"...enemy of all righteousness."

It's amazing to me that many Christians have fallen into the trap of thinking that they cannot say anything "negative" about anyone. There are many preachers today who would say we just need to encourage people and speak kind words to them. Others would say we should never make a "negative confession." I do believe that we should be patient and longsuffering with people (after all every, believer has walked in darkness at one time but are saved only by the grace of God). But the truth is not always "positive and encouraging." And there are times when harsh language is acceptable and necessary. Take this passage of Scripture for example:

Acts 13:6-10 And when they [Paul and Barnabas] had gone through the isle unto Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Barjesus: (7) Which was with the deputy of the country, Sergius Paulus, a prudent man; who called for Barnabas and Saul, and desired to hear the word of God. (8) But Elymas the sorcerer (for so is his name by interpretation) withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith. (9) Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him, (10) And said, O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?

Many people today would be horrified if someone called another person a child of the devil or an enemy of righteousness. Didn't Paul know that this would hurt this poor man's self-esteem? (I'm being facetious of course.) Why did Paul say this? Before I attempt to answer this, let's look at another example from the Lord Jesus Christ Himself:

Matthew 23:15-17, 27-28, 33 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. (16) Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor! (17) Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold? ... (27) Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. (28) Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity... (33) Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
(Read the whole chapter.)

This would be seen as a brutally vicious attack in today's "tolerant society." How could our Lord say such mean-spirited things to a whole group of people? Well we know that Jesus lived a sinless life here on earth (Hebrews 4:15). Therefore we can trust that His words were spoken in a perfectly righteous manner. Here's one last example before I offer my opinion:

Galatians 3:1 O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?

What do these three examples have in common? The first example involved a man who was trying to prevent someone from hearing the Word of God. Since "faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17)," Elymas the sorcerer was trying to overthrow the deputy's faith. In the second example, Jesus was dealing with the legalists of Israel. They had added to the commandments of God. They could not keep the law given by God, and they were creating their own commandments for the people, thus keeping them in bondage. This is why Peter later asked, "why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?" (Acts 15:10) In the third example, we need to go back to the first chapter of Galatians to understand why Paul was so upset with them.

Galatians 1:6-9 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel [of a different kind]: (7) Which is not another [of the same kind]; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. (8) But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. (9) As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

He also speaks of "false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage (Gal. 2:4)." The issue at stake in all three of these examples is the eternal destiny of the souls of men. The first two examples involve the rebuking of the "enemies of the cross of Christ (Phil. 3:18)." The last involves the stern correction of a group of believers who were putting themselves back into the bondage of keeping the law. This is what the Church needs to understand today. We cannot put ourselves under a regimen of rules and regulations to become holy. We must simply place our faith continually in the finished work of Christ on the Cross and allow God to make us holy and clothe us with the righteousness of Christ. Nothing else will do.

Galatians 2:16, 20-21, 3:1-3 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified [Here Paul makes is very clear that we cannot be saved by our good works; we can be saved only by God's grace through our faith in the correct object, that of Jesus Christ and Him crucified.]... (20) I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (21) I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. [Now Paul makes it clear that neither can our daily living for the Lord be accomplished in the flesh, that is of our own strength and ability through keeping the law. "...[T]he just shall live by his faith." (Hab. 2:4) Very clearly he says that if we can keep the law to become righteous and live a holy life, then there was no need for Christ to die on the cross. We need to let that thought sink in.] (3:1) O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? (2) This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? (3) Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? [The Galatians came in the right way, by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8), but they soon resorted to the works of the law in order to be sanctified. Paul is telling them here that this is impossible.]

Colossians 2:6-10, 20-23, 3:1-3 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him [Again Paul says our daily walk with the Lord must be in the same manner that we first received Christ when we were born again.]: (7) Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. (8) Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. (9) For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. (10) And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power... (20) Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, (21) (Touch not; taste not; handle not; (22) Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men? [We are crucified with Christ. Therefore we should not subject ourselves to laws devised by men. These only bring us into bondage to them and create a spirit of self-righteousness.] (23) Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh. (3:1) If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. (2) Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. (3) For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

Scripture Twisting

It is not difficult to find examples of how the Bible has been abused by unbelievers. Here is one example I came across recently. The source is a letter from a new age organization in Albuquerque, NM know as "Mission of Maitreya." In part it states:

"The word Maitreya has always been associated with messiah, who will come to unify the world and synthesize all religions under one banner. This expectation is now fulfilled. Known to Christians and Jews as the Messiah, Buddhists and Hindus as Maitreya and Moslems as Mahdi or Mohammed. Maitreya is called by all these names. The names Maitreya, Messiah and Mohammed are given to him; he did not call himself by these names, so besides other prophecies, the prophecy that 'many shall come in my name' would be fulfilled."
(Hidden Dangers of the Rainbow by Constance Cumbey, 1983, p 12)

This sounds good to most people, but for those of us who know the Bible and take it seriously as the complete special revelation of the one true God, we know that this is an obvious case of taking a scripture out of its context. Here's what it really says:

Matthew 24:4-5 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. (5) For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

It's sad that many who would hear something like that wouldn't take the time to find out if that's what the Bible is really saying. This example dates to more than twenty years ago, and this problem has just become worse. Sadly many popular "evangelical" preachers are doing what amounts to the same thing. And it should come as no surprise to the Bible believing Christian.

2 Timothy 4:2-4 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. (3) For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; (4) And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

Let's remember the warnings we have received from the only true Messiah, Jesus Christ:

Matthew 24:23-27 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. (24) 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. (25) Behold, I have told you before. (26) Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. (27) For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

What's Wrong with Psychology

I haven't wrote much about psychology, or more specifically psychotherapy. Fundamentally I view it as a religion that masquerades as science. I could go in many different directions with this, but for now I want to give another reason I came across recently that it is a very dangerous thing.

According to an article by Dr. Dennis Cuddy, John Rawlings Rees (future co-founder of the World Federation for Mental Health in 1948) gave a speech on June 18, 1940 at the National Council for Mental Hygiene in the United Kingdom entitled "Strategic Planning for Mental Health." In it he said this:

"We can therefore justifiably stress our particular point of view with regard to the proper development of the human psyche, even though our knowledge be incomplete. We must aim to make it permeate every educational activity in our national life.... We have made a useful attack upon a number of professions. The two easiest of them naturally are the teaching profession and the Church: the two most difficult are law and medicine.... Public life, politics and industry should all of them be within our sphere of influence.... If we are to infiltrate the professional and social activities of other people, I think we must imitate the Totalitarians and organize some kind of fifth column activity! If better ideas on mental health are to progress and spread we, as the salesmen, must lose our identity.... Let us all, therefore, very secretly be 'fifth columnists.'"
(See MENTAL HEALTH, Vol. 1, No. 4, October 1940)

Any group that finds it necessary to "infiltrate [our] professional and social activities" by secrecy can't be for our best interests. This isn't surprising to me, considering the founders of psychology have all been atheist, humanist, and anti-christian. In fact the goals of psychotherapy are anti-christ goals in that they aim to be a replacement for the redemption found in Jesus Christ's finished work on the cross. Christians need to wake up and realize we don't need the world's methods to fix our spiritual problems. These problems are due to sin. Only the blood of Jesus Christ can deliver us.

Jeremiah 17:5,7 Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD... (7) Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.

2 Peter 1:3-4 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: (4) Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

Psalms 1:1-2 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. (2) But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

1 Corinthians 3:18-19 Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. (19) For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.

1 Corinthians 1:18-19 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. (19) For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.

Roger Oakland Video on Last Days Peace Plans

Here are some videos featuring Roger Oakland I found on YouTube through Lighthouse Trails Publishing. They deal with the emerging global pagan spirituality and the converging "three-legged stool" plans that involve the political, economic, and spiritual spheres.

Here's part 1:

And part 2:

You can find more videos by Roger Oakland and others here.

All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name

This song was just going through my mind. You may know some of the lines, but chances are you don't know most. I didn't. It first appeared in 1779 with the last stanza being added in 1787. Enjoy.

All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name

All hail the power of Jesus’ Name! Let angels prostrate fall;
Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord of all.
Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord of all.

Let highborn seraphs tune the lyre, and as they tune it, fall
Before His face Who tunes their choir, and crown Him Lord of all.
Before His face Who tunes their choir, and crown Him Lord of all.

Crown Him, ye morning stars of light, Who launched this floating ball;
Now hail the strength of Israel’s might, and crown Him Lord of all.
Now hail the strength of Israel’s might, and crown Him Lord of all.

Crown Him, ye martyrs of your God, who from His altar call;
Extol the Stem of Jesse’s Rod, and crown Him Lord of all.
Extol the Stem of Jesse’s Rod, and crown Him Lord of all.

Ye seed of Israel’s chosen race, ye ransomed from the fall,
Hail Him who saves you by His grace, and crown Him Lord of all.
Hail Him who saves you by His grace, and crown Him Lord of all.

Hail Him, ye heirs of David’s line, Whom David Lord did call,
The God incarnate, Man divine, and crown Him Lord of all,
The God incarnate, Man divine, and crown Him Lord of all.

Sinners, whose love can ne’er forget the wormwood and the gall,
Go spread your trophies at His feet, and crown Him Lord of all.
Go spread your trophies at His feet, and crown Him Lord of all.

Let every kindred, every tribe on this terrestrial ball
To Him all majesty ascribe, and crown Him Lord of all.
To Him all majesty ascribe, and crown Him Lord of all.

O that with yonder sacred throng we at His feet may fall!
We’ll join the everlasting song, and crown Him Lord of all.
We’ll join the everlasting song, and crown Him Lord of all.

Bailout Numbers Hard to Imagine

I just saw this story on Bill Koenig's World Watch Daily. It's from Bloomberg.com. They say the federal government has "spent, lent or committed $12.8 trillion, an amount that approaches the value of everything produced in the country last year..." I think most people (including myself) have a difficult time relating to the magnitude of that number. This is the kind of number scientists and engineers write in scientific notation as 1.28 x 10¹³. Written out, it looks like this:

12,800,000,000,000

That's still hard to put into perspective, so I wondered how many years it would take if we counted to this number in seconds. Turns out (if I did this right) that if you count once every second, it would take about 405,608 years. Even if you counted by thousands every second you wouldn't finish in your lifetime. You probably wouldn't even make it a quarter of the way there.

Now that we have this perspective, we can understand just how reckless and irresponsible most of our politicians are. It is utterly ludicrous.

I don't know what else to say...

...except that if you are a Christian, it is imperative that you remain steadfast in your faith in God's plan of redemption.

Matthew 6:31, 33 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? ... But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Luke 21:28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.

***(added on 5/12/09)*** Another way of looking at this that I heard recently is this. If $1 million were spent every day since the incarnation of Jesus Christ, you still would not have made it to your first $1 trillion yet. (In fact it only comes out to about $730 billion which sounds like the amount spent on just one of the many bailouts Congress has recently approved.)

Red Letter Christians (part 3)

Go to Part 1.....Go to part 2

The Root of RLC Theology

In parts 1 and 2, we caught a glimpse of the skewed theology that is promoted by Red Letter Christians. By the way, I want to point out that they don't seem to live up to their name. There are many "red letters" in the Bible that they seem to ignore. Maybe I will give examples in later posts. But for now I want to expose what I believe is the root of their ideology.

In an article at beliefnet.com entitled "Mystical Encounters for Christians," Tony Campolo stated, "When I sensed that believing in Jesus wasn't enough and yearned for more, I turned to older forms of prayer." First of all, believing in Jesus is enough if we are talking about salvation and sanctification. Scripture tells us to “...believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved...” (Acts 16:31), and “...by grace are ye saved through faith...” (Ephesians 2:8) And let us refer to some "red letters" to show that faith alone is necessary for salvation:

John 6:27-29 Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed. (28) Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? (29) Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

But Campolo is not referring to salvation. He means that simple faith is not enough for a mystical spiritual experience. In the opening paragraph, Campolo says that people "have an intense hunger for experiences that will nurture their souls." He states that they "have failed to discover much that offers them mystical encounters with transcendent spiritual powers," and they "long for experiences that could create the ecstasies of heart and mind..."

I have to ask why does he think it is necessary to have these experiences. It is true that a true Christian will desire to be closer to God. And it’s probable that most if not all Christians have felt very far from God at times. But our salvation is not based on our feelings. We are brought near to God through our faith in Christ and His finished work on the cross.

Ephesians 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

Nevertheless Campolo and others think they can draw close to God through mystical experiences. But mystical experiences don’t just happen to people. So how does he propose we go about having such an encounter. While announcing that a belief in Jesus was not enough for him, he stated the following:

"There was a yearning for something more, and I found that I was increasingly spiritually gratified as I adopted older ways of praying..."

By "older ways of praying," he means what is known as contemplative prayer which he calls "centering prayer." He says, "...in the morning I don't ask God for anything. Instead, I center down on Jesus." Notice how he describes the process:

"I've got to push everything out of mind save the name of Jesus. I say His name over and over again, for as long as fifteen minutes, until I find my soul suspended in what the ancient Celtic Christians called a 'thin place'--a state where the boundary between heaven and earth, divine and human, dissolves."

Before I go on, I have to stop and ask where do we find anything like what he is describing in the Bible? On the contrary there are "red letters" which oppose the practice of saying "His name over and over again..."

Matthew 6:7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

Today more than ever, a subjective mystical experience holds much more importance for most people than objective facts and knowledge. The apostle Paul anticipated just such an attitude.

2 Timothy 4:2-4 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. (3) For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; (4) And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

We have to ask ourselves if we can trust an experience to give us truth. Experiences don’t always give us a proper view of reality. For example navy pilots must have special training to be able to take off from a carrier at night. This is because the force of the catapult that launches them off the deck pulls them backward in the cockpit. During the daytime, visual cues are enough to tell them which direction is up and which is down. However at night there is a danger of misinterpreting these directions because of the absence of visual cues. They can actually experience the sensation of lying on their backs, which in that situation makes them feel as though they are flying straight up. Without special training, the tendency is to try to level off which would actually cause them to crash into the ocean. The point is that our feelings can deceive us. They can skew the reality of the situation.

Contemplative Prayer

So what is this centering prayer really? You can learn much more about the dangers of contemplative prayer at Lighthouse Trails Research Project (very informative), but suffice it to say that it is not far removed from eastern style transcendental meditation (TM). Actually contemplative prayer is a misnomer. It does not resemble any of the prayers found in the Bible (2 Kings 6:17-18, Daniel 9:4-19, 2 Kings 19:15-19, John 17); contemplation suggests thinking about something, but contemplative prayer involves emptying one's mind of thought. Contemplative Outreach describes centering prayer as "a method of silent prayer that prepares us to receive the gift of contemplative prayer, prayer in which we experience God's presence within us, closer than breathing, closer than thinking, closer than consciousness itself." Here are the guidelines they give for centering prayer:

1. Choose a sacred word as the symbol of your intention to consent to God’s presence and action within.
   
2. Sitting comfortably and with eyes closed, settle briefly and silently introduce the sacred word as the symbol of your consent to God’s presence and action within.
   
3. When engaged with your thoughts*, return ever-so gently to the sacred word.
4. At the end of the prayer period, remain in silence with eyes closed for a
   couple of minutes.

*thoughts include body sensations, feelings, images, and reflections

The truth is that these techniques are very similar to those used by practitioners of TM, Buddhism, Hinduism, etc. Proponents of contemplative prayer would have us believe that these techniques are neutral and that if a Christian uses them they will encounter the true God. The reality, however, is that God has not sanctioned anything like this in the Bible. There is no way for a person who is practicing contemplative prayer to know if they are really meeting with God. These experiences are all extremely subjective, and from what I have heard and read, people who are engaging in these practices begin to be more open to ideas that are contrary to biblical Christianity. Matt Slick of Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry has written a brief article about centering prayer. In it he describes his former involvement in the occult before he was born again. He says that he used the same techniques to achieve an altered state of consciousness while attempting to contact the spirit realm. He's not the only one. There are scores of truly born-again Christians who describe similar experiences before they were delivered from the darkness of the occult.

There is much more that could be said, but the bottom line is that centering/contemplative prayer is unscriptural and dangerous. It is a subjective, sensual experience that is very likely to lead those who practice it into deception and possibly into contact with demonic spirits.

2 Corinthians 11:3-4 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. (4) 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 11:14 ...for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

1 Timothy 4:1 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.

Resources on contemplative prayer, the occult, etc.

1. "Contemporary Christian Divination" at CIC Minitries
2. "Contemplative Prayer or Terror?" at Understand the Times International
3. Contemplative Prayer at Lighthouse Trails Research Project
4. "Contemplative Prayer: Seducing Spirits and a Doctrine of Devils" at Kjos Ministries
5. "Out of India" at Caryl Productions