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The Secret: "A New Era for Humankind"
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 Last year's
film release,
The
Secret,
makes no secret
about it's
intentions:
to let the
world know
that humanity
is on the
brink of a
new era. This
new era will
open up to
humanity unleashed
power, riches,
creativity
and all that
we ever dreamed
of. A "secret"
that has been
locked away
for centuries
is now available
to all.
The film,
available
only on DVD
or online,
is promoted
by celebrities
like Oprah
and Larry
King, and
in just a
few days (Feb.
8th), Oprah
will air a
special about
the film.
Such promotion
has helped
to make the
film an incredibly
popular one,
as can be
seen by Amazon
ranking, which
puts the DVD
in the #1
position for
DVDs. According
to a News
& Observer
article, "'Secret'
Spreads Around
the World,"
700,000 copies
of the DVD
have sold
since its
release last
March.
News &
Observer explains
just how this
"Secret" works:
In
the film,
viewers learn
to ask for
what they
want. And,
if they believe
it, they will
receive it.
It sounds
simple enough,
but here's
the catch:
If you're
cynical, sad,
depressed
and resigned
that nothing
will change,
nothing will.
Thoughts are
so powerful,
the teachers
insist, that
you attract
what you think
about, even
if you don't
want it. Get
it?1
It's these "teachers,"
both ones from
the past and
present day
ones, that The
Secret uses
to reveal this
hidden knowledge.
Present day
teachers include
Jack
Canfield
(Chicken
Soup for the
Soul), John
Gray (Men
Are From Mars,
Women Are From
Venus),
and an assortment
of philosophers,
writers, and
visionaries
who share their
insights on
the "Secret":
"We
have a magnificent
inner calling,
vision, mission,
power inside
us that we
are not honoring
and harnessing,"
says philosopher
and "Secret"
teacher John
Demartini
in a recent
telephone
interview.
"This movie
brings it
to the forefront
that we can
[harness that
power]."2
Larry King calls
the DVD the
"most profound
information
he has run across
in 40 years."
The film focuses
on the "law
of attraction"
and was produced
by Australian-born
screenwriter
and producer
Rhonda Byrne,
who after a
series of setbacks
in her own life,
discovered
that past personalities
like Albert
Einstein, Thomas
Edison, William
Shakespeare,
Abraham Lincoln
and others had
this secret
knowledge, and
Byrne came to
believe that
it "was part
of every religion,
including Christianity,
Hinduism and
Buddhism."
In the trailer
of the movie,
it begins by
showing a genie
from a lamp,
who tells the
beholder "your
wish is my command."
Research analyst
Ray Yungen explains
this concept:
[T]the
genie represent[s]
the Higher
Self, who
was reached
through meditation
by staring
at the flame
of an oil
lamp. It was
believed that
a person could
have whatever
he or she
wanted, once
in touch with
it. Our word
genius comes
from this
Latin word
for spirit
guide and
now means
a person with
great creative
power.3
The premise
of this is that
we all have
a divine essence
within us, and
we just need
to get in touch
with it. In
other words,
as panentheists
teach, God is
in all of creation,
including all
human beings,
and once a person
becomes aware
of this, there
are no limits
to what he can
achieve. Yungen
elaborates:
Once
a person merges
with the Higher
Self, he is
on his way
to empowerment,
meaning he
is capable
of creating
his own reality.
Basically,
all power
is within
the Higher
Self, so when
one is in
tune with
it, he can
run his own
show....
Metaphysicians
believe that
we all create
our own circumstances
anyway, so
when we are
guided and
empowered
by our Higher
Self, we can
consciously
co-create
with it.4
What is so alarming
about The
Secret is
that it shares
the same mystical
view as the
contemplative
prayer movement,
which is that
all is one.
The Secret
film constantly
makes reference
to "the universal
mind." This
is the same
mindset that
Thomas Merton,
Henri Nouwen,
and Tilden Edwards
had. Listen:
"The
human family
is one in
God's spirit"--Edwards5
Thomas Merton
said he believed
that all religions
share "the
experience
of divine
light"6
Nouwen believed
that "it is
in the heart
of God that
we can come
to the full
realization
of the unity
of all that
is"7
The "universal
mind" in The
Secret is
the same as
the unity of
all that exists
and this is
exactly what
is found among
the "Christian"
contemplative
masters.
With the church's
fascination
and embracing
of meditation
through the
contemplative
prayer movement
(i.e., spiritual
formation),
the film further
gives the green
light to millions
of Christians
to be ushered
deeper into
mysticism. While
less than a
million people
have thus far
bought the DVD,
everyone knows
that when a
product has
Oprah's signature
of approval
on it, sales
automatically
soar to astronomical
levels, and
Christian women
are a huge segment
of Oprah's audience.
Without exaggeration,
meditation is
becoming an
integral part
of our society,
in every facet:
education, business,
government,
entertainment,
health and religion.
And with most
Christian leaders
promoting contemplative
spirituality
to at least
some degree,
Christendom
is being affected
dramatically.
When Alice Bailey,
who coined the
term New Age
and was instructed
by her spirit
guide, said
that the age
of enlightenment
was going to
come, not around
the Christian
church but rather
through it,
her "prophecy"
may be coming
to pass. Just
last year, Fox
Home Entertainment
released a film
called Be
Still, an
infomercial
for contemplative
prayer, in which
numerous well
known and highly
respected Christian
leaders took
part. And nearly
every major
online Christian
bookstore is
selling books
that promote
New Age style
meditation,
which has a
premise that
all paths lead
to God and divinity
is within every
human being
thus removing
the need for
a Savior. If
this promotion
and embracing
of meditation
keeps up, then
there really
will be "a new
era for humankind."
But it will
be an era that
the Bible warns
about when it
says: Now the
Spirit expressly
says that in
latter times
some will depart
from the faith,
giving heed
to deceiving
spirits and
doctrines of
demons."
This week, when
Oprah shows
her special
about the The
Secret,
please be praying
that women (and
men) watching
this show will
see this as
further seduction
into a mystical
realm that is
void of the
gospel of the
true God and
Light, Jesus
Christ.
Notes:
1.
http://www.newsobserver.com/105/story/538825.htm
l 2.
Ibid.
3. For Many Shall Come in My Name,
1st Ed.,p. 14.
4. Ibid., pp. 11-12.
5. A Time of Departing, 2nd
ed., p. 43.
6.
Ibid., p. 60.
7.
Ibid., p. 63.
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The Berean Call Says AFA Did Not
Do the Right
Thing Regarding
Bookstore
Complaints
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On
February 1st,
The
Berean Call
issued the
following
statement:
When
the American
Family Association
was challenged
for having
a Contemplative/Mystical
category at
their Family
Resource Bookstore,
they removed
the category,
but kept the
books and
placed them
in other categories.
As another
ministry previously
reported
[on 1/11/07]
:
Under
'Mysticism,'
authors
include
mystics:
Jean-Pierre
De Caussade,
St. John
of the Cross,
Evelyn Underhill,
Calvin Miller,
and many,
many others
with panentheistic
persuasions.
In Miller's
book, Into
the Depths
of God,
he states:
Evelyn
Underhill
was a mystic
who believed
that mysticism
was the
vehicle
in which
all religions
could come
into contact
with the
'Absolute'
(God) however
one perceived
him to be.
She states:
[T]hose
who use the
term Mysticism
are bound
in self-defense
to explain
what they
mean by it.
Broadly speaking,
I understand
it to be the
expression
of the innate
tendency of
the human
spirit towards
complete harmony
with the transcendental
order; whatever
be the theological
formula under
which that
order is understood.
Whether that
end be called
the God of
Christianity,
the World-soul
of Pantheism,
the Absolute
of Philosophy,
the desire
to attain
it and the
movement towards
it-so long
as this is
a genuine
life process
and not an
intellectual
speculation-is
the proper
subject of
mysticism.
I believe
this movement
to represent
the true line
of development
of the highest
form of human
consciousness.--
Evelyn Underhill,
from Mysticism:
A Study in
Nature and
Development
of Spiritual
Consciousness
When
well-meaning
Christians (wittingly
or unwittingly)
enter into practices
or teachings
which are contrary
to the Word
of God, and
therefore counterproductive
to the cause
of Christ, our
love for them
compels us to
share our perspective
with them. Those
who expressed
their concerns
to the American
Family Association
did the right
thing. The AFA
did not. - The
Berean Call
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Rick Warren Says He Practices Silence and
Solitude
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In
the January
31st issue
of Rick Warren's
e-newsletter,
his feature
article is
titled, "How
to Dream Bigger."
Warren gives
eight steps
on how to
"help you
find God's
dream for
your life."
While the
premise behind
what Warren
and Bruce
Wilkinson
refer to as
"God's dream"
is faulty
and unbiblical,
this article
focuses primarily
on Step One
of Warren's
plan. He states:
Open
your mind
to God. If
you're going
to do this,
you've got
to be quiet
before the
Lord. Schedule
times of
silence, of
solitude.
For many of
you, God can't
give you a
dream because
you won't
sit down and
shut up! You
just need
to be quiet
before him.
You start
by getting
God's perspective
on your life.
(emphasis
mine)
Warren
states that
he went through
this step (and
the other seven
steps) to develop
"God's dream
for Saddleback."
But it is in
step one that
shows the heretical
nature of the
Purpose Driven
mindset. Although
this step may
sound legitimate
at first glance,
Warren's idea
that God "can't"
give us something
unless we engage
in certain steps
or a formula
actually belittles
God in the sense
that it implies
he is impotent
unless we
do these things.
And just what
are these things?
Silence and
solitude.
Now some may
say that Warren
doesn't mean
practicing contemplative
prayer or going
into an altered
state of silence
to hear from
God when he
says silence
and solitude.
But based on
Warren's own
words, he does
indeed mean
just that! In
a previous Lighthouse
Trails article,
"Is
Rick Warren
Promoting Contemplative
Prayer? ,"
we show Rick
Warren's strong
affinity and
promotion of
contemplative
spirituality
from as far
back as his
1995 book, The
Purpose Driven
Church ,
when he said
the Spiritual
Formation movement
(ala Richard
Foster and Dallas
Willard) had
a "vital message
for the church,"
and has "given
the body of
Christ a wake
up call" (p.
127).
Since 1995,
and through
many various
means, Warren
has consistently
promoted contemplative
spirituality.1
For example,
in his book
The Purpose
Driven Life,
Warren tells
readers (of
which now number
in the tens
of millions)
to practice
breath
prayers
(pp. 89, 299)
and as an example
refers to a
Benedictine
monk, Brother
Lawrence. In
Lawrence's book,
The Practice
of the Presence
of God,
it says he "danced
violently like
a mad man" when
he went into
this "presence."
2 This could
be indicative
of someone who
is practicing
deep mantra
meditation where
such behavior
often takes
place. 3
Warren has backed
up his public
promotion of
contemplative
time and again
through book
and article
endorsements,
statements made
by himself,
and teachings
that come out
of Saddleback.
This is all
documented on
our research
site and in
our books. And
in light of
his spiritual
proclivities,
this current
article by Warren,
"How to Dream
Bigger," when
he recommends
practicing the
silence and
the solitude,
should alarm
any discerning
believer.
To anyone who
has studied
New Age or metaphysical
literature,
the common theme
is that one
can't hear the
higher self
unless he or
she goes into
the silence.
It is very disturbing
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