Category: New Age

My Testimony – From New Age to Christianity: My Path to Redemption

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Dear friend,

I want to tell you how I came to know Jesus and what the Lord has done in my life. When I look back now, I can see that what I thought was my search for truth was actually the beginning of God’s pursuit of me.

I grew up in a dysfunctional, secular household in a large town in England. From a young age, I knew there had to be more to life, and I began searching for truth and meaning in my own way. Eventually, I discovered the New Age movement and became deeply involved in it. I read self help books, followed astrology, used tarot cards, visited mediums, believed in reincarnation and explored past life regression. Through yoga and meditation, I became interested in higher states of consciousness andthe spiritual traditions behind them. I believed there were many paths to God and that each person could choose whichever path felt right.

At the same time, my life was becoming increasingly chaotic. I was partying, clubbing, drinking and shopping, consumed by appearance and the image I presented to others. I made reckless choices, mixed with the wrong crowds and wore a mask to hide how woundedI really was. Beneath it all, I was lacking self esteem and running away from life. I was looking everywhere for something that would fill the emptiness inside me.

Eventually, everything seemed to close in on me. I was depressed, overwhelmed and felt completely trapped. I reached a pointwhere I didn’t want to be here anymore.

It was there, at the end of myself, that I cried out to God. I began to recognise the things I had done wrong and found myself repenting. I didn’t understand Christian repentance at the time. I simply knew that I had lived selfishly and that I needed forgiveness. Itold God that I no longer wanted to fight Him. I wanted my life to belong to Him, and I asked Him to use it for something good.

And Jesus met me there.

That night, I experienced an overwhelming peace that I cannot explain apart from God. Psalm 34:18 says, “The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” I wasn’t a Christian. I didn’t understand what was happening. But I knewI had cried out to God, and He had heard me.

The following morning, I looked at the world differently. Something had changed. I felt like a new person.

Only afterwards did I begin to see how Godhad been preparing me. I had been staying with my grandmother, who was a Christian. She had been praying for me, giving me prayers to read and watching Christian programmes. What seemed insignificant at the time was part of God’s providence.

I wanted to know who Jesus really was. Ihad heard of Jesus the great teacher, the Jesus portrayed by Hollywood, the traditional Catholic image of Jesus and Isa the prophet in Islam. I had even thought of Jesus as another spiritual teacher like those I had encountered through yoga and meditation. But I had never known Him as the living Son of God.

So I began reading the Bible. Jeremiah 29:13 says, “You will seek me and find me when youseek me with all your heart.” So I sought Him.

The more I read, the more I realised that Jesus wasn’t simply another path to God. He wasn’t another spiritual teacher offeringanother way to improve myself. He was calling me to repentance, forgiveness, reconciliation with God and surrender.

While working abroad, I met a Christian volunteer charity worker who was also apastor. I told him about my past and what had happened to me, and he began showing me Scripture. Colossians 2:8 and Deuteronomy 18 confronted me deeply. I realised that I couldn’t simply add Jesus to everything else I believed. I had to turn away from the things I had embraced, repent, renounce the New Age beliefs and practices that had deceived me, and surrender my life to Christ.

Jesus says that He did not come into the world to condemn the world, but to save it (John 3:17). Romans 2:4 tells us that it is the goodness of God that leads us to repentance.

When I finished that overseas assignment, I knew it would be my last. For years I had travelled and worked abroad partly to get away from life. Now I didn’t want tokeep running. When I returned home to England, I joined a church and was baptised.

That was not the end of my journey. Itwas the beginning of a new life.

I began to understand what Jesus meant by being born again. This wasn’t simply about becoming religious or adopting a newset of beliefs. God was giving me new life and changing me from the inside out. I had spent years trying to find myself, improve myself and create my own identity. Now I was discovering that real transformation came through surrendering myself to God.

The emptiness I had tried to fill with partying, relationships, possessions, travel and spirituality began to be filled with Jesus. My desires began to change. My priorities began to change. The things I once pursued no longer satisfied me inthe same way. I began to want what God wanted.

I began to build a relationship with Jesus through prayer, through His Word and throughlearning to trust and obey Him. His Word became alive to me. Hebrews describes it as living and active, sharper than a double edged sword. I found that it reaches into the places wewould rather leave untouched. It cuts, exposes, corrects and heals. It begins to weed the garden of the heart so that something new can grow.

I began to understand what it meant to be a child of God and to know that I was loved by my Heavenly Father. I discovered a strength and joy that I knew did not come from me. I began to understand the work of the Holy Spirit and that following Jesus was not simply about believing the right things, but aboutallowing Him to transform the way I live.

I still fail. I still need to repent. I am still being changed. But I no longer want to return tothe life I once lived. I want to know Jesus, walk with Him, obey Him and become morelike Him. Galatians 2:20 says, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.” That is the direction of my life now, not perfection, but surrender.

Jesus is more than a prophet or a spiritual teacher. He is alive. He loves us. He came tosave us from our sins and reconcile us to the Father. The person who once believed that every spiritual path led to the same destination discovered that Truth was not simply an idea or philosophy. Truth had a name. Jesus.

Looking back, I can see God’s mercy running through every part of my story. I thought I was searching for Him, but He was already drawing me. What I thought was the end of my life became the beginning of a new one.

As I continued to walk with the Lord, I trained and prepared for certain areas of ministry, but God, in His wisdom, closed those doors and lovingly redirected my steps. Through this, He taught me that calling is not about titles or platforms, but about obedience and trust. “In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps.” Proverbs 16:9.

Today, my desire is simply to follow wherever He leads, sharing His love through the gospel, writing, outreach and service as the Holy Spirit directs. I don’t know everything God has planned for my life, but I know who holds it.

If you are searching as I once was, looking for truth, meaning, identity or somethingthat will finally fill the emptiness inside you, I want you to know that God can meet you exactly where you are. You don’t have to have everything worked out. You don’t have to make yourself worthy. Come to Him. Repent. Surrender. Let Him make you new.

I know because He met me there. When I thought I was searching for Him, He was searching for me. I was lost, and He found me. I was broken, and He met me there.

All glory belongs to Him.

~ Lori 💕

Read the related article: The Truth About New Age Spirituality: 40 Beliefs That Conflict With Scripture.

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*How to be saved: The Path To Salvation, please click: HERE / Photo by Eberhard Grossgasteiger

Why Can’t Yoga Just Be an Exercise?

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“There is a way that appears to be right,
but in the end it leads to death.” Proverbs 14:12

Someone asks: “While it’s true that most yoga positions are designed to be positions of worship to Hindu gods, I find it hard to believe that there’s any danger in practicing them when it’s just being done as an exercise.” Let’s look at this from a purely logical point of view. First of all, anyone who truly understands yoga (such as a Hindu) will tell you that yoga positions were never designed to be exercises. They were designed to do one of two things – worship one of more than three million Hindu gods and/or facilitate the flow of prana (life force energy) through the body. As Fr. Pacwa states in his book, “ . . . (H)indus did not devise these exercises for athletic limbering or muscle building. All were meant to lead the practitioner to enlightenment and awareness of his or her inner divinity.”

Legendary guru B.K.S. Iyengar confirms this in his book, Light on Yoga, where he says that some yoga positions “are also called after gods of the Hindu pantheon and some recall the Avataras, or incarnation of Divine Power.” Having said all that, we come to a purely logical conclusion – it’s not possible to “just do them as an exercise” when the so-called “exercises” aren’t just exercises. That would be like saying the sign of the cross can be used as a triceps exercise. Sure, you can use it that way, but it’s not – and never will be – a triceps exercise. Like yoga positions, it can never be a mere “physical action” or “neutral” because it has a profound spiritual meaning.

Others attempt to lend Christian names to these poses while practicing them; however, none of these actions negates the intrinsic Hindu meanings in these poses, at least not according to Norberto Carerra. In his pastoral instruction on the New Age, Carerra writes: “However much proponents insist that these techniques are valuable as methods, and imply no teaching contrary to Christianity, the techniques in themselves . . . in their own context, the postures and exercises, are designed for their specific religious purpose. Even when they are carried out within a Christian atmosphere, the intrinsic meaning of these gestures remains intact.”

So even if you think you’re stretching your back, if you’re using the Sun Stretch to do so, whether you intend to or not, you’re still posing in a position of worship to the Sun god because that’s what this pose was designed to do. It was never designed as a back stretch. It works the same way with someone who uses the sign of the cross to work out their triceps. They may indeed be working out these muscles, but regardless of their intentions, they’re still working out these muscles by making a sign of profession of faith in the Triune God.

My advice is that if the idea of posing yourself in a position of worship to a Hindu god is even remotely bothersome to you, stop doing it. There are plenty of other exercises/stretches you can do that work just as well as yoga.

By Susan Brinkmann

Reprinted with the permission of  Women of Grace® www.womenofgrace.com 

**How to be saved: The Path To Salvation, please click: HERE

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What You Need to Know About New Age Beliefs

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“Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.” Ephesians 5:11 ESV

New Age spirituality says: God is either in all things or he is all things.

Christianity says: “For by him all things were created … all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Col. 1:16-17). We worship the Creator, not what he’s created (Rom. 1:25).

Be wary of: Panentheism, which says “God is in the tree,” or pantheism, which says “God is the tree,” as opposed to theism (Christianity), which says “God created the tree and holds it together by his power.”

New Age spirituality says: We’re on a continual journey to “know all” by achieving cosmic consciousness (also referred to as Nirvana, “going clear,” Christ-consciousness, individual divinity, or fulfilling the dharma).

Christianity says: Satan tempted Eve with knowledge he claimed would make her like God (Gen. 3:4-5), but we can never know as much as God (Isa. 55:8-9, Job 38). While the God of Christianity doesn’t require us to numb our mind, he compels us to love him with all our heart and all our mind (Matt. 22:37).

Be wary of: Ideas or belief systems that promise you can become like God through acquiring knowledge. Ultimate spiritual truth can only be found through God’s Word, the Bible, and in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, who is the only “way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6).

New Age spirituality says: People work through their bad karma, or the overall effects of wrong actions, by being reincarnated, or physically reborn into a different body, until they achieve their divine destiny of becoming a god, or becoming one with the universe.

Christianity says: There’s no second chance after this life: “Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment” (Heb. 9:27). There’s only one “divine destiny”—salvation—achieved only through Jesus Christ: “For there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12), and “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast” (Eph. 2:8).

Be wary of: Any teaching that includes reincarnation or encourages works to reach a higher level of spirituality or to earn salvation.

New Age spirituality says: You can shape reality by the power of your thoughts, or by speaking something into existence.

Christianity says: “Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. … Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that'” (James 4:13-15). “Whatever is true … think about such things” (Phil. 4:8).

Be wary of: Teachings that tell you you can project your thoughts or words into existence, rather than recognizing God is the source of all power to shape reality.

New Age spirituality says: One can separate consciousness from the body, or have an out-of-body experience in order to be connected with the “Universal Soul.”

Christianity says: God didn’t create our consciousness to be separate from our body. Rather, he created us to be conscious within our body (Gen. 2:7). Only through God’s Holy Spirit dwelling in us can we be connected to the Creator (John 14:26).

Be wary of: Any teaching that includes leaving your body or allowing a “spirit guide” to enter it.

New Age spirituality says: The essential doctrines of the truth of life are within man.

Christianity says: “He who trusts in himself is a fool” (Prov. 28:26). The cause of the fall of man was our desire to become our own master, to determine for ourselves what’s good and bad instead of relying on God’s teachings found in the Bible, the only true source. Yoga and New Age teach the same lie Satan tempted Eve with in the Garden of Eden: “You will be as God” (Gen. 3:5), which was designed to keep her (and us) away from the one true God (John 17:3).

Be wary of: Basing your beliefs on what you sense is true, what you “hear” God saying in your mind, or any emotional experience without making sure your thought is in agreement with the Bible.

By Jan Brown

Copyright © 2001 by the author or Christianity Today/Today’s Christian Woman magazine.
Click here for reprint information on Today’s Christian Woman.

**You can read my personal testimony of being saved out of the New Age religion HERE

**How to be saved: The Path To Salvation: HERE

Why I Don’t Celebrate Halloween

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Key Quotes

“Christians must have no contact even remotely with witchcraft in any form, because it will open them up to the god of this world (the devil) – and he is far shrewder than all men.”

“Western culture today seeks to make witches and witchcraft seem normal. Whether with the concept of good witches, or the wildly-popular Harry Potter novels/movies, Western culture is increasingly accepting of witchcraft. And the fun and carefree festival of Halloween acts as a perfect springboard to aid in this acceptance. I am convinced that Halloween is the “fun gateway” that Satan has opened for people to eventually dabble in the spiritually-evil practices of witchcraft.”

“Christians who walk in the Light of God’s Word alone are uniquely equipped to overcome these forces”

One of my children recently came home reciting this rhyme learned while at school. “Witches, ghosts, and goblins, walking down the street Knock on every doorway, ‘Trick or treat!’”

I was shocked by how my child, in all innocence, could sing so casually and trivially about such scary things. I also noticed that this song grouped ghost and goblins which are not real, with witches. I realized that this song sought to group witches into that same silly, not-real category.

Some people think of witches as women with pointed-hats and a broom, or witch-doctors in a jungle. But there is a very active and fast-growing religion called Wicca, where its witches (and wizards) seek to cast spells. Wicca is not some ancient Gaelic religion from the middle ages. It is an active religion practiced across the world today, and very present in the areas where many of us live. Some statistics indicate that Wicca is one of the fastest-growing religions in the U.S.A.

And here is what Wikipedia says about Wicca and Halloween:

Wiccans celebrate a variation of Samhain (October 31) as one of the yearly Sabbats of the Wheel of the Year. It is deemed by most Wiccans to be the most important of the four “greater Sabbats”. Samhain is seen by some Wiccans as a time to celebrate the lives of those who have died, and it often involves paying respect to ancestors, family members, elders of the faith, friends, pets and other loved ones who have died. In some rituals the spirits of the dead are invited to attend the festivities. It is seen as a festival of darkness, which is balanced at the opposite point of the wheel by the spring festival of Beltane, which Wiccans celebrate as a festival of light and fertility. Wiccans believe that at Samhain the veil between this world and the afterlife is at its thinnest point of the whole year, making it easier to communicate with those who have left this world.

As Christians, we must be careful that practices from the religious festivals of Wicca do not influence us in any way. We do not find Hindus mixing the practices of Muslims in their festivals that honor Vishnu. Neither do we find Muslims adopting the practices of Hindus in their celebration of Ramadan. Different religions believe very different things, and have different practices.

The Bible is very clear that witchcraft is real and powerful and also evil (Read Revelation 21:8; 1 Samuel 15:23; Deuteronomy 18:10-13; Isaiah 8:19; and 1 Chronicles 10:13-14).

As Christians, we know that there are powers of darkness in the spirit world. So what must we do when the world trivializes what the Bible describes as evil? It should trouble us deeply. And even more so when we see the god of this world system (the devil) seeking to influence our highly-impressionable children, and to write his values into their minds. When I later told all my children that Jesus instructed us to have nothing to do with witches, a response I got was stunning: “But there are good witches, Dad!” That was also something that had been picked up from school!! This un-Biblical point of view had slipped in. So I realized that I had to stand guard against the dangerously-deceptive logic of this world system.

There is no such thing as a “good witch” for Christians. The Bible tells us that God alone is good and that witchcraft is evil. Good and evil are polar opposites. So a “good witch” is just the devil coming as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14). Christians must have no contact even remotely with witchcraft in any form, because it will open them up to the god of this world (the devil) – and he is far shrewder than all men. Only the Holy Spirit can help a Christian against the tactics of Satan. All our good intentions will not help us, if we disobey the Scriptures. So no matter how good we may think we are (and no matter how sincere we may be), we can still be destroyed if we don’t hate all evil and stay far away from it (See Proverbs 14:12).

The Western world’s view of Halloween is greatly influenced by the religious values of Wicca. Halloween is a celebration of darkness in the world today. A walk down my neighborhood or a visit to the local grocery store around Halloween time readily confirms this. The world is preaching a Halloween that aligns itself with Wicca.

Western culture today seeks to make witches and witchcraft seem normal. Whether with the concept of good witches, or the wildly-popular Harry Potter novels/movies, Western culture is increasingly accepting of witchcraft. And the fun and carefree festival of Halloween acts as a perfect springboard to aid in this acceptance. I am convinced that Halloween is the “fun gateway” that Satan has opened for people to eventually dabble in the spiritually-evil practices of witchcraft.

So what must we Christians do with a holiday that another religion celebrates as the “festival of darkness”?

As Bible-believing Christians, we give freedom to other religions to do as they see fit. But we must not associate with evil, in any way. We must live with great discernment in our time – because deception is increasing everywhere (See 2 Timothy 3:13). We must nip the normalization of witchcraft early on and stand strong against every attempt of the devil to slip this religion of Wicca into our homes.

When another religion celebrates darkness and focuses on communicating with dead spirits, what does the Lord expect us to do? Can we just go along with the external fun of this holiday, when we know that at its core, this is a festival that explicitly glorifies the powers of darkness and the enemy of our souls?

The devil has masterfully sought to rebrand Halloween as harmless, so that he can encourage people into the blatant pursuit of evil. He did the same thing when he got Adam and Eve to sin (Genesis 3:1-6). October 31st is a day where darkness is openly and blatantly pursued. But many “Christians”drown themselves on that day in an ocean of candy and dress-up costumes. This is textbook-deception: Satan is saying, “I’ll numb you with candy and gifts on Halloween, so that you are distracted from fighting the spiritual havoc I am causing through the glorification and open practice of witchcraft! And eventually, I will rob you even of eternal life.” (Eternal life being the increasing knowledge of God and of Jesus – John 17:3).

I am convinced that only one group of people can fight these supernatural powers of darkness: Christians who walk in the Light of God’s Word alone are uniquely equipped to overcome these forces (1 John 1:3,7)!

So let the world call us narrow-minded or radical. We will remain alert and watchful against all deception. And we will teach our children also to be alert to these Satanic deceptions (even if their friends at school laugh at them or consider them weird). Satan seeks to work on children, slowly and craftily over the years, to the point where they will become increasingly comfortable with open darkness and evil. Our children need to learn from an early age how to combat Satan’s deceptions; and our children are watching us, their parents, to see how we do it!

What shall we say then to Christians who want to celebrate Halloween? At a minimum, I would suggest that you clearly determine why and how you celebrate it. Ask yourself whether you would do things differently if you knew that your neighbors and the folks on your street were Wiccans celebrating the spirits of darkness on Halloween. Judge yourself and ensure that you walk in the light that God gives you. That is all that you are asked to do. You will be judged based on the motives and intents of your heart, and whether you lived by your conscience.

America as a culture seems to live mostly unaware of the spirit world. I have seen that cultures that are more open to idolatry, are much more aware of the spirit world. I grew up in India, and I saw witchcraft and evil spirits several times. I even watched as a neighbor hired a witch to sit in their backyard and cast spells on us (the spells didn’t work and had an opposite effect; they served to show me the powerful protection available in Jesus Christ, who defeated Satan on the cross – Colossians 2:14-15)!

I will not be surprised if rationally-obsessed people laugh off my thoughts about the spirit world. But that world is real and more powerful than most people imagine. And I don’t base this statement on my own experience. The Bible is crystal clear about it. Our Lord Jesus drove out evil spirits from people more than anyone else did.

If I succeed in getting you to honor Jesus Christ on October 31st in a bigger way than before, then I would have achieved my primary purpose in writing this.

May God open your eyes more and more to these realities in the spirit world.

**By Sandeep Poonen © Copyright – Sandeep Poonen. No changes whatsoever are to be made to the content of the article without written permission from the author. https://www.cfcindia.com/ 

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