Tempting the Church to Talk with the Dead??

[billiefan2000]

Tempting the Church to Talk with the Dead




The kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the world,
would not have believed that the adversary and the enemy
should have entered into the gates of Jerusalem.
(Lamentations 4:12)


Welcome to the year 2012—the much-publicized year of the Mayan writings that prophesy the End of the World as we know it. But what is our spiritual adversary really up to? And how does he attempt to accomplish his plan to infiltrate and overturn Biblical Christianity, replacing it with his “new” worldview—a worldview that will attempt to scientifically prove through quantum physics that “we are all God” because God is “in” everything—a new worldview that states that humanity is about to take a “quantum leap” into a newly evolved state of being (counterfeit of “born again”) that will usher in a “New Age” of world peace. The Devil’s “Christ” —Antichrist—will, of course, be the centerpiece of this counterfeit millennium—this New World Order.


Who would have believed even just a short time ago, that today’s professing evangelical Church would be buying into this New Age deception and exponentially imploding the way it is—literally catapulting a once biblical church into the heretical panentheistic teachings of the New Age? For example:
•Robert Schuller featured New Age leader Gerald Jampolsky on his worldwide television program Hour of Power. On another program, Schuller stated that “God is in every single human being.”
•Schuller’s disciple Rick Warren teaches that God is “in” everything and uses Eugene Peterson’s The Message as his primary “Bible” translation in his book The Purpose-Driven Life. Eugene Peterson inserted the key to all magic and mysteries—the key occult/New Age phrase “as above, so below” that signifies that God is “in” everything—into his “translation” of The Lord’s Prayer.
•Meanwhile Warren has developed partnerships with global internationalists. And this past year he brought on three "guru doctors" with deep ties to the New Age to direct his health care plan.
•Rick Warren and Emergent leader Brian McLaren heretically echo New Age matriarch Alice Bailey’s teaching that prophecy is none of our business.
•Controversial “evangelical” leader Leonard Sweet, with deep roots in the Leadership Network, introduced the New Age tactic of using quantum physics to seemingly “prove” that God is “in” everything while citing New Age patriarch Pierre Teilhard de Chardin as “20th century Christianity’s major voice.” Sweet also cites numerous New Age leaders as his “role models” and “heroes.”
•Bible teacher Gayle Erwin endorsed Paul Young’s unbiblical novel The Shack, stating that it “teaches powerful theological lessons.” Evangelical Pastor Steve Berger describes The Shack as being “spiritually profound” and “theologically enlightening.”
•Merging “Emergent” leaders like Brian McLaren, Rob Bell, and Tony Jones have run roughshod through the church wresting Scripture from unstable souls as they demean the reality of Hell and “churchy things like doctrine.”
•Rick Warren’s doctoral mentor C. Peter Wagner, regarding himself as a modern-day apostle, flew to Lakeland, Florida to anoint Todd Bentley—a man who kicked the “Holy Spirit” into people with his combat boots and was about to divorce his wife.
•Wagner has set up a global apostolic movement with the goal of taking over the 7 mountains of culture in the world, and his IHOP disciples have now mainstreamed themselves into the Christian Right in America.
•Evangelical church leaders are becoming involved in the same New Age 2012 date-setting that the New Age leaders are promoting, and some are even expecting visits from extraterrestrials.
•Rodney Howard Brown and the so-called Toronto Blessing’s mid-1990’s “Holy Laughter” revival was a sign of the times as the enemy of our souls laughed through professing Christians and mocked the church. And the latest fad is to divorce Baal!
The list goes on and on as church pastors and Christian leaders sat by in silence and let it all happen. Some even denied any of this was going on! Deceived and deceiving, today’s church, while attempting to reach the world has become the world.

Encountering the Dead


Unbelievable as it sounds, one of the latest New (old) Age temptations to confront both the world and the church is to encourage spiritual and religious seekers to talk with the dead. In this maneuver we can see the adversary’s ploy is to further open the door to a seducing spirit world (1Timothy 4:1). Demonic spirits that impersonate deceased loved ones will attempt to convey “new understandings” and “new revelations” that will contribute to a “new worldview.” This will ultimately lead to a deceptively contrived world peace. This deceptive “peace” plan was warned about in the Bible (Daniel 8:25, Matthew 24:3-5, 1 Thessalonians 5:3, 1 Tim 4:1, 1 John 4:1, Revelation 13, etc.).


This temptation to talk and listen to the dead has already entered the church. And it is entering through mainstream evangelical doorways. Pastor Steve Berger and his wife Sarah have written a book entitled Have Heart: bridging the gulf between heaven and earth. In this book they describe how their recently deceased son, Josiah, has appeared to them and to members of their church in a variety of ways. These appearances are described as missions from God as Josiah allegedly makes visitations, worships with the church, and imparts spiritual information to those who will listen. The book then details a long series of apparitions of Josiah that have reportedly appeared to people in dreams or revelations across America. In their book, the Bergers attempt to make the case that this is normal and this is biblical—even synchronistic (what the Bergers call “God Nods”)—and that believers should expect these visitations from their loved ones from Heaven.


Bergers book endorsed by Christian leaders


If Pastor Steve Berger was an obscure pastor with a tiny congregation and a low-profile book, we would not be issuing this warning about what he and his wife are writing and what it portends for the church. But this is not the case. The Bergers have a large congregation of over 4,000 people in Leipers Fork, Tennessee and their book legitimizes and normalizes, even encourages the idea of believers interacting with the dead. It has already been featured on several widely viewed television programs like Robert Schuller’s Hour of Power and Canada’s Huntley Street. In addition to these and other venues, Steve Berger was invited to speak about his book at a 2011 National Worship Conference that featured a number of Emergent and evangelical leaders like Chuck Smith Jr., Miles McPherson, Chuck Fromm, and which advertised as a keynote speaker the “Christian” New Age sympathizer Leonard Sweet. But perhaps one of the most dangerous aspects of the Berger book is the endorsements of high profile leaders such as Calvary Chapel Pastor Greg Laurie and longtime Bible teacher Chuck Missler. Not surprisingly, The Shack’s author Paul Young is also listed alongside Laurie and Missler as an endorser of the book.


Walking into the New Age trap


In his 2011 novel The Twelfth Insight: The Hour of Decision, New Age leader James Redfield tells of an ancient manuscript that describes “a secret approach to spirituality that is silently arriving in the second decade of the twenty-first century.”(p. 178) Rachel, a main character in Redfield’s book, attempts to legitimize talking with the dead as a means of getting updated information from Heaven. The dead will provide information—in the form of new revelation—that would explain God’s real plan for bringing world peace to a dangerously troubled world. Rachel explains:


“[I]f we follow the Synchronicity, we will be able to learn from those in Heaven in a direct way, and that will elevate us into the next level of consciousness.”(p. 178)


Later in that same conversation, Rachel relates an incident regarding her deceased mother:


“And then one day, without anything pointing out the way, I just decided to tell her how I felt out loud, as though she were there. Immediately, I began to intuit what she might say back to me, only I realized it wasn’t something I would necessarily have been able to guess. That’s when I realized that I was having an interaction with her.”


“The idea of communication with the Afterlife seemed too strange at first, and I stopped for a while, but the memory of the experience was so energizing and profound, I gradually began to communicate with her more often. Eventually, she told me how much she regretted the way she had raised me to think of men. She said it was all a mistake that tormented her, and that now she holds the Agape and speaks from truth—and she wishes she had known earlier, so she could have taught me this new way.”


“…Don’t you see?... The Document says we can begin to communicate with those in the Afterlife and clear all our resentments and issues with them. All we have to do is use more of our power to tune in and have a conversation. It’s never too late. And there is so much more they want to communicate to us.”


“In fact, my mother said they desperately need to speak with us, right now, at this crucial point in history. They know the real Plan for the human world, and it’s time for us on this side to understand.”(p. 179)[emphasis added]


Because a similar kind of talking and interacting with the dead is now being introduced into the church by the Bergers, and because their book is being endorsed by Greg Laurie, Chuck Missler and others, the Discernment Research Group has asked Pastor Larry DeBruyn to do a book review of the Bergers’ book Have Heart: bridging the gulf between heaven and earth. While sympathetic to the Bergers, and to any who have lost loved ones, Pastor DeBruyn will explain how our adversary can use something like the Bergers’ tragedy to introduce new teachings into the church. To be specific, Pastor DeBruyn will scripturally refute the unbiblical practice of interacting with and listening to spiritual entities that claim to be deceased loved ones. He will also address a number of the other new scriptural interpretations the Bergers introduce to make their case that it is now normal, even desirable, to encounter loved ones that have passed on.


Follow-up articles on the Herescope blog will expose how similar tactics are currently being used by New Age leaders to present New Revelation to convince people that the world is not coming to an end, but just to the end of the age and the beginning of the New Age. These New Age leaders argue that these new understandings and New Revelations are being brought forth through channelers, psychics, mediums—and yes, even those who have passed on.


What these deceived New Age leaders are saying is that, armed with these new revelations and understandings, the world will be able to avert what would otherwise be worldwide crisis and disaster. They say December 22, 2012 will be the first day of the new beginning, the new era—the New Age.


Pastor DeBruyn’s article will warn how books and teachings like Have Heart can actually lead the church into this deceptive New Age scenario.


Stay tuned . . . .



Herescope: Happy New (Age) New Year 2012!

[billiefan2000]

Wednesday, January 04, 2012
The “Canaanization” of the Church

Part 2, Do the Dead Communicate with the Living?



Have Heart: A Review and Commentary (continued)


Read Herescope's Introductory Comments
Read Part 1: Normalizing Necromancy


By Pastor Larry DeBruyn


As the religion of the Canaanites tested Israel’s fidelity to Jehovah, so the emerging New Age Religion of our culture—which merges the realities of earth and heaven (As above, so below) and blends the spirituality of what’s out there with what’s down here—tests the faith of today’s Christian in the Lord Jesus Christ.



Our Reality and Our Culture

Death is a regular visitor in an irregular world. In our culture with its cultic fixation upon youth, health, beauty, brains and brawn, Christians, of all people, should be prepared to cope with death. To help others deal with the loss of a loved one who is a believer, Pastor Steve and Sarah Berger have written Have Heart: bridging the gulf between heaven and earth. Using the Bible and their “sanctified imagination,” the authors inform readers how they are dealing with the death of their beloved son, Josiah. In a public forum, at what they perceive to be the risk of ridicule, they state their case that those in Heaven are aware of and can actually be present with loved ones on earth.

In both the culture at large and amongst growing numbers of evangelical Christians, interest in the “connectivity” between this life and the next, between earth and heaven, is on the rise.[15] Both children and adults report visiting Heaven.[16] A few even claim they’ve been to Hell and back.[17] Others report “conversations” with Jesus.[18] But, the highway between earth and heaven appears to be run both ways. Deceased persons are now also reportedly appearing to earthly family, friends and acquaintances. One CNN writer calls these postmortem visits “crisis apparitions.”[19] Numbers of publications claiming to connect this life with the next can be noted, books bearing titles such as The Spirit Whisperer: Chronicles of a Medium, After Life: Answers from the Other Side, One Last Time: a Psychic Medium Speaks to Those We Have Loved and Lost, and Crossing Over: the Stories behind the Stories.[20]

Sometimes, living persons initiate ritual contact with deceased loved ones through mediums and séances. On other occasions, as the CNN writer reports, apparitions just “happen.”[21] It is claimed that these ethereal appearances—whether in or out of a body, no one knows—support that after death, there’s “life and love.” While such experiences are increasingly contemporary, they are not new.[22] For centuries apparitions of Mary, as well Jesus and others, have been reported throughout the world.[23]

In their book, God and the Evolving Universe, New Age Spiritualists James Redfield (author of The Celestine Prophecy), Michael Murphy (cofounder of the Esalen Institute) and Sylvia Timbers (a long time counselor to the terminally ill) write that in the “face of life’s brevity, mysteries, and misfortunes,” humans have, “Since the Stone Age... sensed that physical death might not be the end but a transition—that some part of us, a spirit or soul, survives the body’s passing.”[24] From ancient to modern times, the world’s literature contains,

accounts of phantom figures that threaten, inspire, guide, or support those who encounter them. Apparitions have long reminded humankind that there is more to life than our senses perceive, more than our immediate desires reach for, more than the ordinary self conceives.[25]

Humans remain fascinated by what might lie ahead for them in a postmortem continuation of being. Since death first entered into human existence, from the time when Satan told Eve, “Ye shall not surely die” (Genesis 3:4), the desire to “know” about life after death remains embedded in the hearts of humanity (See Genesis 3:19; 4:8; 5:5; etc.; Romans 5:12 ff.). So the curious have designed methods to penetrate the mystery which shrouds death. Developed in and practiced from olden times, these methods are known as the occult arts (i.e., of, relating to, or dealing with supernatural influences or phenomena). Nations in antiquity, especially the Canaanites, the people Israel displaced in the Promised Land, pursued these practices as Satan and his messengers continued promoting to them the Edenic lie—surely you will not die.

The Conflict of the Ages
Because Satan is “the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience,” an ongoing conflict exists between God and the Devil, between His good angels and Satan’s evil spirits (Ephesians 2:2). Paul taught that the Christian’s struggle is “not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12; Compare Revelation 12:7, ff.; Daniel 10:13; Jude 9; etc.).[26] Whether they are aware of it or not, Christians are involved in a war with Satan’s deceivers. We know so for two reasons: first the Bible tells us; and second, at one time or another, many Christians have been drawn into what has been called the conflict of the ages. Though for the most part the war between Satan and his demons and God and His angels remains invisible (Daniel 10:1-21), sometimes it becomes manifest.

Against the backdrop of this occult war (occult means hidden or secret), “crisis apparitions” must be evaluated, for to perpetuate the lie that all will not die, one means that Satan employs is disguising himself a messenger of light (2 Corinthians 11:14). In the Old Testament era, God called upon Israel to fight this war.

Israel and the Conflict
The Surrounding Culture—the Old Canaanites
Among other of the “secret arts,” the Canaanites (Deuteronomy 18:9-14, *11) consulted with “familiar spirits” (communicated with ghosts) and practiced “necromancy” (sought oracles from the dead), perhaps by “visiting their graves (Isa. 65:4).”[27] Of “necromancy,” Merril F. Unger (1909-1980), Old Testament scholar who thoroughly researched and wrote about occult and demonic activities, comments:

This practice is called “spiritualism” today; actually, it is “spiritism” (traffic in spirits). Occultism was part and parcel of the debauched Canaanite religion, which was honeycombed with demonism, sexual perversion, and violence, as Ugaritic literature recovered from Ras Sharma (ancient Ugarit) attests.[28]

So, poised to enter the Land of Canaan, the Lord informed Israel through Moses that while He was giving the land to Israel, He was not giving the nation permission to engage the occult arts and practices of the Land’s inhabitants (Deuteronomy 18:9, 14).[29] Totally and without compromise, God forbade the Israelites “to do after the abominations of those nations,” “to imitate the detestable things of those nations (Emphasis added, NASB)” (Deuteronomy 18: 9). As Leviticus commanded the Israelites, “Do not turn to mediums or spiritists; do not seek them out to be defiled by them. I am the Lord your God” (Leviticus 19:31).[30] God forbade them to engage in Old Age Spirituality, to imitate the secret arts in any way. Old Testament scholar and commentator J.G. McConville notes of the covenant between God and His people that,


The emphasis is upon integrity of relationship... [showing]... the prohibitions in these verses have their meaning in the context of a choice between devotion to Yahweh and allegiance to other gods.[31]

Would Israel be faithful to Yahweh, or would they adopt the Old Age Spirituality of the Canaanites? Unfortunately, in choosing to imitate the wicked and occult arts of their neighbors, the Israelites entered into “relationships” with gods in addition to the One they had covenanted with.[32] Old Testament history chronicles how the Hebrew people imitated the seductive spiritual practices of the Canaanite as they refused to wait in faith for the coming of The Prophet whom God promised would more fully explain the mystery of the afterlife and “whatever’s out there” to them (Deuteronomy 18:15). As curiosity got the better of them, the Hebrew people, via the machinations and manipulations of the occult arts, chose to explore the afterlife on their own.

For their unfaithfulness to Him, the Lord punished the Israelites; first by allowing the Northern Kingdom (Israel) to be taken captive by the Assyrians (B.C. 722), and then by allowing the Southern Kingdom (Judah) to be conquered by the Babylonians (B.C. 586).

Christians know Jesus Christ is The Prophet who, with His words and by His death, burial and resurrection, explained the postmortem reality all persons face. Therefore, from the example of Old Testament history (1 Corinthians 10:11), a great question arises for Christians living in this culture: will we trust the word of The Prophet regarding the afterlife, or will we attempt, by whatever means, to explore it for ourselves?

Christians and the Conflict
The Surrounding Culture—the New Canaanites
Amongst the New Age/New Spiritualists—to whom the realities of earth and heaven are merging, where what’s up there is blending with what’s down here—truth is evolving in an ever emerging dialectic. Opposites like heaven and earth no longer exist. Therefore, it is not unnatural to believe that in handling the grief of life, the dead (those out of their bodies) can communicate with the living (those in their bodies).

In his new novel, The Twelfth Insight, New Age leader and writer James Redfield chronicles the search by two characters, Hero and Will, for “The Document,” a compilation of writings from various spiritualities that will aid its readers in experiencing “Synchronistic Flow” (a.k.a. “the Zone, Heightened Perception”). This synchronistic consciousness Hero defines as,


a sudden elevation in one’s experience, wherein we transcend the ordinary and find a higher meaning in the flow of events. This Synchronistic perception “centers” us in some way and feels beyond what could be expected from pure chance—as though a higher “destiny” is unfolding.[33]

Upon entering The Flow, Rachel, another character in The Twelfth Insight, explains that,

The Document says we can begin to communicate with those in the Afterlife and clear all our resentments and issues with them. All we have to do is use more of our power to tune in and have a conversation. It’s never too late. And there is so much more they want to communicate to us.[34]

Dr. Oz provides another cultural indicator. Only two months after helping Rick Warren launch his Daniel Plan, Dr. Oz featured well known medium and psychic John Edward on his TV program, Indicating sympathy for spiritualism, Oz’s program was titled, Psychic Mediums: Are They the New Therapists?[35] Based upon that program which featured Edward with Dr. Oz, the website Dr Oz Fans asks:


Do you believe you can talk to the dead? And if you can, does it help you get over the death of a person?... Could talking to the dead be the best medicine for grief?[36]

This is our culture—one fascinated by the possibility of talking to the dead, by soul travel between earth and heaven, by the potential of transhumanism (i.e., that man can realize divinity), and by the possible existence of parallel universes. Fascination with the paranormal has become epidemic in our society for reason of the publicity the media and Hollywood give it (i.e., Harry Potter, Star Wars, White Noise, etc., ad nauseam). As such, one can expect that Christian personalities will desire to “get in on the action” and tap into the paranormal world people claim to be experiencing, despite the Bible’s warning against doing so (Deuteronomy 18:9-14).

The “Canaanization” of the Church
The religions of the ancient nations—the Egyptians, the Babylonians, the Canaanites, etc.—all shared an occult connection (Exodus 7:11; Isaiah 47:12-13; Deuteronomy 18:1). If there was a state religion among the ancients, it was the occult. And in that day, the Lord called upon His people to separate themselves from that spirituality. But as indicated by the prophets, Israel ignored God’s Word and absorbed the secret arts into her national religious life. Jeremiah told Judah, “Do not let your prophets who are in your midst and your diviners deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams which they dream” (Jeremiah 29:8). Christians must beware that what happened to God’s people in that day might also be happening among those naming the name of Christ today.

New Testament Scripture warns against it. Paul admonished the Corinthians: “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you” (2 Corinthians 6:17). In this verse, Paul quoted the prophet Isaiah when, after seventy years of exile, the Jews were preparing to leave Babylon and return to the Promised Land (Isaiah 52:11). The Lord warned Israel against taking the idols and secret arts of Babylonian religion with them back to their homeland (See Daniel 2:2, 10; 5:7.). Upon exiting Babylon, they were not even to “touch the unclean thing.”[37] Touching upon the realm of the demonic (Zechariah 13:1-2; Matthew 10:1), the word “unclean” (Hebrew, tame'; Greek, akathartos) means to be contaminated by physical, moral, ritual and/or spiritual impurity thereby making people, animals, objects or activities unfit for worshipping the Holy One of Israel.

The Prophet Jesus denied that Heaven and earth are one—i.e., “as above, so below”.[38] He declared the realities of Heaven and earth to be separate and not equal. He told the religious leaders of His day: “Whither I go, ye cannot come... Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world” (John 8:22-23). Nevertheless, contemporary Christians, never wanting to be “left behind” by the culture, never content with letting the Christian faith be the Christian faith, are seeking to “connect” Heaven and earth—some by claiming to have visited Heaven, others by claiming to have experienced visits from Heaven.[39] Yet despite Old and New Testament prohibitions, New Age Religion is subtly influencing how many Christians view their spirituality these days. They are being seduced by the New Spirituality. They are touching the “unclean thing.” They are becoming “Canaanized.”

Apostasy
As the religion of the Canaanites tested Israel's fidelity to Jehovah, so the New Age Religion of our culture—which in its spirituality merges the realities of earth and heaven (As above, so below) and blends what's up there with what's down here—tests the faith commitment of today's Christians to the Lord Jesus Christ.

In the last days, the time period between Christ’s first and second comings, Paul describes that apostasy will occur in the church because people will follow “seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils” (1 Timothy 4:1). This is exactly why John commanded Christians, “believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1). As Jesus did in His temptation (“it is written,” Matthew 4:4, 6, 7, 10), Christians are to discern the spirits by the Word of God only. The potential of apostatizing from the faith is the spiritual reality of the evil age in which we live, and it will remain so until Jesus comes again and binds the Deceiver for one thousand years (Ephesians 6:12; 2 Thessalonians 2:3; Revelation 20:1-3).


"Moreover, Josiah removed the mediums and the spiritists and the teraphim and the idols and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might confirm the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord."
(2 Kings 23:24, NASB)



Stay tuned for Part 3 . . . .


Herescope: The