The driving force
In Revelation there is a prophet a false prophet who is getting the masses to look at and bow in homage of worship to an image that is made to speak. Whereas the beast of New World Order is geopolitically controling the ebb and flow of money, goods and services the prophet is controling the ideology. Just as with scripture there is an idea a thought perhaps even a VOICE speaking in a wilderness to call men back to the Almighty the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob.
The prophets
Francis Bacon
The New Atlantis or Bensalem. Its a really interesting little story of a bunch of ship mates who go to this island and with much to doo one of them finds the secrets of the house of salmomen. In that they had a place for everything under the sun and everything in its place. Reading it i wonder that all the theosophy and new age stuff would begin to stem from this? It is a tale of Eutopia gained and only for those who the "master" chooses.
Blavatsky
This woman took all the traditions and religious ideologies of all or almost all the major religious teachings of mankind and combined them together into a systematic ideology. I have personally read some of her work which it seems starts with a ascended being named Dzyan.
Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (Wikipedia)
was a scholar of ancient wisdom literature who, along with H. S. Olcott and Anagarika Dharmapala, was instrumental in the Western transmission and revival of Theravada Buddhism. In 1875, Blavatsky and Olcott established a research and publishing institute called the Theosophical Society. Blavatsky defined Theosophy as "the archaic Wisdom-Religion, the esoteric doctrine once known in every ancient country having claims to civilization." led to the publication of what is now considered her magnus opus, The Secret Doctrine, which collates and organizes the essence of these teachings into a comprehensive synthesis. Blavatsky saw herself as a missionary of this ancient knowledge and one of the main purposes of the Theosophical Society was “to form a nucleus of the Universal Brotherhood of Humanity, without distinction of race, creed, sex, caste or color”.
This is why the secret doctrine rings with hindu tibetan rhetoric. So she isnt just sitting in a rocker and listening to a demon and writing it all down. No she goes and does a colation of all the so called "spiritual traditions". Here are resources she felt indebted to. Blavatsky wished to express her indebtedness to four works: the Sanskrit-Chinese Dictionary, the Hindu Classical Dictionary, Vishnu-Purana, and the Royal Masonic Cyclopaedia.
Happily Wikipedia did one more thing it listed from her work an important preface of understanding before launching into the raw stanzas.... note also though that these stanzas may well be coming from this "entity".
Basic Tenets
Three Fundamental Propositions
Blavatsky explained the essential component ideas of her cosmogony in her magnum opus, The Secret Doctrine. She began with three fundamental propositions, of which she said: “Before the reader proceeds … it is absolutely necessary that he should be made acquainted with the few fundamental conceptions which underlie and pervade the entire system of thought to which his attention is invited. These basic ideas are few in number, and on their clear apprehension depends the understanding of all that follows…”
"The first proposition is that there is one underlying, unconditioned, indivisible Truth, variously called "the Absolute", "the Unknown Root", "the One Reality", etc. It is causeless and timeless, and therefore unknowable and non-describable: "It is 'Be-ness' rather than Being". However, transient states of matter and consciousness are manifested in IT, in an unfolding gradation from the subtlest to the densest, the final of which is physical plane. According to this view, manifest existence is a "change of condition" and therefore neither the result of creation nor a random event.
Everything in the universe is informed by the potentialities present in the "Unknown Root," and manifest with different degrees of Life (or energy), Consciousness, and Matter."
These are some examples:
"An unknown root that expands the belly of a sleeping mother"... a bit of the vishnu here, but how does this come to be? How do we get this sleeping anything and the root and... think it through dear reader. In Biblical understanding Go does NOT explain Himself. He is communicating to a limited being of limited capacity to KNOW the as yet unknowable. How does Jesus come to say that there were things He would have loved to discuss with one Nicodemus but this person cant even comprehend being born again? (Jn 3:3-10) Thus too Paul alludes to the same thing when he states that we should be moving on to other things but we cant because by and large we are on milk and not solid meat or food. (For when by reason of the time you ought to be teachers, you have need again that someone teach you the rudiments of the first Oracles of God; and are become such as those who have need of milk,and not of solid food. Heb 5:12) So then God does NOT divulge His every secret. There are things HE does tell us. Before Abraham was I am (Jn 8:58) By Him through Him unto Him are all things(For by Him all things are created,thatare in heaven,and that are in earth,visible and invisible, whether they be Thrones,or Principalities, or Powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him: Col 1:16) ... nothing is that He hasnt created (jn 1:3 paraphrased)
But this first set of stanzas does go into a great detail about the "Creation Story" and puts forth another story.
"The second proposition is "the absolute universality of that law of periodicity, of flux and reflux, ebb and flow". Accordingly, manifest existence is an eternally re-occurring event on a "boundless plane": "'the playground of numberless Universes incessantly manifesting and disappearing,'" each one "standing in the relation of an effect as regards its predecessor, and being a cause as regards its successor", doing so over vast but finite periods of time."
Oh the joy of true insanity. However to this i must state that scripture does NOT deny the posibility. Yet the scripture speaks in concrete terms of a beginning IN GOD and a culmination IN GOD. It also suggests the possiblity of the eons of ages rolling on throughout time and space and we would be with Him FOREVER. Her thinking puts forever into cycles. There may be cycles but again GOd purposefully DOES NOT disclose. Why? Because we cant comprehend it yet!
" to the above is the third proposition: "The fundamental identity of all Souls with the Universal Over-Soul... and the obligatory pilgrimage for every Soul — a spark of the former — through the Cycle of Incarnation (or 'Necessity') in accordance with Cyclic and Karmic law, during the whole term." The individual souls are seen as units of consciousness (Monads) that are intrinsic parts of a universal oversoul, just as different sparks are parts of a fire." (Wait stop right here dear reader. Your soul is actually a part of the ubersoul of the god(dess) creator of the plain of this cycle of existance. SO there is nothing truly unique about you nor precious. You are just a part of a cosmic whole. I dont know about you but I opt to rebel and take back my precious individuality... are you with me?) "These Monads undergo a process of evolution where consciousness unfolds and matter develops. This evolution is not random, but informed by intelligence and with a purpose." (Wait .. what? INFORMED BY INTELLIGENCE FOR PURPOSE? Blavatsky you rogue.... that sounds almost scriptural or wait... it is scriptural ( ...created as workmanship of God unto good works Eph 2:10 To be to the praise of the glory of the Father Eph 1:12)" Evolution follows distinct paths in accord with certain immutable laws, aspects of which are perceivable on the physical level. One such law is the law of periodicity and cyclicity; another is the law of karma or cause and effect. "
Yes and dear reader Karma is a real live female dog whose litter of pups do their business all over the parade of your life. There is NO GRACE here just repetative cycles of living, dying and living again and again until you get it all right and become a god yourself and "nirvana" out of the cycle.What we need to understand is that there is a doctrine here. One of devils which Jesus has told us not to be ensnared by.
From The Secret Doctrine Blavatsky listen to what one Dzyan had to say and all this is written and commentaries to go with it in this series of books.
Stanza one verse six:"...THE SON OF NECESSITY[INCARNATION], WAS IMMERSED IN PARANISHPANNA, TO BE OUTBREATHED BY THAT WHICH IS AND YET IS NOT." ( Now this is the exact opposite of the description in Revelation of GOD.Revelation 1:8 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord which is which was and is to come the Almighty) Stanza 3 verse 8 "WHERE WAS THE GERM AND WHERE WAS NOW DARKNESS? WHERE IS THE SPIRIT OF THE FLAME THAT BURNS IN THY LAMP, OH LANOO?(lanoo is the hindu word for student) THE GERM IS THAT, AND THAT IS LIGHT, THE WHITE BRILLIANT SON OF THE DARK HIDDEN FATHER." Now folks this is their idea of Jesus in this description and notice please how it mocks that He is the express image of the invisible (Who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power when He had by Himselof purged our sins sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on High Heb 1:3 )
stanza 4 verse 1
"LISTEN, YE SONS OF THE EARTH, TO YOUR INSTRUCTORS -- THE SONS OF THE FIRE. LEARN, THERE IS NEITHER FIRST NOR LAST, FOR ALL IS ONE: NUMBER ISSUED FROM NO NUMBER". Ok now then Jesus IS the Beginning and the End so then this is antichrist to the core.(Of Jesus to John in Revelation 1:8 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord which is which was and is to come the Almighty)
Blavatsky is the learner being addressed she is our lanoo... Oeaohoo might be considered to be Jesus and Fohat is a runner whose errand running is a causation for cyclical creations. I am not yet sure who might be the father. In this "godhead" there are 4 ( mommy daddy spirit son). See the blasphemy here is bringing into this real deal of Father Son and Holy Spirit.. one more. In this teaching, God the Almighty is the germ. This germ is and is what starts the whole ball of wax this secret wisdom calls creation. The germ which lives in darkness ( herein do we see the reference to what is God (He bowed the heavens also and came down and darkness was under His feet 2Sam 22:10;Psa 18:9and again He made darkness pavillions(secret place) around about Him dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.2Sam 22:12; Psa 18:11) and the breath of stanza 3 verse 2 which breathes over the waters of the mother is compared with and a corruption of ...and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters (Gen 1:2b)
Amazingly they think these writings she did utter nonsense and in need of interpretation but if it is approached with a biblical understanding it immediately yields it's "truth" as being the express antithesis of Genesis story and beyond.
What it does folks is take the simplicity of the Creation Story of Genesis where in One Being ... GOD Himself speaks and existance IS and removing Him and the simplicity of it all replaces it with a complex convoluted complicated continuoum of evolving creation. It blends the tibetan budhist, hindu vishnan, chinese taoism, egyptian mysticism ( book of the dead) japanese yamabooshi, and mayan hierarchy into ONE COMPLEX interwoven tale of existance with no need for God Himself in its unfolding. I will say this lady had a brilliant if not sadly decieved mind to take all these strands of diverse culturalistic religion and merge them into this ground breaking thought that does indeed show how it may become tha basis for a foundational universal echumenisism.
Here is a taste of what she is writing, "The "Mundane Egg" is, perhaps, one of the most universally adopted symbols, highly suggestive as it is, equally in the spiritual, physiological, and cosmological sense. Therefore, it is found in every world-theogony, where it is largely associated with the serpent symbol; the latter being everywhere, in philosophy as in religious symbolism, an emblem of eternity, infinitude, regeneration, and rejuvenation, as well as of wisdom..."
I know of one religion where there is no circular mundane egg thought. Christianity. No spherical concept of men and angels and no serpent symbol beyond the serpent of old the dragon who is expressly named as the anointed cherub who by reason of his wisdom became corrupt.(Isa 47:10) Herein is why God decided to not have man eat from the tree of the knowlege of good and evil.
Another example and this is where we find one of the keys that differentiate Blavatsky's theosophy from classical Theology. "The Logoi, like Jupiter or Zeus, Son of Kronos-Saturn, "Infinite Time" (or Kala), in their origin were represented as male-female. Zeus is said to be the "beautiful Virgin," and Venus is made bearded. Apollo is originally bisexual, so is Brahma-Vach in Manu and the Puranas. Osiris is interchangeable with Isis, and Horus is of both sexes. Finally St. John's vision in Revelation, that of the Logos, who is now connected with Jesus -- is hermaphrodite, for he is described as having female breasts. So is the Tetragrammaton = Jehovah. But there are two Avalokiteshwaras in Esotericism; the first and the second Logos." Blavatsky draws the conclusion of the hermaphodism for God the Father and Son on the concept of paps. She rightly sees the greek word Mastos used in lk 11:27 and Rev 1:13. In looking myself I was forced to admit her conclusion valid as she knows nothing of God Himself. One of His names is El Shaddai which I was taught meant the many breasted one, which is not true. There is nothing feminine of Jesus or JHVH the term el shaddai literally is Almighty
(H7703 TWOT
sha^dad
shaw-dad'
A primitive root; properly to be burly, that is, (figuratively) powerful (passively impregnable); by implication to ravage: - dead, destroy (-er), oppress, robber, spoil (-er), X utterly, (lay) waste.)
I honestly see nothing girlie about this.
Now we get to some real meat.
Blavatsky on God.
[[Vol. 1, Page]] 73
THE DRAGON AND THE LOGOI.
(b) "The "Dragon of Wisdom" is the One, the "Eka" (Sanskrit) or Saka. It is curious that Jehovah's name in Hebrew should also be One, Echod. "His name is Echod": say the Rabbins. The philologists ought to decide which of the two is derived from the other -- linguistically and symbolically: surely, not the Sanskrit? The "One" and the Dragon are expressions used by the ancients in connection with their respective Logoi. Jehovah -- esoterically (as Elohim) -- is also the Serpent or Dragon that tempted Eve, and the "Dragon" is an old glyph for "Astral Light" (Primordial Principle), "which is the Wisdom of Chaos. Archaic philosophy, recognizing neither Good nor Evil as a fundamental or independent power, but starting from the Absolute ALL (Universal Perfection eternally), traced both through the course of natural evolution to pure Light condensing gradually into form, hence becoming Matter or Evil.(Plotinus of the gnostics was the one who first proposed the idea of matter as evil and spirit as good) It was left with the early and ignorant Christian fathers to degrade the philosophical and highly scientific idea of this emblem (the Dragon) into the absurd superstition called the "Devil." They took it from the later Zoroastrians, who saw devils or the Evil in the Hindu Devas, and the word Evil thus became by a double transmutation D'Evil in every tongue (Diabolos, Diable, Diavolo, Teufel). But the Pagans have always shown a philosophical discrimination in their symbols. The primitive symbol of the serpent symbolised divine Wisdom and Perfection, and had always stood for psychical Regeneration and Immortality. Hence -- Hermes, calling the serpent the most spiritual of all beings; Moses, initiated in the wisdom of Hermes, following suit in Genesis; the Gnostic's Serpent with the seven vowels over its head, being the emblem of the seven hierarchies of the Septenary or Planetary Creators. Hence, also, the Hindu serpent Sesha or Ananta, "the Infinite," a name of Vishnu, whose first Vahan or vehicle on the primordial waters is this serpent. Yet they all made a difference between the good and the bad Serpent (the Astral Light of the Kabalists) -- between the former, the embodiment of divine Wisdom in the region of the Spiritual, and the latter, Evil, on the plane of matter. Jesus accepted the serpent as a synonym of Wisdom, and this formed part of his teaching: "Be ye wise as serpents," he says. "In the beginning, before Mother became Father-Mother, the fiery Dragon moved in the infinitudes alone" (Book of Sarparajni.) The Aitareya Brahmana calls the Earth Sarparajni, "the Serpent Queen," and "the Mother of all that moves." Before our globe became egg-shaped (and the Universe also) "a long trail of Cosmic dust (or fire mist) moved and writhed like a serpent in Space." The "Spirit of God moving on Chaos" was symbolized by every nation in the shape of a fiery serpent breathing fire and light upon the primordial waters, until it had incubated cosmic matter and made it assume the annular shape of a serpent with its tail in its mouth -- which symbolises not only Eternity and Infinitude, but also the globular shape of all the bodies formed within the Universe from that fiery mist. The Universe, as well as the Earth and Man, cast off periodically, serpent-like, their old skins, to assume new ones after a time of rest. The serpent is, surely, a not less graceful or a more unpoetical image than the caterpillar and chrysalis from which springs the butterfly, the Greek emblem of Psyche, the human soul. The "Dragon" was also the symbol of the Logos with the Egyptians, as with the Gnostics. In the "Book of Hermes," Pymander, the oldest and the most spiritual of the Logoi of the Western Continent, appears to Hermes in the shape of a Fiery Dragon of "Light, Fire, and Flame." Pymander, the "Thought Divine" personified, says: The Light is me, I am the Nous (the mind or Manu), I am thy God, and I am far older than the human principle which escapes from the shadow ("Darkness," or the concealed Deity). I am the germ of thought, the resplendent Word, the Son of God. All that thus sees and hears in thee is the Verbum of the Master, it is the Thought (Mahat) which is God, the Father."
This is outright blasphemy and a cardinal doctrine of devils for it switches the Holy and Eternal Father for the contemnable and damned Snake the fallen Lucifer.
To equate The Dragon or Satan to The Father is a massive error. Morover the Thought which is God the Father is the Dragon is clearly stated in the last sentences. It is the age old notion clearly spelled out in these stanzas of another history another thought another doctrine. DeCartes, I think therefore I am, can be clearly seen in this rhetoric. This is the bottom line of the New World Order of the New Age Movement of the whole UFO and Channeling and Yoga and on its fringes the Holistic Health movement as it is now because though treating the whole person is a great idea their idea of how to handle the spiritual side is not the Christian Ideal. It must be stressed that all this is Babel all over again, and this is why we have the Neo Babylon which Jesus Himself destroys. It all comes down to the lie of "I am GOD and I can do a better job than He if I only have access to ALL His Wisdom" If I am GOD why do I need God's wisdom? Wouldnt mine be better? But the problem is that we dont we arent and we know it intrinsically but we are not about to admit it in our sinful little souls. Mankind simply has not the capacity to KNOW all God does! That doesnt preclude Demons from egging the Decieved UnElect on though does it?
So now when we read of the Reappearance of the Christ we immediately know this isnt Jesus being talked about. Because His arrival is the commencement of a Kingdom already set up in the heavens, and now established by His coming, on Earth.
Reading this and the other works the precede and follow suddenly bring all the conspiracy theorist yammerings and clammerings into sharp and dark perspective. Anyone who even remotely buys into this complex theosophy (other godly wisdom) ( this kind of wisdom is not of God but is earthly sensual devilish...Jas 3:15) would labor long and hard to see their "blessed" god! This womans works was massive and all encompassing and in it i see sadly a very briliant and analytical mind.
Alice Bailey
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. — 1945
This is from Alice Baily. I believe the second major founder of the religion which is the driving force of the NWO. Blavatasky's ground breaking work of "colation" of the major non biblical religions and traditions and mythos of men into a DOCTRINE is in my mind based on what i have read and though comparitively little it is nevertheless enough to compel me to believe it to be a significant body of work that so combines the major teachings of religions of the world non biblical so as to make of it One New Faith. If its teachings were hidden, and its "teachers" equally hidden in ancient mysteries or lost lore Atlantis style, then its existance as a World Religion is equally understated and hidden. I have to tender to believe that any one having been in the New Age Movement seriously will have to agree that it is a Unifying religious system, Only the Biblical Believer stands apart and separate from this curse of The Deciever. If Helena Blavastsky's work is "apostalic" in nature then Alice Baily takes Blavastky's Doctrine and makes it into the religion you see today and perhaps also is the "apostle" of the NWO. The decption though is not readily seen at the benign surface, take for instance the "prayer" she makes in her book The Externalization of the Heirarchy, it sounds so .... nice and godly and christian and ... wait... "the purpose which the masters know and serve???" Masters? Where are their any than Apostles Prophets Kings and God in scripture? (Personally if we're going to have a Master there I think David should be elected. After all he had a heart after God) Doesnt quite sound right now does it?
If you went to opening pages of the book and read the rest of the Invocations you would quickly see them to be nothing like true prayer. The fact that it sounds so right to undisciplined ear that isnt scripturally accustomed is the allure and the danger of this religion. It is very capable of decieving even the Elect. In fact I am ashamed to admit but I believe it already has begun to fester in the church as a open sore. In another section I hope to look into the New Mystics Movement that is sweeping through the Charismatic sector of the church that isnt weighed down and locked into tradtions of denomination. I may address openly the Lakeland Revival and the Kansas City Prophets for in the language of Baily I recall similar terminolgy quoted in their meetings. This to me is a Red Flag.
"1Co 15:46 But not the spiritual first, but the natural; afterward the spiritual.
1Co 15:47 The first man was out of earth, earthy. The second Man was the Lord out of Heaven."
What must be understood here is that this is a principle. Adam came (the earthly) and of him all the gestalt of humanity exists, in that he is the prototypical man. His genuis far from mere God dependant stupidity was suich that he gave names to the animals and God listened to his names and that was what those animals WERE or BECAME (Gen 2:19 And Jehovah God formed every animal of the field, and every bird of the heavens out of the ground. And He brought them to the man, to see what he would call it. And all which the man might call it, each living soul, that was its name. ) but he fell he disobeyed he listened to another wisdom or sophia and all the creation fell with him. Then at the right time the second Adam comes. Formed of the elements of all humanity and yet without sin. Jesus the Word, God the Son takes on humanity and human flesh to bring unto The Father sons..."Heb 2:10 For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings." If then Salvation was accomplished and The Natural Adam gives humanity its form (genetically for from him all of humanity through Noah has had its existance, and through Christ the second birth (you must be born again) which sets the Elect apart as a "New Creature" (2Cor 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.) or creation. Then shall not in His return the Natural and Earthly come first? If then also the first is Earthly sensual devilish and false then comes the Heavenly Pure and Holy then is it any wonder that firat comes the Lawless One the AntiChrist who would come not to claim a mere gestalt of unsaved humanity as his own for they are already his, but to wage war on The Elect and so to corrupt as many as he might. He is the deceiver of old and lives to lead astray the Lord's chosen.
Now listen to Bailey
"March 1934
"One of the results of the world condition at this time is the speeding up of all the atomic lives upon and within the planet. This necessarily involves the increased vibratory activity of the human mechanism, with a consequent effect upon the psychic nature, producing an abnormal sensitivity and psychic awareness. It would be of value here to remember that the condition of humanity at this time is not the result of simply one factor, but of several—all of them being active simultaneously, because this period marks the close of one age and the inauguration of the new."
"The factors to which I refer are, primarily, three in number:
1. This is a transition period between the passing out of the Piscean Age, with its emphasis upon authority and belief, and the coming in of the Aquarian Age, with its emphasis upon individual understanding and direct knowledge. The activity of these forces, characteristic of the two signs, produces in the atoms of the human body a corresponding activity. We are on the verge of new knowledges and the atoms of the body are being tuned up for reception. Those atoms which are predominantly Piscean are beginning to slow down their activity and to be "occultly withdrawn," as it is called, or abstracted, whilst those which are responsive to the New Age tendencies are, in their turn, being stimulated and their vibratory activity increased."
"2. The world war marked a climax in the history of mankind, and its subjective effect was far more potent than has hitherto been grasped. Through the power of prolonged sound, carried forward as a great experiment on the battlefields all over the world during a period of four years (1914-1918), and through the intense emotional strain of the entire planetary populace, the web of etheric matter (called the "veil of the temple") which separates the physical and astral planes was rent or torn asunder, and the amazing process of unifying the two worlds of physical plane living and of astral plane experience was begun and is now slowly going on. It will be obvious, therefore, that this must bring about vast changes and alterations in the human consciousness. Whilst it will usher in the age of understanding, of brotherhood and of illumination, it will also bring about states of reaction and the letting loose of psychic forces which today menace the uncontrolled and ignorant, and warrant the sounding of a note of warning and of caution."
"3. A third factor is as follows. It has been known for a long time by the mystics of all the world religions and by esoteric students everywhere, that certain members of the planetary Hierarchy are approaching closer to the earth at this time. By this I want you to infer that the thought, or the mental attention, of the Christ and of certain of His great disciples, the Masters of the Wisdom, is directed or focussed at this time on human affairs, and that some of Them are also preparing to break Their long silence and may appear later among men. This necessarily has a potent effect, first of all upon Their disciples and on those who are attuned to and synchronized with Their Minds, and secondly, it should be remembered that the energy which flows through these focal points of the Divine Will will have a dual effect and be destructive as well as constructive, according to the quality of the bodies which react to it. Different types of men respond distinctively to any inflow of energy, and a tremendous psychic stimulation is at this time going on, with results both divinely beneficent and sadly destructive."(Externalization of the Hierarchy pp2-3) First off notice the date. March 1934. This is during the II WW"
She acknowleges the time as a transition between eras. As of 12/21/2012 At Meridan Peru near Chichen Itza it was declared that the Age of Aquaruis had begun. Miami Herald Saturday 12/22/12 reports "Mexico's Maya heartland greets dawn of new era. http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/12/21/3152048/mexicos-maya-heartland-greets.html#storylink=cpy
excerpts
"Ivan Gutierrez, a 37-year-old artist who lives in the nearby village, stood before the pyramid and blew a low, sonorous blast on a conch horn. "It has already arrived, we are already in it," he said of the new era. "We are in a frequency of love, we are in a new vibration."
"Similar rites greeted the new era in neighboring Guatemala, where Mayan spiritual leaders burned offerings and families danced in celebration. Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina and Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla attended an official ceremony in the department of Peten, along with thousands of revelers and artists."
But I also want you all to hear this: "At an indigenous South American summer solstice festival in Bolivia, President Evo Morales arrived on a wooden raft to lead a festival that made offerings to Pachamama, Mother Earth, on a small island in the middle of Lake Titicaca.
The leftist leader and 3,000 others, including politicians, indigenous shamans and activists of all stripes, didn't ponder the end of the world, just the death of the capitalist system, which Morales told the crowd had already happened amid "a global financial, political and moral crisis. The human community is in danger because of climatic reasons, which are related to the accumulation of wealth by some countries and social groups," he told the crowd. "We need to change the belief that having more is living better."
This is not the celebration of Friday but it is telling nonetheless. We recall the fall of the Berlin wall and the end of the cold war era and the collapse of the Iron Curtain. We might have thought communism dead or dying but thie leaders remarks tells me that the ideology of communism is alive and well but now repackaged in the "new religion". Though I do tend to agree with the latter remark still sin is the reason for the greed.
Moreover
Foxnews.com
In Mexico, New Agers say end of Mayan calendar will herald 'cosmic dawn,' not end of world
Published December 20, 2012
Associated Press (http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/12/20/in-mexico-new-agers-say-end-mayan-calendar-will-herald-cosmic-dawn-not-end/#ixzz2FoCV75dv)
"Violeta Simarro, a secretary from Perpignan, France, took shelter under a nearby awning and noted that the new age won't necessarily be all peaches and cream.
"It will be a little difficult at first, because the world will need a complete 'nettoyage' (cleaning), because there are so many bad things," she said" Nettoyage is a clearing of the nasal passages with a neti pot. The nose of the world needs cleaning. Cleaning from what? Polution? Greed? Corruption? or Christianity. Something to ponder. However one thing here that if you are going to intake breath while using the neti solution on those nasal passages you just might find your self drowning. For the Believer THe Holy Spirit is the BREATH we need to survive.
However it is this quote that i want to zero in on. "This is the beginning of a change in priorities and perceptions. We are all one," said Esther Romo, a Mexico City businesswoman who works in art promotion and galleries. "No limits, no boundaries, no nationalities, just fusion."
"A Change in priorities, perceptions; no limits, boundaries, nationalities..." Hey wait a minute! This woman in one sentence voices the twin platforms of the New Age Movement and the New World Order! So we see Bailey's words being echoed now, 108 years later. Oh yes the Devil can foresee and announce and foreshadow what he knows which is why prophecy is not a thing to be lightly undertaken. Prophecy is the speaking forth from a source. God is the expected source but those who do not speak from God will call it a whole lot of other names. This is expecially true when he has managed to organize and drive a herd of dumbed decieved cattle along to work out the plans of that which he envisions. Things is that for Satan its all contingent but with God it is ABSOLUTE. God Himself will bring of Himself His plans agendas and desires because as The Source of all power to create envision and perform all that He may EVER disire and the Fountain of all life in Jesus God the Son, He can do as He pleases and needs no other intervention of contingency than what He Himself has already plan and is willing to see come to pass in its time. That is the difference; source. WHat is the Source of all you think and hear and act upon? Who is speaking to you? and Do you know the TEST to tell the difference between the two?
1Jn 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
1Jn 4:2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
1Jn 4:3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
In light of these statements i want to go back to Bailey and in her second point "2. The world war marked a climax in the history of mankind, and its subjective effect was far more potent than has hitherto been grasped. Through the power of prolonged sound, carried forward as a great experiment on the battlefields all over the world during a period of four years (1914-1918), and through the intense emotional strain of the entire planetary populace, the web of etheric matter (called the "veil of the temple") which separates the physical and astral planes was rent or torn asunder, and the amazing process of unifying the two worlds of physical plane living and of astral plane experience was begun and is now slowly going on. It will be obvious, therefore, that this must bring about vast changes and alterations in the human consciousness. Whilst it will usher in the age of understanding, of brotherhood and of illumination, it will also bring about states of reaction and the letting loose of psychic forces which today menace the uncontrolled and ignorant, and warrant the sounding of a note of warning and of caution." Note the blasphemy of this "... and through the intense emotional strain of the entire planetary populace, the web of etheric matter (called the "veil of the temple") which separates the physical and astral planes was rent or torn asunder, and the amazing process of unifying the two worlds of physical plane living and of astral plane experience was begun and is now slowly going on."
Do you see the terminolgy? Jesus death caused a massive Earthquake which quite literally RENT THE TEMPLE VEIL of the holy place where the priests ministered and the HOly of Holies wherein the Ark and the Presence stood/was. The Veil was not a separator of physical and astral planes (Mat_27:51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; and Heb 10:19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,
Heb 10:20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;") this is to say in that He being flesh could be and was nailed to the Cross and thus as flesh cease to breathe and perform those things pertaining to "being alive in the flesh" thus being mortally deceased and in so doing both became the offering and offerer of a better sacrifice than the animal blood however prescribed of God before that moment than what was previously performed. This moment of death accompanied as it were with the rock rending quake did literally not psychically TEAR the SEPARATING CURTAIN exposing the area of the ark to everyone in the other room! In that room prior was the ONLY PRESCRIBED ACCESS to the DIRECT PRESENCE OF THE LIVING GOD. Now hereafter all who IN HIS BLOOD may actually spiritually and i daresay were it possible, physically enter into THAT ROOM!
It is not a curtain between astral or etherial or SPIRIT realms and the physical plane of existance but the barred entry of mankind into the very Presence of the MOST Holy God. Not mind but BODY. We reakky need to pay atention to this because its how they trick us into believing they are OF US ... Jude had very strong words about this read it all!
Next "By this I want you to infer that the thought, or the mental attention, of the Christ and of certain of His great disciples, the Masters of the Wisdom, is directed or focussed at this time on human affairs, and that some of Them are also preparing to break Their long silence and may appear later among men." from her third point. Now please realize when they mention The Christ they are talking about our Jesus but NOT AS GOD THE SON but someone lesser.
It is to their benefit that they lessen the greatness and glory of JESUS.From Blavatsky herself speaking of the logoi and of Jesus "The Logoi, like Jupiter or Zeus, Son of Kronos-Saturn, "Infinite Time" (or Kala), in their origin were represented as male-female. Zeus is said to be the "beautiful Virgin," and Venus is made bearded. Apollo is originally bisexual, so is Brahma-Vach in Manu and the Puranas. Osiris is interchangeable with Isis, and Horus is of both sexes. Finally St. John's vision in Revelation, that of the Logos, who is now connected with Jesus -- is hermaphrodite, for he is described as having female breasts. So is the Tetragrammaton = Jehovah. But there are two Avalokiteshwaras in Esotericism; the first and the second Logos." So what we have here is Jesus seen as Zeus (greek)/Jupiter (Roman) son of Kronos, Apollo, Brahma-Vach Osirus and Jesus all hermaphroditic and bisexual (see previous on the breast paps of Johns language)
These are the vehicles of myth and legend and Jesus is lumped in with them. But who does Blavatsky see as the sublime son? Lucifer. This is actual stanza portion of this Dzyan. ..."7. BEHOLD, OH LANOO! THE RADIANT CHILD OF THE TWO, THE UNPARALLELED REFULGENT GLORY: BRIGHT SPACE SON OF DARK SPACE, WHICH EMERGES FROM THE DEPTHS OF THE GREAT DARK WATERS. IT IS OEAOHOO THE YOUNGER, THE HE SHINES FORTH AS THE SON; HE IS THE BLAZING DIVINE DRAGON OF WISDOM; THE ONE IS FOUR, AND FOUR TAKES TO ITSELF THREE,..." "Stanza 8) WHERE WAS THE GERM AND WHERE WAS NOW DARKNESS? WHERE IS THE SPIRIT OF THE FLAME THAT BURNS IN THY LAMP, OH LANOO? THE GERM IS THAT, AND THAT IS LIGHT, THE WHITE BRILLIANT SON OF THE DARK HIDDEN FATHER."
Here is the interpretation. "The devil is now called Darkness by the Church, whereas, in the Bible he is called the "Son of God" (see Job), the bright star of the early morning, Lucifer (see Isaiah). There is a whole philosophy of dogmatic craft in the reason why the first Archangel, who sprang from the depths of Chaos, was called Lux (Lucifer), the "Luminous Son of the Morning," or manvantaric Dawn. He was transformed by the Church into Lucifer or Satan, because he is higher and older than Jehovah, and had to be sacrificed to the new dogma." You see the cuning switch here of the created being older than the Creator? Whast you must understand is that Blavatskyis being led to compress all these religious dogmas into something "fused" into a "fusion" of religious doctrine. SO she is forever using terms more in keeping with Hindu Bhuddism.
One also has to understand that Blavastsky wrote several volumes of work for this whole "bible" of doctrine and she routinely managed to thread scripture without understanding and though it does actually state things she is using them out of context and twisting them to mean other than what God intends. Thus the real student of this whole thing Esoteric Philosphy or Theosophy may be so well and thoroughly deluded so as to become a danger to those who be reason of disuse or simple lack of experience and christian growth can be sucked into the void of this very subtle lie.
Given that ALice Bailey was a contemporary of Blavatsky and that these believe Lucifer to be the one most hallowed and ancient her statements become ever the more sinister.
Look again at this statement:
"By this I want you to infer that the thought, or the mental attention, of the Christ and of certain of His great disciples, the Masters of the Wisdom, is directed or focussed at this time on human affairs, and that some of Them are also preparing to break Their long silence and may appear later among men. This necessarily has a potent effect, first of all upon Their disciples and on those who are attuned to and synchronized with Their Minds, and secondly, it should be remembered that the energy which flows through these focal points of the Divine Will will have a dual effect and be destructive as well as constructive, according to the quality of the bodies which react to it. Different types of men respond distinctively to any inflow of energy, and a tremendous psychic stimulation is at this time going on, with results both divinely beneficent and sadly destructive."
..."Different types of men respond distinctively to any inflow of energy, and a tremendous psychic stimulation is at this time going on, with results both divinely beneficent and sadly destructive."
Do you see the inference? Christians by reason of the Scriptures which Blavatsky sees as "dead letters" are seen as those for whom this inflow might be most destructive. In fact its the other way around. For a permitted time this may appear to be the case but Jesus will come and with the brightness of His appearing and the breath of His lips will slay all this.(2Th_2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:) I would like also to point this out that moreover this doctrine also switches out God the Father for our Adversary. " Jehovah -- esoterically (as Elohim) -- is also the Serpent or Dragon that tempted Eve, and the "Dragon" is an old glyph for "Astral Light" (Primordial Principle), "which is the Wisdom of Chaos."(vol1 p 73 Secret Doctrine) Can you imagine?! By the way a quick question here how does one have a wisdom of chaos? Well I asked my husband. He feels that you can have wisdom out of chaos in that wisdom can just appear in its midst. That isnt scriptural though for The Holy Spirit is the Wisdom by which God created. But God creates in order and the chaos results in rebellion against His DIvine Order and Will.
Given all that you just read is it any wonder that we the Christians are seen as those who will be destroyed by this "appearing"? Take this also into consideration: "Ever the race is to the strong, and always the many are called and the few chosen. This is the occult law." ( externalization of heirarchy p 3) Isnt that interesting? "Many are called few are chosen" makes Christendom an Occult religion! (blasphemy!) I also want you to note their "philosophy" "The race is to the strong." This explains the violence of the NWO. Their singular dedication to this "global village".
They have a unique concept of the spiritual and concept of the Holy Spirit Himself and in even this which is what damns them we see:"There are certain psychic powers which men share in common with the animals; these powers are inherent in the animal body and are instinctual, but they have, for the vast majority, dropped below the threshold of consciousness and are unrealised and therefore useless. These are the powers, for instance, of astral clairvoyance and clairaudience, and the seeing of colours and similar phenomena. Clairvoyance and clairaudience are also possible on mental levels, and we then call it telepathy, and the seeing of symbols, for all visioning of geometrical forms is mental clairvoyance. All these powers are, however, tied up with the human mechanism or response apparatus, and serve to put the man in touch
with aspects of the phenomenal world for which the response mechanism, which we call the personality, exists. They are the product of the activity of the divine soul in man, which takes the form of what we call "the animal soul," which really corresponds to the Holy Ghost aspect in the human microcosmic trinity." (The Externalization of the Heircharhy p4)
Eh? SO that's why those deers give you this look and skitter off before you can take the shot! They're clairvoyant by instinct! WOW! Do I sound sacrcastic and mocking? good... she mocked the Holy Spirit relegating Him to a baser psychic power. In her book under the heading The Training of the Psychics, Bailey actually separates the man Jesus from the Diety of Christ. Rememeber He is both god and man (See
below) and indivisible. First the concept:"A mediumship which is entered into with a fully conscious focussed attitude and in which the medium, knowingly and intelligently, vacates his body to an entering entity of whom he is fully aware and who takes possession with his conscious permission in order to serve some spiritual end and help his fellowmen can be right and good." This is seen as the ideal. The next time you are given a prophetic word consider that the New Ager will think "my they are really highly utilizing their clairaudient powers in that third eye." Why do I say this? Here is the example of the epitome of this "Ideal". "The highest expression of this type of activity was the giving of his body by the disciple Jesus for the use of the Christ." RIght there Our Lord is neatly cleft in twain. The reality is that she has separated His dual nature for He is:
Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Joh 1:2 The same was in the beginning with God.
Joh 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
And of the WORD we read: Joh 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." There in do these people fail. They cannot concieve of the great High Mighty Living God EVER stooping low so as to also TAKE ON HUMAN FORM AND SUBSTANCE OF FLESH.
But she does acknowlege it is for service or rather purpose.
Unity all is one.
It's the way they think and its why they can all come together in Merida Mexico and harmoniously celebrate a calendar flip. Recall waht the lady said in Merida
There is no basic difference in teaching, even if the terminology used may vary,and the technique of work is fundamentally identical....Instead, they should recognise that all students in analogous schools and working under the same spiritual impulses are members of the one school and are linked together in a basic subjective unity. The time must come when these various (and at present) separative esoteric bodies will have to proclaim their identity, when the leaders and workers
and secretaries will meet with each other and learn to know and understand each other. Some day this recognition and understanding will bring them to the point where they will endeavour to supplement each other's efforts, exchange ideas with each other, and so in truth and in deed constitute one great college of esotericism in the world, with varying classes and grades but all occupied with the work of training aspirants and preparing them for discipleship, or superintending the work of disciples as they prepare themselves to take initiation. (Externalization p 9)
Here is more of the underlying under pinings of the NWO. Externalization p13
"a. Meditation
b. Understanding of the Plan
c. Love of my fellowmen?
Forget not that meditation clarifies the mind as to the fact and nature of the Plan, that understanding
brings that Plan into the world of desire, and that love releases the form which will make the Plan
materialise upon the physical plane."
What is the plan?
In part this is what i find. ..."A possible happening is indicated—the formation upon the physical plane of that group of aspirants and disciples which, given time and opportunity, can salvage a distressed world and bring light and understanding to humanity." Now this sounds like the AntiChrist Kingdom on earth.
I think i have given you enough of this book.
But she has a second book which it would seem outlines a plan of action. The Reappearance of Christ. Alice Bailey.
This is in the opening page.
"Whenever there is a withering of the law and an uprising of lawlessness on all sides, then I manifest
Myself.
For the salvation of the righteous and the destruction of such as do evil, for the firm establishing of the
Law, I come to birth age after age."
THE BHAGAVAD GITA Book IV, Sutra 7, 8.
This does NOT sound like Christ. In fact this is what it is:"times are ripe, the invocation of the masses is strident
enough and the faith of those who know is keen enough, then always He has come and today will be no
exception to this ancient rule or to this universal law. For decades, the reappearance of the Christ, the
Avatar, has been anticipated by the faithful in both hemispheres—not only by the Christian faithful, but by those who look for Maitreya and for the Boddhisattva as well as those who expect the Imam Mahdi." You see right off how Bailey unites the various sects and the Islamic and Hindu as well as whoever is looking for Maitreya. ALso right off we know this isnt Jesus our King but another Christ, remember how they see Jesus not as the Word made flesh but a man who gave himself over to another being. This is how they merge religions this is how they will gather the major divergent religions by the titles the Anti Christ will bear. This is the danger to the Christian. It looks and smells right but its poison. Failure to be grounded those good old "dead pages" of scripture will cost you dear when that man of lawlessness steps into view. Yes indeed "cling" to the scripture for all your worth!
"An Avatar is consequently a spiritual event, coming to us to bring about great changes or major restorations, to inaugurate a new civilisation or to restore the "ancient landmarks" and lead man nearer to the divine. They have been defined as "extraordinary men Who from time to time appear to change the face of the world and inaugurate a new era in the destinies of humanity." They come in times of crisis; They frequently create crises in order to bring to an end the
old and the undesirable and make way for new and more suitable forms for the evolving life of God Immanent in Nature. They come when evil is rampant. For this reason, if for no other, an Avatar may be looked for today. The necessary stage is set for the reappearance of the Christ." (The reappearance p2)
The concept of avatar is defined:
"The word "Avatar" is a Sanskrit word, meaning literally "coming down from far away." Ava (as prefix to verbs and verbal nouns) expresses the idea of "off, away, down." Avataram (comparative) farther away. The root AV seems at all times to denote the idea of protection from above, and is used in compounds, in words referring to protections by kings or rulers; in regard to the gods, it means accepted favourably when a sacrifice is offered. With the result that the root word can be said to mean "Coming down with the approval of the higher source from which it came and with benefit to the place at which it arrives." (From Monier-Williams' Sanskrit Dictionary.)" ( The Reappearance p1)
on page 4 she says, "...the establishing of a nucleus of persistent energy, spiritually positive, is the constant task of an Avatar; He focusses or anchors a dynamic truth, a potent thoughtform or a vortex of magnetic energy in the world of human living. This focal point acts increasingly as a transmitter of spiritual energy; it enables humanity to express some divine idea and this in time produces a civilisation with its accompanying culture, religions, policies, governments and
educational processes. Thus is history made. History is after all only the record of humanity's cyclic reaction to some inflowing divine energy, to some inspired leader, or to some Avatar." To consider Jesus God the Son as an avatar is reprehensible. But the Christ is seen as just one avatar ( the one of love) buddha is another (illumination). Bearing this in mind it is easy to see how Christendom becomes public enemy number one.
"He had come as the Avatar of Love, then God became known as love supernal, love as the goal and objective of creation, love as the basic principle of relationship and love as working throughout all manifestation towards a Plan motivated by love. This divine quality, Christ revealed and emphasised and thus altered all human living, goals and values.
The reason He has not come again is that the needed work has not been done by His followers in all countries. His coming is largely dependent, as we shall later see, upon the establishing of right human relations. This the church has hindered down the centuries, and has not helped because of its fanatical zeal to make "Christians" of all peoples and not followers of the Christ. It has emphasised theological doctrine, and not love and loving understanding as Christ exemplified it. The Church has preached the fiery Saul of Tarsus and not the gentle Carpenter of Galilee. And so, He has waited. But His hour has now come, because of the people's need in every land and because of the invocative cry of the masses everywhere and the advice of His disciples of all faiths and of all world religions." (The Reappearance p5)
RIght here is where the concepts of the truth and lie blend. LOVE. (The Reappearance p4) "<strong>Humanity needs love, understanding and right human relations as an expression of attained divinity.</strong> It was this need which brought the Christ to us before as the Avatar of Love. The Christ, that great human-divine Messenger, because of His stupendous achievement—along the line of understanding—transmitted to humanity an aspect and a potency of the nature of God Himself, the love Principle of Deity." Ok first off there is no love principle of deity. God is love but love is not GOD. That is the scriptural teaching for God does act in love but His ideas of the expression can be surprisingly brutal and very unloving. Yet these things are actually His mercy. THe last time you were chastened of God did you seriously believe Him a loving merciful savior or the cold cruel missunderstanding entity to far removed who couldnt possibly fathom what His chastening was putting you through! Be honest. But love all love is from this Avatar of love this so called Christ who took over a man named Jesus... yes that's what they believe.
Of course not to be outdone along comes the next avatar... Buddha. "...Buddha came and demonstrated in His Own life the fact of God Immanent as well as God Transcendent, of God in the universe and of God within humanity. The Selfhood of Deity and the Self in the heart of individual man became a factor in human consciousness. It was a relatively new truth to
man." (The Reappearance p4)
"When the Christ, the Avatar of Love, makes His reappearance then will the "Sons of men who are now the Sons of God withdraw Their faces from the shining light and radiate that light upon the sons of men who know not yet they are the Sons of God. Then shall the Coming One appear, His footsteps hastened through the valley of the shadow by the One of awful power Who stands upon the mountain top, breathing out love eternal, light supernal and peaceful, silent Will.
"Then will the sons of men respond. Then will a newer light shine forth into the dismal, weary vale of earth. Then will new life course through the veins of men, and then will their vision compass all the ways of what may be. "So peace will come again on earth, but a peace unlike aught known before. Then will the will-to-good flower forth as understanding, and understanding blossom as goodwill in men." (The Reappearance p5)
Ok this is a twist on that coming and it is seen to be a love revelation and everyone will be happy. There are scads of scripture that say it will be a day of massive destruction as "love rejected" lashes out on all those who spurned it and Himself. He will destroy His enemies with the brightness of His coming. Right now in the Church there is this overwhelming doctrine of God is love and love is God. (SO then free sex which eros love is of God too right? How far do you think that will fly at your local bloodless social gospel church?)
(The Reappearance p 5-)"First of all, He will come to a world which is essentially one world. His reappearance and His
consequent work cannot be confined to one small locality or domain unheard of by the great majority, as was the case when He was here before. The radio, the press and the dissemination of news will make His coming different to that of any previous Messenger; the swift modes of transportation will make Him available to countless millions, and by boat, rail and plane they can reach Him: through television, His face can be made familiar to all, and verily "every eye shall see Him." Even if there is no general recognition of His spiritual status and His message, there must necessarily be an universal interest, for today even the many false Christs and Messengers are finding this universal curiosity and cannot be
hidden. This creates an unique condition in which to work, and one which no salvaging, energising Son of God has ever before had to face.
The sensitivity of the people of the world to what is new or needed is also uniquely different; man has progressed far in his reaction to both good and evil and possesses a far more sensitive response apparatus than did humanity in those earlier times. If there was a quick response to the Messenger when He came before, it will be more general and quicker now, both in rejection and in acceptance. Men are more enquiring, better educated, more intuitive and more expectant of the unusual and the unique than at any other time in history. Their intellectual perception is keener, their sense of values more acute, their ability to discriminate and choose is fast developing, and they penetrate more quickly
into significances. These facts will condition the reappearance of the Christ and tend to a more rapid spreading of the news of His coming and the contents of His message.
Today, when He comes, He will find a world uniquely free from the grip and hold of ecclesiasticism; when He came before, Palestine was held in the vicious grasp of the Jewish religious leaders, and the Pharisees and the Sadducees were to the people of that land what the potentates of the church are to the people in the world today. But—there has been a useful and wholesome swing away from Churchianity and from orthodox religion during the past century, and this will present a unique opportunity for the restoration of true religion and the presentation of a simple return to the ways of spiritual living. The priests, the Levites, the Pharisees and the Sadducees were not the ones who recognised Him when He came before. They feared Him. And it is highly improbable that the reactionary churchmen will be the ones to recognise Him today. He may reappear in a totally unexpected guise; who is to say whether He will come as a politician, an economist, a leader of the people (arising from the midst of them), a scientist or an artist?"
It is a fallacy to believe, as some do, that the main trend of Christ's work will be through the medium of the churches or the world religions. He necessarily will work through them when conditions permit and there is a living nucleus of true spirituality within them, or when their invocative appeal is potent enough to reach Him. He will use all possible channels whereby the consciousness of man may be enlarged and right orientation be brought about. It is, however, truer to say that it is as World Teacher that He will consistently work, and that the churches are but one of the teaching avenues He will employ. All that enlightens the minds of men, all propaganda that tends to bring about right human relations, all modes of acquiring real knowledge, all methods of transmuting knowledge into wisdom and understanding, all that expands the consciousness of humanity and of all subhuman states of awareness and sensitivity, all that dispels glamour and illusion and that disrupts crystallisation and disturbs static conditions will come under the realistic activities of the Hierarchy which He supervises. He will be limited by the quality and the calibre of the invocative appeal of humanity and that, in its turn, is conditioned by the attained point in evolution."
This is the way the New Age Religion sees the Kingdom because they see Jesus as just another acended avatar coming to further this cycle of unevolved sentients unto their greatness that this cycle of time may close and the night fall and "The GOD" have a chance to finally go onto his nighttime slumber until the next cycle. THis sort of Theosophic thought precludes the concepts of sin and rightousness. It is in the church right now and its killing us. This is the relentless intent of our destruction that we may fail and God have no sons. Why? Because there is no cyclic time only one life and then the judgement and its all about the Elect returning to the Father.
Upon this which builds upon the previous book which builds upon Blavatsky; is Many P Hall.
Manly P Hall
Manly P Hall The Secret Destiny of America p2 (possibly 1 as this is a pdf and the cover is page 1)
"World democracy was the secret dream of the great classical philosophers. ...
Thousands of years before Columbus they were aware of the existence of our
Western Hemisphere and selected it to be the site of the philosophic empire. ...
The brilliant plan of the Ancients has survived to our time, and it will continue to
function until the great work is accomplished. ...
The American nation desperately needs a vision of its own purpose."
He goes on: "AMERICA can not refuse the challenge of leadership in the postwar world. Mere physical
reconstruction of ravaged countries and the reorganization of political, economic, and social systems is the
lesser task we will face. The larger problem and the great challenge is in how to set up a new order of world
ethics firmly established on a foundation of democratic idealism.
Experts in various fields have already submitted programs designed to meet the needs of those nations
whose way of life has been disrupted by war. But with the failing common to specially trained minds, these
planners incline to think mostly in the terms of their own particular interests. As yet, no one has touched the
fundamentals of international ethics. No one has advanced a working plan securely based upon a broad, deep,
and sympathetic understanding of the human being and his problems. The thinking has been in the dual fields
of power politics and material economics, with remedies expressed in terms of charts, blueprints, patterns, and
industrial programs.
But, there is one new and encouraging element present in most of the recommendations of today's
experts. They are recognizing the necessity of conceiving the world as one inter-dependent structure. Yet,
even as they recognize the need for a unity of human interests, their recommendations are for the perpetuation
of highly competitive economic policies, which, if they are consistently applied, must lead in the end to war and
discord.
It is not an easy task to unite the efforts of the human race toward the accomplishment of any common
good. Mankind in the majority is selfish, provincial in attitude, and concerned primarily with personal success
and acquiring creature comforts. It will not be possible to build an enduring peace until the average man has
been convinced that personal selfishness is detrimental to personal happiness and personal success. It must be
shown that self-seeking has gone out of fashion, and that the world is moving on to a larger conception of
living.
The postwar planners have more of idealism in their programs than has ever before been expressed in
the problem of the relationships of nations. But it still is not enough. A clear and complete statement of a
world purpose is required--a world dream great enough to inspire unity of world effort." (Secret Destiny Hall p2-3)
Now in these two little statements from a virtually unknown source we find the connection between the New World Order and the New Age Movement. Hall also wrote a book in 1928 called The Secret Teachings of the Ages. It predates Helena Blavastsky's work by about 20 years. I would presume though I couldnt say for certain but doubtless Blavatsky got her hands on Hall's little book. Hall's mother was a Rosicrucean if Wikipedia is correct. Hall was a mystic and leader in a California based church called Church of the People. When He published THe Secret Teachings of the Ages Hall became an instant celebrity over night. Notice also he published this just before the Great Depression and the Secret Destiny of America was published at the close (closing) of WWII. Consider the mind sets of people in the roaring 20s and in the postwar 40s and think to your self that without Christ without the knowlege of the Scriptures this stuff is alluring! It is rhetoric like this that possibly found its way into a lot hands of men who had a similar idea of abolishing nationaism by crying out that this form of world government just caused to much trouble and citing two world wars in very few years as the prime example. It is also startling to hear that America where civil and religious freedoms abound is targetted to play the lead role in this global transformation. ..."The greatest of known problems is the human problem. And not until all embracing examination is made into every phase of human needs can there be an adequate reconstruction policy for a postwar world. That man is physical is obvious; but he is also mental, and emotional; he is spiritual, and he has a soul. These latter factors are not so obvious.
What to do about them is not so easy; for they are difficult to understand, and even more difficult to classify and reduce to a working pattern. We as builders of a civilization will have to learn that only when equal consideration is given to each of these elements of man's nature will we arrive at the solutions for the disasters into which men and nations precipitate themselves. Our postwar reconstructors--ours, if not by our selection, at least with our consent--are not outstandingly qualified for this broader task. Few indeed are the statesmen and politicians who have any conception of man
as a spiritual being. And as for military leaders, they are primarily disciplinarians, invaluable as such in times of war, but not at all emotionally geared to problems of individualistic peacetime character. And world planners recruited from among our industrial leaders, it must be admitted, are not generally informed on the workings of the human psyche. Those who have made the study of human conduct their life work, the sociologists, have little scientific knowledge of the hidden springs that animate that very conduct into its amazing diversity of manifestations. And if a word is to be said for bringing in the clergy, it might be that the theologian planner who will be truly useful will be one who acquires at least some knowledge of the science of biology." (Secret Destiny Hall p3)
Now this is only page three folks and already our thoughtful Hall has nailed the need to consider mental emmotional and spiritual aspects of humanity in this massive work. In the Agenda (link) there are now entities in place who are doing the long term studies of just this. Man the biological mental emotional spiritual soulish being. THey have been at it for quite a while in Europe and more still in the US. Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies, Tavistock, Institute for Social Research, Social Psychiatry, MK ULtra, Association for Human Psychology, Tavistock has a history all its own. DARPA (double check pages for which disciple is being handled by whom)
Conspiratorialists UNITE! Eureeka and Gadzooks! Hall actually comes out and boldly states the purpose of Democracy. "The American nation desperately needs a vision of its own purpose. It must conceive it in a generous
idealism, great and strong enough to bind thoughtless and selfish persons to something bigger than themselves.
It must recognize that it is in the intangible ideal that the foundations are laid for all seeable good, must know
that the truly practical course and the course of hard realism for America is the one that is laid basically in a
generous idealism.
This is more than an indicated course. It is one that we inevitably must follow, guided by the hand of
destiny. Believing this to be so, I dedicate this book to the proposition that American Democracy is part of a
Universal Plan. (Secret Destiny Hall p 3-4)
American Democracy not just any democracy but American Democracy as part of a UNiversal Plan... now if Hall believed this and was saying it how many other men were believing it perhaps acting on it and not actually coming out and saying it? THe men with the money who bought and sold in industry governement seats of parleigment(sic) or favors; men who come together in private like the now published Bilderberger group and the multinational think tank organizations tasked to studying the global economy or politic (list ibid)
Moreover Hall writes "Our world is ruled by inflexible laws which control not only the motions of the heavenly bodies, but the
consequences of human conduct. These Universal motions, interpreted politically, are impelling human society out of a state of autocracy and tyranny to democracy and freedom. This motion is inevitable, for the growth of humans is a gradual development of mind over matter, and the motion itself represents the natural and reasonable unfoldment of the potentials within human character.
<strong>Those who attempt to resist this motion destroy themselves. To cooperate with this motion, and to assist Nature in every possible way to the accomplishment of its inevitable purpose, is to survive.</strong> Thousands of years before the beginning of the Christian era many enlightened thinkers discovered the will of God as expressed through Nature in the affairs of men. They made known their discoveries in terms of religions, philosophies, sciences, arts, and political systems. These first statements are now the admired monuments of ancient learning. Available to men of today, they are generally ignored.
Years of research among the records of olden peoples available in libraries, museums, and shrines of ancient cultures, has convinced me that there exists in the world today, and has existed for thousands of years, a body of enlightened humans united in what might be termed, an Order of the Quest. It is composed of those whose intellectual and spiritual perceptions have revealed to them that civilization has a Secret Destiny--secret, I say, because this high purpose is not realized by the many; the great masses of peoples still live along without any knowledge whatsoever that they are part of a Universal Motion in time and space.
<strong>Pythagoras, Plato, Aristotle, Buddha, Jesus and Mohammed are among the greatest names recorded in history;</strong> but it is not customary to regard the men who bore these names as statesmen or sociologists.<strong> They are thought of as philosophers, sages, seers, and mystics, </strong>whose doctrines have no application to the political needs of an industrial civilization. Yet it is men like Plato and Buddha who still exercise the most powerful force in mortal affairs toward the perpetuation and preservation of a civilized state among all nations.
All of the great leaders of ancient times realized and taught that the establishment of a state of permanent peace among the nations depended upon the release of human ideals, but through properly trained and disciplined minds capable of interpreting these ideals in terms of the common good."(ibid p4)
To resist the movement is to destroy onesself is the idea of that line and if indeed this unity of men and nations in peace and harmony and goodwill and mystic power is a bad thing and scripture certainly seems to think it is then the Christian Church will come out as diametrically opposed to this movement. Notice to that again Jesus gets lumped in with all the others not as God in flesh incarnate deity but as just a great teacher with some really cool ideas. In all this whole Theology or Doctrine and by now as you are readaing these site pages it should have become obvious they have a doctrine and are thus a religion, that never once is the Godhead set apart in the proper place of Hebrew and Christian biblical cannonical scriptures places them. Not once! If you can make the unwashed masses belive in a Creator who is less and created being who is greater, and for them it is Lucifer make no mistake, then you have the foundation for implimentation of a decided coup of man over God. This then calls for a response and in the Tribulation God sends and the Darkness of the withdrawal of His presence to be confined to His own alone and the closing of the Age of Grace the response by degrees becomes decided and upon His return our King shall make a swift end of all this rubbush and show his pretending competitor just who is boss. As it is written: Isa_45:23 I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. and Rom_14:11 For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. and Php_2:11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. enough said.
As if to remove all doubt Hall states (Secret Destiny p11)"It was in an old book which is in the British Museum that I found another and even more important key
to the meaning of the Golden Fleece. It was known to the Greeks that the Golden Fleece was in reality a parchment on which was written the secret of human immortality. It was this parchment that Jason sought, for whoever discovered it would gain the secret of enduring empire, and power over the whole world.
We have now in America, enshrined in the Congressional Library, a Golden Fleece--the American Declaration of Independence, written on the skin of an animal and preserved as the magic formula of human hope. Those who understand it and can use wisely the import of its writings are possessed of the secret of the immortality of human society.
The curious fortunes of war brought another Golden Fleece from across the sea, and it is now preserved together with our own; this second parchment is the Magna Charta, the English bill of human rights which was the inspiration behind our American Declaration of Independence. These two immortal documents together form the declaration of the rights of man and are the basic texts of modern democracy.
By the wisdom then of those gods who are eternally vigilant over the needs of man, the blessed lands of the west were set apart, for none of the great civilizations of the past rose in North America to overshadow the continent with the ruins of old tradition, or to set up the corruptions of old administrative policy. Foreign nations came to this continent in times long ago; but they formed no permanent settlements nor attempted any program of colonization. And so the soil was not impoverished by thousands of years of intensive cultivation, nor were the natural resources ravished to supply the substance to maintain endless wars and ageless feuds.
It was the rise of the democratic dream in Europe that supplied the beginning of western civilization. Those in search of a promised land turned to the west. Here was a virgin continent populated only by nomadic Indian tribes, a vast territory suitable in every way for the great human experiment of the democratic commonwealth." A great experiment of the democratic commonwealth. Interesting because when i was a child i was taught that we were founded as a REPUBLIC. Now Hall talks at great length about a Egyptian Pharoah who tried the idea of a democratic society and a montheistic religion, to Aton one of the pantheon of the Egyptian gods. He is recorded in history as so going against the grain of traditional Egyptian society that for it he was eventually killed. His son put things back they way Egyptian priests wanted it, pantheistic and they got all the offeratories and fatten coffers. In Greek mythos you have the tales of Jason and Argonauts who went to do various things and one of them was to get the golden fleece. It would appear some "forward thinkers" if you want to call them that, interpreted this as the plunder of the South American Native tribesoftheir wealth, and more forward thinkers than that interpreted it as the founding of the declaration of indepenence and the magna carta. It's a stretch but if you really want to loose your mind sure ther you go two fleeces and Jason, good luck plundering the originals but you buy authenticated copies at the visitor center store for a fee.
He continues (ibid p11) "And in recent years we have made another discovery. It is that the race of democracy is one distributed throughout the whole world. Among men and women of all races and all nations are those who share our conviction, and because they share it they are of our kind and belong to our race. In this realization we mark the beginning of<stong> world democracy.</strong>"
Now folks we are at war we were in the medditaranean setting up democratic system of rule in Kuwaite. (I think that is where we started) and the chase of the Taliban to help various regions in the Middle East to establish DEMOCRACY not REPUBLICS.Aslo realize that in this war its about "hearts and minds" so our soldiers are not now only killing the enemy which is what they are trained to do but also to be DIPLOMATS and take leadership initiative right down the lowest ranks.
Hall elegantly gives us on a literary platter also the link between secret societies and a democratic world. (Secret Destiny Hall p18)"TODAY'S thinking toward a democratic world state is neither a new trend nor an accidental circumstance; the work of setting up the background of knowledge necessary to the establishing of enlightened democracy among all nations has been carried on for many hundreds of years by secret societies.
Secret societies have existed among all peoples, savage and civilized, since the beginning of recorded history. The esoteric organizations of ancient times were for the most part religious and philosophical. In the medieval world they were philosophical and political. In the modern world, political and social.
Secret societies have had concealment and protection as the first purpose for their existence. The members of these orders were party to some special knowledge, they usually took part in certain rites and rituals not available to non-members, but it was more important that through the societies they were also able to practice beliefs and doctrines in private for which they would have been condemned and persecuted if these rites were made public.
A second purpose for secret societies was to create a mechanism for the perpetuation from generation to generation of policies, principles, or systems of learning, confined to a limited group of selected and initiated persons."
Note the reference to innitiated persons. Over and over again in this New Religion i find the concept that only properly innitiated and trained people can recieve this new age of enlightenment. I have to believe the innitated are the possessed but so far i have not ( I dont think) found the correct inference in the books i am reading through. But with occult embodiment usually happens with possession.
Hall traces out democratic thought in origins... on page 18 he mentions the Dyonisian artificers and the possibility the Hiram of solomon's day was one of this cult. (I wont go beyond the statement because even Solomon admits to pitting his considerable intellect to many things and for a gifted intellect the searching out of the secret lores of men may be very enticing.) Apparently this cult reached Rome and the Latins formed ther own version apparently named the Collegia. More than philosophical it was political in Rome but Christendom seems to have put an end to it as a popular institution. Dyonisus cult apparently spread into Islamic territories leaving its mark in their architecture. It also went as far India and is apparently seen in the Mogul building styles. I am no expert so my understanding of what i am reading and even Hall's history may be off but if i am reading into this right Dyonisian cultic practices may have taken on various flavors and becomethe bedrock for the masons. According to Hall in europe these Dyonisians became the cathedreal builders gild.
Hall names on page 19 the illuminati the knights of the holy grail kabalists rosicruceans. Hall states this connection (same page) "All these groups belong to what is called The Order of the Quest. All were searching for one and the
same thing under a variety of rituals and symbols. That one thing was a perfected social order, Plato's commonwealth, the government of the philosopher-king. To this end each consecrated its life and knowledge, exploring ever further into the secrets of Nature to discover the greatest secret of all--the secret of human happiness."
Some how i dont believe the Dyonisian religion has truly died. (secret Destiny p 20) "For more than three thousand years, secret societies have labored to create the background of knowledge necessary to the establishment of an enlightened democracy among the nations of the world."
This is from the very last sentences on p 53 "The great University of the Six Days Work must be built here in our Western world, to become a guide unto the nations. About this shrine to Universal Truth shall rise the democratic Commonwealth--the wealth of all mankind.
This is the destiny for which we were brought into being. The plan, which was devised in secrecy long ago, and in far places, shall be fulfilled openly ... as the greatest wonder born out of time."
The order of the quest referred to in this book i am unaware of but this is the contribution to the very real mechanations of this time. It looks as though as of now as we enter 2013 the descenants of the men of these eras are quite likely to do just that. It appears to me that now we have a template to go along with a religion. What is not being sought is someone who will say yes to the Adversary and become the AntiChrist.
Grace F Gnoche
Mystery Schools
Builds on Blavastky's work. But in her statements about the (p70) "There are three results of initiation a) success b) failure which means death and c) partial failure which usually means madness (FEP p 292) It is for this reason that would be chelas are warned repeatedly against rushing into occultism.... Unwise ardor for spiritual discipline however is not half so dangerous as personal desire for occult training merely for personal gain." She goes on tell the reader that the latter motive was the decline of the mystery schools. Now this makes a great deal of sense. For on the one had there are those dewey eyed seekers wanting to know and touch "the Divine" ( pick one at your peril because it wont the God Almighty) They it would seem tend toward the right or white magic. But most of us lowly nasty little sinners will openly admit we want the power all the power and with it we want to dethrone God. So they go in and get "the knowlege" for the left handed or black magic (which by the way always seems more powerful than the white) and debase the whole purpose for the schools in the first place. And that purpose is? (p 75) "Purucker described this mystic sucession as the Guruparampara. This is a Sanskrit compound meaning "teacher beyond, beyond". The term signifies the line of teachers reaching beyond the beyond, through past present and into the distant future whose sublime purpose is ever the same: the work of spiritualization." This is why you see certain repetative themes of spiritual thought in most of the traditional religions of men. Once you get into Biblical text you dont see these themes in this manner at all.
The key here is the right and the left the dexter and the sinister the white and the black of occultic lore and hidden teachings, one way is supposed to be "of love" the other "of power". Herein is the secret revealed, for the most part the modern "spiritual" New Ager is white benevolent harmless but a willing potential follower of the New World Order heirarchal power hungry rulers or Powers That Be. The teachings of this all are one harmony and cooperation of all for the greater good of all is the driving force of mutual ascent to remove national boundaries and find the ultimate leader of all the religions of men to be found in ONE PERSON. Every last one of these whether for their own agenda of power and rule (the corrupt and sinister side of the beneovent teaching of the mystery schools) or their willing sheep of dexter nirvana seeking white correct side of the mystery schools who just want to have the enlightenment the deep hidden teachings impart. Either way to be "not of these" is going to be a bad idea for the believer.
The thought
You shall be as gods... something to aspire to? If one looks at what we are to be when we are transformed in the twinkling of and eye through the eyes of what we are now... they that wait upon the lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles and run and not be weary, walk and not faint. (Isa 43:31) would we not see ourselves as gods? perhaps but in this arrival to a rather new reality of a deathless life it is Jesus who has been to way means and actual life that changed us but according to those who believe the lie it is "something else". Are we evolving into something else? Depends on how you think of evolution. To evolve is to change or a gradual transformation... moneys become men or slime become monkeys or men become gods or the current theme of the day presented on glossy silverscreen for your delight or in HD for your cheaper delight. But we are not to be conformed to this world but transformed by the renewing of our minds Rom 12:2 (Eph 5:26 that he might sanctify it having cleansed it by the washing of water with the WORD ). But the theosophist may believe in the mental renewal and the new ager will tell you to visualize your guide on the journey to self actualization and isnt that a renewal of the mind? Maybe but the new ager isnt telling you is that you are going to acccomplish this OUTSIDE OF GOD. (Gee Alice, Morpheus gave me two pills but he said they wouldnt make me larger or smaller but awaken or sleep. Why pills why not cookies???) Who knows? So are we as Believers becoming something else? Yes .... holy, acceptable unto God in the Beloved. Regenerated in spirit renewed in mind and transformed in body equals the full manifestation of the born again sons (son) of God to be revealed at the last days for which all creation eagerly awaits with earnest expectation. (Romans 8:19)
The idea
All that I have spoken on of The Agenda and the thought that the most insiduous thing of all these "players" was an idea. There was movie out called Inception. It is about the concept of usuing the dream state to get into another person while they sleep anf plant ideas. An idea thus planted is unstoppable.
Now someone else uses dreams....God.
"Job 33:15 In a dream, a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men; while they slumber on the bed,
Job 33:16 then He opens the ear of men and seals their instruction,
Job 33:17 that He may turn man from his deed; that He might conceal pride from man.
Job 33:18 He holds back his soul from the Pit, and his life from passing by the sword.
Job 33:15 In a dream, a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men; while they slumber on the bed,
Job 33:16 then He opens the ear of men and seals their instruction,
Job 33:17 that He may turn man from his deed; that He might conceal pride from man.
Job 33:18 He holds back his soul from the Pit, and his life from passing by the sword."
The idea is this:
Transhumanist Declaration
http://humanityplus.org
Humanity stands to be profoundly affected by science and technology in the future. We envision the possibility of broadening human potential by overcoming aging, cognitive shortcomings, involuntary suffering, and our confinement to planet Earth.
We believe that humanity’s potential is still mostly unrealized. There are possible scenarios that lead to wonderful and exceedingly worthwhile enhanced human conditions.
We recognize that humanity faces serious risks, especially from the misuse of new technologies. There are possible realistic scenarios that lead to the loss of most, or even all, of what we hold valuable. Some of these scenarios are drastic, others are subtle. Although all progress is change, not all change is progress.
Research effort needs to be invested into understanding these prospects. We need to carefully deliberate how best to reduce risks and expedite beneficial applications. We also need forums where people can constructively discuss what should be done, and a social order where responsible decisions can be implemented.
Reduction of existential risks, and development of means for the preservation of life and health, the alleviation of grave suffering, and the improvement of human foresight and wisdom should be pursued as urgent priorities, and heavily funded.
Policy making ought to be guided by responsible and inclusive moral vision, taking seriously both opportunities and risks, respecting autonomy and individual rights, and showing solidarity with and concern for the interests and dignity of all people around the globe. We must also consider our moral responsibilities towards generations that will exist in the future.
We advocate the well-being of all sentience, including humans, non-human animals, and any future artificial intellects, modified life forms, or other intelligences to which technological and scientific advance may give rise.
We favour allowing individuals wide personal choice over how they enable their lives. This includes use of techniques that may be developed to assist memory, concentration, and mental energy; life extension therapies; reproductive choice technologies; cryonics procedures; and many other possible human modification and enhancement technologies.
The Transhumanist Declaration was originally crafted in 1998 by an international group of authors: Doug Baily, Anders Sandberg, Gustavo Alves, Max More, Holger Wagner, Natasha Vita-More, Eugene Leitl, Bernie Staring, David Pearce, Bill Fantegrossi, den Otter, Ralf Fletcher, Kathryn Aegis, Tom Morrow, Alexander Chislenko, Lee Daniel Crocker, Darren Reynolds, Keith Elis, Thom Quinn, Mikhail Sverdlov, Arjen Kamphuis, Shane Spaulding, and Nick Bostrom. This Transhumanist Declaration has been modified over the years by several authors and organizations. It was adopted by the Humanity+ Board in March, 2009.
R Swinburne-Clymer
Ancient Mystic Oriental Masonry
Now while these would utilize technology to improve man perhaps via genetic manipulation in recombinant gene therapy others would take a more spiritual route. In trance channeling of demons or allowing for full possession to "expand the mind" . In an email sent to me by a friend i find this:
MERIDA, Mexico - The celebration of the cosmic dawn began with a fumbling of the sacred fire meant to honour Friday's end of the Mayan long count calendar.
Gabriel Lemus, the white-haired guardian of the flame, burned his finger on the kindling and later somebody knocked a burning log out of the ceremonial brazier onto the wooden stage, before he quickly scooped it up.
Still, the white-clad Lemus, like about 1,000 other shamans, seers, stargazers, crystal enthusiasts, yogis, sufis and swamis in a Merida convention centre about an hour and a half from the Mayan ruins at Chichen Itza, was convinced that it was a good start to the coming "New Era" supposed to begin around 5 a.m. on Friday.
"It is a cosmic dawn," said Lemus. "We will recover the ability to communicate telepathically and levitate objects ... like our ancestors did."
These are not people who believe the world will end on Friday; the summit is scheduled to run through Dec. 23. Instead, participants say, they are here to celebrate the birth of a new age.
A Mexican Indian seer who calls himself Ac Tah, and who has travelled around Mexico erecting small pyramids he calls "neurological circuits," said he holds high hopes for Dec. 21.
"We are preparing ourselves to receive a huge magnetic field straight from the centre of the galaxy," he said.
Terry Kvasnik, 32, a stunt man and acrobat from Manchester, England, said it's the beginning of a new era, and his motto for the day is "Be in love, don't be in fear." While he didn't know exactly which ceremony he'll attend on Friday, he guaranteed with a smile, "I'm going to be in the happiest place I can."
The summit is the kind of place where you can see people wearing T-shirts that read "Shiva Rules," or get your aura photographed with "chi" light. In the exhibition hall you can chose from a number of crystal vendors and faith healers.
You can learn the art of healing drumming with a Mexican Otomi Indian master who calls himself Dabadi Thaayroyadi. He said that his slender, hand-held, plate-sized drums are made with prayers embedded into them and emit "an intelligent energy" that can heal emotional, physical and social ailments.
During the opening ceremony participants held up their arms and chanted mantras to the blazing Yucatan sun, which quickly burned the fair-skinned crowd.
Violeta Simarro, a secretary from Perpignan, France, took shelter under a nearby awning and noted that the new age won't necessarily be all peaches and cream.
"It will be a little difficult at first, because the world will need a complete 'nettoyage' (cleaning), because there are so many bad things," she said.
Not all seers endorse the celebration.
Mexico's self-styled "brujo mayor," or chief soothsayer, Antonio Vazquez Alba, warned followers to stay away from all gatherings on Dec. 21, saying, "We have to beware of mass psychosis" that could lead to stampedes or "mass suicides, of the kind we've seen before."
"If you get 1,000 people in one spot and somebody yells 'fire,' watch out," Vazquez Alba said. "The best thing is to stay at home, at work, in school, and at some point do a relaxation exercise."
Others see the summit as a sort of model for the coming age.
Participants from Asian, North American, South American and European shamanistic traditions amiably mingled with the Mexican hosts.
"This is the beginning of a change in priorities and perceptions. We are all one," said Esther Romo, a Mexico City businesswoman who works in art promotion and galleries. "No limits, no boundaries, no nationalities, just fusion."
This is how they think.
The masonic thread
Ancient mystic oriental masonry by R Swinburne Clymer
In his wirting s he quotes Dr Jd Buck a grand master.
Jd Buck quoted as saying " initiation and regeneration are synonymous terms" "The ritual of freemasonry is based on this natural law,and the ceremony of initiation illustrates at every step, this principle, and if the result is a possesion rather than a regeneratuion in the great majority of cases the principle remains nonetheless true"..." by these rites and benefits the freemason is above all men in our so called modern civilization and is nearest to the Ancient Wisdom. He has possesssion of the territory in which lie concealed the crown jewels of wisdom." ..."He may dig deepre and find not only the KEYSTONE OF THE ARCH, THE ARC OF THE COVENANT, THE SCROLL OF THE LAW, but using the Spirit cponcealed in the wings of the Cherubim he may rise untrammeled by the rubbish of the temple and meet Elohim face to face and learn to say "Iam that IAM" and again "THe Universal Science and the Sublime Philosophy once taught in the Greater Mysteries of Egypt, Chaldea, Persia, and India and among many other nations of antiquity is a dead letter in modern masonry"..."Mstic msasonry also has its rituals and its laws but it make the SPirit of more value than the letter and will teach its candidates the Spirit as well as the letter for in its higher degrees a man must bring out that which is in him if he desires to advance. this is the way the REAL innitiation does not only become a possibility but a fact adn non can advance unless they do the work. Besides thei mystic masonry does what craft masonry should do it binds it's men into one UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD in which they must treat each other as brothers if they desire to remain inthe order. This is not a dream but a reality." Of this inniation Buck is quoted "Herein lies the conception and princiopke of all initiations. it is knowlege unfolded by degrees in an orderly systematic manner step by step as the capacity to apprehend opens in the neophyte. The result is not a possession but a growth an evolution." ON knowlege Buck appears to further quoted "Knowlwge is not a mere sum in addition: somthing added to something that already exists; but rather sucha progressive change or transforamtio of the original structure ( the person) as to make it at every step a NEW BEING. ( a twist on the biblical truth that in salvations outsworkings in us by the Holy SPirit of the Living God which causes regeneration and eventual creation of the NEW CREATURE) Real knowlege or the growth of wisdom in a man is an Eternal BEcoming; a progressive trrasnformation into the likeness of Supernal Goodness and Supreme Power." This is perhaps the clearest most disquieting doctrine around. Thes people are those in ROmans who do evila dn teach others to do so and give a hearty handshake to it!(Rom cite) Moreober they are the fnece jumpers (Mthhew quote and cite.) further more in this book open reference forthe seeker of real innitiation and power is referred to the Rosicruceans and a their teachings and a chapter called the Philosophy of Fire perhaps in one of their teaching books. But that this document even admits refernce to the Rosicruceans shows Masonic ans Rosicruceans ties at tsome upper level. It is my humble opinion that since indeed the Theosophic tie DOES EXIST in freemasonry and pwerhaps its ilk Eastern Star and Shriners for example that in all these groups a true "learner" might go from group to group advance in ranks and "become" the sumum bonum of all his acquired knowlege. The truth of the matter is that to get into the sheepfold by aanyother means is to be expelled by the Owner of the Sheep. For they would not be of us the Believers in Jesus Christ GOd the SOn. As a final means to bear witness to the occultic connections of freemasonry Swinburne-CLymer's book states on page 9 "ninety nine masons out of every hundred would laugh at the occult science and yet were it not for the occult fraternities masonry could never have existed." The Theosophic Doctrine is well represented in Masonry.
Rosicruscean link
(Ancient Clymer p 10) the rosicrucean fraternity more than any other is to be thanked for keeping the secret sacred writings intact although the individual members of this fraternity have been persecuted in many land and during all centuries, the order or fraternity as such has never been persecuted nor has there ever been any interruption. This fraternity has been able to contineu without interruption, the teachings of the secret doctrine and ancient mysteries. no matter what the order whether masonry or mystic masonry no matter what the name it has always been found that rosicruceans had the work in hand. History proves this,it cannot be sucessfully denied, and none but those who are ignorant try to deny it."
It would appear as though there is Craft Masonry wherein to advance you will need to do a lot of memorization, mystic masonry wherein to go high enough what is "in you " will have to be "drawn out". It would also appear most masons are merely memorizing and it is in many aspects at this time no more than a glorified social club. But the seed is there for it to become mystical and for satanic power to so manifest as the Angel of Light that they would begin to have "real power" This is something of their Docrtine regarding salvation. Ancient p10 "Every sould must work out his savation (sounds good so far and scriptural) salvation by faith and the vicariopus atonement were no taught, as now interpreted, by Jesus (???) nor are these doctrines taught by exoteric scriptures. They are later and ignorant perversions of the original doctrines. In the early church as in the secret doctrine, there was not one Christ for the whole world (indeed He is for the Elect in the world) but a potential christ in every man (straight out of the Blavatsky's Secret Doctrine!). Theologians first made a fetish of the impersonal omnipresent divinity, and then tore the Christos ( This is the Avatar whom the man Jesus is believed to have given himself consciously wilingly fully over to, to the point tha he was fully submerged and removed and "it" remained in him and thus is the concept of God a Spirit said to be able to be contained in FLESH. Not that God being Spirit in the Son CAN ALSO BE CONTAINED IN FLESH UNDIMINISHED AS GOD but by the choice of Kinosis or the emptying out of (quote col4) Due to the rare concept of kinosis if one is not a believer and filled with the Holy Spirit the third memeber of the Trinity this theosophy becomes the natural assumption and as such glaring error and whoredoms)from the hearts of all humanity in order to diefy Jesus that they might have a God made peculiarly their own.Masonry does NOT teach salvation by faith nor the vicarious atonement." SO then for church whose membership in any rank of leadership includes avowed masons their conception of the Truth is also being accepted and as such a subtle and now rampant infection of the LIE has inserted itself into the church at large. There in the nut shell is the lie exposed. You cannot honestlybe a mason or of any other order and still truly be christian. on page 11 Buck is again quoted "Humanity in toto is the only personal god; the christos is the realiZation or perfection of this divine persona, in individual conscious experience. When this perfectionis realized the state is called christos, with the greeks, and buddha with the hindoos. (Hindus or Hindi) 'be ye perfect even as your Father in Heaven is perfect.'" This is contemnable and another gospel and doctrine considered by us to be anathema maranatha and any so called ministry teaching it in any way shape or form is to be shunned if it will not be corrected. This is the importance of the knowlege of scripture being held to at all costs! Because this teaching is in its expression so strikingly familiar to the TRUTH any lapse in scritural truth will leave the believer open to the lie. moreover pur public education system has beem targetted by the masonic lodges. Brother C. William Smith NEW AGE MAGAZINE, September 1950. The official organ of The Supreme Council 33rd Degree A. & A. Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, S.J.U.S.A. alledged to say in his article God's plan for america "Great God our King has chosen the great American Public Schools to pave the way for the new race, the new religion and the new civilization that is taking place in America. Any mother, father or guardian who is responsible for the taking away of the freedom of mind, freedom of will or freedom of spirit is the lowest criminal on earth, because they take away from that child the God-given right to become a part of God's great plan in America for the dawn of the new Age of the world."
Now i am going to great length poring over the little i have and attempting show documentation from the sources who speak but i dont imagine for one moment i have everything in order. All these various groups of the Religion of the New Age and their connections to the players of a New WOrld Order have an agenda. UNite the world and hand it thier "savior/king"
2Th 2:1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
2Th 2:2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
2Th 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
2Th 2:4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
(obviously there must be a temple to be entered into. Ezekiels was given plans for one with out a gentiles court. There are those who believe in Israel today that if the is ever a time of real peace they have all the pieces parts to rebuild a actual temple on the temple mount and start up a system of offeringsthat God has no longer a need for. It wont be pretty.)
2Th 2:7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
2Th 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
2Th 2:9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
2Th 2:10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
2Th 2:11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
2Th 2:12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
what is iniquity? anomia
an-om-ee'-ah
From G459; illegality, that is, violation of law or (generally) wickedness: - iniquity, X transgress (-ion of) the law, unrighteousness.
anomos
an'-om-os
From G1 (as a negative particle) and G3551; lawless, that is, (negatively) not subject to (the Jewish) law; (by implication a Gentile), or (positively) wicked: - without law, lawless, transgressor, unlawful, wicked.
so then we can translate that verse this way: "2Th 2:7 For the mystery of wickedness and lawlessness and transgression doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. " it works where? Eph_2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
Eph_2:3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
The Prince of the Power of the air... a spirit working in children of (apeitheia
ap-i'-thi-ah
From G545; disbelief (obstinate and rebellious): - disobedience, unbelief.) unbelief then is the disobedience and this is a willfull rebelling unbelief. Now the New Age Movement doesnt seem to fit this does it? They believe oh they have scads of belief so then what the unbelieving whats that lawlessness? They believe they will have power in this New Day. So then what of this? Joh_1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:" Believed on whose name? Joh 3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
Joh 3:15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Joh 3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
Joh 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
Joh 3:19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. Luk 1:30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.
Luk 1:31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name <stonrg>JESUS.</strong>
Luk 1:32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
Luk 1:33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
Php_2:10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
So then they believe not in the name of Jesus. THus they are not His and are lawless for in Christ all law is fulfilled and kept and in Him we are lawful.
ufos
One more thing. Aliens UFOs ETs abductions area 51 all that jazz. Its been around and in the news and talked about and some have reported being abducted and youtube sports a plethora of footage and apparently there is more and more as this new millenia continues. Lots of speculation some ridiculous some plausable but bizzare some out right fabrication have been offered and sci fi -fantasy has been a rage now for quite awhile. In the innitating youtube presentation which has had me a merry chase thes several days one more or less undiscussed theory has risen. Several Ufologists (yes Alice the study of UFOs is a real thing and real people concern themselves with it... its not wonderland but Dorothy you might want hang to to TOTO this time... i dont think the house will be rising but you might.) have come independantly to a precise conclusion. These sightings are real and the manifestion of fallen angels or even demons. One of them wrote a book which i managed to get ahold of. Jaques Vallee in his book Messenger of Deception (p3-4) states "while the hypoisthesis of alien contct is an exciting one, justified on the basis of continuing observations of unidentified flying objects,m it carries the potentia; for exploitatiion and manipulaton by deceptive groups woth their own hidden aganeda. I believe UFOs are physically real. THey represent a fantrstic technology controlled by an unknown form of consciousness. But i also believe that it would be dangerous to jump to premature conclusion about their origin and nature, because the phenomemon serve as the vehicle for images that can be manipulated to promote belief systems tending to the long-term transformation of human society." He cites a string of sightings and meetings on the phenomena and on page 12 says"There are three aspects to the UFO problem. THe frist aspect is physical. The UFO behaves like a regionof space, of small dimensions (about 10 meters) within which a very large amount of energy is stored. The energy is maifested by pulsed light phenomena of intense colors, by other forms of electromagnetic radiaton, and by microwaves that ceate distortions of the witnesses' sense of reality.
THe second aspect is psychological. It is debatable whether anybody has seen the actual technology that supports the phenomenon. What is seen, and reported, is an image; that is, the perception of a UFO by a human witness. Reports of UFOs show all kinds of psychological effects on the witnesses: perception distortions, unconscious barriers, and mental blocks. Witnesses also show evidence of suggestion and post-hypnotic effects. Exposure to the phenomenon causes visions, hallucinations, physiological effects, and long-term personality changes.
THe third aspect is social. Belief in the reality of UFOs is spreading rapidly at all levels of society throughout the world. Books and periodicals on the subject appear at an ever-increasing rate. Documentaries and major films are being made now by young people of the UFO generation( young men and women who were born just after World War II and who grew up with the flying-saucer stories) who have moved into influencial positions in the media."
On page 16 he records some statements of ...""revelations" recieved from wise beings who fly through space in outer space: "On the eastern shore of the Peaceful Sea, God brought forth the Amwerican Republic... For the purpose of assembling the high consciousness requiered to concieve and establish this new Union, God sent His son Melchizadek, one time Lord of Salem, unto Christopher Columbus..." and another ..."The Earth is the property of one group of saucers that controls this end of the universe, they call themselves Brothers, and they are the ones who brought Christ on Earth 2000 years ago... If we get a little out of control and maybe Russia would start to throw some missiles at us, from Cuba... well, they might step in, if it got too bad, and help us out. They told us they would."
Now this just sounds so THEOSOPHIC it isnt to be believed and these are people getting messages from aliens. How is it that aliens from other worlds have the same dratted philosphy as the Theosophists? Its just to good to be true that they arent a little closer to this world than is comfortable, perhaps separated by the veil of spirit and flesh?
According to Vallee (Messengers p16) "Indeed the inventor of Dianetics is said to have practiced ritual magic with a rocket expert named Jack Parsons, who met in the Mojave desert in 1945 a "Spiritual Being" whom he regarded as a Venusian.
On page 24 Vallee states his belief:"I propose: that the UFO we see is, among othe things, a devise which creates a sistortion of the witnes's reality; that it does so for a purpose, which is to project images of fabricated scenes designed to change our belief systems; ans that the technology we observe is only the incidental support for a worldwide enterprose of "sublime seduction."
To this I say a hearty amen. Who recalls heavens gate that committed suicide by poison so as to allow them to catch aride on the mothership as it passed by at the turn of the millenium? Christians know where they went.
Page 24 He states "I believe ther is a machinery of mass manipulation behind the UFO phenomenon. It aims at social and politcal goals by diverting attention from some huma problems and by providing a potential release for tension caused by others. The contactees are a part of that machinery. THey are helping to create a new form of belief: an expectation of actual contact among large part of the public. In turn the expectaion makes millions of people hope for the imminent realization of that age-old dream: salvation from above, surrender to the greater powe of some wise navigators of the cosmos." IN this statement i can see another problem. Because Jesus will come with that shout witht he sound of the trump and this sort of speculative salvation by aliens innoculates the masses against the truth ans for the new believer who gets involved in this... it can cause a falling away. But then again that is one of its goals to create an apostacy.
Luciferiamism
(Wikipedia) "Luciferianism is a belief system that venerates the essential characteristics that are affixed to Lucifer. The tradition usually reveres Lucifer, not as the Devil, but as a rescuer or guiding spirit or even the true god as opposed to Jehovah.
Luciferianism is identified by some people as an auxiliary of Satanism, due to the popular identification of Lucifer with Satan. Some Luciferians accept this identification or consider Lucifer the light bearer aspect of Satan. Others reject it, arguing that Lucifer is a more positive ideal than Satan....according to Richard Cavendish, "The confessions Conrad of Marburg extracted were apparently made without torture, but under the threat of death if the victim did not confess. If these confessions were accurate, the Luciferans were full-blown Satanists. They worshiped the Devil as creator and ruler of the world, complained that he had been unjustly and treacherously banished from Heaven, and believed that he would overthrow the God of the Christians and return to Heaven, when they would enjoy eternal happiness with him. They reveled in whatever displeased the Christian God and hated whatever pleased him..." he lefthand and righthand path which is apparently part of Luciferianism "The terms Left-Hand Path and Right-Hand Path refer to a dichotomy between two opposing philosophies found in the Western Esoteric Tradition, which itself covers various groups involved in the occult and ceremonial magic. In some definitions, the Left-Hand Path is equated with malicious Black Magic and the Right-Hand Path with benevolent White Magic. Other occultists have criticised this definition, believing that the Left-Right dichotomy refers merely to different kinds of working, and does not necessarily connote good or bad magical actions.
In more recent definitions, which base themselves on the terms' origins amongst Indian Tantra, the Right-Hand Path, or RHP, is seen as a definition for those magical groups which follow specific ethical codes and adopt social convention, while the Left-Hand Path adopts the opposite attitude, espousing the breaking of taboo and the abandoning of set morality. Some contemporary occultists have stressed that both paths can be followed by a magical practitioner, as essentially they have the same goals." Now that esoteric tradition is even mentioned has to do with theosophy. THeosophist mystics will either travel the right hand or dexter path of enlightenment and white magic or the lefthand or sinister path of power without enlightenment and black magic."
There is an initiation mentioned over and over in luciferian and thwosophical and esoteric thought. From what i can gather it is not enought to say the words of vows and oaths one must have a near death experience wherein he/she plunges into the abyss and embraces the so called light and light bearer there. Death then would not be seen as a terror or a end but a transition to being. In other words mass suicide. But they believe they arrive if they unflinchingly face and conquer the terror of dying.
"The luciferic innitiation... is a choice. an iniation of leaving the past and entering the new"...Shareinternational.org
David Spangler is allegedly a Luciferian. Wikipedia gives us this idea of the gospel from Mr Spangler:"the gospel according to David Spangler
Lucifer works within each of us to bring us to wholeness, and as we move into a New Age…each of us in some way is brought to that point which I term the Luciferic Initiation, the particular doorway through which the individual must pass if he is to come fully into the presence of his light and wholenesss. Lucifer prepares man in all ways for the experience of Christhood… The light that reveals to us the presence of the Christ…comes from Lucifer. He is the light-giver, he is aptly named the Morning Star because it is his light that heralds for man the dawn of a great consciousness …He stands…as the Great Initiator, the one who hands the soul over to the Christ."
When the Antichrist comes he will find the church ready to worship him in todays society. The Body of Christ hidden within the church however will stand in stark sharp contrast to the rest as they will refuse to partake. These are the remnant that will be saved.
Lucis Trust
Lucis Trust (Wikipedia)
"The Lucis Trust is a nonprofit service organization incorporated in the United States in 1922 by Alice Bailey and her husband Foster Bailey, to act as a fiduciary trust for the publishing of twenty-four books of esoteric philosophy published under Alice Bailey's name, and to fund and administer activities concerned with the establishment of "right human relations". These include the Arcane School, a school for esoteric training, World Goodwill, Triangles, a lending library, The Beacon magazine, as well as the publishing company.
Founded as the Lucifer Publishing Company in the early 1920s, the name was changed in 1925 to the Lucis Publishing Company. In Latin lucern ferre translates to "light-bearer" and lucis means of light. The Lucis Trust has always maintained the same name. It has headquarters in New York City, London, and Geneva.
The objectives of the Lucis Trust as stated in its charter are: "To encourage the study of comparative religion, philosophy, science and art; to encourage every line of thought tending to the broadening of human sympathies and interests, and the expansion of ethical religious and educational literature; to assist or to engage in activities for the relief of suffering and for human betterment; and, in general, to further worthy efforts for humanitarian and educational ends."
The World Goodwill group, founded in 1932, has been recognized by the United Nations as a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), and is represented during regular briefing sessions for NGOs at the United Nations. The Lucis Trust has consultative status (roster level) with the United Nations Economic and Social Council.
The Trust is established in Great Britain under the title "Lucis Trust Ltd.", in Switzerland as "Lucis Trust Association", and in Holland as the "Lucis Trust Stichting." They have a website folks they are for real lucistrust.org one of the selections of their navigation bar is Arcane School. Another of their subsudiearies if the World Goodwill group.
in case you miss the connection between the Theosophical Society and Lucis Trust this is at the bottom of the World Goodwill page of the site. "You can also learn more about the 24 books of esoteric philosophy written by Alice Bailey, the founder of the Lucis Trust." Remember Esoteric Philosophy is the philosophy behind Theosophy. Also please noted this on the World Goodwill page is this "A selection of key literature online on a variety of spiritual topics, including: the imminent reappearance of the World Teacher, known by Christians as the Christ, and by those of other faiths by many different names; the nature of the Divine Plan and how we may cooperate with it; the work of the spiritual Hierarchy; and others." This is the same World Goodwill Group referred to in the Wikipedia reference above.
You all realize what this is? it is what i have been exposing in this page area. They believe Jesus and the Christ to be separate and that the Christ is an entity when actually it is a title of anointing. (Christos = Messiah = anointed one = smeared)
This Lucifer is who is being mentioned here.
2Th 2:1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
2Th 2:2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
2Th 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
2Th 2:4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
2Th 2:5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
2Th 2:6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
2Th 2:7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
2Th 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
2Th 2:9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
2Th 2:10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
2Th 2:11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
2Th 2:12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
The UN connection is in the position of influence Lucis Trust and its doctrines under the guise of World Goodwill Group.
They have their expectant returning god and you dont go very far into the present stage of the New Age Movement before you hear about Maitraya. Maitraya this Maitraya that ... coming soon ... looked after ... sought after... the way they go on and on about this fellow you'd think they were talking about Jesus Christ! Well in their minds Maitraya is a Messiah, so yes they see this personage as a Second coming unto an age unparalleled in known human history. (In their opinion this has all happened before and will happen again and the cycle of Karma just keeps going. So There may be humanlike history before what we see is recorded human history for this cycle) My thanks to Wikipedia that though it is editable is still free and I can for the most part eventually find solid sources that back up its facts.
Maitraya (Wikipedia)
This article is about the Buddhist bodhisattva Maitreya.
The name Maitreya (Metteyya in Pali) is derived from the Sanskrit word maitri (Pali: metta) meaning "loving-kindness", which is in turn derived from the noun mitra (Pali: mitta) in the sense of "friend".
Maitreya (Sanskrit), Metteyya (Pali), or Jampa (Tibetan), is foretold as a future Buddha of this world in Buddhist eschatology. In some Buddhist literature, such as the Amitabha Sutra and the Lotus Sutra, he is referred to as Ajita Bodhisattva.
Maitreya is a bodhisattva who in the Buddhist tradition is to appear on Earth, achieve complete enlightenment, and teach the pure dharma. According to scriptures, Maitreya will be a successor of the historic Sakyamuni Buddha. The prophecy of the arrival of Maitreya references a time when the Dharma will have been forgotten on Jambudvipa. It is found in the canonical literature of all Buddhist sects (Theravada, Mahayana, Vajrayana), and is accepted by most Buddhists as a statement about an event that will take place when the Dharma will have been forgotten on Earth.
Maitreya currently resides in the Tu?ita Heaven (Pali: Tusita), said to be reachable through meditation. Sakyamuni Buddha also lived here before he was born into the world as all bodhisattvas live in the Tu?ita Heaven before they descend to the human realm to become Buddhas. Although all bodhisattvas are destined to become Buddhas, the concept of a bodhisattva differs greatly in Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism. In Theravada Buddhism, a bodhisattva is one who is striving for full enlightenment (Arahantship in Pali), whereas in Mahayana Buddhism, a bodhisattva is one who has already reached a very advanced state of grace or enlightenment but holds back from entering nirvana so that he may help others.
In Mahayana Buddhism, once Maitreya becomes a Buddha, he will rule over the Ketumati Pure Land, an earthly paradise sometimes associated with the Indian city of Varanasi (also known as Benares) in Uttar Pradesh. In Mahayana Buddhism, Buddhas preside over a Pure Land (the Buddha Amitabha presides over the Sukhavati Pure Land, more popularly known as the Western Paradise).
In Theravadin Buddhism, Buddhas are born as unenlightened humans, and are not rulers of any paradise or pure land. Maitreya's arising would be no different to the arising of Shakyamuni Buddha, as he achieved full-enlightenment as a human being, and passed away into parinibbana when the conditions were ripe for his final passing. Orthodox Theravadin doctrine has much less emphasis on deities and Bodhisattvas, and do not view Bodhisattvas to be in an unachievable state.
(Please note christs, buddhas and the like are people who have managed to fully give themeselves over to the god or spirit of christos or buddha according to this line of thought which you find prminently is Esoteric Philosphy and Theosophy)
Maitreya will be the fifth Buddha of the present kalpa (Kalpa is a Sanskrit word meaning an aeon, or a relatively long period of time, by human calculation, in Hindu and Buddhist cosmology.) and his arrival will occur after the teachings (dharma) of the Buddha are no longer practiced.
His coming is characterized by a number of physical events. The oceans are predicted to decrease in size, allowing Maitreya to traverse them freely. Maitreya will then reintroduce "true" dharma to world.
His arrival signifies the end of the middle time, the time between the fourth Buddha, Gautama Buddha, and the fifth Buddha, Maitreya, which is viewed as a low point of human existence. According to the Cakkavatti Sutta: The Wheel-turning Emperor, Digha Nikaya 26 of the Sutta Pitaka of the Pali Canon), Maitreya Buddha will be born in a time when humans will live to an age of eighty thousand years, in the city of Ketumati (present Benares), whose king will be the Cakkavatti Sankha. Sankha will live in the palace where once dwelt King Mahapanada, but later he will give the palace away and will himself become a follower of Maitreya Buddha.
The scriptures say that Maitreya will attain bodhi in seven days (which is the minimum period), by virtue of his many lives of preparation for Buddhahood (similar to those reported in the Jataka stories of Shakyamuni Buddha).
At this time a notable teaching he will start giving is that of the ten non-virtuous deeds (killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, divisive speech, abusive speech, idle speech, covetousness, harmful intent and wrong views) and the ten virtuous deeds (the abandonment of: killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, divisive speech, abusive speech, idle speech, covetousness, harmful intent and wrong views).
The Arya Maitreya Mandala, founded by Lama Anagarika Govinda is based on the idea of the future coming of Maitreya.
Non-Buddhist views
The concept of Maitreya was elaborated within Theosophy during the last few decades of the 19th century. However the Theosophical Maitreya was explained, and developed, differently than the original Buddhist concept. In Theosophical texts Maitreya has multiple aspects signifying not just the future Buddha, but similar concepts from other religious or spiritual traditions.
In early 20th century, leading Theosophists became convinced that an appearance of the Maitreya as a so-called World Teacher was imminent. A South Indian boy, Jiddu Krishnamurti, was thought to be destined as the "vehicle" of the soon-to-manifest Maitreya; however the manifestation did not happen as predicted, and did not fulfil Theosophists' expectations.
Since the growth of the Theosophical movement in the 19th century, and influenced by Theosophy's articulations on the Maitreya, non-Buddhist religious and spiritual movements have adopted and reinterpreted the concept in their doctrines. Share International, which equates Maitreya with the prophesied figures of multiple religious traditions, claims that he is already present in the world, but is preparing to make an open declaration of his presence in the near future. They claim that he is here to inspire mankind to create a new era based on sharing and justice.
In the beginning of the 1930s, the Ascended Master Teachings placed Maitreya in the "Office of World Teacher" until 1956, when he was described as moving on to the "Office of Planetary Buddha" and "Cosmic Christ" in their concept of a Spiritual Hierarchy.
Some Muslim scholars who studied Buddhist texts believe that Maitreya is "Rahmatu lil-'alameen" (Mercy for The Worlds), which is the name for the prophet Muhammad as it is said in the Qur'an. According to the research on the book Antim Buddha Maitreya scholars have surmised that Maitreya Buddha is Muhammad. After examining the Buddhist texts researchers concluded that Muhammad had been the last and final awakened Buddha to come into existence long after the current teachings.
The 19th century, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, is believed in by the members of the Ahmadiyya Community (the faith he brought) as fulfilling expectations regarding the Maitreya Buddha.
Bahá'ís believe that Bahá'u'lláh is the fulfillment of the prophecy of appearance of Maitreya. Bahá'ís believe that the prophecy that Maitreya will usher in a new society of tolerance and love has been fulfilled by Bahá'u'lláh's teachings on world peace.
Note that the name means lovingkindness which vyes with the notion of the Chesed (Hebrew) or Lovingkindness of God Almighty.
He has a spokesperson however one Benjamin Creme.
Benjamin Creme's Website and Organization.
Maitreya the World Teacher steps forward
Maitreya, the World Teacher, has been based in the Asian community of London since July 1977, gradually emerging into full public view.
Artist, author and lecturer Benjamin Creme has for over 35 years been preparing the way for this extraordinary event.
In December 2008 Benjamin Creme announced that in the very near future a large, bright star would appear in the sky visible throughout the world, night and day, heralding the imminent appearance of Maitreya in His first interview on a major US television programme.
Within weeks reports from all over the world of an unusually bright star, often moving and changing colour, began to appear in the media and on YouTube
On 14 January 2010 Benjamin Creme announced that Maitreya had given His first interview, on American television, and that millions had heard Him speak both on television and the internet.
Benjamin Creme explained: “He was introduced not as Maitreya, the World Teacher and Head of our Spiritual Hierarchy, but simply as a man, one of us. In this way He ‘ensures that men follow and support Him for the truth and sanity of His ideas rather than for His status’. He spoke earnestly of the need for peace, achievable only through the creation of justice and the sharing of the world’s resources.”
Benjamin Creme
From the Share Website
Benjamin Creme, a British artist and long-time student of esoteric philosophy, has become the principal source of information about the emergence of Maitreya, the World Teacher. Throughout his early years Creme also studied various aspects of esoteric philosophy, in particular the teachings released in the late 1800s through Helena Blavatsky and the Theosophical Society, and more recently through Alice A. Bailey. Although these teachings led him to believe in the existence of the Masters of Wisdom ? a group of perfected individuals who are the custodians of the Divine Plan for this planet ? it nevertheless came as a complete surprise to him when, in 1959, he was contacted by one of the Masters. He was told, among other things, that Maitreya, the World Teacher ? the Master of all the Masters ? would return in about 20 years and that he (Creme) would have a role to play in the event if he chose to accept it.
More than a decade later, in 1972, Creme began a period of arduous training under his Master's direction to prepare him for his coming task: announcing to a skeptical world the emergence of the World Teacher, awaited by people of every religion under his various names ? the Christ, Messiah, Imam Mahdi, Krishna, Maitreya Buddha. Creme's constant contact with a Master of Wisdom gives him access to up-to-date information on Maitreya's emergence, plus the total conviction needed to present this story.
Somehow i get the sense that he is the spokesperson for Maitraya or its a grand hoax of a deluded old man.
on the Home page under the name we read this logo. In the midst of war, fear and famine, new hope is in the world for us all.
Maitreya and Jesus
(Still from the Share website)
Jesus of Nazareth and the Christ are not one and the same person. This is one of the most difficult claims for many Christians to accept in connection with Maitreya, the World Teacher, and it therefore needs some further explanation.
In fact, the title Christ does not refer to an individual at all. It is the name of a function in the Hierarchy of Masters of Wisdom, that group of advanced beings who guide the evolution of humanity from behind the scenes. Whoever stands at the head of this Hierarchy automatically becomes the World Teacher, known in the East as the Bodhisattva, during the term of his office.
Maitreya, who embodies the energy we call the Christ Principle, has held that office for over two millennia. In Palestine he manifested himself as the Christ to inaugurate the Age of Pisces, then beginning. The method he used is called spiritual overshadowing, that is, his consciousness informed and guided the actions and teachings of his disciple Jesus. It was, therefore, the consciousness of the Christ, Maitreya, which was seen and experienced by those around Jesus.
The events from Jesus' life and his words have been greatly misinterpreted due to this little-understood connection between his work and that of Maitreya the Christ. This has given rise to the age-old theological point of contention -- namely, whether Jesus was God or man, or perhaps both together. The answer is that Jesus was a man who, as a result of the process of evolution, became a Son of God -- as does everyone eventually. Others had gone before him on that path and many have taken it since.
The disciple Jesus of 2,000 years ago has by now become one of the most senior Masters in the Hierarchy: the Master Jesus. During most of the current time he has lived mainly in Palestine. Since 1984, however, he has lived in Rome. The intention is that he will try to raise the Christian churches out of their state of crystallization and rivalry and, if invited to do so, to lead a newly united church. By doing so he hopes to resolve the many contradictions and misunderstandings which have arisen during the course of the centuries about his historic role and the teachings which he then disseminated as a vehicle for Maitreya.
With the emergence of Maitreya, the Master Jesus is playing a major role for the second time. This open collaboration, which will be visible to all, will end any lingering doubts concerning the true relationship between Maitreya the Christ and his disciple, the Master Jesus.
Thus the seemingly paradoxical claim that Jesus and the Christ are not the same person, in the literal sense of the word, is more reasonable than it would appear. Those Christians who find it difficult to accept that 'their' teacher is not the highest leader of all humanity may, however, take solace in a second paradox: Jesus and Maitreya the Christ were (and are) one, in the sense that they, each on his own level, work together in perfect concord to further the divine Plan.
This is their rhetoric I am not making this up. "Esther Romo, a Mexico City businesswoman who works in art promotion and galleries. "No limits, no boundaries, no nationalities, just fusion."
This lady is a bussiness woman in her 9-5 world albeit in Mexico but still this is a sentiment the New World Order applauds and cherishes. So "ok they dont know Jesus they may not be Elect so while I feel sad for them, I am a believer so... so what?" Well with all this around could this "spirit" be influencing the Church? ("Oh bite your tongue and God forbid!)
AN idea once taken hold can sometimes be impossible to remove or stop.
Has this free for all of the secular religious world had an impact on the church? Of all the things of God that are in scripture the chance to KNOW Ginosko or EXPERIENCE SUBJECTIVELY the Person through Presence of the Living God is perhaps the most risky of all. With it is Prophecy. Todays true "Prophet" does NOT write scripture does NOT add to the existing writ. He conveys whatever he feels he is hearing or seeing or "getting" from the Lord. Such a thing is not infallible and fraught sadly with error. For when we elevate modern day prophetic function to the level of the Old Testament Prophet without the overarching control of the Spirit of God in and on the life as it was for those men and women. We rush headlong into grave error.
Case in point there is an impact.
new mystics and the new age
http://www.thenewmystics.com/
Now they are fonding mystical schools all over the world apparently from the rotating add banners on the home page. Thesze are two week long schools and they feature supernatural christianity and Holy ghost explosions. From the little so far i have heard of the movement it is very emotionally centered. I know from first hand experience what emotional christianity can get you. It can get you twisted. The founder of all this or main person is One John Crowder.
This is their magazine.
The Ecstatic is a bi-annual theological journal that serves the resurgence and growing interest in mystical Christianity. It features articles, teachings and prophetic insights from John Crowder and other guest writers, while pulling material from ancient and historic contributors as well. A strong focus on the finished work of the cross, supernatural experience, the joy of salvation and creative cultural relevance make this a unique publication. Our goal with this publication is to encompass meaty theology, an unapologetic embrace of the miraculous, and to promote the happiest, religion-free Good News on the planet!
It sounds good, at last they want to encompass meaty theology... but what do they truly believe?
This is the web teaser for Volume Four of the magazine.
Volume Four
Fall/Winter 2011
Articles on divine intimacy, election, the incarnation and more from writers John Crowder, C. Baxter Kruger, Adam Clarke and guests. Deep theology & mystic bliss.
Volume Five
Spring/Summer 2012
Explore Trinitarian theology and grasp insights on the scandal of grace and effortless faith. Articles by John Crowder, Norman Grubb, Steve McVey & more!
What is Trinitarian Theology?
Wikepedia
Trinitarian theology is a way of doing systematic theology that understands the Trinity to be the foundational doctrine that permeates all areas of theology as opposed to one point of doctrine in systematics. Although trinitarian theology as such has been present throughout the history of the church, being represented by such as the Cappadocian Fathers, it has had a renaissance starting in the 20th century. It is also known as affective theology or a theology of the affections in that it concerns itself with one's relationship with God based not on the mind or the will but on the heart
They have a nineteen minute video on the reward and it is the pleasure of the world for the Lord not work for righteousness but works of righteousnes and that it is Christ living through you in the life exchange. This is s snippet of Crowder's teachings. IT is relativeley sound though it does seem to major on the relationship still there were some fairly good mystics or contemplatives over the years. But then again I look at the Mystic schools
From the site
Savor the deep things of the Spirit ...
Our Mystical School is an intensive, three-day course with in-depth instruction, activation and hands-on impartation with John Crowder. These deeper courses in contemplative, supernatural Christianity are geared for a smaller group environment, with limited registration, to foster an atmosphere of intimacy, personal prophecy and vigorous impartation. There will be ample time for questions and answers, with sessions running 6-8 hours each day and mornings free for prayer, soaking and reflection. In these courses you will:
Operate in Trances, Raptures & Ecstatic Prayer ( the New Agers Do)
Experience Physical Phenomena of Mysticism (the New Agers Do)
Get Activated in Creative Miracles, Signs & Wonders (source is everything here for from the influence of a spirit do signs and creative miracles flow and the demons can do quite a bit through shammanistic mysticism.)
Understand Your Access to New Creation Realities
Gain A Historical Grid of Miracle Workers & Mystics
Be Activated in the Seer Realm, Prophecy, Spirit Travel ( this can be initiation into "something else" always test the spirits you contact)
Receive Open Heavens & Revelatory Understanding (DO they teach people to blindly trust or to test what they contact?)
Access and Manifest the Glory Realm (the New Agers do this too but they dont call it this...)
Now while i think they mean well and are attempting to be more relative to an younger audience i see an open door for the "other mysticism" of error to creep in. Not having been tutored I cannot speak from experience.
Grace is the core message and that you are already sinless perfect that Christ is living in you through you in the life exchange so you cannot sin. But this is an already not yet thing and thus we must take care to not just be carried away by any new thinking of theology.
To stray from scripture and explore mysticism of relationship in ecstacy is a potential trap.
To seek for the heavy wheighty glory is God abuse. TO treat Him like a drug is just wrong. Moreover it invites altered states. The emphasis has to be God Himself. Not His stuff or and certainly not mere drunken glofy it isnt drunken but i know a presence that will deliver and its not God ... its the Queen of Heaven.
Its a very intoxicating inebriating anointing and yes I have tasted it. its a rebellion against legalism. He uses terminology that can be very missleading.
"mysticism (Crowder) is an experience of the union with God a consciousness of the reality of God. Christians experience God directly through our belief in Jesus Christ. The belief that the reality of God can be infused though subjective experience. Christian doctrine maintains that God dwells within all Christians and that we experience Him directly through belief in Jesus Christ enabling us to apprehend spiritual truths that are inacessable through intellectual means."
This does describe revelation knowlege but with this uninhibited thought can come another wisdom another wine another gospel another deity another God. It is the way Crowder goes about what he is doing that may inadvertantly allow the false to "inject" the faithful. It is to uncomfortably close to the New Age. Also where is the fear of God?
Youtube is a wonderful little invention but video can be edited still and all does the church teach in some secters that "ye are gods?" or am i on a witch hunt?
Prosperity Movement
Prosperity theology (wikipedia)
Not to be confused with The Gospel of Wealth.
Prosperity theology (sometimes referred to as the prosperity gospel or the health and wealth gospel) is a Christian religious doctrine that financial blessing is the will of God for Christians, and that faith, positive speech, and donations to Christian ministries will always increase one's material wealth. Based on non-traditional interpretations of the Bible, often with emphasis on the Book of Malachi, the doctrine views the Bible as a contract between God and humans: if humans have faith in God, he will deliver his promises of security and prosperity. Confessing these promises to be true is perceived as an act of faith, which God will honor.
Proponents teach that the doctrine is an aspect of the path to Christian dominion over society, arguing that God's promise of dominion to Israel applies to Christians today. The doctrine emphasizes the importance of personal empowerment, proposing that it is God's will for his people to be happy. The atonement (reconciliation with God) is interpreted to include the alleviation of sickness and poverty, which are viewed as curses to be broken by faith. This is believed to be achieved through visualization and positive confession, and is often taught in mechanical and contractual terms.
It was during the Healing Revivals of the 1950s that prosperity theology first came to prominence in the United States, although commentators have linked the origins of its theology to the New Thought movement. The prosperity teaching later figured prominently in the Word of Faith movement and 1980s televangelism. In the 1990s and 2000s, it was adopted by influential leaders in the Charismatic Movement and promoted by Christian missionaries throughout the world, sometimes leading to the establishment of mega-churches. Prominent leaders in the development of prosperity theology include E. W. Kenyon, Oral Roberts, A. A. Allen, Robert Tilton, T. L. Osborn, and Kenneth Hagin. (since thier day Kenneth Copeland, Joel Osteen)
Churches in which the prosperity gospel is taught are often non-denominational and usually directed by a sole pastor or leader, although some have developed multi-church networks that bear similarities to denominations. Such churches typically set aside extended time to teach about giving and request donations from the congregation, encouraging positive speech and faith. Prosperity churches often teach about financial responsibility, though some journalists and academics have criticized their advice in this area as unsound. Prosperity theology has been criticized by leaders in the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements, as well as other Christian denominations. These leaders maintain that it is irresponsible, promotes idolatry, and is theologically unsound. Some critics have proposed that prosperity theology cultivates authoritarian organizations, with the leaders controlling the lives of the adherents. The doctrine has also become popular in South Korea; academics have attributed some of its success to its parallels with the traditional shamanistic culture. Prosperity theology has drawn followers from the American middle class and poor, and has been likened to the cargo cult phenomenon (The primary association in cargo cults is between the divine nature of "cargo" (manufactured goods) and the advanced, non-native behavior, clothing and equipment of the recipients of the "cargo". Since the modern manufacturing process is unknown to them, members, leaders, and prophets of the cults maintain that the manufactured goods of the non-native culture have been created by spiritual means, such as through their deities and ancestors, and are intended for the local indigenous people, but that the foreigners have unfairly gained control of these objects through malice or mistake. Thus, a characteristic feature of cargo cults is the belief that spiritual agents will, at some future time, give much valuable cargo and desirable manufactured products to the cult members.), traditional African religion, and black liberation theology.
The Theology
Prosperity theology teaches that Christians are entitled to well-being and, because physical and spiritual realities are seen as one inseparable reality, this is interpreted as physical health and economic prosperity. Teachers of the doctrine focus on personal empowerment, promoting a positive view of the spirit and body. They maintain that Christians have been given power over creation because they are made in the image of God and teach that positive confession allows Christians to exercise dominion over their souls and material objects around them. Leaders of the movement view the atonement as providing for the alleviation of sickness, poverty, and spiritual corruption; poverty and illness are cast as curses which can be broken by faith. There are, however, some prosperity churches which seek a more moderate or reformed paradigm of prosperity. Kirbyjon Caldwell, pastor of a Methodist mega-church, supports a theology of abundant life, teaching prosperity for the whole human being, which he sees as a path to combating poverty.
Wealth is interpreted in prosperity theology as a blessing from God, obtained through a spiritual law of positive confession and visualization. This process is often taught in almost mechanical terms; Kenneth Copeland, an American author and televangelist, argues that prosperity is governed by laws, while other teachers portray the process formulaically. Journalists David van Biema and Jeff Chu of Time have described Word of Faith pastor Creflo Dollar's teachings about prosperity as an inviolable contract between God and humanity.
The prosperity theology teaching of positive confession stems from its proponents' view of scripture. The Bible is seen as a faith contract between God and believers; God is understood to be faithful and just, so believers must fulfill their end of the contract to receive God's promises. This leads to a belief in positive confession, the doctrine that believers may claim whatever they desire from God, simply by speaking it. Prosperity theology teaches that the Bible has promised prosperity for believers, so positive confession means that believers are speaking in faith what God has already spoken about them. Positive confession is practiced to bring about what is already believed in; faith itself is a confession, and speaking it brings it into reality.
The teaching is often based on non-traditional interpretations of Bible verses, the Book of Malachi often being given special attention. Frequently quoted verses include:
Malachi 3:10: "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it" (KJV).
Matthew 25:14–30: the Parable of the talents
John 10:10: "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly" (KJV).
Philippians 4:19: "My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (KJV).
3 John 2: "Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth" (KJV).
Practices
Prosperity churches place a strong emphasis on the importance of giving. Services commonly include two sermons, one of which focuses on giving and prosperity, including Biblical references to tithing; a second sermon on another topic follows the offering. Prosperity church leaders often bestow a specific blessing on the money being donated, some have even been reported to instruct worshipers to hold their donations above their heads during the prayer.
Congregants in prosperity churches are encouraged to speak positive statements about aspects of their lives that they wish to see improved. These statements, known as positive confessions, are said to miraculously change aspects of people's lives if spoken with faith. Prosperity churches also encourage people to "live without limits" and cultivate optimism about their lives. T. D. Jakes, pastor of The Potter's House non-denominational mega-church, has argued in favor of prosperity, rejecting what he sees as the demonization of success. He views poverty as a barrier to living a Christian life, suggesting that it is easier to make a positive impact on society when one is affluent.
While prosperity churches have a reputation for manipulating and alienating the poor, many are involved in social programs. Underlying these programs is a theology of empowerment and human flourishing with the goal of releasing people from a "welfare" or "victim" mentality. Many prosperity churches hold seminars on financial responsibility. Kate Bowler, an academic who studies prosperity theology, has criticized such seminars, arguing that though they contain some sound advice the seminars often emphasize the purchase of expensive possessions. Hanna Rosin of The Atlantic argues that prosperity theology contributed to the housing bubble that caused the late-2000s financial crisis. She maintains that home ownership was heavily emphasized in prosperity churches, causing a reliance on divine financial intervention that led to unwise choices.
In other words as i was once taught, you find the most blessed person (the wealthiest best dressed bes car its all material) and you give or sow "into their life"( give them lots of money you cant afford to lose in leu of family support church support or even tithe... and you will stand to be blessed (financially) yourself!)
I have served in such ministries for years and this doctrine this theology NEVER worked for me. We almost went under trying to meet the "faith" required.
This refute of the positive conmfession from gotquestions.org
A favorite term in the Word of Faith movement is “positive confession.” This refers to the teaching that words themselves have creative power. What you say, Word of Faith teachers claim, determines everything that happens to you. Your confessions, especially the favors you demand of God, must all be stated positively and without wavering. Then God is required to answer (as though man could require anything of God!). Thus, God's ability to bless us supposedly hangs on our faith. James 4:13-16 clearly contradicts this teaching: “Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” Far from speaking things into existence in the future, we do not even know what tomorrow will bring or even whether we will be alive.
This is part of the theory behind the prosperity moevement.
Kingdom now theology
(wikipedia)
Kingdom Now Theology is a branch of Dominion Theology which has had a following within Pentecostalism. It attracted attention in the late 1980s.
Kingdom Now Theology states that although Satan has been in control of the world since the Fall, God is looking for people who will help him take back dominion. Those who yield themselves to the authority of God's apostles and prophets will take control of the kingdoms of this world, being defined as all social institutions, the "kingdom" of education, the "kingdom" of science, the "kingdom" of the arts, etc.
Kingdom Now Theology is influenced by the Latter Rain movement, and critics have connected it to the New Apostolic Reformation, "Spiritual Warfare Christianity", and Fivefold ministry thinking.
Kingdom Now theology should not be confused with Kingdom theology, which is related to inaugurated eschatology.
Apostolic-Prophetic Movement
The Apostolic-Prophetic Movement in Charismatic Christianity is seen by its participants as a restoration of the neglected elements of the Five-Fold Ministry described in the New Testament book of Ephesians, "some apostles, and some prophets; and some evangelists; and some pastors and teachers; for the equipping of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ". This movement is rooted in the Third Wave Charismatic or Pentecostal experience.
This movement is Primitivist, in that it defers more to the authority of original documents and doctrines than to the later developments and elaborations transmitted by the authorities of the Catholic and Orthodox churches. It may also be associated with primitivism inasmuch as outsiders interpret prophetic interpretation. Prophecy has been a part of Pentecostal and Charismatic Christian practice, more notably during times of revival in the Body of Christ; for example the Kimbanguist Church in Belgian Congo began with vigor in the 1920s and flourished through 40 years of rigorous, often violent, suppression.
Having come out of this movement I can attest to the errors and heresies it foments.
When applying the Kingdom Now thought it wrests authority from hearing the Lord via the Holy Spirit and cooperative prayer to confirm and or the knowledge of the scriptures to help confirm or deny prophecy to pitting spiritual suprememcy and authority ONLY in the leadership and causing the congregants to see their leader as intemediaries in spiritual things and to listen to their voice as of the Voice of God. This places a staggering burden to perform on the leaders who can never hope to actually do that level of spiritual anything for very long and thus places them into a desperate need for outside assistance beyond the Lord and thus opens then to temptation apostacy and worse.
Another thread to the downfall of the American Church may be seen in its prophets.
Kansas City Prophets
Some of those who shaped the current Apostolic-Prophetic Movement in the United States were based in Kansas City, Missouri and became known as the "Kansas City Prophets". Members of this group were Bill Hamon, Rick Joyner, Paul Cain, Bob Jones, Mike Bickle, James Goll, John Paul Jackson, and Lou Engle. Cain had participated in the Voice of Healing Revival initiated by William Branham during the 1950s. The Kansas City Prophets continue to be active in ministry throughout North America and are often seen and heard as speakers at charismatic Christian conferences and meetings
http://www.worldviewweekend.com
http://www.worldviewweekend.com/worldview-times/article.php?articleid=7353
THE VINEYARD AND THE KANSAS CITY PROPHETS (A REPORT FROM 1991 WORTH READING IN 2011)
Posted: 07/21/11
Vol. IV, No. 2 Mar-Apr 1991
THE VINEYARD AND THE KANSAS CITY PROPHETS
By Robert Dean, Jr.
January, 1989-Anaheim, California. I was attending my first conference held at the Vineyard Church. Before attending I had done my homework. I had read the books authored by John Wimber, listened to various tapes, and had read numerous articles, both in favor of and critical of the Signs and Wonders movement. I was looking forward to hearing Wimber live for the first time and was curious to see if the meetings would be as weird as I had been led to believe. Nothing I had read prepared me for what transpired.
Unfortunately I was to be disappointed in that Wimber relinquished most of his teaching time to a newcomer to the Vineyard, Paul Cain. However, in Cain, I, as well as the large crowd, was introduced to a phenomenon more weird than I could ever imagine. A modern day prophet who claims to be personally commissioned by Jesus Christ. One who claims to see blue lights singling out people God would heal. One who claims to be able to call out people and give not only their names and addresses, but to also know intimate details about their lives, including their secret sins. At those meetings I also heard Mike Bickle, pastor of the then Kansas City Fellowship. Little did I realize how significant those people were to become in the coming years.
This last year Cain, Bickle, and Wimber were thrown into the national spotlight as a result of numerous charges of aberrant practices leveled by a highly respected pastor of one of the largest charismatic churches in the Kansas City area. He charged them with propagating "charismatic heresy." Major articles on the controversy and the new role of prophecy in charismatic churches were written in major national Christian magazines Charisma, Ministries Today, and Christianity Today. Cain and/or Bickle were featured on the covers of Ministries Today and Christianity Today. While much ink has been spilt over the details of the controversy it should be of great concern to many that few of the articles attempted to analyze the various claims and practices from a Biblical perspective.
In that controversy a number of charges were leveled at the KCF prophetic ministry. This controversy focuses our attention on many of the doctrines and practices that are becoming prevalent today. These doctrines and practices are not only influencing many traditionally charismatic churches, but also many traditionally non-charismatic churches. We want to focus our attention on the controversy and determine what lessons we can learn.
These issues should not be taken lightly. At the very heart of the controversy lies the fundamental question of whether God still speaks to his people today apart from Scripture. In other words, did revelation cease with the end of the apostolic age and the closing of the canon of Scripture? If revelation has continued, if God is still speaking, then no Christian worthy of the name would desire to cut himself off from a message from God. However, if revelation has ceased, if prophecy has not continued, then a great danger of deception is present in the church.
We will begin by reviewing the key people involved, the development of the controversy itself, the basis for the truce that was called, and the repentance of the KCF leaders for some of their practices. The second part of the article will focus on the underlying Biblical issues, the nature of prophecy, the continuation of revelation, and the basic tenets and doctrines espoused by the KCF and Vineyard Churches. These will be evaluated in light of the Scriptures.
I do not write this review lightly. Over the last year I have read most of the major documents produced in the controversy. In October 1990, Tommy Ice and I spent four hours with pastors from the KCF (Bickle, Cain, and Wimber were in England at the time). Since then I have listened to hours of tapes, poured over transcripts, and talked with some of the key leaders at Ernie Gruen's Full Faith Church of Love West who were intimately involved in the controversy.
The People
Ernie Gruen. Gruen is the highly respected pastor of the Full Faith Church of Love West (FFCLW), an independent charismatic church in Shawnee, Kansas. Over the years he has ministered to many charismatics within the area and several of the men on staff at KCF have at one time or another been under his ministry. He was one of the first pastors in the area to encourage Bickle when he arrived in 1982 to begin the KCF. Over the years he gave his support to Bickle when others were skeptical. Beginning in 1984 he became concerned about reports of some of the teachings and practices he was hearing about. This led to a series of meetings with the KCF leaders that culminated in the controversy of this last year and publishing the "Documentation of the Aberrant Practices and Teachings of Kansas City Fellowship (Grace Ministries)." (Hereafter "Doc."
Mike Bickle, pastor of the Kansas City Fellowship. Bickle claims to have founded the KCF as a direct result of divine revelation. This is traced to the prophecy of a man named Augustine who told Bickle that God was going to raise up a mighty work in Kansas City that would be characterized by a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit. During this time thousands of young people would be attracted, the rise of false prophets who would seek to destroy it, and the development of resistance would come from many. Bickle claims that he heard God speak to him in an audible voice while he was in Cairo, Egypt, in September 1982. God called him to "raise up a work that will touch the ends of the earth." Bickle had been pastoring a church in St. Louis that was tied in with the house church movement in England, a product of the restorationist movement. By November, Bickle began meeting with men around the clock to pray for the new church. On December 5 the Kansas City Fellowship began meeting and has grown to a congregation of over 3,000. In the last few years they have closely networked with not only the Vineyard churches, but also Rick Joyner of MorningStar Ministries, Francis Frangipane and Reuben Doron of River of Life Ministries, as well as Larry Tomzcak and C. J. Mahaney of the People of Destiny. In May 1989 Bickle approached Wimber to join the Association of Vineyard Churches. This came to completion in May 1990. In October 1990 the KCF changed their name to Metro Vineyard.
In 1986 the leadership of the KCF organized the Grace Ministries Church Planting Team to plant churches and committed "to seeing the church fully restored to the glory described in God's Word." There are seven aspects to the overall vision of Grace Ministries: 1) Apostolic Teams, 2) City Churches, 3) The House of Prayer, 4) The Joseph Company, 5) The Israel Mandate, 6) A Ministry Training Center, and 7) Shiloh Ministries.
Bob Jones, is clearly one of the most controversial figures in the KCF. In the document produced by the FFCLW there is documentation that he "has been a spiritual tutor and confirming "guide" to Mike Bickle and Kansas City Fellowship's leadership." Our sources in Kansas City say that Jones was a paid staff member at KCF until at least this last year. However, this was denied by the staff members we interviewed at KCF.
Jones' history, by normal Christian standards, is bizarre to say the least. When he was nine years old an angel announced to him God's calling. When he was 13 the Lord spoke his name while he was walking past a cane field and reaffirmed the calling. Again when he was 15 the Lord visited him. After years of spiritual rebellion, brawling, and alcoholism, he was admitted to the VA hospital in Topeka where he was told he would remain the rest of his life. Nine days later a demon allegedly appeared to him with a list of 12 people responsible for his mistreatment and told him to kill them. According to Jones, he turned to God who audibly spoke to him and told him to forgive them. The next day he was miraculously healed and released from the hospital.
"He went from seeing demons regularly (" . . .I didn't have trouble seeing the devils at all . . . I knew the devils real good when I drank -used to party with 'em out in the beer joints . . .") to suddenly seeing angels regularly and having strange nightly visions and out-of-body experiences. Both Jones and Bickle estimate that "Bob normally gets 5 to 10 visions a night, maybe sees angels 10 to 15 times a week," and has done so since 1974. If accurate, this translates to 27,375-54,750 visions in addition to 7,800-11,700 angelic visitations thrown in for good measure." (Doc.: 10)
When we questioned the KCF pastors about this they sought to downplay these figures. They stated that no such statement was made by Jones and was at best a gross exaggeration. However, the figures for the dreams were published in an article on Jones in the Grace City Report Special Edition. Jones' life is marked by out-of-body experiences, near death experiences, dreams, visions, angelic visitations, and healings. More such supernatural events occur within his life in a year than are mentioned in the entire Bible!
Information on the background of John Wimber and Paul Cain can be found in Biblical Perspectives Vol. III. Nos. 3 & 4.
I will place my comments within the context of this article which i find to be quite thorough. In the New Age Movement this numbers of Jone's "spiritual experiences" would be the norm for a guru or a swami or any spiritual leader.
The Course of the Controversy
1. During the late 1980's a series of meetings took place between the leaders of the KCF and FFCLW to discuss the many reports of false prophecies and strange practices at the KCF.
2. February 1989: The last meeting occurred at which time the KCF leaders believed the differences had been cleared up.
3. October 17, 1989: Gruen sent a letter to KCF member Ray Thompson. Gruen stated that the differences were cleared up and the two congregations had come together in brokenness and humility. This seemed to end it for the KCF and they expressed surprise over the message Gruen preached in January. However, after the October incident, sources at Gruen's church state that several more incidents involving false prophecies and strange teachings surfaced. Gruen no longer believed it was in the best interests of the church to keep silent.
4. January 21, 1990: Gruen preached a message entitled "Do We Keep On Smiling And Say Nothing?" in which he leveled several serious charges and accusations against the KCF.
5. Bickle responded with an open letter dated Jan. 29, 1990 claiming the accusations were based on a confusion of facts and wrong information.
6. April 1990: Paul Cain and John Wimber met with Gruen and his staff in an attempt to resolve the differences.
7. May 1990: Gruen publishes a 233 page document entitled "Documentation of the Aberrant Practices and Teachings of Kansas City Fellowship (Grace Ministries)". This document contained additional charges to those in the sermon with accompanying documentation including statements from transcripts of KCF teaching, letters, and personal testimonies. The resultant distribution of this brought the controversy into national prominence.
8. June 12-14, 1990: Jack Deere met with Gruen and his staff to evaluate their charges and seek reconciliation.
9. June 28, 1990: Paul Cain, Jack Deere, and John Wimber presented their response to Gruen. Gruen agreed to stop the attacks on KCF and to cease distribution of the document after July 31, 1990. He also agreed to distribute a letter outlining the points that he felt they had either overstated or reported inaccurately. The majority of these concessions had to do with the ministry of Paul Cain.
10. June 28, 1990: John Wimber and Mike Bickle make a public statement of repentance at the Kansas City Fellowship.
11. Fall 1990: Vineyard Ministries published an issue of Equipping the Saints that contained a response to the charges by John Wimber, an interview with Paul Cain, and a brief article on some of the changes that have taken place at the KCF (Metro Vineyard).
In that any leadership of any associated ministry found that abberant practices or teaching took place repeatedly is a sign that heresy or error at the very least was entering the church.
Strange teachings, i.e., Bob Jones use of the Shepherd's Rod ceremony and the idea that New Testament prophets are fallible.
Documentation of occult type activities such as the promotion of out of body experiences.
Documentation of institutional and psychological harm to people as a result of words allegedly coming from God.
Various false doctrines that are documented include an "elected seed generation" theology to promote their uniqueness.
A "new order" doctrine which teaches that the new order following the pattern of Samuel will replace the old order after the pattern of Eli.
Dominion theology is a strong element.
They deny this, but it is clear from our conversations with them that they do not understand Dominion Theology. They know it is controversial so they want to deny any association.
Doctrine about seeking new revelation from God including seeking dreams, visions, communication with angels, the dead, and out-of body experiences. somewhere in the New testament i thought there was a reference about taking a stand on ministry of doctrine based on dreams visions and what not. Regardless if doctrine is not scripturally based is is not SOUND DOCTRINE. Scripture taken out of context with out applied exegesis and hermeneutic research is falible and risky at best possibly missleading and heretical at worst.
Doctrine about the restoration of the gift of Apostles and Prophets, and that hundreds of these will be trained at KCF. Further a number of ethical compromises are documented including Bickle's teaching against his charismatic brethren and then actively seeking their support.
Inconsistency in his support of Bob Jones, depending on how the groups he is addressing views Bob Jones, as well as not keeping financial promises.
This is only a short summary of the various charges brought against KCF. Numerous pages of quotations, testimonies, and letters from first hand witnesses support the allegations. A large majority of the charges, but by no means all, relate to the ministry of Bob Jones.
In light of both the seriousness of the charges and the large amount of evidence supporting them, it would be reasonable to expect that when the KCF leaders issued a statement of correction and repentance that this would include point by point refutation of the charges. As we will see, they only admitted wrong doing in a few minor instances or in very general terms. However, by finding a few errors and some minor discrepancies in the documentation, and emphasizing those in detail, KCF has tried to convey the impression that most of the charges were either unfounded, misunderstandings, differences in opinion, or based on speculation.
The Resolution and Repentance
On June 28, 1990, in a meeting between Bickle, Cain, Wimber, Gruen, and members of his staff a truce was called. It is important to recognize that it was not a reconciliation. Paraphrasing Wimber, most of the key issues were not resolved, Gruen and his staff remained unshaken in their conviction that Mike Bickle is a deceiver of the brethren, that Bob Jones operates out of occult power, and that many teachings and ministries that come out of KCF are indeed suspect. However, Gruen and his staff were willing to remove themselves from the controversy and turn the problems over to the leadership of the Vineyard churches. In my opinion, to ask the Vineyard to police the problem was asking the fox to protect the hen house.
After the truce was called, the Vineyard publicly rebuked Bickle and the KCF leadership for various practices which they found not to be in order. In Wimber's introduction he stated his firm conviction that elders found in sin were to be publicly rebuked (1 Tim. 5:19,20). Wimber emphasized that the Vineyard had begun to investigate several things about the KCF even before Gruen's document in view of Bickle's request to join the Association of Vineyard Churches. He says that they discovered only a few of the problems pointed out by Gruen, but they found others. Wimber stated that with the exception of the "city church" doctrine (that God only intended one church per city and KCF was it for Kansas City) he found nothing reprehensible in what was taught at the KCF. He found only sins of omission and no sins of commission. Bickle then read a prepared statement repenting from a few of the things pointed out by Gruen as well as admitting to and repenting of the errors brought to light by the Vineyard. The outline of his repentance follows (Tape: Public Discipline of Mike Bickle).
I. Charges the Vineyard found to be true or partially true.
A. An exaggeration in reporting the fulfillment of prophecies to enhance their ministry.
1. This involved the reporting in 1986 of a drought during the summer of 1983. Bickle reported this prophecy made by Bob Jones. For various reasons Bickle misrepresented some times and dates. On closer examination the three month drought did occur.
2. Admission to errors concerning the reporting of a prophecy made by Bob Jones concerning the death of some people at a former church. Bickle admitted that some of the facts he related were exaggeration, but for the most part the prophecy was accurate.
B. KCF has released unguarded and unnuanced statements regarding their role in last days ministry that has provoked other churches in the Kansas City area. Bickle admitted that making these statements was an act of pride and inadvertently developed an attitude of elitism among some of the people.
C. KCF was guilty of exalting the prophetic ministry.
D. The prophetic ministry has been guilty of releasing a number of inaccurate prophecies.
II. Areas discovered by the KCF and Vineyard before Gruen's Document
A. A lack of accountability for prophecies that don't come true or bear witness of the person receiving it. Bickle stated that some of their prophets had given a word and the person did not receive it.
B. The releasing of men to minister publicly in a teaching format who are not qualified as teachers.
C. The attempt by some prophetic ministries to establish doctrine or to establish practice by revelation alone apart from clear Biblical support.
D. Dogmatic assertions in the deliverance of the prophetic word.
E. On several occasions they gave negative statements about people in public instead of private settings.
F. Predictions in the area of babies or marriages except in the case of barrenness.
G. The prophetic ministry has given direction to staff members without going to the person in authority over them.
J. The use of prophetic gifting for controlling purposes.
K. Using types and shadows to establish doctrines.
L. Teaching or implying that KCF and the Vineyard are an elite group or that we are leaders of a new elite group that are about to be revealed by God. This has had the impact of creating an elite spirit.
M. Using jargon that reflects the teaching of groups we don't want to be aligned with, i.e., Manifest Sons of God or Latter Rain.
N. Calling John Wimber or others apostles or prophets instead of apostolic leadership or prophetic ministry. John Wimber is adamant about not being called an apostle.
In the Fall 1990 issue of Equipping the Saints Wimber wrote a response to the charges. In that article he freely admits to some problems at KCF and gives a more detailed response to some of the other charges. He admits to problems of exaggeration. However, he cites only the drought prophecy as an example of alleged fabrication and shows that Bickle mistakenly reported the facts. The true facts he said still verify the prophecy.
He then refutes one example of ethical compromise in the charge that Bickle failed to uphold a financial commitment. His evidence appears to exonerate Bickle of this charge. Regarding charges that KCF tried to take over two congregations, he gives evidence that they willingly joined KCF. However Gruen documented other cases, i.e., the prophecy over the Word of Life Christian Fellowship, which was ignored in the Vineyard response. Regarding the testimonies of disgruntled people and the testimony from a psychologist, Wimber correctly argues that this sort of evidence is weak. They could produce an equal number of testimonies and psychologists reports that support them. Wimber also rejects Gruen's charges that the children at KCF's Dominion Christian School are manipulated. Unfortunately he focuses on statements by Gruen that the education level is below par. This was not the thrust of Gruen's statements. By shifting the focus, Wimber neatly sidesteps the charge.
Evaluation of the Repentance
At first glance this response by the Vineyard/KCF to the charges may indicate to some that they are honestly attempting to grapple with the problems and to correct the abuses and aberrations in their ministry. It seems to me that to respond is such a favorable manner is exactly what they desire. A closer examination of what has taken place however, reveals that little changed except that the Vineyard was able to manipulate Gruen's church out of the battle.
Before focusing on some of the questionable statements here, let me first recognize that Gruen and his staff did admit to some mistakes, but these were minor. They continue to affirm 90% of the charges and believe the documentation to be accurate. In their response to the charges the Vineyard and KCF overlook the vast majority of the charges. Those they do attempt to answer are answered in what appears to me to be a vague and misleading fashion.
For example, in the repentance statement read by Bickle he stated the KCF was guilty of releasing unguarded and unnuanced statements regarding the role of KCF in the last days ministry. Notice, there is no retraction of the teaching, but only a recognition that stating it the way they did fostered a spirit of elitism. One glaring omission in the entire statement is the repentance of any of the doctrines which they hold. In effect they say that they were stated in inappropriate ways. Nevertheless they still hold to and propagate those false teachings.
The fourth statement, that KCF was guilty of releasing false prophecies sounds great, but means nothing. Since KCF and the Vineyard believe that New Testament prophets not only do not need to be 100% accurate, but will be wrong much of the time, they will always be guilty of releasing false prophecies.
When all is examined the statements made by Wimber and Bickle are woefully inadequate. Because of the way they understand the gift of prophecy and the operation of the Spirit of God, it was a foregone conclusion that they could not come to terms with Gruen's charges. Their attempt to put out the fire was masterful. It has been my experience in dealing with their leaders that they will do anything to articulate their beliefs in ways that appeal to whoever their audience is. If a person comes from a charismatic background they will talk about the baptism of the Holy Spirit as a post salvation experience. When talking to a non-charismatic they will agree that it can occur at salvation (Todd Hunter, Workshop on Spiritual Gifts, Spiritual Warfare Conference, Jan. 1989, Anaheim CA). In fact, they believe both! In reality it seems to me they believe anything as long as they can avoid controversy. This is what makes them so dangerous and so deceptive. Even they admit they are always in a process of flux. Anytime they hold to a doctrine or practice that becomes divisive it seems to me they retreat, repackage, and reteach.
If this writer is correct and the "mother church of Bickle's who endorsed and or founded KCF was not exactly repentant then what Gruen did and by ecclesiatical right was to enact Church Discipline.(Mat 18:15 And if thy brother sin against thee, go, show him his fault between thee and him alone: if he hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.
Mat 18:16 But if he hear thee not, take with thee one or two more, that at the mouth of two witnesses or three every word may be established.
Mat 18:17 And if he refuse to hear them, tell it unto the church: and if he refuse to hear the church also, let him be unto thee as the Gentile and the publican.
In my humble opinion this is what Gruen should have done to begin with but like most founding churches there is a reluctance to part with a ministry that hasd come from ones midst.
Has the KCF really repented and denounced their error? A number of Charismatic and Pentecostal leaders remain skeptical. Jewel van der Merwe, wife of an Assembly of God pastor, has followed the conflict from the beginning and does not see any change. "I do know that the tapes are continuing to be churned out and the same scary stuff I was hearing eighteen months ago, I am still hearing with even more boldness." (Discernment, April 8, 1991) Charismatic leader, Derek Prince, in a statement issued after the "repentance" said, "a mere change of label or of leadership, by itself, is not sufficient" to correct the "occult element." Prince added that "the material circulated by KCF contains many statements which have no basis in Scripture and are frequently contrary to Scripture." He calls some of the revelations "absurd and even blasphemous," and warns that "much of the material is permeated by what I consider to be occult influence." (Quoted in Discernment) While the KCF may have changed some terminology and become more discreet in their packing, the heart of the KCF message remains the same.
If then these people are correct, and as i did not do the long hours of listening to their media and sifting through their doctrine i cannot say for certain, then they remain unrepentant even after church disciplen and moreover are going to lengths to conceal the fact which tells me that at some level that they know they are wrong and are no longer to be considerd of the bretheren but rather anathema maranatha. I am no true fan of Derek Prince whose teachings i believe i have had cause to question but if in fact even he is condemning the teaching then perhaps there is some pause to consider well their doctrine. 1Ti 6:3 If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness;
1Ti 6:4 He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings,
1Ti 6:5 Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.
The New Testament Gift of Prophecy
At the very root of this controversy lies the issue of continuing revelation. Interestingly enough both opponents believe in the continuation of revelation and the continuation of the gifts and/or office of apostle. Clear Biblical answers to these questions are imperative. It should be obvious to all but the most superficial thinker that differing or opposing answers to these questions must ultimately lead to two radically different types of Christianity. In the past years there has been much effort to gloss over the differences between those who accept the continuation of these gifts and those who do not. While I am not at all suggesting that the answer to this question will determine a person's eternal destiny, I am suggesting that the answer to this question will inevitably lead to two completely different and irreconcilable approaches to the Christian life. How a Christian is to respond to tests or problems, how they are to seek guidance and make decisions, how they view the sufficiency of the Scripture, and how they interpret their experiences or empirical data are just some of the areas affected. If we understand this, then we should not be surprised when we discover that the more emphasis a group place on these gifts and their restoration, the more their doctrinal error and strange unbiblical practices.
As I write this I realize that many of our readers hold to a moderate charismatic position. While you may not agree with my conclusions, I hope to raise some questions that may help you think more clearly about these issues.
What is New Testament Prophecy?
I remember studying the spiritual gifts as a young pastor and discovering the wide array of definitions given for the New Testament gift of prophecy. There seems to be little consensus about the nature of NT prophecy. Some teach that it was an ecstatic gift of revelation, some that it was non-ecstatic, some emphasize the two aspects of foretelling and forthtelling. Those in this latter group will often say that in the OT and apostolic period the foretelling aspect was dominant, but now the forthtelling aspect is dominant. They thus equate prophecy with proclamation, i.e., strong preaching.
In the midst of this confusion a new view has come in to prominence, espoused by Wayne Grudem, professor of NT Greek at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He argues that the NT apostles were the functional equivalent of the OT prophets. They were in authority over the NT prophets. This, he suggests, indicates that NT prophecy is something less than OT prophecy. It consists of impressions which God gives the individual. Since the individual may misunderstand or misinterpret these impressions NT prophecy is open to error and is not required to meet the 100% accuracy demand of the OT. This view underlies much of the thinking about prophecy in the Vineyard Movement.
In view of the proliferation of definitions we must turn to the Scripture, our only source of Light. There we are not left with confusion about the definition of prophecy. Since prophecy is a form of revelation (a point that will become clear) we must first understand some things about revelation.
The basic question we are dealing with here is: does God continue to speak to His people today in the same ways that He did during the period of the Old and New Testaments? First, the Bible speaks of two types of revelation. The first is usually referred to as general revelation. General revelation refers to God's non-verbal communication through the means of natural phenomena (cf. Ps. 19:1; Rom. 1:19, 20). All that can be derived from general revelation is general information, but the Bible states that it is enough to convict the unbeliever for his rejection of God (Rom. 1:18-31).
The second type of revelation is usually referred to as special revelation. Special revelation refers to the direct intervention by God in the normal course of creation to communicate specific information to man. Both the source and the mode of special revelation are supernatural. It is also verbal. And, most significantly, it is always inerrant because its source is God "who cannot lie" (Titus 1:2). An examination of Scripture shows that God used a variety of means to communicate to men: dreams and visions (Gen. 28:10-17; 37:5-11; Ezek. 1, 2; Matt. 1:20; 2:13, 19; Acts 10:10-16); personal appearance (Gen. 15:17, 18); angels (Dan. 8:15-26; 9:20-27); audible voice (Jn 12:28); the inspiration of the writers of Scripture (2 Pet. 1:20, 21; 2 Sam. 23:2).
From this we see that the Scripture teaches that special revelation is the inerrant, verbal, and supernatural communication by God to men by means of the inspired Scripture, audible voices, angelic appearance, personal appearance, dreams and visions.
We must also note that not all special revelation was inscripturated. One of the points often raised in the contemporary debate over prophecy is its relationship to Scripture. As in the KCF controversy, advocates of the contemporary use of prophetic announcement are often quick to point out that it is not to be accepted on par with Scripture. They miss or ignore the point that all special revelation, whether or not it is inscripturated has equal authority because its source is the Almighty God of the universe.
<em> Source will always be the issue. WHen we open our mouths and speak from a source beyond our own souls we are going to a source outside our selves and there are only two. The Almighty Omipotent Omniscient Omnipresent Lord of all and that which is not God Almighty. We could say the Deciever the Accuser The Father of Lies The Dragon the Serpent of Old Lucifer by name or Satan. He and or his minions are the only other source but two names among the many will stand out clearly. Prince of the Power of the air and Ruler or god of this world.(Eph_2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: and Joh_14:30 Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince (ruler) of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me. and 2Co_4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of the which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.) Thus source is everything.</em>
And since the source of all revelation and all prophecy is the Almighty, Veracious God all prophecy must be 100% accurate. In Deuteronomy 18:9-22 three tests for prophecy were given: first, a true prophet did not use omens, divination, or any of the means of foretelling used by the pagan fortunetellers; second, they never spoke in the name of other gods or taught that which contradicted the Word of God; third, what they predicted always comes to pass. This third criteria is very important, from it we learn that whatever else prophecy may do in terms of edification, encouraging, or exhorting (1 Cor. 14:3), the critical element of prophecy that distinguishes it from all other gifts is the predictive element. Prophecy then may be defined as the reception of special revelation and its communication to man. In its doctrine it does not contradict the Scripture and in its predictions it is always accurate, both generally and in specifics.
Is the New Testament Gift of Prophecy a Permanent Gift?
The answer to this again must be grounded in the Bible. Ephesians 2:20 states that the church is built upon the "foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone." Three elements are present in the construction of the church. First, the cornerstone Jesus Christ, came once in history. He does not need to come in every generation like some Hindu avatar. He came once! Just as a building has only one cornerstone, there is only one Christ. The second element is the foundation. There is only one foundation for a building, once laid it is not repeated. Prophets and apostles clearly served their function in the early church in the giving of revelation which laid the foundation for the church. Once the giving of the Scripture was complete and God's instruction to man was complete then prophets and apostles, in terms of their role as mediators of revelation were no longer needed.
That Scripture is complete must be the conclusion drawn from passages like 2 Tim. 3:16, 17 which states that by the Scriptures every Christian may be completely outfitted and prepared for every good work. This means that it is not necessary from God's viewpoint to say anything more in addition to what He has said because what He has said is enough. This is backed up by 2 Peter 1:3, 4 which states: "that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness . . . For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises in order that by them you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust." It is clear from these passages that the sufficiency of Scripture is inseparably linked with the cessation of revelation. God has ceased giving new revelation because what He has said is enough.
Historically, the Christian church has always linked these two doctrines. Vineyard people clearly see the linkage. In an interview published in an Anglican church magazine, Wimber and Deere admitted to rejecting the sufficiency of Scripture because they realize that you cannot hold to a continuation of revelation in prophecy, words of knowledge, or revelation and other direct forms of Divine communication and the sufficiency of Scripture at the same time.
This clearly indicates that the NT envisioned a time when the gifts associated with special revelation would cease. Some question this teaching saying that all the gifts were to continue. It is at the very least clear that the gift and office of apostle was temporary and died with the last apostle. This is supported for three reasons. First, apostles had unique qualifications (Acts 1:22; 1 Cor. 9:11; 2 Cor. 12:12). They were not only to have been commissioned by Christ, but had to have been witnesses of the resurrected Christ. Paul apparently believed he was the last to see the resurrected Jesus which implies that he was the last to meet the requirements for apostleship (1 Cor. 15:8, 9). Second, apostles possessed unique authority. It was the apostles who communicated the body of doctrine to the church. It was this deposit which saints are to contend for (Jude 8), and to remember the apostolic words (Jude 17), to remain faithful to the apostolic message (Hebrews 2:3, 4), and to guard the apostolic message (2 Tim. 1:14). Third, although Paul used the term "apostle" to refer to men other then the Twelve (Paul included), close study of the term indicates both a general usage for someone sent on a mission and a more technical use referring to the Twelve. Using words in both general and technical senses is not uncommon in either the Scriptures or everyday language. An examination of Paul's use of the term "apostle" in 1 Corinthians and Ephesians shows that he associated the gift with the office. In both books the term is regularly used for the formal office and it is clear that apostles are a limited group. Another line of evidence which confirms this is that Judas was replaced by Matthias at his death (Acts 1), but James was not replaced at his death (Acts 12) and neither were any of the other apostles replaced at their deaths.
Since at least one of the gifts was clearly temporary, it is not unlikely that both would also be temporary, since the other one in view is the other foundational gift-the gift of prophecy.
Conclusion
The development of conflict at the KCF is merely one of many examples of this sort of problem in the church today. This is exactly what we can expect when the sufficiency of Scripture is denied and the doctrines of man are introduced into the church. When the authority of the Word of God is replaced by the authority of inner impressions, thoughts, and feelings God's people will be left in bondage rather than in freedom. Jesus promised that we could have freedom only through obedience to His Word. When that word is merged with the words of man the result is the chains of religion, not the freedom of Christianity.
Distributed by www.worldviewweekend.com
That scripture is complete and that the true need for prophesy at all it concrete and conlusive. But a God who desire to fellowship with His people nontheless gives us this gift. There is a need for accountability to the scripture. If what is said doesnt line up to scripture it is to questioned and not feared.
The much publisized Lakeland FLorida revival had the same flavor it was reported as the Toronto Blessing And the Brownsville Revival. Though times of refreshing are needed and the thought of grace filled living in Christ where in all things dome stem from the knowledge of complete forgiveness still and all a vigilance needs to be paid to the continuance in The Faith. To walk according to the Spirit in the scriptural definition of the Word. I believe these leaders may have strayed in their walk and perpetuated something else on the public.
All of this belongs to the Ecstatic Experience or worship. If not seriously grounded in the word and the "mystic" does not mortify the flesh and seek the Lord beyond the experience no matter how wonderful then the stagnancy of the experience becomes its own death trap and while the "cloud" moves on and the Ecstatic or Mystic or Contemplative does not rest assured there is another who will happily come right on in and the madness of desception will commence. This os the problem today that to many are jumping in to service of ministry and teaching and pastorship and all this without real grounding in scripture and they get what they believe to be a revelation and run with it straight into possible delusion.
Bentley and KCF
Wikipedia
Theology
Bentley highlights scriptural passages in his sermons. He emphasizes that spiritual or supernatural encounters in an individual's life are gifts from the Holy Spirit. He has stated that his priority is to help people experience the presence of God. He wants the "Holy Spirit to manifest His glory in such a way that people can't deny the presence of a living God and they have a true born-again experience". He also says: "Miracles and healings are evidence ... they are signs of the Kingdom, and if we don't have signs then all we have is a bunch of theology."
Bentley's testimony includes an account of visiting Heaven and meeting with Paul the Apostle. He has also preached about an encounter with an angel he called 'Emma' at an Assemblies of God church in 2001. The female angel gave him a vision of gold coins, and Bentley states this was a sign of his future financial stability. In response to criticism about the Biblical inspiration of a female angel, Bentley wrote that it was God's choice, and not his own, that an angel appeared to him in that manner.
Pastor Strader of Ignited Church who invited Bentley to Lakeland said: "We watch over everything. Everything that happens on the platform is scriptural ... The nightly message has been totally 100 percent nothing but Jesus. People are saved, people are healed, and Jesus is being glorified. ... Even some of my so-called friends are questioning my integrity, but they never come to the services. It's not fair just to watch [them] on TV."
Joel's Army
Bentley has sponsored an internship program called 'Joel's Army' in addition to having the words "Joel's Army" tattooed across his sternum with military dog tags demonstrating a level of commitment to the Latter Rain doctrine of the Manifest Sons of God, (or Man-Child Generation) as preached by William M. Branham and George Warnock. The program's doctrine was associated to an interpretation of Revelation 12 that in the last age before Jesus returns, there will be a generation of especially endowed Christians who will be able to do many miracles, and will usher in the reign of God. This is in the tradition of William M. Branham and the healing revivals of the 50s, overlapping with Latter Rain Movement theology. Bentley's association with Paul Cain, an associate of Branham and himself a healing evangelist of the 50s, is a further connection to the movement. Joel's Army has been connected to Dominion Theology and Fivefold ministry thinking, and has been described as a "rapidly growing apocalyptic movement" prophesied to become an "Armageddon-ready military force of young people with a divine mandate to physically impose Christian "dominion" on non-believers.
Someones past even with a criminal record is the old man and unless they are back in it as being a New Creature in Christ to me it is irrevelant but to say simply Bentley did have quite the past and because of it sadly a criminal record. A minister's appearance may be understood by various people in differing ways albeit accord to law tattos and piercings after salvation would be considered probihited for while we are under grace and now law the law is not done away with therefore the grace is given to lawful not only to what God wants but also the laws of the land as long as it doesnt interfere with scripture. (If the law of the land requires the Mark of the Beast, you might want to reconsider lawfulness to that...) still and all who knows but God what truly prompts a minister's appearance, so while again it is "interesting" again I dont believe it important enough to be made a big deal of. What he teaches, his beliefs, how he interprets scripture IS EXTEREMELY important.
However I will comment on this..."Bentley was criticized in mainstream media and on internet blogs for occasional violence done to participants, in the tradition of Smith Wigglesworth. Todd Bentley was known to forcefully kick, hit, smack or knock over participants. In one incident, a man was knocked over and lost a tooth. In another, an elderly woman was intentionally kicked in the face. Bentley held that the Holy Spirit led him to such actions, saying that those incidents were taken out of context and adding that miracles were happening simultaneously."
Because I have read and admire the work of Smith Wigglesworth and believe this to give him a bad name. Smith felt he was punching the devil and if someone (the person being ministered to ) got in the way, well... But Smith was a man of prayer and much scriptual reading and I dont read where any damage AT ALL was done to the individual but rather stunning remarkable healing and or deliverance. No one fell and lost a tooth. Certainly Wiggleworth would not have kicked anyone either.
However it is ties to Dominion Theology that are most alarming to me. Also he was according to Wikipedia assosciated withs Paul Cain who is one of the Kansas City Prophets. His ties to Manifest sons of God or the manchild generation and Joel's Army are equally alarming for there are fundemental scriptural interpretations and doctrinal issues frought in it.
Of Paul Cain's affiliations to The Kansas City Prophets Wikipedia records. "Beginning in 1987 he was associated with the Kansas City Prophets, and shortly afterwards with the ministry of John Wimber. By the time Cain resurfaced the landscape had dramatically changed. Most of the other healing revivalists had disappeared from the scene. Some older ministers such as William Branham (who Paul Cain referred to as the "greatest prophet who ever lived in this century") and A. A. Allen had died or had moved into retirement like Oral Roberts" Thus association with Paul Cain places Bentley in contact with The Kansas City Prophets ministries as well.
I went to http://www.freshfireusa.com and looked over their statement of faith missions statement and such as was available there. I dont see anything off in the website i have visited but rather that he is a healing ministry and applaud that he care to champion the rescue of those involved in sex trafficing. His divorce and subsequent remarriage may be a questionable move but only God knows why the previous marriage ended and the current one began. The Kansas City Prophets or at least Bentley are supporters of the teachings of William Branham.
I looked him up on Wikipedia and not interesting myself with the man went to look at what he taught.
Wikipedia
"Branham rejected the traditional understanding of the Trinity as three distinct, co-eternal Persons and taught what he called “the Supreme Deity of Jesus Christ”. At times he referred to the Holy Spirit as the third person of the Trinity while explaining that God revealed Himself in three “offices or manifestations”. He used the example of an actor who plays several roles by changing his mask, and that of a father, husband and grandfather being the same person. There is only one God with three titles: Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Therefore water baptism, which he said should be by immersion, was performed in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and not using the Trinitarian formula of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Although Branham spoke about the "oneness of the Godhead", he disagreed with the Oneness Pentecostalism view.
Referring to the Council of Nicaea in A.D. 325, William Branham wrote:
“Ever since then people have failed to realize that there is just one God with three offices or manifestations. They know there is one God according to Scripture, but they try to make it the fantastic theory that God is like a bunch of grapes; three persons with the same Divinity shared equally by all. But it plainly says here in Revelation that Jesus is "That Which Is", "That Which Was", and "That Which Is to Come". He is the "Alpha and Omega", which means that He is the "A to Z" or THE ALL OF IT. He is everything—the Almighty. He is the Rose of Sharon, the Lily of the Valley, the Bright and Morning Star, the Righteous Branch, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. He is God, Almighty God. ONE GOD."
I'm sorry but this is the teaching of modalism.
Modalism http://www.theopedia.com
Modalism, also called Sabellianism, is the unorthodox belief that God is one person who has revealed himself in three forms or modes in contrast to the Trinitarian doctrine where God is one being eternally existing in three persons. According to Modalism, during the incarnation, Jesus was simply God acting in one mode or role, and the Holy Spirit at Pentecost was God acting in a different mode. Thus, God does not exist as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit at the same time. Rather, He is one person and has merely manifested himself in these three modes at various times. Modalism thus denies the basic distinctiveness and coexistence of the three persons of the Trinity.
Modalism was condemned by Tertullian (c. 213, Tertullian Against Praxeas 1, in Ante Nicene Fathers, vol. 3). Also known as Sabellianism, it was condemned as heresy by Dionysius, bishop of Rome (c. 262).
Modalism is probably the most common theological error concerning the nature of God (i.e., who God is). "Present day groups that hold to forms of this error are the United Pentecostal and United Apostolic Churches. They deny the Trinity, teach that the name of God is Jesus... modalist churches often accuse Trinitarians of teaching three gods. This is not what the Trinity is. The correct teaching of the Trinity is one God in three eternal coexistent persons: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit."
Now while this may seem tame to you it is truly outragious because to misunderstand the Godhead is a serious misstep that can lead to other doctrinal missunderstandings.
It is however intersting to note that according to wikipedia Branham is considered a founderof the televangelistic faith preacher movement whose names include Oral Roberts, Jack Coe, A.A.Allen.
Jack Coe
a healing evangelist
Wikipedia records no doctrinal issues per se but he did teach that folks that were healed needed to stop taking their medications and not go see their doctors.
I find this to be a dangerous thinking and it removes the glory from God for if indeed the person is divinely healed and goes to get confirmation from the physicians a genuine healing should be very manifest and room for God to be glorified and even witnesses about can come and who knows who might be saved. As to the medication, even with a divine healing some medication should be weaned off of as other side effects of dropping cold turkey can result. Only where someone truly knows and is told themselves by God to leave off the medication should it be attempted. The greater culmination falls though to the arrogance of presumptiveness and or error.
"Coe taught and preached fervently on divine healing, claiming to have healed visitors to his revivals. In a 1955 revival service in Miami, Florida Coe told the parents of a three year old boy that he healed their son who had polio. Coe then told the parents to remove the boy's leg braces. However, their son was not cured of polio and removing the braces left the boy in constant pain. As a result, Coe was arrested and charged on February 6, 1956 with practicing medicine without a license, a felony in the state of Florida. A Florida judge dismissed the case on grounds that Florida exempts divine healing from the law.
note please the law of the land did not give redress to the error.
Death
In November, just months after the charges were dismissed, Coe became sick while in Hot Springs, Arkansas. He then went back to Texas undergoing a tracheotomy to help his breathing since his muscles were paralyzed. He was diagnosed with bulbar polio, and died a few weeks later at Dallas Parkland Hospital on December 17, 1956"
Polio now cured through vaccine is a bacterialogical infection that comes from feces and the extreme humid summer heat. Kids caught it more than adults so what were the chances of this happening to Coe?
A.A.Allen
i looked him up on wikipedia also and note that he seems to be the first person to call poverty a spirit. He was among those who integrated blacks into the ministry at a time when desegregation was not all that popular. He was a healing vangelist.
It is on the labors of such men that chaismatic ministry took its place in the church scene of the twentieth century
Oral Roberts
Wikipedia
Granville "Oral" Roberts (January 24, 1918 – December 15, 2009) was an American Methodist-Pentecostal televangelist and a Christian charismatic. He founded the Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association and Oral Roberts University.
As one of the most well-known and controversial American religious leaders of the 20th century, Roberts preached a form of Christianity he called seed-faith. His ministries reached millions of followers worldwide spanning a period of over six decades. His healing ministry and bringing American Pentecostalism into the mainstream had the most impact, but he also pioneered TV evangelism and laid the foundations of the prosperity gospel and abundant life teachings.
In the time that I knew the Oral Roberts ministries I will confirm there was a heavy emphasis on Seed Faith and on Faith in general not just for healing of body but of mind and spirit as well as of wallet. It would appear Roberts builts upon the work of Coe and Allen as I believe he too saw poverty as a spirit. It may be that in ROberts the "seed" of the Prosperity Movement and Gospel were sown.
But is Roberts sowed the seed Copeland watered it generously.
Wikipedia
Kenneth Copeland (born December 6, 1936 in Lubbock, Texas) is an American author, former musician, public speaker, and televangelist. He is the founder of Kenneth Copeland Ministries and is an advocate of “prosperity gospel". According to his ministry, believers can become prosperous through tithing, giving offerings and using faith, and using sound financial practices.
Again in the years I have watched the Copeland ministries I have watched the same lavish lifestyle and demand of faith for prosperity.
Wikipedia shows us the connection...
Following his religious conversion, Copeland turned the rest of his life over to the gospel and ministry work. In the 1960s, he was a pilot and chauffeur for Oral Roberts. In the fall of 1967, he enrolled in Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
He worked for Oral Roberts and was educated at ORU. This is why his preaching is a lot like Roberts. I do know they were advocates of wise control of finance and that tithe seeded opened doors to financial miracles.
While Copeland watered the Roberts legacy Kennith Hagin added a few twists all his own. He was also a proponent of the Prosperity movement.
In all these profiles I am not so much looking at the man as at the teachings or theological leanings. Men on the ministy scene come and go and they make great strides of virtue or fantastic mistakes. In the heyday they are talked about oggled gasped at marveled followed and have edifices and whole plots of land under their particular minsterial names. But for all their greateness or meaness they (until the day of Christ) all have one thing in common... they die. Once they are dead they no more offend or bless the voice is silent in the grave but its the teachings and theological emphasis that becomes their legacy. This is what is contributed to the church and some person may sit under that particular brand of doctrine for a time and someday rise to proclaim it anew as the next "big thing" on the ministy scene. MOreover its the little church unsung unwritten about that then becomes the place where error if present makes it way into the "theoligic understanding" of the church system and God. These strands become major cables of iron, enough to hold many suspension bridges through the churches that latch onto them and re-teach them to their congregants. Moreover every error becomes a permanent part of the believers view of God changing that dynamic over time and who knows the consequences of unknown grievance to the Holy Spirit or the kindlement of Father's wrath through the Son? This is how the American Church community has come to the state it is in now. But unless the errors are clearly exposed and refuted how on earth can the churches so affected hope to recover themselves from the "snare of the fowler?"
The Kansas City Prophets built further on this synergistic faith ideal as synergism involves God innitiating in grace with man supplying from himself. Faith was one problem salvation based on a synergistic belief is in direct opposition to the scriptures that tell us we were dead before we were saved and last i understood it the dead are not synergistic to anything.(Eph_2:1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
Eph_2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
Col_2:13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;) Folks dead is dead... 'nuff said. However when you go into a synergistic salvation and faith then you also have to go into a synergistic thinking on other things as well.
When you go into prophecy though there is much more room for error.
Kennth Hagin
Wikipedia
Theology
The Statement of faith of Hagin's Rhema Bible Training Center is identical to that of the Assemblies of God and most other major Pentecostal denominations. (Rhema Bible Training Center Information Pamphlet; 16 Fundamental Truths of the Assemblies of God) Additionally, as mentioned above, some of Hagin's theological beliefs and teachings were similar to those of E.W. Kenyon. For example:
Physical Healing: It is always God's will that a believer be physically healed of any sickness or infirmity. (Luke 5:13; 1 Pet 2:24). Hagin based the belief of healing for all on the understanding that healing for the physical body was included in redemption. If redemption was available to all, then healing would also be available to all. (Word of Faith magazine, 6/90; 7/92; 8/92; 12/92, Kenneth Hagin, Redeemed from Poverty, Sickness and Death and Healing Belongs to Us).
Material Wealth: It is always God's will that every believer be 'financially blessed' through faith. Although Hagin emphasized that material prosperity was a redemptive blessing, he never taught that living by faith excluded hard work and wise business practices. In his later years he wrote a book entitled, "The Midas Touch" in which he wrote sharply and correctively about the so-called prosperity gospel and many of the extreme teachings that were being circulated under this heading. He warned the body of Christ of the dangers of greed and explained that the purpose of financial blessing is for the furtherance of the work of the gospel. (Kenneth Hagin, How God Taught Me About Prosperity and The Midas Touch).
Faith and Authority: Hagin believed that the believer through his position in Christ had authority over elements of this world and elements of the satanic world. By faith the believer can exercise the authority of God to change impossible situations into possibilities (Luke 1:371:37) (Mark 11:22-24). Faith, to Hagin, is a matter of belief in God's word which also entails a vocal expression of God's Will or confession thereof. According to Hagin, God has promised to answer believing prayer and respond positively to the believer's exercise of faith (Kenneth Hagin, I Believe in Visions, What Faith Is, Bible Faith; A Study Guide).
Salvation: Hagin claimed in several of his books that he physically died three times as a child. Each time he descended to hell but was brought back to life when a voice spoke. On the third trip to hell, Hagin claims to have asked Jesus for forgiveness and salvation. Crying, 'God! I belong to the church! I've been baptized in water' twice, to no avail, he cried out a third time. It is at that point, he claims, that he was saved and brought back to life a final time. Hagin goes on to say that his mother was praying so loud when he arrived back in his body that "traffic was lined up for two blocks on either side of our house!" After this dramatic experience, Hagin came to believe that church membership and water baptism were not sufficient to save but rather the 'new birth worked by the power of the Holy Spirit' in response to a personal confession of faith in the Lordship and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Even though it seems that this new birth could apparently be had even after death, it is only through that he was already 'coming back to life' that he was saved.' (ibid., Word of Faith magazine, 10/01, Kenneth Hagin, The New Birth; I Went to Hell).
Substitutionary Act: Hagin spoke of Jesus' death in substituionary terms. The doctrine of 'Substitution' as taught by Hagin differs widely from the same doctrine as taught by many other branches of Christianity. The normal theory of Substitutionary atonement is that the son Jesus paid our debts, previous, current and future to the Father within the Godhead. Hagin claimed that Jesus died as the substitute for all of humanity, as do most Christians (Bible, 2 Cor 5:14-15), but also believes that Jesus suffered the torments of hell for three days and that He 'defeated the devil', stripped him of all authority and was resurrected after being 'quickened in spirit' or 'born again'. Hagin held that those who received Christ were born again and shared in the benefits of Christ's resurrection and power through their identification with His death, burial and resurrection. (Kenneth Hagin,The Name of Jesus; The Triumphant Church).
Sacred Scriptures: Hagin's beliefs followed in the reformed tradition in that the Bible is viewed to be the literally true, inerrant word of God as written by men under the guidance of the Spirit of God. Although Hagin often spoke of the dramatic spiritual encounters he claimed to have had, he always insisted that faith was to be established upon the word of God alone and not upon the experiences of man. Many times in his ministry he made the statement, "Don't believe anything because I said it. Search the scriptures and prove it out for yourself" (Kenneth Hagin, How You Can Know the Will of God and The Believer's Authority).
Theology
The Statement of faith of Hagin's Rhema Bible Training Center is identical to that of the Assemblies of God and most other major Pentecostal denominations. (Rhema Bible Training Center Information Pamphlet; 16 Fundamental Truths of the Assemblies of God) Additionally, as mentioned above, some of Hagin's theological beliefs and teachings were similar to those of E.W. Kenyon. For example:
Physical Healing: It is always God's will that a believer be physically healed of any sickness or infirmity. (Luke 5:13; 1 Pet 2:24). Hagin based the belief of healing for all on the understanding that healing for the physical body was included in redemption. If redemption was available to all, then healing would also be available to all. (Word of Faith magazine, 6/90; 7/92; 8/92; 12/92, Kenneth Hagin, Redeemed from Poverty, Sickness and Death and Healing Belongs to Us).
Material Wealth: It is always God's will that every believer be 'financially blessed' through faith. Although Hagin emphasized that material prosperity was a redemptive blessing, he never taught that living by faith excluded hard work and wise business practices. In his later years he wrote a book entitled, "The Midas Touch" in which he wrote sharply and correctively about the so-called prosperity gospel and many of the extreme teachings that were being circulated under this heading. He warned the body of Christ of the dangers of greed and explained that the purpose of financial blessing is for the furtherance of the work of the gospel. (Kenneth Hagin, How God Taught Me About Prosperity and The Midas Touch).
Faith and Authority: Hagin believed that the believer through his position in Christ had authority over elements of this world and elements of the satanic world. By faith the believer can exercise the authority of God to change impossible situations into possibilities (Luke 1:371:37) (Mark 11:22-24). Faith, to Hagin, is a matter of belief in God's word which also entails a vocal expression of God's Will or confession thereof. According to Hagin, God has promised to answer believing prayer and respond positively to the believer's exercise of faith (Kenneth Hagin, I Believe in Visions, What Faith Is, Bible Faith; A Study Guide).
Salvation: Hagin claimed in several of his books that he physically died three times as a child. Each time he descended to hell but was brought back to life when a voice spoke. On the third trip to hell, Hagin claims to have asked Jesus for forgiveness and salvation. Crying, 'God! I belong to the church! I've been baptized in water' twice, to no avail, he cried out a third time. It is at that point, he claims, that he was saved and brought back to life a final time. Hagin goes on to say that his mother was praying so loud when he arrived back in his body that "traffic was lined up for two blocks on either side of our house!" After this dramatic experience, Hagin came to believe that church membership and water baptism were not sufficient to save but rather the 'new birth worked by the power of the Holy Spirit' in response to a personal confession of faith in the Lordship and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Even though it seems that this new birth could apparently be had even after death, it is only through that he was already 'coming back to life' that he was saved.' (ibid., Word of Faith magazine, 10/01, Kenneth Hagin, The New Birth; I Went to Hell).
Substitutionary Act: Hagin spoke of Jesus' death in substituionary terms. The doctrine of 'Substitution' as taught by Hagin differs widely from the same doctrine as taught by many other branches of Christianity. The normal theory of Substitutionary atonement is that the son Jesus paid our debts, previous, current and future to the Father within the Godhead. Hagin claimed that Jesus died as the substitute for all of humanity, as do most Christians (Bible, 2 Cor 5:14-15), but also believes that Jesus suffered the torments of hell for three days and that He 'defeated the devil', stripped him of all authority and was resurrected after being 'quickened in spirit' or 'born again'.<em> save for the concept of His being "born again" in ressurection for as Savior He needed not to be born again Himself, yet he does strip the Devil of his Kratos or donimion a thinking which is biblically sound.</em> Hagin held that those who received Christ were born again and shared in the benefits of Christ's resurrection and power through their identification with His death, burial and resurrection. (Kenneth Hagin,The Name of Jesus; The Triumphant Church).
Sacred Scriptures: Hagin's beliefs followed in the reformed tradition in that the Bible is viewed to be the literally true, inerrant word of God as written by men under the guidance of the Spirit of God. Although Hagin often spoke of the dramatic spiritual encounters he claimed to have had, he always insisted that faith was to be established upon the word of God alone and not upon the experiences of man. Many times in his ministry he made the statement, "Don't believe anything because I said it. Search the scriptures and prove it out for yourself" (Kenneth Hagin, How You Can Know the Will of God and The Believer's Authority).
In talking to a frind about this subject recently the concept was sort of laid out for me and in so many words this person intimated the point that the measure of your being in the will of God is directly tied to your prosperity. To which i now also add that it is predicated upon your personal faith to BRING IT ABOUT. (Hagin Wikipedia)"Faith, to Hagin, is a matter of belief in God's word which also entails a vocal expression of God's Will or confession thereof. According to Hagin, God has promised to answer believing prayer and respond positively to the believer's exercise of faith" Positive response is seen by some as positive confession. You have what you say. Dont speak over yourself negative things only positive things. Now while there is actually a scriptural Mat_21:21 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do what is done to the fig tree, but even if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou taken up and cast into the sea, it shall be done. (Mar 11:23,Luk 17:6)
Mar_11:24 Therefore I say unto you, All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
As a man thinks so is he...
Building on this line of thought is the premise that in accordance with YOUR PERSONAL faith shall be your prosperity, and not wanting to be considered of little faith I have watched and being as part of that movement have personally done so myself nearly bankrupted themselves to "PROVE" they have FAITH.(Mat_9:22 But Jesus turning and seeing her said, Daughter, be of good cheer; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.
Mat_9:29 Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it done unto you.Mat_15:28 Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it done unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was healed from that hour.)
The just do live by faith but the life we live in the flesh we are supposed to live by the faith of THE SON OF GOD who loved us and gave Himself for us. (Heb_10:38, Gal_2:20)
Seeing this and noting that the King James version states by the faith of the Son of God but American Standard version states by faith that is in the Son of God. It is a Believe Jesus- Believe in Jesus thing.
I will admit after being under the teachings of this movement and failing misserably to attain to the success of the doctrine and many other things that i now struggle over faith/belief/trust issues and perhaps then what all I am given is a true miracle. But given all the twists of doctrine it is hardly unexpected that there would be a sound understanding at this late a date of time. I would counsel people to simply read it for yourselves and pray for correct understanding of scripture and online and inexpensively there are no available so many forms of looking into the Greek and Hebrew that it is not even funny any more therefore noone can be excused for not KNOWING unless they are just to uncaring or lazy to look. Crosswalk.com is an online source very well used and Esword is a downloadable bible plus commentary plus lexicon that is free.
In Hagin's defense i will note that he did tell people to look it up for themselves to test for themselves to "be Berean". (Inretrospect i believe he taught a synergistic faith which i dont believe scripture properly understood, supports.
Signs and Wonders movement
Wikipedia
Signs and Wonders was a phrase used often by leaders of the Charismatic movement in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It is closely associated with the ministry of John Wimber and the Vineyard Movement. One of the major emphases of the belief is that the Gospel can be communicated more effectively to unbelievers if accompanied by supernatural manifestations brought on by the Holy Spirit (such as prophecy and healing).
The origin of the phrase is in Deuteronomy 26:8, which describes the commandment to tithe first fruits as linked to God's having brought the Israelites out of Egypt "with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and with signs and wonders". This passage is read with emphasis in the Passover Haggadah and Seder.
A key verse in scripture that is understood by Christian ministries which allow God to move in signs and wonders is Mark 16:20, which states "Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it."
Controversy stirred by John Wimber’s teachings on Signs and Wonders brought on a wave of critical responses.
The most persistent criticism centered upon the claim that effective evangelism cannot properly be exercised without the accompanying miraculous work. Such a situation, it was argued, added to the Gospel message and ultimately distorted its message from being one of salvation to being one of experiencing God's blessings now. While many critics did not deny that God could perform the miraculous, they also claimed that it was a fallacy to assume that miracles could be expected - as though God could be "forced" to act as it were.
The following works represent some of those who entered into the dialogue: J. Woodhouse’s Signs & Wonders and Evangelicals: A Response to the Teaching of John Wimber, K. L. Sarles’ An Appraisal of the Signs & Wonders Movement, K. M. Bond’s Signs and Wonders: Perspectives on John Wimber's Vineyard and D. H. Shepherd’s A Critical Analysis of Power Evangelism as an Evangelistic Methodology of the Signs and Wonders Movement. In the late 1990s, R. E. Jackson would produce An Evaluation of the Evangelistic Emphasis of the North American Power Evangelism Movement, 1977-1997 as an aid to skeptics, D. Williams produced Signs, Wonders, and the Kingdom of God: A Biblical Guide for the Reluctant Skeptic.
As i look into these entwined theologies of the faith movement and the new mystics movement i find this name. Essek William Kenyon. Lo and behold i find conflicting information about him. Some suggest him to be a powerful evangelist while others say he got involved with the universal church thinking Christian scientology and other extrabiblical ministries. I cant find independant theological leanings either and surprising little on wikipedia. But he wrote books. An old site listed through waybackmachine archives called At Cross lists The Two Kinds of Faith. "Description: Unanswered prayers stand between the individual and a faith life. Some have lost faith altogether. Many have turned to philosophical and metaphysical cults because their prayer lives were failures. There is but one foundation for Faith, the Living Word. As we become one with the Word in our actions, then faith becomes an unconscious reality. you never think of your faith, you only think of the need and His ability to meet it. This book shows you the difference between real faith, mental assent and hope. Hope is always in the future... you never receive what you are hoping for. FAITH IS NOW! Real faith is acting on the Word, independent of any Sense Evidence. This book will explain and show you the difference between real faith and Sense Knowledge faith. Sense Knowledge faith has almost driven real faith out of the churches. "Believing" is really "acting on the Word", and Faith is the result of action." Another is
New Creation Realities from the same archived site comes this description. "Description: We have found the secret that the psychologists long have sought. It is the "inward man", it is the re-created spirit; it is the part of man with which God deals. It is really an unveiling of what we are in Christ today; of what He says we are; what He has made us to be in His great Redemptive work. The Pauline Epistles must ever stand as the work of a super-genius or a divine revelation. It lets us into the inner secret of God's mighty purpose in the Incarnation. The four Gospels give us the earth walk of the Master, but the Pauline Epistles give us a revelation of what happened on the cross, what followed during the three days and three nights until Christ was raised from the dead. We get the living picture of the entire substitutionary work of Christ. It is the legal background of our Redemption. This challenging book should be studied by every earnest student of the Word." Another is The Two Kinds of Knowledge at the same site "Description: All the knowledge that is taught in our schools, colleges and universities has been gained through our five senses. It is what we call "Sense Knowledge". Man has never been able to know God through the five senses of his physical body. Sense Knowledge cannot give us the Reason for Creation, the source of Light, of Life, of Motion, of Gravitation, has been unable to explain the obvious design of Creation. When man reaches the limits of this Sense Knowledge, he turns philosopher or guesser. Natural man cannot understand spiritual things. Sense Knowledge cannot find God, can never know Him, but there stands by the side of everyone a Guide to lead him into the new kind of knowledge, the new kind of life. This book shows the contrast between Sense Knowledge and The Revelation Knowledge which we receive only from the Word of God. Sense Knowledge faith is in what man is, and can do, and has done. Revelation faith is in the Word of God, "That liveth and abideth forever.""
More than this I came onto a website http://www.kenyons.org which suggests to me at any rate that this man may have been ahead of his time in his rather radical thinking which by and large is very scriptural. I do also see in his ideas on tithing that these might verys well be the foundations for the whole health and wealth faith movement. Some of his scriptura; refernces are taken out of context which is always dangerous but by and large i dont see claims of his being influenced by anything other than a desire to have God be the provider on His terms at every turn. Kenyon's radical way of trust however might well be the unintended beginnings of something that later on became error.
restorationist movement
Wikipedia
The Restoration Movement (also known as the American Restoration Movement or the Stone-Campbell Movement, Campbellites, and Campbellism) is a Christian movement that began on the American frontier during the Second Great Awakening (1790–1870) of the early 19th century. The movement sought to restore the church and "the unification of all Christians in a single body patterned after the church of the New Testament." Members do not identify as Protestant but simply as Christian.
The Restoration Movement developed from several independent efforts to return to apostolic Christianity, but two groups, which independently developed similar approaches to the Christian faith, were particularly important to the development of the movement. The first, led by Barton W. Stone, began at Cane Ridge, Kentucky and called themselves simply "Christians". The second began in western Pennsylvania and Virginia (now West Virginia) and was led by Thomas Campbell and his son, Alexander Campbell; they used the name "Disciples of Christ". Both groups sought to restore the whole Christian church on the pattern set forth in the New Testament, and both believed that creeds kept Christianity divided. In 1832 they joined in fellowship with a handshake.
Among other things, they were united in the belief that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; that Christians should celebrate the Lord's Supper on the first day of each week; and that baptism of adult believers by immersion in water is a necessary condition for salvation. Because the founders wanted to abandon all denominational labels, they used the biblical names for the followers of Jesus. Both groups promoted a return to the purposes of the 1st-century churches as described in the New Testament. One historian of the movement has argued that it was primarily a unity movement, with the restoration motif playing a subordinate role.
The Restoration Movement has since divided into multiple separate groups. There are three main branches in the U.S.: the Churches of Christ, the Christian churches and churches of Christ, and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Some see divisions in the movement as the result of the tension between the goals of restoration and ecumenism, with the Churches of Christ and Christian churches and churches of Christ resolving the tension by stressing restoration, while the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) resolved the tension by stressing ecumenism. A number of groups outside the U.S. also have historical associations with this movement, such as the Evangelical Christian Church in Canada, and the Churches of Christ in Australia.
A lot more is said in the wikipedia entry but the main error here is where it led to."Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) resolved the tension by stressing ecumenism." From wikipedia on the Disciples of Christ"For modern Disciples the one essential is the acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and obedience to him in baptism. There is no requirement to give assent to any other statement of belief or creed. Nor is there any "official" interpretation of the Bible. Hierarchical doctrine was traditionally rejected by Disciples as human-made and divisive, and subsequently, freedom of belief and scriptural interpretation allows many Disciples to question or even deny beliefs common in doctrinal churches such as the Incarnation, the Trinity, and the Atonement. Beyond the essential commitment to follow Jesus there is a tremendous freedom of belief and interpretation. As the basic teachings of Jesus are studied and applied to life, there is the freedom to interpret Jesus' teaching in different ways. As would be expected from such an approach, there is a wide diversity among Disciples in what individuals and congregations believe. It is not uncommon to find individuals who seemingly hold diametrically opposed beliefs within the same congregation affirming one another's journeys of faith as sisters and brothers in Christ."
I find this alarming as it sounds very fluid and unscripturally grounded because they have no official interpretation of scripture. In other words it would appear that they can choose to hold to or deny of the scripture what they want based on what they believe..??? (wikipedia)"Often the best teaching comes in the form, "I'll tell you what I think, but read the Bible for yourself, and then study and pray about it. Decide in what ways God is calling you to be a follower of Jesus.""
However the Stone-Campbell restorationist movement may well be the bedrock of the apostlic prophetic movement.
Emergent Church Movement
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerging_church
This, from what I can gather of the very lengthy entry, is a breakaway church movement. The article is very long and needs breaking doen but a few things stand out. I encourage the reader to goto the site via the above provided link and read the whole entry. this is what stands out to me.
"The emerging church seeks a post-Christendom approach to being church and mission through: renouncing imperialistic approaches to language and cultural imposition; making 'truth claims' with humility and respect; overcoming the public/private dichotomy; moving church from the center to the margins; moving from a place of privilege in society to one voice amongst many; a transition from control to witness, maintenance to mission and institution to movement. In the face of criticism, some in the emerging church respond that this it is important to attempt a "both and" approach to redemptive and incarnational theologies. Some Evangelicals and Fundamentalists are perceived as "overly redemptive" and therefore in danger of condemning people by communicating the Good News in aggressive and angry ways. A more loving and affirming approach is proposed in the context of post-modernity where distrust may occur in response to power claims. It is suggested that this can form the basis of a constructive engagement with 21st-century post-industrial western cultures. According to Ian Mobsby, the suggestion that the emerging church is mainly focused on deconstruction and the rejection of current forms of church should itself be rejected."
moreover...
"The emerging church is a response to the perceived influence of modernism in Western Christianity. As some sociologists commented on a cultural shift that they believed to correspond to postmodern ways of perceiving reality in the late 20th century, some Christians began to advocate changes within the church in response. These Christians saw the contemporary church as being culturally bound to modernism. They changed their practices to relate to the new cultural situation. Emerging Christians began to challenge the modern church on issues such as: institutional structures, systematic theology, propositional teaching methods, a perceived preoccupation with buildings, an attractional understanding of mission, professional clergy, and a perceived preoccupation with the political process and unhelpful jargon ("Christian-ese").
As a result, some in the emerging church believe it is necessary to deconstruct modern Christian dogma. One way this happens is by engaging in dialogue, rather than proclaiming a predigested message, believing that this leads people to Jesus through the Holy Spirit on their own terms. Many in the movement embrace the missiology that drives the movement in an effort to be like Christ and make disciples by being a good example. The emerging church movement contains a great diversity in beliefs and practices, although some have adopted a preoccupation with sacred rituals, good works, and political and social activism. Much of the Emerging Church movement has also adopted the approach to evangelism which stressed peer-to-peer dialogue rather than dogmatic proclamation and proselytizing.
A plurality of Scriptural interpretations is acknowledged in the emerging church movement. Participants in the movement exhibit a particular concern for the effect of the modern reader's cultural context on the act of interpretation echoing the ideas of postmodern thinkers such as Jacques Derrida and Stanley Fish. Therefore a narrative approach to Scripture, and history are emphasized in some emerging churches over exegetical and dogmatic approaches (such as that found in systematic theology and systematic exegesis), which are often viewed as reductionist. Others embrace a multiplicity of approaches."
The problem here is that in rejecting the accepted systematic theology and breaking it down in true perhaps heuristic teaching that error is free to creep in. The New Mystics Movement and their idea of radical grace that I believe proposes that by grace we are saved from sin so we are sinners no more (this much is true) and as such we can no longer sin (that is not true for how then would we need the Advocate Christ Jesus the Righteous. (1Jn_2:1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:) thus we are free to do what we will. Now while we do have great grace and freedom in Christ and legalistic touch not taste not thought is binding to the moving of the Holy Spirit there is an emphasis in scripture for a defference between walking in the flesh and walking in the Spirit. In my humble estimation there is also by degree that place of moving from the flesh or soulish realm into the Holy Spirit.
Ecstacies are something that the New Mystics or Mystic movements have majored in which is risky becasue they are also practiced in Eastern philosophy Theosophy and Eastern Mysticism. Ecstacies mysticism these things are also found in yoga hindu buddhism the new age theosophy and much more. While there is to be a relating to Jesus we need to stay with the scriptural grounding.
However Religious Ecstacy is another matter and this is what New Mystics may be into. While it's not all bad it does have its risks. (from wikipedia) Religious ecstasy is an altered state of consciousness characterized by greatly reduced external awareness and expanded interior mental and spiritual awareness which is frequently accompanied by visions and emotional/intuitive (and sometimes physical) euphoria. Although the experience is usually brief in time, there are records of such experiences lasting several days or even more, and of recurring experiences of ecstasy during one's lifetime. Subjective perception of time, space and/or self may strongly change or disappear during ecstasy.Spiritual ecstasy can be distinguished from spirit possession and hypnosis in that ecstasy is not accompanied by the experiencing subject losing interior consciousness or will.[citation needed] Rather, the person experiencing ecstasy notices a dramatic spiritual awareness heightening, with total will concentration on the elevation. If the ecstatic state comes about slowly, the subject may notice changes in his or her physiological responses. But, once brought into complete ecstasy, the subject ordinarily has no, or very little awareness of the external surrounding physical state. Some external awareness remains in a partial religious ecstasy. Intense fear may accompany the initial stage of being drawn into ecstasy. Different religious teachings distinguish and describe several stages or forms of ecstasy.
Here's the problem, though couched in hinduistic terms it is nonetheless relevant. "As described by the Indian spiritual teacher Meher Baba, God-intoxicated souls known as masts[Mast (Sufism), in India, Pakistan, and Iran, a type of religious intoxication] experience a unique type of spiritual ecstasy: "Masts are desperately in love with God – or consumed by their love for God. Masts do not suffer from what may be called a disease. They are in a state of mental disorder because their minds are overcome by such intense spiritual energies that are far too much for them, forcing them to lose contact with the world, shed normal human habits and customs, and civilized society and live in a state of spiritual splendor but physical squalor. They are overcome by an agonizing love for God and are drowned in their ecstasy. Only the divine love embodied in a Perfect Master can reach them."" Now translating this into Christian Religious terms, the Christian Mystic is consumed by their devotion to Jesus and can if not grounded in scripture "drown" in the emotionalistic ferver of the outpourings of God. In the past men and women Christian contemplatives were considered mystics but for all the ecstatic experience they had they learned not to concentrate on the ecstatic side of their walk but on the revelation accompanying it or on what the will of God might be for them in connection with the experience. Whereas today's mystic will be carried quite away by the experience and in time the Spirit moves on and they dont. Having become accustomed to the experience and actually adicted to the effect ( Yes it can be like a drug.) they demand the continuance and God having moved on abandons the whole issue. This opens the door for "someone else" to quite eagerly come in and happily supply whatever the now estranged believer wished to be supplied with. Having myself fallen in that trap more than once I begin to consider that true perhaps systematic study of scripture with much worship and prayer will become the effective balance to experiential and or ecstatic Christianity.
"In hagiography (writings about Christian saints) many instances are recorded in which saints are granted ecstasies. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia religious ecstasy (called "supernatural ecstasy") includes two elements: one, interior and invisible, in which the mind rivets its attention on a religious subject, and another, corporeal and visible, in which the activity of the senses is suspended, reducing the effect of external sensations upon the subject and rendering him or her resistant to awakening." Another difference of true experiential Christendom that is proper would be that it is NOT SOUGHT. While in Eastern Religious experience the state of ecstacy is sought for the Believer it is not about the Gifts or Graces or experiences or revelations but about the knowlege of Christ through the study of scripture and along the way revelations understandings and perhaps tastes or spiritual experience will come.
As if the New Mystics and what i will call the Neoprophetic movement wasnt bad enough the ecumenical movement seems to have a new deal.Its called Faithsharing and its not evangeslism.
Its seed bed appears to be here.
Gospel of inclusion universalism
Carlton Pearson
Wikipedia
The Gospel of Inclusion
After watching a television program about the wretched conditions of people suffering and dying from the genocide in Rwanda, and considering the teachings of his church that non-Christians were going to Hell, Pearson believed he had received an epiphany from God. He stated publicly that he doubted the existence of Hell as a place of eternal torment. He said that hell is created on earth by human depravity and behavior.
In February 2002, Pearson lost a primary election for the office of mayor of Tulsa. By then Pearson had begun to call his doctrine—a variation on universal reconciliation (Universal reconciliation (Wikipedia)
In Christian theology, universal reconciliation (also called universal salvation, Christian universalism, or in context simply universalism) is the doctrine that all sinful and alienated human souls—because of divine love and mercy—will ultimately be reconciled to God. Universal salvation may be related to the perception of a problem of Hell, standing opposed to ideas such as endless conscious torment in Hell, but may also include a period of finite punishment similar to a state of purgatory. Believers in universal reconciliation may support the view that while there may be a real "Hell" of some kind, it is neither a place of endless suffering nor a place where the spirits of human beings are ultimately 'annihilated' after enduring the just amount of divine retribution. The concept of reconciliation is related to the concept of salvation—i.e., salvation from spiritual and eventually physical death—such that the term "universal salvation," is functionally equivalent. Universalists espouse various theological beliefs concerning the process or state of salvation, but all adhere to the view that salvation history concludes with the reconciliation of the entire human race to God. Many adherents assert that the suffering and crucifixion of Jesus Christ constitute the mechanism that provides redemption for all humanity and atonement for all sins. Universalism is distinct from modern Unitarian Universalism, which is a syncretic religion that does not recognize Jesus of Nazareth as the unique savior of humankind, although the latter is historically derived in the from a union with a now-defunct Christian denomination which did affirm that all people would eventually come to salvation through Christ. An alternative to universal reconciliation is the doctrine of annihilationism, often in combination with Christian conditionalism.)—the Gospel of Inclusion and many in his congregation began to leave.
In March 2004, after hearing Pearson's argument for inclusion, the Joint College of African-American Pentecostal Bishops concluded that such teaching was heresy. Declared a heretic by his peers, Pearson rapidly began to lose his influence. Membership at the Higher Dimensions Family Church fell below 1,000, and the church lost its building to foreclosure in January 2006. The church members began meeting in the nearby Trinity Episcopal Church as the New Dimensions Worship Center.
The New Dimensions Worship Center
In November 2006, Pearson was accepted as a United Church of Christ minister.
In June 2008, the New Dimensions Worship Center moved its meetings to the All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa. On September 7, 2008, Pearson held his final service for the New Dimensions Worship Center, and it was absorbed into the All Souls Unitarian Church.
Now folks this is in direct oposition to the Doctrine of Election.(Doctrine of Election (wikpedia) is the doctrine that the salvation of a man depends on the election of God for that end, of which there are two chief phases: one is election to be Christ's, or unconditional election or Doctrine of Free Will, and the other that it is election in Christ, or conditional election.
In its proper theological sense, the Doctrine of Election is monergistic((wikipedia)Monergism describes the position in Christian theology of those who believe that God, through the Holy Spirit, works to bring about effectually the salvation of individuals through spiritual regeneration without cooperation from the individual.) as opposed to synergistic.((wikipedia)In theology, synergism is the position of those who hold that salvation involves some form of cooperation between divine grace and human freedom. ))(Eph 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ:
Eph 1:4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blemish before him in love:
Eph 1:5 having foreordained us unto adoption as sons through Jesus Christ unto himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
Eph 1:6 to the praise of the glory of his grace, which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved:
Eph 1:7 in whom we have our redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,
Eph 1:8 which he made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence,
Eph 1:9 making known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he purposed in him
Eph 1:10 unto a dispensation of the fulness of the times, to sum up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens, and the things upon the earth; in him, I say,
Eph 1:11 in whom also we were made a heritage, having been foreordained according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his will;
Eph 1:12 to the end that we should be unto the praise of his glory, we who had before hoped in Christ:
Eph 1:13 in whom ye also, having heard the word of the truth, the gospel of your salvation, - in whom, having also believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,
Eph 1:14 which is an earnest of our inheritance, unto the redemption of God's own possession, unto the praise of his glory. and Rom_8:33 Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth;)
It also paves the way to integration of the so called Christian Church with the New Age movement. This also paves the way to the idea that there are many ways to get to God which is direct opposition to the words of Scripture that ..."no man comes unto the Father but by Me" -Jesus (Jn 14:6)
The Unitarian church. (wikipedia)Unitarian church usually refers to a church (either a single church or a group of churches and/or its followers) which follows Unitarianism, a Christian theology. It can also more broadly refer to a church which is a member of the Unitarian Universalist Association or the Canadian Unitarian Council.
UNitarianism... Wikpedia
"Unitarianism is a religious theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being. Thus, Unitarians contend that main-line Christianity does not adhere to strict monotheism as they do, maintaining that Jesus was a prophet, and in some sense the "son" of God, but not God himself."
Well once you cross the threshold into wrong doctrine anything goes. The seeds of ecumenicism are found in Unitarianistic belief.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rev-william-lovin/faith-shared-in-iowa_b_884291.html
Rev. William Lovin and Shams Ghoneim
Faith Shared in Iowa: Finding Our Commonalities and Respecting Our Differences
As we approach the 10th anniversary of the tragic events of 9/11, we all can recall where we were and what we were doing that horrific day. American Muslims with their fellow citizens stood united in grief and resolve. They completely and unequivocally denounced and rejected those who committed these murderous attacks, all acts of terrorism, and violence. Nevertheless, American Muslims and Islam itself became targets of misconceptions, attacks, hate acts/speech, and fear mongering by some media outlets, some political leaders, and even some high profile religious leaders.
Since 9/11, Americans across faith beliefs and cultures continue to face new, divisive, and troubling challenges. Muslims, Southeast Asians, Arabs, and others face multitudes of backlash reactions that are still sadly with us today. Islamophobia and xenophobia are on the rise. Recent congressional hearings singling out Muslims in relation to homegrown terrorism, and the anti-Sharia bills became the norm. They added more fuel to the fire of scapegoating, misinformation, and finger pointing.
As we continue to live in such time of great civil and religious discord, we look to our collective faith teachings and principles for healing. That is the light at the end of this never-ending threat to our unity and national stability. We count on our collective religious teachings and faith to create a generous, kind, respectful, and understanding nation and world.
Here in Iowa City in the nation's heartland, the spirit of this unity of faith has been long led by the Consultation of Religious Communities (CRC). Each month, CRC provides Christians, Jews, and Muslims an open forum to talk together and share different faith traditions. Members address social justice issues and find ways to serve their larger community. During one such meeting two years ago, the Rev. Bill Lovin of the Congregational United Church of Christ (UCC) expressed his concern that out of Midwestern politeness, we may not be addressing our differences. What followed was a sacred moment when Shams Ghoneim, a CRC Muslim member turned to him and gently said, "Oh, no. What we need to do is identify and share our commonalities. The differences are always obvious. The challenge is to find what we have in common and work together for the good of all." Those words have stayed with Bill since that day.
For the last 10 years, the member congregations of the Consultation of Religious Communities,CRCm reached out to one another and to vulnerable and affected groups in love and support. Interfaith dialogues, joint worships, and open houses became central themes for all who participated. Iowa City is home to lively groups engaged in flourishing Jewish/Muslim and Christian/Muslim dialogues. It is through our discussions and sharing that we find our commonalities and respect our differences.
It is noteworthy to recall that in the decades since the first mosque in North America was completed in Cedar Rapids, the Mother Mosque-i, Christians and Muslims continued living and working side by side in Iowa.
When Bill Lovin learned about the Faith Shared project -- Uniting in Prayer and Understanding, a project of Interfaith Alliance and Human Rights First -- he embraced it fully. The project promotes interfaith understanding and cooperation. The Congregational UCC leadership unanimously supported the church's participation as well as involving Shams Ghoneim in this effort.
This Sunday, when a worship service is held at the Congregational United Church of Christ, it will be a unique part of the nationwide Faith Shared movement, but not anything new in Iowa. Interfaith conversation, joint worship services, and open houses are how we live out our common religious commitments. In the Congregational sanctuary, we will hear readings from the Hebrew Scriptures, the Christian New Testament, and the Noble Quran that speak of the diversity of creation and the unity of our faiths. Members of the Jewish, Christian and Muslim communities will speak of the importance of interfaith understanding and cooperation. This event will be yet another heartfelt expression of our respect for each other, understanding our differences, and sharing our commonalities. A house of God where Christians, Jews, and Muslims worship together, listen to each other's sacred texts, and work toward justice and equality for all with civility and respect. Is this heaven? No, it is Iowa.
This is the article.
faithshared.org "Uniting in Prayer and Understanding."
This is the site.
On the homepage i find this.
A Project of Interfaith Alliance and Human Rights First
Tensions around Islam in America have erupted throughout the country in the past year, leading to misconceptions, distrust and in some cases violence. News stories on the rising tide of anti-Muslim bigotry and violence abound, with graphic and often searing images of the antagonists, the protagonists and the battlegrounds where they meet. All too often, media coverage simplistically pits Muslims against would-be Qur’an burners, neglecting any substantive representation of where the majority of Americans actually stand: a shared commitment to tolerance and freedom. We are committed to ensuring that the storyline changes dramatically in 2011 by helping to create an environment of mutual understanding and respect for each other’s faith traditions.
Interfaith Alliance and Human Rights First offer the Faith Shared event as a way to engage faith leaders on the national and community levels in interfaith events intended to highlight respect among people of different faiths. Through photos, video clips and print coverage distributed around the world, we are looking to display visual images that reflect the mutual respect that is shared by so many Muslims, Christians, Jews and other Americans, standing together as a strong counterpoint to the negative images that have dominated the domestic and international news.
The Goals
This project will create opportunities across the United States for faith communities to strengthen ties with each other. We will counter the misperception, including in the Arab and Muslim worlds, that the United States is a nation defined by the widely covered images of the marginal few who would burn a Qur’an, rather than by a proud and longstanding tradition of religious freedom, tolerance and pluralism. In communities across the United States, this project will not only serve as a model for tolerance and cooperation and promote local faith leaders as champions of such, but it will also create a concrete opportunity to build and strengthen working ties between faith communities moving forward.
Will You Join Us In Faith Shared?
Faith Shared asks houses of worship across the country to organize events involving clergy reading from each other’s sacred texts. An example would be a Christian Minister, Jewish Rabbi and Muslim Imam participating in a worship service or other event. Suggested readings will be provided from the Torah, the Gospels, and the Qur’an, but communities are encouraged to choose readings that will resonate with their congregations. Involvement of members from the Muslim community is key. We will also provide suggestions on how to incorporate this program into your regular worship services. And we will assist local congregations in their media and communications efforts.
While there is a strong preference for all of the events to happen on the same day, a number of congregations held interfaith services in January and February giving us wonderful examples of how communities can come together in support and fellowship. We will be posting photos, sample programs and audio files from theses services.
ok then this is part of the interfaith movement.
This is a dangerous turn of events in the Christian church because traditonal christian values are inflexible and intolerant of any other way to the Father but by Christ. This Christ must be of the cannon of scripture.
Interfaith dialogue
Wikipedia.
The term interfaith dialogue refers to cooperative, constructive and positive interaction between people of different religious traditions (i.e., "faiths") and/or spiritual or humanistic beliefs, at both the individual and institutional levels. It is distinct from syncretism or alternative religion, in that dialogue often involves promoting understanding between different religions to increase acceptance of others, rather than to synthesize new beliefs.
Throughout the world there are local, regional, national and international interfaith initiatives; many are formally or informally linked and constitute larger networks or federations. The often quoted "There will be no peace among the nations without peace among the religions. There will be no peace among the religions without dialogue among the religions" was formulated by Dr Hans Küng, a Professor of Ecumenical Theology and President of the Foundation for a Global Ethic.
The United States Institute of Peace published works on interfaith dialogue and peacebuilding including a Special Report on Evaluating Interfaith Dialogue Interfaith dialog forms a major role in the study of religion and peacebuilding.
To some, the term interreligious dialogue has the same meaning as interfaith dialogue. Neither are the same as Nondenominational Christianity. The World Council of Churches, though. distinguishes between 'interfaith' and 'interrreligious.' To the WCC, 'interreligious' refers to action between different Christian denominations. So, 'interfaith' refers to interaction between different faith groups such as Muslim and Christian or Hindu and Jew for example.
Dialogue ... where do i know that word from? Oh yes The Emergent Church which does not hold to tranditional systematic theology. They are un grave danger of falling into the trap of the interfaith movement.
Here then is the official website.http://www.interfaithalliance.org/
This is from their about us page.
About Interfaith Alliance
WHO WE ARE
Interfaith Alliance celebrates religious freedom by championing individual rights, promoting policies that protect both religion and democracy, and uniting diverse voices to challenge extremism.
WHAT WE BELIEVE
We believe that religious freedom is a foundation for American democracy.
We believe that individual rights and matters of personal conscience must be held sacred.
We believe that religious and political extremists are a threat to individual liberty and democracy.
We believe that celebrating religious and cultural difference is the way to achieve a vibrant community.
HOW WE MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Interfaith Alliance is the only national interfaith organization dedicated to protecting the integrity of both religion and democracy in America. We stand for faith and freedom.
National Policy – We promote legislation that protects the boundaries between religion and government, so that politics doesn’t infringe on your faith and matters of faith don’t infringe on your freedom.
Grass-Roots Activism – Our local affiliates mobilize individuals on the grass-roots level to make a difference in their own communities. We offer a forum to challenge bigotry and defend religious freedom on local issues, including candidate education, religion in the public sphere, and interfaith relations.
Election – We help religious leaders and politicians navigate the boundary between politics and religion in a way that safeguards the separation of church and state.
Education – We facilitate interfaith dialogue to enhance mutual understanding and respect for religious differences.
WHY IT MATTERS
As religion plays an increasingly prominent role in American politics, preserving the boundary between religion and government is more vital than ever. Interfaith Alliance works to ensure that faith and freedom flourish so that individuals can worship freely or not worship at all, so they can embrace matters of personal conscience without fear of government intrusion, and so that all can live in a vibrant, healthy society.
HISTORY
Interfaith Alliance was created in 1994 to celebrate religious freedom and to challenge the bigotry and hatred arising from religious and political extremism infiltrating American politics. Today, Interfaith Alliance has 185,000 members across the country made up of 75 faith traditions as well as those of no faith tradition.
ANd here is the kicker... "As religion plays an increasingly prominent role in American politics, preserving the boundary between religion and government is more vital than ever." What ever happened to separation of Church and State? That may only ever have applied to the traditional christian church. Moreover,"We offer a forum to challenge bigotry and defend religious freedom on local issues, including candidate education, religion in the public sphere, and interfaith relations." Now folks the traditional bible believing uncompromising christian ministry that may have compassion on the plight of nonbelievers so as to try to alleviate basic human suffering but also giving the Gospel Message that frees the man/woman from the ravishes of sin is seen as the bigotted.
But they do say they are protecting us from the government no matter what our faith... "National Policy – We promote legislation that protects the boundaries between religion and government, so that politics doesn’t infringe on your faith and matters of faith don’t infringe on your freedom.
Grass-Roots Activism – Our local affiliates mobilize individuals on the grass-roots level to make a difference in their own communities. We offer a forum to challenge bigotry and defend religious freedom on local issues, including candidate education, religion in the public sphere, and interfaith relations.
Election – We help religious leaders and politicians navigate the boundary between politics and religion in a way that safeguards the separation of church and state.
Education – We facilitate interfaith dialogue to enhance mutual understanding and respect for religious differences."
Still true Christians will note since we are the more intolerant and inflexible and thereby biggoted religious those legislations may not aptly apply.
As the spiritual darkness falls the light of the Spirit of God will be seen in His own. But the ravishment of intolerance to us will also be shortly unveiled in this country as much as in the Church.