W.B. Was drawn to the ‘New Age’ circles first by a
“GOOD MOVIE” about “GOOD WIZARDS” that he saw as a teen- and later by
seeking “Holistic Healing” for a health problem.
Hoping for enlightenment and a better life, he soon
found himself virtual slave to a spirit entity who called itself “JESUS”.
WB believed it was the Bible Savior, and obeyed it- resulting in the loss
of his family contacts, job and savings and even worse— his freedom! See below to find out how he BROKE
FREE!
First let’s hear his lowdown on the New Age
Movement:
As a former New Ager who is now a Christian, how do I
view the New Age?
In essence, I regard the New Age as a counterfeit system
of religion devised by Satan to be an attractive alternative to
Bible-based Christianity. Its ultimate goal is to lead the churches into a
great apostasy in preparation for the appearance of the Antichrist, so
that he will be accepted as the Messiah by both Christians and New Agers
alike.
At its
core, New Age is primarily based on Hindu philosophy suitably adapted for
the Western culture. Satan has cleverly repackaged Hinduism into a form
devoid of the fearful, repulsive deities who are endlessly placated in the
traditional Hindu rituals. Instead of advocating a plethora of grotesque
gods, the New Age focuses on a single, pantheistic god, who is presented
as being the same god as the Father Most High of the Judeo-Christian
tradition.
In the New Age religion, the Hindu teachings are
combined with ancient paganism, contemporary occultism, spiritualism,
and Christianity to produce a multifaceted hodgepodge of deceit.
The pagan elements include astrology, numerology, tarot,
kabala, and various other divination methods. These practices generally
originated in Babylon and Egypt during the Old Testament era and were
expressly forbidden by the Bible.
The contemporary Western occult element derives from
such sources as Theosophy and Rosicrucianism, both much colored by ancient
paganism. New Age occultism now incorporates more modern
pseudoscientific activity into its repertoire, such as found in the
cur,. rent New Age fascination with crystals, auras, UFOs. and
parapsychology (ESP)..
The spiritualism element, especially New Age channeling,
adds a dynamic and sensational aspect to the New Age. The apparent ability
of mediums to contact the spirits of deceased relatives and great spirit
guides, convinces the New Age followers that the spirit world is a realm
of reality. And of course it is, except that the spirits the medium
contacts are not the benevolent entities the followers think they
are.
Many New Age organizations emphasize only one, or
possibly just a select few, of the various branches New Age knowledge and
activity. Frequently New Age groups even advocate competing philosophies,
but conflict does not really create a problem for Satan. Because the
philosophies are all deception, it doesn't matter if the various
groups have conflicting ideas, as long as potential victims will find one
of them attractive.
The New Age movement is not a clearly defined
organization. It is a blanket term used to denote the collective
existence of all the organizations and individuals promoting the New Age
philosophies. It has no single human leader or umbrella
administration.
Satan is well aware that a clearly defined, single
organization with homogeneous philosophies would have a serious drawback.
Its critics could easily confront and expose it as a fraudulent system
masquerading under the auspices of divinity. To avoid this disclosure,
Satan appears to have deliberately organized his counterfeit religion by
the network concept. Under this mode thousands of organizations exist
independently under the New Age identity, each organization being
responsible for its own particular blend of teachings.
Many allied organizations also share similar ideas to
mainstream New Age, but do not even call themselves New Age or use that
term in their general vocabulary. Examples are the Unity School of
Christianity, Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist), and
Scientology (L. Ron Hubbard's Dianetics).
Satan has set up his New Age movement with such a
multitude of teachings and practices available that at least one of them
is bound to appeal to almost anyone. Thus, if financial success attracts a
person, the variety of human potential seminars could start him on the
process of being led into Satan's domain. Perhaps a certain person
would not be drawn by channeling, but hatha yoga exercises may sound
interesting and useful. The hatha yoga could then lead to meditation,
which could eventually lead to channeling, the activity of which the
person was originally wary. Some people start by reading simple astrology
predictions in their daily newspaper.
You may ask what Satan's motive is for setting up
counterfeit religions such as Hinduism and the New Age. It would seem that
Satan wants everyone to be an atheist.
Satan probably has several motives. One of them, I am
sure, is survival. The counterfeit religions provide severe competition
against the spread of the Christian gospel message, thus extending Satan's
time. However, I think the most fundamental motive for Satan's
promotion of counterfeit religions is aptly described by the prophet
Isaiah:
You said in your heart,
"I will ascend to heaven;
I will raise my throne above the stars of God;
I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the
utmost heights of the sacred mountain.
I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High" (Isaiah 14:13,
14).
Satan desired and coveted God's position in heaven. On
the human level, this sin of covetousness, which caused Lucifer's fall, is
denounced by the tenth commandment. Counterfeit religions are an
avenue
Satan now receives worship, just as if he were a
god.
It seems more than chance that one of the main tenets of
Hinduism and the New Age is the concept that humans are gods in the
making. By emphasizing this philosophy, Satan appears to be projecting his
own desires onto the motives of human beings. At the beginning of
human history in the Garden of Eden, Satan was busy pushing the same
temptation. During the world's first channeling session, Satan, the master
guide, used a serpent as his first medium and communicated to Eve,
"Your eyes will be opened [you will have enlightenment], and you will be
like God [have cosmic consciousness)" (Genesis 3:4).
Not only does Satan's Hinduism ascribe to the idea that
the goal of man is to become a god, it also claims that the great gurus of
India were literally god incarnated in human flesh. Thus it seeks to
confer the status of Christ upon its prime leaders, those super-gurus
known as avatars. Even some New Agers believe that they themselves are
gods and are thus free to create their own code of moral conduct and
belief system, rather than abide by the code and faith given to mankind in
the Bible.
New Age
"Christianity"
One way for Satan to make his New Age more
acceptable to Christians is to "Christianize" it. The
"conversion" of the Lighted Way is an example of an attempt to cloak
the New Age in a Christian disguise, thus making it more effective in
influencing Christians.
However, I do not think Satan will "convert" all New Age
centers into counterfeit Christian churches. Probably most New Age
centers will retain the emphasis on traditional metaphysical teachings.
Only time will reveal whether Satan has a general plan to give other New
Age centers a Christian flavor.
Regarding what happened at the Lighted Way, it
appears that Satan's angels deliberately put it through a bogus
conversion because they decided its best mission was to act as a
counterfeit Christian church, engaged in the task of leading Christians
and potential Christians into false doctrines and dangerous meditation
practices. The fact that we really believed we were Christians made us
potentially more effective for that task.
To a counterfeit Christian, the idea of Satan's
existence can itself be quite acceptable. Satan's work is
conveniently pointed out as evident elsewhere—in atheism, secret
occult groups, drugs, crime, or the actual Church of Satan. It is less
easy to believe that Satan expresses himself through organizations and
people calling themselves "Christian."
As a New Age "Christian," I had read those biblical
passages that warned against false prophets and teachings. But I
never seriously considered that I was involved with them. The
deception was possible because I did not believe that the whole Bible
should be understood just exactly as it is written. Because of this,
I was able to compromise and embrace false teachings while knowing that
they contradicted plain Scripture.
We need to pray in earnest for ourselves, for our
Christian family, and for our church leaders, that we will not be led into
false doctrines by deceiving spirits and their followers. Paul warned us
about this trend in his letter to Timothy:
The time will come when men will not put up with sound
doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them
a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.
They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths (2
Timothy 4:3. 4).
Unmasking the Mastermind!
WB. Here describes the intervention that finally broke
his chains and freed him from control of the demon spirit masquerading as
Christ:
"Do not go," the voice of conscience exhorted. After
work, 1 was planning to attend a special evangelistic rally. "Tonight you
have to witness for me in the mall,"
The voice commanded. Strongly wanting to go to the rally, I decided
to ignore the inner voice.
A tension had been building inside of me for a couple
weeks. 1 could sense that ‘jesus christ’ wanted me devote even more time
and effort to his ministry work. At yet a rebelliousness started to grow
inside me, as another force countering the instructions from jesus were
coming into play..
Rebelling against my voice of conscience, I attend the
evangelist's meeting. It was held in the auditorium of a local college.
During the meeting 1 was seated next to a woman who
looked to be in her thirties. At the end of the eve: she asked me in a
soft voice, "Have you enjoyed evangelist's talk?"
"Yes, he's pretty good," I replied, "but I find his view
to be very narrow-minded." The truth was that I had felt very
uncomfortable during the preacher's talk. By the time it was over, I was
boiling with agitation against his fundamentalist stand, and was
determined to start being bold and open about my New Age-oriented beliefs.
I decided that I had to counteract these heresies preached by the
fundamentalists in the name of my master.
The woman asked calmly, "What kind of religious views do
you have?"
"I am a New Age Christian," I blurted out.
This was the first time I had made such a statement to a
Christian believer. The inner voice of conscience had always cautioned me
not be open about my New Age beliefs. But after hearing the evangelist, !
was angry and unwilling to be silent any longer. Unwittingly the preacher
had fanned the flames of my passion and courage.
To my surprise, the woman did not express any
disgust at my answer. "Oh," she commented humbly, "I used to be
involved with the New Age myself, until I came to the Lord."
From the way she expressed herself, I sensed that she no
longer approved of the New Age.
"Well, you shouldn't feel bad about it," I said frankly.
"The New Age has some excellent ideas and truths. Most of the New Agers
just lack the direct power of Jesus Christ in their lives."
When she didn't answer, I asked politely, "Which church
do you attend?"
"The Church on the Way."
"Oh yes," I interrupted, "I know about it. I have never
been there, but I sometimes listen to ___ on the radio."
"Concerning this New Age Christianity you are
involved in," said the woman, "do you mind if I pray for you right
now? I do not know what you believe, but I would like to pray for
you."
"Yeah, sure, we can pray," I replied, thinking that I
could always use extra prayers to help me in my ministry work. The woman
took hold of my hand as we prayed. "Dear Heavenly Father," she began. "I
ask that you will give this brother wisdom to perceive that which is true.
"
“Help him fully understand your Word. I ask that the
might power of the Holy Spirit will be at work in his life, leading him to
a true knowledge of Jesus. I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen."
How nice to be prayed for, I thought to myself as I the
auditorium. Even though I have a close relationship with Jesus, I would
like to be filled with more of power and truth. About a week after the
gospel rally, I was preparing, to quit work at the end of the day. "Do not
go to the library,” the inner voice instructed. "You must witness in the
mall this evening. "
I remained aloof to the unwelcome voice of conscience
"You have to do my work," it commanded sternly," as if expressing the
words of Jesus. "Time is running out. You have to get your ministry
established."
The spirit of rebelliousness against the inner voice
rose again. On this particular evening, I stubbornly continued to ignore
the prompting. An alternative project loomed in the forefront of my mind:
I wanted to read a particular book. Even though the inner voice kept
exhorting me to do mall witnessing, I determined to obtain a copy of this
book.
In my earlier study of Gordon Melton's Encyclopedia of
American Religions, I had read an interesting section describing a woman
who claimed to have had visions from God during the middle of the
nineteenth century. The idea that a Christian mystic lived before the time
of Madam Blavatski and Alice Bailey stimulated my deep interest. It
sounded as if she may well have been a New Age Christian living decades
before the start of the cotemporary New Age movement.
From a library I borrowed Ellen G. White, Prophet
Destiny by Rene Noorbergen.
It began by describing a vision in which Ellen White saw
the San Francisco earthquake several days before its actual occurrence.
The apparent psychic ability was impressive and encouraged me to read
on.
A general discussion followed concerning the difference
between psychic ability and prophecy. The author analyzed psychic mediums
such as Edgar Case, Jeanne Dixon, and Peter Hurkos from the standpoint of
comparing their teachings with biblical Scripture. Then followed a short
biography of Ellen White's early life.
My attention was then drawn to the chapter "Unmasking
the Mastermind" containing Ellen White's narrative of a vision she had in
1858. [Ellen White was the daughter of a lay preacher and was brought up
as a strict Methodist. She claimed to have had her first vision in 1844.
In 1863, she co-founded the Seventh-day Adventist Church as a formal
denomination. The vision is known as the Great Controversy Vision.]
She wrote:
The Lord has shown me that Satan was once an honored
angel in heaven, . . . next to Christ. His countenance, like those of the
other angels, was mild and expressive of happiness. His forehead was high
and broad, showing great intelligence. His form was perfect; his
bearing noble and majestic. But when God said to his Son, "Let us make man
in our image," Satan was jealous of Jesus. He wished to be consulted
concerning the formation of man, and because he was not, he was
filled with envy, jealousy and hatred. He desired to receive the highest
honors in heaven next to God.
I wondered whether there really was a Satan who rebelled
in heaven with a bunch of evil angels. I remembered that Muriel
sometimes talked about Satan and negative forces; she seemed to think he
was a real being. Djwhal Khul, (a spirit entity that had appeared to
WB) on the other hand,
denounced the idea that a great enemy of God existed; he consider, the
devil to be a fictitious myth.
Ellen White's narrative drew my attention again:
‘Until this time, . . . all heaven had been in order,
harmony and perfect subjection to the government of God. It was the
highest sin to rebel against His order and will. All heaven seemed in
commotion. . . . There was contention among the angels. Satan and his
sympathizers were striving to reform the government of God. They wished to
look into His unsearchable wisdom and ascertain His purpose in exalting
Jesus and endowing Him with such unlimited power and command. They
rebelled against the authority of the Son. All the heavenly host were
summoned to appear before the Father to have each case decided. It was
there determined that Satan should be expelled from heaven, with all the
angels who had joined him in the rebellion.’
I began to consider that maybe there really was:
archangel in heaven called Satan who became jealous and rebelled against
God. Perhaps Satan existed somewhere upon our planet in the realm of the
spirit plane, I read on.
‘Satan stood in amazement at his new condition. His
happiness was gone. He looked upon the angels who, with him, were once so
happy, but who had been expelled from heaven with him. Before their fall
not a shade of discontent had marred their perfect bliss. Now all seemed
changed. Countenances which had reflected the image of their Maker were
gloomy and despairing. Strife, discord, and bitter recrimination were
among them. . . .
‘When Satan became fully conscious that there was no
possibility of his being brought again into favor with God, his malice and
hatred began to manifest. He consulted with his angels, and a plan was
laid to still work against God's government. When Adam and Eve were
placed in the beautiful garden, Satan was laying plans to destroy them. It
was decided that Satan should assume another form and manifest an interest
for man. He must insinuate against God's truthfulness and create
doubt whether God did mean just what He said.’
Putting the book down, I contemplated on this
fascinating account of the rebellion. Did Satan really rebel and then
feel gloom and despair in his separation from God?
I picked up the book again and continued to read:
‘Satan commenced his work with Eve, to cause her to
disobey. . . . As soon as Eve had disobeyed she became a powerful medium
through which to occasion the fall of her husband. . . .Then Satan
exulted. . . .The news of man's fall spread through heaven. Every harp was
hushed. The angels cast their crowns from their heads in sorrow. All
heaven was in agitation. . . .Satan triumphed. He had made others suffer
by his fall. He had been shut out of heaven. . . they out of
paradise.’
Wondering whether there had been an Adam and Eve who
were tempted by the devil in Paradise, I recalled that, as a Christian
teenager, I had accepted the teaching that life started with God's
creation as recorded in Genesis. But for some reason, I had discounted the
idea that Adam and Eve were tempted and fell. It was as if I didn't want
to believe in a Satan who could tempt people. I felt more at ease with the
idea that temptation was an internal process occurring within a person's
psyche caused by foolishness and ignorance.
I recalled that Muriel believed in the Genesis account
of the fall. Based upon revelations from Jesus, she told us that Eve's sin
was a terrible catastrophe and subsequently caused all the suffering we
now find on the planet.
I returned to Ellen White's narrative:
‘He [Jesus] then made known to the angelic host that a
way of escape had been made for lost man. He told them that He had been
pleading with His Father, and had offered to give His life as a ransom, to
take the sentence of death upon Himself, that through Him man might find
pardon; that through the merits of His blood, and obedience to the law of
God, they could have the favor of God, and be brought into the beautiful
garden, and eat of the fruit of the tree of life.
At first the angels could not rejoice; for their
Commander concealed nothing from them, but opened before them the plan of
salvation. Jesus told them that He would stand between the wrath of His
Father and guilty man, that He would bear iniquity and scorn, and but few
would receive Him as the Son of God. Nearly all would hate and reject
Him.’
Resting my eyes for a moment, I thought, So this was how
the beloved Jesus planned to redeem mankind: He offered to take on the
karma of the world and pay the price by his own death. Amazing!
I was anxious to read on.
‘He would leave all glory in heaven, appear upon earth
as a man, humble Himself as a man, become acquainted by His own experience
with the various temptations with which man would be beset, that He might
know how to succor those who should be tempted; and that finally, after
His mission as a teacher would be accomplished, He would be delivered
into the hands of men, and endure almost every cruelty and suffering that
Satan and his angels could inspire wicked men to inflict; that He
would die the cruelest of deaths, hung between the heavens and the earth,
as a guilty sinner; that He would suffer dreadful hours of agony, which
even angels could not look upon, but would veil their faces from the
sight. Not merely agony of body would He suffer, but mental agony, that
with which bodily suffering could in no wise be compared. The weight
of the sins of the whole world would be upon Him. He told them He would
die and rise again the third day, and would ascend to His Father to
intercede for wayward, guilty man... .
With a holy sadness Jesus comforted and cheered the
angels and informed them that hereafter those whom He should redeem would
be with Him, and that by His death He should ransom many and destroy him
who had the power of death. And His Father would give Him the kingdom. . .
under the whole heaven, and He would possess it forever and ever. Satan
and sinners would be destroyed, nevermore to disturb heaven or the
purified new earth.’
I felt a sense of admiration and awe as I appreciated
the task that Jesus had accomplished. Turning back to the book, I read
further:
‘I was
shown Satan as he once was, a happy, exalted angel. Then I was shown him
as he now is. He still bears a kingly form. His features are still noble,
for he is an angel fallen. But the expression of his countenance is full
of anxiety, care, unhappiness, malice, hate, mischief, deceit, and every
evil. That brow which was once so noble, I particularly noticed. His
forehead commenced from his eyes to recede. I saw that he had so long bent
himself to evil that every good quality was debased, and every evil trait
was developed. His eyes were cunning, sly, and showed great penetration.
His frame was large, but the flesh hung loosely about his hands and face.
As I beheld him, his chin was resting upon his left hand. He appeared to
be in deep thought. A smile was upon his countenance, which made me
tremble, it was so full of evil and satanic slyness.’
In my imagination I pictured the image of Satan as
described by Ellen White. Suddenly I felt
devastated and weak with a monumental realization.
"It is him," I gasped aloud. "It is my master."
"I have been a follower of Satan all these years."
Feeling as if I had been thrown out of an airplane without a parachute, I
shuddered in anguish as my whole world collapsed before me.
As I again imaged the evil, sly smile upon Satan's
countenance, a horrifying thought pierced my mind: I had been watching him
set up his New Age, counterfeit Christianity; his final trump card would
be for him to appear on our planet in a physical body and claim to be
Jesus Christ-the New Age "reappearance of the Christ."
"Oh, God!" I exclaimed in shock and agony. "Djwhal Khul
and Jesus Christ are Satan's evil angels. They have been deceiving me all
these years." There was no doubt about it in my mind: I had been a
disciple of Satan; the whole New Age movement and its counterfeit
Christianity is a clever plan by Satan to thwart the mission of true
Christianity. I suddenly understood that Satan is ultimately preparing the
world for his spectacular appearance in which millions and millions of
people will proclaim him to be Christ, the retumed Messiah. In reality it
will be the appearing of the Antichrist.
A biblical text flashed into my mind: "False Christs and
false prophets will appear. . . to deceive even the elect - if that were
possible."
Devastated with anguish, I was inundated with one
horrifying insight after another: Satan and his angels had been training
me to be a false prophet. I had become their slave. All those so-called
masters of the Hierarchy have never lived as evolved humans in the
Himalayas or anywhere else. The masters and the other New Age spirit
guides are nothing more than Satan's angels masquerading as agents of God;
they are the very angels who were thrown out of heaven at the time of
Satan's great rebellion.
Thinking back to the incredible visitation of Djwhal
Kuhl some six years before, I realized that I had been completely fooled
by the brilliance of his appearance and the claim that he was a
350-year-old Tibetan guru who had finally reached immortality after
several incarnations upon this planet. I was shattered to know that Djwhal
Kuhl had never ever lived as a human being, but was, in fact, a satanic
angel.
I realized that, as an angel, Djwhal Khul had the power
to take on a human form and appear as a man, even looking like Jesus
Christ. He could appear in his etheric "light body" as he had appeared to
me; or he could appear in a physical, flesh-and-blood body, as he had
first appeared to Muriel in 1963.
Feeling like a person who has just received news of the
death of a spouse, I was stunned into motionless silence.
Thoughts began welling up in my mind concerning all the
money and time I had devoted to the New Age movement, all the hours
spent in meditation and study. It was all for nothing. All that had been
achieved was to ensure my eternal destruction by the fires of hell. All my
endeavors to lead people to Jesus Christ and New Age Christianity were
simply maneuvers to bring them on the road leading to everlasting
death.
The rapidity of my conviction paralleled several
convictions recorded in the book of Acts - the conversion 3,000 in one day
after Pentecost, Saul's encounter on the road to Damascus, and the
conversion of the Philippian jailer.
Sitting in motionless introspection for hours, I found
the memory banks of my mind flooding open like a bursting dam. I began to
review my youth and remembered the long-forgotten steps I had taken
that slowly led away from Christian teachings and brought me into the
world of mysticism and the occult.
Suddenly, a profound memory surfaced that made me aghast
at its implications. The memory concerned a visit I had made as a youth to
a movie theater showing a certain film about devil worship. I had
completely this event in my life, as if the memory had been buried deep in
my subconscious. In the trauma of my dramatic exit from the New Age, the
memory surfaced with vivid clarity and detail.
I was
fifteen years old at the time, and life seemed somewhat boring. Everyone
portrayed on TV seemed to live a dynamic and interesting existence. This
created desire for excitement to counteract the mundane rut perceived
myself to be in.
Across from my high school was a theater in horror
movies, generally of the Frankenstein type. Looking at the posters, I used
to think how exciting it would be to see some of these films that were too
grisly to be shown on television. Disobeying the counsel of parents, I
visited the theater on several occasions. Remembering clearly the scenes
from this specific devil-worship movie, I was shocked to realize that this
film was directly responsible for starting me on the road to the real
world of the occult.
The movie The Devil Rides Out had two main characters.
The leading character was a young man who was being lured into a group of
devil worshipers. His antagonist was a modern-day Magus, or occult
magician. The Magus - the "good" man in the plot - was attempting to
rescue the young man from his involvement with influential Satanists.
The devil worshipers were a group of rich aristocrats
and powerful businessmen. At prearranged times, they met at a remote,
country estate to participate in various satanic rites and rituals
designed to enhance their wealth, power, and social standing.
The
crisis in the film centered on a major festival planned by the Satan
worshipers, during which they planned to invoke the personal presence of
the devil himself, so that he would bless them with even greater
power and wealth. As part of the festival, the young man was scheduled to
be ceremonially initiated into full membership of the satanic
lodge.
The film showed the members of this satanic cult
arriving at the worship scene in beautiful antique Rolls Royces, with
paint and chrome glistening like diamonds. A large bonfire was burning in
a forest clearing. Near the fire, they erected an altar dedicated to
Satan.
The movie depicted the Magus-planning to orchestrate a
dramatic rescue of the young man - performing ritual magic to protect
himself from the power of Satan. He centered himself inside a large
astrological horoscope drawn on the floor of a room in his mansion. He
performed various prayers and incantations, using a crucifix and other
mystic paraphernalia in the process. He lighted large candles and recited
various occult mantras, even quoting some biblical-sounding texts.
I can
remember being deeply fascinated by the film. As a bored teenager, the
exciting lifestyle and drama depicted in the film scenes especially
intrigued me. It was easy to be drawn by the lavish wealth and the
beautiful women possessed by the lodge members. The exciting activities of
the Magus, with all his mystical paraphernalia, were equally stimulating
and intriguing.
Sitting in deep introspection as I vividly remembered the scenes
from the movie, I realized in horror that something subtle and sinister
had happened to me as I watched that film. A powerful seed of fascination
with the occult and the mystical had been sown in my own psyche. The seed
did not germinate for several years. But it was deeply rooted and
gradually drew me into the enchanting world of mysticism and the
occult.
As I focused on the memory of the movie, I had the
powerful insight that, as a teenager, my absorption with the film started
a definite relationship with Satan. I had subtly crossed over a
subconscious threshold in which my inner nature accepted the idea of
mysticism as a means of gaining personal power. I was primed and ready to
later enthusiastically swallow Satan's lure of New Age metaphysics.
I shudder when I think about what is happening in the
movie theaters of today. Films about the occult and the mystical are
commonplace. Even such apparently innocuous episodes as E. T. and Star
Wars are seeped in occult and mystical concepts. For example, it is known
that. George Lucas, the creator of the Star Wars trilogy of films, was
heavily influenced by Carlos Castaneda's book Tales of power. Castaneda's
account of the Mexican Indian sorcerer, Don Juan, was a book that strongly
motivated me to search for New Age shamans in Los Angeles.
How
ironic that the "good" character in the film The Devil Rides Out was
actually every bit as satanic as the devil worshipers themselves, the
supposedly "evil" people in the plot.. Today I can see how Satan uses his
brilliant intellect to deceive New Agers into believing that they are
"good" guys trying to spread light and wisdom in an evil world of
ignorance.
The devil has scored a major publicity victory by
inspiring the media to represent him as a loathsome, fictitious being
having the form of an ugly beast. The Devil Rides Out portrayed Satan as a
beast with the body of a man and the head of a bull. Other common images
picture Satan as a red ghoulish devil with horns, wearing a black cape and
holding a pitchfork. This image is so bizarre that most people have
totally discounted Satan's real existence and regard him as a purely
mythical figure. Even though I was brought up as a Christian, I did not
believe that Satan existed. Few people are aware of Satan's true existence
and identity: an angel of light looking similar to how one would expect
Jesus Christ to look.
If people do not stand firmly behind the truth of the
Bible as the inerrant Word of God, they are easily led astray when Satan
appears in his shining angelic form. They automatically think that the
great being of light in front of them is Jesus Christ - or at least one of
God's great angels - no matter what unbiblical ideas the false messenger
begins to propound.
When the same manifestation occurs to New Age apostles,
they are stimulated to teach philosophies of greater deception.. Take, for
example, Paramahansa Yogananda, the guru founder of the USA-based
Hindu/Christian sect, Self Realization Fellowship. When a satanic angel
visited him and masqueraded as Jesus Christ, Yogananda incorporated
Christianity into his pagan Hindu religion, thereby making it
simultaneously more devious and acceptable to Westerners. By this
manoeuvre, even more people could be led astray.
When you consider, for example, 54 percent of the clergy
of a major mainline denomination do not believe that the devil is a
personal being who directs evil forces, then it is no wonder people will
be led astray by signs, wonders, and miracles. [Gallop survey published in
Christianity Today. June 6. 1980]. For if they reject the idea of Satan's
existence, they assume that all miraculous and wondrous religious
manifestations must come from God.
Even if a person believes in Satan's existence, the
visit from an angelic being tends to so inflate one's ego that he is
reluctant to consider the possibility that the mysterious visitor is other
than a divine being sent from God.
For a couple of weeks after the realization that I had
been a disciple of Satan, I was awash with memories of how as a child and
adolescent I had become more and more rebellious against Christian
teachings and the good qualities of my character. For instance, I started
to curse and use obscene language in order to blend in with the habits of
my play friends. Eventually I was so immersed in sin and worldliness that
the devil was able to take control of my life and lead me into his
domain.
Later I had mistakenly believed that my subsequent entry
into "mystical Christianity" was a venture bringing me toward greater
godliness and peace. Instead, I was actually being lured deeper and deeper
into the Mastermind's evil trap.
I recoil in horror as I think about what would have
happened to me at the second coming of Christ if I had not been rescued
from my counterfeit beliefs. When the trumpet sounded, the mighty
earthquake shook, and the host of heavenly angels appeared, I would have
considered myself ready and eager for the rapture. Then would have
followed the terrible devastation as I discovered I was not being taken
up. I would have claimed in desperation, "Lord, Lord, did I not preach in
your name; did not miracles and signs and wonders appear in my life?"
Imagine the excruciating shock to hear the words, "I
never knew you. Away from me, you evildoer." .
After my rescue from Satan's darkness, I was so glad to
have found deliverance and to know the true Jesus Christ, his mission, and
his sacrifice on the cross. Instead of being a false apostle, I now
joined Christian congregations as a repenting sinner.
I apologized to my Christian contacts for trying to lead
them astray. After I told them of my former identity and story, they were
amazed to learn I had been a Bible-carrying disciple of Satan. They were
not aware that they had been targets of the secret invasion.
I was so shaken at the time of my departure from the
occult, I had to seek counseling support from Christian pastors and
educators. Several weeks of trauma passed before I started to feel
confidence in victory over Satan's counterattacks of intimidation and
harassment.
My exit from Satan's web of deception not only involved
drastic changes in my religious beliefs; I actually noticed quite marked
changes in my physiology.
For example, I had always regarded the stereo in my new
car to perform poorly in spite of its being an expensive unit. The system
seemed to lack bass tones. I had taken the car in to have the sound system
repaired, but without success.
A couple of weeks after ceasing all meditation and
metaphysical activity, I noticed I could hear rich, deep bass tones on my
car stereo. It seems as if my total bondage of slavery to Satan had
actually produced changes in my physiology. These changes seemed to
reverse when I became a follower of the real, biblical Jesus and stopped
my meditation activities.
I now regard deep involvement in New Age
consciousness-raising techniques to act somewhat as a cocaine of the mind.
For example, after my exit from the New Age, I noticed that for about a
month I felt oversensitive to stimulus. For instance, the noise of a
crowded restaurant bothered me a great deal. It was as if I were suffering
from "cold turkey" withdrawal symptoms. I concluded that the prolonged use
of meditation techniques actually produced subtle changes within my brain,
as if I had been absorbing a type of psychic cocaine during meditation. It
took a couple of months before I felt normal.
Upon my return to the body of Christ, a lot of my
thinking had to be reprogrammed. I had been so deeply indoctrinated into
the ideas of metaphysics that I was sometimes unsure if an idea was
biblical, or if it was something that I had absorbed during New Age
training and study.
I was relieved to be rescued. Satan's angels had made my
life a nightmare of oppression. Having taken over my voice of conscience,
they could interject into my mind and influence my emotions at any time,
thereby making me a slave to their demands. When the slavery was broken, I
rejoiced in the release of freedom of choice.
I am so thankful to God for sending the Holy Spirit to
inspire me to read something that broke the Mastermind's power. I
attribute the action of the Holy Spirit to be in response to the earnest
prayers of devoted Christians, particularly my parents, who had suspected
I was being deceived and who had diligently spent years praying for my
deliverance. For their prayers, I am humbly thankful. For the special
prayer by the woman from J H's church, I am grateful.
I thank God I am saved through the love and grace of
Jesus Christ. I am thankful for his word, the Bible, and for the power of
prayer that reveals truth and protects us from deception and evil. I am
thankful for the assurance of one day being with God in his glorious
heaven and reigning with him on the new earth.
I say with Paul. 'The Lord will rescue me . . . and will
bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and
ever" (2 Timothy 4: 18).
I rejoice
that I have personally experienced the fulfillment of Jesus' promise that
"the truth will set you free" (John 8:32).
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