Alice Bailey - New Age Occultist -- said they would use the "church" to accomplish their goals

Occultist
Pantheist
Theosophy Teacher
New Age Promoter
CONTEMPLATIVE

The woman who coined the term New Age, occultist Alice Bailey, (believing that we were on the threshold of a new spiritual awakening) said that this new enlightened age would come, not around the Christian church, but rather through it. She said the outer layers would be initially kept intact (i.e., Christian terminology would still be used) but the changes would take place obscurely from the inside.1 Is this not what we are witnessing happening today through the NAR, (New Apostolic Reformation), Kingdom Dominion, Purpose Driven, contemplative, emerging, interfaith church?

Did Alice Bailey believe in a coming Christ?
Oh yes, but not the Christ of the Bible.

"None other than Alice Bailey, the famous occult prophetess who coined the term New Age, made this startling pronouncement: 'It is, of course, easy to find many passages which link the way of the Christian Knower with that of his brother in the East. They bear witness to the same efficacy of method.' What did she mean by the term 'Christian Knower?' The answer is unmistakable! ... occultism is awakening the mystical faculties to see God as the all in all. In Hinduism this is called reaching samadhi or enlightenment. It is the final objective of yoga meditation: God in everything—a force or power flowing through all that exists." Ray Yungen, A Time of Departing, p. 34

Alice Bailey believes the Christian church
will help bring about the New Age.

"The goal of the New Age Movement has consistently been to bring in the Age of Aquarius when all will recognize 'the God within themselves.' A major step towards this in the words of the New Age prophetess Alice Bailey, is 'the regeneration of the churches.' Her vision was that... 'The Christian church in its many branches can serve as a St. John the Baptist, as a voice crying in the wilderness, and as a nucleus through which world illumination may be accomplished.' In a word, she desired the time when the 'Christian churches' would embrace the New Age concepts of illumination and self-realization. The New Age plan to bring in world peace cannot fully establish the Golden Age of Aquarius until Biblical Christianity is outlawed or destroyed."— Richard Bennett, Can Mysticism Lead to God

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The Plan
 

Alice Bailey, in an address at the Arcane School Conference in Geneva, Switzerland, suggested that the "Shamballa force"-the force from the invisible dimensions led by the Lord Maitreya-will be "destructive." It will also, she said, eject unbelievers from the earth: "The decision to release the Shamballa force during this century into direct contact with the human kingdom is one of the final and most compelling acts of preparation for the New Age. The Shamballa force is destructive and ejective ... inspiring new understanding of The Plan....It is this force ... which will bring about that tremendous crisis, the initiation of the race into the mysteries of the ages. (Alice Bailey, The Externalizing the Mysteries, pt.1 p.171)

Guess who the unbelievers are? When the Church is removed and they think it is because of the new age Christ it is only then their plan will take shape for a new world order. It was Hitler who spoke of a "thousand year Reich" carrying the concept of the biblical Millennium. One will have the choice to accept the New Age Messiah, receive the initiation or they will face the other alternative of being ejected. This means destruction. This doesn’t sound like the love and tolerance we have been hearing from those who criticize the Christians for teaching there is only one Christ.

Barbara Marx Hubbard has written,"Christ-consciousness and Christ-abilities are the natural inheritance of every human being on Earth. When the word of this hope has reached the nations, the end of this phase of evolution shall come. All will know their choice. All will be required to choose..... All who choose not to evolve will die off; their souls will begin again within a different planetary system which will serve as kindergarten for the transition from self-centered to whole-centered being. The kindergarten class of Earth will be over. Humankind's collective power is too great to be inherited by self-centered, infantile people. (Barbara Marx Hubbard Happy birthday Planet Earth.p.17

David Spangler teaches that "Christ is the same force as Lucifer... Lucifer prepares man for the experience of Christhood. (He is) the great initiator.... 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 ... for it is an invitation into the New Age.(David Spangler Reflections on the Christ p.44-45)

The Urantia Book which is 2,097-pages of profound new age gobily gook was given by  inspiration of higher intelligence's. One can learn to invite "Thought Adjusters" (fallen angels) to dwell within them. These Thought Adjusters allow the individual's Higher Self to experience "the new age" presence of God . This is just another way of entering the Luciferic initiation which is taught in many variables. It doesn't matter whether one uses the 7 spiritual centers, chakras, visualization, Spirit guides, I am meditation , calling on the violet flame, astral travel, a guru etc. As long as they reach the point of illumination that all is one and receive their mission, the goal is reached.

Bailey teaches that this destructive force would promote a crisis which would lead to the Initiation of the race into the "mysteries of the ages" is revealing. All who refuse the Luciferic Initiation into the New Age are considered unfit to enter  the New Age. This will begin a crisis period as the earth is cleansed and purified. Rev.17 speaks about mystery Babylon that had mystery initiations (the Occult). The bible addresses this as part of the last empire that raises its fist of defiance against the God of the universe.

Benjamen Creme recently stated on the Art Bell program (July 10,1998)  "Catholics most orthodox Christians see the anti Christ as a man who will come before the Christ and could even be mistaken for the Christ ("right" A. Bell says) will promise the moon to humanity but in fact he is really the devil incarnate. Nothing could be further from the truth. He is not a man, the anti Christ is an energy a force a destructive force which is deliberately released to break down the old order and to prepare the way for the Christ. It is in revelation in St. John as you know but the beast 666 is unchanged for a time then changed down for a time and a half a time. This refers to what we call the anti Christ energy it destructive aspect of the first aspect of God...

It has 2 phases in its constructive positive phase its is the will to good in its destructive phase it is what we call the anti Christ . it deliberately released to break down that proceeds the advent of the Christ. It was released in Johns own day through the emperor Nero to bring an end to the roman dispensation to prepare the way for Christendom. It released again in our time through Hitler a group around him in Natzi Germany together with a group of militarist in Japan and a further group around Mussolini in Italy. And these 3 powers the axis powers in the war with the allies from 1939 -45 in body the energy call the anti Christ. Not just their evil but evil of all humanity from the very beginning."

"By the defeat of the axis powers by the allies behind whom stood Maitreya and the forces of light , the spiritual hierarchy of our planet. The masters of wisdom and Maitreya the head, the forces of evil on this planet had defeated , not destroyed, but defeated for the time being so the beast has been released now it must be chained down for a time and half a time that refers to the time the age which is now opening the age of Aquarius."

This is confusing since The "Tibetan Master Dwaj Khul," openly promoted the concept of Aryanism to Alice Bailey Which just so happened to be adopted to as a doctrine of Hitler's Third Reich.
The book of Revelation  which tells us what the end of time will be like also describes to us this beast who is  given power "to make war ... to overcome ... power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. All that dwell upon the earth shall worship him" (13:5-8).

"The final break or division between the so-called black and white forces, for this particular world cycle, will take place during the period. of the sixth root race in the present round. Towards the close of the sixth root race, before the emergence of the seventh, we shall have the true Armageddon about which so much has been taught. A small cycle, corresponding to this final battle and cleavage, will appear during the sixth subrace which is now in process of formation." (From A Treatise on White Magic by Alice A. Bailey, pages 543-544.)

The Forces of Darkness are powerful energies ... they work to prevent the understanding of that which is of the New Age ... they hold back the forces of evolution ... (Externalisation p. 75) Guess who she is referring to. What did she mean of evolution? That mankind would transform into Godkind. The forces of darkness are not energies but fallen angels who have powers.

Scripture says the gods that have not made the heavens and the earth will perish. If your striving to be a God, this means you will perish.

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The Biggest Sign of the Last Days isn't earthquakes, pestilence and wars....Its Massive Deception

 Jesus warned about a massive deception to take place in the last days more than any other sign..... 


Take heed that no one deceives you For many will come in My name saying "I am the Christ" and will deceive many......Then if anyone says to you, "Look, here is the Christ" or "There!" do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.  See I have told you beforehand.  Therefore, if they say to you "Look He is in the desert!" do not go out, or "Look, He is in the inner rooms!"  do not beleive it!  For as lightening comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.    Matthew 24: 4, 23-27

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world    1 John 4:1


Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine.  For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;  And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned to fables.  Be sober in all things     2 Timothy 4:2-4

I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another, but there are some that trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or and angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what you have reveived, let him be accursed.  As I have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.    Galatians 1:6-9

For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ.  And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.  Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works   2 Corinthians 11:13-15

But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ,  For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you received, or a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted -- you may well put up with it.  2 Corinthians 11: 3-4

If Rob Bell and Neale Donald Walsch are Right, Then Hitler Will Be in Heaven!

http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog/?p=6090

If Rob Bell is right, in his new book Love Wins, then Adolph Hitler (murderer of over 6 million Jews) will be in Heaven. According to the prolific New Age author Neale Donald Walsch (author of the best-selling Conversations with God), Hitler will indeed be in Heaven. He says God told him so. The following excerpt from Warren Smith’s book False Christ Coming: Does Anybody Care? has some interesting insights and quotes about Walsch’s views on Hitler.

Neale Donald Walsch, Hitler, and God:
In 1992, Neale Donald Walsch, a disillusioned and distraught former radio talk show host, public relations professional, and longtime metaphysical seeker, sat down one night and wrote God an angry letter.1 He was amazed when “God” immediately answered his letter by speaking to him through an inner voice. That night, and in subsequent conversations, Walsch wrote down all of the dictated answers to his questions. The dictation continued for several years.2 Walsch’s Conversations with God: Book 1 was published in 1995 and became the first in a series of best-selling Conversations with God books. It seemed that in Walsch “God” had found yet another willing channel for his New Age/New Gospel teachings.

In a style reminiscent of John Denver and George Burns in the movie Oh, God!, Walsch and “God” present a more “down home” version of the same New Age Gospel teachings that were conveyed through previous “inner voice” dictations to Helen Schucman and Barbara Marx Hubbard. With Walsch playing the role of devil’s advocate, “God” cleverly plays off of Walsch’s leading questions and comments. Walsch and “God” come across in these conversations as a couple of “everyday Joe’s” who systematically dismantle biblical Christianity with their straight-from-the-source, “spiritually correct” teachings. With the assurance of two foxes now in control of the henhouse, they emphatically assert that the New Gospel is from God and that the “Old Gospel” is not.

Delighted by the fact that they are being taken seriously by millions of readers, “God” and Walsch appear to thoroughly enjoy their process of bringing the public up to spiritual speed. Continuing to build upon the foundation of New Age teachings already introduced through Schucman, Hubbard, and others, “God” and Walsch add some special twists of their own to the New Gospel story. Using Walsch as the straight man, “God” introduces many of his more extreme teachings with smug, authoritative statements such as: “There are no such things as the Ten Commandments,”3 “So who said Jesus was perfect?,”4 and “Hitler went to heaven.”5

Walsch’s “God” makes a number of other provocative statements about Hitler. The net effect is a minimization of Hitler’s actions and an obvious glorification of death. The following are two of “God’s” comments about Hitler and death:

So the first thing you have to understand—as I’ve already explained to you—is that Hitler didn’t hurt anyone. In a sense, he didn’t inflict suffering, he ended it.6

I tell you this, at the moment of your death you will realize the greatest freedom, the greatest peace, the greatest joy, and the greatest love you have ever known. Shall we therefore punish Bre’r Fox for throwing Bre’r Rabbit into the briar patch?7

Walsch, always the public relations man, anticipates reader incredulity at statements like these by expressing apparent surprise and then asking “God” questions that the skeptical reader would probably ask. But in his process of seeming to challenge “God”—which he does with considerable skill—Walsch actually enables “God” to further expound upon and reinforce the thoughts and ideas of his teachings. Not surprisingly, Walsch always seems to come around to “God’s” point of view. Even to some of his more extreme views about death and Adolph Hitler.


Direct quotes from Walsch’s “God” (From False Christ Coming: Does Anybody Care?)
Hitler and Evil

Walsch:

“God”: First, he could not have gone to hell because hell does not exist. Therefore, there is only one place left to which he could have gone. But that begs the question. The real issue is whether Hitler’s actions were “wrong.” Yet I have said over and over again that there is no “right” or “wrong” in the universe. A thing is not intrinsically right or wrong. A thing simply is.
Now your thought that Hitler was a monster is based on the fact that he ordered the killing of millions of people, correct?

Walsch: Obviously, yes.

“God”: Yet what if I told you that what you call “death” is the greatest thing that could happen to anyone—what then? (CWG Book 2, p. 36)

I do not love “good” more than I love “bad.” Hitler went to heaven. (CWG Book 1, p. 61)

The mistakes Hitler made did no harm or damage to those whose deaths he caused. Those souls were released from their earthly bondage, like butterflies emerging from a cocoon.
(CWG Book 2, p. 42)

So the first thing you have to understand—as I’ve already explained to you—is that Hitler didn’t hurt anyone. In a sense, he didn’t inflict suffering, he ended it. (CWG Book 2, p. 56)  (Taken from False Christ Coming: Does Anybody Care?, chapter 3 by Warren Smith)

Notes:
1. Neale Donald Walsch, Conversations with God: an uncommon dialogue, Book 1 (NY: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1996), p. 1.
2. Ibid., p. 2.
3. Ibid., p. 95.
4. Ibid., p. 192.
5. Neale Donald Walsch, Conversations with God: an uncommon dialogue, Book 2 (Charlottesville, VA: Hampton Roads, 1997), p. 35.
6. Ibid., p. 56.
7. Ibid., p. 36. Well, I’m going to have to ask the questions here that I know so many people are thinking and wanting to ask. How could a man like Hitler have gone to heaven? Every religion in the world. . . I would think every one, has declared him condemned and sent straight to hell.

One of the Most Dangerous "Movements" spreading in the Church....EXTREMELY Disturbing!!!!!!

I urge all professing christians to watch this video.....this IS in the Church.... I know people involved in some of these very churches......AND there  is a Rick Warren connection.....C. Peter Wagner who considers himself a self appointed "super apostle" and part of the New Apostolic Reformation, aka Kingdom Dominionism, Joels Army, The Elijah's List, Latter Rain,  New Wine etc.....not many people know that Rick Warren got his doctorate from C Peter Wagner....  this is so much bigger than you can imagine....I have the full DVD documentary to these video clips and many other DVDs and information .... you are more than welcome to email me and i will send you a copy of the DVD and any others you need for free.    Please pray for the Church....we are deep into the last days falling away/apostasy the bible CLEARLY warned about over and over again.....

By all appearances, Christians are knowingly or unknowingly dabbling in eastern mysticism and the spirit world. . . . Deeper spiritual understanding seems to be the motivation behind it all. The problem is that Christians are no longer satisfied with the literal Word of God. They are looking for experiences “beyond the sacred page”. The Bread of Heaven, according to their inner “sacred feelings”, has become stale and outmoded.

Religious Trojan Horse: Fabian Socialism, Tony Blair, Rick Warren and an Agenda for One World Religion and One World Government

Pay real close attention as Brannon Howse exposes and explains the stained glass window of the Fabian Socialist.....they're logo is LITERALLY a wolf in sheeps clothing......and two men with an earth on fire (chaos) beating it with hammers to mold and manipulate it to "change" and "transform" the whole of society using chaos as their vehicle.   Tony Blair, part of the Labour Party, and fabian socialist who formed the Tony Blair Faith Foundation is a big part of this change....and who sits on his Foundation board?  Rick Warren who not only is a member of the globalist CFR also has been a radical change agent from the very beginning....after all Rick Warren was an active member of the radical 60's group the SDS which also grew out of marxism and fabian socialism....look up the article in Time magazine in August 2008

Read Psalm 2 and sleep peacefully.  The Lord is laughing at these people
1Why do the nations rage,
         And the people plot a vain thing?
 ² The kings of the earth set themselves,
         And the rulers take counsel together,
         Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying,
 ³ “Let us break Their bonds in pieces
         And cast away Their cords from us.”
        
 ⁴ He who sits in the heavens shall laugh;
         The Lord shall hold them in derision.

Prayer Request for My Friend and His Ministry

Keep my dear friend Pastor Billy Crone and his family in prayer as he takes a leap of faith and heeds the leading of the Holy Spirit to taking him in a new direction with his ministry since he will be resigning his leadership  position at Niagara Frontier Bible Church
...Billy Crone is an a very godly man who loves the Lord and has touched the lives of many people around the world through his online ministry....pray that the Lord opens all the right doors to help expand Get A Life Media Ministries. I know many at NFBC are going to miss him terribly.

You can email him at bcrone@getalifemedia.com  with your prayers and words of encouragement

Strange Fire: Gnostism 'Contemplative Prayer and IHOP

IHOP   aka International House of Prayer

Information

[1]Mike Bickle is the president, and director of the International House of Prayer (IHOP), president of Friends of the Bridegroom (FOTB), and co-founder of The Joseph Company of Kansas City. He currently is the most-featured speaker on Sunday worship services at Forerunner Christian Fellowship, the church associated with IHOP.

Bickle was formerly the pastor of the Kansas City Fellowship, which is now known as Metro Christian Fellowship. In that role, during the 1980s and 1990s, he was senior pastor of the group known to detractors and supporters alike as the "Kansas City Prophets." This group included Bob Jones, John Paul Jackson, Paul Cain, and by some accounts Francis Frangipane.

[2] In September 19, 1999 Mile Bickle created (IHOP) International House of Prayer, The IHOP–KC staff views themselves as “intercessory missionaries” because they do the work of outreach from a place of 24/7 prayer with worship. The staff raises their own financial support as missionaries. About 1,500 people (staff, students and interns, musicians, intercessors and worship leaders), Mike Bickle's IHOP is not IHOP restaurants (International House of Pancakes).

The Kansas City Prophets

[3] Excerpted from "Heaven Can't Wait" by William M. Alnor, 1996 "These so-called prophets were a group of men that coalesced around a church known as the Kansas City Fellowship, pastured by Mike Bickle, that attracted a following of other like minded churches in that region. They argued that God was spearheading a new revival from their churches, and that he was restoring the office of a prophet. Just as other "prophets" we discussed in these pages, yesterday's Kansas City stock could have it both ways. They could hear from God, and speak forth God's words, prophesying of great events soon to transpire on planet earth. And they could have flipped a coin as to whether what God allegedly told they would actually come true. Often they didn't come true.

Aside from strange prophecies and visions, the Kansas City prophets reported visits to the supernatural realms, including heaven. In a series of five hour-long tapes entitled Visions and Revelations, Mike Bickle and Bob Jones are heard wowing followers of the Kansas City Fellowship with all sorts of tales of their unverified experiences in the next plane."

Mike Bickle's Visions

In the same tape series, Bickle and Jones relate the story of an angel revealing that God would appear to Bickle in the form of another person named "Don" in a vision or in a dream. Bickle said the vision eventually took place, and part of its message was to show him that "Jesus appears in thousands of different faces to portray something," Bickle said. "He was trying to say, 'I'm your friend, I am your familiar friend, and I'm going to show you all things so you can move in the power of the Spirit'".

Later Bickle relates that during his trip to heaven Jesus commissioned him to be one of God's new generals to lead his end time army. Although Bickle claims he met with "the Lord" in person it was an out-of-body experience. It was 2:16 A.M. he said, and in a flash he was there, but it wasn't the cave where Jones earlier related he had been. Instead he was standing in a 20-by 30-foot room that "had clouds on the bottom, on the top and the walls". It was the courtroom of God. God was in the room, Bickle said, but rather than appearing as a being of light, he was a presence that Bickle wouldn't look at.

What Are We to Make of These Visions?
Fortunately, the Kansas City prophets movement did not pass the test of time. Far from remaining a center-piece of Wimber's movement as was trumpeted in Vineyard publications not so long ago, this "new breed" of men that was going to help lead them have, by and large, fallen out of favor. Cain, who is no longer integrally associated with the Vineyards, has been soundly criticized for some of his pronouncements; even CharismaMagazine associate editor J. Lee Grady pointed out a few of his false prophecies in his book, "What Happened to the Fire?" More recently Cain unleashed a storm of controversy from within the Christian community when he released a supposed word from the Lord that President Bill Clinton, who has fought hard to keep abortion legal and whose first week in office saw him lobby hard to allow homosexuals to serve in the U.S. military, was God's man for the hour. He claimed God was going to give Clinton the power of the Holy Spirit to lead America away from a New World order.

Testing Doctrines

The fact of the matter is that Cain and other so-called Kansas City prophets should have never been placed into an area of Christian leadership in the first place. Cain (who has also claimed trips to heaven) has a questionable testimony, has demonstrated a lengthy absence of Christian service in his life, and he has called the late William Branham, with whom he once had an association, "the greatest prophet who ever lived." Branham, however, denied the historic doctrine of the Trinity (even claiming it comes from the devil), and taught extensive error, including the zodiac and Egyptian pyramids are on par with the authority of Scripture. 34 Branham taught what has now become known as the "Serpent Seed" doctrine that is popular with various neo-Nazi and "Christian" identity cults -- that the Bible's Cain was produced through a sexual coupling between the serpent in the Garden of Eden and Eve.

Bickle has been linked to the heretical Latter Pain and Manifest Sons of God doctrine that falsely elevates man into a God class. Thioalcohol disqualified him and his Kansas City movement from leading antichrist in the future.In part 2 of Bickle'sundated tape The Glory and Dominion of Sonship, he moves into blasphemy by declaring: It comes from the devil), and taught extensive error, including the zodiac and Egyptian pyramids are on par with the authority of Scripture. 34 Branham taught what has now become known as the "Serpent Seed" doctrine that is popular with various neo-Nazi and "Christian" identity cults -- that the Bible's Cain was produced through a sexual coupling between the serpent in the Garden of Eden and Eve.
My conviction is that one of the greatest transformations is when you begin to get the revelation that you are a Son of God. Son of God ... God has conceived in His heart of a plan to make a race of men that would live like gods on the Earth. He has conceived in His heart to have Sons that would live like His Son, the Lord Jesus lived ... That we were to be on earth the extension and manifestation of God's life in heaven.
Although some voices have come forward objecting to critics' labeling some of the Kansas City prophets movement as promoting cultic doctrines, they don't have a case. Personal Freedom Outreach's Steve Cannon writes that "Bickle clearly uses unscriptural terminology and logic to teach Manifest Sons doctrine." Despite this, Bickle is still popular in charismatic circle thanks to appearances on the Trinity Broadcasting Network and other charismatic media outlets. Bob Jones, however, who not so long ago was regarded as the most powerful of the Kansas City crowd is out of the ministry. First when Wimber's Vineyard absorbed the Kansas City Fellowship, Jones and another "prophet" were disciplined for making some outlandish statements and prophecies that were judged to have harmed some, and their prophecy tapes were removed from distribution. Jones's ministry was then limited to church leadership "behind closed doors.
"However, it was behind those doors where Jones's ministry ended. Two women came forward in 1991 and told Vineyard leaders that Jones had used his prophetic authority to touch and fondle them sexually. 39 Jones admitted it and was removed from the ministry. "In recent months, I have manipulated certain people for selfish reasons based on my prophetic gifting," Jones said in a statement that he dictated and signed before the Metro Vineyard Fellowship senior leadership on November 4, 1991. "I have been guilty of sexual misconduct, and I deeply regret this. (I have not committed adultery.) "
Many of Jones's and other Kansas City prophets' outlandish teachings and occult-like practices and prophecies were documented in a dizzying 233-page report compiled by former charismatic pastor Ernie Gruen. Although Gruen later acknowledged that there were some minor inaccuracies in his report, it successfully exposed specifics of what he called the "charismatic heresy" of the Kansas City prophetic movement. Dates, times, and specific incidents of error (that sometimes caused great damage) and outright lies by the name of prophetic utterances were documented by Gruen's staff, implicating Bickle, Jones, and Jackson. I believe Gruen's work proved beyond the shadow of a doubt that the Kansas City prophets were false ones. We can therefore, postulate that God has not spoken to any of these men.

God had some strict pronouncements against the false prophetic movement of Jeremiah's day: "Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you; they fill you with false hopes," God spoke through the prophet. "They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD" (23:16). A handful of verses later God calls them lying prophets, "who steal from one another words supposedly from me" (v. 30). They are leading people astray.

God rebuked him for not being patient enough in choosing leaders for his movement. Later the being ordered Bickle to ride in a golden chariot-one of about thirty-five-in a procession of leaders, apostles, and prophets, who would be joining the movement that would someday be worldwide. Bickle said that during the trip God did not commission him as an apostle. However, he said he understood the experience to mean that if he was faithful he would "have an opportunity in the grace of God to fill an apostolic calling."


IHOP & The Latter Rain
[4]Tuesday, September 16, 2008

"Earlier this year the International House of Prayer (IHOP) sponsored a conference in Kansas City entitled Passion for Jesus that was heavily promoted toward young people. The purpose of the conference was to "cultivate intimacy with Jesus." In the conference's second session, IHOP president and director Mike Bickle preached a message based on an allegorical interpretation of a Matthew 25 parable in which he explained his end times theology and "revelation of the bridal paradigm." Bickle claims that Jesus cannot return until something drastically changes in the church: "He is not coming any day. He is not coming until the people of God globally are crying out in intercession with a bridal identity under the anointing of the Spirit." If you do not understand what he means by that it is likely because you have read the Bible literally and have never found anything regarding a special anointing that imparts a revelation of a "bridal identity." In fact, much of Bickle's terminology will be strange and foreign to most Christians.
In this article, I will show that Bickle's movement is based on allegorized scripture, deeper life pietism, and mysticism, representing a slightly modified version of the heretical Latter Rain movement of the 1940s. Bickle claims that he began his ministry through the hearing of an audible voice of God in 1983 that told him to start the 24-hour prayer in the spirit of the tabernacle of David. He further claims that he erected a sign, to that effect, and that he himself did not even know what prayer in the spirit of the tabernacle of David was, despite that God had told him to establish it. It turns out that it is "prophetic singing prayers." Once they figured out what it was, IHOP was born."
"Mike Bickle and International House of Prayer: The Latter Rain Redividus," Bob DeWaay

IHOP Openly Promotes Contemplative Prayer/ Visualization Based on Occultism and New Age Christianity.
[5] This was taken from the International House of Prayer’s website.
Contemplative Prayer—–Communing with the Holy Spirit who lives within you

I. Know He Lives Inside of You
II. Pray the Scripture
The goal is to search for the Spirit of Jesus in the Word and have depth, not necessarily length, in understanding the passage. Jesus is the Word (John 1) and we want to know Him, the Truth. In Him is life; it is His Spirit, who gives life. The words of Scripture are Spirit, and they are life (John 6:63). The entrance of the Word gives light and life (Psalm 119:130). As the Word of God enters your heart, the Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal body (Romans 8:11).
Make sure you are searching for the Spirit of Jesus, not just searching for knowledge. Just pray the Scriptures. In simple terms, prayer is turning your heart toward God. In John 5:39, Jesus said to the Pharisees, “You do not have His Word abiding in you … you search the Scriptures for in them, you think you have eternal life, and these are they, which testify of Me. However, you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.”

Method #1
Choose a short phrase in Scripture.
Begin slowly praying the Scripture in silence.
Focus your prayer toward the Spirit who lives inside you (John 7:38).
Remain on the phrase as long as you feel the Lord’s presence on it. Then move with Him, slowly praying through the passage phrase by phrase.
Method #2
Choose a short story in Scripture.
Read through the story several times silently.
Close your eyes and acknowledge the Spirit who lives in you.
Use your imagination to imagine yourself as one of the story characters or as an onlooker.
Play out the story in your mind applying all five of your senses.

Method #3
We call this “Beholding the Spirit Within.”
The goal is to search for and feel God’s presence inside you, not necessarily to gain more understanding in God’s Word as with the first two methods.
Begin by gently praying a short passage of Scripture in silence while focusing on the indwelling Spirit. The Scripture is used to quiet the clamoring of your soul and draw you to God. It is the connection point, the springboard into the spiritual realm.
Once you feel God’s presence, focus on it in a concentrated way.
You will be able to notice His presence now; He has always been there, but now your attention is on Him within you. The outward senses are quiet and your surface thoughts are gone. You are beginning to be consumed by the Spirit.
In this time, feel the freedom to stay quiet. Silently ask the Spirit to show you a vision, or slowly and silently say to Him, “I love You. I love You. I love You.”

Overcoming Distractions
Your mind will have to be trained in practical ways not to wander and think about other things. To overcome a wandering mind, simply begin thinking about the Scripture you have been meditating on, and focus your prayer to the Spirit within you. The Lord sees your heart as it searches for Him, and He is smiling upon you. You may become sleepy during prayer. To overcome, sit up straight instead of slouching and do not lie down. You can also begin speaking the Scripture you are meditating on under your breath until you feel the drowsiness subside, then return to the silent prayer.

Diligence in Prayer
In time these methods of praying will become easy. You will find the Spirit, who lives in you if you search for Him with all your heart, but it will require time and your whole heart.

Keys to Progress
Humility-the high and lofty One dwells with the lowly in heart (Isaiah 57)
Disciplined life of prayer, fasting, giving and loving your enemies (Matthew 6)
Total abandonment in love to Jesus and loving nothing of this life (Matthew 7:14)

http://www.ihop.org/Publisher/Article.aspx?id=1000000385


Transcendental Meditation

“Occultism has always involved
three techniques for changing and creating reality:
thinking, speaking, and visualizing.”
(Dave Hunt – Occult Invasion)
* * * *

“…imaging and visualization are increasingly appearing as Christian meditation, “mind-stretchers,” or a consciousness-awakening experience in Christian workshops, and you’d better believe that visualization as a cultivated exercise comes with all sorts of metaphysical and spiritual baggage in tow.”

— Visualization and Imaging, Jon Trott

“It’s not difficult to trace the practice of meditative imaging and visualization back to the mystics.”
— Visualization and Imaging, Jon Trott

Jon Trott is correct here. If anyone has started to indulge themselves into meditative practices, just ask them what books they are reading.
Christians are being duped into mysticism because a sentence has the word Jesus in it or there is a phrase of scripture.
The well-known catholic mystics are Brennan Manning, Henri Nouwen, Richard Foster, Thomas Merton, and Matthew Fox. If these authors are in your library then you know that you are entering a mystical realm that will only draw you AWAY from Jesus Christ. They want you to focus on a centering prayer which will invite a feeling of divinity within yourself. This is the lie, that you are divine. You may not think that this is where they are leading you, but this is what Eve thought when the serpent suggested, that “You will be like God.” Watch out for the new charismatic coined term of DNA which actually means “Divine Nature Activated”
Contemplative prayer sounds so biblical, but it is a dangerous occult method of contacting the spirit world, which is off-limits to the Christian. Visualization is a technique that speeds up the process of reaching into another dimension to either experience visions or transport oneself.
Christian beware, the wolves are telling you that you are divine and holy. What does the Bible say?
Jeremiah 17:9
“The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it?”
So why should we center ourselves on our own heart looking for our divinity? We shouldn’t.
Instead…..we can have righteousness through faith….
Romans 3:21
“But now a righteousness from God, apart from the law, has been made known to which the Law, and the prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.”

These phrases from the IHOP article bother me.
“Make sure you are searching for the spirit of Jesus.”
Jesus wasn’t and is not a spirit. He came to earth as fully man and fully God, but He never came as a spirit. But those who meditate using TM methods often contact a spirit guide named “Jesus”. This is deceiving spirit because Jesus is now at the right hand of the Father.
“Play out the story…apply all five senses”
This is an exercise in guided imagery. Read what Dave Hunt says about this:
“Visualization and Guided Imagery have long been recognized by sorcerers of all kinds as the most powerful and effective methodology for contacting the spirit world in order to acquire supernatural power, knowledge and healing. Such methods are neither taught or practiced in the Bible as helps to faith or prayer.” (The Seduction of Christianity)
Yet here we see it openly being taught and embraced.

“Begin by gently praying a short passage of Scripture in silence while focusing on the indwelling Spirit.”
How can you do these two things simultaneously? Actually the Scripture becomes meaningless as one focuses on something else entirely.
“The springboard into the spiritual realm.”
What is the springboard?…it is the silence, the quiet. They are trying to fool you into thinking it is the scripture, but this is not the case here. The silence is a void used in eastern meditation to stop you from thinking or concentrating. So now what spiritual realm have you just entered? You have entered a void. It is this void that allows you to enter a spiritual realm that is forbidden in the Bible. This is the realm where the white light enters, and if you know your Bible, then you know that this is Satan. He comes with joy and peace and fills you with ecstasy. If he came any other way he would be instantly rejected.
“Your surface thoughts are gone”.
The Bible never tell us to quit thinking or to empty our minds. In fact we are told the quite the opposite.
1 Peter 5:8
“Discipline yourselves, keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around looking for someone to devour.”
“Ask the spirit to show you a vision.”
This is exactly how those involved in TM ask to be shown their demonic spirit guides. Exactly. This is so dangerous……
The section describing how to overcome distractions is the same method chanters use when meditating. If they actually have…a thought…oh no…start the chant again to empty the mind.
Anyone who does not see the eastern mysticism in this occult prayer method…does not want to see. Even a cursory study of meditation easily shows the parallels but people aren’t listening, or they don’t care, or maybe they hate to admit they have been deceived. This pride is fateful. It is eternal. It keeps you in touch with the New-Age Jesus, (who does not exist) and separates you from the true Jesus Christ in the Bible.
“It is not an advanced spiritual state, but one that is primitive and regressive, and consequentially results in bondage to spiritistic powers.” ( Encyclopedia of New Age Beliefs) Ankerberg and Weldon pg. 238
How is it that the church has fallen into such a sad state of affairs? It is simple. The gospel of Jesus Christ is not being preached anymore. Without repentance, without turning away from sin, without faith, there is no conversion.
The unconverted are hungry for God because they have no way to be sanctified. So in order to hear from God, in order to fill the void, they need to resort to false fire. Gnostic strange fire. This spiritual false fire replaces a true move of God which would cause conviction and make us fall on our faces and weep. We would weep because when the holiness of God shines His light on our sin, magnifying our true nature, it is unbearable. This in turn causes us to hate our sin, and search the Word for how live a holy life pleasing to the Lord.
When the Word of God is not enough, when it is not sufficient, the alternative is deception.

International House of Prayer (IHOP) Promotes Contemplative Spirituality
[6]"Mike Bickle, director of the International House of Prayer (IHOP) in Kansas City, and a well-known leader in the Prophetic Movement, claims that God is restoring contemplative prayer to the church. He goes on to claim that contemplative prayer is a God ordained means of entering into the fullness of God, and that the brightest lights in church history have been Roman Catholic mystics who lived during the dark ages. He went on to say the western church had much to learn from these mystics ...
[Bickle states]: 'Everybody is called to live in the contemplative lifestyle. Everyone! Everyone! Everyone! That’s one of the great strongholds we have to overcome (resistance to contemplative prayer).'"

Jocelyn Andersen, Mike Bickle On Contemplative Prayer
[7]Mike Bickle, director of the International House of Prayer (IHOP) in Kansas City, and a well-known leader in the Prophetic Movement, claims that God is restoring contemplative prayer to the church. He goes on to claim that contemplative prayer is a God ordained means of entering into the fullness of God, and that the brightest lights in church history have been Roman Catholic mystics who lived during the dark ages. He went on to say the western church had much to learn from these mystics.
Anti-evangelical propaganda is prominent throughout his message. He informs his followers that they are constantly being put on the defensive by, and apologizing to, evangelical Christians for their intensity toward God by saying “Other Christians force us to hide our intensity—to wear a façade. “…even believers in Jesus…are made uncomfortable and intimidated by our spiritual intensity.”
However, he comforts them with the good news that they don’t “have to wear any façade” when they got together in little oasis’ “like this” (meaning his and other prophetic meetings). He continued his barrage against evangelicals by saying, “They don’t grasp it at all—being introduced into the deep realms of love.”
He claims the church of the western world has abandoned its inheritance to have the fullness of God (through contemplative prayer).
Bickle freely admits to pursuing eastern religious philosophies and had nothing but criticism for the Western Evangelical Church.
According to him, evangelical Christians are a pathetic and ignorant bunch. He says of us:
· “The Protestant wing of the western church, which is a tiny percentage of the Body of Christ…, is nearly completely (98%) unaware that the Holy Spirit is restoring contemplative prayer—center stage—to the church… The Holy Spirit is restoring this precious jewel (contemplative prayer) to the body of Christ. This is the God ordained means of attaining the fullness of God.” audio message Comtempolative Prayer pt1 by Mike Bickle
He quotes from the contemplatives (his word for mystics) and announces that he will be teaching from the Sacred Pathways (which promotes the carrying of symbols or icons, choosing a mantra and visualizing God). Each one of these things is contradictory to the Word of God, which forbids imagery and vain repetitions in prayer.
He insists we need to study the lives and writings of the Roman Catholic mystics, and because the bookstore chain of Barnes and Nobles has carried so many books in this regard, he says (in all earnestness) that B & N is prophesying to the church that we need the mystics, and he wants to know why the church isn’t picking up on the fact that God is calling the entire Body of Christ to live lifestyles of contemplative prayer?
Below are quotes from Mike Bickle on contemplative prayer:

· “Every one in the Body Of Christ is called to live lives of contemplative prayer...”
· “Everybody is called to live in the contemplative lifestyle. Everyone! Everyone! Everyone! That’s one of the great strongholds we have to overcome (resistance to contemplative prayer).
· “…contemplative prayer, you gotta get over that hurdle! Barnes & Noble is prophesying it! Hurtle one we gotta understand it’s for everybody! Everybody is called to the fullness (contemplative prayer). We’re all going to go into this thing!”audio message Comtempolative Prayer pt1 by Mike Bickle

Another hindrance to contemplative prayer, says Bickle, is that we need to dismantle (“we” meaning evangelical Christianity) the idea that church history began with Martin Luther (I wasn’t aware we had that idea until he informed me of it).

Bickle says the most inspiring light in all of Christianity came from the Roman Catholic mystics during the dark ages. Below are quotes from Bickle on the mystics:

· “mystics is a legitimate term... I don’t want to fight the war…so I’m just saying contemplative prayer, but I mean the mystics— even here at IHOP I say, lets just stay with contemplatives …I don’t have time to argue… so I call them the contemplatives…. I don’t want to go into the semantics, the debates…so, I’m calling it the contemplatives… I don’t have time to argue… but I need the mystics.” “[They are] Some of the brightest lights in all of history… there has been the brightest lights in all history for men and women of abandonment in the dark ages… somewhere we have to say the dark ages were the luminaries in the grace of God…they were Catholic priests.”
· “…a study of the lives of the mystics, the contemplatives, through history, and clearly the most inspiring, compelling examples of history, in my world, have come out of the Catholic dark ages. I can’t find anything like it in modern times, in America, in the protestant world.”
· “…we need a little Holy Spirit catalytic jump start. We need to see where a few have gone before us, and say if they did we can, and we can go further… and if you’re going to go deep into that well, I’m sad to say, the vast majority of them are going to have Catholic roots in history.”audio message Comtempolative Prayer pt1 by Mike Bickle

Bickle minimizes the false doctrine of Roman Catholicism by saying, “But didn’t Catholics do some funny things…? Well, when you stand before the Lord you’ll find out you did some funny things too.”

Bickle heavily promotes Bernard Clairvou (who he claims was a just a quiet little monk who only wanted to stay in his hermitage, praying and reading The Song of Solomon). He is clearly impressed with Clairvou’s healing ministry but leaves out the part where Clairvou travels extensively as a major instigator of the second crusade. He says, “Bernard Clairou became my most inspiring life outside the Bible.”
The writings of Father Thomas Keating (the modern day Father of contemplative prayer) are also promoted.

Bickle says these two mean are examples, for us, of, “a way to a deeper life in God.” He went on to say, “The protestant world is in great need of examples (like these) that will beckon us to the fullness of God.” audio message Comtempolative Prayer pt1 by Mike Bickle
Mike Bickle is telling the Body of Christ that we are woefully deficient in having lost God’s fullness and need to look to New Age, Eastern philosophy and to Roman Catholic mystics as examples in how to restore it!

And his advice to questioning, spiritually languishing and anguishing souls (who didn’t know their real problem was that they wanted more of God—until he told them so) is this, “Don’t evaluate yourself, don’t evaluate others. Just keep going after it.” audio message Comtempolative Prayer pt1 by Mike Bickle

In plain language that means don’t read or listen to anything discerningly or analytically. Don’t question anything or anybody—not even yourself (except evangelicals of course). Just go with what feels right.
How does that jive with search my heart O God and test my thoughts…? How about this one, “There is a way that seemeth right…?”

Refs

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Bickle

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_
House_of_Prayer

[3] http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/kcp.html
[4] http://herescope.blogspot.com/2008/09/ihop-latter-rain.html

[5] http://kimolsen.wordpress.com/2008/08/04/ihop-openly-promotes-contemplative-prayervisualization/

[6] http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/ihop.htm

Why Won't They Listen?

A repeated theme coming into this office by e-mail is that loved ones -- friends and family -- will not llsten when discerning people try to tell them about our world today. If a reference is made to end-time activity, people will often scoff and literally brush them away. Some just don't have ears to hear about any current issue.  While this has always been the case, it seems to be accelerated today.  And this is happening when issues are so serious you would think it would help people carry out their lives more effectively if they only understood the times from a biblical perspective.

Yes, the issues of the day are unsettling. A Muslim wanted to explode a WMD but was caught recently in Texas. Jihadists are everywhere. Syria is being armed to the teeth by Iran and Russia. A coming conflagration in the Middle East is imminent. America's economy is now further damaged by soaring prices. Will this country ever recover from what has been done to it by greedy and evil people? This issue alone has caused many to tune out and drop out. It is too tragic to watch this nation be eaten away by corruption and by some elected officials who do not seek America's good.

But I believe there are a whole host of reasons why folks have closed their ears.  Let me list a few options and suggestions that may help those of you who feel rejected for simply sharing the truth:

* As referenced above, the news today is too violent, frightening, troubling, and even shocking. Many want their minds and hearts to dwell on safer and more uplifting issues. Detaching from reality is a coping mechanism. There are many compassionate people. To keep hearing about wars, pain, suffering, injustice, weapons of mass destruction, persecution, jihad, and so much more breaks their hearts and spirits.

*  Some have programmed themselves as though they were living "in the days of Noah."  Nobody wanted to listen then either. The last generation is compared to the days of Noah. Are we the last? We do not know. It would seem things are winding down and yet things could go on for decades.

*  Some have an end-time theology that says all believers will experience the worst of things outlined in the Bible. We will go through the Tribulation and even be here for the battle of Armageddon. While this is debatable to many, the real issue for all believers is how much will we have to go through before these events?  Many don't believe in a rapture of the church. Others believe that will take place at the very end of the Tribulation or in the middle of it. They do not have that "blessed hope."  While this ministry does not believe the church goes through the Tribulation, the purpose of this column is not to debate that. It is sad this issue has become so divisive. Arguing this, and often not in a friendly manner, is one of the most frequent communications we get. Church pulpits are silent on these topics and thus confusion and doubt reign.

*  The greatest sign people need to watch is Israel. Yet Replacement Theology  (that the church has replaced the nation of Israel) dominates our churches today. Thus, many are left clueless that the countdown has begun. They feel life will go on for hundreds of years. There is nothing unusual about our generation. Believers who point to Israel, Middle East war, and related issues, are just "the sky is falling" people. We have always had wars and rumors of war they state.

*  There are enough pleasures in this life, so eternity can wait. They cannot listen to events that may touch their loved ones. What mother wants to contemplate horrors coming upon her children?

*  Many today are seduced by false teachers promising a perfect world (Dominion/Kingdom Now theology) that the church can and will bring in. Seeing and hearing about instability, the Middle East in chaos, a coming financial meltdown, and coming trials, doesn't fit their biblical agenda. Some of them believe in a global revival yet and wish to focus on that. While there are pockets of revival today, the Bible indicates judgment faces the earth some day.

*  Many know they are not right with God. They figure at the end of life they may do something about this. Right now, they want to enjoy life and tune out the world's troubles.

*  Some do not know the Bible well enough to understand that God takes care of His own. He will never leave us or forsake us.  That does not mean, however, that we might not have to go through some serious things. John Loeffler has produced an excellent DVD we sell, The Coming Persecution of Christians in the West.

Reality can break all of our hearts. We are not weak or immature Christians because we ache for the world. But suffice it to say that all creation is groaning as we wait the return of the King of Kings to set this world free from bondage, sin, and sorrow.

In eternity, I first want to meet Noah. He preached his heart out, admittedly not with the Internet, Facebook, Twitter, or a sound system. But even in his corner of the world, mankind ignored him for 120 years. Finally, the ark door closed. Plugging the ears to the wise words of many today will bring about a disaster for some. So don't give up!

If Jesus Christ is not your Lord and Savior today, please don't run away from the truth-tellers. You only need to repent of your sins and invite Him to be the Lord and Savior of your life.  This frightening world will be much less scary if you will do that. Then you can focus on eternity a lot more and deal with this throbbing planet more effectively.

Having said all of the above, one thing is certain: There is no time like the present to share the gospel! Millions of unbelievers are drowning their sorrows, fear, and uncertainty in destructive behavior. You might be surprised how open they are to hear the truth of the gospel. Or they may shun you but hide your words in their heart and act on them later when their life or the world falls apart. We are always to be ready with an answer for everyone. Their response is not your responsibility.

The Bible tells us that the world will implode eventually. It has nothing to do with the Mayans and their 2012 calendar suggestion! Everything has an end, but for the Christian, the end begins a glorious future! I can hardly wait. I hope to meet you all there! Your prayers for this ministry and me are greatly appreciated.

by Jan Markell
Olive Tree Ministries
 http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs019/1101818841456/archive/1104774405849.html

Glenn Beck's Bogus Beliefs

http://www.thebereancall.org/
by T.A. McMahon of The Berean Call

Glenn Beck, the television and radio talk show host who is best known for his conservative political views, isn't someone whom we would normally address in our newsletter. Our concerns are usually directed at individuals, programs, or organizations that promote spiritual or theological views contrary to the Word of God. Beck, of late, seems to be making himself at home in that realm, and he's attracting many who call themselves Bible-believing Christians.

His influence among evangelicals is rather odd and may say more about the state of evangelicalism than about Beck's engaging personality. His popularity is proof that there is very little discernment that's based on testing things by the Scriptures--a consequence, in part, of the Church Growth Movement. Marketing principles have become the rule and are being used to fill churches. Biblical doctrines, which convict, have been set aside in favor of psychotherapeutic sermonettes--something to keep the folks feeling good about themselves and coming back for more. There's no doubt that this trend has dumbed down much of the church and has done away with discernment to a great extent.

Anyone who proclaims the name of Jesus--even though his understanding of who that is may be far removed from the biblical Jesus--is nevertheless accepted as a brother in Christ. Conservativism, political or otherwise, is seen to be the glue of spiritual fellowship, and its characteristics have taken on scriptural status and a basis for kinship. I've been told that "Beck must be a Christian because he's all about turning our country back to its Christian roots." That's erroneous on at least two counts.

First of all, Glenn Beck is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He may refer to himself as a Christian, but he's certainly not a biblical Christian. The distinction is as wide as hell is from heaven: "Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God" (2 John:9). Mormon doctrine is "another gospel" that exalts "another Jesus." Both false beliefs came out of the deceived and deceiving mind of Joseph Smith. Secondly, "our country" doesn't have "Christian roots," even though some are claiming that our founding fathers were true Christians. Many were not biblical Christians but Christians in name only, who followed the faith of Deism, Masonry, and the philosophy of the Enlightenment. Any early influence in America's history of a biblical nature very likely came from the Pilgrims and the Puritans.

Since I spend very little time watching television or listening to radio programs, I wasn't familiar with Glenn Beck, other than seeing him by chance on Fox News. I found his Catholic background and his conversion to Mormonism rather curious, given my own Catholic upbringing and, years later, my writing for the film documentary The God Makers. What I know about the overwhelming fictional nature of the Book of Mormon had me wondering why Beck's work as a conservative political analyst didn't give him the ability to discern the blatantly erroneous teachings, practices, and historical claims of Mormonism. However, it wasn't until he was invited to speak at Liberty University's Commencement in 2010 (the largest evangelical college in the U.S.) that I was first made aware of his growing influence among evangelical Christians.

The rationale, I was told, for having him speak to the graduating class was that his conservative point of view was consistent with the school's philosophy, and his message was needed at a time when the Obama administration seemed to be pushing this country down a path of socialism. The fact that he is a Mormon was not a concern because his address would be of a political nature, not spiritual. I learned after the event that he rewrote his talk just before speaking because he felt compelled to address spiritual issues. He said that his invitation to speak was not an endorsement of his religion by the university. "[But although we have] differences...we need to find those things that unite us." His speech was infused with religious terms that would appear to bring people together--except for the fact that these terms have very different meanings for Mormons and evangelicals. He frequently referred to the power of the Atonement, to faith, to the gospel, to the Holy Spirit, to personal revelations from God. Does it matter that a Mormon has a completely different understanding of the Atonement and the gospel from what is taught in the Bible?

Beck said, "Turn to God and live." What God might that be? The Mormon one, who has a physical body and lives on a planet near a star called Kolob? Or the One who is spirit and exists outside His creation?

Beck exhorted his audience to seek the truth. But which God is true? He closed his speech by challenging these mostly evangelical graduates to "question everything, including everything I have just told you" and to "read the Scriptures every day...." Would these include Latter-day Saints' scriptures such as the Book of Mormon, The Doctrine & Covenants, and The Pearl of Great Price? What about "The Inspired Translation of the Bible," which Joseph Smith wrote to make sure that the Bible was "translated correctly"?

Beck's last words were greeted with a standing ovation from the faculty, the graduates, and their families and friends: "I leave these things with you in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen." Were they cheering wildly for the biblical Jesus...or for the Jesus Christ of Mormonism? The two couldn't be more dissimilar.

For those enamored with Glenn Beck and upset with my concerns about him, let's take him up on his challenge to question his words. Many of the thoughts in his Liberty University speech can be found in his new book titled The Seven Wonders That Will Change Your Life, which he co-authored with psychiatrist Keith Ablow. In it, Beck sets the record straight as to his understanding of Mormonism. That's important because I have heard all kinds of explanations--from his being naïve about the faith fabricated by Joseph Smith to his being led to biblical salvation through faith alone in Jesus Christ by various evangelical leaders who have appeared on his television and radio programs. Beck, however, dispels any and all speculation:

I read everything there was to read on [The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints'] websites and every word of Mormon Doctrine. I treated Mormonism as if it were a hostile witness. For a while I went to the anti-Mormon literature for hints, but I found most of it to be unfair or just plain wrong. I tried every trick I could think of to find a contradiction. The problem was that I couldn't. Mormonism seemed to explain the world and my place in it better than any other faith I had looked at. It answered many spiritual questions that had gone unanswered for me for my entire life. (Beck &Ablow, The Seven Wonders That Will Change Your Life, p.149)

In his Liberty University speech, which was often very emotional, he referred to the Old Testament book of Ezekiel and how he (Beck) felt that the call to be a "watchman," i.e., someone who stands guard to alert the people to the evil that could overtake them, was something God had put on his heart to do. It was his calling. If Beck's book is any indication of his "watchman" competency, he is either asleep at his post or has gone AWOL. Isaiah sets the criterion for God's watchman: "To the law and to the testimony [i.e., the Scriptures]: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them" (Isaiah 8:20). Does Beck speak according to God's Word? Even if one assumes that he is talking about the God of the Bible rather than the god of Mormonism, or what the Bible declares, it is clear by comparing his views with the teachings of the Bible that he's got them both wrong.

He and his psychiatrist co-author declare throughout their book that God is within everyone: "If God is everything and everywhere and inside everyone, then I figured He had to be inside me, too...." That is a foundational premise to most of what Beck presents. It is pantheism, a belief common to Hindus, Eastern mystics, and popular among New Agers.

The truth is that the God of the Bible is not part of His creation. He created everything out of nothing. If He were inseparable from His creation then He would be subject to the death and destruction that the universe is undergoing. That would deny His perfection.

The Word of God says that the born-again believer is indwelt by the Holy Spirit and that his body is the temple of God (Ephesians 1:13; 1 Corinthians 3:17). This is conditional, based upon faith in the biblical Jesus, and it involves God's taking up residence within the believer. God is not, nor does He become, a part of humanity.

If God were part of everyone and within everyone throughout all eternity (Beck &Ablow, Seven Wonders, p. 85), then He would be part of the evil makeup of every human. Of course, Beck and Ablow fervently deny that mankind is evil: "People are inherently good. Our souls are magnificent and capable of extraordinary performance" (p.165). That may make some "feel good about themselves," but it's contrary to numerous Scriptures that address the nature of man. The prophet Jeremiah tells us, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" (17:9), and Jesus said in Mark 10:18, "There is none good but one, that is, God."

That truth of the Bible poses a huge problem for psychiatrists and clinical psychologists, especially a Freudian psychotherapist like Keith Ablow. How so? He's in the business of facilitating a person's relief from the troublesome problems of living by helping him find his "true self, the really lovable and loving person you are at your core..." (Beck &Ablow, p. 185). The key to recovering the "real you," Ablow and Beck explain, involves a process of "digging up the painful parts of your life story..." (p. 107).

Nearly all psychotherapies assert that mankind's problems are caused by painful issues external to the person, such as emotional traumas, parental abuses, environmental conditions, a bad hair day, etc. Ablow tells us to "Accept that today's negative emotional and behavioral patterns are almost certainly connected to painful memories and unresolved conflicts in the past" (p. 131).

However, if it were acknowledged that the root of the problem is the innate evil within humanity (as the Bible declares, yet psychology denies), Ablow and his colleagues would be out of business. Just as a leopard can't change its spots, neither can the mental health practitioners do anything to change a person's sin nature. Only God can do that. Yet the charade in pursuit of the "higher self," "human potential," "self-discovery," and "the God-given reservoir of personal power inside you," (p. 50) continues to delude and deceive the masses.

Beck's description of his "life story," especially how he was led into Mormonism, is a reflection of what the pseudo-Christian cult is all about: it majors on the subjective and the experiential (e.g., a personal "burning in the bosom" experience from God). He believes that God guided him into the faith of Joseph Smith through a series of inexplicable events in his life. He says that God-ordained "coincidences," which he calls "bread crumbs," are available to help everyone "find their paths to embracing the truth" (p. 152). He and Ablow continually exalt the subjective and experiential through their promotion of "gut feelings," "intuition," "the third ear," and "the inner voice of truth inside us--the voice of God" (p. 265). They write, "Practice listening to your gut....In order to do this, you need to listen for inner voices inside you" (p. 274).

When discernment depends upon gut feelings and inner voices, it's a recipe for spiritual disaster: "And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness" (2 Corinthians 11:14-15). The Bible tells us to put no trust in subjective experiences but rather to trust in God's written Word: "If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:31-32). Jesus' prayer to His Father certifies how He wants believers in Him to know Him and the truth of His teachings: "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth" (John 17:17).

Mormonism is rife with occult beliefs and practices, whether they be rituals taken from Masonic ceremonies to supposed communication with the deceased through baptism for the dead. This makes the Latter-day Saints extremely susceptible to demonic deception. Yet Glenn Beck seems to have added more false doctrine to an already bizarre belief system. He lauds the first-century heresy of gnosticism and gnostic books such as "The Gospel of Thomas"; he endorses communication through silent meditation ("Connect with the miracle of spirit, of God, that has lived inside you from long before you were born. You will be rewarded..." (p. 85); and he and Ablow espouse the Eastern mystical teaching of spiritual energy as an "immeasurable force that you can tap into to dramatically improve your existence....It is nothing less than your connection to God" (p. 113).

Lest someone object to one or another of the religious or psychological concepts Beck and Ablow are serving up, the two fall back on ecumenical pragmatism: "How can you begin to do this? Some people go to psychotherapists. Others go to pastoral counselors. Others begin to meditate. Still others start with twelve-step programs like Alcoholics Anonymous or Al-Anon. Whatever works for you is what you should do, but we've developed a four-step plan to help you get under way."

Perhaps the reason I quote the following verse more than any other in my recent articles is because I see the church and its shepherds looking more and more to the ways of man rather than to the Word of God: "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death" (Proverbs 14:12). Glenn Beck has no answers for those who are truly God's people. Nevertheless, I pray that he will come to the knowledge of the truth.

I also pray for greater discernment among those who claim to follow the biblical Jesus and the Word of God. Jesus declared to His disciples (which all true believers in Him are) that they were to "Take heed that no man deceive you" (Matthew 24:4). He was referring specifically to the last days, the time just prior to His return. It would be characterized by massive spiritual deception. For more than three decades Dave Hunt and I have been addressing the various elements the adversary of God has used to deceive the world and the church. Of late, our TBC articles have pointed out how the unifying beliefs that are common to diverse religious groups (and anti-religious groups!) are rallying them together with amazing speed. Their mission is fixed upon the earth as they unwittingly work toward building the kingdom of the Antichrist and his apostate religion