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Dear Lighthouse Trails:

In reading your latest offering, I am agreeing with every word. I’ve received Lighthouse Trails e-newsletters for years now, but have to speak out today. I’m a senior and love working with seniors. I recently moved to ___________ and soon joined a conservative Southern Baptist church. After a few months here, I offered to help with the seniors group. God led me to start a little newsletter after only 3 months. (I have been aware of aberrant teaching in the “church” for many years now and have all the books Lighthouse Trails offers.) I felt that the time had come to begin offering some teaching since I had found out that at least 2 of the seniors were engaging in Yoga on a regular basis. I tried putting an article on Hinduism in the last newsletter, and it was rejected by the director, on no uncertain terms.

I will pray and seek God’s guidance as to how to use the information I have, but thank you so much for what you wrote in the article, “Sound the Trumpet in the Midst of Apostasy—the Enemy is in the Camp.” It only confirms what I’ve learned all along and how much danger we are in even in a church that’s totally dedicated to preaching about Jesus and His Word.

God bless you as you continue serving the Lord in truth.

Mary

LTRP Note: Today, a caller asked us if we had any information on SOZO. While we have had inquiries about SOZO in the past, we have never posted anything about it. Below is an article from The Berean Call discussing the origins and nature of SOZO. If you know someone who is getting involved with this, please pass this article on to them.

“Climbing Up Another Way – Is There A Spiritual Ladder to the Lap of ‘Father God’?”

By Mark Dinsmore (The Berean Call)

History and Structure of Sozo

Dear Lighthouse Trails:

I am a long time Weight Watchers member, having lost 30 lbs. 8 years ago. As was widely reported in the press, Oprah joined WW about 2 years ago and bought a seat on the Board of Directors of Weight Watchers. Her influence is predictable. The literature was revamped to promote mindfulness practices, and WW now has outside the meeting classes that teach “chi flow.” However, we now have whole meetings devoted to the practice of mindfulness, complete with demos and practice sessions. This is so frustrating since meetings are the lifeblood of the program for many of us, where we can talk about food issues. I did a search and you don’t have WW mentioned on your blog, perhaps because it is a secular organization, but many Christian women go there because statistically it has the best track record for helping people lose weight. It has changed profoundly since Oprah got involved.

Thank you, Barb

Links to show the connection between Mindfulness, Reiki, Yoga, the New Age and Weight Watchers:

https://www.weightwatchers.com/nz/feel/mindfulness/mindfulness-how-to-get-started

http://www.weightwatchers.com/util/art/index_art.aspx?tabnum=1&art_id=20011

https://www.weightwatchers.com/util/art/index_art.aspx?tabnum=1&art_id=34981&sc=66

https://www.weightwatchers.com/ca/en/article/healing-hands-discovering-practice-reiki

http://people.com/bodies/oprah-winfrey-and-deepak-chopra-announce-new-21-day-meditation-experience/https://www.weightwatchers.com/util/art/index_art.aspx?tabnum=1&art_id=216331&sc=3040

Related Information:

“Oprah Winfrey’s New Age “Christianity” and the Emperor’s New Clothes”

Mindfulness! Heard of It? What Does it Mean, and Where is it Showing Up in Christian Circles?

Photo: Quality US Products; used with permission.

A new batch of Shepherd’s Bible Verse Tea is arriving this week. As many of our readers know, Lighthouse Trails began a special division nearly seven years ago called The Shepherd’s Garden in which we created our own brand of organic Bible verse tea and developed our own unique flavors. We did this as a kind of “tent-making” ministry to help strengthen Lighthouse Trails financially. We developed six different blends plus a Sampler box. Each individually wrapped tea bag has a tag on a string, and each tag has a KJV Bible verse (95 different verses). If you have never tasted this tea, we hope you will give it a try.

See what others are saying (click here).

Below is a list from the folks at Quality U.S. Products:

31 Ways To Use Shepherd’s Bible Verse Tea

1.Make it for breakfast, snack or dessert with hot home-baked bread or muffins.

2.Give it as a hostess gift.

3.Add it to a gift basket (make it tea-themed!)

4.Host a tea party.

5.Gift it to a friend in the hospital.

6.Send it in a care package to a college student.

7.Drink it in lieu of coffee during your morning devotional.

8.Send some with a get well card or gift.

9.Make iced tea on a hot day.

10.Sooth allergies and throats with peppermint.

11.Give it as a pastor’s wife/family appreciation gift.

12.Create a “tea room” (or nook) for your devotional or prayer time.

13.Use leftover tea as mulch for potted plants, flower beds or vegetable gardens.

14.Donate boxes to a church food pantry, soup kitchen, homeless or women’s shelter, or orphanage kitchen.

15.Tell your mom how much you love her and thank her for her prayers.

16.Send a box to a teachers lounge at a Christian school.

17.Bless a nurses station at a hospital (make sure they have a staff kitchenette to store and prepare it).

18.Make up a homeschool lesson surrounding topics like “tea history, growing, manufacturing, entrepreneurship, business, and serving the Lord, with scriptural application.”

19.Serve hot tea in disposable cups to those who have to work out in the cold (husbands, neighbors shoveling the driveway or plowing snow).

20.Slip an individual bag into a greeting card with a warm message: “I found these excellent teas! Sorry I can’t be there. . . pull up a chair and enjoy these as if I am!”

21.Give it to extended family at Christmas time.

22.Ward off colds in winter.

23.Make “Red Chai” flavored ice-cream.

24.Investigate new recipes involving tea, or try mixing different fruit juices, spices, milks or honey.

25.If your church serves coffee before or after services, serve it in baskets or on platters with a hot water dispenser.

26.Serve it to your Sunday School or small group.

27.Set aside time to share the tea with your grandmother or other relatives, especially if they are home bound.

28.Donate it to veteran’s family support service locations or staff, such as Fischer Houses, or to Arlington Ladies.

29.Bring it on vacation to keep eyes on God as you and your family enjoy time away.

30.Make Shepherd’s “sweet tea” Popsicles.

31.Make it a conversation starter, and let the Lord lead you!

Source: Quality U.S. Products

Ray Yungen

By Ray Yungen

God’s Desire

Just what exactly is God’s desire for mankind? Does He want to send people to Hell? Does He want anyone to live eternally without Him? Scripture is very clear about this when it says:

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)

God makes a strong plea to all people, giving them every opportunity to receive Him. It is God’s desire that none should perish eternally. That’s why He offered His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ—the only perfect sacrifice for mankind’s sin:

Therefore as by the offence of one [Adam] judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one [Jesus] the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. (Romans 5:18)

What it comes down to is the preaching of the higher self (as taught in contemplative spirituality) versus the preaching of the Cross. The New Age says that God is the higher self in man—that God is just a meditation away.

Many people are turned off when they think Christian teaching says we are bad and worthless. But this is not an accurate depiction of Christianity. It may teach that man is bad  (i.e., sinful) (which is evident) but certainly not worthless. The fact that Christ died for the “ungodly” to “reconcile” them to God shows God’s love toward man. In contrast to karma, the Gospel of grace is better in that if you accept its provision, you are complete (perfect) in Christ Jesus.

This is why Christianity is so steadfast on these issues. If a belief system is not preaching the Cross, then it is not “the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18). If other ways are correct, then Christ died in vain, His blood shed unnecessarily.

A Warning and a Plea

It is very true that God loves mankind, so much so He sent His Son to save all who receive Him by faith. The Lord is very patient with man, and as “the day of the Lord” draws nearer and nearer, He continues beckoning humanity to Himself.

However, while God’s love, mercy, and patience are very enduring, His warnings about a great judgment coming upon the earth are to be taken very seriously. Those who refuse to bow their knee to Jesus Christ will suffer severe and eternal consequences—make no mistake, that day will come:

But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. (2 Peter 3:7)

Jesus said, in referring to His return “of that day and hour knoweth no man” (Matthew 24:36). But He also said that while we will not know the exact hour and day of His return, we should be watching for the signs of the coming tribulation period. Throughout the centuries, Christians generally thought they were living in a time when Christ’s return was imminent based on natural disasters, wars, upheaval, and prominent military leaders (e.g., Napoleon). But never in the history of humanity has occultism and mysticism been unleashed as it has now.

Many think that the New Age movement is only a fairly recent manifestation of the last few decades. But I believe that the words of the prophet Isaiah reveal that New Age spirituality was even around back then, although not called that. And he links this Ancient Wisdom in with the end of the age period. Isaiah issues a stern and fearsome warning:

Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth, if so be thou shalt be able to profit, if so be thou mayest prevail. Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee. (Isaiah 47:12-13)

The next verse describes the judgment that these will be subjected to:

Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame. (Isaiah 47:14)

And in Revelation 9:20-21, it discloses:

And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries.

The Book of Revelation explains that there are those who in the latter times “blasphemed the name of God” and “repented not to give him [God] glory” (Revelation 16:9) and again, “repented not of their deeds” (vs. 11).

These verses that speak of sorceries portray the “mystery of iniquity” (2 Thessalonians 2:7) that is being judged during the tribulation period because its adherents are claiming to be God, and they refuse to give Him the glory but rather take it upon themselves. This will be the ultimate test revealing who the real God is.

This word “sorceries” used in Revelation comes from the greek word pharmakaia. The word is translated into four meanings.:

1) the use or the administering of drugs
2) poisoning
3) sorcery, magical arts, often found in connection with idolatry and fostered by it
4) metaphorically the deceptions and seductions of idolatry

I want you to realize the significance of this. The Bible is clear that sorcery will be a pervasive practice, to the point of being epidemic during “the day of the Lord.” And this is what is now called the Ancient Wisdom by its proponents! The occultist Alice Bailey said that the Ancient Wisdom would be at the very root of her new vital world religion, which she proudly proclaimed would be universal.

Scripture is very clear that sorceries are practices that will be judged by God. Traditionally throughout the centuries, sorcery has been practiced by a very small number of persons (i.e., occult or kept secret). But now we have a virtual explosion of sorcery through various practices and pronouncements (Yoga, contemplative, meditation, Reiki, Oneness Blessing, etc). What I am talking about is a whole world like the psychic slave girl in the Book of Acts.

From Genesis to Revelation, the pages are filled with God’s warning to mankind when he refuses to acknowledge that the Lord is God and man is not. And throughout these pages are stories of those who mocked and scorned the warnings brought by God’s messengers. The apostle Peter referred to this scenario:

Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. (2 Peter 3: 3-4)

Many people today believe that it is wrong to talk about and warn of an endtime, apocolyptic time period. Rather, they say, we should spend time meditating and employing our higher powers to reach happiness and enlightenment in life. We each have a choice to make. Do we seek after this consciousness, or do we humbly call upon the living God and accept His free gift of salvation and eternal life?

If you don’t already, I pray you will come to know the true Christ (Jesus Christ) before it is too late. I cannot emphasize enough the vital importance of understanding and believing the following verse:

I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. (John 10:9)

By saying this, Jesus made clear that it was by Him and not a mystical consciousness that we are saved. Let me leave you with this. Compare these four views below. I pray you will see the difference as I did so many years ago!

I AM GOD! This is THE most basic tenant of metaphysical spiritual understanding.1—A metaphysical teacher

You are God in a physical body.. . .You are all power. . . . You are all intelligence. . . . You are the creator.2—The Secret

[T]here is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. (Isaiah 45:21-22)

He that hath the Son [not higher consciousness] hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. (1 John 5:12)

Many people have not grasped what “the gospel of your salvation” (Ephesians 1:13)  is all about—which can be summed up by the following verses:

This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. (1 Timothy 1:15)

But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one [Adam] many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. (Romans 5:15)

Salvation is having personal faith and trust in the person and finished work (sacrifice) of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have “peace with God” (Romans 5:1), are “forgiven” (Ephesians 5:4), and are “reconciled” to God (2 Corinthians 5:18) only by Him. That’s where our faith or trust is to be directed.

The notion of achieving Christ consciousness (as offered in the New Age) is just not compatible with being redeemed by Christ’s precious blood. The two just don’t mix. Romans 5:6 says:

For when we were yet without strength [spiritually impotent], in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

A consciousness can’t die for anyone—only a person can. If you “receive not the love of the truth,” as Scripture says, your eternal destination will be determined:

Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie. (2 Thessalonians 2:9-11)

Endnotes:

1. “I AM,” Communicated through Kathy Wilson (The Light of Olympia Newspaper Vol. 1, Number 8, August 1988), p. 7.
2. Rhonda Byrne, The Secret, p. 164.

To Lighthouse Trails:

I love your ministry and know that I’m talking to the choir when I say this, but it is mind blowing to me how widespread occultism has become.  That said, I stumbled upon the following FREE offer from Charles Stanley’s In Touch Ministries.  All I can say is “WOW!” https://www.intouchcanada.org/sharedjoy

May God bless and protect you and your ministry.

M.S.

LTRP Note: While some reading this letter to the editor may think that what Charles Stanley’s ministry is presenting here is safe and benign, and while these coloring bookmarks are not the actual mandala drawings that Lighthouse Trails has written about in the past (and published a booklet on by Lois Putnam), one of the key elements in the mandala coloring books  is the hundreds of very small mostly circular coloring spaces. In the picture on the right of the In Touch coloring bookmarks, which was sent to us from our reader, there are hundreds of tiny oval sections to be colored. The purpose of the hundreds of tiny spaces in the mandala coloring books is to help the participate relax and meditate. While In Touch’s instructions (“Color inside the lines, or venture beyond them—whatever helps you reconnect with your creativity!”) do not suggest relaxing and meditating, we find it disconcerting that In Touch’s instructions to reconnect with your creativity coupled with the hundreds of tiny coloring sections is too reminiscent of the New age mandala coloring exercises (suggesting that the purpose of the In Touch coloring exercise goes beyond the scope of just making an attractive bookmark).

Because our society (and the church) is being enticed to meditate at virtually every turn, we urge our readers to carefully consider the activities they and their families are getting involved with. As our reader above stated occultism has become widespread.

As for the coloring activity, are we saying that it is occultic for an adult to color a picture. Of course not. But our adversary (the devil) has many deceptive schemes to woo and seduce, and we believe he can and is using coloring to do this very thing.

We have witnessed In Touch’s interest in contemplative/emerging ideas for a number of years, and this seemingly harmless and innocent coloring activity may be just another fascination with it.

Below are some quotes from a website titled “Creative Development for Women”:

The Benefits of Colouring Mandalas

“The Big Girls Little Colouring Book is a connection to life, a free flowing celebration of creativity and vivid imagination.”

“Colouring mandalas is fun & relaxing! Time spent with the book is “me time”, a welcome break from every day routine. It is a personal playground where you get to play, experiment with new ideas, discover forgotten dreams and become immersed in your imagination. It is a form of meditation that is deeply relaxing and rejuvenating.”

BBC News

LTRP Note: Posted for informational and research purposes. June 21st was the United Nations International Day of Yoga.

BBC News

Millions of people around the world have rolled out their yoga mats to celebrate a tradition that was once the preserve of Hindu holy men but is now a worldwide phenomenon.

Practitioners in more than 100 countries have planned events this week to celebrate the third International Yoga Day, which Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi convinced the UN to declare in 2015.

Since coming to power in 2014, the Hindu nationalist leader has led efforts to promote yoga, which he practises daily, as an important part of India’s history and culture.

“Many countries which do not know our language, tradition, or culture, are now connecting to India through yoga,” Mr Modi told a crowd of tens of thousands in the city of Lucknow, where he performed poses. Click here to continue reading.

Related Reading:

DOES YOUR PASTOR KNOW THAT YOGA AND CHRISTIANITY ARE NOT COMPATIBLE?

“Namaste Nation” – New 2016 Study Shows Staggering Growth in Yoga in America!