Cheryl

Charis,
No you are not going to be disowned here. It is my desire that this blog will always be a loving community. One way to show love and community is to show acceptance. Another important way to show love and community is to educate and to warn of danger.

Okay I feel a long one coming on here. Be prepared 🙂

Think about it this way…picture Adam and Eve in the garden and the serpent is talking to Eve. Adam is thinking to himself that the serpent is lying because he knows for sure that they cannot become like God. But then he thinks that he should be quiet. After all, he reasons within himself, maybe there is a right way for Eve and a right way for me. Who are I to try to correct the serpent or who am I to inform Eve about the lie? Isn’t that an unloving thing to do?

I guess there are two things going on here. This is how I see it – if I am wrong, would I want to know it? During the 16 years that I was running the support group for former Jehovah’s Witnesses, I would often ask them this same question, especially when we had a new person join our group. The answer that we all agreed on, is that if I am a truth loving person I would want to know if I was wrong or if I was being deceived. I would want to know even if it hurts me.

The next question I would ask them, is how would you know if you are deceived? This always brought a good discussion and the answer was always the same. If one was truly deceived they would not know it. One would need the help of others or the help of something that was a standard that one trusted that revealed the deception in order to come out of being deceived. I have had the privilege of counseling many deceived people from various cults and there are common signs of deception no matter what group or weird belief they came from. They always believed they had the truth and they were all very sensitive to have their group or doctrine questioned. It would produce anger or defensiveness in them. I would have to help them to understand that if they had the truth, it was not a fearful to have it tested. Truth will always stand up to the test. It is only error that fears the test.

So the question then becomes, who is the one to judge the truth? Aren’t we all susceptible to deception and is it really important what we believe as long as we are sincere? The Bible gives one of the serious signs of the last days and that is deception and the falling away from the faith. We need to be on our guard so that none of us is deceived and falls away from the faith that is “once delivered” to the saints.

So my “bottom line” is and always has been that the only safe way to make sure that we are not deceived is to “test everything and hold fast to what is good”. It is the bible that will keep us safe from deception and anyone, any church, any theology, any technique, anything at all that contradicts God’s word is to be rejected.

So if a well-loved pastor tells me that it is okay to talk to the dead because the dead will help us get closer to God, I will not follow that pastor but will reject what he says because it contradicts God’s word. If a man who has a doctorate degree tells me that Jesus is not equal with the Father in the Trinity and has never been equal with the Father, I test that by God’s word and I reject it even if the man is a noteworthy man who has written many books and who has much more education than I have. Education and personality and good feelings are not a test for truth. Only God’s word is a trustworthy test for truth.

How about if I “feel” right about being a woman in ministry? Feelings can deceive me. Everything must be tested. I did not come to the conclusions I have about women’s freedom to serve in the body of Christ because it felt right. I was willing to give up everything and to live my life as a doormat if that is the only thing that God allows women to do. I would have been very unhappy and demoralized to not be able to use my gifts for the common good of the body of Christ, but God’s word is more important than my feelings. I searched and searched and looked every scripture up carefully. I tested the traditions about women by God’s word and the traditions were found wanting. God’s word taken in context affirms women in ministry.

But even with a strong biblical foundation, I have always been willing to look at the opposing side. I just don’t get it when people are willing to condemn something without even investigating. My motto as an apologist is that if you have the truth, the truth will stand against error. Only error runs away and hides. That is why I have never been afraid to read opposing literature of any sort. I have read countless books from the cults. I have also read everything I could get my hands on from the complementarian camp regarding women in ministry. It is also an important part of my thinking that if what I have is true and if it is grounded in scripture than I need not fear the challenges that come from the opposition. After all, if I am wrong in any point, I want to know where I am wrong. Can it harm me to be proven wrong? It might hurt my ego, but I love truth more than I love my ego. If I test everything and am affirmed in what I believe by the test of God’s word, then I have become strong since my faith is a tested faith.

Every time someone wanted to share their “truth” with me I have been willing to test my faith against their “truth”. I have taken the time to read literature from the mystics and those who have practiced contemplative meditation or centering prayer and as a unbiased observer I have noted some troubling similarities. For example I read several books from Catholic mystics that my Catholic friend who was trying to convert me to catholicism gave me. Again, if what I have is true, then my faith will stand. If what I have is in error, I stand to be corrected.

The books I read from these catholic mystics were very bizarre. They regularly practiced contemplative meditation and they started to have mystical happenings. Somethings were bizarre, others were scary. There were visions and manifestations of the dead as they progressed in their mysticism. More and more they progressed and by the time they died, they appeared to be suffering from mental illness or some kind of strong delusions. These types of spiritual experiences apparently are not uncommon and so people like Richard Foster finding themselves needing to warn people that those who practice contemplative mediation need to pray for protection from evil spirits before they practice this kind of meditation. This put the red flags up for me.

So what does the scripture say about these practices? The bible says much about meditation but it is always meditating on God’s word or God’s principles or God himself. When I read about contemplative meditation, the instruction is not to fill one’s mind with the things of God but to empty one’s mind. One says a mantra which is a word or phrase that is said over and over and over again until one comes into a state of nothingness or an emptied mind. But scripture does not tell us to empty our mind but to fill it with thoughts of God’s word. Scripture does not tell us to do repetitious prayer as the world does, but we are to pray with intent.

Mat 6:7 “And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words.
Mat 6:8 “So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.
Mat 6:9 “Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven…”

What I would recommend you do, Charis, is to be open enough to see the other side. If what you have is from God, then truth will prevail. If what you have is a form of mysticism that God has not given but is a doorway into another spiritual realm, then it is to your benefit to know that. If what you have is truth, you will be a stronger person for knowing the objections to the “truth”. That is the mindset that has helped me the very most. I have never feared to check anything out because I dearly value and love truth. If I am wrong I WANT to know I am wrong and why I am wrong.

I also value those who speak with love. Although I love truth, it is much easier to hear that truth from someone who comes across as caring and kind. One person who is loving and kind regarding contemplative meditation is Ray Yungen. I would recommend that you listen to some of his audio files. Go to http://www.calvarychapellangley.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=48&Itemid=78
and listen to “New Age Spirituality in the Church”. There are also another two more audio files on this page that are worth listening to from Ray. Roger Oakland is good too, but listen to Ray first. Ask God to help you to know the truth and then check out the scriptures that Ray gives. Ray is one of the kindest apologists that I have heard and I think you will find the material helpful.

Ray also has a book called “A Time of Departing”. I highly recommend it. You can get it from our web site at http://www.mmoutreach.org/order_macgregor_books.htm Ray has written a very carefully documented book on this subject. It is important to know all the facts because these facts can open our eyes to the truth. If what you have is God’s truth, what others say against your faith will not hurt you – it will make you stronger. The things they say will either correct you or help you to know what the opposition is saying so that you can properly refute the opposition. If you cannot afford the book, some good information is found here http://www.mmoutreachinc.com/nvweb/featureart/contprayer.html

So are you loved and cared for here on my blog whether you are willing to check out the facts or not? Absolutely! I believe you are my sister in Christ. I just want you to know that I am not an Adam. I will speak up when I see things that clearly contradict God’s word because warning someone is showing them love. This is what I would want others to do for me if I was in danger in any way of following something that had the potential of harm for me underneath the surface of what seemed like calm waters. Be careful. Watch out. Don’t trust your feelings. Test everything and what passes the bible test hold on to with a clear conscience.