It
was Alice Bailey (the famous occult prophetess who coined the term New Age), who
made this startling assertion:
It
is, of course, easy to find many passages which link the way of the Christian
Knower with that of his brother in the East. They bear witness to the same efficacy
of method.
What
did she mean by the term “Christian Knower”? The answer is unmistakable! … [O]ccultism
is awakening the mystical faculties to see God in everything. In Hinduism, this
is called reaching samadhi or enlightenment. It is the final objective of yoga
meditation: God in everything – a force or power flowing through all that exists.
William Johnston believes such an experience exists within the context of Christianity.
He explains:
What
I can safely say, however, is that there is a Christian samadhi that has always
occupied an honored place in the spirituality of the West. This, I believe, is
the thing that is nearest to Zen. It is this that I have called Christian Zen.
The famous
psychologist Carl Jung predicted this system would be the yoga of the west. Christian
Zen? Christian yoga? These seem to be oxymorons, like military pacifism or alcoholic
sobriety. Christians, conservative ones at least, have always viewed these concepts
as heretical and anti-biblical. The word most commonly used for it is pantheism
– all is God. But when one looks at the Christian Zen movement one discovers a
similar term, which for all practical purposes, means the same thing. This term
is called panentheism?God is in all things….
[Does]
panentheism have a legitimate place in orthodox Christianity? This is a vital
question because panentheism is the foundational worldview among those who engage
in mystical prayer. Ken Kaisch, a Episcopal priest and a teacher of mystical prayer,
made this very clear in his book, Finding God, where he noted:
Meditation
is a process through which we quiet the mind and the emotions and enter directly
into the experience of the Divine…. there is a deep connection between us … God
is in each of us.
Here
lies the core of panentheism: God is in everything and everything is in God. The
only difference between pantheism and panentheism is how God is in everything.
This position of the panentheist is challenging to understand: Your outer personality
is not God, but God is still in you as your true identity. This explains why mystics
say, all is one. At the mystical level, they experience this God-force that seems
to flow through everything and everybody. All creation has God in it as a living,
vital presence. It is just hidden.
The
theological implications of this worldview put it at direct odds with biblical
Christianity for obvious reasons. Only one true God exists, and His identity is
not in everyone. The fullness of God?s identity, in bodily form, rests in Jesus
Christ and Him only!
BE
STILL
http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/bestilldvd.htm One
of the presenters of the Be Still DVD is Richard Foster. Richard Foster's
book, Devotional Classics, he quotes 16th Century mystic Madame
Guyon to describe the practice, "make use of scripture to quiet your
mind. First read a passage of scripture. Once you sense the Lord's presence, the
content of what you read is no longer important. The scripture has served its
purpose; it has quieted your mind; it has brought you to him. You should always
remember that you are not there to gain an understanding of what you have read;
rather you are reading to turn your mind from the outward things to the deep parts
of your being. You are not there to learn or to read, but you are there to experience
the presence of your Lord"
ORIGIN
OF CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER
http://www.onetruthministries.com/LectioDivina.htm "Modern
day contemplative prayer movement stems from the monastic period of Christianity
(early middle ages), which was a time of experimentation and mystical practices.
One of the practices, lectio divina, meaning sacred reading, involved taking a
page of Scripture and reading it over and over again."
Tantric
Yoga This is sexual
perversion in a thin candy shell of contemplation. The object of contemplation
is the chakra from which sexual forces come forth.
ROMAN
CATHOLIC RANK WHITE HOT HERESY ABOUT CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER This is all about
demon possession in the guise of godliness
TONY
CAMPOLO BELITTLES BIBLE STUDY AND USES THE BIBLE AS A MANTRA Key words: Close
the Bible and listen -- Be still -- Two messages from the same text
WRITERS
WHO INSPIRE CONTEMPLATIVE CHRISTIAN GURUS
Into
the Depths of God
-Calvin Miller
Faith:
Tried and Triumphant -D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones -
This
is creepy. This man was a real Bible teacher and NOT in any way near this rubbish.
He was Reformed and like the Puritans, he was a deep thinker, but he was NOT into
contemplative monastic notions. This again is bait for the narrow way suckers
who run to books rather than the Bible.
The
Life God Blesses -Jim Cymbala
Created
to Be His Help Meet -Debi Pearl
The
Pearl's Kundalini and Tantric sexual imagery in teaching spiritual things works
well for contemplative prayer. The mystics in India were rampant with notions
of sex, prayer, and transcendence.
The
Pursuit of God -A.W. Tozer -
Tozer
was a deeper life man, but he was death on mysticism. This is a bait name meant
to sucker you in.
Secrets
of the Secret Place -Bob Sorge
In
his book Fire of God's Love, the following synopsis was made at a book
sales site: "Section V deals with the allegory of the Song of Solomon--Christ's
relationship with His Bride, the Church. In this section Sorge examines the different
levels of consecration in the life of the Christian. He starts with chapter 19
pointing out the nuances of our fervency for Christ during the honeymoon stage
of our union. Chapters 20-23 stays with the theme of the Song of Solomon examining
the progressive stages of intensity in our passion for the Lord as we mature in
our relationship with Him. The author makes it clear that along our journey toward
spiritual maturity we will, of course, encounter opposition from our enemy, Satan.
This opposition comes in the form of pain, suffering and obstacles and is ultimately
designed to keep us from passionately pursuing our Saviour. However, Sorge encourages
the reader through the Word of God to persevere and keep loving God knowing also
that the Lord rewards our diligence. "The Fire of God's Love" will help you to
appreciate the intensity of His love for us and the joy that comes from loving
and obeying Him passionately whether you're in the valley or on top of the mountain."
This
sounds like the Pearl's notions that having sex in marriage is as close to heavenly
marriage as is possible in this life. Here is the Kundalini principle at work.
Song of Solomon has NOTHING to do with the Church and Christ. It is all about
marriage. Those who spiritualize it or make types of the book end up with perverted
images of Christ and the Church.
Hearing
God -Peter
Lord Charismatic and claims to be an Apostle.
Experiencing
The Depths of Jesus Christ -Jeanne
Guyon
DEPAK
CHOPRA
This
is 100% contrary to the Word of God:
Psalms
46:10 Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I
will be exalted in the earth.
Colossians
1:25 Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which
is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; 26 Even the mystery which
hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his
saints: 27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of
this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
PRISCILLA
SHIRER
Prisilla
Shirer is a graduate of (Dallas Theological Seminary) and is an internationally-recognized
Bible teacher who focuses her ministry on the expository teaching of the Word
of God to women. She desires to see women both understand the uncompromising truths
of Scripture intellectually and experience them practically. Priscilla is the
author of A Jewel in His Crown, And We Are Changed, He Speaks to Me, and Discerning
the Voice of God. She is also an accomplished vocalist. Priscilla and her
husband, Jerry, are the founders of Going Beyond Ministries and live in Dallas,
Texas with their three sons.
We’re
also told that Prisiclla Shirer was mentored by the man-centered motivational
speaker Zig Ziglar: she received a request to facilitate a Bible study at Ziglar
Training Systems in Dallas, Texas. It was that day that she met international
motivational speaker Zig Ziglar, who became not only her friend but also her mentor.
She was asked to come on board as one of the company’s motivational speakers and
corporate trainers.
So,
what about Zig Zigler? He is obviously the guru of her life, and he is highly
suspect. Here are some of the noted quotes tossed around among motivational people
that are credited to Zig Zigler:
"If
you can dream it, then you can achieve it. You will get all you want in life if
you help enough other people get what they want." That is sub-christian feel
good rubbish and leaves God totally OUT of success. Philippians
4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
"Building
a better you is the first step to building a better America." False- A better
America will be made of born again Americans, not self-built people. This is simply
Robert Schuler in the pot nine days old. Titus 3:5 Not by
works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved
us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
"Money
isn't the most important thing in life, but it's reasonably close to oxygen on
the "gotta have it" scale." So, oxygen, money, and what else. Jesus comes
in third place at best. Now, I am told that Ziggy says these things more biblically
when at Promise Keepers in the past and other Christian venues more recently.
So what. Having two apologetics are NEVER justified simply because one must do
so in order to keep the cash flow up. Love of money is clearly Ziggy's top priority
right after oxygen. Proverbs 16:16 How much better is it
to get wisdom than gold! and to get understanding rather to be chosen than silver!
"You
can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what
they want." That is pure pagan rubbish. It sounds like Mother Teresa or the
Dalai Lama, but NOT Jesus. Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first
the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added
unto you.
"If
you want to reach a goal, you must "see the reaching" in your own mind before
you actually arrive at your goal." The goal, or "mark" in the Bible
is NOT in my mind, it is the high calling of God in Jesus Christ. Philippians
3:13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do,
forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things
which are before, 14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling
of God in Christ Jesus.
ZIGGY
GETS EXTRA-BIBLICAL REVELATION
SO
WHAT DID PRICILLA LEARN FROM HER MENTOR ZIDDY?
“A
place of freedom and peace awaits every woman who aligns herself with God’s design.”
Clever, but flawed. We cannot align ourselves, we are MADE to conform by no works
of our own. 1 Corinthians 1:30 But of him are ye in Christ
Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification,
and redemption: 31 That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him
glory in the Lord. God did it all without our alignment efforts. She is
closer than Ziggy, but off nonetheless.
So,
Priccilla gets her zeal and motivation from a fast talking slick good old boy,
not from the Word of God. Here are some quotes from her books as found at http://www.donotbesurprised.com
Pastor
Gary Gilley: It appears from the above that Shirer may be open to direct communication
from God to the believer through more than the reading of His Word. In answering
another question, "How can I really hear God speak to me personally?" Shirer answered
in part:
Pastor
Gary Gilley's recent article on the topic:
Of
course every mystic’s favorite passage on this subject is Elijah’s “still small
voice” (1 Kings 19:12-13). For example, Ruth Haley Barton tells us, “Elijah’s
willingness to enter into solitude and silence opened room for God to minister
to him in ways he had not yet experienced” (p. 19). Even a cursory reading of
the account finds that Elijah had no desire to enter into solitude and silence
as Barton describes it. He was running for his life from Jezebel, depressed and
ready to entirely give up his life as a prophet. God graciously reached out and
restored His man, but Elijah wasn’t looking for an experience with God. Additionally
there is no command anywhere in Scripture to try to duplicate Elijah’s example.
Simply put, while seeking a quiet place to be alone with God is without question
a good idea and is exemplified in Scripture, it is not commanded and is never
taught as essential for discipleship.
It
is important to understand that in using the discipline of silence/solitude, spiritual
formation leaders are looking for something beyond discipleship; they are looking
for a personal word, a message, a revelation, from the Lord. This is why Elijah’s
experience is so prominent in all contemplative writings. The idea is, if Elijah
went alone and heard the “still small voice of God,” then if we follow in his
footsteps we will experience the same.
Gilley's
observation:
It
appears from the above that Shirer may be open to direct communication from God
to the believer through more than the reading of His Word. In answering another
question, "How can I really hear God speak to me personally?" Shirer answered
in part:
Pastor
Gilley: Is That You, God? is a booklet that contains material from Shirer's
full-length book, Discerning the Voice of God. This booklet is published by and
is available for purchase from any SBC Lifeway bookstore. Only two paragraphs
into the introduction of this booklet, Shirer writes:
Before
you read any further, let me assure you of an important point. To not speak contradicts
God's nature. The second person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ, is called the Word
(see John 1:1). That designation stands at odds with silence. God loved you enough
to die for you; He loves you enough to communicate with you. The Lord can and
will speak to you if you've placed your faith in Jesus. First, however, you must
expect and anticipate that the divine voice of God can ring in your ears and heart.
(Priscilla Shirer, Is That You, God? [Lifeway Press: 2009], 6).
What
Shirer fails to acknowledge here is that God has spoken, finally and fully, in
His Word. For us to expect additional revelation from Him is to indicate that
His Word is not enough. Shirer bases her argument on a misunderstanding of John
10:27, wherein Jesus states, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they
follow me." A fuller look at the context of this verse helps one to better understand
what our Lord is saying:
So
the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense?
If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered them, “I told you, and
you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about
me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my
voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they
will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who
has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out
of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:24-30)
It
is clear that our Lord is teaching here about His Father's divine, sovereign election,
and the assurance of the saints. Christ's sheep "hear [His] voice," not in an
audible manner, but those who have been elected by God will come to know Christ,
be saved by Him and thus be enabled to do His will. Only those who are Christ's
sheep will believe and follow Him, and He alone has the power to keep them safe.
Editor
Steve Van Nattan: I notice here the clear heritage of these modern mystic in the
book Something More by Catherine Marshall written back in about 1960 in which
she clearly craved something more than the mere Word of God and the Christian
experience well known to true Bible believers. This fired up the Charismatic Movement
in its early days, and she went on to write for Guideposts and the Freemason mystic
and blasphemer Norman Vincent Peale.
Pastor
Gilley: Shirer continues in this booklet to inform her readers of her own personal
experiences of "hearing" God's voice.
I often
wish that a visible sign, like the cloud that led the children of Israel by day
or the pillar of fire that led them by night, would supernaturally appear in my
life when I need to make a decision. So far, that hasn't happened. I have, however,
heard a still small voice speaking to my heart over various situations.
Interestingly,
when God chose to speak in the Bible, those who heard didn't doubt whether God
had spoken or what He was asking them to do. He made His Word clear as He spoke
to "our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways" (Heb.
1:1, NIV). Just as He did in times long past, God wants us to hear, recognize,
and obey His voice today. We too can walk in the assurance that what we hear comes
from Him. But before we can do that, we need to understand the Messenger and the
primary method through which He chooses to communicate today: the Holy Spirit.
(Shirer, 12–13, emphasis added).
It
is true that God speaks and works today through the Holy Spirit, especially as
the Spirit reveals and illumines the Word of God for every Christian. It is unfortunate
that Shirer did not choose to quote verse 2 of the first chapter of Hebrews. If
she had, she may have come to understand why it is that the canon is closed, and
that God has spoken to us fully and finally through His Word and Son, Jesus Christ.
Hebrews
2:1 Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have
heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. 2 For if the
word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience
received a just recompence of reward; 3 How shall we escape, if we neglect
so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was
confirmed unto us by them that heard him;
This
was spoken by the Apostles, and Revelation 22:18-19 assigns damnation to any voice
speaking anything new into the canon of the World. Also verse 3 makes it clear
that the only two voices speaking truth are the Lord himself as he lived his life
out in Galilee and the writings of the Apostles.
2
Thessalonians 2:13 But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren
beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation
through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: 14 Whereunto
he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have
been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.
Any
word not originting from Christ while he lived on earth, or from the Apostolic
writings, is damned to hell and from either hell bound men or Satan himself.
Pastor
Gilley: Those who believe that God is continuing to offer new revelation today
deny the sufficiency of Scripture. Priscilla Shirer does just this in the following
quote:
But,
as author Dallas Willard said, "Far be it from me to deny that spectacular experiences
occur or that they are, sometimes at least, given by God." I believe as he, however,
that "the still small voice–or the interior or inner voice, as it is also called–is
the preferred and most valuable form of individualized communication for God's
purposes. (Shirer, 16, emphasis added).
Shirer
here not only has undermined the authority and sufficiency of Scripture, but she
has begun to tread on dangerous, mystical ground. Throughout her booklet, Is That
You, God?, Shirer seems to indicate that the Christian need not fear hearing from
anyone or anything other than the Almighty. Yet, how is she to know if she is
conversing with God, with herself, or with another spiritual entity? Even those
who promote and teach these aberrant ideas of spiritual formation, contemplative
prayer and meditation warn about the possibility of hearing from something or
someone other than God. Consider the quotes below from contemplative prayer proponents
Dallas Willard (Shirer's inspiration) and Richard Foster (New Ager), respectively:
There
are other ‘spiritual voices,’ too…. Satan … too will speak in our heart once he
sees he no longer holds us in his hand. Only if we learn to recognize this voice
as well can we … correctly identify and firmly resist him and make him flee from
us (1 Pet. 5:9; Eph. 6:11). (Dallas Willard, Hearing God, [InterVarsity Press:
1999], 181).
I
also want to give a word of precaution. In the silent contemplation of God we
are entering deeply into the spiritual realm, and there is such a thing as a supernatural
guidance. While the Bible does not give us a lot of information on that, there
are various orders of spiritual beings, and some of them are definitely not in
cooperation with God and his way! … But for now I want to encourage you to learn
and practice prayers of protection. (Richard Foster, Prayer: Finding the Heart’s
True Home [HarperCollins, 1992], 157).
Speaking
specifically of Ruth Haley Barton, Gary Gilley draws out a point that nevertheless
is applicable to all who would maintain that God speaks in the silence through
a "still small voice":
Therefore,
in order to support an unwarranted and biblically indefensible idea that God speaks
to us apart from Scripture, and often without words in our inner being, the best
that Barton can offer is that eventually we will be able to distinguish God’s
voice from our own if we just keep practicing. This is disappointing at best.
But to make things worse, apparently God “is speaking to us all the time” and
we are obligated to obey what He says. This puts an unsustainable burden on those
who accept Barton’s ideas as they must not only hear the inner, wordless voice
of God, they must also obey it. If they do not they would of course be in sin.
Steve
Van Nattan: This is clearly a hit and miss program at best. A hit and miss engine
is a long ago invention in which the gasoline engine has a governor which allows
to run at a limited speed by not firing the cylinder at every revolution. This
makes for a very sloppy sound as it pops and goes silent at purely random times.
Contemplative prayer is like that. Hit now, miss later, hit twice, miss twice.
Who is making the pop? Who is in the silent times? WATCH
A HIT AND MISS ENGINE THAT WAS RESTORED
I
conclude on Pricilla Shirer with a short video by John MacArthur. A caveat is
needed. John has four major errors in his teaching, but this is not one of them:
Now,
pay attention please. There are many such false teachers like Shirer. I did a
rather lengthy discussion of her errors because all the alleged Christian mystics
preying on the Lord's Church are using the same logic and line of attack as the
ravage the Lord's sheep. So, you might just want to read all of this again tomorrow
so you have your ammo ready the next time you hear this rubbish.
Charismatic’s love mystical experiences because they interpret emotions as evidence
of God’s presence and validation upon themselves…
David Wilkerson occasionally mentioned a voluminous work by the Plymouth Brethren
that was line upon line extolling the beauty of Christ.
A.W. Tozer loved famous mystics: He loved hymnody and liked hymns by Gerhard Tersteegen
who is said to be a “Strong Mystic at hymnary.org”. Dave Hunt sells everything
from Tozer.
Tozer wrote this In is biography of A.B. Simpson called A study in Spiritual
Altitude pg. 71, 72. “It is characteristic of the God-intoxicated, the dreamers
and mystics of the Kingdom, that their flight-range is greater than that of other
men, Their ability to sweep upward to unbelievable heights of spiritual transport
is equaled only by their sad power to descend, to sit in dazed dejection by the
River Chebar or to startle the night watches with their lonely grief. A long list
of names could be appended here to support this statement; and it would be noble
and saintly list indeed, for Moses’ name would be there, and Thomas Upham’s and
Brother Lawrence’s and St. Francis’, and Madam Guyon’s of a host of others. It
might well read like a little Who’s Who in the Kingdom of God, if the whole truth
were told of the gloom of the great, which overtakes them sometimes on the journey
to the City of God.”
William Law is another Christian mystic especially his book The Power of the
Spirit. Dave Hunt sells his books.
I never understood why these men seemed to favor the mystical words of men over
the Word of God. I always wanted to ask: Are the Psalms not good enough for you?
You needed to search elsewhere?
A couple of other interesting things:
People like Brian Tracy and Dan O’conner who are management and business trainers
that sell a lot of material for personal development and people skills etc. Well,
when you get into their products you find out they promote and support a form
of transcendental meditation and sell an instructional CD or link you to another
site selling meditation CDs. Dan O’conner was using information from this method
from Dr. Masuru Emoto (video below) as a metaphor about how words affect people.
