URGENT: NEW BOOKLET: MINDFULNESS—What You May Not Know and Should Have Been Told |
URGENT: If you know any families with children, please make sure the parents are given a copy of this booklet. Right now, efforts are under way to bring mindfulness mediation into every public school in America. Christian school and homeschool parents need to be aware too.
NEW BOOKLET: Mindfulness: What You May Not Know And Should Have Been Told by the editors at Lighthouse Trails is our newest Lighthouse Trails Booklet. The Booklet is 14 pages long and sells for $1.95 for single copies. Quantity discounts are as much as 50% off retail. Our Booklets are designed to give away to others or for your own personal use. Below is the content of the booklet. To order copies of Mindfulness: What You May Not Know And Should Have Been Told, click here.
Mindfulness: What You May Not Know And Should Have Been Told
By the Editors at Lighthouse Trails
Currently, “mindfulness” is being introduced to tens of thousands of public schools across America. One group alone, Healthy Schools Program, which includes mindfulness as part of its program, is in over 30,000 public schools (that’s about one third of all public schools in America).1 Programs such as Healthy Schools* claim that children behave better and think more clearly when they incorporate mindfulness exercises into their school regime. Researcher and author Ray Yungen states:
In recent years, a type of meditation known as mindfulness has made a surprising showing. Based on current trends, it has the potential to eclipse even Yoga in popularity. You will now find it everywhere that people are seeking therapeutic approaches to ailments or disorders. . . it is presented as something to cure society’s ills.2
School administrators, principals, teachers, and other school officials are being told that mindfulness is safe, is not religious, and is not the same as eastern or Buddhist meditation. This booklet will examine several aspects of mindfulness and will help to show why mindfulness meditation should not be brought into the schools and taught to children.
First, let’s take a moment to examine the root word of mindfulness—mindful. The word mindful is actually found in the Bible. The meaning of the word in Hebrew (the Old Testament) means “to recall,” “to record,” “to remember,” and “to call to mind.” In the Greek (the New Testament), the meaning is virtually the same, “to bring to remembrance” and “to bear in mind.” Here are a few examples:
Be ye mindful always of his covenant. (1 Chronicles 16:15)
[They] refused to obey, neither were [they] mindful of thy wonders that thou didst among them. (Nehemiah 9:17)
The Lord hath been mindful of us: he will bless us. (Psalm 115:112)
Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful of the rock of thy strength. (Isaiah 17:10)
. . . greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy. (2 Timothy 1:4)
. . . that ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets. (2 Peter 3:2)
So, we can see from the Bible’s perspective that the word mindful is something where the mind is engaged actively and pondering on certain things. In several instances, it has to do with man being “mindful” (i.e., remembering) of the promises and great works of God. Obviously, with the legal structure of our public schools today, administrators who are bringing in mindfulness meditation to the students’ lives are not planning to (or legally allowed to) teach children this definition of mindful.
Webster’s Dictionary describes the word mindful as “bearing in mind” or “inclined to be aware.” Again, here we see that mindful means to be actively aware of something. Is it accurate to say that being mindful about something (as described in the context of these definitions) is the same thing as practicing mindfulness meditation? And does it belong in our public schools? Is it safe? Is it religious? Is it a form of therapy? Let’s take a look at “mindfulness” with these questions in mind.
Mindfulness is Meditation
According to the respected Mayo Clinic, mindfulness is a form of meditation:
If you’ve heard of or read about mindfulness—a form of meditation—you might be curious about how to practice it.3
Meditation author and teacher and founder of MNDFUL, Lodro Rinzler, states:
Mindfulness is a form of meditation. . . . There are many forms of meditation, including contemplation and visualization, but mindfulness is the type where you bring your full mind to an object.4
According to one source:
Mindfulness is the psychological process of bringing one’s attention to experiences occurring in the present moment, which can be developed through the practice of meditation and other training.5
Not only is mindfulness a type of meditation, there would be few mindfulness teachers who would deny that mindfulness as roots in Buddhism:
Being mindful of your breath, for example, is a common form of mindfulness during meditation. Following your breath improves your awareness of being in the present. This is called mindfulness meditation, known as shamatha among Buddhists.6
In an article in Psychology Today titled “How to Practice Mindful Meditation,” it explains:
In the Buddhist tradition and in Contemplative Psychotherapy training, we nurture mindfulness through the practice of sitting meditation. There are many different kinds of meditation. For example, some are designed to help us relax; others are meant to produce altered states of consciousness.7
Ray Yungen, who researched and wrote about various forms of meditation for over twenty years, said:
True to its Buddhist roots, mindfulness involves focusing on the breath to stop the normal flow of thought. In effect, it acts the same way as a mantra; and as with Yoga.8
Mindfulness is Therapy
A growing number of health professionals consider mindfulness exercises to be a therapeutic avenue to help people with mental disorders such as depression, anxiety, anger, etc. An article on mindfulness therapy, where the Journal of Psychosomatic Research and the Clinical Psychology Review are referenced as associating the use of mindfulness in Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), states:
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) is a modified form of cognitive therapy that incorporates mindfulness practices such as meditation and breathing exercises.9
An article titled “What is Mindfulness?” discusses mindfulness’ role in stress reduction therapy:
Jon Kabat-Zinn [founding member of the Cambridge Zen Center and trained by Buddhist teachers]10 developed the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program. This stress reduction program became the basis of mindfulness.11
Kabat-Zinn is credited for having brought mindfulness meditation into the medical sector of our western society, and now it has been brought into public schools. One program in California for children on welfare called MBCT-C is a “psychotherapy for anxious or depressed children adapted from MBCT for adults.”12
Do parents realize their children are undergoing “therapy” in the form of mindfulness?
Mindfulness is a Religious Practice
Webster defines the word religion as “a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices.”
A 2015 article titled “How the Mindfulness Movement Went Mainstream—And the Backlash That Came With It” explains Jon Kabat-Zinn’s efforts in bringing mindfulness meditation into mainstream America:
In 1979, a 35-year-old avid student of Buddhist meditation and MIT-trained molecular biologist was on a two-week meditation retreat when he had a vision of what his life’s work—his “karmic assignment”—would be. While he sat alone one afternoon, it all came to him at once: he’d bring the ancient Eastern disciplines he’d followed for 13 years—mindfulness meditation and yoga—to people with chronic health conditions right here in modern America.13
However, as the article continues, Kabat-Zinn knew he would have to convince Americans that mindfulness is not a religious practice but rather a scientific one. He knew they wouldn’t accept it if they knew the truth about it, that it is a Buddhist/New Age practice:
[H]e approached the challenge by adopting a mainstream and commonsensical American vocabulary that described meditation as a way of paying attention and cultivating awareness in everyday life, and by using practices that were equally accessible and straightforward. . . . Kabat-Zinn’s approach would be to offer training in mindfulness in ways that were implicitly anchored in Buddhist teachings, but in a universal and mainstream American idiom and framework.14
Kabat-Zinn explains:
I bent over backward to structure it and find ways to speak about it that avoided as much as possible the risk of its being seen as Buddhist, New Age, Eastern Mysticism, or just plain flaky.15
His plans to dupe westerners worked. He was able to introduce a purely religious/New Age practice while convincing mainstream America that mindfulness had nothing to do with religion or the New Age at all. Once that was accomplished, the rest was easy: “separation of church and state” activists had succeeded in removing “religion” from schools, government, and other public venues. Thus, by “proving” that mindfulness meditation is not in any way religious, it could be welcomed with open arms into the general populace and finally into the public schools.
Wouldn’t it be good if public school administrators, principals, and teachers knew what mindfulness teachers and Buddhists know, that mindfulness is a religion? And since public schools in America have made the decision that religion cannot be taught in the public schools, Yoga, mindfulness, and other forms of meditation have no business being used in the public schools. Not only is it discriminatory against Christian influence in the schools, which has been banned from American public schools because it is “religious,” it is deceitful.
Mindfulness Meditation is Dangerous
Numerous research reports show that meditation can be dangerous, especially for the vulnerable and weak (a category in which children fit). A preface to an article titled “Meditation is Touted as a Cure for Mental Instability but Can It Actually Be Bad for You” written by Dr. Miguel Farias* states:
If it’s so powerful, might meditation also do harm to sensitive souls? Researching a mass murder, Dr. Miguel Farias discovered that, far from bringing inner peace, it can leave devotees in pieces.16
Farias explains:
[M]editation, for all its de-stressing and self-development potential, can take you deeper into the recesses of your mind than you may have wished for.17
In the article, Farias relays the stories of people who were meditators and upon further research came to believe that meditation can be very dangerous. He found there were other professionals who agreed:
In 1992, David Shapiro, a professor at UCLA Irvine, published an article about the effects of meditation retreats. After examining 27 people with different levels of meditation experience, he found 63 per cent of them had suffered at least one negative effect and seven per cent profoundly adverse effects.18
Farias continues:
[A] number of Western Buddhists are aware that not all is plain sailing with meditation; and they have even given a name to the emotional difficulties that arise—the “dark night”—borrowing the phrase coined by the 16th-century Christian mystic St John of the Cross to describe an advanced stage of prayer and contemplation characterised by an emotional dryness, in which the subject feels abandoned by God.19
In another article titled “3 Hidden Dangers of Meditation You Should Know,” David K. William references the work of Dr. Florian Ruths, consultant psychiatrist at the Maudsley hospital in London, and researchers at Brown University showing that meditation can invoke the following results:
It can bring feelings of ennui, emptiness and even fear.
It can bring changes in your sense of self, and cause impairment in social relationships.
It can be disempowering and keep you passive, contained and compliant.20
The article describes Brown University’s “dark night project,” (later named “The Varieties of Contemplative Experience Project”21) describing how “some Buddhist meditators have been assailed by traumatic memories.”22
Professor Willoughby Britton, lead researcher and psychiatrist in the project, has recorded surprising problems among some of the Buddhist meditators that include: “cognitive, perceptual and sensory aberrations,” impairment in social relationships and changes in their sense of self.23
Another article, titled “The Dangers of Meditation: It Can Actually Lead to Insomnia, Fear and Hypersensitivity to Light,” states:
[M]indfulness, so popular with celebrities like Emma Watson and Angelina Jolie, could be bad for you—causing insomnia, anxiety and hypersensitivity to light and sound.
These were side effects discovered by US researchers exploring the phenomenon of “meditation sickness” by interviewing nearly 100 people.
They found, while some experienced bliss from concentrating on their breathing and practising “loving kindness,” others were left in pain or struggling to return to normal life.24
The article also reports on a study done by Brown University:
The study, published in the journal PLOS One, describes the “billion dollar meditation industry,” with more than 20 mobile phone apps now devoted to mindfulness.
But medical reports document cases of meditation-induced psychosis, seizures and mania, while Zen Buddhists have long acknowledged the existence of “meditation sickness.” . . .
A team led by Brown University found people could suffer ill effects from doing just half an hour of meditation or after only one day.25
In the study, it was discovered that the most common side effects were fear, anxiety, panic or paranoia.
This was experienced by 82 per cent of those questioned, while 42 per cent suffered hallucinations, visions or illusions and 28 per cent said they had become hypersensitive to light and sound.26
Author Mary Wylie, Ph.D., writes:
These effects are well documented in Buddhist texts as stages along the long, hard path to inner wisdom but . . . aren’t featured in mindfulness/meditation brochures . . . [meditation is] in fact, a far deeper, more complex, and less well-understood process than many people realize.27
Some of the Dangers and Effects of Meditation
The following list is derived from the various sources we used to compile this booklet:
insomnia
fear
hypersensitivity to light and sound
anxiety
difficulty eating
panic and paranoia
psychosis
seizures
mania
visual hallucinations
unable to function or work
a loss of sense of identity
psychotic depression
elevated mood and grandiose delusions
unrestrained behaviors (sexual and violence)
pain
confusion and disorientation
feelings of emptiness and ennui (listlessness, dissatisfaction)
depersonalization
impairment of social relationships
cognitive, perceptual and sensory aberrations
disempowering
causes passiveness and compliance (even when those are negative responses to certain situations)
It is worthwhile to note that most of these symptoms are similar to symptoms that occur with the use of hallucinogenic drugs. Is this really what America’s children should be put at risk of enduring? There is no way for a teacher to know which children will respond negatively to meditation. As one concerned parent asked, “Can any district guarantee that no one will suffer negative effects of mindfulness in its classrooms?” Are school districts willing to take the risk of lawsuits against them if children start experiencing some of the symptoms above?
We find it sadly ironic that while part of the motive in having children practice mindfulness is to cut back on bullying and violence, several of the potential symptoms, including “unrestrained” sexual and violent behavior, would feed bullying and violence, not diminish it. Some of the mass shootings that have taken place in this past decade especially were committed by those who had a history of practicing meditation. A case in point is Kyle Odom, a 30-year-old Marine veteran who shot an Idaho pastor six times (the pastor miraculously survived). In an article we posted, we stated:
A “manifesto,” written by former Marine Kyle Odom, the 30-year-old man who shot Idaho pastor Tim Remmington, reveals that his life started to change drastically when he began doing meditation while in university to relieve stress. The meditation experiences . . . eventually led to two suicide attempts and then the shooting of Pastor Remmington.28
When we consider some of the possible symptoms from practicing meditation—depersonalization, unrestrained behaviors, psychotic depression, a loss of sense of identity—we must ask the question, will this huge thrust by American public schools to have all school children meditating end up producing a greater amount of violence and psychotic behavior in our society rather than more peace and love? Again, we must ask, how will teachers who instruct children on mindfulness exercises know which children will have adverse reactions? There is no way they can know, and thus, they are playing Russian roulette with America’s youth.
To order copies of Mindfulness: What You May Not Know And Should Have Been Told, click here.
Endnotes:
1. Healthy Schools Program (https://www.healthiergeneration.org/take_action/schools/).
2. Ray Yungen, “Mindfulness! Heard of It? What Does it Mean, and Where is it Showing Up in Christian Circles?” (https://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog/?p=18879).
3. Mayo Clinic Staff, “Mindfulness Exercises” (https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/consumer-health/in-depth/mindfulness-exercises/art-20046356.
4. Lecia Bushak, “Mindfulness vs Meditation: The Difference Between These Two Pathways to Well-Being and Peace of Mind” (Medical Daily, March 10, 2016, http://www.medicaldaily.com/mindfulness-meditation-differences-377346).
5.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mindfulness.
6. Lecia Bushak, “Mindfulness vs Meditation: The Difference Between These Two Pathways to Well-Being and Peace of Mind,” op. cit.
7. Karen Kissel Wegela Ph.D., “How to Practice Mindfulness Meditation” (https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-courage-be-present/201001/how-practice-mindfulness-meditation).
8. Ray Yungen, “Mindfulness! Heard of It? What Does it Mean, and Where is it Showing Up in Christian Circles?,” op., cit.
9. “Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy” (Psychology Today, https://www.psychologytoday.com/therapy-types/mindfulness-based-cognitive-therapy).
10. According to Wikipedia, Jon Kabat-Zinn is “the creator of the Stress Reduction Clinic and the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.” “Kabat-Zinn was a student of Buddhist teachers such as Thich Nhat Hanh and Zen Master Seung Sahn and a founding member of Cambridge Zen Center. His practice of yoga and studies with Buddhist teachers led him to integrate their teachings with scientific findings. He teaches mindfulness, which he says can help people cope with stress, anxiety, pain, and illness. The stress reduction program created by Kabat-Zinn, mindfulness-based stress reduction, is offered by medical centers, hospitals, and health maintenance organizations” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Kabat-Zinn).
11. Raymond Philippe, “What Is Mindfulness?” (https://remedygrove.com/wellness/Mindfulness-Explained).
12. http://www.cebc4cw.org/program/mindfulness-based-cognitive-therapy-for-children-mbct-c/detailed.
13. Mary Sykes Wylie, “How the Mindfulness Movement Went Mainstream—And the Backlash That Came With It” (Alternet, January 29, 2015, https://www.alternet.org/personal-health/how-mindfulness-movement-went-mainstream-and-backlash-came-it).
14. Ibid.
15. Ibid.
16. Dr. Miguel Farias, “Meditation Is Touted as a Cure for Mental Instability but Can It Actually Be Bad for You?” (http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/meditation-is-touted-as-a-cure-for-mental-instability-but-can-it-actually-be-bad-for-you-10268291.html).
17. Ibid.
18. Ibid.
19. Ibid.
20. David K. William, “3 Hidden Dangers of Meditation You Should Know” (http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/3-hidden-dangers-meditation-you-should-know.html).
21. Brown University, “The Varieties of Contemplative Experience” (https://www.brown.edu/research/labs/britton/research/varieties-contemplative-experience).
22. Ibid.
23. Ibid.
24. Victoria Allen, “The Dangers of Meditation: It Can Actually Lead to Insomnia, Fear and Hypersensitivity to Light” (Daily Mail, UK, May 24, 2017, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-4538240/The-dangers-meditation.html).
25. Ibid.
26. Ibid.
27. Mary Sykes Wylie, “How the Mindfulness Movement Went Mainstream—-And the Backlash that Came With It,” op cit.
28. “Kyle Odom, the Man Who Shot Idaho Pastor, Says Meditation Started it All” (Lighthouse Trails Research, March 10, 2016, https://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog/?p=19057).
To order copies of Mindfulness: What You May Not Know And Should Have Been Told, click here.
We recommend giving this booklet to parents and also to local public-school district officials. And Lighthouse Trails is willing to send a free copy of one of our booklets on meditation to any school district official who would like to read it. Just call us at 406-889-3610 or e-mail us at editors@lighthousetrails.com the name and mailing address of any school official who agrees to receive the booklet.
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LGBT Pride? 6 Questions Every Gay Person Should Ask |
LTRJ Note: On June 24, 2018, the 49th annual New York City LGBT Pride March was held. Millions of people went to the event to watch the parade. The following article (also a booklet) written by Michael Tays Carter was released by Lighthouse Trails in 2014. To order copies of 6 Questions Every Gay Person Should Ask in booklet form, click here.
6 Questions Every Gay Person Should Ask
By Michael Tays Carter
Homosexuality was a biblical issue long before it became a political one. This booklet answers six important questions about man’s existence and whether or not a God of perfect love exists. Are we only here by chance governed by an amoral “spirit of the universe”? Could it be there is a moral God who has set moral boundaries for our good—a God who loves us enough to literally save us from ourselves?
ONE: What about my Unmet Needs?
There is an Eat-Drink-And-Be-Merry-For-Tomorrow-We-Die party going strong. It is hosted by the famous “I-Have-Needs” with the popular “Get-Your-Needs-Met-Here” to greet you at the door. “Hate-The-Law” is dancing the night away with “New-Christ-Consciousness.” “Doubt-The-Bible” has the crowded room in the palm of his hand. No one wants him to leave, but he has had so much to drink he staggers, and “Easy-Way-Out” has to show him to the door. Morning comes, and the place is still packed with people who all have needs at the Eat-Drink-And-Be-Merry-For-Tomorrow-We-Die party.
Married people who cheat have needs. Drug addicts have needs. Murderers have needs. Pedophiles and rapists have needs . . . What is to stop any of us from meeting our needs as we see fit? Who cares about the idea of rebelling against a moral God or hurting another human being in order to meet our (selfish) needs? When living a pure life seems too hard, what does it matter if we take the easy way out of pain?
The Greeks had homosexual and heterosexual orgies as a spiritual offering to their pagan gods. Who is to say they were wrong? Hitler believed God was on his side as he practiced occult spirituality. Can we know for sure he was deceived?
When we feel the need to live a way the Bible forbids, it is argued that we can excuse ourselves by flippantly reasoning, The Bible must not be true in this particular area of my temptation because it seems impossible for me to overcome. It’s too hard to live the way the Bible says is “right” when it comes to who I am, so I’ll judge the Bible instead of letting it judge me! But, is this really a plausible argument against the veracity of the Bible? It certainly suited Hitler and the Greeks.
When we become addicted and can’t stop a behavior, is it just a coincidence that the Bible warns that sin can own us as slaves? We blame God when He does not take desires away in our timing, on our terms, as if God is meant to be a servant to us instead of the other way around. God, who is the only moral Lawgiver, offers a redemptive plan for mankind in His love, but the freedom, joy and confidence He offers is contingent on surrender to and trust in Him, which often means self-denial in favor of God’s will.
The creed of Satanism teaches: “Do as thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.” In other words, do whatever seems right in your own eyes. In stark contrast, Jesus taught:
Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it. (Matthew 16:24-25)
TWO: Do As Thou Wilt?
The creed of Satanism is “Do as thou wilt”—do whatever you want with only your conscience as your guide. Have you been believing in Satanism without even knowing it?
Do the following quotes from Satanism describe your beliefs?
Verses from the Satanic Bible to consider for freedom to sin
“Do as thou wilt shall be the whole of the law”—Aleister Crowley, Creed of Satanism
“It is a popular misconception that the Satanist does not believe in God. The concept of ‘God’, as interpreted by man, has been so varied throughout the ages that the Satanist simply accepts the definition which suits him best . . . To the Satanist God, by whatever name he is called or by no name at all, is seen as the balancing factor in nature.”—The Satanic Bible, Anton LaVey (p. 40)
“The day of the cross and the Trinity are done.”—Satanic Rituals, Anton LaVey (p. 127)
“There is no heaven of glory bright and no hell where sinners roast. Here and now is our day of torment! Here and now is our day of joy! . . . Choose ye this day, this hour, for no redeemer liveth. Say unto thine own heart, ‘I am my own redeemer.’”—The Satanic Bible, Anton LaVey (pp. 33-34)
“The very word ‘devil’ . . . means ‘god.’ Satan represents opposition to all religions which serve to frustrate and condemn man for his natural instincts.”—The Satanic Bible, Anton LaVey (pp. 55-57)
Verses from the Holy Bible to consider for freedom from sin
Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! (Isaiah 5:20-21)
And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. (2 Corinthians 11:14)
Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. (Galatians 6:7)
Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. . . . If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. (John 8:34, 36)
And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. (Luke 9:23)
For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication . . . . He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit. (1 Thessalonians 4:3, 8)
He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone. (Revelation 21:7-8)
Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator . . . For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: and likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness . . .who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. (Romans 1: 24-29, 32)
Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)
He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. (John 3:36)
Living however we want in immorality is Satan’s way. Denying ourselves and living in purity, strengthened by His grace, is God’s way. Through the Bible, we can know the God who is far more than an impersonal spirit in the universe—the God who defeated Satan on the Cross.
THREE: What About Hate Crimes?
Violent or hate crimes against homosexuals are wrong without a doubt, but how about hate crimes toward Jesus?
Jesus warned that people would perish without repenting (i.e., turning away from their sinful lives and turning to Him in faith). If you are a practicing homosexual and Jesus Himself were here to tell you straight to your face as a gay person that you must repent of your sin and humbly turn to Him to find new life for your soul, would you call Him a “bigot”? Would you commit a hate crime against Him like the people who nailed Him to the Cross?
When anyone mocks a Christian for living a chaste life, according to the Bible, they are mocking God. Some Christians are discriminated against for believing the Bible as God’s Word, no matter how loving they are toward those who disagree. The Bible says that “whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Jesus promises this, and He saves that person forever as His own. And He calls those who belong to Him His “Bride.” It hurts Jesus when a Christian is persecuted for believing in Him and the Bible.
Would you bully Jesus for telling you that you must leave your sin and pick up your cross to follow Him? Would you bully Jesus if He Himself convinced you that you were created for purity (see 1 Timothy 4:12). Would you commit a hate crime toward a Christian for telling you such a message in love?
If Jesus convinced you that God did not make anyone for homosexuality, would you say pejorative things about the Bible and hate God for His hatred of your sin? If you lived in the time of Jesus with His definition of sin, judgment, wrath, freedom, righteousness and love, would you have been among those in the crowd shouting, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” because He convicts of sin and you “hate” such a conviction? Are you the person described in Hebrews to again crucify to yourself the Son of God and put Him to open shame? (Hebrews 6:4-6).
Will you have an open mind allowing yourself to see Jesus for who He truly is? Can you “accept Him as He is”? Jesus referenced Sodom and Gomorrah, and it was not with a compliment. He said Sodom and Gomorrah were reserved for a day of judgment in eternal Hell (Matthew 10:15, 2 Peter 2:6). This is what God said. Do you hate Him for that?
When Saul was persecuting Christians, Jesus appeared to him and said:
Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. (Acts 26:14-15)
What if God never made you for the purpose of same-sex attraction, and homosexuality was never meant to define you as a human being made in God’s image? Would you bully Jesus for that? The Jesus of the Bible warned that all people must “repent” or “perish”—news worthy of a hate crime that nailed Him to the Cross.
FOUR: Why Believe The Bible?
When a person claims there is no absolute truth, it begs the question, “Is that true?” There is no truth if absolute truth does not exist. The gay person may sing along to Lady Gaga, “I was born this way,” but how do we know that is true? Is truth only based on feelings? The Islamic terrorists felt they were pleasing Allah when they attacked the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. They felt they were heading to a heaven of celestial sex with virgins as a result, but was reality based on their feelings? When Jerry Sandusky picked underprivileged children to molest and made them “feel” special before sexually abusing them at Penn State, were the children safe to trust their feelings with such a “friend”? How do we measure our worth and a true standard for living when the human conscience can be seared and feelings can be deceiving?
If the Bible is not true and holy, what is? If everyone is good, as New Age spirituality teaches, how do we explain crimes against humanity such as the genocide by Hitler against the Jews, the terror attacks of September 11th, or the “Batman Massacre” in Aurora, Colorado? Is justice for the inequalities and injustices in the world left only to chance? Are we all here by chance? Does the pedophile love his victims, just because he claims to love them while sexually abusing them? What is love? When John Wycliffe was burned at the stake for translating the Bible to the English language, was his death in vain for some silly made-up stories? How can we know we can trust the Bible?
There is no other book like the Bible. It is actually sixty-six books, and all with the same message, written over a span of fifteen hundred years by more than forty different authors from kings to fishermen. The Bible offers a salvation not based on works. What man would make up such a thing to deem himself so powerless with no capability of getting to heaven on his own merits?
Consider the Dead Sea Scrolls, which prove the Bible has stayed intact with the same message as in the earliest manuscripts. No other book has as many early manuscripts that match.
Then, there is the resurrection of Jesus. Roman guards were assigned to His tomb, yet His body still left it. Secular historians like Josephus report that Jesus appeared to over five hundred witnesses after He was resurrected from the dead, supporting the Bible’s account.
Jesus would either have had to be crazy or a downright liar for the claims He made if He was not God in the flesh. He could have never been a “good prophet” if He had claimed to be the only Savior by fraud.
Historically, Jesus fulfilled over three hundred prophecies from the Old Testament to the New Testament.
The most profound reason of all that people don’t believe in Jesus is because they love their sin and are in rebellion against a holy God. The Bible teaches that a fool has said in his heart there is no God (Psalm 14:1), not a highly educated scientist or professor—a fool. The guilty conscience of a fool is just one more thing to prove the Bible is true. Click here to continue reading. |
D is for Deception: The Language of the “New” Christianity |
By Kevin Reeves
and the Editors at Lighthouse Trails
A number of years ago, a book written by emerging-church leaders Brian McLaren and Leonard Sweet was released. The book was called A is for Abductive: the language of the emerging church. Going through the alphabet, the authors identified many terms they hoped would be picked up by the younger generation, thus creating a unique emerging spiritual atmosphere. They called it a “primer with a mission.”1 That mission that McLaren, Sweet, and other like-minded change agents embrace has been successful in bringing in a new kind of “Christianity,” which is not biblical Christianity but rather a “New” Christianity now permeating the halls of Christian colleges, seminaries, evangelical churches, small groups, ministries, and organizations. We have compiled common terms and their basic meanings to help uncover the true meaning behind some of the deceptive language of the “New” Christianity (i.e., the New Spirituality).
What Does That Mean?
Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst. (Isaiah 5:13)
A great deal of confusion resides in today’s church. In the West, particularly, discernment among Christians is at an alarmingly low ebb. Even genuine believers in Christ have been led astray from the primacy of the Bible and swept up into an ecumenical, interspiritual environment which marks so much of our current Christian practice. Formerly solid Christian fellowships have been torn loose from scriptural moorings and now float on an endless sea of experiential religion. Anecdotal preaching has replaced time-honored biblical exposition; feelings take priority over the Scriptures; pulpit charisma rules congregations steeped in modern culture.
For Christians who understand the times in which we live and who are committed to defending the faith and warning others of spiritual deception, much of the difficulty in doing so resides in the fact that the terminology used by New Christianity/New Spirituality leaders and authors is either completely new to the biblical Christian or the terms are the same but definitions have changed.
Ignorance of the schemes of the devil is no virtue. It is incumbent upon us to “[s]tudy to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15), and in being properly equipped, to speak truth to the erring Christian and help him return to the real “ancient paths” (Jeremiah 18:15) that God laid out from the foundation of the world.
Each of the definitions of the following terms are short and in no way fully explain the complexities often involved. But we hope this glossary will help you to better understand the nature of the enemy’s deceptive plans to distinguish scriptural truth and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Click here to continue and for the list. |
Bryce Homes Kenya Update |
Note: This report has been written by the Board members at Bryce Homes in Kenya, Africa. The Bryce Home program is an Understand the Times ministry under the leadership of Roger Oakland. UTT has established dozens of Bryce Homes for needy Christian families in seven different countries. Lighthouse Trails readers have been helping to support this mission work for nearly seven years. We hope you will consider partnering with UTT’s Bryce Homes in prayer and support. Click here to learn more.
Bryce Home #36 (Susan) in Kenya
To our esteemed readers,
the Bryce Home Board in Kenya would like to update you on the recent developments from our side over the last two months. In May, we experienced heavy rains that caused floods and the badly spoiled Murom roads developed into gullies. Almost all the Bryce Homes became inaccessible hence we had no alternative but to postpone the visits.
As soon as the rains calmed, there was a great scare in Kenya regarding contraband sugar that suspiciously contained poisonous metals. We had to hold on until the menace was sorted out and that is when we reached out to the Bryce Homes with food. We are very humbled as we regret the delays caused. We promise to remain to the task and give timely updates and reports accordingly.
As the Lord takes us from one month to another, we remain dedicated in the noble duty of ensuring all the Bryce Homes are reached with foodstuff accordingly. In addition, we have remained steadfast in the provision of free guidance and counseling to ensure healthy living. Spiritual nourishment has also been given a place as the thirst for the sound doctrine has been realized continuously.
Dairy Goats
During the month of May, we decided to put our focus on the Small Business Opportunities (SBOs) and a lot of progress were recorded. In this area, some Bryce Homes have tried to rear chickens, goats and some cows. Others have established small stores where they sell vegetables while a few process ghee locally. Through these SBOs, they have responsibly used the proceeds from sales to supplement what Bryce Home provides to them every month.
Lately, there is a growing ministry among the Bryce Homes in which they reach out to other needy persons and the sick in the society. This they do in groups and it is already taking shape. The Board in Kenya is providing them with the necessary support for the proliferation of their activities.
In the area of the foodstuff and regular support, the Bryce Homes continue to express their sincere thanksgiving. We continue to evaluate the impact of proper nutrition in the entire Bryce Homes community and this has spurred our Board to start a Gardening Program in which vegetables of different varieties are planted and provided to every Bryce Home on an occasional basis. This includes cucumbers, lettuce, pumpkins, and coriander among others. Click here to continue reading.
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From the New Age to Amazing Grace |
By Warren B. Smith
As New Age believers years ago, my wife and I had no reason to doubt any of the “new revelation” that was coming our way. When we were students of A Course in Miracles in the early 1980s, it never occurred to us that Helen Schucman had received her spiritual dictation from anyone other than the real Jesus Christ. As members of A Course in Miracles study group, we studied what the “Jesus” of the Course said and applied his teachings to our lives. Having never read the whole Bible for ourselves, we thought the Course was helping us to understand what the Bible was “really” saying. We accepted the Course’s interpretation of the Bible completely. It had a certain logic and seemed to make sense. We believed we were on the right path. Meaningful “coincidence” that had led us to the Course, and the supernatural signs that often accompanied our study appeared to confirm that we were spiritually where we were supposed to be.
But at the height of our involvement with the Course, the Lord intervened. He exposed the darkness that was actually behind the deceptive “peace,” “love,” and “light” of our New Age/New Gospel teachings. By the time it was all over, it was clear to us that all of our New Age beliefs had been founded on half-truths and lies. Shocked and amazed by this discovery, we came to the conclusion that A Course in Miracles was not from God and that the “Christ” of A Course in Miracles was not the true Christ. Because we had not previously been aware of the Bible’s real teachings, we had not been aware of Jesus’ many warnings about spiritual deception. He said in the last days false prophets and false teachers, accompanied by deceptive signs and wonders, would deceive most of the world into following a counterfeit “Christ” who would pretend to be Him.
Amazing Grace
But by far, the most important lesson we learned in the midst of what turned out to be our “crash course” on spiritual deception was that Jesus really did die on the Cross for all mankind. On that Cross, He defeated sin, death, and a real spiritual being named Satan and called the devil. We learned from our trying, and at times harrowing experiences, that we actually do need a Savior, and that it was only through belief in the atoning death of the true Jesus Christ that we are truly saved.
We learned the hard way that the “Old Gospel” really works, while the New Gospel definitely does not. When we learned to call on the name of Jesus Christ and all that His name stands for, we experienced His victory over an evil presence that had not responded to any of our metaphysical New Age teachings—most especially A Course in Miracles. Calling on Jesus literally saved our lives.
How We Were Deceived
The more we studied the Bible for ourselves and reflected on our own particular situation, the more we came to understand the extraordinary deception of which we had been a part—a deception that was hiding behind New Age/New Gospel teachings like A Course in Miracles. In the following lengthy passages excerpted directly from my book, The Light That Was Dark: From the New Age to Amazing Grace, I describe my initial understanding of just how badly we had been deceived:
“For some time now, my spiritual teachings had convinced me that I was a sinless, guiltless, perfect Son of God and that I was every bit as much a part of the universal Christ as Jesus or Buddha or anyone else. I had been taught that I was a holy part of God, inherently equal to Christ and that I didn’t need to be saved, redeemed, or born again. Because evil was only an illusion, there was no evil to be saved from. I had believed that I was responsible for myself and my world and I was the creator of my own reality.
“But as I looked at those ‘truths’ now, I could see that they were not truths at all. What was being taught—no matter how cleverly expressed—stood in stark opposition to the actual teachings of the Bible. Couched in spiritual platitudes, the Course and the New Age, although pretending to be friends of Jesus and the Bible, were really no friends at all. Like Judas, they betrayed Christ in the name of love and with a deceptive kiss.
“Jesus warned about false prophets who would come in sheep’s clothing—even in His name. His words were concise and clear:
Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. (Matthew 7:15)
“They would look not like an enemy but like someone you could trust, and I was now thoroughly convinced that the Course was a channeled wolf in sheep’s clothing that came not to praise the Bible’s Jesus but to bury His teachings forever—if that were possible.
“In the midst of my study, I started to understand that for a number of years I had been letting my spiritual teachers—most especially the Course—tell me who Jesus really was and what His teachings really meant. I could see that through my own laziness in never reading or studying the Bible for myself, I had swallowed a false gospel—hook, line, and sinker.
“I realized now that, although I was made in the image of God, I was not God or a part of God in any way. God was God, and I was me. I wasn’t Christ or a part of Christ, and neither was Buddha or anyone else. Jesus was the Christ, and there was no other. And, in spite of what anyone else tried to say, He had won an amazing victory on the cross of Calvary—one that Joy and I had learned to call on time after time. It was a victory that was fully described in the Scriptures and that so many of the old hymns proclaimed.
“Something very mysterious had happened on that ‘old rugged cross’ that a whole New Age was doing hand-over-head flips to completely avoid. It was the ‘victory in Jesus’ that A Course in Miracles was desperately trying to redefine and explain away.
“Finally, after all we had been through, I was starting to see that the heart of the Gospel is not so much that God helps those who help themselves but rather that God helps those who can’t help themselves. It was not in affirming our strength but in recognizing our weakness that we had finally learned to ask the Lord for help. It was His grace, not our own self-sufficiency that had saved the day.
“Yet even though we had recognized our need to be saved from the evil that was coming at us, we had stubbornly refused to acknowledge Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior. Clinging tenaciously to our metaphysical identities, we hadn’t understood that our faith ultimately had to be in Jesus, not in ourselves, and that Jesus meant it when He said:
I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6)
“We had put our faith in ourselves as God and not in God as God; by going within we had gone without. We had grossly underestimated our ability to not be deceived, and we had grossly overestimated the wisdom of our metaphysical teachers.”1
Bible Warns of Spiritual Deception
As time went on, I reflected on how the reality of a deceptive spirit world was never mentioned in the Course or any of our other New Age teachings. The rest of this chapter, taken from The Light That Was Dark, describes how we came to see this:
“When we could finally see through the spiritual deception, most of the Scriptures we had been reading clicked into place. It was as if scales had fallen from our eyes, and suddenly the New Testament was flooded with light. Though we had a lot to learn about other aspects of the faith, it was apparent that we were, by virtue of our having been so thoroughly deceived, already well-versed in the Bible’s description of deception.
“Several weeks later, after much study, reflection, prayer, and many more talks with Joy, I sat down by the creek one morning, determined to go through the Scriptures . . . laying out in even more detail what they said about A Course in Miracles and the other false teachings that had been woven into our lives. I went back and forth through the Scriptures trying to piece together our spiritual story.
“One of the first passages I looked at talked about ‘another gospel’ and how susceptible we can be to false teachings that try to change the Gospel of Christ:
I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. (Galatians 1:6–7)
“I also reread the Scripture . . . that talked about ‘another Jesus’—how even those who have already accepted the true Jesus and His Holy Spirit could be deceived by a false Christ.
For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him. (2 Corinthians 11:4)
“Helen Schucman heard an ‘inner voice’ that said, ‘This is a course in miracles. Please take notes.’ The voice, which later identified itself as “Jesus,” proceeded to dictate a body of material that completely contradicted the real Gospel of Christ and whose oppositional teachings could only be characterized as ‘another gospel,’ ‘another spirit,’ and ‘another Jesus.’ Most of us who had read, studied, and believed in A Course in Miracles never knew or took seriously the Bible’s explicit warnings about the deceivers who would come in Christ’s name and pretend to be Him.
“And most of us never knew the Bible’s explicit warnings that false Christs and false prophets would arise in our midst and seduce us with supernatural signs and wonders to make us think their teachings came from God. Those signs and wonders would be so convincing that ‘if it were possible’ they would fool even the most faithful believers of the real Gospel and the real Christ.
For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. (Matthew 24:24)
“But even if we had been aware of the warnings, who would have ever suspected that these false Christs and prophets would arise within our very selves and within our spiritual friends and teachers? Certainly the ‘Jesus’ that arose within Helen Schucman and manifested as an audible ‘inner voice’ was proof to us all that false Christs and false prophets were not always flesh and blood but could also come in the form of lying spirits pretending to be a ‘spirit guide,’ the ‘Holy Spirit,’ our ‘higher self,’ or in Helen’s case, ‘Jesus.’ The lying spirits delivered not only false counsel but also false teachings, such as A Course in Miracles.
Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils. (1 Timothy 4:1)
“Just so there would be no mistake about where the lying spirits came from and how they operated, the Bible spelled it out in even more detail . . .
For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore, it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works. (2 Corinthians 11:13–15)
“An angel of darkness could cleverly disguise himself as an angel of light. His servants could disguise themselves as teachers of Christ or even as Christ Himself. They were deceivers of darkness from the other side—another gospel, another spirit, another Christ—the ultimate deception. We certainly hadn’t gone out looking for deception, but in our spiritual ignorance we had walked right into their clever trap.
“The Scriptures had been prophetic as they described in detail the signs and wonders and false prophets and false Christs and lying spirits. Many of us had been so convinced we were on the right path that we never stopped to question . . . any of the . . . voices that seemed to be divinely inspired; and just as Helen Schucman’s ‘inner voice’ went unchallenged, so did our own inner voices and those of our spiritual teachers.
“In fact, the Bible had not only predicted spiritual deception but actually warned us to ‘test the spirits’ before we listened to them:
Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God. (1 John 4:1)
“The test is a godly ‘Halt, who goes there?’ to make sure the spirits are really from God. . . .
“In some mysterious, God-appointed way, deceptive spirits cannot withstand the Bible’s test any more than they could remain in our presence when we commanded them to leave in the name of Jesus Christ. God mercifully provided us with this way of discerning what is really happening. In fact, the Course’s Jesus himself answered the question of whether or not he was the Christ. His answer, ‘Oh yes, along with you,’ clearly failed the Bible’s test.
“Those of us who had believed the Course’s Jesus—that he was the Christ and we were too—were deceived into thinking that ‘the Christ’ was something bigger than Jesus or us or anyone else. But in believing the Course and my other spiritual teachers, I had unwittingly become the very person the real Jesus warned me to watch out for:
Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. (Matthew 24:4–5) . . .
“What we had thought to be spiritual truth had turned out to be nothing more than fiction. What we had believed to be the fiction of the Bible had ironically turned out to be the Gospel truth. The age of deception that had been predicted was already well on its way.
“In listening to our spiritual teachers, we had missed the many warnings that were being shouted to us from the pages of the Bible. We were, in reality, fallen human beings, prone to temptation, and easily overcome by evil. And although there was no way we could ever save ourselves, we could be saved by Jesus Christ—the true Son of God—whom God sent to set us free.
“I knew now that if being ‘a sinner’ meant falling short and being in need of salvation and redemption, then I was a sinner. And if ‘repenting’ meant turning away from my sins and my ungodly ways, then I was ready to repent. And if being ‘born again’ meant being born again from God on high, then I wanted to be born again.
“I knew I had a lot to learn about Jesus and all of His teachings and that being a disciple of His would be the test of my life. But I was grateful that Joy and I had been given a window into the spirit world in what had turned out to be our crash course on the truth of the Bible.
“In some strange and wonderful way, Joy and I had backed into the Gospel and into our faith. It was only after our whole world had been turned upside down and inside out that we found ourselves right side up at the foot of the cross.”2
In the years following our conversion in 1984, as just described in The Light That Was Dark, my wife and I have watched as a somewhat underground New Age movement has evolved into the popularly accepted, worldwide spiritual phenomenon that it is today. It has grown at an exponential rate and is now highly organized both spiritually and politically.
Endnotes:
1. Warren B. Smith, The Light That Was Dark: From the New Age to Amazing Grace (Magalia, CA: Mountain Stream Press, 2005), pp. 145–147.
2. Ibid., pp. 155-156.
(From chapter 5 of False Christ Coming: Does Anybody Care? – Mountain Stream Press, used with permission)
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Discernment 101 Booklet Pack for the Person New to Understanding Discernment |
Check out our new Discernment 101 Booklet Pack, created for the person new to understanding the issues that are affecting the church today with regard to the "new" spirituality. 15 Lighthouse Trails topical booklets for just $16.95 (a savings of $13 from the full booklet price). Click here to see the list of titles in this pack. |
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Donating to Lighthouse Trails |
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