I've been thinking a lot about how deception gets started around matters of faith. When you are trying to get a handle on a person's spiritual beliefs, one of the problems is - so many people are vague about it all.
For instance, how many people do you know who describe themselves as "spiritual"? How many people will say that they believe in "a higher power"?
Okay, now, how many people, when the subject comes up, are specific about what being "spiritual" means to them? How many are willing to name that that "higher power" they speak of?
When people ask me about my beliefs, I am careful to say that I am a Christian and that I believe in the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. I am clear because I don't want to mislead anyone. The sooner a person understands my "spiritual" identity, the sooner we can get on with being honest about everything else.
This is one of the big problems I have with influential people. I have said again and again how Oprah Winfrey disappoints me. I just don't like that she is misleading people. Because she talks about "Christianity" and uses terms like "god" and "spirit," so many people assume she is talking about orthodox Christianity and God and the Holy Spirit. She's not, folks. She's got her own definitions of all those things and because she is so intelligent and seemingly "good," people are being fooled by her every day. (By the way, I will repeat here that we Christians do need to continue praying for Oprah, Eckhart and all her other new age buddies...)
I was mentioning on Twitter that while Oprah touts the beliefs of Helen Schucman, she's not so quick to tell the whole story about this poor woman. I will try to do a little summary here:
Helen Schucman wrote the "A Course In Miracles." That right there sounds pretty good, right? Well, it does until you realize the work was dictated to her by a demon spirit. (A lot of new age books were written the same way, such as "Conversations With God." See my P.S. on this at end of post!)
The eulogy at her funeral by Fr. Benedict J. Groeschel, a psychologist and an acquaintance of Schucman's, wrote about her:
"This woman who had written so eloquently that suffering really did not exist spent the last two years of her life in the blackest psychotic depression I have ever witnessed."
I've heard one minister lament that Schucman had been decieved by Satan and then deserted by him at the end. This always brings to my mind what Pastor G. Craige Lewis says about the devil demanding a sacrifice...
Now, if all that Schucman believed (and taught millions of others) was true, why did her life end in such a way? It's completely contrary to all she spoke about.
It's my opinion that people who are spiritually hungry and searching will find something. Either they find the true and living God and accept His gift, or they find some other deceiving god. With people like Oprah, she knew of the true God, but she decided that she needed to mold Him to her own liking - sort of like she is playing Sims! - and she ended up serving some piecemeal god.
We need to be praying for Oprah and others like her. Our God made THE Sacrifice for us, but one day, Oprah's god is going to be demanding his sacrifice of her.
Peace
--Free
P.S.: One of my nieces was almost sucked in by that book "Conversations With God" simply because of the title and her own ignorance and lack of Christian discernment. When she called to ask me about the book, I was able to point her back to the Bible.
BTW, here are some hastily looked up links to info about the subject. PLEASE pray and be discerning because I have not studied all the info on the links.
Link1 (lot of info)
Link2 (more info on twisting of messages)
And here is a video that covers some info on the whole Oprah new age mess...
PART 1
PART 2
Matthew 24:11
Matthew 24:23
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