CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER: A QUICK ROAD TO HELL FOR A DISOBEDIENT CHURCH
Part II: The Contemplative Prayer Workshop
There is a hush over the room; the bringer of tales has a captive audience.
"God is in you and in everybody. You just have to get quiet, get to the silence, get to the void, and then you can contact the god of your understanding. I will be your Spiritual Director for the amazing journey that you are going to undertake.
"You can actually contact God directly; you do not need a Bible or a mediator. First just clear your mind of all thoughts (so a familiar spirit can come in). To do this just do some repetitions; our brothers and sisters in the east may call it a mantra [the devil is the prince of the power of the air (reference Ephesians 2:2)--he responds to disobedience to the scriptures and the vibrations, the peeps, the mutters, the repetitions that fill the air. Church people are summoning devils out of the air.]. You'll also learn how to breathe. [someone interrupts with a question--Is this like with yoga breathing and posture?] Oh yes, our brethren in the east are quite adept at this technique, I'm a yogi and a Buddhist adept.
"This prayer technique is not new, it goes back to Vintage Christianity and the desert fathers and the mystics [e.g., the Roman Catholic mystical tradition which, as I understand it, is now widespread in the Catholic institution]. We are taking a journey back to the old ways of communing with God. What you need to do is get to the void, to the silence. With persistence, you will get there and one day the inner advisor [a familiar spirit] will be there with you, and you will eventually see the lights."
*** THE NEXT STEP IN THE DESCENT TO HELL ***
After embarking on this unwise and dangerous course--and being successful--the professed Christians are advised that if they want to go further in their journey that they should read certain books--which can include books by occultists. The following quote comes from A Time of Departing by Ray Yungen (page 46, bold emphases ours)--
New Agers see contemplative prayer as one of their own practices...*That "Eastern spirituality" includes religions like Hinduism (with its yoga), Buddhism, etc.--religions can be different from each other in some respects, but can also have similarities--like utilizing certain techniques to quiet and clear the mind in order to open up the body for possession by a devil. There is a technique that can be used by different people to enter the world of devils. An atheist may be trying to contact "his inner self" or the practitioner of yoga may be trying to get to the next stage of his progression or the transendental meditation practictioner may be trying to alleviate stress--any one of them could end up "awakening" and "arousing" the Kundalini serpent power that supposedly is lodged in the base of the spine (as in devil possession).Perhaps the most compelling example of all is one by a prominent figure in the contemplative prayer movement itself, Tilden Edwards. Edwards is the founder of the prestigious Shalem Institute in Washington, D.C.--a center which turns out spiritual directors from its training programs. In his book, Spiritual Friend, Edwards suggests those who practice contemplative prayer and have begun "spiritual unfolding" and other "unusual experiences," should turn to a book titled Psychosynthesis in order to understand the "dynamics" at "certain stages."35 For the Christian, there is a major problem with this advice. The book Edwards recommends is a book written by a world famous occultist, Roberto Assagioh.
These dynamics for certain stages of "spiritual unfolding" may be desirable by those in tune with occultism, but remember, Edwards is seeking to draw Christians into this form of prayer. Edwards himself puts to rest any pretense that this is truly Christian when he openly admits, "This mystical stream [contemplative prayer] is the Western bridge to Far Eastern spirituality*."36
This mystical spirituality is not limited to the east. The Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox "Churches" have their own mystical traditions that use vain repetition to reach their god. This does not end here either. There are mystical traditions elsewhere as well where the techniques may be called by different names but appear to essentially be the same thing--a little word or a phrase (or some repetitious thing), a clearing of the mind, the lights.] And now, so-called evangelical churches have entered the occult ring through "contemplative prayer". THEY IGNORANTLY UTILIZE YOGA-TYPE PRACTICES TO TRY TO REACH GOD. The god they reach is not the God of the Bible (notwithstanding the supposed "love" that they may feel and "lights" that they may see and the "inner advisor" that shows up). There is nothing in the Bible that correlates with these heathen ways. In Jeremiah 10:2 the LORD commands his people to "LEARN NOT THE WAY OF THE HEATHEN." It is wrong to learn heathen spiritual techniques and wrong to utilize these heathen techniques to try to worship the true and the living God who HATH MAGNIFIED HIS WORD ABOVE ALL HIS NAME (reference Psalm 138:2). What these people are contacting is not God.
THEY THAT WORSHIP GOD MUST WORSHIP HIM IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH (GOD'S WORD IS TRUTH). GOD'S PEOPLE KEEP HIS WORD--
John 4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when THE TRUE WORSHIPPERS SHALL WORSHIP THE FATHER in spirit and IN TRUTH: for THE FATHER SEEKETH SUCH TO WORSHIP HIM.24 God is a Spirit: and THEY THAT WORSHIP HIM MUST WORSHIP HIM in spirit and IN TRUTH.
John 17:1 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:
2 As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
3 And THIS is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
6 I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and THEY HAVE KEPT THY WORD.
7 Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.
8 For I HAVE GIVEN UNTO THEM THE WORDS WHICH THOU GAVEST ME; AND THY HAVE RECEIVED THEM, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.
9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
10 And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
11 And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.
12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
13 And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
14 I HAVE GIVEN THEM THY WORD; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
17 Sanctify them through thy truth: THY WORD IS TRUTH.
Without the truth--God's word--people can be greatly deceived. The nature of deception is that a person thinks that what is false is true (and what is true is false). Being deceived about these heathen techniques has eternal consequences--no one will make it into heaven worshipping the devil--hell is real and so is the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone.
*** UNGODLY SPEECHES FROM THE UNGODLY ***
I have read blasphemy from the lips of some of the ungodly proponents of contemplative spirituality that speak hard, ungodly speeches against God's word. They even say that meditating on the scriptures can interfere with contacting God [If they make the following adjustment, they will making a correct statement: "Meditating on the scriptures and obeying them will completely hinder you and stop you from contacting the god of this world, the devil." They could also add the following,
- "The scriptures will also cause you to see that the contemplative prayer movement is antichrist because it denies that Jesus *is* the Christ (reference 1 John 2:22), the anointed one of God and chosen and appointed by him and the only way to God. When looking at what is happening in the world, we find that practitioners of "contemplative prayer" can easily fit into meditation meetings with Hindus, atheists, witchdoctors, vooduns, unbelievers, Catholics, false brethren, etc. Contemplative spirituality has room for many beliefs e.g., people can pray to whatever god they want to and get results. It even attempts to imagine the Lord Jesus Christ on the same level as hindu gods, Buddha, Muhammad, etc.--this vain imagination is called "syncretism", it is a melding of the religions for a one world religion. The reality is that the Lord Jesus Christ *IS* the Christ, the anointed one, and the ONLY way to God. There is no other like him and he has no equal. No man cometh unto the Father but by him (reference John 14:6). The Christ is not a separate entity from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus is the Christ. New age type people blasphemously say that "the Christ" is different from the Lord Jesus Christ and that "the Christ" has visited various persons at different times. They have said that the Lord Jesus Christ is just one of those that "the Christ" has visited--THAT IS A DENAIL THAT THE LORD JESUS CHRIST *HIMSELF* IS THE CHRIST--IT IS THE SPIRIT OF ANTICHRIST THAT DENIETH THAT THE LORD JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF IS THE CHRIST (reference 1 John 2:22-23). Those church people who adhere to syncretism (putting the Lord on the same level as heathen gods) are not Christians, they are antichristians imbibed with the spirit of antichrist. They easily meld right into meetings such as the one described in the notice, 'Interfaith Meditation Sessions Scheduled for Spring' in 'Natural Awakenings' April 2013 edition--
...The spring sessions will be co-led by 11 religious leaders from diverse faith backgrounds, and individuals of all faiths and backgrounds may participate....The IMI ["Interfaith Meditation Initiative"] is not aligned with any politics or single religion. Its primary intention is to facilitate ongoing transformation across religious lines, based upon the core principle that every person, regardless of race, color, nationality, gender, sexual orientation or economic status, can grow spiritually and realize a direct connection with a God of one's own understanding. (Sessions were to be held in "churches, synagogues, mosques, temples, universities and community centers.")"- "The contemplative prayer movement is also antichrist because it claims that there can be direct contact with God without a mediator, which is a lie. The only way we are accepted by God the Father is through the beloved, the Lord Jesus Christ who shed his blood and died for our sins and rose for our justification. He, the Lord Jesus Christ, is the mediator. There is a mediator, ONE MEDIATOR BETWEEN GOD AND MAN, THE MAN **CHRIST** JESUS. The Lord Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life, and NO MAN COMETH UNTO THE FATHER BUT BY HIM. (reference John 14:6)]."
"...A POPE WAS RESPONSIBLE..." ***
An excerpt from our index page--
Author Ray Yungen says that a Pope was responsible for the advance of mysticism (contacting the devil directly, what some call "unmediated contact") in the Catholic Church. Quotes--
"This is not to say that the Mass or any of the sacraments have been abandoned, but the underlying spiritual worldview of many in the Catholic church is now contemplative in its orientation." p. 38
"...I read in an interview that the mystical prayer movement not only had the approval of the highest echelons of Catholicism but alw was, in fact, the source [emphases theirs] of its expansion. Speaking of a meeting between the late Pope Paul VI and members of the Catholic Trappist Monastic Order in the 1970s, Thomas Keating, disclosed the following:
The Pontiff declared that unless the Church rediscovered the contemplative tradition, renewal couldn't take place. He specifically called upon the monastics, because they lived the contemplative life, to help the laity and those in other religious orders bring that dimension into their lives as well."Just look at the latest official catechism of the Catholic church to see contemplative prayer officially endorsed and promoted to the faithful by the powers that be. The new catechism firmly states: "Contemplative prayer is hearing the word of God. . .Contemplative Prayer is silence."
"I realized just how successfully Pope Paul's admonitions have been carried out when I discovered the following at one popular Catholic bookstore....Eighty to ninety percent of the books on those shelves were on mystical prayer.
"...non-mystic Catholics have become very alarmed at what is happening to their church.
"...Let there be no mistake about it that A POPE WAS RESPONSIBLE for what Randy England and other like him are witnessing in their church. This is not an aberration--an unwitting wandering from the church but part of the program from the top down.
"Contemplative spirituality reaches far beyond the walls of the Catholic church [our note: meditation is a unifying factor across the board--that is why buddhists, atheists, fallen church church people, hindus, occultists, cabalists, etc. can all get together in a community center and meditate; they are all contacting the same source]. Mainline Protestant traditions...have dived into the contemplative waters too. Their deep tradition of twentieth-century liberalism and sociopolitical activism has left them spiritually dry and thirsting for supernatural experiences." [our note: Kundalini awakening is a very real possibility when a person is doing these things. I've read a comment that some hindu gurus are horrified at how lightly these things are taken in America. Church people are becoming magicians/Satanist/witches-in-training. Contemplative Prayer: A Quick Road to Hell For a Disobedient Church.] (A Time of Departing by Ray Yungen)
What about the Jesuits specifically? Ignatius de Loyola, founder the Jesuit order, developed what are called the Spiritual Exercises. Former nun, M.F. Cusak said this--
"...there is a very curious connection between the directions given by Ignatius Loyola [founder of the Jesuit order] in his famous 'Spiritual Exercises,' and the directions which were given to the Buddhist novice, on his initiation into the higher mysteries of that creed, and the Alombrados or Illuminati were distinctly of Buddist origin." The Black Pope: A History of the Jesuits by M.F. Cusak (former nun), 1896, p. 37"No group of men ever went deeper into the occult than the Jesuits. Their intense study of witchcraft and its branches took them closer and closer to Satan*. They use Transcendental Meditation and all forms of Buddhaism [sic]." Albert Part Four: The Force (p. 25, words attributed to Dr. Alberto Rivera, former Roman Catholic Jesuit priest, publisher Chick Publications, copyright 1983).
*"University of Arizona, Vatican and Jesuits Name New Telescope 'Lucifer'"Loyola's Spiritual Exercises are used today in the contemplative movement.
Another witness. After noting Loyola's Spiritual Exercises and techniques, Dr. Alberto Rivera, former Jesuit priest, notes:
"All this knowledge of the occult equipped his Jesuit priests to gain control of other nations." (Alberto Part Four, p. 24, Chick Publications)Revelation 18:23 ...by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.
*** I COULD NOT SEE THIS COMING ***
When I first learned about kundalini awakening ten years ago, it never occurred to me that ignorant and/or sinful professed Christians might utilize yoga-type techniques and one day summon that same devil into their own lives.
Deuteronomy 32:16 They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger.17 They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not.
A look at yoga and the kundalini serpent power is in order.
[4-20-13]