The Truth behind 'The Secret'

I just finished reading The Truth Behind The Secret, 'The Secret' being the book and DVD by that title about the (so-called) 'law of attraction'. Since I had a small rant in my booklet about the (so-called) 'law of attraction' I thought I'd post a bit of a follow-up here.

The book confirmed that the 'secret' book is based on some of the teachings of Abraham, a group of 'entities' (i.e. demonic spirits) channeled by Esther Hicks. I used to subscribe to their tape series and had several of their books, before I came to Christianity and repented and have thrown out all of the books. I may still have a few of the tapes, in a box somewhere. There's also some influence of the Religious- Mind Science / Unity teachings. Since the authors are much more knowledgeable in these areas, I was glad to see it also agreed with the conclusion in my booklet that they basically preach pantheism. (God is in all things, and/or is a 'universal energy' but isn't a personal God that can save you from their demonic deception.)

The biggest thing I've gotten out of it, now that I've been out of it for a few years and studied the Bible, is that their focus is on 'the deception of riches' -- which is essentially believing the devil's lie that riches are going to bring you happiness and security. I'll certainly admit that struggling financially isn't a lot of fun, but as Jesus said: 'For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?' (Mar 8:36 KJVA) and see also Matthew 16:26.

I wanted to share a couple of paragraphs from pages 44 and 45 of the book, it's discussing channeling in general.

THE DANGERS OF CHANNELING

Most interesting is Klimo's warning about evil spirits in connection with channeling. As a proponent and practitioner of channeling, Klimo is familiar with the traditional Christian perspective that fallen angels (demons) may be involved. Although Klimo does not completely agree with this perspective, he readily acknowledges that some channeling does involve evil beings bent on deception.

In his interview, he explained, "not every ancient spirit is wise or benevolent" -- some belong to "the dark brotherhood." Klimo repeatedly referred to these dark beings as spirits who are involved in some kind of invisible warfare against all that is good. While he believes these evil spirits are in the minority, he recognizes a significant potential danger when it comes to channeling, noting" [There are] even more dangerous sources ... nonhuman demons, evil spirits, forces of Satan or Lucifer and the 'Dark Brotherhood'. These entities await every opportunity to tempt and control human spirits. Historically, the negative presence of lower astral human spirits has been attributed to these demonic entities."

If we accept Klimo's explanation of channeling, then we have to acknowledge that deception is possible. There is a possibility of fraud and fakery, self-deception on the part of the channeler, a mental illness or psychological phenomenon, or even an evil, demonic spirit pretending to be a wise helper.

The book is certainly worth a look, it covers a good deal in 149 pages (before the end-notes). I read a copy from my local library, and it's also available here, or here.

Apparently there is also going to be a DVD documentary, there's a link on their website to view a preview clip.

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What is God's will vs Christian Liberty ?

I wanted to share a very good article that I found on Brian Flynn's website (author of a book I recently finished titled: Running Against the Wind. It's very good and I plan to post something from it a bit later.)

However this article is about Christian Liberty -- as in what are we at liberty to choose in certain areas if it's not specifically mentioned in scripture; since scripture is His revealed will? This article is written by Bob Dewaay.

Here are a couple of paragraphs from the article, and it's helped clear up some of my thinking on the topic.

How do we find out God’s will in matters of Christian liberty? By making an informed choice and living out all the ramifications of that choice to God’s glory by His grace. God’s providential will is known after we make the choice ─ it is whatever we chose. If that choice does not transgress anything revealed in Scripture, then it cannot be a sinful choice unless we make it with evil motives. Examples of choices that the New Testament expressly says are within the realm of Christian liberty are things like marriage, food, circumcision, and holy days to be observed. Some choose a more rigorous and restricted approach to life (see Romans 14), and others less restrictive. What we are not free to do is judge others on matters that rightfully fall into the category of liberty. These are matters God has not dictated in Scripture.

and a few paragraphs later he adds this --

Paul was in prison when he wrote to the Philippians: “Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel” (Philippians 1:12). Paul was in prison because civil authorities put him there. Thus God’s providential will was revealed. There is no assurance that by learning to follow some secret “inner voice of God” we will be more pleasing to God and be more “in the center of His will.” This idea hinders true Christian liberty and leads to many sorrows.

Many think that God will feed them information about all their decisions and give them the “Midas touch.” This concept is false. God does not tell us which stocks are going up, which car will never break down, which house will go up in value, and other turn by turn directions that will lead us to bliss and success in this life. In God’s wisdom He has granted us freedom to make these decisions freely, and without recrimination for the results. It is not a sin to make decisions within the realm of Christian liberty that we regret later. As earthly parents, we will judiciously allow our children to do the same. It is a central part of our human freedom and dignity to make decisions and watch the consequences play out in life. It sounds good to have the “Midas touch” but if it existed it would be ruinous as it was in the fable.

I think that the idea of making the 'right decision' to be sure what we're doing is in God's will comes from the evil one. I've certainly tied myself into mental & emotional knots over it, and I think it's part of what sends people to psychics and the like. However, I do think that praying over a decision before you make it can probably keep you out of harm's way in some cases. The Holy Spirit does indeed communicate with us, but that doesn't mean He needs to put his 'stamp of approval' on every matter before you can do something. My current thinking, after reading this excellent article -- would be that praying over things / decisions is a good idea. Particularly if it's a big decision, like who to marry or where to live or go to church, and the like. If the Holy Spirit gives you guidance or words of knowledge (which don't always come immediately!), then go with that. Otherwise, make your best decision and move forward. For a really good book about the Holy Spirit, I like Chuck Smith's book 'Living Water'.

Wide is the path that leads to destruction

Here's a very compelling video message from Paul Washer, it's addressed to a teenagers / youth group meeting, but it's not the usual 'ear tickling' message. Wow, it's good. It's 59 minutes (1 hour).

A short attempt to debunk EFT and SW

I'm pretty sure this article on the 'Let Us Reason' website is in reference to EFT and similar modalities in general, and in particular as a tool for Christians. Why I say that, is because a few months back I sent an email to Mike (the admin / owner of the LUR website) telling him that I liked his website and invited him to read my e-booklet and welcomed any feedback he may have. I then advised that our correspondence may or may not end up on my blog, and asked that if he specifically did NOT want it posted here for him to please let me know. I believe in fair warning, fair play and that sort of thing.

His only response was a couple of weeks later, warning me against things not invented by Christians, as well as warning me against the Elijah List, since I have an article or 2 on here from that website. Since I check in at the 'what's new' link on the LUR website on a regular basis, particularly looking for the article(s) about The Healing Rooms. That's a topic for another blog message, perhaps. Among the 'new' articles is the one linked above, and it's so short I'm going to cut & paste it and then address it. The one thing that really bothers me most though, is that I specifically emailed and requested feedback. But I received not even so much as a courtesy message that he was posting his response to his website. But, as my pastor said once during a service, shortly after becoming head pastor of a church he discovered that 'sheep bite'. Plus, I have EFT to help soothe my feelers over the whole issue. Here's the article:

When does alternative medicine cross over the line where we need to be concerned?
The sicknesses that we often treat are in the body, it is physical. Regular medicine uses a physical means to treat the physical body (other means are employed when it is emotional/psychosomatic). The majority of New age medicine has the premise that whatever is happening to the body first begins in the spirit. they believe in treating the spirit to fix the body. By manipulating energy centers or meridians that supposedly run through the body, they can align our spirit into health, which will then affect the body.

When we use a spiritual means to treat the physical body, that is when has crossed the line to be something else other than medicine. It is not longer medicine but in the category of the metaphysical or the Occult. We are no longer using a physical cure for a physical ailment.

We find many of these techniques are connected with other religions and spiritual systems. The belief that sickness is in the spirit first and manifests in the body (like Mind sciences teaches).

These kind of methods used from other religions the Bible tells us not to use.

Where does the Bible tell us not to use them? We're told in the Bible not to engage in sorcery or divination and not to consult those with familiar spirits (i.e. 'channelers' ), and told not to worship strange gods. EFT does none of those things, though some EFT practitioners may do some of those things. The part where it mentions meridians is really what tipped me off that it might be discussing EFT type modalities. Plus my e-booklet puts forth my contention that emotion and spirit are linked. Thus if you're using EFT for emotional issues it would also tie into spiritual issues, and I cite many passages of scripture to back up my contention. My response is going to be somewhat short, since this is one of the few articles on this website with absolutely NOT ONE scripture to back up his contention. The article says it has crossed the line when we use a spiritual means to treat the physical body and that puts it in the realm of the occult? First of all, how many scientific studies have shown links between stress and disease, just one of several 'emotional states'. I just did a search on the dogpile search engine, using the terms 'stress AND disease' and it came up with 95 results. (Granted, some of them aren't more than links to shopping sites, but many contain useful information.) I then did the same with 'sadness AND disease' and that came back with 100 results. Plus, EFT is primarily about emotions and not necessarily the physical body.

Not to mention, how many passages of scripture say that Jesus cast out devils and they were healed? Would that not be a 'spiritual means to treat the physical body' ? Using eSword, I did a search of the KJVA New Testament using the words 'devil heal' and include a partial match, it came up with 11 results. Here are a few of them:

Mat 4:24 KJVA
(24) And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them.

Mat 12:22 KJVA
(22) Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw.

Luk 8:2 KJVA
(2) And certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils,

Luk 9:42 KJVA
(42) And as he was yet a coming, the devil threw him down, and tare him. And Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the child, and delivered him again to his father.

Act 10:38 KJVA (38) How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.

In some cases it appears that 'casting out of devils' and 'healing' are not one in the same thing, in some cases one thing was done and then in others people were healed. Though in some passages it appears the two are in fact linked. And there are many, many mentions of various and different emotions in the Bible -- several of them in my e-booklet or and/or the appendix.

Of course, there's always the possibility that the article had very little to do with EFT, either in conjunction with using it as a tool in spiritual warfare, or not. But I doubt it. I'll close this response with the following verses from the book of Romans:

Rom 14:13-14 WEB (13) Therefore lets not judge one another any more, but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block in his brothers way, or an occasion for falling. (14) I know, and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean of itself; except that to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.

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EFT - Not just for emotional issues

I just read an article / testimony from the EFT Insights newsletter that is amazing, so I thought I'd share part of it here and suggest you take a look at it too.

It's by a 73 year old man who'd been in a car accident and had some injuries to his leg that were bleeding quite a bit. He first used EFT to address his anger about the accident and then addressed the pain and bleeding of his injuries -- and in the process saved himself a trip to the hospital! Proving that EFT is not just for emotional issues. I'll share the last couple of paragraphs of the article below.

By this time I was feeling remarkably better ,started laughing and used the thymus thump to gain more energy, because I was feeling rather tired. People thought I was nuts but I just did not care. I was so happy that all had gone so fantastically after the initial disaster.

Without EFT I would have had to go to the hospital. After 3 weeks I am still 100% OK and there is no pain, I can walk perfectly, the scabs have gone and the scars are almost invisible. All the affirmations have been fulfilled.

You can read the whole article here.

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Wisdom and the Proverbs, part III

Below is a link to an excellent blog post which discusses emotions as mentioned primarily in Proverbs,

Wisdom and the Proverbs, part III

Chad (the writer of the blog piece) makes a good point about our emotions, in that some that we may call 'negative' are not always unwanted, such as fear when confronted by some danger.

However, if you're still anxious or fearful long after the danger has passed, it would be a good time to use EFT. So take a look, it's a good message.

Acupuncture and Christianity

I'm making some small updates to my booklet on EFT and Spiritual Warfare, and wanted to include some information I found in Larson's book of SW about acupuncture. (And I'm going to remove the 'free ebooklet' for a short while, since EBay has no listing fees until the end of Sept., I'm going to list it there and see if there's any buyers.)

In that vein, I decided to do an internet search on acupuncture history, none of which really contradicted the info. in Larson's book; and then I did a search on acupuncture AND christian, and found a link to this website article, which I wanted to share here. There are links to a few articles with some of the science that's been done on the topic. (Since EFT is somewhat based on principles of acupuncture, it's basically related to EFT, also.) The writer of the article, linked above, is a Christian acupuncturist. A couple of things he writes sum up my feelings on the topic, too.

He writes:

1. God and Christian faith come first in importance and priority. Healing and medicine come after that.

And then goes on to make some other important points, and adds this to which I completely agree:

Science: I have reviewed a number of scientific studies on acupuncture on PulseMed.org. I am a Christian and an acupuncturist, I believe that acupuncture is inherently medical and non-religious. I have made every effort to remain objective in my Christian review of Chinese Medicine. I would like to find out it is compatible with Christianity, but I also am willing to move on if that turned out to be incorrect.

Of course, I'd substitute EFT, and since it deals more with emotional issues, the medical studies may or may not apply. But I see it as something where I am also willing to move on if it turns out I'm incorrect. The Holy Spirit led me away from other 'new age' beliefs and gave me a love for God's Word (i.e. the Bible); and I even believe that using EFT to clear away some negative emotional 'baggage' enhances my walk, and my faith and discernment. In addition, here is another good article that addresses the topic.

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Hidden things of darkness

Here's a good article in Spirit Daily, about some of the 'hidden things' of the powers of darkness. It's mostly anecdotes of various people who have sensed different spiritual forces.

One note, it is written from a Catholic perspective and I'm Protestant -- so I don't go in for praying to patron saints and/or to Mary, mother of Jesus. I do as Jesus told us, which is to pray to 'our Father, who art in heaven...' And sometimes I pray directly to Jesus, since He said that 'if you've seen me, you've seen the father' and He said that he makes intercession for us.

And to tie this in with EFT, and my premise about the spiritual and emotional being linked, here's a couple of quotes from the article:

"Jealousy is a big curse and is not to easy to remove. But like you said, 'love' breaks the curse and it does work."

"But this is even more strange: I am living with my agnostic sister for a while, making it very uncomfortable for me, as she is nice and generous, however very negative. I have never felt a spirit here, but I do feel depressed at times and for no apparent reason. My grandchild came to visit this summer and she felt a spirit in my sister’s bedroom, and saw a shadow out of the corner of her eye, without knowing anything about my sisters lack of faith! Simultaneously my sister’s daughter felt a spirit too, also not knowing that my grandchild felt it (nor does she take note of her mother’s lack of faith). My granddaughter does not feel this spirit anywhere else. So I have been blessing the house with Holy Salt and Lourdes water, especially on Sunday, and praying for my sister. A few nights ago, my sister went on vacation and I tried to sleep in her bedroom because it is more comfortable than on my tiny futon. I could not sleep! I felt fear in her bedroom and had to go sleep elsewhere. My granddaughter went to Disney World and said she felt the presence of a spirit there too. I truly believe that children can sense those spiritual things that are not sitting well in an environment, and like magnets, pick up on them."
Some good food for thought.

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Ron Paul for President 2008 worldwide comments

Since this isn't a political blog, I haven't put much on here about those issues. Though again, it goes hand-in-hand with emotional freedom. And of course there's very much a spiritual aspect to one's beliefs in that arena.

I have joined the local meetup group for Ron Paul for President (USA), 2008. Spending some time with that is also part of what keeps me away from doing some of the blogs on here I want to get done. With that being said, I wanted to share this message. It is called 'Ron Paul earns the world's attention - and you can read it here:

I love the picture of some folks holding a banner in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France.



check it out -- and if you're in the U.S. then all I can suggest is that you 1.) register to vote in the Republican party. and then 2.) be sure to VOTE in the primary election, for Dr. Ron Paul. (He's a medical doctor, not a lawyer -- not too many politicians aren't lawyers, which imho explains a lot!) And if you want to know more about him, there's tons of info. to find. He even has his own page on YouTube. Watching some of those video's was what convinced me he's 'the real deal' and not just one of those 'air-brushed, base your opinions on the polls' sort of politicians.

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Secret of Spiritual Power

Here's a most excellent article by Chip Brogden, I'll put the last few paragraphs below -- however it's all good. It starts with this passage of scripture:

"God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you" (James 4:6b,7)

RESIST THE DEVIL, AND HE WILL FLEE

So many times we try to resist, but we are defeated. Why?
Simply because we attempt to resist the devil before we have first submitted ourselves to God. There is a proper order that must be observed without fail. First, we must
understand the principle of God resisting the proud but giving grace to the humble. This is the foundation of everything we do. Second, the word "therefore" signifies that those who learn this principle will act upon it accordingly. If they understand the truth just stated, they will submit "therefore" to God. Third, as a result of their submitting to God, they will find the devil flees whenever and wherever they offer him resistance. The word "flee" means "to run away in terror". How wonderful! How delicious to see the devil running from us in terror, instead of the other way around! That should be the normal
experience of all Christians. That is the normal Christian life, a life that overcomes.

The whole object of satan is to bring us down from the heavenly places in Christ (Ephesians 2:6) and entangle us into some kind of earthly, fleshly thing that saps us of our strength and diminishes spiritual authority. Knowing this, the Lord has us to pray daily, "Deliver us from evil" (Matthew 6:13ff). That is to say, "Deliver us from the
earthly, the fleshly, the worldly, the carnal, the selfish, the natural, the human, where satan has influence to work evil against us. Deliver us from all that hinders and
distracts us, and bring us into the Kingdom of Your dear Son, that we may walk in Spirit and Truth, in the heavenly places, demonstrating your preeminence over all things
Below." Brothers and sisters, praying in this way is what it means to resist the devil. He cannot stand before us when we take the high ground and maintain the Lord's
Testimony.

If we grow impatient and fall into the flesh then we become weaker. To react in the flesh diminishes spiritual authority, and this must be avoided at all costs. Allowing the flesh to
have its way for only a moment guarantees defeat against a spiritual adversary. "We worship God in the Spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh" (Philippians 3:3). To lose all confidence in the flesh is to take the higher ground of the Spirit. To meet flesh with flesh means the victory will go to the strongest, and there
is always someone stronger than you according to the flesh. Instead, if people come against you in the flesh, let them come against you. If they wish to rail and argue with you according to the flesh, do not respond in kind. If they attack you without cause, let them attack, because the fleshly, the carnal, the natural cannot defeat the spiritual. The one who is submitted to the Lord has authority over those who remain unsubmitted to Him. Flesh is overruled by Spirit. Hate is overruled by Love. Darkness is overruled by Light. Death is overruled by Life. Earth is overruled by Heaven. "He that comes from above is above all" (John 3:31ff).

We offer no resistance, no defense, no argument, no justification to people who mean us harm. We do not wrestle against flesh and blood (Ephesians 6:12a). We resist satan, not the person. We stand against the devil, taking no action against the instruments the devil uses. We submit to God, we offer no resistance to man, but we stand firm against the spiritual adversary. Outwardly, before others, we appear weak. But inwardly, before God, we are strong. "Though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds" (II Corinthians 10:3,4). If we war after the flesh then we are emptied of spiritual strength. If we war after the Spirit then we are emptied of fleshly strength. Which will you have, spiritual authority, or fleshly power? You can have
either one you want, but you cannot have both.

We face perilous, dangerous times. The secret of spiritual power to see us through these times is humility. The arm of the flesh will fail us. Brothers and sisters, since we cannot avoid weakness, we may as well make the best possible use of it. Let us accept the dealings of the Holy Spirit with us and offer no resistance to Him. "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up" (James 4:10). Amen.

You can read the whole article here

And just to tie some EFT into the article, I believe it's much easier to be humble when our emotions aren't running amok. In addition, if your emotions are in control, then He can't be a light unto your path and it's also a lot harder to 'submit yourselves therefore to the Lord.' ..

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