MIND SCIENCE REDUX

MIND SCIENCE REDUX

[TBC: False teachings such as The Secret, the Power of Positive Thinking, or any of the manifestations of "Mind Science," are not new. All hearken back to lie of Satan in the Garden: "...ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil" (Genesis 3:5). Consider the following passage written by prominent Masonic author Albert Pike.]

“Man as yet knows little of the forces of nature. Surrounded, controlled, and governed by them, while he vainly thinks himself independent, not only of his race, but the universal nature and her infinite manifold forces, he is the slave of these forces, unless he becomes their master. He can neither ignore their existence nor be simply their neighbor.

There is in nature one most potent force, by means whereof a single man, who could possess himself of it, and should know how to direct it, could revolutionize and change the face of the world.

This force was known to the ancients. It is a universal agent, whose Supreme law is equilibrium; and whereby, if science can but learn how to control it, it will be possible to change the order of the Seasons, to produce in night the phenomena of day, to send a thought in an instant round the world, to heal or slay at a distance, to give our words universal success, and make them reverberate everywhere.

This agent, partially revealed by the blind guesses of the disciples of Mesmer, is precisely what the Adepts of the middle ages called the elementary matter of the great work. The Gnostics held that it composed the igneous body of the Holy Spirit; and it was adored in the secret rites of the Sabbat or the Temple, under the hieroglyphic figure of Baphomet or the hermaphroditic goat of Mendes.

There is a Life-Principle of the world, a universal agent, wherein are two natures and a double current, of love and wrath. This ambient fluid penetrates everything. It is a ray detached from the glory of the Sun, and fixed by the weight of the atmosphere and the central attraction. It is the body of the Holy Spirit, the universal Agent, the Serpent devouring his own tail. With this electro-magnetic ether, this vital and luminous caloric, the ancients and the alchemists were familiar. Of this agent, that phase of modern ignorance termed physical science talks incoherently, knowing naught of it save its effects; and theology might apply to it all its pretended definitions of spirit. Quiescent, it is appreciable by no human sense; disturbed or in movement, none can explain its mode of action; and to term it a “fluid,” and speak of its “currents,” is but to veil a profound ignorance under a cloud of words.

Force attracts force, life attracts life, health attracts health. It is a law of nature.”

http://www.sacred-texts.com/mas/md/index.htm (Albert Pike, Morals and Dogma, 1871).

 

Tomado de www.thebereancall.org

Just for catholics – August 2009

Malachi and the Mass

By Dr Joseph Mizzi

Some Catholic apologists claim that the prophecy in Malachi 1:11 is fulfilled in the Roman Catholic sacrifice of the Mass. A footnote in the New American Bible says that this verse is a reference to ‘the pure offering to be sacrificed in messianic times, the universal Sacrifice of the Mass, as we are told by the Council of Trent.’ The scripture reads: My name will be great among the nations, from the rising to the setting of the sun. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to my name, because my name will be great among the nations, says the LORD Almighty. (NIV)

A Catholic translation of the same verse reads: For from the rising of the sun, even to its setting, my name is great among the nations; And everywhere they bring sacrifice to my name, and a pure offering; For great is my name among the nations, says the LORD of hosts. (NAB)

The Jews and their priests despised and profaned God’s name by offering blemished animals while keeping the best animals to themselves. God was dishonoured by their half-hearted service and their hypocrisy. God foretold a time when he would call the Gentiles to worship him. He will be glorified among the nations, ‘from the rising of the sun to its setting’, from the east to the west. His people will not be restricted to a single nation, but he will have worshippers ‘in every place’, implying the catholicity or universality of the church. The incense offered to God is our prayers, as the Psalmist says, ‘May my prayer be set before you like incense’, and again, the Book of Revelations identifies the incense offered before God as ‘the prayers of all the saints.’ (Psalm 141:2, Rev 8:3). Moreover, the New Testament explains how the church offers a ‘pure offering’ to God. ‘Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased’ (Hebrews 13:15, 16). Our prayers and good works are an offering to God. The Eucharist is the prominent prayer of the church because during the Lord’s Supper we praise and thank God for the atoning work of Jesus Christ. Our English term ‘Eucharist’ is derived from the Greek word ‘eucharistia’ which means ‘gratitude, thanksgiving.’ Jesus gave thanks (‘eucharisteo’) when he took the bread and the wine (Matthew 26:27, Luke 22:19). In this sense the Eucharist is a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. Thus, Malachi’s prophecy finds its fulfillment in our good works and prayers, especially the Lord’s Supper celebrated by God’s children from the four corners of the earth. The Didache and the early church fathers also rightly identified the Eucharist as the fulfillment of Malachi’s prophecy. What about the sacrifice of the Mass? Surely the Mass is offered in every country of the world, and it has been celebrated since the times of the apostles. Sadly that is not the case because the significance of the Eucharist has changed over the centuries from a sacrifice of praise to a propitiatory sacrifice, that is, a sacrufuce to satisfy the justice of God for the sins committed against him. Malachi is not speaking about that kind of sacrifice. Much has been written on the translation of the term ‘qatar’, rendered ‘incense’ in all the major Protestant Bibles, and ‘sacrifice’ in the Catholic versions. Both renderings could be correct, though the former is more likely. The basic meaning of the word ‘qatar’ is ‘to smoke, to burn’. A Catholic commentator states that various forms of the word ‘have to do with any kind of offering which gives off smoke, but in postexilic texts precise enough to let us see what is being offered they have to do with incense or other aromatic substances.’ (The New Jerome Biblical Commentary – link). Whether ‘incense’ or ‘sacrifice’ is preferred, the term does not mean a ‘sin offering’ and there is nothing in the context that compels us to understand it as a propitiatory sacrifice. That is the crux of the matter. In fact the same Catholic commentator concludes that the terms translated ‘incense’ and ‘pure offering’ do not have the to with animal sacrifices. To prove the claim that Malachi is prophesying the Sacrifice of the Mass, it must be shown that he is speaking of a sin offering. To my knowledge that has never been done. On the contrary the study of the text leads us away from that conclusion. During the Lord’s Supper, God’s people remember Christ and proclaim his death, giving thanks to God for providing a perfect redemption in the death of his Son. They praise God for Christ who ‘entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.’ (Heb 9:12). But according to Catholic teaching, during the Mass the sacrifice of Christ is carried on, perpetuated, renewed, re-presented and re-enacted. In this shift in the meaning of the Eucharist, God is neither pleased nor honoured. Christ is seated on the right hand of God, having obtained our redemption; he does not ‘constantly enter’ the sanctuary to carry on what he has already done once for all. To unsubscribe, reply and write ‘Remove’ in the subject line.

 

© Copyright 2008 Dr Joseph Mizzi | www.justforcatholics.org | justforcatholics@yahoo.com

“MODERATE” PALESTINIANS REFUSE TO MEET WITH ISRAELIS

“‘MODERATE’ PALESTINIANS REFUSE TO MEET WITH ISRAELIS” [Excerpts]

 

Chances are you haven’t seen that headline–I made it up. But it refers to something that really happened…Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas told reporters in Ramallah that talks with the Netanyahu government are no-go until it accepts the two-state solution and freezes all construction in West Bank settlements.

That may seem strange, since Netanyahu has said he now accepts the two-state solution, both in a speech on June 14 and in a cabinet session on July 5. (That move did get wide publicity.) Netanyahu’s foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, has also spoken positively of a Palestinian state, and his defense minister, Ehud Barak, is a longtime dove who offered a Palestinian state to Yasser Arafat in 2000.

Abbas’s insistence on a total construction freeze also seems strange, since he held intensive talks with the previous government of Ehud Olmert, even as construction was continuing in larger settlements.

Indeed, Abbas’s “nay” came in response to Netanyahu’s call to him that same day to “make peace, both diplomatic and economic. There is no reason why we can’t meet anywhere in Israel.” Netanyahu also stressed the Palestinians’ “basic right to live in peace, security and prosperity” and the fact that his government has “made great efforts in recent weeks to ease their lives”-among other things, removing numerous West Bank roadblocks and improving conditions at the Israeli-Jordanian border.

Some say, of course, that Netanyahu has cleverly turned the tables on Abbas and put him in a box by stressing the demilitarization of the Palestinian state and the fact that Abbas’s “moderate” government refuses to recognize Israel as a Jewish state. It’s also said that Abbas is counting on the Obama administration to “deliver” Israel in any case and sees no point in resuming negotiations now. Abbas, competing for popularity with Hamas, may also not want to be perceived as “weak” by holding talks with what is still considered a “right-wing” government.

But those interpretations aside, the fact remains: the Israeli prime minister has called for negotiations, and the Palestinian president has responded with a flat-out no. If it was the reverse–”Netanyahu Refuses to Meet with Palestinians”–it would mean big news, a crisis in U.S.-Israeli relations. But portraying Netanyahu as conciliatory and Abbas as intransigent-even if this is what has actually happened-goes so against the media grain, and the dominant political conceptions, that the contrast gets downplayed and generally ignored.

 

Tomado de http://www.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=35556

Erwin Lutzer’s Warning Falls Short

by Chris Lawson

Spiritual Research Network

 

A number of Christian apologists are finally warning against the New Age ideology of Oprah and other New Age teachers. However, a vital element is missing in this attempt to warn against the onslaught of the New Age. Lighthouse Trails is compelled to address this concern. Recently, popular apologist and author Erwin Lutzer was featured on James Dobson’s Focus on the Family radio broadcast. The two-part series was actually taken from the 2008 National Conference on Christian Apologetics where Lutzer spoke. Since the Focus on the Family broadcast took place, Lighthouse Trails has been contacted because of our past coverage regarding Lutzer’s and Focus on the Family’s promotion of contemplative authors. One person contacting us inquired as to whether we would do an update saying that now Lutzer and Focus on the Family are NOT promoting contemplative anymore but are coming against it. One of the letters we received states: You have mentioned Erwin Lutzer as a possible sympathizer to Contemplative Theology. I heard him on Focus on the Family on 7/14 and 7/15. In his message he had scathing remarks for Oprah, Marianne Williamson and Helen Schucman and the entire New Age/Contemplative theology. … [H]e gave a very definite gospel message that was completely Christian. He sounded like he could very easily have been a writer for your project. I believe it would be a good idea to contact him for a refresher because I definitely think from what I heard, it should not even be hinted that he is a contemplative. To me, it looks like he inadvertently got booked with some wrong people, or got unknowingly tangled up somehow. I would definitely try to contact him to clear things up and clear up his name. Also, Dobson concluded on the first night with sentiments that agreed with Dr. Lutzer on how bad the contemplative movement is. He didn’t sound contemplative at all either. First of all, we must correct this writer’s letter–there was no mention of contemplative either by James Dobson or Erwin Lutzer on the two-part program. While it is commendable when Christians identify and issue warnings against New Age teachers like Oprah Winfrey and Eckhart Tolle (which Lutzer did), it is troubling when those same Christian leaders who warn against the New Age do not mention at all those who are teaching and promoting contemplative in the church. In fact, by listening to this two-part series by Lutzer, one would get the impression that the New Age is a problem the world has, not the church. Nothing could be further from the truth. Dear reader, before you might think that we are being unfair to Erwin Lutzer, not giving him credit for speaking up against Oprah and Eckhart Tolle, please consider this. In A Time of Departing, researcher Ray Yungen points out something the late New Age follower Marilyn Ferguson (author of The Aquarian Conspiracy) stated. Astoundingly, Ferguson revealed that 31 percent of New Agers she quizzed said it was “Christian mysticism” [i.e., contemplative] that got them involved in the New Age!1 We cannot emphasize enough the importance for Christians to understand the nature and essence of contemplative spirituality. And for Christian apologists to warn against New Age proponents, such as Oprah, but not even mention that this same spirituality is pervasive within certain sectors of Christianity and increasing within others, is lamentable. What’s more, Erwin Lutzer and James Dobson did not even mention the practice of meditation, which is at the heart of the New Age movement. What they said was merely on an intellectual level, which reduces New Age spirituality to a mere philosophy, like being a liberal or conservative. The problem with that approach is that it leaves out a connection to what the Bible calls “principalities” and “powers” (Ephesians 6:12). And herein lies a problem. Many people, including many Christians, do not really believe there is such a thing as mysticism. That’s why you often hear people say that the New Age is just a bunch of nonsense or silliness. They aren’t taking it seriously. But clearly, from Scripture, we know that there is a spiritual world, one that is filled with both demonic beings and heavenly beings (angels). When someone practices contemplative prayer (i.e. mantra-style meditation, centering, lectio divina, etc), they are allowing themselves to go into altered states of consciousness. Some believe that if the intent or motive is to reach Jesus, then the method is OK. In other words, it’s all right to do the same practices as those of eastern religions as long as the intent is to reach the God of the Bible. But this is faulty reasoning. A person jumping out of a window may have the intent to fly, but the results will be the same as the person whose intent is to fall to the ground. That may be a simplistic example, but the premise is logical. Thomas Keating, the number one authority in centering/contemplative prayer, makes some astounding remarks in the foreword of Philip St. Romain’s book, Kundalini Energy and Christian Spirituality. Keating states: “[T]his energy [kundalini] is also at work today in numerous persons who are devoting themselves to contemplative prayer.” He refers to the “physical symptoms arising from the awakening of kundalini.” Carolyn A. Greene, in her cutting-edge novel, Castles in the Sand, lists some of the kundalini symptoms: Muscle twitches, prickly feelings, tingling, intense heat or cold, shaking, jerking, feeling a force from within moving one’s body in unusual ways or pushing one into postures, hyperactivity, altered eating or sleeping patterns, fatigue, racing heartbeat, chest pains, headaches, numbness in the limbs (often the left foot or leg) Keating and other mystics acknowledge that these symptoms are experienced by those who practice deep contemplative meditation and are the same as what is experienced in Buddhism, Hinduism, and the New Age. Ironically, the conference Lutzer spoke at last year, the National Conference on Christian Apologetics is including a contemplative proponent in this year’s speaking line-up. Ken Boa, who has been discussed in Lighthouse Trails articles because of his propensity toward contemplative, is joining a number of evangelical figures such as Kay Arthur at the conference.(*see note below) In Boa’s book, 2 Boa also, numerous times, in his book refers to Henri Nouwen in the context of the “prayer of the heart.” In Nouwen’s book, The Way of the Heart, one that Boa promotes, Nouwen states: “The quiet repetition of a single word can help us to descend with the mind into the heart … This way of simple prayer … opens us to God’s active presence.”3 This is exactly what Eckhart Tolle would tell you to do (see Stillness Speaks). A skeptic might say that Nouwen was a Christian and his repetitive prayer would lead him to a “Christian” understanding of God. Not so. Of this “Christian” contemplative prayer, Nouwen says: This prayer is “soul work” because our souls are those sacred centers where all is one, … It is in the heart of God that we can come to the full realization of the unity of all that is.4 This is exactly what Oprah and Eckhart Tolle teach! Not only the same method but the same theological outcome! For those who think we may have twisted Nouwen’s words, consider the following statement by him: “The God who dwells in our inner sanctuary is also the God who dwells in the inner sanctuary of each human being.”5 The question must be asked, why is a contemplative proponent speaking at a national apologetics conference, one in which possibly there will be warnings against Oprah and the New Age but not against contemplative? How can this be so? The answer is really quite simple: it appears a large number of Christian leaders, like Dobson and Lutzer, don’t understand that the essence of the New Age is not just intellectual but is based on mysticism. And to warn against New Age and not even mention mystical practices is incomplete, to say the least. While we certainly mean no disrespect to Christian apologists who have much educational background, we do mean to challenge them in what they are not doing. The very fact that Boa will be a speaker at this year’s event is evidence that such a challenge should be put forth by the body of Christ. Keep in mind that Focus on the Family has been promoting contemplative Gary Thomas and Richard Foster for some time now, and Erwin Lutzer, with whom we spoke, placed his endorsement inside Larry Crabb’s book, The Papa Prayer, in which Crabb made a strong and obvious declaration for contemplative spirituality. In Crabb’s book, also endorsed by Brian McLaren, Crabb acknowledges he practices centering prayer (i.e., contemplative prayer): “I’ve practiced centering prayer. I’ve contemplatively prayed. I’ve prayed liturgically…. I’ve benefited from each, and I still do. In ways you’ll see, elements of each style are still with me” (The Papa Prayer, p.9). What Crabb means by this kind of prayer is clarified in a 2003 Christianity Today article, which reveals Crabb’s sympathies towards contemplative spirituality: “Christian counselor and popular author Larry Crabb took the trouble to earn a Ph.D. in clinical psychology. But now he believes that in today’s church, therapy should be replaced by another, more ancient practice–”spiritual direction.” This “ancient practice” is the same ancient practice that Thomas Merton and Thomas Keating teach–contemplative prayer. A year before the Christianity Today article came out, Crabb wrote the foreword for David Benner’s book, Sacred Companions. In that foreword, Crabb said: “The spiritual climate is ripe,” Crabb stated. “Jesus seekers across the world are being prepared to abandon the old way of the written code for the new way of the spirit.” Benner’s book is clear about what that “new way” is when he talks about a “Transformational Journey” needed in the Christian’s life, which he believes includes the teachings of Meister Eckhart, Thomas Merton, Thomas Keating, Richard Foster, Henri Nouwen, Basil Pennington and several others of similar propensity, all of whom promote a panentheistic, New Age view of God. For Crabb to write the foreword to Benner’s book leaves no speculation as to his affinity towards this same spirituality. And for Erwin Lutzer to place his endorsement inside The Papa Prayer leaves little room for doubt that Christianity at large is headed in the wrong direction. As stated earlier in this report, Keating sees contemplative prayer as a catalyst for “numerous persons” to experience kundalini awakening, which is at the very heart of the New Age movement. Keep in mind that Henri Nouwen himself wrote that he listened to tapes on the seven chakras while doing exercises.6 Kundalini and the chakras are synonymous. Anyone can look this up on the Internet to verify this. We urge Christian leaders, teachers, authors, and pastors to begin to publicly denounce the contemplative prayer (i.e., spiritual formation) movement rather than accept or ignore it. Focus on the Family, in numerous correspondence with Lighthouse Trails and Lighthouse Trails readers has stated that they see nothing wrong with the contemplative tradition. 7 Thomas Keating and other mystics would be ecstatic if they knew this. But believers should be heartbroken.

 

Notes:

1. Marilyn Ferguson, The Aquarian Conspiracy (Los Angeles, CA: J.P. Tarcher Inc.,1980), p. 419, from A Time of Departing, 2nd ed., p. 55.

3. Henri Nouwen, The Way of the Heart (San Francisco, CA: Harper, 1991), p. 81, from A Time of Departing, 2nd ed., p. 62.

4. Henri Nouwen, Bread for the Journey (San Francisco, CA: Harper, 1997), Jan. 15 and Nov. 16 daily readings, from A Time of Departing, p. 63.

5. Henri Nouwen, Here and Now (New York, NY: The Crossroad Publishing Company, 1997 edition), p. 22, from A “Wonderful” Deception, p. 63.

6. Henri Nouwen, Sabbatical Journey, p.20.

7. Letter from Focus on the Family Tim Masters to Lighthouse Trails Publishing

* Note: There is a Warren Smith speaking at this conference, but it is not the Lighthouse Trails author Warren Smith who is author of Deceived on Purpose and A “Wonderful” Deception

 

Tomado de http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com

VICIOUS ACADEMIC LIBERALS

VICIOUS ACADEMIC LIBERALS [Excerpts]

 

Ward Connerly, former University of California Regent, has an article, “Study, Study, Study – A Bad Career Move” in the June 2, 2009 edition of Minding the Campus (www.mindingthecampus.com) that should raise any decent American’s level of disgust for what’s routinely practiced at most of our universities.

Mr. Connerly tells of a conversation he had with a high-ranking UC administrator about a proposal that the administrator was developing to increase campus diversity. Connerly asked the administrator why he considered it important to tinker with admissions instead of just letting the chips fall where they may.

His response was that that unless the university took steps to “guide” admissions decisions, the University of California campuses would be dominated by Asians. When Connerly asked, “What would be wrong with that?”, the UC administrator told him that Asians are “too dull — they study, study, study.”

Then he said to Connerly, “If you ever say I said this, I will have to deny it.” Connerly did not reveal the administrator’s name. It would not have done any good because it’s part of a diversity vision shared by most college administrators.

Asian student enrollment on all nine UC campuses is over 40 percent. That’s in a state where the Asian population is about 13 percent.

When there are policies that emphasize and reward academic achievement, Asians excel. College officials and others who are proponents of “diversity” and equal representation find that outcome offensive.

To deal with the Asian “menace,” the UC Regents have proposed, starting in 2010, that no longer will the top 12.5 percent of students based on statewide performance be automatically admitted. Students won’t have to take SAT subject matter tests. Grades and test scores will no longer weigh so heavily in admission decisions.
 
Ward Connerly ends his article saying, “There is one truth that is universally applicable in the era of ‘diversity,’ especially in American universities: an absolute unwillingness to accept the verdict of colorblind policies.”

Fuente:

http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=49982

[TBC: "While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage" (2 Peter 2:19).]

 

Tomado de www.thebereancall.org

Important Prayer Request for Roger Oakland

A few days ago we reported to you that teacher and author, Roger Oakland, had fallen, resulting in breaking his ribs and puncturing a lung. Emergency surgery was performed in Canada. Today, we learned that his condition has possibly worsened. We received the following update: “Roger’s surgeon did find more air trapped between his lungs and chest. They had to re-insert the drain tube to get the air out. In addition, he hit his head when he fell and now he is seeing double in one eye. They will have to do a CT scan and/or an MRI to see what is going on.” Roger has a very amazing background and has been sacrificially serving the Lord for many years. Prior to his becoming a Christian, Roger was a biology professor at a Canadian college. He was also an evolutionist. Through a number of circumstances in his life, he came to believe that there was a Creator. This led him to Jesus Christ, who became his Lord and Savior. Roger has been faithfully serving Him ever since, and sometimes at a great cost. His most difficult years have been this past decade. After losing one of his sons in a tragic accident about seven years ago, Roger continued on with his ministry, part of which has included developing four orphan homes he helped to start in Myanmar. Perhaps his greatest challenge in ministry began when he wrote Faith Undone, taking on some of the heavy weights in the emerging church/new spirituality movement and exposing the truth behind the emerging church and the Purpose Driven movement. It was a message that some Christian leaders did not want to hear. But Roger has been a courageous brother and willing to lose all for the sake of Christ. We beseech those who love truth and the Gospel to pray fervently for this man who may never be considered by mainstream Christianity a leader in the church but who in actuality is one indeed.

“Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ.” Philippians 3:8.

Roger’s website: Understand the Times

 

Tomado de: Lighthouse Trails Publishing y Lighthouse Trails Research Project

El Éufrates se está muriendo

JUBAISH, IRAK. Apocalipsis capitulo 16 y versículo 12 dice en varias versiones: El sexto ángel derramó su copa sobre el gran río Éufrates; y el agua de éste se secó, para que estuviese preparado el camino a los reyes del oriente. Versión “Reina Valera 1960”. El sexto ángel vació su copa sobre el gran río Éufrates, y el agua del río se secó para que los reyes del Oriente pudieran pasar. Versión “Lenguaje Sencillo” y El sexto ángel derramó su copa sobre el gran río Éufrates, y se secaron sus aguas para abrir paso a los reyes del oriente. Versión “Nueva versión internacional”.

The New York Times da a conocer que por el mal manejo y la sequía se está muriendo el Éufrates; por lo menos seis represas que reducen su flujo ponen en riesgo toda la región. A través de los pantanos, de pie sobre la tierra en la que anteriormente flotaban juncos, los recolectores de juncos gritan a los visitantes de un bote que pasa cerca. “Maaku mai!”, advierten, levantando sus hoces oxidadas. “No hay agua.”

El Eufrates se está secando. Ahogado por las políticas acuíferas de los vecinos de Irak, Turquía y Siria, por una sequía de dos años y por años de mal uso por parte de Irak y sus campesinos, el río es significativamente más pequeño de lo que era hace tan sólo unos pocos años. Algunos oficiales se preocupan porque pronto puede llegar a ser la mitad de lo que es ahora.

La desaparición del Éufrates -un río que ha sido tan crucial para el nacimiento de la civilización que el Apocalipsis profetizó que su desecamiento sería un signo del fin de los tiempos- ha diezmado los sembradíos que se encuentran a lo largo de sus orillas, ha empobrecido a los pescadores y ha reducido los pueblos ribereños a medida que los granjeros han partido hacia las ciudades en busca de trabajo. Son los pobres quienes más están sufriendo, aunque todos los estratos de la sociedad están sintiendo los efectos: jeques, diplomáticos e incluso miembros del Parlamento que regresan a sus haciendas después de semanas en Bagdad.

A lo largo del río, los campos de arroz y algodón se han convertido en tierra cocida. Los canales se han transformado en cursos de agua poco profundos, y los botes pesqueros descansan en tierra seca. Las bombas que deben alimentar las plantas de tratamiento de agua cuelgan sin punto fijo sobre charcos marrones. La sequía está ampliamente extendida sobre Iraq. El área sembrada con algodón y cebada en el norte del país está por debajo del 95% de lo habitual, y las plantaciones de dátiles y de cítricos del Este están resecas.

Los últimos dos años las lluvias han estado por debajo de lo normal y han dejado los reservorios secos. Las sequías no son infrecuentes en Iraq, aunque las autoridades dicen que se han vuelto aún más frecuentes en los últimos años. Pero ésa no es la única causa del desecamiento del Éufrates. Existen por lo menos seis represas sobre el Eufrates en Turquía y Siria, según las autoridades iraquíes, pero en ausencia de tratados o acuerdos, el gobierno iraquí sólo puede rogar a sus vecinos que permitan el paso del agua. Recientemente, el ministro de Aguas anunció que Turquía duplicó el flujo de agua hacia el Éufrates y así salvó la temporada del algodón de algunas áreas. Aunque Turquía acordó mantener ese flujo o incluso aumentarlo, no hay ningún compromiso que obligue a ese país a cumplir con ello.

 

Fuente: Cristianos.com

PERCENT OF HOSPITALS USE REIKI

Reiki: 15 Percent of US Hospitals Using Occult Practice [Excerpts]

 

In a recent article in Reiki News, it was revealed that 15 percent of all US hospitals are now implementing the practice of Reiki. In Reiki, a type of therapeutic touch, it is believed that the ki (chi) energy (a supposed universal energy that flows through all things) can be used to heal people. In the Reiki News article written by Reiki proponent William Lee Rand, Rand expresses a concern about a statement released by US Catholic bishops asking Catholic hospitals not to use Reiki because of its Buddhist roots. Rand tries to show that Reiki is a scientific method that has healing results.

However, as Rand explains his views on Reiki, the discerning reader begins to realize that Reiki is not scientific at all but rather a spiritual approach. Rand admits that “Reiki healing energy directs itself.” He says:

“I was unable to direct it with my mind or will and realized this wasn’t necessary as Reiki had its own form of guidance that was superior to my own. This experience has been verified by other professional Reiki practitioners and forms the basis of one of the important keys to using Reiki: If you want Reiki to provide the best healing experience, it’s necessary for the practitioner to set their own desire, will and ego aside, and allow the Reiki energy to guide itself.”

Author Ray Yungen, who says there are now over one million Reiki channelers in the US alone (a million in Germany also), explains this “energy” behind Reiki further: “One practitioner describes the experience in the following way:

“When doing it, I become a channel through which this force, this juice of the universe, comes pouring from my palms into the body of the person I am touching, sometimes lightly, almost imperceptibly, sometimes in famished sucking drafts. I get it even as I’m giving it. It surrounds the two of us, patient and practitioner” (“Healing Hands” (New Woman Magazine, March, 1986), p. 78).

What is this “juice of the universe?” The answer is an important one, given by a renowned Reiki master [Rand] who explains:

A Reiki attunement is an initiation into a sacred metaphysical order that has been present on earth for thousands of years … By becoming part of this group, you will also be receiving help from the Reiki guides and other spiritual beings who are also working toward these goals” (William Rand, Reiki: The Healing Touch, Southfield, MI: Vision Publications,1991, p. 48).

While this is not widely advertised, Reiki practitioners depend on this “spirit guide” connection as an integral aspect of Reiki. In fact, it is the very foundation and energy behind Reiki. One Reiki master who has enrolled hundreds of other masters spoke of her interaction with the spirit guides:

“For me, the Reiki guides make themselves the most felt while attunements are being passed. They stand behind me and direct the whole process, and I assume they also do this for every Reiki Master. When I pass attunements, I feel their presence strongly and constantly. Sometimes I can see them” (Diane Stein, Essential Reiki (Berkley, CA: Crossing Press, 1995), p. 107).

 

Información tomada de

http://www.crossroad.to/Quotes/spirituality/lighthousetrails/09/6-reiki.htm

Rick Warren, Leonard Sweet, and Sweet’s “New Light” Leaders

by Warren Smith

LTRP Note: While some Christian leaders are issuing warnings about New Age figures such as Oprah, Eckhart Tolle, and A Course in Miracles, this same new (age) spirituality (under a “Christian” disguise) is being promoted and embraced right in the Christian church by popular Christian teachers and authors. “Rick Warren, Leonard Sweet, and Sweet’s ‘New Light’ Leaders” (from A “Wonderful” Deception) by Warren Smith Quantum spirituality bonds us to all creation as well as to other members of the human family. . . . This entails a radical doctrine of embodiment of God in the very substance of creation. . . . But a spirituality that is not in some way entheistic (whether pan- or trans-), that does not extend to the spirit-matter of the cosmos, is not Christian.1–Leonard Sweet Shortly after Deceived on Purpose was published, I came across a book titled Quantum Spirituality: A Postmodern Dialectic written by Rick Warren’s “Evangelical” colleague Leonard Sweet. Also, around the same time, I was given a cassette tape set of a presentation Sweet had done with Warren in 1995. Their recorded discussion is titled The Tides of Change and was packaged as part of an ongoing series called “Choice Voices for Church Leadership.” At the time this audio project took place, Sweet was a Christian author, Methodist minister, and the Dean of the Theological School at Drew University. According to information on the tape set, this presentation was about ministry on the emerging “new frontier.”2 Challenging pastors to make changes in their ministry to meet the emerging postmodern culture and the changing times, Sweet and Rick Warren present themselves not only as pastors but also as modern-day change agents. In their conversation together, Sweet enthusiastically remarked to Warren: “I think this is part of this New Spirituality that we are seeing birthed around us.”3 In listening to this cassette-tape series, I found it interesting that Leonard Sweet was talking about the birth of a “New Spirituality” with Rick Warren way back in 1995. Since 9/11, “New Spirituality” is the term that most New Age leaders are now using instead of “New Age Spirituality.” By simply removing the word “Age” from “New Age Spirituality,” the “New Age Spirituality” has suddenly become the “New Spirituality.” Emerging church figures like Sweet, Brian McLaren, and others are also employing the term “New Spirituality.” They use it to describe the “new” Christianity they are practicing as “New Christians” and “New Light leaders.”4 What has become clear over the last decade is that the “New Spirituality”–with its bottom line belief that God is “in” everything–is, in reality, the foundational New Age “hub” for the coming New World Religion. This panentheistic New Age/New Spirituality teaching that God is “in” everything will be the “common ground” melting pot belief that the coming New World Religion will ultimately rest upon. In The Tides of Change, it is clear that Rick Warren and Leonard Sweet are working toward a “New Reformation” of the church.5 But as I read Sweet’s book Quantum Spirituality: A Postmodern Apologetic, I quickly discovered that Sweet’s New Reformation is really just a New Age re-formation of biblical Christianity–a New Spirituality. And his New Age/New Spirituality take on things is just one more reason to be concerned about the further New Age implications that are already so present in Warren’s Purpose Driven movement. Serving Two Masters Although I was not previously familiar with Leonard Sweet, I knew that his book, Quantum Spirituality, had raised some concerns about his apparent affection for New Age teachings. When I began reading through Quantum Spirituality, I could see why people were concerned. Highly intellectual and well-read, Leonard Sweet almost dares you to keep up with him as he charges through the spiritual marketplace. Operating at lightning speed and quoting from countless books and articles, he will impress many readers with his quick wit and spiritual insights. However, as he treacherously dives into New Age waters and challenges his readers to go there with him, serious problems arise within his “postmodern apologetic.” In reading Quantum Spirituality, I recalled the Sermon on the Mount when Jesus warned that you can’t serve two masters (Matthew 6:24). Leonard Sweet may be a professing Evangelical Christian, but he also simultaneously praises New Age authors and their teachings. Observing Sweet’s obvious New Age slant to Christianity, I was not surprised to see that he was one of the featured speakers at a 2007 leadership conference at the Crystal Cathedral.6 He also co-led two small-group workshops with Warren in 2008.7 New Light Leaders? While some Leonard Sweet defenders have argued that Sweet’s hybridized postmodern “New Light” apologetic flies right over the heads of “old light” “fundamentalist” types, the facts tell a much different story. What I learned in reading Quantum Spirituality is that Sweet is in the process of trying to transform biblical Christianity into a quantum/postmodern/New Light/New Age/New Spirituality. Without apology, Sweet writes that he is part of a “New Light movement” and he describes those he especially admires as “New Light leaders.”8 In the “Acknowledgments” of Quantum Spirituality, Sweet expresses his deep gratitude and admiration to various “New Light leaders” that he openly praises as “the most creative religious leaders in America today.”9 Included in his group are a number of New Age leaders I am very familiar with–most particularly Willis Harman, Matthew Fox, and M. Scott Peck. Sweet describes these three men–along with all the others cited–as “extraordinary” and “great” New Light leaders. He goes so far as to say that they are his “personal role models” and “heroes” of the “true nature of the postmodern apologetic.” Sweet writes: They are my personal role models (in an earlier day one could get away with “heroes”) of the true nature of the postmodern apologetic. More than anyone else, they have been my teachers on how to translate, without compromising content, the gospel into the indigenous context of the postmodern vernacular.10 But many of the men Leonard Sweet acknowledges have compromised the “content” of the Gospel by translating it into the “postmodern vernacular” of a New Age/New Spirituality. For example, Willis Harman, Matthew Fox, and M. Scott Peck have all played leading roles in the building and popularizing of today’s New Age/New Spirituality movement. Therefore, how can these three leaders be Sweet’s “role models” and “heroes”? Sweet’s praise of these men says all you need to know about his “postmodern apologetic.” Rather than commending these New Age/New Light leaders, a self-professing Christian leader like Sweet should be warning the church about them. A brief look at these three “New Light leaders” and their teachings will make this very clear.

 

(This is an excerpt from chapter 10, A “Wonderful” Deception by Warren Smith.)

 

Notes:

1. Leonard Sweet, Quantum Spirituality: A Postmodern Apologetic (Dayton, OH: Whaleprints for SpiritVenture Ministries, Inc. 1991, 1994), p. 125.

2. Rick Warren and Leonard Sweet, The Tides of Change, op. cit, introductory information sheet.

3. Ibid.

4. Tony Jones, The New Christianity, op. cit., pp. 2, 40; Brian McLaren, Everything Must Change, op. cit., p. 296; Leonard Sweet, Quantum Spirituality, op. cit., p. viii.

5. Rick Warren and Leonard Sweet, The Tides of Change, op. cit.

6. Faith Forward conference in 2007 at Crystal Cathedral with Leonard Sweet, http://www.cathedralgifts.com/20fafoco.html.

7. For information on the small-group workshop at the 2008 Saddleback Small Groups conference: http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog/index.php?p=988&more=1&c=1. 8. Leonard Sweet, Quantum Spirituality, op. cit., p. viii. 9. Ibid., p. ix. 10. Ibid., p. viii.

Líderes religiosos viven en incertidumbre en México

El asesinato de dos miembros de la Iglesia de los Santos de los Últimos Días, luego de encabezar un movimiento comunitario para oponerse a pagar un rescate que exigían los secuestradores, ocurrido recientemente en la comunidad mormona de Chihuahua, deja una lección para las demás comunidades de fe.

 

Por: Oscar Moha

CIUDAD DE MÉXICO. La Iglesia Mormona no ha sido la única que ha sufrido el secuestro de sus feligreses en México. Si bien en congregaciones cristianas evangélicas no existen estadísticas, hay muchas historias de dolor e impunidad.

Pastores, familiares y congregantes han sufrido la privación ilegal de la libertad, robos, secuestros-exprés, agresiones violentas y otros delitos graves, sin que haya constancia legal de ello, ya que la mayor parte de tales actos ilícitos no son denunciados y sólo la iglesia local se entera a los efectos de la petición de oraciones intercesoras.

Resulta muy común leer, en los boletines internos de las iglesias evangélicas, peticiones de oración por una familia “que está pasando por un momento difícil”, lo cual implica, sin dudas, una de las actividades citadas, que se manejan como “secreto familiar”. Ello es debido a que, en ocasiones, los afectados no denuncian los hechos por la falta de confianza en las autoridades policíacas y judiciales. Muchos de ellos prefieren dejar los hechos en el anonimato y, de la cifra total, solo un 10 por ciento se atreve a presentarse ante el Ministerio Público para levantar denuncia de los hechos.

También el factor del narcotráfico tiene una fuerte incidencia en esos asuntos. Incontables y secretas historias, sobre todo en el norte y centro del país, modelan otra arista del problema. Estados como Chihuahua, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas, Sinaloa, Guerrero, Michoacán y Oaxaca, poseen bandas de narcotraficantes que han llegado a amenazar a quienes predican en contra de ellos.

Una de esas historias la cuenta un líder que realiza eventos infantiles. En diciembre del pasado año la Asociación Bolsa del Samaritano entregaba regalos para menores de escasos recursos en un poblado ubicado en los límites del estado de Michoacán y Guerrero, cuando individuos no identificados, a bordo de camioneras de último modelo, descendieron para advertir a los organizadores que debían pagar “una cuota” si querían proseguir la actividad.

“Nos comentaron que tales eventos están suspendidos en la zona donde ellos mandan –comentó un pastor de esa localidad que prefirió el anonimato por temor a represalias–. Era gente armada que nos pidió que no regresáramos porque íbamos a tener problemas; e incluso, nos perdonaron la cuota que ellos mismos habían fijado en 15 mil pesos mexicanos (unos mil 500 dólares)”.

También en Sinaloa ministros de varios municipios saben que hablar en sus sermones del narco, o tan solo mencionar sus nombres desde el púlpito, podría tener el costo de la vida o ser secuestrado por alguna de las bandas que operan en la zona. Tal temor está fundamentado en que denunciar tales veladas amenazas ante autoridades locales o federales puede representar una “desaparición forzada” de ellos o alguno de sus familiares.

“Esa gente tiene personas infiltradas en nuestras iglesias y si alguno predica sobre el tema son capaces de matar a quien sea, y eso lo sabemos los pastores de aquí (Sinaloa)”, afirma un líder de la Iglesia Apostólica.

Algunos de los secuestros más recientes que se conocen son: 13 de septiembre del 2005, Naomi Ost, hija del director de los Centros de Fe, Esperanza y Amor, cuando iba a la Universidad; el cual causó conmoción en las iglesias evangélicas.

El asunto trascendió al ámbito Internacional. El 17 de mayo del pasado año, Adriana Cortés Ramos, de 21 años, hija de un ministro adventista, fue secuestrada en Puebla; mientras que el pastor y empresario Noé Villegas Trejo, de Tamaulipas, sufrió la misma suerte el 23 de julio, también del 2008, y un mes después apareció muerto. Cristian Carbajal, hijo menor de otro evangelista, luego de haber sido interceptado por varios sujetos en una camioneta el 24 de septiembre, permaneció retenido por 75 días en Guerrero.

En octubre del pasado año, el pastor Manuel Tec Domínguez fue secuestrado en Tijuana, mientras que el reverendo Jesús Arena tuvo que pagar un rescate de 300 mil pesos mexicanos, según cuentan versiones extraoficiales, luego de sufrir la misma suerte en el municipio de Cárdenas, Tabasco.

La mayoría de esos delitos siguen en aumento, de manera que la determinación de la comunidad mormona de enfrentar por sus propios medios, a tales delincuentes, resulta un ejemplo de valentía y determinación, cuando se prevé que, en breve, líderes de diversas denominaciones harán un pronunciamiento sobre el tema y tomen medidas al respecto.

 

Fuente: Cristianos.com