I Do Not Do Broken Bones

We live in an age of specialists, and their presence complicates life. Who has not hear of the maid who proudly proclaims, “I do not do windows.” No longer can you just go to the doctor: you must find one who treats exactly what ails you. There are doctors who treat feet, those who work on the head, those who work on the nerves, and doctors who treat almost every part of the body. Believe it or not, such specialization has entered the realm of “faith healers.” Lewis Grizzard related an experience at one of the “healing” meetings he attended.

It seems that one of the faith healers (Ray Dodd Hembree) had come to his hometown, and a school teacher, Miss Inez Pickett, came to him with a kidney disorder. Following his prayer, she began to jump around the platform, rejoicing over her “cure.” She became so excited that she fell off the platform and broke her leg. When someone suggested that an ambulance be called, another remarked, “No need for that, just get Brother Dodd to heal her.” When they turned to him, his reply was, “I don’t do broken bones, just vital organs.” What a golden opportunity missed! One broken bone mended in the sight of the audience could be worth thousands of unseen kidney ailment cures.
What a contrast between modern “faith healers” and those of the first century: “All they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto him and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them” (Luke 4:40).

Why cannot men see such difference? Will they ever learn the difference between the counterfeit and the genuine?

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Perfect Love Casts Out Fear

After the apostle John (the apostle of love) summed up the nature of God by writing, “…God is love” (1 John 4:8), he declared, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love” (1 John 4:18). Literally, the original text asserts, “Fear is not in love!” It has no existence whatsoever.

Let us begin to notice this powerful passage by defining some terms. Of course, the fear of which John speaks is not the fear that God commands—it is not the godly, reverential fear that is the beginning of wisdom (Psa. 111:10; Prov. 1:7; 9:10) or the beginning of our ultimate fulfillment as servants of God (Eccl. 12:13). In fact, the Psalmist declared, “The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever.” Rather, this fear that perfect love casts out is the terror and dread associated with wickedness, disobedience and rebellion against God (cf. Rom. 8:15). The love that John describes is the ultimate love that seeks the best of others—agape love. The term “perfect” originates from the Greek term telos, which refers to the conclusion or termination of an act and conveys a maturation process. The term “torment” is a faulty translation—the word literally refers to “punishment” [ASV, ESV & NASV] or penalty. In addition, because of the present tense of the verb, the punishment is presently ongoing. Thus, fear anticipates punishment even now!

Let us seek to put it all together. Because God supremely loved us, demonstrated by sending Jesus on our behalf (1 John 4:9-10), when we love one another, then we exhibit this same attribute of His deity. Love, of which God is the source, reaches its maturity when we love one another with the same love that God has for us! However, the love that God has for us is imperfect and incomplete unless we respond to that love by loving one another with the same type of love.

Consider a parallel. In James 2:22, James asked, “Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?” In other words, just as the obedience of one brings his faith to maturity, the love that God has for us is of no benefit unless we draw from that love and allow it to dwell in us so that we love one another; by so doing, we bring the love of God to maturity in us.

In so doing, we understand that “perfect love casteth out fear.” The term “casteth out” is a strong expression. In fact, it literally means, “turneth out of doors.” In other words, God casts fear out of the very sphere of the fellowship of love. Thus, we do not have to be afraid when we stand in judgment before God. Why? We do not have to be afraid because we have come to partake of the nature of God—we actively love one another as God loves us. Therefore, we do not need to fear! We have the characteristic of God. Why should I be afraid of the judgment if I have the same type of love that God has? In Matthew 22:37-40, Jesus gave the two greatest commandments, both of which hinge on love: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

Finally, the apostle states that God demonstrated His love to us before we ever loved Him in return: “We love him, because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). It is as Marvin Vincent records in his Word Studies of the New Testament, “All human love is preceded and generated by the love of God” (p. 362).

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One Thing to Do in 2012

Paul saw Christians as being athletes for Jesus. They were competing in the arena while they were surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses (Heb. 12:1). They were individuals in a race which must be run according to rules (2 Tim. 2:5). They were fighters/boxers who were not just “punching into the air” but had precise blows planned for the enemy (1 Cor. 9:24). Like Paul, they intended to run the race and finish the course, knowing that a crown awaited them (2 Tim. 4:7).

As we look ahead for the new year consider how Paul described the Christian’s race and how it should be run. “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on . . . one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus”  (Phil. 3:12-14). Herein lies the key to a successful life and a successful new year.

The success in the race involves dealing with the past. We all struggle with the past. Some never overcome the guilt of past mistakes, but the godly live knowing the magnitude of the His grace and casting all those concerns on the One who cares for them (1 Pet. 5:7).

Others struggle with the successes of the past and are filled with pride. Paul did not see himself as one who had reached perfection (maturity). He who brought the gospel to Europe and throughout Asia Minor did not glory in what had been accomplished. How foolishly many glory in what they have done for Him today!

How do you deal with the past? With its mistakes and accomplishments? Two words answer the question—forget it!

The success in the race involves dealing with the future. How did Paul deal with the unknown future. Look at his words. “I press on.” He also uses the expression “reaching forward,” which in the original Greek indicates the forward lean a runner gives as he approaches the finish line! Such an effort demanded the supreme exertion of energy. The past means nothing and the entire focus is on the prize promised by the Lord. Jesus has run the race and has finished it! He is waiting at the finish line to crown us.

Your race involves dealing with 2012. All this church has ever accomplished is past. The race has not been finished! Let us work together as never before and reach that finish line together. “Therefore my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Cor. 15:58).

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How Should We Live Life in 2012?

An old year has passed. Happy New Year! As we have ushered out 2011 and begin 2012, we make our resolutions and reflect upon how quickly time passes, especially as we grow older. Personally, I am looking forward to the opportunities that God will present to us here at Southwest, and have full assurance that great things can happen! Thus, as we begin a new year, let us examine how we should live life in 2012.

First, let us remember yesterday as if it had never happened. Of course, this does not mean that we should not reflect upon past failures to learn from them and such like. However, so much undue stress today happens when people bring their problems forward into the present. God did not make us to be able to deal with the problems of yesterday that we bring into the present challenges of the current, present day. This is why God encourages us through Peter, “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you” (1 Pet. 5:7). The apostle Paul understood this point quite well when he declared, “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto things which are before” (Phil. 3:13). Jesus warned us, “No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62). Not only can clinging too tightly onto yesterday result in extra undue stress, but it can also lead to those who through pride “live in the past” and fail to grow. Therefore, let us remember yesterday as if it had never happened.

Second, let us live today as if it were our last day. Far too often, we get caught up in the hustle and bustle of our busy lives and fail to heed this important advice. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus discussed the worry of physical needs when he stated, “Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven…” (Matt. 6:30; Luke 12:28). However, if we took this seriously and lived our lives as if there would be no tomorrow, how much more faithful would we be? How much more loving would we be? How much more forgiving would we be? How much more prepared would we be? Because of the approaching persecution, this is why the Hebrew writer no less than three times states in his epistle, “Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts…” (3:7-8, 15; 4:7). The Hebrew writer wrote, “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God, but exhort one another daily, while it is called ‘Today,’ lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin” (Heb. 3:12-13). If we lived today as if it were our last, it would be much easier for us to “seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth” (Col. 3:1-2). If we lived today as if it were our last, it would be much easier to “abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul” as “strangers and pilgrims on the earth” (1 Pet. 2:11; cf. Heb. 11:13), because as Moses, it would be easier to choose “rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season” (Heb. 11:25). Think about how much more faithful we would be to the Lord and more opportunistic towards our family, friends and everyone with whom we encounter. Therefore, let us live today as if it were our last day.

Third, let us plan for tomorrow with the will of God in our mind. This is the absolute point James makes in James 4:13-17:

Go to now, ye that say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

As we make our plans for 2012, we should not ever make them without consideration for the will of God! If we are not careful, we can make future plans as if we are certain about the future, but such is not true! These people to whom James refers acted as if they knew what they were going to do, when they were going to do it, where they were going to go, how long they were staying and even how profitable their ventures would be. Yet, they did not say one thing about including God in their plans. While we know the end of this life is approaching, we do not know when such will take place (2 Pet. 3:10). Everyone who has ever faced any unseen adversity knows that we cannot anticipate when such will happen. In other words, the future is unclear! Let us be sure to understand that James is not condemning the act of making plans for the future at all. For example, the apostle Paul commended the Corinthians for their plans (2 Cor. 8:1-11; 9:1-7). Nevertheless, James is condemning the failure of including God and His will in our plans! Thus, the questions that ought to dominate our minds as we plan 2012 include, “What is the will of God in reference to this matter? What does God want me to do?” God is in control! At least, God ought to be in control of our lives!

Therefore, how should we live life in 2012? Let us remember yesterday as if it never happened, live today as if it were our last day to live, and plan for tomorrow with the will of God in our minds.

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Of New Oracles and New Earths

[The following is a portion of a new booklet produced by Focus Press exposing the error of New Age religion and the book A New Earth, written by Eckhart Tolle and recommended by Oprah Winfrey. We encourage you to arm yourself with knowledge regarding this dangerous belief system.]

Jim Jones, the charismatic leader of the People’s Temple, died along with his followers on November 18, 1978. While his body and the People’s Temple are gone, his name is now synonymous with mass murder/suicide and Flavor-aid (Kool-aid) laced with cyanide. On that fateful day, 913 people (including 276 children) living in Jonestown drank the deadly cocktail, giving a new definition to the term “cult followers.”

While most modern Americans would never consider themselves members of a cult, (much less drink the Kool-aid), a new charismatic movement has emerged, and the leaders of this new “awakening” are Oprah Winfrey and Eckhart Tolle. It is no secret that a simple nod from Oprah and her book club can instantly turn a novel into a bestseller. But this year that book club has transformed itself into a bully pulpit for New Age religion. In January 2008, Winfrey announced her 61st Oprah’s Book Club selection, A New Earth written by Tolle. However, this book is not like choices in the past—it’s not a novel or even memoir. In fact, Oprah called it her boldest choice yet. It deals with a new form of spirituality—it is a handbook for New Age religion.

If the recommendation from Oprah itself was not bad enough, Winfrey and Tolle have teamed up to form a “school” to teach (a.k.a. brainwash) millions of unsuspecting souls on how to shed “ego” and embrace consciousness to become “awakened”. Discussing this latest venture Winfrey proclaims, “Being able to share this material with you is a gift and a part of the fulfillment of my life’s purpose. It was an awakening for me that I want for you too.” (http://www2.oprah.com/obc_classic/webcast/stories/anewearth_stories_284_101.jhtml?promocode=HP12.)

Thus, on Monday nights individuals from all across the globe gathered to listen to Winfrey and Tolle in an exclusive online class that walked through his book. I should admit that I do not watch the Oprah television program and, prior to this new religious propaganda, had never been on her Web site or bought one of her recommended books. But after listening to individuals “wonder” about this new teaching and hearing of New Testament Christians who wanted to take this class, I decided to employ my research training and see what kind of Kool-aid Eckhart and Winfrey were offering the masses. I should warn you that having digested the book and spent some time on her Web site, the “enlightenment” that Winfrey and Tolle are offering up will indeed sicken your soul.

Trying to pin down Tolle’s true religious beliefs is like trying to nail jello to a tree. He is a master at using flowered language and symbolism, but never truly “lands the plane”. He combines his doctrine with just enough truth to confuse and entice those who are not happy in their current state. While there are many errors in this new teaching (e.g., embracing of evolution, no absolute truth, God being merely consciousness), the central tenet that Christians must be aware of is the reduction of Jesus Christ to simply a prophet.

Beliefs contradicting Christ’s teachings

Tolle does not wait long to inform readers of his own position regarding Jesus Christ. He observes: “The messengers—Buddha, Jesus, and others, no all of them known—were humanity’s early flowers. They were precursors, rare and precious beings” (p. 6). Jesus Christ a mere messenger? Nowhere in his book does Tolle address Jesus as the Son of God (Matthew 3:17; Mark 1:1; 2 Peter 1:17)—the Savior of all mankind. This should be a major red flag to anyone identifying themselves as Christian. It becomes apparent very early in Tolle’s writings that he has missed the entire scheme of redemption and the need for a Savior (John 3:16).

Rather than acknowledging the sacrifice Jesus made for man’s sins, Tolle belittles that gift and declares, “Suffering has a noble purpose: the evolution of consciousness and the burning up of the ego. The man on the cross is an archetypal image. He is every man and every woman” (p. 102, emp. added). Tolle then begins to use the teachings of Christ in a perverted fashion, taking Scripture completely out of context. He sprinkles the words of Christ amidst the teachings of Buddha and Zen masters, as if they were all on the same level—merely prophets who had attained this “awakening.” He even has the audacity to “correct” Jesus on several occasions. For instance, Tolle noted: “And when Jesus said, ‘Deny thyself,’ what he meant was: Negate (and thus undo) the illusion of self. If the self—ego—were truly who I am, it would be absurd to ‘deny’ it” (p. 78-79).

Tolle argues that Heaven is not a location but rather a state of mind. He states, “‘Blessed are the poor in spirit,’ Jesus said, ‘for theirs will be the kingdom of heaven.’ What does ‘poor in spirit’ mean? No inner baggage, no identifications. Not with things nor with any mental concepts that have a sense of self in them. And what is the ‘kingdom of heaven’? The simple but profound joy of Being that is there when you let go of identifications and so become ‘poor in spirit’” (p. 43).

Tolle drove this point home in an earlier chapter in which he shined a light on why the book was titled A New Earth: “It occurs in both the Old and the New Testament and speaks of the collapse of the existing world order and the arising of ‘a new heaven and a new earth.’ We need to understand here that heaven is not a location but refers to the inner realm of consciousness….‘A new heaven’ is the emergence of a transformed state of human consciousness, and ‘a new earth’ is its reflection in the physical realm”(p. 23, italics in orig., emp. added). Surely true Christians see the folly and foolishness in this teaching. Jesus Christ said, “Let not your hearts be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you” (John 14:1-2). Just before his death, the first Christian martyr Stephen “gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God” (Acts 7:55). Anyone with even an elementary knowledge of God’s Word recognizes that God resides in Heaven, and it is the place most desire for their eternal homes.

With the quick stroke of a pen, Tolle completely obliterates all of the parables of Jesus Christ and His teaching on the Kingdom of Heaven and the coming judgment. If Heaven is the emergence of consciousness, then why did Christ say, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven”?

Probably the biggest perversion of God’s Word is found on pages 70-71 in which Tolle tries to escape the reality of absolute truths. Tolle notes:

…but you won’t find absolute truth if you look for it where it cannot be found: in doctrines, ideologies, sets of rules, or stories. What do all these have in common? They are made up of thought. Thought can best point to the truth but it never is the truth…. All religions are equally false and equally true, depending on how you use them. You can use them in the service of ego, or you can use them in the service of the Truth. If you believe only your religion is the Truth, you are using it in the service of ego (p. 70-71).

He then goes on to claim that man is Truth. Tolle and Winfrey have bought into the notion that the only absolute truth is man himself. Tolle observes, “There is only one absolute Truth, and all other truths emanate from it…. The Truth is inseparable from who you are. Yes, you are the Truth. If you look for it elsewhere, you will be deceived every time” (p. 71, emp. added).

Tolle then attacks a most basic, sacred premise in God’s Word. Giving readers only a portion of the words of Jesus in John 14:6, Tolle claims: “The very Being that you are is Truth. Jesus tried to convey that when he said, “I am the way and the truth and the life.” These words uttered by Jesus are one of the most powerful and direct pointers to the Truth, if understood correctly. If misrepresented, however, they become a great obstacle. Jesus speaks of the innermost I Am, the essence of identity of every man and woman, every life-form, in fact” (p. 71). What Tolle left out was the completion of Jesus’ thought– “No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6, emp. added). That bold (and truthful) claim made by the Son of God completely destroys Tolle’s understanding of Truth.

It should be no surprise that Oprah Winfrey has embraced Tolle’s definition of Truth, as she herself has admitted she believes there are multiple ways to God—multiple ways to get to Heaven. Consider the following discussion that took place on her highly rated talk show:

Oprah: One of the mistakes that human beings make is believing that there is only one way to live—and that we don’t accept that there are diverse ways of being in the world, that there millions of ways to be a human being.

Audience Member: Then how do you please God?

Oprah: And many ways, many paths to what you call God. And her path might be something else. And when she gets there she might call it the light, but her loving, and her kindness, and her generosity, if it brings her to the same point that it brings you it doesn’t matter if she called it God along the way or not. There couldn’t possibly be just one way.

Audience member: What about Jesus?

Oprah: What about Jesus?

Audience member: You bring Him up in this whole discussion and you say there isn’t only one way. There is one way and only one way and that is through Jesus.

Oprah: There couldn’t possibly be only one way for the millions of people in the world.

Winfrey may be a media mogul and a wealthy individual, but her voice and opinion has no authority in this discussion. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, plainly said: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Christians need to fully understand Tolle’s teachings are dangerous and soul-threatening. He boldly proclaims, “It has been said ‘God is love’ but that is not absolutely correct. God is the One Life in and beyond the countless forms of life (p. 106, emp. added). Tolle obviously is not aware that an inspired writer made the declaration that God is love (1 John 4:16). All he is worried about is an inner feeling of joy. Tolle contends: “There are three words that convey the secret of the art of living, the secret of all success and happiness: One With Life. Being one with life is being one with Now. You then realize that you don’t live your life, but life lives you. Life is the dancer, and you are the dance” (p. 115, emp. added). His words soundeerily similar to Shirley MacLaine who years ago in her book, Dancing in the Light, said: “I am God, because all energy is plugged in to the same source. We are each aspects of that source. We are all part of God. We are individualized reflections of the God source. God is us and we are God” (p. 339).

Oprah continues to proclaim that she is a Christian—a follower of Christ—but it is obvious from her own voice and the voice of Eckhart Tolle that they have long ago abandoned the Son of God and His teachings. They believe they have discovered God—and He is a part of them. Tolle ends his book by noting: “A new species is arising on the planet. It is arising now, and you are it!” (p. 309). One wonders how many of these new species could be accurately described as followers—cult followers of New Age religion. Don’t be deceived. Jesus is still The  Way.

[For the complete evaluation of Oprah’s New Age religion and Eckhart Tolle’s book A New Earth, we invite you to order a copy of the pamphlet Of New Oracles and New Earths, coauthored by Brad Harrub, Ph.D. and Dewayne Bryant M.S. It is available for $2.50 online as a PDF download or by calling our office at 615.324.5870 to receive the PDF by email attachment.]

References:

Tolle, Eckhart (2005) A New Earth (London: Penguin).

MacLaine, Shirley (1991), Dancing in the Light (New York: Bantam).

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