I grew up in a household that was involved in the New Age. My parents were into astrology, palmistry, contacting spirits with the Ouija board, levitating tables, Edgar Cayce, and reincarnation. We also were nominal Protestants and attended church.
I went to my first psychic fair at the age of 13. I went to a medium several times. I did astrology charts and tarot cards.
I bought a book called "A Course in Miracles". It is a book that is diametrically opposed to the gospels, yet subtly deceptive, so that those without a strong religious background, can be easily deceived by it. The book was channeled through an atheist psychologist named Helen Schucman in collaboration with William Thetford. The material for the book was channeled from a disembodied entity calling itself "Jesus" over a period of several years. From 1971-1978 William Thetford, along with David Saunders, was head of a project called MK Ultra. MK Ultra is a form a psychological bondage and mind control, which some feel is used today in the entertainment and music industries.
The Course in Miracles said such things as, "the crucifixion did not establish the atonement, the resurrection did". Or in other words Christ did not die for your sins. It says there is no such thing as evil or sin. The best book I have read, about someone who also was involved with the New Age, and the Course in Miracles, is entitled, "The Light that was Dark" by Warren Smith. He sat down with a legal pad and wrote down the major themes of the Bible and the Course in Miracles. He compared and contrasted them. He said that if the Bible was of Christ, and he believed that it was, then the Course in Miracles was the Holy Bible turned upside down, or the antithesis of the Bible. It was anti-Christ.
I started attending church on a regular basis at the age of 25. After a short stint as a Unitarian and anti-nuclear activist, I was baptized Catholic at the age of 32. When I was baptized, I renounced Satan and his pomps and works. After 20+ years in the New Age, this was a good thing. I threw out several large bags of New Age books, including the Course in Miracles.
However, I wasn't immediately delivered from the New Age, when I became Catholic. Unfortunately the church I chose to join had a priest and three young women that were receiving messages from "Jesus" and "Mary". On most Thursday nights the priest, would stand in front of the congregation and channel messages from "Jesus" and "Mary". For several years I believed these messages, and Marian apparitions, such as Medjugorje, were from God. After several years, through discernment of the messages, I realized that the Marian apparitions and messages were from the same source as the New Age channeled messages.
I was Catholic for 21 years. After I left the Catholic church, I was a Baptist for 7 months. The Baptist church did not recognize my Catholic baptism as valid, although it was an adult baptism by immersion. The Baptist church was Biblically based, warm, and friendly, but I found that I missed a liturgical style of worship. I am now a Lutheran.
Many who are involved in the New Age are sincere spiritual seekers and have no idea that the being they are serving is not God, certainly not the Jesus of the Bible, who died for our sins. The two big lies from the garden of Eden are, you shall be as gods, and you shall not die. But Hebrews 9:27 says, "it is appointed unto man once to die and then comes the judgment". We only live once. That makes this short life on earth much more valuable. And we do not become gods. We are sinners in need of a Savior.
All that glitters is not gold. The New Age looks so enticing, so inviting. Only in surrendering to a God who is greater than ourselves can we truly be set free.
I think some New Agers have a stereotype of Christians as being narrow minded polyannas. However, many of us are prodigals and come from backgrounds of lives filled with every sin imaginable. A person does not have to be living a holy life to come to God. God will meet you right where you are. And he will lead you home.
No comments:
Post a Comment