by Ray Yungen

Throughout my Christian life I have periodically heard fellow Christians suggest we are in the last days. Often these comments were initiated from current cases of violent crimes, sexual perversions, war, or natural disasters. Since I knew history had repeatedly encountered these calamities, such predictions of Christ’s imminent return rang hollow.

However, in 1984 I had an unexpected encounter that changed my entire outlook. A newfound friend educated me about the New Age movement and its end-times implications. After a period of investigation, I came to believe this could very well be the time period the book of Revelation showcases. Instead of a vague and obscure manifestation of prophecy, I saw something distinct and pervasive happening in our churches and society. And incredibly enough, this shift has been predicted from both sides of the struggle.

Christians must remember that the authenticity of Christianity itself is predicated upon its prophecies coming to pass. Jesus Christ, the apostle Paul, and various apostles and prophets of the Old and New Testaments make clear and direct references to particular events occurring in the future. If these events are only fantasies, then everything else could be deemed equally fictitious as well. I believe current trends authenticate Jesus Christ’s and the apostle Paul’s prophetic claims regarding the end of the age. Upon examination of the evidence, it becomes clear that the course our society (and our churches) is taking has been foretold by the apostolic writings.

The apostle Paul spoke of the “day of the Lord” in reference to “the times and seasons” in the fifth chapter of I Thessalonians. He describes how God will intervene swiftly and without delay. Paul states:

But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.

For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. (I Thessalonians 5:1-6)

Paul is saying the end of the age will come upon the world like a thief in the night. In other words, it will actually sneak up on people. Then interestingly, the apostle contrasts two groups: “But ye, brethren [followers of Christ] are not in darkness [people of ignorance], that that day should overtake you as a thief. [unaware]” (v.4). Here, Paul is saying believers in Christ will have the information (Scripture) available to them to prepare for “that day.”

Those who walk in the light can see both where they are going and what is coming up ahead. Paul then warns against spiritual slumber and drunkenness, which could lead to a person being overtaken by that day, unaware: “Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober” (v. 6). The word sober means be alert or aware. If we are instructed to watch and be aware, there must be something to watch for—otherwise, Paul’s admonition would be useless. But who and what are we to watch for? …

Interestingly, the apostle Paul declared one called “the man of sin” and “the son of perdition” would proclaim himself to be God (II Thessalonians 2:3,4). I believe this coming Aquarian messiah will be the son of perdition spoken of by Paul in II Thessalonians. Furthermore, I am convinced the New Age movement is his spiritual platform. Too many things fit together for this to be just mere coincidence. Therefore, we must watch for the restructuring of our world by those who are preparing the way for his arrival and identity to be revealed.

Daniel 8:23 states this man will be a master of dark sayings. In Hebrew, this translates as one skilled in cunning and ambiguous speech. The world will see him as one who is distinguished and spiritually brilliant. Keep this in mind as you read the following description:

The coming one will not be Christian, a Hindu, a Buddhist, not an American, Jew, Italian or Russian—his title is not important; he is for all humanity, to unite all religions, philosophies and nations.1 

The only one who could bring this about is the one who fits the description mentioned in Daniel. This explains the all-out effort by the New Age, which is saturating our society with meditation right now. When this man comes forward, all those who are in touch with their higher self, those who are awakened will clearly recognize him as their unifier and give him their allegiance. He will have a ready-made constituency (many in key positions) to help him reconstruct society. This will be the final culmination of the paradigm shift….

Familiar spirits (fallen angels) will not just mislead a few individuals; they will deceive the whole world into embracing a new system. Satan (whose name means adversary) will be the power behind the “Coming One”—the great Antichrist. The origin of the Antichrist’s religious system is clearly revealed by the apostle John in Revelation 17:5:

And upon her forehead was a name written, Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth.

Another word for Babylon in the Old Testament was Chaldea. The Chaldeans were renowned for their use of metaphysical arts. They began the first mystery schools. Daniel 4:7 says: “Then came in the magicians, the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers.” This Mystery Babylon, then, would be the original source or mother of what is now New Age metaphysics….

I believe the Bible contains an important passage, which clearly indicates a change of times and seasons may indeed be at hand. In Matthew 24:3-5, which is a chapter dealing with the tribulation period, Jesus spoke these words to His disciples concerning the signs of His coming and the end of the age:

And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?

And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many….

In light of the many who will be coming in Christ’s name, I also believe the [occultist] Alice Bailey prophecies can provide further insight into what the apostle Paul called in II Thessalonians the falling away. Bailey eagerly foretold of what she termed “the regeneration of the churches.”21 Her rationale for this was obvious:

The Christian church in its many branches can serve as a St. John the Baptist, as a voice crying in the wilderness, and as a nucleus through which world illumination may be accomplished.2 

In other words, instead of opposing Christianity, the occult would capture and blend itself with Christianity and then use it as its primary vehicle for spreading and instilling New Age consciousness! The various churches would still have their outer trappings of Christianity and still use much of the same lingo. If asked certain questions about traditional Christian doctrine, the same answers would be given. But it would all be on the outside; on the inside a contemplative spirituality would be drawing in those open to it….

[T]he world is opening its arms to wholly embrace a spirituality that will exist under the umbrella of mysticism. The correlating theme will be—we are all One. When the man of lawlessness does rise to power with a one-world economy and political base, he will seduce many into searching for their own Christ consciousness rather than the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

(from A Time of Departing by Ray Yungen, excerpted from Chapter 6)

Notes:

1. John Davis and Naomi Rice, Messiah and the Second Coming, p. 150

2. Alice Bailey, The Externalization of the Heirarchy, p. 510

By John L. Inman III
Democrat Staff

To kickoff the Lenten season, United Church of Christ (UCC), California, hosted a three-day opportunity to walk a labyrinth.

The labyrinth was a replica of the design from one of the most famous labyrinths which is in the Chartes Cathedral in France. The Rev. Collette R. Jones, associate pastor at UCC California said labyrinths are very ancient spiritual tools.

“Remnants of labyrinths have been found in civilizations thousands of years before Christianity,” she said. “Christianity has also appropriated it. It is a metaphor for the Christian journey and life. There is only one path to the center which is God and one path out unlike a maze where there are dead ends. Click here to read more.

LTRP Note:With the growing tide of spiritual deception among leading Christian figures, ministries and organizations, it is essential for believers to recognize how this deception is entering the church. The following article by Roger Oakland addresses Erwin McManus’ role in this dilemma of deception. Sadly, popular and trusted pastor and author David Jeremiah told his church that he wants to use McManus’ book, The Barbarian Way to help bring his church into a “major paradigm shift.”

The Barbarian Way
by Roger Oakland

In a Relevant Magazineinterview, Erwin McManus, pastor of a church called Mosaic and a popular author and speaker, states the following:

Because people don’t know where to put our community [Mosaic] they put us in the “emergent” category, and we really are a different animal than emergent. We’re not against emergent, but we are not like them.1

In the interview, McManus says, “Our dilemma is that we are trying to create an entire new category and people keep trying to put us in different ones.”2 While McManus may not be part of the emergent team, he is helping to propel emerging spirituality. Of Dan Kimball’s book, The Emerging Church, he states:

The future of the church in North America hinges on innovators like Dan Kimball and the ideas presented in The Emerging Church. Vintage Christianity can be applied to new and existing congregations to help reach the next generation.3

In 2003, McManus was one of five authors in the book, Church in the Emerging Culture. Two of the other authors were Brian McLaren and Leonard Sweet. McManus’ disclaimer that he is not part of the emerging church does not line up with his words and actions.

In McManus’ book The Barbarian Way, he tells readers they have been “recreated to live in a raw and primal spirituality” and that “Barbarians are not welcome among the civilized and are feared among the domesticated.”4 The theme of The Barbarian Wayis a comparison of the “refined and civilized”5 and the barbarian, who McManus says we should become like. Christianity is something that stands in the way though. McManus explains:

The way of Jesus is far too savage for their sensibilities [those who are “civilized”] … Why a reckless call to awaken the barbarian faith within us at the risk of endangering this great civilization we have come to know as Christianity? … It is time to hear the barbarian call, to form a barbarian tribe, and to unleash the barbarian revolt. Let the invasion begin.6

When, as I mentioned earlier, McManus said it was his “goal to destroy Christianity,” the previous statement reiterates those convictions, and the following statement shows that McManus includes not just Christianity in this upheaval but Israel as well. McManus says that Jesus doesn’t like Israel (7) (although in fact the Bible says He wept for her). He says that since God decided to destroy Israel, we should not think He wouldn’t destroy Christianity too:

Two thousand years ago, God started a revolt against the religion He started. So don’t ever put it past God to cause a groundswell movement against churches and Christian institutions that bear His name.8

McManus erroneously states that God revolted against Judaism, which simply isn’t true. In reality, God established the Law and the Prophets through the Jew whom He refers to as the “apple of His eye”:

When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel. For the LORD’s portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye. (Deuteronomy 32:8-10)

Jesus came as a sacrificial Lamb to save, and He informed His followers that the time is fulfilled—he wasn’t overthrowing a religion—He came to fulfill prophecy. And now McManus’ thinking extends to Christianity, suggesting now God will revolt against it as well.

McManus’ use of words like barbarian, savage, and other warlike terms belittle and mock anything that calls itself Christian. He exhorts readers by saying:

When an opponent beheads one barbarian, he better be prepared, for we will return in force.… We need to move together as God’s people, a barbarian tribe.… There’s a future to be created.9

The Barbarian Waytries to show that to be a barbarian is to live radically for Jesus. But explaining the barbarian life in terms of beheadings, mysticism, and rejection of Christianity will at best give a confusing message to many young readers.

McManus’ “new category” of spiritual quest sounds very much like the emergent quest. By his own admission, McManus resonates with the one element consistent throughout the emerging church—mysticism. For example, at Bethel Theological Seminary where McManus is a professor for the Doctor of Ministry of Emerging Leaders program, he teaches with his brother Alex McManus, author of Into the Mystic (a promotion of mysticism). McManus sees mysticism as an integral part of the “barbarian’s” spiritual walk. He explains:

[W]e have to learn how to see the invisible and hear the inaudible. We are called to join the barbarian tribe and to embrace our call as mystical warriors.10

In another interview with Relevant Magazine, McManus explains what is the “core” of his book. He states:

The Barbarian Way was, in some sense, trying to create a volatile fuel to get people to step out and act. It’s pretty hard to get a whole group of people moving together as individuals who are stepping into a more mystical, faith-oriented, dynamic kind of experience with Christ. So, I think Barbarian Way was my attempt to say, “Look, underneath what looks like invention, innovation and creativity is really a core mysticism that hears from God, and what is fueling this is something really ancient.” That’s what was really the core of The Barbarian Way. 11

On McManus’ website, Mosaic Alliance, he includes a section called “Awaken Humanity,” which “serves the purpose of history by maximizing the divine potential in every human being.”12

(This article is an excerpt from Roger Oakland’s book, Faith Undone, pp. 206-210)

Notes:

1. Interview by Al Sergel with Erwin McManus, “Soul Cravings, Q&A (Relevant Magazine, http://www.relevantmagazine.com/godarticle.php?id=7241). [Relevant Magazine has removed this link-on file at LTRP]
2. Ibid.
3. Erwin McManus endorsement of Dan Kimball’s book, The Emerging Church (Vintage Faith website: http://www.vintagefaith.com/endorsements.html.
4. Erwin McManus, The Barbarian Way, pp. 14-15.
5. Ibid., p. 32.
6. Ibid., pp. 15, 17.
7. Ibid., p. 110.
8. Ibid., p. 114.
9. Ibid., pp. 134, 138.
10. Ibid., p. 63.
11. Interview by Relevant Magazinewith Erwin McManus, “In That Smoky Room” (Relevant Magazine, http://www.relevantmagazine.com/god_article.php?id=6989). [Relevant Magazine has removed this link-on file at LTRP]
12. Erwin McManus “Bio” (http://erwinmcmanus.com/bio).

by Jan Markell
Olive Tree Ministries

Christianity Today online says that vampires are hot stuff right now even for Christians. Visit a Christian bookstore or publishing house Web site and you might be surprised how many vampire-themed books you will see. What’s wrong with the picture? Legions of people will tell you that nothing is wrong. They are, in fact, trying to sanctify vampirism.

Stephanie Meyer’s popular Twilight series is cashing in to be sure. Her four books which have sold over 17 million copies, and two movies thus far, are setting new records. To those of us who object, they will tell you that the theme of vampirism is just folklore. They aren’t in the Bible. Relax.

But Web sites indicate some are obsessed, particularly with Twilight. Meyer, who is a Mormon, has connected with pre-teens and teens and is many steps beyond Harry Potter. And defenders of Potter had their mantra too: Come on, it’s only fiction and it’s getting kids to read. What parents and others won’t admit is that these occult-laced child-sagas are also snaring some into dark practices.

So the recent Christianity Today review of this phenomenon titles their article, “There’s Power in the Blood.” As much as I dislike this magazine’s Left-leaning views on many things, they have hit on a key here. The enemy is moving in on the most sacred issue to a true Christian — the saving shed blood of Jesus Christ.

In the article, University of Richmond English professor Elisabeth Rose Gruner notes that both Christianity and vampirism equate blood with life. She states, “Humans instinctively understand that blood is life-giving. But the blood-drinking aspect of vampirism is a ‘ghastly parody of Christianity.’ While the Christian believer attains eternal life by accepting the blood freely shed on his or her behalf, the vampire achieves immortality by sucking the life out of another.”

So, in spite of what should be obvious, one Christian publishing house after another is turning away solid manuscripts for corrupted ones on this demented topic. What an example of Isaiah 5:20 with evil being called good here. This vampire fascination with blood is trying to rob the pure, atoning nature of Christ’s blood. Click here to continue reading.

DNA Report
(out of house news source)

Holy Name Cathedral Parish (Roman Catholic) on Wabash Avenue in Chicago (USA) has launched weekly 75-minute yoga sessions every Wednesday at the Parish Center.

Its website says, “yoga has evolved across the ages as a means of tuning the body for better communion with God through prayer and meditation. Join us as we explore the multiple spiritual and physical benefits of yoga practice…Typical sessions will include an opening prayer, inspired movement & strengthening, and contemplative prayer to close.” It organized a Special Workshop on Ash Wednesday-”Holy Name Yoga-Based Prayer for Body & Spirit: Creating Your Home Practice”-with proceeds supporting weekly yoga program.

Instructors include Ali Niederkorn (who “has cultivated a daily home practice making yoga a part of her regular prayer” and offers “yoga classes encouraging yoga practice as a form of prayer and meditation”) and Dina Wolf (teaches a spiritually inspired vinyasa flow yoga class). Reverend Dan Mayall is Pastor of Holy Name Cathedral under Archdiocese of Chicago headed by Archbishop Cardinal Francis George.

Acclaimed Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that yoga (referred as “a living fossil”), whose traces went back to around 2,000 BCE to Indus Valley civilization, was one of the six systems of orthodox Hindu philosophy. Click here to continue reading.

(courtesy Underground News US)

Related:

To learn more about the Hindu roots of Yoga, read Out of India by India-raised Caryl Matrisciana and see our extended research on Yoga.

by Carl Triechrib
Forcing Change

Knowing that this report cannot cover every issue, it is my hope that it will provide a general guide to areas of concern for 2010 and beyond. In other words, use this document as a launching pad to dig deeper into the trends and challenges.

This report is subdivided into three main sections: Global Issues, Asian Geo-Strategy, and Economics.

Global Issues

Climate Change

- Expect an increase in public skepticism as the pseudo-science that backs up “global warming” continues to come apart at the seams. “Climate-gate,” that inconvenient incident in late 2009 that demonstrated the outright manipulation of science to match a political goal, played a major role in reversing the public’s perception of “global warming.” This year will see more people questioning the science, politics, and economics that undergird the global climate change agenda.

- Expect an increase in rhetoric from the Climate Change lobby industry, especially as we near the November deadline for the next high-level Climate Change meeting.

- Watch as catastrophic natural events are subtly (and not-so-subtly) blamed on “climate change.” The recent Haiti earthquake is a case in point: Actor and activist Danny Glover publically linked “climate change” to the Haitian quake. Not going so far as Glover, a recent Forbes online article found a way to tidily blend the quake and “global warming” (”Lessons From Haiti,” 21, January 2010).

“The number of people killed and affected in the Haitian disaster is enormous, and in proportions rarely seen. However, with increasing urbanization and population pressure, combined with consequences of global warming, the sheer numbers of people at risk of devastation and destitution due to natural disasters are likely to increase.”

Sadly, massive natural disasters permeate history, many with far higher death figures than Haiti. If you take the time to trace the death totals of historical famines, earthquakes, volcanoes, floods and tsunamis, landslides and hurricanes, it becomes immediately apparent that history is replete with examples extending back to the outer limits of mankind’s story. This in no way downplays the Haitian disaster – the suffering in Haiti is colossal. It does demonstrate, however, that a certain political and quasi eco-spiritual spin now immediately accompanies natural disasters. This thinking stems from the deep ecology movement and from Eastern spiritual beliefs. In the words of the Dalai Lama,

“Until now, you see, Mother Earth has somehow tolerated sloppy house habits. But now human use, population, and technology have reached that certain stage where Mother Earth no longer accepts our presence with silence. In many ways she is now telling us, ‘My children are behaving badly.’ She is warning us that there are limits to our actions…” (as published in UNEP, Only One Earth, p.61). Click here to continue reading.