New Age Religion had seep-in to our society's paradigm in an unprecedented global scale within the last few years. Ushered as a necessary alternative to solve the many problems of our world. In fact, even those who have surrendered their life to Jesus Christ unknowingly adopted some of these New Gospels to aid their spiritual battles. Let us check how it all started...
The Churches and Laboratories Failure
From the Dark Ages, where major religion failed to respond to most controversial issues poise by scientific discovery, slowly the masses shifted interest from the spiritual salvation into materialistic panacea.
Later, As we all knew, science with its many shortcomings did not anticipate the aftermath of its technology. Science created a monster it can not control. Human have come to realized that science had no answer to most of the problem it created. Alienation, family separation, and personal satisfaction were just few of the overlooked areas, together with global waste and toxins it can't diminished. Plus the spiritual emptiness left unanswered.
Man begin to internalized...if science can't respond to world problems and according to history, the churches too presents false gods and hopes, therefore there must be something else to fill the "void".
After hundred of years, the secular preoccupation slowly withering and With Little Fanfare...and deceitfully...The New Age Thinking emerges into the scene...with a brand new HOPE to fill the gap Religions and Science failed to address.
THE AGE OF AQUARIUS.
Once again, the person begins to internalized and examined himself/herself. The spiritual aspect of men begin to take center stage again...Returning to ancient roots, the wisdom of the sages, and spiritual masters where concocted together with scientific absolute. The secular and material nature of the universe where redefined by the spiritual forces known.
This time "Reasoning" play a major role but unlike science it acknowledges the spiritual realm.
Although New Age Religion acknowledge GOD, the truth to them is "relative" and anyone therefore can define a god it prefers. The BIBLE is therefore not an authority but just another opinion of a spiritual way...We can find our own path to enlightenment according to our preferences. To them, Jesus is not the only way but just one of the many path to enlightenment.
Positive Thinking vs. Faith
Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. Hebrew 11:1
It is incredible how even the "elect" had been persuaded and adopted some of these new age thinking. One of the most commonly used New Age gospel is called Positive Thinking. Sounds good right? Who would want of course to dwell in his/her sorrows and constantly gripes about world problems.
So what is really wrong in Positivism?
Basically, this is the thought pattern inside a positivist mind: Every item created by mankind was an initial thought put into physical motion and manifested into physical reality. Without thought, there simply would be no things. Also Positivism believe that thought eventually becomes things. (source HERE)
Let me put this straight and direct! Positive Thinking does not solve problem at all but just merely shifted your perceptions into something else. It just makes you feel good but when the symptom persist, you have to once and for all face the problem. Although positivism may help for a time it will eventually wear you out.
As Christian we must distinguish faith against positivism.
Positivism rely on personal reasons...it focuses in your ability to alter your thoughts from negative images into feel good breathing exercises, self-affirmation, and projections.
Romans 8:24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has?
2 Corinthians 4:18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
The Big difference about FAITH is that you let GOD moves and take control of the situations. Accepting the things you can not change instead of trying to fight the situations which you assumes can be resolved no matter what. After all, thoughts becomes things, so you can manifest material reality.
But Faith is not fake Hope. The wisdom to distinguished things that are "not" meant for you and those things that is granted to us. When we sense a coming typhoon, we should be ready for the worst BUT also hope for the Best. It's a different thing that projecting a good weather in your mind to materialized. After all, nature need replenishing so don't try to thwart what God intended.
If we look into the eyes of a positivist, we will fail to recognized where the blessings came from. We will "think" that it happens because we created the situation by drawing in all the possible solutions via Visualizations. The Creation become the creator.
How many times have you heard someone said, "Yes, I was able to avoid confrontation by changing my mood..." instead of recognizing the peace that comes from our LORD Jesus who calms the situation?
Although some may affirm answered prayer by coincidences, a Christian should look at it as divine guidance.
Grace is not grace if it came from good work. God's grace is given without a price nor effort from us. It is unconditional.
6I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; 7which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! 9As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed! 10For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ. (Galatians 1)
DOES FAITH GUARANTEE HEALING?
We are told in James 5:15 "And the prayer of faith will save the sick..."
IT is crazy that when a Christian pray, he was asked to visualized them, claiming the healing, claiming the specific answers, claiming etcetera...Do we read any of those claims?
Claiming is such a strong word. If we pray that way...we are making God our slave. WE make the wisdom of God as if He does not know better. As if our preferences should be God's preferences too. Who knows better? You or GOD? Thy will be done or My will be done? Let us read some more the verse sited above to get the real context of the message James stated...
James 5:15-16
15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
Was James speaking of "physical" sickness here? Don't get me wrong. Oh yes I believe God will and could heal our physical sickness any time He desire but being faithful to the end is what God requires. A fervent prayer of a righteous man will not FADE even if his health is deteriorating.
You are even told to be specific in your prayers "I want a brand new red car, a house by the beach, close the wound please and reconstruct the fractured bone" etc...IS that more of a positivism visualization process or an exercise of Faith?
Hey! Fher, aren't we told to claim healing because the scripture states "By his strife we are healed..." (Isaiah 53:5)?
Then what happen to the miraculous healing power of Paul (whom previously was not affected when bitten by a venomous snake) when he wrote:
2 Timothy 4:20
King James Version (KJV)
20Erastus abode at Corinth: but Trophimus have I left at Miletum sick.
Did Paul insist God to heal Trophimus so he will be with his travel? And then again, when he advise Timothy about a nagging illness, did he quote, "claim your healing"? Instead he gave a medical advise...
Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses. -- 1 Timothy 5:23
Some preacher took Isaiah 53:3 out of context and said we can claim healing because God said so. But the word of God must compliments another passage. God is the ultimate inspiration of the Holy Bible so there shouldn't be divided opinion.
Most people became frustrated when their prayers goes unanswered, they fail to realized that God sometime say NO. The reality of this sinfully driven world will guarantee a very rocky road for your travel...But we can always rest in the comfort of God's embrace.
Relying on God's wisdom and total trust come-what-may, should be what is on every heart. Should we lose our faith if what we claimed did not happened?
For the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ. 1 Corinthians 1:5
There is one guarantee though that we can claim:
"For whosoever shall call upon the name
of the Lord shall be saved" -Romans 10:13.
Let us also remember that our ultimate destiny is not on this corruptible planet. Don't worry too much about the physical. Our goal should always aim to reach The Kingdom of GOD.
Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.-- Luke 17:33
Positive thinking move us away from the truth and tries to paint a world where everything can be altered by positive thoughts. One must remember that although the Bible had Gospels (Good News) there's also the Bad News for disobedience.
More on New Age Deceptions will be discuss, if the LORD willing...
Matthew 10:34 “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword."
(By the way, with regards to my Art of Realizationism, before any of you accused of merely repackaging secular Positivism, and therefore it is another New Age Thinking, I would like to apologized if you have drawn some similarities from it to false gospels, BUT if you take a closer examinations it is a personal process of unlearning and learning that reflect on Divine Interventions...as I've said it is my laboratory of experience, and therefore not to be taken as an absolute truth. It is my journal and personal reflections...not necessarily true but just a reflection of myself. It is an experiential approach and not trying to alter the Scriptures in whatsoever way.As a matter of fact, I consider it as my lifetime thesis...and may not even come to a conclusion at all...Fher Ymas)
