "voice" first spoke
to Barbara Marx Hubbard in 1980, it has taught her about a "collective transformation"
that will take place when a "CRITICAL MASS" of
"individuals align to shift the basic thought form of earth from fear and
separation to unity" and thus "shift the consciousness of the earth" and lead
to a new "birth."
[5]
If humanity cooperates with the plan, each human "mind will be consciously connected
with the Mind of God."[6]
Those who don't will be "selected" for destruction.[7]
Does this sound too strange to be relevant? It shouldn't.
Much of this teaching is seeping into mainstream churches as well as the rest
of our culture -- not because the
masses are listening to Barbara Marx Hubbard, but because her source is the same
as theirs. Occultism cloaked in "Christianese" has become part of our common language,
challenging us to study God's Word and "test the spirits."
Listen carefully to Mrs. Hubbard's words, for Satan is counterfeiting
everything that's good these days -- even good things like joy and laughter:
"An uncontrollable joy will
ripple through the thinking layer of Earth. The co-creative systems, which are
lying psychologically dormant in humanity will be activated. From within, all
sensitive persons will feel the joy of the force, flooding their systems with
love and attraction. It will be as irresistible as sex. It is supra-sex, the innate
capacity to unite to create the next step of evolution..."
"As this joy flashes through the nervous
systems of the most sensitive peoples on Earth, it will . . . . cause a shift
in the consciousness of Earth."[
8]
We should never fear genuine joy, but
we need to guard against all false manifestation of spiritual power. If the "good feelings" that follow spiritual experiences don't line up with
Scriptures, beware.
In other words, know the genuine truth well enough to recognize
the counterfeits. The lies come in all kinds of wrappings and disguises. You may have heard of Arianna Huffington, one of the fast-rising
female stars in conservative political circles and Washington society. The title
of her latest book, The Fourth Instinct,
refers to a spiritual force with "power to transform ourselves and our world."
[10]
You know she is not talking about God when she calls it "the bridge to this next
stage in man's evolution and the voice calling us to cross over."[11]
"Even those who are not looking for 'a new heaven and a new
earth'. . . recognize that what the millennium requires from us above all else
is a psychological shift, a spiritual breakthrough,"
[12]
she says. The Fourth Instinct "is an evolutionary spiral based on a different
set of imperatives -- for now the survival of the fittest will be the survival
of the wisest."[13]
The wisest? According to whom?
Not to Christians who are still "clinging to the old"
[14]
world-view or paradigm which offers only "the bankrupt solutions of yesterday."
They know all too well that "the wisdom of this world is foolishness with
God," for "The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile." (1
Corinthians 3:19-20)
Instead, Ms. Huffington urges her flock to follow a "universal
force that will lead us beyond the last horizon of our known self toward a wiser,
more loving, more luminous state of being."
[15]
That brings us back to Barbara
Marx Hubbard. "To be wise now, is to . . . . take the evolutionary perspective
and see the world in process of transformation,"[16]
she says. "Wisdom is to see reality, not as a static set of things, but as a .
. . process leading toward godhood
for humanity."[17]
Strange and mystical, isn't it? So
is James Redfield's top-selling thriller,
The Celestine Prophecy. It's huge readership proves the appeal of
this occult message. Like Mrs. Hubbard and Mrs. Huffington, Redfield urges humanity
to practice the psychic skills needed to produce a "critical" mass in order to
speed our evolution. That means rejecting church leaders who block the new awareness.
When a local United Methodist church
announced a weekly discussion group on the
Celestine Prophecy, I decided
to check it out. On my first visit, I found a group of about twenty men and women
sharing their strange "coincidences", angelic visitations,[18]
and other mystical experiences which supposedly led to a "conscious evolution"—
the focus of Barbara Marx Hubbard's message. Perhaps they believed, as Redfield
promised, that they would one day transform into "pure light" and simply "walk
into heaven."[19]
In spite of the church setting, no one ever mentioned the likely possibility of
counterfeit spirits. Apparently, the group viewed
all kinds of spiritual feelings and experiences as good. Redfield's
lie had become more believable
"For half a century now, a new
consciousness has been entering the human world, a new awareness that can only
be called transcendent, spiritual . . . .
"Once we understand. . . how to engage
this allusive process and maximize its occurrence in our lives, human society
will take a quantum leap into a whole new way of life . . . .
"All
that any of us have to do is suspend our doubts and distractions just long enough
. . . and miraculously, this reality can be our own.
[20]
During the last Celestine Prophecy
session, the teacher told us that we were close to becoming the "critical mass"
of evolving minds that would catapult us into the next stage of "our" spiritual
evolution. There we would accelerate
the pace of our evolution and voluntarily limit reproduction and consumption.
"Whole groups of people who have reached a certain level [would] become invisible,
and the barrier between this life and the other world" would begin to crumble.
"Would we still have criminals?"
asked a woman.
"There would be no need to
steal, for all have the same values," answered the teacher. "We're moving toward
heaven, a state of being where people are valued for their essence. . . .
Fundamentalist people live . . .
in a state of fear. . . .
But someone who is truly spiritual, is serene. She lives in a state of grace."
"My sister-in law is like that,"
said another women. "She is wonderful. Always in that state of serenity, even
when things get really hard."
"What does she believe?" asked
the leader.
"In God. In Jesus Christ. She
hurts a lot, but she has perfect peace."
The leader changed the subject.
The Sin of Separation
Did
you ever read Aldous Huxley's futuristic classic,
Brave New World? If you did, you may
remember the occult ritual used to enforce planetary peace and oneness. No one
could escape the hypnotic drills that quenched individualism and raised group
consciousness: "The group was now complete, the solidarity circle perfect... Twelve
of them ready to be made one, waiting to come together, to be fused, to lose their
twelve separate identities in a larger being."[21]
Huxley's Brave New World carried
a warning that few have taken seriously. Today many of its scary ideas are more
pervasive than when Huxley first suggested them -- not because his voice sang
louder than others, but because so many others sang in the same choir.
Since their message fit both current trends and academic liberalism, it
began to resonate through our educational
institutions at every level. Today, it's preparing a new generation for social
revolution, and radical feminists want girls to lead the way.
United Nations leader Robert
Muller may not care which sex leads the revolution as long as Huxley's unity becomes
global reality. "Conflicts will diminish as our global, universal, spiritual and
cosmic awareness increase,"[22]
he assures us. Ripe for change, many are listening. The fact that Muller’s mystical
unity matches the spiritual evolution taught by Barbara Marx Hubbard, Arianna
Huffington, and James Redfield multiplies the influence of all four.
Muller is no small player in
the global transformation. As the former under-Secretary of the United Nations
and the current Chancellor of the UN-sponsored University of Peace, he may be
the world's most enthusiastic promoter of the kind of international education
system outlined by the radical feminists in Beijing.
His World Core Curriculum, which laid the foundation for global education
in the United States and around the world, is based on the messages received from
the Tibetan Master Djwhal Khul, the spirit guide channeled by occultist Alice
Bailey.
Does all this seen complicated?
It is. I wish we could ignore these
lies and occult networks. We probably could, if they weren't already transforming our churches.
But since they have twisted the way Christians see God, heaven and everything
else, we can't ignore them. Too many people are falling into the trap.
Another window into the widening
web of globalism opened at the 1994 "Women of Vision" conference in Washington
DC. The highlight of the event was the World Peace Ceremony which joined the audience
of 500 women and 50 men in a universal prayer for peace.
Many had tears in their eyes as they prayed to a cosmic force, not God,
for universal love and forgiveness.[23]
Among the guests at the conference
were Barbara Marx Hubbard, the Dalai Lama's sister Jetsun Pema, and Ann Rockefeller
Roberts, president of the Fund of the Four Directions (remember all those sacred
circles that honored the four directions) which helps wed the Rockefeller fortune
to New Age globalism and Native American spirituality.
Robert Muller was there as
well. Do you see the many mystical marriages that will help usher in the new global
society—the counterfeit heaven on earth?
The "Mind" behind the new global spirituality sends the same basic messages
to all his ambassadors, whether they call themselves New Agers, Neopagans, or
even "Christian."
The connections are important, because no single group could win the world to
these new ideals. That radical feminists like Bella Abzug claim the right to speak
for all the women in the world may seem
absurd, but so what? She, Muller, Hubbard and all the rest are each playing their
part in the globalist orchestra determined to raise global consciousness and speed
the paradigm shift. They may be strangers to each other, but the evil puppeteer
behind the scenes knows how to pull the strings and guide the action. That's what
counts. Few realize that the angry idealism of feminist activists can be used
by hard core globalist to reach a more ominous goal. As economist Dr. Thomas Sowell
wrote in his review of Road to Serfdom,
[24]
"Idealist socialists create systems in which
idealists are almost certain to lose
and be superseded by those whose drive for power, and ruthlessness in achieving
it, make them the "fittest" to survive under a system where government power is
the ultimate prize.... The issue is not what anyone intends but what consequences
are in fact likely to follow."
[25]
In other words, idealists can persuade, but they seldom rule. Idealism can awaken
the masses and inspire a revolution, but it seldom governs. During the first part
of the Russian revolution, ideology paved the way to change. But the manipulative
power of Communist forces soon seized the victory and captured the throne.
Like the radical feminists
at the Beijing Conference, Muller and other UN leaders have no tolerance for non-conformists.
When speaking at some of the 1995 events celebrating the 50th anniversary
of the United Nations, Muller shared his vision for the future: a united world
where all would live in harmony sharing a common set of
human rights and
responsibilities. People
were free to believe anything -- as long as it was pantheistic, monistic and polytheistic.
Even cross-less Christianity would fit. Biblical faith would not.
When the moderator invited
questions from the audience, a man stood up. The startling exchange
that followed left me with an uneasy
insight into a form of intolerance that is incomprehensible to most Americans.
The man's two questions seemed thoughtful and legitimate by traditional Western
standards. Wouldn't you agree? He asked,
"In a pluralistic world, would
a centralized institution tend to become insensitive to ideas other than its
own? And if the UN becomes involved
in spirituality, could it cause church-state violations?
In response, an angry woman
in the audience stood up and shouted, "In Oklahoma we saw the result of men who
hate our central government." She
stormed out of the auditorium.
Sounding just as angry, Muller
leaned into the microphone and began denouncing both people and nations who oppose
global controls. After venting his anger on the USA for its reluctance to show
wholehearted support for UN policies, he swore and left the podium. Is this the
kind of tolerance the UN touts? Could Muller be so accustomed to approval from
like-minded globalists, that he can tolerate nothing less?
Persecution
Muller's hatred for those who disagree
permeates the global transformation. It doesn't matter whether
the occult links in this movement are called witchcraft, feminist
spirituality, Native American shamanism, or simply global spirituality. All
envision a world where all human minds are connected to some kind of a
global mind -- a "collective unconscious," a "Global Mind," "The Mind of God,"
or simply the "Goddess."
Since all versions of this occult spirituality follow the same occult master, they share a common hatred for the biblical
God and His truth. "The world . . . hates Me because I testify of it that its
works are evil,"[26]
said Jesus. It hates us, for the
same reason. Therefore, opposition to the cosmic plan can be costly.
As Barbara Marx Hubbard warns us,
"The selection process will
exclude all
who are exclusive. The selection process assures that only the loving will evolve
to the stage of co-creator."[27]
Those who are "loving" in Ms
Hubbard's eyes will be linked to the cosmic "Mind" she follows, and
it will inspire their attitudes and
actions. Genuine Christians would
be "selected" out of Hubbard's evolutionary scheme. It sounds like a scary fantasy,
but it comes close to what God told us would happen.
"Then they will deliver you
up to tribulation and kill you," said Jesus, "and you will be hated by all nations
for My name's sake." (Matthew 24:9)
Remove the phrase "all nations", and He could have been referring to almost
any time during the last two thousand years.
Long ago, Roman Christians fought lions. Missionaries to Asia, Africa and
South America were tortured, burned and stabbed. Untold millions were tormented
and killed by Communists who rejected Christ but not impersonal psychic powers.
And Nazi resistors faced the gas chambers along with the millions of Jews.
For two centuries, the spreading
influence of Christianity calmed the
seething hostilities of occultism, and God's people found a momentary haven.
But our shelter may soon be ravaged by the coming millennial storms.
"Many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another,"
continued Jesus. "Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And
because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures
to the end shall be saved." (Matthew 24:10-13)
Endure? Where does endurance
fit into the American dream? Or into contemporary church teaching? Or the
feminist movement?
Endurance is almost a forgotten
virtue, isn't it? Yet it's crucial to the battles ahead, whether end times are
near us or still far away. Either way, it's time to prepare for radical changes.
For the biblical and historical pattern shows us that when God's people or nations
ignored truth, returned to paganism, and worshipped other gods, everyone suffered.
With a heart that ached over the pain of His people,[28] God would pull back His
hand of protection
[29]
and allow His people to face the terrors of life without Him -- usually droughts,
famines, wars and plagues.
Eventually, the people would
see what life was like without the Shepherd. The priests would roll out the dusty
old Scriptures, tear their clothes in despair of their own rebellion, repent,
and pray for healing. God always forgave and restored, for then as now He wants
nothing more than to bless His precious people.
In
spite of the glaring similarities between ancient Israel and today, there are
some sobering differences. The vast communication network for occult indoctrination,
the proliferation of seductive spiritual counterfeits, and our ignorance of occult
dangers have set the stage for potential occult dominance that knows no precedent.
In light of Biblical prophecy, could the oft-repeated cycle have become
a downward spiral?
I don't know. God hasn't told us His schedule. Jesus
gave us some signs to look for, but not the starting date for the tyrannical world
government prophesied in Revelation 13.
Only one thing is certain. The dreaded reign of the final antichrist
[30]
will come, but it will last only a moment in time.
"Learn this parable from the fig tree," said Jesus after telling His disciples
about the false prophets, lawlessness, apostasy and persecution that would characterize
the last days. "When its branch... puts forth leaves, you know that summer is
near. So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near, at the
very doors... Watch therefore..." (Matthew 24:32-33, 42)
It's much
easier to focus on daily needs than to look at eternal things. But God tells us
to be alert and ready, not distracted from His concerns.
"As the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be,"
said Jesus. "For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and
drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered
the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so
also will the coming of the Son of Man be.... Watch
therefore..." (Matthew 24:37-39, 42)
The first lesson in watchfulness is to know and love truth.
The world ruler will use all kinds of exciting miracles to prove his divine power,
and most people will believe his boasts.
For "the coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work
of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and
in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because
they refused to love the truth..." (2 Thessalonians. 2:9)
Pray this will not happen to those you love!
The second lessons follows. Since those who love truth will
be hated by the world, we need to fix our eyes on the eternal life that no one
can ever take from us. A story I heard long ago shows the joy that comes with
a heavenly focus. I may not remember
the exact words, but the story goes something like this.
Back in the second century, Roman authorities told the Christian
leader Polycarp to stop warning people
about paganism and cease telling them the life-saving truth about Jesus Christ.
He refused.
"Then we'll take all your possessions," they told
him." Go
ahead," he said. "My God has promised to supply all I need according to His riches
in glory. He will take care of me."
(Philippians 4:17-19)
"If you don't stop preaching, we'll take your wife and children
and kill them," they threatened.
"You can't kill them," he answered, "for they belong to God.
I will spend all eternity in heaven with them."
"Then we'll kill you."
"That would be best of all, for I would go immediately into
the presence of my Lord. Nothing could be more wonderful."
Polycarp's martyrdom only magnifies the joy of His eternal
perspective. His faith lives on as a rich reminder to us that when we are joined
to Christ through the cross, we have an eternal treasure in heaven. That assurance
doesn't diminish our present life; it makes it richer and fuller.
"For to me,
to live is Christ, and to die is gain," said Paul. Living or dying, he enjoyed
the privileges of citizenship in heaven. Either way he would serve the God he
loved. Death would have been easier, for while he lived, he was stoned, imprisoned,
chained, tortured, starved, and beaten for his faith.
Yet, he radiated hope:
"
Therefore
we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward
man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which
is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding normal and eternal
weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the
things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but
the things which are not seen are eternal." 2 Corinthians 4:16-18
Heaven is Forever
What
unseen things did Paul "see"? What
thoughts comforted him when His body ached, his food was gone, and his friends
forsook him?
Friends and food may be important, but they meant little
compared to "the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord."[31]
Nothing could weaken his confidence that "the sufferings of this present time are
not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us"? (Romans
8:18) Part
that glory would be a whole new beautiful body in place of the old broken one:
"The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption.... It is sown
a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.... Death is swallowed up in victory...."
(1 Corinthians 15:42, 44, 54)
Instead of pain and loss, there would be an inheritance -- something
so wonderful and glorious that we can't even comprehend it with our present earth-bound
minds. Paul saw only glimpse, but
we can sense his anticipation:
"The Spirit Himself bears witness
with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs -- heirs
of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may
also be glorified together."
Romans 8:16-17
Special blessings would be
reserved for those who suffer for His sake.
[32]
Among the first in line would be those who gave their lives to do His will, but
received little or no human praise for their faithfulness. In heaven, their "Father
who sees in secret will reward" them with a love that far exceeds our finite understanding.[33]
While God, in His perfect justice,
promises special rewards for those who gave Him their lives, all of heaven's
citizens will find their "cup" of happiness overflowing. This final joy will be
far deeper and fuller than all the earthly delights combined. Lacking earthly
words for heavenly glories, the Bible can only use inadequate images like mansions
and streets of gold to symbolize the very best the human mind can communicate.
But those barely hint at the wonder and magnificence of our future home. "For
now we see in a mirror, dimly...."
[34]
New bodies, a new earth, no
more pain, a heavenly inheritance that will last forever. . .
While those promises delight my heart, they can't compare with the best
of all: meeting our Bridegroom "face to face."
We will stand before a wonderfully real Person, the King of the universe
-- not simply an impersonal "glory" or radiating "light" as
New Agers tell us. Many
saints have described that heavenly moment, but no earthly words can do it justice.
Paul tried: "Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together
with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air,"
[36]
he rejoiced, "and thus we shall always be with the Lord."
Do you see the contrast between
the evolutionary one-world spirituality and God's unchanging heavenly realm? Unlike
the new paradigm with its evolving human consciousness that absorbs human identity,
the biblical truth is that we individually will spend eternity in the presence
of Jesus Christ, who "is the same yesterday, today and forever."
[37]
John, Jesus’ beloved friend
and disciple, sensed how the wonder of God’s eternal nature would touch our human
lives in that moment of transformation: "Beloved, now we are children of God,"
he began, "and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that
when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." Then
he nudges us to take hold of this magnificent hope and keep it as a banner in
our hearts: "And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He
is pure." (1 John 3:1-3)
This hope changes us even now.
Almost imperceptibly, a new understanding—a more perfect and heavenly paradigm—begins
to guide our hearts. "We can't feel at home in this world any more," goes an old
song, for we realize that "our citizenship is in heaven!" (Philippians 3:19-20) Like the heroes and heroines of God's hall of fame (Hebrews 11),
we fix our eyes on the heavenly city that beckons to all God's sojourners. The
eyes of our hearts turn to Jesus, "and the things of earth grow strangely dim."
"Face to face with Christ my
Savior," sang Fanny Crosby, the blind hymn writer who saw eternal realities more
clearly than most people with eyes that see. Her songs still encourage thousands
of believers to walk with God all the way home:
All the way my Savior leads me,
what have I to ask beside?
Can I doubt His tender mercy, Who through life has been my Guide?
Heavenly peace, divinest comfort, here by faith in Him to dwell!
For I know, whate'er befall me, Jesus doeth all things well.
All the way my Savior leads me; cheers each winding path I tread.
Gives me grace for every trial, feeds me with the living bread.
Though my weary steps may falter, and my soul athirst may be,
Gushing from the Rock before me, lo, a spring of joy I see!
All the way my Savior leads me; O the fullness of His love!
Perfect rest to me is promised in my Father's house above.
When my spirit clothed immortal, wings its flight to realms of day,
This my song through endless ages: Jesus led me all the way!
The
Journey Home
The way to heaven is
never smooth for those who love God. It means suffering those "needs, persecutions,
and distresses" that train us to trust, persevere, and triumph.[38]
It means clinging to God's Word while the world twists His eternal truths
into every kind of deception the human mind can invent and demonic forces can
inspire.
It means letting
God use our weaknesses to demonstrate His sufficiency
along our winding journey.[39]
The best of our own strength can neither fulfill God's purposes nor bring us into
heaven. This simple fact offends women like Karin who imagine their own standards
for God's approval. "The cross is
foolishness to" those who would boast of their own performance rather than God's
perfections—and would trade our Father's heaven for a goddess-powered earth. A
Lutheran friend, Jane Larson, summarized it well:
"The one true God is He who
died on a cross as a condemned felon to save us miserable sinners. This isn't
an image that flatters men or women. It may offend anti-Semites that He was
a Jew. It may offend feminists that he was male and invited us to pray in His
name to God as our Father.... It's especially offensive to those
who want to re-image God in their own image....
"Long
ago, God's people wanted a golden calf. Leaders rose up to give to them. There
will always be cravings for self-glorification. There will always be false shepherds
and false shepherdesses who will accommodate such cravings."[40 ]
While He walked on earth, Jesus
Christ was a flesh-and-blood human being, not a mythical god formed by the human
imagination. He
was and
is God who, for a moment in time, left the unseen eternal to enter
into human history. His life, suffering, and death were
documented
historical facts, not fables told by creative storytellers. What He told us
about humility, death and resurrection is not open to our reinterpretation.
"If we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we
have preached to you, let him be accursed," wrote Paul.
(Galatians 1:1-24)
On the other hand, if we will
come to Him in our need and let His Word like a beacon guide us through the times
ahead, He will prove His faithfulness over and over and over. One simple way to
come close to Him, is simply to follow the prayer outline Jesus taught His disciples
long ago. (See
What Jesus taught us to pray)
"What then shall we say to these
things? If God is for us, who
can be against us? He who did not spare
His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely
give us all things? ... Who shall
separate us from the love of Christ? Shall
tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril,
or sword? ...
"Yet in all these things
we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that
neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present
nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be
able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Romans
8:31-39
1Nancy Smith and Donna Maxfield,
"Spiritual Quest in Beijing," Good News
(November/December 1995); 34.
2James Redfield,
Celestine Prophecy (New York: Time
Warner Company, 1993).
3Barbara Marx Hubbard,
Revelation (Greenbrae, CA: The Foundation
for Conscious Evolution), 111.
5Spoken at the Renaissance of
Christian Spirituality at Grace Cathedral, San Francisco, March 24, 1995.
7Hubbard, selection for destruction
9See 1 Corinthians 14 and 2
Timothy 1:7.
10Arianna Huffington
The Fourth Instinct (New York: Simon
& Schuster, 1994), 21.
18Some of those angelic helpers
could have been God's true ministering angels. But, when people are oblivious
to God's warnings and as ready for any spiritual experience as this circle of seekers was, their chances
of meeting the counterfeit grows. Some experiences sounded ominously occult.
19Redfield,
240, 241, 242.
20Redfield,
"Author's Note" opposite page 1.
21Aldous
Huxley, Brave New World (New York:
HarperPerennial, 1932), 52.
22Robert
Muller, A Planet of Hope. Quoted in
Robert Muller's World Core Curriculum
Journal, Vol. 1 (The Robert Muller School, Arlington, TX, 1989), 1.
23"Women
of the Spirit" The Global Link Newsletter
(Volume 20, 1995); 8.
24Thomas
Sowell, "A Road to Hell Paved with Good Intentions,"
Forbes (January 17, 1994); 62.
29God's
protection: Numbers 14:9; Micah 1:11;
Isaiah 22:8-9; Deuteronomy 8:6-20, 31:17; Ezra 8:22.
30The
word "antichrist" is not actually used in the book of Revelation. It is used
four times in John's first two letters.
32Matthew
5:10; 2 Timothy 2:12; Revelation 3:10.
33Matthew
6:5-6; 1 Corinthians 3; Revelation 14:1-5.
40Jane
Hussey Larson, "Spiritual Ultrasound,"
Lutheran Commentator (November/December 1995); 6.
41Did
you notice the similarities between the Lord's prayer and the outline of the
armor of God in Ephesians 6:10-18? (Chapter 3)
Both begin by affirming the truth about God. Both include confession
and cleansing, affirming His sufficiency, and the hope of eternity. Both will
bring you into His presence, fill you with His life, and cover you with His
protection -- not because these words are a magic formula, but because our Father
has promised to respond to His children who seek Him, His way.
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