Marianne Williamson, author of A Return to Love* and Healing the Soul of America was a somewhat obscure writer until Oprah Winfrey had her on her show, propelling her status into national acclaim and credited her as a spiritual authority, recognized by the major media (particularly after 9-11) and religious institutions; indeed “a key ambassador for the New Age/New Gospel/New A Course in Miracles, which is what A Return to Love magnifies as ‘gospel truth’.
* For an explanation of this book by Williamson herself, watch this (part one of five) Return to Love.
A Return To 'Love'
The distinction between Williamson’s two books, according to Warren Smith, is that Healing the Soul of America has brought her New Age message into the political arena (something that Neale Donald Walsch’s ‘Christ’ says must happen as a matter of course) and has effectively promoted her (and Walsch’s) organization, The Global Renaissance Alliance, today known as the Peace Alliance. This organization is energetically engaged in becoming a Cabinet level organization in the Federal Government as the Department of Peace.
Watch this video:
Department of Peace Interview with Marianne Williamson
Members of this Peace Alliance include such New Age teacher as the previously mentioned Barbara Marx Hubbard, Gary Zukav, James Redfield, Deepak Chopra, Wayne Dyer, among others with Williamson and Walsch leading it on. It describes itself as:
“A citizen based network of spiritual activists [whose] mission is to make a stand in our local and national communities for the role of spiritual principle in solving the problems of the world.” This ‘spiritual principle’ is the New Age ideology that we are really all one because we are a “part of God”. Their desire is to “re-invent the traditional Gospel as well as the Person of Jesus Christ, and there is no tolerance whatsoever for those who would proclaim that the Bible is exclusively true just as Jesus Himself is the Truth (the Way and the Life).
Among many Emergent Church authors and those friendly to Emergence (if there are any who are still unfamiliar with this term and its accompanying movement, simply type “emergent church” in the TTUF browser to access various articles on it), such books as Re-imaging Christianity, Re-thinking Christianity and many related titles are all calling for a change in Christianity that includes how the church functions, and why, our doctrinal beliefs, as well as a changed perspective on who Jesus really is and what His mission was really all about.
Brian McLaren, a prolific leader in the Emergent Church movement says that we must “re-think everything” –
Brian McLaren, “re-think everything”
McLaren equates repenting with re-thinking, and re-thinking everything in the church and our perspectives towards the world in every facet – from the environment, to money, to people of different political [no doubt religious as well] views and beliefs, etc. He rightly affirms that “to repent” is to “think differently, to change, etc” but he relates this to all sorts of secular and earthly issues.
However repentance is not to be equated with merely “re-thinking” things in general, it’s quite specifically focused on the central issue of our sinful hearts and the willful sinning against God and how we need to turn (repent) from such a life, and believe the Gospel of the Kingdom (which is His, and something we are not going to build in this present world system; we are invited to be born into and become citizens of the kingdom which is to come when the King Himself arrives, via the Gospel of salvation).
PEACE, PEACE WHEN THERE WILL BE NO PEACE –
The Peace Alliance desires to set itself apart from the usual politics of our day, but for all its talk of being different and ‘re-thinking’, it still follows the political practice of obfuscation and ‘double-speak’ that is so prevalent today, particularly noticeable in our own American government. Seldom does one ever hear the blatant agenda that they have planned to hijack biblical Christianity for the cause of their own Christ.
Though the Peace Alliance presents itself as a grass roots movement, the leadership are high level New Agers who are conducting their agenda in accord with ‘blue prints’ as conceived by Alice Bailey of the Theosophical Society and her spirit guide Dhjwal Khul. Williamson tips her hand frequently when she speaks of “the Destiny of the Nations” and “the Great Work”, phrases originating with Bailey and her spirit guide (demon):
“Beyond the appearances of history, there is a great and glorious unfolding plan for the destiny of nations. According to the mystical traditions [the occult], God carries this plan within His mind, seeking always, in every way, channels for its furtherance. His plan for the evolution of humanity and the preparation of teachers to guide it, is called within the esoteric traditions [again, the occult] the Great Work.” Taken from Healing the Soul of America: Reclaiming Our Voices as Spiritual Citizens (NY, Simon & Schuster, 1997, 2000), p. 195.
The fact that others are in total accord with Williamson’s (borrowed) vision within and without the Peace Alliance, notably her most stalwart allies like Hubbard, Walsch, and others (these consistently endorse and review each other’s books), shows that the networking of this organization is on a global level.
What expedited the networking process was 9–11 and the resulting bewilderment of America and the world; people were seeking answers for this tragedy and Williamson and her colleagues were ready, willing and able to provide them, insisting that world peace could only be possible by the plan they offer:
Warren Smith writes - “Williamson was interviewed by Tom Brokaw on NBC, by Oprah Winfrey on CBS, and by Larry King on CNN. Gary Zukav likewise appeared on Oprah, twice; Wayne Dryer did commentary on MSNBC and NBC, and even had his own PBS special. All of them gave their spiritual perspective on September 11th and introduced their New Age/New Gospel ideas for creating peace.”
Times, they said have changed and so then must we; survival of our species depends on thinking differently about our world’s future, and a new way and a new standard for the peace that we need.
Williamson told Larry King re: 911 –
“It is a challenge for the human race to evolve into the next stage of our spiritual development. You know what we need to heal are the thought forms and feelings that cause us to create war and mass destruction on this kind of a level because ultimately if we are to survive as a species, we have to become a human race for whom the thought of war is unthinkable.”
“We have to wage peace… we need to dismantle hatred itself. And hatred is our real problem…”
On Oprah, Williamson told her, “Every problem [like 911] comes bearing its own solution… I think this tragedy has taken us to a ground of being that is like a precious vial of spiritual medicine.”
“You know, terrorists have cells. We need cells of peace. The greatest antidote to violence is that we proactively create fields of non-violence, fields of peace.”
As mentioned before, Williamson and those of the Peace Alliance believe that peace is only possible “through atonement” or ‘at-one-ment’, that is, recognizing that we are all one, and that we are one with God, essentially being a part of God and thereby God ourselves.
FEARING TO TREAD?
Gary Zukav, who also appeared on Oprah has gone on record as stating “… I know that the universe is wise and compassionate. The question then becomes: How can there be such brutality and such pain and such suffering in our world if the universe is compassionate and wise? The reason is we put it there. We create it. And it’s up to us to stop creating it.”
Zukav elaborates his views by stating that we must relieve ourselves of fear, and of separation, two primary words that he warns us against, and admonishes that we change ourselves by replacing fear with peace, and separation with love.
Good sounding words, but these are New Age versions that insist that both peace and love are only attainable by a belief that we are one and one with God; those who reject such a belief are motivated by fear, separation, darkness and hatred.
Such New Ager Spiritualists seem insistent that any who would disagree and reject their notions, must be operating from such motives as listed above. They overlook the idea that we as Christians reject their notions because they are false, because they are not in accord with truth; they presume that they alone are the discoverers and wielders of truth, but we know that the Truth is a Person, Jesus Christ, the Word Incarnate, and that He is the inspirer of the Inspired Word, the Holy Scriptures. The Bible flatly denies pantheism and monism, two beliefs prominently displayed by these New Age spiritualists; we are not afraid of New Age beliefs, nor do we hate those who hold them, nor are we walking in darkness; but we are indeed separate from them, for we are not of the world as they are of the world (See: JOHN 15:18-25; 17:6, 9-10, 14-16; and 2 COR 6: 14-18).
JOHN 15:19; 17:14
If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
2 CORINTHIANS 6:17
Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
And in Williamson’s writings she states:
“The spiritual renaissance of our time is like a mystical revolution of human consciousness, a surge of energy from the subconscious of a species that registers threat yet is intent upon survival.”
“There is a new possibility in the air today, a miraculous awakening and a change in the way we live our lives. It is a spiritual renaissance with social and political implications.”
“We need to declare peace now, with as much serious effort and intention as that with which a nation declares war.”
“The bridge to a better world is a shift in mass consciousness.”
“When a particular group or structure fails to keep faith with the spirit of love – not measured by its words but by its actions – that structure then loses the privilege of guardianship of the great Work. The plan passes on to other groups or structures.”
“And we expand our perception of spiritual practice to include political activism, that we might profoundly extend our compassion to the world.”
“The Citizen Circle is a similar phenomenon, creating a mystical grid [occult] of new political possibility around the United States and the world. They help to ground the new political energy.”
ANOTHER PEACE ALLIANCE ON STEROIDS!
Along with this Peace Alliance, there is a global counterpart known as The Alliance of Civilization, which calls for an Earth Charter for a United Earth and, like the United Nations holds dear the Great Invocation (Universal) prayer, something itself that was inspired by Alice Bailey.
From Constance Cumbey we have the following article:
PILLARS OF THE "ALLIANCE OF CIVILIZATION" THE EARTH CHARTER
“One prominent Earth Charter proponent, Maurice Strong, was quoted saying that the Earth Charter would become as important as the Ten Commandments. Conflicting histories have been given and it appears that it was in progress, per Maurice Strong, much earlier than the 1987 Brundtland Commission.
“The whole question of an Earth Charter was in fact on the UN Agenda at Rio. We didn't quite make it. We did make some progress. At the Stockholm Conference (which was the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm in 1972), governments agreed to a historic declaration, which moved the world community towards what we now call an Earth Charter. Then, at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, as the Secretary General of that conference, I challenged governments to produce an Earth Charter.”
And the Great Invocation, like Williamson’s books, speaks a great deal about ‘love’ and yet judging from the materials of Williamson and her colleagues, one must wonder what sort of ‘love’ are they talking about? And their version of ‘the Light’- what does this really refer to?
To read this New Age prayer, follow this link:
Here is the original version of this occult prayer:
Original 1945 Version
by Alice A Bailey & Djwhal Khul...
From the point of Light within the Mind of God
Let light stream forth into the minds of men.
Let Light descend on Earth.
From the point of Love within the Heart of God
Let love stream forth into the hearts of men.
May Christ return to Earth.
From the centre where the Will of God is known
Let purpose guide the little wills of men -
The purpose which the Masters know and serve.
From the centre which we call the race of men
Let the Plan of Love and Light work out
And may it seal the door where evil dwells.
Let Light and Love and Power
restore the Plan on Earth.
For an excellent expose on the glossary of terms used in this mystic/occult prayer, read the following research; once you click on the link directly below, scroll down to the Contents and click on chapter Nine. I would highly recommend you read the entire article however as it’s very good in explaining much about Bailey and her intentions and plan.
“A Scientific Analysis on the Writings of Alice Bailey and their Applications” by Dr. Robert Herrmann (note: TTUF does not necessarily endorse all of the writings and perspectives of Dr. Herrmann)
THE DEVIL’S DOUBLE SPEAK DEMONSTRATED –
These New Age ideas and terms are not only finding their way in so-called ‘Christian’ (but in reality have always been present in Emergent dogma) materials, they are even showing up in some Bibles, most especially the euphemistically called the Message Bible! To review this, I refer you to this link:
Mystic Mess
Whether on a national basis, or a global one, the misnomer of peace, love and oneness is acquired by a belief in humanity as being a part of God will not create any genuine peace and love, much less oneness.
Certainly this will incite the false peace that the Scriptures speak about, a spiritual delusion led by the anti-Christ, inspired by the very spirit of Satan himself, but peace can only be experienced in its genuine form by acquiring peace with God through His grace bestowed and our LORD Jesus Christ and His shed blood at Calvary. See ROM 5:1; 3:25.
The love of God is likewise experienced by the reception of Jesus the Messiah of Israel, not some universal new age Christ that seeks the ‘salvation’ of mankind without the shedding of blood (HEB 9:22). See JOHN 14:20-22.
In regards to oneness, or ‘atonement’, we know that biblically speaking, we are made one with Christ in spiritual union upon placing our faith in the salvation Jesus offers, through His own shed blood, which is the genuine definition of “atonement” –
ROMANS 5:8-11
8 “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 “Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. 10 “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. 11 “And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.”
1 CORINTHIANS 6:16-18
16 “What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh. 17 “But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.”
EPHESIANS 5:29-32
29For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: 30For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. 31For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. 32This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
Wayne Dyer, New Age spiritualist made a PBS special, post-September 11th in which he echoed his fellows: “. . . man’s problems arise from his belief that he is separate from the divine.” That we “are one with creation – that [we] are in fact, divine.” He insisted that the only problem is the mistaken belief that [we] are separate from [our] Source; he then quotes Shucman’s book, A Course in Miracles fluently to support this claim.
Apparently the God of all creation is unaware that His creatures are one with Him, for He declared in rather blunt terms –
ISAIAH 59:2
But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. (see also ISA 64:7)
PSALM 5:4-5
For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee.
The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity.
PSALM 11:5,7
The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth. For the righteous LORD loveth righteousness; his countenance doth behold the upright.
Such spiritual propaganda that extols this New Age ‘re-thinking’ which has permeated our society will make the political endorsement and ratification of a Department of Peace not only plausible, but likely; so the campaign for this would-be government sponsored, cabinet level organization pushes forward like a run away freight train filled with the cargo of mystical conviction.
Warren Smith comments:
“For years now, I have watched as New Age proponents like Marianne Williamson, Neale Donald Walsch, Benjamin Crème, Gary Zukav. Wayne Dryer, Barbara Marx Hubbard, and others have introduced the ‘Christ’ of the New Age/New Gospel through their books and public appearances. But prior to September 11th, it was usually theoretical, and most of them seemed only loosely identified with one another.
“After September 11th, everything moved into a much clearer prophetic perspective. It was extremely sobering to watch as these same individuals emerged on primetime television as part of a ‘global alliance’ that was introducing their New Age/New Gospel/New Spirituality as a means of achieving world peace.
Everything seemed to be coming together as the ‘God’ and ‘Christ’ of the New Age were starting to publicly introduce his ‘alternative to Armageddon’ as the only way to a true and lasting peace.”
Warren Smith continues his book FALSE CHRIST COMING – Does Anybody Care? with the chapter 8, The Armageddon Alternative, and chapter, The New Age Doctrine of Separation; due to the length of this article, I will forego addressing these two chapters, and would encourage the reader to acquire a copy of this book for their own use.
THE NEW AGE, THE OLD LIE EXPOSE w/ HUNT, MICHAELSEN AND ANKERBERG –
I would like to finish this article with chapter 10, the Silent Church, but before I do, let me first introduce a series (a total of 11 parts; please be patient as the video quality is not as good as one might wish) on the New Age Movement from the John Ankerberg Show when he had Dave Hunt and Johanna Michaelson on the program dealing with this movement.
Be aware of the fact that this show originally aired in the mid 80s; that’s about thirty years ago, and will give you an idea on how to track the progress and advancement of this movement. Indeed, it has come a long way, and growing exponentially in attaining global recognition and empowerment.
In Part Four (above) Ankerberg asked Dave Hunt, “How do all these different religions come together to form this one world religion? What will bring them together?”
I believe that the mystical experiences attained in various forms of occult meditation techniques (yoga, transcendental meditation, etc.) will be the glue to cement this world religion together, these practices that are orchestrated by “seducing spirits” (1 TIM 4:1); one of these disciplines is known as contemplative prayer/meditation and is taking Christendom by storm.
I firmly believe this is the answer to Mr. Ankerberg’s insightful question. The following article from The RED PILL Consortium is based on a book by Ray Yungen: For Many Shall Come In My Name –
The Global Glue of a Unified Spirituality
(Also some other articles from RED PILL on Contemplative Prayer:
Contemplative Prayer - part 1
Contemplative Prayer - part 2)
I am intrigued that these videos reveal the essentials of the New Age movement, the influences behind it, and that which it itself has influenced; what astounding is that for these few decades the church has been aware of this movement, has to some degree tracked its progress, and as well as this, some have witnessed its migration into the church via the Emergent Church Movement, and STILL for all of this, many pastors, teachers, leaders of the church have failed in their calling with respect to warning and protecting the LORD’s sheep from this seduction.
This concludes this video presentation; we now resume with the last section of this article.
IT IS WRITTEN, BUT NONE TAKE HEED –
“How can we explain the rapid rise of the New Age/New Gospel/New Spirituality movement with hardly a word of concern within the church about what’s been happening?” asks Warren Smith.
Since 9-11 the various leaders of the New Age have stepped up the pace in exposing their teachings to the general public in best selling books and televised programming, yet the church remains silent.
Prior to the atrocities of the Holocaust, Hitler wrote extensively in his book Mein Kampf in describing his intentions for Germany and the Jews. Anyone who bothered to read his writings would know in advance his ‘game plan’; and while many did read Hitler’s book, very few, too few took his writings seriously.
The LORD Jesus Himself never wrote a book, but those He inspired, and quotes from Him as recorded in the Gospels declare that a tremendous deception would come and characterize the scenario known as the last days, that being that a man would take center stage in the world in Hitleresque fashion, and that many so-called Christians would support him in his global government!
Smith states: “Our adversary wants us to believe that these warnings are for another people at another time. Yet through scripture, and in our heart of hearts, the Spirit of God tells us that they are not. As we study the Bible, and as we watch and pray and observe the events all around us, we come to understand that these future times described by Jesus are now suddenly and undeniably upon us.”
Further he states that Christian leaders and their churches are beginning to sound and act more like their New Age adversaries, even going to far as becoming “recommended sources” endorsed by New Agers (like Barbara Marx Hubbard), and belonging to some of the same organizations (like the World Future Society).
“. . . many Christian leaders today [are] using many of the same words and expressions commonly used by their New Age/New Gospel counterparts. One so-called Christian pastor parrots perfectly the perditious prattle of the New Age proponents that ‘re-think’ the concept of the atonement, stripping it of its biblical meaning and replacing it with a more suitable, more comfortable New Age definition. FROM the MIND of FIRE has an article entitled Holy Relics where I quote Harry Emerson Fosdick:
"Jesus suffered as a substitute for us" because of our sins "is a precivilized barbarity." And also:
"Too many theories of the atonement assume that by one single high priestly act of self-sacrifice Christ saved the world. These legalistic theories of the atonement are in my judgment a theological disgrace.” Harry Emerson Fosdick, pastor of Riverside Church, NYC
Mr. Fosdick is incorrect in his assertion that the blood atonement is merely a theological theory. When theologians make conjecture based on scriptural observation, that can certainly be considered theory and this would include musings and surmise on the part of such liberal theologians as Mr. Fosdick himself.
Yet the blood atonement is a deeply biblical doctrine that is stated in repleted fashion throughout the Bible. 'Atonement' occurs 81 times in 70 distinct verses in the KJV.
EXOD 29:36,; 32:30, LEV 4:20; 6:7, NUM 6:11; 15:25-28;
ROMANS 5:11
And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.
EPH 2:13; HEB 9:14; 1 PETER 1:2, 19; 1 JOHN 1:7
REVELATION 1:5
And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood
HOLY RELICS
Other ‘buzz words’ that New Agers use with mantra-like regularity that are also heard on the lips of more and more Christians are such as these (taken from Greg Reid’s book, Trojan Church):
“Actualize, actualization, aligning, alignment, at-one-ment, be still, center, centering, change agent, (the) Christ Spirit, Christ consciousness, coach, common ground, consciousness shift, contemplative, convergence, consensus [building], deconstruction, destiny, dialogue[ing], diverse[ity], (the) divine (within), doomsday [theology], dream, finding/fulfilling your dream, God’s Dream, empowering, emergent, emergence, enlightenment, evolutionary, evolutionary shift, finding your center, getting aligned with God, global (shift), Global Village, God is in all things (pantheism), [guided] visualization, imagine, imagination, inclusive, intentions, [missional], mystical, new reformation, paradigm, planetary, Planetary Pentecost, quantum leap, quantum shift, re-imagining, reframing, relational, re-thinking, self-actualization/realization, shift, soul force, source, team player, the One, transformation, transformative, tolerance, transcendent, transcendence, unity in diversity, universe, ultimate/universal reality, vision (casting/quest), world peace, World Citizen, World Servers.”
Greg Reid comments: “There are a growing number of Christians who are making frequent use of these terms without knowing where they come from or what they mean in the New Age or occult world. Even though some of these words have innocent usage in a Christian framework, most of them are in fact rooted in New Age and occult teachings, philosophies, and are in clear opposition to biblical truth.
A word like “transformation” for a believer is a biblical one, based on scriptural principles: i.e., “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” But the New Age meaning of “transformative” and “transformational” is about a cosmic shift in thinking in order to reach “the divine within”. Trojan Church, p. 34
SMITH’S SUMMATION OF THIS SINISTER STORY –
Warren Smith asks another vital question: “Are Christian leaders leading the church ever closer to the cross or ever closer o the ‘planetary Pentecost’? Why is there almost no call for spiritual discernment within the church (except to warn believers NOT to be deceived into doubting their appointed Christian leaders)?
“Why us spiritual experience taking precedence over spiritual discernment? Why are there so few warnings about a counterfeit New Age/New Spirituality movement that maligns the person of Jesus Christ and threatens the lives of His followers? Why is this ‘new revelation’ in many ministries starting to supersede God’s written Word [such as the New Apostolic Reformation or N.A.R.]?
“Expecting only revival and the return of the true Christ, will people calling themselves Christians be deceived by the one who will come in the name of Christ and pretend to be Him? Caught unawares, will they mistake the counterfeit Christ’s Planetary Pentecost for the great ‘move of God’ they had been told to expect? Is this all a set up for the great delusion described in the Bible? Is there any good reason to not at least consider the possibility?”
Having considered the trends and movements of various churches, church ministries and para-church functions and organizations towards a more ‘Emergent-friendly’ and ‘socially relevant’ mind set, I don’t think this is a possibility as much as it is a probability; a likelihood that I believe will soon find its way into the very fabric of society. A society in which any church that doesn’t conform to the dictates and policies outlined by the soon-to-come Department of Peace will suffer consequences.
Perhaps, initially some fines and then a revoking of a church’s tax exempt status, and eventually leading to the arrest of church pastors and leaders, and closing the doors of that church in violation to Federal law under the edicts of the Department of Peace.
What sort of edicts, dictates and policies do I suspect will make biblical churches the targets for this New Age-driven Cabinet level body?
Any church that would proclaim the Gospel as the only hope for mankind; that Jesus Christ is the only Way to God the Father; that the Bible itself is the exclusive source for spiritual truth and the very Word of God to the exclusion of all other religious books; the warnings of the last days, the Armageddon and end of the world scenarios, the Second Coming of Christ, any and all of these would prove a violation of this yet future organization, in my view.
Warren Smith concludes this chapter with another poignant question:
“Could it be that the reason the Church is so unaware of the New Age/New Gospel movement is because it is being led by that same spirit and heading down that same broad way (MATT 7:13-14)? Is it happening now, right in front of our very own eyes?”
That same spirit will bring about and manifest “great signs and wonders” (MATT 24:24) and accompany the deceiver, this world leader who himself will be the fulcrum of this spiritual deception with the aid of these lying, seducing spirits and doctrines of demons.
Smith says, “[Jesus] told us this was going to happen and that we had better be ready. But the Church today is not ready. Ignorant of our adversary’s schemes, we don’t contend for the faith because we don’t seem to realize that someone is trying to steal our faith away from us. Ignorant of our adversary’s schemes, we have become vulnerable to those schemes.
"People calling themselves Christians expecting only revival and a Kingdom of God on earth may be shocked to suddenly find themselves in the middle of great delusion, facing the anti-Christ instead . . . [as] someone who came out of New Age teachings, I have been deeply saddened by the Church’s apathy about what is going on, Christian ‘leadership’ has largely ignored and discounted the prophetic significance of the New Age/New Spirituality deception that is so prevalent all around us. To speak of ‘revival’ and ‘blessings’ and ‘breakthroughs’ will not prepare believers for the persecution and tribulation that may soon take place.
“[Jesus] said if the world called Him ‘Beezlebub’ or ‘Satan’ it would call His followers [by these names] too (MATT 10:25). He said that because the world hated and persecuted Him, it would hate and persecute His followers also. And He said that following Him – particularly in the end days – could very well mean the loss of your life.”
Our Good Shepherd did not warn us with these words to frighten us; He wasn’t being ‘negative’, He was simply being compassionate enough to provide such warnings as these so that we could expect them when the time came, that we wouldn’t be caught off guard and “offended because of the word” due to tribulation or persecution:
MATTHEW 13:20-21
But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.
The phrase “hath no root in himself” is quite telling; Jesus Himself is referred to as the Root of David, and for these with “stony places” in their hearts, areas of hard heartedness, the LORD Jesus never takes His rightful place and established in such a person’s life. These half-committed, quasi-Christian kind of people will rejoice in the time of blessing and happiness, but when trials, tribulations or persecution assault them, they bail, confessing that they “didn’t sign up for this” and renounce any such commitment.
We are indeed living in perilous times, spiritually speaking because of the rampant deception that is insidiously creeping into every church and fellowship, and as a result of this deception, those who remain loyal to God’s Truth will be ostracized and persecuted in an even greater peril.
We must remain vigilant, watchful, prayerful, studying the scripture and be ready to answer any and all the reason for the hope that is in us. Please keep your church leaders in prayer, that God would empower them by His grace and His Spirit to remain faithful to the Word, both in teaching and in practice and fulfill their roles as God’s shepherds over His flock, both in feeding of the Word and in warning the sheep of these perilous times.
UPDATE: 5-26-19 HOW TO SPOT A DEVILISH PREACHER - by pastor Sonny Islas
~~ end of UPDATE
This concludes this Three Part Message and review of the book FALSE CHRIST COMING – Does Anybody Care? by Warren Smith
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